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Australian Constitutional Proposals Will Worsen Aboriginal Oppression
Submitted on February 3, 2012By Mike Head - WSWS
A 22-person panel appointed by the Gillard [Labor] government released a report last month proposing changes to the Australian constitution that would purportedly give the federal government new powers for the “advancement” of indigenous people. Far from addressing the appalling social conditions of ordinary indigenous Australians, the amendments would authorize the imposition of regressive programs that will only worsen the plight of Aboriginal people.
Four Reasons to Watch the Super Bowl
Submitted on February 3, 2012By Robert Lipsyte - Znet Commentary
...[Y]ou might think, even in passing, that celebrating the holiest day of violence, consumerism, and class warfare on your couch is a betrayal of your values or a waste of your time. You might even imagine that it would be better to take a hike, read a book, or meditate...Not this Sunday, buster...You need to watch this game to fully understand how jobs, religion, leadership, and health-care dominate every American contest.
Israeli Settlements: An Obstacle to Peace
Submitted on February 3, 2012Israel and America deplore peace.
Hundreds Die from the Cold in Eastern Europe
Submitted on February 3, 2012By Markus Salzmann - 3 February 2012
The wave of cold weather that has swept over large parts of Europe has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people in eastern Europe within the space of a few days...The real death toll is likely to be much higher. Initial statistics concentrate on urban areas and neglect the large proportion of the population, often elderly and poor, living in the countryside.
New York Times-Style Journalism
Submitted on February 3, 2012Like other major media scoundrels, New York Times writers, op-ed commentators and editorials fail the test. They're biased, shameless and irresponsible, especially on issues of war and peace.
Will Canada’s Social-Democratic Party be Able to Prevent a Leadership Coup?
Submitted on February 3, 2012By Greg Felton - Dissident Voice
As it stands, the [New Democratic Party] is the only major national party not led by an avowed Zionist...The NDP, therefore, is the only apparently Canadian governing choice that voters have, but even this modest fig leaf will be blown away if the blatant Israel-firster Thomas Mulcair becomes party leader. On May 1, 2008, he told Canadian Jewish News: “I am an ardent supporter of Israel in all situations and in all circumstances.”
Saying No to CSIS: Groups Launch Campaign to Not Co-operate with Canada's Spy Agency
Submitted on February 2, 2012By Tim McSorley - The Dominion
Nearly 70 groups across Canada have joined a campaign to no longer co-operate with the work of Canada's national spy agency, and are calling on others to join them...Coalition groups are urging that their members not interact with CSIS agents should they be approached. This includes answering questions or even listening to what the agents have to say. Legally, Canadian citizens can refuse to speak or even listen to CSIS agents; for others, the coalition suggests only interacting with CSIS with a lawyer present.
Former U.S. Policymakers Promote War on Iran
Submitted on February 2, 2012In 2007, former Senators Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole, and George Mitchell established their Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) imperial project front group.
U.S. Intelligence Agencies and Media Stoke War Drive Against Iran
Submitted on February 2, 2012By Alex Lantier - WSWS
Provocative testimony by US officials at a January 31 US Senate Intelligence Committee hearing has become the focus of a media campaign, accusing Iran of posing a terrorist threat to the United States...The hearing and its reception in the media resemble nothing so much as the preparation of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Then, as now, crude fabrications about threats from weapons that do not exist...are combined with manufactured allegations of terrorist activity to whip up a media frenzy.
The Problem With "Pro Democracy" Groups
Submitted on February 2, 2012By MARK WEISBROT - Counterpunch
I have to laugh when I see the International Republican Institute (IRI) described by the international media as an organization that “promote[s] democracy”...The IRI is an international arm of the U.S. Republican Party, so anyone with the stomach to watch the Republican presidential debates might doubt whether this is a “democracy-promotion” organization. But a look at some of their recent adventures is enough to set the record straight...
The Assange Case Means That We Are All Suspects Now
Submitted on February 2, 2012By John Pilger - February 02, 2012
This week’s [British] Supreme Court hearing in the Julian Assange case has profound meaning for the preservation of basic freedoms in western democracies. This is Assange’s final appeal against his extradition to Sweden to face allegations of sexual misconduct...The consequences, if he loses, lie not in Sweden but in the shadows cast by America’s descent into totalitarianism. In Sweden, he is at risk of being “temporarily surrendered” to the US where his life has been threatened and he is accused of “aiding the enemy” with Bradley Manning...
Hacked Neo-Nazi Websites Reveal Canadian Connections
Submitted on February 2, 2012February 1, 2012 - CBC News
"If it can be determined that any of these individuals carried out these acts, because they were fully aware that they were interfering with the survival of an endangered race, then they should indeed be exterminated..."
- Bill Noble, convicted of willfully promoting hatred in 2008, reacts to news that thousands of emails concerning his white supremacist views, legal woes, infidelity, and details of his on-line dating were exposed by anti-racist hackers.
Bored But Not Broken: Liberation
Submitted on February 2, 2012By Mandy Hiscocks - February 2, 2012
G20 political prisoner Mandy Hiscocks provides helpful information on the parole process and explains why she won't be applying for it.
Torture in Libya: The Ugly Reality of Imperialist "Liberation"
Submitted on February 1, 2012By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
It is just over 100 days since the lynch-mob murder of Libya’s former ruler Muammar Gaddafi...At the time, President Barack Obama took to the White House Rose Garden to hail the assassination as the advent of “a new and democratic Libya”...The evidence and testimony provided by aid groups and human rights organizations over the past week paint a very different picture. A criminal imperialist war that ended with a brutal murder has, unsurprisingly, yielded a regime of terror, torture and repression.
University of Ottawa Systemic Racism and Abuse
Submitted on February 1, 2012On June 3, 2008, former Canadian politician/UN ambassador/pro-Israeli flack Allan Rock became U of O president. His administration has been marked by secrecy, political censorship, abuse of students and faculty, and repudiation of fundamental university values.
Khader Adnan Mohammad Musa: Israeli Prisoner of Conscience
Submitted on February 1, 2012On December 17, 2011, at 3:30 AM, dozens of Israeli soldiers stormed Khader Adnan Mohammad Musa's home. He was violently seized in front of his children and ailing mother. Blindfolded and painfully shackled, he was placed in a military jeep. Soldiers slapped and kicked him. Abuse continued until arriving at Dutan settlement.
Security Conference for London Olympics Plans Massive Police Operation
Submitted on February 1, 2012By Paul Stuart - 1 February 2012
The security operation will begin when the Olympic flame arrives in Lands End, Cornwall, and will finish after the closing ceremony of the Para-Olympic games, approximately three months later. For this period, up to 23,700 security guards (including 3,000 unpaid volunteers) will be provided by G4S [private security]. They will join 13,500 military personnel, a larger force than the 10,000 British soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, and almost 12,000 police, as many as were deployed in last August’s rioting.
Proxy War in Syria Threatens Catastrophe for the Middle East
Submitted on February 1, 2012By Shamus Cooke - Znet
In an effort to undermine Iran by overthrowing its strategic ally, Syria, western nations are using their Middle East client states to conduct a multi-pronged attack against Syria through the media, the Arab League, the United Nations and now through military proxy forces...A grouping of U.S. client states known as the Gulf Cooperation Council...appears to be pursuing a serious campaign to overthrow the Syrian government.
Harper's Border Deal Expands the National Security State
Submitted on February 1, 2012By Emily Gilbert - February 1, 2012
The Shiprider program will extend [Integrated Border Enforcement Teams] to shared waterways and seaways, and will also permit cross-border law enforcement. Designated RCMP and U.S. Coast Guard officers will jointly operate vessels on patrol, and will be authorized to enforce the law on either side of the border. The Harper government has also tabled legislation, Bill C-60...that would bestow these designated officers with enforcement capabilities equivalent to the RCMP -- anywhere in Canada!
The Honorable Voices of Four Women Killed in Kingston
Submitted on February 1, 2012By Arash Azizi - Toronto Media Co-op
In the last days of January 2012, the jury returned a guilty verdict for all three accused on four counts of first-degree murder. Police uncovered damning statements, primarily from Mohammad Shafia, the patriarch and murderer-in-chief of this plot, which recorded no sorrow...Shafia said that they had to be murdered because of their "treason" in supposedly violating his "honor" and that of Islam. What he saw as betrayal, however, was a brilliant story of resistance and expression.
Tory Senator Advocates Self-Execution for Convicted Murderers
Submitted on February 1, 2012February 1, 2012 - CBC News
Conservative Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu said Wednesday he's against the death penalty, but not opposed to convicted murderers having ropes in their cells to kill themselves..."Basically I think that every murderer should have a rope in his cell and he can decide on his own life. But I'm against the death penalty..."
Israel's Never-Ending Holocaust
Submitted on February 1, 2012By Merav Michaeli - Haaretz
The Holocaust is the primary way Israel defines itself. And that definition is narrow and ailing in the extreme, because the Holocaust is remembered only in a very specific way, as are its lessons. It has long been used to justify the existence and the necessity of the state, and has been mentioned in the same breath as proof that the state is under a never-ending existential threat.
NATO and CIA Covertly Arming Syrian Rebels in Order to Weaken Iran
Submitted on February 1, 2012By Daan de Wit - Friday 27 January 2012
The current news coverage concerning Iran is depicting a series of incidents, but when placed in the context of the events of the past few years...it is clear that all the pieces are being put into place for a war against Iran. It is a long-term project demanding many years worth of preparation, and the ultimate goal is getting closer all the time. One component of this preparation is the covert arming of Syrian rebels.
One Million Dead
Submitted on February 1, 2012By Danny Lucia - Znet
OVER A million Iraqis are dead from America's war...One million is a "Grandpa, what did you do to stop it?" number. It's a number that undeniably puts the American state among history's villains. Those who are not willing or able to accept this are physically unable to retain the fact that over a million Iraqis are dead. Their brains expel it like a foreign germ.
"Eye of Tiger" Composer Sues Newt Gingrich to Stop Him Using Song
Submitted on January 31, 2012By Andy Grimm - January 30, 2012
The composer of the Survivor hit "Eye of the Tiger" has sued Newt Gingrich to stop the Republican presidential candidate from using the "Rocky III" anthem at campaign events...The lawsuit was filed today in federal court in Chicago by Rude Music Inc., the...music publishing company owned by Frank Sullivan, who, with Jim Peterik, composed the song and copyrighted it in 1982.
It Is Time To Legalize All Drugs
Submitted on January 31, 2012By Amir Alwani
Potent News
January 28, 2012
I have a right to ingest/smoke whatever I want and to explore the contents of "my own mind" in the process, so long as I am not hurting anyone else, even if it kills me. This is a human right, albeit one that few people think of.
Britain’s National Health Service Faces Wholesale Privatization
Submitted on January 31, 2012By Robert Stevens - WSWS
Free and comprehensive health care is set to end with the passage of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat government’s Health and Social Care Bill 2011...The National Health Service (NHS), established in 1948 as the centre-piece of Britain’s post-war welfare state, is the world’s oldest and largest taxpayer-funded system. It faces rapid privatization on the basis of introducing a US-style user-pays model.
Israel Lawlessly Indicts MK Sa'id Naffa
Submitted on January 31, 2012Israel reveals its rogue credentials daily. In mid-July 2010, its Knesset stripped MK Hanin Zoabi of key parliamentary rights and privileges for participating in the May 2010 Freedom Flotilla bringing vital aid to Gaza.
Mumia Abu-Jamal Transferred to General Population Following Global Campaign
Submitted on January 31, 2012Monday, January 30, 2012. Mumia Abu-Jamal is off death row and out of solitary because you called and wrote and faxed and emailed. He is out of the "hole". We did it. This was an international effort, including the delivery of over 5000 petitions, thousands of letters, and the threat of legal action.
Ten Days Down, 314 to Go
Submitted on January 31, 2012By Mandy Hiscocks - January 29, 2012
I'm staring down another 315 days in here. It seems so impossible, but obviously it's not. On Dec. 3, 2012 I will be walking out of here. Hopefully healthy and definitely more clued in when it comes to this beast we call the Prison Industrial Complex.
Harper Sells Austerity in Davos
Submitted on January 31, 2012By Duncan Cameron - January 31, 2012
When Harper was in Davos, Switzerland, last week to address the World Economic Forum, he did not talk about the subject of the conference...or address concerns about regulation of international banking, or global trade and payments imbalances. Instead he presented his austerity plan for Canada...Going to Switzerland to announce his intentions to attack seniors served domestic purposes. There were no opposition politicians, or interested Canadians, around to react quickly to the news...that Harper was ready to raise the age eligibility for Old Age Security to 67 from 65.
Conservatives’ Reactionary "Tough on Crime" Bill Soon to Become Law in Canada
Submitted on January 31, 2012By Ed Patrick - 31 January 2012
Stephen Harper’s new majority Conservative government has made pushing the Safe Streets and Communities Act, Bill C-10, through parliament a top priority...[T]he Conservatives’ omnibus anti-crime bill is a collection of socially regressive measures. Most of these would make the criminal justice system more arbitrary and vindictive. Some are petty. Taken together they represent a wholesale repudiation of the bourgeois liberal concept of rehabilitation, in favor of punishment and vengeance.
Occupy Oakland and State Repression
Submitted on January 31, 2012By MIKE KING - Counterpunch
Saturday’s attacks are part of an ongoing counter-insurgency campaign to attempt to strip the movement of its substantial legitimacy, to intimidate, to harass, to divide, to contain, to co-opt, and to eventually destroy Occupy Oakland...The City’s overwhelming use of force and mass arrests, firing less-than-lethal weapons into marches with many children, the violent beatings, and the trumped-up charges in response to a peaceful attempt to make social use out of an unused building makes the State’s position clear. What is not clear is who will eventually win.
Harper and the U.S. Wrong on Iran Threat
Submitted on January 31, 2012By Gerald Caplan - January 31, 2012
Iran is the convenient next common enemy that conservatives always seem to need. Having run out of communism, terrorism, Islamism, Saddam and Bin Laden, they’ve now fastened on Iran. In the endlessly repeated sound bite of Canada’s foreign affairs minister, John Baird, “We believe Iran constitutes the greatest threat to peace and security in the world.” It’s a spin line, not a serious analysis.
Occupy the Super Bowl: More Than Just a Slogan
Submitted on January 31, 2012By Dave Zirin - January 31, 2012
The protests...promise to shed light on the reality of life for working families in the city of Indianapolis. Unemployment is at 13.3 percent, with unemployment for African-American families at 21 percent. Two of every five African-American families with a child under 5 live below the anemic poverty line. Such pain amidst the gloss of the Super Bowl and the prospect of right-to-work legislation is, for many, a catalyst to just do something.
Income Gap in British Columbia Getting Worse
Submitted on January 31, 2012January 31, 2012 - CBC News
A new report echoes what Occupy protesters across B.C. were saying last year — there's a growing gap in the province between rich and poor...And the report does not come from a left-leaning organization, but from BC Stats, the agency that crunches numbers for the provincial government...“Given the size and vehemence of the Occupy protests, one would suspect that the current income gap is too large..."
Global Corporate Power and the Decay of Canada
Submitted on January 31, 2012By Chris Hedges - Truthdig
[Canada] used to be the country we would flee to if life in the United States became unpalatable...But that was the old Canada...Canada has withdrawn from the Kyoto Accords so it can dig up the Alberta tar sands in an orgy of environmental degradation. It carried out the largest mass arrests of demonstrators in Canadian history at 2010’s G-8 and G-20...And Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a diminished version of George W. Bush. He champions the rabid right wing in Israel, bows to the whims of global financiers and is a Christian fundamentalist.
Targeting AIPAC
Submitted on January 30, 2012AIPAC operates illegally in America as an unregistered foreign agent.
Europe's Losing Game
Submitted on January 30, 2012Partnering with America has consequences. Europe's paying by shooting itself in the foot. On January 23, European Union representative for foreign and security affairs, Catherine Ashton, broke the news. She announced an "unprecedented" anti-Iranian oil embargo, effective July 1 and immediately from new contracts.
Fingers Itch for a War on Iran
Submitted on January 30, 2012By VIJAY PRASHAD - January 30, 2012
The war is on, and as pressure on Iran mounts, there is a temptation for the Iranians to lash out...If they do so, the Atlantic powers, the Israelis and the Gulf Arabs will take this as a casus belli. It will be enough to power up the cruise missile delivery systems. The political benefits for the US and Israel of such an attack are great...“An attack or possible war on Iran would have the added effect of derailing the Arab revolutions and revolts and justify the continued presence of a large US military force in the oil-rich region.”
Toronto Mayor Set to Lock Out City Workers
Submitted on January 30, 2012By Jane Slaughter - January 30, 2012
On a scale never before seen in Canada, the mayor of Toronto seeks to privatize city services and is taking on the largest public sector locals in Canada to do so. Counting down to a lockout February 5, city workers’ unions are scrambling to make their case to city residents...Mayor Rob Ford’s double-pronged attack on services and workers is seen as “extremely drastic” and “will set a precedent across the board nationally if Ford is able to gut our collective agreements.”
Neo-Liberalism and the Ongoing Economic Assault on Ordinary Canadians
Submitted on January 30, 2012By Murray Dobbin - rabble.ca
So having succeeded in giving capitalists everything they asked for...what do we have?...[W]hile the advertising and marketing of more and more stuff goes on apace, the facts facing working- and middle-class families paint a totally unsustainable spending picture: some 60 per cent of wage and salary earners state that they are one pay-cheque away from financial insolvency; the Canadian savings rate is the lowest it's been for decades...the net real increase in average pay between 1980 and 2005 was a grand total of $51.
Hundreds Arrested in Police Crackdown on Oakland Protests
Submitted on January 30, 2012By Jack Hood - WSWS
Hundreds of police clad in riot gear and wielding a variety of weapons attacked a procession of protesters in Oakland, California, on Saturday. It was the largest altercation between police and protesters in Oakland since the October 25 confrontation that left several wounded...More than 400 protesters were arrested over the course of the evening, with marches continuing late into the night.
U.S. 47th in Press Freedom After Attacks on OWS
Submitted on January 29, 2012By DAVE LINDORFF - January 27-29, 2012
Say it loud and say it proud: We’re Number 47! We’re Number 47!...If you want to know why the US...is now ranked number 47th...in terms of freedom of the press in the annual ranking put out by Reporters Without Borders...you could ask Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor of New York and himself owner of a huge news organization, or his Chief of Police Raymond Kelly...For that matter you could ask the mayors and police chiefs of Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Boston, Philadelphia, or a host of other cities.
Harper's Grand Plan: What It Is and How to Fight It
Submitted on January 29, 2012By Syed Hussan - January 29, 2012
On Friday, in a grand, sweeping, blustering speech...Harper has laid out his vision for the future. It is imperative that we understand it, to fight it...Harper's speech brushes over two areas: (1) job creation and economic stability through corporate tax cuts, free trade agreements, further investments in energy and oil production and cuts to pensions and (2) dealing with 'demographic challenges' by managing immigration. These are all connected and should be scrutinized as such.
Targeting Iranian Nationals
Submitted on January 29, 2012Covert war's raged against Tehran for years. Destabilization tactics include fake accusations, political and economic sanctions, isolation, covert and direct confrontation, cyberwar, targeted assassinations, and other provocations short of war - so far.
Arresting Issues from the G20 Summit Protests Remain Unsolved
Submitted on January 29, 2012By Krystalline Kraus - January 28, 2012
A 174-page report by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) released on Friday January 20, 2012, recommended that five Toronto police officers should face criminal charges for using unnecessary force against activist Adam Nobody.
Ritalin Gone Wrong
Submitted on January 29, 2012By L. ALAN SROUFE - January 28, 2012
Attention-deficit drugs increase concentration in the short term...But when given to children over long periods of time, they neither improve school achievement nor reduce behavior problems. The drugs can also have serious side effects, including stunting growth...Sadly, few physicians and parents seem to be aware of what we have been learning about the lack of effectiveness of these drugs.
ACTA: Worse Than SOPA and PIPA
Submitted on January 29, 2012Internet freedom's on the line. SOPA and PIPA threatened Net Neutrality and free expression. So does ACTA. For now, the largest on-line protest in Internet history got Congress to abandon SOPA and PIPA for now but not permanently. Expect resurrection in modified form. Language may change but not intent. ACTA's worse.
The Corporate State Will Be Broken
Submitted on January 28, 2012By Chris Hedges - Monday 23 January 2012
I do not know how long it will take to dethrone the corporate state, but I do know it is a dead and terminal system of power. As the global economy deteriorates and climate change causes greater disruptions, these corporations will be increasingly discredited. I know the iron grip of corporations over our lives will, eventually, be broken. The corporate state will, like all wounded animals, lash out with a blind fury...It will increase pressure to become crueler and more callous at the base of the columns it depends on for survival. And eventually it will break.
Don't be a Strikebreaker for Rob Ford!
Submitted on January 28, 2012Thursday, January 26, 2012 - Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Rob Ford and his friends on City Council are out to wipe out public services in this City and to attack the workers who deliver those services. Thousands of members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees face the threat of being locked out by the City...Ford wants to sell off many services to private corporations and then cut what is left to an absolute minimum...This would be a huge defeat that would drive down wages all across the City and beyond and it must not be allowed to happen.
Harper Outlines Class War Agenda at Davos
Submitted on January 28, 2012By Keith Jones - 28 January 2012
In a speech Thursday to the Davos World Economic Forum, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged that his Conservative government will pursue a “transformative” big business agenda — austerity and tax cuts, radical regressive changes to public health care and pensions, and deregulation...[I]n a chilling display of the scope and scale of the anti-working class offensive being prepared by Canada’s elite, Harper contrasted his government’s resolve to promote “economic growth” with the purported focus of many unnamed Western governments on providing “services and entitlement.”
Vancouver Anti-Racists Confront Neo-Nazi at Court Appearance
Submitted on January 28, 2012By Zig Zag - Vancouver Media Co-op
Approximately 25 anti-racists attended the Friday, January 27, court appearance of Shawn MacDonald (39), a member of the neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour charged with three assaults against people of colour in the Vancouver area...MacDonald didn't attend his court appearance in the morning and was represented by Doug Christie, a Victoria-based lawyer well known for his defense of right-wing extremists since the 1980s...Christie was confronted at around 10AM as he left the courthouse by about a dozen anti-racists.
Hunger is Never an Appropriate Punishment: Feeding the Homeless
Submitted on January 28, 2012Hunger is not an appropriate form of punishment, no matter what the crime. The number one thing I see people use to justify just stepping over homeless and hungry people in the streets is judgment. This idea that homeless people deserve hunger as a punishment, or perhaps as an impetus to do what society wants, is ill thought out. That thinking is also based in a holier than thou philosophy that can easily be deconstructed as well. Unless you are willing to kill someone for their crimes, cutting off access to food as the punishment is inhumane.
U.S. to Expand Military Presence in the Philippines
Submitted on January 27, 2012By Joseph Santolan - WSWS
The deployment of US vessels and forces in the Philippines would be a further ratcheting up of the Obama administration’s confrontation with China in the Asia Pacific generally, and particularly in the South China Sea...Concerned at the rising economic power of China, US imperialism has asserted its ‘national interest’ in the vital waterways of the South China Sea. Over the past two years it has backed up this claim with diplomatic maneuvering, political machinations within each country in the region, and increased military deployments.
Profile of a Rogue State
Submitted on January 27, 2012Israel commits daily crimes against humanity.
Clashes and Torture on the Rise in 'Disillusioned' Libya
Submitted on January 27, 2012By Jason Ditz - January 25, 2012
The [National Transitional Council government] is looking to placate the public with a few token resignations, but the issue goes well beyond the unpopularity of a few late-in-the-game defectors from the old regime. The protests against the Gadhafi regime began with the hope of a free country, and the realization that the NTC commandeered their revolution — possibly replacing one tyrant with another — is not something that can be easily tamped down.
Israel Prepares for War Against Iran
Submitted on January 27, 2012By Peter Symonds - 27 January 2012
By recklessly escalating the economic embargo and military threats against Iran, the US, Israel and the European powers are heightening the danger of a slide into war that has the potential to engulf the region and to spread internationally.
Selling War
Submitted on January 27, 2012Throughout its history, America glorified wars in the name of peace. From inception, they're perpetuated against one or more domestic or foreign adversaries.
No One Is Illegal-Vancouver on White Supremacist Hate Crimes
Submitted on January 27, 2012January 26th, 2012 - No One Is Illegal-Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories
As a multiracial movement led by people of colour, we are outraged to hear of the rise of overt white supremacist groups in the Lower Mainland...Racism manifests itself in (under-reported) hate crimes, such as the violent assaults of these four people of colour, as well as daily forms of racist harassment, such as racial slurs. These forms of individual/overt racism do not and cannot exist in isolation from more systemic/covert forms of racism.
Support for "Radical" Group Rises Since Oliver's Attack: Public Support Up for Environmental Groups Targeted by Harper
Submitted on January 27, 2012January 27, 2012 - CBC News
Tough talk from Ottawa about radical environmentalists and foreign-funded adversaries seems to be actually strengthening support for those groups under attack...Environmental groups involved in the debate over Enbridge Inc.'s Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline to the west coast report that donations have soared in recent weeks -- especially after Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said U.S.-funded environmentalists and jet-setting celebrities are trying to hijack the regulatory hearings.
Whistleblower Claims Prime Minister's Office Tried to Silence Enbridge Pipeline Critic
Submitted on January 27, 2012By Andrew Frank - January 25, 2012
There was a look of fear and disbelief on my fellow staff members' faces the day they were told our own government had labeled them enemies of the state. Our administration co-ordinator had tears in her eyes. In the days that followed, our employees couldn't sleep well. They lost their appetites, and they began to fear for their own personal safety and civil liberties, and those of their families and loved ones. They began looking over their shoulder, out of fear and paranoia, because their own government might be watching them.
Independent Libyan Fact-Finding Mission
Submitted on January 26, 2012The Mission exposed NATO crimes but fell short.
Obama's Failed State of the Union
Submitted on January 26, 2012Obama and those around him should be in prison, not the White House.
War Abroad, Austerity at Home
Submitted on January 26, 2012By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS - January 25, 2012
As the western “democracies” become increasingly lawless, the mask of law that imperialism wears is stripped away and with it the sheen of morality that has been used to cloak hegemonic ambitions. With Iran surrounded and with two of Washington’s fleets in the Persian Gulf, another war of aggression seems inevitable.
Two Dozen Arrested in San Francisco Occupy March
Submitted on January 26, 2012By Jack Hood - WSWS
Protesters blockaded parts of California Street — the epicenter of the west coast’s financial industry. Many banks, including Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, were forced to close early or shut down entirely as protest participants locked arms around bank entrances and ATMs...Police in riot gear made their presence known as early as 9:00 a.m. Several protesters were hit with batons throughout the day.
The Truth Behind the Coming "Regime Change" in Syria
Submitted on January 26, 2012By Shamus Cooke - January 26, 2012
The United States appears to be using a strategy in Syria that it has perfected over the years, having succeeded most recently in Libya: arming small paramilitary groups loyal to U.S. interests that claim to speak for the native population; these militants then attack the targeted government the U.S. would like to see overthrown...and when the attacked government defends itself, the U.S. cries "genocide" or "mass murder,” while calling for foreign military intervention.
Whistling Past the Graveyard
Submitted on January 25, 2012Europe's sinking. Japan's in recession. China risks landing hard. America's sure to follow. Ordinary people face protracted Depression conditions.
The Armenian Genocide
Submitted on January 25, 2012Turkey's appalling crime is exceeded multiple times by US genocides.
Off to See the Wizard: The 2012 AFN-Crown Summit
Submitted on January 25, 2012By Zig Zag - January 24, 2012
Ultimately, the Crown-[Assembly of First Nations] summit is about furthering the economic and political assimilation of Native peoples, a long-standing goal of the colonial state and one now championed by the Indian Act chiefs who are themselves fully assimilated into the capitalist system.
The Soft Side of Imperialism
Submitted on January 25, 2012By LAURA AGUSTÍN - January 25, 2012
Relying on a belief in social evolution, development and modernization as objective truths, contemporary rescuers...consider themselves free, self-governing individuals born in the most civilized lands and therefore entitled to rule people in more backward ones...Here begins colonialism, the day-to-day imposition of value systems from outside, the permanent maintenance of the upper hand...The Rescue Industry, like the war on terrorism, relies on an image of the barbaric Other.
Occupy Wall Street Protester Arrested for 'Lynching'
Submitted on January 25, 2012By Robert Meeropol - Znet
This morning I read that an ardent member of the Occupy Los Angeles movement has been arrested and charged with lynching. You might think the protester, Sergio Ballesteros, attacked and hung someone...But no, the police have used the law which defines lynching as “taking by means of riot any person from the lawful custody of any peace officer” to charge a non-violent activist with this felony for allegedly trying to keep a fellow demonstrator from being arrested.
European Union Imposes Oil Embargo on Iran
Submitted on January 24, 2012By Peter Symonds - WSWS
European Union (EU) foreign ministers meeting in Brussels yesterday imposed far-reaching economic sanctions on Iran, including an embargo on Iranian oil imports that will come into full force in July. The embargo is an act of economic war that heightens the danger of a slide into military hostilities in the Persian Gulf...The EU sanctions are comprehensive, hitting every aspect of Iran’s oil industry.
Vancouver Employer Jailed for Exposing Workers to Asbestos
Submitted on January 24, 2012January 24, 2012 - CBC News
A Metro Vancouver employer who repeatedly exposed his demolition workers to asbestos has been sentenced to 60 days in jail...[Arthur] Moore often hired recovering addicts...then knowingly exposed them to asbestos without adequate protective equipment, according to court documents...On average, 50 B.C. workers a year die from cancer and other illnesses caused by workplace asbestos exposure...
Harper Takes Republican Allies
Submitted on January 24, 2012By Duncan Cameron - January 24, 2012
Close observers of U.S. politics were surprised to see Newt Gingrich win the South Carolina primary...Of equal surprise to Canadians was seeing Gingrich single out Stephen Harper in his victory speech...What was unexpected was the way Gingrich used his victory speech to ally himself with the Harper Conservatives in order to mount an attack on U.S. President Barrack Obama...Gingrich went after Obama for postponing approval of the extension to the Keystone pipeline...
America's Great Divide Between Rich and Poor
Submitted on January 23, 2012Wealth divide in America is unprecedented.
NPR and PBS Anti-Iranian Propaganda
Submitted on January 23, 2012Both National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting serve corporate and imperial interests. They're called public to conceal their agenda.
Zapotec Protesters Shot on Behalf of Canadian Mining Company
Submitted on January 23, 2012January 23, 2012 - Intercontinental Cry
One Zapotec has died and another is in recovery after a group of municipal police officers and other armed men opened fire on a crowd of protesters in the municipality of San José del Progreso, Ocotlán, Oaxaca, Mexico...Cuzcatlán, a subsidiary of the Canadian mining company Fortuna Silver has already received a permit to build [a] pipeline. Opponents of the mine maintain that the permit should not have been issued because the municipal government failed to obtain the community's free, prior and informed consent.
Taking Liberties: 22 Years Behind Bars for a "Crime of Compassion"
Submitted on January 23, 2012By Matthew Behrens - rabble.ca
...New York oncologist Dr. Rafil Dhafir...remains behind bars in one of the most brutal of U.S. prisons, the Communication Management Unit in Terre Haute, Indiana...Dhafir was sentenced to 22 years for consciously violating the sanctions against the people of Iraq. Many individuals and groups who were not Muslim also violated the sanctions...yet Dhafir, as the driving force behind the Help the Needy Foundation, which provided millions in aid, was the only one to suffer such a fate.
War Horse: All Heart and No Head (Review)
Submitted on January 23, 2012By Kevin Martinez - 23 January 2012
In the First World War, Britain lost approximately 887,000 men...For every eight soldiers who went to the front, one would not return home. Entire villages were decimated by the war and it was not uncommon for a family to lose all its sons. To this day, World War I remains Britain’s costliest conflict...Any serious artistic treatment of World War I has to take this basic truth into consideration. An artwork that merely uses imperialist war as a backdrop and accepts such a state of affairs as a given...cannot offer any real insight or provide dramatic lessons to its audience.
Is Canada Becoming a Jingoistic Petro-State?
Submitted on January 23, 2012By Will Oremus - Oil Sands Truth
Stephen Harper, the son of an oil-company accountant, built his political career in Alberta, a province whose right-wing tendencies and booming energy sector make it Canada’s equivalent of Texas...The Canadian economy weathered the financial crisis unusually well, thanks to strong banking regulations and booming oil sales to China, and in May 2011 Harper’s party won a majority for the first time. It has celebrated by veering rightward and doubling down on its oil bets.
Obama Set to Use Military Intervention Against Washington Longshore Workers
Submitted on January 23, 2012By Ben Schreiner - January 23rd, 2012
Within weeks, if not days, the international conglomerate EGT Development will seek to commence operations at its new $200 million export grain terminal at the Port of Longview. In refusing to use [International Longshore and Warehouse Union] labor, EGT is breaking the precedent in place since the 1930s, which holds that all public port docks up and down the West Coast are to be worked by the ILWU...Yet, as the ILWU and its allies ready to fight EGT’s union busting, the US military lies in wait to intervene on the behalf of the conglomerate.
Uproar After Jewish American Newspaper Publisher Suggests Israel Assassinate Barack Obama
Submitted on January 23, 2012By Chemi Shalev - January 21, 2012
The owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, Andrew Adler, has suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu consider ordering a Mossad hit team to assassinate U.S. President Barack Obama so that his successor will defend Israel against Iran.
Harper's Indian Meet-and-Greet: More of the Same Abusive Relationship
Submitted on January 23, 2012Normally, the mainstream media jumps all over stories...that show dysfunction or crisis in Indigenous communities. It lets editorialist's gnash their teeth and wring their hands, eventually coming to the conclusion that the situation...is just too complicated to do anything, ending in a ritualistic throwing up of hands. This is just the reaction that governments depend on. It means they can go back to ignoring Indigenous communities, when they’re not shoving them around to make way for oil, logging, mining or other corporate interests, or just because Ottawa can and does shove them around.
Banks and EU Leaders Pressure Greece for More Austerity
Submitted on January 23, 2012By Stefan Steinberg - WSWS
Over the last week, finance organizations, the banks, European heads of state and leading European Union (EU) officials applied intense pressure on Greece for more punitive austerity measures, including public sector lay-offs and privatizations. They are demanding more of the same budgetary blood-letting which has had catastrophic consequences for Greek workers over the past three years.
Stephen Harper and the Threat of War on Iran
Submitted on January 23, 2012By Derrick O'Keefe - rabble.ca
Today's agreement by the European Union to impose an oil embargo on Iran brings the world closer to war...Into this tense situation comes Stephen Harper, who took the opportunity of a sit down with Peter Mansbridge on the CBC last week to make his latest in a series of incendiary comments regarding Iran...Harper's rhetoric should frighten us all.
UK Government Suppresses Truth
Submitted on January 22, 2012Revoking Press TV's license was clear irresponsible censorship. Doing so suppressed truth. UK television viewers were deprived of real news, information, commentary and analysis.
The Police Killing of Farshad Mohammadi: Exposing the Root Causes
Submitted on January 22, 2012By Samir Shaheen-Hussain, Robyn Maynard and Anne-Marie Gallant - Coop Média de Montréal
A primordial issue in Farshad Mohammadi’s killing is the social profiling carried out by Montreal city police. Police officers often harass people who are seeking shelter or sleeping in the metros, creating a climate of resentment and disdain vis-à-vis the police within marginalized communities...[A]ccording to eyewitnesses, Mohammadi wasn’t bothering anyone prior to the police intervention. So, the more fundamental question is why the police deemed it necessary to engage Mohammadi in the first place?
Seven Truths Inconvenient to U.S. Foreign Policy
Submitted on January 22, 2012By DAN KOVALIK - January 20-22, 2012
Given that the U.S. is currently attempting to wage actual war, as well as to carry out acts of war...against numerous countries, one is subject to a constant barrage of lies from the U.S. government to justify such acts...The U.S. is not the “world’s policeman” or the spreader of democracy and human rights that it claims to be. Rather, it has done much more to undermine democracy, human rights and even stability, than it has done to promote these conditions.
The Harper Government, Ethical Oil and the Sun Media Connection
Submitted on January 22, 2012By Emma Pullman - January 20, 2012
Just over a week before the Northern Gateway Pipeline hearings began, EthicalOil.org and its allies launched a pre-emptive PR offensive on environmental and First Nations groups who oppose the pipeline. Their new website...and ad campaign are an attempt to invalidate opposition to the pipeline by pointing to the small amount of American funding going to some environmental groups...Sun News was first to promote the campaign, and by the end of the week, numerous papers across Canada were repeating the story.
Why I'm Suing Barack Obama
Submitted on January 22, 2012By Chris Hedges - January 22, 2012
Fear is the psychological weapon of choice for totalitarian systems of power. Make the people afraid. Get them to surrender their rights in the name of national security. And then finish off the few who aren’t afraid enough. If this law is not revoked we will be no different from any sordid military dictatorship. Its implementation will be a huge leap forward for the corporate oligarchs who plan to continue to plunder the nation and use state and military security to cow the population into submission.
Israel Claims Syria/Hamas-Connected Terror Cells Uncovered
Submitted on January 21, 2012Here we go again. We've seen it before strategically timed. Weigh all Israeli claims skeptically. On its face, this one lacks credibility.
Florida Cop Brutally Beats 66-Year-Old Black Man With Dementia
Submitted on January 21, 2012January 21, 2012 - AlterNet
Officer Middendorf of the Melbourne, Florida Police Department decided Albert Flowers, a 66 year old African American Man suffering from dementia deserved to get his ass kicked...The video clearly shows Flowers calmly walking towards the police cruiser before Middendorf suddenly delivers a kick to his midsection. Before Flowers is able to get up, the white cop drops to his knees and pounds his fists into the African-American man’s face.
Anti-Syrian Pack Journalism
Submitted on January 21, 2012Major media scoundrels do what they do best - suppress the truth.
Increased Military Traffic Seen Across North America
Submitted on January 21, 2012By Amir Alwani
Potent News
January 21, 2012
[UPDATE: Someone asked me exactly where I witnessed this so I've now added pictures I took from Google maps to clear things up.]
Yesterday morning (January 20th, 2012), around 4AM I stumbled upon 20-30 tanks on train cars here in Halifax, Canada (at a train stop beside Fairview Cemetery).
Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me at the time and when I came back to film no more than 15 hours later, the tanks had apparently already been transported away.
Stephen Harper Doth Protest Too Much
Submitted on January 21, 2012By Kim Petersen - January 21st, 2012
Canada’s prime minister Stephen Harper recently professed some biased opinions, opinions that may well be argued to be dangerous, in an interview with the CBC...Harper spoke of overwhelming evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. No evidence was provided.
Human Rights Groups Charge NATO with War Crimes in Libya
Submitted on January 21, 2012By Bill Van Auken - 21 January 2012
There is strong evidence that NATO carried out war crimes in its eight-month war for regime-change in Libya, according to a report released Thursday by Middle East human rights groups...The United Nations resolution authorizing “all necessary measures” to protect civilians was utilized as the justification for military actions against civilian targets in which many Libyans were killed and wounded, according to the groups’ investigation.
Pressure Israel, Not Iran
Submitted on January 21, 2012By MARJORIE COHN - January 18, 2012
In 1953, the CIA engineered a coup that replaced a democratic government in Iran with the vicious Shah. He ruled Iran with an iron hand for 25 years, wreaking torture and terror on Iranians while keeping Iran open to Western investment...The Iranian revolution overthrew the Shah, replacing him with a tyrannical theocracy that continues to violate the rights of the Iranian people. But that does not mean that Iran...will attack Israel. The Iranian government knows that Israel and the United States would retaliate with unimaginable military force that would devastate Iran...
Welcome to the Next Year of My Life
Submitted on January 21, 2012By Mandy Hiscocks - Thursday, January 19, 2012
Today is Monday, January 16th, and this is my first written dispatch from jail. It feels strange to write with paper and these little golf-sized pencils we get (no pens allowed) - it feels a bit like high school all over again. It also feels weird to write about what I've been doing the last few days; it's so mundane that I wonder how it can possibly be interesting. But one of the main ideas behind these dispatches is to share this experience. Which is what it is. So here goes!
The Torture of Mumia Abu-Jamal Continues Off Death Row: Supporters Demand Transfer to General Population
Submitted on January 20, 2012The Pennsylvania-based prison-activist organization called Human Rights Coalition explains that "Mumia may be in solitary, but he is not alone. The PA Department of Corrections holds approximately 2,500 people in solitary confinement on any given day, many of them for years at a time."
Wisconsinites v. Governor Scott Walker
Submitted on January 20, 2012Last winter's epic battle between Wisconsin public workers and Republican Governor Walker ended badly for social justice. Nonetheless, struggling for it continues.
Vancouver Cops Beat Man Taking Out Garbage
Submitted on January 20, 2012January 20, 2012 - CBC News
Manjit Singh says he had just taken his garbage out the curb of his home near Joyce Street and Kingsway when police approached him...Other officers then swarmed him and started beating him up..."One guy put the knee on my neck, one guy put the knee on my legs,” “They start kicking me … powerful kicks. Left, right, left, right"...“Why they attack on one innocent guy? They can talk to me nicely."
Waiting for False Prophets: The Puzzling Matter of the Israeli Liberals
Submitted on January 20, 2012By Ramzy Baroud - January 19th, 2012
While right wing Israeli parties are often dismissed as anti-peace and hawkish, the ‘liberal’ Zionists in the Israeli Left have been viewed by some as an alternative, capable of righting wrongs and achieving the long-awaited peace. These are mere ‘delusions’...“Scratch just a little below the surface and you discover that .. when it approaches the Palestinian person in particular, (Liberal Zionism) suddenly stops and fully reverses itself...”
Beating Up on Hugo Chavez
Submitted on January 20, 2012Washington wants regime change in Venezuela.
U.S. and Israel Coordinate Strategy Against Iran
Submitted on January 20, 2012By Peter Symonds - 20 January 2012
US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey arrived in Israel yesterday for talks on Iran with top military and political leaders. As the Obama administration escalates its confrontation with Tehran, the obvious purpose of Dempsey’s visit is to coordinate hostile moves by the two countries against Iran.
U.S. State Politicians Push Drug Testing for Poor and Unemployed
Submitted on January 20, 2012By Phillip Smith - January 18, 2012
Faced with serious budget deficits as the economy continues sputtering through a weak recovery, would-be populists and small government conservatives see public benefits recipients as easy targets in their battle to ease the burdens of the taxpayers. With many Americans struggling hard to make ends meet, the narrative that welfare recipients or people receiving jobless benefits are just lazy junkies living [off taxpayers] resonates in some quarters.
Enbridge's Pipeline of Distortions
Submitted on January 20, 2012By Harsha Walia - January 19, 2012
"We're not foreign - these are our lands."
- Nadleh Whut'en Chief Larry Nooski commenting on Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver's theories about radical foreign environmentalists and socialist billionaires hijacking the Enbridge Joint Review Panel hearings.
Charge G20 Cops, Police Watchdog Orders
Submitted on January 20, 2012By Dave Seglins - CBC News
Ontario's top police complaints watchdog has concluded five officers involved in the now infamous arrest of G20 protester Adam Nobody should be charged with misconduct for using unnecessary force and for discreditable conduct..."I'm very grateful somebody else believes me … and that other people are going to have to face retribution for attacking me...I was getting pummeled and beaten. Police officers were holding my arms."
Protesting Internet Censorship
Submitted on January 20, 2012Congressional Internet bills assure censorship if passed.
The World War on Democracy
Submitted on January 19, 2012By John Pilger - January 19, 2012
The sheer scale of suffering...is little known in the west...That the most numerous victims of terrorism – western terrorism – are Muslims is unsayable, if it is known...While popular culture in Britain and America immerses the Second World War in an ethical bath for the victors, the holocausts arising from Anglo-American dominance of resource-rich regions are consigned to oblivion.
Australian Mental Health Workers Fight for Improved Wages and Conditions
Submitted on January 19, 2012By Susan Allan - 19 January 2012
Mental health services are already in profound crisis, following decades of chronic underfunding...As a result, mental health workers and facilities are stretched to breaking point, with staff shortages and heavy workloads creating an unsafe working environment. Physical assaults in the workplace are increasing in frequency, and stress levels have created a staff retention crisis. Patients’ lives have also been placed at risk as a result of government policy.
The New Normal: Economic Weakness and Decline
Submitted on January 18, 2012On Friday, S & P cut credit ratings for nine EU countries, including France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Portugal, Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia and Cyprus. It was old news but not good.
Mexican Journalist Fighting Deportation Finds Support from Vancouver Activists
Submitted on January 18, 2012By David P. Ball - January 17th, 2012
Journalist Karla Berenice García Ramírez, 38, fled to Surrey, B.C. four years ago after blowing the whistle on corruption in a Mexican government ministry where she worked. Her writings about corruption and graft got her into hot water – bringing her harassment and ominous threats, she said – but despite her family's fears, she continued writing..."I started receiving death threats in 2003...I have received many threats by phone since then."
Economic and Military Pressures on Iran Escalate Global Tensions
Submitted on January 18, 2012By Bill Van Auken - 18 January 2012
Bordering both Iraq and Afghanistan and with significant influence in both countries, Iran has become an increasing preoccupation of US foreign policy amid the US military withdrawal from Iraq and the pending draw-down of US troops from Afghanistan. Tehran has opposed US efforts to establish a permanent military presence in both countries, while seeking to wrest control of the distribution of energy resources from US hands.
Obama Rejects Oilsands Pipeline from Canada
Submitted on January 18, 201218 January 2012 - Al Jazeera
US President Barack Obama has rejected the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, saying he could not vouch for its safety by a deadline despite intense election-year pressure...The rival Republican Party had forced Obama to make a decision on whether to approve the 2,700 km route through the Great Plains to Texas, forcing him to choose between environmentalists and industry.
Israel Planning Major Gaza War
Submitted on January 18, 2012Israel already threatens war on Iran. It's also involved with Washington, Turkey, Jordan, and other rogue Arab states behind Syria's externally generated insurgency. Gaza is also threatened.
Sadism in the Cell: Mumia Abu-Jamal Still in the Hole Thanks to Vindictive Prison System
Submitted on January 18, 2012By LINN WASHINGTON, Jr. - Counterpunch
Those intent on tormenting now ex-death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal have done it again, this time perhaps even exceeding their past efforts to painfully harass this man widely perceived as a political prisoner...The latest punitive slap involves Pennsylvania prison authorities throwing Abu-Jamal into “Administrative Custody”...The draconian constraints of AC placement surpass the harsh restrictions of the death row isolation Abu-Jamal has endured for over a quarter century.
Wikipedia Shuts Down to Protest Censorship Bills
Submitted on January 18, 2012By Andre Damon - WSWS
Wikipedia, the free on-line encyclopedia, is shutting down for 24 hours today to protest internet censorship bills currently being considered by the US Congress...The protest is aimed against two bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), currently under consideration in the US House of Representatives, and its counterpart in the Senate, the Protect IP Act (PIPA). The laws would increase the government’s power over the Internet and its ability to shut down sites in the name of enforcing copyright law.
Muhammad Ali at 70: The Power to Knock Down Prison Walls
Submitted on January 18, 2012By Dave Zirin - January 18, 2012
Muhammad Ali's brilliance was not that he was an antiwar prophet. He wasn't Malcolm X in boxing gloves, debating foreign policy between rounds, jabbing his hands and then saying, "So how about that Cuban missile crisis"...Ali understood that there was justice and injustice, right and wrong. He knew that not taking a stand could be as political a statement as taking one.
Toronto Police Crack Heads as Major Budget Cuts Reversed [Video]
Submitted on January 18, 2012By Justin Saunders - Toronto Media Co-op
Approximately two hundred people were in chambers for the vote; almost ten times that number remained outside, prevented from entering by a line of police officers mixed with City Hall security. Attempts to enter the building for the vote were met with violence, as a number of individuals were hit and pepper sprayed. A small horse-mounted riot squad moved on the crowd. Several arrests were made, people were beaten and choked, and an elderly man was thrown to the ground. At least one person was taken to...hospital.
Mitt Romney's Hard-Right Agenda
Submitted on January 17, 2012Romney represents wealth, power and more war.
Abusing East Jerusalem Children
Submitted on January 17, 2012Israel tortures and abuses Palestinian children as young as 6.
Guantánamo: A Decade of U.S. Torture and Repression
Submitted on January 17, 2012By Bill Van Auken - 13 January 2012
The Bush administration established the detention center [at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba] with the explicit aim of holding prisoners as “enemy combatants”, a term invented to deny them any rights either under the US Constitution as criminal defendants or under the Geneva Conventions as prisoners of war. The Bush Justice Department ruled that the naval base lay outside the jurisdiction of any American court, and therefore those held there could seek no legal redress over their imprisonment.
Collateral Savages
Submitted on January 17, 2012By LINH DINH - Counterpunch
As I write this, the US is encircling, harassing and sabotaging Iran, yet few Americans seem alarmed that for the sake of oil, again, and that increasingly elusive economic growth, their leaders may kill millions and wreck this earth even further, but as their empire convulses and collapses, most Americans will find themselves reduced to the level of those they’ve been annihilating. They will discover that they, too, are just collateral savages.
Rahm Ramps Up the Repression: New Protest Rules Ahead of G-8/NATO Meetings in Chicago
Submitted on January 17, 2012By Matt Reichel - January 16, 2012
Ahead of the overlapping G-8 and NATO summits in Chicago scheduled for May 19th-21st, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has ramped up the repression of principled dissent in a city that has quite the history of it...“Rahmbo” has introduced two new ordinances that would overhaul the city’s existing laws dealing with protests and parades...[T]he measures include increased fines for resisting arrest, reduced opening hours for public parks, and much stricter parade regulations. Together, they appear to be an effort to stifle free speech under the guise of defending the public from unwieldy “anarchists.”
The 0 0 0 Sum Game of Business Unionism in Toronto
Submitted on January 17, 2012By David Bush - Toronto Media Co-op
Honestly I don’t get it...On the eve of Toronto’s budget battle [Canadian Union of Public Employees] 416, representing 6000 outside workers, publicly announced it would be willing to take a 3 year deal that would freeze wages. CUPE 416′s President Mark Ferguson justified the position by stating that the move will save money for services. The union leadership hopes the move to eat a three year wage freeze...will show the public that it is bargaining in good faith...On Monday the city said that the wage freeze was not good enough...In effect it wants to break the union.
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Submitted on January 16, 2012America is the only country sentencing juveniles to life without parole.
Sinai Torture Camps
Submitted on January 16, 2012Asylum seekers and refugees are abducted, tortured and held for ransom.
Georgia Republican Who Supports Random Drug Tests for Welfare Recipients Arrested for Drunk Driving
Submitted on January 16, 2012By Kristen Gwynne - January 16, 2012
[Georgia] State Representative Kip Smith failed a breathalyser test on Friday morning, leading police officers to charge him with a [Driving Under the Influence]...Smith is a co-sponsor of Georgia House Bill 464, which would require random drug testing for people receiving public assistance, and kick them out of programs if their urine comes up dirty.
Washington’s Crimes Against Iran
Submitted on January 16, 2012By Peter Symonds - WSWS
In reality, the killing of top nuclear scientists and the sabotage of facilities was never to stop or significantly hinder Iran’s nuclear programs, which Tehran has repeatedly insisted are for peaceful purposes. Rather, the murders are provocations calculated to incite retaliation by Tehran that can, in turn, be exploited to further demonise Iran and provide the pretext for war.
Balaclava! VMC Broadsheet Issue 35
Submitted on January 16, 2012Planned Regime Change in Iran and Syria
Submitted on January 16, 2012Plans are longstanding. Timing alone isn’t known. Signs suggest 2012. If sanctions, subversion, cyberwar, and targeted assassinations fail, expect hot conflict to follow.
Stephen Harper and the Big Oil Party of Canada
Submitted on January 16, 2012By Murray Dobbin - January 16, 2012
Stephen Harper muses about the evil being practiced by environmental and "other radical groups" as they engage in the democratic process provided to them...by his government...This follows Harper's repeated talk about the pipeline being necessary for the good of the country and the economy -- and his declaration that anyone who criticizes the tar sands or the pipeline is sabotaging the economy. He calls them "ideological." But ideology is meaning in the service of power -- and all of it to date is coming from Harper and Big Oil.
Criminalizing Dissent in America
Submitted on January 15, 2012America has a sordid repressive history. Among others, First Amendment rights are violated.
G20 Fallout Continues
Submitted on January 15, 2012By Shailagh Keaney - January 13, 2012
Though the G20 summit in Toronto is long over, communities organizing against austerity continue to feel the sting of state repression. Of the over 1,100 people arrested in conjunction with protests against the G20 meetings in Toronto, 66 still face legal battles, house arrest and jail time...On November 22, 11 of the 17 people facing a complex set of conspiracy charges had their charges dropped. As part of a plea bargain, the other six will serve more jail time.
Why Is Obama Sending 12,000 U.S. Troops to Libya?
Submitted on January 15, 2012By Cynthia McKinney - January 14th, 2012
Now, from Libya, reports are that even while the Misrata rebels...attempted to scale the petroleum platforms in Brega (an important oil town in Libya), they were annihilated by the Apache helicopters of their own NATO allies. A resistance Libyan doctor-become-journalist reported yesterday that all of the petroleum platforms are occupied by NATO and that warships occupy Libya’s ports. Photographs show Italian encampments in the desert with an announcement that the French are to follow.
South Africa: ANC Centenary a Display of Elite Power
Submitted on January 15, 2012By Ayanda Kota - January 15, 2012
The centenary celebrations of the African National Congress (ANC) are being used to persuade the people that a movement that has betrayed the people is our government; a government that obeys the people, instead of a government of the elites, for the elites and by the elites. It is a hugely expensive spectacle designed to drug us against our own oppression and disempowerment...[H]ere our politicians are not mere managers. They are...a predatory elite with their own class interests and they support capital and repress the people as long as they can get their own share.
Heading for More Middle East War
Submitted on January 14, 2012Washington plans regime change in Iran and Syria.
The U.S. and Its Middle East Proxies
Submitted on January 14, 2012By Chris Marsden - WSWS
The United States, Turkey and the Gulf States are actively preparing a military intervention in Syria. Russia’s security services claim to have concrete evidence of an imminent shift to a “Libyan scenario” of “direct military intervention,” beginning with establishing a no-fly zone — the very device that was used to sanction NATO’s bombardment of Libya.
Racist Israeli Supreme Court Decisions
Submitted on January 14, 2012Israeli Arabs are unwelcome, unwanted and persecuted.
G20 Defendant Mandy Hiscocks Statement to the Court
Submitted on January 14, 2012By Mandy Hiscocks - Friday, January 13, 2012
On Friday, January 13, 2012, Mandy was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
"...I don't have the power to change what happens in this legal system. I'm trying to indicate why I don't respect this legal system...The crown wants this sentence to be a deterrent. It won't be. Please take a second to have a good look around the room. When I get taken out of here do you think you'll have increased anyone's faith in the system?...I am certainly not deterred, I'm just angry."
Republican Thug Says He'd "Stomp a Mudhole" in Transgender People Who Came Near His Family in a Dressing Room
Submitted on January 14, 2012By Lauren Kelley - AlterNet
Today's award for bigotry and intolerance goes to one Richard Floyd, a [Republican] State Rep. from Tennessee who has introduced legislation that would ban transgender individuals from using public restrooms and dressing rooms that are not designated for the gender listed on their birth certificates. What's more, Rep. Floyd said in a recent interview that if he "was standing at a dressing room and my wife or one of my daughters was in the dressing room and a man tried to go in there" (by which he means a transgender person), he would "stomp a mudhole" in that person.
The "Liberal" Media and American Foreign Policy
Submitted on January 14, 2012By GREGORY HARMS - January 13-15, 2012
The New York Times’ coverage during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq...was largely in-step with the Bush II administration...Even when the United States is not about to invade and occupy a country, coverage of official Washington’s core interests is generally gracious...[T]he principal doctrines of US state power are usually treated gently, with criticism taking place within acceptable limitations: talk of tactical matters, mistakes, misjudgments, and lack of planning instead of fundamental issues like international law, human rights...and further inspiration of terrorist reprisal.
Canada to Revive Anti-Democratic "Counter-Terrorism" Powers
Submitted on January 14, 2012By Vic Neufeld - 14 January 2012
Although the press has accorded it little attention, the Conservatives have proclaimed their intention to push through legislation reviving the police’s power to detain terrorism suspects without charge and compel persons deemed of “interest” in a terrorism investigation to provide them information...In Canada, as in all the major capitalist countries, the terrorist attacks of September 2001 have been used to justify imperialist war abroad, a vast expansion of police powers and the national security apparatus, and the criminalization of dissent.
Caterpillar Destroys Homes from Ontario to Palestine: Standing Up to Corporate Bullies
Submitted on January 14, 2012By David Heap - January 13, 2012
Caterpillar has an ugly history of using strong-arm union-bashing tactics to roll back wages, close plants and move manufacturing to lower-wage jurisdictions. They also supply equipment, like the D9 armoured bulldozer, which is used by the Israeli army to destroy Palestinian homes. The corporation refuses to acknowledge responsibility for the thousands of homes demolished in the West Bank and Gaza using Caterpillar equipment.
Waging Covert War on Iran
Submitted on January 13, 2012Washington and Israel plan regime change in Iran and Syria. Israel wants regional supremacy. Washington wants global hegemony and control of the world's strategic resources.
UK Labour Party Commits to Long-Term Austerity
Submitted on January 13, 2012By Julie Hyland - WSWS
The packaging of austerity measures as a deficit-reduction strategy was always a fiction. Like governments across Europe, the [Conservative-Liberal Democrat] coalition is using the economic crisis caused by the speculative and criminal actions of the super-rich to fundamentally restructure class relations in line with the demands of the finance markets, banks and major corporations...Labour was always at one with this policy...[T]he de facto alliance between Labour, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats against the working class has been made explicit.
Why Harper Wants More Poor Canadians
Submitted on January 13, 2012By Donald Gutstein - January 13, 2012
Is Stephen Harper's goal for Canada the United States of today?...That would mean a nation in which somewhere between a half and a third of its citizens have fallen into poverty or are hovering just above, in low income. This according to latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Meanwhile, 400 Americans are worth more than $1 billion.
Ongoing Global Economic Crisis
Submitted on January 13, 2012Lower real median income, rising consumer debt, skyrocketing federal levels, banker bailouts, permanent wars, and other wrongheaded policies assure decline and perhaps collapse.
Free Speech Is On Thin Ice
Submitted on January 13, 2012By Amir Alwani
Potent News
January 13, 2012
Is anybody noticing all the flak journalists are getting for trying to do their jobs lately? Free speech of any kind seems to be under attack. It is fairly common now to see people getting arrested for video-taping police officers. To add insult to injury, SOPA/PIPA threatens free speech and spells RED ALERT to almost everyone willing to look at the facts. Do any of you think you'll get anywhere by submitting to any of this, sugar coating it, or looking the other way? Now is the time to make ourselves heard. When someone encroaches on our liberty we have a duty to fight back.
Israel's Draconian Infiltration Law
Submitted on January 13, 2012On January 10, Haaretz writer Jonathan Lis headlined, "Knesset passes (Law to Prevent Infiltration) that could put asylum seekers in jail without trial," saying: "The bill would make 'illegal' migrants and asylum seekers liable to jail, without trial or deportation, if caught staying in Israel for 'long periods.'"
Iranian Nuclear Scientist Assassinated in Tehran
Submitted on January 13, 2012By Alex Lantier - 12 January 2012
Iranian nuclear scientist Professor Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, was killed yesterday in a bomb blast in Tehran. Witnesses saw motorcyclists attach a magnetic explosive device to his car before the blast...It is widely acknowledged, even in the pages of the bourgeois press in the United States and allied countries, that the Western powers are mounting a covert terrorist campaign to destroy Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
How the Most Lopsided Trade in NBA History Explains the World
Submitted on January 13, 2012By Dave Zirin - January 12, 2012
When you study the rosters of all thirty National Basketball Association teams or even casually watch a game, you find yourself facing two stubborn facts: (1) every team possesses an international mosaic of talent; (2) the last All-Star produced by the high schools of New York City is 32 years old and just changed his name to Metta World Peace.
Haiti: Two Years Later
Submitted on January 12, 2012Haiti remains devastated two years after its catastrophic earthquake.
U.S. Prepares for War Against China
Submitted on January 12, 2012By Peter Symonds - WSWS
The Pentagon’s military reorientation to Asia goes hand-in-hand with an aggressive US diplomatic offensive to undercut growing Chinese economic and political influence throughout Asia and internationally. Powerful sections of the US political and foreign policy establishment backed Obama for the presidency in 2008 out of deep concern that China had gained while the US was mired in the Bush administration’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Next War on Washington's Agenda
Submitted on January 12, 2012By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS - January 12, 2012
Only the blind do not see that the US government is preparing to attack Iran. Washington has deployed missiles directed at Iran in its oil emirate puppet states, Oman and the [United Arab Emirates]...Most recently, Washington has deployed 9,000 US troops to Israel to participate in “war games” designed to test the US/Israeli air defense system. As Iran represents no threat unless attacked, Washington’s war preparations signal Washington’s intention to attack Iran.
Harper Thinks Fighting Pipelines Is Un-Canadian
Submitted on January 12, 2012By Tria Donaldson - rabble.ca
Prime Minister Harper has made it clear that he values promoting the tar sands over protecting the environment and investing in climate solutions...Perhaps worst of all, the Harper government has taken to suggesting that people who are concerned about climate change are un-Canadian, or "extremist." These are extremely irresponsible and harmful efforts to suppress dissent.
Unaccountable: Private Military Contractor Abuses
Submitted on January 11, 2012PMC Blackwater types are rogue killers.
First Montreal Police Killing of 2012 Raises Serious Concerns
Submitted on January 11, 2012By Tim McSorley - Coop Média de Montréal
Farshad Mohammadi...was shot by a Montreal police officer at Bonaventure metro station on the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 6...Preliminary reports are that Mohammadi had been sleeping at the metro station when he was approached by two police officers. It is unclear what happened next, but one of the officers suffered cuts to the face, neck and torso allegedly from Mohammadi...Eyewitnesses have said that Mohammadi was not threatening any others in the metro and appeared calm as he walked towards the metro exit.
After Iran, Venezuela?
Submitted on January 11, 2012By MIKE WHITNEY - January 10, 2012
“The build-up against Venezuela that began during the George W. Bush administration has rapidly accelerated under Obama.”
– Eva Golinger, author of The Chávez Code: Cracking US Intervention in Venezuela
Australian Labor Government Steps Up Secret Surveillance of Protests
Submitted on January 11, 2012By Mike Head - WSWS
Documents released...under freedom of information laws have shed light on the Labor government’s increasing use of the security apparatus...to monitor protesters and anyone else regarded as a threat to Australian corporate interests...As a result of the “counter-terrorism” legislation introduced over the past decade, [Australian Security Intelligence Organisation] and the [Australian Federal Police]...have extensive powers, including to secretly search premises, intercept telecommunications, hack into computers and detain people for interrogation or investigation.
Palestinian Liberation Requires Unity
Submitted on January 11, 2012Israel promotes divisions and violence.
ACTION ALERT: Transfer Mumia Abu-Jamal to General Population!
Submitted on January 11, 2012Last month, following the Philadelphia DA's decision to not hold a new sentencing hearing, Mumia Abu-Jamal was transferred to SCI Mahanoy, in Frackville, PA, where he as since been held in "Administrative Custody." His present conditions are actually worse than they were on death row at SCI Greene. Please join us in our call for Mumia to be immediately transferred into general population.
U.S. Renews Military Threat Against Iran
Submitted on January 11, 2012By Peter Symonds - 11 January 2012
The US administration responded to Iran’s announcement last weekend that its Fordo uranium enrichment plant was operational with renewed threats of military action...[US Defence Secretary Leon] Panetta is threatening a devastating US military attack on Iranian nuclear and military facilities under the pretext that Tehran is developing nuclear arms.
Systematic West Bank Settler Violence
Submitted on January 10, 2012Israeli settler violence is longstanding, troubling, and largely without accountability.
Israel Plans More Walls
Submitted on January 10, 2012Israel's walls are for land theft, not security.
Racist Discrimination Against Israeli Arabs
Submitted on January 10, 2012Israel discriminates against and persecutes non-Jewish citizens.
4 Creepy Ways Big Pharma Peddles its Drugs
Submitted on January 10, 2012By Martha Rosenberg - January 9, 2012
So, how does Pharma dupe us into using unsafe drugs? Today's drug ads, targeted directly to consumers since 1999, seem like they sell diseases and often cast women, children, the elderly and mentally ill in a bad light. But a quick look at ads before direct-to-consumer advertising (DTC) in medical journals shows that drug ads have always done so. It's just that patients didn't use to see them...Here are some of Pharma's most offensive ad campaigns, then and now.
Coercive Attrition and the Occupy Movement: Oakland’s Dirty War
Submitted on January 9, 2012By GEORGE CICCARIELLO-MAHER - January 09, 2012
Recent weeks have seen the Occupy Movement confronted with a war of attrition nationwide: as cold weather sets in, many cities have opted to wait out the movement, allowing excitement to fade and the movement to devour itself in the petty squabbles of disempowerment...But it is in Oakland more than anywhere else that friendly weather and sustained militancy have given rise to a different approach, one similarly premised on chipping away at the movement through attrition and fatigue but doing so in a far more repressive manner.
Illinois Teacher Commits Suicide Citing Bad Working Conditions
Submitted on January 9, 2012By Kristina Betinis - 9 January 2012
Mary Thorson, a 32-year-old physical education teacher at Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center in Ford Heights, Illinois, took her own life on November 24, 2011. The note she left at the scene of her death was devoted almost entirely to the conditions in the Ford Heights school district...More than 98 percent of students in [Ford Heights]...live below the poverty line...Thorson wrote of extreme hardships faced by the students, the school administration’s disregard for teachers, and the lack of resources available in the district.
Freedom: An Endangered Species in America
Submitted on January 9, 2012The U.S. is now a police state.
Welfare Cuts to Make 800,000 More UK Homes Unaffordable
Submitted on January 9, 2012By Dennis Moore - 9 January 2012
Welfare cuts will put a further 800,000 homes out of reach of those claiming housing benefit...This month saw the introduction of the capping of housing benefit payments that will leave many low-income families with a stark choice: either to pay the rent by cutting essential spending on food and heating, or move out of the home they are living in.
Marwan Barghouti: Prisoner of Conscience
Submitted on January 9, 2012Barghouti was illegally prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned.
The Margaret Thatcher Movie We Don't Need
Submitted on January 9, 2012By Laura Flanders - January 09, 2012
People can debate the successes and failures of “the Thatcher era” all they like. One thing’s for certain: we don’t need a new one, because the old one’s still here. The consequences of the [policies] Thatcher pioneered and made respectable...can be measured in public costs and private profits on both sides of the Atlantic. More damning, even, is the enduring cultural habit of denial...and the political practice of silence — shutting the problem people up.
Obama's New Military Strategy
Submitted on January 8, 2012Obama's January 5 Pentagon news conference reeked of duplicity like all his pronouncements. Stressing a leaner, more agile/flexible military, he said counter-terrorism, intelligence and cyber-warfare will be emphasized without sacrificing America's superiority against global enemies. So will subversion, destabilization, drone killings, other targeted assassinations, global state terrorism, and permanent war.
The Neo-Con Propaganda Machine Pushing "Regime Change" in Syria
Submitted on January 8, 2012By AISLING BYRNE - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
What we are seeing in Syria is a deliberate and calculated campaign to bring down the Assad government so as to replace it with a regime “more compatible” with US interests in the region...Not for the first time are we seeing a close alliance between US/British neo-cons with Islamists...working together to bring about regime change in an “enemy” state.
Convictions for 1993 Racist Murder Used to Exonerate UK Police
Submitted on January 8, 2012By Julie Hyland - WSWS
Gary Dobson and David Norris were sentenced this week to 15 and 14 years in prison respectively for the racist killing of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence in Eltham, south east London on April 22, 1993...The Metropolitan [London] Police, the judiciary, media and the political establishment proclaim as one that justice has finally been done. Their self-congratulation is not only nauseating, but also misleading.
Libyan Violence and Instability
Submitted on January 8, 2012NATO's killing machine ravaged a nonbelligerent country posing no threat. Violence followed stability.
Targeting Journalists Covering OWS Protests
Submitted on January 8, 2012Journalists are singled out and targeted and have been harassed, arrested, handcuffed, and beaten for doing their job.
The U.S. National Defense Authorization Act: Why Now?
Submitted on January 8, 2012By Marti Hiken and Luke Hiken - January 7th, 2012
Barack Obama just signed into law one of the most repressive and right-wing pieces of legislation ever passed in the history of the country: the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It allows the military...to determine who is a “terrorist” and to detain that person in prison, indefinitely, without trial, under its jurisdiction. It makes no difference whether the person is a U.S. citizen or a foreign “enemy combatant.”
Fallujah Babies: Doctors and Residents Blame U.S. Weapons for Catastrophic Levels of Birth Defects in Newborns
Submitted on January 8, 2012By Dahr Jamail - 06 Jan 2012
While the US military has formally withdrawn from Iraq, doctors and residents of Fallujah are blaming weapons like depleted uranium and white phosphorous used during two devastating US attacks on Fallujah in 2004 for what are being described as "catastrophic" levels of birth defects and abnormalities..."We have all kinds of defects now, ranging from congenital heart disease to severe physical abnormalities, both in numbers you cannot imagine..."
NGOs in India
Submitted on January 8, 2012By Girish Mishra - Znet
It is to be noted that those who run NGOs are, by and large, leading comfortable [lives], frequently hopping from one place to the other by air and staying in luxurious hotels. People at large are just a façade to hide their connections with [Multinational Corporations] and international organizations, controlled by Western governments. While, never raising even a small finger against the corporations and imperialists, they always try to denigrate elected governments, parliamentary systems and political parties.
Why We Can't Trust Stephen Harper's History of the War of 1812
Submitted on January 8, 2012By Derrick O'Keefe - January 6, 2012
Over the next few years, the Harper government will spend tens of millions of dollars celebrating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812...[The] hype about a war fought 200 years ago is in part designed to reinforce a false image of consensus in Canada today. In this way Harper's War of 1812 obscures the reality of Harper's political and resource wars of 2012.
Canada's Tough on Crime Agenda and its Immediate Effects
Submitted on January 7, 2012By Nicole Kish - Toronto Media Co-op
A regression is occurring within our country. The Canadian judicial system is reverting to a “tough on crime” mentality...This is being done in the name of safety and security within society. Yet for all the claims these approaches make, what can factually be said for a judicial system that is “tough on crime”?...Unfortunately, one of the most problematic issues with the implementation of such judicial actions is its focus on the immediate, short term results. As history has informed us, that which offers the most stark and promising immediate result often bares adverse, if not dangerous, consequences down the line.
Obama Unveils War Strategy Focused on China
Submitted on January 7, 2012By Bill Van Auken - 7 January 2012
The military strategy unveiled by President Barack Obama Thursday keeps massive spending on the US war machine largely intact, while shifting its focus decisively toward China...The guidance calls for a fundamental re-orientation of American military power toward the Asia-Pacific region, while affirming its commitment to maintaining US military control over the oil-rich Persian Gulf.
Ron Paul's Strange Bedfellows
Submitted on January 7, 2012By Katha Pollitt - January 07, 2012
In a Ron Paul America, there would be no environmental protection, no Social Security, no Medicaid or Medicare, no help for the poor, no public education, no civil rights laws, no anti-discrimination law, no Americans With Disabilities Act, no laws ensuring the safety of food or drugs or consumer products, no workers’ rights...In Ron Paul’s America, if you weren’t prudent enough or wealthy enough to buy private [health-care] insurance...you find a charity or die.
State Files Appeal of G20 Defendant Ryan Rainville's Sentence
Submitted on January 6, 2012January 6, 2012 - Toronto Media Co-op
On December 20th 2011, a member of the G20 Investigative Team came to his home at Sagatay Men's Residence to serve [Ryan Rainville] with an appeal of his sentence. The implication of this action is that his sentence is too light. It is clear that Ryan’s pride in his convictions and anarchist values have led them to target him in an attempt to send a clear message to other anarchists, that our politics and bodies will be criminalized if we do not fall in line.
Family of Slain Texas Teen Condemns Police Shooting
Submitted on January 6, 2012By Kate Randall - WSWS
The police account of the sniper-style shooting sounds like the taking down of a terror suspect. According to police radio recordings referred to by the interim police chief, police entered the school and shouted that they saw the boy with what appeared to be a firearm. A police officer yells, “Take him out!” and then the sound of fired shots reverberates on the radio call. An officer then repeats, “Subject shot.”
Palestinian Children Oppressively Detained in Isolation
Submitted on January 6, 2012Israel frequently isolates adults and children, notably Palestinians. It spurns all international laws with impunity, including those pertaining to war, occupation, and fundamental humanitarian and human rights.
7 Reasons the Mental Health Industry Is a Threat to Our Sanity
Submitted on January 6, 2012By Bruce E. Levine - January 6, 2012
The majority of psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals “go along to get along” and maintain a status quo that includes drug company corruption, pseudo-scientific research and a “standard of care” that is routinely damaging and occasionally kills young children...[T]he mental health profession not only has financial value for drug companies but it has political value for those at the top of societal hierarchies who want to retain the status quo.
Money Power Runs America
Submitted on January 6, 2012Wall Street does it by controlling money, credit and debt, as well as manipulating markets for private enrichment. House and Senate millionaires do it their way for greater wealth, privilege, power and status.
Crackpot Anti-Islam Activists, "Serial Fabricators" and the Tale of Iran and 9/11
Submitted on January 6, 2012By Gareth Porter - Thursday 29 December 2011
Behind a mysterious December 22 Associated Press story about "finding of fact" by a District judge in Manhattan...that Iran assisted al Qaeda in the planning of the 9/11 attacks is a tapestry of recycled fabrications and distortions of fact from a bizarre cast of characters...But in the world of the right-wing Islam-hating extremists and others pushing for confrontation with Iran, reality is no obstacle to spinning tales of secret Iranian assistance to al Qaeda.
Toronto's Struggle to Secure a Safe Injection Site
Submitted on January 6, 2012By Rahul Kalvapalle - January 6, 2012
"The current federal government ranks moral position and view of the world much higher than scientific evidence...This government is prepared to see people die in order to preserve and implement its ideological viewpoint, while completely ignoring scientific evidence."
- Dr. Philip Berger, chief of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital
Remarks on the Crisis 2010 — The Next Lesson: The Agenda of the Crisis-Competition of Nations
Submitted on January 5, 2012Since its beginnings in the markets for American mortgages, the great financial crisis has gone on for over three years now, and for the moment, those in charge are rather satisfied with themselves...On the other hand, that mustn’t fool anybody into thinking that the crisis is “already” over.
Killing Kids American-Style
Submitted on January 5, 2012By DAVE LINDORFF - January 05, 2012
Apparently for Americans murdering young Iraqi boys and civilians in general is no big deal...The same distorted morality has been used to justify attacks against the native Americans, the Vietnamese, El Salvadorans, and the Afghans...These people have been dehumanized, their God-given right to self-defense has been delegitimized, their resistance has been re-framed as terrorism, and US soldiers have been sent to kill them.
Cops in Texas Kill 15 Year-Old Student at School
Submitted on January 5, 2012By John Burton - WSWS
Two police officers armed with rifles shot 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez shortly after the school day began at 8 a.m. on Wednesday at Cummings Middle School in Brownsville, Texas...Police radio transmissions confirm that the police fired shortly after arriving at the school. The fatal shot hit the boy in the back of the head. There is also reported to be an entrance wound in the side of the chest.
Obama's America: Tyranny and Permanent War
Submitted on January 4, 2012Obama plans permanent war and homeland repression.
2012 Opens with Mounting War Threat in Persian Gulf
Submitted on January 4, 2012By Peter Symonds - 4 January 2012
The year begins with the looming threat of a new American war, this time against Iran. In the latest sharp exchange of words, the US yesterday brushed aside an Iranian warning that the American aircraft carrier, USS John C. Stennis should not return to the Persian Gulf as it constitutes a threat to Iran...The US and the European Union have deliberately raised tensions in the Gulf with further economic sanctions that could cripple the already weakened Iranian economy.
CSIS and Me: What First Nation Activities Are NOT Considered a Potential Threat to Canada?
Submitted on January 4, 2012By Pamela Palmater - rabble.ca
If Canada's national security laws permit such broad surveillance of our activities -- then my question is what First Nation activities are NOT considered a potential threat to Canada? I would like to know how much money across all federal departments are allocated to spying on First Nations people? I would also like to compare that to the costs to provide housing, water and basic necessities of life to First Nations in need. I am guessing that I would not be entitled to this information either.
No Regrets: G20 Political Prisoner Erik Lankin on the Legal System and Jail Rebellions [Audio]
Submitted on January 4, 2012Ratcheting Up Middle East Tensions
Submitted on January 4, 2012Post-9/11, Washington's aggression created a Middle East cauldron. As a result, it's been on the boil. Things ahead look worse. Obama and key NATO allies threaten the entire region. In 2012, expect continued destructive violence.
Why Do Men's Magazines Sound Like Rapists?
Submitted on January 4, 2012By Anna Clark - January 4, 2012
Descriptions of women from convicted rapists and from magazines targeting young men in Britain – “lads’ mags” – are indistinguishable, according to a new study slated for publication in the British Journal of Psychology. Researchers...name this as the magazines’ dangerous normalization of “extreme sexist views by presenting those views in a mainstream context.”
Seeking U.S.-Style Wage Cuts: Caterpillar Locks Out Workers in Ontario
Submitted on January 4, 2012By Carl Bronski - WSWS
Four hundred and twenty-five workers were locked out of the [Caterpillar] Electro-Motive Diesel plant in London, Ontario Sunday night, shortly after they voted overwhelmingly to authorize strike action unless management withdrew unprecedented concession demands...The locomotive producer...has demanded a 55 percent pay cut, the elimination of the current pension plan and a reduction in overtime rates...The wage reduction alone would reduce the locomotive workers’ pay from $35 to just $16.50 per hour.
Crisis Conditions Grip Eurozone
Submitted on January 3, 2012From inception, the euro system was doomed to fail.
Israeli Government Mounts Major Attack on Democratic Rights
Submitted on January 3, 2012By Danny Richardson - 3 January 2012
Benyamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition has initiated legislation into the Knesset aimed at stifling dissent and criticism of the ruling elite, curbing freedom of speech, and limiting the powers of the judiciary...The measures are flagrant attacks on the democratic rights of the Palestinians living in the territories illegally occupied by Israel since 1967, Israel’s Palestinian citizens and Jewish Israelis alike.
Eleven No One Is Illegal Highlights from 2011
Submitted on January 3, 2012January 2nd, 2012 - No One Is Illegal-Coast Salish Territories/Vancouver
Thank you to our friends, allies, and supporters whom we stood alongside in 2011. We are inspired by the global uprisings this past year and we look forward to rising together in yet another year of struggle and liberation – till every wall and fence falls, and all prisons and sweatshops are abolished.
Care for the Elderly Faces Collapse in UK
Submitted on January 3, 2012By Dennis Moore - WSWS
Research...has revealed a complete lack of social care for the elderly in the UK, due to large-scale cuts. The number of older people requiring care but receiving nothing will reach almost 900,000 in 2012, rising to 1 million by 2015...Around half a million elderly and vulnerable people have to meet soaring costs to pay for basic care and support in their own homes. In some areas this figure is as high as £10,000 a year, with councils increasing charges for bathing, cleaning and help with shopping.
State of Human Rights in Israel
Submitted on January 3, 2012Political, religious, and other extremists threaten freedom in Israel. They dominate its Knesset and political Washington dangerously. Their out-of-control agenda puts humanity at risk. Stopping them is job one.
New Years Noise Demo at Burnaby Youth Detention Centre
Submitted on January 3, 2012January 2, 2012 - Vancouver Media Co-op
In the early hours of dusk on New Years Eve, anarchists marched on the Burnaby Youth Detention Centre to show those on the inside are not forgotten by those on the outside...As the screws looked on smirking, our chant followed: "SCREWS, PIGS, MURDERERS!"
8 Republican Moments That Would Make Jesus Weep
Submitted on January 3, 2012By Brad Reed - AlterNet
...[Y]ou have to wonder watching some of the Republican debates and press conferences if the GOP hopefuls have actually read the New Testament. Say what you will about Jesus, but he didn’t seem like the sort of guy who would support showering rich people with tax cuts, gutting social programs for the poor and middle-class, or launching multiple wars with Middle Eastern countries. Yet these are the sorts of things that his purported acolytes have been endorsing throughout the year, all the while claiming to be Jesus’ number-one fan in the whole world.
Escalating Anti-Iranian Tensions
Submitted on January 2, 2012Whether or not anti-Iranian rhetoric, saber rattling, sanctions, other policy measures, and recent events signal war isn't known. Growing dangers though mount.
Imperialism and the "Anti-Imperialism of the Fools"
Submitted on January 2, 2012By James Petras - Dissident Voice
The official spokespeople of empire publicize real and fabricated atrocities of their imperial rivals, and highlight the plight of the colonized victims. The corporate elite and the hard-line militarists demand military action to protect property, or to seize strategic resources...Sectors of the Left join the chorus and...plead for the imperial powers to “arm the people to liberate themselves”...By lending moral support and a veneer of respectability to the imperial war...the progressives become the prototype of the “anti-imperialism of the fools”.
Obama's New Year Resolution: More Middle East War
Submitted on January 2, 2012Obama is ravaging the world one country at a time.
A Brother With a Furious Mind: David Gilbert's "Love and Struggle"
Submitted on January 2, 2012By RON JACOBS - Counterpunch
In 1981, a group of revolutionaries robbed a Brink’s armored truck near Nyack, NY. In the ensuing confusion and attempt to flee, three people died from gunfire. A couple days later, one of the revolutionaries was killed by law enforcement...One of those members was former Weather Underground member David Gilbert. Gilbert is currently serving a sentence of 75 years to life in the New York State prison system.
Arab League Pathetic, Works as West's NGO [Video]
Submitted on January 2, 2012January 02, 2012 - Znet
Middle East expert Tariq Ali speaks on Russia Today about Syria and the Arab League.
Online Privacy and the Police
Submitted on January 1, 2012By Kimberly Croswell - December 23, 2011
It won’t be long before Canadian privacy laws regarding telecommunications come under attack again. These laws apply to technologies everyone relies on — from cell phones to the Internet. And as seen before, the federal government is likely to soon change them in a push towards facilitating on-line surveillance of individuals’ lives. If the government succeeds, it would mean on-line monitoring could be done without a warrant and other impingements on Canadians’ rights to privacy.
Appalling Bahraini Prison Conditions and Treatment
Submitted on January 1, 2012With Washington's approval, the Bahraini monarchy is brutalizing its people.
U.S. Unions Assist Corporations in Wage-Cutting Campaign
Submitted on January 1, 2012By Joseph Kishore - WSWS
The lead article in Friday’s New York Times business section...praises the role of the US trade unions, in alliance with corporate management and the Obama administration, in implementing an historically unprecedented attack on the wages of US manufacturing workers...The corporate and union executives use the same language in insisting that workers have no choice but to accept poverty-level wages.
The Threat of War Against Iran and Syria is Real
Submitted on January 1, 2012By Shamus Cooke - January 01, 2012
For those who think that the United States wouldn't possibly instigate another war in the Middle East, think again. Empowered by his "success" in the bombing of Libya and consequent assassination of Muammar Qaddafi, Obama is now seeking to use the exact same strategy against Syria, while using alarming military threats against Iran. In both cases the U.S. is creating the conditions for war in a region that is already boiling over from decades of U.S. backed dictators combined with past U.S. military aggression.
Israel v. Palestine in 2012
Submitted on December 31, 2011Israeli state terror to continue in 2012 and possibly worsen.
2011: The Year I Learned to Hate College Football
Submitted on December 31, 2011By Dave Zirin - December 31, 2011
In a decade of sports writing, I've always used a very basic framework: don't reject sports, reclaim it. In other words, no matter how greedy, hateful, or ugly sports become, you fight for it to change...That’s been my framework, until now. This weekend marks the pinnacle of the college football season. For more than 25 years...I’ve tuned in...But not this weekend, and barring a major change, I’m never watching again.
Ron Paul's Anti-Progressive Agenda
Submitted on December 31, 2011Compared to a rogue's gallery of Republican aspirants, supporters claim Ron Paul looks good by comparison. Look again and think carefully about America in his hands.
UK Occupier Kept Off Flight Home for Christmas for Carrying "Anarchist" Literature
Submitted on December 31, 2011By Joshua Holland - December 30, 2011
A protester associated with Occupy London was barred from boarding his flight home to Malaga [Spain] for Christmas because he was carrying "anarchist" literature...The demonstrator was kept off the flight because the pilot worried that he would distribute literature and "upset" other passengers.
Saudi Arabian State Terror
Submitted on December 31, 2011Saudi Arabia's absolute monarchical rule is despotic, lawless and brutal. It's a police state practicing state terrorism internally and regionally. It's also Washington's main Middle East ally after Israel.
U.S. Threatens War in the Persian Gulf
Submitted on December 31, 2011By Peter Symonds - WSWS
The Obama administration’s bellicose stance towards Iran is setting the stage for a dangerous slide towards war in the Persian Gulf. Having provoked Tehran with legislation for what amounts to an oil embargo, the US is threatening Iran with military action if it retaliates by shutting down the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Welfare "Reform" Laws Deepening and Perpetuating Poverty
Submitted on December 30, 2011By Sherwood Ross - Znet Commentary
Since 1996, politicians have bragged about the success of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)...“If kicking low-income children and their families off welfare is the measure, than TANF was a huge success”...TANF’s mantra that “any job is a good job” put even make-work jobs ahead of education. “Tens of thousands of low-income mothers were made to quit college to do up to 35 hours per week of unpaid ‘workfare’...sweeping streets, picking up trash in parks and cleaning public restrooms in exchange for benefits as low as $240 a month.”
Agitation From Above: Politicians and the Media Agitate the Citizens in the Right Way for the State's Crisis Policy
Submitted on December 30, 2011How the people should mentally cope with the crisis which they are made responsible for in practice.
Gaza: Remembering Cast Lead
Submitted on December 29, 2011December 27 marks the third anniversary of Israel's lawless war on Gaza. Without provocation, three weeks of terror bombing and invasion devastated the Strip.
In a Land of Facades, Mark the First Signs of an Indian Spring
Submitted on December 29, 2011By John Pilger - Znet Commentary
India’s ascent to “new world power” is both true and...“false reality”. Despite a growth rate of 6.9 per cent and prosperity for some, more Indians than ever are living in poverty than anywhere on earth, including a third of all malnourished children. Save the Children says that every year two million infants under the age of five die.
Obama Year Three: Continuing His Rogue Agenda
Submitted on December 28, 2011Across the board on domestic and foreign issues, Obama has governed to the right of George Bush. He's waged multiple imperial wars, plans others, looted the nation's wealth, wrecked the economy, consigned growing millions to impoverishment without jobs, and institutionalized tyranny to target dissenters challenging political corruption, corporate crooks, or abuse of power lawlessness.
Low Friends in High Places: Triad of Business, Cops and Politicians Attack Occupy
Submitted on December 28, 2011By CARL FINAMORE - December 27, 2011
A political campaign by San Francisco’s well-heeled “property owners” was launched to influence police and politicians to aggressively demobilize Occupy SF and to dismantle their encampments...Playing supporting roles was a noisy media chorus repeatedly echoing pretexts of various municipal health, park and police regulations that were allegedly being violated.
Are Psychiatrists Inventing Mental Illnesses to Feed Us More Pills?
Submitted on December 28, 2011“This has become a grassroots movement among mental health professionals, who are saying we already have a national problem with over-medication of children and the elderly, and we don’t want to exacerbate that...[I]t will create false epidemics where hundreds of thousands...who really are normal will be diagnosed with a mental disorder and given powerful psychiatric medications that have dangerous side effects...That is not tolerable.”
- David Elkins, professor emeritus at Pepperdine University and president of the Society for Humanistic Psychology
Militarized Mining in Mexico
Submitted on December 27, 2011By Dawn Paley - December 12, 2011
...Dante Valdez Jiminez was giving a teacher training class in an elementary school in Madera...But before he got through his lecture, he was interrupted by a group of 30 men...Valdez was savagely beaten in front of his students. While they beat him, his attackers yelled that he should keep his nose out of other people's business...The attack was political: Valdez is known for his work against Minefinders, a Vancouver-based company that operates an open-pit gold mine near Madera.
Netanyahu Rejects Peace
Submitted on December 27, 2011Sham Israeli peace negotiations were stillborn from inception. Writer Henry Siegman once called them "the most spectacular deception in modern diplomatic history." Netanyahu once said they're "a waste of time." Previous Israeli officials called occupation and status quo conditions "permanent."
Remarks on the Crisis 2010 — The Next Lesson: The Agenda of the Crisis-Competition of Nations
Submitted on December 27, 2011What the states are putting into practice at the moment is a model case of the competition of nations in a crisis — and to that extent, it is at the same time a lesson about the economic might of political powers and its limitations.
UK Police to Use Live Rounds, Plastic Bullets and Water Cannon in Future Riots
Submitted on December 27, 2011By Robert Stevens - 27 December 2011
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has recommended that police should be able to use water cannon, rubber bullets and live firearms during any future UK riots...A central consideration of the HMIC in making its recommendations is that the necessary tools of state repression be in place for the Olympic Games, which are to be held in London in the summer of next year.
Israel's Repressive Permit System
Submitted on December 27, 2011Repressive Israeli occupation is worse than South African apartheid. It's a sophisticated form of social, economic, political and racial discrimination, strangulation, and genocide.
Manning Prosecution Lays Basis for Terror Charge Against WikiLeaks Founder Assange
Submitted on December 26, 2011By Naomi Spencer - 24 December 2011
The closing arguments of [the prosecution] make clear that the United States government is seeking to use its prosecution of Manning...to lay the basis for extraditing Assange to the US and either prosecuting him as a terrorist or locking him away indefinitely in a military prison without any recourse to the courts or due process.
Spoiling for a Fight with Syria and Iran
Submitted on December 26, 2011Washington targets Syria and Iran for regime change.
Miraculous Holiday News: Refugee Released from Detention After Six Years!
Submitted on December 24, 2011December 23rd, 2011 - No One Is Illegal Vancouver Coast Salish Territories
We are thrilled to be able to share the news with you that Nader has been released from detention and his Pre-Removal Risk Assessment has been accepted!...Nader is a 46 year old Iranian refugee who had been detained and imprisoned by Canadian Border Services Agency since 2005. Nader spent over SIX years behind bars, without any substantive charges, under the jurisdiction of the Immigration Act.
Mostly Water Holiday Downtime
Submitted on December 24, 2011Mostly Water will be taking a bit of a break over the holiday season and wishes everyone a radical season's greetings!
Holiday Season Hypocrisy
Submitted on December 24, 2011Beginning the day after Thanksgiving, the holiday season involves obsessive consumerism.
War on Venezuela: Washington’s False Accusations Against the Chavez Government
Submitted on December 24, 2011By Eva Golinger - December 24, 2011
Ever since the US-supported coup attempt against President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela failed in April 2002, Washington has been pursuing a variety of strategies to remove the overwhelmingly popular South American head of state from power. Multi-million-dollar funding to anti-Chavez groups in Venezuela...has increased exponentially over the past ten years, as has direct political support through advisors, strategists and consultants - all aiming to help an unpopular and outdated opposition rise to power.
Fairytale of New York [Video]
Submitted on December 24, 2011For those who celebrate Christmas (and even for those who don't) here is the Christmas classic "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues and the late Kirsty McColl. Enjoy!
Canadian Imperialism Preparing for War in the Middle East
Submitted on December 24, 2011By Graham Beverley - WSWS
Through a series of recent diplomatic and military measures, Canada has deepened its involvement in US preparations for war in the Middle East. These include: deploying a navy frigate off the coast of Syria, instituting new sanctions against Iran, and negotiating closer military cooperation with Israel...The eager participation of the Harper government in the intrigues of imperialist diplomacy in the Middle East...is but the latest manifestation of the Canadian bourgeoisie’s turn to militarist aggression.
Iraq: Moral Victory and Selective Body Counts
Submitted on December 23, 2011By Ramzy Baroud - Znet
...Iraq war victims would still be alive today were it not for former President George Bush and his band of neo-conservatives. Demonstrating a bizarre mix of evangelical ambition, cowboy bravado and the pathological desire to ‘keep Israel secure’, Iraq was destroyed over and over again...Numbers aside, the media spin-mongers are busy redrawing the parameters of the discussion through omission, lies and outright racism.
Deepening Global Financial Trouble
Submitted on December 23, 2011Desperate times call for desperate measures, especially for troubled Eurozone economies. Trapped under euro straight-jacket rules, everything tried so far failed, despite hooplas announcing each new plan.
Pepper Spraying Pigs Killed 62 Year-Old Man in Florida
Submitted on December 23, 2011By Kristen Gwynne - AlterNet
Nick Christie, 62, was arrested near Tampa for public intoxication about two and a half years ago. Concerned about Christie's recent erratic behavior, his wife had asked police to take her drunk husband to the hospital...rather than haul him off to jail. But Lee County Sheriff's Office police had another idea: They took Christie down to the station where they stripped him naked, covered his face with a spit mask, and paper sprayed him, until he died.
Thud of the Jackboot
Submitted on December 23, 2011By ALEXANDER COCKBURN - CounterPunch Weekend Edition
Too bad Kim Jong-il kicked the bucket last weekend...Kim would have been sustained by the news that President Obama is signing into law a bill that puts the United States not immeasurably far from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in contempt of constitutional protections for its citizens, or constitutional restraints upon criminal behavior sanctioned by the state...At least the DPRK doesn’t trumpet its status as the last best sanctuary of liberty. American politicians...do little else.
Windsor Cops Accused of Cover-Up in Beating of Doctor
Submitted on December 23, 2011December 23, 2011 - CBC News
Ontario's top police complaints watchdog says officers on the Windsor, Ontario police force tried to cover up a case of excessive force and false arrest...CBC News and the Windsor Star have obtained exclusive copies of reports by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director that chronicle a violent altercation — all caught on video — that has resulted in criminal charges against one officer, and numerous disciplinary charges against his colleagues, including a supervisor.
Grim Holiday Season Tidings
Submitted on December 22, 2011New global data show grim results. China's real estate was especially bleak. It reported 70% of its 70 largest cities experiencing home price deflation, up from 47% in October. Rarely ever does this bode well for economic prospects or banking.
Tarek Mehanna: Victimized by Racist Injustice
Submitted on December 22, 2011Post-9/11, Mehanna is one of hundreds of Muslim Americans victimized, vilified, and persecuted for their faith, ethnicity, prominence, activism, and at times charity.
Medical Self Defense and the Black Panther Party: An Interview with Alondra Nelson
Submitted on December 22, 2011By documenting the multifaceted health activism of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and critically assessing the BPP’s strategy and tactics in a respectful and appreciative manner, Body and Soul presents an analysis that is rare and badly needed in US colleges and universities today. In this interview, Nelson discusses how the Panthers’ legacy can both inspire and provide important strategic lessons for today’s new generation of political activists.
Canada's Secret Trial Cases Built on Torture
Submitted on December 22, 2011By Matthew Behrens - December 21, 2011
"It really makes me sick to think that when I was sitting in solitary confinement on secret allegations for almost eight years, the head of CSIS knew that my case, and the cases of the other men held on security certificate, were completely baseless, because they were likely based on information that came from torture...Once again, we see that CSIS uses secrecy to cover up what is not only politically embarrassing, but also clearly immoral and illegal."
- Former Secret Trial Detainee Hassan Almrei
Destroying the American Dream
Submitted on December 22, 2011Corporate greed and profits over people priorities launched nationwide OWS protests in hundreds of US cities for change. Mindless of growing public rage, political Washington keeps cutting vital social benefits needing increases during hard times.
Newt Gingrich Would "Instruct" CIA to "Hunt Down" Freed Palestinian Prisoners
Submitted on December 22, 2011By Ali Abunimah - December 11, 2011
After declaring that Palestinians are an “invented people,” US presidential hopeful and former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, has said that he would instruct the CIA to hunt down Palestinian prisoners released last October in an exchange negotiated by Israel and Hamas, presumably to kill them.
Iraq Lurches Toward Sectarian Warfare
Submitted on December 22, 2011By James Cogan - 22 December 2011
The Obama administration’s claims last week that US military occupation had bequeathed democracy to Iraq were disintegrating even before the last American troops left on Sunday...Just four days after the official withdrawal, the always tense relations between the Shiite- and Sunni-based factions within the country’s government have led to an open split along sectarian and geographical lines, raising the prospect of a civil war that could draw in neighbouring states or be exploited to justify the return of US forces.
Even School Children Are Being Pepper-Sprayed and Shocked with Tasers in the U.S.
Submitted on December 22, 2011By Rania Khalek - December 21, 2011
There is something truly disturbing about a society that seeks to control the behavior of schoolchildren through fear and violence, a tactic that harkens back to an era of paddle-bruised behinds and ruler-slapped wrists. Yet, some American school districts are pushing the boundaries of corporal punishment even further with the use of Tasers against unruly schoolchildren.
Christopher Hitchens, Angry White Guy
Submitted on December 22, 2011By Margaret Kimberley - Black Agenda Report
There was nothing witty, cute, or endearing about the late Christopher Hitchens, a racist to the core whose association with the Left served only to discredit it. “Beneath his mutterings against ‘Islamofascism’ he was nothing more than an angry white guy who wanted brown people to be conquered or dead.” A man of many prejudices but no real loyalties or principles, he flowed with the money.
Leading Canada's Public Health Care to the Free-Market Guillotine
Submitted on December 22, 2011By Stefan Christoff - rabble.ca
...[T]he Conservative proposal works to strip federal responsibility in crafting...coherent and sustainable health-care systems in Canada's provinces and territories. A clear move away from the flawed but important Canada Health Act and a political node to provincial governments already working to allocate federal health-care financing toward enhancing the corporate, for-profit sector role in delivering health-care, as already seen extensively in Alberta and Québec.
Political Washington Abolishes Due Process Protections
Submitted on December 21, 2011America heads toward full-blown tyranny.
Israeli Delegitimization
Submitted on December 21, 2011Under the UN Charter, other international law, and principles of sovereign equality, all states are equal. None are more or less legitimate than others.
What If Occupiers Armed Themselves?
Submitted on December 21, 2011By BRIAN J. FOLEY - Counterpunch
A lesson to be drawn...is that, unequivocally, we have a right wing government that’s supported by right wing media...If you’re right wing, you can protest all you like, in any way you like – apparently, the only way for you to get arrested is if you actually gun down a Member of Congress...But if you oppose the right wing government, even nonviolently, well, you’re dangerous.
The Politics of Suicide Prevention
Submitted on December 21, 2011By David Webb - Wednesday, 21 December 2011
The dehumanizing medicalisation of suffering...diminishes us all. It also contributes to the suicide toll. The most serious consequence of the assumption that suicide is caused by Depression...is that we then stop looking for the deeper causes of why some people choose to die. Instead, superficial, ineffective and often harmful medical interventions have become the first line of "treatment". The massive anti-depressant experiment of the last 20-30 years has been a demonstrable failure...and it's long overdue that we call an end to it.
On the Death of Václav Havel
Submitted on December 21, 2011By Peter Schwarz - WSWS
Havel was the kind of democrat who above all saw Stalinism as an obstacle to their own social advance, because they were denied the social status, wealth and prominence enjoyed by sections of the upper middle class in the West. He was largely oblivious to the fate of working people...Havel [was an] ideal instrument for the restoration of capitalism in Eastern Europe in 1989.
Our Friends are in Jail
Submitted on December 21, 2011By Syed Hussan - rabble.ca
Some people say I am so angry and upset because I know these people personally. Maybe...Thing is, you know these people too. If you've eaten at an activist event in Toronto in the last 18 months, you've eaten food that one of them has cooked. If you have seen any of the massive banners that OCAP and No One Is Illegal dropped between 2008 and 2010, then you have seen what these people can do...These are our friends, our comrades, our community.
Growing Hunger and Homelessness in America
Submitted on December 20, 2011Millions of Americans now endure protracted Depression conditions at a time half the population is either poor or low income. Long-term unemployment is unprecedented, and federal aid is being cut, not increased.
"Sheriff Joe Murdered My Brother": Inmate Tasered Until Brain Dead in Arpaio's Maricopa County
Submitted on December 20, 2011By Gabriela Garcia - December 20, 2011
Described as having “special needs,” [Ernest “Marty” Atencio] was arrested after he kicked a door and confronted a stranger...It is probable...that Mr. Atencio would have been found incompetent to stand trial or been given access to medical professionals...We’ll never know. Because Mr. Atencio was placed in one of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s infamous Maricopa County jails. And several hours later, he was rushed to the hospital, brain dead from excessive force.
North Chicago Police Beating Death Sparks Public Outcry
Submitted on December 20, 2011By Shane Feratu and Scott Martin - 20 December 2011
Over the past several years, the city of North Chicago, located 35 miles north of Chicago, Illinois, has seen a disturbing spike in police brutality. Recently, Darrin “Dagwood” Hanna, 45, was beaten and Tasered at his home on November 6 of this year. He died on November 13...Family said that Hanna was beaten so badly that he was not recognizable. His mother...identified her son by his feet.
Devil's Deposition: Penn State Coach Delayed Reporting Child Sex Abuse to Avoid Ruining Anyone's Weekend
Submitted on December 20, 2011By Dave Zirin - December 19, 2011
...[T]he happenings at Penn State require our collective vigilance. It matters not only because of the heinous nature of [Penn State coaching legend Jerry] Sandusky’s crimes. It matters because it’s a story about how Big Football, together with the Cult of Coach, created a company town in Happy Valley as venal as Homestead, Matewan, Ludlow or any of this country’s corners colonized by robber barons a century ago. It matters because these university company towns dot the national landscape, living by their own rules.
G20 Defendant Leah Henderson Sentenced to 10 Months in Prison
Submitted on December 20, 2011"Though I stand here being judged by you, I am accountable to more, that is beyond these walls...I am accountable to the indigenous communities whose lands we are on. To the earth who we’re daily assaulting with saws, and chemicals. To the elders in my life and to the generations yet to come...The laws that govern our societies are not laws of community, or laws of consensus, they are laws of oppression...I submit to your jails because today you hold many of the weapons, and many people under your spell. A day is coming when that will not be so."
- Leah Henderson, in her statement to the court
Must We Adore Vaclav Havel?
Submitted on December 20, 2011By Michael Parenti - Znet
No figure among the capitalist restorationists in the East has won more adulation from U.S. officials, media pundits, and academics than Vaclav Havel...The many left-leaning people who also admire Havel seem to have overlooked some things about him: his reactionary religious obscurantism, his undemocratic suppression of leftist opponents, and his profound dedication to economic inequality and unrestrained free-market capitalism.
The Death of Kim Jong-il
Submitted on December 20, 2011By Peter Symonds - 20 December 2011
Kim Jong-il headed an oppressive Stalinist regime that represented the interests not of the North Korean working class and peasantry, but those of a privileged bureaucratic elite. However, the chief responsibility for the perennial regional tensions lies with the aggressive policies of the US, which has repeatedly sought to destabilize North Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
37 Hours in Lock Up: Snatched for Photographing New York City Cops
Submitted on December 19, 2011By STANLEY ROGOUSKI - Counterpunch
My arrest, or, more accurately, my assault was personal...“Metal cuffs. Put the metal cuffs on this fucking guy.” Recovering from the initial shock, I realized that I was handcuffed to a chair with a row of 17 other people, 10 men and 7 women, under arrest for “criminal trespassing” and “resisting arrest.” Almost all of us were members of the Occupy Wall Street media team or independent photojournalists known by the police to be sympathetic to the Occupy movement.
Australian Activist Warns Against Jailing Refugees: Bill C-4's Doubtful and Ineffective Future
Submitted on December 19, 2011By Stephanie Law - December 16, 2011
The federal parliament is set to pass Bill C-4...which would impose a mandatory one-year detention on any person who arrives in Canada via unconventional means...Before the bill comes into effect, concrete evidence is scarce as to whether the proposed legislation would protect or punish refugees...Australia provides a relevant example. Since 1992, the country has practiced mandatory detention of asylum seekers who arrive by unconventional means.
Canada Leaves Kyoto Protocol for the Wrong Reasons
Submitted on December 19, 2011I'm not saying pollution doesn't exist and I'm not saying Peter Kent loves us. I'm saying that everybody better get acquainted with an age-old trick that should have been taught to all of us in school - problem, reaction, solution. For activists, truth seekers and awake people this formula is old news.
Imperialism and the Khmer Rouge Trials
Submitted on December 19, 2011By Mike Head - WSWS
A historic whitewash lies at the heart of the trials of former leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime currently underway in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh...Convened three decades after the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge reign of terror and mass murder, the UN-orchestrated proceedings are designed to bury the underlying responsibility for the Cambodian catastrophe — above all, that of United States imperialism.
Be Very Afraid: Stephen Harper is Inventing a New Canada
Submitted on December 19, 2011By Gerry Caplan - December 19, 2011
It's in the nature of true believers and ideologues to believe that any means to their sacred ends are justified. This makes them extremely dangerous people. It's also typical of such people that they're often motivated by unfathomable resentment and anger, a compulsion not just to better but to destroy their adversaries. These are good descriptions of Stephen Harper and those closest to him.
Ugly Israeli Realities Emerge
Submitted on December 18, 2011Among other concerns, repressive occupation and failure to advance peace talks equitably leave Israeli Arabs especially marginalized and at risk.
McJournalism: The Unbearable Lightness of Thomas Friedman
Submitted on December 18, 2011By Cyril Mychalejko - December 16th, 2011
"The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist. McDonald’s cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the designer of the U.S. Air Force F-15, and the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley’s technologies to flourish is called the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps."
- New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
Washington's Greater Middle East Agenda: War
Submitted on December 18, 2011Targeting the Middle East's rich oil and gas resources, Washington plans waring against the region one country at a time to replace independent regimes with client ones.
How Can We Promote Emotional and Mental Well-Being in the Context of Activist Communities and Political Actions?
Submitted on December 18, 2011By Graeme Bacque - Toronto Media Co-op
It has generally been the state’s practice to respond to extreme mental or emotional states by simply removing the person from public view to a locked place as rapidly as possible, utilizing coercive and at times outright violent measures to accomplish this...Sad to say, the tendency even among many activists has been to rely on conventional means that generally involve leaving it to the ‘professionals’ to address such issues, despite their complete, abject failure to do so in the past with any real compassion or respect for the individual.
Battlefield America: Is Gitmo in Your Future?
Submitted on December 18, 2011By Ray McGovern - December 4, 2011
Ambiguous but alarming new wording, which is tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and was just passed by the Senate, is reminiscent of the “extraordinary measures” introduced by the Nazis after they took power in 1933...And the relative lack of reaction so far calls to mind the oddly calm indifference with which most Germans watched the erosion of the rights that had been guaranteed by their own Constitution.
Israel to Free 550 Palestinian Prisoners
Submitted on December 18, 201118 Dec 2011 - Al Jazeera
Israel has prepared to release 550 Palestinian prisoners in the second and final phase of a swap with the Hamas organization that brought home an Israeli soldier after five years in captivity...Sunday's release will complete an Egyptian-brokered deal to exchange a total of 1,027 prisoners for Gilad Schalit, who...returned home in October when Israel freed the first batch of 477 prisoners.
Obama Approves Draconian Police State Law
Submitted on December 17, 2011Henceforth, anyone anywhere, including US citizens, may be indefinitely held without charge or trial, based solely on suspicions, spurious allegations or none at all.
Kristallnacht in Palestine
Submitted on December 17, 2011Virtually daily, Israeli security forces attack, kill, or injure Palestinian civilians with impunity. They also destroy their property by bombing, shelling, bulldozing and uprooting it.
Face-to-Face With the NYPD
Submitted on December 17, 2011By IBRAHIM DIALLO - December 16-18, 2011
New York’s Finest...have come under a lot of scrutiny since activists from the Occupy Wall Street Movement took to the streets of New York City...However, this only comes as a shock to those who never before had to deal with a police force inspired by a culture of brutality that encourages police officers to instill fear and contempt in those whom they are supposed to serve and protect...What Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly call the "best police force in the world"...has in fact been the greatest fear factor in many communities.
After Durban: We Must Pull the Emergency Brake Before the 1 Per Cent Drive Us Off the Cliff
Submitted on December 17, 2011By Derrick O'Keefe - December 16, 2011
The result of the 2011 Durban climate talks is that the big polluters have given themselves a few more years to fiddle while the world burns. They spin this by telling us that at Durban they agreed to a "roadmap" to a future agreement...But the map of the road agreed to at Durban leads only one place for humanity -- off the cliff.
On Being Spit Upon — Literally — by Christopher Hitchens
Submitted on December 17, 2011By Dave Zirin - December 16, 2011
Christopher Hitchens was a man of prodigious gifts, but in the end, he used those gifts to promote wars that produced a killing field in the Middle East. That, tragically, is his lasting legacy to the world, and no amount of flowery obituaries can change this stubborn fact.
Banker Occupation and Europain
Submitted on December 16, 2011Bankers rule the world. As a result, they have enormous influence over political, financial, and economic activity.
U.S. Backs Legalization of a Police State
Submitted on December 16, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
This piece of legislation enshrines in law the worst of the crimes carried out under the Bush administration and provides legal sanction for an American military-police state. The sweeping bipartisan support it received in both houses of Congress has provided definitive proof that there exists no constituency for the defense of democratic rights within the American political establishment and its two big business parties.
Punk is No Picnic in Indonesia
Submitted on December 16, 2011SchNEWS - 15th December 2011 | Issue 801
You might live in an area where the shop assistants...sport mohicans and traffic wardens have their nipples pierced...but there are still a few cultural backwaters where pink dreadlocks and a Crass T-Shirt are enough to provoke a backlash from the moral majority...One such place is the province of Banda Aceh – a semi-autonomous region of Indonesia.
Striking Workers Slaughtered in Kazakhstan
Submitted on December 16, 2011Friday, December 16, 2011 - Libcom
At a state run oil refinery in Kazakhstan, at least ten workers have been killed by police in violent clashes over wages, conditions, and the right to form independent political parties. Since the dispute has started the oil company has sacked over 1000 people for taking part.
Farewell to C.H.
Submitted on December 16, 2011By ALEXANDER COCKBURN - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
I can’t count the times, down the years, that after some new outrage friends would call me and ask, “What happened to Christopher Hitchens?”...I met him in New York in the early 1980s and all the long-term political and indeed personal traits were visible enough. I never thought of him as at all radical...In basic philosophical take he always seemed to me to hold as his central premise a profound belief in the therapeutic properties of capitalism and empire.
Is the Iraq War Actually Over?
Submitted on December 16, 2011By Danny Schechter - Znet
This savage war has long been deemed an embarrassment, except by the contractors who have made fortunes and the soldiers who are still being thanked for their "service" as they head home facing certain unemployment. Because of their frequent tours, many are nursing serious wounds, coping with mental problems and dealing with broken families. They are also victims of the conflict, but not to the same extent as more than a million Iraqis who seem to have been forgotten and ignored.
The Mass Incarceration Agenda in Canada: The View from Vancouver
Submitted on December 16, 2011By Aiyanas Ormond - December 15, 2011
The Conservative Omnibus Crime Bill (OCB) is the legislative component of the mass incarceration agenda in Canada. It will significantly increase the number of incarcerated people in Canada, at a huge cost...The OCB targets groups that are vulnerable to labeling and vilification: ‘drug dealers’, ‘terrorists’ and ‘human traffickers’. In reality the people who will fill the new jail spaces are the poor, Native folks already over-represented among incarcerated people, people who are addicted to drugs and criminalized immigrants and refugees.
Tea Party Founder Arrested for Taking Gun on an Airplane
Submitted on December 16, 2011By Kristen Gwynne - December 16, 2011
Mark J. Meckler, a founder of the Tea Party, was arrested Thursday morning at La Guardia Airport in New York after he tried to board a flight with a semi-automatic handgun and 19 rounds of 9-millimeter ammunition. He was charged with second degree possession of a concealed weapon.
"A Pervasive Culture of Discriminatory Bias": The Justice Model for Canada's Loony Right
Submitted on December 16, 2011By David J. Climenhaga - December 16, 2011
Never forget that the Edmonton Sun...sundry Tory politicians...and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation all think that what Canada needs is more systemic racism, abuse of power, retaliation against people who dare to exercise their right to criticize powerful officials and "unconstitutional policing"...All of them, at any rate, up to now have seldom missed an opportunity to sing the praises of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County [Arizona]...for his notoriously thuggish practices.
Masked in Gaza: The Untold History of Palestinian "Militancy"
Submitted on December 15, 2011By Ramzy Baroud - December 15th, 2011
The ‘militant’ has always been reported as an inexplicable irritant. At best, he served as a reminder, not of a poignant history that must be unearthed and understood, but of why Israel is, and will always remain, threatened by masked Palestinians. When a so-called ‘militant’ is brutally killed, little justification is offered. If any ‘militants’ respond to the killing, such retorts could possibly serve as a casus belli for an already planned Israeli military escalation.
Pig in Pennsylvania Tasers 14-Year-Old Girl in the Groin for Cursing and Resisting Arrest
Submitted on December 15, 2011By Rania Khalek - December 15, 2011
On September 29, Keshana Wilson, 14, was tasered in the groin while shoved against a parked car by Allentown, Pennsylvania police officer Jason Ammary, just outside her high school...Wilson’s mother has filed a lawsuit against the officer in U.S. District Court for using excessive force...As if electric shock weren’t enough to traumatize the young girl, Wilson was then arrested and detained for weeks.
Ireland: Don't Get Sick, Don't Get Old and Don't Be Young
Submitted on December 15, 2011By Lily Murphy - Znet
On December 6th, 2011, the Irish government announced a new and harsh austerity plan through a tight budget...Savage cuts were made to allowances for the disabled and lone parents while a fuel allowance for pensioners was also cut. The 2012 budget ensured one thing and one thing only: in Ireland the poor get poorer. The government declared that the aim of this budget was to rebuild the Irish economy and strengthen society, but the truth is that this vicious programme of deep cuts and high taxes will only serve to weaken society even more.
Obama Administration Backs Bill Authorizing Indefinite Military Detention of U.S. Citizens
Submitted on December 15, 2011By Joseph Kishore - 15 December 2011
The Obama administration declared Wednesday afternoon that it was abandoning its nominal threat to veto a military authorization bill that explicitly authorizes the indefinite military detention of anyone the federal government declares to be a terrorist or supporter, including US citizens...It marks a new stage in the collapse of the most basic democratic rights in the United States and the erection of the framework of a military-police state.
Startling New Evidence Shows U.S. Troops Helped Despotic Regimes Battle the Arab Spring Uprisings
Submitted on December 15, 2011By Nick Turse - AlterNet
As state security forces across the region cracked down on democratic dissent, the Pentagon also repeatedly dispatched American troops on training missions to allied militaries there. During more than 40 such operations...that sometimes lasted for weeks or months at a time, they taught Middle Eastern security forces the finer points of counter-insurgency, small unit tactics, intelligence gathering, and information operations -- skills crucial to defeating popular uprisings.
Nova Scotia NDP Premier Darrell Dexter's So-Called Trade Mission to Israel
Submitted on December 15, 2011By Miles Howe - Halifax Media Co-op
...[T]he public was treated to dribs and drabs of carefully-massaged media releases, while the whole stunt was taking place. A picture of a giddy Dexter, shovel in hand, planting a carob tree while wearing a [Jewish National Fund]-logo hat, for example, made the media rounds...The JNF presents itself as some kind of tree-planting outfit...however, they own about 13% of all of Israeli lands, and make a habit of only selling to individuals of Jewish heritage. They also operate as a strong-arm eviction force for Palestinians who just don't leave of their own accord.
Legislating Tyranny in America
Submitted on December 14, 2011Obama won't prosecute CIA torturers, Wall Street crooks, other corporate criminals, lawless war profiteers, or other venal high-level civilian or government officials. Instead, expect him to sign into law indefinite military detentions of US citizens allegedly associated with terrorist groups, with or without corroborating evidence.
5 Reasons to Put a "Donation to OCAP" On Your Holidays Wish-List
Submitted on December 14, 2011Wednesday, December 14, 2011 - Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
There’s a Grinch in Town, and His Name is Rob Ford!...Rob Ford doesn’t have a red nose like Rudolph. He has the long nose of a liar! During his campaign, he promised Torontonians that there would be no service cuts during his reign as mayor, but that soon proved to be a bold faced lie. On the chopping block already are libraries, childcare, unionized jobs for city workers, parks, community startup grants and museums.
Lawless Israeli Oppression in Palestine
Submitted on December 14, 2011On December 9, al-Nabi Saleh village residents protested peacefully against settlers stealing their land. At point blank range, an Israeli soldier fired a tear-gas canister directly at Mustafa Tamimi's head, killing him.
An Open Letter from America's Port Truck Drivers on Occupy the Ports
Submitted on December 14, 2011December 12, 2011 - Occupy Wall Street
We are the front-line workers who haul container rigs full of imported and exported goods to and from the docks and warehouses every day...We are inspired that a non-violent democratic movement that insists on basic economic fairness is capturing the hearts and minds of so many working people. Thank you “99 Per centers” for hearing our call for justice. We are humbled and overwhelmed by recent attention. Normally we are invisible.
The Iraq Withdrawal and the Continuing Eruption of U.S. Militarism
Submitted on December 14, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
In packaging the Iraqi troop withdrawal...as an end to war and fulfillment of his campaign promises, Obama is merely recycling the illusions he peddled in 2008. Then he pledged that his administration would represent a clean break with the criminal policies of the Bush administration. Nearly four years later, the US military is at war in more countries than under Bush, Guantanamo and its military trials, along with torture, continue, and the police-state measures imposed in the wake of September 11, 2001 have been substantially expanded.
An Open Letter to Newt Gingrich from a Black Kid Who Grew Up in a Poor Neighborhood
Submitted on December 14, 2011By Travon Free - December 5, 2011
I recently saw you stand up in front of a group of people and allow some of the most idiotic, unfounded, racist, and ignorant words pass your lips that I’ve ever heard...To have the audacity to say that poor kids...“have no habits of working and nobody around them who works” is not only an insult to me as a black man who grew up in one of those “really poor” neighborhoods you spoke of, but it’s an insult to my mother.
Racism 101: Criminal Charges Considered After College Basketball Brawl in Cincinnati
Submitted on December 14, 2011By Dave Zirin - December 14, 2011
Let’s start with the obvious fact that hockey brawls...don’t end with participants behind bars. There is a different reaction by the press, by a school’s administration and clearly by law enforcement when it’s young black men throwing the punches. This is a racist double standard that has the potential now to ruin the lives of the young men involved...Somewhere a toothless French Canadian on skates is breathing a sigh of relief he doesn’t play hoops in the city of Cincinnati.
The Haymarket Martyrs and Occupy Wall Street
Submitted on December 14, 2011By Charles Sullivan - Dissident Voice
On November 11, 1887 four great men, all of them anarchists, were hanged from a gallows erected inside Chicago’s Cook County Jail...The Haymarket martyrs...were accused of inciting violence against the Chicago police force that, acting at the behest of prominent businessmen, frequently beat and murdered unarmed strikers with impunity. No police officer was ever tried, much less convicted, for their crimes against workers attempting to democratize the workplace. This theme should sound a familiar refrain to modern protesters.
Occupied with Conspiracies? The Occupy Movement, Populist Anti-Elitism and the Conspiracy Theorists
Submitted on December 14, 2011By Spencer Sunshine - Znet
All progressive social movements have dark sides, but some are more prone to them than others. Occupy Wall Street and its spin-offs, with their populist, anti-elitist discourse (“We Are the 99%”) and focus on finance capital, have already attracted all kinds of unsavory friends: anti-semites, David Duke and White Nationalists, Oath Keepers, Tea Partiers, and followers of David Icke, Lyndon Larouche, and the Zeitgeist movement...
Hundreds of Riot Police Threaten Occupation of Illegal Freeway in Mexico City
Submitted on December 14, 2011By Eric Doherty - December 12, 2011
Early on Sunday morning...the Mayor of Mexico City sent hundreds of riot police into a working class neighbourhood to evict occupiers and ensure that work can proceed on his pet freeway project...Residents of the neighbourhood Magdalena Contreras along with supporters from the...(Broad Front Against the Western Superhighway and in Defense of the Environment) have mounted an occupation which has been ongoing for over a year.
Wrecking Europe to Fix It
Submitted on December 13, 2011From inception, Eurozone monetary union was an idea doomed to fail. Nonetheless, it was engineered fraudulently to look workable.
Critical Health Issues in Gaza
Submitted on December 13, 2011Since locked down and isolated by Israel, Gaza's experienced systemic crisis. Its health system especially was gravely harmed.
European Workers Face Austerity and Dictatorship
Submitted on December 13, 2011By Julie Hyland - WSWS
Little has been said about the implications of the measures agreed at last week’s European Union (EU) summit for the working class...This virtual silence on the implications of the inter-governmental treaty now being drawn up underscores the contempt of Europe’s media and ruling elite for working people. The treaty measures presage a massive destruction of jobs, living standards and social services on which millions depend, as all of Europe is transformed into one giant austerity zone.
We Hate the Niqab: Minister Kenney Protects "Canadian Values" from Muslim Immigrants
Submitted on December 13, 2011By Nick Day - rabble.ca
All I'm asking at this point is for one week to go by without another major gaffe of Conservative lunacy. Well, hopes be dashed! Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney announced today that "Muslim women" would henceforth be required to remove all face-covering garments before taking the citizenship oath...It doesn't take much to figure out the real rationale behind the new policy...[I]t's anti-Muslim racism.
Racism, Genocide and Business as Usual: The Republicans and the Palestinians
Submitted on December 13, 2011By ROBERT FANTINA - Counterpunch
As each election approaches, few candidates miss making a trek to worship at the altar of the American Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC)...The most recent pilgrim to this unholy site is Republican presidential candidate wannabe Newt Gingrich, serial adulterer, egomaniac and blow-hard extraordinaire.
The Pretext for a North American Homeland Security Perimeter
Submitted on December 13, 2011While the perimeter agreement is being sold as vital to the safety and prosperity of Canadians and Americans alike, there is little doubt that it will mean a trade-off between sovereignty and security. Any deal which gives the Department of Homeland Security more personal information poses a serious risk to privacy rights. As both countries move forward, perimeter security will be further defined and dominated by American interests.
Trial of Khmer Rouge Leaders Underway in Cambodia
Submitted on December 13, 2011By John Roberts - WSWS
The trial of three top leaders of the former Khmer Rouge regime began in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh last month, with the first evidence being presented last week...However, the political character of the court and trial has been clear from the outset. The [Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia] has been carefully contrived to convict the Khmer Rouge leaders while covering up the role of the major powers, which bear much of the responsibility for the tragedy that engulfed Cambodia and its people.
Treating Palestinians Lawlessly
Submitted on December 13, 2011Israel displaces Palestinians violently. Indiscriminate force is used. Home demolitions and dispossessions happen regularly. Residency rights are revoked. Closure, segregation, collective punishment, expropriation, discriminatory land distribution, attacks, arrests, detentions, assassinations, torture, and settlement expansions are policy.
De-Provincializing Police Violence: On the Recent Events at UC Davis
Submitted on December 13, 2011By Dylan Rodríguez - Znet
We should be clear: the UC Davis police used caustic “nonlethal” spray on those student protesters because they could. The institutional entitlement to use such police force...is neither incidental nor ad hoc — it is systemic, legally supported, and absolutely normal. As we approach the 20th anniversary of the acquittal of five Los Angeles Police Department officers in the street torture of Rodney King, it is urgent to once again examine how police violence shapes our everyday realities in different and contradictory ways.
Conservative MP David Sweet's Attempt to Obstruct Norman Finkelstein Lecture on Campus
Submitted on December 13, 2011By Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East - December 13, 2011
Information received through a freedom of information (FOI) request has revealed that Conservative MP David Sweet intervened in February, 2011 to help obstruct a lecture by Israel-Palestine expert Dr. Norman Finkelstein...Finkelstein...was scheduled to speak at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario at an event organized by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME.)...[W]ithin days of a meeting organized by Sweet with college officials, Mohawk College quadrupled the price of the room booking...As a result of this manoeuvre, CJPME was forced to move the event off the Mohawk College campus.
Mental Illness or Social Sickness?
Submitted on December 12, 2011By Susan Rosenthal - Solidarity Is The Best Medicine
Psychiatry presents itself as a branch of medicine that diagnoses and treats mental illness in the same way that other branches of medicine diagnose and treat physical illness. This claim does not hold up under scrutiny...Psychiatry is not a medical science; it is pseudoscience – ideology disguised as science. Psychiatry developed to meet capitalism’s need for social control and psychiatrists’ need for paying customers.
Why the U.S. and Israel May Agree to Bombing Iran
Submitted on December 12, 2011By FRANKLIN C. SPINNEY - Counterpunch
The arguments for attacking Iran are crazy, like those for attacking Iraq in response to 9-11. But that does not mean such an attack by the American and/or the Israelis will not occur...Indeed, I think the political pressure for such an attack is increasing. My reasons for saying this are as follows:
Australian Labor Government Extends Racist and Anti-Poor "Intervention" for a Decade
Submitted on December 12, 2011By Susan Allan - 12 December 2011
Like its counterparts around the world, the Gillard government is slashing spending on education, health and welfare in response [to] the deepening global financial crisis. In the first three months since Labor’s May budget and its “tough-love” approach to welfare, more than 20,000 unemployed Aboriginal people have had their welfare payments suspended. This amounts to 20 percent of all Aboriginal people on welfare. Nationally, 10 percent of all unemployed have incurred suspensions.
Canada's First Nations: A Scandal Where the Victims Are Blamed
Submitted on December 12, 2011By James Mackay and Niigaanwiwedam James Sinclair - Sunday 11 December 2011
The [Canadian] government's response to the crisis has been a combination of arrogance and bullying...[Prime Minister] Stephen Harper...stood up in parliament to argue that widespread corruption on the part of band leaders was to blame..."It is incredible that the Harper government's decision is that instead of offering aid and assistance to Canada's First Peoples, their solution is to blame the victim, and that the community is guilty, and deserving of their fate."
Canada: The Grave-Digger of Kyoto
Submitted on December 12, 2011By Martin Lukacs - December 9, 2011
Canada's global reputation is in tatters, and the reasons why are plain to see...It was the Canadian government who fired the opening salvo of the talks, when news broke that they planned to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol...They promised to "play hardball" with impoverished, developing countries, and dismissed as a "historical guilty card" the demand for industrialized nations to take responsibility for two centuries of emissions. "It poisoned the negotiations..."
Bull Connor 2.0: The Police Response to Occupy Wall Street
Submitted on December 12, 2011By David a. Love - Znet
Why are the local authorities breaking up these peaceful protests...often through the use of violence, mass arrests, tear gas, smoke grenades, pepper spray, bean-bag rounds and brute force?...It all reminds me of Bull Connor, that infamous bull horn-toting, civil rights-era Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham [Alabama]. Summoned from central casting, the dyed-in-the-wool white supremacist drew attention to himself when he sprayed water hoses and sicked dogs on peaceful public demonstrators, including children.
Muslim Charity Principles Denied Justice
Submitted on December 11, 2011Truth and justice are endangered in America. During Bush's eight years, their legitimacy and importance were targeted. Under Obama, they're on the chopping block for elimination to advance Washington's global imperium unchallenged.
Critical Health Issues in Gaza
Submitted on December 11, 2011Since locked down and isolated by Israel, Gaza's experienced systemic crisis. Its health system especially was gravely harmed.
Deliver Occupy From Its “Friends”
Submitted on December 11, 2011By KEVIN CARSON - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
...[I]t’s [Occupy Wall Street's] lack of specific demands that gives them strength. Despite op-ed jabbering to the contrary, it’s hard to miss what their main focus is: Hatred for Wall Street, for the concentration of wealth, for crony capitalism, and for the unholy alliance between Big Business and the state...That common set of values is the basic operating platform of the movement. Beyond that, the specific agendas built on that platform are beyond counting.
Greece Imposes New Austerity Budget
Submitted on December 11, 2011By Robert Stevens - 10 December 2011
Early Wednesday morning, the unelected Greek “technocratic” government of former central banker Lucas Papademos passed a brutal austerity budget. Approved by a vote of 258 to 41, it was supported by all three parties now comprising the government: the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), New Democracy and the neo-fascist LAOS party...It includes a further 5 billion euros in spending cuts and another 3.6 billion in taxes. Pensions will be cut by 15 percent from January 1, and wages are to be slashed even further.
British Conservative's Force Unemployed to Volunteer or Lose Benefits
Submitted on December 11, 2011By Patrick Butler - The Guardian
Unemployed people will have to prove they are actively volunteering in the community in order to qualify for certain welfare benefits and social housing under "civic contract" proposals drawn up by a Conservative local authority...In measures aimed at ending what it calls the "something for nothing culture", Westminster city council also proposes that working families who "play by the rules" should get priority for social housing, while existing tenants who fall foul of the law should be evicted.
Security Certificate Injustice for Mohamed Harkat: Nine Years On
Submitted on December 11, 2011By Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee - December 9, 2011
This weekend...marks the ninth anniversary of the detention of Mohamed Harkat under a security certificate -- a draconian detention under the so-called Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act for which no charge is laid, and the information on which the allegation is based is kept secret from the detainee and their lawyers. The five Muslim men who have been detained since 2001 have been jailed in isolation or...released under strict house arrest conditions -- the strictest in Canadian history.
U.S. Republican's Crackpot Agenda
Submitted on December 11, 2011By Tim Dickinson - December 11, 2011
The Republican Party...has backed its entire slate of candidates into far-right corners on everything from the environment and immigration to taxation and economic austerity...On the major policy issues of the day, there's barely a ray of sunshine between any of the viable Republicans...The candidates have...lined up behind a host of...extremist positions: waging war with Iran, slashing or privatizing benefits like Social Security, extending constitutional rights to zygotes, eliminating restrictions on Big Oil...and freeing up Wall Street to return to the lawlessness that buzz-sawed the global economy.
U.S. Vacates Pakistan Air Base
Submitted on December 11, 201111 December 2011 - Al Jazeera
The US has vacated the Shamsi airbase in Pakistan's Balochistan province after a 15-day ultimatum given by Islamabad, prompted by the deaths of at least 24 of its soldiers in a NATO air raid last month...Meanwhile, a senior Pakistani military official told a US television network on Sunday that his country "will shoot down any US drone that enters its territory".
U.S. Covert Operations Threaten War with Iran
Submitted on December 10, 2011By Chris Marsden - WSWS
The United States is waging a sustained covert campaign of destabilization against Iran, focusing on efforts to disrupt its nuclear program...“There have been scientists turning up dead in Russia and in Iran. There have been computer viruses. There have been problems at their facility. I hope that the United States has been involved with that.”
U.S. Labor's Covert Ops in Venezuela
Submitted on December 10, 2011By ALBERTO C. RUIZ - December 9-11, 2011
It is not publicly known what the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center...is currently doing in Venezuela...[T]he truth is uncertain, but given the AFL-CIO’s horrendous track record in Latin America, and in Venezuela in the very recent past; given that it is intentionally concealing the fact that it is even working in Venezuela in the first place; and given that it continues to be heavily dependent upon funding from the U.S. government...it is fair to have suspicions that the AFL-CIO is up to questionable deeds in Venezuela.
Iran Away
Submitted on December 10, 2011SchNEWS - 7th December 2011 | Issue 800
...[P]owerful and idiotic members of the British political elite believe that they can go to war against Iran and win...Iran has 3 times the size and population of Iraq, and has a modern military...and plenty of experience in 'asymmetrical warfare'. Its government is broadly popular, especially when it plays to its a conservative, nationalist, religious base. That base hates Britain almost as much as it hates Israel and the USA.
Balaclava! 34 Occupy Vancouver Special Edition
Submitted on December 10, 2011Resisting Gender Violence Without Cops or Prisons: An Interview with Victoria Law [Video]
Submitted on December 9, 2011In our new video-interview, author Victoria Law builds upon her earlier prison abolitionist critique by discussing practical alternatives for effectively confronting gender violence without using the prison system. She cites many success stories where women, not wanting to work with the police, instead collectively organized in an autonomous fashion.
Hunger Striking Refugee Detained for SIX Years
Submitted on December 9, 2011December 8th, 2011 - No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
Nader is a 46 year old Iranian refugee who has been detained and imprisoned by Canadian Border Services Agency since 2005. Nader has spent over six years behind bars, without any specific charges, under the jurisdiction of the Immigration Act...His length of detention is unprecedented in Canada.
OCAP and the Origins of Occupy Toronto
Submitted on December 9, 2011By Don Weitz - December 9, 2011
Since the mid-1990s, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) has been a major anti-poverty organization speaking out and taking direct action for homeless and other poor people. Many of these brothers and sisters were and are psychiatric survivors, people labeled and stigmatized as "mentally ill," people who have been and still are locked up, forcibly drugged, electroshocked, traumatized and dehumanized in Ontario's psycho-prisons (all psychiatric facilities).
U.S. Officials Threaten Russia Amid Post-Election Protests
Submitted on December 9, 2011By Alex Lantier - 9 December 2011
Amid deep popular disaffection and opposition protests against the regime of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin following Russia’s December 4 parliamentary elections, US officials are mounting a campaign to destabilize Russia...Washington has ratcheted up military and political tensions with the Kremlin, including by backing ongoing protests politically dominated by Russia’s official right-wing “opposition” parties.
Vancouver Police Department's "Public Safety Unit" Riot Cops: Notes from the VPD's 2011 Stanley Cup Riot Review
Submitted on December 9, 2011By Zig Zag - Vancouver Media Co-op
Established in 1993 as the Crowd Control Unit (CCU), the riot squad has evolved into a professional, award-winning model of 'public order', at least according to the Vancouver Police Department's 2011 Stanley Cup Riot Review, released on Sept. 6, 2011. The report focuses largely on the riot but contains a surprisingly large amount of information on the VPD's riot squad, now called the “Public Safety Unit” (PSU).
Things That Money Will Buy: Vancouver's Civic Election
Submitted on December 9, 2011By Chris Shaw - December 8, 2011
To win an election in Vancouver, it's pretty much about the money. Vision Vancouver remains in that ultimate sweet spot of having both developer and union funding. Given this, there is no reason to believe that besides massive incompetence or malfeasance over the next three years they won't win future elections as well. It must be even sweeter for them to finally be rid of that pesky [Coalition of Progressive Electors], the latter having just experienced the political equivalent of species extinction.
Sorry Cops, I Really Don't Give a Damn
Submitted on December 8, 2011December 7 2011 - Libcom
The [British] Police Federation, the staff association for police officers has published a long winded report into how police officers coped during the riots earlier this year...Their biggest complaint was that they did not like the sandwiches they were given...They also complained that their batons broke too easily when used (presumably on someone’s head)...They did not mention their massive overtime payments.
Report Concludes British Riots Provoked by Police Brutality and Poverty
Submitted on December 8, 2011By Julie Hyland - WSWS
The first comprehensive investigation into the riots that swept London and other parts of England in August has confirmed that police brutality, poverty and social inequality were the primary motivating factors in their eruption...The accounts of those interviewed, who reside in some of the most socially deprived areas in England, refute the claims made by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government, with the support of the Labour Party and the media, that the upheavals were the product of the “criminality” of a “feral underclass.”
Mumia Abu-Jamal Should be Leaving Death Row Hell
Submitted on December 8, 2011By DAVE LINDORFF - Counterpunch
On the 30th anniversary of a fateful shooting incident, the decision has finally been announced: There will be no execution of African-American journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, who in 1982 was convicted and sentenced to death in a highly-controversial and seriously corrupted trial before “hanging” Judge Albert Sabo of killing white Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner on December 9, 1981.
G20 Defendant Ryan Rainville's Statement to the Courts
Submitted on December 8, 2011December 8, 2011 - Linchpin/Common Cause
Throughout his court proceedings, Ryan proudly proclaimed his anarchist values and defended the use of property destruction during anti-capitalist protests that weekend to disrupt the economy...Ryan eventually plead guilty to three counts of Mischief Over $5000 and Breach of Peace. On October 31st, 2011 with at least a dozen supporters present, Ryan made the following statement to the court.
Open Letter to Vancouver Co-Op Radio Board and Members: Supporting BDS is Necessary
Submitted on December 8, 2011December 8, 2011 - Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign–Vancouver
Adopting a [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] resolution is a position that is consistent...to the principles of community radio...It is a stand that...privileges the voices of those who have been forced to be silent yet have continued to raise their voices clearly for over sixty years. Support for BDS rejects complicity with occupation and oppression. This rejection of complicity is particularly important in recognition of Canada’s own colonial settler nature and the ongoing complicity of the Canadian government in war and occupation, in Afghanistan, Palestine, Haiti, Libya and elsewhere.
What is Britain’s "Labour" Party For?
Submitted on December 8, 2011By Adnan Al-Daini - December 8th, 2011
People do not like this [Conservative] government, but they do not have much faith in Labour either. This explains why the Labour party is not benefiting from the dire economic situation we find ourselves in. Labour is not trusted. Their so called “light touch regulation” was an abdication of their responsibility to control the explosion of a debt-fueled economy, and the voracious greed of the “moneymen” that brought the country into this sorry state.
The Key Question in the Libyan War
Submitted on December 8, 2011By Diana Johnstone - December 08, 2011
There are many important questions raised by the Libya war, and many important and valid reasons to have opposed it and to oppose it still...[I]t has left a legacy of hatred in the targeted country whose consequences may poison the lives of the people living there for generations. That of course is of no particular interest to people in the West who pay no attention to the human damage wrought by their humanitarian killing. It is only the least visible result of those wars.
New Report on Israel Restricting Free Expression and Assembly
Submitted on December 7, 2011The Association for Civil Rights in Israel assesses Israel's human and civil rights record annually. Its newly released 2011 report cites increasing crackdowns on basic freedoms.
Seven Diseases Big Pharma Hopes You Get in 2012
Submitted on December 7, 2011By Martha Rosenberg - December 6, 2011
How did Pharma get a good third of the United States taking anti-depressants, statins, and Purple Pills, albeit at low prices? By selling the diseases of depression, high cholesterol, and gastro-esophageal reflux disease...Supply-driven marketing, also known as "Have Drug — Need Disease and Patients," not only turns the nation into pill-popping hypochondriacs, it distracts from Pharma's drought of real drugs for real medical problems.
Denying Palestinians Fair Access to Water
Submitted on December 7, 2011Water is essential to life. Denying it is criminal.
Mounting Evidence of U.S. Involvement in Syrian Crisis
Submitted on December 7, 2011By Chris Marsden - WSWS
The involvement of the United States and other major powers in the Syrian crisis is becoming ever more overt. As it does, the danger of all-out war and a broader regional conflict poses itself with greater immediacy...Over the weekend, the [Syrian] government held military manoeuvres involving live-fire of long-range missiles, armored units and helicopters, with the aim of testing “the capabilities and readiness of missile systems to respond to any possible aggression.”
The Cultural One-Percent
Submitted on December 7, 2011By DAVID ROVICS - Counterpunch
Amy Goodman and many others have referred to the corporate media as an “echo chamber”...Mostly privileged, overpaid white men who fall within a narrowly-constrained political spectrum pretend to have debates, while failing to even discuss...the most pressing issues of the day...There is also an echo chamber in the realm of culture...[W]hen ignored...the cultural echo chamber easily replicates itself within the internet, community media and society at large.
Harper Government Conducts Surveillance of First Nations Instead of Resolving Violations of Indigenous Peoples' Rights
Submitted on December 7, 2011By The Defenders of the Land - December 6, 2011
The Defenders of the Land...condemned reports that in 2007, the Harper government established a national and international police surveillance network to spy on Indigenous Peoples and their supporters for defending Indigenous Peoples' self-determination and land rights..."Many of the so-called 'communities of concern'...are members of our network. They are not extremists or terrorists. All of their protests or political actions were in defence of their constitutionally recognized and internationally affirmed right of self-determination and land rights as Indigenous Peoples.["]
2012 Olympics: Police-State Measures for London as Super-Wealthy Party
Submitted on December 7, 2011By Paul Stuart - 7 December 2011
...[W]ith four years of austerity and the districts surrounding the [London] Olympic site sinking into desperate hardship, and the eruption of riots this summer, the games are being approached based on the calculation that Britain is a country on the edge of mass social conflict...Preparations have assumed the character of an orgy of luxury and ostentatious displays of wealth by the financial elite, coupled with police-state measures directed against working class districts.
All They Are Taught How to Do Is Kill
Submitted on December 6, 2011By Luke Hiken - December 6th, 2011
The obvious truth is that the only way police know how to respond to anti-authoritarian conduct by citizens is to use escalating methods of violence: baton strikes, tear gas, tasers, and then guns, frequently followed by beatings being administered outside the purview of cameras...The old adage: “if you’re a hammer, everything you see is a nail” never had a clearer application than as it applies to the conduct of America’s “finest.”
Chilean Prosecutor Charges Ex-U.S. Officer in 1973 Murder of American Journalists
Submitted on December 6, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 5 December 2011
A judge in Chile last week issued an indictment against a retired US Navy officer in connection with the arrest, torture and murder of two American journalists...in the wake of the CIA-backed military coup...that toppled the government of President Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973...Judge Jorge Zepeda has charged Capt. Ray Davis (retired) with providing the Chilean secret police with intelligence that led to the abduction and murder of [Charles] Horman and [Frank] Terrugi and with failing to take any action to stop the killings.
Social Democracy and the Economic Crisis: The Saskatchewan Case
Submitted on December 6, 2011By John W. Warnock - December 06, 2011
Given the weakness of the [New Democratic Party] in Saskatchewan today, and the very low participation of the general public in the political process, it seems to me that it is time for the people in this province who are committed to the democratic ideal to look to the formation of some sort of new, broad extra-parliamentary political organization.
Israeli-Style Justice
Submitted on December 5, 2011Israeli military tribunals judge Palestinians guilty by accusation.
RCMP Spied on Protesting First Nations
Submitted on December 5, 2011By Tim Groves and Martin Lukacs - Media Co-op
The federal government created a wide-ranging surveillance network in early 2007 to monitor protests by First Nations, including those that would garner national attention or target “critical infrastructure” like highways, railways and pipelines...Formed after the Conservatives came to power, the RCMP unit’s mandate was to collect and disseminate intelligence about situations involving First Nations that have “escalated to civil disobedience and unrest in the form of protest actions.”
Australian Labor Party to Enforce Dictates of Washington and Financial Markets
Submitted on December 5, 2011By Mike Head - WSWS
One of the first votes of the [Australia Labor Party] conference...endorsed the government’s insistence on producing a budget surplus next year, at the cost of social services and thousands of public sector jobs. Yesterday...the conference agreed to the sale of uranium to India, at the behest of the Obama administration, and rubber-stamped, without any discussion, the stationing of US troops and military resources in northern Australia.
Jason Kenney Hates Your Grandparents
Submitted on December 5, 2011December 5th, 2011 - No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
Minister Jason Kenney is...known as the ‘Minister of Censorship and Deportation’ because he is one of the most unjust immigration ministers. Deportations have increased, the number of skilled worker visas has decreased by about 20%, and the quota allotted for live-in caregivers to become permanent residents has been slashed by half. Instead, Kenney has increased the number of temporary workers who have no rights of residency and are constantly exploited for their labour.
Hicks, Slicks, Trade Kicks: Toronto Mayor in Media Slapdown
Submitted on December 5, 2011By David J. Climenhaga - rabble.ca
[Toronto Mayor Rob Ford] is proof that Alberta is not the only place in Canada that elects politicians with the potential to become national embarrassments...Ford is enough of a buffoon that every time he opens his mouth he provides what is known as a "teaching moment" to the good people of [Toronto] and the rest of us about what neo-Cons really stand for and what happens when you elect them.
Anti-Solitary Confinement Petition by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture
Submitted on December 4, 2011A new petition calling for the abolition of prolonged solitary confinement in US prisons was launched this week by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.
CELAC: An Alternative to the Washington-Controlled OAS
Submitted on December 4, 2011CELAC comprises 33 regional countries. America and Canada are excluded. In July 2010, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Chile's Sebastian Pinera were chosen co-chairs to help draft organizational statutes.
Toronto G20 Main Conspiracy Group: The Charges and How They Came to Be
Submitted on December 4, 2011November 23, 2011 - Infoshop.org
It has now been almost a year a half since the mobilizations against the G20 in Toronto. Six of the seventeen people who had been accused of conspiracy for being the masterminds behind the riots...have plead guilty to a lesser charge...It's known in a general way that the people who co-ordinated logistics, transportation, and networking with other cities all got arrested. This has created fear among both the many people for whom the G20 demos were their first brush with protest culture, and even among some more experienced organizers who find themselves thinking twice about stepping forward.
U.S. Senate Backs Military Detention of American Citizens
Submitted on December 4, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
In 1918, the socialist leader Eugene V. Debs was thrown into prison...for delivering a speech opposing the First World War and calling for the working class to take power and carry out the socialist transformation of society. Even then, however, the government had to try him before a jury. The legislation passed Thursday renders such democratic niceties superfluous. Now such an offense would be punishable by disappearance into a military-run concentration camp.
Some Thoughts That OCCUPY My Mind
Submitted on December 4, 2011By William Blum - Znet
It has greatly helped Occupy's growth and survival that they have seldom mentioned foreign policy. That's much more sensitive ground than corporate abuse. Foreign policy gets into flag-waving, "our brave boys" risking their lives, American exceptionalism, nationalism, patriotism, loyalty, treason, terrorism, "anti-American", "conspiracy theorist" ... all those emotional icons that mainstream America uses to separate a Good American from one who ain't really one of us.
Q and A With Norman Finkelstein on the Israel-Palestine Conflict and Personal Responsibility [Video]
Submitted on December 4, 2011America Lurches Toward Full-Blown Tyranny
Submitted on December 3, 2011Post-9/11, America's moved steadily toward eroding democracy entirely. Justification given is war on terror hokum. Incrementally, international, constitutional and statute laws have been trashed.
"No Poor Man Ever Gave Me a Job"
Submitted on December 3, 2011By Bob Simpson - Znet
“No poor man ever gave me a job”...If you go around saying stuff like this, aren’t you just trying to conceal your own insecurities? You think you need people “below” you to prop up your self confidence, don’t you? You know in your heart that you are just one lay-off, just one health problem or just one family tragedy away from poverty yourself. So overcome by fear, you adopt a worshipful attitude toward the wealthy 1% and their allies, hoping that you’ll be exempted from financial disaster.
Boycott Israel Campaign Grows Among Unions in Britain, Despite Zionist Backlash
Submitted on December 3, 2011By Asa Winstanley - The Electronic Intifada
Over the last few years, UK trade unions have expressed solidarity with Palestine more and more explicitly. Union after union has overturned a previous orthodoxy of balance between “two sides” when it comes to policy on Israel and the Palestinians. So many unions have now passed motions in support of the Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement that even the often conservative Trades Union Congress (TUC) has been compelled to change policy.
From Occupation to "Occupy": The Israelification of American Domestic Security
Submitted on December 3, 2011By Max Blumenthal - AlterNet
The process of Israelification began in the immediate wake of 9/11, when national panic led federal and municipal law enforcement officials to beseech Israeli security honchos for advice and training. America’s Israel lobby exploited the climate of hysteria, providing thousands of top cops with all-expenses paid trips to Israel and stateside training sessions with Israeli military and intelligence officials. By now, police chiefs of major American cities who have not been on junkets to Israel are the exception.
"Enough is Enough:" Pakistan Threatens to End Support for "War on Terror"
Submitted on December 3, 2011December 1, 2011 - The Himalayan
Pakistan, enraged by a NATO cross-border attack that killed 24 soldiers, could end support for the US-led war on militancy if its sovereignty is violated again, the foreign minister said...“Enough is enough. The government will not tolerate any incident of spilling even a single drop of any civilian or soldier’s blood...”
Former Libyan "Rebel" Leader Outed as U.S. Asset
Submitted on December 3, 2011By Steve James - 3 December 2011
An article in Ireland’s Sunday World has drawn attention to relations between Mahdi al-Harati, former leader of the Tripoli Brigade of the National Transition Council which played a central role in the NATO assault on Libya, and an unnamed US intelligence agency...Al-Harati’s Tripoli Brigade was one of a number of military units put together in conjunction with the NTC to participate in the pro-imperialist overthrow of the regime of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi...From the first, the brigade appears to have been developed...as a well-trained assault force, designed to operate alongside NATO for an attack on Tripoli.
U.S./Pakistan's Toxic Alliance
Submitted on December 2, 2011Partnering with America has a price. Pakistan's paid dearly. Post-9/11, it's been harmed economically, politically, and strategically. Has its military now had enough and wants out?
Common Cause Statement of Solidarity with the G20 Defendants
Submitted on December 2, 2011Thursday, September 1, 2011 - Linchpin/Common Cause
Common Cause wishes to extend our solidarity to the six defendants of the so-called “G20 Main Conspiracy Group” who made the difficult decision to plead guilty to trumped up counseling charges in an effort to see the charges of eleven of their co-defendants dropped...The six comrades now facing imminent incarceration were targeted because of the threat they represent to the capitalist class, their liberal democratic puppets and the bloated state security apparatus that does their bidding.
Sleep Eating: A New Gift from Big Pharma for the Holidays
Submitted on December 2, 2011By Martha Rosenberg - Dissident Voice
...[I]t was EWI – eating while intoxicated or “preparing and eating food (while asleep)” — not DWIs that gave Ambien its worst rap. Fit and sexy people awoke amid mountains of pizza, Krispy Kreme and Häagen-Dazs cartons consumed by their evil twin, on Ambien. Weeks of dieting and treadmill time shot to hell...The new sleeping pill also served to occlude three uncomfortable Big Pharma settlements right before Thanksgiving.
Norway’s Neo-Fascist Mass Murderer Breivik Declared Insane
Submitted on December 2, 2011By Jordan Shilton - 2 December 2011
Tuesday’s decision to declare neo-fascist Anders Behring Breivik insane was driven by the political interests of the Norwegian and European ruling elite...This decision has nothing to do with concern over Breivik’s mental state. Rather, it is motivated by the fear in ruling circles that even a limited investigation of the events leading up to July 22, which a trial would undertake, would raise uncomfortable questions for those with connections to Breivik.
"A Deceitful Thug:" John Timoney’s Bloody Journey
Submitted on December 2, 2011By DAVID ROVICS - December 2-4, 2011
John Timoney, until recently chief of police of Miami and before that Philadelphia, formerly of New York City, where he also was a high-ranking cop, is heading to Bahrain to train the cops there...If you happen to know anybody from Bahrain who might be thinking that hiring this New Yorker could be a step in the direction of less massacre-oriented policing policies, this might be a good time to relieve them of any such illusions...John Timoney is a deceitful thug.
America's Illegal Chemical Weapons Stockpile
Submitted on December 1, 2011America uses its illegal chemical weapons.
Crisis Management in the U.S. - The Nation Fights Against its Economic Decline
Submitted on December 1, 2011In the United States, a political dispute is raging over the right direction for the nation. The “change”-President and his Democrats propagate the necessity of checking and, if possible, reversing the progressive decay of the country, especially the process of de-industrialization and the impoverishment of entire sections of the population. The Republican opposition rejects all of the state’s corrective interventions into the course and results of capitalist competition as eating up funds and sabotaging America’s traditional path to success.
International Solidarity Day with Palestine
Submitted on December 1, 2011Established by the UN in 1977, International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed on or around November 29.
Israel’s Grand Hypocrisy
Submitted on December 1, 2011By JONATHAN COOK - December 01, 2011
As protests raged again across the Middle East, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, offered his assessment of the Arab Spring last week. It was, he said, an “Islamic, anti-western, anti-liberal, anti-Israeli, undemocratic wave”...It takes some chutzpah...for Israel’s prime minister to be lecturing the Arab world on liberalism and democracy at this moment...In recent weeks, a spate of anti-democratic measures have won support from Netanyahu’s right-wing government...
Twenty Examples of the Obama Administration Assault on Civil Liberties
Submitted on December 1, 2011By Bill Quigley - Dissident Voice
The Obama administration has affirmed, continued and expanded almost all of the draconian domestic civil liberties intrusions pioneered under the Bush administration. Here are twenty examples of serious assaults on the domestic rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, the right to privacy, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and freedom of conscience that have occurred since the Obama administration has assumed power.
Syrian Crisis Draws in Regional and Major Powers
Submitted on December 1, 2011By Jean Shaoul - WSWS
The Arab League’s announcement of economic sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has set in motion a rapidly escalating crisis that is drawing in both the regional and major powers...For all the Arab League’s assertions that the sanctions are designed to avert foreign intervention, the opposite is the case. Plans for a military intervention are well advanced, with Turkey and France playing leading roles.
Student Surprises New York Top Cop With Police Brutality Slideshow, Calls on Him to Resign
Submitted on December 1, 2011By Lauren Kelley - AlterNet
A college student had an uncomfortable surprise for [New York police Department] commissioner Ray Kelly during his Tuesday night visit to Columbia University. Kelly was visiting a class taught by former New York Mayor David Dinkins when a student-protester...whipped out a projector loaded with a film showing images of police brutality against protesters, which he projected on the wall behind Kelly.
Once Again, War is Prime Time and Journalism’s Role is Taboo
Submitted on December 1, 2011By John Pilger - December 01, 2011
The media war against Iran began in 1979 when the west’s placeman Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, a tyrant, was overthrown in a popular Islamic revolution. The “loss” of Iran, which under the shah was regarded as the “fourth pillar” of western control of the Middle East, has never been forgiven in Washington and London...Disinformation and the barbarity of colonial warfare have historically had much in common.
One Per Cent for the Poor from the One Per Cent in Ontario
Submitted on December 1, 2011By John Clarke and Liisa Schofield - rabble.ca
On Dec. 1 [Ontario] social assistance rates will increase by an insulting one per cent. This increase is well below the rate of inflation which is estimated at three per cent this year. With inflation factored in, what [Ontario Premier Dalton] McGuinty calls a one per cent raise, is, in reality a two per cent cut. This cut is a loss of real income for the poor, which, when coupled with the major cut to the Special Diet Program, means a dramatic deepening of poverty in 2012 and beyond.
Illegitimate Egyptian Elections
Submitted on November 30, 2011Last February, Mubarak's 30-year dictatorship ended. Another one replaced him. Egypt's military holds absolute power.
Dr. Taser / Mr. Clorox: The Strange Career of Dr. Richard Carmona
Submitted on November 30, 2011By DARWIN BOND-GRAHAM - November 28, 2011
...“Dr.” Richard H. Carmona...has been a board member of the Oakland-based Clorox since 2007...Guiding aspects of Clorox’s corporate decision making is only one of Carmona’s jobs, however...Dr. Carmona joined the board of Taser International in the same year he joined Clorox. Not coincidentally, that was just after he left office as the 17th Surgeon General of the United States under the administration of George W. Bush.
Former "Sheriff of the Year" Arrested for Exchanging Sex for Meth
Submitted on November 30, 2011By Kristen Gwynne - AlterNet
Meet Patrick J. Sullivan, former drug war wager and [Republican] sheriff of Arapahoe County, Colorado for nearly 20 years before he retired in 2002. This guy was such a great police officer that in 2001, the National Sheriff's Association named him Sheriff of he Year...Lo and behold, Sullivan is just another crooked cop. Tuesday, he found himself on the receiving end of arrest, as cops took him down for suspicion of methamphetamine trafficking when they caught him offering a man meth in exchange for sex.
False Intelligence, True Tragedies: Night Raids in Afghanistan
Submitted on November 30, 2011Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - Common Dreams
...Rafiuddin, 36, still tries not to cry when he recounts the details surrounding the night raid at his home in Koshkaky...Just past midnight, coalition forces launched a surprise attack on the walls and roof of Rafiuddin’s house...[H]is brother...was instantly killed by a bullet to the head...[H]is 17-year old son ran to rescue his uncle and was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. He died a slow death in the garden where the family was held throughout the night...Ten civilians were killed that night.
OCAP Statement in Solidarity with the G20 Conspiracy Defendants
Submitted on November 30, 2011November 28th, 2011 - Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty wishes to reaffirm our support for all G20 defendants...As the G20 leaders must have known, when they met in Toronto two summers ago to plan out an inhuman agenda of Global Austerity, the measures they intended to impose on the mass of humanity would require a considerable escalation in state repression. It is therefore, far from surprising, that those who challenged the gathering itself would be among the first to feel the impact of the escalation of this already brutally repressive machine.
G20 Defendants Peter Hopperton and Adam Lewis' Statements to the Court
Submitted on November 30, 2011On November 28, Peter Hopperton was sentenced to 5.5 months in prison, Adam Lewis was sentenced to 3.5 months in prison and Eric Lankin was sentenced to three months in prison for their involvement in Anti-G20 protests in June 2010 in Toronto. Below are Peter and Adam's statements to the court.
The U.S. Military Industrial Complex Comes to Full Fruition
Submitted on November 30, 2011By Kathleen Wallace Peine - Dissident Voice
This week Congress is expected to vote on a bill...[called] the Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention and Prosecution Act...In case you haven’t heard the details...the bill essentially labels every spot on this earth as a battlefield, including the United States...From this notion springs the advancement of military tribunals dealing with all citizens of the globe...without the bother of transparency. Detention and disappearance could be the order of the day.
Is a Nuclear War with China Possible?
Submitted on November 30, 2011By Lawrence S. Wittner - November 29, 2011
The gathering tension between the United States and China is clear enough. Disturbed by China's growing economic and military strength, the U.S. government recently challenged China's claims in the South China Sea, increased the U.S. military presence in Australia, and deepened U.S. military ties with other nations in the Pacific region. According to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the United States was "asserting our own position as a Pacific power."
"A Change in Approach to Public Order Policing:" London Cops Consider Buying Water Cannons
Submitted on November 30, 2011By Sandra Laville - The Guardian
The Metropolitan [London] police is considering the purchase of three water cannon at a cost of nearly £4m to cover London and the south east as part of a new approach to public order policing in the aftermath of the summer riots...In what appears to be a toughening up of its tactics in the aftermath of the August riots, the force is examining whether further legislation is required to give officers more powers when dealing with large scale disorder as well.
Palestinian Unity: A Threat, Says Israel
Submitted on November 29, 2011Last April in Cairo, Hamas and Fatah leaders proclaimed unity. Palestinians hoped it signaled rapprochement between the two sides.
Canada and Mexico to Join U.S. in NAFTA of the Pacific
Submitted on November 29, 2011By Dana Gabriel
At the recent APEC meetings, Canada and Mexico announced their interest in joining the U.S., along with other countries already engaged in negotiations to establish what has been referred to as the NAFTA of the Pacific. Another NAFTA-style agreement poses a serious threat to economic sovereignty. There are fears that U.S. could use the TPP to open up the Canadian telecom market and its banking sector to more foreign financial services.
NBA Players Get Played
Submitted on November 29, 2011By Dave Zirin - November 28, 2011
Disregard the avalanche of tweets from your favorite star player about how excited they are to get back to work. The players were dunked on and [NBA Commissioner David] Stern is wagging his tongue while hanging from the rim...[W]e have what at the bottom line is a massive transfer of wealth from players to owners: $3 billion over the next decade, to be more precise. Three billion dollars extracted from those we pay to see, to those who have spent the last twenty years treating fans and taxpayers like the cowering abused partners we are.
The Demonization of Iran
Submitted on November 29, 2011By PATRICK COCKBURN - November 28, 2011
Iran has long been denounced in Washington as the source of much of the evil in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies see the hand of Tehran behind protests in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province. As the last US forces leave Iraq by the end of the year, there are dire warnings of Iraq becoming an Iranian pawn.
Target Syria
Submitted on November 29, 2011Washington's Greater Middle East project involves waring against the region one country at a time to replace independent regimes with client ones.
Assault Charges Dropped Against Member of No One Is Illegal-Montreal
Submitted on November 29, 2011November 29, 2011 - No One Is Illegal-Montreal
Yesterday morning, at Montreal’s Municipal Court, criminal charges of assault and intimidation were withdrawn against Montreal anarchist & community organizer Jaggi Singh...Montreal police laid the criminal charges several months after a disruption of a speech by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney at McGill University in October 2009. Protesters and students supporting migrant justice groups No One Is Illegal and Solidarity Across Borders surrounded Jason Kenney during the protest.
No One Is Illegal Vancouver/Coast Salish Territories Support for G20 Defendants
Submitted on November 29, 2011November 29th, 2011 - No One Is Illegal-Vancouver/Coast Salish Territories
Following the recent plea deal by the G20 “Main Conspiracy Group”, No One Is Illegal-Vancouver/Coast Salish Territories would like to affirm our support and solidarity with all G20 defendants...Mandy Hiscocks, Alex Hundert, Leah Henderson, Peter Hopperton, Erik Lankin, and Adam Lewis are all facing jail time – from several months to several years...We are painfully aware of the courageous sacrifice you are making for all of us...We are proud and humbled to be alongside you.
The Euro Crisis and Its Rescuers: "We Do It For Us"
Submitted on November 29, 2011In Germany, rulers and ruled agree: “We” have built a solid economy, lowered wages for over a decade in exemplary fashion, and strengthened the competitiveness of “our” economy. We have solid growth and our debts are under control. Now “we” must rescue the lazy Greeks, Portuguese, Irish, and who knows who else with new loans, because they have been “living beyond their means.” Even if the self-righteous German view has recently triumphed in Brussels and gains approval from the rest of Europe – not a single word in it is true.
U.S. Indefinite Domestic Military Detentions
Submitted on November 29, 2011Congress is now considering legislative language to mandate indefinite military detentions of US citizens suspected of present or past associations with alleged terrorist groups, with or without evidence to prove it.
U.S. Higher Education in Crisis
Submitted on November 28, 2011Education reform under Bush and Obama want public education made another business profit center. Doing so places bottom line priorities above teaching. At issue also is creating a two-tiered system for haves and have-nots, defined by race, ethnicity, social status and family income.
Plan Colombia Not Over
Submitted on November 28, 2011By David T. Rowlands - Sunday, November 27, 2011
Plan Colombia was sold to the taxpaying public as a necessary component of the “war on drugs”. In fact, it was a vehicle for furthering the traditional designs of US imperialism, of which there is a long and bitter history in Colombia...[T]he targets of Washington’s Plan Colombia offensive are not only armed [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] or National Liberation Army (ELN) guerillas but also any peasant and indigenous groups standing in the way of capitalist globalisation.
Joint Military Exercise Highlights Growing Pakistan-China Relations
Submitted on November 28, 2011By Vilani Peiris - 28 November 2011
Joint Sino-Pakistani military exercises...began on November 16. Both countries claimed the exercise aimed to curb terrorism. However, Pakistan is also keen to enhance its ties to China, as its relations with Washington deteriorate...The lengthy, two-week...exercise is the fourth in a series...between the two countries...The latest exercise was unusually large...A senior Pakistani security official said, “This is the first time that brigade-level war games are being staged by Pakistan and China...”
NATO vs Pakistan: What's Next?
Submitted on November 28, 2011By TARIQ ALI - Counterpunch
The NATO assault on a Pakistani checkpoint close to the Afghan border which killed 24 soldiers on Saturday must have been deliberate. NATO commanders have long been supplied with maps marking these checkpoints by the Pakistani military...Previous such attacks were pronounced ‘accidental’ and apologies were given and accepted. This time it seems more serious. It has come too soon after other ‘breaches of sovereignty’...but Pakistani sovereignty is a fiction. The military high command and the country’s political leaders willingly surrendered their sovereignty many decades ago.
Kansas Teenager Refuses to Apologize for "Insulting" Theo-Con Governor
Submitted on November 28, 2011By Lauren Kelley - AlterNet
"I suppose it's not that big a surprise that someone like [Kansas Governor Sam] Brownback, who has a strong belief that women should not be in control of their own lady parts, would also find the notion that teenage girls have the legal right to make fun of him deeply threatening...The freak-out over a teenage girl having a less-than-flattering opinion of him was also predictable if you look at Brownback's long history with the C Street Family, a religious-political group that specifically promotes patriarchy and disdains the idea of women holding political power."
"Wake Up, Pond Scum, America is at War:" Frank Miller and the Rise of Cryptofascist Hollywood
Submitted on November 28, 2011By Rick Moody - Thursday 24 November 2011
A sturdy corollary emerges in the wake of the graphic artist Frank Miller's recent diatribe against the Occupy Wall Street movement ("A pack of louts, thieves, and rapists … Wake up, pond scum, America is at war against a ruthless enemy")...That corollary, of which we should be reminded from time to time, is this: popular entertainment from Hollywood is...propaganda. And Miller has his part in that, thanks to films such as 300 and Sin City.
Austerity and Fascism in Greece: The Real 1 Per Cent Doctrine
Submitted on November 28, 2011By Mark Ames - November 28, 2011
With all the propaganda we’ve been fed about Greece’s new “austerity” government being staffed by non-ideological “technocrats,” it may come as a surprise that fascists are now considered “technocrats” to the mainstream media and Western banking interests. Then again, history shows that fascists have always been favored by the 1-per centers to deliver the austerity medicine...[This] might explain why there’s been almost nothing about how Greece’s new EU-imposed austerity government includes neo-Nazis from the LAOS Party...
Israel: Profile of a Rogue State
Submitted on November 28, 2011Rogue states spurn international law, treaties, conventions, and in Israel's case its own laws and Supreme Court decisions.
Europe's Austerity to Bring Cold, Bleak Winter
Submitted on November 27, 2011Sunday, November 27, 2011 - Common Dreams
While workers protest against austerity measures on the streets, cash-strapped Europeans are feeling the pain at home, struggling to pay for heating as winter approaches, reviving soup kitchens for the poorest and getting rid of costly pets...The debt crisis now ravaging the euro zone has seen governments cut spending, including to welfare programs, and raise taxes. Unemployment is rising and many Europeans are planning for a bleaker future.
"Nutty, Vicious and Wrong:" Newt's "Wacko" Idea to Replace Unionized Janitors With Students
Submitted on November 27, 2011By Dick Meister - Znet
"Nuts, vicious and wrong." That's what the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees thinks of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's wacko idea of putting kids to work to clean our schools in place of unionized adult janitors...Gingrich's 18th century plan calls for schools to "get rid of unionized school janitors and hire poor school kids to clean the schools in low-income neighborhoods."
Occupy Protestors Evicted From Tents, First Nations People Forced to Live in Tents [Video]
Submitted on November 27, 2011By Annie Urban - November 23, 2011
The contrast is staggering. In the large cities of southern Ontario, Occupy Ottawa and Occupy Toronto protesters were evicted...from the tent cities they set up last month to protest economic disparities. One thousand kilometers further north...the residents of the Attawapiskat First Nation have been living in tents and sheds without water or electricity for years and no one is doing anything about it.
Is Britain Plotting With Israel to Attack Iran?
Submitted on November 26, 2011By JONATHAN COOK - November 25-27, 2011
Last February Britain’s then defense minister Liam Fox attended a dinner in Tel Aviv with a group described as senior Israelis. Alongside him sat Adam Werritty, a lobbyist whose “improper relations” with the minister would lead eight months later to Fox’s hurried resignation...The episode of the Tel Aviv dinner...raises “vital concerns about a secret agenda for war at the core of government, comparable to [former British prime minister Tony] Blair’s determination to drive through a war on Iraq.”
Big Charity: Who Gets Turned Away at United Way?
Submitted on November 26, 2011By Aalya Ahmad - November 26, 2011
...[I]s Big Charity getting too big for the communities it's supposed to be serving?...In Ottawa, a coalition has been forming around this question...The coalition is worried that the equal partnerships of yesteryear are being replaced in favour of a top-down corporate structure with a small Executive making decisions that are increasingly unresponsive to the small groups and organizations that have agreed to rely on United Way Ottawa for their funding.
38 Days Later: Occupy Ottawa, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Parts 1 and 2)
Submitted on November 26, 2011I often watch, and participate in this small portion of the broader movement, while feeling like I’m watching a movement that has the potential to be beautiful and powerful and to radicalize large numbers of people, turn into a clusterfuck train wreck.
Pakistan Blocks NATO Supply Route to Afghanistan After Raid Kills 28
Submitted on November 26, 2011Saturday, November 26, 2011 - Common Dreams
NATO helicopters attacked a military checkpoint in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing up to 28 troops and prompting Pakistan to shut vital supply routes for NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan..."The latest attack by NATO forces on our post will have serious repercussions as they without any reasons attacked on our post and killed soldiers asleep..."
NYPD Riot Squad Guidelines: "A Strong Military Appearance"
Submitted on November 26, 2011By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd - AlterNet
"The impression we make on disorderly and violent groups has a profound effect on the outcome of the incident...Always have disorder control equipment, including helmet and baton, ready for immediate use. A strong military appearance, with sharp and precise movements, is a force multiplier and a psychological advantage to us."
Robert "Bob" Louis Rosen (June 26th, 1947 - November 22nd, 2011)
Submitted on November 26, 2011It is with deep sorrow that we share the loss of our husband, father, brother, and friend, Bob Rosen. Born in Los Angeles, California, Bob came to Canada as a war resister in 1968. For over 30 years, he was a community school coordinator and teacher in Surrey. He served as president of the Surrey Teachers’ Association and was active provincially in the BC Teachers Federation. Most recently, Bob sat on the board of Co-Development Canada and the steering committee of Independent Jewish Voices.
British Unions Strike Against Pension "Reforms" (Two Articles)
Submitted on November 26, 2011Members of more than 20 trade unions have now voted in favour of striking on November 30, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Day of Action over the government’s attack on public sector pensions...Some two million people are expected to be involved in the one-day stoppage, including...Health workers, teachers, civil servants, council workers and many other employees in local authorities throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Justice Minister Vic Toews' Wilful Blindness to the Ongoing "Crisis" in Canada's Justice System
Submitted on November 26, 2011By Pamela Palmater - rabble.ca
No one in their right mind could stand before all Canadians and claim that our justice system is not broken and does not discriminate against anyone. Only a right-wing extremist, drunk with "white privilege" and power would even have the nerve to say something like that and ignore all the evidence to the contrary - including evidence that comes from the very justice system he defends.
Corruption-Plagued New York Police Tramples on Democratic Rights
Submitted on November 25, 2011By Ali Ismail - 25 November 2011
The draconian response of the New York Police Department to the ongoing anti-Wall Street protests in the city is part of a stepped-up attack on democratic rights...New York police have also targeted Muslim-Americans and Muslim immigrants in the past decade, with revelations last August by the Associated Press and others of an unprecedented and illegal spying operation against Muslims in close collaboration with the Central Intelligence Agency.
Another New York Bomb Plot: Real or Fake?
Submitted on November 25, 2011Latest NY bomb plot smells as bad as previous ones proved spurious.
The "Decent Left" and the Libya Intervention
Submitted on November 25, 2011By DAVID N. GIBBS - November 25-27, 2011
...[S]upporters of the [Libya] intervention seek to shift discussion away from the embarrassing facts and lash out against those who disagree with their views. Michael Bérubé has created a stir recently with his article “Libya and the Left”...This article defends the intervention, while it attacks writers who oppose it, with a special emphasis on attacking left-wing opponents of the intervention.
Occupy Homes: Will Taking the Fight to Foreclosed Houses Unleash More Police Violence?
Submitted on November 25, 2011By Tana Ganeva - AlterNet
After a coordinated national crackdown that dispersed occupations from the public parks and plazas of Portland, Denver, Oakland and New York, occupiers have floated the idea to camp on private space, confronting banks and mortgage servicers at ground zero..."It's an incredibly important tactic that connects Wall Street to Main Street, engaging communities that may not yet have found Occupy movements to be relevant to them...It's connecting communities of color, and those most affected [by] economic power -- helping forge a resistance to the banks exploiting them."
Fahrenheit 451 at Zuccotti Park
Submitted on November 25, 2011By PETER LINEBAUGH - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
The cowardly, nocturnal destruction of more than 5,000 volumes of “the People’s Library” last week, a repository of knowledge gathered by the Occupy Wall Street assembly at Zuccotti Park requires the most vigorous push-back. Mayor Bloomberg of New York ordered the destruction which was certainly coordinated with Wall Street and the White House.
Police Evict Occupy Toronto Protesters
Submitted on November 25, 2011By Carl Bronski - WSWS
Much has been made by the mainstream Canadian press of the relatively peaceful police operations, pointing for instance to the absence of riot police in the front lines of the St. James Park eviction — but ignoring the presence of mounted and other tactical units sequestered in the side streets of Toronto’s downtown core that were to be deployed in the event the eviction was contested.
Heading for War on Syria?
Submitted on November 24, 2011Libya's model is being replicated in Syria. So far, it's short of war. For how long is uncertain. Expect it if current tactics fail.
Thanksgiving Hypocrisy
Submitted on November 24, 2011Canadian Wages Plummet
Submitted on November 24, 2011By The Canadian Press - November 24, 2011
Canadian workers are failing to keep pace with the rising cost of living as average real wages continue to shrink dramatically, according to new data from Statistics Canada...Real after-inflation wages have been dropping since the summer, and in September the average paychecks of Canadian workers declined outright — by 0.3 per cent to $872.75.
Occupy the Media
Submitted on November 24, 2011By Laurie Penny - November 24, 2011
As law enforcement cracked down on Occupy encampments around the country, a pattern began to emerge whereby officers moved in the small hours of the morning, held members of the press in police "pens" away from the evictions, and arrested them if they stepped out of line...Across the west, journalists have learned deference to police forces just as they have learned deference to the political establishment -- but over the past year, the objectives of the police and the press have been, for once, decidedly at odds.
Greek Police Make First Raid on University Since Fall of Military Junta
Submitted on November 24, 2011By Robert Stevens - 24 November 2011
Within days of being installed at the behest of the international financial elite, the new Greek coalition government led by top banker and prime minister Lucas Papademos has signaled its intention to impose cuts by authoritarian means...On November 17 the government utilized the abolition in August of the Academic Asylum law by the previous...government to authorize the police entry into a public university...for the first time since 1982.
Chief Cops Want Anti-Mask Law
Submitted on November 24, 2011CBC News - November 24, 2011
Some Canadian police chiefs are voicing support for a private member's bill that would criminalize wearing a mask or covering the face during a riot or unlawful assembly...Vancouver Police Department Chief Jim Chu has expressed support for the legislation, and [Bill Supporter Conservative MP Blake] Richards has said police in Calgary and Toronto also back it.
Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinians with Impunity
Submitted on November 23, 2011Palestinians are doubly cursed. Israel's military attacks them regularly. Lawless Israeli settlers also assault Palestinians with impunity. Investigations when held are whitewashed. Rarely is anyone prosecuted even for offenses too serious to ignore.
The Nature of the Beast Revealed
Submitted on November 23, 2011By RON JACOBS - November 23, 2011
Historically, police violence is a fact of life in every society. In a society based on a capitalist economy, the police serve those that have the most money and property. When the authorities and their policies are under attack, the police will always be called in to protect the former...There is a reason the most thuggish of the uniforms are often the ones called to disperse angry crowds...Meanwhile, hardly any one but their friends and family weep for those the police brutalize off campus.
Two Scandals, One Connection: The FBI Link Between Penn State and UC Davis
Submitted on November 23, 2011By Dave Zirin - November 23, 2011
Two shocking scandals. Two esteemed universities. Two disgraced university leaders. One stunning connection. Over the last month, we’ve seen Penn State University President Graham Spanier dismissed from his duties and we’ve seen UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi pushed to the brink of resignation...But their connection didn’t begin there. In 2010, Spanier chose Katehi to join an elite team of twenty college presidents on what’s called the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board, which “promotes discussion and outreach between research universities and the FBI.”
The Financial Crisis Continues as a Crisis of State Debt: The Imperialist Nations Fight for their Credit by Impoverishing their People
Submitted on November 23, 2011In the fifth year of the global financial crisis, the average person is still looking for a job or worried about losing one, and fears for what little savings he or she might have. The big investors flee into real assets, gold or Swiss francs, and increasingly shun government bonds – only a few years ago the safe harbor in the financial crisis, now rated as increasingly risky and falling in value.
Victoria Cop Convicted of Assaulting Prisoner After Assault Ruled "Reasonable" by Chief
Submitted on November 23, 2011CBC News - November 23, 2011
A provincial court judge ruled George Chong used excessive force in applying a choke-hold that rendered Frank Blair unconscious in January 2010...B.C. Deputy Police Complaint Commissioner Rollie Woods says his office is reviewing Chong's case and how it’s been handled by Victoria Police Chief Jamie Graham...After an internal disciplinary hearing, Graham ruled that Chong's choke-hold was reasonable and justified.
New York Cops Beat and Arrest Students Protesting Tuition Increase
Submitted on November 23, 2011By Sandy English - 23 November 2011
Police struck male and female students in the face, head and stomach, according to witnesses. Others were pushed to the ground and manhandled by as many as five officers at a time. Video footage of the incident shows police dragging students on the ground...“They started pushing us and beating us. We didn’t want this to be violent. We just wanted our voices to be heard...The officers were attacking us, unprovoked.”
After the Plea Deal [Video]
Submitted on November 23, 2011By Syed Hussan - November 23, 2011
I will not grieve Mandy, Leah, Alex, Peter, Erik and Adam going to jail for years...I will hope. Hope that every time they make one political prisoner, a dozen others take to the streets...Hope that each indignity pushed down upon upon us is met by a thousand fists pushing back up.
Police War on the Poor: The Return of the Albuquerque Death Squads
Submitted on November 23, 2011By DAVID CORREIA - November 23, 2011
...[Albuquerque Police Department] officers are violent by nature, self-selected to the force because of the opportunity to kill with impunity. The numbers seem to suggest as much. Police killings in Albuquerque are three-times what is found in comparably sized cities and is similar to New York, which has 14-times the population and a police force 34-times larger than APD...And there’s ample evidence of a frightening blood lust among some APD officers...[such as one who] posted his job description on Facebook as “human waste disposal.”
Obama and Labor: The Self-Defeating Alliance
Submitted on November 22, 2011By ROB URIE - November 21, 2011
...[W]hile in office [Obama] has dutifully represented the interests of the small group of extremely rich plutocrats who have worked...to destroy the American working class through the implementation of neo-liberal economic policies. Obama knows what soothing words to say to allay the fears of workers while he implements the same policies that have driven down wages, caused mass unemployment and that have placed all of the economic “gains” of these policies in the hands of a few well-connected mostly white men.
"We Emerge United and in Solidarity:" Statement by the G20 "Conspiracy" Arrestees
Submitted on November 22, 2011November 22, 2011 - rabble.ca
Although these conspiracy charges have been a big part of our daily reality for the past year and a half, we have been slow in speaking out collectively...We are writing now because we have negotiated a plea deal to resolve our charges and to bring this spectacle to an end...Of the 17 of us, six will be pleading and the 11 others will have their charges withdrawn...We are expecting sentences to range between six and 24 months, and all will get some credit for time already served in jail and on house arrest.
Social Democrats Pave Way for Return of Right-Wing Popular Party in Spain
Submitted on November 22, 2011By Paul Mitchell - WSWS
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, [Spain's social democrats] imposed savage spending cuts, including a 15-billion-euro austerity package, wage cuts of 15 percent and attacks on pensions. This is under conditions of widespread hardship and unemployment levels close to five million...This even enabled the [Popular Party] to pose as an opponent of cuts, if only by remaining silent about its own intentions.
Caught on Camera: 10 Shockingly Violent Police Assaults on Occupy Protesters [Video]
Submitted on November 22, 2011By Joshua Holland - November 18, 2011
Occupations across the country have born the brunt of some violent police tactics, and in a world where everyone has a camera-phone, a lot of their brutish behavior has been caught in photographs and on video...Below are some of the most stunning incidents of police officers going wild on Occupy protesters around the [United States].
Obama’s Pepper Spraying Cops
Submitted on November 22, 2011By DAVE LINDORFF - Counterpunch
Old women, pregnant mothers-to-be, and even children have been hit with pepper spray, teargassed and terrorized by police goons in New York, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Dallas, Chicago, Boston and elsewhere in what is almost certainly a coordinated attack on the Occupy Movement being run out of Washington.
Egyptian Military Power Grab
Submitted on November 21, 2011Since military junta power replaced Mubarak, thousands were arrested, imprisoned, tortured, disappeared, and/or denied due process and judicial fairness in military tribunal trials.
Israel Shuts Down "All for Peace" Radio Station
Submitted on November 21, 2011Sunday, November 20, 2011 - Common Dreams
Israel has ordered the shutdown of a dovish Israeli-Palestinian radio station, officials and the station's operators said on Sunday...Conservative lawmaker Danny Danon boasted that he had helped close the "All for Peace" radio station..."A radical leftist station that becomes an instrument of incitement must not be allowed to broadcast to the broader public..."
Western Powers Back Syrian Insurgents as Arab League Deadline Expires
Submitted on November 21, 2011By Jean Shaoul - WSWS
The Arab League’s three-day ultimatum to the Baathist regime of President Bashar al-Assad to implement a one-sided peace plan expired, with Assad refusing to back down...Even before the ultimatum expired, the imperialist powers and their allies in the Middle East were meeting to prepare a military intervention to unseat Assad, via the establishment of “safe havens” for civilians inside Syria.
All Work and No Pay: The Rise of Workfare in Britain
Submitted on November 21, 2011By Anne-Marie O’Reilly and Warren Clark - November 21, 2011
In some areas, there is less than one job advertised for every 20 people seeking work, yet unemployment is being identified as a personal failing. Workfare is a manifestation of the government’s attempt to discipline and control the lives of the unemployed. A central theme emanating from both the Labour and Tory conferences was the condemnation of people getting ‘something for nothing.’
The Bloodshed in Honduras: Obama’s Disgrace
Submitted on November 21, 2011By MARK WEISBROT - November 21, 2011
When I voted for Barack Obama in 2008 I never thought that his legacy in Central America would be the return of death squad government, of the kind that Ronald Reagan so vigorously supported in the 1980s. But that seems to be the case for Honduras.
Crackdown on Occupy Canada
Submitted on November 21, 2011By Carl Bronski - WSWS
About 2,000 supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement in Toronto marched from the protesters’ encampment in St. James Park to City Hall on Saturday. The demonstration was in response to efforts currently underway by the administration of right-wing mayor Rob Ford to evict several hundred people occupying the park...The “Evict Rob Ford” march comes on the heels of a concerted effort by municipal officials to shut down Occupy encampments across Canada.
U.S. Labor Must Choose Between Occupy and the Democrats
Submitted on November 21, 2011By Shamus Cooke - Znet Commentary
Though the mass actions of the Occupy Movement have done more to change the political climate than the millions who voted for Obama, most of Labor's entrenched leadership remain attached to the Democrats in an illusory attempt to have a national voice...In practice this means that labor ignores the pro-corporate policies of Democratic politicians while unions water down their demands to make them compatible with the positions of Democrats. Occupy won't stand for this, or even listen to it.
Occupy Toronto Opens Up Vein of Native Backlash
Submitted on November 21, 2011By Krystalline Kraus - November 20, 2011
So the Canadian myth that we're all loving and polite people gets exposed again if you're non-white, non-Western or Indigenous...I would say I have not been taken aback from the spate of anti-Indigenous commentary coming from the detractors of Occupy Toronto. It ain't pretty but it's real.
OCAP Statement of Support with Occupy Toronto
Submitted on November 20, 2011November 17, 2011 - Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
We must expect that sooner rather than later, cops will be mobilized to do on a larger scale what they do regularly to poor and homeless people trying to survive. They will be ready to use their power to clear out St James Park as their counterparts have done in a range of cities. Occupy Toronto has symbolized opposition to greed and injustice and has prompted people to take a stand.
Eurozone Doomsayer Got it Right
Submitted on November 20, 2011Eurozone economies are cratering. Every fix tried so far failed. Combining 17 dissimilar countries under one monetary/fiscal system assured disaster waiting to happen.
New Directory Lists Profiteers in Kingston-Area Prison Construction
Submitted on November 20, 2011This week, Kingston-based prison abolition group End the Prison Industrial Complex (EPIC) launched a new webpage listing private companies from across Ontario and Quebec that are profiting from Kingston-area prison construction.
OWS: Too Big to Fail
Submitted on November 20, 2011An idea whose time has come resonates globally. November 17 marked two months since beginning in New York. Earlier Middle East and European protests inspired it. Now it's spreading everywhere across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
If Chemtrails and HAARP Didn’t Disturb You Enough, Wait Until You Hear About Morgellons
Submitted on November 20, 2011Eventually, what I uncovered baffled and disgusted me. I would like to stress that I do not seek to alarm anyone with the information presented here. Morgellons is downright creepy and exhausting to even think about. I’m really not surprised why I just found out about Morgellons now, despite having researched and filmed chemtrails for over a year.
Fear of Conflict Enabled Occupy Vancouver to be Established
Submitted on November 20, 2011By Zig Zag - Vancouver Media Co-op
With Occupy Vancouver facing a court injunction ordering their removal by Monday, November 21, at 2PM, it is worth reflecting on why OV was able to be established in the first place...“The City of Vancouver opted not to stop Occupy Vancouver from setting up a tent city downtown during the initial protest march on Oct. 15 because it feared that police action could spark a riot, Mayor Gregor Robertson said...[”]
A New Israel in the Making
Submitted on November 20, 2011By Gideon Levy - Haaretz
The way of life in the new Israel...won't remind us in the least of the country we're used to. Even this article won't be publishable. Only proper opinions will be put into print...Laws and regulations...will bar publication of anything that could, in the eyes of the authorities, harm the state. A new law will bar defamation of the state, and the newspaper you will hold in your hands will be different. It will only report good news.
The Cop Group Coordinating the Occupy Crackdowns
Submitted on November 20, 2011By Shawn Gaynor - November 18, 2011
...[A] little-known but influential private membership based organization has placed itself at the center of advising and coordinating the crackdown on the [Occupy] encampments. The Police Executive Research Forum, an international non-governmental organization with ties to law enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has been coordinating conference calls with major metropolitan mayors and police chiefs to advise them on policing matters and discuss response to the Occupy movement.
Lobbyist's Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street [Video]
Submitted on November 20, 2011Sunday, November 20, 2011 - Common Dreams
A well-known Washington lobbying firm...has proposed an $850,000 plan to take on Occupy Wall Street and politicians who might express sympathy for the protests...The proposal was written on the letterhead of the lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford and addressed to one of CLGC’s clients, the American Bankers Association...CLGC’s memo proposes that the ABA pay CLGC $850,000 to conduct “opposition research” on Occupy Wall Street in order to construct “negative narratives” about the protests and allied politicians.
Penn State's Patriarchal Pastimes
Submitted on November 20, 2011By Katha Pollitt - Znet
Cancel the season. Fire everybody involved in the child abuse scandal. That is the only way Penn State can make it clear that raping children and looking the other way or even covering it up matters more than having a winning football team...Get real about rape. Grow up.
America's Student Loan Debt Bondage
Submitted on November 19, 2011Higher education today isn't like it used to be. US students face crisis conditions. Washington and lenders wage financial war on them. In addition, dozens of budget-strapped states cut funds to public colleges and universities.
America's Media War on OWS
Submitted on November 19, 2011Early reporting was scant, dismissive, and offensive. Much still belittles, denigrates and marginalizes a significant movement.
British Far Right Targets Trade Unions and the Left
Submitted on November 19, 2011By Mark Townsend - Saturday 19 November 2011
Britain's biggest unions are warning of a threat of violence by far-right groups during national strike action this month, amid concern that fascist elements are increasingly intent on targeting striking public sector workers...The development follows signs that splinter groups from the English Defence League are broadening their campaign from targeting Muslims to trade unionists and socialist organizations.
Police Repression Escalates Against Occupy Movement
Submitted on November 19, 2011By Kate Randall - WSWS
[New York Mayor Michael] Bloomberg...claimed that in the face of what he termed demonstrators’ “antagonism” the police “maintained incredible restraint”...In reality, it was the NYPD that employed violent methods...dressed in riot gear, batons drawn, using teargas and “sonic cannon” crowd control weaponry to attack peaceful protesters and ride roughshod over the rights of free speech and assembly.
Welcome Home: Building an Inclusive Movement for the 99 Percent
Submitted on November 19, 2011By Randall Amster - November 18, 2011
I would suggest...that we consider what it means to build a movement, and more broadly a society, for everyone without exception. The idea that certain segments -- most viscerally the derogatory and divisive tropes of the “freeloading homeless” or the “violent anarchists” -- don’t belong in the movement and should be excised due to their conduct and/or status is offensive, shortsighted, and ultimately contradictory to the aims of the movement.
Criminalizing OWS Protesters
Submitted on November 18, 2011America's First Amendment affirms everyone's free expression and assembly rights. Fourth Amendment freedom prohibits unnecessary excessive force. No matter. On November 14, billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg used goon squad cops to evict protesters. Hundreds earlier were beaten, pepper-sprayed, maced, tear gassed and arrested.
America's Media War on Syria
Submitted on November 18, 2011Replicating Libya's model, Western generated uprisings began in March. Since then, Syria's been ravaged by violence. Hundreds have been killed, many more injured.
Syria Targeted for Imperialist Intrigue
Submitted on November 18, 2011By Chris Marsden - WSWS
The Arab League plan calls on Syria to withdraw its tanks from restive cities, cease attacks on protesters, release prisoners and engage in dialogue with the opposition. Under present conditions, this would require the Baathist regime of President Bashar al-Assad to commit political suicide. It would mean agreeing to abandon military action, while armed insurgents are operating under the protection of Turkey, the Gulf States, Lebanon and, behind the scenes, the United States and France.
Racist Letter Claims "Islamic Extremists" Will Set Up "No-Go" Zones for Non-Muslims in Canadian Cities
Submitted on November 18, 2011By Donald Gutstein - November 18, 2011
The letter advises [Canadians] to be fearful because what has happened in some European cities will happen to us in Canada unless we make radical changes in our immigration policies...[A] clue to what is going on can be garnered by a quote in the letter from an unnamed source who describes the situation as "an occupation without tanks or soldiers"...[T]hat quote...was uttered by Marine LePen, leader of France's far-right National Front.
Iran, Nukes and the Failure of Skepticism: Iraq All Over Again?
Submitted on November 18, 2011November 16, 2011 - FAIR
Much of the corporate media coverage of a new UN report on Iran strongly asserts that Iran is close to building nuclear weapons. But the International Atomic Energy Agency report does not actually arrive at that conclusion, and many critics contend that the speculations that are in the report are misguided...[The] rhetoric wildly overstates the actual findings of the IAEA report.
Constitutionally Protected Symbolic Speech
Submitted on November 18, 2011Symbolic speech examples include leafleting, picketing, demonstrating, marching, speaking publicly, flag burning, displaying t-shirts, armbands, banners and placards, sit-ins, as well as camping out in public places. With some exceptions, all have First Amendment protection.
Massive Police Mobilization Against Occupy Wall Street Protesters
Submitted on November 18, 2011By Sandy English - 18 November 2011
As several hundred demonstrators swarmed into Manhattan’s financial district Thursday morning, police in riot gear met them with drawn batons and metal barricades. Police corralled the protesters on the sidewalk and cordoned off the entire area, making it difficult if not impossible for many workers in the area to get into their buildings...Around 2 pm, police closed off Zuccotti Park, preventing protesters from exiting or entering...Police pushed some protesters to the ground, and seriously injured at least one demonstrator...in the process of retaking the park.
NATO Beats the Drums of War Against Syria and Iran
Submitted on November 18, 2011By Jooneed Khan - November 18, 2011
If you thought the $4-trillion Iraq-Afghanistan-Pakistan quagmire...would bring the declining West to its senses, well, think again...Even as I write this, drums of war are beating in Israel and across Natodom to "bomb, bomb, bomb" Iran and Syria, and go "free" them with the drones and the missiles of "regime change."
The Left and the Debate Over Non-Violence: Lessons from the Occupy Crackdown
Submitted on November 17, 2011By PATRICK MADDEN - Counterpunch
What is truly disconcerting...is that this demagoguery and rhetoric of violence/nonviolence has threatened the unity of the movement itself. There have been reports of anarchists being bullied out of occupy encampments, jeered-at and told to take off their masks, and...in a bizarre twist, even threatened with physical violence for not committing themselves to the utterly vacuous liberal ideology that protesters who vigorously defend themselves from police brutality, or smash a Bank of America window...are “violent” and therefore a threat to the movement.
Obama Increases U.S. Military Presence in Australia and Asia
Submitted on November 17, 2011By James Cogan - WSWS
US President Barack Obama has used his brief state visit to Australia over the past 24 hours to underscore that his administration’s aggressive intervention into the Asia-Pacific region is aimed at undercutting China’s growing influence. The Labor government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard has unconditionally aligned itself with the US as the means for advancing Australian corporate and strategic interests within the region.
The Coming War on the Occupy Movement
Submitted on November 17, 2011By GEORGE CICCARIELLO-MAHER - November 17, 2011
...[W]alking the fine line of counter-intelligence and counter-insurgency, the forces conspiring against the Occupy Movement have been anything but subtle. In a crude and thinly-veiled information war, lies are tossed about like the seeds they are, and the media duly parrots the line put forth by police and city alike. This “chatter”...begins to spread surreptitiously: that Occupy is unsanitary, now dangerously so, now downright violent.
Don't Occupy the Status Quo
Submitted on November 17, 2011By Mick Sweetman - November 17, 2011
The Occupy camps have naturally become a focal point for the movement, a physical manifestation of the desire for a new society within the shell of the old. However, that new society can't be won by a Charter challenge against park bylaws. That new society has to be struggled and fought for by mass movements against the capitalist class and the governments that represent their interests.
Tory MP Proposes Bill to Make Wearing Masks During "Riots" a Crime
Submitted on November 17, 2011November 17, 2011 - CBC News
The bill by Conservative MP Blake Richards was introduced in the House of Commons last month and is set to be debated for the first time. It seeks to amend the Criminal Code to make it an offense to wear a mask, or otherwise disguise or conceal one’s identity during riots or unlawful assemblies...Richards said this is a measure that police have asked for and that it would be a new tool for them to help control "unruly mobs" and help identify offenders following a riot.
Targeting Iran and Syria
Submitted on November 16, 2011Israel wants regional rivals removed. Washington and key NATO partners want independent regimes ousted, replaced with subservient ones.
U.S. Playing With Fire in Korea
Submitted on November 16, 2011By Conn Hallinan - Znet
North Korea is hardly going to unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons while its two major enemies are designing war games to “stabilize” Pyongyang in the advent of major unrest. The recent NATO bombing of Libya certainly caught the attention of the North Koreans, who essentially said that it would never have happened if the Gaddafi regime had not abandoned its efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Libya is “teaching the international community a grave lesson...The truth that one should have power to defend peace.”
Huge Explosion at Iranian Missile Base Kills Top General
Submitted on November 16, 2011By Peter Symonds - 16 November 2011
A massive explosion at an Iranian military base on Saturday killed Major General Hassan Moghaddam and 16 soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp. While Tehran dismissed the blast as an accident, indications have already emerged that it was an act of sabotage carried out by Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad...Such was the scale of the blast that it was heard 40 kilometres away in Tehran.
6 Burning Questions About the Violent Crackdowns on Occupations Around the U.S.
Submitted on November 16, 2011By Lynn Parramore - November 15, 2011
Occurring without provocation, the Occupy crackdown gives the appearance of an orchestrated effort to thwart an emerging protest movement...Here are some things we’d really like to know.
Police State Tactics
Submitted on November 16, 2011By DAVE LINDORFF - Counterpunch
The ugly hand of the federal government is becoming increasingly suspected behind what appears to be a nationwide attempt to repress and evict the Occupation Movement...The police attacks have had a lot in common. They have been “justified” based upon trumped up pre-textural claims that the occupiers are creating a health hazard...Then the police come in...dressed in riot gear and heavily armed with mace weapons, batons, plastic cuffs and tear gas, or even assault rifles in some cases and so-called flash-bang stun grenades...
New York Cops Raid Occupy Wall Street
Submitted on November 16, 2011By Jerry White - WSWS
In a police state-style operation, beginning around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, the New York Police Department (NYPD), led by specially trained cops from the Emergency Service Unit, moved in against around 220 occupiers, most of whom were sleeping at the time. As the attack began protesters were deafened by orders being barked over truck-mounted loudspeakers and blinded by powerful...spotlights.
Occupy Crackdowns in U.S. Coordinated with Federal Law Enforcement Officials
Submitted on November 16, 2011By Rick Ellis - November 15, 2011
Over the past ten days, more than a dozen cities have moved to evict "Occupy" protesters from city parks and other public spaces. As was the case in last night's move in New York City, each of the police actions shares a number of characteristics. And according to one Justice official, each of those actions was coordinated with help from Homeland Security, the FBI and other federal police agencies.
Seattle Pigs Pepper Spray 84 Year-Old Woman During Occupy Protest [Video]
Submitted on November 16, 2011Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - Common Dreams
An elderly woman, a pregnant woman and a priest were among those who were pepper-sprayed during a protest in support of the Occupy movement on Tuesday...The demonstrators taking part in the Occupy Seattle movement marched from their current camp at Seattle Central Community College to Westlake Park late Tuesday afternoon.
Young Unemployed in Britain Forced to Work Without Pay or Lose Benefits
Submitted on November 16, 2011By Shiv Malik - The Guardian
Britain's young unemployed are being sent to work for supermarkets and budget stores for up to two months for no pay and no guarantee of a job...Under the government's work experience programme young jobseekers are exempted from national minimum wage laws for up to eight weeks and are being offered placements in Tesco, Poundland, Argos, Sainsbury's and a multitude of other big name businesses.
This Is What Revolution Looks Like
Submitted on November 15, 2011By Chris Hedges - November 15, 2011
Welcome to the revolution. Our elites have exposed their hand. They have nothing to offer. They can destroy but they cannot build. They can repress but they cannot lead. They can steal but they cannot share...They are as dead and useless to us as the water-soaked books, tents, sleeping bags, suitcases, food boxes and clothes that were tossed by sanitation workers Tuesday morning into garbage trucks in New York City. They have no ideas, no plans and no vision for the future.
Arab League Pro-Western Despots
Submitted on November 15, 2011Backing Western imperialism, the Arab League condoned Libya's ravaging. In March, they recognized puppet Transitional National Council (TNC) leadership. In August, they formally restored Libya's League membership after ousting Gaddafi at NATO's behest. They're silent on NATO's plan to colonize, occupy and plunder another Arab State, as well as ongoing atrocities in Bahrain, Yemen, Somalia, Palestine, and elsewhere in the region.
California's Eugenics Program (1909-1964) Exposed, Influenced Hilter
Submitted on November 15, 2011California's Eugenics program sterilized 20,000 institutionalized persons between 1909-1964, according to CBS News, Nov. 13, 2011. The news report says that Hitler used CA's eugenics program as a model for his "genetic cleansing." Charles Follett was 15 years old when he was involuntarily sterilized in CA and he is the first of 20,000 to speak up. Institutions breed abuse and I have dedicated my life to helping people speak out in first person about institutional abuse because I believe it is an important human rights issue.
UK Couple Driven to Suicide by Poverty and Neglect
Submitted on November 15, 2011By Robert Stevens - 15 November 2011
Last week, the bodies of Mark and Helen Mullins were discovered in their home in the small market town of Bedworth, Warwickshire. The married couple had made a suicide pact...When the couple died, they were living in a wretched and appalling state...For months, the couple had been unable to afford food or heating and did not have the means to buy basic household items.
Occupy Vancouver Occupies Everything
Submitted on November 15, 2011By Zig Zag - Vancouver Media Co-op
On Saturday, November 12, 2011, a crowd of some 200 took to the streets from the Occupy Vancouver site to march for social housing and autonomous spaces. Promoted as a “tour of inequality and excess in a city of glass,” one of the main mobilizing themes was “housing is a right, not a commodity.” More radical voices called for the establishment of autonomous social spaces and housing, against state control or influence. About 10 protesters wore the 'dreaded' black masks, so maligned of late by city and police officials.
The Crackdown on Occupy Protests and the Criminalization of Dissent
Submitted on November 15, 2011By Andre Damon - WSWS
Throughout the United States, city administrations are moving to break up encampments of the Occupy protests, trampling underfoot the constitutionally protected right of assembly...According to one tally, there have been over 3,600 arrests at Occupy protests...including 943 in New York City, 370 in Tucson, 352 in Chicago, 206 in Oakland and 153 in Boston...Those arrested have been subjected to arbitrary and punitive measures, including high bail and trumped-up charges.
You Cannot Evict an Idea Whose Time Has Come: An Open Letter to the 1 Per Cent
Submitted on November 15, 2011By Derrick O'Keefe - rabble.ca
...[M]y congratulations on sending in the NYPD to clear out Zuccotti Park in the wee hours of the morning today. Congratulations for demonstrating, with this cynically timed maneuver, that when push comes to shove the police exist to serve and protect your vested interests. Congratulations on teaching a new generation this painful but necessary lesson about the true function of the police in a capitalist society.
The Police State Makes Its Move on Occupy Wall Street
Submitted on November 15, 2011By Phil Rockstroh - November 15th, 2011
For days now, we have endured demonstrably false propaganda that the fallen soldiers of U.S. wars sacrificed their lives for “our freedoms.” Yet, as that noxious nonsense still lingers in the air, militarized police have invaded OWS sites in numerous cities, including Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan, and, in the boilerplate description of the witless courtesans of the corporate media, with the mission to “evict the occupiers”.
Occupy Wall Street for Change
Submitted on November 14, 2011Good ideas spread fast. This one's long overdue. Real grievances launched it.
Montreal Cops Violently Force McGill Students Off Campus
Submitted on November 14, 2011By Erin Hudson and Jessica Lukawiecki - November 14, 2011
Over 100 riot police stormed McGill campus last Thursday evening, forcing demonstrators, who had gathered in front of the James Administration building, off of campus. Police used pepper spray, tear gas, and physical force against demonstrators..."We were beaten in the ribs, in the back of the knees, on our shoulders, it was unbelievable..."
Bill in U.S. Congress Seeks to Investigate U.S. Boat to Gaza for "Terrorist" Ties
Submitted on November 14, 2011By Ali Abunimah - The Electronic Intifada
A bill introduced in the United States Congress last month would require the State Department to investigate “The sources of any logistical, technical, or financial support for the Gaza flotilla ships, including the Audacity of Hope, that were set to set sail from Greece on July 1, 2011”...The bill, which contains numerous inflammatory and unsubstantiated claims from an Israeli “anti-terrorism” organization, would further criminalize American citizens’ solidarity with Palestinians.
The Battles of Occupy Portland
Submitted on November 14, 2011By SHAMUS COOKE - November 14, 2011
The Mayor, police, and the local 1% had set the stage to justify police violence while scaring the public away from the downtown occupation spot before the eviction; radio stations warned listeners to “stay away from downtown,” businesses closed their doors early for “fear of violence,” the media shamefully reported stories without sources about people from “out of town” coming to Portland with violent intent. The ultra-peaceful protest that ensued made a mockery of these lies from Portland’s 1%.
Arab League Suspension of Syria Brings Military Intervention Closer
Submitted on November 14, 2011By Chris Marsden - WSWS
For the most part, popular support for the Ba’athist regime of Bashir Assad in Damascus and other cities, despite its repressive character, is animated by fear of the alternative — the installation of a sectarian Sunni Islamist regime that will persecute Alawites, Christians and other minorities, and the growing danger of foreign military intervention.
Letter to Occupy Together Movement
Submitted on November 14, 2011By Harsha Walia - October 14, 2011
I wish I could start with the ritual "I love you" which the Occupy Movement is supposed to inspire. To be honest, it has been a space of turmoil. But also, virulent optimism...What I outline below are not criticisms of the Occupy movement. I am inspired that the dynamic of the movement thus far has been organic, so that all those who choose to participate are collectively responsible for its evolution and development. To all those participating -- I offer my deepest gratitude and respect.
Demystifying Anarchism at Occupy Oakland
Submitted on November 13, 2011Saturday, November 12, 2011 - Infoshop News
After the events of November 2nd and 3rd we have seen the government, the corporate media, and even some of our comrades within the Occupy Oakland camp make "anarchists" the scapegoats for actions they disagree with, and we've heard that “anarchists” take advantage of the Occupy movement without “being a part of it.” However, many essential aspects of the Occupy movement are based on anarchist principles and build upon years of anarchist organizing.
The Royal Family and Revolting Cruelty
Submitted on November 13, 2011November 13 2011 - Libcom
The Royal family despite their huge wealth...locked away at least three members of their own family in state run mental asylums for over seventy years. When these asylums were closed, they then moved to care homes and left to rot. They denied their existence for over fifty years, and listed them as dead...The ones that have died were buried in council cemeteries in graves marked with plastic tags...
The Wrath of Ayn Rand
Submitted on November 13, 2011By FIRMIN DeBRABANDER - November 11-13, 2011
Many have commented on the remarkable callousness fashioned by this Republican presidential field...What’s driving this show of meanness? You might say it’s just what the electorate...wants. It seems like there are some seriously angry voters out there these days...And yet, I suspect this is no fleeting trend, but something with deeper ideological roots. In short, I sense Ayn Rand.
Troika to PIIGS: Shut Up and Take Your Medicine
Submitted on November 13, 2011By Mike Epitropoulos - Znet
The mainstream press around the world is jubilantly covering the change in leadership in both Greece and Italy, as the people in those countries and the other “PIIGS” continue to have harsh austerity measures imposed upon them...In both cases, the Troika...have been putting heavy pressure on these already-conservative governments to step up the speed and severity of cuts in social spending, cuts in the public sector and wages, and of course privatizations.
Financial Tyranny Rules Eurozone
Submitted on November 13, 2011From inception, Eurozone planning was flawed. Uniting 17 dissimilar countries under rigid rules failed.
Right-Wing Christians Ask God to Thwart Occupy Wall Street
Submitted on November 13, 2011By Brian Tashman - Right Wing Watch
While Religious Right leaders lauded tea party groups for taking to the streets, now they are asking for the government, and God, to crush the Occupy Wall Street movement...Earlier this week, the Family Research Council asked members to pray against “these raucus [sic] groups” and “ideological anarchists,” asking for God to “harvest souls for Christ among them”[.]
UK Undercover Cop Admits to Spying on Activists Throughout Europe, Helped Danish Police Raid Squat
Submitted on November 13, 2011By Rob Evans and Paul Lewis - The Guardian
[Former undercover cop Mark] Kennedy has admitted that he infiltrated a Danish community centre that had housed progressive causes for more than a century, obtaining intelligence that helped police to storm it and close it down in violent raids...Kennedy said he went to 22 countries in total during his seven years under cover, pretending to be an environmental activist. The list also includes Spain, Poland, France, and Belgium.
America's Media War on Iran
Submitted on November 12, 2011When Washington goes to war or threatens it, America's media march in lockstep, cheer-leading. Fiction substitutes for fact.
Death and Police Opportunism at Occupy Oakland
Submitted on November 12, 2011By MIKE KING - November 11-13, 2011
The State...uses acts of violence as a means to increase its own power while rarely having any measurable effect on violent crime or accountability to the communities it controls. People are not protected, violence increases, and services get cut to fund more police. The police have the power to command resources...without any accountability for police profiling and violence, or even with respect to the basic effectiveness of their strategies for diminishing crime. This is normalized in our culture without very many people asking why.
"Total Policing" in Britain and the Criminalization of Dissent (Two Articles)
Submitted on November 12, 2011The demo shuffled, zombie-like through the streets of London, with progress severely restricted by a heavy police presence. Effectively the cops had decided to place the whole demonstration in a mobile kettle, with lines of police marching alongside; every side street was barricaded with police horses dictating the pace at the front and a further 15 riot vans, 6 police cars and a dog van bringing up the rear. Overall more than 4,000 cops...were deployed. No one was allowed to join the demo and you certainly couldn’t leave...
Austerity Kills in Britain [Video]
Submitted on November 12, 2011Tuesday, 8 November 2011 - Libcom
[Mark and Helen Mullins], unable to get either employment or welfare, were forced to live in a single room of their house and to walk a 12 mile round trip to a Salvation Army food bank once a week...Far from the tabloid myth of welfare scroungers living it large on state handouts, what we have is an ex-soldier and his disabled wife having to live off donated food and eventually finding it so tough that they took their own lives.
How Street People Affect Street Performers (And Vice Versa)
Submitted on November 12, 2011By Kirsten Anderberg - November 12, 2011
The list of street characters I have met in my life as a woman street performer is long and memorable. While street performing, you become a part of the fabric of the streets and are privy to the front row drama that goes on there. You watch “bums” you know get hauled off to Detox, “bag ladies” who just tipped you shortly thereafter yell at walls and homeless teens being preyed on by the sex industry, all in a day’s work singing on a street corner. To those of us who lived much of our lives on streets, other street people became family.
Italy Pushed to the Brink by European Fiscal Orthodoxy
Submitted on November 12, 2011By Mark Weisbrot - November 11, 2011
Some of us have been warning for months about the crisis scenario that is accelerating today in Europe. In particular, I have noted that the European authorities were pushing Italy down a dangerous path, in similar fashion to what they did to Greece. The formula is deadly: force budget tightening on an economy that is already shrinking or on the edge of recession. This shrinks the economy further, causing government revenue to fall and making still further tightening necessary to meet the target budget deficit.
The Russell Tribunal on Palestine: South Africa Session
Submitted on November 12, 2011Launched on March 4, 2009, "The Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RToP) seeks to reaffirm the primacy of international law (to settle) the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (by focusing on) the enunciation of law by authoritative bodies (and) address(ing) the failure of application of law even though it has been so clearly identified."
Class War at McGill University
Submitted on November 11, 2011November 11, 2011 - Aaron's Reports
...[W]hen about a dozen students occupied the administration building at McGill, just immediately following a historic demonstration in the streets with over 30,000 people to resist Jean Charest's proposed tuition hikes in Quebec, the mighty boot of the state cracked down hard. Hundreds of students were violently pushed off the McGill campus at around 6pm. Tear gas and pepper spray were used against young students fighting for their right to study.
London Cops Launch “Total Policing” at Student Protest in Britain
Submitted on November 11, 2011By Robert Stevens - WSWS
The policing of Wednesday’s students protest in London was unprecedented in its repressive character...In what amounts to the criminalization of political protest, a policy described as “total policing” by the Metropolitan Police was put into operation...4,000 police officers, including 500 extra officers from outside London, [were] on the march — the largest mobilization of police in the capital since the riots in August.
Terror and Revenge Engulfs NATO’s Libya
Submitted on November 11, 2011By FRANKLIN LAMB - November 11-13, 2011
The “new Libya” has entered its own “Terror” which is spreading inexorably, aided by NATO member states including American, French and British [special forces] units known locally as “disappearance squads”. This is one of the rapidly developing consequences of the UN’s rush to “protect Libya’s civilian population” last spring.
Iran: WMDs Redux
Submitted on November 11, 2011Here we go again. Everything that goes around, comes around. We've seen it all before, each time fake. Nothing's different now.
Halifax: Police Take People, Tents and Supplies from Occupy Nova Scotia [Video]
Submitted on November 11, 2011By Hillary Bain Lindsay - Halifax Media Co-op
Police moved in on Occupy Nova Scotia in Victoria Park today, seizing tents and protesters. They were carrying out orders issued by Mayor Peter Kelly on Remembrance Day...When protesters tried to protect their tents by forming a line, police began throwing people to the ground and handcuffing them. By mid afternoon, at least 15 people had been detained, many of them organizers of Occupy Nova Scotia.
Human Rights Organizations Under Attack in Israel
Submitted on November 11, 2011By Mikaela Levin and Mya Guarnieri - Wednesday, 09 November 2011
Two new bills aim to strip Israeli human rights organizations of funds and silence dissent. According to one of the bills, which proposes to put a hefty tax on donations to NGOs, the legislation intends to stop groups from altering "Israel's political discourse from within."
Reframing Remembrance Day
Submitted on November 11, 2011By Jason Kunin - November 11, 2011
It is an eternal feature of war that the people who die in them are rarely the people who start them, and they are seldom the people who profit from them. We should recognize the nobility of sacrifice on their part, but we should not let that cloud our moral judgment by readily assuming, without reason or question, that the cause for which they fought was always just.
The Death of the Disrespected: "Smokin'" Joe Frazier
Submitted on November 11, 2011By Dave Zirin - Edge of Sports
Joe Frazier...died this week at the age of 67. Frazier had just emerged victorious from his epic 1971 encounter against Muhammad Ali, in a fight that was cast as a culture war between the "draft dodger" Ali and the "establishment hero" Joe Frazier. If you were against the war in Vietnam, you rooted yourself hoarse for Ali. If you wanted the hippies, freaks and Black Power disciples humbled, you wanted "Smokin'" Joe.
First Police Action Against Occupy Canada Movement — More Planned
Submitted on November 11, 2011By Carl Bronski - 11 November 2011
In two of the largest Occupy encampments — in Toronto and Vancouver — preparations are being made for a confrontation with the protesters. Toronto’s right-wing Mayor Rob Ford stated on Wednesday that it was time for the protesters “to move on” and that he would be seeking a meeting with the police chief to discuss an eviction strategy.
Gregor Robertson's Next Riot in the Service of the 1 Per Cent
Submitted on November 11, 2011By Chris Shaw - November 10, 2011
It is one thing to know that politicians lie...It is quite another thing to watch one do it to your face. Case in point, [Vancouver] Mayor Gregor Robertson's sickening performance at a press conference on the side of the Art Gallery on...Saturday night. Roberston earned his spot in that special place in hell reserved for lying politicians as he placed the blame for the death of the young homeless woman at Occupy Vancouver (OV) on the protest camp itself.
Why Are Oakland Police Hiding the Truth About Their Violent Crackdown on the Occupy Protests?
Submitted on November 10, 2011By Joshua Holland - AlterNet
In Oakland, tensions between law enforcement and the community predate the Occupy Movement by generations, and it's proving to be a real obstacle for addressing the legitimate concerns that many Oaklanders have about the camp. Both occupiers and the mayor's office have repeatedly called for “dialogue,” but the sense that the citizens of Oakland are under siege – felt especially by people of color – makes cooperation between the city and protesters extremely difficult. There is a serious deficit of trust.
Mexico: A Universal Struggle Against Power and Forgetting
Submitted on November 10, 2011By John Pilger - November 10, 2011
For most of this year, thousands of los indignados have taken over the massive parade ground known as the Zocalo facing the National Palace. The occupations in Wall Street and around the world have their genesis in Latin America. The difference here is there is none of the angst about the protesters’ “focus”. As in all places where people live on the edge and the state and its cronyism cast lawless shadows, they know exactly what they want.
Nine Candidates Vie to Lead Federal NDP
Submitted on November 10, 2011By Carl Bronski - WSWS
Having been recently catapulted into the role of Official Opposition, the trade union-based [New Democratic Party] and all nine of its leadership candidates are seeking to convince the Canadian ruling class that the social democrats can be trusted to rule on their behalf, supplanting the Liberal Party as the bourgeoisie’s “left” party of government. Toward this end, the NDP has moved sharply to the right since it recorded its best-ever electoral result in last May’s federal election.
Occupy Vancouver Was Already Alienated
Submitted on November 10, 2011By Michael Stewart - November 10, 2011
A common trope has emerged on radio talk shows, on-line media and the daily papers as Occupy Vancouver struggles against an increasingly hostile city hall, opportunistic electoral candidates and the justice system: the movement has alienated itself from the majority of Vancouverites even though that majority claims to support the stated goals of the global occupation. For anyone who has visited the art gallery lawns and is familiar with the struggles and demands voiced by the occupiers, this accusation should be infuriating.
Kicking the Cannes Down the Road
Submitted on November 9, 2011They met. They talked. They agreed to talk more and solved nothing.
Spoiling for Another Fight?
Submitted on November 9, 2011American foreign policy is defined by rage to ravage. Lunatics run the asylum. Washington's criminal class is bipartisan.
Political Policing in Montreal
Submitted on November 9, 2011By Christian Macdonald - The Dominion
The creation of a new police squad meant to monitor anarchist and marginal political groups is raising serious questions about the politicization of the police in Montreal. At least four organizations have objected to the formation of the unit dubbed GAMMA, and two have filed official complaints...“This squad is really a new kind of political police to fight against social movements...”
Cops Shut Down Occupy London (Ontario)
Submitted on November 9, 2011By Krystalline Kraus - November 9, 2011
The police moved in to evict the site at 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011 and barred any new tents from going up. London Mayor Joe Fontana also said that the public had to leave the park by 10:00 p.m. each night to prevent any form of overnight camping.
Fabricated IAEA Report on Iran Released
Submitted on November 9, 2011Based on forged, otherwise suspect, long ago discredited, discounted, or nonexistent documents, IAEA's report lacks credibility. Moreover, nothing new was revealed. Material from 2004 and earlier was manipulated to look current. It's not!
War Winds Target Iran
Submitted on November 8, 2011Anti-Iranian rhetoric and saber rattling is one thing, baseless accusations another if served as pretext for aggressive war.
Israel Assaults Freedom Waves to Gaza Activists
Submitted on November 8, 2011On November 2, two vessels blocked last summer from reaching Gaza sailed again from Fethiye, Turkey. Canada's Tahrir and Ireland's Soairse (Freedom) comprise the Freedom Waves to Gaza mission. On board were 27 international activists, journalists, and crew.
Making the Poor Pay More to Protect the Rich: Sarkozy’s Austerity Package for France
Submitted on November 8, 2011By PHILIPPE MARLIÈRE - Counterpunch
Under Sarkozy’s presidency, France has caved in to “Anglo Saxon”-style capitalism...Depressingly, the philosophy of the French plan is a carbon copy of the failed Greek, Portuguese and Spanish plans...[T]his austerity package aims to make the poor pay for the banking system mess and goes to great lengths to protect the rich...These austerity measures will do nothing to revitalize a moribund French economy and like in other parts of Europe, it will only further aggravate economic recession.
North American Integration and the Ties That Bind
Submitted on November 8, 2011After a two year hiatus, the leaders of the U.S., Canada and Mexico are set to meet for a trilateral summit. While the push for further North American integration continues incrementally, at this time, it is unlikely that discussions will yield any grand new initiatives that involve the participation of all three NAFTA partners. Instead, the meeting could be used to build off of bilateral discussions already underway. This includes negotiations between the U.S. and Canada on a North American Security perimeter deal designed to accelerate the flow of people and goods across the border.
Greek Government Crisis Triggers New Round of Budget Cuts in Europe
Submitted on November 8, 2011By Christoph Dreier - 8 November 2011
As the [European Union] presses for a new government in Greece to prepare further austerity measures, it is becoming clear that the government crisis and the attacks on the working class in Greece were the prelude to a new round of social cuts throughout Europe...After Portugal announced further austerity measures and Italy agreed on massive social cuts and its observation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week, Ireland and France followed suit, announcing further cuts in their already-truncated budgets.
Western Democracy: A Farce And A Sham
Submitted on November 8, 2011By Paul Craig Roberts - November 08, 2011
This is Amerika today. A president without any authority whatsoever, not in law and certainly not in the Constitution, can assassinate US citizens based on nothing except an assertion that they are a “threat.” No evidence is required. No conviction. No presentation of evidence in any court. Just a murder. That is now permissible to the Amerikan president. But let him try to get a woman who is not his wife into bed, and he is a cooked goose.
Medics Say Occupy Vancouver Prepared for Potential Police Violence
Submitted on November 8, 2011By David P. Ball - November 8, 2011
Volunteer medics at Occupy Vancouver...are preparing for the worst as political rhetoric over the three-week-old encampment escalates..."There's going to be a need for a medical presence if people are tear-gassed, beaten or shot with rubber bullets...Judging by what's happened in other cities in North America, when they decide to clear out protest camps it's always violent on the side of the police."
Far Right on Rise in Europe
Submitted on November 8, 2011By Peter Walker and Matthew Taylor - Sunday 6 November 2011
The far right is on the rise across Europe as a new generation of young, web-based supporters embrace hard-line nationalist and anti-immigrant groups, a study has revealed ahead of a meeting of politicians and academics in Brussels to examine the phenomenon..."In five years' time we will either see an increase in the forces of hatred and division in society, including ultra-nationalism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and anti-semitism, or we will be able to fight this horrific tendency."
Mr. Baird: Don’t Equate Zionism with Judaism
Submitted on November 8, 20118 November 2011 - Canada Palestine Association
We know about your unconditional support for Israeli war crimes, ethnic cleansing and apartheid and we and hundreds of thinking Canadians have no doubt about your biased policies...Frankly, we no longer expect you to treat the Palestinians as human beings. But we believe your policy is...promoting anti-Semitism in many ways, especially by putting on the shoulders of all Jews every crime Zionism, and its manifestation Israel, is committing against humanity.
America v. Paul Bergrin in Court
Submitted on November 8, 2011Lawlessness and injustice define America. Democratic values are absent. So is respect for human and civil rights.
Vancouver Cops Attack Occupy, Extinguish Ceremonial Fire, Assault Elders [Video]
Submitted on November 8, 2011November 8, 2011 - Vancouver Media Co-op
Following Gregor Robertson, Suzanne Anton made talk of respect and acknowledgement of the Coast Salish people; the Musqueam and Squamish peoples; the [Vancouver Police Department] attacked violently the Sacred Fire of the Elders at the Occupy site. They came with the fire department, and violently accomplished the putting out of the fire being peacefully defended.
"An Enormous Rise in Violence in Canada's Prisons": Tory Crime Bill is Rule by Angry Old Uncle
Submitted on November 8, 2011By Brian Topp - rabble.ca
"I've spent more time in federal prisons than anyone...I've had meetings with prison administrators, and then I've explored ever corner of our prisons right down into the hole. I know what's going to happen if they take that clause out of the Act. What's going to happen is that guards are going to feel free to use more force, a lot more force, to control inmates. There's going to be an enormous rise in violence in our prison system."
- Former Corrections Canada senior administrator on what will happen after the Conservative's remove article 4(d) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act which states "that the [corrections] service use the least restrictive measures consistent with the protection of the public, staff members and offenders."
What Happened in Oakland on November 2nd?
Submitted on November 7, 2011November 5, 2011 - Americans Against the Political System
Truth be told, the whole day went by pretty peacefully until the cops arrived. The main event at the port of Oakland was peaceful all through the day...Things took a turn for the worst only when the cops showed up in riot gear to antagonize, and the response to this was a very mixed bag with activists turning on activists and fighting with each other instead of against our common foe…and this is what concerns me the most, not that a few windows got broken, but that solidarity and cooperation is breaking down as we fight among ourselves.
Finding Freedom in Handcuffs
Submitted on November 7, 2011By Chris Hedges - Truthdig
The wealthy and the powerful, the ones behind the glass at Goldman Sachs, laughed and snapped pictures of us as if we were a brief and odd lunchtime diversion from commodities trading, from hoarding and profit, from this collective sickness of money worship, as if we were creatures in a cage, which in fact we soon were.
Israeli Leaders Press for Attack on Iran
Submitted on November 7, 2011By Peter Symonds - WSWS
Over the past week, evidence has been mounting of an intense debate in Israeli ruling circles over the launching of air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the not too distant future. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak have reportedly been campaigning inside the cabinet and seeking to overcome resistance within sections of the country’s military and intelligence establishment to a war with Iran.
America's Imperial Arrogance
Submitted on November 7, 2011America is ravaging the world one country at a time.
Freedom Waves Prisoners Abused and Imprisoned
Submitted on November 7, 2011“[W]e saw three Israeli warships in the horizon… Soon after, the Israeli presence in the waters around us intensified. We counted at least 15 ships, four of which were warships...Israeli soldiers pointed their machines guns at us. This is when our communications system was jammed and we lost contact with the world...[T]hey aimed their canons at us, showering us with salty water...Israeli ships hit our boat and soldiers started boarding. Dozens of masked soldiers screamed 'on your knees' and 'hands up'.”
- Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah, an activist aboard the Tahrir
Canadian Boat to Gaza Organizers Call for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird to Resign
Submitted on November 7, 2011By Canadian Boat to Gaza - rabble.ca
“Our friends have been assaulted, tasered, beaten, kidnapped, robbed, and imprisoned and we have now learned that the Department [of] Foreign Affairs is telling them they have to pay for their deportation flight...If Minister Baird wants to put the interests of a far-right Israeli government before Canadians, he should apply for the job of Israel’s ambassador...Unfortunately, when it comes to Israel, Baird is soft on crime.”
- Wendy Goldsmith, organizer with the Canadian Boat to Gaza
Harper Plays at Neoliberal Social Engineering
Submitted on November 7, 2011By Murray Dobbin - November 7, 2011
The Harper government's announcement that it will change the laws regarding capital gains taxes to encourage more charitable giving strikes an ominous note for the country's political culture. Harper is mimicking...the Conservatives in Britain who are trying to pull the same trick with what they call the Big Society initiative: promoting the privatization of social services through increased private giving. Both efforts smack of social engineering from the right.
Internet Freedom Threatened
Submitted on November 7, 2011Congressional bills want the Internet censored.
Occupy Wall Street and the War on the Poor
Submitted on November 7, 2011By Frances Fox Piven - November 07, 2011
We’ve been at war for decades now -- not just in Afghanistan or Iraq, but right here at home. Domestically, it’s been a war against the poor, but if you hadn’t noticed, that’s not surprising. You wouldn’t often have found the casualty figures from this particular conflict in your local newspaper or on the nightly TV news. Devastating as it’s been, the war against the poor has gone largely unnoticed -- until now.
Vancouver Orders End to Occupy [Multiple Articles and Video]
Submitted on November 7, 2011"Removal of the tents from the public square on the north side of [Vancouver Art Gallery] would deny the Occupy Vancouver people their Charter-protected right to publicly protest and to engage in public education and debate on the quickening erosion of the most basic freedoms. It would also expose the vulnerable residents of Occupy Vancouver to greater harm. The mayor and city council ought to be providing solutions, not seeking to use the law to impose greater harm on the most helpless members of our community."
- Gail Davidson, Vancouver-based lawyer and member of Lawyers Against the War
National Aboriginal Organizations Need to Rethink Conservatives as "Partners"
Submitted on November 6, 2011By Pamela Palmater - October 28, 2011
Canada's underlying objective in Indian policy is to "rid Canada of the Indian problem" and to free up land for settlement and development...[S]ome of us are shocked when we hear unbelievably racist comments come from the Minister of Indian Affairs or [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper. Why the shock? They have told us many, many times who they really are and how they really feel about our issues. Our wishing it wasn't so won't change that. What we can change is whether or not we continue to prop up the Conservatives and their ludicrous ideas, or whether we stand together against it.
Why Iceland Should Be in the News But Isn't
Submitted on November 6, 2011By Deena Stryker - Znet
The belief that citizens had to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly, that an entire nation must be taxed to pay off private debts was shattered, transforming the relationship between citizens and their political institutions and eventually driving Iceland’s leaders to the side of their constituents. The Head of State...refused to ratify the law that would have made Iceland’s citizens responsible for its bankers’ debts, and accepted calls for a referendum.
What Happened When I Tried to Get Some Answers About the Creepy Police Watchtower Monitoring OWS
Submitted on November 6, 2011By Nick Turse - AlterNet
Imagine a 7-foot by 6-foot metal box, with blacked out windows on its four sides, bristling with cameras, spotlights...atop spindly hydraulic legs that allow it to sit on the ground or rise up two stories. Inside that climate-controlled cube is a control panel with switches to turn on the lights, a joystick to raise and lower the unit, and various other remote controls that...[can be used] to direct the cameras and watch their feeds on video screens...
The Occupy Movement and the Militarization of Policing
Submitted on November 6, 2011By Ayesha Kazmi - Thursday 3 November 2011
In Boston and Chicago, reports of extended and humiliating detentions of targeted occupy "leaders", typically from Direct Action, media, legal and medics groups, are disturbing...[T]he Occupy Chicago media team further reports that arrested individuals were deprived of their phone call, food and water, and that mattresses were removed from cells, while one woman was placed in solitary confinement.
I Write from Cell 9 in the Apartheid State of Israel
Submitted on November 6, 2011By David Heap - November 5, 2011
I write to you from cell 9, block 59, Givon Prison near Ramla in Occupied Palestine. Although I was tasered during the assault on the Tahrir, and bruised during forcible removal dockside...I am basically OK...If you have energy to devote to solidarity actions in the coming days, please concentrate on them. We must get Tahrir back and hope Freedom Waves continue.
The "New" European Model: Repression at Home and Eternal War Abroad
Submitted on November 5, 2011By Brian Denny - November 05, 2011
The European Gendarmerie Force (Eurogendfor)...is made up of paramilitaries from six member states - France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Romania...It is a European intervention force...which [has] all the powers of a secret service and are immune from prosecution...The paramilitary plans were launched by the former French defence minister...after the French had to deal with internal uprisings of immigrant youth...Eurogendfor can be deployed in times of crisis instead of national armies, which presumably would be less inclined to fire on their own citizens.
National Public Radio's War on Free Speech
Submitted on November 5, 2011Like other major media sources, NPR serves corporate and imperial interests. It's called public to conceal its real agenda. Critics ridicule it as National Pentagon or Petroleum Radio for good reason.
Open Letter From Anarchist Participant in Oakland General Strike
Submitted on November 5, 2011Friday, November 04 2011 - Infoshop News
After the successful national day of action and general strike in Oakland...we see the topic of violence and non-violence growing within our movement and within the voices of corporate media networks. Obviously this is a result of certain actions that individuals and groups within the movement decided to partake in. Unfortunately we are hearing a great deal of slander, and nonsense at the forefront of this discussion...I feel it's necessary to confront this.
Target Iran
Submitted on November 5, 2011In the past five years, Iran faced four harsh rounds of sanctions. At issue is its alleged nuclear threat. No evidence proves it.
U.S. Again Threatening to Take Military Action Inside Pakistan
Submitted on November 5, 2011By Vilani Peris and Ali Ismail - 5 November 2011
The continuing crisis in US-Pakistan relations stems from the strategic dilemma facing the Pakistani ruling elite. At Washington’s behest, Pakistan has waged a ruthless counterinsurgency operation against Taliban-aligned militants based in the Afghan border region...Pakistan remains the linchpin of the neo-colonial occupation of Afghanistan, but the Pakistani elite now fears its strategic and geopolitical interests are being undermined by an increasingly aggressive US.
Mayor "Juiceman" Says Occupy Vancouver May be Forcibly Removed
Submitted on November 5, 2011CBC News - November 4, 2011
[Vancouver Mayor Gregor] Robertson won't say when he may seek a court injunction to have police physically remove protesters, however he said city staff are actively working on the idea...A camp spokeswoman...said Friday morning that the protesters don't recognize the authority of police, firefighters or other city officials in the camp...They said the camp is an autonomous and weapons-free community, and that city officials would be welcome as individuals but not recognized in their official capacity.
Canadians Protest Israel's Seizure of the Tahrir Near Gaza Amid Claims of Sabotage
Submitted on November 5, 2011By Mick Sweetman - rabble.ca
Following the seizure of the Canadian boat, the Tahrir, by Israeli authorities in international waters off the coast of Gaza, impromptu protests erupted across Canada Friday in a show of solidarity with the activists arrested...Activists in Canada are still waiting on word about the delegates, media, and crew who were on board the two boats seized by the Israeli Navy and presumably taken into custody.
Washington's Man in Libya
Submitted on November 4, 2011After ousting independent leaders, Washington replaces them with puppets.
U.S. and Britain Prepare for War Against Iran
Submitted on November 4, 2011By Peter Symonds - WSWS
Articles in the British-based Guardian and Telegraph newspapers on Wednesday have lifted the lid on military preparations by the US and Britain for an attack on Iran that go well beyond routine contingency planning...The leaks pointing to a dangerous new military adventure take place amid a debate within the Israeli inner cabinet and media over whether to unilaterally launch air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Rampant Police Brutality in Britain
Submitted on November 4, 2011By LINN WASHINGTON, Jr. - November 4-6, 2011
For a dozen years they had marched peacefully to the street containing the residence of Britain’s prime minister, asking [them]...to investigate the scourge ripping at the soul of this nation...That scourge is the thousands of suspicious deaths occurring while in the custody of British police, in British prisons and in British mental health facilities.
Why Is Big Pharma Allowed to Hawk Deadly Pills?
Submitted on November 4, 2011By Martha Rosenberg - AlterNet
Big Pharma and the [US Food and Drug Administration] have known for years that formoterol fumarate, found in Symbicort, Dulera and Foradil, and salmeterol, found in Advair Diskus and Serevent Diskus, can paradoxically cause asthma deaths, especially in children and African Americans...But the drugs...are so lucrative...they are marketed despite their estimated US death toll of 4,000 a year. That's equal to or even more than the number who die from asthma!
Greek Prime Minister Cancels Referendum on Austerity Plan
Submitted on November 4, 2011By Peter Schwarz - 4 November 2011
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has canceled his plan for a referendum on the decisions of the October 26 European Union summit...Papandreou retreated from his proposed referendum under massive pressure from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy...Merkel and Sarkozy made clear to Papandreou that they will not tolerate any interference of the Greek people in the austerity measures dictated by the [European Union].
UK Dismisses Appeal by WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Against Extradition
Submitted on November 3, 2011By Robert Stevens - 3 November 2011
On Wednesday, the High Court in London dismissed the appeal by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange against his extradition to Sweden on frame-up charges of rape and sexual assault...Assange’s lawyers have indicated they will appeal the latest decision to the Supreme Court...Given that the same court has just rejected Assange’s appeal, permission is highly unlikely. This would mean Assange will be forcibly extradited to Sweden within 10 days of the hearing...
Israel Called Biggest Threat to World Peace
Submitted on November 3, 2011A new European Commission poll rated 15 countries. Respondents called Israel the biggest threat to world peace. So did past surveys, including a previous 2003 European Commission one.
The CIA as Executioner: Murder as an Instrument of U.S. Foreign Policy
Submitted on November 3, 2011By LIAQUAT ALI KHAN - November 03, 2011
The legitimization of extra-judicial killing is a disturbing development in international law as other nations are certain to follow suit. In pursuit of pre-meditated murders...the killing of the obviously innocent...has been extensive. The claim that such murders can be executed with electronic precision...serves as an incentive for other nations to develop drones to perpetrate their own surgical assassinations. For now, however, the CIA enjoys the monopoly over drone kills.
OWS Oakland Takes Over City, Shutting Down One of the Biggest Ports in the U.S....But Night Brings More Chaos and Teargas
Submitted on November 3, 2011By Joshua Holland - November 2, 2011
As many as 15,000 people participated in actions across Oakland yesterday...There were probably eight to ten times the number of people in the streets of Oakland today as I'd seen during past OWS actions...[T]he protests were remarkably up-beat throughout the day. But that changed when night fell as the streets of Oakland once again resonated with the sharp cracks of tear gas canisters and "less lethal" projectiles being fired, and flash-bang grenades scattering the crowd.
Special Ops in Obama-Time: U.S. Night Raids Killed Over 1,500 Afghan Civilians in Ten Months
Submitted on November 3, 2011By GARETH PORTER - Counterpunch
U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) killed well over 1,500 civilians in night raids in less than 10 months in 2010 and early 2011, analysis of official statistics on the raids released by the U.S.-NATO command reveals...That number would make U.S. night raids by far the largest cause of civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan.
Are Obama and NATO Plotting a Military Coup in Greece?
Submitted on November 3, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
The sudden dismissal of the Greek military’s high command Tuesday night, amid international uproar over a proposal for a referendum on an EU debt plan, has all the hallmarks of an action taken to preempt the threat of a military coup...“If I were from Greece...I would keep a wary eye on that military machinery which governed the country until 1974 and which might lie in wait for an opportunity for revenge. We know from many countries: Dr Shock is an enemy of democracy.”
Paying for Being Homeless: The Criminalization of Poverty in Ottawa
Submitted on November 3, 2011By Lana Bateman - Media Co-op
The Safe Streets Act has been largely criticized by groups such as the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty for its vagaries, specifically regarding the lack of a precise definition for “aggressive panhandling”...The act prescribes punitive measures against the poor, and has been denounced for ignoring the root causes of panhandling and homelessness: poverty. The Safe Streets Act exacerbates the poverty problem by giving out large fines to homeless people caught panhandling in the downtown area.
Vancouver's October Revolution
Submitted on November 3, 2011By Sean Antrim - November 3, 2011
In Vancouver, hundreds have taken the North grounds of the Vancouver Art Gallery, with a general message that change is needed now. The mayoral debate has orbited around the issue without touching it. Like the Czar on the eve of the 1917 revolution, the two most electable candidates are fighting over who is better at getting rid of the protest rather than who will better address inequality...It’s almost as if they don’t understand the issue, and the polls are showing that most people are unhappy with both of them.
Washington and Israel: Partners in State Terror
Submitted on November 2, 2011Washington and Israel fine-tuned state terrorism. Both nations redefined the degeneracy of Western societies. They and others benefit from death, destruction, exploitation, and human misery.
Obama's Legacy of Shame
Submitted on November 2, 2011Permanent war, class war, and grand theft define Obama's agenda.
The CIA Returns to Campus
Submitted on November 2, 2011By Philip Zwerling - Z Magazine
...[A]fter 9/11 the Central Intelligence Agency and its friends in the warm-and-fuzzy sounding Intelligence Community...have set up shop again on university and college campuses across the U.S., procuring students, “modifying” curricula, and spying on faculty just as they did in the 1960s and 1990s...“The CIA has enough professors under Agency contract to staff a large university.”
In UK, Most Vulnerable Face Devastating Cuts
Submitted on November 2, 2011By Dennis Moore - 2 November 2011
Labour-controlled Manchester City Council (MCC) has voted through some of the severest cuts to services in the UK...These cuts to services will have a direct impact on thousands of the poorest and most disadvantaged. Manchester is the fourth most deprived local authority in the country, with the majority of its population living in the 10 percent most deprived wards in the UK. Life expectancy is the second lowest in the country.
All Day, All Week (All Century), Occupy Wall Street
Submitted on November 2, 2011By Thai Jones - Znet
For as long as Wall Street has stood for greed and unearned profits there have been those who have stood against it...[T]he first occupation of Wall Street proper occurred during the early months of 1914, when Emma Goldman and Upton Sinclair, as well as hundreds of their socialist and anarchist comrades, descended on lower Manhattan to protest the callousness and cruelty of the plutocratic elite.
The People Versus the Police
Submitted on November 2, 2011By Naomi Wolf - Al Jazeera
America's politicians, it seems, have had their fill of democracy. Across the country, police, acting under orders from local officials, are breaking up protest encampments set up by supporters of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement - sometimes with shocking and utterly gratuitous violence.
Jack London's Great-Granddaughter on Oakland Police Riot
Submitted on November 2, 2011By Tarnel Abbott - Tuesday November 1st, 2011
"I looked at the Jack London oak tree in front of City Hall and felt possessed by the spirit of the great man. I thought of him standing there on his soap box making socialist speeches and getting arrested because he didn’t have a permit...I knew that I too had to resist it. Something came over me so that I was completely unwilling to be bullied into leaving. I felt like a mother protecting her young. I felt calm, but angry."
Coup Fears in Greece Over Plan to Put Austerity Measures to Referendum
Submitted on November 2, 2011By Peter Schwarz - WSWS
Prime Minister George Papandreou sacked the Greek military high command Tuesday...The announcement fueled rumors in Greece of an impending military coup. These fears are founded on an understanding that the drastic cuts in employment, living standards and essential social services that have been demanded by Europe’s ruling elites as the price for a partial relief of the country’s debt burden cannot be imposed by democratic means.
Out-of-Control Israeli State Terror
Submitted on November 2, 2011Having friends in high places in Washington lets Israel get away with murder.
Canadian and Irish Boats En Route to Gaza in Attempt to Break Blockade
Submitted on November 2, 2011By Canadian Boat to Gaza - November 2, 2011
The Canadian ship Tahrir and the Irish ship Saoirse have successfully reached international waters, marking the start of the Freedom Waves to Gaza campaign..."[We] hope to reach the shores of Gaza in a matter of days. Among the significant obstacles in our way are Israel's military and the complicity of the Harper government, but we have the wind of public opinion at our back and in our sails, which strengthens our resolve and determination to challenge the illegal blockade of Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants."
Washington Wants its Imperial Model Replicated in Libya
Submitted on November 1, 2011Washington ran NATO's imperial war against Libya to colonize, occupy and plunder another vassal state. Democracy and humanitarian considerations are non-starters.
Libya: NATO's War Feeds Ugly Violence
Submitted on November 1, 2011By Tony Iltis - Monday, October 31, 2011
The specific trigger for NATO intervening in March was that the Gaddafi regime was pounding Benghazi with indiscriminate shelling and threatening violent reprisals upon retaking the city...However, since the fall of Tripoli on August 21, this is exactly what NATO and the [National Transitional Council "rebels"] have done to Sirte and other communities where pro-Gaddafi fighters have hung on...Sirte, formerly a city of 100,000 people, “looks today like Ypres in 1915, or Grozny in 1995 after the Russian Army had finished with it...”
The Oakland General Strike
Submitted on November 1, 2011By Ken Knabb - Znet
...[E]ven if a relatively small number of people actually strike, the mere act of putting such a notion on the agenda is already awakening people to new possibilities. The general strike is not intended to be a mere work stoppage, but a day for positive, creative public dialogue...You don’t have to wait for Occupy Oakland or anyone else to take your own initiatives.
U.S. "Kill Team" Leader Treated Afghans Like "Savages"
Submitted on November 1, 2011By Ellis Conklin - November 1, 2011
The ringleader of a rogue US army unit accused of killing Afghan civilians for sport treated the locals like "savages," a court martial heard...The so-called "kill team" led by Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs was "out of control," prosecutors added as grisly photos of soldiers posing with a corpse were shown in court.
Netanyahu Threatens Gazans with Death
Submitted on October 31, 2011Throughout its history, Israel had belligerent, racist prime ministers, none worse than Netanyahu. He talks peace but mocks and spurns it.
A Drug as Scary as Halloween: Blockbuster Drug Causes Cancer, TB and Lethal Infection
Submitted on October 31, 2011By Martha Rosenberg - October 31, 2011
How did Abbott Laboratories’ Humira become an $8 billion a year drug, capable of anchoring an entirely new drug company[?]...The same way all expensive, dangerous drugs become blockbusters: an easy touch [Food and Drug Administration], bought doctors and doctor groups, PR firms to establish diseases as “public health threats” and massive direct-to-consumer advertising!
Seven Myths About the Police
Submitted on October 31, 2011Monday, October 31 2011 - Infoshop News
In any case, it’s not as if a police-free society is suddenly going to appear overnight...The protracted struggle it will take to free our communities from police repression will probably go on as long as it takes us to learn to coexist peacefully...In the meantime, opposition to police should be seen as a rejection of one of the most egregious sources of oppressive violence, not an assertion that without police there would be none.
Greek General Strike October 19-20 [Video]
Submitted on October 31, 2011A video about the recent general strike in Greece (with English subtitles).
Cops Attack Occupy Protests in Denver [Video]
Submitted on October 31, 2011By Joseph Kishore - 31 October 2011
The police repression of Occupy demonstrations in the US escalated over the weekend. In the most serious incident, riot police using tear gas and wielding batons arrested 20 in Denver, Colorado. Several protesters were injured...Other arrests were carried out in Portland, Oregon; Nashville, Tennessee; Rochester, New York; and Austin, Texas.
Living Under Israel's Boot
Submitted on October 31, 2011Like occupied people everywhere, Palestinians understand oppression better than experts. Ask them. They'll explain. Life under occupation is oppressive and cruel. Palestinians want it ended.
Is Capitalism Losing the Debate?
Submitted on October 31, 2011By CARL FINAMORE - Counterpunch
Millions are demanding clear explanations for the economic turmoil surrounding their lives and rejecting en masse standard platitudes from an increasingly discredited political establishment...Fox-News pundits, Heritage Foundation business scholars, glib right-wing loudmouths and two-faced politicians from both major parties have been exposed as stand-in ventriloquists for the wealthy – shockingly, all in a few short weeks.
The Spirit of the Age
Submitted on October 31, 2011By TARIQ ALI - October 31, 2011
What is needed is a complete turnaround preceded by a public admission that the Wall Street system could not and did not work and has to be abandoned...To continue on this path will require new mechanisms of domination that will leave democracy as little more than an empty shell. The occupiers are instinctively aware of this, which is why they are where they are today. The same cannot be said for the extremist politicians of the centre.
A Master Class in Occupation
Submitted on October 31, 2011By Chris Hedges - Truthdig
The Occupy movements that have swept across the country fuse the elements vital for revolt. They draw groups of veteran revolutionists whose isolated struggles...are often unheeded by the wider culture. The Occupy movements were nurtured in small, dissident enclaves in New York, Oakland, Chicago, Denver, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Bands of revolutionists in these cities severed themselves from the mainstream, joined with other marginalized communities and mastered the physical techniques of surviving on the streets and in jails.
New York Cops Sending Drunks to Occupy Wall Street
Submitted on October 31, 2011By Barbara Morrill - October 31, 2011
"...the [New York Police Department] seems to have crossed a line in recent days, as the park has taken on a darker tone with unsteady and unstable types suddenly seeming to emerge from the woodwork. Two different drunks I spoke with last week told me they’d been encouraged to 'take it to Zuccotti' by officers who’d found them drinking in other parks..."
New York Cops Blame OWS for Surge in Shootings While City Wastes Money Policing Nonviolent Protesters
Submitted on October 30, 2011By Nick Turse - AlterNet
The Occupy Wall Street protests and the new mini-society that has formed in Liberty Square in Lower Manhattan, continues to tax the city’s budget. Recently, it has also sparked howls of protest from top police commanders who blame OWS activists for an increase in gun violence across New York City.
Iraq: Occupation Leaves Devastated Nation
Submitted on October 30, 2011Monday, October 31, 2011 - Green Left Weekly
Obama announced on October 21 that all US forces will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year. But the pullout doesn't represent an abandonment of Washington's aim to dominate the Middle East, but rather a rationalizing and retooling of US imperialism...The grand imperial dreams of February 2003 may be gone. But US imperialism remains ― as deadly as ever.
"The Warrant is Coming Out of My Balls:" U.S. Immigration Agent During Unlawful Search
Submitted on October 30, 2011By Jorge Rivas - Wednesday, October 26 2011
The [American Civil Liberties Union] of Tennessee filed a lawsuit this week...on behalf of fifteen residents of an apartment complex in Nashville...who say they were targets of an unlawful immigration raid. The defendants allege that ICE agents and Metro Nashville police officers forced their way into their homes without warrants. When residents asked the officers to show a warrant, one agent reportedly...said “the warrant is coming out of my balls.”
Canadian Government Announces Multi-Billion Dollar Warship Building Program
Submitted on October 30, 2011By Roger Annis - October 26, 2011
The expenditures fit with Canada's increasingly aggressive military posture in the world. From its combat roles in Afghanistan and Libya to its police/military occupation role in Haiti, Canada is joining the front ranks of imperialist countries that are increasingly turning to military force to advance their economic interests and maintain the unequal and unfair international status quo.
Environment Canada Terminates Funding to Environmental Networks
Submitted on October 30, 2011By Moira Peters - The Dominion
Grassroots environmental groups and organizers were hit hard by the federal government's announcement on October 13 that the half-million dollars that funds Canada's environmental networks will be terminated..."For this tiny amount of money, Environment Canada is shooting itself in the foot...[Nova Scotia Environmental Network] has shown us how to approach government and community in an intelligent way."
Documents Reveal How UK Backed Gaddafi’s Repression
Submitted on October 30, 2011By Robert Stevens - WSWS
Documents found in the abandoned residence of the British Ambassador in Tripoli reveal the extent of the British government’s intimate relationships with the former Gaddafi government in Libya...They expose as lies the claim that the seven-month US-led NATO bombing of Libya had anything to do with humanitarian concerns over the Gaddafi regime’s abuse of democratic rights.
Arrested and Jailed for 30 Hours, Occupy Wall Street Protester Tells Her Story
Submitted on October 30, 2011By Barbara Schneider Reilly - October 26, 2011
I...had not come to get arrested, but as we tried to leave, several enormous undercover cops in sweatshirts and jeans appeared, blocked the exits and quite literally pushed us back into the bank...Ready to pounce on us, they made leaving the bank impossible...Police officers in white shirts seemed to swarm from everywhere. They rushed into the bank and told us we were being arrested...As they handcuffed us, we did not anticipate the next 30 hours that was in store for us.
Anti-Imperial Voices
Submitted on October 29, 2011Last August, over 140 prominent Africans expressed opposition to NATO's imperial war against Libya.
New York City Steps Up Harassment of Occupy Wall Street Protesters
Submitted on October 29, 2011By Sandy English - 29 October 2011
The billionaire mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, escalated state harassment of the several hundred anti-Wall Street protesters who have occupied a small plaza in New York City’s financial district since September 17...The mayor sent 40 firefighters, accompanied by police, into the encampment on Friday to remove several canister’s of gasoline and six electrical generators.
Update on the Status of Occupy Canada Cities Threatened with Eviction
Submitted on October 29, 2011By Krystalline Kraus - October 28, 2011
Here are some updates from Occupy Canada cities and their relationship with their respective city councils. Click here for a directory listing of all Occupy Canada cities.
400% Rise in Anti-Depressant Use: Can the OWS Uprising Shake Us Out of Our Depression?
Submitted on October 29, 2011By Bruce E. Levine - October 26, 2011
Why has...antidepressant use skyrocketed? Are the symptoms of what is commonly called depression — helplessness, hopelessness, and immobilization — always evidence of a medical condition? Or is it time to repoliticize a great deal of our despair, and reconsider the old-fashioned antidepressant of political activism?
Occupying Solidarity with Indigenous Rights
Submitted on October 28, 2011By Krystalline Kraus - October 28, 2011
I feel sad that as a "movement connected," we did not foresee how problematic the term "occupy" would be when referring to land on which settlers live -- and where the 99 per cent plans to demonstrate -- since this land has been occupied for the past 400 years. With this truth intact, how is it possible for us to occupy already occupied land?
Anti-Defamation League National Pledge for Unity on Israel
Submitted on October 28, 2011The ADL is a racist and Islamophobic organization.
Oakland Police Violence Raises the Stakes for the OWS Movement
Submitted on October 28, 2011By Joshua Holland - October 27, 2011
“You see all these people here?” a protester asked...“They're all going home more radicalized than when they arrived”...He was probably right – this kind of crowd control doesn't deter protesters, it steels them. On Tuesday, I only heard more resolve as the evening progressed...These occupiers aren't going away...If the city thought they would simply go away after the eviction, they made a grave, and costly, miscalculation.
Why Libya Was Attacked
Submitted on October 28, 2011America wanted Gaddafi killed for decades and tried and failed numerous and previous times.
The Police Raid on Occupy Oakland Was Nothing New for This City
Submitted on October 28, 2011By Ali Winston - Friday, October 28 2011
The Occupy Oakland movement has run up against one of the country’s most troubled law enforcement agencies...The projectiles police fired in clashes with protesters seriously injured a young Iraq war vet, Scott Olsen...That sort of violent over-reaction and the tactics associated with it are, however, all too familiar in Oakland, where police have repeatedly responded to public protest with violence and have faced intense scrutiny for shooting unarmed suspects in black neighborhoods, in some cases fatally.
Unions and Poor in Michigan Face 85 Hostile Laws
Submitted on October 28, 2011By Evan Rohar - October 26, 2011
An “emergency manager” bill allowing a state-appointed executive to unilaterally fire city councils and school boards and cancel union contracts has drawn the ire of Michigan’s labor movement...The emergency manager law is just the beginning, however. Eighty-five bills now under consideration start from the view that Michigan’s economic problems are the fault of public employees and the poor, rather than driven by a merciless recession and the auto industry’s contraction.
Going Down Fighting
Submitted on October 28, 2011By SHEPHERD BLISS - October 28-30, 2011
Occupy Oakland won a resounding Oct. 26 victory by mobilizing 3000 people to respond to a police riot. They took down the police fence that exiled them from the plaza in front of city hall, set up tents again, and returned to dancing...Some 1500 people later attended a daily General Assembly and voted for a general strike on Nov. 2...Downtown banks were also encouraged to close and demonstrators vowed to enter them if they did not.
Fear of a Black Bloc Planet: Occupy Vancouver's First Days Occupied by the State
Submitted on October 28, 2011By Zig Zag - October 25, 2011
Coming as it did four months to the day after the June 15 Canucks Riot...city officials and business were extremely concerned about the Occupy Vancouver mobilization...Along with opening lines of communication to the initial organizers of Occupy Vancouver, police also began a propaganda campaign against anarchists and 'trouble-makers' who, they warned, would attempt to “hijack” the rally. The greatest fear of local authorities was that a Black Bloc would materialize and carry out attacks.
Libya: Another Lost NATO War
Submitted on October 27, 2011NATO's sole new millennium accomplishment consists of endless unwinnable wars. Coalition partners eventually tire and pull out.
Occupy Updates: Oakland Protesters Tear Down Fence to Reclaim Space, NYPD Gets Violent During Solidarity March [Video]
Submitted on October 27, 2011By Lauren Kelley - AlterNet
Thousands strong, Occupy Oakland protesters reclaimed their park last night by tearing down the fence that had been erected after Tuesday night's violent clash with them police...Meanwhile, in New York City, 10 protesters were arrested during a march in solidarity with Occupy Oakland. Protesters were also roughed up and kettled by the police.
Hazardous Hydrofracking in America
Submitted on October 27, 2011Hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic waste fluids are dumped into rivers and streams annually. No regulations prohibit it. Wastewater treatment plants can't flush out toxins let alone dangerous radioactive materials contaminating areas forever.
Yesterday in Oakland [Video]
Submitted on October 27, 2011By KEN KNABB - Counterpunch
One thing that struck me yesterday was that even under these brutal conditions, the mood was not entirely grim. There was of course lots of outrage and anger, but also lots of joy. Somewhat like in the early civil rights movement, there is a feeling that the old order is now on the defensive and that its ignorant and brutal reactions are a reflection of its inability to grasp the new community in the making, the new liberated community that we and countless others around the world are trying to create, and that we are already feeling in our hearts.
Michael Ignatieff and the "War on Terror"
Submitted on October 27, 2011By Derrick O'Keefe - October 27, 2011
"Imperialism used to be the white man's burden. This gave it a bad reputation. But imperialism doesn't stop being necessary just because it becomes politically incorrect."
- Michael Ignatieff, Empire Lite (2003)
Haitians Suffering Under Imperial Occupation
Submitted on October 27, 2011Except briefly after their successful 1804 revolution and under Aristide, Haitians have suffered over 500 years of persecution and human misery.
Prelude to Wider War: Obama’s Withdrawal from Iraq
Submitted on October 27, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 27 October 2011
While promoted by President Obama and his apologists as the fulfillment of a campaign promise and a turn toward peace, the US military’s forced withdrawal from Iraq only sets the stage for new and bloodier conflicts...The US is by no means leaving Iraq to its own devices. On the contrary, it is leaving in place some 16,000 US personnel, including CIA operatives and a mercenary army of some 8,000 security contractors under the control of the State Department.
Violent Police Crackdown on Occupy Oakland (Multiple Articles and Video)
Submitted on October 26, 2011"This is Sgt. Whatever with the Oakland police department. I hereby declare this to be an unlawful assembly. You must leave the area...immediately...If you do not disperse immediately, you will be subject to arrest, regardless of your purpose. If you do not disperse immediately, chemical agents will be used. If you do not disperse immediately, you will be subject to forcible removal, which may result in serious injury."
- Oakland cop ordering Occupy Oakland protesters to leave their encampment
"In clearing the Oakland encampment early Tuesday morning, police used tear gas to drive away media covering the event. This was followed by flash grenades and rubber bullets, fired into the tents on the plaza. They then tore the camp apart and arrested about 75 protesters. Police beat people, slashed tents with box-cutters and destroyed personal property."
- Description of aftermath of Oakland police action against Occupy Oakland
How Occupy Vancouver Occupies My Mind: An Analysis of Occupy Vancouver Week 1
Submitted on October 26, 2011By Zig Zag - October 25, 2011
Occupy Wall Street and its copy-cat solidarity actions are the manifestation of a growing consciousness among the population. That many Occupy Vancouver participants are naïve and maintain strong illusions about the nature of the capitalist system is natural, considering their socio-economic status and lack of experience. Nevertheless, more and more people are becoming politicized through the increasing levels of social conflict and crises now gripping the world. That (mostly) middle-class youth in Vancouver are mobilizing is a good thing, and part of a global phenomenon of unrest.
Mass Killings and Arbitrary Detention Under New Libyan Regime
Submitted on October 25, 2011By Patrick O’Connor - WSWS
The mass killing was committed in the final stage of the NATO-enforced siege of Sirte, which involved the unlawful firing of mortars, rockets, and other missiles into civilian areas. Not a single building in the city avoided being hit, and large areas were reduced to rubble. The operation culminated in the savage killing of Muammar Gaddafi and the massacre of his aides, guards and his son Mo’tassim.
Anti-Democratic Knesset Bills
Submitted on October 25, 2011Israeli Knesset summer session bills grievously harm civil and human rights if passed. Basic freedoms are at risk, including speech, assembly, association, and right to dissent.
Occupiers Have to Convince the Other 99 Percent
Submitted on October 25, 2011By Chris Hedges - October 24, 2011
The occupation movement’s greatest challenge will be overcoming the deep distrust of white liberals by the poor and the working class, especially people of color. Marginalized people of color have been organizing, protesting and suffering for years with little help or even acknowledgment from the white liberal class...[This] is the fault of a bankrupt liberal class that for decades has abandoned the core issue of economic justice for the poor and the working class and busied itself with the vain and self-referential pursuits of multiculturalism and identity politics.
Turkey Launches Anti-Kurdish Raids into Northern Iraq
Submitted on October 25, 2011By I.K. Karlsson - 25 October 2011
At least 24 Turkish soldiers were killed on Wednesday, in an attack by Kurdish militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Hakkari province of eastern Turkey, near the Iraq border...Hours after the raid...Turkey’s government and military responded with an incursion of 22 army battalions, bombers and helicopter gunships, and drones against the PKK in five different areas on either side of the border.
Hugh Hefner: Visionary or Flesh Peddler? (Review)
Submitted on October 25, 2011By Martha Rosenberg - October 25th, 2011
In fact, when asked flat out about Playboy treating women as sexual objects – animals with tails attached – Hefner still stands by the brand and says it is because they are. Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel confirms that Playboy is a just a White Boy’s Club that decided to let men from other races in.
Bill C-10 Will Create the Prisoners to Fill Conservative Prisons
Submitted on October 25, 2011By Mick Sweetman - October 25, 2011
Bill C-10 is a massive piece of legislation of roughly 100 pages that rolls nine laws from organized and drug crime, to pardons, to child sex offenders, to migrants entering Canada and young offenders into a single omnibus law...["]Eighty per cent of my students are criminals under this legislation. About 10 to 20 per cent of them would be liable to a mandatory minimum sentence in a federal penitentiary of two years for simply passing a tab of ecstasy at a party on university campus..."
Israeli Settlement Construction Jeopardizes Palestinian Statehood Plans
Submitted on October 24, 2011Palestinians want and deserve long denied full UN de jure membership and official statehood recognition, including all rights granted other members.
Fury Mounts Among Greek People
Submitted on October 24, 2011By PATRICK COCKBURN - Counterpunch
...[F]or many Greeks, the catastrophe has already happened and protests increasingly involve the well-educated middle class. The strike yesterday involved air-traffic controllers, tax officials, pharmacists and doctors – as well as taxi drivers, dock workers and garbage collectors. Schools were closed and hospitals were only open for emergency cases. Every street in Athens has a heap of rotting rubbish on it despite a court order to the public service union to end its strike.
Occupy Melbourne Says Police "Inflicted Shocking Injuries" on Protesters [Video]
Submitted on October 24, 2011Monday, October 24, 2011 - Green Left Weekly
Occupy Melbourne will today write to the Victorian Ombudsman calling for an investigation into at least 43 documented instances of police violence against peaceful demonstrators, including children, during the morning raid of October 21...Occupy Melbourne’s lawyers have 43 statements detailing shocking injuries inflicted by police on peaceful protesters. These include eye-gouging, punches to the face and back of the head and the deployment of pepper spray, including on children.
Could the Occupy Movement’s General Assemblies Replace Today’s Parliaments and Legislatures?
Submitted on October 24, 2011The Occupy movement is, of course, something very new, in many ways. But it is also a continuation of a longstanding human aspiration, centuries old: the aspiration to take democratic control, collectively and cooperatively, in a spirit of solidarity, mutual aid and mutual respect, of our own lives, communities and workplaces.
Why Homelessness Is Becoming an Occupy Wall Street Issue
Submitted on October 24, 2011By Barbara Ehrenreich - October 24, 2011
What occupiers from all walks of life are discovering...is that to be homeless in America is to live like a fugitive. The destitute are our own native-born “illegals,” facing prohibitions on the most basic activities of survival. They are not supposed to soil public space with their urine, their feces, or their exhausted bodies. Nor are they supposed to spoil the landscape with their unusual wardrobe choices or body odors. They are, in fact, supposed to die, and preferably to do so without leaving a corpse for the dwindling public sector to transport, process, and burn.
Feminist Author Naomi Wolf Arrested for Challenging New York Cops [Video]
Submitted on October 24, 2011October 21, 2011 - Truthdig
On Tuesday night, The Huffington Post hosted a black-tie event that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was expected to attend. Occupy Wall Street protesters caught wind of Cuomo’s expected presence and decided to protest outside the venue in an effort to win an audience with him. Author and feminist Naomi Wolf...saw the protesters standing on the fringe of the event as she arrived and decided she wanted to help them understand and exercise their rights. She was arrested for her efforts.
Lindsay Lohan: The Perfect Sex Symbol for a Crumbling Empire
Submitted on October 24, 2011By William Hicks - October 24th, 2011
Normally, I try to not pay any attention to the relentlessly publicized exploits of celebrities...There is no doubt that the media uses them to serve as a massive distraction, and I refuse to play along with that particular game. But for some reason, the ongoing tragedy of actress Lindsay Lohan fascinates me, perhaps because her life’s story ties together so many threads of what ails the empire in the early stages of its death throes.
The Murderer Calls for an Investigation of the Crime: The U.S. and Gaddafi
Submitted on October 24, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
For Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration to call for an investigation of the killing of Gaddafi goes well beyond cynicism...The savage murder of Muammar Gaddafi is emblematic of an utterly lawless and violent policy on the part of the American ruling elite, which is desperately seeking to offset the economic decline of American capitalism by means of an endless series of wars and provocations aimed at seizing control of vital resources and markets.
What the Establishment Isn’t Telling You About Libya
Submitted on October 24, 2011By Anthony Dimaggio - October 24, 2011
Washington is erupting in euphoria and self-congratulation over Muammar Gaddafi’s death. That celebration was predictably followed by further adulation in our sycophantic press system, which never saw a foreign intervention it didn’t like. The usual propaganda about the United States’ vital role in ending world tyranny and promoting freedom and democracy is repeated ad nauseam, to the delight of the political and economic class.
Repression into Barbarism: The War on Terror in Australia
Submitted on October 24, 2011By JEFF SPARROW - October 24, 2011
Before 2001, Australian authorities gave a certain institutional recognition of the legitimacy of protest. By rallying regularly...the social movements of the 1970s established the street march as an accepted facet of the political process...Those days are well and truly over. The post-9/11 security laws give authorities tremendous powers to use against protesters...[T]he deployment of state violence against anti-corporate protesters provides a happy point of concurrence for neo-conservatives and neo-liberals.
Taking Liberties: When Elite Representatives Define 'National Security'
Submitted on October 24, 2011By Matthew Behrens - rabble.ca
At a time when some NGO representatives lament what they term "torture fatigue" and "national security fatigue"...it's important to remind ourselves that such violations are not a consequence of or reaction to events of ten years ago, but are grounded in historical patterns and power dynamics that continue to evolve. We neglect them at our peril.
Global Economic Crisis Deepens
Submitted on October 23, 2011Global Depression grips world economies. Destructive polices fueled today's crisis. Conditions are fast coming to a head.
Civil Liberties Study Finds Misuse of Tasers by Police Across New York State
Submitted on October 23, 2011October 19, 2011 - New York Civil Liberties Union
“Our analysis shows that police officers are using Tasers in [an] inappropriate, irresponsible and downright deadly manner...This disturbing pattern of misuse and abuse endangers lives. Law enforcement agencies that choose to use Tasers must adopt clear and effective policies governing their use, and they must do so without delay.”
- New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) Executive Director Donna Lieberman
Everybody’s Son: The Great Israel-Hamas Prisoner Swap
Submitted on October 23, 2011By URI AVNERY - October 21-23, 2011
THE MOST sensible...sentence uttered this week sprang from the lips of a 5-year old boy...After the prisoner swap, one of those smart-aleck TV reporters asked him: “Why did we release 1027 Arabs for one Israeli soldier?” He expected, of course, the usual answer: because one Israeli is worth a thousand Arabs...The little boy replied: “Because we caught many of them and they caught only one.”
UK Undercover Cops Use Sex to Boost Activist Cred
Submitted on October 23, 2011Sunday 23 October 2011 - The Guardian
A former police spymaster who spent years living deep undercover in the protest movement has confessed he tricked an innocent woman into having a long-term relationship with him, as part of an elaborate attempt to lend "credibility" to his alter ego...The Guardian has detailed the cases of seven undercover police officers known to have infiltrated protest movements...Of those, five have had sexual relationships with women who were oblivious to their real identities.
Britain’s Own Pravda-Style Propaganda
Submitted on October 23, 2011By David Cromwell - October 23, 2011
Ten years later, the violent consequences of the invasion of Afghanistan are truly appalling...[T]he deaths of Afghan children, and the suffering of the people of Afghanistan, are seemingly of little consequence for most Western journalists who would rather focus on the ‘progress’ and ‘achievements’ of the NATO ‘campaign’.
The "Liberation" of Libya
Submitted on October 23, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 22 October 2011
What is being celebrated...is not the liberation of the Libyan people, but rather the victory of the major imperialist powers in a war aimed at turning the clock back to the days of colonialism...It has been achieved by means of a NATO bombing campaign that has reduced much of the country’s infrastructure to rubble and left thousands of Libyan men, women and children dead and wounded.
Why the Far Right “Supports” the Occupy Movement
Submitted on October 23, 2011By Shamus Cooke - Znet
Should Occupiers be concerned that the Nazi Party has given official “support” to the Occupy Movement? Or be worried that other far-right groups...are "pro occupy?” Absolutely. These groups have no place in an anti-corporate, pro-worker movement. The Occupy Movement's greatest strength — its broad appeal — can quickly become an exploitable weakness, and the far right smells blood.
Israel Arrests Palestinians While Releasing Others
Submitted on October 22, 2011Israel can't be trusted. Its promises lack credibility and honor. Despite releasing 447 prisoners and promising another 550, new arrests are made regularly.
Turkey Preparing Military Intervention in Syria
Submitted on October 22, 2011By Jean Shaoul - WSWS
Turkey is playing a major role in preparing a military push on NATO’s behalf into Syria, exploiting and militarizing the ongoing popular protests against the repressive Assad regime in order to install an imperialist-backed puppet regime...The unrest in Syria...has been largely led by Islamist forces sponsored by the Gulf monarchies, particularly Saudi Arabia. Turkey’s intervention threatens a full-blown civil war and a wider conflagration in the region.
Alabama Workers Meet Harsh Immigration Law with Wildcat Strikes
Submitted on October 22, 2011By Eduardo Soriano-Castillo - October 22, 2011
An all-out attack on immigrant workers, their families, and communities continues in the South and West. In Alabama, immigrant workers met it with a day of wildcat strikes...Immigrant rights advocates say Alabama’s law is the harshest. It gives police the right to stop and investigate anyone they “reasonably suspect” of being undocumented — in other words, an open invitation to racially profile.
America’s New African Empire
Submitted on October 22, 2011By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS - October 21-23, 2011
If Washington’s plans succeed, Libya will become another American puppet state. Most of the cities, towns, and infrastructure have been destroyed by air strikes by the air forces of the US and Washington’s NATO puppets. US and European firms will now get juicy contracts, financed by US taxpayers, to rebuild Libya. The new real estate will be carefully allocated to lubricate a new ruling class picked by Washington. This will put Libya firmly under Washington’s thumb.
How Occupy Wall Street Should Relate to Established Liberal Groups
Submitted on October 22, 2011By Mark Engler - October 21, 2011
Within the call of “We Are the 99 Percent” is the idea that, while no one can take over the movement — no single individual or group can declare it over or announce that its ambitions have been satisfied — the coalition of those invited to take part is vast. The movement draws power from its reach. And that is no small part of its brilliance.
Australian Cops Attack Occupy Melbourne Protest Camp
Submitted on October 22, 2011By Margaret Rees and Patrick O’Connor - 22 October 2011
A violent operation, involving hundreds of riot and mounted police...was launched yesterday against the Occupy Melbourne protest camp. At least 95 people were arrested, many after being brutally assaulted by multiple police officers. Demonstrators were kicked, punched and blinded with [pepper] spray. One was hospitalized after two police pinned him to the ground while another kicked him in the groin.
"We Don't Back the Juice Man:" Vancouver Artists Do Not Support Gregor Robertson
Submitted on October 22, 2011October 21, 2011 - Vancouver Media Co-op
Recently, a campaign website funded by Vision Vancouver was launched, designed to generate support for Vision amongst the arts community. The We-Back-the-Juiceman campaign has no broad basis of support in Vancouver's arts community. Although some artists might support Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver, many more do not.
Class War in America
Submitted on October 21, 2011America's a kleptocracy run by political criminals complicit with corporate crooks. They strip-mine working households for profit. Systemic corruption benefits at the public's expense.
UK Cops Make Brutal Attack on Irish Traveller Camp
Submitted on October 21, 2011By Jordan Shilton - WSWS
The eviction of an Irish traveller encampment at Dale Farm in southeast England began on Wednesday morning. Police led an operation to remove those that remained on the site after the high court ruled on Tuesday that plans by...Basildon council to forcibly evict the residents was “proportionate,” ending a 10-year legal battle...Several people were tasered, and at least three were hospitalized as a result of baton attacks. It is the first time tasers have been used for “crowd control” in Britain.
How Occupy Wall Street Has Exposed the Militarization of U.S. Law Enforcement
Submitted on October 21, 2011By Rania Khalek - October 20, 2011
Police repression in America is hardly new. Low-income neighborhoods, communities of color and political activists have always had to deal with unnecessary shows of force by some police officers. Thanks to a populist uprising threatening a status quo that benefits the top tier of American society to the detriment of the bottom 99 percent, many Americans for the first time are witnessing the U.S. police state in action.
Pink Crude: Tar Sands Supporters Criticized for Using Gay Rights to Mask Environmental Disaster
Submitted on October 21, 2011By Jesse Grass - The Dominion
As the negative environmental and health impacts of the Alberta tar sands grow, defenders of the huge oil extraction project continue to try to green-wash the endeavor by leaning on arguments that make it appear more environmentally friendly than it truly is. Recently, industry backers have added "pink-washing" — brandishing queer rights to promote Alberta's oil as an ethical choice.
Guantanamo: The U.S.'s Very Own Concentration Camp
Submitted on October 21, 2011By Marti Hiken and Luke Hiken - Dissident Voice
At a time when the U.S. pretends to be a beacon of freedom and liberty to the world, one would expect that Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp – a symbol of blatant repression — would not exist. It logically would be seen as an anathema the U.S. would want to keep hidden. Instead, the U.S. flaunts it like a teenager showing off his muscles.
U.S. and NATO Murder Muammar Gaddafi
Submitted on October 21, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 21 October 2011
Gaddafi was apparently traveling in a convoy of vehicles attempting to break out of the [besieged city of Sirte] after the last bastion of resistance had fallen to the NATO-backed “rebels”. NATO warplanes attacked the convoy at 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning, leaving a number of vehicles in flames and preventing it from moving forward. Then the armed anti-Gaddafi militias moved in for the kill.
U.S. Hawks Rally for Strikes Against Iran
Submitted on October 21, 2011By Jim Lobe - October 21, 2011
Key neo-conservatives and other right-wing hawks who championed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq are calling for military strikes against Iran in retaliation for its purported murder-for-hire plot against the Saudi ambassador..."We can strike at the Iranian Revolution Guard Corps, and weaken them. And we can hit the regime's nuclear weapons program, and set it back..."
Hank Skinner: Unjustly Sentenced to Death
Submitted on October 20, 2011Texas Governor Rick Perry wants to murder another innocent man.
Tea Partiers: The Self-Hating 99 Per Cent
Submitted on October 20, 2011By Heather Digby Parton - Al Jazeera
Support for capitalism - and antipathy toward government interference in it - is the very essence of Tea Party populism...It was never about corporate greed, but was about the usual right wing resentment at the government spending their tax money on people they don't think have earned it. These are not billionaire bankers - they are the people on the lower rungs of the ladder.
Greece Crippled as its People Say No to Poverty
Submitted on October 20, 2011By Patrick Cockburn - October 20, 2011
Black-masked youths hurled chunks of marble and petrol bombs at riot police in front of the parliament building in the centre of Athens. Police responded with stun grenades and tear gas as clashes spread to neighbouring streets after mass rallies, where protesters demanded an end to tax rises and salary cuts that they say are reducing them to poverty. Acrid plumes of black smoke rose from blazing bins of uncollected rubbish and mixed with the white clouds of tear gas. Chunks of rock and broken glass littered the streets around the parliament.
Hillary Clinton in Tripoli
Submitted on October 20, 2011Obama and Clinton are unindicted war criminals.
Balaclava! VMC Broadsheet Issue 33
Submitted on October 20, 2011October 16, 2011 - Vancouver Media Co-op
The October edition of the Balaclava! features updates from the Insite decision, the Missing Women's Inquiry, the SFU SFSS lockout, and more.
The Son of Africa Claims a Continent’s Crown Jewels
Submitted on October 20, 2011By John Pilger - October 20, 2011
On 14 October, President Barack Obama announced he was sending United States special forces troops to Uganda to join the civil war there...With Libya secured, an American invasion of the African continent is under way...However, the main reason the US is invading Africa is no different from that which ignited the Vietnam war. It is China...China is replacing al-Qaeda as the official American “threat”...With Osama bin Laden airbrushed, China takes the mantle.
The Political Economy of Indigenous Dispossession in Canada
Submitted on October 20, 2011By Shiri Pasternak - October 20, 2011
...[W]hy is the Department of National Defence spying on Indigenous communities in Canada?...It is the fear of economic disruption that is driving Canada to spy on Indigenous peoples. Moreover, in recent years, it has become the fear of an exceedingly more dangerous risk to business-as-usual in this country than paranoid phantoms of espionage. It is the fear of Aboriginal Title.
Obama's Imperial Arrogance
Submitted on October 19, 2011Candidate Obama promised peace. As president, he double downed Bush and then some, waging multiple direct and proxy wars.
Jam the Deportation Snitch Lines! Stop Racism!
Submitted on October 19, 2011October 19th, 2011 - No One Is Illegal
The Conservatives claim they want to hear from us, so let’s make our voices heard! One of the oldest and most important forms of day-to-day resistance is impairment: let’s jam these racist snitch lines and make them ineffective and irrelevant. Let us reaffirm that we are opposed to displacement, not migration; we are opposed to occupation, not resistance!
Ontario: KLR Reportback on Foodstock - Protect the Land that Feeds Us
Submitted on October 19, 2011We first heard of the Mega Quarry years ago, while traveling in the Collingwood area. Local environmentalists were talking about a proposed quarry just to the south, a quarry larger than any ever dug in this country, so large it could swallow much of downtown Toronto and so deep that it would be taller than Niagara Falls. It was a nightmare vision – beyond the smog of thousands of trucks, across the polluted springs fed by poisoned aquifers, a devastating wound in the earth would extend past the horizon.
Greece Threatens Refuse Workers with Army Intervention on Eve of General Strike
Submitted on October 19, 2011By Robert Stevens - 19 October 2011
Greece’s social democratic PASOK government is preparing to use the army against striking Athens refuse workers and threatening mass arrests. The attack on the refuse workers is a pre-emptive move against the entire Greek working class ahead of today’s 48-hour general strike...On Sunday evening, riot police engaged in pitched battles with workers who had been occupying Athens’s main landfill site northwest of the city since the beginning of the dispute.
Reflections for the U.S. Occupy Movement from Spain
Submitted on October 19, 2011By PETER GELDERLOOS - October 14-16, 2011
It seems that in many cities in the US, the occupy movement is marked by a certain chauvinism that at most takes some inspiration from struggles in other parts of the world, without taking any critical lessons. The idea of “taking back America” is a tried and true strategy for self-defeat: creating a fictive community that in reality includes conflicting interests and conflicting desires and will inevitably be directed by its most powerful elements.
Life in East Jerusalem
Submitted on October 18, 2011Palestinians suffer grievously under occupation, including in East Jerusalem. Israel wants it entirely Judaized as its capital even though legally it's an international city under UN trusteeship.
Libyan City of Sirte Destroyed by NATO and "Rebels"
Submitted on October 18, 2011By Chris Marsden - WSWS
The Libyan town of Sirte has been all but destroyed and its inhabitants turned into homeless refugees. This situation has gone largely unreported, but those press reports that have emerged paint a picture of a city being reduced to ruins by attacks of the National Transitional Council (NTC) “rebels” and NATO bombing raids against which it has no defense.
Wall Street Firms Spy on Protestors In Tax-Funded Center
Submitted on October 18, 2011By PAM MARTENS - Counterpunch
Wall Street’s audacity to corrupt knows no bounds and the co-optation of government by the 1 per cent knows no limits. How else to explain $150 million of taxpayer money going to equip a government facility in lower Manhattan where Wall Street firms, serially charged with corruption, get to sit alongside the New York Police Department and spy on law abiding citizens...Wall Street’s criminals have not been indicted or sent to jail because they have effectively become the police.
Palestinians Celebrate Release of Prisoners
Submitted on October 18, 201118 October 2011 - Al Jazeera
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have celebrated the homecoming of over 400 prisoners released in the first phase of an agreement brokered with Israel for the exchange of Gilad Shalit, the captured Israeli soldier...More than 5,000 Palestinians are in Israeli prisons - some for taking up arms against Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, others on what rights groups call questionable charges.
“Real” Value: Comments on the “Labor Theory of Value” and the Wealth of Capitalist Society
Submitted on October 18, 2011In the wake of the crisis and the disappointments caused by finance capital – first for itself and then for the rest of the world – the so-called “real economy” has attained a new and good reputation. For years, no mention was ever made about this peculiar sector of the national economy. In fact, as long as banks and stock markets succeeded in making money with their own particular methods, nobody knew of any difference between a real and an unreal economy.
"We Called Ourselves the Children of Malcolm" [Video]
Submitted on October 18, 2011This year marks the 45th year since the Black Panther Party was co-founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland. It's About Time BPP is organizing events throughout the month in the San Francisco Bay Area, with the biggest events Oct. 21-23 (read the full schedule below). Featured here is a new video-interview with Billy X Jennings by Angola 3 News, entitled "We Called Ourselves the Children of Malcolm," featuring archival photos and more graphics including the photo exhibit "Women of the Black Panther Party and Beyond."
Wall Street’s Second Occupation: The Rise of the NYPD's Homeland Security State
Submitted on October 18, 2011By Tom Engelhardt - October 17, 2011
In their present state, New York’s finest represent a local version of the way this country has been militarized to its bones in these last years and, since 9/11, transformed into a full-scale surveillance-intelligence-homeland-security state...This massive semi-militarized force we continue to call “the police” will, in the coming years, only grow...After all, they know but one way to operate.
UK Police to Get Greater Repressive Powers After Riots
Submitted on October 18, 2011By Julie Hyland - 18 October 2011
Britain’s police are to be given significant new public order powers, according to proposals outlined in a Home Office consultation document. They include plans to declare specific places “no go areas”, with a police superintendent empowered to instruct people to leave “to prevent or address serious disorder”...Other measures under consideration include giving police powers to force people to remove face coverings and impose individual curfews.
Lies, Damn Lies, and NATO Claiming Control Across Libya
Submitted on October 17, 2011Libyans won't quit resisting until they're free from NATO's killing machine.
The Logic of Occupy Wall Street for Canada
Submitted on October 17, 2011By Justin Podur - October 16, 2011
When Tea Party politics got to Canada they helped elect Toronto's current mayor and helped give the Conservatives a boost to a majority government. The Occupy Wall Street movement's arrival in Canada could help discredit the austerity that the Conservative government will be putting forward in their next budget, and could help in resisting their plans to deepen inequalities and destroy what economic, social, and environmental fabric is left.
New York Bank Arrests Customers for Trying to Close Accounts
Submitted on October 17, 2011Monday, October 17, 2011 - Common Dreams
Customers of Citibank were arrested over the weekend after trying to close down their bank accounts...Twenty-three customers of Citibank allegedly found themselves under arrest after being locked in the bank...by security guards who even forced legitimate Citibank customers going about their daily business back into the bank.
U.S. Workers Three Times More Likely to Worry About Feeding Their Families Than Workers in China
Submitted on October 17, 2011By Patrick Martin - WSWS
American workers are now three times more likely than Chinese workers to lack the means of feeding their families, according to a startling new report from the Gallup organization. The polling group found that 19 percent of Americans worried about being able to feed themselves or their families, compared to only 6 percent of Chinese.
America's Multi-Headed Monster
Submitted on October 17, 2011America's system is corrupted and broken.
Neocons Using "Anti-Semitic" Smear Against Occupy Wall Street
Submitted on October 17, 2011By MJ Rosenberg - 16 October 2011
Because utilizing anti-Semitism directly would not succeed in [the US] today, the reactionary defenders of the economic status quo are using the flip side of the coin: The fear of being labeled anti-Semitic. They are accusing Occupy Wall Street of anti-Semitism, relying on the old myth that Wall Street is Jewish and hence that opposition to Wall Street's agenda is just opposition to Jews.
23 Reasons Why We Should be Careful About Uncritically Accepting Western Views of the Syrian Insurrection
Submitted on October 17, 2011By JEREMY SALT - Counterpunch
As insurrection in Syria lurches towards civil war, the brakes need to be put on the propaganda pouring through the Western mainstream media and accepted uncritically by many who should know better. So here is a matrix of positions from which to argue about what is going on in this critical Middle Eastern country.
U.S. Sends Special Forces Troops to Central Africa
Submitted on October 17, 2011By Eddie Haywood and Alex Lantier - 17 October 2011
US President Barack Obama has deployed roughly 100 special operations troops to central Africa, as part of an offensive targeting the leadership of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA is a rebel group that has engaged in fierce battles with the Ugandan government for over two decades.
Indian Act: Police State 1876 and 2011
Submitted on October 17, 2011By Robert Animikii Horton - October 17, 2011
For many generations, my family (and many First Nation families alike) have been all too familiar with the reality and implications of a Police State under the Indian Act enacted by the Parliament of Canada in 1876...Ironically prefaced as "An Act Respecting Indians", this legislation...was thrown upon us with zero consultation or involvement in the process and continues to manipulate, command, restrict and regulate our lives, families, and communities from the moment we are born until after we pass.
Toronto Occupation Starts Saturday in Select Theatres
Submitted on October 16, 2011By DAVID Ker THOMSON - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
The Toronto boys in blue are a suburban military elite, well armed, well funded, eager to be deployed against their traditional enemies in the city...and possessing enviably efficient public relations capabilities and a mandate as clear as a vendetta: take care of trouble in Toronto. They spent more than a billion dollars rounding up a thousand urban innocents last summer, then marched in massive jackbooted triumph through the city in the winter as an adoring press saluted them with sentimentalities and working-class people sang their praises.
Ongoing Israeli Human Rights Abuses
Submitted on October 16, 2011State-sponsored terror is official Israeli policy. So is collective punishment, apartheid, colonialism, premeditated war, torture, and filling prison cells illegally with Palestinians wanting to live free on their own land in their own country.
Living Around Chemical Valley: Recent Human Rights Issues
Submitted on October 16, 2011Why the B.C. Missing Women's Commission of Inquiry Fails
Submitted on October 16, 2011By Harsha Walia - October 11, 2011
The very same grassroots community of women who have been advocating for a public inquiry into the deaths and disappearances of women in the Downtown Eastside for over two decades are now denouncing the B.C. Missing Women's Commission of Inquiry as an insult to the women of this Vancouver community..."This inquiry has a responsibility to highlight those systemic injustices that allowed the unimaginable deaths and disappearances of so many women...[T]his sham inquiry is flawed and unjust. We cannot endorse it..."
Why the Elites Are in Trouble
Submitted on October 16, 2011By Chris Hedges - October 9, 2011
[The elites] cannot envision a day when they will not be in charge of our lives. The elites believe...that globalization and unfettered capitalism are natural law...What the elites fail to realize is that rebellion will not stop until the corporate state is extinguished. It will not stop until there is an end to the corporate abuse of the poor, the working class, the elderly, the sick, children, those being slaughtered in our imperial wars and tortured in our black sites.
Israeli/Palestinian Prisoner Swap
Submitted on October 16, 2011Thousands of Palestinian political prisoners remain in Israeli prisons.
Cops For Sale: The New Praetorian Guard
Submitted on October 16, 2011By GEORGE OCHENSKI - October 14-16, 2011
Alarms went off when it was revealed that the armed forces of the United States were using increasing numbers of private contractors to provide everything from transportation to security in war zones around the globe...Now, the war has come home as wealthy private corporations hire not only security firms, but also public law enforcement officers to ensure that the riff-raff...stay out of the way of their money-making schemes and political manipulations.
Growing Strike Wave in Greece
Submitted on October 16, 2011By Robert Stevens - 15 October 2011
Strikes and protests escalated throughout Greece this week as workers protested against the austerity programme of the social democratic PASOK government of Prime Minister George Papandreou...The strikes are taking place ahead of a two-day general strike slated for this coming Wednesday and Thursday.
The Iranian “Plot”
Submitted on October 16, 2011By ALEXANDER COCKBURN - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
Even by the forgiving standards of American credulity, the supposed Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the US is spectacularly ludicrous...If even one US senator died in a terrorist bombing in Washington, if anything larger than a firecracker detonated outside the Israeli embassy, US bombers would be raining high explosives on Iranian targets within 24 hours. Why would Iran want to invite such a response?
12 Most Absurd Laws Used to Stifle the U.S. Occupy Wall Street Movement
Submitted on October 16, 2011By Rania Khalek - October 14, 2011
As Occupy Wall Street protests spring up in cities across the country, authorities are thinking up creative ways to contain this peaceful and inspiring uprising...[T]here is no shortage of justifications and rationales behind the constantly evolving schemes being implemented to destroy the spirit of Occupy Wall Street. Here are 12 desperate and unsuccessful measures the authorities are using to discourage, deter and crack down on peaceful protests.
Occupy Wall Street: The Corporate Canadian Connection
Submitted on October 16, 2011By Gwalgen Dent - Toronto Media Co-op
With Occupy Wall Street protesters looking like they will stand to live another day, focus has begun to shift on the company that recently tried to evict them: Brookfield Properties...Brookfield is actually a subsidiary...[of] Brookefield Asset Management, a company that is headquartered in Brookfield Place in downtown Toronto.
Famine Threatening Millions in North Korea
Submitted on October 15, 2011By Will Morrow - WSWS
Successive US administrations have maintained sanctions on North Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953, and exploited Pyongyang’s nuclear programs as the pretext to impose new ones. Over the past two decades, the nuclear issue has been used to pursue a two-track policy — either bring about the economic and political collapse of the North Korean regime, or force it to the negotiating table on American terms...The US and its allies are using food as a means to effectively starve North Korea into submission.
Pushing the Envelope for Confrontation with Iran
Submitted on October 15, 2011The business of America is war and grand theft.
In Response to Fresh Tory Attack, Union Scuppers Air Canada Strike
Submitted on October 15, 2011By Carl Bronski - 14 October 2011
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) abruptly rescinded its strike authorization for 6,800 Air Canada flight attendants Wednesday afternoon, only hours before the flight attendants were to walk off the job...[T]he social messaging boards of the flight attendants have been chock-a-block with bitter denunciations of the union leadership for betraying their interests.
A Right Derived From Might: The Real Story of How Israel Was Created
Submitted on October 15, 2011By ALISON WEIR - October 11, 2011
The common representation of Israel’s birth is that the UN created Israel, that the world was in favor of this move, and that the US governmental establishment supported it. All these assumptions are demonstrably incorrect...[It was] armed aggression, and the ethnic cleansing of at least three-quarters of a million indigenous Palestinians, that created the Jewish state on land that had been 95 per cent non-Jewish prior to Zionist immigration and that even after years of immigration remained 70 per cent non-Jewish.
Shale Gas and the Future of Canada's Chemical Valley
Submitted on October 15, 2011Toban Black on the Media Co-op
An audio interview with Zak Nicholls, a human rights activist who lives in Sarnia, Ontario.
Occupy Wall Street, Not Palestine!
Submitted on October 15, 2011By Palestinian BDS National Committee - October 14, 2011
The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC)...is proud to stand in solidarity with the movements struggling for a new world based on democracy, human rights and economic justice. From New York to Athens, from Madrid to Santiago, from Bahrain to Rome, these huge mobilizations provide a much needed reminder of something that Palestinians have always known – that another world, a dignifying one, is possible and ordinary people can create it.
Occupy Wall Street: People Power vs. the Police State
Submitted on October 15, 2011By Nick Turse - AlterNet
The periphery of Liberty Plaza...resembles an armed camp with surveillance equipment, police vehicles, armed officers, and metal barricades ringing a city square filled with unarmed activists, who openly advocate non-violence.The response is as disproportionate as it is superfluous, a point driven home by the utter apathy displayed by many of the security forces on the scene…today.
Beating Up on Iran
Submitted on October 14, 2011The media is using a fake terror plot to vilify Iran.
Washington and Iran: The Reckless Policy of Provocation
Submitted on October 14, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
After a decade of military debacles in Afghanistan and Iraq, Washington is now threatening to launch a new war against the country that lies between them, Iran...This turn to war is driven by both the strategic failures of Washington’s previous adventures, and the ever-sharpening contradictions of crisis-ridden American capitalism. A war against Iran would prove a far bloodier and more catastrophic enterprise than those that preceded it.
Abbas, UN Membership and Peace Talks
Submitted on October 14, 2011Washington and Israel are pulling out all the stops to deny Palestinians their rights.
FBI Account of "Terror Plot" Suggests Sting Operation
Submitted on October 14, 2011By Gareth Porter - October 14th, 2011
While the administration of Barack Obama vows to hold the Iranian government “accountable” for the alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, the legal document...provides multiple indications that it was mainly the result of an FBI “sting” operation...Although the legal document...implicates Iranian-American Manssor Arbabsiar and his cousin Ali Gholam Shakuri...in a plan to assassinate [the] Saudi Arabian Ambassador...it also suggests that the idea originated with and was strongly pushed by an undercover DEA informant, at the direction of the FBI.
Police Reign of Terror Intensifies at Los Angeles County Jail
Submitted on October 14, 2011By Alan Gilman - 14 October 2011
Recent independent eyewitness testimony reveals that the Los Angeles County Jail...continues to be plagued by brutal assaults upon its inmates by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which operates the jail...[LA County Sheriff's] Deputies are usually initially assigned to jail duty when they join the department. There they are immersed in a culture of sadistic and arbitrary treatment of prisoners, in order to anesthetize them to any compunctions they might have about using force.
Iran Falsely Charged with Fake Terror Plot
Submitted on October 14, 2011Since Iran's 1979 revolution and US hostage crisis, Washington's been spoiling for a fight.
An Insidious Threat to the Occupy Movement
Submitted on October 14, 2011By ISMAEL HOSSEIN-ZADEH - October 14-16, 2011
The threat I am referring to is not that of being pepper-sprayed, arrested, beaten or imprisoned...I am referring to the threat of...co-optation, posed by the Democratic Party and union officials. In light of their unsavory record of undermining the revolutionary energy of social movements, projections of sympathy for the anti-Wall Street protesters by the White House, the Democratic Party officials and union leaders can be viewed only with suspicion.
Major Media Liars Report Fake NATO Victories
Submitted on October 14, 2011Reported NATO Libyan and Afghan victories are fake.
Acknowledgement of Occupations on Occupied Land is Essential
Submitted on October 14, 2011By Harsha Walia - October 14, 2011
...[T]he word Occupy has understandably ignited criticism from Indigenous people. While occupations are commonly associated with specific targets...Occupy Vancouver (or any other city) has a deeply colonialist implication...[I]t erases the brutal history of occupation and genocide of Indigenous peoples that settler societies have been built on. This is not simply a rhetorical or fringe point; it is a profound and indisputable matter of fact that this land is in fact already occupied.
Fighting for Soul of the American Dream
Submitted on October 13, 2011Republics are nations where heads of state aren't monarchs or despots in which citizens elect officials to represent them.
A Misguided War: Afghanistan 10 Years On
Submitted on October 13, 2011By RAMZY BAROUD - October 13, 2011
“Ten years ago the U.S. and NATO invaded my country under the fake banners of women’s rights, human rights, and democracy. But after a decade, Afghanistan still remains the most uncivil, most corrupt, and most war-torn country in the world. The consequences of the so-called war on terror has only been more bloodshed, crimes, barbarism, human rights and women’s rights violations, which has doubled the miseries and sorrows of our people.”
- Former Afghan MP and human rights activist Malalai Joya
The Fruits of Austerity: Greece's Health Care System Faces Collapse
Submitted on October 13, 2011By Robert Stevens - 13 October 2011
The austerity measures being forced onto the Greek population by the ruling social democratic PASOK government are literally killing people...Many adults have been thrown out of work and into debt, while a whole generation of youth are unable to find any stable, decent employment. This is leading to an increase in deaths.
#OccupyTogether in the Age of Conspiracy
Submitted on October 13, 2011By Syed Hussan - October 13, 2011
#Occupy movements, the government and police are not your friends. Laws do not exist to protect you, they exist to control you. The only thing that stops the police from attacking, arresting and locking everyone up is the balance of social forces. If you are organized and prepared to defend yourself, if there are thousands of people with you, and the public opinion to match, you may just stay free(er) for a day longer. If not, expect immense, instant repression.
U.S. Launches "Civil Rights" Probe at Columbia University as Zionist Censorship and Smears Intensify
Submitted on October 13, 2011By Ali Abunimah - October 5, 2011
A complaint by a professor at Columbia University...has resulted in the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opening an investigation into the university...The civil rights complaint is part of a growing pattern of such actions by Zionist groups...to use civil rights laws to suppress campus criticism...of Israel’s human rights crimes, and to intimidate faculty and students and slander those who dare to teach or undertake activities about Palestinian rights as “anti-Semites.”
Canada Pursues U.S.-Style Security and Foreign Policy
Submitted on October 13, 2011By Dana Gabriel
While in the past Canada has exercised a more independent foreign policy, it has now succumbed to the imperialistic aspirations of the U.S. and NATO. The war in Afghanistan and the continued bombing in Libya have demonstrated Canada’s willingness to use military force to advance foreign policy. Under the influence of a declining Anglo-American Empire, Canada has shed its peacekeeping image in favor of a more aggressive and militaristic doctrine.
Bizarre Iranian “Plot” Doesn’t Add Up
Submitted on October 13, 2011By PATRICK COCKBURN - Counterpunch
The claim that Iran employed a used-car salesman with a conviction for cheque fraud to hire Mexican gangsters to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington goes against all that is known of Iran’s highly sophisticated intelligence service.
U.S. Steps Up Sanctions and Threats Against Iran Over Alleged Terror Plot
Submitted on October 13, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
The White House announced Wednesday that it is imposing a new round of economic sanctions against Iran, while Vice President Joseph Biden warned that “nothing has been taken off the table” in regard to Washington’s response to an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, suggesting the possibility of military strikes.
Troubled Eurozone Finance Capital
Submitted on October 13, 2011Greece died months ago. Default is certain. Only its obituary hasn't appeared. Six possible sovereign defaults loom if contagion spreads out of control.
Canada's Military Still Fighting Indians Today
Submitted on October 13, 2011By Pamela Palmater - October 13, 2011
We wanted to maintain our connections to the land and Canada wanted to assimilate us. When we exercise our "Canadian" right to peaceful assembly and protest, Canada sends in the military to take us down. It seems that no matter what we do, Canada's answer always seems to be to "get rid of the Indian problem" and it does so by very strategic military means.
The Price of Torching Mosques
Submitted on October 12, 2011By JONATHAN COOK - October 12, 2011
Netanyahu and the settlers hope to subdue Palestinians with the establishment of a Greater Israel. But as the conflagration of mosques suggests, they may ultimately achieve the opposite...Israel may yet unleash a force too powerful to control. The price tag – this time demanded by Palestinians – will be high indeed for the Jewish supremacists.
Obama's Depression
Submitted on October 12, 2011By bailing out too-big-to-fail banks and waging multiple imperial wars, Obama has intensified social misery.
The “Outraged”: An Outrage Which Thrives on Illusions About Crisis, Democracy and the Market Economy
Submitted on October 12, 2011What makes the “outraged” think that by referring to themselves as ordinary people they have acquired something like an entitlement, a right that the authorities show them some consideration? And are the authorities really committing a violation if they redefine what it is to be an ordinary person? Because that is what is happening and that is what the “outraged” refuse to realize.
Occupy Wall Street: Beware of Labor Leaders Bearing Gifts
Submitted on October 12, 2011By Kim Scipes - October 12, 2011
Unions can be used by union leaders to advance their own organizational interests as defined by their elected officers...even when it screws over other working people. The tendency for this increases as one goes “up” organizational hierarchies, from local union, to regional level, to national/international level...Occupy Wall Street needs to recognize these things before wholeheartedly embracing the national/international union leadership, no matter how many gifts they bring.
Obama Administration Alleges Iranian Terrorist Plot
Submitted on October 12, 2011By Peter Symonds - WSWS
Revelations by US Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday afternoon of an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador have prompted calls in the American media for retaliation against Iran...The Iranian government has emphatically denied any involvement in the alleged plot...“The US government and the CIA have very good experience in making up film scripts...It appears that this new scenario is for diverting the US public opinion from internal crises.”
Israeli-Style Peace and Justice
Submitted on October 11, 2011Israel is a repressive rogue state. Netanyahu bombs Gaza and attacks fishermen while talking peace. On October 10, without provocation, Israeli jets bombed northern Gaza.
5 Conservative Economic Myths Occupy Wall Street Is Helping Bust
Submitted on October 11, 2011By Dave Johnson - October 10, 2011
The uncontested repetition of free-market slogans led many to a bland acceptance that there was no alternative. Many of us even incorporated the concepts into our own thinking. Others seemed to accept the cutbacks, the fees, the scams, the disappointments and the obviously false statements as the way things are...Occupy Wall Street has changed all that. You can take that stuff and stuff it, they said.
"If the South Would Have Won"
Submitted on October 11, 2011By Dave Zirin - October 11, 2011
[Football] broadcasts are...pointedly diverse as over-caffeinated talking heads come in all colors...The [National Football League]...wants the disposable income of one particularly thorny demographic: your right-wing, gun-toting, Palin-loving, Southern football fans. That’s why ESPN inexplicably hired Rush Limbaugh in 2003 to be part of their NFL pre-game team.
Musings of a Self-Hating Jew
Submitted on October 11, 2011By SAUL LANDAU - October 11, 2011
Jews like me and my friends throughout the western world do not want to migrate to the Promised Land...We don’t want to live amidst Israeli settlers, many of them self-righteous and very superior...and oblivious to or even proud of what they’ve done to Palestinians.
Financial Giants Put New York City Cops On Their Payroll
Submitted on October 11, 2011By PAM MARTENS - Counterpunch
If you’re a Wall Street behemoth, there are endless opportunities to privatize profits and socialize losses beyond collecting trillions of dollars in bailouts from taxpayers. One of the ingenious methods...[is] called the Paid Detail Unit and it allows the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street corporations...to order up a flank of New York’s finest...The corporations pay an average of $37 an hour...for a member of the NYPD, with gun, handcuffs and the ability to arrest.
European Conference Against Austerity Seeks to Rescue Capitalism
Submitted on October 11, 2011By Julie Hyland - WSWS
The European Conference Against Austerity in London last month was advanced as a means of “coordinating resistance” to the social impoverishment being implemented by governments across Europe, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union...In reality, the conference underscored how the various “activist” networks and the petty bourgeois ex-left groups have become completely integrated into the political structures of bourgeois rule.
Dominant Finance Capital Institutions
Submitted on October 10, 2011The 2 most powerful finance capital institutions few people have ever heard of.
Julian Assange Leads Protest Against Afghanistan War in London
Submitted on October 10, 2011Sunday, October 9, 2011 - Common Dreams
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and socialite Jemima Khan led a protest in London Saturday against the war in Afghanistan, 10 years after the United States and Britain went to war against the Taliban...Organizers [from] the Stop The War Coalition claimed 5,000 people attended the protest in central London's historic Trafalgar Square.
Crackdown in Spain
Submitted on October 10, 2011By PETER GELDERLOOS - October 10, 2011
Not only were the police and media caught flat-footed in carrying out and justifying the arrests...the situation was stacked against them. Radicals are harder to isolate in today’s political climate...Within the neighborhood assemblies, workplace struggles, and occupations of the hospitals facing cutbacks or closure...Anarchists and other radicals who were once easy to isolate now form an integral part of new networks of neighbors and coworkers acting together in solidarity.
Social Justice Occupations Head Everywhere
Submitted on October 10, 2011Ordinary people across the Middle East, Europe and America are fed up and want long denied social justice.
Do Developers Control Vancouver City Hall?
Submitted on October 10, 2011By David P Ball - rabble.ca
How is it that so many upscale condominium developments are getting sped through city hall -- particularly when a lack of affordable housing continues to be a crisis in this city, and prices rise with each new development?
The Republicans and Occupy Wall Street
Submitted on October 10, 2011By ALAN FARAGO - October 10, 2011
The [Republican] response to Occupy Wall Street recalls the way the 1960′s protests against the Vietnam War energized American conservatives. Until the demonstrations by assorted students and labor and political activists...the right wing had been defined by racism...and the stigma of the John Birch Society...The counter-response came from the US Chamber of Commerce and wealthy American industrialists. They invented a political machine that now, nearly half a century later, is the most successful in US history.
NATO Brussels Summit Claims Successful Afghan and Libyan Campaigns
Submitted on October 10, 2011NATO won't admit that both wars are lost or being lost.
Occupy Protesters Unfocused? My Ass!
Submitted on October 10, 2011The OCCUPY protesters are expressing an emotional response, an appropriate emotional response. Their detractors who would paint them as bongo playing, naked hippies don't have much political memory.
Happy Genocide Day!
Submitted on October 10, 2011By Thom Hartman - October 11, 2011
...[T]he Taino turned out not to be particularly good workers in the plantations that the Spaniards...established on Hispaniola: they resented their lands and children being taken, and attempted to fight back against the invaders...Columbus sought to impose discipline on them. For even a minor offense, an Indian's nose or ear was cut off...Columbus attacked them with dogs, skewered them with pikes, and shot them...Eventually, Columbus...simply resorted to wiping out the Taino altogether.
Making Sense of Syria
Submitted on October 9, 2011Washington, Israel, France and Britain are behind the externally generated insurgency in Syria.
New York Republican Calls Occupy Wall Street Protesters "Anarchists" and "Anti-American"
Submitted on October 9, 2011By David Freedlander - October 7, 2011
Long Island [New York] Republican Congressman Peter King blasted the Occupy Wall Street protesters as anti-American...on a right-wing talk show...“We have to be careful not to allow this to get any legitimacy...I’m taking this seriously in that I’m old enough to remember what happened in the 1960s when the left-wing took to the streets...and it ended up shaping policy. We can’t allow that to happen.”
Victims' Families Question Cop Shootings in Australia
Submitted on October 9, 2011By Mike Head - 8 October 2011
Given the recurring pattern of official justifications by the top echelons of the police force, the shootings cannot be explained as isolated responses by individual officers. Instead, they point to an institutionalized resort to lethal force, on the pretext that police officers feared for their own safety. A shoot to kill mentality is being inculcated, where officers open fire with scant regard for the lives of their victims or public safety.
Six Questions for Leftists
Submitted on October 9, 2011By Justin Podur - October 09, 2011
Leftists don't spend enough time or energy working on important strategic questions. If we could resolve a handful of these, even tentatively, and try out some solutions, we would be far more successful. Here are six from my list of the most important questions, as well as my answers, which by their very incompleteness and inadequacy should suggest that more people should work on them.
Activists and Health Workers Join "Block the Bridge, Block the Bill" Demonstration Against Destruction of Health Care in Britain
Submitted on October 9, 2011By Matthew Taylor - Sunday 9 October 2011
More than 2,000 people staged a sit-down protest on Westminster Bridge from 1pm on Sunday to highlight the health and social care bill, which is due to go before the House of Lords this week..."We are occupying the bridge because the bill would be bad for the [National Health Service], bad for patients and bad for society."
Stop the Machine Occupies Washington
Submitted on October 8, 2011Committed activists want social justice and America's imperial wars ended.
Crumbling Canadian Sovereignty
Submitted on October 8, 2011Canada’s sovereignty is being insulted at breakneck speed. The corporate oligarchy is what is inevitably responsible for forced inoculation legislation in our countries, and maybe our complacency is also to blame. These insane laws, by the way, never come as a shock to those who are aware of the efforts that have been made to combine Canada, USA, and Mexico into one country and that agenda’s underlying motivation to further consolidate power into one global government.
Anti-Defamation League Assails Palestinian UN Membership
Submitted on October 8, 2011ADL has always been a racist Jewish supremacist organization.
15 Years of Giving Voice to Women and Transgender Prisoners in California
Submitted on October 8, 2011An interview with Diana Block, Pam Faden, and Dierdre Wilson -- three members of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, which is celebrating its 15th year with an event in San Francisco on Friday Oct. 14.
While Wall Street Quakes, Greece’s Fire Still Burns Bright
Submitted on October 8, 2011By Michelle Chen - Friday, October 7, 2011
While we may be inspired to see a leaderless mass movement finally crystallizing in U.S. cities, the American occupations still can't hold a candle to the fire raging across Greece...This past week, demonstrators again unleashed their rage across the tiny Mediterranean republic, blocking government agencies and clashing with government thugs amid plumes of tear gas, with assorted spectacles like trying to burn a European Union flag in effigy.
Are You "Mentally Ill"? According to Big Pharma, If You Drink Too Much You Are
Submitted on October 8, 2011By Martha Rosenberg - Dissident Voice
...Pharma’s stratagems to grow its “mentally ill” franchise are well known. People with occasional anxiety are really depressed, then bipolar, then suffering from an assortment of amorphous “spectrum” diseases...with no known cause, no cure, no diagnostic tests and no turnoff valve on the pharmacy spigot...The situation is even worse for children because they’re given drugs against their will by parents, teachers and doctors.
Occupied by Police?
Submitted on October 8, 2011October 8, 2011 - Vancouver Media Co-op
Earlier today a comrade alerted me that the Occupy Vancouver organizers have contacted the Vancouver Police to "to make sure we can work together"...As an activist who has faced police repression, [this] news deeply disturbed me...By inviting the police to your demonstration you are inviting the enemy.
Orange Isn't Red: On the Logic of Radicalizing Reformist Organizations
Submitted on October 7, 2011By Alan Wai Kiat Tang - Common Cause
On September 3 2011, the Ontario New Democratic Party (ONDP) rescinded the candidacy of Barry Weisleder, who had won the provincial nomination for the riding of Thornhill...Much to the surprise of the NDP establishment, Weisleder defeated their preferred candidate; responding to this unexpected turn of events, the party brass decided to overrule the results of the nomination process...This is not the first time the NDP leadership has intervened to quash gains made by radicals working within the party's rank-and-file...
New York City Cops Attack Anti-Wall Street Protesters [Video]
Submitted on October 7, 2011By David DeGraw - October 07, 2011
["New York Police] used pepper spray, batons, and brute force to move protesters away from the entrance to Wall Street after many tried to push through police barricades. Rumors immediately circulated that police provocateurs dressed as protesters were to blame for the incident."
Parliament Hill XL Pipeline Demonstration is "Civil Obedience"
Submitted on October 7, 2011Last week’s action at Parliament Hill represents a mockery of the proud tradition of civil disobedience. The “civil disobedient” asked...for permission to be arrested without defying law or social convention, and without disrupting Parliament’s daily operations. The sentiment, "arrest me please, because I care and believe power listens to the polite and well-reasoned," may well represent the image of their government some Canadians wish were true, but it is not reality.
Anti-Wall Street Protests Spread Across the U.S.
Submitted on October 7, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 7 October 2011
On Thursday, new Occupy Wall Street protests sprang up in a number of major cities, including Philadelphia, New Orleans, Washington, Tampa, Dallas, Houston and Austin. They came on the heels of the largest demonstration so far in New York City, where an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 marched through lower Manhattan Wednesday night.
The 'Getting' of Assange and the Smearing of a Revolution
Submitted on October 7, 2011By John Pilger - October 07, 2011
The High Court in London will soon decide whether Julian Assange is to be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of sexual misconduct...However, it is not the Swedish judicial system that presents a “grave danger” to Assange...but a legal device known as a Temporary Surrender, under which he can be sent on from Sweden to the United States secretly and quickly.
Tens of Thousands Strike in Greece as Military Threatens to Intervene Against Anti-Austerity Protests
Submitted on October 6, 2011By Robert Stevens - 6 October 2011
Tens of thousands of workers, pensioners and youth protested throughout Greece Wednesday in a 24-hour public sector strike...The intervention of the army into the political life of Greece...must serve as a warning to the working class. Brigadier Stylianos Pattakos, the last surviving officer of the [1967-1974 military] junta, said last year, “In our time, there was no debt...The Greeks are not disciplined like the Germans or the British. They need authority.”
JP Morgan Chase Donates $4.6 Million to NYPD: The Bankers' Pot-Bellied Pinkertons
Submitted on October 6, 2011By JEFFREY SOMMERS - October 7-9, 2011
Wall Street has been the global epicenter of corruption and JP Morgan Chase as one of many organs of its criminal cynicism. Therefore...it should be no surprise that JP Morgan Chase just donated $4.6 million...to the [New York Police Department] Foundation...The NYPD press release says the money will buy 1,000 new laptops for patrol cars as well as security monitoring software in the NYPD’s main data center.
Palestinians Protest Israeli Prison Hell
Submitted on October 6, 2011Israel treats Palestinian prisoners horrifically. In detention, interrogations include torture, intimidation and other abuses.
The Racist Roots of Campus Policing
Submitted on October 6, 2011By BENJAMIN WOODS - Counterpunch
...[C]ontemporary campus police are a response to the student rebellions in the late 1960s and early 1970s...Black students all over the country were taking over administration buildings and the anti-war movement was in full swing...Thus, the campus police and the American police force appear to have similar origins and purposes, maintaining “order” and squashing any potential acts of rebellion
Libyans Resist NATO's Killing Machine
Submitted on October 6, 2011Libyans want their country back and intend to get it.
"My Little Nightstick’s Going to Get a Workout Tonight" [Video]
Submitted on October 6, 2011Video of a New York City pig bragging about how he'll beat peaceful Occupy Wall Street protesters.
Hunting and Racism
Submitted on October 6, 2011By MARTHA ROSENBERG - October 06, 2011
The flap over the racist name of the hunting lodge that Texas Governor Rick Perry’s family leased is not the first time hunting and racism have conspired to tar a politician.
Guards Retaliate Against Inmates In Growing California Prison Hunger Strike
Submitted on October 6, 2011By Noelle de la Paz - Znet
The Pelican Bay Prison Hunger Strike has gained considerable momentum. The renewed strike began last week and is the second such mass action staged by inmates in less than six months to draw attention to overly punitive treatment. Thousands of inmates have reportedly joined the effort in prisons throughout California and across three additional states, despite efforts by prison administration to crackdown on inmates.
Ontario Elections Serve as Smokescreen for Coming Big Business Offensive
Submitted on October 6, 2011By Keith Jones - 6 October 2011
The corporate media and leading spokesmen for big business openly admit that Ontario's election campaign, which concluded yesterday, was an exercise in political theater: irrespective of their campaign promises, whichever party or combination of parties forms Ontario's next government, it will implement massive cuts to public services.
Top 10 Under-Reported Facts About a Decade of War in Afghanistan
Submitted on October 6, 2011By Derrick O'Keefe - rabble.ca
A decade after the invasion was launched on October 7, 2001, the war in Afghanistan drags on. War hawks of both the neo-conservative and liberal imperialist variety have tempered their rhetoric of late, as the best laid plans (delusions) of "nation-building" and "empire lite" in Afghanistan have gone badly awry.
Israeli Occupation, Colonialism and Apartheid: Crimes Against Humanity
Submitted on October 5, 2011Israel is a rogue terror state.
Guantánamo Film Shows Plight of Canadian Detained at 15
Submitted on October 5, 2011By Peter Walker - Wednesday 5 October 2011
The footage is shocking: grainy film shows a slim teenage boy, hunched into himself under a spotlight in a bare interrogation cell. "You don't care about me"...After they leave, the ceiling-mounted camera records his racking sobs, just audible over the hum of the air-conditioner...At the time of this interrogation in Guantánamo Bay, February 2003, the boy, Omar Khadr...was barely 16, yet he had already been in military custody for seven months.
The Real Reason Why Cops Cage Peaceful Protesters
Submitted on October 5, 2011By Dan Hancox - October 3, 2011
In the UK, publicly owned health care, housing, welfare and education are being cut, broken up and sold off for private profit by David Cameron's Conservative government with audacious speed. This has a very physical manifestation-- in the suffocating of peaceful protest through a technique that has become known as "kettling," in which protesters are contained for five, seven or 10 hours without food, water, toilets, or hope of release.
Fox Network Threatens to Cancel "The Simpsons" Unless Actors Take Pay Cut
Submitted on October 5, 20115 October 2011 - BBC News
US TV network Fox has said it can no longer afford to produce long-running animated comedy The Simpsons without a pay cut for its cast...Fox made the comment after reports it threatened to end the series unless its voice actors took a 45% pay cut.
RCMPig Accused of Beating Teenager Was Previously Disciplined for "Disgraceful Conduct"
Submitted on October 5, 2011October 5, 2011 - CBC News
The Williams Lake, B.C., RCMP officer accused of assaulting a teenage girl last month had been disciplined by the force for disgraceful conduct in the past, a report says...Const. Andy Yung underwent an internal RCMP investigation in 2008 after he fired his RCMP-issued handgun in his hotel room in a drunken rage, the Ottawa Citizen reports.
Ontario Conservatives Employ Transphobic Election Ads
Submitted on October 5, 2011By Mercedes Allen - October 5, 2011
The flyer...is a litany of omissions and distortions...and more than half of it is devoted to an allegation that the 2011 K-12 Curriculum recommends not informing parents, and that parents don't have a say...[B]y adopting these tactics, conservatives are demonstrating in plain fashion why this education is necessary...The outrage over these flyers also takes place amidst growing activism for inclusion of transsexual and transgender people in human rights legislation.
New York Times: Distorting and Suppressing Truth for Power
Submitted on October 5, 2011The New York Times functions as a state propaganda service.
U.S. Intervention and the Syrian Uprising
Submitted on October 5, 2011By RAMZY BAROUD - October 05, 2011
United States involvement in Syria is the second-greatest danger facing the Syria uprising (the first being the cruelty of the regime). Sweeping sanctions and threats will turn the conflict into another American fight against an Arab regime, as opposed to an unadulterated people’s uprising...for the rights of Syrians and the future of their country.
Union Bureaucrats Bar Socialist Reporter from Press Conference
Submitted on October 5, 2011By Shannon Jones - 5 October 2011
A [United Auto Workers] official stationed in the main lobby of the venue for the press conference...informed this reporter as I arrived in advance of the briefing that I would not be admitted. When asked the reason, the official said the World Socialist Web Site was not authorized to attend. She advised me to call UAW Public Relations Director Michele Martin. As of this writing, the UAW has not returned our call.
Israeli State Terror Belies Wanting Peace
Submitted on October 4, 2011Washington and Israel won't tolerate peace.
New York's Billionaire Mayor Backs Mass Arrests of Wall Street Protesters
Submitted on October 4, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
New York City’s billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has endorsed the police operation in which some 700 peaceful protesters were arrested Saturday on the Brooklyn Bridge...Bloomberg, whose net worth of some $19.5 billion is derived from Wall Street, voiced unqualified support for the police repression on the Brooklyn Bridge...“The police did exactly what they are supposed to do...”
The Day America Died
Submitted on October 4, 2011By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS - Counterpunch
September 30, 2011 was the day America was assassinated...In other words, any American citizen who is moved into the threat category has no rights and can be executed without trial or evidence...[N]ever prior to President Obama has a President asserted the power to murder citizens...If the president can have American citizens assassinated, there is no big deal about torturing them.
The Ethics of the Ethical Oil Cabal
Submitted on October 4, 2011By Simon Enoch - October 4, 2011
The purpose here is...to call out the ethical oilers selective use of "ethics" to justify the continued exploitation of the tar sands. This is the real hypocrisy, as Harper and the ethical oilers apply selective ethical criteria to one product, but not to others. We certainly could adopt an ethical trading policy that put considerations of human rights, indigenous sovereignty and environmental sustainability as the basis for our international trade. However based on those three considerations alone, I doubt Alberta tar-sands would make the cut.
Court Documents Show Shell Oil Paid Nigerian Military to Put Down Protests
Submitted on October 4, 2011By John Vidal - Monday, October 3, 2011
Court documents now reveal that in the 1990s Shell routinely worked with Nigeria's military and mobile police to suppress resistance to its oil activities, often from activists in Ogoniland, in the delta region...According to Ogoni activists, several thousand people were killed in the 1990s and many more fled that wave of terror that took place in the 1990s.
The Crime of Making Americans Aware of Their Own History
Submitted on October 4, 2011By WILLIAM BLUM - October 04, 2011
It can’t be repeated or emphasized enough. The biggest lie of the “war on terrorism”, although weakening, is that the targets of America’s attacks have an irrational hatred of the United States and its way of life, based on religious and cultural misunderstandings and envy.
From Troy Davis to Occupy Wall Street: How the Prison System Destroys the "American Dream"
Submitted on October 4, 2011By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg - AlterNet
The people of Occupy Wall Street are protesting...growing inequality, the staggering rise of the rich and the economic fall of just about everyone else, the divestment in education and a social safety net. Nowhere is this gap and these austerity measures more acutely felt than by those in our prisons...than by the families of those incarcerated, and by the formerly incarcerated who are engaged in a Sisyphean struggle to create a life on the outside.
Canadian Asbestos: Rallying for the Victims
Submitted on October 3, 2011Toban Black on the Media Co-op
They speak about Canadian asbestos exports, victims of asbestos exposure, a history of asbestos around Sarnia-Lambton's Chemical Valley, and other related topics.
Palestinian Freedom Later, Not Now
Submitted on October 3, 2011Washington is blocking Palestine's UN membership.
The Slaughter in Sirte
Submitted on October 3, 2011By Patrick O’Connor - WSWS
NATO countries led by the US, Britain, and France are committing terrible war crimes in the Libyan city of Sirte. In their frenzied drive to crush all remaining resistance in the North African state, NATO and its proxy militia forces aligned with the National Transitional Council are unleashing indiscriminate military force, killing civilians and destroying buildings and infrastructure throughout the urban centre.
Religious-Right Homophobes Whine That They're Being Oppressed
Submitted on October 3, 2011By Joshua Holland - September 29, 2011
Claiming the mantle of an oppressed minority carries real power – the power to shame, and ultimately the ability to shape public policy. For years, the Right, having lost the battle against African American civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s, has sought to turn the tables and portray themselves as the target of bigotry, and their vehicle of choice is the supposed religious persecution of conservative evangelicals.
Are Psychiatric Medications Making Us Sicker?
Submitted on October 3, 2011By John Horgan - September 18, 2011
...[O]ver the past few decades the proportion of Americans diagnosed with mental illness has skyrocketed...This epidemic has coincided, paradoxically, with a surge in prescriptions for psychiatric drugs. Between 1985 and 2008, sales of anti-depressants and anti-psychotics multiplied almost fifty-fold, to $24.2-billion. Prescriptions for bipolar disorder and anxiety have also swelled. One in eight Americans, including children and even toddlers, is now taking a psychotropic medication.
Police State Justice Under Obama
Submitted on October 3, 2011No one is safe anywhere in a world ruled by rogue leaders, taking the law into their own hands with impunity.
Missing Aboriginal Women: Canada’s Secret Shame
Submitted on October 3, 2011By MARTIN LUKACS - Counterpunch
Killed in their homes and in the streets, on and off reservations, by acquaintances and by strangers, aboriginal women are the victims of an unmistakable epidemic of violence. They are five times more likely to die violently than their non-aboriginal counterparts. In northern [British Columbia], so many have disappeared on notorious highway 16 that it has been given a chilling name: the Highway of Tears.
New York City Police Arrest Over 700 Anti-Wall Street Protesters
Submitted on October 3, 2011By Sandy English - WSWS
Over 700 anti-Wall Street protesters were arrested Saturday on the Brooklyn Bridge by the New York Police Department...The mass arrests mark a major escalation in police intimidation tactics. It came on the heels of acts of police brutality, such as the pepper-spraying of unresisting demonstrators and the arrest of over 80 marchers last weekend, which have sparked widespread anger and resulted in the swelling of the protest’s ranks.
Class Warfare Indeed
Submitted on October 3, 2011By Michael Parenti - October 03, 2011
The moneyed class...has been doing class warfare on our heads and on those who came before us for more than two centuries. But when we point that out, when we use terms like class warfare, class conflict, and class struggle to describe the system of exploitation we live under — our indictments are dismissed out of hand and denounced as Marxist ideological ranting, foul and divisive.
Abbas Feeling Heavy-Handed Pressure
Submitted on October 2, 2011Washington opposition assures zero chance for Palestinian UN membership.
The Mascots Who Shall Not be Named
Submitted on October 2, 2011By TOM SEMIOLI - September 30-October 2, 2011
...[T]here are still some sports teams and their loyal fans who just don’t “get it” when it comes to the stark reality of blatantly racist sports mascots...The landscape of college and professional sports is littered with team logos, chants, and other cheer-leading activities that have denigrated and grossly misrepresented a culture that oft practiced a greater reverence for the environment, humanity, and the animal kingdom than did the European settlers who “discovered” America...
The Unholy Alliance That Supports Israel
Submitted on October 2, 2011By Gerry Caplan - October 1, 2011
There will be no Israeli-Palestinian spring. At the United Nations, Israel's closest, most reliable allies are once again assuring the nation a future of isolation, insecurity, irreconcilable internal division, international condemnation and endless conflict. For the people of Israel, a life of perpetual anxiety is assured. As my family used to put it, is this good for the Jews?
Congressional Anti-Internet Freedom Bills
Submitted on October 2, 2011Congressional hard-liners want to end Internet freedom.
Is Capitalism Preparing to Bury Itself?
Submitted on October 2, 2011By MURRAY DOBBIN - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
The Washington Consensus — the name given to neo-liberalism and its agenda of privatization, deregulation, free trade, cuts to social spending and huge tax cuts for the wealthy — was not just a call to moderate state intervention in the economy. It was determined to gut it, to return to that period where the economy...was somehow hived off from society and government and allowed to run without regulation or direction...It was a sort of revenge of the nerds — we’ll show those uppity workers.
Is the War on Terror a Hoax?
Submitted on October 2, 2011By Paul Craig Roberts - September 30, 2011
In the past decade, Washington has killed, maimed, dislocated, and made widows and orphans millions of Muslims in six countries, all in the name of the “war on terror.” Washington’s attacks on the countries constitute naked aggression and impact primarily civilian populations and infrastructure and...constitute war crimes under law. Nazis were executed precisely for what Washington is doing today.
Obama Boasts of Assassinating American Citizen in Yemen
Submitted on October 2, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 1 October 2011
In a speech before a military audience in Virginia Friday, President Barack Obama boasted of the role of the CIA and US special operations units in the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki...It marked the first time in history that an American president has publicly applauded the government’s assassination of a US citizen, who in Awlaki’s case has never been charged or indicted for any crime, much less tried and convicted in a court of law.
Palestinian UN Membership Roulette
Submitted on October 1, 2011Palestinians now want and deserve official recognition and full de jure UN membership. Washington and Israel remain obstructionist.
American Vengeance: The Roots of Social Tyranny
Submitted on October 1, 2011By DAVID ROSEN - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
Over the last few months, the U.S. has witnessed repeated calls for vengeance, for revenge, punishment, retribution … for blood. These calls express one of the most disturbing facets of the American “character,” the Old Testament call for an eye-for-an-eye, a tooth-for-a-tooth. Vengeance haunts 21st century America like a ghost of times long dead.
No Excuses: Join the Occupy Wall Street Movement or Stand on the Wrong Side of History
Submitted on October 1, 2011By Chris Hedges - September 30, 2011
There are no excuses left. Either you join the revolt taking place on Wall Street and in the financial districts of other cities across the country or you stand on the wrong side of history. Either you obstruct...the plundering by the criminal class on Wall Street and accelerated destruction of the ecosystem that sustains the human species, or become the passive enabler of a monstrous evil. Either you taste, feel and smell the intoxication of freedom and revolt or sink into the miasma of despair and apathy.
Occupy Wall Street: The Game of Colonialism and the Left
Submitted on October 1, 2011By Jessica Yee - October 1, 2011
From the protests on the streets of Wall Street in the name of "ending capitalism" -- organizers, protesters, and activists have been encouraged to "occupy" different places that symbolize greed and power. There's just one problem: The United States is already being occupied. This is Indigenous land. And it's been occupied for quite some time now...New York City is Haudenosaunee territory and home to many other First Nations.
Prison Hell in America
Submitted on October 1, 2011Prison is hell everywhere. America is no different in being, by far, the world's largest gulag. Inmates are treated worse than subhumans.
UK "Labour" Party Conference Commits to Austerity, Cuts in Pay, Jobs and Welfare
Submitted on October 1, 2011By Julie Hyland - 1 October 2011
...[I]n the fight against rising unemployment, poverty and the mass spending cuts of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat [government], working people face no greater enemy than the Labour Party...["Labour"] party leader Ed Miliband defended the right-wing policies championed by Conservative and Labour alike over the past 30 years [and]...insisted that a Labour government would be just as committed to austerity as the coalition.
U.S. Assassination Rights
Submitted on October 1, 2011By Edward S. Herman - Z Magazine
Assassination is as American as apple pie...Assassination rights...[flow] from military and economic power, arrogance, self-righteousness, and client status.
Jason Kenney Is Lying Again
Submitted on October 1, 2011By Syed Hussan - October 1, 2011
[Minister of Deportation and Censorship Jason] Kenney ends his article [in the right-wing National Post] by saying "Bill C-4 sends the message around the world that Canada will no longer be the world's doormat." The world may not think of Canada as a doormat, but it is realizing the Canadian government for what it is: warring, polluting, thieving, lying scumbags, with a victim complex.
Entrapping Muslims in America
Submitted on September 30, 2011Post-9/11, American Muslims became fair game, targeting them for their faith, ethnicity, and at times prominence and charity.
Canadian Arctic Loses Nearly Entire Ice Shelf
Submitted on September 30, 2011Friday, September 30, 2011 - Common Dreams
Two ice shelves that existed before Canada was settled by Europeans diminished significantly this northern summer, one nearly disappearing altogether, Canadian scientists say in newly published research...The loss is important as a marker of global warming, returning the Canadian Arctic to conditions that date back thousands of years, scientists say.
Obama Administration Seeks First Death Penalty Via Military Tribunal at Guantánamo
Submitted on September 30, 2011By Kate Randall - 30 September 2011
The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it will conduct its first death penalty prosecution at the Guántanamo Bay prison camp. In a posting on a new web site dedicated to the military tribunals, the Pentagon announced formal charges against Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, who is accused of planning the attack on the USS Cole in the year 2000.
Rage Against Wall Street Crooks
Submitted on September 30, 2011Angry New Yorkers organized an initiative called "Occupy Wall Street." Beginning September 17, they called for "tak(ing) the bull by the horns," referring to the familiar New York financial district symbol.
Progressive U.S. Journalist Deported from India
Submitted on September 30, 2011September 30, 2011 - Znet
David Barsamian is a veteran broadcaster, and founder and director of Alternative Radio, a weekly one-hour public affairs program offered free to all public radio stations in the US, Canada, Europe and beyond. For more than 25 years Alternative Radio has provided information, analyses and views that are frequently ignored in other media.
Victory for Insite, Vancouver's Safe Injection Site
Submitted on September 30, 2011By Cathryn Atkinson - rabble.ca
"...Insite has been proven to save lives with no discernible negative impact on the public safety and health objectives of Canada. The effect of denying the services of Insite to the population it serves and the correlative increase in the risk of death and disease to injection drug users is grossly disproportionate to any benefit that Canada might derive from presenting a uniform stance on the possession of narcotics."
- The Supreme Court of Canada, Sept. 30, 2011
Harper Government Promotes Militarism, Monarchy and Reaction
Submitted on September 30, 2011By Graham Beverly - WSWS
As the Canadian capitalist class has ever more vigorously asserted its imperialist interests abroad...its servants in the Harper government have contemptuously discarded the “peaceful” and “liberal-social democratic” Canadian nationalism promoted by the Liberal governments of the 1960s and 1970s and sought to promote the military and the Crown as sacrosanct elements of “what it means to be Canadian.”
The Metamorphosis of the NYPD: From Heroes to Pigs
Submitted on September 30, 2011By DAVE LINDORFF - September 30-October 2, 2011
Back in the late 1960s, the Black Panthers...took to calling the cops pigs...[I]t was an apt description. Police...routinely batter minority people who have already been handcuffed and arrested, using batons, kicks to the groin and head, choke holds, and other methods, as well as tasers, mace and pepper spray. They engage in such sadism not to control subjects in their custody, but simply because they are twisted brutes drunk on their power, and because they can get away with it. Tasers...are particularly popular torture devices, used with increasing frequency.
Israeli West Bank Annexation Bill
Submitted on September 29, 2011Israel wants all of the West Bank annexed.
Is the U.S. a Police State?
Submitted on September 29, 2011By JOHN GRANT - Counterpunch
Honorable people like to debate whether the United States of America is a “police state,” but when it comes to shutting down the expression of ideas on the political left, there’s little room for argument...No, we’re not a police state like our friends in Saudi Arabia...Our police agencies have figured out how to accomplish police state repression in a “softer,” more sophisticated manner.
Imploding Bubble Economies
Submitted on September 29, 2011Economic meltdown comes in stages. Recognition takes longer. TV pundits stay in denial longest, calling crisis conditions a normal correction. Reality suggests otherwise with US unemployment approaching 23%, home foreclosures multiplying, and poverty levels double.
Toronto Demonstration Opposes Municipal Cuts
Submitted on September 29, 2011By Carl Bronski - WSWS
About two thousand people rallied outside Toronto City Hall Monday evening, protesting against a $29 million package of cuts to municipal services recommended by the city’s millionaire, right-wing mayor, Rob Ford...As the protest unfolded, city councilors inside the hall were debating a series of measures that would privatize zoos and theatres, close museums and end critically needed programs.
Missing Women's Commission Flounders
Submitted on September 29, 2011By Angela Sterritt - September 26, 2011
“The government’s decision means some of the best lawyers in Vancouver will be working on a limitless retainer to destroy the credibility of Aboriginal women, sex trade workers and other vulnerable witnesses if they dare criticize the police, and these witnesses won’t have their own lawyers to defend them...It’s outrageous.”
- David Eby, British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA)
Rallying for Respect and Against the Silencing of Toronto
Submitted on September 29, 2011By Elizabeth Littlejohn - September 29, 2011
There is a reason why Ontario's neo-conservative tag team of Ford, Hudak and Harper...is working so quickly to privatize core public services at the municipal level -- they realize that sustainable urban planners, architects, grassroots organizations and citizens who build progressive movements are strong, organized and thoughtful in cities, and want to quash them. This was openly admitted by Harper when he attended a barbeque in Ford's backyard this past spring.
Ahmad Qatamesh: Israeli Prisoner of Conscience
Submitted on September 28, 2011Israel has many hundreds of political prisoners in its jails.
Police Rough Up Anti-Cheney Protesters
Submitted on September 28, 2011By David P. Ball - September 28, 2011
As former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney spoke in Vancouver on Monday night...several hundred people demanded his arrest on charges of war crimes and torture, blocking both entrances to the upscale Vancouver Club by linking arms...Police escorted speech-goers to the private book club event inside, at one point shoving an identified reporter forcefully, pushing an older man to the ground and stepping on sitting demonstrators.
Washington State Longshore Workers Resist Anti-Union Grain Operator and Police Brutality
Submitted on September 28, 2011By Evan Rohar - Labor Notes
An attempt by a big grain exporter to operate a new state-of-the art facility without longshore union labor has met stiff resistance from the rank and file in the Pacific Northwest...Police have responded by breaking up protests and arresting about 135 since July, injuring peaceful demonstrators and pulling unionists from their homes and cars. The Longshore union (ILWU) filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to stop “ongoing police brutality and harassment.”
The Dangerous Cult of the Guardian
Submitted on September 28, 2011By JONATHAN COOK - September 28, 2011
...[T]he Guardian [is] considered the most left-wing newspaper in Britain and rapidly acquiring cult status in the United States, where many readers tend to assume they are getting access...to unvarnished truth and the full range of critical thinking on the left...Nonetheless, it would be unwise to believe that the Guardian is...a free market in progressive or dissident ideas on the left. In fact...the paper strictly polices what can be said and who can say it in its pages, for cynical reasons...
Calls to Annex West Bank Settlements
Submitted on September 28, 2011Israel wants all of the West Bank and Jerusalem for its territory.
Williams Lake Teen Says RCMPigs Assaulted Her
Submitted on September 28, 2011September 27, 2011 - CBC News
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is calling for an independent investigation into allegations an RCMP officer in Williams Lake, B.C., assaulted a 17-year-old girl...Martina Jeff says her teenage daughter, Jamie Haller, was punched in the face by an RCMP constable while she was handcuffed in the back of a police car..."I saw Jamie on the ground, crying and handcuffed...I got out and ran towards her. She was having a panic attack. She is very small and has never been in trouble with police before."
Despite NYPD Efforts, Wall Street Stays Occupied
Submitted on September 27, 2011By Joe Macaré - September 27, 2011
Those who attend protests that challenge corporate power and unrestrained capitalism in the U.S. and Europe may have become used by now to a police response that is both excessive and untargeted, whether one is an active participant, an observer or merely a passerby...But from all accounts so far, it appears that yesterday [New York City cops]...took the policing of such protests to new and violent levels.
Filming the Extraordinary Life of Eddy Zheng: Bay Area Community Leader Facing Imminent Deportation
Submitted on September 27, 2011Ben Wang is the director/producer of the upcoming documentary film, Breathin’: The Eddy Zheng Story. The film’s website explains that "after serving over 20 years behind bars for a robbery he committed at age 16, Chinese American community leader Eddy Zheng now faces deportation to China, a huge loss to the Bay Area community."
Obstructing Palestinian Statehood Begins
Submitted on September 27, 2011Palestinians want what all independent states enjoy, including fair and open elections to choose their own leaders democratically, free from outside influence.
Beyond the Toronto Declaration: Stop the Cuts Builds on Popular Consultation to Fight Ford
Submitted on September 27, 2011By Megan Kinch - September 23, 2011
On September 10th...around 900 people gathered in Dufferin Grove Park for a public meeting on how to stop Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s cuts...The meeting was put on by the Stop The Cuts network, an alliance of grassroots groups that includes some of the largest organizations in the city..."It seems almost everyone I talk to already has a sense that Ford is intent on destroying our communities. The momentum is definitely building."
Saving the Rich, Losing the Economy
Submitted on September 27, 2011By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS - September 26, 2011
The path that the US economy is on means that the number of Americans without resources to sustain them will be rising. Considering the extraordinary political incompetence of the Democratic Party, the right wing of the Republican Party, which is committed to eliminating income support programs, could find itself in power. If the right-wing Republicans implement their program, the US will be beset with political and social instability.
Bolivian Government Violently Represses Indigenous Protest
Submitted on September 27, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 27 September 2011
The government of President Evo Morales carried out a bloody crackdown Sunday against a march by indigenous protesters against the building of a new highway through their lands...The assault killed a three-month-old baby, who died of asphyxiation from the teargas. Many others were injured, and at least 37 were reported missing, including a number of children.
Inside the Wall Street Protests: An Eyewitness Account of Police Crackdown on Peaceful Demonstrators [Video]
Submitted on September 27, 2011By J.A. Myerson - September 25, 2011
A group of protestors...marched on Union Square Saturday morning, and around 100 of them were arrested. Police sprayed peaceful protestors in the face with pepper spray, threw them to the ground and assaulted them with elbows, dragged a woman around by the hair, jumped over barricades to grab and rough up young people, and...laughed to themselves triumphantly.
War Criminal's Welcome: Dick Cheney's Vancouver Visit Galvanizes Spirited Protest [Video]
Submitted on September 27, 2011September 27, 2011 - Vancouver Media Co-op
While the protest was light hearted at times, overall the protesters were serious in their opposition to Cheney’s presence, forming a picket line around both the front and back entrance to prevent supporters from entering. The protester’s were determined to illustrate Cheney’s position in the Iraq war and torture, and demand that international law be upheld in their city of Vancouver.
Quartet Anti-Palestinian Statehood Proposal
Submitted on September 27, 2011Efforts to subvert Palestinian statehood.
"Anti-Semitism" Slander Against Palestine Activists Ridiculous
Submitted on September 26, 2011By Tony Iltis - Green Left Weekly
[Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] is a progressive, anti-racist movement. The struggle for rights for Palestinians is no more aimed at persecuting Jews than the struggle for non-white South Africans’ freedom from Apartheid was aimed at persecuting whites...For 60 years, Palestinians have been punished for an event in European history that they played no part in.
Palestinians Are Already Recognized As a State by Two-Thirds of the World
Submitted on September 26, 2011By James Ball - Tuesday 20 September 2011
Almost two-thirds of the UN's member states – representing more than 75% of the world's population – already formally recognize the Palestinian state in some form...Countries which do not yet formally recognize Palestine are overwhelmingly concentrated in western Europe and North America.
Netanyahu and Obama Spurn Peace
Submitted on September 26, 2011Both Netanyahu and Obama choose conflict over peace.
The Deaths of Three Hockey "Enforcers:" The Tragic Contradictions of Professional Sports
Submitted on September 26, 2011By Jack Miller - WSWS
Professional hockey can be regarded as a showcase of outstanding talent, exhibited for the appreciation of informed and knowledgeable fans...But given the demands of the market, professional hockey is also an entertainment competing for the largest possible audience with a dozen other mass spectacles. The interplay between these contradictions has driven continual and accelerating change in the way hockey has been played over the past century.
AIPAC's Ugly Agenda
Submitted on September 25, 2011The America Israel Public Affairs Committee is an unregistered foreign agent representing Israel. Edward Said once called it "the most powerful and feared lobby in Washington."
Harper Goes to the UN: Canadian Imperialism and Palestine
Submitted on September 25, 2011By Nick Day - September 23, 2011
Stephen Harper thinks that the Palestinian problem should be settled by negotiations, on Israel's terms. Stephen Harper thinks that it's not safe to "give" a state to Palestine...Stephen Harper is playing an imperialist's game of Risk with land that belongs to Palestinians: acting in his own calculated interests against the rights of a colonized people.
What WikiLeaks' U.S. Embassy Cables Reveal About U.S. Pressure and Propaganda
Submitted on September 25, 2011By Maximilian Forte - Znet
The U.S. Embassy cables published by WikiLeaks present numerous very interesting stories about how Al Jazeera was brought to heel by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Embassy in Doha, and officials from Washington, used a variety of direct and indirect methods of ensuring a greater degree of compliance on the part of Al Jazeera.
The Irvine 11: Guilty of Being Muslims in America
Submitted on September 24, 2011Post-9/11, America targeted Muslims ruthlessly for political advantage. Law-abiding citizens discovered they're living here at the wrong time.
Israeli Dogs of War
Submitted on September 24, 2011SchNEWS - Friday 23rd September 2011 | Issue 789
Despite being slipped a cache of tear gas and stun grenades by the Israeli military ahead of Palestine's September application for UN recognition...some of the more insane sections of Israel's settler movement are also training dogs to attack Palestinians...The Civilian Attack Dog Unit (CADU) is the brain child of New York-born settlement leader Yekutiel “Mike” Guzofsky, a former sidekick of the deceased Rabbi Meir Kahane – a man branded a fascist by the Israeli Supreme Court.
Oil Sands Pipeline Protests: Big-Name Celebs Irk Canadian Government
Submitted on September 24, 2011Saturday, September 24, 2011 - Common Dreams
Canada's energy minister shot back on Friday at Hollywood celebrities protesting a plan to build a $7 billion oil pipeline to Texas from Alberta in the first public indication that the protests are getting under Ottawa's skin..."Criticism of the oil sands - and now the proposed Keystone XL pipeline - is a major concern for us, with implications for our energy industry, our economy and our energy security..."
Resuming Peace Process Hypocrisy to Subvert Palestinian Statehood
Submitted on September 24, 2011Israel makes genuine negotiations impossible by demanding one-sided advantages. Everything for Israel! Nothing for Palestinians with rhetoric formulated to disguise it.
Peru: Indigenous Communities Kick Out Canadian Mining Company
Submitted on September 24, 2011By Benjamin Dangl - September 24, 2011
Earlier this summer, an anti-mining Indigenous movement in Peru successfully ousted a Canadian mining company from their territory. “In spite of government repression, if the people decide to bring the fight to the bitter end, it is possible to resist the pressure of mining and oil companies...”
West Bank Tensions Grow as Female Settlers Learn How to Use Guns
Submitted on September 24, 2011Saturday 24 September 2011 - The Guardian
The settlers come down the hill from the outpost...They carry Israeli flags, and sometimes bring guns, shovels and dogs...They taunt the local villagers and sometimes attack them. Often the Israeli army arrives and trains its weapons on the villagers..."The settlers are provoking us continuously...They uproot olive trees, kill our sheep, burn our mosques and curse our prophet. They want to drag us into the sphere of violence. We do not want to go there."
Vancouver Beat Cop Launches Blog About Downtown Eastside
Submitted on September 24, 2011By Michael Stewart - September 19, 2011
As long as the [Vancouver Police Department] continues to look the other way while [Downtown Eastside] women are tossed out of sixth-story windows, this vibrant and autonomous community [doesn't] need a Beat Cop to tell them how the VPD criminalizes and polices the city's most vulnerable and most marginalized people.
State-Sponsored Murder: Official U.S. Policy
Submitted on September 23, 2011Georgia's September 21 cold-blooded murder of Troy Anthony Davis symbolizes what's wrong with America.
Psychiatric Drugs: Chemical Warfare on Humans (An Interview with Author Robert Whitaker)
Submitted on September 23, 2011By Terry Messman - Natural News
Investigative Reporter Robert Whitaker, the author of the groundbreaking book Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America, is pursuing a fascinating line of research into how the mammoth psychiatric drug industry, along with mainstream psychiatry, is endangering the public by covering up the untold cases of suffering, anguish and disease caused by the most widely prescribed anti-depressants, anti-psychotics and other psychiatric medications.
Greek Workers Strike, Protest Against Brutal Austerity Measures
Submitted on September 23, 2011By David Walsh - 23 September 2011
Tens of thousands of Greek public transport workers, teachers, civil servants and air traffic controllers walked out Thursday to protest the latest round of austerity measures announced the day before by the PASOK government...Workers responded explosively to the deeply unpopular plan. In and around Athens, bus, subway, tram, electric rail and suburban rail workers walked off the job, joined by taxi owners.
Palestinian Statehood: If Not Now, When?
Submitted on September 23, 2011After 63 years, including 44 under occupation, 85% of Palestinians want statehood now, not later or perhaps never.
6 Right-Wing Owners Who Use Their Sport's Teams to Bankroll Their Reactionary Agendas
Submitted on September 23, 2011By Rania Khalek - AlterNet
Chances are that basketball fans cheering on the Orlando Magic...haven’t a clue they’re also supporting the radical right-wing ideology of the team’s billionaire owner, Richard DeVos. And when hockey fans root for the Philadelphia Flyers, they are likely unaware that the team’s war-mongering owner, Ed Snider, is profiting off of their support.
Palestinian Resisting Incursion by Settlers Shot Dead by Israeli Soldiers
Submitted on September 23, 2011Friday 23 September 2011 - The Guardian
The incident began with a warning broadcast made over mosque speakers in Qusra of an approach by settlers from a nearby outpost. Scores of village men and youths headed towards a hill where around 20 settlers had gathered, waving Israeli flags...Israeli troops arrived and fired tear gas, then live rounds. Settlers also fired their weapons. A statement from the Israel Defence Forces confirmed its troops had used live fire against the Palestinians after rocks were thrown...
Obama-Style Deficit Reduction
Submitted on September 22, 2011Obama wants to sock the poor to enrich the wealthy.
Cops and Condos: Poverty and Gentrification in Toronto's Downtown Eastside
Submitted on September 22, 2011By Alex Balch - September 22, 2011
Police maintain a near constant presence on the block. Swarms of bicycle cops patrol the area, hassling members of the local homeless population. According to one long-term resident, the Toronto Police Service routinely sends rookie cops onto the street to get them used to wielding their new-found impunity. Police officers often handcuff residents while conducting illegal searches...The street is home to a high concentration of racialized residents, who also face frequent racial profiling.
After Troy Davis' Death: Questions I Can't Unask
Submitted on September 22, 2011By Dave Zirin - September 22, 2011
Why does the right wing in this country distrust "big government" on everything except executing people of color and the poor?...What the hell do I tell my seven year old daughter who has been marching to save Troy since she was in a stroller?...Why does this hurt so much?
The Arrogant Voice of Imperialism: Obama at the UN
Submitted on September 22, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 22 September 2011
President Obama delivered an empty and arrogant sermon to the United Nations Wednesday, laced with platitudes about “peace” that were designed to mask Washington’s predatory policies...Obama’s empty rhetoric is a direct expression of the profound crisis gripping American capitalism and its ruling financial elite as it confronts economic collapse and the threat of revolutionary upheaval.
A Culture of Cruelty: U.S. Border Patrol's History of Abuses
Submitted on September 22, 2011By BRENDA NORRELL - September 22, 2011
Interviews revealed migrants suffering from dehydration were denied water, children and adults were beaten, migrants were denied sleep and subjected to humiliation and other forms of psychological abuse. Migrants were denied medicine, including diabetics, and denied food. Border Patrol agents also verbally abused migrants with racist insults.
Jews and the Struggle Against Oppression
Submitted on September 22, 2011By Rick Kuhn - September 22, 2011
It is possible to oppose anti-semitism on a narrow basis, that the racist persecution of Jews is wrong. A broader and far more effective approach strengthens the fight against anti-semitism by treating it as part of the struggle against all forms of racism and oppression. From this perspective, the front line of the battle against anti-semitism today is the campaign against apartheid Israel.
The Execution of Troy Davis
Submitted on September 22, 2011By Kate Randall - WSWS
The world looked on in horror Wednesday night as death row inmate Troy Davis was executed by lethal injection at the state prison near Jackson, Georgia...The state-sanctioned murder was the final grisly episode in a judicial travesty that spanned more than two decades. It stands as a damning indictment of the entire political system and a shameful episode in the history of the United States.
The Extremism That Never Speaks Its Name
Submitted on September 22, 2011By John Pilger - September 22, 2011
A fifth of British children live in poverty: a figure forecast to rise in the Olympic year. The priority of Britain’s political class, regardless of party, is the repayment by ordinary people of “the deficit”, a specious and cynical term for the epic handouts to crooked banks, and the simultaneous waging of squalid colonial wars for the theft of other countries’ resources. This is extremism that never speaks its name.
Inquiry Into RCMP Killing of Native Man Falls Flat
Submitted on September 22, 2011September 21, 2011 - Vancouver Media Co-op
Not only are the [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] a corrupt and oppressive force...they are also an important instrument in the colonial occupation of Native lands. Originally the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), they were modeled after the Royal Irish Constabulary, then used by the British in their occupation of Ireland. The NWMP were established in 1873 after the Metis-Native rebellion of 1870. Their first major deployment was to crush the 1885 Northwest Rebellion.
Full Court Press to Deny Palestinians Statehood
Submitted on September 22, 2011Palestinians deserved and were ready for statehood 63 years ago. Washington, Israel, other detractors, and naysayers say not now.
How Pro-Israel is Stephen Harper's Government?
Submitted on September 22, 2011By Yves Engler - rabble.ca
Two-and-a-half months ago, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird criticized the Palestinian statehood bid, labeling it a "public-relations" exercise. On Friday Harper reiterated this position. "Canada views the action as very regrettable and we will be opposing it..."
International Statement of Solidarity With Cuban Anti-Authoritarians: You Are Not Alone
Submitted on September 21, 2011Wednesday, September 21 2011 - Infoshop News
The Communist Party of Cuba's VI Congress has just closed with an endorsement of the liberal reforms (“to each according to his labors”) promised in the realm of the economy: but along with these come cuts in social services and an increased presence for the military and for technocrats in the machinery of government, with a reduction in the presence of intellectuals and workers.
Ban Ki-moon: A Record of Failure and Betrayal
Submitted on September 21, 2011Ban Ki-moon is an imperial tool.
Mocking the Dying While Profiting Off the Work of Uninsured Artists
Submitted on September 21, 2011By DAVE LINDORFF - September 21, 2011
The first thing that needs to be said to the heartless boneheads who, at the last Republican presidential debate, cheered at the idea of letting a hypothetical 30-year-old cancer victim who hadn’t bought health insurance die, is that this is no mere hypothetical situation...The morally challenged scum who heartily and heartlessly cheered for the death of a hypothetical 30-year-old were really cheering for the death of my friend, and millions like her.
Conservatives Invoke Back-to-Work Legislation to Help Air Canada Extort Concessions
Submitted on September 21, 2011By Keith Jones - WSWS
Bowing before the federal Conservative government’s threat to introduce strikebreaking legislation, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced Tuesday afternoon that it had reached a tentative contract agreement with Air Canada covering 6,800 flight attendants and was, consequently, rescinding, a strike notice.
U.S. Republicans Submit Resolution Supporting Israel's Right to Annex West Bank
Submitted on September 21, 2011By Natasha Mozgovaya - Haaretz
U.S. Representative Joe Walsh (R-IL), introduced on Monday a resolution (with 30 co-sponsors) to support Israel’s right to annex the West Bank in the event that the Palestinian Authority continues to push for vote at the United Nations...["I]f the [Palestinian Authority] continues down this road of trying to get recognition of statehood, the U.S. will not stand for it. And we will respect Israel’s right to annex Judea and Samaria."
TODAY Georgia Executes Troy Davis (Two Articles)
Submitted on September 21, 2011It’s with rage that I report that the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday denied clemency for Troy Anthony Davis. The 42-year-old Davis is now due to be executed TODAY, Wednesday September 21, at 7 pm. For those unfamiliar with the case, let’s be clear: Davis’s execution is little more than a legal lynching.
U.S. Night Raids Aimed at Afghan Civilians
Submitted on September 21, 2011By GARETH PORTER - Counterpunch
U.S. Special Operations Forces have been increasingly aiming their night-time raids, which have been the primary cause of Afghan anger at the U.S. military presence, at civilian non- combatants in order to exploit their possible intelligence value, according to a new study...The study provides new evidence of the degree to which the criteria used for targeting of individuals in night raids...[has] been loosened to include people who have not been identified as insurgents.
Obama and Netanyahu to Palestinians on Statehood: Go to Hell
Submitted on September 21, 2011Obama and Netanyahu won't tolerate Palestinian statehood.
Ford Falters: Build the September 26 Rally for Toronto
Submitted on September 21, 2011By Jesse McLaren - September 21, 2011
As Toronto Mayor Rob Ford confronts a second wave of deputations against the cuts, cracks are emerging in his austerity agenda. He has been forced to reduce and delay some cuts, while members of his executive are speaking out against others. This is a result of months of growing opposition, and the Rally for Toronto on September 26 can magnify the resistance for the weeks and months to come.
How the Republican Party Is Like a Death Cult
Submitted on September 20, 2011By Chauncey DeVega - September 18, 2011
They cheer at the thought of an uninsured person dying. They cheer at the thought of state-sponsored murder. In all, the 2012 Tea Party Republican debates have revealed that they are a death cult...[I]n the age of Obama, contemporary conservatism has surrendered to a virulent, dystopian and pathologically hyper-individualist state of nature...[C]ontemporary conservatism has fully embraced a politics that are utterly and totally bereft of human empathy.
Together Against Political Repression
Submitted on September 20, 2011September 20, 2011 - CMAQ
We strongly condemn the most recent repressive offensive by the Montreal police (SPVM) whose aim is to criminalize, intimidate and isolate several political organizations. We also condemn the formation of a political police squad (entitled “GAMMA”) which is a unit of the SPVM’s organized crime division...Our freedom of association, demonstration and speech is not only legal, but legitimate. Our freedom to dissent is not something we beg for, but something we assert daily.
Obama's Former Pastor Recalls U.S. President's Fall from Grace
Submitted on September 20, 2011By Chris Hedges - September 19, 2011
“President Obama was selected before he was elected...and he is accountable to those who selected him. Why do you think Wall Street got the break? Why do you think the big three [financial institutions] were bailed out? Those were the ones who selected him. We didn’t select him. We don’t have enough money to select anybody...I’ll never forget one of the most powerful things he said to me in my home, second Saturday in April 2008. He said, ‘You know what your problem is?’ I said, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘You have to tell the truth.’ I said, ‘That’s a good problem. That’s a good problem.’”
- Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's former Pastor
The Carve-Up of Greece
Submitted on September 20, 2011By Barry Grey - 20 September 2011
Like a pack of wolves assembling for the kill, the global fraternity of bankers and speculators — whose semi-criminal operations precipitated the economic crisis and whose taxpayer bailouts bankrupted state treasuries — is now preparing to carve up Greece and turn the destruction of an entire society into a financial windfall for themselves.
What's Wrong with Harper's Omnibus Crime Bill
Submitted on September 20, 2011By Paula Mallea - September 20, 2011
Prime Minister Harper will be launching his tough-on-crime agenda today. Our criminal justice system is by no means perfect, but the omnibus crime bill will send us back to a 19th century punishment model. Here are some reasons why Canadians need to speak out against this legislation.
Abbas and Fayyad: Collaborationist Israeli Allies
Submitted on September 20, 2011Expect Abbas and Fayyad to betray their people as they always do.
U.S.-Canada Perimeter Security and the Consolidation of North America
Submitted on September 20, 2011By Dana Gabriel
The move towards a North American security perimeter is being done without congressional or parliamentary approval. There is no reason to trust that our governments will strike any kind of balance between security and freedom. That is why it is imperative that we demand more transparency and input. With a joint action plan expected to be released soon, it is my hope that Canadians and Americans will reject any perimeter security deal that reduces privacy rights and further puts our sovereignty at risk.
Hard Times Getting Harder
Submitted on September 20, 2011Americans are being hammered economically, politically and socially.
Australian "Labor" Government Repudiates International Law on Refugees
Submitted on September 20, 2011By Patrick O’Connor - 19 September 2011
The Labor government’s proposed amendments to the Migration Act and Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act represent an unprecedented repudiation of all international and domestic legal norms governing the treatment of refugees...The legislation’s immediate purpose is to circumvent a High Court ruling issued on August 31 that struck down the government’s plan to deport hundreds of asylum seekers to Malaysia.
Death’s Cheerleaders
Submitted on September 20, 2011By KATHLEEN PEINE - Counterpunch
...[T]hose who would burn witches at the stake...didn’t disappear over the ages. We haven’t evolved past that. Those types just lie in wait, hoping for a chance to spread sanctimonious death. They hold a bible in one hand and their dick in the other, as they grimly masturbate to the death spectacle of the day.
Baby Deaths Spark Fears Over Antidepressants
Submitted on September 20, 2011By Kathy Tomlinson - September 20, 2011
Two B.C. families whose infants died inexplicably are sounding the alarm about mothers taking antidepressants while pregnant...Both mothers took Effexor, which Health Canada has warned can have adverse effects on babies...“I took the pills. I didn’t question. I trusted my doctor...”
Rage Against the System
Submitted on September 19, 2011Morally corrupted America needs tearing down and rebuilding.
Obama's Arc of Instability: Destabilizing the World One Region at a Time
Submitted on September 19, 2011By Nick Turse - September 19, 2011
It’s a story that should take your breath away: the destabilization of what...used to be called “the arc of instability.” It involves at least 97 countries, across the bulk of the global south, much of it coinciding with the oil heartlands of the planet. A startling number of these nations are now in turmoil, and in every single one of them...Washington is militarily involved, overtly or covertly, in outright war or what passes for peace.
Britain: Repression in Wales After Riots in England
Submitted on September 19, 2011By Tom Ainsworth - Green Left Weekly
The wave of riots in numerous English cities this August did not lead to widespread disruption anywhere in Wales...Despite this, several people in Wales have been arrested for riot related offences, some of whom have been denied bail and handed highly disproportionate sentences.
Islamophobia Goes to School in Toronto
Submitted on September 19, 2011By Mairin Piccinin - Toronto Media Co-op
A fringe coalition representing the Jewish Defense League (JDL), Christian Heritage Party (CHP) and the Canadian Hindu Advocacy (CHA) stood together in front of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) central offices, protesting a decision by administrators at a Toronto middle school allowing Muslim students to hold Friday afternoon prayers in the school’s empty cafeteria.
Toronto Cops Taser Man Off Balcony
Submitted on September 19, 2011September 19, 2011 - CBC News
A tense standoff involving Toronto police ended with a man apparently being shocked by a Taser before plummeting from a balcony to the concrete below..."Why'd they use the Taser? I don't understand," said John Sewell from the citizen group Toronto Police Accountability Coalition. "Why didn't they continue to use negotiation and relax and bring him down?"
Balaclava! VMC Broadsheet Special Issue on Resistance to Pipelines and Tar Sands
Submitted on September 19, 2011By Vancouver Media Co-op - September 17, 2011
In this special edition of the VMC's broadsheet, we look at resistance to oil and natural gas pipelines, and the full spectrum of tar sands expansion in Vancouver and Burnaby (unceded Coast Salish Territories) and in Central BC (unceded Wetsu'wet'en territories).
Imperial Arrogance and Hypocrisy
Submitted on September 19, 2011Imperial America's war on humanity.
Bolivia: U.S. Worked to Divide Social Movements, WikiLeaks Shows
Submitted on September 19, 2011By Federico Fuentes - September 19, 2011
WikiLeaks' release of cables from the United States embassy in La Paz has shed light on its attempts to create divisions in the social and indigenous movements that make up the support base of the country’s first indigenous-led government...The cables prove the embassy sought to use the US government aid agency, USAID, to promote US interests.
Nebraska Cornhusker Fans Chop Block Tarsands Pipeline
Submitted on September 19, 2011By Dave Zirin - Monday, September 19, 2011
At another sold-out football game in Lincoln last Saturday, an ad for the TransCanada Keystone oil pipeline played on the stadium's HuskerVision Jumbotron...At the end, came the notice that the video was "brought to you by The Husker Pipeline.” Tens of thousands of fans proceeded to swallow their beer, put down their food and boo. It was actually more than booing. It was more like loudly seething.
Brief Review of "Death of the Liberal Class"
Submitted on September 19, 2011By Manuel Garcia Jr. - Dissident Voice
Have you read Chris Hedges’ book Death of the Liberal Class, (2010)? It is a smooth compendium of the main ideas one might abstract from the last three years of CounterPunch articles...Hedges is writing about, and scolding, a class he is a member of; his moral outrage is probably systematized in his own mind by a conceptual framework learned earlier in the Christian ministry...and his smooth populist style of presentation...was honed in his career as a journalist (war correspondent).
NATO Bombs Kill Hundreds as Libyan "Rebel" Offensive Stalls
Submitted on September 19, 2011By Alex Lantier - 19 September 2011
NATO bombed cities across Libya over the weekend as fighting continued in Sirte and Bani Walid between troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and the NATO-backed forces of the National Transition Council (NTC)...There are mounting reports of casualties due to the NATO bombing. NATO spokesmen said yesterday that on Saturday NATO forces bombed 11 targets in Sirte, 11 in the nearby Al-Jufra oasis, and 3 in the city of Sabha, far to the south.
Abbas Speech Signals Capitulation
Submitted on September 18, 2011Abbas revealed his collaborationist intentions, suggesting he'll accept less than what Palestinians waited decades for and deserve - statehood and full de jure UN membership they won't get as long as Abbas or collaborationists like him have power.
The Real Reason the U.S. Wanted Gaddafi Gone
Submitted on September 18, 2011By MURRAY DOBBIN - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
...[L]et’s be clear what we have accomplished. We got rid of one moderately nasty dictator. But we have eliminated a government which distributed its oil wealth more equally than any other Arab state, will impose on Libya a new market imperative, likely eliminating most social programs and making Libya less equal, may well end up with a government based on Islamic law...and have destroyed Africa’s best hope for independent development.
Obama Team Feared Coup If He Prosecuted Bush War Crimes
Submitted on September 18, 2011By Andrew Kreig - 09 September 2011
President-Elect Obama's advisors feared in 2008 that authorities would revolt and that Republicans would block his policy agenda if he prosecuted Bush-era war crimes, according to a law school dean who served as one of Obama's top transition advisers...[This] implies that Obama and his team fear the military/national security forces that he is supposed [to] be commanding.
Pharmaceutical Outsourcing
Submitted on September 18, 2011By Frazer Merritt - Z Magazine
Most U.S. citizens would be surprised to learn that the side effects and warnings for their prescription drugs...are only a brief summary of the drug manufacturer’s complete label. In addition the pharmaceutical companies don’t design the Patient Inserts, nor are they regulated or tested for accuracy by the [Food and Drug Administration]. Instead, pharmacies pay third-party corporations...to summarize the side effects.
European Extreme Rightists Flying to Israel to Participate in Violent Clashes with Palestinians
Submitted on September 18, 2011September 15, 2011 - Gush Shalom
The Occupied Territories are in danger of explosion, [with the] importation of provocative racists from France. Two months ago, the government made great effort to prevent the fly-in of Palestinians supporters, who had no intention of using violence. All the more, racists with declared violent intentions must be prevented from coming here.
China’s List of Billionaires Expands Again
Submitted on September 18, 2011By John Chan - WSWS
The [Chinese Communist Party] laid the basis for the rapid rise of billionaires and multi-millionaires through cheap state credit, infrastructure projects, government support for key industries, widespread privatization of state enterprises, opening of the economy to international capital, and above all, ruthless police-state repression of a massively expanding working class that provides the necessary cheap labour.
Palestine's Rocky Road to Statehood
Submitted on September 18, 2011The worst of all enemies often are traitors to a just cause. That in a word sums up Palestine's dilemma as loyalists count down to September's General Assembly meeting next week. The 11th hour. The moment of truth, looking more like disappointment, shame and betrayal.
Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Reels after Resident Falls to her Death on Hastings Street
Submitted on September 18, 2011By Dawn Paley - Vancouver Media Co-op
James Mickleson has lived in a small room on the 4th floor of the Regent Hotel for the past seven years. In that time he says he has seen 17 dead bodies in and around his building, lying in front of his door or in the alley near his house...On Friday, Mickleson witnessed something he won't forget for a long time. He saw Verna Simard fly out of a 6th floor window and hit the sidewalk in front of the Regent, head first.
Canada 'Selling' Its Sovereignty Under Proposed Border Deal With U.S., Says Report
Submitted on September 17, 2011By Amy Chung and Jordan Press - September 15, 2011
The author of a report criticizing Canada's anticipated trade and security agreement with the United States says Canada is "selling" its sovereignty with no guarantee of a reduction of red tape at the border for Canadian business..."We've got a desperate attempt by the Canadian government to try to do something by selling basically the privacy rights of Canadians to the Americans, in order to get changes on the border."
Israeli Police State Crackdowns Against Palestinian Demonstrators
Submitted on September 17, 2011The U.S. First Amendment guarantees free assembly. No matter. Demonstrators for social, economic and political justice are assaulted and arrested. But Palestinians on their own land, in their own country, face much tougher crackdowns.
Israel’s "Dangerous" Game: Taking on Turkey
Submitted on September 17, 2011By Ramzy Baroud - Dissident Voice
Turkey had no other option but to escalate before an obstinate ‘ally.’ And considering the latter’s existing isolation in the region – and the growing anti-Israeli sentiment in Egypt and elsewhere – it is likely that Israel, not Turkey, will lose out in this political tussle.
Planned Peacekeeper Occupation of Libya
Submitted on September 17, 2011Repressive Blue Helmets are coming to Libya.
Three Big Challenges Threatening the Arab Uprisings
Submitted on September 17, 2011By ESAM AL-AMIN - September 17-18, 2011
...[T]he popular uprisings sweeping much of the Arab world this year are facing three crucial predicaments. How the different sides in each political theatre deal with these critical issues will determine the future of these societies, as they undergo their genuine popular revolutions...Although each country has its own local conditions and special circumstances, there are many common factors facing the uprisings of the Arab spring.
Youth and Families Targeted for Collective Punishment Over UK Riots
Submitted on September 17, 2011By Paul Stuart - WSWS
Daniel Sartain-Clarke, 18, his mother and her eight-year-old daughter...are amongst thousands of victims of a campaign of reprisals in the wake of civil disturbances that erupted throughout England in August...Sartain-Clarke faces a long prison term on the flimsiest evidence. If he is sentenced, his family will be the first to be issued with an eviction order and will be driven from their council flat.
Should Radicals Care About Unions?
Submitted on September 17, 2011By David Camfield - September 17, 2011
One of the most common mistakes is to equate high-level union officials...with unions. Unions are more than their official leaders: they are organizations with mass memberships. It's true that many unionized workers vote Tory, accept the idea that cuts are necessary and oppose the demand for status for all -- just like many non-unionized working-class people...But it's also true that in many unions there are often at least a few members who disagree with the timidity and conservatism of the officials at the top of most unions today.
Targeting Lawyers: America v. Paul Bergrin
Submitted on September 16, 2011Post-9/11, thousands of political prisoners languish unjustly behind bars or await trial. They include lawyers for challenging injustice, especially for defending the "wrong" clients after America declared war on humanity.
UN: Putting a Value on Haitian Life
Submitted on September 16, 2011By Yves Engler - September 13th, 2011
Rather than support calls for UN accountability, the NGOs jumped to the international organization’s defence. Highly dependent on Western government funding and political support, NGOs are overwhelmingly focused on a charitable model that fails to challenge the political or economic structures that cause the poverty and illness they seek to cure. But without political pressure the practices that engender poverty and illness will continue...
U.S. Scramble for Africa
Submitted on September 16, 2011By Conn Hallinan - Znet
Is current U.S. foreign policy in Africa following a blueprint drawn up almost eight years ago by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, one of the most conservative think tanks in the world? While it seems odd that a Democratic administration would have anything in common with the extremists at Heritage, the convergence in policy and practice between the two is disturbing.
Living with Disabilities in Austere Times
Submitted on September 16, 2011By Kelly White - Infoshop News
People living with disabilities know that their experiences of interdependence, of society and its power relationships, could not be less important to politicians. Instead, their lives and experiences are commonly reduced to essentialized biomedical limitations. The disabled and their allies know that the experience of disability can best be described as a process enacted through social relations; that every service society provides us with is the result of a fight — a refusal to accept less.
Libya: Jihadists Take Over, As Warned
Submitted on September 16, 2011By Julio Godoy - Sept. 8, 2011
The official euphoria with which the U.S. and European governments celebrated the fall of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya has given way to growing concern that many among the new Libyan leadership are radical Muslims with links to al-Qaeda. Revelations are surfacing also of a close collaboration of Western governments with the deposed dictator.
Face-Off: Palestine v. Washington/Israel on Statehood
Submitted on September 16, 2011Palestinian statehood is hanging by a thread.
Emergency Protest: Racist Israeli Settler Avigdor Lieberman Not Welcome in Vancouver
Submitted on September 16, 2011Date and time:
Monday, September 19, 2011 - 7:30pm
Location
Outside Avigdor Lieberman Speaking Event, Jewish Community Centre
950 West 41st Avenue (Near Oak Street)
Vancouver, BC Canada
See map: Google Maps
Cost:
Free
*Please note the time change to 7:30 PM*
The infamous Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, is coming to Canada this Monday! Avigdor Lieberman is not only the foreign minister of the state of Israel, which regularly violates international law by building settlements on occupied land, denying Palestinians' fundamental human rights, and engaging in siege and attacks on occupied Palestinians in Gaza, but is best known as an advocate of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. Join us to say that Avigdor Lieberman, racist and terrorist, is not welcome here!
Toronto Mayor Ford Moves to Gut City Jobs and Services
Submitted on September 16, 2011By Ed Patrick - 16 September 2011
Since the explosion of the 2008 financial crisis, Toronto, Canada’s largest city and financial center, has become the site of an ever-widening assault on the working class. The city’s ruling elite and their representatives in Toronto’s municipal government are seeking to reverse generations of workers’ advances through job-cutting “buyouts,” layoffs, the expansion of user fees, transit fare increases, cuts to public services, contracting-out and privatization.
Fighting for the Right to Strike
Submitted on September 16, 2011By Mick Sweetman - September 12, 2011
This past year has witnessed a renewed assault on unionized workers that should be seen for what it is: a coordinated attack on the right of workers to collectively bargain with their employers...Legislation that strips workers of our right to strike is designed to attack the fundamental weapon we have — the power to withdraw our labour. It is designed to take control out of our hands as rank and file union members and place it solely in the hands of professional union negotiators and government arbitrators.
NDP Leadership Campaign Begins
Submitted on September 15, 2011By Keith Jones - 14 September 2011
Brian Topp, the president of the New Democratic Party (NDP), has become the first declared candidate in the race to succeed the late Jack Layton as federal NDP leader...Topp, who became party president in June...has only had a modest public profile till now. But he was among Layton’s closest and most-trusted advisers and has longstanding ties to both the party officialdom and the trade union bureaucracy.
In Wake of British Riots, Australia Preparing for Youth Unrest
Submitted on September 15, 2011By Will Morrow - WSWS
While the public is continually told that Australia is “insulated” from the global economic crisis, the political and security establishment is conscious and fearful of the politically explosive implications of mounting job cuts, inequality and social distress, and preparing to use similar repressive measures as their counterparts internationally.
Conspiracy in the Age of Austerity
Submitted on September 15, 2011By Alex Hundert - September 12, 2011
Today is the first day of what is scheduled to be an 11 week preliminary inquiry for what the Ontario Crown...calls, the G20 Main Conspiracy Group Prosecution...The Crown will allege that we are somehow responsible for the confrontational demonstrations, including those of the black bloc, which occurred on June 26 2010. It will not be alleged that any of us actually participated in those demonstrations...Their only allegation will be that we “conspired” to do things. For this they want to give us serious jail time.
New York Times: Railing Against Palestinian Statehood
Submitted on September 15, 2011Longstanding Times policy supports wealth and power; war, not peace; US hegemony and imperial rampaging; and all things benefiting Israel.
Obama’s Shameful Silence in the Face of the Murder of Young American by Israel
Submitted on September 15, 2011By DAVE LINDORFF - September 15, 2011
Among the many shameful and cowardly things that President Barack Obama has and has not done, few can rival his complete unwillingness to express outrage at the Israeli military’s murder of a young American teen executed at close range during the Israeli Defense Force assault on the Turkish-flagged aid ship the Mavi Marmara in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea back on May 31, 2010.
Israeli/Turkish/Palestinian Tensions
Submitted on September 14, 2011For Turkey, relations have deteriorated for years. Cast Lead exacerbated them. So did murdering nine Turkish nationals on May 31, 2010, aboard the Mavi Marmara humanitarian aid ship.
Imperialist Powers Increase Threats Against Syria
Submitted on September 14, 2011By Niall Green - 13 September 2011
The same imperialist powers that have just imposed regime change on Libya through a six-month NATO bombing campaign...are now setting their sights on Syria, hoping that they can employ a similar strategy there...The Syrian Revolution General Commission, an umbrella group of opposition organizations, issued the call for Western military backing to aid their efforts against the Assad regime.
Anti-Israeli Friction Helps Palestinians
Submitted on September 14, 2011Change doesn't always work out, but when intolerable conditions exist, trying for something better is key. It holds for Palestinians wanting freedom from Israel's repressive occupation. Statehood and full de jure UN membership is step one toward it, though no guarantee.
Implications of Palestinian Statehood
Submitted on September 14, 2011Mahmoud Abbas appears heading for denying his people statehood and full de jure UN membership.
Murdered by UK Cops: Hundreds Attend Funeral for Mark Duggan
Submitted on September 14, 2011By Zach Reed - 12 September 2011
The funeral of Mark Duggan was held in North London on September 9. Hundreds gathered to pay their respects to the 29-year-old father of four, whose death at the hands of police on August 4 sparked riots in several cities in England.
Anti-Israeli Rage in Egypt
Submitted on September 14, 2011On August 18, Israel aggressively entered Sinai, killing five Egyptian security force members and injuring seven others.
The "War of Terror" Decade
Submitted on September 14, 2011By Anthony Arnove - September 13, 2011
The balance sheet of the last 10 years is grim. It would have to include the immense loss of life in Iraq and Afghanistan; the millions displaced by the invasions and their aftermath; the deaths of the working class youth, mostly from rural areas, sent to kill and die in Afghanistan and Iraq for no reason; the impact on the communities and families torn apart by these traumas; the erosions of civil liberties; and much else.
What Passes for Journalism and Opinion in America
Submitted on September 14, 2011America's major media suppress 9/11 and Libya war truths.
9/11: Echoes of the Big Lie
Submitted on September 14, 2011With echoes of 9/11's commemoration still audible, Obama and his NATO co-conspirators can revel in the carnage they caused.
Another Century of War
Submitted on September 14, 20119/11 launched permanent U.S. wars on humanity.
Palestinian Statehood: Now's the Time
Submitted on September 10, 2011Palestinians worldwide want Palestinian statehood. So do supporters and up to 140 countries. They comprise more than enough to ensure it and full de jure UN membership.
Mostly Water Downtime
Submitted on September 10, 2011Mostly Water will taking a brief respite for some routine maintenance and a few day's break. While MW will still be on-line as per usual, submissions may take longer than normal to post.
MW should be back sometime around the middle/end of next week (September 14-16).
On the Dangers of American Empire and Why the U.S. Continues to be Bin Laden's Best Ally
Submitted on September 10, 2011By Noam Chomsky - September 6, 2011
Perhaps the assassination [of bin Laden] was perceived by the administration as an “act of vengeance”...Whatever the motive was, it could hardly have been security. As in the case of the “supreme international crime” in Iraq, the bin Laden assassination is another illustration of the important fact that security is often not a high priority for state action, contrary to received doctrine.
Obama Style Stimulus
Submitted on September 10, 2011More Obama handouts to corporate favorites and the super-rich.
New York and Washington in Security Lock Down on 9/11 Anniversary
Submitted on September 10, 2011By Patrick Martin - WSWS
Like similar alerts issued over the past ten years, under both the Bush and Obama administrations, the warning seemed calculated more to cause public unease than anything else, since the threat was undefined and effectively unavoidable...Friday wore on with no additional information, but plenty of heavy-handed security action. Police searched vehicles crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, and roadblocks and checkpoints were set up throughout the city in time for the morning rush hour.
Cheney, Harper and the Misuses of 9/11
Submitted on September 10, 2011By Derrick O'Keefe - September 10, 2011
Rather than being ‘the day that changed everything’, as the cliché goes, 9/11 was more like the day when a disgusting crime provided a new pretext for existing reactionary trends. And so followed military occupations or interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and beyond, as well as torture at Guantanamo, Bagram and Abu Ghraib...War, torture, ‘extraordinary rendition’ – this is what defines their post-9/11 legacy.
Toronto Attempts to Block "Stop the Cuts" Public Gathering: Meeting to Go Ahead Despite Threats
Submitted on September 9, 2011September 9, 2011 - Toronto Stop the Cuts Network
In a blatantly anti-democratic move that smacks of Rob Ford’s authoritarianism, Toronto City is attempting to stop the Mass Meeting to Stop Ford’s Cuts from taking place. The city is shutting down programming at Dufferin Grove Park, where the meeting is scheduled from 12pm to 5pm on Saturday, September 10. Organizers from the Toronto Stop the Cuts Network say they are expecting thousands of residents to attend, to write a Toronto Declaration, ‘a vision [that] the Toronto people need and deserve’.
Allegedly Foiling Jerusalem Terrorist Attacks
Submitted on September 9, 2011Israel is pulling out all the stops to deny legitimate Palestinian rights. The August 18 bus and other attacks, killing and wounding Israelis, appeared very likely to be another strategically timed Israeli false flag.
The Irvine 11
Submitted on September 9, 2011Orange County (California) is a hotbed of right-wing extremism, reflected in its district attorney, acting more like an Israeli enforcer than defender of constitutional rights.
NATO-Backed Libyan Regime Persecutes Black Africans
Submitted on September 9, 2011By Peter Symonds - WSWS
The widespread racist persecution of immigrant African workers and black Libyans by forces opposed to Libyan ruler Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is a damning indictment of Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) and its Western backers...As well as killing and maiming civilians through its relentless bombing, NATO bears responsibility for the arbitrary arrest, physical abuse or extra-judicial killings of thousands of black Africans by its NTC proxies.
Hail to the True Victors of Rupert's Revolution
Submitted on September 9, 2011By John Pilger - September 09, 2011
This is Rupert's Revolution...Gone from the Murdoch press are pejorative "insurgents". The action in Libya...is "a revolution... as revolutions used to be". That it is a coup by a gang of Muammar Gaddafi's ex cronies and spooks in collusion with NATO is hardly news. The self-appointed "rebel leader", Mustafa Abdul Jalil, was Gaddafi's feared justice minister. The CIA runs or bankrolls most of the rest, including America's old friends, the Mujadeen Islamists who spawned al-Qaeda.
Canadians with Mental Illness Denied Entry to U.S.
Submitted on September 9, 2011By Sarah Bridge - September 9, 2011
More than a dozen Canadians have told the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office in Toronto within the past year that they were blocked from entering the United States after their records of mental illness were shared with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security...According to diplomatic cables released earlier this year by WikiLeaks, any information entered into the national Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database is accessible to American authorities.
Israel Makes Military Preparations for UN vote on Palestinian State
Submitted on September 8, 2011By Danny Richardson - WSWS
The [Israel Defence Forces] is training settler “security squads” in the West Bank and preparing to arm them with stun grenades and tear gas ahead of an expected yes vote for Palestinian statehood in the United Nations General Assembly later this month...The military preparations...include the determination of “red lines” or boundaries for each settlement in the West Bank. Should Palestinian protesters cross the red line, troops will be authorized to open fire
Washington Longshore Workers Attack Grain Terminal
Submitted on September 8, 2011September 8 2011 - Libcom
In a dispute over the new EGT Grain Terminal in Longview, Washington and management's refusal to recognize the International Longshore and Warehouse Union as the workers' representative, union militants attacked the facility to sabotage the facility's first shipment of grain, protesting in defiance of a court injunction.
Systematic Israeli State Terror
Submitted on September 8, 2011Despite his own cross to bear, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan got it right calling Israel responsible for "state terror."
Salvadorans Struggle Against Canadian Mining Firm
Submitted on September 8, 2011By Sherwood Ross - September 08, 2011
Farmers along the banks of El Salvador’s Lempa River believe tomatoes gleam brighter than gold. They would rather put the river to work for farming, fishing, and drinking than to allow the multinational Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining Co. of Canada use the river water to extract the rich veins of gold buried nearby---a process that involves applying toxic cyanide-laced water to separate gold from the surrounding rock.
"Harper Government" Orders Canadian Embassies to Display Portrait of British Queen
Submitted on September 8, 2011CBC News - September 8, 2011
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has taken several steps recently to entrench the monarchy as one of the country's most important heritage symbols...In late June, [Foreign Affairs Minister John] Baird ordered two historic paintings by Quebec master Alfred Pellan replaced with a portrait of the Queen in the reception area of his department.
Condo Buyers Shun 'Sequel 138': Boycott Launched Against Pantages Development
Submitted on September 8, 2011By Stop Pantages Condos Coalition - September 7, 2011
Over 40 organizations and 1200 [Downtown Easatside] residents have signed a DTES Community Resolution opposing condos at the old Pantages Theatre site. The resolution calls on the City [of Vancouver] to stop the Sequel 138 development permit application, buy the Pantages parcel at its assessed value, and designate it for 100% resident controlled social housing with low-income community space on the ground floor.
U.S. Plans to Keep Thousands of Troops in Iraq
Submitted on September 8, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
Whatever the precise purpose of the proposal to limit the post-2011 US military presence to 3,000 troops, the Obama administration and the Pentagon have no intention of loosening the US grip on Iraq or abandoning the goals that drove the US war in the first place. Just as the Bush administration before it, it is determined to pursue US hegemony over the strategic oil-rich region, and to secure a lasting military presence as a means of defending its control.
10 Revolting TV Shows That Need to Die
Submitted on September 8, 2011By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd - AlterNet
The United States has roughly 2,218 broadcast stations, and 98 percent of households own at least one TV — and it’s not going away, as even people without televisions still watch their favorite shows on-line. Many of those shows are politically reactionary. Here are 10 of the most politically revolting shows that are both wildly popular... and need to get off the air, ASAP.
For the Love of Israel: U.S. Congresswoman’s Misguided War on the UN
Submitted on September 8, 2011By Ramzy Baroud - Dissident Voice
[Ileana] Ros-Lehtinen’s resume is a distressing read. The congresswoman “endorses US imperial wars, police state laws, corporate empowerment, tax cuts for the rich, laying waste to Libya, perhaps a second Bay of Pigs, and Israeli lawlessness, while, at the same, opposing Palestinian statehood...”
America's Sick Economy
Submitted on September 7, 2011America's economy is sick and getting sicker. Since 2008, working households have struggled through the early stages of a protracted global depression, getting worse. While corporate profits recovered, workers experienced growing poverty, homelessness, hunger, and high unemployment.
Israel Deports Children to Preserve "Jewish Character" of State
Submitted on September 7, 2011By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours - 1 September 2011
In July 2009, the Israeli government announced its intention to deport 1,200 children of undocumented migrant workers. After a great deal of criticism, an inter-ministerial committee finally approved the deportation of 400 children in August last year, while the remaining 800 were told they could apply for permanent status in Israel if they met certain requirements.
Israeli Oppression Continues While Talking Peace
Submitted on September 7, 2011Israel's lawless hypocrisy is shameless given what goes on daily - bombings, killings, mass arrests, settlement expansions, dispossessions, and other civil and human rights abuses on an ongoing basis.
Libya for Libyans
Submitted on September 7, 2011By ZOLTAN GROSSMAN - September 7, 2011
...[T]oppling a murderous dictator should not be a rationale for imposing Western domination. The most important period in the Libya War is not during the fighting, but after the fighting ceases, because that is when we will see if Libya will continue as a truly independent country, or follow the path of Iraq and Afghanistan.
3 Days to Take Toronto Back! [Video]
Submitted on September 7, 2011Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Millionaire Rob Ford, and right wing councilors at Toronto City Hall are meeting on September 19, in an executive committee meeting to recommend cuts to public services and job lay offs [of] upwards of $800 million dollars...Public services for many of us are the difference between abject poverty, and just being able to get by. We do not want cuts, we want more services!...These cuts are about poor bashing. They are about further displacing people of color and indigenous people...It is time to TAKE TORONTO BACK.
Worker Power in an Age of Uneven Austerity
Submitted on September 7, 2011By Steven Tufts and Mark Thomas - September 6, 2011
A first step is for labour activists to escape the intellectual traps of 'age of austerity' generalizations and recognize that some workers and unions have power, though these workers may not be in the traditional sites of working-class organization. In this context, unions will doubtlessly have a role in new working-class formations; they just may not represent workers from the same sectors that lead the way in the past.
Disability Benefits Under Threat in UK
Submitted on September 7, 2011By Eileen Hyland - WSWS
Under the guise of getting people back into employment by calculating their “fitness to work”, the Conservative/Liberal-Democrat coalition is reassessing disabled recipients of benefits in an attempt to slash the social security budget...Over the next three years, one-and-a-half million people will be put through these tests. To carry out this attack, they have engaged Atos Healthcare, a branch of a huge multinational conglomerate on a £500 million contract.
U.S. Conservative Columnist Says Poor People Shouldn’t Vote
Submitted on September 7, 2011By Emily Crockett - AlterNet
[Matthew] Vadum’s conspiracy-theory nonsense...[is] a stomach-churning argument that dismisses the disadvantaged and the unemployed as pawns whose interests don’t matter. While Vadum’s argument is extreme, it sheds an ugly light on conservative motives for passing restrictive Voter ID laws. Such laws disproportionately affect low-income persons as well as young people, people of color, older Americans, and the disabled.
Wikileaks Cables Reveal U.S. Embassy Works with Venezuelan Private Media
Submitted on September 7, 2011By Tamara Pearson - September 07, 2011
The U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, met with Venezuelan private media companies El Nacional, Globovision, and the Cisneros Group, to discuss their political content with them and El Nacional asked the U.S embassy for funding, according to cables written by the U.S embassy in Caracas and published by Wikileaks.
"Anti-Capitalist Party" in France Applauds Libya War
Submitted on September 6, 2011By Kumaran Ira - 6 September 2011
France’s New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) has applauded NATO's war to topple the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, praising it as a victory for democracy...The NPA’s claim that the ouster of the Gaddafi regime by NATO’s imperialist intervention is “good news,” let alone a “revolutionary process,” is a reactionary political lie.
The Tar Sands Action in Washington D.C.
Submitted on September 6, 2011By Ted Glick - Znet Commentary
...[F]or those who are turned off by all of [the Obama] administration’s many betrayals of his campaign promises and unsure of what they’ll be doing about the Presidential election, and for those who have had it with both Republicans and Democrats, the campaign to defeat the Keystone XL pipeline is a classic unifying issue, an urgent issue. The next few months are key.
Is Syria Next?
Submitted on September 6, 2011America's business isn't just war and grand theft. It's also regime change by whatever means.
Anti-Austerity Strike Hits Italy
Submitted on September 6, 201106 September 2011 - Al Jazeera
Italy's largest trade union has mounted a general strike in opposition to government plans to tackle an austerity crisis...The eight-hour action called by CGIL, which represents 6 million workers, disrupted public transport and air traffic, and most government offices closed for the day..."These austerity measures are also irresponsible, they are measures that dump on the worker, on the public workers, all the costs of this crisis and this difficult financial situation..."
Media Manipulation of 9/11 Truth
Submitted on September 6, 2011In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously ruled for Fox News, saying no rule or law prohibits distorting or falsifying news.
The NFL Will Remember 9/11 in All the Wrong Ways
Submitted on September 6, 2011By Dave Zirin - September 6, 2011
Ten years ago, on the first Sunday after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the [National Football League] did something truly heroic and generous: nothing...As 9/11 morphed into a decade-long “Global War on Terror,” the league has, to put it mildly, failed to show similar restraint. From the now ubiquitous presence of military flyovers and honor guards at every game, to the armed forces recruitment stations set up outside pre-season contests...the league has treated our era of endless war as an odious exercise in corporate branding.
Libyan Rebel Commander Admits Fighters Have Al-Qaeda Links
Submitted on September 6, 2011By Praveen Swami, Nick Squires and Duncan Gardham - March 25, 2011
In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Mr al-Hasidi admitted that he had recruited "around 25" men from the Derna area in eastern Libya to fight against coalition troops in Iraq. Some of them, he said, are "today...on the front lines in Adjabiya"...[He] insisted his fighters "are patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists," but added that the "members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader".
Assault on Democratic Rights in UK After Riots
Submitted on September 6, 2011By Robert Stevens - 6 September 2011
An unprecedented assault on democratic rights has been mounted in the month since the outbreak of rioting in several major British cities...Since then, hysterical press coverage and bloodthirsty calls for retribution have been the order of the day...The Metropolitan [London] Police have said that they plan to arrest around 30,000 people. To this end, plans are in place to vastly expand prisons, which have now reached full capacity.
Imperial Delusions: Ignoring the Lessons of 9/11
Submitted on September 6, 2011By ROBERT JENSEN - September 5, 2011
...I feel no satisfaction in being part of the anti-war/anti-empire movement. Being right means nothing if we failed to create a more just foreign policy conducted by a more humble nation...Ten years later, I feel the same thing that I felt on 9/11 — an indescribable grief over the senseless death of that day and of days to come.
Report Recommends Repression to Reign in Canuck Rioters
Submitted on September 6, 2011By Gord Hill - Vancouver Media Co-op
...[T]he report recommends methods for more effective crowd control in the future, including greater dispersal of crowds, bans on alcohol sales, and joint training of regional police forces. It is most certainly the sheer scale of destruction that occurred and the jubilant participation by thousands of people that has authorities scrambling to find more effective methods of suppressing such disturbances, while also appearing to be successful in identifying and punishing those that did participate.
Innocent Traveler Stuck on Airline Watch List
Submitted on September 6, 2011By Kathy Tomlinson - CBC News
A Saskatoon man is fed up with being stopped every time he tries to fly within Canada — mistakenly flagged as a security threat — because he has a similar name to someone on a no-fly list...[Ahmad] Ali is a programmer and analyst with the University of Saskatchewan who said he’s been delayed a dozen times boarding flights since 2008. He said the RCMP told him there is a similar name to his on a watch list.
Libya: Here We Go Again
Submitted on September 5, 2011We have, as always happens in war, become the monster we sought to defeat. We destroy in order to save. Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council estimates that the number of Libyans killed in the last six months...has exceeded 50,000. Our intervention, as in Iraq and Afghanistan, has probably claimed more victims than those killed by the former regime. But this intervention [was never]...about protecting or saving Libyan lives. It was about the domination of oil fields by Western corporations.
Lawlessness and Injustice Define America and Israel
Submitted on September 5, 2011America and Israel are out-of-control rogues states.
Productivity is for Chumps: Don’t Take a Piss Without Getting Paid
Submitted on September 5, 2011Larry Ellison produces more in a relaxing 20-minute morning dump than you produce in a day.
Australian "Labor" Politician Offered to Write Op-Ed on Cuba for U.S. Embassy, Says WikiLeaks Cable
Submitted on September 5, 2011By Simon Butler - Green Left Weekly
A WikiLeaks cable released on August 29 has revealed federal Labor MP for Melbourne Michael Danby offered to help the US embassy promote a “Day of Solidarity with the Cuban People”. It was a May 21 2008 initiative of the George W Bush US administration designed to pressure the Cuban government.
Western Powers Sights Set On Syria
Submitted on September 5, 2011By Jean Shaoul - WSWS
Having achieved regime change in Libya through military intervention, the Western powers and their regional allies now have Syria firmly in their sights as part of their plans for re-dividing the resource-rich Middle East...They are intent on using the six-month long protests and civil conflict that the Baathist regime of President Bashar al-Assad has brutally suppressed...to unseat Assad in favour of a more pliant tool of US imperialism.
Cuba Refuses to Recognize the Transitional National Council in Libya
Submitted on September 5, 2011By the Cuban Foreign Ministry - September 3, 2011
The Republic of Cuba does not recognize the Transitional National Council...and will only recognize a government established in Libya in a legitimate manner, without foreign intervention, through the free, sovereign, and common will of the brother people of Libya...Under the grotesque pretense of protecting civilians, NATO has murdered thousands of them...The Foreign Ministry demands the immediate end to NATO bombings...and reiterates the urgent need to permit the Libyan people to find a peaceful negotiated solution...
Happy Corporation Day!
Submitted on September 5, 2011By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS - Counterpunch
Labor Day is an anachronism. It should be renamed Corporation Day or War Day to celebrate the success of Bush/Obama in eliminating labor unions as a countervailing power to corporate power and the elevation of War as the highest goal of the American state.
Labour Day Warning: If You Want Your Union and Your Rights, You'd Better be Prepared to Fight to Keep Them
Submitted on September 5, 2011By David J. Climenhaga - September 5, 2011
This Labour Day in Canada, unions and the fundamental right of working people to be represented by them face an existential threat. Elected union leaders seem for the most part not to be prepared for this reality...As in southern Europe and the United States, the people who have in the past decade brought us bank failures, recession and declining economies are massing their not inconsiderable forces to further weaken the union movement in Canada.
UN Issues Apologia for Israeli Massacre on Gaza Aid Ship
Submitted on September 4, 2011By Robert Stevens - WSWS
The United Nations report on the assault on the Mavi Marmara humanitarian ship is a whitewash of the May 2010 massacre by Israeli military forces...The vessel was part of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and was in international waters when Israeli commandos raided it and brutally murdered eight defenseless Turkish citizens and a Turkish American.
Libya, Inc.: Coming Waste, Fraud and Other Forms of Plunder on a Grand Scale
Submitted on September 4, 2011Like in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, wherever America and its Western allies show up, pillaging is sure to follow.
Dead on Arrival: A Critical Assessment of the Days of Action Against Harris (1995-1998)
Submitted on September 4, 2011By Gerard Lefebvre - September 3, 2011
...[T]he [Days of Action] against Harris can only really be called a failure – if an instructive and ultimately useful one. The moment was not seized and Harris felt safe in pursuing his class-war agenda. There was a glimmer of possibility, of widespread frustration and dissent lying beneath the surface of daily life – and it burst forth for a moment, only to be shoved back into the corner by a union leadership too afraid to rock the boat.
How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War
Submitted on September 4, 2011Stephen Lendman's new book on banker occupation of America.
30,000 Bombs Over Libya
Submitted on September 4, 2011By THOMAS C. MOUNTAIN - Counterpunch
So far the Al Queda lead rebel fighters and the west’s bully boys in the [National Transitional Council] have yet to begin to eat each other though it seems almost inevitable that internal warfare amongst the rebels will take place. We may yet see NATO warplanes bombing its erstwhile allies in the Libyan rebellion...The one thing that is clear is that the Libyan Tragedy has just begun...30,000 bombs over Libya killing some 60,000 Libyans marks the beginning rather than the end of this disaster.
9/11: For 10 Years, We've Lied to Ourselves to Avoid Asking the One Real Question
Submitted on September 4, 2011By Robert Fisk - Saturday, 3 September 2011
["]...[9/11] Commissioners who argued that al-Qa'ida was motivated by a religious ideology...rejected mentioning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict... In their view, listing US support for Israel as a root cause of al-Qa'ida's opposition to the United States indicated that the United States should reassess that policy"...When the Israeli Prime Minister gets even the US Congress to grovel to him, the American people are not going to be told the answer to the most important and "sensitive" question of 9/11: why?
Turkey/Israeli War of Words
Submitted on September 4, 2011Turkey has demanded an apology and compensation for the loved ones of those killed on board the Mavi Marmara. In fact, Israel never says it's sorry, even when caught red-handed. Turkey called it unacceptable, warning of sanctions and other consequences.
George Monbiot and the Guardian on "Genocide Denial" and "Revisionism"
Submitted on September 4, 2011By Edward S. Herman and David Peterson - September 04, 2011
On first reading George Monbiot's "Left and Libertarian Right Cohabit in the Weird World of the Genocide Belittlers," we drew up a list of his errors, misrepresentations, and regurgitations of party-line lies, so as to better equip ourselves to respond to his commentary. But as the original list kept growing each time we looked at his work, we soon realized that our list might be almost indefinitely expandable, depending on how finely we parsed his errors, and how much time we wanted to devote to the project.
Carving up the Libya Corpse for Profit
Submitted on September 3, 2011On September 1, dozens of predator states met in Paris to pick apart Libya's bones even though it's breathing, if barely.
Cops Violently Arrest 15 Muslims in Clash at Suburban New York Amusement Park
Submitted on September 3, 2011By Dan Brennan - 3 September 2011
An angry clash broke out on August 30 when female Muslim visitors to an amusement park in suburban New York City were told they were barred from certain rides because they were wearing the traditional hijab, or headscarf. About 100 police and 60 squad cars from neighboring towns converged on the park, and 15 visitors, both men and women, were arrested. Two were charged with felony assault.
Former Obama Supporter Surrenders his Disillusions: Obama's Betrayals Offer Lessons That Cannot be Denied
Submitted on September 3, 2011By Danny Schechter - Al Jazeera
I have to admit that I was seduced by the idea of Barack Obama...There were those who warned, but, I guess I didn't want to listen...I was also influenced by the euphoria overseas which had become infectious and has since soured...Slowly, despite the glow and the aura, deeper truths surfaced, realities I had ignored.
Promoting Fear and Hate in America
Submitted on September 3, 2011They're described as fundamentalists, extremists, terrorists, and fanatics. They're identified with violence, when, in fact, Islam has common roots with Christianity and Judaism. Their tenets are based on love, not hate; peace, not violence; charity, not exploitation; and a just, fair society for people of all faiths.
40 Years Later: Remembering Attica
Submitted on September 3, 2011By Bruce A. Dixon - Black Agenda Report
Forty years ago this week, inmates in upstate New York's Attica Prison took their lives and destinies into their own hands. The prison, designed for 1200 inmates at the time housed nearly double that number, and inmates were limited to one shower per week and one roll of toilet paper per month. Arbitrary beatings and religious discrimination against Muslim inmates were common...“We are men...and not beasts to be driven as such.”
Overcoming Western Designs in Libya
Submitted on September 3, 2011By Ramzy Baroud - September 03, 2011
Listening to upbeat statements by rebel military commanders...one gets the impression that the future of Libya is being entirely formulated by the new Libyan leadership. Arab media...seemed at times to entirely neglect that there was a third and most powerful party involved in the battle...It is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, whose decisive and financially costly military intervention was not charitable, nor was it a moral act. It was a politically and strategically calculated endeavor...
A New Constituency for Imperialism
Submitted on September 3, 2011By Peter Schwarz - WSWS
The transition of former liberals and pacifists into the imperialist war camp is so widespread that one cannot treat it as an individual phenomenon. Great social struggles often announce themselves through such political transformations. Political parties are preparing for the role they will play in future class struggles...It is mainly the representatives of well-off layers of the middle class who are bidding adieu to their former pacifist, liberal or “leftist” views.
CIA Worked with Gaddafi's Libya in Terror Suspect Renditions, Documents Show
Submitted on September 3, 2011Saturday 3 September 2011 - The Guardian
The CIA worked closely with Muammar Gaddafi's intelligence services in the rendition of terrorist suspects including Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, the rebel commander in Tripoli, according to documents found in Tripoli...The files, uncovered by Human Rights Watch, provide details of the close relationship between western intelligence services...and the ousted dictator's regime.
Besieging and Terror Bombing Sirte
Submitted on September 2, 2011Sirte, a city of 100,000, is being terror bombed relentlessly, perhaps intending to turn it to rubble. It wouldn't be the first time Washington and its Western allies did it.
Israel's Proposed Counterterrorism Law
Submitted on September 2, 2011A major concern is Israel's proposed counter-terrorism law. It proposes to make current "state of emergency" measures against terrorism permanent law, including administrative detentions, control orders, and broad definitions of "terrorism" and "terror organizations."
"Friends of Libya" Meet for Imperialist Carve-Up in Paris
Submitted on September 2, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
One of the strategic objectives of US imperialism and its Western European counterparts was precisely to counter growing Chinese influence in Libya and Africa generally, as well as Russia’s ambitions, which included talks with the Gaddafi government on acquiring a Mediterranean port for its navy in Benghazi.
UN Report on Mavi Marmara Massacre
Submitted on September 2, 2011The attack on the Mavi Marmara was a well planned premeditated attack against unarmed, nonviolent humanitarian activists, trying to break Israel's illegal blockade to deliver essential aid. Cold-blooded murder resulted.
Former UK Spy Chief Decries "War on Terror"
Submitted on September 2, 2011By Richard Norton-Taylor - Friday 2 September 2011
Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5, delivered a withering attack on the invasion of Iraq, decried the term "war on terror", and held out the prospect of talks with al-Qaida...[S]he also said the 9/11 attacks were "a crime, not an act of war". "So I never felt it helpful to refer to a war on terror".
Chile’s Winter Awakening
Submitted on September 2, 2011By Roberto Navarrete - September 02, 2011
Since May, some 700 schools have been occupied by secondary school students and almost daily street protests have been taking place ever since. In mid-August around half a million students and their families took part in a demonstration...in central Santiago. The students have also managed to connect their struggles with other sectors of Chilean society. A week after the [Santiago] demonstration, the students joined a national strike declared by Chile’s trade union confederation (CUT)...
London Calling: Civil Unrest in an Age of Austerity
Submitted on September 2, 2011By JACK RANDOM - September 2, 2011
To all those British intelligentsia who attributed the recent riots...to hooligans, you’re as wrong as the myriad free enterprise economists who swore we had nothing to fear from a deregulated marketplace. You’re as wrong as the killing of an innocent man. You’re as wrong as holding the poor accountable for the errors of the elite. You’re as wrong as an economy that creates an ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nothings.
Down to the Wire: A-Zone Tenants to Purchase Historic Building
Submitted on September 2, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2011
The A-Zone at 91 Albert St. is Winnipeg’s center for progressive thought, community activism, and alternative business models. It has hosted thinkers, activists and writers, such as Naomi Klein, Michael Albert, Chris Hedges, and Judy Rebick. A diversity of tenants, made up of worker cooperatives, small businesses, and activist groups, are working together to secure the purchase of the building, culminating this month with requests for donations and a number of fund-raising events in collaboration with the Winnipeg Radical Bookfair (September 24 - 26, 2011).
Libya: NATO's Latest Charnal House
Submitted on September 1, 2011When NATO intervenes, massacres, mass destruction, and indescribable human misery follow. Libya is its latest trophy.
Iraqi Children in U.S. Raid Shot in Head, UN Says
Submitted on September 1, 2011By Matthew Schofield - Thursday, September 1, 2011
A U.S. diplomatic cable made public by WikiLeaks provides evidence that U.S. troops executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians...during a controversial 2006 incident in the central Iraqi town of Ishaqi..."The American forces gathered the family members in one room and executed 11 persons, including five children, four women and two men. Then they bombed the house, burned three vehicles and killed their animals."
NATO Prepares Bloodbath in Sirte
Submitted on September 1, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 1 September 2011
...[T]he US and its NATO allies, former colonial powers, are mounting a barbaric siege of a major population center that threatens to produce civilian casualties on a mass scale...In their breathless promotion of the “final battle” to realize the real US-NATO aim in Libya...few in the Western media have bothered to consider the fact that the major imperialist powers are carrying out precisely the kind of act they claimed their war was designed to prevent.
Toronto: Ford's Cuts Are Racist
Submitted on September 1, 2011August 30, 2011 - No One Is Illegal-Toronto
The worst impacts of the coming cuts will be felt by those of us already shut out of public services, those without full immigration status, immigrants, people of color, indigenous, migrant workers, those of us who experience the violence of police and border guards every day. For those of us without papers, with empty stomachs, working for slave wages, with peanuts in our pockets, the fight against austerity has always been ours.
HR 2829 Targets Palestinian Statehood
Submitted on September 1, 2011Lawless extremists infest Congress like crabgrass besets lawns. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R. FL) is one of the worst...On August 30, (with 57 co-sponsors) she introduced "HR 2829: To promote transparency, accountability, and reform within the United Nation system, and for other purposes."
U.S. Wants to Finger Hezbollah: Lebanese Tribunal Concealed Evidence Al-Qaeda Cell Killed Former Prime Minister
Submitted on September 1, 2011By GARETH PORTER - Counterpunch
In focusing entirely on the alleged links between four Hezbollah activists and the 2005 bombing that killed [former Lebanese] Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the indictment issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon earlier this month has continued the practice of the U.N. investigation before it of refusing to acknowledge the much stronger evidence that an Al-Qaeda cell was responsible for the assassination.
WikiLeaks: U.S. and Brazil Monitoring Chávez in the Caribbean
Submitted on September 1, 2011By Nikolas Kozloff - Znet
Under the helm of Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva, Brazil cultivated a strategic alliance with Venezuela and publicly the two nations embraced South America's "pink tide" to the left. Yet, WikiLeaks documents reveal that Brazil may have shared Washington's concern over Chávez's rising geopolitical importance, particularly in the Caribbean...
London Neighbourhoods Terrorized by Police Raids
Submitted on September 1, 2011By Paul Stuart - WSWS
One month after major disturbances were provoked by the August 4 police killing of Mark Duggan in north London, the Metropolitan Police in the capital are intensifying raids on working class communities...Entire neighbourhoods have been sealed off, with riot police smashing down doors and dragging people away. So far this has resulted in over 2,000 arrests in London alone, averaging approximately 100 a day since the riots began.
NATO's Genocidal Rape of Libya
Submitted on August 31, 2011Continuing NATO atrocities on Libyan civilians give naked aggression a new name.
Top Ten Myths in the War Against Libya
Submitted on August 31, 2011By MAXIMILIAN C. FORTE - August 31, 2011
I wish to...remind readers of the role of ideologically-motivated fabrications of “truth” that were used to justify, enable, enhance, and motivate the war against Libya — and to emphasize how damaging the practical effects of those myths have been to Libyans, and to all those who favored peaceful, non-militarist solutions...[These myths] threaten to severely distort the ideals of human rights and their future invocation, as well aiding in the continued militarization of Western culture and society.
U.S. Election March of the Trolls
Submitted on August 31, 2011By Chris Hedges - August 29, 2011
The trolls dominate or have neutralized every major institution in the country on behalf of their corporate paymasters. The press, education, Wall Street, labor and our political parties are managed by trolls or have been destroyed by them. Sometimes these trolls speak like liberals. Sometimes they speak like conservatives. Sometimes they are secular. Sometimes they are Christians. But the language they use is a cover for the relentless march toward a totalitarian capitalism and a kingdom where the trolls...live happily ever after.
Israel's Operation Summer Seeds
Submitted on August 31, 2011Israel's planned disruptions of Palestinian statehood.
More Deaths at the Hands of UK Police
Submitted on August 31, 2011By Robert Stevens - 31 August 2011
In the space of just seven days, three more people have been killed in police operations in the UK involving the use of lethal Taser guns and pepper spray...“What the police did was outrageous. He was handcuffed, on the floor with his legs restrained...They seemed to be kneeing him in the back of the head. I counted 11 cops. They all sat on him, giving him a kicking and giving him side digs. There was one woman officer...and she was getting her kicks in as well.”
Islamists at the Heart of the Libyan Rebellion
Submitted on August 31, 2011By PATRICK COCKBURN - August 31, 2011
Much of government propaganda on Libyan state TV during the six-month civil war was focused on claims that the rebellion was being led by Islamic militants linked to al-Qa’ida. The aim was to frighten the US and NATO abroad and secular Libyans at home...But the allegations also had some credibility, since the most militant and experienced anti-Gaddafi organisation was the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG).
Advancing U.S.-Canada Economic, Energy and Security Integration
Submitted on August 30, 2011Following his meeting with Secretary Napolitano, Minister Toews also announced that Prime Minister Harper and U.S. President Obama will meet in early fall where they will be updated and provide further directions on plans for a North American security perimeter. There are fears that any deal reached could be lopsided with Canada giving up more than it gains. Over the last number of years, Canada has already enacted many U.S. security measures.
Meet Professor Juan Cole, Consultant to the CIA
Submitted on August 30, 2011By JOHN WALSH - Counterpunch
Juan Cole is a brand name that is no longer trusted. And that has been the case for some time for the Professor from Michigan...Cole has called the Afghan War “the right war at the right time” and has emerged as a cheerleader for Obama’s unconstitutional war on Libya and for Obama himself.
R2P = Right 2 Plunder
Submitted on August 30, 2011By Pepe Escobar - August 30, 2011
...[A]s a vast, potentially very profitable new market for European companies...Libya is the genuine article, adding a whole new meaning to the humanitarian imperialist doctrine of R2P ("responsibility to protect")...Gaddafi is actually gambling that the joint NATO/GCC ops will turn Libya into the new Iraq/Afghanistan...It will force [NATO] to be even more entrenched in northern Africa. It will allow the use of the same old imperial divide-and-rule tactics while Western companies exercise their Right 2 Plunder options.
The Death of Jack Layton and the Myth of National Solidarity
Submitted on August 30, 2011By Richard Dufour - WSWS
What critically-minded workers and other socialists need to consider is why the corporate media, Layton’s ostensible political opponents, and the entire establishment...have chosen to proclaim Layton a veritable national hero...The endless media references to Layton’s “pragmatism” and “common touch” point in fact to what made him so valuable an asset for the ruling class, and the real reason they are mourning his passing — the ability to put a pretty, populist face on a right-wing political orientation.
Independent Journalist Dan Kellar Arrested for Naming "Infiltrator" in Blog Post
Submitted on August 30, 2011By Tim Groves - Toronto Media Co-op
On August 25th, independent journalist, blogger, and activist Dan Kellar was arrested for a blog post that he wrote in which he named and provided a photo of a man he claimed to be an undercover police officer, and encouraged readers to "spit in his footsteps and scoff at his existence".
Washington Threatens Palestinian Statehood Bid
Submitted on August 29, 2011For decades, the U.S. has subverted peace negotiations and Palestine's bid for statehood. The Obama administration is now doing it again.
Six Years After Katrina: The Battle for New Orleans Continues
Submitted on August 29, 2011By JORDAN FLAHERTY - August 29, 2011
...[T]he vast changes that have taken place in New Orleans since Katrina have had little to do with weather, and everything to do with political struggles. Six years after the federal levees failed and 80 percent of the city was flooded, New Orleans has lost 80,000 jobs and 110,000 residents. It is a whiter and wealthier city, with tourist areas well maintained while communities like the Lower Ninth Ward remain devastated. Beyond the statistics, it is still a much contested city.
European and U.S. Working Class Politics: Right, Left and Neutered
Submitted on August 29, 2011By James Petras - Dissident Voice
The deepening economic crises in Europe and the United States are provoking contrasting socio-political responses from the working and middle classes...Rather than solidarity, the economic crisis highlights working class fragmentation, disunity and internal polarization.
NATO's Ugly Face
Submitted on August 29, 2011For months, NATO marauders and rebel killers gang raped Libya - murdering, destroying, ravaging on the pretense of protecting.
Evidence Mounts of Atrocities by Libyan "Rebels"
Submitted on August 29, 2011By Patrick Martin - 29 August 2011
A series of reports from journalists on the ground in Tripoli have provided evidence of mass killings by the NATO-backed forces in the Libyan civil war. These reports, which appear in publications largely supportive of the US-NATO intervention to overthrow the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, further expose the fraudulent claim that the imperialist war against Libya is driven by humanitarian motives and the desire to protect civilian lives.
No Way to Honor Martin Luther King
Submitted on August 29, 2011By Medea Benjamin - August 29, 2011
The ceremonies for the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington DC were kicked off on August 24...But some of those honored are a far cry from King’s beloved community of the poor and oppressed. The tribute to peacemakers...was mostly a night applauding war-makers, corporate profiteers and co-opted musicians.
Never Forgive, Never Forget
Submitted on August 28, 2011After covering Libya's rape since last winter in dozens of articles, no forgiving or forgetting is possible for one of history's great crimes.
The New-Model Interventionists
Submitted on August 28, 2011By ARNO J. MAYER - August 26, 2011
For a while it looked as if Western Europe’s imperial-colonial era had drawn to a close and as if the imperial benefits and burdens it bequeathed to the U.S. were about to be liquidated, as well. But this turns out to be a gross historical misconstruction.
American Decline: Causes and Consequences
Submitted on August 27, 2011By Noam Chomsky - Znet
...[I]t is “a common theme” that the United States..."is in decline, ominously facing the prospect of its final decay.” It is indeed a common theme...and with some reason. But an appraisal of US foreign policy and influence abroad and the strength of its domestic economy and political institutions at home suggests that a number of qualifications are in order...[D]espite America’s decline, in the foreseeable future there is no competitor for global hegemonic power.
Libya: The Criminal Face of Imperialism
Submitted on August 27, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
NATO’s assault on Libya, a criminal imperialist war from its outset more than five months ago, has descended into an exercise in out-and-out murder as special forces operatives and intelligence agents hunt down Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi...NATO warplanes carried out over 20,000 sorties, destroying schools, hospitals and homes and slaughtering untold numbers of Libyan soldiers, many of them young conscripts.
Follow-Up Comments on Palestinian Statehood Vote
Submitted on August 27, 2011In September, the General Assembly will vote on granting full statehood recognition and de jure UN membership to Palestine.
"Welfare Reform" Turns Fifteen in the U.S.
Submitted on August 27, 2011By STEPHEN PIMPARE - Counterpunch
The safety net has become less effective at lifting people out of poverty...But welfare reform is a small portion of this failure...After all, for most poor Americans, the program...is now irrelevant, and rather than “ending welfare as we know it,” we have, for all but a few, simply ended welfare, a process made relatively easy because we had allowed it to be quietly whittled away for three decades.
New York City Police, CIA in Massive Spying Operation Against Muslims
Submitted on August 26, 2011By Peter Daniels - 26 August 2011
The New York City Police Department, working in close collaboration with the Central Intelligence Agency, has carried out an unprecedented spying operation directed against Muslim immigrants and Muslim-Americans over the past decade...“A months-long investigation….has revealed that the NYPD operates far outside its borders and targets ethnic communities in ways that would run afoul of civil liberties rules if practiced by the federal government...”
Type 2 ~ A Bipolar Journey (Review)
Submitted on August 26, 2011Conviction! Mission Possible! Taking bipolar disorder out of the shadows without a celebrity endorsement is daunting but so much more relevant because it's all about the every day person living, struggling and dealing with mental illness.
St Catharines, Ontario: Replacing Forests with Wastelands - Farming Along Twelve-Mile Creek
Submitted on August 26, 2011The papers have been hyping it all week and it’s finally here: Thursday July 21st, the supposed hottest day of the year. We’re in downtown St Catherines, watching as the scorching heat pushes everyone off the north side of St Paul Street in favour of the shady south side.
General Assembly Palestinian Statehood Vote
Submitted on August 26, 2011UN Charter Article 80(1) and others empower the General Assembly to recognize Palestinian statehood and take all necessary measures to end Israel's illegal occupation. If sovereignty is granted, it's more than ever essential to do so, holding Israel fully accountable for not complying.
U.S. Government Preparing New Attacks Against WikiLeaks
Submitted on August 26, 2011By David Walsh - WSWS
The Obama administration and its Department of Homeland Security are continuing their assault on WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, as part of the effort to stifle opposition to American militarism and imperialism.
The Myth of Libyan Liberation
Submitted on August 26, 2011By CONN HALLINAN - Counterpunch
[That the] U.S. is interested in a “lawful world order”...would certainly come as a surprise to the Palestinians, the Shiites in the Gulf, and peasants in Colombia who suffer the deprivations of death squads aided by the U.S....The U.S. supports international law when it is in its interests to do so, undermines it when it is not, and ignores it when it is inconvenient...The record speaks for itself.
Libya's Imperial Hijacking is a Threat to the Arab Revolution
Submitted on August 26, 2011By Seumas Milne - Znet
However glad people are to see the fall of the Gaddafi clan, it's clear that such intimate involvement of the US and the former colonial powers taints and undermines the legitimacy of Libya's transformation. They will expect a payback for their investment in the Libyan war: in oil and commercial deals, political support and perhaps even the return of western military bases...[I]f Libyans end up with the kind of democracy foisted on Iraq and Afghanistan...that will be no liberation at all.
State Murders and State Funerals
Submitted on August 26, 2011August 25, 2011 - Coop Média de Montréal
When a man with very little wealth and power is killed by the state it is swept away as an anomaly in the everyday workings of law and order. Yet, when a man who has made a career of enforcing the state order which creates poverty and disparity dies of natural and predictable causes he is praised for his efforts and held up as a nationalistic hero as we all pitch in for his funeral. That is disgusting.
Israel’s Nice Little War
Submitted on August 25, 2011By RAMZY BAROUD - August 25, 2011
On August 9, residents of the impoverished Gaza Strip feared attack by Israel. The fears were not only based on repeated threats by Israeli officials, but also on a mysterious telecommunication blackout that day which cut off all Internet, mobile phones and international landlines for hours...“Meanwhile, residents of Gaza near the border with Israel said army bulldozers were seen operating shortly before communications went off-line...”
NATO's Libya War: A Nuremberg Level Crime
Submitted on August 25, 2011The US/UK/French-led war on Libya will be remembered as one of history's greatest crimes. It violates the letter and spirit of international law and America's Constitution.
Are We Killing Drug Addicts Like Amy Winehouse?
Submitted on August 25, 2011By Kristen Gwynne - AlterNet
...Amy [Winehouse's] dad Mitch gave an emotional speech at Amy's funeral, where he identified alcohol withdrawal and Amy's "all or nothing" approach to use as possible causes of his daughter's death. Statements that Amy reportedly said she "had enough of drinking" and could not "stand the look on the family's faces anymore" are examples of how families affected by addiction may actually hurt their loved ones, even though their intentions stem from compassion.
Crude Analysis of Libyan "Liberation"
Submitted on August 25, 2011By CHRIS FLOYD - Counterpunch
Another war for oil? Surely not! But just to be on the safe side, the world’s oil barons are already moving in to seal some sweetheart deals on that sweet, sweet crude with the new, NATO-installed masters of Libya...And guess what? It turns out that companies from the Western countries that eagerly rained tons of death-metal on the Libyan people are being given the inside track to the post-Gaddafi gusher. Meanwhile, countries that had urged caution...now face relegation to the outer darkness.
Cameras, Cops and Crime in Peterborough
Submitted on August 25, 2011By Matthew Davidson - August 22, 2011
...[The] debate [on surveillance cameras] is heating up in Peterborough, Ontario, where city council recently considered joining the ranks of other medium-sized cities in Ontario that have installed closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras...“There is a shockingly transparent partnership between political power in the city, businesses and the police”...The money could be much better spent to address underlying causes of crime...such as poverty and marginalization. “Instead, it is being used to watch us.”
In Wake of Riots, British "Left" Calls for Law and Order
Submitted on August 25, 2011By Chris Marsden - WSWS
Patrolling the streets, negotiating with the police, determining sentencing — such are the political ambitions of the ex-left. Workers and young people should take note. This was their response to a few nights of rioting. In the event of the emergence of a serious revolutionary threat to capitalism, these forces will take their stand on the side of the ruling class and its repressive state apparatus.
Libya War: It Ain't Over Till It's Over
Submitted on August 24, 2011Mark Twain once called reports of his death greatly exaggerated. The same hold for Libyans, not ready to submit to NATO colonization, occupation, plunder and exploitation. Not at least without a fight.
Summer Job at Hershey's "No Charlie's Chocolate Factory"
Submitted on August 24, 2011Tuesday, August 23, 2011 - Common Dreams
It sounded like the perfect summer job...Students from China, Africa and eastern Europe would work in a Hershey's chocolate plant before using their earnings to travel the US and learn English...The 400 students...claimed they were forced to become "captive workers"..."They don't care if you are small, you don't have the power, you didn't eat - they just care about their production..."
Over 200 Arrested in Ongoing Protest Against Keystone XL Tar Sands Oil Pipeline
Submitted on August 24, 2011August 24, 2011 - Intercontinental Cry
Another fifty-two environmental activists were arrested on Monday for taking part in the Tar Sands Action, a peaceful two-week protest that's urging President Obama to reject a permit for the risky Keystone XL pipeline.
British Cops Kill Unarmed Man with Taser and Pepper Spray
Submitted on August 24, 2011By Harvey Thompson - 24 August 2011
At around 18:30, eight officers arrived at the second floor flat of Dale Burns, 27, the father of two young children, and sought to arrest him. During the arrest one officer discharged a Taser device a number of times and another officer deployed pepper spray...Burns complained of feeling unwell following the arrest and was taken to Furness General Hospital where his condition deteriorated. At around 21:00, he was pronounced dead.
With Friends Like These: Neocons Call for War on Syria
Submitted on August 24, 2011By Maidhc Ó Cathail - Dissident Voice
Back in 1998, the Project for a New American Century wrote to President Clinton urging him to remove Saddam Hussein and his regime from power...Thirteen years, hundreds of thousands of lives, trillions of dollars, and no weapons of mass destruction later, three of the signatories of that infamous PNAC letter...are among a gang of Israel partisans and their lackeys who have signed another open letter to an American president urging regime change in yet another one of Israel’s Arab neighbours.
Cars and Class
Submitted on August 24, 2011By Yves Engler and Bianca Mugyenyi - August 24, 2011
We need to face the truth. By design, urban areas liberated from the danger, pollution and ecological devastation of the private automobile enjoy both heightened quality of life and equality of residents...Getting rid of our private-automobile dominated transportation system should be a priority for all those who believe in social equality and saving our environment.
Obama's Wars on Humanity
Submitted on August 24, 2011Ignoring social and other homeland needs, America's business is war, more war, imperial wars, defiantly heading the nation toward tyranny and ruin because of an addiction it can't or won't quit.
Canadian Boat to Gaza Campaign Condemns Latest Attacks on Gaza
Submitted on August 24, 2011August 24, 2011 - rabble.ca
In the last days the Gaza Strip has been subjected to numerous air raids from Israel, which have so far killed at least 15 Palestinians and wounded many more. Despite claims by Israel that they were targeting alleged armed groups in Gaza, the reported reality from the ground is that those killed were innocent civilians including children.
From Kandahar to Libya: How the NDP Facilitates Imperialist War (Part Two)
Submitted on August 24, 2011By Graham Beverly - WSWS
Whenever a consensus has emerged within the Canadian ruling class to deploy the [Canadian Armed Forces] overseas, the [New Democratic Party] has given its support, repeating and frequently amplifying the various “humanitarian” and “democratic” arguments used to bamboozle the population into supporting the bloody overthrow of regimes considered an obstacle to the interests of the western powers and the grabbing of resources and geo-strategic positions.
Texas Repuplican Candidate Compares Welfare Recipients to Donkeys
Submitted on August 24, 2011By Marie Diamond - AlterNet
Former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams is running for Congress on a staunchly anti-Obama, anti-government platform. He recently came out with a new video ad called The Donkey Whisperer that’s raising a lot of eyebrows for conflating Democrats with welfare recipients and comparing them to donkeys.
NATO's Planned Bloodbath in Tripoli
Submitted on August 23, 2011NATO intends to get the bloodbath it wants through intensified terror bombing and low-level strafing of civilians and nonmilitary sites.
Pope Steps Up Right-Wing Crusade in Spain
Submitted on August 23, 2011By Alejandro López and Paul Mitchell - 23 August 2011
Since his appointment as Pope in 2005, Josef Ratzinger has visited Spain three times, more than any other country. The Vatican falsely portrays Spain as a bastion of Catholicism, chosen as a target by the forces of Marxism, liberalism, secularism, science and virtually all things modern. But the Church is an increasingly unpopular and discredited institution, particularly among the youth.
Restraints Used On One in Four Psych Patients
Submitted on August 23, 2011CBC News - August 23, 2011
Nearly one in four people in mental health wards in Ontario are restrained using straps, sedative drugs or other methods, according to a new report...Psychiatric patients were much more likely to have experienced a control intervention at a general hospital than at a psychiatric hospital..."Most people who are admitted to hospital for mental illness actually come through the emergency department..."
Million Dollars Not Enough for Brutal Police Slaying of Kelly Thomas, Says Family
Submitted on August 23, 2011By Rady Ananda - August 23 2011
The surviving family members of Kelly Thomas, who was brutally murdered by Fullerton Police (Orange County, California) in July, rejected an offer of $900,000 not to pursue civil action...On July 5, 2011, closed circuit TV caught six Fullerton cops brutally murdering a homeless, mentally ill man. Kelly Thomas, age 37, died after being taken off life-support five days later.
Gaddafi Has Lost, But Who Has Won?
Submitted on August 23, 2011By PATRICK COCKBURN - Counterpunch
While it is clear Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has lost power, it is not certain who has gained it. The anti-regime militiamen that are now streaming into the capital were united by a common enemy, but not much else. The Transitional National Council (TNC) in Benghazi, already recognized by so many foreign states as the legitimate government of Libya, is of dubious legitimacy and authority.
From Yugoslavia to Haiti: How the NDP Facilitates Imperialist War (Part One)
Submitted on August 23, 2011By Graham Beverly - WSWS
...[T]he [New Democratic Party] have helped rally support for and politically legitimize the use of the [Canadian Armed Forces] to bolster the predatory interests of the Canadian bourgeoisie. On several occasions...the NDP having supported the CAF’s deployment in imperialist wars, subsequently responded to the growth of popular antiwar sentiment by calling for an end to Canadian participation. In so doing, their purpose has been to corral this opposition behind a section of the political establishment and thereby neuter it.
Palestinian Right of Self-Defense
Submitted on August 23, 2011Repeatedly, Israel preemptively bombs, shells, and inflicts other forms of lawless violence on Gazans, claiming self-defense...When they respond, Israel calls it terrorism, claiming justification for greater attacks in "self-defense," what international law prohibits.
A Blanket Policy of Mass Imprisonment: UK Cops Planned to Hold All Riot Suspects in Custody
Submitted on August 23, 2011By Polly Curtis - The Guardian
Senior [London] police officers devised a policy of holding all people arrested on riot-related offences in custody and recommending that the courts also refuse bail after they were charged, according to a leaked "prisoner processing strategy"..."The right to bail is a long-standing and essential part of our criminal justice system...[I]t seems that the Metropolitan police took a strategic decision to apply a blanket ban and deny everyone bail, no matter what their circumstances...[T]his policy is unlawful..."
Israel Launches Bloody Reprisals in Egypt and Gaza
Submitted on August 22, 2011By Jean Shaoul - WSWS
Israel’s aggressive response to a series of suicide and roadside bomb attacks near the Red Sea resort of Eilat on Thursday has exacerbated tensions with both the Palestinians and its neighbour, Egypt...The attacks killed eight people...and injured dozens more...They pursued the attackers, whom eyewitnesses said were wearing Egyptian army uniforms, presumably stolen, on land and by air, killing at least seven people...
How California Law Shields Violent Cops
Submitted on August 22, 2011By Ali Winston - August 17, 2011
...[L]awsuits are the only remaining way for records of [police] shooters to become public. As a result, accountability activists say, it is now extremely difficult to keep tabs on officer conduct. Rachel Jackson, an organizer of the Bay Area protests of Oscar Grant’s killing, says the indictment on murder charges of ex-BART Officer Johannes Mehserle, following widespread public outcry, is proof of the point: “If there’s street heat, they’ll do something.”
Five Reasons Israel Should Cease its Attacks on Gaza
Submitted on August 22, 2011By Julie Webb-Pullman - August 22nd, 2011
Aided and abetted by a veto-wielding superpower, Israel has...made a mockery of, and exposed the hypocrisy of, the UN system existing to protect the peoples of the world from the very abuses Israel commits with impunity against others, whilst continuing to demand its protection.
Libya's Divided Rebels
Submitted on August 22, 2011By PATRICK COCKBURN - Counterpunch
The Transitional National Council (TNC) in Benghazi is now recognized by more than 30 foreign governments...as the government of Libya. But it is by no means clear that it is recognized as such by the rebel militiamen who are in the process of seizing the capital. The rebel fighters in Misrata, who fought so long to defend their city, say privately that they have no intention of obeying orders from the TNC. Their intransigence may not last but it is one sign that the insurgents are deeply divided.
New York Times: Lying About Libya and Palestine
Submitted on August 22, 2011If New York Times reports proliferate lies, imagine what other media sources provide, especially US television news and information. It's little more than a bottomless profane sinkhole of worthlessness.
NATO-Backed Forces Move Into Tripoli
Submitted on August 22, 2011By Patrick Martin - WSWS
The Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi appeared on the brink of collapse Sunday night, as ground forces of the NATO-backed Transitional National Council entered Tripoli, the capital city, from the west, south and east...Many units of the Libyan military were said to have fled their positions without a fight...An Associated Press report said the military unit charged with the defense of downtown Tripoli and Muammar Gaddafi’s personal security had surrendered.
UK Considers Curfew Powers Following Riots
Submitted on August 21, 2011By Robert Stevens - 20 August 2011
In the aftermath of the riots that swept London and other cities in England last week, the Conservative/Liberal government is actively planning the imposition of curfew powers covering wide geographical areas...Home Secretary Theresa May announced that giving the police further powers to clear streets and establish “no-go” areas are under discussion.
Zombie Housing, Zombie Banks, Zombie Governments: Economy Cassandra Says Marx Was Right
Submitted on August 21, 2011"Karl Marx had it right. At some point capitalism can destroy itself because you cannot keep on shifting income from labor to capital without not having excess capacity and a lack of aggregate demand, and that's what's happening." -- Nouriel Roubini
Another Israeli False Flag?
Submitted on August 21, 2011Mossad and Shin Bet (Israel's Security Agency) have long, odious histories of committing false flag operations.
Amid the Murdoch Scandal, There is the Acrid Smell of Business as Usual
Submitted on August 21, 2011By John Pilger - Znet
Long before it was possible to hack phones, Murdoch was waging a war on journalism, truth, humanity, and succeeded because he knew how to exploit a system that welcomed his rapacious devotion to the “free market”. Murdoch may be more extreme in his methods, but he is no different in kind from many of those now lining up to condemn him who are his beneficiaries, mimics, collaborators, apologists.
A Life Worth Less Than Train Fare
Submitted on August 21, 2011By MIKE KING - Counterpunch
Another young, unarmed black man, Kenneth Harding, has been gunned down, shot numerous times in the back as he fled, his empty hands in the air in broad daylight. His crime had been a simple train fare evasion for which San Francisco police executed him in the street. Dozens of witnesses saw a sight that has become commonplace in US cities, capturing images with cell phones of police surrounding the man and watching him struggle and writhe from a distance, in a swelling pool of his own blood.
Riot, Rap and Racism in Cameron’s Britain
Submitted on August 21, 2011By Alexander Billet - August 20th, 2011
Perhaps the players have been switched out, along with some minor script changes, but the story remains the same: moral depravity, tied up to one degree or another in hip-hop culture, seeking to invade a respectable, mannerly western civilization and rot it from the inside. It doesn’t take a political mind to see how racist this is...Fortunately, this line of thought hasn’t gone unchallenged.
Fact: There is a Link Between Cuts and Riots
Submitted on August 21, 2011By Jacopo Ponticelli and Hans-Joachim Voth - Tuesday 16 August 2011
In a recent study, we focused on the link between austerity measures and unrest. We analyzed a large number of countries, over almost a century, to unearth some empirical regularities. In two studies, we analyzed unrest in 28 European countries from 1919 to 2009, and in 11 Latin American countries since 1937. What we found is a clear and positive statistical association between expenditure cuts and the level of unrest.
Falsified New York Times Middle East Reports
Submitted on August 20, 2011They appear daily like weeds on all topics. As a result, New York Times reports aren't fit to read, let alone print. August 18 was no exception, publishing lies about Libyan insurgent victories.
U.S. and European Powers Demand Resignation of Syria’s Assad
Submitted on August 20, 2011By Niall Green - WSWS
As with the NATO war against Libya, the US and its European allies are seeking to intervene in Syria in order to secure a better strategic foothold in the region, while intimidating the mass working class opposition to capitalist dictatorship that has emerged across the Middle East, resulting in the overthrow of former Western allies Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia.
America Is a Spark Away From Riots of Its Own
Submitted on August 20, 2011By Bill Boyarsky - August 11, 2011
As President Barack Obama tried to calm a United States facing the threat of financial disaster, riots raged across the Atlantic in London and other British cities. Could it happen here, as our nation adopts British-style austerity and suffers through worsening unemployment? It certainly could, just as it has in the past.
Aliens May Destroy Humanity to Protect Other Civilizations
Submitted on August 20, 2011By Ian Sample - Common Dreams
It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim...Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilization growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat...
One in Four California Families Can't Afford Food for Their Kids
Submitted on August 20, 2011By Raul Rodriguez - Saturday, August 20, 2011
One in four California households with children reported food hardship, according to a new analysis of Gallup data released last Thursday by the Food Research and Action Center...“It sends a clear signal of economic distress, particularly for families with children...The answers to the question reveal there are times that these families are going without eating a meal, or the parents are skipping a meal for their children, or children are skipping meals.”
Who's Streets? Our Streets! An Interview with Hamilton Copwatch
Submitted on August 20, 2011August 14, 2011 - Linchpin
"The motivation behind the formation of Hamilton CopWatch is...the same drive which has given rise to CopWatch groups across this continent and beyond for over the past 20 years: a deeply felt need to construct cooperative sources of protection against police abuse. In the face of a local police force whose daily operations threaten the safety, well-being and dignity of our communities, we have been compelled out of necessity to seek out our power in numbers, as an organization dedicated to placing a greater degree of accountability upon cops in our neighbourhoods."
Two Striking Verizon Workers Facing 18 Months Jail for Blocking Scab Truck
Submitted on August 20, 2011By Tom Eley - 20 August 2011
Two striking Verizon workers, Susanna Short, 37, and Leabern Kennedy, 44, arrested on a picket line in the town of Norton, in southwest Virginia on August 8, could face up to 18 months in jail and a $3,500 fine, according to local press accounts. The women were arrested for allegedly blocking a vehicle of a strike-breaker from entering a Verizon parking lot.
David Cameron and the Conservative's Not-so Anti-Government Victim Blaming
Submitted on August 19, 2011By Paul Street - August 19, 2011
Anti-government rhetoric is often a ruse...State-capitalist elites within and beyond England and the U.S. only want to shrink...the parts of the public sector that serve the social and democratic needs of the non-affluent majority. Under the corporate, imperial and neo-liberal wisdom that reigns across the all too narrow ideological spectrum in both the U.S. and the UK...the portions [of the state] that serve the opulent minority and dole out punishment for the poor and enemies of empire and inequality at home and abroad...remains well fed.
Eretz Yisrael: Lawless, Corrupt and Dysfunctional
Submitted on August 19, 2011What do you call a country that persecutes occupied people and one-fifth of its own population for not being Jewish? An illegal occupier for over 44 years, suffocating over 1.6 million Gazans under siege! A nation practicing torture, persecution, and racism as official policies! A modern day Sparta, glorifying wars and violence!
Austerity is Euphemism for Class War Waged by Rich [Video]
Submitted on August 19, 2011By Michael Truscello - Dissident Voice
The world is dying, and capitalists are making record profits as it dies. There are more slaves and billionaires than ever before. The military-industrial complex is the largest it has ever been...In this context, poor and working people have been [told]...to reduce their expectations for the future and for their quality of life in the present...Now is not the time to "restore the middle class," the message from Big Labour; now is the time to restore human dignity and prevent the current crisis from being our last...We need a revolution, not a reformation.
Whither the Dollar?
Submitted on August 19, 2011The US economy is the big exception in global capitalism: its national credit and the wealth of the world are the same.
The Unholy Land
Submitted on August 19, 2011SchNEWS - Friday 19th August 2011 | Issue 784
The machine-gunning of an Israeli bus and the subsequent air-raids on Gaza represent another dangerous turn of the screw for Palestine. Anxious to rescue themselves from their own domestic discontents...another border war might be just what the Israeli authorities want...While it’s the shocking attack on the Israeli bus that’s grabbed the headlines, the slow grind of the occupation is the reality on the ground.
The Chaos of Order
Submitted on August 19, 2011By Boaventura de sousa Santos - August 19, 2011
Between the neo-liberal credo and the urban rioters there is a fearful symmetry. Social indifference, arrogance, unfair sharing of sacrifices are sowing chaos, violence, and fear. Tomorrow, the sowers, taking offence, will argue that what they sowed had nothing to do with the chaos, violence, and fear haunting our cities today. The true disorderly are in power...
Downtown Eastside Workers Call for Boycott of Pantages/Sequel 138 Condo Project
Submitted on August 19, 2011August 15, 2011 - The DTES is not for Condo Developers
...[A]s advocates, service providers, and front-line and outreach workers who are committed to serving the Downtown Eastside, we support the DTES Community Resolution opposing condos in the heart of this neighbourhood. We would not want to be complicit in a project that will further displace, impoverish, and police residents of the Downtown Eastside and make people feel more unwelcome in their own neighbourhood.
RIP: America's Anti-War Movement
Submitted on August 19, 2011United for Peace and Justice says nothing about war and occupation of Iraq, not enough about Afghanistan, the lawlessness of all US wars, why they're waged, other illegal wars against Libya, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, support for Israeli belligerence against Palestinians, as well as denouncing them all as Washington-sponsored imperial aggression.
In Wake of British Riots, New York Police Prepare for Unrest
Submitted on August 19, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
New York police anti-riot units assembled last week at a training facility on Randall’s Island to prepare for an outbreak of civil unrest similar to those that have occurred recently in Britain...The riot training was held just days after the New York City Police...announced the formation of a new “juvenile justice unit”...to troll Internet social media sites like Facebook and Twitter in search of any indication of impending disturbances.
The Forbidden Truth is an Insurrection in Britain
Submitted on August 19, 2011By John Pilger - Znet
For the young at the bottom of the pyramid of wealth and patronage and poverty that is modern Britain...there is never surprise. Their relationship with authority is integral to their obsolescence as young adults. Half of all black British youth between the ages of 18 and 24 are unemployed, the result of deliberate policies since Margaret Thatcher oversaw the greatest transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top in British history. Forget plasma TVs, this was panoramic looting.
New York Parents Losing Custody of Kids After Being Caught With Tiny Amounts of Marijuana
Submitted on August 18, 2011By Sarah Seltzer - August 18, 2011
...[T]he NYPD continues to arrest a disproportionate number of Black and Latino young men for low-level pot-related offenses, leading to a cycle that cripples the community. Even worse...is the fact that when an arrest isn't made or charges aren't filed, people caught with tiny amounts of marijuana can lose their kids.
Shadow Warriors
Submitted on August 18, 2011By CONN HALLINAN - August 18, 2011
For decades the U.S. military has waged clandestine war on virtually every continent on the globe, but, for the first time, high-ranking Special Operations Forces (SOF) officers are moving out of the shadows and into the command mainstream. Their emergence suggests the U.S. is embarking on a military sea change that will replace massive deployments, like Iraq and Afghanistan, with stealthy night raids, secret assassinations, and death-dealing drones.
Rick Perry: Extremist White America's Evangelical Hope
Submitted on August 18, 2011Texas-based commentator Molly Ivans called Rick Perry "despicable" and much more. Ridiculing him as "Gov. Goodhair," she compared him to George Bush, saying, "O Please, Dear God, Not Another One," quoting a country song.
Youth Sentenced to Years in Jail for Posting Facebook Notices During British Riots
Submitted on August 18, 2011By Robert Stevens - 18 August 2011
The state clampdown against working class youth in Britain continues unabated. On Tuesday, crown court judges in England handed down long jail sentences to two young men for posting comments on Facebook...Jordan Blackshaw, 20, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, were not involved in any disturbances. But at Chester Crown Court they were sentenced to four years imprisonment for “intentionally encouraging another to assist the commission of an indictable offence...”
Facebook Caves to the Prison-Industrial-Complex
Submitted on August 18, 2011By KENNETH E. HARTMAN - Counterpunch
In a decision setting back prisoners' rights and helping to advance the interests of prison bureaucrats and their guard union allies, Facebook announced plans to work with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to shut down pages set up for prisoners...This Facebook nonsense is right along with the standard fear mongering tactics of the prison bureaucrats and their guard allies.
Rioting by Underclass Brits has Long History
Submitted on August 18, 2011By Stephen Hume - August 17, 2011
...[I]t's creepily fascinating to watch England's moneyed over-class distance itself from the social context in which the recent riots occurred...Knee-jerk recrimination from a British over-class and its apologists, blinkered by self-interest, follows a predictable pattern..."Social problems like poverty and unemployment were once understood as injustices that sprang from flaws within capitalism...Yet today they have become understood as the consequences of personal behaviour, individual defects and even choice."
Saskatchewan Nuclear Waste Protest Walk Reaches Steps of Legislature
Submitted on August 17, 2011Setting out from Pinehouse Lake on July 27, Debbie Morin thought she had only a few allies for a walk to protest nuclear waste storage in Saskatchewan. By the time the 820-kilometre walk finished in Regina on Tuesday, Morin and the other walkers said thousands were on their side.
Canada's Hawkish Foreign Policy at Odds with Popular Priorities
Submitted on August 17, 2011By Paul Weinberg - Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The military lobby has sought to re-brand Canada "as a nation forged in fire", dating back to World War I when the country lost about 60,000 soldiers in combat..."I don't believe it has been entirely successful..."The military has gone on a huge public relations campaign at our expense since 2006...to increase a military presence at public gatherings and sports. To try to convince Canadians that the military must be a central institution in Canadian life and indeed that military spending should go up."
Daily Rogue State Israeli Lawlessness
Submitted on August 17, 2011Overnight, Israeli jets bombed Gaza, killing at least one resident and wounding seven or more others (including a child) in a series of lawless raids.
Toronto Considers a Complete Ban on Panhandling
Submitted on August 17, 2011By John Bonnar - rabble.ca
The attacks have been coming for a dozen years. But this time it’s coupled with attempts at major funding cuts for food programs, shelters and drop-ins, which will inevitably lead to more panhandling...["T]hey’re trying to cut people off at both ends..."
Britain: The Stench of a Police State
Submitted on August 17, 2011By Julie Hyland - WSWS
The state repression and right-wing hysteria unleashed in response to youth rioting in London and other cities reveal the preparations of the ruling class for police-state forms of rule...Cheered on by the Labour Party, Prime Minister David Cameron and his Conservative-Liberal Democrat government have organized vicious state repression, authorizing the use of water cannons and plastic bullets and the possible use of the army against further social unrest.
Falsified Major Media Reports on Libya
Submitted on August 17, 2011Major media specialize in what they do best: truth inversion, not doing what journalists are supposed to do - their job, especially covering imperial wars for dominance and rich spoils.
Nova Scotia NDP Says "No" to Essential Services for Disabled [Audio]
Submitted on August 17, 2011By Jim Guild and Melissa Albiani - Halifax Media Co-op
Siphoning thousands of dollars from a special needs program for the disabled while pumping tens of millions into a convention centre is an NDP “betrayal” said many in attendance at a Halifax news conference on Aug. 16...The change in regulations eliminates special needs assistance for drugs and treatments not covered by [health care], such as massage therapy, psychological counseling and a range of alternative medications...
60 Per Cent of Arrests in Toronto Lead to Strip Searches
Submitted on August 16, 2011August 17, 2011 - CBC News
More than 60 per cent of people arrested by Toronto police last year were forced to undergo a strip search, according to police statistics...But a police accountability group says routine searches are against the law and alleges Toronto police are using the practice to humiliate and intimidate people.
Netanyahu Spurns Social Justice Demands
Submitted on August 16, 2011Unaffordable housing prices ignited mass social justice protests in Israel. At issue is settlement developments at the expense of other construction, creating a supply/demand imbalance enough to cause prices to skyrocket. Israelis demand that issue be addressed responsibly.
Australian Court Freezes Former Guantánamo Bay Prisoner’s Bank Accounts
Submitted on August 16, 2011By Richard Phillips - WSWS
Following a brief hearing on August 3, the New South Wales Supreme Court froze all bank accounts related to proceeds from David Hicks’s book, Guantanamo: My Journey, published last October...The case...is a vindictive political attack, orchestrated by the Gillard Labor government, seeking to punish and silence Hicks, and intimidate others whose fundamental legal and democratic rights have been abused in the “war on terror.”
Canada Drastically Raises Cost of Criminal Pardons
Submitted on August 16, 2011By Paula Mallea - August 16, 2011
The Harper government is about to raise the cost of obtaining a pardon to $631 from $150. Yet when the fee was raised from $50 to $150 last year, one person who helps offenders obtain pardons said it was "earth-shattering for hundreds of our clients." Quadrupling the new fee will ensure that very few offenders can afford to apply.
Who Will Save Libya From Its Western Saviours? (Not the Left)
Submitted on August 16, 2011By JEAN BRICMONT and DIANA JOHNSTONE - August 16, 2011
This little war in Libya is exposing NATO as both criminal and incompetent...It is also exposing the organized left in NATO countries as totally useless. There has perhaps never been a war easier to oppose. But the organized left in Europe is not opposing it...[T]he European left has missed its opportunity to come back to life by opposing one of the most blatantly inexcusable wars in history.
The UK Riots and the Criminality of Jack Straw
Submitted on August 16, 2011By Robin Beste - August 16, 2011
Jack Straw, former foreign secretary in Tony Blair's government, was quick to his feet, following David Cameron's speech on the UK riots..."We need more prisons," Straw told Cameron and the House of Commons...He may get his wish, looking at some of the sentences that have already been handed down in the hundreds of cases rushed through emergency courts -- no doubt at the government's bidding, to show that instant retribution will take precedence over justice.
Capitalism's New Era
Submitted on August 16, 2011By Shamus Cooke - August 16, 2011
For the wealthy and corporations this is a life and death struggle. The Great Recession has already bankrupted the banks and corporations who were not fit enough to survive under a crumbling market economy. The existing companies are thus forced to squeeze more work for less pay out of their workers, since labor is the most flexible cost of any business. Pushing labor costs down -- and...social programs -- is thus the priority of the corporations and their paid-for politicians across the globe, since the global economy is tightly connected and they all play by the vicious rules of the market.
Economic End Times
Submitted on August 16, 2011Despite a deepening global depression, establishment economists are in denial. On June 9, the Wall Street Journal said those surveyed expected slow, steady growth through 2011, despite high US unemployment, a housing depression, European sovereign debt in crisis, and the unreported insolvency of major French and other banks.
Pervasive Unemployment and Poverty in London Areas Hit by Riots
Submitted on August 16, 2011By Paul Stuart - WSWS
The British political establishment and its state apparatus are imposing the most vicious class justice against young people accused of involvement in the riots that swept London and other cities last week...Nearly 3,000 people have so far been arrested as police continue to raid homes across the capital...Despite the fact that most have no previous convictions, more than two thirds of those rounded up are being held without bail and subject to punitive custodial sentences.
Mourning the Passing of Wendy Babcock
Submitted on August 16, 2011By Tanya Gulliver - August 16, 2011
While I don't always miss [Toronto], there is nowhere I would rather be at this moment. My friend, Wendy Babcock, was found dead at her home on Aug. 9, an apparent suicide...[Wendy] also had an incredible life. She became an activist for the rights of sex workers. She won the first Public Health Champion award from the City of Toronto in 2008 for her activist work...RIP Wendy Babcock -- you are loved and already missed.
London Burns: Causes and Consequences of the Riots - An Anarchist Perspective
Submitted on August 15, 2011Saturday, August 13, 2011 - Workers Solidarity Movement (Ireland)
...George Orwell provided a useful general starting point for how anarchists view riots, writing..."I have no particular love for the idealised 'worker' as he appears in the bourgeois Communist's mind, but when I see an actual flesh-and-blood worker in conflict with his natural enemy, the policeman, I do not have to ask myself which side I am on." What happened in London and spread elsewhere was not some idealized glorious proletarian uprising, but the very real explosion of anger that occurs when years of poverty, police repression, and racism finally reach bursting point.
London Riots and the Big Picture
Submitted on August 15, 2011By Gilad Atzmon - Dissident Voice
...British politicians seem to be very enthusiastic about ‘moral interventionism’ in other countries. But I believe that the time is ripe for Britain to be subjected to a true form of moral interventionism — an influx of spiritual ideas that would redeem us all from mammon-seeking and hard Capitalism. Yet it is increasingly clear that within the British political spectrum we will not find any such force that could lead to such a transformation, and that is indeed both a volatile and tragic situation
New York Times Disinformation, Denial and Suppressing Vital Truths
Submitted on August 15, 2011America's "newspaper of record" makes painful reading for alternative media consumers, knowledgeable about what Times correspondents, opinion contributors and editorial writers misreport, conceal, or lie outrageously about.
Post-Civilization in Theory and Practice
Submitted on August 15, 2011A new publishing house in Minneapolis, Subsect Press, will be releasing a book to describe how a non-hierarchical, regenerative and anti-capitalist society can meet human needs.
Turkey Issues Ultimatum to Syria
Submitted on August 15, 2011By Niall Green - 15 August 2011
The United States, the European imperialist powers, and their NATO ally, Turkey, are preparing for possible military action against Syria...Turkey’s foreign minister reportedly presented a letter from Turkish President Abdullah Gul to President Bashar Assad of Syria on Tuesday as an “ultimatum.” In the letter, Gul is believed to have warned his Syrian counterpart that Turkey would consider participating in an international intervention force.
The New Face of War: Special Ops and the Spectre of Terrorism
Submitted on August 15, 2011By JOHN GRANT - August 15, 2011
What is the most powerful nation in the world with the largest, most expensive, most lethal military in the history of mankind to do when the good times turn bad, the money goes funny and class warfare breaks out on the home-front?...The answer for the United States seems to be a growing concentration on what is known as Special Operations, which includes Special Forces, Seals and a host of other lethal military forces that emphasize mobility, efficiency, secrecy and unaccountability.
Israeli Social Justice Protests Continue
Submitted on August 15, 2011What US print and broadcast media won't report, Israeli and other sources cover extensively, because what's ongoing is too significant to ignore. Happening at the same time across the Middle East, Europe, and elsewhere, it's just a matter of time before it erupts in America, most often a late bloomer.
Finance Capital
Submitted on August 15, 2011With its loan business, the banking industry achieves something remarkable. In its hands, money is capital — many times over. It makes the deposits of its cash depositors grow through interest payments. It puts money at the disposal of its loan customers, which strengthens their power to generate profits and both obligates and enables them to make interest payments. The net interest generated by the banking industry increases the capital with which it conducts its business.
Police Complaints Commission Lied About Police Shooting that Sparked British Riots
Submitted on August 15, 2011By Robert Stevens - WSWS
The [Independent Police Complaints Commission] has not accounted for the lies told by its representatives, but there can be only one explanation: it was continuing in its longstanding role of shielding the police from criticism, much less accountability, for their murderous actions...[Mark] Duggan was only the latest of hundreds of people who have been killed while in police custody over the last decade. Not a single police officer has been convicted in connection with these deaths.
Conservatives Threaten Wife of Asbestos Victim
Submitted on August 15, 2011Monday, August 15, 2011 - CBC News
The federal Conservative party has sent a threatening email to the widow of an asbestos victim in the latest chapter of Canada's debate over the hazardous mineral...Michaela Keyserlingk, whose husband Robert died in 2009 of mesothelioma, has been running an on-line banner since the spring that reads, "Canada is the only western country that still exports deadly asbestos!"
Accused G20 "Maiden of Mayhem" Wins Bail Challenge
Submitted on August 15, 2011August 15, 2011 - Toronto Media Co-op
On Tuesday August 9th 2011 in Provincial court in Toronto, a judge agreed to a bail variation for accused G20 "Maiden of Mayhem" Kelly Pflug Back which replaces her house arrest with a ten o'clock curfew and allows her to have unrestricted contact with her fiance Julian Ichim on the condition that he sever his ties with anti poverty group SOS.
Demonizing the Young Won’t Heal UK Cities
Submitted on August 14, 2011By Laurie Penny - Znet
...[I]t is vital that we resist the easy story of "us" and "them"...The disorder will continue until we acknowledge that the young people who rampaged through Manchester, Liverpool, Brixton, Tottenham and 50 boroughs of London are as much a part of the "real Britain" as those who nobly came out the next morning to clear the debris from their trashed high streets. The language of "true Brits" defending themselves against a feral underclass is precisely the language of social division that predicated these riots.
168 Children Killed in Drone Strikes in Pakistan Since Start of Campaign
Submitted on August 14, 2011Friday, August 12, 2011 - Common Dreams
In an extensive analysis of open-source documents, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that 2,292 people had been killed by US missiles, including as many as 775 civilians...The strikes, which began under President George W Bush but have since accelerated during the presidency of Barack Obama, are hated in Pakistan, where families live in fear of the bright specks that appear to hover in the sky overhead.
Italian Unions Threaten General Strike Over New Austerity
Submitted on August 14, 2011Sunday, August 14, 2011 - Common Dreams
Italy's second austerity package in less than a month met with a chorus of criticism a day after becoming law, with the largest union federation threatening a general strike over the "injustice" of the measures...CGIL union confederation leader Susanna Camusso [said]...the package "hits only those who already pay their taxes," adding that the date of a general strike would be decided at an emergency union meeting on August 23.
Throwing Rocks at the Israeli Occupation – And Western Prejudice Too
Submitted on August 14, 2011By Linah Alsaafin - 11 August 2011
It is [absurd]...to even consider throwing rocks...a violent act...The message is very clear: rocks are thrown at the enemy as a way of underscoring the Palestinians’ disapproval of a foreign occupier from intruding and expropriating their lands and homes...I asked a few Nabi Saleh children why they throw rocks. Their responses were simple: We don’t want the army here. This is our village. They are occupying us.
Riots and the Underclass
Submitted on August 14, 2011By ALEXANDER COCKBURN - August 12-14, 2011
[The] endless wars on crime and drugs...have engendered not merely 2.3 million prisoners but a vindictive hysteria that pulses on the threshold of homicide in the bosoms of many of our uniformed law enforcers. Time and again, one hears stories attesting to the fact that they are ready, at a moment's notice or a slender pretext, to blow someone away, beat him to a pulp, throw him in the slammer, sew him up with police perjuries and snitch-driven charges, and try to toss him in a dungeon for a quarter-century or more.
Riots Across Britain: Perhaps More than Meets the Eye
Submitted on August 13, 2011Observers attribute public anger to unemployment, poverty, inequality, and overall social injustice, but perhaps more is also involved.
NATO’s Puppet Regime in Libya Falls Apart
Submitted on August 13, 2011By Peter Symonds - WSWS
The sacking of the entire Benghazi-based Libyan opposition cabinet this week has exposed the anti-democratic, faction-riven character of the regime that the US and its European allies are seeking to impose on Libya. The self-proclaimed Transitional National Council (TNC)...is being consumed by violent internal conflicts.
The Terror of Campus Cops
Submitted on August 13, 2011By MALINI JOHAR SCHUELLER - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
...[C]ampuses are increasingly becoming unsafe – not because of a lack of security but an overabundance of it. Amnesty International and the United Nations have declared tasers to be torture devices, but if a student insists on taking the podium and asking more questions than allotted during a public talk, chances are that he will be subdued by a number of officers and then tasered by the campus police.
Why Are We Leaving It to Our Children to Hold the Police to Account and Redistribute Wealth?
Submitted on August 13, 2011By Rebel Griot - Dissident Voice
I am not blaming Cameron, or the politicians, or the media. These are our enemies. They are being true to their class...They are doing their jobs perfectly. I am blaming those of us who do care, who do want equality and an end to classism, racism and imperialism. We need to step up and provide leadership and organization, and until we do that our criticisms of the youth are hollow and deceitful. If we leave it to children to bring accountability to policing and to redistribute wealth...we shouldn’t be surprised if they do a messy job.
Congressional Junkets to Israel
Submitted on August 13, 2011Eighty-one House members, one fifth of the chamber, will visit Israel during the traditional summer recess, instead of addressing festering local issues at home during the nation's gravest economic crisis too serious to ignore.
UK Enlists Rigid U.S. "Super Cop" to Assist on Protests
Submitted on August 13, 2011By AFP - AlterNet
Prime Minister David Cameron has asked former New York police commissioner Bill Bratton to act as a consultant to British police on how to curb street violence..."The prime minister spoke to Bill Bratton today to thank him for agreeing to make himself available for a series of meetings...to share his experience of tackling gangs while police chief in Boston, New York and Los Angeles"...Bratton was a key figure in imposing "zero tolerance" policing in New York.
Media Demand Mass Arrests, Reprisals Against UK Rioters
Submitted on August 13, 2011By Robert Stevens - WSWS
Magistrates’ courts in London and other cities in England are handing down the harshest possible sentences to those accused of involvement in the riots that swept across London and other cities in England earlier this week...Any slander against working class youth can now be repeated without challenge in the media — with some openly calling for violent reprisals.
U.S. Gives $20 Million for Venezuelan Opposition in 2012
Submitted on August 13, 2011By Eva Golinger - August 13, 2011
Since Hugo Chavez won his first presidential elections in 1998, the US government has been trying to remove him from power. With multimillion-dollar investments, every year Washington’s agencies advise and aid anti-Chavez groups with their campaigns and strategies against the government...Washington continues to seek new mechanisms to achieve its eternal objective of recovering control over Venezuela’s strategic resources – the largest oil reserves on the planet – and this means putting an end to Hugo Chavez.
A Message to a Country on Fire
Submitted on August 12, 2011August 9, 2011 - Anti Cuts Space (UK)
We offer unapologetic solidarity and support to those involved in the UK uprisings these past nights. This sentiment extends to both the rioters and to those communities affected by them...We put the blame for the riots solely on the structural inequalities inherent and persistent in our country and the continued theft of the material resources of the working class. Simply put, the conditions of many today are poverty, experienced alongside marginalization and racism at the hands of the state. They call this an “austerity programme.” They shall reap what they sow.
The Big Smoke: Why Did It Take This Long?
Submitted on August 12, 2011SchNEWS - Friday 12th August 2011 | Issue 783
It seems to us that everyone is asking the wrong question – why did they riot? When in fact the more obvious question would be – why did it take ‘til now? A toxic combination of neo-liberalism and the gangsterism that goes with the criminalization of drugs has created ghettos in London and throughout the U.K. Everyone knows it – and the ‘feral underclass’ has become the acceptable focus of snobbery, hate and fear.
New York Times Support for U.S. Imperial Wars
Submitted on August 12, 2011The Times never met a US imperial war it didn't endorse or designated enemy it didn't vilify. Nor are concerns ever raised about constitutional and international law issues, crimes of war and against humanity, or mass slaughter and destruction.
Riots Are the Fruits of Austerity
Submitted on August 12, 2011By Emma Gallwey - August 12, 2011
To dismiss the serious violence and chaos as mindless and purely criminal is to ignore its context. It is also to give into this argument which has gained great sway in Europe and America, that state action to create jobs and expand support for the unemployed and vulnerable, cannot help economic growth. For all those who deny the comparisons with Greece, welcome to the fruits of austerity.
Liberal Imperialism and the Refusal to Learn
Submitted on August 12, 2011By Maximilian C. Forte - August 10, 2011
One detects a strong tendency among liberal imperialists and assorted self-designated "progressives" to think of their actions and thoughts as being above history...At the last stage of a dying empire, imperial advocates...are still gripped by the conviction that theirs is the highest stage of human achievement...This is shallow humanitarianism...a humanitarianism at the end of empire and as bankrupt as the state powers whose authority the humanitarians invoke.
The London Olympics and the London Riots
Submitted on August 12, 2011By Dave Zirin - August 12, 2011
...[E]very historical precedent points to an increased crackdown in the months ahead, which will only further fan tomorrow’s flames. We have a collision coming between the Olympic Monolith and the poor, angry youth of Great Britain. Conflict is ensured if David Cameron’s ultimate response continues to be, “Let them eat beach volleyball.”
British Parliament Demands Violent Repression of Youth Riots
Submitted on August 12, 2011By Julie Hyland - 12 August 2011
The disturbances that have swept large parts of London and other cities and towns across England are the direct product of the vast growth in poverty, deprivation and police brutality faced daily by many working class youth...But any reference to this reality was strictly off limits...With much of London, Birmingham, Manchester, and other inner-city areas on virtual police lock-down, [British politicians] denounced working class youth and shrilly demanded that the state prepare for violent repression of the population.
Repression in Israel and Bahrain
Submitted on August 12, 2011Police state repression in Bahrain and Israel.
The London Riots in Historical Perspective: Policing the Crisis
Submitted on August 11, 2011By ASHLEY DAWSON - Counterpunch
...Black communities in Britain are still subject to heavy, racially targeted policing tactics...[and] police still operate with total impunity...[A]uthority figures continue to discuss criminality without any reference to the context of austerity...that has prevailed for the last three decades, and that has intensified to an unprecedented level under the current Tory government...The uprisings in London and other parts of Britain draw attention to these injustices, just as the Brixton uprising did several decades ago.
Studies Suggest the Rich Are Different — And Not in a Good Way
Submitted on August 11, 2011Wednesday, August 10, 2011 - Common Dreams
Psychologist and social scientist Dacher Keltner says the rich really are different, and not in a good way: their life experience makes them less empathetic, less altruistic, and generally more selfish...“We have now done 12 separate studies measuring empathy in every way imaginable, social behavior in every way, and some work on compassion and it’s the same story...Lower class people just show more empathy, more pro social behavior, more compassion, no matter how you look at it.”
Sustaining Protest Energy in Israel
Submitted on August 11, 2011Israelis struggle for social justice.
Abdelrazik and Charkaoui Supporters Denounce Leak of False Information, Demand Kenney's Resignation
Submitted on August 11, 2011By Project Fly Home and Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui - August 10, 2011
Project Fly Home denounces in the strongest of terms the leak of false secret information about Abousfian Abdelrazik...Project Fly Home also denounces Jason Kenney's assertion that people are misguided if they support people whom the Canadian government has designated as "harmful" to Canada. This assertion attacks all who stand up for the marginalized and the excluded in society and carries overtones of a dangerous state authoritarianism.
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The Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui is outraged by the leak of a secret document containing completely false allegations against...Adil Charkaoui, whose security certificate case was struck down in 2009. Noting that an almost identical leak happened in 2007, the Coalition is calling for a public inquiry and asking other Canadians to join it in challenging Minister Jason Kenney's unacceptable comments.
U.S. Retaliation in Afghanistan in Wake of Helicopter Downing
Submitted on August 11, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
The Pentagon claimed Wednesday to have killed the resistance fighters responsible for last week’s downing of a helicopter that resulted in the worst US losses to date in the decade-old war in Afghanistan...Gen. John Allen...told the media that an air strike early Tuesday by a US F-16 fighter jet killed Mullah Mohibullah, a Taliban leader, along with several fighters, including the one who fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) into a CH-47 Chinook helicopter on August 6, killing 30 American troops...
UK Riots: The Left Must Respond (Two Articles)
Submitted on August 11, 2011August 11, 2011 - Znet
All over the world, the rise of neo-liberalism has been accompanied by the rise of the security state...The victory for the capitalist class that neo-liberalism represents produces howls of protest from the oppressed. Sometimes they have political direction, and sometimes they don’t. The response of the Conservatives...is to deny any real grievances and unleash further state-led violence. If we want to build an alternative based on economic justice and freedom, our first job is to ensure that ordinary people aren’t cheering them on.
Imperial Plans for Libya Post-Gaddafi
Submitted on August 11, 2011Libya is Obama's war. At the same time, America hasn't won one since WW II. Hopefully Libyans will keep that record intact and retain their sovereignty, free from intolerable imperial dominance.
Australian Labor Government Moves to Cut Thousands Off Disability Benefits
Submitted on August 11, 2011By Will Morrow - 11 August 2011
...[T]he Labor government has announced that eligibility for the disability pension will be sharply restricted as of January 1. The changes aim to disqualify almost 40 percent of new...applicants, effectively shoving them onto meager unemployment benefits and forcing them to try to find work despite injuries or disabilities...Those affected will be among the most vulnerable members of society.
Growing Israeli Tyranny
Submitted on August 10, 2011In Israel, Arabs have no rights. In fact, they're treated more like fifth-column threats than citizens with equal rights as Jews. They never had them or do now.
Neo-Liberalism in Britain Reaps What it Sows
Submitted on August 10, 2011By Terry Conway & Billy Curtis - August 10, 2011
We have to resist attempts to use what has happened on the streets...to further crackdown on civil liberties and attack the right to protest. Rubber bullets have been issued more widely to police on the streets of mainland Britain than ever before – we know how lethal they can be from their use in the North of Ireland. Water Cannon have never been used here, but will now be available to the police at 24-hours notice, while bringing in the army is still being debated.
"Order and Annihilation" Exhibition Reveals Link Between German Police Force and Nazi Regime
Submitted on August 10, 2011By Verena Nees - WSWS
In the German post-war period, it was long claimed that only the Gestapo (Nazi secret police) were involved in the mass murder and the extermination policies of the Nazis. An exhibition, Order and Annihilation – The Police and the Nazi Regime at the German Historical Museum in Berlin, thoroughly dispenses with this assertion. All sections of the police, including regular uniformed and criminal detection forces, were willing tools of the Nazis.
Anarchists Respond to the London Riots
Submitted on August 10, 2011August 9 2011 - Libcom
It is no accident that the riots are happening now, as the support nets for Britain's disenfranchised are dragged away and people are left to fall into the abyss, beaten as they fall by the batons of the Metropolitan Police. But there should be no excuses for the burning of homes, the terrorizing of working people. Whoever did such things has no cause for support.
16,000 Police Deployed in London to Put Down Youth Revolt
Submitted on August 10, 2011By Robert Stevens - WSWS
...[L]ong-simmering discontent over worsening social conditions and police brutality is being completely passed over by the official political parties and the media. Manifestly, police killings are acceptable to these layers, but any response to it is to be met with the full force of the state...The most vicious rhetoric has been employed against young people involved in the disturbances by representatives of all the main political parties.
The Greatest Depession
Submitted on August 10, 2011One sign is the enormous worldwide financial shock, erasing nearly $8 trillion of equity wealth since late July. Another is teetering global economies, notably across Europe and America. Still another is growing poverty, deprivation, and despair for millions without jobs, enough income, or futures.
California Prison Crisis Sparks Statewide Hunger Strike: An Interview with Isaac Ontiveros of Critical Resistance
Submitted on August 10, 2011We discuss the recent statewide hunger strike initiated by prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison. The strike is put in context, alongside a statewide grassroots movement calling for cuts in prison spending to address California's budget crisis, and a recent US Supreme Court ruling that calls for the reduction of California state prisoners by at least 30,000, in response to overcrowding.
As London Explodes in Riots, There is a Context That Can't Be Ignored: Brutal Cuts and Enforced Austerity Measures
Submitted on August 10, 2011By Nina Power - August 9, 2011
Decades of individualism, competition and state-encouraged selfishness – combined with a systematic crushing of unions and the ever-increasing criminalization of dissent – have made Britain one of the most unequal countries in the developed world.
Australia’s Repression of BDS Movement Coordinated with Israel
Submitted on August 10, 2011By Kim Bullimore - 9 August 2011
According to...[Victorian Police Inspector Michael Beattie], the police had specifically sought to target the leadership of the [BDS] protests, in particular those activists the police perceived as “operating a command and control function,” in order to diminish the possibility of well-coordinated demonstrations...“[T]he protesters had their own way” for too long and a “decision [was] made to draw a line in the sand and make arrests.”
The British Riots: Why Here and Now?
Submitted on August 9, 2011By Tariq Ali in London - Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The coalition politicians...made the mess...They privilege the wealthy. They let it be known that judges and magistrates should set an example by giving punitive sentences to protesters found with pea-shooters...They never seriously question why no policeman is ever prosecuted for the 1000-plus deaths in custody since 1990.
Major Police Clampdown as Riots Spread Across London and Other UK Cities
Submitted on August 9, 2011By Julie Hyland - WSWS
A massive police presence has been established across parts of the capital in an attempt to crush the eruption of social anger that has affected areas of north and southeast London and is spreading to other UK cities...As evidence mounts of a police provocation, a concerted campaign is underway...to blame the disturbances on “copy-cat criminals” and “looters” with the aim of justifying further state repression.
New York Times Opposition to Palestinian Self-Determination
Submitted on August 9, 2011The New York Times, Washington and Israel oppose an independent Palestine.
New Orleans Police Verdict Reveals Post-Katrina History
Submitted on August 9, 2011By Jordan Flaherty - Znet
In an historic verdict with national implications, five New Orleans police officers were convicted on Friday of civil rights violations for killing unarmed African Americans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and could face life in prison when sentenced later this year. The case...was the most high-profile of a number of prosecutions that seek to hold police accountable for violence in the storm’s wake.
Tottenham: "This is What You Get - Fire"
Submitted on August 9, 2011By Clarence Williams - August 08, 2011
Violence...bleeds from every pore of the capitalist state: from dire impoverishment and starvation through to police brutality, all the way up to war. But this kind of violence is routinely excused: it's either necessary to 'keep us safe', or it's just the way things are...Property damage is not violence - it doesn't physically hurt anybody. And it doesn't come out of nowhere: time after time, it is a desperate response to the violence of the police.
Baseball's Bigotry
Submitted on August 9, 2011By Dave Zirin - August 9, 2011
[San Francisco Giants pitcher Ramon] Ramirez...is not an “illegal” anything. Like every one of the 30 percent of Major League players born outside the United States who aren’t citizens, he lives and works here under a P-1 visa, often referred to as an entertainment visa....But then, no human being is actually “illegal” at all. It’s just an ugly slur that’s been mainstreamed.
No Joy in Mudville
Submitted on August 9, 2011Forced austerity is hammering workers globally because Obama and other Western leaders won't provide help when it's most needed. As a result, living standards are plummeting as economies teeter.
No One Is Illegal Solidarity with Dene Suline Camp
Submitted on August 8, 2011August 8th, 2011 - No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
We are writing to express our support and best wishes for the Dene Suline members of the Cold Lake First Nation holding a Peace Camp at Berry. We honour your struggle to defend your land where ceremonies and sacred burials are held...[T]he settler’s court ordered you to take down tents and remove vehicles from the shore of the English Bay Provincial Recreation Area; yet you remain. We praise your courage as you struggle on the ground and in the courts to defend your traditional lands and sacred sites from being turned into an RV park.
London Violence Expands, Extends Into Third Night
Submitted on August 8, 2011August 9, 2011 - Al Jazeera
Riots have spread to new areas of London while looting erupted in the cities of Birmingham and Liverpool as Britain's worst violence in decades extended into the third night...Looting by groups of hooded youths spread to Ealing in west London and Camden in the north. Television pictures showed groups of men running through the streets and smashing shop windows.
Fatal Police Shooting Sparks Riot in North London
Submitted on August 8, 2011By Julie Hyland - WSWS
Rioting broke out in Tottenham, north London on Saturday night, following protests over the shooting death of Mark Duggan, a 29-year old father of four, who was killed by police on Thursday.
Destabilizing Syria
Submitted on August 8, 2011The stakes are high. The entire region is affected. It's very similar to what began in Libya, pitting imperial powers against ruling governments for destabilization and control. In Libya, it's by war for regime change, colonization and plunder. In Syria, it's to establish another client state, no matter who heads it.
Struggles Erupt Across Chile
Submitted on August 8, 2011By Jason Farbman - August 08, 2011
WORKER AND student struggles have broken out across Chile in recent months in a series of challenges to the new right-wing government and its polices...High school students are at the center of the new movements. Since mid-June, tens of thousands of students and teachers have been fighting back against the administration of President Sebastian Piñera, a right-wing billionaire.
Escalating Street Protests in Israel
Submitted on August 8, 2011Israelis struggle for social justice.
Chicago Police Shooting Spree: Halfway Through 2011, 43 Shot, 16 Dead
Submitted on August 7, 2011By Asraa Mustufa - August 2, 2011
Eighty-six percent of those shot by police this year...were black...Black residents also constituted the majority of those injured or killed in police shootings in previous years...“This is what we believe as a whole as black people, that police officers here in Chicago are targeting our black children.”
"We've Had Enough:" Spending Cuts and Police Spark UK Riots
Submitted on August 7, 2011Sunday, August 7, 2011 - Common Dreams
Anger at high unemployment and cuts in public services, coupled with resentment of the police, contributed to an explosion of violence and looting in a deprived London neighborhood, residents said Sunday..."This is the ghetto, this is the slums, they don't care about us. I've been stopped outside my house by the police for no reason. There's no jobs ... but still they want to cut benefits. We ain't got no way to survive...There's injustice and we've had enough..."
America's Cratering Economy
Submitted on August 7, 2011Slow-motion fiscal collapse perhaps explains its current state after decades of mismanagement. The chickens are now coming home to roost big time, hitting ordinary people hardest, suffering under a protracted Main Street Depression.
Meet the American Right-Wing Hatemongers Who Inspired the Norway Killer
Submitted on August 7, 2011By Max Blumenthal - August 2, 2011
Breivik may have developed his destructive sensibility in the stark political environment of a European continent riveted by mass immigration from the Muslim world, but his conceptualization of the changes he was witnessing reflect the influence of a cadre of far-right bloggers and activists from across the Atlantic Ocean. He not only mimicked their terminology and emulated their language, he substantially adopted their political world-view.
A Civil Society Strategy for Revitalizing the Left
Submitted on August 7, 2011By Steve D'Arcy - August 07, 2011
The news media, the police, and state institutions have always waged a determined struggle against the Left; but the Left used to be able to overcome these obstacles and make real gains, building powerful mass movements that sometimes racked up real victories. Above all, the Left was once able to claim the allegiance of huge numbers of people, but at least in North America this is no longer the case.
Vilifying Muslims in America
Submitted on August 7, 2011American Muslims are persecuted for political advantage.
Charges Mount of NATO War Crimes in Libya
Submitted on August 7, 2011By Patrick Martin - 6 August 2011
The war was launched by the United States, France and Britain on the pretext of defending civilians from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, but NATO warplanes have routinely bombed civilians, both in Gaddafi-held territory and even in the areas held by the NATO-backed “rebels”...At the same time, in the Mediterranean, thousands of refugees fleeing the war zone are persecuted by the NATO powers, just as they were before the war.
Union Organizing Goes DIY at JJ Bean
Submitted on August 7, 2011By Dawn Paley - Vancouver Media Co-op
Even though their beans may be fair trade, local coffee shops like Waves, Blenz and JJ Bean continue to be staffed by precarious, non-union workers, a fact which a committed group of baristas is out to change...The most recent attempt at union organizing in Vancouver coffee shops has taken place at JJ Bean, a hip coffee chain with nine locations in Vancouver and a tenth in North Vancouver.
America in Decline
Submitted on August 6, 2011By Noam Chomsky - Znet
By shredding the remnants of political democracy, the financial institutions lay the basis for carrying the lethal process forward – as long as their victims are willing to suffer in silence.
Canadian Government Accused of 'Unprecedented' Tar Sands Lobbying
Submitted on August 6, 2011Friday, August 5, 2011 - Common Dream
Canada is worried that proposed European legislation would penalize imports of oil derived from its tar sands and so restrict access to the European market for Canadian oil. This might in turn embolden US legislators to do similar. To prevent this...Ottawa has been conducting an intensive lobbying campaign aimed at preventing the British government and the European commission from watering down the legislation.
UK Human Rights Lawyer Condemns Police Brutality at Protests
Submitted on August 6, 2011By Tracy McVeigh and Mark Townsend - Saturday 6 August 2011
Michael Mansfield QC said "outrageous" tactics were being employed to quash political protest and peaceful demonstrations in the UK, within politics, the police and the judiciary...Mansfield said the right to protest in Britain was under serious threat and that people who wanted to go on peaceful demonstrations now had to weigh up the risks they faced from heavy policing and draconian sentencing.
Anarchists Are Under Attack Because Their Ideas Are Gaining Ground
Submitted on August 6, 2011By Alasdair Thompson - Infoshop News
The conflation of anarchism and criminality is a key tactic in the state offensive against anarchists, driven by the fear that anarchist ideas are gaining ground within a new politics that eschews parties and favours direct action...The mainstream left has failed to achieve the change we require in society...[A] more radical break with the status quo is now our only option.
U.S. Prepares for Military Intervention in Somalia
Submitted on August 6, 2011By Susan Garth - WSWS
The Obama administration is preparing a new military intervention in Somalia under the pretext of humanitarian concern for starving drought victims...Just as the bombing campaign in Libya was launched with appeals to save the civilian population of Benghazi from slaughter, so now a fresh intervention is being prepared in Africa supposedly to save the starving children of Somalia. This is a cynical exercise in public deception.
U.S. Helicopter Shot Down by Afghan Insurgents: SEAL's from Unit That Killed Bin Laden Among Dead
Submitted on August 6, 2011By Jon Boone - The Guardian
Thirty-one members of the American special forces have been killed in Afghanistan in the deadliest incident of the 10-year war when the Taliban shot down a US helicopter...The majority of the dead were from Navy Seal Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden in a night-time raid deep into Pakistan.
From Cradle to Graves: As the West Cause More Problems in East Africa Than Drought
Submitted on August 5, 2011SchNEWS - Thursday 4th August 2011 | Issue 782
Western countries have spent decades propping up dictators, imposing free market ‘reforms’, bombing rebels, bribing officials and flogging military equipment. The aim of these policies wasn’t to support rebuilding a continent ravaged by colonial powers and proxy wars, but merely to protect and further western ‘interests’...The west is just as instrumental in the oppression of ordinary Africans as it was in the days of colonies and empires, just in a less overtly racist manner.
Iceland's On-Going Revolution
Submitted on August 5, 2011By Deena Stryker - August 05, 2011
“We were told that if we refused the international community’s conditions, we would become the Cuba of the North. But if we had accepted, we would have become the Haiti of the North.”
WikiLeaks Expose U.S. Conspiracy in Bolivia
Submitted on August 5, 2011By Federico Fuentes - August 04, 2011
Recently released United States embassy cables from Bolivia have provided additional insight to the events leading up to the September 2008 coup attempt against the Andean country’s first indigenous president...On September 9, 2008, Bolivian President Evo Morales expelled then-US ambassador Philip Goldberg as evidence emerged that Goldberg and embassy officials had been meeting with several key civilian and military figures involved in an unfolding coup plot.
35 Years of Harassment: Why is Leonard Peltier in Solitary?
Submitted on August 5, 2011By JEFF ARMSTRONG - August 5-7, 2011
Peltier has been held in solitary confinement under oppressively hot conditions since June 27 for minor prison disciplinary violations his attorney maintains he did not commit...[A]ge 66 and in declining health, [Peltier] now faces at least another month in what he describes as "a steel and concrete box with no ventilation."
Toronto: Cops Kill Disabled Man Out With Mother to Buy Pizza
Submitted on August 4, 2011By Michael Woods - August 03, 2011
Charles McGillivary went for one of his frequent walks with his mother around 8:30 p.m. Monday, this time to buy a slice of pizza...But before he got the chance, the 45-year-old collapsed and died while being arrested by police...“He was never any trouble . . . he was an innocent man...He went to buy a slice of pizza, and the police grabbed him . . . that’s not fair.”
Victoria Police Harass Native Speaker and Her Family at Workshop About Police Violence Towards Natives
Submitted on August 4, 2011Wednesday August 4, 2011
At approximately 4:45pm on Monday July 25, Victoria Police entered Camas Books...disrupting a presentation by former Native Youth Movement member Billie Pierre on the lack of police accountability when committing violence towards native people...The police had attempted to apprehend Billie Pierre's 4 year old child, and were holding the child and grandmother in a paddy wagon outside the venue.
NATO's Libya War Unraveling
Submitted on August 4, 2011The Washington/London/Paris axis totally miscalculated, failing to understand how committed Libyans are to defend their sovereignty. Moreover, after commander Younis' assassination, TNC leadership and rebels are in disarray. Since his death, many assumed their own autonomy, vying with the TNC and other gangs for control.
Australian Labor Government Prepares to Forcibly Deport Refugees
Submitted on August 4, 2011By Will Morrow - WSWS
The Australian government orchestrated a show of force by riot police this week to broadcast a worldwide message of the methods that will be employed to carry out its new policy of deporting refugees to Malaysia...Images of training drills on Christmas Island by the Australian Federal Police...were given front-page coverage in Murdoch media outlets on Monday. Prime Minister Julia Gillard issued a blunt warning to asylum seekers: “We will do what is necessary to ensure people who are taken to Malaysia under the agreement are taken.”
Shut Out of the Pickton Inquiry
Submitted on August 4, 2011By Krystalline Kraus - August 3, 2011
A British Columbia inquiry into the mishandling of the Robert Pickton police investigation is scheduled to begin in October of this year. Major concern has arisen from groups shut out of the inquiry for lack of government funding to participate...The government inquiry was called to examine why police failed to catch serial killer Robert Pickton as he murdered sex workers and others from the Downtown Eastside...."I am deeply disappointed that we are unable to bring forward the voices and concerns of Aboriginal women and girls to this inquiry as we had planned."
Budget Cutting Perfidy
Submitted on August 4, 2011It's all over but the mourning. Obama signed the deal from hell. Understand clearly what happened. A bipartisan conspiracy took step one to ending America's social contract. Subsequent ones will follow.
Evidence Grows of Norwegian Mass Murderer Breivik's Ties to British Far-Right
Submitted on August 4, 2011By Robert Stevens - WSWS
It has been established that Breivik was a member of the far-right Progress Party and its youth wing in Norway from 1997 to 2007...It is increasingly clear that Breivik also shared ideological and organisational connections with fascists in Britain. Among the right-wing forces that Breivik was in contact with, he had the closest ties to the English Defence League (EDL) and British National Party (BNP).
A Secret War in 120 Countries
Submitted on August 4, 2011By Nick Turse - Znet
...U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) was established in 1987...Made up of units from all the service branches, including the Army’s “Green Berets” and Rangers, Navy SEALs, Air Force Air Commandos, and Marine Corps Special Operations teams...SOCOM carries out the United States’ most specialized and secret missions. These include assassinations, counter-terrorist raids, long-range reconnaissance, intelligence analysis, foreign troop training, and weapons of mass destruction counter-proliferation operations.
Haiti: WikiLeaks Shows Why UN Occupation Should End
Submitted on August 3, 2011By Mark Weisbrot - Monday, August 1, 2011
United States diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks make it clearer than ever that foreign troops occupying Haiti for more than seven years, under the banner of the United Nations, have no legitimate reason to be there...They show that this a US occupation, as much as in Iraq or Afghanistan, and it is part of a decades-long US strategy to deny Haitians the right to democracy and self-determination.
Hard Right Extremism in America and Europe
Submitted on August 3, 2011Anders Breivik's July 22 Oslo rampage highlighted a problem far greater than him.
The Grumpy Diplomats of the Israeli Rogue State
Submitted on August 3, 2011By Ilan Pappe - August 03, 2011
The obvious discomfort the three [Israeli] diplomats felt and expressed is not due to any cold shoulder shown to them in local foreign ministries or governments. And therefore while many Europeans can make their lives miserable, their respective governments can still look the other way...This is why we should ensure that not only Israeli ambassadors feel uncomfortable in European capitals, but also all those who support them or are too afraid to confront Israel and hold it to account.
Letter to the Guardian Regarding its Venezuela Coverage
Submitted on August 3, 2011August 1st 2011 - venezuelanalysis.com
We, the undersigned, ask why the Guardian ignored one of Venezuela’s most serious human rights problems – the assassination of hundreds of peasant activists since 2001 by gunmen hired by wealthy land owners...Peasants have clearly been targeted in order to defeat the Chavez government's efforts to remedy the gross inequities in land distribution across Venezuela. The victims of this violence, and the truth, deserve better.
Big Pharma Targets Alcoholics and Addicts
Submitted on August 3, 2011By Martha Rosenberg - August 3, 2011
Pharma is mongering the “dual diagnosis” of alcoholics and addicts – they have both an addiction and a psychiatric illne$$ – with so much unbranded advertising and Madison Avenue spin, nationally known major rehab centers are telling their patients they have “co-occurring disorders,” in a repudiation of basic substance abuse recovery theory.
California Police Shootings Prompt Popular Outrage [Videos]
Submitted on August 3, 2011By Juan Verala Luz and Kevin Kearney - WSWS
The frequent recurrence of [murders by police] is attributable to many factors, including the increasing hostility of police to the community — particularly the youth, homeless and mentally ill populations — and the increasingly militaristic training received by officers. Police know very well that they can beat citizens, commit perjury and even kill with virtual impunity. In the few instances they are actually caught on film or cornered by witnesses, they know that every effort will be made to shield them from accountability and prosecution.
Montreal: Fatal Police Shooting Remains Unresolved
Submitted on August 3, 2011By Christian MacDonald - Media Co-op
It has been almost two months since police shot and killed 40 year old Mario Hamel and 36 year old Patrick Limoges, early on the morning of June 7th, near Berri-UQAM metro station...[T]he flowers and the blood have been washed from the pavement, the broken windows replaced, and the memory of protests faded. But the memory of Mario Hamel and Patrick Limoges is not forgotten by those who knew and cared about them.
Israel: Rogue State Land of Inequality
Submitted on August 2, 2011Growing millions worldwide understand Israel's decades-long project to colonize Palestine. Too few, however, know how growing social and economic inequality affects most Israelis. Since at least the mid-1980s, state policies have disproportionately favored the rich, causing wealth disparities, unemployment, poverty, hunger, homelessness and a gradual loss of social benefits.
Bin Laden Raid 'Was Strictly to Kill Him'
Submitted on August 2, 2011By Jon Swaine - Common Dreams
The raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan was a mission to kill him, and there was "never any question" he would be captured alive, one of those directly involved has claimed..."There was never any question of detaining or capturing him...It wasn't a split-second decision. No one wanted detainees."
New York Catholic School Populated by Black and Latino Students Hires Racist Principal
Submitted on August 2, 2011By Erica Hellerstein - August 2, 2011
Frank Borzellieri, a conservative writer and educator with a history of publicly racist proclamations and campaigns, was hired as principal of the Bronx’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in 2009...Prior to his position as principal, Borzellieri taught English [where]...he attempted to create a resolution to teach students the “superiority” of U.S. culture. While serving as a school board member...in Queens, Borzellieri pushed to ban “anti-American” literature from school libraries...
Nationalist Individualism: A View of the Norway Attacks from Latin America
Submitted on August 2, 2011By Hector Mondragon - Znet
...[T]he reduction of the state that the Right trumpets and the neo-fascists try to impose by way of intimidation seems to only affect social programs. It is related, however, to the unbelievable growth of military budgets and of wars, that grow the public debt and fiscal deficit. A greater insanity than that of one lunatic terrorist.
Kingston: On the Shores of the Tannery Grounds
Submitted on August 2, 2011...There was once a tannery here that leaked its poisons into the soil for decades, and hazardous waste continued to be dumped here even after the old tannery was torn down. The popular story is that the Tannery Grounds are poisonous, unsafe, and need to somehow be dealt with.
Making Sense of the Federal Election in Canada
Submitted on August 2, 2011By Herman Rosenfeld - August 1, 2011
Harper appeals lie with right-wing populism: blaming government bureaucracy for the failure of healthy job creation; targeting tax cuts as the only way of increasing the disposable incomes of people who haven't had wage increases in decades; disorganizing and discouraging working-class loyalties and common identities; and forming a new militaristic patriotism as the symbol of national unity as the appeals of a common social citizenship through the welfare state is undermined.
Bipartisan Debt Deal Betrayal
Submitted on August 2, 2011Political Washington's agreement is a cancer, touching all working Americans. Expunge it or perish socially, economically, and politically under the yoke of punishing poverty and neo-serfdom, a future no one should tolerate.
Syrian Regime Cracks Down on Protests
Submitted on August 2, 2011By Niall Green - WSWS
Syrian security forces allegedly killed around 100 people in the Syrian city of Hama over the weekend. Since April there have been several large demonstrations against the regime of President Bashar Assad in Hama, in the northwest of Syria, and repeated crackdowns by regime forces.
6 Creepy New Weapons Police and Military Use to Subdue Unarmed People
Submitted on August 2, 2011By Rania Khalek - August 1, 2011
The US is at the forefront of an international arms development effort...From microwave energy blasters and blinding laser beams, to chemical agents and deafening sonic blasters, these weapons are at the cutting edge of crowd control...Designed to control crowds, clear streets, subdue and restrain individuals and secure borders, they are the 21st century's version of the police baton, pepper spray and tear gas.
UK "Anti-Terrorist" Cops: Anarchists Should be Reported
Submitted on August 1, 2011By Robert Booth - Sunday 31 July 2011
What should you do if you discover an anarchist living next door?...[A]ccording to an official counter-terrorism notice circulated in London last week...you must report them to police immediately..."Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. Any information relating to anarchists should be reported to your local police."
Time to Inflict Pain on the Terminally Ill
Submitted on August 1, 2011By Mark Steel - Monday, August 1, 2011
How do YOU suggest we cut Britain's deficit then?...So here's one answer, we could pay a bit less to ATOS, a private company that receives ￡100 million a year from the British government for assessing who should be cut off from disability benefit...The ATOS system has worked so well that in the past three years 160,000 people have successfully appealed against their decision.
Libya: What America's Media Won't Report
Submitted on August 1, 2011Corporate media lies, deception and betrayal of the public trust, supporting lawless imperial wars.
"Anarchists Are Like Tories" and Other Fairy Tales
Submitted on August 1, 2011By Joseph Kay - August 1 2011
Anarchism has been getting a lot of attention lately, including some oft-peddled but easily refuted myths...[T]he result has been a torrent of disinformation ranging from the spectacularly dishonest to the tragically ill-informed.
Why the West is Committed to the Murderous Rebels in Libya
Submitted on August 1, 2011By PATRICK COCKBURN - August 1, 2011
The nature of the civil war in Libya has been persistently underplayed by foreign governments and media alike. The enthusiasm in some 30 foreign capitals to recognize the mysterious self-appointed group in Benghazi as the leaders of Libya is at this stage probably motivated primarily by expectations of commercial concessions and a carve-up of oilfields.
FBI/CIA Tried to Get American Lawyer to Betray Arab and Muslim Clients
Submitted on August 1, 2011By Sherwood Ross - Znet
Federal agents from the FBI and CIA/FBI Joint Terrorist Task Force tried to get a distinguished international lawyer to inform on his Arab and Muslim clients in violation of their Constitutional rights to attorney-client privilege...When the lawyer refused, he said the FBI placed him on a "terrorist watch list."
Winnipeg Copwatch Conference: Seeking Alternatives to the Police
Submitted on August 1, 2011By David P. Ball - rabble.ca
It's been just over a year since the gates of "Torontonamo Bay"...finally closed. During that weekend, the largest police deployment in Canada's history...led to gunpoint raids, dozens of activists facing years of legal battles, and emerging stories of threats, homophobia, and sexual harassment..."These incidents are not isolated -- they are integral to policing...Until we produce a world that does not contain or produce police and prisons, we will never live in a world without violence or imagine alternatives."
America's Media: Dancing Around the Debt Debate Charade
Submitted on July 31, 2011In virtually all US managed news reports and opinions, supporting powerful interests at the expense of working Americans is standard policy.
Leftists of America and the World, Wake Up to Your Islamophobia!
Submitted on July 31, 2011By Paul Cochrane - July 30th, 2011
“When people ask me at conferences, ‘What should be done?’ I tell them to stop asking questions about Islam. Just stop. It is racist to ask ‘Why are the Muslims different?’ or ‘I want to understand the Muslims so I am going to read the Qur’an’”...[S]uch seemingly well-meaning questions about Islam by leftists...just goes to reinforce the notion of Muslims as the “Other,” set apart in need of “tolerance” and “understanding.”
The Ideological Roots of the Oslo Atrocity
Submitted on July 31, 2011By Stefan Steinberg - WSWS
...[T]here has been a concerted campaign by the bourgeois establishment in Europe to deny that the murderous rampage conducted by Anders Behring Breivik was motivated by anti-Islamist prejudices with deep roots in mainstream politics...[L]eading politicians and media commentators have gone to extraordinary lengths to play down their own role in encouraging the climate of xenophobic hatred which provided the background to Breivik’s attack.
Afghan Civilians Pay Lethal Price for New Policy on Air Strikes
Submitted on July 31, 2011By Brian Brady - Sunday, July 31, 2011
Civilians are bearing the brunt of the international forces' onslaught against the Taliban as the coalition rushes to pacify Afghanistan before pulling out its troops...Human rights groups warned that civilians are paying an increasingly high price for "reckless" coalition attacks, particularly aerial ones.
True Costs of the War on Libya
Submitted on July 31, 2011By CHARLES ABUGRE - July 29-31, 2011
...Libya is under invasion from air and sea bombardments directed by foreign special forces on Libyan soil. The purpose of the invasion is regime change. The aim of the bombs that are killing people and laying Tripoli to waste is for one purpose only, to help a rebel group they formed and armed to overthrow the Colonel Gaddafi regime...This is a sad time indeed. How else can one describe what is going on in Libya but a wicked, heartless folly?
Heading for Economic Ruin
Submitted on July 31, 2011Bad policies assure bad results. Destructive ones assure calamities. Well before Obama took office, bipartisan initiatives plotted a course for disaster.
The Biggest Threat to Western Values
Submitted on July 31, 2011By Tarak Barkawi - 27 July 2011
In the US, and increasingly even in Europe, the income differential between the poor and the wealthy already resembles that of banana republics. The downtrodden are asked to bear the burden of a financial crisis created by bankers...Neo-liberalism has only accelerated these processes at the heart of capitalist society. Here is a far more convincing threat to Western values and "social cohesion" than the lunatic fears of fascists.
Abdul Fatah Younis Killing: War Death or Assassination?
Submitted on July 30, 2011The killing of Libya's National Transitional Counci military commander, Gen. Abdul Fatah Younis and two other rebel officers, "stirred fears that a tribal feud could divide" anti-Gaddafi forces.
Rebel General's Killing Sparks Crisis in Western-Backed Libyan Opposition
Submitted on July 30, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
The assassination Thursday of former Gaddafi official and military chief of the Benghazi-based Transitional National Council (TNC), General Abdel Fatah Younis, has raised the specter of a civil war within the Western-backed Libyan “rebels”...Younis's death...threatens to tear apart the TNC’s fractious alliance of ex-Gaddafi officials, CIA “assets” and Islamists precisely at the point in which the major powers...have recognized the council as the legitimate government of Libya.
Facebook is Diseased
Submitted on July 30, 2011By Michael Albert - Znet
...I say Facebook has the disease. What can I possibly mean by such a claim? Facebook? The modern day activist’s favorite weapon?...Well, I mean this. Facebook - and Google, Twitter, etc. - are massive corporate media machines driven by the dictates of accruing profit and maintaining the conditions of accruing profit. They care about sociality, information, truth, or justice only as means to profit and power.
Crossing the U.S. Border
Submitted on July 30, 2011By Syed Hussan - rabble.ca
"We are from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Air Marshall Service." Badges flashed and taken away...Its 9:30am on Thursday, July 28, 2011. I've just been put in an interview room with blood stains on the floor and clothes strewn around. I've been at the United States border...since 4:45.
Amy Winehouse Becomes Most Recent Member of 27 Club
Submitted on July 30, 2011By Kristen Gwynne - AlterNet
For rebellious teens and fans to whom rock stars offer a sense of belonging and righteousness denied by our parents -- and adults in general -- the Twenty-Sevens never grew old enough to move away from the edge. Instead, they hurled themselves over it, and their permanent youth is (perhaps creepily) comforting, especially to those for whom rock and roll is a lone sign of hope that we are not all doomed to be dull, that the mainstream fueling our angst is not the only future.
Rhetoric vs Reality: Ben Powless on the Harper Government [Video]
Submitted on July 30, 2011By Ben Powless - June 13, 2011
In Canada's history there have not really been any governments that have done good for Indigenous Peoples...But by the end of the Harper era...we could see the further destruction of our lands, the entrenching of poverty in Native communities, the unacceptable rise in violence against Aboriginal women, the tarnishing of the sacred treaties our ancestors signed to ALLOW foreigners to share the land, the increase in militarization of our communities, and more.
Morality: The Good Conscience of Class Society
Submitted on July 30, 2011On bourgeois freedom, its barriers and their confirmation by a moral attitude.
Political Washington Fiddles While Rome Burns
Submitted on July 30, 2011As always, Obama did what he does best. He lied. His threat "is not remotely true. But it has become the scare theme for over a week," and will be repeated until political Washington agrees on a deal destroying America's social contract, claiming it was done to save it.
NDP Leader Forced to Temporarily Step Down: Jack Layton’s Right-Wing Record
Submitted on July 30, 2011By Richard Dufour - WSWS
Press commentary has focused on Layton's personal charisma...The main point of Layton's affability, however, is to hide the reactionary nature of his politics. He has been instrumental in the transformation of the federal NDP from a party of parliamentary protest into a respectable right-wing bourgeois party that, if called on to assume government responsibilities in Ottawa, would not hesitate to impose the full weight of the capitalist crisis on the backs of the Canadian working class.
Daily NATO War Crimes in Libya
Submitted on July 29, 2011NATO calls civilian targets legitimate ones, including one or more hospitals, a clinic, factories, warehouses, agricultural sites, schools, a university, one or more mosques, non-military related infrastructure, a food storage facility, and others.
Palestinian Civil Society Expresses Solidarity with People of Norway
Submitted on July 29, 2011By Palestinian BDS National Committee - July 27, 2011
Occupied Palestine-Palestinian civil society...wishes to express its sincere condolences to and deep solidarity with the people of Norway and to Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking (AUF), the Norwegian labour youth party...after the massacre of last Friday committed by a far right fanatic...Palestinians stand with the people of Norway as they mourn the victims, and our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who have died.
Mass Protests Against High Cost of Housing in Israel
Submitted on July 29, 2011By Jean Shaoul - WSWS
The rent protests began two weeks ago. Tent cities have sprung up across the country to highlight the housing shortage and extortionate rents. What started as a largely middle class protest in Tel Aviv’s smart Rothschild Boulevard has been taken up by the National Union of University Students, which set up tent cities involving local people and students throughout Israel.
"Offensive and Ignorant Liar:" Downtown Eastside Outraged that Pantages Owner Calls Neighbourhood a "Dead Zone"
Submitted on July 29, 2011July 29, 2011 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Downtown Eastside residents are outraged at Pantages site owner and condo developer Marc William’s recent PR blitz declaring the DTES a “dead zone” with “no activity in the past 30 years except drug dealing”...“The DTES is an alive community, people live here. How can Williams get away with such poor-bashing statements? Williams is lying when he says that no one will be displaced. Condos displace low income residents by pushing up land values and rents.”
The Sham Solidarity of Israel’s Zionist Left
Submitted on July 29, 2011By Budour Youssef Hassan - The Electronic Intifada
Many argue...that struggling shoulder-to-shoulder with Zionist leftists widens the support base for Palestine...This would be true if Zionists viewed Palestinians as equal partners but they do not. The whole idea of two states for two peoples as the only solution to the Palestinian-Israeli impasse...is predicated upon isolationism, exceptionalism and Zionists’ sense of moral righteousness and superiority to Palestinians which grants them the legitimacy to determine the problem, the solution and the means by which this solution shall be achieved.
Debt Ceiling Roulette
Submitted on July 29, 2011In this game, the house always wins. Bipartisan complicity stacked the deck against millions of working households, needing to know that political Washington is scamming them.
French Neo-Fascist Officials Endorse Norway Atrocities
Submitted on July 29, 2011By Kumaran Ira - 29 July 2011
Members of far-right parties across Europe have endorsed the mass killing last Friday carried out by a right-wing anti-Islamic extremist in Norway, Anders Breivik...Two prominent members of France’s neo-fascist Front National...published blog posts defending the mass killings carried out by Breivik, a former member of the fascistic Progress Party in Norway.
Obama Is No Victim of the Right Wing: He's Pandered to Corporate Interests for Years
Submitted on July 29, 2011By Jeff Cohen - July 25, 2011
...[T]he evidence is clear that Obama is an often-willing servant of corporate interests -- not someone reluctantly doing their bidding, or serving their interests only because Republicans forced him to...Since coming to Washington, Obama has allied himself with Wall Street Democrats who put corporate deregulation and greed ahead of the needs of most Americans.
The New Anti-Semitism
Submitted on July 29, 2011By URI AVNERY - July 29-31, 2011
[Accused right-wing terrorist Anders Breivik] is the prototype of a Nazi anti-Semite of the new wave. His creed consists of white supremacy, Christian fundamentalism, hatred of democracy and European chauvinism, mixed with a virulent hatred of Muslims...This creed is now sprouting offshoots all over Europe. Small radical groups of the ultra-Right are turning into dynamic political parties, take their seats in Parliaments and even become king-makers...
Unanswered Questions in Norway Terror Attack
Submitted on July 28, 2011By Susan Garth - WSWS
This terrorist attack...has been consistently reported as the work of a crazed gunman who acted alone. The media and politicians are working assiduously to obscure the political motives of the killer, his connections to far-right and fascist organizations, and the political and moral responsibility borne by establishment parties and politicians in Europe and the US who have sought to appropriate the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim program of the extreme right wing.
15 Years in Prison For Taping the Cops? How U.S. Eavesdropping Laws Are Taking Away the Best Defense Against Police Brutality
Submitted on July 28, 2011By Rania Khalek - AlterNet
Police brutality takes many forms around the country on a regular basis, particularly in poor and minority neighborhoods. Sometimes, the only method of accountability is a victim’s word...against that of an officer. Unsurprisingly, the police officer’s version of the story is often adequate for a judge to dismiss allegations of wrongdoing, unless there is hard evidence of misconduct, such as a video or audio recording...
Israeli Home Demolition Terrorism
Submitted on July 28, 2011Israel's demolition and displacement policies are serious breaches of international law. Nonetheless, they continue as official state policy to steal Palestinian land for Israelis, an issue Western media ignore, as well as other Israeli crimes of war and against humanity.
Behind Norway’s Kristallnacht
Submitted on July 28, 2011By Eric Walberg - July 28th, 2011
[Accused Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring] Breivik epitomises the new Euro right, which is both fanatically pro-Israel and anti-Muslim. Breivik even approves of a Caliphate for Muslims, as long as it is in the Middle East. This is similar to Hitler’s desire to push Jews out of Europe into their own Jewish state in Palestine...Euro neo-Nazism has the startling characteristic of being pro-Jewish, and wishes not to rid Europe of Jews, but of Muslims. If this requires terrorising and even killing a few million in the process, that is a price worth paying to make Europe pure again.
Youth Subdued: 8 Ways Young Americans Have Been Dominated
Submitted on July 28, 2011By BRUCE E. LEVINE - July 28, 2011
Traditionally, young people have energized democratic movements. So it is a major coup for the ruling elite to have created societal institutions that have subdued young Americans and broken their spirit of resistance to domination...[Young Americans] appear to have acquiesced to the idea that the corporatocracy can completely screw them and that they are helpless to do anything about it.
Toronto at a Crossroads: Will Ford's Austerity Agenda be Derailed?
Submitted on July 28, 2011By Jackie Esmonde - July 28, 2011
The City of Toronto budget cuts are just the local impact of the larger austerity agenda. They are not simply about surrendering to the neo-liberal dogma that budgets must be balanced. For right-wingers like Ford and company, cutting government spending is a political goal in itself...It also reinforces the message to public sector workers that their jobs are on the chopping block and won't be saved by money from other sources.
Challenge the “No Demonstration” Condition
Submitted on July 28, 2011By Community Solidarity Network - July 28, 2011
On July 28, Mandy Hiscocks and co-accused Alex Hundert will be joined in court by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association in challenging the legitimacy of the bail condition not to “plan for, assist in planning for, attend or participate in any public demonstrations” that at least 18 people are currently saddled with as a result of the G20...“This condition is too broad and too vague. It gives the police and the Attorney General’s office far too much discretion as to how it is enforced and against whom...”
U.S.-Style Free Trade's Dark Side
Submitted on July 27, 2011Corporate predators seek cheap labor worldwide in countries like China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Haiti, Jordan, and many others.
U.S. Eco-Activist Jailed for Two Years
Submitted on July 27, 2011By Suzanne Goldenberg - The Guardian
An activist who became a hero to campaigners for disrupting a Bush administration auction for the oil and gas industry with $1.8m in bogus bids was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday...Tim DeChristopher was immediately ordered into custody, and fined $10,000. He had been facing a potential sentence of up to 10 years and a $750,000 fine.
U.S. Air Force Cites Bible and Ex-Nazi to Train Officers on Ethics of Launching Nuclear Weapons
Submitted on July 27, 2011By Jason Leopold - Wednesday 27 July 2011
The United States Air Force has been training young missile officers about the morals and ethics of launching nuclear weapons by citing passages from the New Testament and commentary from a former member of the Nazi Party...The mandatory Nuclear Ethics and Nuclear Warfare session, which includes a discussion on..."Christian Just War Theory," is led by Air Force chaplains and takes place during a missile officer's first week in training at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
New Winnipeg Jets Logo Sacrifices Nostalgia for Militarism
Submitted on July 27, 2011By Tyler Shipley - July 26, 2011
...[T]he new Winnipeg Jets logo foolishly discards a popular classic and chooses instead something that looks like it belongs on an Air Canada safety brochure...While hockey teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal labour to give everything a retro, classic feel...the old/new Winnipeg franchise has elected to abandon a look that maintained its popularity throughout the club's 15-year absence...[M]y beloved Winnipeg Jets are being twisted into another cheap marketing ploy for the new Canadian militarism.
America: Heading for Tyranny and Impoverishment
Submitted on July 27, 2011On America's bipartisan scoundrel government.
Canada’s Values?
Submitted on July 27, 2011By Kim Petersen - Dissident Voice
[Canadian Prime Minister Stephen] Harper stated, “Those who threaten Israel also threaten Canada”...Harper is trying to go one better than...[former Liberal Prime Minister] Paul Martin [who said]: “Israel’s values are Canada’s values — shared values — democracy, the rule of law, and the protection of human rights”...So what are these identical values that Canada will always stand for?
The Political Establishment and the Oslo Massacre
Submitted on July 27, 2011By Peter Schwarz - WSWS
...[T]here is a definite link between the campaign of incitement against Muslims, which has been supported by all of the parties of the US and European bourgeois establishment and by the media, and the political motives of the fascist who murdered 76 people...It was only a matter of time before the incessant promotion of racial hatred, national and anti-immigrant chauvinism and militarism engendered an act like that which occurred in Oslo.
Who Will Protect Us From the Police?
Submitted on July 27, 2011By MICHAEL CALDERÓN-ZAKS - Counterpunch
...[W]hat happened to [Kenneth] Harding happens in colonized spaces to colonized subjects, from Hunter's Point to Baghdad. The victims are people of color. Five centuries of colonially-constructed rationales have served the purpose of minimizing the value of racialized subjects...The white supremacist authority...only needs to make a haphazard justification for its shoot-first and ask-questions-later approach. Being shot in the back for being black or brown will be justified by a complicit corporate press...
Norway: The Enemy Within
Submitted on July 27, 2011By John Feffer - Znet
“Multiculturalism...is an anti-European hate ideology designed to deconstruct European cultures and traditions, European identities, European Christendom and even European nation-states. And, as such, it is an evil genocidal ideology created for the sole purpose of annihilating everything European.”
- Accused Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, writing in his diary
The Oslo Attacks: More False Flag Evidence
Submitted on July 26, 2011With considerable mass media help, misinformation diverts public attention from vital truths, playing their usual gatekeeper role, providing fiction and irrelevancies, not fact.
Guatemala Civil War Massacre Trial Begins
Submitted on July 26, 201125 July 2011 - BBC News
A unit of Kaibiles entered the village of Las Dos Erres in the northern department of Peten in December 1982...The military suspected the villagers of supporting or harbouring left-wing guerrillas...Over a period of three days, the Kaibiles interrogated and then killed the inhabitants, including children, women and the elderly.
UN Commission Flotilla Massacre Report
Submitted on July 26, 2011Despite irrefutable evidence, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appeased Israel by appointing his own commission.
Torontonians Smash Ford's Anti-Tax Agenda
Submitted on July 26, 2011By Enid Godtree - July 25, 2011
The results of a public consultation with Torontonians released in mid-July has dealt a blow to Mayor Rob Ford's agenda...The Core Service Review - Public Consultation released by the City shows that public opinion of the City's budget deficit is in direct opposition to the Mayor's agenda. Over 13,000 Torontonians completed the consultation.
Failure to Rehabilitate: The Death of Amy Winehouse
Submitted on July 26, 2011By BINOY KAMPMARK - Counterpunch
Winehouse was always going to be the music industry’s soft spot, an easy target for the press vultures keen to find copy and fill columns. Vulnerable, mad, and plunging into drug and alcohol filled depths with seemingly no visible bottom, she was always going to be easy game...[A]s she is laid to rest, one can only wonder whether it would have been better had she remained a brilliant singer rather than a deeply troubled star.
Fundamentalism Kills
Submitted on July 26, 2011By Chris Hedges - July 26, 2011
Fundamentalists have no interest in history, culture or social or linguistic differences. They are a remarkably uncurious, self-satisfied group. Anything outside their own narrow bourgeois life, petty concerns and physical comforts bores them...The only thing that matters is the coming salvation of humanity, or at least that segment of humanity they deem worthy of salvation. They peddle a route to assured collective deliverance. And they sanction violence and the physical extermination of other human beings to get there.
The Slaughter in Oslo
Submitted on July 25, 2011By Peter Schwarz - 25 July 2011
...[T]he murders in Oslo have a new quality. Far-right extremist violence is now aimed at a political party because the perpetrator sees it...as embodying “cultural Marxism,” internationalism and generally left-wing views...Anders Behring Breivik...sought out the offices of Social Democratic Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as the target for his bomb attack. Then, on Utoya island...he carried out a cold-blooded massacre of the camp’s participants. It was a politically motivated terrorist attack by a fascist against a social democratic party.
Brutally Isolating Detainees in Israeli Prisons
Submitted on July 25, 2011Conditions for isolated Palestinians are far more severe than for Israelis. All are classified as "security prisoners" subject to cruel and unusual treatment. Many get no family visits for extended periods, even years, nor have telephone privileges.
Dene First Nation Throws Support Behind Stopping Enbridge Pipeline
Submitted on July 25, 2011By Krystalline Kraus - July 25, 2011
The Dene First Nation...passed a resolution supporting British Columbia's Yinka Deneerent in their opposition to Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline and supporting the right for Indigenous decision making power over their territory..."More than 50 per cent of the proposed Enbridge pipeline and tanker route passes through the territories of First Nations that have banned this development according to their traditional laws. These Nations now have the support of Dene from northern Alberta to the Arctic coast."
Trial of Khmer Rouge Leaders Underway in Cambodia
Submitted on July 25, 2011By John Roberts - WSWS
The trial is expected to last months or even years. It is already clear from the investigative phase of the cases which began in 2007 that the main aim of the process is not to bring justice for the survivors. Rather it is a show trial designed to close the book on the Khmer Rouge genocide while covering up the responsibility of others, inside Cambodia and internationally.
RCMP Spied on Canadian Academic Northrop Frye
Submitted on July 25, 2011July 24, 2011 - CBC News
Canada's intelligence service spied on renowned literary scholar Northrop Frye, closely eying his involvement in the anti-Vietnam War movement, an academic forum on China and efforts to end apartheid in South Africa...Newly released archival records show the RCMP Security Service relied on a secret informant to help compile a 142-page file on the esteemed University of Toronto professor, who died in 1991 at age 78.
Possible Israeli Connection to Oslo Attacks
Submitted on July 25, 2011On July 24, investigative journalist Wayne Madsen suggested a Mossad link, saying "ample evidence" of its involvement exists. Anders Breivik, the alleged bomber/gunman, calls himself a Christian conservative and has expressed strong pro-Israeli views, hostile to Palestinians and Muslims.
"Echelon" Global Eavesdropping Scheme Dwarfs Murdoch's News of the World
Submitted on July 24, 2011By Sherwood Ross - July 20, 2011
...[A] global eavesdropping scheme being run today by the United States and Great Britain dwarfs anything that Rupert Murdoch's editors at The News of The World (TNTW) ever dared attempt...Launched in the 1970s to spy on Soviet satellite communications, the [National Security Agency] and its junior partners in Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand operate ECHELON, which is a network of massive, highly automated interception stations covering the globe...
Canada Clamps Down on Criticism of Israel
Submitted on July 24, 2011By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours - Al Jazeera
...[T]he real purpose of the [Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism] coalition seems to be to stifle critiques of Israeli policy and disrupt pro-Palestinian solidarity organizing in Canada...Many of the CPCCA's findings, therefore, must be rejected as both an attack on freedom of speech and freedom of protest, and as recklessly undermining the fight against real instances of anti-Semitism.
Canada Prepared for 'Lethal Force' Against Natives: Indigenous Leader
Submitted on July 24, 2011By David P Ball - Media Co-op
...Winnipeg Indigenous leader Leslie Spillett pointed to an inherent "culture of oppression" in Canada's police forces at an international conference on policing..."There is abundant evidence the Canadian state is still prepared to use lethal force against Indigenous people..."
Afghan Judges Accuse U.S. of War Crimes
Submitted on July 24, 2011By David Swanson - July 24, 2011
"Your Constitution speaks of freedom and a people's government...but the United States is running secret prisons, torturing, disappearing people, and locking people up for years with no due process...It may seem trivial...but it affects our daily lives"...[T]he perception Afghans have of the U.S. forces...[is] of a group of arrogant occupiers who kick in doors.
The Oslo Attacks: Comment and Analysis
Submitted on July 24, 2011Many questions are unanswered. Are they similar to previous European and US post-9/11 attacks? Was a single individual responsible or were others unnamed or not known involved? Was it homegrown and/or outside inspired, despite what's been reported?
The Fix Is In: Washington's Planned Social Contract Destruction
Submitted on July 23, 2011The planned destruction of America's social contract safety net protections.
Pulled Off a Plane Above the U.S.
Submitted on July 23, 2011By Raquel Gutierrez - July 23, 2011
Last night I took an airplane to go to Italy. I had to arrive in Tuscany to meet with friends and compañeros to share experiences in Latin American struggles with them. I wasn’t able to make it to my destination because it occurred to the gringo government that not only did I have no right to pass through its territory, but through its “air space” as well...It didn’t matter that the closest I would get to “its territory” was 30,000 feet above the ground.
Terrorist Attacks Kill Minimum 87 in Norway
Submitted on July 23, 2011By Mike Head - WSWS
A bombing and mass shooting in Norway on Friday have left at least 87 people dead. Following a large explosion directed against government buildings in the capital, Oslo, a right-wing anti-Islamic extremist opened fire with automatic weapons on youth at a camp run by the ruling Labour Party on nearby Utoya Island.
Bahrain Unrest Stirs Unease in Washington
Submitted on July 22, 2011After months of ruling Al Khalifa family crackdowns against nonviolent protesters, political opponents, human rights activists, medical professionals, independent journalists, and others wanting democratic change, reports suggest the U.S. may move its Fifth Fleet elsewhere.
Israel's Growing Crackdown
Submitted on July 22, 2011By Neve Gordon - July 22, 2011
Political change is slow. One doesn't go to sleep in a democracy and wake up in a fascist regime...Any political change of such magnitude is the result of a lot of hard work and is always incremental...There are, however, significant events that serve as historical milestones...In Israel, it might very well be that the Boycott Bill...will also be remembered as a historic landmark.
CPCCA, Campuses and Criminalizing Criticism of Israel
Submitted on July 22, 2011By Sue Ferguson, Mary-Jo Nadeau, Gary Kinsman, Reuben Roth, Eric Shragge and Abby Lippman - July 22, 2011
The authors are members of Faculty for Palestine.
This month, a serious attack was made against free speech in Canada. A pseudo-parliamentary committee calling itself the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) issued a report calling on the federal government to adopt a definition of anti-Semitism that would criminalize criticism of the state of Israel...[I]ts recommendations aim to silence pro-Palestinian voices, especially on campuses. The CPCCA's biased processes and dubious conclusions...make a mockery of the notion of disinterested parliamentary inquiry.
U.S. Military to Monitor 'New Battleground' of Social Media
Submitted on July 22, 2011Friday, July 22, 2011 - Common Dreams
The Pentagon is asking experts to help figure out how to detect and counter propaganda on social media networks in the aftermath of the Arab uprising..."Events of strategic as well as tactical importance to our Armed Forces are increasingly taking place in social media space. We must, therefore, be aware of these events as they are happening and be in a position to defend ourselves within that space against adverse outcomes..."
Michele Bachmann: Way Out There in the Blue
Submitted on July 22, 2011At age 24 in 1980, Bachmann voted for Reagan and worked for his campaign. In Congress and as a Tea Party presidential candidate, her extremism may be unrivaled.
Lessons From Genova, 10 Years On: Remembering Carlo Giuliani
Submitted on July 22, 2011By MICHAEL LEONARDI - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
The reality of Genova is that the global economic powers decided to draw their line and strike back forcefully against the rapidly expanding movement for economic, social and environmental justice. Our cockiness in thinking that the world's leaders would only be able to meet in very remote locations or on the international space station were quickly and violently squashed...Ten years later the disaster of the global economy is more evident than any of us could have imagined and the truths of the resistance movement ring truer than ever...
U.S. Steps Up Confrontation with China in the South China Sea
Submitted on July 22, 2011By Joseph Santolan - WSWS
On July 14, US Senators John McCain and John Kerry wrote a letter to Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo...[stating] that the "assertive measures taken by China against foreign vessels in the South China Sea["]...could result in an escalation of future incidents. They added that this would “jeopardize the vital national interests of the United States”...This terminology is quite ominous, as “vital national security” interests are those that a country will go to war to defend. The threat of US armed intervention lurks not far behind such words.
Social and Economic Inequality in Israel
Submitted on July 21, 2011Like America, Israel prioritizes military and business spending. As a result, wealth and power interests are served at the expense of vital social services eroded or denied.
Australian Government "Intervention" Deepens in Aborignal Communities
Submitted on July 21, 2011By Susan Allan - 21 July 2011
Launched in 2007 by the [right-wing] Howard government, fully backed by the Labor Party, the [Northern Territory Emergency Response Intervention] has become a testing ground for a continuous assault on welfare recipients, indigenous and non-indigenous alike. Labor’s next phase seeks to go further in closing “unviable” remote communities, opening up Aboriginal land for exploitation and creating a “work-ready” cheap labour force.
Why Palestine is Important
Submitted on July 21, 2011By ISRAEL SHAMIR - July 20, 2011
Palestine is important because it is believed to be the linchpin of Empire, one of the key points necessary to control the world. Such was the conviction of the 19th century British Empire-builders...and this conviction has been recently and continuously reformulated into the terms of modern geopolitics. Once an arcane theory...it has grown up to become a driving force behind globalism...[T]his is the way the world’s powerful elite think.
Caution: Wisconsin Ahead
Submitted on July 21, 2011By Ish Theilheimer - Monday, July 11, 2011
...[T]he anti-unionism disease is a global plague. The Greeks are the latest...of nations to be dosed with privatizing shock treatment. Little keeps many other European countries from the same fate...Canadians have no cause to be smug or complacent...The Right's strategies are clear, coherent and long-term. The Left's, by contrast, are often confused.
Leonard Peltier: Victimized by Criminal Injustice
Submitted on July 21, 2011Peltier was framed, convicted and imprisoned for the deaths of two FBI agents, killed during a 1975 Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota shoot-out. Though innocent, he's currently serving two consecutive life terms - not for murder, for activism.
Montreal Police Squad Accused of Pursuing People for Political Beliefs
Submitted on July 21, 2011Thursday, 21 July 2011 - Ainfos
...[A] woman who answered the phone Wednesday at a Montreal bookshop popular with anarchists took a swipe at the city’s police, calling them deceitful, full of plots and violent...“I think it’s surprising...They’re not hiding what they want to do. They’ve given it this Orwellian title. It’s a reflection of how much power they have.”
Canada Blocks UN from Declaring Asbestos a "Hazardous" Substance
Submitted on July 21, 2011By Jake Silver - WSWS
Canada’s Conservative government has prevented asbestos — a notorious carcinogen responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year — from being listed as a hazardous substance under the United Nations’ Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade.
Amusement Park Tells Lesbian To Remove Gay Marriage Shirt
Submitted on July 21, 2011By Kristen Gwynne - AlterNet
“This is a family park,” said a Dollywood amusement park employee to Olivier Odom after he asked her to remove her sarcastic “Marriage is so Gay” t-shirt...Odom, at Dollywood with her...was married last year. Dollywood asserts it is their policy for gatekeepers to make decisions and enforce the dress code for patrons, but Odom and Tiptin say they were singled-out.
How Greece Abandoned Palestine
Submitted on July 20, 2011By David Cronin - 13 July 2011
When Andreas Papandreou died in 1996, The New York Times noted that he often left Western governments “befuddled or exasperated”...Citing examples of his “maverick” behavior, the paper’s obituary referred to how the Greek prime minister granted diplomatic status to the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1981...In recent times, the current Greek premier George Papandreou has acted as if he wishes to totally negate his father’s legacy.
Denying Palestinian Children Education
Submitted on July 20, 2011Basic rights for all besieged Gazans are denied or severely restricted, including for school children to be properly educated. Earlier from 2000 - 2004, Israeli attacks destroyed 73 educational institutions. During Cast Lead, public and private schools were deliberately targeted, damaged or destroyed.
Ontario Psych Survivors Fight for Independent Patient Advocacy
Submitted on July 20, 2011By John Bonnar - July 19, 2011
Shortly after the Ontario legislature adjourned for the summer and without public consultation, the Liberals decided to integrate the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office's rights advice and advocacy services with the Canadian Mental Health Association's community-based mental health services..."The Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office was their watchdog, their voice, their first line of defence against being involuntarily drugged, restrained and subjected to excessive force by the police..."
Israeli/Washington Peace Process Rejectionism
Submitted on July 20, 2011Pretending to restart Israeli/Palestinian peace talks, Quartet representatives met in Washington on July 11.
Reporter Ejected from Jason Kenney Speech
Submitted on July 20, 2011July 20, 2011 - rabble.ca
"I don't care what other journalists have or don't have, or how unfair you think it is, you are not wanted here and that's final..."
- Cop escorting independent journalist David Ball out of "public consultation" with Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney in Vancouver
Israel Lawlessly Terrorizing Palestinians
Submitted on July 19, 2011Palestinians bear witness daily to Israeli state terror.
Obama Administration Operates Illegal Torture Compound in Somalia
Submitted on July 19, 2011By Tom Carter - WSWS
The Obama administration is operating an illegal secret CIA prison compound in Somalia into which targeted individuals are “rendered” without trial to be tortured...“Set on the coast of the Indian Ocean, the facility looks like a small gated community, with more than a dozen buildings behind large protective walls and secured by guard towers at each of its four corners. Adjacent to the compound are eight large metal hangers, and the CIA has its own aircraft at the airport.”
Israel Rejects Non-Violence: The Method in Netanyahu's Madness
Submitted on July 19, 2011By Jonathan Cook - July 19, 2011
...[T]here may be a method to the madness of measures like the boycott law...These initiatives...leave no room for non-violent opposition to the occupation...Netanyahu and the Israeli right understand this point. They are carefully dismantling every platform on which dissident Israelis, Palestinians and international activists hope to stage their protests. They are making it impossible to organise joint peaceful and non-violent resistance...The only way being left open is violence.
Rahm Emanuel: Chicago's War Criminal/Anti-Labor Mayor
Submitted on July 19, 2011After two months in office, Rahm Emanuel looks likely to be Chicago's worst Mayor, based on policy initiatives he supports. As White House chief of staff, he was criminally part of Obama's war cabinet. As Chicago's mayor, he's waging war against labor.
In Pakistan 'U.S. Military Aid Came With Spies Attached'
Submitted on July 19, 2011By Zofeen Ebrahim - Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Defense analysts in Pakistan believe that foregoing 800 million US dollars worth of aid may be a fair bargain for ridding this country of over a hundred ‘military trainers’ who were suspected of being spies..."They were not all trainers...Of every three or four trainers, one would be an undercover intelligence person trying to subvert the loyalties of our soldiers."
Prisoners Strike Against Torture in California Prisons
Submitted on July 19, 2011By Marjorie Cohn - Znet Commentary
The torture of prisoners in U.S. custody isn’t confined to foreign countries. For more than two weeks, inmates at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison have been on a hunger strike to protest torturous conditions in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) there. Prisoners have been held for years in solitary confinement, which can amount to torture...Solitary confinement can lead to hallucinations, catatonia and even suicide, particularly in mentally ill prisoners.
Why Indigenous and Racialized Struggles Will Always be Appendixed by the Left
Submitted on July 19, 2011By Zainab Amadahy - rabble.ca
While I can't generalize about what Indigenous or other racialized peoples mean by the words "decolonization", anti-racist or "anti-colonial", I can certainly observe how SOME philosophies and action strategies employed in leftist movements relegate anti-colonial and anti-racist struggles to the periphery...[L]eftist philosophies are like a one-size-fits-all dress that only a very small minority feel comfortable wearing.
Why Kai Nagata Quit his Job and Why I Don't Care
Submitted on July 19, 2011July 18, 2011 - Media Co-op
About a week ago, one headline proclaimed that the Canadian media was shaking in its boots...The 24 year old former journalist based out of Quebec City for CTV was laying siege to the Canadian media. Executives ran for cover as he blasted through the corporate offices, breathing fire and so on...But, forgive me, I’m not impressed.
Washington's Ongoing Libya Terror Bombing
Submitted on July 18, 2011Washington-led naked aggression against Libya as America's terror bombing continues unabated.
Britain’s Top Cop Resigns Over Relations with News International
Submitted on July 18, 2011By Chris Marsden - WSWS
Britain’s senior police officer, Sir Paul Stephenson, has been forced to resign in the latest turn in the expanding scandal over phone hacking and other illegal acts by British media outlets owned by Rupert Murdoch. Stephenson stepped down after the arrest of Neil Wallis further exposed the corrupt relations between Murdoch’s media empire and the London Metropolitan Police.
The Rocky Affair Between the U.S. and Pakistan
Submitted on July 18, 2011By Tariq Ali - Znet
As long as the Pentagon bankrolls the Pakistan army to fight its wars and NATO troops remain in Afghanistan there will be quarrels, charges of infidelity, a reduction in the household allowance, perhaps a separation – but a divorce? Never.
America’s Disappeared
Submitted on July 18, 2011By Chris Hedges - July 18, 2011
Torture, prolonged detention without trial, sexual humiliation, rape, disappearance, extortion, looting, random murder and abuse have become...part of our own subterranean world of detention sites and torture centers...“We tortured people unmercifully...We probably murdered dozens of them … both the armed forces and the C.I.A.”
Athletic Excellence Competes With Raunch Culture at Women's World Cup
Submitted on July 18, 2011By Dave Zirin - July 17, 2011
...“[R]aunch culture” is when women athletes buy into the idea that it’s somehow empowering to display their naked bodies for men’s magazines...They claim that they are not only promoting their sport but also proving to the world that their attractiveness and (straight) sexuality is not to be questioned...“[W]e want to disprove the cliché that all female footballers are butch.”
The Voice of the Ruling Class: New York Times on "Death and Budgets"
Submitted on July 18, 2011By Kate Randall - WSWS
In an op-ed piece published Friday, New York Times columnist David Brooks reveals the real thinking of America’s financial aristocrats in relation to health care spending...In order to resolve the budget deficit...people will have to die sooner...“This fiscal crisis is about many things...but one of them is our inability to face death — our willingness to spend our nation into bankruptcy to extend life for a few more sickly months.”
Prisoners Have Nothing to Gain By Eating
Submitted on July 18, 2011By David Swanson - July 18th, 2011
The United States locks up more people and a greater percentage of its people than anyone else. We lock them in training centers for anger and violence. We subject them to rape, assault, humiliation, and isolation. We throw the innocent in with the guilty, the young with the old, the nonviolent with the violent, the hopeful with those who’ve lost all interest in life.
NATO's Debacle in Libya
Submitted on July 17, 2011By ALEXANDER COCKBURN - July 15-17, 2011
The reports...of the deliberations of NATO’s Contact Group have a surreal quality, as [the U.S.] Secretary of State...and British Foreign Minister...gravely re-emphasize their commitment to regime change and the strengthening of ties to the Transitional Council in Benghazi, while the humiliation of the entire NATO expedition is entering the history books as an advertisement of the dangers of political fantasy in the service of “humanitarian interventionism”, appalling intelligence work, illusions about bombing and air power, and some of the worst press coverage in living memory.
What is the 'Right' Type of Resistance?
Submitted on July 17, 2011By Ibrahim Shikaki - 06 July 2011
...[T]he danger of using the term "nonviolent resistance" insinuates that any other form of resistance is violent, hence giving it a negative undertone...In Arabic, Palestinians do not distinguish between violent and non-violent resistance, but rather between armed resistance and popular resistance. The Palestinian people and political factions have relied on both forms...throughout the past century.
Neocons Fume Over U.S. Boat to Gaza
Submitted on July 17, 2011By Ray McGovern - Truthout
Arguing that some people in the Middle East might be worse off than the Gazans is reminiscent of the claims by white South Africans that “their” blacks were better off than some blacks living in poorer parts of Africa, thus justifying apartheid...To tout a couple of “luxury hotels” being built in Gaza...and the possibility that some other Arabs might be more miserable than the Gazans – as an excuse for the entrapment and collective punishment of 1.6 million people – is the same kind of rationalizing on behalf of injustice.
Why I Hate Texas
Submitted on July 17, 2011By JACK RANDOM - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
The crux of the current argument is that in these difficult times Texas is the national leader in job creation. The argument is as flawed as a high school engineering project...The reasons jobs are migrating to Texas, Mississippi and North Dakota are the same reasons American jobs are moving to India: Low wages, minimal health and retirement benefits, an unregulated working environment and a virtual prohibition of unions.
Defending Killer Cops in New Orleans
Submitted on July 17, 2011By JORDAN FLAHERTY - July 15-17, 2011
Whatever the verdict at the end of the Danziger Trial, lawyers for the accused have offered a passionate defense of their clients...Defense attorneys have been aggressive in their questioning of prosecution witnesses, especially the former officers who have pleaded guilty and agreed to testify in exchange for lighter sentences. They have occasionally displayed hostility towards attorneys for the government, who are prosecuting the case.
Israel to Attack Iran This Fall, Says CIA Veteran
Submitted on July 17, 201117 July 2011 - Al Jazeera
A longtime CIA officer who spent 21 years in the Middle East is predicting that Israel will bomb Iran in the fall, dragging the United States into another major war and endangering US military and civilian personnel...throughout the Middle East and beyond...There is almost "near certainty" that Netanyahu is "planning an attack [on Iran] ... and it will probably be in September before the vote on a Palestinian state. And he's also hoping to draw the United States into the conflict..."
Letter from the People of Gaza to the Greek Government: We Want Solidarity, Not Charity
Submitted on July 16, 2011By Canadian Boat to Gaza - July 17, 2011
We, members of Palestinian civil society in Gaza, have been watching the actions your government has taken to block Freedom Flotilla 2 from setting sail towards the biggest open air prison – the Gaza Strip – to challenge Israel’s criminal blockade. Israel’s closure of Gaza has deprived us of things that most people take for granted, first and foremost, our freedom of movement...Now, you have imported this restriction on the people whose main mission is to stand in solidarity with us.
Aftermath of Israeli Anti-Free Speech Law Passage
Submitted on July 16, 2011Buoyed by passage of their anti-boycott bill, Knesset Yisrael Beitenu and Likud party extremists taste blood and want more. Most worrisome is a proposed measure to investigate leftist group activities.
Israel and the Flotillas
Submitted on July 16, 2011By Eric Walberg - July 15th, 2011
...Israel achieves its narrow, tactical victories at the expense of its long term strategy of achieving respect as a legitimate nation; instead, isolating itself further as a rogue nation with no concern for human rights or the welfare of others, despised by most of the world. In a 2010 European opinion poll 60 per cent saw Israel as the greatest threat to world peace...It extends its criminal siege of Gaza and occupation of the West Bank to Greek ports and European airports.
Rolling Out the Unwelcome Mat As Britain Cuts Migrant Legal Aid
Submitted on July 16, 2011SchNEWS - Friday 15th July 2011 | Issue 779
The closure of the Immigration Advisory Service...following new legislation denying legal aid for all immigration cases, has left hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers without legal support...The service had been running for 35 years from London and regional offices, with 300 employees. At the time of the shock closure...there were 650 active cases. Claimants are now being told to ask courts for their hearings to be delayed and to find themselves alternative legal representation.
Montreal: Police Unit Will Monitor Anarchists
Submitted on July 16, 2011By MAX HARROLD - July 15, 2011
The creation of a Montreal police unit targeting anarchist vandals is "a declaration of war" and further proof that cops discriminate against people because of their political beliefs and lifestyles, an anarchist sympathizer says...[A] spokesperson for the Coalition against repression and police brutality, said [the] Montreal police unit...highlights police use of social stereotyping to hinder the legal expression of opposition to social and legal policies.
Crackdowns, Torture and Intimidation in Bahrain
Submitted on July 16, 2011Largely ignored by Washington, Western governments, and America's media, the ruling Al Khalifa monarchy continues cracking down brutally against nonviolent protesters since civil resistance began last February.
Rupert Murdoch Has Blood on His Hands
Submitted on July 16, 2011By David Swanson - Dissident Voice
Bribery is dirty stuff. So is sneaking a peak at the private messages of murder victims. But there’s something even dirtier: murder, murder on the largest scale, murder coldly calculated and played out from behind a desk, in other words: war...Murdoch is a major crime boss being threatened with parking tickets.
The European Debt Crisis and the Threat of Dictatorship
Submitted on July 16, 2011By Stefan Steinberg - 16 July 2011
The representatives of finance capital are well aware that their counter-revolutionary policy will provoke social upheavals. Their answer is the preparation of new and more repressive forms of rule.
Israel's Boycott Law: The Quiet Sound of Going Fascist
Submitted on July 16, 2011By Bradley Burston - July 12, 2011
The Boycott Law is the litmus test for Israeli democracy, the threshold test for Israeli fascism. It's a test of moderates everywhere who care about the future of this place...This is the one. This is where the slope turns nowhere but down...At first, it doesn't feel like fascism. That's why it works.
Sectarian Violence Drives Out Immigrant Families in Northern Ireland
Submitted on July 16, 2011Saturday 16 July 2011 - The Guardian
Immigrant families from East Timor fled a Catholic area of Northern Ireland on Friday night when loyalist rioters tried to attack nationalist homes...The families from East Timor packed their bags and ran from their homes in Portadown, County Armagh on Friday night, when the area was engulfed in violence..."They packed their bags, so distressed were they at the violence. Their neighbours tried to reassure them that they would be safe in their homes but they left..."
Debt Ceiling Debate Charade Masks Planned Entitlement Cuts
Submitted on July 15, 2011Obama and Congress now plan completing their financial coup d'etat, ending America's social contract, leaving retirees, working households, and impoverished millions on their own sink or swim.
Second "Knowing the Land is Resistance" Zine Released
Submitted on July 15, 2011Although it’s been hard to stay inside gluing and scanning during the summer time, the second Knowing the Land is Resistance zine is now released! This second collection contains the nine most recent articles from the KLR collective, including the map of the Spencer Creek Watershed and lots of handy tips for ID’ing plants and animals in the Carolinan zone. The zine is 16 sheets, double-sided, black and white, and you can download it over at indybay.org in either printable or electronically readable version.
"Oranges and Sunshine": The Story of Britain’s "Child Migrants"
Submitted on July 15, 2011By Laura Tiernan - WSWS
Watching Oranges and Sunshine is a harrowing experience. The scale of the injustice and cruelty is overwhelming. Children and their parents in Britain were systematically lied to and stripped of their most fundamental legal and social rights. Charities...told thousands of children their parents were dead. They were deported against their will and without their parents’ knowledge or consent. Mothers who searched for sons and daughters were led to believe they had found new homes with loving foster-parents and were “better off without them”. Some were told their children were deceased.
Denunciation of Israel's Anti-Boycott Law
Submitted on July 15, 2011The Global BDS Movement and Coalition for Women for Peace called Israeli Anti-Boycott law "One of the most dangerous anti-democratic laws promoted in this current Knesset. Boycott is a non-violent, legal and legitimate means to promote social and political aims that is protected in civil rights of freedom of expression, opinion and assembly. The bill constitutes a fatal blow to all these civil rights."
30 Years in Prison For Saying the Wrong Thing? How the FBI Entraps U.S. Citizens To Feign Success Against Terror
Submitted on July 15, 2011By Rehanna Jones-Boutaleb - AlterNet
On August 28, 2008, two childhood friends from Midland, Texas, Bradley Crowder and David McKay, traveled north to join thousands of protesters at the 2008 Republican National Convention...What began as a journey of hope, however, ended in sudden catastrophe. Crowder and McKay's efforts to mark their opposition to the Republican administration and the U.S. involvement in Iraq resulted in multiple charges of domestic terrorism...What the "Texas Two" hadn't realized in Minnesota was that their trusted comrade, Brandon Michael Darby...was in fact an FBI informant.
Italy: Barbarians at the Gates...in Suits
Submitted on July 15, 2011By Conn Hallinan - Znet
...[T]he barbarians are back, only this time they are not tribes with scary names like Goths, Huns and Lombards. Today the brutes have bland sounding labels like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union (EU) and Moody’s. And some of the worst are homegrown: Silvio Berlusconi...
SFU Student Government Moves to Displace Progressive Groups
Submitted on July 15, 2011By Dawn Paley - July 14, 2011
BURNABY - Over the past week, life has been turned upside down for campus and community groups on SFU's Burnaby Campus. Last Thursday, CUPE Local 3338 members were given notice that after two years of contract negotiations they would be locked out of their offices. The move by the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) impacts 15 permanent staff and five student employees who work for the Society. The lockout took effect Sunday and picket lines went up in front of the SFU Women's Centre and Out on Campus (OoC) spaces Monday morning.
Canada's Income Gap Widens: Report
Submitted on July 14, 2011July 13, 2011 - CBC News
The richest Canadians increased their share of total national income while the poor and those with middle incomes saw their portions shrink, according to the [Conference Board of Canada's] analysis, entitled "How Canada Performs"...Incomes of the poor increased marginally in the period, it said, but the gap between rich and poor widened..."While the poor are minimally better off in an absolute sense, they are significantly worse off in a relative sense..."
Why U.S. Unions Should Reconsider Support for Tar Sands Oil Pipeline
Submitted on July 14, 2011By Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith - June 30, 2011
The Keystone XL pipeline is a key link in an energy path that will lead to devastation for American working families...We've all heard about global warming caused by the emission of carbon and other "greenhouse gases" into the atmosphere...[T]here is a near-total consensus among climate scientists that it is real and that it will cause devastating climate change. That means rising sea levels, an ever-increasing number of extreme weather events like droughts, floods, and heat waves, and consequences like forest fires and species extinction.
NATO and Rebel Atrocities in Libya
Submitted on July 14, 2011Paramilitary insurgent cut-throats and NATO terrorism.
Financial Crisis As a Way of Life
Submitted on July 14, 2011Neo-liberalism's genius is its ability to blame the victim. Thus the sub prime crisis was the result of irresponsible home buyers, and the Greek crisis is the result of greedy Greeks living beyond their means. Once the victim is blamed, it justifies imposing a world of pain on those who are already suffering.
An AWKward Relationship: The U.S. and Its Ties to Hamid Karzai's Half-Brother
Submitted on July 14, 2011By Kim Barker - Thursday, July 14, 2011
Until his brother's rise to power, Ahmed Wali Karzai was best known for the leek dumplings at his Chicago restaurant. Since then, although his official position was simply the head of the Kandahar provincial council, he was much more than that. He was the de facto leader in four of the country's southern provinces. He was accused of dealing drugs, of taking kickbacks in land deals, of interfering in political assignments...Many credited him with securing his brother's re-election in the south in 2009.
Nuggets from a Nut House: From Netanyahu to Mladic
Submitted on July 14, 2011By Edward S. Herman - Dissident Voice
The nuggets keep piling up as the United States continues its course toward the abyss, pulling the rest of the world with it. Imagine, 29 standing ovations for Benjamin Netanyahu’s May 24th speech by the members of the U.S. congress, who once again displayed their loyalty to a foreign state, their contempt for international law, their racism, and their support of Israeli apartheid and serious ethnic cleansing.
Canada’s Military to Establish Base in Kuwait in Push for Global Presence
Submitted on July 14, 2011By Graham Beverley - 14 July 2011
Canada’s Conservative government announced Monday that it has entered into an agreement with Kuwait to establish a new staging base for Canadian military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. The military base in Kuwait is part of a larger Canadian Armed Forces’ endeavor to establish forward bases in East Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean, to allow for the rapid deployment of military force in pursuit of Canada’s imperialist interests around the world.
Freedom Flotilla II: Final Thoughts
Submitted on July 13, 2011Flotillas and other humanitarian efforts aren't about delivering "goods." They're about freedom, self-determination, and ending Israel's lawless choke-hold, violating international laws, norms and principles grievously for decades, complicit with rogue partners against justice, shamelessly supporting crimes of war and against humanity.
Celebrate Mad Pride
Submitted on July 13, 2011By Jesse McLaren - July 13, 2011
With the rise of capitalism, people who could not fit into narrowly-defined norms of labour productivity, either because of physical or psychiatric differences, became pathologized. Since then mad people have been subjected to diverse methods of "restoring sanity," such as institutionalization, electroshock and "the chemical prison industry" of Big Pharma.
Indigenous Resistance is the New 'Terrorism'
Submitted on July 13, 2011By Manuela Picq - 10 July 2011
In Ecuador, "terrorists" are indigenous peoples from the Amazon and the Andean highlands fighting to preserve access to water in their communities. Old penal codes written in times of dictatorship are being revived by leftist presidents to repress indigenous activists. As "terrorists", they are labeled as enemies of the state, and arrested - by the very president that claimed leftist credentials and staged his inauguration in overtly ethnic style.
Documents Prove Australian Complicity in Iraq War Crimes
Submitted on July 13, 2011By James Cogan - WSWS
Documents obtained last week by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre...confirm what was already clear in 2004: that the Australian military was complicit in the torture committed by American forces at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison in late 2003. The documents...also demonstrate that the [previous] Australian government of Prime Minister John Howard concealed information...into whether Australian personnel were aware that war crimes were being committed.
From Dishwasher to Drug Kingpin: The Killing of Ahmad Wali Karzai
Submitted on July 13, 2011By ERIC WALBERG - Counterpunch
Aghan President Hamid Karzai's younger half-brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, was killed in Kandahar on 12 July during a gathering in his house...A ruthless autocrat, he was widely despised, and escaped multiple assassination attempts in the past, but his death nonetheless comes as a major blow to President Karzai in the homeland of the Taliban, and will set off a vicious power struggle to fill Ahmad's shoes.
Canada: The Gift That Keeps on Giving to Israel
Submitted on July 13, 2011By Harsha Walia - July 13, 2011
"We recognize that the people of Palestine have been subjected to colonization in the same way that Indigenous people [in Canada] have lost their relationship with the land. Gaza has become an open-air prison for 1.4 million people. It is the largest 'Reserve' in the world."
- Ardoch Algonquin Robert Lovelace, speaking aboard the Tahrir
Simon Fraser University: A No Longer Radical, Now Reactionary Campus
Submitted on July 13, 2011By Kevin Harding - Vancouver Media Co-op
...[T]oday the [Simon Fraser Student Society] seems to have shoved off the more than 40-year history it could have once proudly claimed as student activists: the Board of Directors of the SFSS, led in “what can only be interpreted as an ideological move”...issued a lock-out notice to its unionised staff members...Late today, a committee of the same board voted to begin the process of terminating the lease of the Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG), a student-driven and student-funded group that conducts research and organizing on student selected issues.
By Torpedoing the Gaza Flotilla, Israel Sank Its Own Ship
Submitted on July 12, 2011By Medea Benjamin - July 12th, 2011
...[T]he Israelis helped us turn a potential non-story into a media blitz that has not ended. The passengers are now returning home to the local public spotlight. Rather than being depressed by Israeli maneuvers to prevent the flotilla from reaching its destination, they are more motivated to speak out about the siege of Gaza and bullying tactics of the Israelis.
Deficit Reduction vs. Democracy
Submitted on July 12, 2011By Shamus Cooke - July 12, 2011
Instead of fixing the national deficit in the way that the vast majority of Americans would like, only the opinions of a tiny minority of very rich people are being considered. Both political parties are uniting to reduce the deficits on the backs of working people...[T]he U.S. government could easily access trillions of dollars in revenue; it simply chooses not to. Both political parties refuse to discuss how raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations could easily fix the current deficit issue...
We Need U.S. Troops to Stay in Iraq to Fight Iran: New U.S. 'Defense' Secretary
Submitted on July 12, 2011By PATRICK COCKBURN - July 12, 2011
The United States could take unilateral military action against Shia militias armed by Iran if they continued to attack US troops, Leon Panetta, the new US Defense Secretary, said on a visit to Iraq yesterday. The threat marks an escalation in the long-running battle for influence in Iraq between Washington and Tehran that has gone on since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Israel's Knesset Passes Boycott Prohibition Bill
Submitted on July 12, 2011Israel increasingly resembles a fascist police state, endangering anyone challenging state policies.
The Key to a Happy Death: Rébel Against the Human Condition and Empire
Submitted on July 12, 2011By THOMAS NAYLOR - Counterpunch
Rebél is a philosophy of rebellion. It provides us with the faith to claw meaning out of meaninglessness, the energy to connect with those from whom we are separate, the power to surmount powerlessness, and the strength to face death rather than deny it. Since the word rebel has more than one meaning, we use Rebél to connote resistance to authority and control.
Montréal: Court Appearance of Four Anti-Capitalist Activists
Submitted on July 12, 2011Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - CMAQ
Governments everywhere are consenting to subsidies to large multinationals and banks to boost the economy, while imposing austerity measures against their populations...The message is simple and has been repeated over and over again by the bourgeoisie in concrete and recent examples, such as the G20: impunity for police when it defends the interests of capital, and harassment and prosecution for anti-capitalist activists.
Mass Psychosis in the U.S.
Submitted on July 12, 2011By James Ridgeway - 12 July 2011
Has America become a nation of psychotics? You would certainly think so, based on the explosion in the use of anti-psychotic medications. In 2008, with over $14 billion in sales, anti-psychotics became the single top-selling therapeutic class of prescription drugs in the United States, surpassing drugs used to treat high cholesterol and acid reflux.
The 2018 Winter Olympics: Money and Power
Submitted on July 12, 2011By Werner Albrecht - WSWS
Going back further into the history of the Olympics, one must conclude they have diverged far from the intent of their modern father, Pierre de Coubertin. There is not much left of his initial vision of fair play and uniting the world’s peoples. Today, it is all about national prestige and big business, with corruption, bribery and doping playing ever-increasing roles.
Homes, Not Psycho-Prisons
Submitted on July 12, 2011By Don Weitz - July 12, 2011
Since the 1960s, more and more psycho-prisons have been shut down; yet there was, and still is, virtually no affordable and accessible housing built for the many thousands of people who have ended up on city streets as a result. As inner-city refugees, homeless psychiatric survivors, forcibly drugged, traumatized and discriminated against, frequently have no safe place to go. For all too many, the street, a shelter or an emergency ward are the only alternatives.
Israel's Siege Strangles Gaza
Submitted on July 11, 2011By Ash Pemberton - Green Left Weekly
The campaign of repression, slander and sabotage against the Freedom Flotilla II in its efforts to break the blockade of Gaza shows how desperately Israel and its supporters wish to keep the conditions in the besieged Palestinian enclave out of the world's view...The illegal Israeli blockade, in place since 2007, has crippled the Gazan economy and brought widespread misery to Gaza's 1.5 million people.
Thousands of California Inmates Show Solidarity With Prison Hunger Strike [Video]
Submitted on July 11, 2011By Bryan Gerhart - Monday, July 11, 2011
What began as a hunger strike among inmates of the isolation wing of California’s Pelican Bay prison has turned into a statewide display of solidarity. A number of prisoners in Pelican Bay’s Security Housing Unit, California’s highest-security complex, refused their state-provided morning meal on Friday to protest the inhumane conditions of their confinement.
Time for a Revolution in Sports?
Submitted on July 11, 2011By Kim Petersen - Dissident Voice
Lockouts loom in the NBA and NFL; it is owners pitted against players. One fact stands out starkly: there is no sport without the players; the same cannot be said about the owners.
Class War Without Mercy
Submitted on July 11, 2011By GREGORY ELICH - July 11, 2011
For ordinary workers, the recession brought only economic hardship. But for corporate America, it meant one thing: opportunity. This is the chance to permanently mold the economy into something approximating the Third World model: vast wealth and privilege for those at the top, and unemployment, falling wages, and inadequate or nonexistent social services for the rest of society.
Carlos Montes and the U.S. Security State: A Cautionary Tale
Submitted on July 11, 2011By Chris Hedges - Truthdig
On May 17 at 5:00 in the morning the Chicano activist Carlos Montes got a wake-up call at his home in California from Barack Obama’s security state. The Los Angeles County sheriff’s SWAT team...kicked down his door, burst into his house with their weapons drawn, handcuffed him in his pajamas and hauled him off to jail. Montes...was one of the organizers of the demonstrations outside the 2008 Republican National Convention...and he faces trial along with 23 other anti-war activists...as well as possible charges by a federal grand jury.
Rupert Murdoch and the Rule of the Oligarchy
Submitted on July 11, 2011By Chris Marsden - 11 July 2011
The ongoing exposure of systematic hacking of thousands of phones and computers by employees of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World lifts the lid on the rampant criminality of the corporate and political elite...At least 7,000 people have had their phones hacked and their privacy invaded. The trawl for personal information has targeted a wide range of victims, from politicians and members of the royal family to the families of murder victims and soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
America's Dirty War on Islam
Submitted on July 11, 2011America's dirty war, in fact, targets Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, political activists, and Muslims for their faith, ethnicity, and at times prominence and charity, exploiting them as "war on terror" scapegoats.
The Illegal State Murder of Humberto Leal Garcia
Submitted on July 10, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
Over the past decade, Washington’s contempt for international law and democratic rights has further escalated, with the waging of multiple illegal wars of aggression and the use of criminal methods such as “extraordinary rendition,” detention without trial and torture. This has been mirrored at home with a relentless assault on basic democratic rights.
5 Outrageous Examples of FBI Intimidation and Entrapment
Submitted on July 10, 2011By Kevin Gosztola - June 30, 2011
Here are five cases of FBI abuse that show the FBI deserves more scrutiny, not a free pass to continue fighting the so-called “war on terror.”
"If We Have Rice, We Can Have Everything": A Critique of Khmer Rouge Ideology and Practice
Submitted on July 10, 2011By Junge Linke - Libcom
...Pol Pot and his alleged ‘stone-age communism’ is always invoked as a counter-‘argument’...[to] show what happens if people attempt to change society radically. [The Khmer Rouge] seems to be made for this purpose: a group of left-wing students in Paris encounter what passes at the time for Marxism; they later join the Communist Party, return to their home country, go underground...come to power through a guerrilla army, and then set up a regime of terror...Bourgeois common sense has always pictured communism like this, hence the outrage is great and there is little interest in finding out why the Khmer Rouge did what they did.
Dueling UN Flotilla I Commissions
Submitted on July 10, 2011Last September, the UN Human Rights Council issued its damning findings on Israel's Flotilla I massacre, killing nine and wounding dozens of peaceful humanitarian activists heading for Gaza with aid.
Smoking Out Tourists in Holland
Submitted on July 10, 2011By JOHN SINCLAIR - July 8-10, 2011
The Dutch government's current attempt to restructure Holland's permissive cannabis culture and cripple the thriving cannabis industry continues to baffle local and international observers. The idea...is to limit licit marijuana smoking to Dutch citizens and official residents of the Netherlands.
Facebook Helps Israel Blacklist Air Travellers
Submitted on July 10, 2011Sunday, July 10, 2011 - Slashdot
According to a report by the Associated Press, protesters have been stopped in their tracks after Facebook aided Israel in cracking down on the group of activists from the UK, France, and Belgium who planned their event using the popular social networking site.
Obama Administration: Pot has No Accepted Medical Use
Submitted on July 10, 2011By John Hoeffel - Common Dreams
Marijuana has been approved by many states and the nation's capital to treat a range of illnesses, but the federal government has ruled that it has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a dangerous drug like heroin...The decision to deny the request was made by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and comes less than two months after advocates asked the U.S. Court of Appeals to force the administration to respond to their petition.
The Great Unravelling
Submitted on July 10, 2011Conditions have worsened, not improved, because of force-fed austerity, not badly needed stimulus to create jobs, reemploy people, and revive real economic growth.
In Defence of a Muslim Takeover (Or Why We Should Welcome the Extinction of the West)
Submitted on July 10, 2011By Sumayya Kassamali - July 5, 2011
While we suffer no illusions about the power of the state over those who reside within its borders, what if a nation diffused into difference offers us an opportunity to forge new affiliative ties; political solidarities that begin precisely as “we who have no nation”? Might this afford us the possibility of a left not wrapped up in the logic of liberal democracy and free-market capitalism?...So open the borders, let the Muslims have babies, and let us see where a radical future lies.
Instilled Memory
Submitted on July 10, 2011By Uri Avnery - Friday, July 8, 2011
THERE IS a mental disorder called “paranoia vera”. Patients adopt a crazy assumption – e.g. “everybody hates me” – and then build an elaborate structure around it. Every bit of information which seems to support it is eagerly absorbed, every item that contradicts it is suppressed...Among the accompanying symptoms are belligerent behavior, recurrent suspicions, disconnection from the real world, conspiracy theories and narcissism.
Update on Status of the Gaza Flotilla Ships
Submitted on July 10, 2011July 10, 2011 - rabble.ca
Ann Wright, of the US Boat to Gaza, compiled this list of the status of flotilla boats, accurate as of this week-end.
Activists Conducting 'Fly-In' to Israel
Submitted on July 9, 2011By Dahr Jamail - Al Jazeera
...Friday, July 8, hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists are planning to fly to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport in a display of solidarity with Palestinians living in the occupied territories..."We are fed up with lying about being tourists...Now, they are all going to say: 'we are coming to visit our Palestinian friends that have invited us.' If they get through, there are events planned for Palestinian groups for us to take part in, as we were invited by them six months ago, and we are answering their call."
Flotilla Passengers Are Today's Freedom Riders
Submitted on July 9, 2011Wednesday 6 July 2011 - Truthout
[The Gaza Flotilla] action is provocative, just as were those of the freedom riders in the 1960's, designed to show the world that the law is not being enforced - in the present case, international law, which gives Israel neither the right to police Gazan waters nor to prevent that territory - at present arguably the world's largest prison - from exporting its produce and importing essential supplies.
The Tahrir Will Sail Again
Submitted on July 9, 2011By Canadian Boat to Gaza - July 9, 2011
Two Freedom Flotilla boats, the Juliano (Greece/Sweden/Norway) and the Dignité-Karama (France) are still aiming to break the blockade of Gaza in Greece at this very moment and they have our full solidarity. Other boats, including the Tahrir, will regroup and start planning for the next phase of the Freedom Flotilla.
Greece: Struggle Grows Amid Police Violence, Government Panic
Submitted on July 9, 2011By Afrodity Giannakis - Thursday, July 7, 2011
The extreme police violence during the protests was just an expression of the government’s insecurity...In Athens, the police used large quantities of tear gas in the adjoining streets in an effort to stop people going to the rally. Later, they used tear gas directly on the demonstrators in Syntagma Square.
Jewish Group Gives Pseudo-Parliamentary Report a Failing Grade
Submitted on July 9, 2011July 8, 2011 - Independent Jewish Voices (Canada)
Ottawa -- Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) has given the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) a failing grade on its long-overdue report...“If the CPCCA were re-named the 'Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Protect Israel', this would be honest and credible. But contrary to its name, the coalition has virtually nothing to do with real anti-Semitism. The CPCCA is suggesting dangerous legislative changes based on fantasies and its upside-down definitions...[T]he coalition and its report must be repudiated...”
Michigan Woman Faces 93 Days in Jail for Planting a Vegetable Garden
Submitted on July 9, 2011By Colleen Vanderlinden - July 8, 2011
Julie Bass of Oak Park, Michigan...is facing 93 days in jail after being charged with a misdemeanor...Her crime? Planting a vegetable garden in the front yard...This is not some gated community...This is an ordinary, working class neighborhood...Oak Park is facing financial issues. Here at home, people are amazed that a cash-strapped city has the resources to investigate, charge, and prosecute a resident for something as innocuous as planting a vegetable garden.
Witnessing the Tar Sands Dead Zone
Submitted on July 9, 2011This walk was started by people heartbroken by what has happened to their traditional homelands. One of the organizers...helped to start the Memorial March for the Murdered and Missing Women when she lived in Vancouver years ago. She spoke of the murdered and missing waters in northern Alberta: an eerie, disturbing connection between the violence against Indigenous women and against Indigenous land. Colonization is not a thing of the past; it continues today in virulent, violent forms and materializes in the increased rates of cancer found in communities downstream from the tar sands.
The New Hawks of the Western World
Submitted on July 9, 2011By Lawrence Martin - Friday, July 8, 2011
The military is for the first time starting to take part in our citizenship ceremonies. Our foreign policy is now...to the right of the United States...Hawks of the western world? Who would have thunk it?...It’s a play to our baser instincts, instincts that are more primitive than progressive. The Conservatives’s lock-‘em-up law-and-order policy is one example of this. The glorification of the military is another.
NATO's War Against Libya's Civilians
Submitted on July 9, 2011By FRANKLIN LAMB - July 8-10, 2011
Briefly noted below are five recent instances of undisputed NATO bombings on Libyan civilians selected because they still [are] among the most discussed by residents of Tripoli...History will judge NATO harshly for its crimes. Hopefully the citizens of every NATO member state will work to end its mission so as to protect the civilian population of Libya.
Appeals Court Rejects More Media Consolidation
Submitted on July 9, 2011Since 1983, the number of corporations owning most newspapers, magazines, book publishers, recorded music, movie studios, television and radio stations shrunk from 50 to a handful, including Time-Warner, Disney, News Corp., Viacom, Comcast, and Bertelsmann AG.
A Comment on Peter Falk’s Finest Moments: 'Husbands' and 'A Woman Under the Influence'
Submitted on July 8, 2011By Robert Fowler - 8 July 2011
American actor Peter Falk died June 23 in Beverly Hills, aged 83, after a period of failing health. Falk was best known to the wider public for his role as the apparently bumbling but wily television detective, Lieutenant Columbo, for which role he received four Emmys...However, when assessing Falk’s most intriguing acting credentials one should look no farther than his collaborations with independent filmmaker John Cassavetes. Specifically...Husbands (1970) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974).
Killing Old People Is Fiscally Responsible
Submitted on July 8, 2011By David Swanson - Znet
Not to put too fine a point on it, Mr. President, but fuck your fiscal good. Whose fiscal good is it? And whose pain?...Let's face it: any bargain seems to look good to you, as long as it kills people...You have a list of Americans to assassinate. You have six wars going...You've made clear that Israel murdering unarmed aid workers trying to reach Gaza would be A-OK with you. And "pain" is just the price that other people will have to pay to do without health-care, food, a roof, a coat, or -- for that matter -- hope. Of all your slogans, we seem to be left with Audacity alone, standing by itself among the ruins.
In Dealing With Flotilla, Israel Is Anything But Smart
Submitted on July 8, 2011By Amira Hass - Haaretz
Outsourcing, aggressive and vocal diplomacy and ridiculous lies thwarted the flotilla, but they have not taken Gaza off the international agenda...Blocking the flotilla did not discourage the organizers, who are graduates of the anti-apartheid and anti-white supremacy struggles...[B]locking the flotilla only increased their motivation to keep placing the Palestinians' demand for freedom at the forefront of the international agenda.
Not Masters and Not Culprits, But Partners Instead
Submitted on July 8, 2011By Ishay Rosen-Zvi
On July 15th, an unprecedented event in the history of Zionism is set to take place in Jerusalem: a Jewish-Palestinian independence march...This time Israelis, Jews and Arabs, will show our support for the unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence expected in September; a free state in the 1967 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem. No more favors, thank you very much.
A Pipeline of Injustice
Submitted on July 8, 2011By Charlotte Kates - July 08, 2011
It has been widely reported and speculated that the reason for Greece's participation in the suppression of Freedom Flotilla Two may be found in its own economic situation - that the [Greek] government...is so desperate for international financial and economic support that it is willing to serve as the enforcement arm for Israel's illegal siege on Gaza...Yesterday, in Vancouver...a Greek consular official...confirmed that this is indeed the case.
From Halifax to Gaza, With Love
Submitted on July 8, 2011July 5, 2011 - Halifax Media Co-op
Dr. Ismail Zayid of the Canada-Palestine Association argued that the silence of Canada and the US on the issue of Israel's blockade of Gaza effectively makes these so-called "free world" countries collaborators in the blockade, which...is a violation of international law and a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention...Zayid also stressed that the purpose of the flotilla to Gaza is not simply to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza, but also...to expose the illegality and absurdity of the blockade itself.
NATO Using Nuclear Weapons in Libya
Submitted on July 7, 2011Washington and NATO allies are using illegal "dirty bombs."
Social Democrats in Berlin Appoint Hardliner as Police Chief
Submitted on July 7, 2011By Verena Nees - 7 July 2011
Now, following 10 years of rule by the [Social Democrats] and the Left Party, social conditions in the German capital have worsened to such an extent that social protests could break out at any time. Bitterness over the anti-social policies of the Senate and growing inequality in the city is widespread among broad layers of the population...The appointment of [new Berlin police chief Udo] Hansen indicates that the [Social Democratic] leadership is preparing to respond to intensifying social tensions with increased state force.
The Corrupt Corporate Incarceration Complex
Submitted on July 7, 2011By William Fisher - Truthout
"Profits by no means created the machinery of mass incarceration, no more than defense contracts invented war, but the huge profits to be made by incarcerating an ever-growing segment of our population serves the system very well...Profits oil the machinery, keep it humming and speed its growth..."
- Judith Greene, policy analyst with Justice Strategies, a nonprofit sentencing-reform advocacy group in New York
Israel Prepares Brutal Response to Gaza Flotilla Ship
Submitted on July 7, 2011By Robert Stevens - WSWS
Israeli government officials have said plans are in place to prevent by force a French ship carrying humanitarian aid from reaching the Gaza Strip...The vessel Dignity is in international waters, after having left Greece last week. It is part of the planned 10 ships in the Freedom Flotilla II. The flotilla aims to deliver tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which is subject to an illegal land, air and sea blockade.
The Strange Silencing of Liberal America
Submitted on July 7, 2011By John Pilger - July 07, 2011
My talk on 15 June was to have been about the collusion of American liberalism in a permanent state of war and the demise of cherished freedoms...In the United States...serious dissent - free speech - has been substantially criminalised. Obama...is as much a warmonger as George W. Bush. His score is six wars. Never in US history has a president prosecuted as many whistle-blowers...Obama’s greatest achievement is having seduced, co-opted and silenced much of liberal opinion in the United States, including the anti-war movement.
Afghan Civilians Killed in NATO Strike, Eight Children Among 14 Dead
Submitted on July 7, 201107 Jul 2011 - Al Jazeera
A NATO air strike has killed at least 14 civilians, including eight children, in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, local police say...The deadly air raid came a day after two children were reportedly killed in a separate air strike in southwest Ghazni province.
Libya: Flashpoint for Global Conflict
Submitted on July 6, 2011Given America's out-of-control belligerence, perhaps ad infinitum wars will proliferate until America destroys planet earth to liberate it in a mushroom-shaped cloud.
Why Do Cops Have Tanks? The Dangerous Militarization of U.S. Police Forces
Submitted on July 6, 2011By Rania Khalek - July 5, 2011
...[P]aramilitary raids that mirror the tactics of US soldiers in combat are not uncommon in America...America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement over the last 30 years, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units for routine police work. In fact, the most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home.
Balaclava! VMC Broadsheet Issue 32
Submitted on July 6, 2011Razed for Israeli Vacation Homes: Palestine's Last Village Faces Bulldozers
Submitted on July 6, 2011By JONATHAN COOK - July 5, 2011
...Lifta is the last deserted village from 1948 still standing in modern-day Israel...In January the Israel Lands Authority...announced a plan to build a luxury housing project over the village...The project...would be targeted at wealthy foreign Jews, mainly from the United States and France, looking for summer vacation homes in Israel.
Israel's Mythic History
Submitted on July 6, 2011By George Polley - Palestine Chronicle
Israel’s laws openly discriminate against all non-Jews, in open violation of UN standards. And [regarding] the truth about Israel’s chronic violence and violation of its legal responsibilities, its leaders defend their behavior, increase their attack of anyone they consider “guilty” of “persecuting” them, and seem, at least to me, progressively deranged.
An Open Letter to Toronto City Councilors Regarding Attacks on Pride
Submitted on July 6, 2011By Elle Flanders - July 6, 2011
Elle Flanders is a Canadian filmmaker and a driving force behind Queers Against Israeli Apartheid.
Neither you Councilor Mammoliti, nor you Councilor Ford, nor your brother Rob, the Mayor, have terrific records when it comes to defending [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered] rights in this city, and it is becoming more and more clear to most of us that any problem with Queers Against Israeli Apartheid has become a ruse to defund Pride...Banning/threatening Pride because of a group...that criticizes Israeli state policy, cannot be compared to the real work of ridding a city of discrimination and anti-semitism. These charges are clearly wrongheaded and dangerous thinking.
Let Us Sail to Gaza
Submitted on July 6, 2011Freedom Flotilla II participants demand their lawful right to deliver vital humanitarian aid to Gaza. However, an Israeli/Washington/Greek conspiracy blocks them. Nonetheless, they persist, trying to overcome imperial ruthlessness and succeed.
Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Meets with Libyan Rebels, NDP Praises Visit as "Important"
Submitted on July 6, 2011By Graham Beverley - 6 July 2011
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird secretly flew to Libya last week to meet with leaders of the Transitional National Council (TNC), the imperialist proxy force whose calls for “assistance” have been invoked by the NATO powers, Canada included, to justify waging war on Libya...Baird’s clandestine trip to Libya won the praise of Paul Dewar, foreign affairs critic for the NDP..."This is an opportunity for Canada to get involved in the diplomatic side and humanitarian side..."
Chomsky Says UK Guardian Article "Quite Deceptive" About his Chavez Criticism
Submitted on July 5, 2011By Joe Emersberger - July 04, 2011
"The Guardian/Observer version, as I anticipated, is quite deceptive...[It] omit[s] much of relevance that I stressed throughout, including the fact that criticisms from the US government or anyone who supports its actions can hardly be taken seriously, considering Washington’s far worse record without any of the real concerns that Venezuela faces...I should know by now that I should insist on a transcript with the Guardian, unless it’s a writer I know and trust."
- Noam Chomsky
Health Care in Cuba and America
Submitted on July 5, 2011On September 13, 2010, Al Jazeera's Juan Jacomino said all Cubans, including private sector ones, will still get state-provided free health-care, education, and other longstanding social services, the constitutionally mandated hallmark of Cuba's revolution.
What Do You Imagine Life in Maximum Security Prison to Be Like?
Submitted on July 5, 2011By Nicole Kish - Toronto Media Co-op
Nicole Kish is currently incarcerated in the maximum security unit at Grand Valley Prison in Kitchener, Ontario.
The final product of all this is a room full of very bored individuals lacking any means to use their time well and without many basic human necessities. The maximum security system is failing at every level...Within these walls much is wrong. I am only beginning to learn how much.
Living in Conservative Times
Submitted on July 5, 2011By Linda McQuaig - July 5, 2011
...[T]he genius of the architects of today's conservative revolution has been to obscure the class war they've been quietly waging, keeping us distracted with foreign military ventures, royals and other celebrity sightings...Behind all these diversions, the class war has been relentlessly proceeding.
Chavez: Alive, Well and Recuperating in Caracas
Submitted on July 5, 2011Recently, major media managed news suggested that Hugo Chavez is seriously ill and close to death. Recuperating from illness, yes. Potentially terminal, absolutely not.
PASOK: Pan Hellenic Socialist Kleptocrats
Submitted on July 5, 2011By James Petras - July 5th, 2011
A self-proclaimed “Socialist” Government in Greece is imposing by ballots and clubs the most far reaching reversals of wages, pensions, jobs, educational, health and tax programs in the history of Western Europe...The Pan Hellenic Socialist Party (PASOK) has totally abdicated any pretense of being a sovereign government...Never has any regime, socialist or not, so blatantly and brutally reverted an independent country to the most unadulterated form of colonial rule.
Why Internet Monitoring is Bad for Canada
Submitted on July 5, 2011By Steve Anderson - July 5, 2011
The government has promised to push through an invasive, anti-Internet set of "Lawful Access" electronic surveillance laws within the first 100 days of Parliament. If passed, these laws will turn Internet service providers...against their own customers by making them collect our personal information without court oversight...These Internet surveillance policies have the potential to fundamentally reshape the Internet in Canada -- from a relatively open medium to a closed and paranoid space.
Tahrir and All Aboard Are Safe After High Seas Seizure by Greek Special Forces
Submitted on July 5, 2011By Miles Howe - July 5, 2011
Yesterday, July 4th, the Tahrir chose to make a break for Gaza...In true Canadian fashion, two kayaks were procured from a local beach-side rental store, paddled across the bay, and stashed silently behind the Tahrir, out of sight of the coast guard and the numerous Greek special forces that now were stationed in the marina...At approximately 6:30pm, the Tahrir revved her engines...[and] at the last moment the two kayaks...blockaded the [coast guard].
Colonizing Libya by Military, Financial, Political and Propaganda Terrorism
Submitted on July 4, 2011After three and a half terror bombing months and counting, destroying Libya for wealth and power continues, each imperial nation playing its part in this sinister dirty game, masquerading as liberation.
Making the World Safe for Hypocrisy
Submitted on July 4, 2011By Michael Parenti - Znet
Why has the United States government supported counter-insurgency in Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, and many other places around the world[?]...Why did it invade tiny Grenada and then Panama? Why did it support mercenary wars against progressive governments in Nicaragua, Mozambique, Angola...and elsewhere?...I shall try to show that the arguments given to justify U.S. policies are false ones...But this does not mean the policies themselves are senseless. American intervention may seem "wrongheaded" but, in fact, it is fairly consistent and horribly successful.
Protests Spread Against Syrian Regime
Submitted on July 4, 2011By Jean Shaoul - WSWS
At least 28 protesters were killed Friday, as security forces opened fire on what were the largest demonstrations since political unrest first gripped Syria four months ago. The protest movement has escalated in defiance of the army’s brutal crackdown...Hundreds of thousands reportedly turned out in the central city of Hama, demanding the ouster of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Canadian Gaza Flotilla Ship Intercepted by Greek Coast Guard
Submitted on July 4, 201104 July 2011 - Al Jazeera
A Canadian ship taking part in a planned aid flotilla to Gaza has been forced to return to harbour in Crete after an attempt to reach international waters was thwarted by coast guards, according to on-board activists..."In a matter of minutes, the people on the boat turned on the engines while two of the activists kayaked, trying to block the coast guard in port. At that point, the Tahrir made an open break through the port, shooting for international waters."
3 Harvard Psychiatrists Disciplined Over Drug Company Ties
Submitted on July 4, 2011By Kristina Chew - July 3, 2011
Three Harvard psychiatrists, including a leading proponent in the off-label use of anti-psychotics for bipolar disorder in children, have been disciplined by Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital for not fully disclosing the extent of their ties to drug companies...Drs. Joseph Biederman, Thomas Spencer and Timothy Wilens are said to have accepted more than $4.2 million from drug companies...for psychiatric research and other activities between 2000-2007, and not reporting the income to Harvard, MGH or the federal government.
The Real Preachers of Hate
Submitted on July 4, 2011By JONATHAN COOK - July 4, 2011
The outcry in Britain against Sheikh Salah has shocked Israel's 1.3-million Palestinian citizens. For them, he is a spiritual leader and head of a respected party, the Islamic Movement. He is also admired by the wider Palestinian public. The secular Fatah movement...were among those condemning his arrest...The humiliation of Sheikh Salah at the hands of the British legal system...will serve only to remind Muslims of the hypocrisy so often evident in Western policy.
U.S. Independence Day Hypocrisy
Submitted on July 4, 2011All US federal holidays wreak of hypocrisy, representing notions and events other than what they commemorate.
One Year After Police Ran Amuck at Toronto’s G20 Summit
Submitted on July 4, 2011By Carl Bronski - WSWS
One year after the mass arrests, illegal detentions and brutal police beatings that took place on the streets of Toronto during last June’s G20 conclave of world leaders, not a single politician or supervisory police official has been held to account. Instead, the entire political establishment has worked might and main to cover-up or ignore what Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin called one of “the most massive” violations of “civil liberties in Canadian history.”
WikiLeaks' MasterCard Parody [Video]
Submitted on July 4, 2011By rabble TV - July 4, 2011
A spoof of the fact that major credit card and on-line payment companies have withheld over $15 Million in donations to WikiLeaks.
The Battle for Syntagma Square
Submitted on July 3, 2011By Jelle Bruinsma - July 03, 2011
[Neither] the tear gas, nor the other violence, could clear the square. People were determined to stay. These are our times. Some people left, taking a rest, and other people took their place. At one point in the day one could be challenging the authority of the state police, at another point one would be going around with spray cans of “maalox” to help the people that are forced back by the tear gas...[A]t yet another point one would be taking a rest or cleaning the streets. All with the same thing in mind: these streets are ours.
Leftist Greek MPs Accuse Government of Caving to Israeli Pressure to Stop Gaza Flotilla
Submitted on July 3, 2011By Amira Hass - Haaretz
Flotilla participants and members of the leftist opposition in Greece have accused the Socialist government of caving in to Israeli pressure..."The Greek government is obeying the orders of Israel and that is why the ship is anchored here. Were Greece a genuine democracy, the ship would have already set sail..."
Socially Profiling the Homeless in Montréal
Submitted on July 3, 2011July 2, 2011 - Coop Média de Montréal
[Bernard] St-Jacques is [a] community organizer for public space and jurisdiction [in Montréal] and the author of a report on social profiling released last Wednesday...85 per cent of the respondents to [the] questionnaire described the relations between homeless people and police as negative: 56 per cent reported being the victims of physical abuse and 46 per cent reported verbal abuse or discrimination. Sixty-one per cent indicated they still frequently receive fines.
U.S. Captain of Gaza Ship Held in 'Shocking Conditions'
Submitted on July 3, 2011By Agence France-Presse - Sunday, July 3, 2011
The captain of a US vessel intercepted after it tried to defy a ban and sail for Gaza from Greece was being held in "shocking conditions" Sunday and has not received consular assistance...New York lawyer Richard Levy...has visited [Captain John] Klusmer in jail [and]...told enraged US activists that "he had no bed or toilet in his cell, and is receiving no food or water".
Noam Chomsky Denounces Hugo Chávez for "Assault on Democracy"
Submitted on July 3, 2011By Rory Carroll - Sunday 3 July 2011
...Chomsky has accused [Hugo Chávez] of amassing too much power and of making an "assault" on Venezuela's democracy...[Chomsky] spoke on the eve of publishing an open letter...that accuses Venezuela's authorities of "cruelty" in the case of a jailed judge..."Judge Afiuni has suffered enough...She has been subject to acts of violence and humiliations to undermine her human dignity. I am convinced that she must be set free."
Libya: Unending American Hostility
Submitted on July 3, 2011By William Blum - July 02, 2011
If any foreign power fired missiles at the United States would Barack Obama regard that as an act of war? If the US firing hundreds of missiles at Libya is not an act of war, as Obama insists (to avoid having to declare war as required by US law), then the deaths resulting from the missile attacks are murder. That's it. It's either war or murder. To the extent there's a difference between the two.
Netanyahu's Big Fat Greek Wedding
Submitted on July 3, 2011By Barak Ravid - July 1, 2011
[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s personal investment in his relationship over the past year-and-a-half with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou...seems to have put the final nail in the Gaza flotilla’s coffin...The romance between Netanyahu and Papandreou began in February of 2010, when the two met coincidentally at [a]...restaurant in Moscow. Netanyahu took advantage of their chance encounter to speak with the Greek prime minister about Turkish extremism against Israel and the two quickly became friends.
Tahrir Promises to Sail Tomorrow: Subplots and Intrigue Abound
Submitted on July 3, 2011By Miles Howe - July 3, 2011
When...peace activists have their cover blown, occupy a island-hoping ferry in the marina, and begin marching up and down the boardwalk, screaming "Shame on Papandreaou!" and "Free Gaza!"...there's a problem. A town like Nikolaos, with 8 euro cocktails, lazy Tuesday night karaoke...and not even a nude beach, isn't built for such expressions of solidarity with the people of Gaza. This isn't Athens. This isn't Syntagma Square. There's not even a hint of tear gas in the air.
Targeting Professor Terri Ginsberg's Academic and Speech Freedoms
Submitted on July 2, 2011University of North Carolina (UNC) Professor Terri Ginsberg is one of many victims. She was denied tenure-track positioning, then fired from her visiting professorship at North Carolina State University (NCSU) "pertaining to (her) scholarship and teaching on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
Jello Biafra Cancels Gig in Tel Aviv
Submitted on July 2, 2011By Nora Barrows-Friedman - June 29, 2011
After weeks of sustained protest and outcry from punk rock supporters, Palestinian solidarity activists, and boycott campaigners, punk rock icon Jello Biafra has agreed to cancel his upcoming show in Tel Aviv...Biafra’s decision to cancel...is the right one, but he still seems under the impression that the boycott is a fringe movement that he has the right to ignore.
I Am Indigenist: Notes on the Ideology of the Fourth World
Submitted on July 2, 2011By Ward Churchill - Znet
This essay was first published September 20, 2000.
In the sense that I use the term, indigenism is...the outlook that guided our great leaders of the past: King Philip and Pontiac, Tecumseh and Creek Mary and Osceola, Black Hawk, Nancy Ward and Satanta, Lone Wolf and Red Cloud, Satank and Quannah Parker, Left Hand and Crazy Horse, Dull Knife and Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Roman Nose and Captain Jack, Louis Ríel and Poundmaker and Geronimo, Cochise and Mangus, Victorio, Chief Seattle, and on and on.
UK "Welfare Reform" Will Make 40,000 More Families Homeless
Submitted on July 2, 2011By Daniel Boffey and Toby Helm - Saturday 2 July 2011
[British Prime Minister] David Cameron has been warned by one of his most trusted cabinet ministers that his welfare policies risk making 40,000 families homeless...The extraordinary claim, in a letter to the prime minister from the office of Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, exposes deep splits at the heart of government over plans to cap benefit at £500 a week per family.
Greece Arrests Captain of U.S. Gaza-Bound Boat
Submitted on July 2, 201102 July 2011 -Al Jazeera
The captain of a US ship bound for Gaza has been arrested by Greek authorities for a felony after being brought before a prosecutor...The boat, which is part of a Freedom Flotilla aiming to break Israel's [blockade] of the Palestinian territory, set sail on Friday from the Greek port of Perama [but] was towed back to shore by the Greek coast guard.
The Invasion of Australia: Official, At Last
Submitted on July 2, 2011By John Pilger - July 02, 2011
“We were invaded...It is the truth and it shouldn’t be watered down. We wouldn’t expect Jewish people to accept a watered-down version of the Holocaust, so why should we?”
- Paul Morris, Aboriginal adviser to Sydney City Council
Pack Journalism Anti-Gaddafi Propaganda
Submitted on July 2, 2011Western media, especially America's, mostly ignore multiple Obama wars, focusing mainly on promoting terror bombing Libya, slaughtering civilians to save them.
Israel: How Low Can They Go?
Submitted on July 2, 2011By Kevin Neish - rabble.ca
Earlier flotilla ships in 2007-08 got rammed by the Israeli navy...Last year, they attacked the flotilla [and]...beat, tasered, gassed, and shot 63 peace activists, murdering nine...Now the Israeli government is reduced to sabotaging our civilian aid ships while we are in foreign ports.
The Conservative Plague Attacking Canada
Submitted on July 2, 2011By Gerry Caplan - July 2, 2011
...[W]hat have Canadians done to evoke the wrath of the heavens? What have Ontarians done?...It's a trifecta, folks. Harper the asbestos killer in Ottawa, Ford the city-wrecker in Toronto, and, come October 6, very likely [Ontario Conservative leader Tim] Hudak...in Ontario...What have ordinary people done to deserve this plague of right-wing Conservatives? Equally mysterious, why have so many ordinary folks supported them?
"Greece, at the Moment, is Part of Israeli Foreign Policy"
Submitted on July 2, 2011By Miles Howe - July 2, 2011
Today, as the Tahrir remains unable to leave the port of Agios Nikolaos, the [Canadian Boat to Gaza] secured the assistance of an ally within Greek politics...Mihalis Kritsotakis, representative from Heraklion, the main seat on the island of Crete, paid a visit to the locked-down Tahrir..."Why in this situation do we break between Greeks and Palestinians, and Arabs?...And why do we go against the feeling of the Greek people?"
WikiLeaks Document on Gaza Blockade Puts Israel's Flotilla Propaganda to Shame
Submitted on July 1, 2011By Alex Kane - June 29, 2011
"Israeli officials have confirmed to [U.S.] Embassy officials on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis...As part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed...on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge."
- U.S. State Department cable, published by WikiLeaks
Greece Crumbles Under Israeli Pressure, Tahrir Blocked, Activists Occupy Boat
Submitted on July 1, 2011By Miles Howe - Halifax Media Co-op
For days now, the administrative requirements from port authorities at the marina in Agios Nikolaos have become more and more obscure, culminating today with the discovery that the Tahrir's radio did not have the proper signal call, and simply could not sail without it..."They were looking to see if they could find something...And they kept looking and looking and looking, with another officer, and another agency, and another officer, and another agency, they kept coming...looking."
"No Photo Ops With Fucking Cops": Ladies Anarchist Solidarity Society Forms Anti-Policing Contingent at Toronto Pride
Submitted on July 1, 2011July 1, 2011 - Toronto Media Co-op
The Ladies Anarchist Solidarity Society (LASS) has called for an anti-policing contingent at this year’s parade “to be vocal for the members in our community who can't because they are continually targeted by police” and to “remember the roots of Pride”. They see it as important to not forget past struggles of the queer and trans community against the police and not condone its continuation today by uncritically accepting or encouraging police participation.
Israel Extends Gaza Blockade to Greece, Canadian Boat to Gaza Challenges Political Interference
Submitted on July 1, 2011July 1, 2011 - rabble.ca
In an attempt by local authorities to confiscate the Canadian ship Tahrir's transit logs, it has been revealed that a Greek Ministerial order has been issued to prevent any ships from leaving ports in Greece if the destination is Gaza..."Israel has in effect extended the illegal blockade of Gaza to Greek ports, using Greece's economic difficulties to influence the government's position..."
The Criminalization of the Canadian Postal Strike and the Role of the Unions and NDP
Submitted on July 1, 2011By Keith Jones - WSWS
Canada’s Conservative government used its newly acquired parliamentary majority to criminalize the anti-concessions struggle waged by Canada Post’s 48,000 urban letter carriers, mail sorters, and postal clerks. But the government had no need to mobilize the courts and police to enforce its savage strikebreaking law. That was done by the trade unions and their political allies in the New Democratic Party (NDP).
Washington Gives Green Light for Attack on Unarmed Gaza Flotilla, Including Ship with 50 Americans on Board
Submitted on July 1, 2011By Stephen Zunes - June 30, 2011
The risk of an Israeli attack on the flotilla is real. Israeli commandos illegally assaulted a similar flotilla in international waters on May 31 of last year, killing nine people on board one of the vessels, including...a 19-year old U.S. citizen. Scores of others...were brutally beaten and more than a dozen others were shot but survived their wounds...The Obama administration never filed a complaint with the Israeli government, demonstrating its willingness to allow the armed forces of U.S. allies to murder U.S. citizens on the high seas.
Lies, Damn Lies and Safe Nuclear Power
Submitted on July 1, 2011In any form, nuclear power is inherently unsafe.
Lost in Psychiatryland
Submitted on July 1, 2011By MARTHA ROSENBERG - July 1-3, 2011
"Psychiatry mimics science but is not a real science...That gives psychiatrists free reign to just experiment and symptom chase, often insanely chasing the side effects and negative interactions of the current drug regimen with more and more drugs. Polypharmacy is also a way psychiatrists can distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive market. No one believes you need a specialist for one drug -- any primary care physician can give you Zoloft -- but for multi-drug therapy you do."
- Florida Psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Sinaikin, author of Psychiatryland
Kabul Hotel Attack Shakes U.S. Occupation Regime in Afghanistan
Submitted on July 1, 2011By Alex Lantier - 1 July 2011
The June 28-29 attack by Afghan insurgents on the luxury Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul has again exposed the ineffectiveness of US-backed Afghan security forces and the political isolation of the US occupation regime in Afghanistan...Police at the hotel reportedly refused to fire on the attackers, and Special Forces from the US and New Zealand were brought in to attack the insurgents.
Greece: Syntagma Square, What Next?
Submitted on July 1, 2011By Nikos Raptis - July 01, 2011
Yesterday, Wednesday, June 29, 2011, and the day before yesterday, the Greek police at Syntagma Square acted against the people of Athens worse than the Nazis during the 1941 - 1944 Nazi occupation and worse than the police of the military dictatorship of 1967 - 1974. This is written here by a person who has lived through the Nazi occupation and through the military dictatorship.
Happy Alberta Day, Canada! Get Used to It!
Submitted on July 1, 2011By David J. Climenhaga - July 1, 2011
...[W]hat is not yet widely understood in the rest of Canada is the extent to which the Conservative brain-trust of neo-Cons...right-wing academics, corporate "think tankers" and their ilk have been influenced by the petroleum-driven political culture of [Alberta]. This is a place with a monochromatic mainstream media, worshipful attitude toward American-style ideological extremism and reflexive anti-labour attitudes and practices that have been reflected literally for generations in Alberta's legislation.
Pfizer’s Neurontin Killed Our Husbands
Submitted on June 30, 2011By Martha Rosenberg - Dissident Voice
Adverse reactions to Neurontin have been greatly underestimated and unreported...harming unsuspecting families and their physicians. “We must have the full and accurate facts about a drug’s risks to make good decisions when family members consider treatment, especially with psychoactive drugs. We cannot do that if pharmaceutical companies are allowed to taint the outcome of clinical trials and bury the harmful evidence.”
U.S. Embassy Requests Funding for Anti-Chavez Groups: Wikileaks
Submitted on June 30, 2011By Eva Golinger - June 30, 2011
The latest Wikileaks releases include cables sent from the US Embassy in Caracas to the State Department, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Council, and other US entities, indicating requests for additional US government funding for opposition groups in Venezuela. The cables corroborate documents previously obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that evidence ongoing US funding to support anti-Chavez groups and political parties in Venezuela actively working to destabilize and overthrow the South American government.
Senator Calls for U.S. Special Forces to Attack the Gaza Flotilla
Submitted on June 30, 2011June 30, 2011 - Counterpunch
Dear Senator [Mark] Kirk:
A [military] website...reports that you said the United States should "make available all necessary special operations and naval support to the Israeli Navy to effectively disable flotilla vessels before they can pose a threat to Israeli coastal security or put Israeli lives at risk"...[W]e are your constituents. It's not too late for you to acknowledge that your earlier call for military action against us jeopardizes our safety and to reverse your claim which insinuates that we are dangerous people.
Freedom Flotilla II: Red Tape, More Sabotage, Snakes in the Grass
Submitted on June 30, 2011By Miles Howe - June 30, 2011
Word of violence towards other Flotilla participants on the streets of Greece, in particular by seizing their means of communication and their identification, has also filtered through the communication channels. And today, reports surfaced of Israeli spies, right outside our hotel, attempting to conscript locals. Death threats have also circulated to the children of Canadian Boat to Gaza participants.
Meaner and Tougher IMF With Lagarde
Submitted on June 30, 2011Christine Lagarde is a club member in good standing, a neo-liberal hard-liner, chosen to enforce structural adjustment harshness, starting with Greece.
Canadian Boat to Gaza: Creating Momentum, Creating Victories
Submitted on June 29, 2011By Amy Miller - June 28, 2011
“Last month, John Baird, [Canada’s] Foreign Affairs Minister, called the [Canadian Boat to Gaza] ‘provocative’ and warned that he supported Israel’s so-called ‘right to defend themselves’ against the flotilla, and that Canada wouldn’t be coming to the help of the Canadians if there was an attack [by Israel]...This is unacceptable. The government should be ensuring safe passage and putting pressure on Israel that they won’t harm the boat.”
- Wendy Goldsmith, Canadian Boat to Gaza
It Was a Good Day to Die: 135 Years Since the Battle of the Greasy Grass
Submitted on June 29, 2011Sunday, June 26, 2011 - People Of Color Organize!
Generally known to settler historians as the Battle of the Little Bighorn...what is known to us as the Battle of the Greasy Grass was an attempted massacre of what was thought to be a primarily civilian Indian encampment by the Amerikkkan 7th Cavalry commanded by one of the most cowardly butchers in the employ of the expanding white settler colony, George Armstrong Custer.
As Athens Burns, IDF Spin Machine Has Baseless Allegations Denounced
Submitted on June 29, 2011By Miles Howe - June 29, 2011
At the time of writing, Athens has descended into a state of chaos. Clashes between protesters and riot police have turned violent, and the People's Assembly of Syndagma Square reports that over 500 protesters will be transported to hospital “with respiratory problems, traumatic brain injuries, and heart attacks”...Amidst this extremely serious situation, the [Israeli 'Defence' Forces] yesterday floated the completely unfounded story that some activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla II were planning on using chemical weapons against IDF soldiers.
Washington Plans Further Actions Against Venezuela
Submitted on June 29, 2011By Eva Golinger - June 29, 2011
During a hearing on the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives...on “sanctioned activities in Venezuela,” Congressional Democrats and Republicans asked the Obama administration to take more aggressive actions against the government of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela...In testimony before the Committee, the Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Latin America...revealed that the administration of Barack Obama is “seriously considering” labeling Venezuela a “terrorist state”.
No One Is Illegal-Vancouver Solidarity with Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Submitted on June 29, 2011June 26th, 2011 - No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
You are our neighbours and members of our community...The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has a long history as a progressive voice for working people, and those marginalized by the exploitative system in which we live. We commend your principled stance for maternity benefits, your opposition to the occupation of Afghanistan, your support for Security Certificate detainees, your solidarity with migrant and undocumented workers, and your role in leading the labour BDS movement for a free Palestine.
U.S. Steps Up Harassment of Manning, WikiLeaks Supporters
Submitted on June 29, 2011By Ash Pemberton - Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The United States government has stepped up its intimidation of whistle-blowing media organisation WikiLeaks by forcing several of its supporters to appear before secret grand jury hearings...Those subpoenaed have been targeted for their connections to Bradley Manning, the US army private suspected of leaking thousands of secret documents which were later published by WikiLeaks.
Israeli Anti-Freedom Flotilla II Propaganda
Submitted on June 29, 2011Participants on board all 10 ships haven't come this far to turn back or let imperial viciousness deter them, especially when their mission is vital and just.
Greece Gripped by General Strike
Submitted on June 29, 2011Tuesday, June 28, 2011 - Agence France-Presse
ATHENS – Greece ground to a halt on Tuesday as angry workers launched a 48-hour general strike against an austerity drive ordered by its bankruptcy-threatened government in exchange for a European bailout...Public transport was halted in Athens for the fourth general strike called this year by the country's two biggest unions, with the exception of the metro whose drivers decided not to strike so as to allow Athenians to swell protest numbers.
Every Mohawk a Suspect: Why Drug Raids in Kanehsatake Feel Like Police Invasions
Submitted on June 29, 2011Consider how police conduct drug raids elsewhere. They obtain warrants naming specific individuals. They isolate the address specified in the warrant. They execute the warrant with a minimum of inconvenience to the neighbourhood...A raid at Kanehsatake is different. The whole community...has a police roadblock. All Mohawks are considered suspect and potentially dangerous. This explains why the police presence is massive...The disruption to the community is huge.
A World Overwhelmed by Western Hypocrisy
Submitted on June 29, 2011By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS - Counterpunch
As the second decade of the 21st century opens, those who oppose US hegemony and the evil that emanates from Washington risk being declared to be “terrorists.” If they are American citizens, they can be assassinated. If they are foreign leaders, their country can be invaded. When captured, they can be executed...or sent off to the [International Criminal Court]...
Australian Labor Government to Stop Welfare Payments to Teenage Mothers
Submitted on June 29, 2011By Tania Baptist - WSWS
In a trial scheme to begin next January, the Gillard Labor government will strip teenage mothers in disadvantaged communities of welfare payments for failing to comply with compulsory “participation” obligations once their babies are just six months old...The attack on one of the most vulnerable groups in society is part of a raft of measures...aimed at forcing the disabled, the long-term unemployed, and single mothers off welfare and into the workforce, where they will become a new source of cheap labour.
The Derailing of Social Democracy
Submitted on June 29, 2011By Ignacio Ramonet - Znet
The massive conversion to free market economics and neo-liberal globalisation, the renunciation of any defence of the welfare state and the public sector, the new alliance with financial capital and banking have all stripped social democracy of the primary features of its identity. Every day people find it harder to tell the difference between "leftist" and "rightist" policies since both do the bidding of the financial bosses of the world.
Conservative Omnibus Crime Bill an Injustice
Submitted on June 29, 2011By Paula Mallea - June 29, 2011
This fall the Harper government will pass an omnibus crime bill that will imprison thousands more Canadians and cost billions of dollars. It will not...drive the crime rate down. It will simply incarcerate for longer the many citizens who fall afoul of the new laws and mandatory minimum sentences.
Hillary Clinton Gives Green Light for Israeli Attack on Gaza Flotilla
Submitted on June 28, 2011By Ali Abunimah - June 28, 2011
In comments recently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seemed to lay the ground...for an Israeli military attack on the upcoming Gaza Freedom Flotilla..."[W]e do not believe that the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza...[W]e think that it's not helpful for there to be flotillas that try to provoke actions by entering into Israeli waters and creating a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defend themselves."
NOII-Van Banner Drop, Plasters Immigration Offices in Opposition to Anti Refugee Bill
Submitted on June 28, 2011June 28th, 2011 - No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
No One Is Illegal dropped a large banner which read: “Canada Jails Refugees” above Highway 1 in Vancouver/Burnaby this morning during rush-hour traffic. The group also stickered and plastered the offices of Immigration Canada with messages to scrap Bill C-4. The actions were in response to the reintroduction of Human Smuggling Bill C-4 that targets refugees for mandatory imprisonment and deportation.
France Launches Attack on Long-Term Jobless
Submitted on June 28, 2011By Pierre Mabut - 28 June 2011
The ruling right-wing [government] of French President Nicolas Sarkozy held a convention on June 8 to launch an all-out attack on basic welfare payments to the long-term unemployed...The reactionary tone was set by Sarkozy’s minister for European affairs...who denounced welfare...recipients as a “cancer of French society.” This is part of Sarkozy’s campaign to get re-elected in 2012 — amid savage cuts in public services and the stoking of anti-immigrant racism.
The NDP and Libya: What Would Tommy Douglas Think?
Submitted on June 28, 2011By Chris Shaw - rabble.ca
The French anarchist writer Sebastien Faure wrote that, "I am aware of the fact that it is not always possible to do what one should do. But I know that there are things that on no account can one ever do." The NDP's Jack Layton is certainly no anarchist. Indeed, it is even becoming uncertain if he and the NDP are even socialists anymore, but they all would do well to remember Faure's sage advice...There are simply some things one should not do...And one of those things that one should never do is to abandon all principle for political expediency and the hope of future electoral gain.
Freedom Flotilla II: Great News, Good News, Less Good News
Submitted on June 28, 2011By Miles Howe - June 28, 2011
GREECE – Events begin to progress rapidly, as the international game of cat and mouse that has become the Freedom Flotilla II now enters a phase of rapid action. One year of planning, both on the side of those wanting to peacefully deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, and on the side of those eager to keep the illegal blockade of Gaza in place, are now coming to fruition. For the moment, each side appears to be scoring victories.
FBI Entraps Two More Muslims
Submitted on June 28, 2011Innocence or guilt doesn't matter, just the illusion that America is now safer when, in fact, each conviction assures greater insecurity, leaving many to wonder who's next...Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif (aka Joseph Anthony Davis) and Walli Mujahidh (aka Frederick Dominque) are the latest victims.
Israel Toughening Conditions for Palestinian Detainees
Submitted on June 27, 2011Torture, abuse and degrading treatment are commonplace in violation of international law prohibiting it. Nonetheless, a 2007 B'Tselem/HaMoked report titled, "Absolute Prohibition: The Torture and Ill-Treatment of Palestinian Detainees" estimated that around 85% are subjected to torture and mistreatment.
A Year Later, Bitter G20 Memories Linger for Many Activists
Submitted on June 27, 2011Amalia Savva experienced the ugly side of last year's G20 summit protests in Toronto first hand when she saw a friend and fellow organizer with 11 staples in his head and a severe concussion after a police baton cracked open his skull..."This type of police and state violence is not new and it will not get old...The use of excessive violence to undermine the rights of people is used very often and in many different situations."
Archaeology Branch Lies to Protect Exclusion of Tsartlip Nation
Submitted on June 27, 2011By Jared Nyberg - June 25, 2011
When researching this article, it came to light that after the 2006 Bear Mountain cave incident (in which a sacred shamanic cave was blown up by developers and the Archaeology Branch) the Tsartlip were no longer being consulted in land use decisions. The BC Archaeology Branch explained to this writer that the Ministry of Aboriginal Relations had declared the Tsartlip did not have “first tenure” to the area and did not need to be consulted.
Homelessness and Police Brutality
Submitted on June 27, 2011By Karen Lahey / DTES Power of Women Group - Vancouver Media Co-op
I have lost faith in the police. I fear that if I ever needed them to help me, they would turn on me instead. They do little to protect against actual violence, like all the murdered and missing women. Instead, they are violent towards us, frequently arresting people for minor things like jaywalking, or harassing people who are just standing on the street...I imagine a Downtown Eastside where we are free from the arbitrary beatings and the brutality of the Vancouver Police Department...
As We Train To Go: Reflections on Boat to Gaza Preparations in Greece, Interview with Bob Lovelace
Submitted on June 27, 2011By Miles Howe - Halifax Media Co-op
To look at us, you'd think we were just one more group of middle-class tourists chasing the Mediterranean sun...Behind closed doors, however, it is strictly business. For the past four days we have shaped ourselves into a peaceful force to be reckoned with. Those with experience have taught the rest about water cannons, and percussion grenades, and tear gas, and rubber tipped bullets, and jail solidarity, and about signing nothing without a lawyer. And we take it all in.
Did New Orleans Media Ignore Police Violence After Hurricane Katrina?
Submitted on June 27, 2011By Jordan Flaherty - Dissident Voice
“They were looking for heroes...They had a cozy relationship with the police. They got tips from the police, they were in bed with the police. It was an atmosphere of tolerance for atrocities from the police. They abdicated their responsibility to be critical in their reporting. If a few people got killed that was a small price to pay.”
- Former Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan on how an indifferent local media bears partial responsibility for the years of cover-up of police violence in New Orleans
Less Civil, More Liberties: The G20 Anniversary Breakaway March
Submitted on June 27, 2011Hundreds of people converged on Queens Park this past Saturday to mark the one year anniversary of the G20 and call for a public inquiry. The rally, organized by labour and civil liberties groups...was billed as a "freedom festival", not as a protest. Many were surprised and disappointed that organizers had no intentions to take the streets, and soon rumours were being spread throughout the crowd that an unpermitted breakaway march would take place at the end of the rally.
Breaching Gaza's Siege Update
Submitted on June 27, 2011Israel keeps exerting pressure to block humanitarian efforts to deliver vital to life and other essential aid to besieged Gazans.
NDP Facilitates Passage of Strike-Breaking Law
Submitted on June 27, 2011By Keith Jones - WSWS
The trade union-based New Democratic Party (NDP) has facilitated passage of a savage strikebreaking law that criminalizes all job action by the country’s 48,000 urban postal workers and ensures sweeping contract concessions will be imposed upon them...On Saturday...the NDP bowed to pressure from the majority Conservative government and the corporate media and abandoned its half-hearted campaign to delay passage of Bill C-6.
Britain Moves to Criminalize Squatting
Submitted on June 26, 2011SchNEWS - Friday 24th June 2011 | Issue 776
We are in the midst of a housing crisis in which rents are increasing, people are struggling to get mortgages and housing benefit is being slashed...Meanwhile, 870,000 homes lie empty and there’s enough empty commercial property to create 420,000 new homes. Far from being a social menace - squatting is a positive short-term solution to homelessness, requiring initiative and responsibility. It’s free of government cost and management. To make it illegal right now is both stupid and inhumane...
Living Among Us: Activists Speak Out on Police Infiltration
Submitted on June 26, 2011By Tim Groves - June 20, 2011
“One of my former friends disappeared, and it became very obvious to us that she was a police officer...I cried on her shoulder and had lots of close conversations with her before realizing that her job was to manipulate people into giving information, and to create social profiles on us...It was really upsetting and infuriating, and I remember feeling isolated and not able to trust people...That is part of the point of infiltration - creating this sort of fear and paralysis.”
- Joshua Gilbert, a house painter involved with anarchist organizing in Guelph, Ontario
Langford's Bridge to Nowhere
Submitted on June 26, 2011By Jared Nyberg - June 25, 2011
The Bear Mountain Interchange is Langford’s “Bridge to Nowhere”. Popular sentiment on the issue would seem to encourage the “rewilding” of the space and protection of the damaged million year old karst caves and Salish cultural sites.
Worker Unrest in China Sends Tremors Through World Capitalism
Submitted on June 26, 2011By John Chan - WSWS
Broader industrial unrest in China would have far-reaching ramifications for international corporations, ranging from German machine exporters to the mining giants in Australia and Brazil. General Motors now produces more cars and trucks in China than in the US and Walmart is dependent on China for most of its cheap consumer goods. Apple’s iPhones and iPads are made by huge sweatshops run by Foxconn. Foreign-owned subsidiaries directly employ 16 million Chinese workers, with many millions more involved in complex supply chains for transnational corporations.
Private Prisons Love Mass Incarceration and Want Politicians to Love It Too
Submitted on June 26, 2011By Ryan J. Reilly - Friday, June 24, 2011
"Since private prison companies are in the business to make money, policies that maintain or increase incarceration boost their revenues; from a business perspective, the economic and social costs of mass incarceration are 'externalities' that aren't figured into their corporate bottom line..."
Is Greece Being Blackmailed to Put the Brakes on Gaza Flotilla?
Submitted on June 26, 2011By Medea Benjamin - June 26, 2011
It appears that the Greek government is bowing to intense pressure from the Israelis — and possibly the U.S. government — to try to block the flotilla...The move to block the U.S. boat is just the latest in a flurry of recent activity designed to thwart the flotilla. Israel has publicly stated that it is pressuring countries around the world to stop their citizens from participating.
Canadians Preparing to Sail for Gaza
Submitted on June 26, 2011By Amira Hass - Znet
Canadian activists raised about $350,000 over the past year for the operation, setting up an account in the name of a group called Turtle Island Humanitarian Aid. The Canadian government has announced it does not support the flotilla, viewing it as a provocation against Israel.
Violating Palestinian Rights
Submitted on June 26, 2011Besides its Knesset, security forces and intelligence services, Israel's High Court and Civil Administration ravage Palestinian civil society repressively.
Bros and Barbarism
Submitted on June 26, 2011June 26, 2011 - Vancouver Media Co-op
In a strongly stratified city such as Vancouver, a new aristocracy has formed, with similar attitudes to their ancient counterparts. An arrogance that has become so powerful that it is more than simply distasteful, it's downright perilous at times for the average citizen...Main Street from Terminal to Hastings is quickly being developed into another Granville Street as expensive commuter bars have begun to appear, uprooting the locals and bringing them into contact and conflict with hostile affluent youth.
Breaching Gaza's Siege
Submitted on June 25, 2011Suffocating besieged Gazans, Israel is committing slow-motion genocide. Global activists are determined to stop it and hold Israeli officials accountable for decades of crimes of war and against humanity - unspeakable atrocities financed by criminal co-conspirators in Washington.
COPE, Vision and Labour’s Plan of Action
Submitted on June 25, 2011By Nathan Crompton - June 24, 2011
In 2008, we could not have known that Vision Vancouver would break their progressive promises. It was difficult to argue that [the Coalition of Progressive Electors] could win on an independent slate, because there was the possibility of splitting the left vote. Today, the situation could not be more different. Vision has proven themselves to be a pro-business, right wing party.
"G20 Land" and the Real Canada: One Year After the G20 Protests
Submitted on June 25, 2011By Megan Kinch - June 25, 2011
...[I]n an atmosphere that approached de-facto martial law, over 1000 people were held in inhumane conditions in the Eastern Avenue detention centre. No one knows how many people were detained, dumped from police vans without money or cell phones in remote parts of [Toronto], searched illegally, kettled by police, sexually assaulted, or beaten.
If You Want to Understand What’s Really Going on in the World, Stop Thinking Like a Middle Class American
Submitted on June 25, 2011By William Hicks - Dissident Voice
...[R]ising food prices have ALWAYS been a key factor in revolts against oppressive regimes...[I]n order to really gain an understanding of what was happening in Egypt and elsewhere, my friend needed to stop thinking like a typical middle class American...It doesn’t take too much imagination...to realize why people in countries where our military is dropping drone missiles might hate us.
G20/G8 Summit Opponents Infiltrated by Police
Submitted on June 24, 2011By Dave Seglins - CBC News
Newly released G8/G20 summit documents reveal the RCMP and various Ontario police forces spent several months infiltrating anti-war, anti-globalization and anarchist groups with the use of undercover officers ahead of last June's summits in Huntsville and Toronto...The reports omit details on specific individuals or groups, nor do they offer conclusions about what, if any, crimes or plots of violence were detected.
Israel Escalates Pressure and Threats Against Gaza Flotilla
Submitted on June 24, 2011By Bego Astigarraga - The Electronic Intifada
As the second Gaza Freedom Flotilla, made up of some 10 ships carrying 1,000 activists from 20 countries, gets ready to sail for the besieged Gaza Strip, Israeli authorities are stepping up their threats...The Israeli daily Haaretz revealed that the Israeli military held a large drill for special commandos and snipers to prepare to intercept the flotilla.
Remembering Geronimo Pratt
Submitted on June 24, 2011By Leonard Peltier - June 24, 2011
The combined resources of the FBI, Los Angeles police, and the L.A. District Attorney’s office couldn’t defeat him. What those in power did not understand was that Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt was no ordinary man. He was a giant among men and remained focused during the most trying times. What they did not comprehend was that you can jail the warrior but not his ideas, not his strength, nor his affect on others.
Turkish - Israeli Relations
Submitted on June 24, 2011Turkey wants Middle East security. Israel often threatens it. Both countries also vie for regional dominance, while at the same time cooperating on military, intelligence and other mutually strategic interests.
Brainwashing the Corporate Way
Submitted on June 24, 2011By John Pilger - Znet
Professionals are said to be meritorious and non-ideological. Yet, in spite of their education...they think less independently than non-professionals...[W]hat makes the modern professional is not technical knowledge but “ideological discipline”. Those in higher education and the media do “political work” but in a way that is not seen as political...“Taking sides” is anathema...What matters is the "right attitude".
Permanent Iraq and Afghanistan Occupations Planned
Submitted on June 24, 2011Controlling Eurasia's vast oil and gas reserves explains why America plans permanent Iraq and Afghanistan occupations, terror bombs Libya, and heads toward possible general war by threatening Syria, Iran, and perhaps other states to fuel its insatiable military-industrial appetite.
Jello Biafra Plays Israel: Bedtime for Punk Rock Relevancy?
Submitted on June 24, 2011By COLIN KALMBACHER - June 24-26, 2011
...[W]hen I heard that Jello Biafra was bucking the [boycott, divestment and sanctions call against Israel]...and had even considered playing a show in Tel Aviv, I was quite simply heartbroken. I wanted to break a violin...Midnight Apache helicopter raids against the civilian populations of the West Bank? I first heard about it on one of Biafra's spoken-word albums...But now the source seems like a quivering and faulty projector.
June 2011: Our Streets Are Still On Fire
Submitted on June 24, 2011June 24, 2011 - Toronto Media Co-op
During the G20 meetings in June 2010 the world was shocked by the police brutality, corporate exploitation and state repression witnessed in downtown Toronto. Yet for racialized peoples, indigenous peoples, poor people, migrant workers, and many others...this is an everyday reality. Our communities have been...in a state of emergency because governments insist on securing corporate profits at our expense...Our streets are bleeding and the government of Canada and its allied institutions are responsible.
Children Abducted from their Bedrooms
Submitted on June 23, 2011By Mel Frykberg - 17 June 2011
“Father please help me! Don’t let them take me away,” screamed 12-year-old Ahmed Siyam as approximately fifty heavily armed Israeli soldiers and police dragged the handcuffed and blindfolded boy away...Last month Ahmed was pulled out of his bed...by Israeli security forces led by Shin Bet agents from Israel’s domestic intelligence agency. He was...accused of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and police during clashes with Palestinian youth in the volatile neighborhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem.
Canada's NDP Stampedes to the Right
Submitted on June 23, 2011By Keith Jones - WSWS
Having been catapulted into the role of Official Opposition, the trade union-based New Democratic Party (NDP) is now seeking to convince the Canadian ruling class that it can be trusted to rule on their behalf, supplanting the Liberal Party as the bourgeoisie’s “left” party of government.
McCain/Kerry Support Imperial War on Libya
Submitted on June 23, 2011Bipartisan support for US imperial aggression.
G20 Defendants to Challenge "No Demonstration" Conditions
Submitted on June 23, 2011By Community Solidarity Network - Toronto Media Co-op
This morning, two G20 defendants, Alex Hundert and Amanda Hiscocks will be attending the Ontario Superior Court...to file for a bail review hearing where they will contest the constitutionality of a bail condition that has been used to prevent G20 defendants from exercising their freedoms of speech, expression and assembly; effectively barring them from participating in their own communities.
The Land of Unlimited Inequality
Submitted on June 23, 2011By Patrick Martin - 23 June 2011
The United States is well on its way to becoming the most unequal society on the planet. An extensive economic analysis of the growing gap between the wealthy and everyone else...provides striking evidence of this trend...[W]hile the incomes of the super-rich have quadrupled...the living standards of working people have either stagnated or declined.
U.S.-Led Terror Bombings Target Civilians
Submitted on June 23, 2011US air and ground operations strategically target civilians, Pentagon (and NATO) denials notwithstanding. They lie despite clear evidence refuting them. Their latest crime claimed 19 Libyans, all civilians, including women and eight children, apologies not forthcoming and deceitful when they do.
NDP MP Pat Martin's Anti-Socialist Speech [Video]
Submitted on June 23, 2011Pat Martin is the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre [Manitoba]. At the 2011 federal NDP convention in Vancouver, British Columbia, he takes the "pro" microphone and then goes into an attack on Socialism that any right-winger would be proud of.
"I’m Here to Defend What I Said and I’m Not Ashamed of It"
Submitted on June 23, 2011By Megan Kinch - June 22, 2011
“I have no regret for what I said. My only regret is that we didn't succeed in tearing down that fence, and we didn’t succeed in effectively disrupting the G20 in the way it deserved to be disrupted...”
- Jaggi Singh
Greek People Face New Blows, Spain-Inspired Protests Break Out
Submitted on June 23, 2011By Afrodity Giannakis - Green Left Weekly
...[T]he impact on Greek people of the austerity measures demanded by the IMF has been devastating...Official unemployment has reached about 16% — an all-time high...Health and social services have been brutally slashed...Many people cannot meet their most basic needs...Despite this...[the] Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) government persists on the same disastrous course...The onslaught on Greek people’s lives is going to be even more ferocious.
"You Can't Stay at Home": G20 Reflections and the Fight Against Rob Ford
Submitted on June 22, 2011By Syed Hussan - June 21, 2011
Some people might say, as they did during the G20, this is all a done deal, the cuts are going to happen at all levels, so [we] might as well do nothing...[T]he Toronto Stop the Cuts Network believes...[a] network of people that actually organize on the streets [can] mobilize across Toronto to defend services, believing...that people will mobilize to stop things that directly affect them. Their plan goes something like this.
Bahrain Sues to Suppress Police State Terror Truths
Submitted on June 22, 2011The Khalifa monarchy "commissioned a UK-based law firm to file a case against The Independent for its reporting on the crackdowns on (internal) protests"...It is mainly directed against an article by correspondent Robert Fisk.
Texas Executes Mentally Handicapped Man After U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Appeal
Submitted on June 22, 2011By Kate Randall - 22 June 2011
Milton Mathis, 32, was executed Tuesday evening at the Huntsville prison in Texas...The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Mathis’s attorneys for a reprieve. His defense team had argued that his execution violated the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment due to Mathis’s mental retardation...In addition to executing the mentally retarded, people suffering from varying types of mental illness have been put to death.
Greek Austerity Protests: Fury from the Man in the Street
Submitted on June 21, 2011By Karen Kissane - Znet
VASSILIS Dermitzakis saw protesters screaming at riot police from outside a tall iron gate of the botanical gardens in Athens...They were middle-aged, middle-class, well-dressed. He watched in disbelief as they tore a telephone booth out of the ground and charged, ramming the booth against the iron gate..."These people were not anarchists, they were not communists...They were the common people. After that, I realised there were people...much angrier than me."
Message in Harper's Back to Work Law is that Labour Will be Put in its Place
Submitted on June 21, 2011By Fred Wilson - rabble.ca
The Harper government's legislation to end the lock out at Canada Post sends a strong message to Canadian labour. They intend to lower the wages and benefits of public sector workers and they could give a damn about collective bargaining rights.
One Year After G20: Activist Jaggi Singh’s Sentence Suspended
Submitted on June 21, 2011By CLAC-Montréal // Convergence des luttes anti-capitalistes - June 21, 2011
A year later, the judicial circus targeting political opponents continues while police crimes go unpunished. In light of the rising tide of conservatism, cutbacks in social programs and services will increase in the coming years at the same rate as the repression of social movements. But as long as injustice prevails, we continue to take to the streets to confront the capitalist profiteers and governments that are on their payroll!
Reading the Riot Act: Vancouver 2011
Submitted on June 21, 2011By Roshak Momtahen - June 21, 2011
While young (drunk) men in their early 20′s bear the largest deal of blame, the riot was surprisingly heterogeneous. Every time a window was smashed or a car flipped, cheers echoed from crowds as diverse as the city they were in. The Lower Mainland had anticipated the riot...Multitudes stuck around to cheer and take photos while those who were particularly keen...took part in the property destruction.
No Jail for Jaggi Singh
Submitted on June 21, 2011By CBC News - June 21, 2011
Montreal activist Jaggi Singh won't serve any additional time in jail for urging people to tear down a security fence during last year's G20 summit in Toronto...An Ontario Superior Court judge on Tuesday gave Singh a suspended sentence and 12 months of probation, and ordered him to complete 75 hours of community service.
What's in a Name? Activist or Journalist...Aboard the Tahrir, Does it Matter?
Submitted on June 21, 2011Greetings from Greece, where the American and Canadian activists and journalists of the Freedom Flotilla II intermingle freely between two centrally located hotels. Some have been here for days, even weeks, laying the groundwork, purchasing supplies, undergoing training, getting the lay of the land. Some, like myself and the Toronto contingent, only arrived yesterday.
All-White Cast for "The Madison Moment" Forum at Ryerson University
Submitted on June 20, 2011I am calling on to to rectify your exclusion of racialized voices on the subject of public sector bargaining by including speakers from this sector of the North American population. It is high time for this society and actors in the labour movement to seriously address systemic/institutional racism. You have the opportunity to make a contribution to this initiative...just do the right thing.
Greece: Bond Slave to Europe
Submitted on June 20, 2011By Mark Weisbrot - Znet
What makes the Greek public even angrier is that their collective punishment is being meted out by foreign powers...This highlights perhaps the biggest problem of unaccountable, right-wing, supra-national institutions. Greece would not be going through this if it were not a member of a currency union...[The] government officials would be replaced. And then a new government would do what the vast majority of governments in the world did during the world recession of 2009 – the opposite...
Tar Sands Undead Walk Video
Submitted on June 20, 2011Climate Justice London at a Car Free Festival, during Stop Tar Sands Day.
Libyan Atrocities: Do They Really Stand Up?
Submitted on June 20, 2011By PATRICK COCKBURN - June 20, 2011
In war, accounts of atrocities need to be treated with skepticism...[I]n war people, motivated by fear, self-interest or a simple desire to make sense of a confusing and terrifying situation, make things up. And in the midst of a fast-moving conflict it is more than usually difficult to prove them wrong.
Libya: The Latest Product in Canada's Ugly War Assembly Line
Submitted on June 20, 2011By Murray Dobbin - June 20, 2011
No one refers to this war against Libya as a criminal conspiracy but the term would be perfectly appropriate. And I suppose we should not be surprised that an organization that constantly violates its own mandate can hardly be expected to wince at violating someone else's...NATO...has become a military intervention agency aimed at protecting Western industrial nations -- not from military threat but from an economic one: the threat of higher oil prices and the gradual loss of its dominant access to Middle East oil and gas.
Aftermath of Canucks Riot
Submitted on June 20, 2011By Zig Zag - Vancouver Media Co-op
Psychologically, the uptight citizens appear to feel 'wronged' by the rioters, their reputation reduced by association with the same city as the violent mob. Hence, the assertion that it was a small minority of anarchists and criminals, who aren't real Canucks fans, finds a receptive ear among these loyalist elements of the population. But this sense of ownership and entitlement only reveals their arrogance and self-righteousness, as if they are the only legitimate citizens with a right to represent Vancouver.
Lies, Damn Lies and Liberating Wars
Submitted on June 20, 2011America's imperial wars are for wealth, power, and unchallenged dominance, never for humanitarian concerns or liberation, notions Washington contemptuously spurns.
Postal Workers Occupy Conservative Offices in Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg
Submitted on June 20, 2011By Postal Workers and Community Groups - June 20, 2011
Postal workers and community support groups in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Winnipeg have occupied Conservative Party MP offices today at 10:00am PDT. The occupations are taking place to highlight back to work legislation that the Canadian Union of Postal Workers has characterized as “unnecessary, unjust, and counterproductive.”
NATO Bombs Kill Libyan Civilians in Tripoli
Submitted on June 19, 2011By Peter Symonds - WSWS
A NATO air-strike in a working class suburb of Tripoli early on Sunday morning killed and injured a number of civilians. Western journalists...were taken to the site and confirmed seeing at least five bodies, including those of a nine-month-old baby and a child...“There were no indications of any military facility in the area. Children’s shoes, diapers, a woman’s dress and kitchen tools lay amid the wreckage early Sunday.”
Tar Sands Undead Walk
Submitted on June 19, 2011The 'oily' zombies walked to raise awareness about the many impacts from tar sands operations — from Alberta, to Ontario, and beyond. This tar sands sludge is being pumped into Sarnia-Lambton. And, if the Enbridge Trailbreaker project proceeds, very dirty tar sands bitumen would be pumped through a pipeline that already crosses the Thames River, just north of London. In Alberta, toxic tailings ponds have been leaking into the Athabasca river, each and every day. The residents of the area also are threatened by pipeline spills. In one incident this spring, millions of litres of tar sands crude and diluent spilled into the territory of the Lubicon Cree.
Entrapping Innocent Muslims
Submitted on June 19, 2011Persecuting Muslims in America for political advantage.
Austerity, the Conservative Majority and the Canadian Labour Congress Action Plan
Submitted on June 19, 2011By Mathew Nelson - June 17, 2011
...[E]ven in the midst of the largest financial crisis in history, there was an overall lack of discussion at the [Canadian Labour Congress] convention of an anti-capitalist politics and programme. The Workers Program, like the convention itself, failed to raise alternatives to capitalism. The general approach is increasingly embedded in business forms of unionism.
How Pharmaceutical Companies Hijacked Our Brains
Submitted on June 18, 2011Friday, June 17 2011 - Infoshop News
The bottom line is: Psycho-pharmaceutical drugs are not safe. They prolong the illnesses they are supposed to treat and cause long-term brain damage...Yet, today, 1 in 8 Americans is on a psychotropic medication, with these dangerous drugs being prescribed to children less than two years old!
Duplicitous Congressional Posturing on Libya
Submitted on June 18, 2011In Washington, hypocrisy and duplicity substitute for resolute action to obey international and constitutional law. In fact, they're mere artifacts long ago discarded to advance America's imperium.
Ranting on the Riot
Submitted on June 18, 2011By Macdonald - Media Co-op
I had been thinking to myself how to express what I have to say about the “(anti)hockey riot” last night in Vancouver. It's not like I'm opposed to riots. If people rise up against oppression, systematic racism, the destruction of social housing...that is both justifiable and an act of self actualization in the face of power. But the pointlessness...of what happened last night did not bother me as a Vancouverite. It bothered me as a Canucks fan.
Canadian Unions Move to Suppress Strikes and Impose Concessions
Submitted on June 18, 2011By Keith Jones - 18 June 2011
Bowing before the Conservative government, the trade unions and trade union-supported New Democratic Party (NDP) have moved to shut down two national anti-concession strikes involving more than 50,000 workers...[T]he unions and NDP have lurched massively to the right and integrated themselves ever more with big business. While the unions serve as secondary enforcers for management, imposing concessions and suppressing strikes, the NDP has helped dismantle the social welfare programs it once held up as proof capitalism could be reformed.
Mohawk Communities "Drug Raid" Exposes Police Control
Submitted on June 18, 2011Just over a week after a report was released...on how the Harper government has been using INAC to “manage potential First Nation unrest” since 2006, a native community named as a “hot spot” for “aboriginal unrest” was raided by no less than 500 members of the “Aboriginal Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. The day before the raid, the Mohawks of Kanehsata:ke sent a warning letter to the municipality of Oka over a mining deal signed earlier in the month...Coincidence? Not in these times.
NDP to Debate Removing 'Socialist' Label from Party Preamble
Submitted on June 18, 2011CBC News - June 18, 2011
[New Democratic Party] [d]elegates will consider a proposed new preamble to the party constitution that would remove reference to the NDP as a "socialist" party, in an apparent bid to capitalize on the New Democrats' stunning performance in last month's election.
ALERT: Kenney Reintroduces Human Smuggling Bill
Submitted on June 17, 2011June 17th, 2011 - No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Minister of Censorship and Deportation Jason Kenney have announced that they are re-introducing Human Smuggling Bill C4 (previously Bill C49). This is despite the previous Bill C49 being rejected by all opposition parties and hundreds of community, legal, health, human rights, and migrant justice groups...It is imperative that people are aware of the implications of this bill, and organize to defeat it!
Medical Care in Gaza Under Siege
Submitted on June 17, 2011Under siege, Israel continues to strangle Gaza.
Vancouver Police Chief, Media Commentators Blame 'Anarchists' for Stanley Cup Riot
Submitted on June 17, 2011By David P Ball - June 16, 2011
VANCOUVER - Activists are outraged after Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu accused 'anarchists' of orchestrating the Stanley Cup riots last night...Chu's statement follows one media commentator's allegation that, "These are people that we've seen in the past associated with the Black Bloc so-called anarchist group that targeted the Bay one year ago during the Olympic Games.["]
Nicole Kish: Convicted by the Media, Sentenced by the Courts
Submitted on June 17, 2011By Eugene Ochs - June 17, 2011
Kish was convicted of second-degree murder on March 1, 2011, and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years. An activist, artist and a singer-songwriter with no criminal record, Kish has maintained her innocence since the 2007 death of Ross Hammond...Friends and supporters of Kish argue the media storm around the so-called "panhandler killer" was partially responsible for her unfair trial and wrongful conviction, and they are fighting for her release.
Preston Manning, Neo-Liberalism and the Vancouver Riots
Submitted on June 17, 2011By Murray Dobbin - June 17, 2011
It seems to me that one of the broad reasons [for the riot] is the systematic attack on government and indirectly on community. The pillars of neo-liberalism and globalization all attack community: privatization, starving government through tax cuts, deregulation...the slashing of social programs and the commercialization of everything...We are defined and self-defined [by] what we have, not by what we stand for or believe or care about.
Prominent American Academic Barred from Entering Canada
Submitted on June 17, 2011By Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations - June 15, 2011
TORONTO - Prominent American academic Bill Ayers has again been prevented from entering Canada, an outcome that should raise red flags for citizens concerned with free and open debate. Ayers was scheduled to deliver a keynote address at today's Worldview Conference on Media and Higher Education in Toronto on June 16, 2011.
The Return of the U.S. "Enemies List"
Submitted on June 17, 2011By Bill Van Auken - WSWS
The attempt by the Bush White House to use the Central Intelligence Agency to uncover incriminating information on University of Michigan professor Juan Cole is one more indication of Washington’s increasing turn to police state methods...“What alarms me most...is that I know I am a relatively small fish and it seems to me rather likely that I was not the only target of the baleful team at the White House.”
Selling Depression
Submitted on June 17, 2011By MARTHA ROSENBERG - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
...[T]hree things dried up the depression gravy train for the drug industry. Blockbusters went off patent and generics took off, anti-depressants were linked with gory and unpredictable violence...and -- they didn't even work, according to medical articles...That's when the drug industry began debuting the concept of "treatment resistant depression." It wasn't that their drugs didn't work...Your first expensive and dangerous drug needed to be coupled with more expensive and dangerous drugs because...one drug alone wasn't doing the trick!
Remembering Oscar Grant on the Release Day of the Cop Who Killed Him
Submitted on June 16, 2011By Julianne Hing - AlterNet
Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer who killed Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day in 2009, has been released from jail. He received a two-year prison sentence but was released just after midnight on Monday morning...“So many people have died at the hands of the police and all they have to do is say, ‘Oh, I think they were armed,’...and the police get away with it...It’s the thing for the cops to say and they know they can get off. It’s painting the message that a badge is a license to kill.”
Who's Really Responsible?
Submitted on June 16, 2011By Sharon Fraser - rabble.ca
The left is often accused of "blaming" media when things go wrong. This time, the blame is well-placed...Meanwhile, media analysts will come up with many theories involving hooligans and anarchists and left-wing pinkos and loonies. They'll never once think to look in the mirror.
Conservative Government to Criminalize Canadian Postal Workers' Anti-Concessions Strike
Submitted on June 16, 2011By Carl Bronski and Keith Jones - WSWS
The Conservative government lost no time in using the lockout as a pretext to directly intervene in the dispute at Canada Post — a dispute that has been provoked by the post office’s demands for sweeping contract concessions...On Tuesday afternoon, the government announced that before the day was out it would formally initiate the 48-hour process to introduce an emergency back-to-work law, illegalizing all job action by postal workers and suspending their collective bargaining rights.
Understanding Vancouver's "Hockey Riot"
Submitted on June 16, 2011By Dave Zirin - June 16, 2011
"While I too wish people were motivated by social justice issues, the hockey game is NOT apolitical by any means. The riots were a fundamentalist defense of a type of nationalism, most evident in the beatings of Bruins fans in Vancouver last night. NHL hockey is not simply a game, it is representative of obedience to consumerism and is part of the state's attempt to forge a false identity — despite vast differences and inequalities across race, class, and gender, through the spectacle of sport."
- Vancouver Activist and Organizer Harsha Walia
Canucks Fans Celebrate Loss by Burning Cars, Looting
Submitted on June 16, 2011By Zig Zag - Vancouver Media Co-op
Undoubtedly, Vancouver police, government officials, and upright citizens will be condemning the riot for many weeks and months to come. Autopsies will be conducted on both the Canucks loss as well as that of the police, with conspiracy theorists chiming in that it was all part of a sinister plot by the government. Yet, in the end, we are reminded once again that no matter what level authorities go to in their efforts to maintain social control, they can't stop the chaos.
More on Pilger Censorship: "I Have Never Known Anything Like This"
Submitted on June 16, 2011By John Pilger - Znet
I don't know why Patrick Lannan acted the way he did. At the very least, he has demonstrated that his wealth and power give him the capricious license to do what he wants to do when and how he wants to do it and without explanation, regardless of the consequences...Over 40 years an an investigative journalist and film-maker, I have faced similar action in its various guises, and it reveals itself whenever it happens. This is crude censorship however inexplicable and regardless of reputation and patronage.
U.S.-Occupied Afghanistan 'Most Dangerous Place for Women'
Submitted on June 16, 2011Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - Al-Jazeera
Afghanistan has been ranked as the world's most dangerous country for women...Violence, dismal health-care and brutal poverty afflicts women in Afghanistan..."Ongoing conflict, NATO air-strikes and cultural practices combined make Afghanistan a very dangerous place for women..."
Wisconsin Supreme Court Reinstates Anti-Union Law
Submitted on June 15, 2011Wisconsin's union-busting law is reinstated.
Don’t Frack Around London, Ontario
Submitted on June 15, 2011We are calling for a ban on shale gas fracking in the municipality of London, Ontario. Since this London ban would not protect either the city's Great Lakes water supplies, or the farmlands around our region, we also are calling on the municipal government to support a province-wide ban on shale gas fracking.
UK Private University is Odious
Submitted on June 15, 2011By Terry Eagleton - June 15, 2011
British universities...are not best served by a bunch of prima donnas jumping ship and creaming off the bright and loaded. It is as though a group of medics in a hard-pressed public hospital were to down scalpels and slink off to start a lucrative private clinic.
Solitary Watch Confronts Torture in U.S. Prisons: An Interview with James Ridgeway and Jean Casella
Submitted on June 15, 2011While spotlighting the Solitary Watch website, this new interview also focuses on the upcoming hunger strike at the Pelican Bay supermax prison in California (it begins on July 1), and Hugo Pinell, of the San Quentin Six, who has been in continuous solitary even longer than the Angola 3.
Over 100 Million Children in Dangerous Jobs
Submitted on June 15, 2011By Robert Evans - June 15, 2011
Over 115 million of the world's children and young teenagers, or more than 7 percent of the total, are engaged in dangerous and life-threatening jobs, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Friday...[A] U.N. investigator said child labour was in great demand by employers because it was cheap "and because children are naturally more docile, easier to discipline than adults, and too frightened to complain."
2010 State Department Human Rights Report on Bahrain
Submitted on June 15, 2011America supports brutal Bahraini terror state.
Toronto Moves to Sell-Off Community Housing
Submitted on June 15, 201106/14/2011 - Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
The Ford Regime in City Hall is moving to step up its attacks on poor and working people at top speed. One key part of this is the attack on the people who live in Toronto Community Housing (TCH)...This comes at a time when the need for affordable and accessible housing is greater than ever. Over 70 000 households in the City of Toronto are on the waiting list for TCH...
Thousands Say They Will Join Fuckwalk in Australia
Submitted on June 15, 2011By Selena Black - Green Left Weekly
The [government of the] Victorian [state of Australia]...has proposed a new law that will allow police to give on-the-spot fines for “indecent, offensive or disorderly language”...In response, a protest has been organised...By June 11, more than 10,000 people had said on the event's Facebook page that they would attend the “Fuckwalk”.
"Cruel as a Tiger": Greeks Strike, Clash with Police Over Austerity
Submitted on June 15, 2011By Renee Maltezou and Ingrid Melander - Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Stone-throwing Greeks clashed with police and tens of thousands of protesters marched on parliament on Wednesday to oppose government efforts to pass new austerity measures for the debt-stricken euro zone state...Unions representing half the five-million-strong workforce also launched a nationwide strike, shutting ports, schools and other basic services in the Mediterranean state.
No Justice in Kafka’s America
Submitted on June 14, 2011By Chris Hedges - June 12, 2011
The draconian legal mechanisms that condemn Muslim Americans who speak out publicly about the outrages we commit in the Middle East have left many...wasting away in supermax prisons. These citizens posed no security threat. But they dared to speak a truth about the sordid conduct of our nation that the state found unpalatable. And in the bipartisan war on terror, waged by Republicans and Democrats, this ugly truth in America is branded seditious.
Why I Am Joining the New Flotilla to Gaza
Submitted on June 14, 2011By Kevin Neish - rabble.ca
"For heaven's sake, why are you going back on another flotilla to Gaza!!" I've heard this comment/question repeatedly since I returned from an Israeli prison after the attack on my ship, the Mavi Marmara, in May 2010. In a nutshell, I'm returning because the illegal blockade of Gaza is still in place. The job is not done.
Syrian Crackdown Deepens as Fighting Threatens to Spread
Submitted on June 14, 2011By Jean Shaoul - WSWS
The brutal crackdown being waged by Bashar al-Assad’s Ba’athist regime against protests in Syria has caused an estimated 10,000 Syrians to flee...into Turkey...Damascus has poured troops, tanks and weaponry into Syria’s northern provinces...It has used helicopter gunships against Maarat al-Numan, after thousands of protesters overwhelmed security officers and burned the courthouse and police station.
Remote Control Killing Like Sport
Submitted on June 14, 2011It's America's newest sport. From distant command centers, far from target sights, sounds, and smells, operators dismissively ignore human carnage showing up as computer screen blips little different from video game images. The difference, of course, is people die, mostly noncombatants.
What's the Difference Between a Comb-Over and Shaved Balls?
Submitted on June 14, 2011This is a before-and-after story endemic to politics everywhere. Self-aggrandizing, rich assholes hide their true motives to get elected. Once they're elected they fiddle while Rome burns.
Bahrain: A Pack of Lies
Submitted on June 13, 2011By Robert Fisk - Znet
Yesterday, the Bahraini royal family started an utterly fraudulent trial of 48 surgeons, doctors, paramedics and nurses, accusing them of trying to topple the tin-pot monarchy of this Sunni minority emirate. The defendants in this flagrantly unfair military court are, of course, members of the majority Shia people of Bahrain. And since I was a witness to their heroic efforts to save lives in February, I can say...that the charges are a pack of lies.
Secret U.S. and Afghanistan Talks Could See Troops Stay for Decades
Submitted on June 13, 2011By Jason Burke in Kabul - Monday 13 June 2011
American and Afghan officials are locked in increasingly acrimonious secret talks about a long-term security agreement which is likely to see US troops, spies and air power based in the troubled country for decades...Though not publicized, negotiations have been under way for more than a month to secure a strategic partnership agreement which would include an American presence beyond the end of 2014...
Balaclava! VMC Broadsheet Issue 31
Submitted on June 13, 2011Greek Government Announces New Cuts Amid Mass Opposition
Submitted on June 13, 2011By Stefan Steinberg and Alex Lantier - 13 June 2011
The privatizations and the cuts — a combination of property and consumption tax increases and cuts in public spending and social services — entail forcing the working class in Greece to submit to a naked dictatorship of Greek and international capital. They amount to an unprecedented transfer of social wealth into the hands of the financial aristocracy.
Ninety Percent of Captured "Taliban" Were Civilians
Submitted on June 13, 2011By Gareth Porter - June 13th, 2011
The deliberate confusion sowed by [U.S. Afghanistan commander General David] Petraeus by referring to anyone picked up for interrogation as a captured rank and file Taliban was a key element of a carefully considered strategy for creating a more favourable image of the war...The deceptive nature of those statistics...raises anew the question of whether the statistics released by Petraeus on killing of alleged Taliban were similarly skewed.
Mountaintop Removal: Environmental and Human Destruction for Profit
Submitted on June 13, 2011Destroying planet earth for profit.
Threatening Ideologies
Submitted on June 13, 2011This info-graphic explores one of many G20 intelligence Documents that have been released under the Access to Information Act. I have also written an in-depth investigative article on undercover police infiltrators, which relies in part on other elements of this document.
Protesting the Coming Right-Wing Storm at the Conservative Party Conference
Submitted on June 12, 2011By Marco Vigliotti - rabble.ca
"This bullshit assembly behind us of rich fuckers are in there right now to plan attacks against our communities...They can make all the fucking plans they want because we will be there to fight them every step of the way."
Tinpot Bombardiers
Submitted on June 12, 2011By ALEXANDER COCKBURN - June 10-12, 2011
A hundred years down the road the UN/NATO Libyan intervention will be seen as an old-fashioned colonial smash-and-grab affair. There may even be a paragraph or two about the collapse of the U.S. left, in mounting any powerful show of protest.
Gaza: A View from the Ground (A South African Perspective)
Submitted on June 12, 2011By Patrick Bond - June 8, 2011
Here in Palestine, disgust expressed by civil society reformers about Barack Obama's May 19 policy speech on the Middle East and North Africa confirms that political reconciliation between Washington and fast-rising Arab democrats is impossible...“If anything, the U.S. has played a very negative role. The best thing Obama can do for the region is leave it alone. We've seen U.S. democracy-building in Afghanistan and Iraq, so no thank you.”
After Brutal Police Shooting, Miami Cops Attempted to Destroy Video Evidence
Submitted on June 12, 2011By Michael Stapleton - 11 June 2011
Police in Miami Beach, Florida attempted to cover-up evidence of a brutal police shooting of an apparently unarmed man on May 30. An eyewitness captured the killing on video, then had his cellphone seized and smashed...The victim of the shooting was 22-year old Raymond Herisse. At least nine officers opened fire on Herisse in a hail of bullets, injuring four bystanders in the process. Eyewitnesses say that Herisse never fired back.
Obama's Slipping Popularity
Submitted on June 12, 2011Expect Obama's popularity to sink even lower.
Washington’s Endless Wars
Submitted on June 11, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 11 June 2011
US military forces are now waging simultaneous drone missile attacks, bombings, special forces assassination raids and ground combat in five separate countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya and Yemen...[T]he attempt by the American ruling elite to use militarism to offset the decline in US capitalism’s global economic position generates increasingly dangerous international tensions and the threat of far bloodier wars to come.
John Pilger Film and U.S. Visit Banned
Submitted on June 11, 2011By John Pilger - Znet
There is a compelling symbol of our extraordinary times in all of this. A rich and powerful individual and organisation, espousing freedom of speech, has moved ruthlessly and unaccountably to crush it.
Syria Slides Toward Civil War
Submitted on June 11, 2011By Barry Grey - 11 June 2011
Amid continuing protests, mounting state repression and escalating pressure from the US and the European powers, there are growing signs that Syria is sliding toward civil war. Already, with thousands of refugees flowing from northwestern Syria into Turkey and threats of Israeli intervention, the crisis of the Baathist regime is having an increasingly destabilizing impact on the entire Middle East.
Louisiana Civil Rights Activist Sentenced to Fifteen Years in Prison
Submitted on June 11, 2011By Jordan Flaherty - June 11th, 2011
On June 1...civil rights activist Catrina Wallace was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. This was a first arrest for Wallace, a single mother who became politically active when her brother was arrested in the case that later became known as the “Jena Six.” Wallace was part of a small group of family members and friends who built a movement that eventually brought 50,000 people to a September 2007 march in the small northern Louisiana town of Jena. The mass movement eventually led to freedom for the six young men...
Mental Health and Police Violence
Submitted on June 11, 2011By Shurli Chan - Vancouver Media Co-op
"Eventually, another police car drove up and five police officers proceeded to the trunk. What emerged from the trunk were two rifles and a two-person SWAT team also stepped out of the car...That was how they were going to deal with a person wanting to jump off a building! That single incident exposed the attitude of the police towards anyone that they deem mentally unbalanced...I understand why the people in the [Downtown Eastside] do not trust the police."
The Obama Doctrine: Lawless Imperial Aggression (Part II)
Submitted on June 11, 2011Obama's out-of-control lawlessness.
Palestinian Divisions on Statehood
Submitted on June 10, 2011Palestinian political factions differ on statehood.
Back Home They Wouldn't Dare: Europeans Trashing American Workers
Submitted on June 10, 2011By DAVID MACARAY - June 10-12, 2011
European companies that wouldn’t dream of pulling similar stunts in their home countries have found they can treat American workers as shabbily as American companies treat Third World workers, yet never have to worry about any public relations backlash...As conservative as the European Right can be, you don’t hear right-wing politicians publicly advocating the actual elimination of labor unions and the abolition of the federal minimum wage. Even the European Right would view such extreme positions as nutty.
The Obama Doctrine: Lawless Imperial Aggression
Submitted on June 10, 2011On March 29, eight New York Times contributors asked "Is There an Obama Doctrine," preceded by an introduction saying his previous day America's role in Libya speech asserted unilateral authority to intervene abroad "when our interests and values are at stake," an illegal position under international and constitutional law.
Not Taking No For an Answer: Kevin Neish, The Mavi and the Freedom Flotilla...Take II
Submitted on June 10, 2011By Miles Howe - June 9, 2011
“Harper and his gang are a throwback to the race days of apartheid, and Jim Crow laws. They're going to order their citizens what to do...We're in a situation where we really have to count on people to act on their own instincts, on their own moral beliefs, and not try and follow the line of the main media, and the government.”
Portugal and the Collapse of European Social Democracy
Submitted on June 10, 2011By Chris Marsden - WSWS
...[T]he collapse in support for the social democratic parties was prepared over years by their previous abandonment of any connection with their reformist past and transformation into overt parties of big business. What the end of the speculative boom and the 2008 collapse revealed was the full extent of this political rot and its implications for working people...Masses of workers have repudiated their past political allegiance to the social democratic parties because they are viewed...as no different in essence from the traditional right-wing parties of big business.
Massachusetts Republican Says Undocumented Rape Victims 'Should be Afraid to Come Forward'
Submitted on June 9, 2011By Marie Diamond - June 9, 2011
Massachusetts [Republican] state Rep. Ryan Fattman has such contempt for illegal immigrants that he believes undocumented women who are raped should be afraid to go to the police...“My thought is that if someone is here illegally, they should be afraid to come forward...If you do it the right way, you don’t have to be concerned about these things...”
NATO’s Terror Bombing of Libya
Submitted on June 9, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 9 June 2011
Warplanes struck the Libyan capital 62 times between Tuesday and early Wednesday morning. The daylight air strikes underscored that Libya, its air force and air defense system devastated by earlier attacks, remains virtually defenseless in the face of the US-NATO blitzkrieg...At least 31 people were killed and dozens wounded. The bombings have demolished civilian government buildings, while damaging homes, hospitals and schools. Their intended collateral effect is to terrorize Tripoli’s population of 1.7 million.
The Untold Story of the Deal That Shocked the Middle East
Submitted on June 9, 2011By Robert Fisk - Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Secret meetings between Palestinian intermediaries, Egyptian intelligence officials, the Turkish foreign minister, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal...brought about the Palestinian unity which has so disturbed both Israelis and the American government. Fatah and Hamas ended four years of conflict in May with an agreement that is crucial to the Palestinian demand for a state.
IMF Financial Terrorism
Submitted on June 9, 2011The IMF was created to stabilize exchange rates linked to the dollar and bridge temporary payment imbalances. On a grander scale today, the scheme destructively obligates indebted nations to take new loans to service old ones, assuring rising indebtedness and structural adjustment harshness.
Why Civilians Are Killed in Afghanistan
Submitted on June 9, 2011By James Petras - June 9th, 2011
The killing of civilians is a result of a war of imperial conquest against an entire people who resist the occupation in whatever form is appropriate to their circumstance. The pilots and ground troops recognize that they are a hostile alien force, whose presence is commanded from above by Generals and politicians dealing with abstract schemes of ‘terrorists-linked to Al Qaeda’ that have no relation to the dense web of personal bonds of solidarity between resistance fighters and civilians on the ground in Afghanistan.
Canada to Expand Its Role In Imperialist Assault on Libya
Submitted on June 8, 2011By Keith Jones - WSWS
Canada’s Conservative government has announced that the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will continue to play a leading role in the imperialist assault on Libya well beyond the middle of this month...In March, all four parties in Canada’s parliament, as well as the Green Party...supported a government motion authorizing the CAF to deploy its forces against the oil-rich North African country for the next 90 days.
Fresh Attacks on WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning
Submitted on June 8, 2011By Ash Pemberton - Sunday, June 5, 2011
The reasons for the crackdown are clear — the Obama administration, like other corporate-backed governments, fears the public learning the full nature of its activities...WikiLeaks has been the biggest publisher of this kind of information in recent history, making the US government's need to persecute and intimidate those involved all the more urgent.
U.S. Inmates' 40 Years in Solitary Must End: Amnesty International [Video]
Submitted on June 8, 2011Tuesday, June 7, 2011 - Common Dreams
LONDON — Two US prisoners who have been held in solitary confinement for nearly 40 years should have their isolation ended immediately, Amnesty International said Tuesday...Albert Woodfox, 64, and Herman Wallace, 69, have been held in solitary at Louisiana State Penitentiary ever since they were convicted of murdering a prison guard in 1972, the London-based human rights group said.
U.S.-Canada Perimeter Security and an Integrated North American Command
Submitted on June 8, 2011By Dana Gabriel
The end results of a fully integrated continental security perimeter could sacrifice what is left of Canadian sovereignty and independence. This could bring its military, security and foreign policy under the umbrella of a single, U.S.-dominated North American Command.
First Nations Under Surveillance: Harper Government Prepares for First Nations “Unrest"
Submitted on June 8, 2011By Russell Diabo and Shiri Pasternak - June 7, 2011
Internal documents from Indian Affairs and the RCMP show that shortly after forming government in January of 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper had the federal government tighten up on gathering and sharing intelligence on First Nations to anticipate and manage potential First Nation unrest across Canada...[T]he Department of Indian and Northern Affairs...was given the lead role to spy on First Nations. The goal was to identify the First Nation leaders, participants and outside supporters of First Nation occupations and protests, and to closely monitor their actions.
Montreal Cops Kill Homeless Man and Hospital Worker Going to His Job
Submitted on June 8, 2011By CBC News - June 8, 2011
A 36-year-old hospital worker was on his way to work...when he was fatally shot by Montreal police who opened fire on a homeless man they were pursuing...Patrick Limoges was on his way to work at St. Luc Hospital on Tuesday morning when he was killed by a stray bullet, after police fired on the homeless man, Mario Hamel, who they had been pursuing...Hamel also died.
European Union Officials Demand Brutal Austerity in Greece
Submitted on June 8, 2011By Stefan Steinberg - 8 June 2011
At a meeting of the European Parliament economic committee on Monday leading European officials called upon the Greek government and opposition parties to reach a consensus to impose a new round of punishing austerity measures on the country...In their totality, the cutbacks demanded by the EU at the behest of the banks amount to a social counter-revolution.
Five U.S. Soldiers Killed Amid Wave of Violence in Iraq
Submitted on June 7, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 7 June 2011
Five US soldiers were killed in a wave of violence that claimed at least 20 other lives across Iraq Monday. It was the worst single-day combat death toll for US occupation forces since April 2009...Iraqi officials...revealed that the deaths were the result of a rocket attack on Camp Victory, a US-built base near Baghdad’s international airport. Five rockets were fired into the facility, striking near living quarters of the US troops.
Why is the U.S. Waging Perpetual War on Cuba's Health Care System?
Submitted on June 7, 2011By WILLIAM BLUM - June 6, 2011
The United States sees the Cuban health system and Havana's sharing of such as a means of Cuba winning friends and allies in the Third World, particularly Latin America; a situation sharply in conflict with long-standing US policy to isolate Cuba...The United States...bans the sale to Cuba of vital medical drugs and devices...Finally, we have the Cuban Medical Professional Parole (CMPP) immigration program, which encourages Cuban doctors...to defect and enter the US immediately as refugees.
Hazel Dickens (1935-2011)
Submitted on June 7, 2011By John Pietaro - June 2011
Singer/guitarist Hazel Dickens's sound was probably about as high and lonesome as one can get. The soundtrack of Harlan County USA introduced her to many outside the country home she remained a part of. Dickens didn't just sing the anthems of labor, she lived them. Her place on many a picket line, staring down gunfire and goon squads, embedded her to the cause.
Expanding Foreign Military Bases Serves Harper’s War Agenda
Submitted on June 7, 2011By Derrick O'Keefe - June 7, 2011
The idea of expanding foreign military bases for Canada goes against the wishes of the vast majority of Canadians. With the Harper government set to make a series of cuts to public services and spending generally, one of the few areas where they seem intent on spending even more is on war and militarism.
Political Policing or Business as Usual?
Submitted on June 7, 2011June 6 2011 - Libcom
Arrests of those involved in [Britain's] anti-cuts campaigns...has grabbed the attention of the press. The behaviour of the police has been widely condemned by the left, some of whom accuse them of overstepping the mark with “political policing”. But we should not be surprised by the actions of the police: this is them doing their job and doing it well...[T]he harassment and violence seen as extreme by the liberal left is terror as usual for migrants, sex workers, the homeless and other disenfranchised groups.
Spanish Revolution at a Crossroads
Submitted on June 7, 2011By PETER GELDERLOOS - Counterpunch
Far from revealing, let alone attacking, the roots of the problem, the Real Democracy Now movement congeals a widespread and critical resistance into a univocal posture of opposition devoid of content. In occupations where the Real Democracy Now platform has been the dominant ideological force...the critical discourses produced in the assembly have been confined to sloganeering...Any charismatic swindler promising an ethical change can turn this hard won momentum into votes. Democracy has accomplished the same bait and switch so many times in the past.
The National Uprising in Egypt: Lots of Turmoil — For Nothing But a Request for Better Governance, Which the Army Fulfils
Submitted on June 7, 2011[Translated from Gegenstandpunkt: Politische Vierteljahreszeitschrift 1-11, Gegenstandpunkt Verlag, Munich]
The leaders of the Western world are caught off-guard by a people: even though the West did not order it, the Egyptian people refuses loyalty to its authorities! Wherever the ruling friends of freedom call for a refusal of obedience that leads to an overthrow of a regime, they themselves get the appropriate “revolutions” with their pretty nicknames underway.
America's Imperial War on Libya
Submitted on June 7, 2011Obama's claimed humanitarian intervention is lawless imperialism by any standard, America's latest target to be conquered, colonized, controlled and pillaged for greater power and profit.
Sharpening Its Axes, 'Canada's Party' Moves to Shut Down Canada's Capital
Submitted on June 7, 2011By Duncan Cameron - June 7, 2011
The Conservative's elimination of 80,000 jobs means 45 percent of the 178,000 federal public service positions will disappear. Though it remains to be decided where across Canada the cuts will come, obviously the overall negative impact on the economy on the national capital region of job losses of this magnitude will be immense, since most public servants are based in the capital area. It seems Ottawa has to become a ghost town for the Conservative ideal of small government to be achieved.
After 44 Years of Occupation: Where is the Israeli Peace Camp?
Submitted on June 6, 2011By Samah Sabawi - Sunday, June 5, 2011
The weak and marginalised so-called Israeli Peace Camp...is still looking for Palestinians to help them make the peace by way of dialogue initiatives and peaceful protests...With the exception of very few, they reject the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel...Rather than criticise the Palestinian non-violent resistance model that the BDS is part of, the Israeli peace camp needs to be considering the very policies that Palestinians are resisting.
July 1 Hunger Strike at Pelican Bay State Prison (California)
Submitted on June 6, 2011Monday, June 06 2011 - Infoshop News
On July 1, 2011, between 50 and 100 prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison in the Security Housing Unit (SHU)...are going on an indefinite hunger strike. The D corridor...has the highest level of restricted incarceration in the state of California and among the most severe conditions in the United States. The rules of their confinement are extremely harsh in order to force them to "debrief" or offer up information about criminal or prison gang activity of other prisoners.
Don’t Frack With Us! [Video]
Submitted on June 6, 2011Fracking is a toxic, dangerous, and wasteful form of natural gas extraction that we may see around London, Ontario. The water pollution is the worst of the fracking impacts. Tap water has become flammable after fracking is done to break gas out of nearby shale rock.
Terrorism: Washington's Weapon of Choice
Submitted on June 6, 2011By Sherry Wolf - June 06, 2011
...[T]he U.S. has spent billions of dollars to arm, train and mobilize terrorist forces as proxy armies throughout the world. The U.S. government so feared the threat to profits that communists and nationalist movements posed in the post-war era that it helped create jihadist movements and drug cartels to stop them...[W]ithout American aid and guidance, the infrastructure of terrorism would have been inconceivable.
Israeli Troops Murder Palestinian and Syrian Protesters
Submitted on June 6, 2011By Chris Marsden - WSWS
Israeli troops killed 13 protesters, after opening fire on a peaceful and unarmed demonstration at the ceasefire line in the occupied Golan Heights...After an attempt was made to cut a line of barbed wire in the Majdal Shams area, Israeli troops stopped firing warning shots and targeted protesters.
Hard-Partying Rich Boy Kills Two, Buys Himself Out of a Prison Sentence
Submitted on June 6, 2011By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd - June 6, 2011
In 2009, Ryan LeVin, the super-rich heir to an Illinois costume jewelry fortune, ran over and killed two British tourists with his Porsche before speeding away. On Friday, he plead guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide. But instead of receiving [a]...prison [sentence]...the 36-year-old will be serving two years on house arrest in Fort Lauderdale -- in a luxury oceanfront condo owned by his super-rich parents. Why? Because he made a secret settlement with the widows of the two men he killed, essentially paying them off to avoid jail time.
Reflections on the U.S. Counterrevolution
Submitted on June 6, 2011By Edward Herman - Z Magazine
We are in the midst of a counterrevolution and intensifying class war. What makes its present efflorescence so striking is that it is taking place under the presidency of Barack Obama, a man elected in good measure by an aroused mass base that is now taking its lumps. The power structure no longer permits serious attention to the welfare of that mass base...The Democrats invariably betray their voting base, but not their investor base.
Social Democracy and Social Progress
Submitted on June 6, 2011By Steve McGiffen - June 6th, 2011
Centre-left parties hold office in Norway, Greece, Spain and Portugal, but only in the first of these do their policies bear any resemblance to social democracy, the political philosophy behind the movement which brought us the welfare state...This is hardly surprising, when governments of the centre-left have signally failed to reproduce anything like the achievements of social democracy of the post-war years. This is unsurprising, given the undeniable fact that they have failed to challenge the logic of neo-liberalism.
Michael Moore Offers Job to Fired Senate Page
Submitted on June 6, 2011June 5, 2011 - CBC News
Michael Moore, the high-profile American activist and filmmaker, has offered a job to the Senate page who was fired Friday for her stunning protest against Prime Minister Stephen Harper..."I think that Canada and Canadians probably need to put aside the full respect thing and bring out their inner hockey stick and get to work on preventing their government from turning into a version of ours..."
"A Bad Idea": Nova Scotia NDP Government Organizes Trade Mission to Israel
Submitted on June 6, 2011June 4, 2011 - Halifax Media Co-op
The NS government's planned trade mission to Israel is a bad idea, a local group told the NDP convention meeting in Halifax today...Several members of Canadian, Arabs and Jews for a Just Peace (CAJJP) handed out leaflets to delegates attending the provincial NDP gathering at St. Mary's University..."The provincial government shouldn't be taking sides in Israel until it has reached a just peace with Palestinians..."
Naksa Day Commemorates Decades of Israeli State Terror
Submitted on June 6, 2011Palestinians resist Israeli state terrorism.
Don't Frack Around Southwestern Ontario
Submitted on June 5, 2011At the end of May, some of us gathered for a "Don't frack with us!" protest in London, Ontario.
Italians Vote Against Austerity
Submitted on June 5, 2011By MICHAEL LEONARDI - June 3-5, 2011
Italy is in crisis with skyrocketing unemployment among young people, stagnant wages, a censured national media and a public education system that has been slashed by the right wing government. The center left...has offered little to contrast the Berlusconi government's neo-liberal policies...Now there is hope for change and a large and ever growing part of the population is in motion to ensure that this change is realized.
Continuing Bahraini State Terror
Submitted on June 5, 2011More on Washington-backed Bahraini state terror.
FBI Tried to Bribe Wikileaks Staff: Assange
Submitted on June 5, 2011By Holly Watt - Sunday, June 5, 2011
During an hour-long appearance, Mr Assange insisted that “the internet does not give you free speech”...He said that those revealing secrets on-line were “hounded from one end of the earth to the other”...Mr Assange added that his group had faced numerous recent challenges, including attempts by the FBI to try and bribe employees.
Raging Greeks Stage Biggest Anti-Austerity Protest Yet
Submitted on June 5, 2011By Will Vassilopoulos - Sunday, June 5, 2011
Thousands of Greeks took to the streets of Athens late Sunday on the 12th consecutive day of protests against the government's draconian austerity measures..."Thieves, thieves," the crowd chanted waiving Greek flags, but also flags from Spain, Portugal, Tunisia and Argentina.
UK Pay Gap Widens, Millions in Dire Straits
Submitted on June 5, 2011By Julie Hyland - 31 May 2011
The wages of “lower to middle income” workers are set to collapse, according to a report published last week, with wage rates in 2015 expected to be no higher than they were in 2001...This comes after a long period in which the wages of such workers were stagnant or fell, even before the economic collapse of 2008.
Venezuelans Mobilize Against Obama's Sanctions
Submitted on June 5, 2011By Shamus Cooke - June 05, 2011
Two massive rallies were held in one week in Caracas against...U.S. foreign intervention. Many of the speakers and many in the audience with their homemade signs expressed the motive behind the sanctions: they are nothing less than an attack on the Venezuela revolution itself and the inherent potential the revolution has to not only push away U.S. power in South America, but transform the economic system on which this power is based.
Victoria Human-Rights Advocate to Sail with Gaza Flotilla
Submitted on June 5, 2011By Zoe Blunt - June 4, 2011
One year after surviving a brutal Israeli attack on a humanitarian aid flotilla to Gaza, a Victoria human-rights advocate says he plans to join the next aid flotilla in June...Kevin Neish...was aboard the flotilla carrying supplies to Gaza on May 31, 2010 when it was attacked by Israeli armed forces in international waters...“A year ago today, nine good men were killed all around me for trying to deliver humanitarian aid to people who urgently needed it...”
Doctors on Israel's Forty-Four Year Occupation
Submitted on June 5, 2011A combination of under-staffing, underfunding, and occupation restrictions makes practicing medicine difficult to impossible for patients needing specialized care. Many can't travel for security reasons. Others can't afford treatment at Israeli hospitals. Palestinian ones do what they can, but too often it's not enough.
A Shameless UN Secretary General vs. Freedom Flotilla 2
Submitted on June 4, 2011By Richard Falk - Znet
...[I]t shocks our moral and legal sensibilities that the UN Secretary General should be using the authority of his office to urge member governments to prevent ships from joining Freedom Flotilla 2...Instead of protecting those who would act on behalf of unlawful Palestinian victimization, the UN Secretary General disgraces the office, by taking a one-sided stand in support of one of the most flagrant and long lasting instances of injustice that has been allowed to persist in the world.
Silence Is Deadly: I’m Speaking Out Against Canada-U.S. Tar Sands Pipeline
Submitted on June 4, 2011By James Hansen - Energy Bulletin
If this project gains approval, it will become exceedingly difficult to control the tar sands monster. The environmental impacts of tar sands development include: irreversible effects on biodiversity and the natural environment, reduced water quality, destruction of fragile pristine Boreal Forest and associated wetlands...habitat loss, disruption to life cycles of endemic wildlife particularly bird and Caribou migration, fish deformities and negative impacts on the human health in downstream communities.
Canada Tries to Hide Alberta Tar Sands Carbon Emissions
Submitted on June 4, 2011By Suzanne Goldenberg - Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Barely a day goes by it seems when someone from Stephen Harper's government is not touting the benefits of the Alberta tar sands...But when it came to counting up the carbon emissions produced by the tar sands - big and growing bigger - a strange amnesia seems to have taken hold.
A Note on the Mighty Wurlitzer: Anatomy of Modern Propaganda Techniques
Submitted on June 4, 2011Zahir Ebrahim | Project Humanbeingsfirst.org
'The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.'
- Edward Bernays, from his seminal book Propaganda (1928), pg.1
"The Best Journalists Are Subversives": The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism
Submitted on June 4, 2011By John Pilger - June 04, 2011
“This prize is in honour of one of the 20th century’s greatest reporters. It’s awarded to a journalist whose work has penetrated the established version of events and told an unpalatable truth. It’s validated by powerful facts that expose establishment propaganda, or ‘official drivel’, as Martha Gellhorn called it.”
Canada Considering 'International' Military Bases
Submitted on June 4, 2011June 2, 2011 - CBC News
Canada is looking at setting up bases around the world to better position the military to participate in international missions, Defence Minister Peter MacKay confirmed Thursday...A report in Montreal newspaper Le Devoir said the Canadian Forces is negotiating to set up bases under a program known as the Operational Support Hubs Network. They've reportedly already completed negotiations with Germany and Jamaica, and are in talks with Kuwait, Senegal, Kenya or Tanzania, Singapore and South Korea.
American and Canadian No-Fly Lists and Their Impact on Civil Liberties [Video]
Submitted on June 3, 2011This video discussion is about the "Canadian and American no-fly lists and their impact on civil liberties."
Alvaro Orozco Released from Detention
Submitted on June 3, 2011By No One Is Illegal-Toronto - May 31, 2011
No One Is Illegal-Toronto joins Toronto’s queer and arts community in celebrating the upcoming release of Alvaro Orozco from immigration detention. Alvaro has been in detention since Friday, May 13th, after being racially profiled and arrested by Toronto Police outside Ossington station. Alvaro Orozco’s Humanitarian & Compassionate application for immigration status was approved late Tuesday afternoon and he will be released back to his community on Wednesday.
5 Reasons to Support Postal Workers
Submitted on June 3, 2011Monday, May 30, 2011 - Your Heart's on the Left
Prime Minister Harper used the G20 meeting last year to push an austerity agenda, and this week is visiting Greece to support austerity there--which includes privatization, massive cuts to social services, layoffs and attacks on pensions. That's what Harper wants to bring to Canada and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers strike is his first obstacle. A defeat for CUPW will be a victory for Harper and his corporate backers across the country.
Lest We Forget: One Year After the Mavi and Why I'm Sailing to Gaza
Submitted on June 3, 2011By Miles Howe - June 3, 2011
On May 31st, the one-year anniversary of the massacre of nine peace activists aboard the MV Mavi Marmara, a group of Haligonians came to pay their tribute in front of the Library...The Mavi, as the world remembers, was the Turkish flagship of the Freedom Flotilla, the international armada of ships that was attacked on the high seas by the Israeli Defence Forces, while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza...They came to commemorate the lives of...the eight Turks and one Turkish-American who had lost their lives in the attack.
Senate Page Disrupts Throne Speech
Submitted on June 3, 2011By Cameron Fenton - June 3, 2011
Ottawa - During the reading of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s throne speech today, a young page was yanked from the Senate Chamber as she tried to hold up a stop sign placard reading “Stop Harper”...“Harper’s agenda is disastrous for this country and for my generation...We have to stop him from wasting billions on fighter jets, military bases, and corporate tax cuts while cutting social programs and destroying the climate."
Forty-Four Years of Occupation
Submitted on June 3, 2011Palestine "has been under criminal occupation for 44 years. During that time, (Israel) committed the worst crimes against humanity, violating every international instrument. The occupier has killed tens of thousands of our struggling people, most of them defenseless civilians. There have been over 800,000 instances of imprisonment. Tens of thousands of people have been injured..."
The Hidden Injuries of Iraqi Refugees
Submitted on June 3, 2011By Dr Adam Coutts - Al Jazeera
Little attention has been given in the post-conflict reconstruction of Iraq to the health and well-being of refugees and their children. Indeed, with the advent of the Arab Spring, the situation of displaced Iraqi refugees has left media, public and national policy agendas altogether. But almost a decade after US and British troops first touched down on Iraqi soil, families continue to lack basic resources. Children are living in a very fragile and tense social environment...
Greek Government to Announce Billions More in Austerity Measures
Submitted on June 3, 2011By Andre Damon - WSWS
The Greek government is preparing to announce another €6.4 billion ($9.3 billion) in austerity measures, after Moody's, the debt rating agency, cut the country's credit rating three notches, sending it deep into junk status...The Greek government responded to the downgrade by stating that it will go through with the austerity measures demanded by the [European Union] and IMF regardless of domestic opposition.
States Harming People Most in Need
Submitted on June 2, 2011During today's dire economic times, budget strapped states are implementing harsh cuts, harming vulnerable residents most.
America's Most Dangerous Pill?
Submitted on June 2, 2011By Christopher Byron - June 1, 2011
...[W]hen it comes to prescription drugs that are not only able to kill you but can drag out the final reckoning for years on end, with worsening misery at every step of the way, it is hard to top the benzodiazepines. And no "benzo" has been more lethal to millions of Americans than a popular prescription drug called Klonopin.
Giving Eric Cartman the Moral High Ground: U.S. College Football
Submitted on June 2, 2011By Dave Zirin - May 31, 2011
A plantation-economy nonprofit really has no place in a civil society. College football needs to be shut down and reopened under new management. Give players a stipend, guarantee scholarships for four years, cap salaries of head coaches, and start over because the current model has failed: morally, ethically and economically.
Vancouver's "Veneer-Reform" City Government
Submitted on June 2, 2011By Tristan Markle - June 2, 2011
Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver were thrown into power in the fall of 2008 by a populace demanding change. Robertson talked about ending homelessness, creating affordable housing, and even tackling real-estate speculation...But Vision-in-power has squandered its mandate for change. Vancouver's affordability crisis has deepened...Outrageous land prices inflate costs across the board, from food to art.
U.S.-Led Global War on Drugs a Failure
Submitted on June 2, 2011Thursday, June 2, 2011 - Common Dreams
A 19-member international panel has condemned the US-led "War on Drugs" campaign as a failure and has recommended major reforms of the global drug prohibition regime..."Overwhelming evidence from Europe, Canada and Australia now demonstrates the human and social benefits both of treating drug addiction as a health rather than criminal justice problem and of reducing reliance on prohibitionist policies...These policies need to be adopted worldwide, with requisite changes to the international drug control conventions."
America's Creeping Police State
Submitted on June 1, 2011By Rania Khalek - May 31, 2011
Considering the level of brutality we have been dishing out around the world, from the “war on drugs” to the “war on terror,” the erosion of our civil liberties is sadly inevitable. Did we really think that we could wage war and occupy other nations with checkpoints, invasive surveillance, and brutal violence without these same policing tactics spreading to our country?
The Sky Really Is Falling
Submitted on June 1, 2011By Chris Hedges - May 30, 2011
The rapid and terrifying acceleration of global warming...has been confronted by the power elite with two kinds of self-delusion. There are those...who dismiss the science and empirical evidence as false. There are others who accept the science surrounding global warming but insist that the human species can adapt. Our only salvation — the rapid dismantling of the fossil fuel industry — is ignored by both groups. And we will be led...toward collective self-annihilation by dimwitted pied pipers and fools.
Netanyahu's War on Gaza
Submitted on June 1, 2011Governing lawlessly by any standard, Netanyahu waged war on Gaza since becoming Israel's prime minister for the second time on March 31, 2009.
UK Undermining Europe's Tar Sands Ban: Campaigners
Submitted on June 1, 2011By Terry Macalister - Monday, May 30, 2011
Britain is being accused of undermining a European-wide drive to ban forecourt sales of petrol and diesel derived from the carbon-heavy tar sands of Canada..."It is extremely disappointing that the UK has caved in to pressure from Canada, which sees Europe as setting a dangerous precedent for the rest of the world to follow, potentially closing one market after another...If it really does want to be the greenest government ever, it must lead by example and not be swayed by aggressive Canadian lobbying..."
Mohammad Mahjoub: The Life of a Security Certificate Detainee
Submitted on June 1, 2011By Sara Falconer - June 1, 2011
...Mahjoub is...held under surveillance that is completely unprecedented in the judicial system in Canada. He wears a GPS tracking bracelet at all times. A camera outside his door monitors his every move, and he is only permitted to leave the house for four hours a day, and only within a few blocks of his apartment. CSIS monitors every phone call...they were caught listening to protected solicitor-client phone calls between Mahjoub and his lawyer, contrary to a court order.
Waging War at Home and Abroad While Pledging Peace
Submitted on May 31, 2011Rampaging American lawlessness.
NATO Says Attacks on Afghan Houses 'Necessary,' Will Continue
Submitted on May 31, 2011Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - Common Dreams
A NATO spokesperson says attacks on houses in Afghanistan are necessary and will continue, despite Afghan President Hamid Karzai's assertion that he will no longer permit them to take place...Karzai took a hard-line stance Tuesday against NATO air-strikes on houses, following an attack over the weekend that claimed the lives of women and children.
Jewish Group Challenges Harper's Knee-Jerk Support for Israeli Government
Submitted on May 31, 2011May 30, 2011
“Instead of taking steps to promote a resolution to the ongoing crisis in Israel and Palestine, the Harper government supports the government of Israel regardless of what it does,” declared Sid Shniad, spokesperson for Independent Jewish Voices Canada..."Israel's hard right, intransigent government is delighted with Harper...It was because of Canada that there was no mention of Israel's pre-1967 borders made in the leaders' final communiqué released by the gathering of G8 leaders in France."
Banks Demand Savage Austerity Measures in Greece
Submitted on May 31, 2011By Patrick O’Connor - 31 May 2011
The initial round of mass public sector layoffs, wage cuts, and destruction of welfare and social infrastructure programs impoverished wide layers of the Greek population, but failed to satisfy the European banks. They are now demanding control over the country’s economy, with representatives of...the so-called troika...to be placed directly in charge of a privatisation program that will see Greece’s public assets sold off and the proceeds funneled to the banks.
Public Banking: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Submitted on May 31, 2011Public banking is the solution for economic equity.
Solidarity in Ras al-Amud: East Jerusalem
Submitted on May 30, 2011We gather at 4:00 outside the settlers’ multi-story stone building opposite the old police station at Ras al-Amud, on the Mount of Olives. This was the week of Netanyahu’s speech before Congress; if, utterly unlikely as this may be, there is anyone in the world who failed to notice that he was lying through his teeth, then Wednesday’s official ceremony unveiling the new settlement here in East Jerusalem should be enough to remove the veil. He used the word “peace” many times, in most cases meaning “war
Tory Tax Policies May Aggravate Gap Between Rich and Poor
Submitted on May 30, 2011By Les Whittington - May 27, 2011
Inequality and poverty declined in Canada for 20 years before the late 1990s...but since have gotten much worse...“In the last 10 years, the rich have been getting richer, leaving both middle and poorer income classes behind”...And some analysts say the economic strategies being pursued by a re-elected Harper will only make matters worse, leading to a further expansion of the income gap between the very rich and others in Canada.
The Aboriginal "Intervention" in Australia
Submitted on May 30, 2011By Susan Allan - 30 May 2011
As far as [Australia's Labor government] is concerned, the first intervention has already served its purpose as a spearhead for draconian measures against welfare recipients. Any turn to a second intervention against Aborigines would inevitably mean a dramatic new escalation of the assault on the living conditions of the most impoverished layers of the working class throughout the country.
Obama Plans Gutting Regulations for Corporate Favorites
Submitted on May 30, 2011Corporate friendly deregulation.
Who in the Middle East Cares What Obama Says?
Submitted on May 30, 2011By Robert Fisk - May 30, 2011
While Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu played out their farce in Washington – Obama grovelling as usual – the Arabs got on with the serious business of changing their world, demonstrating and fighting and dying for freedoms they have never possessed. Obama waffled on about change in the Middle East – and about America's new role in the region. It was pathetic. "What is this 'role' thing?" an Egyptian friend asked me at the weekend. "Do they still believe we care about what they think?"
Karzai Gives U.S. 'Last Warning' Over Civilian Deaths
Submitted on May 29, 2011By Sardar Ahmad - Sunday, May 29, 2011
Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the US military on Sunday to avoid operations that kill civilians, saying it was his "last warning" to Washington after 14 people allegedly died in an air strike..."The president called this incident a great mistake and the murdering of Afghanistan's children and women, and on behalf of the Afghan people gives his last warning to the US troops and US officials in this regard..."
"We Don't Need No Stinkin' Badges": The New Face Of War
Submitted on May 29, 2011By Conn Hallinan - Znet Commentary
The assassination of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden did more than knock off America's Public Enemy Number One, it formalized a new kind of warfare, where sovereignty is irrelevant, armies tangential, and decisions are secret...It is as if counter-terrorism reconfigured that classic line from the movie The Treasure of the Sierra Madre: "We don't need no stinkin' badges, we got drones and Seals."
Just Another Day in the Incarceration Society
Submitted on May 29, 2011By SHERWOOD ROSS - May 26, 2011
Our criminal justice system overwhelmingly reflects the views of the privileged as against the poor. It is class war, pure and simple...If you want a glimpse into the soul of a nation, visit one of its prisons.
Truth In the Midst of a Battle Zone
Submitted on May 29, 2011A battle zone. Burning rubble, riot control, tear gas grenades being deployed, SWAT teams stomping around, crowd dispersal chemical weapon OC gas assault rifles being utilized, screaming cries of pain echoing throughout the atmosphere — this is an absolute war-zone. Yes, all of the things mentioned above apply to this environment right now. This is what is happening
A Warning From Finland
Submitted on May 29, 2011By BORIS KAGARLITSKY - May 27-29, 2011
Whenever free market policy fails, the only salvation offered is even higher doses of the same policy....As a result, [European voters] are searching for an alternative. Not finding one in the political left, they are turning to nationalist parties that promise their voters measures for combating unemployment, government regulation of the market and...the willingness to challenge the ruling structures of the European Union.
Vermont Enacts Conditional Universal Healthcare Coverage
Submitted on May 29, 2011A baby step only toward universal health care coverage in Vermont.
Syria Becomes Centre of Struggle for Regional Influence
Submitted on May 29, 2011By Jean Shaoul - WSWS
[Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s] lethal use of tanks, troops, security forces, police and armed thugs has played a major role in deterring protesters. But a further factor is the character, perspective and leadership of the “opposition” forces and dissidents being promoted by the US, British and French media.
A Disgusting Lovefest
Submitted on May 29, 2011By ESAM AL-AMIN - May 27-29, 2011
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the U.S. Congress in a joint session on May 24 it gave the right-wing extremist Israeli leader 29 standing ovations...It was a disgusting love fest...Despite the numerous lies and distortions that filled the speech, members of Congress were racing one another to stand, smile, and declare their loyalty to the Zionist state.
Encircling Russia with U.S. Bases
Submitted on May 29, 2011Congressional majorities support Washington's imperial agenda, including global militarization against potential challengers and America's main rivals - China and Russia, encircling them belligerently with bases and strategic weapons. It's a policy fraught with danger.
Is Green the New Red?
Submitted on May 29, 2011By Robert Meeropol - May 28th, 2011
[Note: Robert Meeropol is the younger son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.]
This movement isn’t about being nice to kittens and puppies. It’s about torture of animals on a massive scale, in pursuit of corporate profit. Huntingdon Life Sciences kills at least 71,000 and possibly as many as 181,000 animals annually to test cleaners, cosmetics, drugs, pesticides and other ingredients. Hidden camera videos have recorded employees beating animals and dissecting live monkeys.
U.S. Activist, Poet and Singer Gil Scott-Heron Dies
Submitted on May 29, 201128 May 2011 - Al Jazeera
US poet and songwriter Gil Scott-Heron, credited with helping to inspire the development of rap, has died at the age of 62...Scott-Heron - best known for his spoken word piece 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised', which critiqued mass media - used poetry as his vehicle for activism committed to the human rights of people around the world.
Vancouver's Fake Policy Hides Disappearing Low-Income Housing
Submitted on May 29, 2011By Maria Wallstam and Nathan Crompton - May 29, 2011
The upscaling of hotels...is taking place within a larger process of neighbourhood change. A recent study released by the Carnegie Community Action Project...found that the number of hotels renting at welfare rates has decreased to 12% from 29% the year before. These trends show that the interests of private owners are simply not compatible with the needs of low-income renters, yet the city routinely sides with owners over renters.
Wisconsin Judge Strikes Down Anti-Union Law
Submitted on May 29, 2011On May 27, Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi rescinded Republican Governor Scott Walker's bill in a 33-page decision, ruling Republican lawmakers violated Wisconsin's open meetings law.
Canadian Elections: Another Failed Intervention
Submitted on May 29, 2011By Derrick O'Keefe - Green Left Weekly
Having moved to solidify the support of business and foreign policy hawks, [Michael] Ignatieff then tacked to the left at the start of this spring’s election campaign, criticizing Harper’s wildly expensive no-bid purchase of F-35 fighter jets, and outlining a number of modest reforms...The result was that almost no one in Canada bought it, opting either for NDP leader Jack Layton’s warmed over social democracy...or Harper’s Conservatives...In the wreckage of his failed Canadian intervention, Ignatieff left a majority government for the Bush-like Harper.
More Myth than Massacre at Srebrenica
Submitted on May 28, 2011The alleged Srebrenica victim count reflected lies and half-truths based on what's known but omitted in official and major media accounts.
California Prison Judgment Shines Light on Human Indignity
Submitted on May 28, 2011Thursday, May 26, 2011 - Globe and Mail
Over three decades, the population of California's jails increased by 750 per cent, to the ludicrous total of more than 140,000...It was an orgy of punishment. People who had committed two violent crimes were sent away for a minimum of 25 years for a third crime, violent or non-violent, as in the famous case of a man who stole a pizza.
Not Everyone Loves Oprah
Submitted on May 28, 2011By Julianne Hing - AlterNet
How much of Oprah’s appeal comes from the fact that she embodies women’s worst insecurities about themselves even as she exhorts women to get over it already? Does that make her human, or does it make her cynically depraved? I skipped straight to the book reviews in that issue and looked at little else.
G8 Meeting Pledges Austerity and War
Submitted on May 28, 2011By Stefan Steinberg - WSWS
Confronted with the most serious economic crisis since the 1930's, the major imperialist powers are wiping out all the gains achieved by workers in the post-war period. They are well aware that such a program will provoke...mass opposition...In response, governments across the globe are beefing up their own military apparatus to deal with the increasing domestic opposition to their policies, while also conducting a growing number of open-ended colonial wars aimed at re-dividing the world and its resources.
Cleaning up City Squares in 'Democratic' Spain
Submitted on May 28, 2011By Pablo Ouziel - May 27, 2011
...[T]he city government called for the dispersal of the crowds in order to allow for clean up teams to enter. Although this was the official stance, it soon became apparent that cleaning garbage from the square was not the true intent, and that the real aim of the operation was to seize computers, printers and documents from the movement’s steering committees, and to put an end to this popular uprising which is posing a threat to the country’s political and economic elites.
The Right Wing's Mirror-Image View of Life
Submitted on May 27, 2011By Cliff Schecter - 23 May 2011
The sad reality is that, to be pro-life in the US today, which is to be conservative in almost all cases, is to love thy enemy by supporting illegal wars...that kill hundreds of thousands of innocents, cutting health-care benefits and nutrition programs for children and the poor, and turning the other cheek … of the person you're torturing.
Welcome to the Violent World of Mr. Hopey Changey
Submitted on May 27, 2011By John Pilger - May 28, 2011
...[A]s “Mr. Hopey Changey”...is fawned upon by the British elite...the Anglo-American reign of terror proceeds in Afghanistan and elsewhere, with the murder of people by unmanned drones...For the record, on a scorecard of imposed misery, from secret trials and prisons and the hounding of whistle-blowers and the criminalising of dissent to the incarceration and impoverishment of his own people, mostly black people, Obama is as bad as George W. Bush.
Indoctrinating a New Generation to Think North American
Submitted on May 26, 2011With Canada and the U.S. pursuing a trade and security perimeter agreement which could later include Mexico, it has once again highlighted the whole process of North American integration. This deep-rooted agenda has permeated our schools, universities and other learning institutions. Through various initiatives, the future leaders of tomorrow are being indoctrinated to view themselves as North American citizens as opposed to Canadians, Mexicans or Americans.
Obama Address to UK Parliament: A Joint Agenda for Austerity and War
Submitted on May 26, 2011By Julie Hyland - 26 May 2011
Barack Obama’s three-day state visit to the UK was more than an extravagant PR opportunity for an increasingly discredited US president and Britain’s deeply unpopular Conservative-Liberal Democrat government...It underscored the unity of Washington and London in attempting to push through a social counter-revolution in their own countries, while insisting on similar “medicine” for the peoples of the world and threatening punitive action against any potential challengers.
DC Cops Slam Down Paraplegic [Video]
Submitted on May 26, 2011Here we have two cops in Washington, DC, take down a guy in a wheelchair by actually picking him up out of his chair and slamming him into the pavement.
Netanyahu Spurns Peace
Submitted on May 26, 2011Netanyahu endorses continued occupation and repression.
How Police Get Away With Murder
Submitted on May 26, 2011By Marti Hiken and Luke Hiken - Dissident Voice
Police officers who murder citizens in our communities are more likely than not to get off scot-free. The odds are that they will not be prosecuted at all, and if they are, they will be offered a plea bargain to misdemeanor assault or manslaughter, at worst. The reasons that police can kill at will are found in the laws themselves...Our society doesn’t mind cops who kill, only citizens who do.
Shia Rally Against U.S. Troops in Iraq, Threaten to Take Up Arms if Troops Don't Leave by Year-End Deadline
Submitted on May 26, 201126 May 2011 - Al Jazeera
Thousands of supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have ralled in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in a show of force against any extension of US military presence in the country past a year-end deadline..."They have a message aimed at Americans: if you stay beyond the deadline set by the SOFA agreement...if they stay beyond that date which is 31 of December, the end of this year, the Mahdi army will resume its military activities and they will battle US forces..."
Ontario Tories Propose Mandatory Labour for Prisoners
Submitted on May 26, 2011CBC News - May 26, 2011
The Ontario Progressive Conservatives say if they are elected in the fall, they would force convicted prisoners in provincial facilities to work up to 40 hours a week of manual labour...Under the Tory plan, prisoners would pick up garbage along rural highways, cut grass and clean graffiti along city streets, among other similar tasks...They would receive "credits" for the work, which they could redeem for television, coffee time or other "rewards."
Canada on Secret Oil Offensive
Submitted on May 25, 2011By Martin Lukacs - The Dominion
MONTREAL — The Canadian government has been carrying out a secret plan in Europe to boost investment and keep world markets open for the Alberta tar sands, collaborating with major oil companies and aggressively undermining European environmental measures, documents obtained by The Dominion reveal.
NATO Bombing of Tripoli Kills 19 Civilians, Wounds 150
Submitted on May 25, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 25 May 2011
In the most intensive bombardment since the US and NATO launched their war of aggression against Libya, strikes by British and other NATO warplanes in the early hours of Tuesday morning killed 19 Libyan civilians. Another 150 were wounded, some of them seriously, according to Libya’s health ministry...Tuesday morning’s raid appeared to be aimed at decapitating the Libyan regime, or failing that, terrorizing Tripoli’s population and those who oppose NATO’s intervention.
April 20 Day of Action Against Extraction on Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Anniversary [Video]
Submitted on May 25, 2011Rising Tide documents it's week of "Action against Extraction" marking the April 20th, 2011 anniversary of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Across North America and as far as Helsinki and Wellington the destruction wrought by BP, Halliburton, Trans Ocean, and a complacent government was not just remembered, but resisted.
"I Won't Give Up": Queer Artist Alvaro Orozco Speaks from Immigration Detention
Submitted on May 25, 2011By Luam Kidane and Ryan Hayes - May 21, 2011
At 8pm on Friday May 13, award-winning undocumented queer artist Alvaro Orozco was arrested by Toronto Police after being 'randomly ID'd' on his way to dinner with friends. Now in detention at the Toronto Immigration Holding Centre, he faces imminent deportation to Nicaragua.
Protester Who Heckled Netanyahu in U.S. Congress Allegedly Beaten, Arrested at Hospital
Submitted on May 25, 2011By Eric W. Dolan - Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
CODEPINK activist Rae Abileah was arrested at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington D.C. after heckling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...The 28-year-old Jewish American woman was allegedly tackled by members of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) during Netanyahu's speech to Congress after she yelled, "stop Israeli war crimes."
Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and Women’s Memorial March Committee Challenge BC Government’s Decision Regarding Missing Women’s Inquiry
Submitted on May 25, 2011May 24, 2011
The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee are strongly condemning the BC government’s decision to not provide funding to support their participation in the Missing Women’s Inquiry...“It is disgusting that the Vancouver Police Department and the Government of Canada...will have well-paid lawyers and unlimited tax dollars to defend themselves. Meanwhile, voices from the Downtown Eastside, particularly those of Indigenous women, will continue to be deliberately marginalized and shut out.”
Massive Security Preparations for the G8 Meeting in France
Submitted on May 25, 2011By Antoine Lerougetel - WSWS
The leaders of the major capitalist governments fear and hate the masses from whose lives and needs they are entirely alienated. This attitude is expressed in the massive security mobilisation at Deauville. An elite special forces team is on standby. The army has a command post on a hill overlooking the city and police will patrol the hills around the town on horseback and mountain bikes. Access to residents will be based on presentation of a badge provided by the Deauville police station.
Notorious Racist Arizona Sheriff's Deputies Arrested for Cartel Ties
Submitted on May 25, 2011By Sarah Seltzer - May 25, 2011
Notorious racist Sherrif Joe Arpaio, who has spent time on the conservative circuit of late endearing himself to the Tea Party, maybe should have been supervising his own house instead..."The group mostly moved heroin...and officials suspect each of the arrested sheriff's employees played a crucial role in moving the drugs and hiding the illicit profits. Authorities say the ring moved about $56,000 worth of heroin a week through the Valley."
In Saakashvili's Georgia, the Bloom Is Off the Rose
Submitted on May 25, 2011Since May 21, anti-goverment protests have rocked Georgia. Organized by an alliance of opposition parties, they erupted initially in September 2007 for early elections and democratic change, as well as ending corruption and police state terror.
Zionism and the Morality of Acceptance
Submitted on May 25, 2011By Kim Petersen - Dissident Voice
An article in [the] Globe and Mail starts off with a claim by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “[t]he only truly free Arabs living in the Middle East are the one million who live in Israel…”...Netanyahu’s statement plummets the depths of Israeli Jewish racism...While Netayahu claims to accept the idea of a Palestinian state, Israel has been colonizing and splitting the West Bank into Bantustans. Israel’s actions do not match the rhetoric. It is transparently racist.
How Much Bull Will People Swallow About Libya?
Submitted on May 25, 2011By Chris Shaw - rabble.ca
The question is not about the right of the Libyan people to rise up against oppression, but whether it is actually being done by them on their own behalf or is a convenience of western governments eager to capture yet more oil for their consumer economies. Much of the left seems to have glommed onto the first half of this, all the while letting their critical senses ignore the second. For the powers that be, [it] can't be much sweeter than having so-called "lefties" cheering on your military adventures in the name of human rights.
Greenpeace: Corporations 'Govern' Our Desires, So Let's Get Greenwashing
Submitted on May 25, 2011Even though I've been critical of Greenpeace for some time now, it still irked me when I read [their] statement...Basically, I take it to mean the following: corporations rule the world, and so we're going to "fight" so that they will become greener, friendlier firms with better ads and even smilier faces. Greenpeace might as well be greening jails at this point.
Throw a Shoe at Obama’s Betrayal
Submitted on May 24, 2011By Ilan Pappe - 23 May 2011
At 4:17pm GMT on Sunday, I threw a shoe at my television screen, aimed at US President Barack Obama, precisely at the moment he began to explain that the reference in his Thursday speech at the State Department to the 1967 borders was in accordance with the Israeli interpretation of these borders...Annexation of Israeli settlement blocs built illegally in the occupied West Bank and the creation of a small Palestinian bantustan in the spaces in between was the essence of Obama’s real vision for peace.
Rallying Against Shale Fracking Around Ontario
Submitted on May 24, 2011Some of us have started to campaign against shale gas fracking around Ontario, Canada. On May 19th, we had a rally outside of a North American shale gas conference in Holiday Inn Sarnia (which actually is located in Point Edward). At our protest, we focused on threats to water supplies. The shale gas conference was about profits that corporations could gain by securing U.S. gas exports for the petro-chemical industries in Sarnia-Lambton.
Resistance in Obama Time: Over 2,600 Activists Arrested in the U.S. Since Election
Submitted on May 24, 2011By BILL QUIGLEY - Counterpunch
Arrests at protests have been increasing each year since 2009. Those arrested include people protesting US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Guantanamo, strip mining, home foreclosures, nuclear weapons, immigration policies, police brutality, mistreatment of hotel workers, budget cutbacks, Blackwater, the mistreatment of Bradley Manning, and right wing efforts to cut back collective bargaining.
Spanish Voters Reject Austerity
Submitted on May 24, 2011On May 22, Spain held regional and municipal elections...Indignant voters said they'd "pursue their protests to force an overhaul of their country's political system"...Conceding defeat, Prime Minister Zapatero admitted hard times caused Spaniards serious problems, exacerbated, he omitted, by imposed neo-liberal austerity.
Republican Lawmaker Says Women Should Plan Ahead for Needing an Abortion After Being Raped: "I Have a Spare Tire"
Submitted on May 24, 2011By Tanya Somanader - May 24, 2011
...[T]his Boy Scout dismissal of rape and incest victims [is] as galling as it is common among [Republicans]. More and more Republican lawmakers are adopting the...“make lemonade” attitude towards pregnancies resulting from rape. This year, one Indiana lawmaker even suggested that women would fake their own rapes to secure an abortion procedure.
Cops Who Broke Photographer's Shoulder at G20 Cleared After 'Investigation' Failed to Identify Them
Submitted on May 24, 2011CBC News - May 24, 2011
The Special Investigations Unit...last week concluded their second investigation and...found no police were criminally responsible, in part because 11 officers who witnessed the incident couldn't identify those who allegedly inflicted the injuries...In the wake of the SIU's findings, critics have accused the Toronto Police Service of fostering a "blue wall of silence"...
Norman Finkelstein on Obama's Middle East Speech 2011 [Video]
Submitted on May 24, 2011By Democracy Now! - May 23, 2011
"Not only is there no difference in content, but there's actually no difference in form [between what Bush said three years ago & what Obama said]. It's the same wording..."
Israel in a Strategic Dead End
Submitted on May 23, 2011By JONATHAN COOK - May 18, 2011
Unlike previous years, this Nakba Day was not simply a commemoration of the catastrophe that befell the Palestinians in 1948...It briefly reminded Palestinians that...they still have the potential to forge a common struggle against Israel...As Israel violently cracked down on [the Nakba] protests...it looked less like a military superpower and more like the proverbial boy with his finger in the dam.
Alleged Obama - Netanyahu Rift
Submitted on May 23, 2011US - Israeli relations are on a rock-solid foundation.
Six Nations Youth Reclaim Old Police Station in 'Ohsweken'
Submitted on May 23, 2011By Krystalline Kraus - May 23, 2011
In the spirit of our ancestors, honouring the memory of all those youth who have died unjustly and in respect to all our relations, We the Six Nations Youth Movement are TAKING ACTION and RECLAIMING the old police station as the temporary site of the Onkwehon:we Youth Centre...We declare that the Band Council superstructure...cannot handpick our representatives nor determine the direction of the Six Nations Youth Movement.
Asians 42 Times More Likely to be Held Under Terror Law in UK
Submitted on May 23, 2011By Vikram Dodd - The Guardian
People from ethnic minorities are up to 42 times more likely than white people to be the target of a counter-terrorism power which allows the stopping and searching of the innocent yet grants them less rights than suspected criminals...The figures have led to accusations that police have resorted to "ethnic profiling"...Those stopped have no right to maintain their silence, and failure to answer questions can be a criminal offence.
Breaking the Gaza Embargo and Israeli Piracy
Submitted on May 23, 2011By Gabriel Matthew Schivone, Huwaida Arraf and Noam Chomsky - May 23, 2011
Threatening to hijack boats in international waters and kill or kidnap passengers is...a serious crime. But Israel’s threats and actual uses of force are nothing new. For decades, Israel has been hijacking international vessels throughout the Mediterranean and kidnapping or killing passengers. To understand the current situation involving civil resistance to Israeli policy, a glance at Israel’s aggressive history in international waters is in order.
Extending Key Patriot Act Provisions
Submitted on May 23, 2011Extending Patriot Act provisions solidifies domestic repression at the same time America's imperial agenda denies democratic freedoms abroad - exposing a rogue president's hypocritical promise of change.
Why Liberal Sellouts Attack Prophets Like Cornel West
Submitted on May 23, 2011By Chris Hedges - May 23, 2011
The liberal class...prefers comfort and privilege to justice, truth and confrontation. Its guiding ideological stance is determined by what is most expedient to the careers of its members...Those who expose this moral cowardice and collaboration with corporate power are always ruthlessly thrust aside.
On Community Support and Solidarity
Submitted on May 23, 2011By Julian Ichim - May 19 2011
Sitting in court today, watching my fiancée Kelly Pflug Back...who is facing charges stemming from the g20, I was surprised to look around the court room and see that other than myself there was only one other person there for support...[Kelly] stated that she wasn’t surprised at all. Since her house arrest most of her “allies” have not visited, phoned or even emailed her...Many of her former comrades who have known her for a long time are now denouncing her and many of those who do “support” her don’t even have time to send her an email.
Challenging Harper's Irrationality
Submitted on May 23, 2011By Murray Dobbin - May 23, 2011
In observing Stephen Harper...I have often been reminded of the line from Shakespeare: "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." Replace lawyers with scientists and you capture the role that the irrational plays in the politics of the prime minister...It may be only a slight exaggeration to suggest that if science supports something, there is a good chance Harper will oppose it.
What NATO is Doing to Libya
Submitted on May 23, 2011By PATRICK COCKBURN - May 23, 2011
One dispiriting outcome of the Libyan uprising is that the future of Libya is decreasingly likely to be determined by Libyans. Foreign intervention is turning into an old-style imperial venture. Much the same thing happened in Iraq in 2003 and in Afghanistan in the past few years. In Iraq, the US invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein...soon turned into what many Iraqis saw as a foreign occupation.
They Can’t Kill Our Spirits: Post-G20 State Repression in Southern Ontario
Submitted on May 22, 2011May 21, 2011 - Vancouver Media Co-op
The recent wave of repression against anarchists in Southern Ontario comes as no surprise considering recent anarchist organizing in the region...With the growing strength of anarchists, state repression will intensify no matter how “safe” the practices are of those involved. That being said, it’s important to be taking intelligent steps towards keeping ourselves safe while understanding that repression is inevitable.
Killings, Detentions and Torture in Egypt
Submitted on May 22, 2011Egypt remains a brutal police state.
Obama Rejects Independent Palestinian State, Says U.S. Committment to Israel "Ironclad"
Submitted on May 22, 2011May 22, 2011 - Al Jazeera
Barack Obama...has rejected Palestinian plans to seek statehood at the United Nations, and said Washington's commitment to Israel's security is "ironclad"..."No vote at the United Nations will ever create an independent Palestinian state...Israel's legitimacy is not a matter for debate."
Immigrants for Sale
Submitted on May 22, 2011By Axel Caballero - Wednesday 18 May 2011
Georgia is the latest state to pass an anti-immigrant bill like SB1070...Georgia is also home to the largest private prison in the country. Coincidence? Not even close...It's hardly a secret that private prison corporations...have been at it -- deliberately promoting and designing laws aimed at incarcerating immigrants and turning the prison system into an incredibly lucrative business.
British Former Gitmo Detainee Denied Entry to Canada
Submitted on May 22, 2011By Michelle Shephard - May 20, 2011
A well-traveled British human rights activist and former Guantanamo Bay detainee said he was barred from boarding a direct flight from London to Toronto Friday because of concerns the aircraft could be diverted to the U.S....“They said to me the reason why they would not board me and take me to Canada is because, in the unlikely event they were rerouted to America, there could be a security concern...”
Mixed Reactions to Obama's Middle East Speech
Submitted on May 21, 2011The Arab street isn't fooled by Obama's hypocrisy.
Turning the Camera: Why Are Cops Allowed to Film Citizens, But Citizens Not Allowed to Film Police Brutality?
Submitted on May 21, 2011By David Sirota - May 20, 2011
What's good for the police apparently isn't good for the people -- or so the law enforcement community would have us believe when it comes to surveillance...That's a concise summary of a new trend...the trend whereby law enforcement officials have been trying to prevent civilians from using cellphone cameras in public places as a means of deterring police brutality.
On the Assassination of Osama bin Laden: There is Much More to Say
Submitted on May 21, 2011By Noam Chomsky - May 20, 2011
The bin Laden operation could have been the spark that set off a conflagration, with dire consequences, particularly if the invading force had been compelled to fight its way out, as was anticipated...Whatever the motive was, it could hardly have been security. As in the case of the “supreme international crime” in Iraq, the bin Laden assassination illustrates that security is often not a high priority for state action, contrary to received doctrine.
Consumer Reports Misleads Consumers About Psychiatry
Submitted on May 21, 2011By Allan M. Leventhal - May 21st, 2011
The Tuesday, May 17...Washington Post carried a Consumer Reports Insights article on depression. The article’s commentary regarding depression has little to do with insight, health, or science. In fact, the article is a very good illustration of how disinformation routinely is disseminated to the public. It is an unabashed commercial for psychiatry that overstates how psychiatrists function, ignores their limitations, and fails to report on problems with psychiatric treatment.
Britain’s Public Health System Faces Destruction
Submitted on May 20, 2011By Chris Marsden - WSWS
Britain’s Conservative/Liberal Democrat government has set out plans for the destruction of the National Health Service as a universal and comprehensive service free at the point of delivery...Workers will soon find themselves entitled only to a basic menu of treatments, as under the US system of managed care, and ultimately will have to depend on an insurance-based system. These measures will cost tens of thousands their good health, even their lives.
On the Chopping Block: Federal Worker Pensions
Submitted on May 20, 2011The U.S. plan to incrementally steal federal worker pensions.
Lots of Rhetoric, But Very Little Help
Submitted on May 20, 2011By Robert Fisk - Znet
It was a kind of Second Coming...Cairo re-pledged, another crack at the Middle East, as boring and as unfair as all the other ones, with lots of rhetoric about the Arab revolutions which Obama did nothing to help. Some of it was positively delusional...Of course, there was the usual rhetoric bath for Libya, Syria, Iran, the usual suspects...A creature from Mars would think that the man had helped to bring about the revolutions in the Middle East rather that sat primly to one side in the hope that the wretched dictators might survive.
Stealing Palestinian Land Dunam by Dunam
Submitted on May 19, 2011Israel is incrementally stealing Palestinian land.
Why Religious Conservatives Are Obsessed With Israel
Submitted on May 19, 2011By Joshua Holland - May 18, 2011
[Glen] Beck's newfound adoration for Israel represents a convergence of right-wing ideologies that is in fact quite dangerous. Beck's trying to turn an audience of very low-information viewers into hawkish “pro-Israel” hardliners who will "stand with Israel" even against long-standing US foreign policy -- they'll support more settlements and oppose the "roadmap" if their beloved leader tells them to.
Canadian Postal Workers Fight Concessions
Submitted on May 19, 2011By Greg Macdougall - May 19, 2011
"This is a fight against an ideology from the government, from banks, that big businesses should make more, and people should live on poverty wages. I have wages that could help my children go to university -- not pay for it, not those kind of wages -- but help my children be able to get higher education. What they're talking about now are wages that are just for survival, they're not a wage to support a family."
- Canadian Union of Postal Worker's 2nd national vice-president Lynn Bue
U.S. Justice Department Refuses to Investigate New Evidence: Who Ordered the Kent State Shootings?
Submitted on May 19, 2011By LINN WASHINGTON, Jr. - May 19, 2011
Three days after President Barack Obama visited Ground Zero in New York City on May 5th with his message of "justice being done" with the slaying of terrorist Osama bin Laden, disturbing news broke about this administration's blocking of a quest for justice in the infamous May 1970 killing of four Kent State students...Those four students fell in a barrage of gunfire on May 4, 1970 by Ohio National Guardsmen who opened fire during a peaceful protest against the Vietnam War on Kent State's campus.
Canadians Secretly Added to U.S. Security List: WikiLeaks
Submitted on May 19, 2011May 18, 2011 - CBC News
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Canada's principal intelligence agency, routinely transmits to U.S. authorities the names and personal details of Canadian citizens who are suspected of, but not charged with, what the agency refers to as "terrorist-related activity"...The criteria used to turn over the names are secret, as is the process itself.
America's Student Loan Racket: Soaring Default Rates
Submitted on May 19, 2011Robbing students to enrich financial interests.
Israel Actions "Surpass Barbarism of Apartheid South Africa": Palestine Solidarity Campaign of South Africa
Submitted on May 19, 2011Wednesday, May 18, 2011 - Electronic Intifada
"Those of us who lived through and struggled against apartheid South Africa consider the actions of the Israeli state to surpass even the barbarism of apartheid South Africa. Israel is already considered a pariah state in the eyes of most of humanity...From our own struggle we know that repression breeds resistance. We are confident that Israel’s actions, the cause of untold misery and hardship for Palestinians today will also be the downfall of the racist Israeli state tomorrow."
Wikileaks Cable Exposes Canadian Duplicity in Iraq War
Submitted on May 19, 2011By Carl Bronski - WSWS
A classified diplomatic note provided to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) by Wikileaks shows that on March 17, 2003 — just two days prior to the “shock and awe” onslaught launched against Iraq by American, British and allied militaries — Canadian foreign affairs officials told Washington that Canada’s armed forces could be “discreetly” deployed in support of the invasion of Iraq.
Israel's Children’s Court
Submitted on May 19, 2011By Ilan Pappe - May 19, 2011
The children are dressed in brown or orange prisoners’ uniforms. ‘Chained feet. Shackled hands, one hand shackled to that of another boy’...‘Some of them are so small that their feet wave in the air when they are seated on the bench.’
Why We Don't Welcome the Visit of the British Queen
Submitted on May 18, 2011Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - Workers Solidarity Movement
There is a drive to normalise the British occupation of the six counties and partition. It is part of a wider pattern to integrate Ireland into the loose alliance of imperialist nations. There has always been a desire on behalf of the British state, the USA and the European Union to engage Ireland as a junior partner in the imperialist club. The ending of the war in the north and the gradual normalisation of relations between Britain and Ireland has allowed an acceleration of this process. The visit of Britain's Queen Elizabeth is all part of it.
"Knowing the Land is Resistance" Summer Tour Seeking Hosts
Submitted on May 18, 2011Bring the Seeds of Resistance Tour to Your Town!
This summer (early June to late August), Knowing the Land is Resistance (KLR) Collective will be doing some traveling, to explore wild spaces throughout the Southern Ontario region and to connect with the people who love them. Over the past couple of years we’ve been giving workshops and working to deepen our knowledge of the land where we live. Now we want to take these experiences on the road! We are currently looking for people interested in hosting us in their towns and helping to organize workshops there.
Spain’s Tahrir Square
Submitted on May 18, 2011By Pablo Ouziel - May 18, 2011
As people across the Arab world continue their popular struggle for justice, peace and democracy, Spain’s disillusioned citizens have finally begun to catch on as well. Slow at first, hopeful that Spain’s dire economic conditions would magically correct themselves, the Spanish street has finally begun to understand that democratic and economic justice and peace will not come from the pulpits of the country’s corrupt political elite.
Did NATO Massacre Libyan Religious Leaders?
Submitted on May 18, 2011By THOMAS C. MOUNTAIN - May 18, 2011
...[O]n Friday, May 13, over 150 of Libya’s most senior Imams gathered in Brega to hold a peace conference on how to end the fighting in Libya...Early during the evening of Friday, May 13, NATO forces bombed the conference site, killing at least ten and hospitalizing over 40 Imams...NATO confirmed attacking Brega that evening but claimed it struck a “command and control center”.
America's Appalling Human Rights Record
Submitted on May 18, 2011America defiles human and civil rights.
Why AIPAC is Dangerous for Jews
Submitted on May 18, 2011By ALICE ROTHCHILD - Counterpunch
US Jews are increasingly uncomfortable with a lobby that claims to represent us, but is deeply committed to the militaristic and right-wing policies of successive Israeli governments...While maintaining a steady [drum] beat for war against Iran and a world view that "Israel continues to fulfill its ancient obligation as a 'light unto the nations,'" AIPAC lobbyists with their Christian Zionist allies guarantee billions of dollars in military aid for Israel each year...cementing the massive, interconnected, and lucrative military-industrial-security complex that now exists between our two countries.
If a 50-Foot Woman Falls Dead and No One Notices, Does She Make a Sound?
Submitted on May 18, 2011By E.R. Bills - May 18th, 2011
On April 27th, Yvette Vickers, an 82-year-old former Playboy playmate and star of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, was found dead in her Los Angeles home. Her remains were mummified and she’d been deceased for several months. Her fame and beauty were long gone and she passed away in solitary anonymity.
The Push for a Single Unified North American Regulatory Regime
Submitted on May 18, 2011By Dana Gabriel
Regulatory integration threatens Canadian sovereignty and democracy. Further harmonization with the U.S. could result in Canada losing control over its ability to regulate food safety.
The Nakba: What Does It Mean in Human Terms?
Submitted on May 18, 2011By SONJA KARKAR - May 17, 2011
The Nakba is the Palestinian catastrophe. It means upheaval, violence and cataclysmic loss; it describes the terror, which drove almost one million people out of their homeland, as well as the perpetual terror in exile – displaced, dispossessed, stateless, lost and forbidden to return; it remains the multiplying injustice of another people's sin burgeoning in our collective silence.
Afghanistan: Twelve Killed at Protest Over NATO Raid
Submitted on May 18, 2011Wednesday, May 18, 2011 - Common Dreams
At least 12 people have been shot and killed by security forces in northern Afghanistan during a protest against a NATO-led raid...The clashes with security forces in the city of Taloqan left 80 others injured...Four people, two of them women, were killed in the NATO-led raid. NATO said they were insurgents. Protesters and local police say all were civilians.
Newt Gingrich Wants to Make America "Like Texas"
Submitted on May 18, 2011By Peter Montgomery - AlterNet
In his presidential campaign announcement on Sean Hannity’s Fox News Channel show last week, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich praised job creation in Texas and said he’d been talking to Texas Gov. Rick Perry. "I know how to get the whole country to resemble Texas”...That could go down as the worst campaign promise ever.
The International Criminal Court: An Imperial Tool
Submitted on May 18, 2011Since being established in 1945, the leadership of the ICC has done nothing to deter war, human rights abuses, or other high crimes of powerful member states, notably Western ones and Israel, repeatedly committing crimes of war and against humanity with impunity.
UK: Government Issues Guidelines to Deal with Suicide Threats by Disabled and Jobless
Submitted on May 18, 2011By Robert Stevens - 18 May 2011
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued official guidance on how to deal with a claimant who threatens suicide...Such ghoulish advice is being given out in anticipation of the human suffering and despair due to the Conservative-Liberals government’s £100 billion cuts in public spending. Millions of people’s lives will be devastated...“A lot of people think these people are crying wolf to get their money, but that’s not the case. They are suffering from real problems and can’t face it any more.”
Canada’s Election: Stupid Is as Stupid Does
Submitted on May 18, 2011By Greg Felton - Dissident Voice
By any rational standard, Stephen Harper and his minions should have been obliterated at the polls on May 2; instead, they will form a majority government based on 40% of the popular vote. Canada’s antiquated electoral system has produced many “minority majorities” and managed to survive, but never one so contemptuous of the law, Canadian institutions or Parliament itself.
Slutwalk: To March or Not to March
Submitted on May 18, 2011By Harsha Walia - May 18, 2011
Slutwalk...runs the risk of facilitating the dominant discourse of "liberated" women as only those women wearing mini-skirts and high heels in/on their way to professional jobs. In reality, capitalism mediates the feminist façade of choice by creating an entire industry that commodifies women's sexuality and links a woman's self-esteem and self-worth to fashion and beauty. Slutwalk itself consistently refuses any connection to feminism and fixates solely around liberal questions of individual choice...
The Rights of Israel
Submitted on May 17, 2011By Joseph Massad - 06 May 2011
...Israel has argued over the years that Jews have a right to establish...a "Jewish" state in Palestine, that this state has a "right to exist"...that it has the "right" to inherit all the biblical land that the Jewish God promised it, and a "right" to enact laws that are racially and religiously discriminatory in order to preserve the Jewish character of the state...Israel has also insisted that...the Palestinian people...must recognise all these rights, foremost among them its "right to exist as a Jewish state", as a condition for and a precursor to peace.
Israel’s Border Massacre and Human Rights Hypocrisy
Submitted on May 17, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 17 May 2011
The Obama administration’s reaction to Israel’s massacre Sunday of unarmed Palestinian protesters on its borders underscores the hypocrisy of those ascribing “humanitarian” motives to Washington’s predatory policy in the region...It is self-evident that where and when Washington decides to invoke concerns over “human rights” is determined not by some universal moral principles, but rather by definite imperialist interests.
Newt Gingrich: Born Again Loser
Submitted on May 17, 2011By ANTHONY DiMAGGIO - May 17, 2011
After having stepped away from the political spotlight for nearly a decade-and-a-half, Newt's not-so-glorious return on Meet the Press as he announced his presidential candidacy last Sunday was more embarrassing than anything else. His comments were symbolic of a corrupt, narcissistic, and hedonistic right-wing political culture that clings to brain dead ideas like the zombies in a George Romero film.
On Being Radical
Submitted on May 17, 2011May 16, 2011 - Toronto Media Co-op
All violence short of self-defense is unjustified, and by the same token, many radical groups and the teachings they espouse are flawed and legitimately dangerous...If we as a species can agree on these fundamental truths, then we must also accept that the violent eviction of people from their homes in order to exploit their local resources is also a legitimate crime. Nonetheless, the latter happens almost every day to no mass outcry.
Why It Feels So Good to Be Embedded with the U.S. Military
Submitted on May 17, 2011By Peter Van Buren - Znet
What is it about the military that turns normally thoughtful journalists into war pornographers? A reporter who would otherwise make it through the day sober spends a little time with some unit of the U.S. military and promptly loses himself in ever more dramatic language about bravery and sacrifice, stolen in equal parts from Thucydides, Henry V, and Sergeant Rock comics.
The Democrats Attack Unions Across the U.S.
Submitted on May 17, 2011By Shamus Cooke - May 17, 2011
The cover-up of the Democrats’ national anti-union agenda is possible because the truth would cause enormous disturbances for the Democratic Party, some labor leaders, liberal organizations and, consequently, the larger political system...Here is the short list of states that have Democratic governors where labor unions are undergoing severe attacks: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, California, New York, Illinois, Washington, Hawaii, Minnesota, Maryland and New Hampshire. Other states with Democratic governors are attacking unions to a lesser degree.
Denver Anti-Police Terror March Arrestee Facing 90 Years in Prison
Submitted on May 17, 2011Monday, May 16 2011 - Infoshop News
On Friday May 6th, over one hundred people, mostly young, poor, and angry, took to the streets in defiance of the Denver Police Department...As the the march ended, a small firework was set off in the street. Police used this act as a justification to chase one alleged participant down an alley, where she was tackled and beaten by police. This person would later be identified as Amelia Nicol, a 20 year old Colorado resident. She now faces outlandish charges including attempted murder.
June 10th, Ottawa: Give the Tories the Welcome They Deserve!
Submitted on May 17, 2011Tuesday, 17 May 2011 - Ainfos
On June 10th, 2011, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will address the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) National Convention in downtown Ottawa...Harper's address to the gathered Conservative Party members will be his first major address after winning a majority government in the last election. We invite all those opposed to Harper's right-wing agenda to come together on Friday, June 10th, and make clear to the Conservative Party that we will not sit idly by while they attack our communities.
Osama bin Laden's Guns Found 'Only After' U.S. Navy Seals Killed Him
Submitted on May 17, 2011By Declan Walsh - The Guardian
The American soldiers who killed Osama bin Laden found his two guns only after he was dead, while they photographed his remains, according to a detailed new account of the al-Qaida leader's final moments...Meanwhile, US relations with Pakistan, already at their lowest point in a decade, have found a fresh point of friction following an exchange of fire between NATO and Pakistani forces along the Afghan border.
Australian Labor Government Cuts Welfare
Submitted on May 17, 2011By Alex Messenger - WSWS
...Labor’s measures have one goal: to force welfare recipients to compete for a dwindling number of already poorly-paid jobs and thus create a larger cheap labour pool to drive down wages across the board...Sole parents and disabled workers are the government’s primary targets, together with the young and long-term unemployed. The government’s measures are a further major step toward the complete dismantling of the welfare safety net for society’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged members.
List of Anti-Choice Members of Parliament
Submitted on May 17, 2011Killing Rachel Corrie Twice
Submitted on May 17, 2011Israel attacks another Gaza humanitarian ship.
Carlos Santana is Booed for Using Baseball's Civil Rights Game to Speak Out for Civil Rights
Submitted on May 16, 2011By Dave Zirin - May 16, 2011
The reason Atlanta was such a brutally awkward setting for a Sunday Civil Rights setting, was because Friday saw the Governor of Georgia...sign HR 87, a law that shreds the Civil Rights of the state’s Latino population. Modeled after Arizona’s horrific and unconstitutional SB 1070, HR 87 authorizes state and local police the federal powers to demand immigration papers from people they suspect to be undocumented.
John Graham Update (15 May 2011)
Submitted on May 16, 2011By John Graham - May 16, 2011
After a week long trial and several inconsistent and contradicting prosecution witnesses...a South Dakota jury found me NOT GUILTY OF THE PREMEDITATED 1975 MURDER OF ANNA MAE AQUASH...[T]he same South Dakota jury found me guilty of the lesser charge of felony murder kidnapping...Felony murder carries the same sentence as premeditated murder so the judge had no alternative but to sentence me to life with no possibility of parole.
Israel Attacks Humanitarian Ship to Gaza in International Waters
Submitted on May 16, 2011By Gaza Solidarity - May 16, 2011
Global Research has been in contact with the Spirit of Rachel Corrie, a Malaysian ship carrying a humanitarian aid cargo to Gaza, which has been attacked in international waters by Israel.
The Obama Deception: Why Cornel West Went Ballistic
Submitted on May 16, 2011By Chris Hedges - Truthdig
The moral philosopher Cornel West...believed in the potential for change and was encouraged by the populist rhetoric of the Obama campaign. He now nurses...the anguish of the deceived, manipulated and betrayed. He bitterly describes Obama as “a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats. And now he has become head of the American killing machine and is proud of it.”
Harper vs. Insite: Landmark Case to Determine Future of Safe-Injection Sites in Canada
Submitted on May 16, 2011By Ottawa Working Group of the Media Co-op - May 14, 2011
Representatives and advocates of Vancouver’s safe drug-injection site were in Ottawa to resist the Harper government’s attempt to shut down the clinic...Although two B.C. courts have ruled that Insite is a health-care facility under provincial jurisdiction, the Conservatives have appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada where the case was heard on May 12th.
New York Anti-Gay Rally: Preacher Calls Gay People 'Worthy of Death'
Submitted on May 16, 2011By Igor Volsky - May 16, 2011
...[W]hile the march and rally focused on the Christian message of “love,” the event remained deeply homophobic, with speakers routinely condemning gay people as “sinners” and describing same-sex relations as something wholly unnatural or perverse...Rev. Ariel Torres Ortega...said that the gay people are “worthy of death”...["B]eing against all justice, fornication, perversity, aberrations, malignity…those who practice such things are worthy to death...["]
Koch Brothers Buy Economics Department at Public University
Submitted on May 16, 2011By Kris Hundley - Znet
A conservative billionaire who opposes government meddling in business has bought a rare commodity: the right to interfere in faculty hiring at a publicly funded university...A foundation bankrolled by...Charles G. Koch has pledged $1.5 million for positions in Florida State University's economics department. In return, his representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires for a new program promoting "political economy and free enterprise."
The Responsibility to Protect
Submitted on May 16, 2011By MARJORIE COHN - May 16, 2011
The military actions in Libya and Ivory Coast set a dangerous precedent of attacking countries where the leadership does not favor the pro-U.S. or pro-European Union countries. What will prevent the United States from stage-managing some protests, magnifying them in the corporate media as mass actions, and then bombing or attacking Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, or North Korea? Recall that during the Bush administration, Washington leveled baseless allegations to justify an illegal invasion of Iraq.
Bail Granted for Last G20 Detainee [Updated]
Submitted on May 16, 2011CBC News - May 16, 2011
Byron Sonne, the Toronto man who was charged with explosives and weapons offences in the days leading up to last year’s G20 summit in Toronto, has been granted bail...Sonne, 38, an independent online security specialist, has been in custody since he was arrested last June...Four of those charges were later dropped by the Crown.
Wikileak Warriors: U.S. Cables on Native 'Threats'
Submitted on May 16, 2011Friday, May 13, 2011 - People of Color Organize!
Two recent news articles from APTN National News highlight US involvement in counter-insurgency operations against Indigenous peoples in Canada, and other social movements. One concerns the 2004 confrontation at Kanesatake when a corrupt band chief brought in dozens of outside Native cops to conduct raids on the territory...Both articles are derived from US diplomatic cables that were recently revealed through Wikileaks.
The Struggle for Justice Under Harper’s Conservatives
Submitted on May 16, 2011May 15th, 2011 - No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
We are writing this statement only two weeks into the recent federal election, where Stephen Harper’s Conservatives attained a majority in Parliament...[T]he specific context of the Conservative government...requires us to analyze our strategies and our struggles accordingly...Over the next several years, we can expect to see a more aggressive anti-immigrant campaign by the Conservatives.
Greece Plunges Deeper Into Crisis
Submitted on May 16, 2011Monday, May 16, 2011 - Common Dreams
"It has been less than 12 months since this crisis began...The city full of homeless people looking for food in dustbins; friends fired without compensation, or accepting wage cuts; police officers beating up citizens who protest, schools and hospitals shutting; teachers and doctors losing their jobs; journalists censored; trade unionists persecuted; racist attacks downtown."
- Xara Kouki, Greek social researcher with the ELIAMEP Institute.
Solitary Confinement Widely Used in U.S. [Video]
Submitted on May 16, 2011Monday, May 16, 2011 - Common Dreams
As Amnesty International released its 2011 Human Rights Report, it issued harsh criticisms [of] dozens of countries, from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan, from China, to Zimbabwe. There are also criticisms of the United States for detentions at Guantanamo Bay and in Afghanistan, but there was little mentioned about a form of punishment that's becoming more and more widespread: the use of solitary confinement.
Canadian Elections: Another Failed Intervention
Submitted on May 16, 2011By Derrick O'Keefe - Green Left Weekly
Having moved to solidify the support of business and foreign policy hawks, [Michael] Ignatieff then tacked to the left at the start of this spring’s election campaign, criticizing Harper’s wildly expensive no-bid purchase of F-35 fighter jets, and outlining a number of modest reforms...The result was that almost no one in Canada bought it, opting either for NDP leader Jack Layton’s warmed over social democracy...or Harper’s Conservatives...In the wreckage of his failed Canadian intervention, Ignatieff left a majority government for the Bush-like Harper.
Austerity? Not for the Elite
Submitted on May 15, 2011By Simon Walker - WSWS
If further proof was required to refute [British] Prime Minister David Cameron’s assertion that all in the UK are suffering his government’s austerity measures equally, one need look no further than the latest Sunday Times Rich List...“Britain’s super rich are making light of the age of austerity, achieving an 18% rise in their collective wealth over the past year”...The UK’s 1,000 richest people are now worth the grand sum total of £396 billion.
Obama’s Killing Spree
Submitted on May 15, 2011By Margaret Kimberley - People of Color Organize!
Obama is certainly living the thug life, an international gangster without parallel. What is to lesser humans a planet is, to Obama, a spherical theater of war, a free-fire zone. With two more notches in his gun, the First Black President is ensuring that Black Americans will be viewed as just another brand of ugly, violent Americans set loose on the world. And “the Peace Prize winner will once again give a lofty, well written speech about why it makes no sense to be peaceful.”
Fighting Back Against Police Violence and Uniting for Alternatives [Video]
Submitted on May 15, 2011By Krishna Bera, Tara Lyons & Greg Macdougall - Common Cause
On 15 March 2011, about 75 people demonstrated against police violence in downtown Ottawa, marking the International Day Against Police Brutality. This was the first year an event was held in Ottawa, taking the lead from the annual march in Montreal that started in 1997...The march was connected to the Forum on Police Violence, Incarceration and Alternatives...Over 120 people attended the opening panel, which featured five speakers, and was followed by a day of workshops [see videos below].
63 Years of Nakba [Video]
Submitted on May 15, 2011May 15, 2011 - rabble.ca
Marking the 63 year memory of the Nakba, this Manifesto presents "a simple, true, self-explanatory expression of what we're sick of."
Israeli Army Kills Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon Borders
Submitted on May 15, 2011By Harriet Sherwood - The Guardian
Thousands of Palestinians and their supporters were embroiled in deadly confrontations with the Israeli army as protests erupting across the Palestinian territories, Israel and its borders with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan were met with live fire, rubber bullets, stun grenades and teargas...At least 13 people were reported killed in a day of bloody confrontations, including 10 at the Lebanese border, at least two at the Syrian border and one in Gaza.
Queer Artist Arrested by Immigration Enforcement
Submitted on May 15, 2011By Let Alvaro Stay Campaign - May 15, 2011
At 8pm on Friday evening, award-winning undocumented queer artist Alvaro Orozco was arrested on his way to dinner with friends. Now in detention at the Toronto Immigration Holding Centre, he faces imminent deportation to Nicaragua...Alvaro first rose to national prominence in 2007 when his refugee claim was denied on the basis that he did not look “gay enough” for the adjudicator hearing his case via a television screen in Calgary.
Christopher Hitchens Distorts Noam Chomsky
Submitted on May 15, 2011By George Scialabba - May 15, 2011
After 9/11, Noam Chomsky wrote that...what was new about the murder of 3000 civilians was that it was carried out against the United States rather than by the United States...Chomsky was generally reviled for this suggestion...It was widely assumed...that to explain was to excuse...to assign any motive except impotent envy, theological rancor, or eliminationist anti-Semitism to al-Qaeda and its allies was ruled “anti-American”...Christopher Hitchens joined this...exercise...
No One Is Illegal-Vancouver: On Palestine
Submitted on May 15, 2011May 15, 2011 - Vancouver Media Co-op
No One is Illegal-Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories is a grassroots immigrant and refugee rights collective with leadership from members of migrant and/or racialized backgrounds...We oppose the settler policies of Israel, which have and continue to be supported by the Canadian state, and stand against the continued displacement of Palestinians and the confiscation of their land and homes since 1948. We call for an immediate end to the Israeli occupation of all Palestinian territories and the system of apartheid that characterizes life in Palestine; the recognition of the right of return for all Palestinian refugees; and full political, social and economic equality for all people in historic Palestine.
Conservative Callousness Against People With Disabilities
Submitted on May 14, 2011By Will Stone - Friday 13 May 2011
"[British] Prime Minister David Cameron promised us that the savings would be made fairly and that they would protect the vulnerable. Far from protecting the vulnerable these cuts are bearing down disproportionately on disabled people...It is very sad it has come to this. Many disabled people are going to be living in poverty. I'm calling on the government to put a stop to these cuts immediately. They are cruel and misguided."
- Jane Asher, President of three charities - the National Autistic Society, Parkinson's UK and Arthritis Care - for People With Disabilities in the UK.
Russian Capitalism Is More Pure
Submitted on May 14, 2011By Boris Kagarlitsky - May 14, 2011
...Russian commentators who encounter aspects of daily life and politics in Europe or the United States tend to react with astonishment and anger. This has given rise to a new brand of anti-Western literature written...by the most fervent supporters of the West who have become disillusioned with their belief in liberalism...Although they continue to believe in the ideal of perfect capitalism...and a market guided by an invisible hand...they now condemn Europe and the United States as not living up to that ideal.
Pakistan May Cut NATO's Afghan Supply Line After Bin Laden Killing
Submitted on May 14, 2011By Declan Walsh - The Guardian
The security of NATO's main supply line into Afghanistan came under threat on Saturday as Pakistani parliamentarians voted to review all aspects of their relationship with the US amid worsening political fallout from the raid that killed Osama bin Laden...In feisty speeches lawmakers warned against further "unilateral action"...and urged the government to consider cutting the NATO supply line that runs from Karachi to Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass and Balochistan.
The Lurid Threats Surrounding Mavi Marmara 2
Submitted on May 14, 2011By John Haylett - Friday 13 May 2011
Campaigners for an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza agreed last weekend to launch Freedom Flotilla 2 in the third week of June, with ships departing from various European ports...[T]he international solidarity movement remains determined to persist in its peaceful direct action to highlight Israel's illegal and inhuman collective punishment of the Palestinian people
The 5 Worst U.S. States to Get Busted With Pot
Submitted on May 14, 2011By Paul Armentano - May 13, 2011
Police prosecute over 800,000 Americans annually for violating state marijuana laws. The penalties for those busted and convicted vary greatly, ranging from the imposition of small fines to license revocation to potential incarceration. But for the citizens arrested in these five states, the ramifications of even a minor pot bust are likely to be exceptionally severe.
Democracy or "Smart Globalization": Hard Questions for the Left
Submitted on May 14, 2011By Edmund Berger - May 14th, 2011
Through the AFL-CIO and the assorted array of grant-making foundations, the anti-globalization left is fraternizing dangerously close with the same economic and political imperialists that they claim to be fighting. With the Ford Foundation’s desire to “provide a safety valve for the angry,” the Rockefeller's calls for a “smarter globalization” and the World Social Forum’s banning of certain groups and viewpoints, this can be seen as nothing more than a corporate co-opting of the left.
Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed
Submitted on May 14, 2011The truth about Fukushima grudgingly comes out but most of it is still suppressed.
How the Murdoch Press Keeps Australia's Dirty Secret
Submitted on May 14, 2011By John Pilger - May 14, 2011
The most enduring and insidious Murdoch campaign has been against the Aboriginal people, who were dispossessed by the arrival of the British in the late 18th century and have never been allowed to recover...The officially-inspired theft of children from Aboriginal families...produced those known as the Stolen Generation and in 1997 was identified as genocide. Today, the first Australians have the shortest life expectancy of any of the world’s 90 indigenous peoples.
Insite Saves Lives
Submitted on May 14, 2011By Peter Wrinch - May 13, 2011
One wonders...on what grounds the Harper government continues to waste hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to challenge Insite's existence all the way to Canada's highest court. With costs to taxpayers accumulating, the Supreme Court of Canada is being asked to consider the B.C. Court of Appeal's decision that the criminal laws which force drug addicts to inject drugs in unsafe environments don't apply at Insite. Meanwhile, the fate of Canada's roughly 100,000 injection drug users hangs in the balance.
Greeced Lightning
Submitted on May 13, 2011SchNEWS - Friday 13th May 2011 | Issue 771
The anti-austerity fightback continued in Greece this week as a 24-hour strike called by the unions ended in violence on the streets...The action on Wednesday (11th) was the latest episode after a months of riots...with multiple clashes between cops and [a]...public, sick of bearing the brunt of some of the toughest austerity measures in Europe, coupled with police brutality and oppression.
Beholden to Big Business: NDP Gave Private Assurances to Bay Street
Submitted on May 13, 2011By Keith Jones - WSWS
As Canadians voted on May 2, top officials of the trade union-based New Democratic Party (NDP) were contacting the country’s leading financial institutions to reassure big business that an NDP-led government would in no way threaten their interests...“Last Monday, the NDP made contact with leaders of the financial world to reassure the markets. The NDP wanted to remind them that if the NDP formed the government, it would follow the example of [NDP] provincial premiers...who had tabled balanced budgets.”
Bahraini State Terror Continues
Submitted on May 13, 2011Brutal Western-backed state terror in Bahrain.
Learning to Love Torture
Submitted on May 13, 2011By Nicole Colson - Znet
ISN'T TORTURE great?...It is if you're one of the many pundits and politicians trying to use Osama bin Laden's corpse to claim a little slice of victory...Exploiting bin Laden's death, a number of politicians and media commentators have stepped forward to claim that the raid on America's public enemy number one shows that torture works...
Resurrecting the Bogus FARC-EP Files/Venezuela Connection
Submitted on May 13, 2011Fake files target Hugo Chavez.
Protesters and Police Clash in Athens
Submitted on May 13, 2011By Stefan Steinberg - 13 May 2011
Anger and discontent is mounting across Greece, as living conditions for broad layers of the population become increasingly intolerable. The country now has an official unemployment rate of over 15 percent with youth unemployment at 30 percent. A series of increases in basic taxes, combined with wage cuts of up to 15 percent, have led to a complete collapse in consumption, a drastic decline in revenue for the state and prolonged economic recession.
Killing Bin Laden: Dershowitz vs. Chomsky (Again)
Submitted on May 13, 2011By ALLEN MENDENHALL - May 13-15, 2011
...[O]ne can see Dershowitz's "argument" for what it is: a collection of red herrings and other fallacies cloaked in inflammatory and nationalist rhetoric. At a time when the Middle East is in turmoil...the last thing we need is Dershowitz's loud, self-righteous, and not-so-subtle warmongering to influence public discourse about Osama bin Laden.
The Federal NDP’s Electoral Breakthrough in Quebec: A Challenge to Progressives in Canada
Submitted on May 12, 2011By Richard Fidler - May 8, 2011
The NDP’s Quebec candidates surfed into office on a wave of popular disenchantment with the Tories, Liberals and Bloc [Quebecois]...[T]he uppermost concern among Quebec voters...was to find some way to block the Conservative government...The NDP was perceived as the one party that offered some prospect of change. At the same time, NDP voters indicated that the potential for constitutional change was not a major factor in their decision. The Québécois have largely abandoned any expectation of constitutional change coming from Ottawa...which does not mean they have abandoned their desire for...independence.
Homophobia in Sports Becoming Costly
Submitted on May 12, 2011By Zack Ford - May 12, 2011
Canadian sports anchor Damian Goddard is the latest sports figure to face serious consequences for public homophobia. Sportsnet...fired him this week after he used Twitter to join sports agency Uptown Sports in denouncing New York Ranger Sean Avery for coming out in support of marriage equality...“I’m a devout Roman Catholic. It’s not about hate at all.”
This is My Rant on Palestine
Submitted on May 12, 2011By Macdonald - Media Co-op
...I do anti-tar sands work. Israel is — perhaps — about to become, thanks to new technological developments the largest oil producer on earth. I'll be so arrogant as to call that another Nakba. The implications for not just Palestinians of all stripes in all locations...but all of the freedom seeking Arabs, Muslims and indeed the entire planet are simply staggering.
Israel's Repressive New Laws
Submitted on May 12, 2011By NEVE GORDON - May 11, 2011
One...notices that in this so-called free and democratic country, there are in fact two books of laws, one liberal for its own citizenry and the other for Palestinians under its occupation. Hence, Israel looks an awful lot like apartheid or colonialism.
Cops Who Killed Robert Dziekanski Charged With Perjury
Submitted on May 12, 2011CBC News - May 12, 2011
Perjury charges have now been laid against the four Mounties who confronted Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport and repeatedly stunned him with a Taser in October 2007...The officers...are accused of lying during the testimony they gave during a public inquiry into Dziekanski's death.
What Do We Mean by 'Militancy'?
Submitted on May 12, 2011By 1968, the year of his death, Martin Luther King’s radicalism and openness to militant forms of protest had, by all accounts, only intensified. And yet, in his final speech, on the night before his assassination, he reiterated his longstanding view that “we don’t need any bricks and bottles, we don’t need any Molotov cocktails”...Can these views be reconciled? Can one oppose "bricks, bottles and Molotov cocktails," but welcome protest "militancy"?
Inside the Republican's "Security Act": Repealing Due Process, Declaring Permanent War
Submitted on May 12, 2011By MIKE WHITNEY - Counterpunch
The Detainee Security Act eliminates any process under which prisoners captured by the US military can establish their innocence. If you're caught by the military, then you're guilty; it's as simple as that...[I]f the bill is passed, Guantanamo Bay will stay open forever and prisoners will continue to be deprived of due process. Naturally, putting the military in charge without congressional oversight increases the likelihood that detainees will be tortured or abused as they have been in the past.
Canadian Mining in Kanesatake
Submitted on May 12, 2011By Stefan Christoff - May 11, 2011
Despite the past history of tensions and widespread opposition to the current proposal within the Mohawk community of Kanesatake, the proposed mining project has remained under the radar: even as the company continues to lobby government officials and push forward with the project, little media or mainstream political focus has been paid to the issue. Residents of Kanesatake, though, are not letting their guard down in the face of the mining project.
How Global Sport Has Declared War on Brazil's Poor
Submitted on May 12, 2011By Dave Zirin - May 12, 2011
In the 21st century...sporting events require more than stadiums and hotels. The host country must provide a massive security apparatus, a willingness to crush civil liberties, and the will to create the kind of "infrastructure" these games demand. That means not just stadiums, but sparkling new stadiums. That means not just security, but the latest in anti-terrorist technology. That means not just new transportation to and from venues, but hiding unsightly poverty from those traveling to and from the games.
Libyan Rebels Killing Civilians in Benghazi
Submitted on May 12, 2011Besides civilians and former regime soldiers, Libya Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) paramilitaries comprise their hardcore - Al Qaeda-linked insurgents, cutthroat killers, showing no mercy for suspected pro-Gaddafi sympathizers.
Housing Advocates Continue to Mourn Homeless Deaths in Toronto
Submitted on May 12, 2011By John Bonnar - rabble.ca
In the past, Lisa had worked as a hairdresser and was planning to return to that line of work. Instead, the 30-year-old now joins a list of over 600 people who have died since 1985 as a result of homelessness in Toronto.
East Jerusalem Palestinians: Lawlessly Revoking Their Status
Submitted on May 11, 2011After its June 1967 annexation, life for Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem became an ongoing cycle of neglect, discrimination, poverty, shortages, and persecution, compounded by the encircling Separation Wall and worsening daily hardships.
U.S. Opens Grand Jury Hearing on WikiLeaks
Submitted on May 11, 2011By Ed Pilkington - The Guardian
The US government has opened a grand jury hearing into the passing of hundreds of thousands of state secrets to WikiLeaks – the start of the process of deciding whether to prosecute the website and its founder, Julian Assange, for espionage.
The Coming Cuts and How to Stop Them: Migrants, Unions and the Fight for Public Services in Toronto
Submitted on May 11, 2011By No One Is Illegal-Toronto - May 11, 2011
On September 27th or shortly after, [right wing Toronto Mayor] Rob Ford will put in place a plan to cut up to $800 million dollars from public services in Toronto. He will attempt to privatize [the Toronto Transit Commission], public housing and more, shut down shelters, youth centres and arts programs and will begin charging fees for free public services. These changes will impact two communities the most: Migrant, undocumented, racialized and poor communities that use these services and unionized workers that provide them.
Geert Wilders Rallies the Racists and Religious Sectarians of Toronto
Submitted on May 11, 2011By Brandon Gray - Common Cause
The notoriously xenophobic Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right 'Party for Freedom' - which holds 24 seats in the Dutch parliament - descended on the Canadian Christian College in northern Toronto on May 9 to spew his racist filth to a receptive audience of Christian chauvinists, as their far-right allies, the Jewish Defense League (JDL), managed parking.
Commemorating Palestine's Nakba
Submitted on May 11, 2011Under 44 years of occupation this June, Palestinians still experience daily institutionalized persecution with no power over their daily lives in a constant state of fear...They face...economic strangulation...collective punishment for any reason...[and] arrest, imprisonment, and torture without cause.
The Real Cost of Prisons: An Interview with Lois Ahrens
Submitted on May 11, 2011The racist sub-text of the neo-liberal political agenda succeeded in creating acceptance of mass incarceration while simultaneously creating the laws and industries to police, prosecute, cage and control millions of people--almost all poor people and people of color.
Pakistan Warns U.S. “Unilateralism” Could Have “Serious Consequences”
Submitted on May 11, 2011By Keith Jones - 10 May 2011
In a televised address before Pakistan’s parliament Monday, Prime Minister Yousaf Gilani denounced the illegal unilateral US military operation that resulted in the summary execution of Osama bin Laden, then warned that Pakistan reserves the right to “retaliate with full force” to any future violation of its national sovereignty...“No one...should underestimate the resolve and capability of our nation and armed forces to defend our sacred homeland.”
Progressives and Liberals Are Scabbing: It's Never Okay to Cross a Picket Line
Submitted on May 11, 2011By Jonathan Tasini - Znet
Scott Walker, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck…make your own list of the people who are viciously anti-union. We know the threat they pose: attacking the labor movement, and undermining the right to strike...The problem is that we are also undermined by another dangerous threat: liberals and progressives who cross picket lines — and do so with full knowledge that they are breaking a union strike. It's shameful.
Will the NDP Become the New Liberal Party?
Submitted on May 11, 2011By MURRAY DOBBIN - Counterpunch
If the NDP wants to govern...as a social democratic party, then its current situation presents a dilemma. Given the media in this country and the perception of the NDP that it relentlessly creates and recreates, it has two choices. It can either hope to build on Jack Layton’s evident popularity over the next four years and tie trust in him to trust in social democratic policies. Or it can take the easy road and gradually moderate its policies, acquiescing to the inevitable media onslaught against any policies that Bay Street finds offensive – a very long list.
Three Strikes and Racism
Submitted on May 10, 2011By Bill Boyarsky - May 9, 2011
The racism within the police-court-prison system is one of America’s most neglected evils, as is the impact it has on the poor African-American and Latino communities that are home for so many released convicts...[Three strikes] law imposes a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life for anyone convicted of a felony if that person has two previous felony convictions. The third-strikes sentence has been imposed for nonviolent offenses — such as stealing videos, golf clubs or even a pizza — permitted by the law to be raised to felony status.
The Ugly Reality Behind the Killing of Bin Laden
Submitted on May 10, 2011By ANTHONY DiMAGGIO - May 10, 2011
Americans welcomed the death of Osama bin Laden, in light of the terrorist atrocities of September 11th, 2001 that led to the deaths of more than 3,000 Americans. What has been missed in the orgy of celebrations, however, is the fact that the assassination operation cannot be divorced from the larger U.S. “counter-terror” campaign, which blatantly violates other countries’ sovereignty, while overwhelmingly targeting and killing civilians, rather than members of al Qaeda.
What Libya Can Expect from 'Western Democracy'
Submitted on May 10, 2011By Murray Dobbin - May 9, 2011
...[A]re we to believe that if Gaddafi is overthrown, a U.S.-style democracy will actually improve on [the living conditions of Libyans]?...Of course not. U.S.-style democracy is "liberal" capitalist democracy which, for anyone in the developing world who has experienced it, means freedom for transnational corporations to do what they please and take what they want.
Suspicious Friends Could Land You on No-Fly List
Submitted on May 10, 2011By Jim Bronskill - May 09, 2011
Simply knowing someone suspected of terrorist activities could land you on Canada’s no-fly list, according to an internal document the government tried to keep secret...Criteria for possible addition to the list includes a person “who directly associates with” an alleged extremist, says the draft document prepared by Transport Canada officials.
Europe One Year After the Bailout of Greece
Submitted on May 10, 2011By Stefan Steinberg - WSWS
This month marks one year since the €110 billion loan made by the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bail out Greece...The bailout marked a new stage in the international financial elite’s offensive against the working class of Europe in response to the banking crisis of 2008...Greece is mired in deep recession. Its official unemployment rate stands at around 15 percent...State revenues have collapsed and the number of citizens...lining up at soup kitchens has dramatically increased.
U.S. Declares War on Humanity
Submitted on May 10, 2011By Luke Hiken - Dissident Voice
...[T]he Obama administration today announced the formation of a joint Military/Domestic Police Force (MDPF) to carry out a War on Humanity. Recognizing that the War on Drugs, the War on Terror, the War on Poverty, the War on Crime, and the War on Illegal Immigration were all dismal failures, the Obama brain trust decided that by consolidating all of these campaigns into one simple war...the corporations that profited and built their empires upon these rationalizations could justify endless oppression, imprisonment, deportation, torture and accumulation of the wealth of the entire nation under one rubric.
Troy Anthony Davis: Unjustly Sentenced to Death
Submitted on May 9, 2011Police state justice in America.
U.S. Taxes Fund Anti-Muslim Hatred
Submitted on May 9, 2011By Chris Hedges - May 9, 2011
Those with Muslim names are routinely harassed at airports, and many who wear traditional Muslim dress report mounting cases of verbal and sometimes physical abuse. Muslim children endure taunts in schools. Muslims complain of intrusive surveillance, unconstitutional profiling and frequent mistreatment by law enforcement. The practice of Islam...is now viewed by many as a sign of criminal intent. And with the rise of the surveillance and security state...national law is being turned into an instrument of overt repression against a religious minority.
Third Intifada Underway
Submitted on May 9, 2011By Ashraf Ezzat - Dissident Voice
If the Arabs in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria have made it very obvious they can’t tolerate to be oppressed or marginalized any more, what does that say of their Palestinian brethren who are being systematically driven out of their land in the most abhorrent ethnic cleansing scheme in modern times?
A Step-by-Step Guide to Fighting Harper
Submitted on May 9, 2011By Syed Hussan - May 9, 2011
Yes, Harper's got a horrible agenda. But for undocumented, racialized, poor, indigenous and marginalized communities -- it hasn't been all that great before the majority win either...As we fight to maintain what we've got -- we must build our capacity to get what we actually need. We don't need just a welfare state -- we need empowered people, anti-colonial practices, and accountability.
The McJobs Economy
Submitted on May 9, 2011By ANDY KROLL - Counterpunch
On April 19th, McDonald's launched its first-ever national hiring day, signing up 62,000 new workers at stores throughout the country...[T]hat's more jobs created by one company in a single day than the net job creation of the entire U.S. economy in 2009. And if that boggles the mind, consider how many workers applied to local McDonald's franchises that day and left empty-handed: 938,000 of them. With a 6.2% acceptance rate in its spring hiring blitz, McDonald's was more selective than the Princeton, Stanford, or Yale University admission offices.
New Bin Laden Tapes Appear Fake Like Earlier Ones
Submitted on May 9, 2011Apparently, Obama officials still can't get their story straight, acting much like Max Sennett's "Keystone Kops" and characters in the film and book by the same name titled, "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight."
Survivors and Supporters Push for a Ban on Electroshock Therapy in Ontario [Video]
Submitted on May 9, 2011By John Bonnar - May 9, 2011
"We demonstrate against [Electroconvulsive Therapy] because it is an atrocity…[We demonstrate] on or around Mother's Day because this is a deeply and profoundly sexist treatment. Two to three times as many women as men are shocked, even though women incur more damage from ECT than men do...We're going to win this fight because [ECT is] an atrocity, because we are the people and because unlike psychiatry which manufactures lies by the second, we stand in truth."
- Dr. Bonnie Burstow, Researcher, Therapist and Chair of the Coalition Against Psychiatric Assault
NATO Units Left 61 African Migrants to Die of Hunger and Thirst
Submitted on May 9, 2011By Jack Shenker - Monday, May 9, 2011
Dozens of African migrants were left to die in the Mediterranean after a number of European and NATO military units apparently ignored their cries for help...All but 11 of those on board died from thirst and hunger after their vessel was left to drift in open waters for 16 days. "Every morning we would wake up and find more bodies, which we would leave for 24 hours and then throw overboard..."
URGENT: Callout to Respond to Anti-Muslim and Anti-Native Racists
Submitted on May 8, 2011By Krystalline Kraus - rabble.ca
URGENT: Callout to Respond to Anti-Muslim and Anti-Native Racists in Toronto, Ottawa and London.
Anti Racist Action (ARA) and the First Nations Solidarity Working Group (FNSWG) are calling on all anti-racist allies and activists...to mobilize opposition and respond to the racist and anti-Muslim/Islamophobic Dutch politician and leader of the Anti-Islamic Party for Freedom, Geert Wilders, who will be speaking on May 8th in London, May 9th in Toronto and May 10th in Ottawa.
The Politics of Assassination
Submitted on May 8, 2011By RAY McGOVERN - May 6-8, 2011
...[T]here is the...prospect of the United States consolidating an official policy of assassination and violence as the way to impose Washington's will on the Muslim world...[If] the U.S. military is officially transformed into a roving assassination squad – a global "Murder, Inc." – it may turn out that future historians will view this as bin Laden's final victory.
Tory Crime Bill an Attack on Our Liberty
Submitted on May 8, 2011By Brian Lilley - Friday, May 6, 2011
The Conservatives plan on introducing an omnibus crime bill when the House resumes that wraps all of their previous legislation into one...The bill plans to make it a crime to link to any website that promotes hatred...For simply posting a link to a website that has material someone else deems hateful, you could go to jail for two years and be branded a criminal...This isn’t about protecting people from genocide or even threats of death, the way the law is written now is much broader.
Public Sector Workers Are the New Welfare Moms
Submitted on May 8, 2011By Randy Albelda - May 07, 2011
Conservatives have had their sights on public-sector workers for a while and for good reason. Public-sector workers represent two favorite targets: organized labor and government...Like welfare moms, public-sector workers have been painted as greedy...feeding from the public trough and targeted as the primary source of what's wrong with government today.
Balaclava! VMC Broadsheet Issue 20
Submitted on May 8, 2011Phantom Jobs and Economic Recovery in America
Submitted on May 8, 2011Fake jobs creation and economic recovery in America.
Forget Harvard, Go to California Prison Academy
Submitted on May 7, 2011Friday, May 06 2011 - Infoshop News
Roughly 2,000 students have to decide by Sunday whether to accept a spot at Harvard. Here's some advice: Forget Harvard. If you want to earn big bucks and retire young, you're better off becoming a California prison guard...[A] brochure from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations boasts that it "has been called 'the greatest entry-level job in California'["]...[I]nstead of paying more than $200,000 to attend Harvard, you could earn $3,050 a month at cadet academy.
Baa Baa Black Block: As UK Cops Launch Activist Witchunt After March 26th Actions
Submitted on May 7, 2011SchNEWS - Friday 6th May 2011 | Issue 770
Operation Brontide swung into full force last week, coincidentally just before the Royal wedding. Cops claim to be after 276 people for offences including violent disorder and criminal damage committed during the March for the Alternative on 26th March. In fact this is a legally dubious fishing exercise designed to seize equipment and display state power.
False Flags: An American Tradition
Submitted on May 7, 2011An American tradition of false flag events.
In Wake of Bin Laden Killing: U.S. Targets American Citizen in Yemen
Submitted on May 7, 2011By Bill Van Auken - 7 May 2011
Barely five days after the commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the US launched a Predator drone strike aimed at assassinating an American citizen in Yemen...The May 5 drone attack, which took place in Yemen’s Shabwa province, was planned as a targeted assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, a New Mexico-born Islamic cleric with US citizenship...
Noam Chomsky's Reaction to Osama bin Laden’s Death
Submitted on May 7, 2011May 07, 2011 - Znet
We might ask ourselves how we would be reacting if Iraqi commandos landed at George W. Bush’s compound, assassinated him, and dumped his body in the Atlantic. Uncontroversially, his crimes vastly exceed bin Laden’s, and he is not a “suspect” but uncontroversially the “decider” who gave the orders to commit the "supreme international crime["]...for which Nazi criminals were hanged: the hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of refugees, destruction of much of the country, the bitter sectarian conflict that has now spread to the rest of the region.
Statement from the South Fraser Protection Camp
Submitted on May 7, 2011By Stop the Pave - May 6, 2011
For the past two weeks, the South Fraser Protection Camp has impeded the destruction of an important, historic area of North Delta. Along the steep banks of the Fraser River, many people stood together to protect historic archaeological sites, the health of local residents and school children and to oppose the climate crime that is the South Fraser Perimeter Road...However, those who profit from destroying this hillside have made it clear to us that they are willing to use their money, police and courts to clear our peaceful encampment by force.
'Al-Qaeda Statement' Confirms Osama Bin Laden's Death
Submitted on May 6, 20116 May 2011 - BBC News
Al-Qaeda has confirmed the death of its leader, Osama Bin Laden, according to a statement attributed to the group and posted on jihadist internet forums...The statement published on jihadist web forums, signed by "the general leadership" of al-Qaeda, said an audiotape would be released of Bin Laden speaking a week before his death.
Paroxysms of Personal Police Files (Or Finding Out What the Cops Know About You)
Submitted on May 6, 2011Asking for your personal police records will likely not achieve anything at all in terms of dismantling the state, but it might give you an idea what kinds of notes they were scrawling about you, your friends, your use of your leisure time, and even your haircut.
The Conservatives Have Won and This is Not Exceptional
Submitted on May 6, 2011Friday, May 06 2011 - Infoshop News
A Harper majority changes the game significantly. Let's not kid ourselves: politicians are all bastards, but they also have their differences between them. While every major party pushed for austerity measures during this campaign...it is the Conservatives who have an ideological agenda that goes well beyond mere economic pragmatism. They see before them an inefficient and morally bankrupt Canadian state; they see themselves as the only ones who can guide this country through the looming crisis. There will be structural adjustments.
Troy Davis Execution Date Expected Anytime: An Interview with Laura Moye of Amnesty International
Submitted on May 6, 2011Laura Moye is director of the Amnesty International USA Death Penalty Abolition Campaign. In this interview, Moye talks about 42-year-old Troy Davis, an African American who has been on death row in Georgia for over 19 years — having already faced three execution dates. This week Amnesty International released an email action alert, emphasizing that now, more than a month after the recent Supreme Court ruling, Davis' execution date can literally be scheduled any day. The situation is dire, and public support is currently needed now more than ever before.
America ’s Unworthy and Invisible Victims Before and Since 9/11
Submitted on May 6, 2011By Paul Street - Dissident Voice
In a great propaganda victory for the culture of nationalistic imperialism, millions of Americans have been trained to think of the “Vietnam War” in terms of what the Vietnamese “did to us.” It is true that 58,000 American soldiers died [in]...the incredible U.S. superpower assault on the largely peasant based communities of Indochina between 1962 and 1975. But those dead and maimed Americans were victimized primarily by the war masters of Washington, not by Vietnamese who dared to defend their villages, cities, independence and nation from the government that Dr. Martin Luther King described in April 1967 as “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.”
When Israeli Soldiers Came to Arrest My Father
Submitted on May 5, 2011By Hanin Ahmad Qatamesh - 2 May 2011
Last week, on 21 April, Israeli soldiers invaded my home in Ramallah, held hostage all those present, and forced me at gunpoint to call my father, a writer and human rights advocate, in order to demand his surrender. This is common operating procedure for Israeli occupation forces. This time, however, they had taken hostage an American citizen willing to speak out. And I will not be silent.
Australian Labor Government Affirms Support for Afghan War After Bin Laden Killing
Submitted on May 5, 2011By Patrick O’Connor - 4 May 2011
The Australian Labor government has seized on the death of Osama bin Laden on Sunday to again emphasise its commitment to the indefinite occupation of Afghanistan...Like their American counterparts, senior figures in the Australian political and media establishment have rushed to glorify the US military, while voicing their enthusiasm for the killing of the Al Qaeda leader.
First Nations Families Sick After Large Oil Spill in Alberta's Peace Region
Submitted on May 5, 2011By Steve Nosky, Chief of the Lubicon Cree - May 4, 2011
Little Buffalo community members, including school children, continue to experience nausea, burning eyes and headaches after one of the largest pipeline spills in Alberta history last Friday by Plains All American leaked nearly 30,000 barrels of oil into Lubicon traditional territory in the Peace Region of Northern Alberta.
Canadian Wikileaks Sneak Peek
Submitted on May 5, 2011April 30, 2011 - Media Co-op
Wikileaks released 1800 cables about Canada yesterday, mostly sent from US consulates back to Washington. They give some idea of what the US is keeping tabs on. Here's a quick overview of some things you'll find.
Bobby Sands MP: "They Can’t Break Our Spirit"
Submitted on May 5, 2011By Stuart Munckton - Green Left Weekly
On May 5, 1981, Bobby Sands, Honourable Member of the British Parliament for Fermanagh-South Tyrone in Ireland’s north, died. The 27-year-old republican prisoner died after 66 days on hunger strike in the H-blocks of the British-run concentration camp called Long Kesh prison...Like many of his generation, he joined the Irish Republican Army aged 17 to defend his community from the violence of loyalist thugs and the British army.
Canada on the Brink of Mass Social Struggles
Submitted on May 5, 2011By Keith Jones - 5 May 2011
Canada...stands on the brink of explosive class struggles. As the elections’ results show, the bourgeoisie’s program of social reaction is opposed by the majority of the electorate...Warnings about the character of Harper’s policies were dismissed as conspiracy theories about a “hidden agenda”...The Canadian ruling class is not hiding Harper’s reactionary agenda, however, but shamelessly flaunting it.
Egypt and Israel Headed for Crisis
Submitted on May 5, 2011By JONATHAN COOK - May 5, 2011
The widening rift [between Israel and Egypt] was underscored yesterday when leaders of the rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation pact in the Egyptian capital. Egypt's secret role in brokering the agreement last week caught both Israel and the United States by surprise...The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called the deal "a tremendous blow to peace and a great victory for terrorism".
The ‘Great Moderation’ and the International Assault on Labor
Submitted on May 5, 2011By Noam Chomsky - Znet
A decade ago, a useful word was coined in honor of May Day by radical Italian labor activists: "precarity." It referred at first to the increasingly precarious existence of working people "at the margins" -- women, youth, migrants. Then it expanded to apply to the growing "precariat" of the core labor force, the "precarious proletariat" suffering from the programs of deunionization, flexibilization and deregulation that are part of the assault on labor throughout the world.
"Harper is George Bush Minus the Warmth and Intellect": Canada's Cold New Dawn
Submitted on May 5, 2011By Heather Mallick - Tuesday 3 May 2011
What happens now is the full-scale Americanisation of Canada, hinted at over the past seven years by Harper...but not acted upon because Canadians have always valued their distinctiveness from the angry country in decline south of the border...Harper once sneeringly referred to Canada as a typical northern European "welfare state".
Palestinian Unity: Done Deal or Wobbly?
Submitted on May 5, 2011Palestinian liberation is nowhere in sight.
Media Lies and Misinformation on Bin Laden
Submitted on May 4, 2011Major media falsify Bin Laden's death.
Nuke Refugees Face Uncertain Fate
Submitted on May 4, 2011By Suvendrini Kakuchi - May 4, 2011
According to disaster experts, the lack of a national vision to steer a future for Japan’s first post-war nuclear refugees illustrates this country's shocking unpreparedness to deal with a nuclear crisis..."There are no lessons that can be drawn because the nuclear accident is leading to displacement of large populations who cannot return for many years at least..."
Canadian Elections Set Stage for Intensified Class Conflict
Submitted on May 4, 2011By Keith Jones - WSWS
The most powerful sections of the Canadian bourgeoisie strongly supported the Conservatives’ drive for a majority government, viewing them as the best vehicle for imposing savage cuts in social spending in the federal budget...The ruling class is also looking to the Conservative government to establish an even closer strategic relationship with US imperialism through the North American Security Perimeter talks, and to press forward with the revival of militarism.
Pakistan Knew Bin Laden's Hiding Place All Along
Submitted on May 4, 2011By Robert Fisk - May 03, 2011
...Bin Laden's demise does bring Pakistan into grim focus. For months, President Ali Zardari has been telling us that Bin Laden was living in a cave in Afghanistan. Now it turns out he was living in a mansion in Pakistan. Betrayed? Of course he was. By the Pakistan military or the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence? Quite possibly both. Pakistan knew where he was.
Fear, Politics and a Conservative Majority
Submitted on May 4, 2011By Kate Bezanson - May 4, 2011
...[T]he Conservative vision for Canada...will remake the Canadian state. "Open federalism" is one way of saying: no national welfare state infrastructure, no national standards for social programs, and provinces/territories should just figure it out. In the U.S., this has worked out roughly as: my state competes with your state for the lowest wages, lowest taxes and "best" workfare or prison labour. It is a race to the bottom for workers, public services and quality of life, and it begins with the kind of decentralization a majority Conservative government will enact.
From Gitmo to the Assassination of Bin Laden: American Savagery
Submitted on May 4, 2011By MIKE WHITNEY - Counterpunch
What does the assassination of Osama Bin Laden have in common with Guantanamo Bay?...They're both intended to send a message that the United States has sunk deeper into savagery and abandoned any commitment to conventional norms of behavior. That's the message, and we hear it "loud and clear".
Shut Up and Play? Patriotism, Jock Culture and the Limits of Free Speech
Submitted on May 4, 2011By Dave Zirin - May 4, 2011
Whether or not you supported some or all the wars of the last decade...there is a bigger lesson that the guardians of Jock Culture seem to be trying to teach: by being an athlete you have signed away your right to have an opinion beyond your choice of sneaker or sports drink. This is something that runs very deep in the marrow of our sports culture: that athletes, particularly black athletes, should just “shut up and play.”
U.S. and NATO Defend Air Strike that Murdered Gaddafi Family Members
Submitted on May 4, 2011By Barry Grey - 3 May 2011
Gaddafi and his wife were present when the [air] strike virtually demolished the building, but reportedly survived the attack. Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, his youngest son and one not known to be active in the regime, was killed, as were three of Gaddafi’s grandchildren, reportedly aged 12 months to four years old.
What Underlies Psycho-Pharmacology?
Submitted on May 4, 2011By Allan M. Leventhal - May 4th, 2011
...[W]hile the biological revolution in psychiatry shows little evidence of being beneficial for patients, it has been very good business for psychiatrists and extraordinarily profitable for the pharmaceutical industry...[P]sychiatry and Big Pharma have perpetrated a utopian pharmaceutical mythology that serves their interests very well but has served the public very poorly. Drug treatment has not yet crashed, but there are ominous signs that we may be headed toward widespread mental disability as a consequence of this misguided treatment of mental disorder.
Onondaga Nation Leaders Blast 'Geronimo' Codename for Bin Laden
Submitted on May 4, 2011By Charles McChesney - Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Leaders of the Onondaga Nation blasted as “reprehensible” the code name used for Osama bin Laden in the commando assault that killed him: “Geronimo”...Geronimo was an Apache leader in the 19th century who spent many years fighting the Mexican and U.S. armies until his surrender in 1886...“Geronimo bravely and heroically defended his homeland and his people...“[His] is arguably the most recognized Native American name in the world...and this comparison only serves to perpetuate negative stereotypes about our people.”
Driving Libyans Back to Qaddafi
Submitted on May 3, 2011By MARK ALMOND - May 3, 2011
Only the perverted predatory mentality of NATO's target-selectors could locate a harmless son of Qaddafi as well as his children, and then think it was a smart move to kill them. It would be bad enough if this blunder was simply what some Nevada-based geek-in-uniform assumed would make a neat kill, but it is obvious that frustration with the failure of Qaddafi to fall after a few cruise missile strikes six weeks ago has led the NATO leaders to think that de-capitation is the way out of the war which they launched with gay abandon.
U.S. Says Bin Laden Was Unarmed When Shot Dead
Submitted on May 3, 201104 May 2011 - Al Jazeera
Osama bin Laden was unarmed when he was confronted and shot dead by US forces at his Pakistani hideout, a White House spokesman has said...He said Bin Laden had resisted capture and was shot and killed. He did not explain how bin Laden had resisted.
The Most Successful Terrorist Organization in History
Submitted on May 3, 2011By PATRICK COCKBURN - May 3, 2011
Al Qaeda is the most successful terrorist organization in history. By destroying the World Trade Centre in New York on 9/11 it provoked the US into launching wars damaging to itself in Afghanistan and Iraq. Al Qaeda aimed to destroy the status quo in the Middle East and it succeeded beyond its wildest dreams...Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s number two...wrote at the time of 9/11 that the aim of the group was to lure the US into an over-reaction in which it would “wage battle against the Muslims.”
Harper's To-Do List
Submitted on May 3, 2011By Sharon Fraser - May 3, 2011
Harper is an ideologue who believes that the private sector should handle all the country's affairs except defence, foreign affairs and criminal justice. He will increase spending and support for the military and will, as promised, build mega-prisons and increase criminal penalities to keep them filled. He will, without a doubt, then sell them off to some penitentiary company which will run them -- cruelly -- for profit.
Behind Election Smokescreen: Canada’s Elite Prepares All-Out Assault on Medicare
Submitted on May 3, 2011By Louis Girard - WSWS
Even as the population is purportedly determining through the May 2 election the policies Canada’s government will pursue in the years ahead, big business is outlining the real agenda that will be implemented by the political elite...Chief among its priorities is an assault on what remains of the welfare state and especially the universal public health insurance system, Medicare.
The Jaggi Singh Trial from Inside the Courtroom
Submitted on May 3, 2011By Carmelle Wolfson - May 3, 2011
Ideas are being put on trial in Canada. This became clear sitting in the courtroom at Toronto's Old City Hall on Thursday, April 28...The state wishes to make an example of Singh and the 17 other radical activists being charged with conspiracy. Not for their actions, but for the militant ideals they very publicly seek to legitimize.
Lies, Damn Lies and Bin Laden's Death
Submitted on May 3, 2011Bin Laden died of kidney failure in December 2001.
"The Worse Things Get the Worse They Are": A Conservative Majority in Canada. Now What?
Submitted on May 3, 2011By MURRAY DOBBIN - Counterpunch
There is no point dwelling on the obvious other than to simply reiterate it. The election of a Conservative majority government will usher in wrenching change in Canada and we will have to witness the worst that Stephen Harper has to offer. It remains to be seen whether or not Harper actually wants to stay around for another election to win...and solidify the dominance of his party as the new “natural governing party.” Or whether...he will in a spirit of vengeance against the country he detests, dismantle as much of the post-war social contract he can in four years of virtually absolute power.
Bin Laden Mission Underscores Murky History of U.S. Raids in Pakistan
Submitted on May 3, 2011By Marian Wang - Monday, May 2, 2011
The nighttime attack on Osama Bin Laden’s compound by the elite Joint Special Operations Command isn’t the first time U.S. troops have entered Pakistan for covert raids. In the past, such incidents have drawn protests from the Pakistani government, though it has a history of condemning in public actions that it has endorsed in private.
Parasite Politicians and Their Police
Submitted on May 3, 2011By BRANDON GRAY - Tuesday, 03 May 2011
I was the anarchist Doug Ford told to “get a job” at the People’s Delegation to City Hall – an action which resulted in a coalition of grassroots community organizations crashing a Toronto municipal budget committee meeting on February 10 to protest proposed cuts to social services. This exchange occurred shortly before I was tackled by his armed thugs and imprisoned in the basement of the notorious 52 Division...Later that night...[one] of “Toronto’s finest” took sick satisfaction out of turning off the heat for the evening.
WikiLeaks' Assange Calls Facebook 'Most Appalling Spying Machine Ever'
Submitted on May 2, 2011By Leslie Horn - 05.02.11
"Here we have the world's most comprehensive database about people, their relationships, their names, their addresses, their locations, their communications with each other, their relatives, all sitting within the United States, all accessible to U.S. intelligence...Everyone should understand that when they add their friends to Facebook they are doing free work for United States intelligence agencies in building this database for them."
- Julian Assange
U.S. Claims to Support Mideast Uprisings...Then Helps Suppress Them
Submitted on May 2, 2011By Nick Turse - April 28, 2011
After watching two allied autocrats fall in Tunisia and Egypt, the United States has focused on its periodic enemy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, in Libya and has done little of substance to advocate for...demands for democracy and social change by protesters in allied states that are more integral to its military plans in the region, including Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Instead, Washington has continued to support repressive governments to which it has provided training, weapons, and other military equipment that has already been used or could be used to suppress grassroots democratic movements.
Oppressing West Bank Palestinian Children
Submitted on May 2, 2011Brutal daily oppression continues.
We Are Ireland, We Will Resist
Submitted on May 2, 2011By Hugh Green - May 02, 2011
Many people in Ireland are only too