Sanctions: Diplomacy’s Weapon of Mass Murder By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich August 03, 2012 “Information Clearing House” – In 1945, the United States of America dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagaski immediately killing 120,000 civilians. The final death toll of the horrendous bombings has been conservatively estimated at well over 200,000 men, women, [...]
Obama Does Syriana By Pepe Escobar link to video http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32070.htm August 03, 2012 “Asia Times” –It took Reuters quite a while to be allowed to report that US President Barack Obama had approved an intelligence finding [1] letting the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) loose in its support for the weaponized “rebels” fighting for regime change [...]
Israeli border police at the Kalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem. The British ambassador says Isreal is losing international support, and is being perceived as Goliath, and Palestine as David. Photograph: Oliver Weiken/EPA Israel losing international support, says British ambassador Matthew Gould says Jewish state losing mainstream political support over lack of peace progress and [...]
When you declare yourself to be the police chief for the entire planet and those lapdogs you have cultivated come along for the ride, anything goes. As Chomsky pointed out in the book Manufacturing Consent and Alex Carey explained in his book Taking the [...]
Wajid Shamsul Hasan says the use of drones by the US is weakening democracy and pushing people towards extremist groups. (Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images) US Drone Attacks in Pakistan Violate Sovereignty, Weakening Democracy: Diplomat Ambassador Wajid Shamsul Hasan says US prefers to deal with dictators, not democratic institutions – Common Dreams staff In an interview with the Bureau [...]
Bayelsa, Nigeria - Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president, has called the stealing of the country’s oil an “embarrassment” to his nation. To many people in oil-producing regions, however, the crude that is siphoned from fuel company pipelines is the one thing they depend on. A recent Al Jazeera report has found that fishing and farming, the two [...]
Nigeria leaks billions from rampant oil theft Oil firms and government say nearly 200,000 barrels of oil stolen each day from pipelines and wells by criminal gangs. A sophisticated criminal network has stepped up its operations in Nigeria’s Bayelsa State, costing state and oil companies as much as a billion dollars per [...]
Opposition activists say more than 17,000 people have been killed since the start of the uprising [AFP] The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Syria, which includes criticism of the Security Council for its failure to act. The resolution was passed on Friday with 133 votes in favour, 12 against, and 31 abstentions. Ban [...]
At least 20 people were killed in the camp, according to medics. BEIRUT (Reuters) — At least 20 people were killed on Thursday when Syrian security forces fired three mortar rounds at a Palestinian camp in Damascus, medical sources said. Witnesses in the camp told Reuters by telephone that the mortars hit a busy street [...]
In the Washington Post on July 22(under the headline “Latin America‘s New Authoritarians”), reporter Juan Forero explains that today’s quasi-dictators are clever enough to rule in what are nominally democracies: The Threat (Again) of Left-Wing Latin American Democracy by Peter Hart You can count on U.S. corporate media to express alarm about the threat posed by left-wing governments in Latin America. [...]
. Oklahoma senator Jim Inhofe, a prominent climate sceptic, told the committe: ‘The global warming movement has collapsed.’ (Photograph: Axel Schmidt/AFP/Getty) Scientists Tell Senate Panel: Climate Change Is Here and Disaster Costs Will Be Huge – Common Dreams staff Climate scientists who appeared Wednesday morning before a Senate committee hearing on climate change and extreme [...]
Spain‘s main problem is its struggling banks [GALLO/GETTY] I’ve spent the past week in Spain, looking at the effect of the economic crisis. My journey began in a poor suburb of Madrid, with a group of destitute people pleading with God for forgiveness as they linked hands on the pavement. In truth, their faith [...]
(Photo: Wikimedia) In Hiroshima’s Shadow Thursday, 02 August 2012 09:25By Noam Chomsky, Truthout | News Analysis August 6, the anniversary of Hiroshima, should be a day of somber reflection, not only on the terrible events of that day in 1945, but also on what they revealed: that humans, in their dedicated quest to extend their capacities for destruction, had [...]
‘End of Capitalism’: Bolivia to Expel Coca-Cola By RT August 02, 2012 “RT” — In a symbolic rejection of US capitalism, Bolivia announced it will expel the Coca-Cola Company from the country at the end of the Mayan calendar. This will mark the end of capitalism and usher in [...]
Iranians Should Be ‘Very Fearful For Next 12 Weeks: Ex-Mossad Chief By Times of Israel staff August 02, 2012 “Times of Israel” — The former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy, who told The Times of Israel in an interview in March that there would be “nothing else left” but a [...]
Which “Terror Plots” Are Relevant To Burgas? Following U.S news media coverage of the Burgas, Bulgaria bombing, one would conclude that the Hezbollah provenance of the attack can be determined from recent alleged Hezbollah terrorist plotting against Israelis in Cyprus and elsewhere. The New York Times quotedanonymous U.S. officials saying that the Burgas attack bears “all the [...]
Image Credit: Luis Vazquez/©Gulf News At Stake in Mali: Refugees at Every Border By Ramzy Baroud ‘We don’t even know who to be afraid of anymore,’ said Hama Ould Mohammad Bashir, a refugee from Mali (New York Times, July 18). ‘There are a lot of armed people, coming and going all the time.’ The humanitarian [...]
News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks has been formally charged over allegations of phone hacking. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA Rebekah Brooks charged over phone hacking allegations Former News International chief executive formally charged over alleged phone hacking and will appear in court next month Press Association guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 August 2012 20.44 BST Former News International chief [...]
This file photo, released by Australian Department of Defence, shows Australian soldiers observing the surrounding mountains during an operation in southern Afghanistan, in 2009. An Afghan soldier who opened fire on Australian troops at a remote base last year has claimed he and his fellow army recruits had often discussed killing the foreigners, according to [...]
Seventy percent of Palestinians in Gaza are dependent on UNRWA. BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A shipment of flour from Turkey arrived in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, a statement from the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said. The first shipment from Turkey will feed more than 129,000 families supporting 687,000 dependents. Around 12,500 metric tonnes [...]
A woman walks through rubble from a building destroyed by shelling from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad in downtown Aleppo on Aug. 1, 2012. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic) By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) — President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing US support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar Assad and [...]
Some 2,000 prisoners held an open hunger strike in April. RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israeli prison authorities on Wednesday assaulted two prisoners on hunger strike, a lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoners Society said. Jawad Boulos said that hunger strikers Samer al-Barq and Hassan Safadi had both been severely assaulted, after a visit to Ramle prison clinic [...]
Click on image to view slideshow NABLUS (Ma’an) — Settlers vandalized Palestinian property in the Ramallah village of Sinjil on Wednesday, a local official told Ma’an. A group of settlers from Givat Ariel outpost wrote “Palestinians should die,” and “Stay away from our lands,” on a wall in the village, Sinjil mayor Ayoub Swaied said. [...]
Abu al-Omrin told reporters the plant was operating at full power. GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The power authority in Gaza announced Thursday it is capable of operating the sole generator in the enclave at full capacity for the first time in six years. The generator is only operating at full power — 100 megawatts — [...]
Sarah Schönfeld After the Berlin Wall came down almost 23 years ago, many neighborhoods in the former East Germany began falling into disrepair. Artist and photographer Sarah Schönfeld, who grew up in the East Berlin district of Lichtenberg, describes how she began to document the decline in photos — partly as a way of saying [...]
Christmas Island. The latest tragedy off Christmas Island is a product of Australia’s inhuman “border protection” policies. Up to 90 people are feared drowned after a boat carrying around 200 asylum seekers capsized about 200km north of Christmas Island late yesterday. The Gillard Labor government has to be held responsible for these totally preventable deaths. [...]
Fortress Australia is killing refugees Liz Walsh Refugee rights supporters need to stand against the race to the bottom on refugee policy. In the wake of two boat disasters in less than a week that has seen as many as 90 asylum seekers drown, politicians from all sides of parliament have been feigning [...]
Nothing new about Labor’s anti-refugee racism Katie Wood Rudd’s refugee “crisis” continues. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be a crisis of conscience. There has been no inkling whatsoever that the demonisation and mistreatment of a small group of people fleeing persecution is causing angst. How is Rudd any better than Howard? As the group [...]
International Socialist Review Issue 26, November–December 2002 Slavery and the origins of racism by Lance Selfa IT IS commonly assumed that racism is as old as human society itself. As long as human beings have been around, the argument goes, they have always hated or feared people of a different [...]
A Case Study in Orwellian Lies and Imperial Delusions Colombia’s Disappeared by DANIEL KOVALIK The cover of Colombia’s Semana magazine depicts a photo which should warm the cockles of any decent heart: the indigenous people of Cauca carrying an armed soldier, one of many who had invaded their land, away from their [...]
One (Obscenely Profitable) Day In the Life of Big Oil by Abby Zimet Every hour this year, the five biggest oil companies have made $14,400,000 in profits, or more in one minute than what 96% of American households earn in one year. Each hour they also received over $270,000 in federal tax breaks, or $2.4 billion [...]
Pussy Riot supporters protest in front of the Russian embassy in Prague. (Photograph: Getty Images Europe) Pussy Riot Remind Us That Revolution Always Begins in Culture Vladimir Putin is right to be frightened by Pussy Riot. They are essentially a concept and you can’t stop a concept by Suzanne Moore Some people have their eyes on [...]
Bill McKibben: Even Industry-Funded Climate Change Deniers Can’t Ignore Planet’s Warming Watch this video provided by Democracy Now at http://www.commondreams.org/video/2012/08/02-0 Hundreds of new U.S. counties were declared disaster areas on Wednesday amidst the country’s worst drought in decades. We’re joined by famed environmental activist and 350.org founder Bill McKibben, whose new article [...]
Like Roosevelt, “Obama did speak about the importance of religious tolerance” of Egyptian and Lebanese Christians by their Muslim compatriots [EPA] In the last week, officials of the Obama administration have been visiting Egypt and issuing instructions to the new Egyptian president regarding the question of religious tolerance and Egyptian Christians, demanding and insisting that [...]
Annan cited ‘finger-pointing and name-calling’ in Security Council as one of his reasons for stepping down [Reuters] Kofi Annan is quitting as UN-Arab League peace envoy for Syria, UN leader Ban Ki-moon has announced, as the 17-month-old conflict spiralled further out of control. Ban announced “with deep regret” the resignation of Annan on Thursday, who was named [...]
In the last 24 hours there has been a lot added to this page. You can access other material by clicking on “O;lder Entries” at the bottom of this page. Regards, George Ikners Ageing anarchist barrister Bronte Australia Related articles Review: The [...]
Typhoon Saola is currently rated a category 2 on a scale of five and was expected to weaken to a category [EPA] Typhoon Saola has causing nearly the entire island of Taiwan to close down, bringing torrential rains that could linger until next week, officials have said. The typhoon arrived in Taiwan early on Thursday, a day [...]
Israeli bulldozer pictured demolishing a home in al-Khader village. (MaanImages/file) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces closed a rural road in the al-Makhrour area of Beit Jalaon Thursday, witnesses told Ma’an.Israeli forces arrived with bulldozers and closed off 500 meters of a road on land belonging to the Shaban family from Duheisha refugee camp, locals said. [...]
Mitt Romney should apologize for his racist remarks. (Wikicommons) Racism Unleashed: Is Romney Just a Pretty Face? By Stuart Littlewood Mitt Romney is listed among People magazine‘s 50 ‘most beautiful’ of 2002. He was up there with Nicole Kidman, Britney Spears and Julia Roberts. But how pretty does he look in 2012? [...]
U.S. model for a future war fans tensions with China and inside Pentagon By Greg Jaffe, Thursday, August 2, 8:35 AM link http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-model-for-a-future-war-fans-tensions-with-china-and-inside-pentagon/2012/08/01/gJQAC6F8PX_print.html When President Obama called on the U.S. military to shift its focus to Asia earlier this year, Andrew Marshall, a 91-year-old futurist, had a vision of what to do. Marshall’s small office in the [...]
BY CIARAN GILES, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, AUGUST 1, 2012 MADRID – A controversial Spanish judge criticized the U.S. investigation into WikiLeaks on Wednesday, saying that the grand jury process which could lead to charges being filed against the secret-spilling site’s founder is undemocratic. Baltasar Garzon, a human rights lawyer best known [...]
Israeli Spending on Illegal Settlements Hits Two-Decade High of $1.1 Billion John Glaser, July 31, 2012 Print This | Share This | Comment Via Allison Deger at Mondoweiss: “Haaretz reported settlement spending has skyrocketed by 38% since 2010,reaching a two-decade high of $1.1 billion. Historically this level of funding was surpassed only once in 1993 [...]
C. J. Chivers/The New York TimesLogo of the a precursor to the U.S. Agency for International Development on ammunition packaging found by The New York Times in Libya, pointing to the period, in the 1950s and 1960s, when the United States helped create and arm the military that overthrew King Idris. The history of [...]
The image of the dark-haired man was produced after reconstructing the badly damaged face of the bomber [Reuters] Bulgarian police have released a computer-generated image of the suicide attackerinvolved in bombing in Bulgaria that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver two weeks ago.A police statement said on Wednesday that the image of the dark-haired man was produced after [...]
US defence chief says “all options”, including military force, on table to stop Iran, should sanctions ultimately fail. With US Imperialism and fascism on hold until after the elections as far as all out wars are concerned this latest round of posturing against Iran and the subsequent sucking up to [...]
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon briefs the general assembly. A high-level UN panel will determine the global post-2015 agenda. Photograph: Devra Berkowitz/UN Photo Ban Ki-moon names panel to lead global development agenda post-2015 Secretary general asks members to ‘prepare a bold yet practical’ vision to follow the millennium development goals Mark Tran guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 August [...]
Farmland in the North Korean city of Nampo submerged by torrential rains. Photograph: Kcna/EPA North Korean rainstorms return, causing 31 deaths Flooding in many parts of the country deal blow to leader Kim Jong-un‘s efforts to repair moribund economy Torrential rain and a typhoon in North Korea have killed 31 people and left 16 missing since Sunday, [...]
Watch DR CHARLIE TEO SPEAKS OUT ON RACISM – FULL VERSION Listen to the FULL nine minutes thirty interview with Dr Charlie Teo where he discusses some of his experiences being Australian. Watch DR CHARLIE TEO SPEAKS OUT ON RACISM Listen to the key moments of the Dr Charlie Teo interview where he discusses some [...]
The myth of a free Hong Kong economy By Eddie Leung and Pepe Escobar This is the first article in a three-part report HONG KONG – Open any standard economic textbook and look for the definition of a free economy; its key characteristic is the lack of government intervention. Less state intervention [...]
Become a Fan SAVE AS FAVORITE VIEW FAVORITES By Pepe Escobar (about the author) Become a Fan (19 fans) — Page 1 of 1 page(s) opednews.com Cross-posted from Asia Times Was Prince Bandar “Bush,” 63, son of Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz (perennial Saudi Defense Minister,1963-2001), semi-perennial ambassador to Washington (1983-2005), and secretive jihad financier, killed by a Syrian [...]
