From Counterpunch- recent stats relating what's been done/ not been done for the residents of New Orleans since the hurricane.
Bill Quigley: Katrina, the Pain Index:...
8/29/2008
Tories' arts cuts spark ire in Quebec
T
Read On...
TheStar.com | Columnist | Tories' arts cuts spark ire in Quebec
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Pretty lofty goals. I wonder how far we've come.
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
god bless america- or else
The Yankees are serious about their bizarre prohibition on going to the bathroom during the playing of "God Bless America" during the Seventh Inning Stretch: a man was dragged out of the stadium for daring to stand up and move around instead of singing a patriotic, religious song. I really like Tommy Smothers's formulation of the principle at work here: "America, where you're free to say anything you want, and you'd better not say what you're not supposed to!"
8/28/2008
Shift Happens
Stephane Dion is the anti-Reagan
“A price on emissions that cause harm is essential. Yes, a carbon tax . . . is needed to wean us off [our] fossil fuel addiction,” nasa physicist James Hansen told Washington, DC,...
Continue reading this article at http://www.walrusmagazine.com
8/27/2008
A Manual for Digital Revolt
The rebel hero of 'Little Brother' is a teen hacker. Naturally, you can download it for free.
8/26/2008
Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land
How Israel manipulates and distorts American public perceptions
Through the voices of scholars, media critics, peace activists, religious figures, and Middle East experts, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land carefully analyzes and explains how--through the use of language, framing and context--the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza remains hidden in the news media, and Israeli colonization of the occupied terrorities appears to be a defensive move rather than an offensive one.
Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land
The looting of Iraq
Just how bad was the looting of Iraq's museum and archaeological sites? According to Salon's experts, many ancient artifacts have come home, but the looting continues.
The looting of Iraq | Salon News
Outlaw Administration - by Chalmers Johnson and Tom Engelhardt
In the 5 year lookback at the invasion of Iraq, part of the horror of it wasn't talked about. Here is Chalmers Johnston writing just after the invasion and some reflections on the event, written recently.
"Words disappeared instantly. They simply blinked off the screen of Iraqi history, many of them forever. First, there was the looting of the National Museum. That took care of some of the earliest words on clay, including, possibly, cuneiform tablets with missing parts of the epic of Gilgamesh. Soon after, the great libraries and archives of the capital went up in flames and books, letters, government documents, ancient Korans, religious manuscripts, stretching back centuries – all those things not pressed into clay, or etched on stone, or engraved on metal, just words on that most precious and perishable of all commonplaces, paper – vanished forever.
(see below)
Outlaw Administration - by Chalmers Johnson and Tom Engelhardt
U.S. High Court Allows Apartheid Claims against Multinationals -
I heard about this tonight on a podcast on The New Internationalist . Check out the wikipedia article -alien tort statute. Very interesting. The corporations aren't very happy about this old law being used this way and Bush has been trying to gut the law. Ungoing...
The US Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling that multinational companies can be sued in a US court for allegedly aiding and abetting the former apartheid government in South Africa. The high court announced Monday that it could not hear a case involving 11 consolidated lawsuits against more than 50 international corporations. More below...
Bolt's Record Tests Theories of Human Speed
As astonishing as Usain Bolt's record-breaking 100-meter sprint was, his time of 9.69 seconds is nowhere near what biostatisticians predict is the natural limit for the human body. But because he broke the mathematical model that had fit 100-meter record data for almost a century, Bolt's incredible performance could reset how fast researchers believe humans ultimately can run.
Bolt's Record Tests Theories of Human Speed
8/25/2008
Stiglitz Goes To Paraguay: Move Over Chicago, A Cambridge Boy's in Town
Among the throng of distinguished international guests drawn to participate in the first democratic transition of government in Paraguay's 190-year history, Joseph Stiglitz, economist and advisor to the Clinton White House, may just prove the most influential. Two days before left-leaning president-elect Fernando Lugo's inauguration, Stiglitz's talk on globalization and equitable growth drew a full house to the Grand Theater of Paraguay's central bank.
Upside Down World - Stiglitz Goes To Paraguay: Move Over Chicago, A Cambridge Boy's in Town
Mother Jones interactive military presence map
Mother Jones launched an interactive map that shows US military presence around the world from 1950 to 2007. It's based on worldwide troop data from the Pentagon. From Mother Jones:These numbers are often fuzzy: Some deployments are classified, others are temporary, and just because the Defense Department claims 30 US troops in Indonesia last year doesn't mean 1,500 didn't pass through on training missions. Even so, the map, and the associated research, should give you a good feel for what the Pentagon is up to around the world.Mission Creep: US Military Presence Worldwide (Mother Jones)
8/22/2008
Georgia-Russia: It's a Classic Brzezinski Project!
This is pretty heady stuff. I think it's worth a careful read. Islamo-facism is getting a little old. let's bring back the evil Great Bear!
Project Humanbeingsfirst: Georgia-Russia: It's a Classic Brzezinski Project!
Project Humanbeingsfirst: Georgia-Russia: It's a Classic Brzezinski Project!
The Eurasian Corridor: Pipeline Geopolitics and the New Cold War
The ongoing crisis in the Caucasus is intimately related to the control over energy pipeline and transportation corridors.
There is evidence that the Georgian attack on South Ossetia on August 7 was carefully planned. High level consultations were held with US and NATO officials in the months preceding the attacks.
The attacks on South Ossetia were carried out one week after the completion of extensive US - Georgia war games (July 14-31st, 2008). They were also preceded US-Georgia war games (July 15- 31, 2008) and by high level meetings held under GUAM, a US-NATO sponsored regional military alliance.
The Eurasian Corridor: Pipeline Geopolitics and the New Cold War
Bolivia: Historic Vote Confirms Will for Change
Bolivia Rising
Peru: indigenous uprising claims victory for now
Indigenous groups in Peru ended more than a week of militant protests Aug. 20 at key energy sites after lawmakers agreed to overturn a new land law issued by President Alan García, which sought to ease corporate access to communal territories. García had issued the law by decree earlier under special powers Congress granted him to bring Peruvian law into compliance with a new free-trade deal with the US. A congressional commission voted to revoke the law Aug. 19, and floor vote is expected later this week.
8/21/2008
Kids love Coltrane
The feel-good story of the day.
A cool tale about second graders at P.S. 178 in Queens falling in love with John Coltrane, and raising funds to help restore the house in nearby Dix Hills [previously on mefi] where the saxophonist (and saint?) composed his spiritual masterpiece A Love Supreme [last four links go to Youtube].
The Consumer's War
Something to check out. Just finished watching this on the old computer at 6:02 am. Suggest you might try it at a more reasonable hour. Goodnight moon.
Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS
Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS
8/20/2008
Harper/ Bush Mouthpiece in Canada
By Jim Miles
Source: Palestine Chronicle
Canada Middle East however, the heat is rising in the geo-political field.
ZNet - Bush Mouthpiece in Canada
Source: Palestine Chronicle
While eastern
ZNet - Bush Mouthpiece in Canada
Don't Forget Yugoslavia
By John Pilger - August, 16 2008
The secrets of the crushing of Yugoslavia are emerging, telling us more about how the modern world is policed...At a 1999 Kosovo "peace" conference in France, the Serbs were told to accept occupation by Nato forces and a market economy, or be bombed into submission. It was the perfect precursor to the bloodbaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.
War in the Caucasus
by Seumas Milne of The Guardian via Global Research'
War in the Caucasus is as much the product of an American imperial drive as local conflicts. It's likely to be a taste of things to come
War in the Caucasus: This is a tale of US expansion not Russian aggression
Water for All
- A gathering of international thinkers, artists, and activists is inspiring a new revolution in the right to water and what belongs to the commons.
LSD as therapeutic tool
Andrew Feldmár (the Canadian psychotherapist who was denied entrance to the United State last year when a US border guard Googled his name and found a research paper in which Feldmár described two acid trips he took 1967) has an essay in the Guardian about psychedelics as a useful took in psychotherapy.
Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Georgia: The Breaking of NATO?
I guess a lot of people have the same idea that occurred to me regarding making Georgia part of NATO. The idea of this alliance of course is that an attack on one member means it's war with the rest of the alliance. So would Canada want to go and defend a so called democratic country in the heart of Central Asia: a country which was trying to invade a de facto independent province? For what- to protect a pipe line? Isn't it time for Europe to have it's own defensive military organization? And shouldn't that be to defend Europe? NATO like any institution has it's own entropy. Like any bureaucracy, it just wants to continue.
Here Gwen Dyer writes in The Embassy on the subject.
8/19/2008
Why Not Simply Abolish NATO?
I was thinking the same thing yesterday. Why indeed should Europe and Canada be traipsing around the globe doing dirty work on behalf of USian adventurism?
For more details, please click on the link to read the article.
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