WikiLeaks today released over 75,000 secret US military reports covering the war in Afghanistan
Afghanistan War Logs: Secret CIA Paramilitaries' Role In Civilian Deaths
By David Leigh
Innocent Afghan men, women and children have paid the price of the Americans' rules of engagement
Pakistani Agents 'Aiding Taliban'
By Aljazeera
US officials believe that the intelligence agency of ally Pakistan, which receives billions of dollars in aid from Washington, has been secretly supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan, leaked records say
Afghanistan War Logs: Story Behind Biggest
Leak In Intelligence History
By Nick Davies
From US military computers to a cafe in Brussels, how thousands of classified papers found their way to online activists
More Revelations To Come: Julian Assange
By Jo Adetunji
Whistleblowing site Wikileaks says it has a 'backlog' of further secret material after publication of Afghanistan war logs
Docs Show Brutality Of War: Julian Assange
SPIEGEL Interview
WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange on the 'War Logs': 'I Enjoy Crushing Bastards'
Fourteen Examples Of Systemic Racism
In The US Criminal Justice System
By Bill Quigley
The biggest crime in the U.S. criminal justice system is that it is a race-based institution where African-Americans are directly targeted and punished in a much more aggressive way than white people
Prospects And Consequences Of Attacking Iran
By Stephen Lendman
Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail, avoiding a regional or possible world war, perhaps to divert attention from the deepening economic depression
All The Strangeness Of Our American World
In One Article
By Tom Engelhardt
In other words, the special op urge to Russianize its air transport has officially been reported, and a month later, as far as I know, not a single congressional representative has made a fuss over it; no mainstream pundit has written a curious, questioning, or angry editorial questioning its appropriateness; and no reporter has, as yet, followed up
Human Rights Watch Flotilla Stance Mirrors
That Of US, Israel
By Michael Corcoran & Stephen Maher
HRW has been mostly silent on the horrific attack. When they have spoken out, they have been notably timid, essentially sharing the same positions as the US government, Israel's closest ally. According to a search of the group's website, the flotilla attack has only been addressed four times. By contrast, Amnesty International (the organization's closest peer) has tackled the issue 17 times, issuing much stronger statements of condemnation than those released by HRW
Israeli Police Outraged As Impunity Ends
By Jonathan Cook
A decision by Israel's Supreme Court to double a 15-month jail term for a policeman who shot dead an unarmed Palestinian driver suspected of stealing a car has provoked denunciations from police commanders and government officials
BP Provides Opportunistic Moment For Senators
By James Rothenberg
It's an excellent time to stand against a giant, multinational corporation, particularly if that corporation is BP and you are a professional politician. The timing has been heightened by the purported link between the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi and the finalization of an oil deal between BP and Libya
The Sinking Of The Cheonan,
Too Weird To Make Up
By Timothy V. Gatto
Two American investigators from John Hopkins University question South Korean Joint Investigation Group (JIG) report on the sinking of Cheonan, the South Korean corvette allegedly sunk by the North Korean navy
Secrecy Industry Hits Home
By Bonnie Bricker & Adil E. Shamoo
Unchecked growth in intelligence agencies raises troubling questions and even affects how we interact with neighbors
Shirley Sherrod Was Presumed Guilty
By Mary Shaw
In the United States of America, one is supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Nevertheless, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack hastily forced Shirley Sherrod to resign from her position in the Department based on the right-wing exploitation of a video snippet taken out of context
Respected Hitlerji, Please Don't Be So Unfair!
By Jawed Naqvi
Perhaps there is an alternative narrative lurking in the background. Everything coincides with the opening of the parliament's monsoon session on Monday. Is the Congress government trying to use the (orchestrated?) protests by the BJP over Shah's arrest to quietly push some legislation or to avoid discussion on more serious issues?
France And India: The Beautiful Farms Are
All But Dying
By Devinder Sharma
The cover story of the latest issue of the Time magazine "The French Farms: Beautiful but in Danger" had a blurb which says it all: Hit by a shrinking agricultural sector, falling prices and diminishing European Union aid, French farms have learned to adapt -- or die." The more I gleaned through the pages of the cover story, the more I realise how true it is for agriculture in India or for that matter in other parts of the world
Democratic India Welcomes A Military Dictator
By Nava Thakuria
The Burmese military ruler Than Shwe is visiting India. The chairman of the State Peace and Development Council has arrived in Budha Gaya, Bihar on Sunday and started his five day official visit. The military dictator is supposed to meet many high profiles in the largest democracy of the world. Than Shwe is expecting moral support and endorsement from New Delhi for the proposed general election in Burma (Myanmar)
25 July, 2010
Why The World Needs WikiLeaks
Chris Anderson Interviews Julian Assange
WikiLeaks collects and posts highly classified documents and video. Founder Julian Assange, who's reportedly being sought for questioning by US authorities, talks to TED's Chris Anderson about how the site operates, what it has accomplished -- and what drives him
Ethan McCord Recounts Aftermath Of
Iraqi Civilian Massacre | UNPC 7/24/2010
Video of testimony of one of the US soldiers in the Wikileaks video of Apache attack on Iraqi journalists
Resolution Green-Lighting Israeli Strikes On Iran Introduced By House Republicans
By Jamal Abdi
Republicans in the House of Representatives have introduced a measure that would green-light an Israeli bombing campaign against Iran. The resolution, H.Res. 1553 (in full below), provides explicit support for military strikes against Iran, stating that Congress supports Israel's use of "all means necessary" against Iran "including the use of military force"
Bill Kristol's 'Emergency Committee?'
Give Me A break
By Stephen M. Walt
Via Ben Smith at Politico, we learn that the usual suspects have started yet another organization whose objective is to promote a hard-right, Likudnik agenda in the Middle East. The new group apparently intends to go after anyone who thinks U.S. Middle East policy has been less than totally successful in recent years, and who is willing to think for themselves (and U.S. interests), instead of reflexively echoing the positions favored by AIPAC and other groups in the "status quo" lobby
The Oceans Are Coming
By Keith Farnish & Dmitry Orlov
This article is the first part of a three-part series, which considers the effect of global warming on ocean level rise, and examines life with constantly advancing seas from two perspectives: that of the landlubber and that of the seafarer
No To Oligarchy
By Bernie Sanders
This upper-crust of extremely wealthy families are hell-bent on destroying the democratic vision of a strong middle-class which has made the United States the envy of the world. In its place they are determined to create an oligarchy in which a small number of families control the economic and political life of our country
The Arrogance Of American Power
By Paul J. Balles
Paul J. Balles argues that the continued presence of 1,000 American military bases outside the USA nearly two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union is a symptom of the arrogance of power that threatens local communities and ultimately the USA itself
Teachers And Democrats Head For Divorce
By Shamus Cooke
The Democrats continue on the road to corporate-inspired charter schools, using the tried and true method of "stronger teacher evaluations" to undermine "underperforming" schools and teachers — thus opening the door wide to private charter schools with their non-union workforce
Afghanistan: Condition Black
By Dave Lannen
Although the war in Afghanistan has escalated, there is no improvement in the availability of medical facilities, especially detrimental to wounded Afghan civilians
Why Afghanistan?
By Timothy V. Gatto
We are in Afghanistan in order to maintain a military presence that directly confronts both Iran and China. This is a military campaign for hegemony in Central Asia. We are also there to procure a source of oil from the Caspian Basin without having to use Russia in which to run the pipeline and thereby reduce their influence in Western Europe
Suspect In Murder Of Four Palestinians
Was Shin Bet Agent
By Jonathan Cook
The arrest by the Israeli internal security service, the Shin Bet, of an Israeli Jew accused of killing at least four Palestinians has thrown a rare light on the secret police, including claims that it tried to enlist the accused to assassinate a Palestinian spiritual leader
Obama And The Middle East
By Avni Dogru
The actions of unconditional support for Israel and bullying Iran speak louder in Muslim's minds than Obama's words during his historical Cairo speech. Obama's actions have to comply with his words, because if he fails, it would be very hard to convince the Muslim world again that the Bush-era policies have changed
Gazans Denied Medical Care Under Siege
By Stephen Lendman
As a result of Israel's post-January 2006 embargo, its siege since June 2007, Cast Lead, regular incursions, and its longstanding collective punishment policy, Gaza's healthcare system is "at an all time low." Many of the Strip's sick and injured lack proper care, or enough, in violation of medical ethics and international law explicitly prohibiting these practices
West Rubber Stamps Ethiopia's 99% Election
By Thomas C. Mountain
Ethiopia managed to finish voting one evening and declare the "winner" the next morning, with early reports showing the Meles Zenawi Mafia awarding itself and its supporters 99.6% of the seats in Parliament
Iran's Nuclear Standoff: Who Is The Loser?
By Kourosh Ziabari
The Iranian people are the only loser of power game between Iran and the West. They're competing to surmount each other in a nonstop match which is designed to show the most powerful competitor
Vijayagallu: A Rare Event In Troubled Times,
People celebrate A Rare Victory
By S.G.Vombatkere
The Chamalapura Ushnavidyut Sthavara Virodhi Horata Samithi (Forum for Opposing the Chamalapura Thermal Power Plant) has placed this commemorative stone as a symbol of people's victory against the Karnataka Government's proposed Chamalapura Thermal Power Plant Project (2007-2008) that would have completely destroyed nature's life forms, forest wealth, wildlife, environment and people's lives and livelihoods
Temporary Normalcy Returns In Kashmir
By Sheikh Imran Bashir
An uneasy calm prevails in the Kashmir Valley, Schools, banks and business establishments have reopened after days of curfew, restrictions and shutdowns, Kashmir Valley is abuzz with normal life on Sunday as the Hurriyat (G) called for the resumption of normal activities on the day. Vehicles too have come back on the roads. Despite an official holiday on Sunday, most banks, private-run schools and shops were open in Srinagar
24 July, 2010
The Death Of The Climate Bill
By David Roberts
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has officially announced that there will be no climate bill this year.What's happened is total and complete surrender. There's no silver lining in this cloud
The Failed Presidency Of Barack Obama, Part 1
By Joe Romm
Obama's legacy — and indeed the legacy of all 21st century presidents, starting with George W. Bush — will be determined primarily by whether we avert catastrophic climate change. If not, then Obama — and all of us — will be seen as a failure, and rightfully so
An Evil Atmosphere Is Forming Around
Geoengineering
By Clive Hamilton
A powerful group of scientists, venture capitalists and conservative think tanks is coalescing around the idea of reproducing cooling effect by injecting sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere to counter climate change. Despite the enormity of what is being proposed - nothing less than seizing control of the climate - the public has been almost entirely excluded from the planning
Rosemary's Baby
By Uri Avnery
Uri Avnery argues that the one state solution proposed by the Israeli Right, may result in a regime that is much worse than an apartheid state
Chomsky And Palestine: Asset Or Liability?
By Jeffrey Blankfort
In a recent interview renowned linguist Noam Chomsky called the BDS campaign 'hypocritical'. Jeffrey Blankfort, who is the author of an earlier important critique of Chomsky's position on Palestine, responds
The CIA: Beyond Redemption
And Should Be Terminated
By Sherwood Ross
The Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) has confirmed the worst fears of its creator President Harry Truman that it might degenerate into "an American Gestapo." It has been just that for so long it is beyond redemption. It represents 60 years of failure and fascism utterly at odds with the spirit of a democracy and needs to be closed, permanently
Israel And Economic "Warfare"
By The Real News
Israeli parliament passes first of three readings illegalizing boycott activism or advocacy
Israel Gets Brutal With Media
By Mel Frykberg
Palestinian activists are being jailed, Israeli activists are under surveillance, and the Israeli military is increasingly targeting journalists who cover West Bank protests
Lalgarh - Massive Protest By Women Against
Rapes Committed By Security Personnel
By Partho Sarathi Ray
On 20th July, around 50,000 women under the banner of "Committee to save honour of women" tried to march into Jhargram town to protest against the recent incidents of raping of women in Sonamukhi village by the joint security forces
Hungry Will Remain Hungry
By Devinder Sharma
There is no justification for India to fare below Sub-Saharan Africa in hunger and poverty rankings. Most of the African nations are torn by strife and have unstable governments. If those African countries had stable governments like India, I am sure India would have been relegated to the bottom of the pile. I don't know how long we Indians can remain indifferent to growing hunger and malnutrition. Let us for once nip the evil in the bud
It's A Race To Failure Between Rogue States
And Global Oil Output
By Matthew Wild
Dwindling global oil supplies are leaving the world ever more reliant on a group of unstable countries – many of which are themselves facing major domestic problems right now
What Does King Abdullah Know?
By Jeff Rubin
No matter where you look, it is becoming increasingly clear that tomorrow's oil supply is going to come from very different places than today's. Providing, of course, that it comes at all
Wilful Ignorance Is The Bedrock of Denialism
By Tim Murray
Poetic justice for the architects of the Sixth Extinction, a species that despite its vaunted intelligence, continues to undercut its own life support system like a cannibal feeding off his own limbs. The fossil record is full of failed models like ours. A Greek tragedy in the making
The Risks Of Fiddling
By Guy R McPherson
So far, USA has been very easy on people (especially Caucasians), one of the consequences of ready access to inexpensive oil. But that's changing, and it's about to change much faster. You can either get in front of the changes or you can let them roll over you. Think steamroller, and you're a duck in a leg-hold trap
Haneen Zoabi: The Largest Threat
To Zionism Is Democracy
By Max Blumenthal
Haneen Zoabi speaks about her experience on the Mavi Marmara, the predicament of Palestinian members of the Knesset, and what she considered the fascist direction of Israeli society
Do Not Lose Hope
Elias Harb interviews Archbishop Theodosios (Atallah) Hanna
Interview with Archbishop Theodosios (Atallah) Hanna, Archbishop of Sebaste, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Of Jerusalem
Women Prepared To Break The Siege Of Gaza
By Mona Alami
The Maryam, an all-female Lebanese aid ship, currently docked in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli, is getting ready to set sail for Gaza in the next few days. The ship, which aims to break Israel's siege on the Palestinian territory, will carry about fifty aid workers, including some US nuns keen to deliver aid to the long-suffering women and children of Gaza
Reviewing The Apartheid Wall After Six Years :
An Insight Into The Colonial Project
By Palestinian Return Centre
The PRC report 'Reviewing the Apartheid Wall after Six Years, An insight into the Colonial Project' gives useful information and analysis on the importance of the 2004 ICJ judgement, and the ongoing colonial aspirations starkly reminded to us by the Israeli decision to expel four elected MPs from East Jerusalem
Israel's New Land Grab Master Plan
By Stephen Lendman
In Israel and throughout the Territories, millions of Palestinians are endangered, their lives and livelihoods threatened by Israel's longstanding plan to Judaize all "Eretz Yisrael," no matter that indigenous Arabs lived there for centuries and have legal right to their homes and property
Hillary: Vietnam Is A Great Nation With
No Silly Egotistical Impolite Sec. of State
By Jay Janson
Sec. of State Hilary insensitive and insulting remarks in her host's face reminded the gentle Vietnamese of ancient Buddhist culture that young adolescent America, bloated into world empire, is not "on the path to becoming" civilized nation, or a kind nation, a nation capable of some repentance. Long live what there was of American solidarity with the Vietnamese!
Empowerment Strategies:
Private Reservations For Dalits
By Dr. K. Vidyasagar Reddy
The Dalits have been discriminated by those upper castes who were at the helm of affairs. It is only after a couple of decades of independence, that they were encouraged to use their constitutional rights. But then, they were denied any job opportunities in the private sector that was gaining strength over a period of time. Meanwhile, the demand for private reservation attracted the attention of policymakers in several states and the Central government
Odisha Poverty, Corporate Plunder And Resistance
By Prafulla Samantra & Asit Das
Odisha has become the beacon of hope for the struggling workers and peasants of this country in their heroic struggle against the predatory mining and industrialization of the state uprooting the toilers of the soil. Massive people's resistance is going along the length and breadth of the state. Some prominent ones are Kalinga Nagar, Niyamgiri, anti-POSCO (Korean Steel Company), and anti-Vedanta University people's struggles
Assault On Professor Joseph,
An Ode To Indian Democracy
By Avinash Pandey
Rarely do individual tragedies reflect all that is wrong in a society. Even rare are occasions where their implications go beyond the lives of the individual, his family, or the neighborhood. But, when they do, they assume a significance that has bearings on the history of the community and the society. The recent attack upon a college professor in Kerala comes under the category
The Resentment Persists In Kashmir
By Raoof Mir
Indian Press might claim the restoration of normalcy but the anger of the people over the recent killings in Kashmir can't be covered up. The resentment still persists. It is important for Indian state and its media to introspect and at least give a compassionate thought to the cries of pain
Humanitarian Crisis In Kashmir
By Bilal Hussain
International Aid Organization's slow response concerns experts
Amit Shah, Narendra Modi, Sohrabuddin
And What Should The Youth Of India Know!
By Mustafa Khan
The youth must have a historical sense which tells them that once during electioneering Modi had asked a crowd what they would do to Sohrabuddin. They encored: "Kill him. Kill him." Modi joined the chorus by saying that if he had done that he was ready to be hanged. His deputy home minister did just that: killed Sohrabuddin
Educational Problems Of Linguistic
Minorities/ Muslims In Tamilnadu
By S. M. Abdur Raheem Patel
The two language formula in Tamil Nadu has created a situation that linguistic minorities ( Telugu,/ Urdu / Kannada Malayalam etc.,) had to forego their mother tongue and culture if they wanted to learn Tamil in order to be eligible for Govt. Services. Or they had to forego this opportunity of govt. service if they wanted to retain their language. As a result teaching of minority languages has been gradually declining since 1967. Anyway at least a small fraction of linguistic minorities have been clinging to their mother tongue so far
What Must Happen In Cancun At COP17
That Can Make It A Success?
By Marianne de Nazareth
Governments must set full sail ahead to capture the powerful winds of change that humanity is wanting to release. In Cancún, governments can set those sails higher
Velvet Jihad—Muslim Women's Quiet Resistance
To Islamic Fundamentalism
By Yoginder Sikand
This fascinating book provides a general picture of the status and conditions of women in Muslim communities around the world faced with the challenge of Islamic scripturalist assertion
23 July, 2010
Cancer Rate In Fallujah Worse Than Hiroshima
By Tom Eley
According to the authors of a new study, "Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005–2009," the people of Fallujah are experiencing higher rates of cancer, leukemia, infant mortality, and sexual mutations than those recorded among survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the years after those Japanese cities were incinerated by US atomic bomb strikes in 1945
More Suffering For The People Of Fallujah
And Why We Can't Gloss Over War Crimes
By Phil Dickens
But this needs to be pointed out, and remembered. The seige of Fallujah in 2004 was a horrendous war crime, and for the poor, wretched children being born there the horror of it is only just beginning. By glossing over who the perpetrators of this attrocity are, we are only adding insult to injury
'Genetic Damage' In Fallujah: The BBC Reports
By Winter Patriot
True to form, the BBC runs the phrase 'genetic damage' in quotes, as if it weren't real but only alleged -- and without doubt the allegations would have been made by conspiracy theorists whose twisted minds have been warped against BBC and its excellent, impartial coverage, ever since 9/11
Remembering The Madness And Mayhem Of McCarthyism—A Primer For Israel
By William A. Cook
The State of Israel has just passed a "loyalty oath" required of all prospective citizens living in Israel illegally to swear allegiance to a "Jewish democratic state." Concurrently, "an academic backlash has erupted in Israel over proposed new laws, backed by the government of Binyamin Netanyahu, to criminalise a handful of Israeli professors who openly support a campaign against the continuing occupation of the West Bank
Nuclear Energy Causes Global Warming
By Morton S. Skorodin
We, the public, must assert and struggle for what is best for us and our Planet. If we do not switch to non-heat adding solar and solar-derived energy sources, we will burn to a crisp
Radical Peace : People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
An interview with William T. Hathaway author of "RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War"
(F)unemployment– Make The Best Of It
By Frank Joseph Smecker
Because we've all heard the numbers– they're high. Really high. According to the BLS' (Bureau of Labor Statistics) data, the West (i.e. California, et al) "reported the highest regional jobless rate [this past] June": 10.7 percent… the Northeast at 8.8 percent. As of 2 July 2010, the national unemployment rate inched down to an ostensible 9.5 percent. But word-on-the-street's been telling different numbers
Stop The Wall: People v. Oppression
By Stephen Lendman
Another update on Israel's apartheid wall and the people's resistance
Charkha Telling Unheard Stories
By Syed Ali Mujtaba
Charkha Development Communication Network, a non-governmental organization is engaged in empowering the marginalized voices by running a feature service that's connects issues of the rural marginalized communities with the mainstream media
22 July, 2010
China Tops U.S. In Energy Use
By Dave Cohen
An amazing thing has happened. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China has now surpassed the United States as the world's biggest energy consumer. The Wall Street Journal reports the story in China Tops U.S. In Energy Use
The Peak Oil Crisis: Thinking About China
By Tom Whipple
Chin has embarked on multiple programs to increase the efficiency of its energy use, increase production of renewable energy, and to buy up at top dollar as much foreign coal, oil and natural gas production as anybody is willing to sell them. This will in turn prove to be a major problem for the oil importing OECD countries that will see their sources of foreign oil disappear more quickly than anticipated
The Story Of Cosmetics
By Annie Leonard
Ever wondered what's in your shampoo, anyway? Annie Leonard explores the toxins in our bathrooms, and what to do about them
A Freedom Charter or A Second Nakba?
By Kenneth O'Keefe
Kenneth O'Keefe present the Freedom Charter for Palestine , adapted from the one presented by African National Congress in apartheid South Africa
Peace In Kashmir
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan argues that the time has now come for the Kashmiris to rise above their leaders and to view the entire Kashmir conflict afresh—not in the light of the pronouncements of their leaders, but, rather, in the light of practical realities. Doing so, they must chart the course of their lives anew. There is simply no other way for them to succeed
The Israeli Right's New 'Peace' Agenda
By Gilad Atzmon
The Israeli hawks want to counter the inevitable 'demographic disaster'. They would offer West Bank Palestinians Israeli ID cards, and offer them to "enjoy ice cream in Tel Aviv" as long as they are kept as a minority. The Israeli hawks ignore Gaza and the right of return. In practice they dismiss the Palestinian cause for they are certain that the Jewish one is superior. In short, this is not a solution or a resolution. It is just another Zionist spin that is planted in our discourse in order to disseminate confusion
Greek Mythology: The Real Story Of
The European Debt Crisis
By Walden Bello
The global media has presented Greece, tiny Greece, as the epicenter of the second stage of the global financial crisis, much as it portrayed Wall Street as ground zero of the first stage. Yet there is an interesting difference in the narratives surrounding these two episodes
Projection Of World Fossil Fuel Production
With Supply And Demand Interactions
By Steve Mohr
The fossil fuel production projections from this study suggest that many of the IPCC fossil fuel projections appear overly optimistic. Based on the assumed URR values, it is predicted that global fossil fuel production will peak before 2030. For this reason, it is imperative that appropriate action be taken as early as possible to mitigate the effects of fossil fuel decline, to avoid energy shortages in the near future
A Review Of 'Local Money' By Peter North
By Jeremy
The Transition Towns movement is all about resilience – preparing towns for the challenges of climate change and peak oil. What's money got to do with it, you may well ask, but money is a valuable tool in relocalisation
Permaculture Ethics: Why Permaculture
Is Different
By Chuck Burr
The Prime Directive of permaculture is The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence. The corollary to this is It should be our responsibility to put the plants that we use where we are and leave nature alone!
Stuart Littlewood Reviews 'This Time We Went
Too Far' By Norman Finkelstein
By Stuart Littlewood
Quite simply, this is a cracker of a book and very timely. In explaining how Israel's war on Gaza in 2008/9 was not the defensive action it is always painted, Norman Finkelstein recalls the 1947 UN partition of historic Palestine and remembers how, in 1957, US President Eisenhower forced Israel to withdraw from Gaza by threatening sanctions and in the 1967 war Israel re-occupied it. The book then takes us through the warm-up for the 2008/9 war and the subsequent whitewash
The Slow Death Of Palestinian Democracy
By Mustafa Barghouthi
The cancellation of municipal elections in the West Bank marks another setback for democratic institutions. That's bad for Palestinians, and it's bad for peace
The Palestinian Authority: Redundant
But Dangerous Language
By Ramzy Baroud
Each time Israel fails to keep its 'side of the bargain', the Palestinian Authority responds with the same redundant language. The cycle has become so utterly predictable that one wonders why the Palestinian Authority officials even bothers protesting Israeli action. They must be well aware that their cries, genuine or otherwise, will only fall on deaf ears. They know that their complaints could not possible contribute to a paradigm shift in Israel's behavior, or the US position on it
What's Going On In Lebanon's Parliament
This Summer?
By Franklin Lamb
Following some initiial optimism after MP Walid Jumblatt's June 15 introduction of draft legislation that would exempt Palestinians from the Kafkaesque work permit process, grant them the right to own a home outside their oxygen scarce 'sardine can' camps, and allow them to receive some worker paid earned social security benefits, progress has dramatically slowed
Chicago: "The National Capital Of
Police Repression"
By Stephen Lendman
From 2002 - 2004 alone, over 10,000 complaints were made against police, many involving brutality, including beatings and torture. Yet only 18 resulted in disciplinary action, according to University of Chicago Law Professor Craig Futterman who uncovered the data
Palin's 'Living Language' Gaffe
Fells Fundamentalism
By Robert S. Becker
If Palin were aware of the world outside her head, she'd have quit on "refudiate" before committing a more serious theological blunder. Unless attention and celebrity solely define your notion of brassy cleverness or career advancement
21 July, 2010
The Other Tragedy
By Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro talks about two imminent threats to humanity, the destruction of the environment and a war on Iran
Eco-logical vs. Eco-mythical:
The Edenism Manifesto
By Zarakyah Ben Ahmadiel
We now have the opportunity to ensure that our children do not harvest the hybrid growth of our ancestors' ignorance, our oppressors' impudent iniquity and our cowardice. To this end, I propose a new standard beyond the binding clichés of environmentalism or greenness. The end to the confusion will be Edenism—the reclamation of our responsibility, the acceptance of the wholesale destruction of this world, and our willingness to build anew
Rachel Corrie's Hometown Divests From Israel
By Palestine Note
A food co-op in the hometown of Rachel Corrie, the American activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003 and namesake of a Gaza aid ship earlier this year, has launched a divestment campaign against Israeli products
Israelis Embrace One-State Solution
From Unexpected Direction
By Ali Abunimah
Proposals to grant Israeli citizenship to Palestinians in the West Bank, including the right to vote for the Knesset, have emerged from a surprising direction: right-wing stalwarts such as Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin, and former defense minister Moshe Arens, both from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party
One-State Debate Explodes Myth About
The Zionist Left
By Jonathan Cook
A fascinating debate is entering Israel's political mainstream on a once-taboo subject: the establishment of a single state as a resolution of the conflict, one in which Jews and Palestinians might potentially live as equal citizens. Surprisingly, those advocating such a solution are to be found chiefly on Israel's political right
Kashmir: Unanswered Questions
By Nilofar Suhrawardy
Questions have been raised as to why have innocent Kashmiri civilians in the Valley been denied their right to live and protest? The situation would have different if they were killed in genuine or even fake encounters. But this has not been case in the Valley, where more than a dozen innocent Kashmiris have fallen victim to state controlled guns in less than a month. True, Kashmir-issue is significant for India, but why isn't the needed importance to lives of innocent Kashmiris, why?
Transportation In The United States:
An Open Letter To The Chief Minister Of Maharashtra
By Karthik Rao Cavale
An open to the Chief Minister Of Maharashtra , Ashok Chavan, who recently made a trip to the United States to study the transportation infrastructure there by a student who studies regional planning at Rutgers University, New Jersey with a focus on transportation planning
Sustainability: From Excess To Aesthetics
By Lyle K. Grant
The purpose of the present paper is to examine the behavioral challenges and opportunities we face in creating a sustainable culture. Sustainability is initially defined in terms of a steady-state economy. The growth economy in the developed world is described as one of overconsumption of resource-intensive reinforcers and underconsumption of resource-free and resource-light reinforcers
Lloyd's Sustainable Energy Security White Paper -
Some Hits; Some Misses
By Gail Tverberg
Lloyd's hired Chatham House to prepare a white paper on the risks of peak oil called Sustainable Energy Security: Strategic risks and opportunities for business. It seems to me that this new report gets quite a few things right, but it misleads in the direction of thinking things are better than they really are, when it comes to timing and alternatives
"The Food Bubble: How Wall Street
Starved Millions And Got Away With It"
By Devinder Sharma
Was the 2008 food crisis an outcome of the drought in Australia? Or was it because wheat production had fallen? Or was it because quite a sizable area under foodgrains had been diverted for biofuel production? The world had debated these options, but what emerged clearly was that much of it was triggered because of speculation in the futures trade. In fact, it was much worse than what was earlier anticipated
Slandering The Good Guys:
Some Basic Facts About IHH
By Iara Lee
As a survivor of the May 31st, 2010, Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in the middle of international waters, it is appalling to hear the Israeli government and US senate slander the organizers of our love boat to Gaza, IHH, in their campaign to list IHH as a terrorist organization. Check out my profile of this Turkish NGO based on my experiences with them, as well as their track record in humanitarian activities around the world- then YOU decide who the terrorists are!
Interview With Ken O'Keefe:
"Israel Executed People In International Waters"
By Elias Harb
Ken O'Keefe is an American born activist who renounced his US citizenship on March 1, 2001. He has since acquired Irish, Hawaiian and Palestinian citizenship. On January 7, 2004, O'Keefe burned his US passport in protest of "American Imperialism" and called for US troops to immediately withdrawal from Iraq. He is more widely known for leading the Human Shield Action to Iraq (2003) and as a survivor of the Israeli attack on the MV Mavi Marmara (2010) in which he participated in "defending the ship" and "disarming two Israeli Commandos"
BP's Scheme To Swindle The "Small People"
By Dahr Jamail
Gulf Coast fishermen and others with lost income claims against British Petroleum (BP) are outraged by a recent announcement that the $20 billion government-administered claim fund will subtract money they earn by working on the cleanup effort from any future damages claims against BP
BP Oil Poisons The Gulf Of Mexico's Food Chain
By Dahr Jamail
Shellfish in the Gulf of Mexico grow with drops of petroleum inside them, coyotes eat oil-soaked birds, and sharks suffocate when the oil coats their gills. Oil droplets have been found beneath the shells of tiny post-larval blue crabs drifting into Mississippi coastal marshes from offshore waters. Many kinds of fish and shore birds feed on those young crabs. And this is just one of the many examples of how the crude oil that began to spill Apr. 20 from British Petroleum's (PB) Deepwater Horizon well has already taken its toll on the Gulf's food chain
Israel Land-Grab Escalates In East Jerusalem
By Danny Richardson
Israel is planning a major land-grab in East Jerusalem worth tens of billions of dollars. Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has informed the Supreme Court that the state plans to apply the law on abandoned properties in East Jerusalem. This will mean that Israel can "legally" take over thousands of acres and buildings that are the property of Palestinians
Palestinians In Gaza Denied PA Passports
By Rami Almeghari
Palestinians In Gaza accuse the Palestinian Authority of denying them passports for their political affiliations. But the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah says that it does not issue or restrict passports based on political affiliation
Apartheid Plain And Simple
By Khaled Amayreh
As if the preponderance of discriminatory laws already swelling the Israeli legal system were not enough, the Israeli parliament -- the Knesset -- is slated to debate a fresh instalment of anti-Arab draft laws aimed at "reasserting the Jewish nature of Israel"
Palestinian Children Under Occupation
By Stephen Lendman
Palestinian children grow up "under the Israeli occupation, surrounded by cruelty, oppression, killing, starvation and destruction." Yet, like all children, they dream of playing and living normally and safely. Instead, their father may be dead or in prison, their brother killed, their home destroyed, and their mother forced to give birth at an Israeli checkpoint, risking her and the newborn
Labor Fights Back For Living Wages
And Jobs For All
By Shamus Cooke
If the U.S. economy eventually recovers and current trends continue, U.S. workers won't be celebrating in the streets. The corporate establishment has made it clear that a "strong recovery" depends on U.S. workers making "great sacrifices" in the areas of wages, health care, pensions, and more ominously, reductions in so-called "entitlement programs" — Social Security, Medicare, and other social services
Public Anger And Distrust Of
Business And Government
By Stephen Lendman
An April 2010 Pew Research Center (PRC) for the People & Press study and others report growing public anger, distrust, and hostility toward business and government because of a "perfect storm of conditions" - wrecked economies, fueling "epic discontent" toward responsible officials. PRC found nearly 80% of Americans don't trust government to do the right thing, the highest distrust level in half a century
Howard Zinn's The Bomb
By David Swanson
The late Howard Zinn's new book "The Bomb" is a brilliant little dissection of some of the central myths of our militarized society
Ayodhya: Abode Of Ram Or Allah
By Ram Puniyani
The spreading of lies and emotive campaigns by political parties are not in accordance with the values of Indian Constitution. The elected representatives of people are duty bound to follow the Indian Constitution, so there is a need to appeal to all concerned to come to this basic understanding to uphold the values of freedom movement as enshrined in the Indian Constitution and let the court judgment be the decisive factor of future course of action
Khairlanji Verdict Expose Our National Concern
On Violence Against Dalits
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Khairlanji's incident has proved that our courts have not yet sensitized to the Dalit cause
Fear Grips Malegaon
By Mustafa Khan
With the daily revelations of RSS terrror plots a fear grips Malegaon, a city of many communal riots and bomb blasts
19 July, 2010
June, April To June, And Year-To-Date
Global Temperatures Are Warmest On Record
By NOAA
Last month's combined global land and ocean surface temperature made it the warmest June on record and the warmest on record averaged for any April-June and January-June periods, according to NOAA. Worldwide average land surface temperature was the warmest on record for June and the April-June period, and the second warmest on record for the year-to-date (January-June) period, behind 2007
Calling All Future-Eaters
By Chris Hedges
We sit passive and dumb as corporations and the leaders of industrialized nations ensure that climate change will accelerate to levels that could mean the extinction of our species. Homo sapiens, as the biologist Tim Flannery points out, are the "future-eaters."
The Killing Fields Of Multi-National Corporations
By Vandana Shiva
The Bhopal gas tragedy was the worst industrial disaster in human history. Twenty-five thousand people died, 500,000 were injured, and the injustice done to the victims of Bhopal over the past 25 years will go down as the worst case of jurisprudence ever
US Allows More Tests At Spill Site Despite Seepage
By Aljazeera
The US government has authorised 24 more hours of tests in the oil spill area in the Gulf of Mexico after experts detected seepage from the surrounding seabed
Netanyahu: I Deceived US To Destroy Oslo Accords
By Jonathan Cook
Seated on a sofa in the house, Netanyahu tells the family that he deceived the US president of the time, Bill Clinton, into believing he was helping implement the Oslo accords, the US-sponsored peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, by making minor withdrawals from the West Bank while actually entrenching the occupation. He boasts that he thereby destroyed the Oslo process
The Emergence Of Localism
By Richard Moore
At this darkest time, promising new initiatives are emerging. While the environmental movement may have faltered, environmental consciousness has spread throughout the society. And in the face of government ineffectiveness, activists are turning their attention toward grassroots solutions to the crisis
Transition Towns: Local Networking
For Global Sustainability?
By Jonathan Balls
The Transition Model has advanced a pathway towards 'local sustainability' distinct from previous sustainability models in a clear and important way: it is a grassroots, non-governmental model and also a networking movement. Still in its infancy, and with little academic attention so far having specifically focused on it; there is a clear gap in understanding of the Transition Model's role in relation to (local) sustainability, which this research has sought to bridge
US Voters Can Demand Palestine's Freedom
By Cynthia McKinney
US voters, through boycott, divestment and sanctions, have the ability to change their government's unconditional partnership with Israel
Human Rights Violations in Palestine
Interview With Richard Falk By C.J. Polychroniou
Interview responses by Richard Falk to questions regarding his Annual Reports as Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian Territories on behalf of UN Human Rights Council
Israel Imprisoned My Father For
Nonviolently Resisting The Occupation
By Saeed Amireh
On 12 January 2010 my father Ibrahim was arrested by the Israeli army and sentenced to two years in prison for organizing and participating in nonviolent protests against the Israel's wall in the occupied West Bank. The wall cuts us off from our land and our olive groves, robbing our family of its livelihood
Israel's Separation Wall: A Health Hazard
By Stephen Lendman
In July, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a Special Report titled, "The Impact of the Barrier on Health," especially patient and staff access to East Jerusalem's specialized medical facilities (unavailable in Gaza or the West Bank) because of the Wall's intrusive route and associated permit/gate system
Demands For Release Of Nuclear Whistleblower
As Israel Holds Vanunu In Solitary Confinement
By Billy Briggs
There were demands last night for the release from prison of the man known as the Israeli nuclear whistleblower after it emerged he was being held in solitary confinement in the same section of prison as some of Israel's most notorious criminals
Dear Chhattisgarh Police, Are You Mad?
By Javed Iqbal
And a few days ago, to my surprise, the Chhattisgarh police branded me a Maoist agent. And I'm not the only one who receives this 'honour' from the police
Memories Of A Friend In Exile
By Mahtab Alam
It came as a shocking, rather, frightening news when I read about the arrest of my friend Abdul Shakeel Basha, a peace and human rights activist, a few days back. For a moment, it felt as though we had almost turned into a fascist state, where campaigners of peace and justice have no place. Shakeel was arrested on 17th June 2010, by the special cell of Delhi Police on the requisition of the Gujarat Police for his alleged affiliation with Maoist/ Naxal movement of India
Defusing The Kashmir crisis
By Praful Bidwai
What Kashmir needs is healing-and restoration of the citizen rights and freedoms that its people have long been denied. This demands a bold political initiative, including the scrapping of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and other draconian laws, release of political prisoners, thinning out of security forces, and retraining of the long-marginalised state police. No less important is dialogue with Pakistan
Kashmir: Unending Conflict, What Is The Way Out
By Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer
To solve Kashmir problem internally what is needed is a measure of negotiated autonomy, economic development, greater recruitment of Kashmiri youth in and outside Kashmir including Central Government jobs which will give them greater sense of belonging to India, expeditious development of Railway network and ensuring non-violation of human rights and minimizing presence of armed forces except in border areas can lead to internal peace
GM Wheat Yields 48-56 % Less
In Field Experiments
By Devinder Sharma
The scientific community definitely needs to have a fresh look at GM crops in view of the disruptions that ecological and environmental factors can cause to its genetic makeup resulting in serious distortions in performance. This has grave implications for farmers, consumers and the environment. Scientists cannot be pardoned for deliberately ignoring genotype x environment interactions
Life vs. 'Expediency': Thoughts On Soylent Green
By Javier Sethness
Some Reflections on the 1973 science-fiction film Soylent Green, in the context of the present day
US- Israeli Belligerance Towards Iran
And It's Consequences
By Gulam Mitha
A protracted war with Iran, Syria and Hezbollah could result in global disaster and the consequences might be far more damaging than could be envisaged leading to an Armageddon situation involving nuclear weapons being used to end such a global war. Our civilization is being threatened by the US and Israeli belligerence. It is imperative that the UN and Security Council understand the consequences and prevent a possible global war
Numbing Narratives
By Case Wagenvoord
"Narrative" is one of those buzz words that bounces around the Progressive blogosphere. It is usually utters wishfully as in, "Progressives need to develop a coherent narrative on (fill in the blank)." Tragically, the wish for a narrative rarely produces one as Progressives continue to play fallback in the face of a strong and powerful narrative from the Right, which is why you rarely hear the Right speaking of the need for a narrative
Sri Lanka: Jus Ad Bellum ?
By Chandi Sinnathurai
The tears and pain of the poor and destitute Tamils continues in IDP camps and else where. What crime did these innocent women, men and children commit to deserve such squalid and shabby treatment? That is truly a crime against a sea of "living" humanity. That ought to be the priority of the global Tamils. The rest can play with high brow Latin words
No Easy Execution, Just An Illusion Of It
By Mary Shaw
As humankind evolves, we try to find less gruesome ways of executing our criminals. It makes us feel more civilized
Triangulation or Strangulation?
Does Obama + Clintonistas = Bush III?
By Robert S. Becker
Annoying but effective, Clinton triangulation involved pre-emptive theft of the opposition's (more conservative) attitudes and language, uncomfortably sounding like Reagan on welfare, endorsing everyone pulling themselves by their own bootstraps. Obama takes Clintonism one, scary step farther
Cycle Fatwa Rides Into My Re-Cycle Bin
By Nigar Ataulla
The Dar ul-Uloom Deoband, India's largest madrasa, is back in the news again—this time for a fatwa it has just issued that lays down that Muslim girls above the age of 13 should not ride cycles on the grounds that it would be difficult for them to do so while wearing their veils. Besides, so claims the fatwa, cycling has an adverse effect on girls' physiques
Society Awakes And Fatwas Fail
By Zahid Khan
Today, it is essential for Muslims to understand the true meaning of the Quran and Islam for ourselves, and to wrest this right from the 'policemen' of religion, the mullahs and maulvis. The entire Muslim society, particularly Muslim women, needs to come forward to do this. And, although belatedly, this task has already begun
18 July, 2010
Oil May Be Leaking Elsewhere
By Dahr Jamail & Erika Blumenfeld
National Incident Commander Thad Allen said Friday that the pressure within the cap is not increasing, as was expected. This could be an indication of a sub-sea leak somewhere deeper inside the well casing, meaning the well has failed. One concern associated with this lower pressure is that it may indicate that the well has been breached, and that oil and gas are leaking out at other undetermined points
Open Letter of Appeal To The Jewish People
By Mairead Maguire
I have hope that Mordechai Vanunu will be free and I place my hope in those Jewish people who read this story and are moved to right a wrong continuing to be done to him, and they will demand that their Government give him his freedom, and allow him to leave Israel
Mourning For Israel's Seeming Dash
Toward Self-Destruction
By Rabbi Michael Lerner
I do not wish for the destruction of Israel, so on Tisha B'av this year (starting this Monday evening, July 19 at 9 p.m. and continuing till dark on Tuesday July 20th) I'll be mourning for Israel's path toward self-destruction and on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur I'll be atoning for the way that the Israeli majority seems to be violating the Torah's commands to "love your neighbor," "love the stranger," "pursue justice, justice" and the Mishnah's addition of "love peace and chase after it."
A Parliamentary Mob
By Uri Avnery
Since the foundation of Israel, it has never stopped boasting of being the "Only Democracy in the Middle East". This is the jewel in the crown of Israeli propaganda. The Knesset is the symbol of this democracy. It seems that the parliamentary mob, which has taken over the Knesset, is determined to destroy this image once and for all
Over A Barrel: Peak Oil per Capita
By Peter Goodchild
Most people have enough trouble dealing with the reality of peak oil. What is generally left out is the fact that it's not really peak oil that matters, anyway, but peak oil per capita, the date of which was 1979. In that year there were 5.5 barrels of oil available for each person on Earth; by 2009 it had gone down to 4.3
Big Oil Makes War On The Earth
By Ellen Cantarow
If you live on the Gulf Coast, welcome to the real world of oil -- and just know that you're not alone. In the Niger Delta and the Ecuadorian Amazon, among other places, your emerging hell has been the living hell of local populations for decades
Ignoring Nature's Wake-Up Call
By Linda McQuaig
If there is a God, she's surely bewildered by the apparent determination of the human race to ignore the deafening wake-up call she's recently sent our way. As wake-up calls go, it's hard to beat the BP oil spill
BZE ZCA2020 Plan & Why Developing World
Must Go For 100% Renewable Energy by 2020
By Dr Gideon Polya
In the recently launched Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) Australian Sustainable Energy Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan for 2020 (ZCA2020) a big volunteer team of Australian engineers has shown how Australia can reach 100% renewable energy by 2020 . Engineers and scientists should do likewise around the World – and it is a great opportunity for the Developing World to avoid the technological mistakes of the Developed World
The Once And Future Communist
By Thomas Riggins
Frederick Engels on the subject matter and method of political economy and the coming revolution (Reflections on Chapter 1 Part 2 of Anti-Dühring)
Bent Over - Canadian Victims Of Israel's Attack
On The Mavi Marmara Speak - Sort Of
By Diane V. McLoughlin
Canadian activists Kevin Neish and Farooq Burney (director of fakhoora.org) tell their stories of what happened to them on the Mavi Marmara and after
No Help From Washington
By Nicola Nasser
In a meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last Tuesday, the mercy bullet was finally fired, dealing a deadly blow to fantasies of American help
Marie Mason: Victimized By Green Scare
State Terrorism
By Stephen Lendman
Marie Mason is one of many victims of green scare state terrorism in USA
Harvard Study Documents Media Bias
And Misreporting
By Stephen Lendman
Harvard's JFK School of Government published their April 2010 Harvard Student Paper titled, "Torture at Times: Waterboarding in the Media," documenting how the practice was covered by America's four largest newspapers over the past 100 years - The New York Times (established in 1851), Los Angeles Times (established 1881), Wall Street Journal established 1889), and USA Today
The Causality Buffet
By Jon Loux
The world with God is absurd. And so is the world without God
Behind The Niqab Bill:
France's Religious Intolerance
By Dr. Habib Siddiqui
The French bill banning niqab and burqa has only shown how weak the French society is. It is rotting from within like Holland and Belgium. Rather than fixing its inner weaknesses, it is trying to pass a law that would terrorize a small minority that proudly dons burqa or niqab as their personal choice
From Muslim-Baiter To Inter-Faith Activist
By Yoginder Sikand
Lucknow-based Swami Lakshmi is not, as his last name might suggest, an orthodox Brahminical priest. He heads the 'Hindu-Muslim Unity Front', dedicated to promoting harmony between Muslims and Hindus. His way of promoting the cause is somewhat unique: exploring and highlighting what he regards as the striking similarities between Quranic Islam and the Vedas, or what he prefers to call Sanatan Vaidik Dharm or the 'Eternal Vedic Law'
AFSPA And Political Violence In Kashmir
By Avinash Pandey Samar
The only road to that elusive solution is by restoring the law of the land to the province while doing away with archaic, colonial and brutal laws like AFSPA made for disturbed lands. The road to peace can only be taken if the government of India pulls its act together and brings the officers responsible for firing at and killing innocent civilians under the ambit of the law while stripping them of the immunity offered under the AFSPA
A River And Nine Bridges
By Raja Jaikrishan
A displaced Kashmiri pundits memories of his native Srinagar
16 July, 2010
Sangh Parivar's Terror Plot Exposed
By Mustafa Khan
With all the startling revelations coming out as a cascade, it will be strange if for the larger interest of the security of India Indresh Kumar and other high ranking RSS chiefs are not put behind prison bars for the sole reason that RSS never stops its execution of its closely guarded plans which can potentially change Indian polity
RSS Activists Attack Headlines Today
News Channel For Terror Expose
By Bharat Bachao Andolan
Bharat Bachao Andolan is organizing a protest sit in against attack on Headlines Today news channel for terror expose
Darkness In America:
Lynne Stewart's Resentencing
By Stephen Lendman
Human rights lawyer Lynne Stewart is resentenced to 10 years imprisonment for doing her job honorably, ethically, and admirably with distinction for 30 years
The U.S. Military Moves Into Costa Rica
By Mark Vorpahl
In early July, by a vote of 31 to 8, the Costa Rican Congress approved the U.S. bringing into their nation a force of 7,000 troops, 200 helicopters, and 46 warships in an effort to eradicate drug trafficking , justified with the same dubious "war on drugs" rationale
Choose Peace: End The Siege On Gaza
By Mairead Maguire
It is time for Israel to choose peace. It is time for world leaders and the international community to join together and call on Israel to lift the siege of Gaza completely, ending the occupation of Palestine and allowing the Palestinian people their right to self-determination
Israel Stops Listening To Its Judges
By Jonathan Cook
The Israeli government is facing legal action for contempt over its refusal to implement a Supreme Court ruling that it end a policy of awarding preferential budgets to Jewish communities, including settlements, rather than much poorer Palestinian Arab towns and villages inside Israel
British Jews Support Israeli War Crimes
By Gilad Atzmon
Nearly three quarters (72%) of British Jews agreed that Israel's action in Gaza in 2008 and 2009 was "a legitimate act of self-defence". I believe that in practice this means that 7 out of 10 British Jews support Israeli war crimes and somehow dismiss the finding of a UN Fact Finding Mission. This is pretty scary
Gaza's Electricity Crisis
By Stephen Lendman
Under siege for over three years, Gaza's humanitarian crisis continues unabated, Israel's bogus easing doing little to relieve it, including a serious electricity shortage
Give History A Chance
By Gilad Atzmon
A talk given at the "Debunking the War on Terror" Symposium on July 14th
Revolution: The Wrong Kind And The Right Kind
By Carolyn Baker
An appropriate revolution is one that is relevant to what is actually needed in the light of human and planetary evolution. It is not primarily political but rather informed by what the earth community is asking for
Counter Arguments To 'Ban Veil' Controversy
By Syed Ali Mujtaba
Martha Nussbaum an American philosopher with a particular interest in political philosophy and ethics and has written extensively on gender and social justice has come out with some cogent arguments that demolishes the entire five propositions advanced in campaign of the banning of the veil
Who Needs Poverty Estimates?
By Devinder Sharma
There is hardly a month when I don't get to see a new estimate of poverty. In fact, there are so many estimates floating around that I have lost count. At least, I am confused
Kherlanji Verdict –What Next?
By Ravikiran Shinde
The Nagpur High Court bench's verdict on Kherlanji of diluting the 6 culprits' of death sentences given by Bhandara session court and refusal to accept it as caste based killings by removing the SC/ST Atrocity (PoA) act provisions proves one thing - There is no support for Dalits in any form. They incur Social Apathy, Police Apathy, Government Apathy, Media Apathy and now the Judicial Apathy
15 July, 2010
BP Oil Spill And The peak: Delusions Of
Oil Grandeur Persist
By Brendan Barrett
The BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico should act as a wake-up call for a world economy so completely and utterly dependent on oil. It is time to say goodbye and end our love affair with oil as a fuel for economic growth
We're Speeding On The Road To Extinction
By Lionel Anet
The catastrophe confronting us is the severest that life has ever faced and incredibly its one of our own making. The scientific and technological advances that civilisation experienced in the past two centuries changed the world from a vibrant diverse ecosystem to a fragile one. It's hard to find any branch of the ecosystem that is in better condition to support human life today than it was at the beginning of the industrial revolution. This is in spite of the exponential increased in knowledge and abilities
Under Threat: A Free And Open Internet
By Stephen Lendman
Federal regulators are "wading into a bitter policy dispute that could be tied up in Congress and the courts for years." At stake: a free, open, and affordable Internet, threatened by powerful phone and cable giants wanting to privatize and control it, have unregulated pricing power, and decide what's published at what speed or blocked
Beyond Violence And Non-Violence:
Resistance As A Culture
By Ramzy Baroud
Resistance is not a band of armed men hell-bent on wreaking havoc. It is not a cell of terrorists scheming ways to detonate buildings. True resistance is a culture. It is a collective retort to oppression
An Open Wound...
By Layla Anwar
Everything that is related to Iraq pains me deeply...everything I read, every Iraqi I see, everything I remember, every song I hear, every picture I come across...
Guantanamo Prisoner Denounces
Kangaroo Proceedings
By Kenneth J. Theisen
On Monday, July 12th Omar Khadr defiantly rejected the kangaroo proceedings taking place against him at Guantanamo Bay. Omar refused a U.S. offered plea bargain and fired his U.S. military defense team. He denounced the military tribunal as a sham. Omar, who is now 23 and a Canadian citizen, is an early prisoner of the U.S. war of terror
Terrorists United Against Peace:
Illusion Versus Reality
By William A. Cook
As it becomes more and more clear that Israel and its compliant US Congress care nothing for the rights of other nations as their promotion of aggressive action against Iran proclaims, a virtual mirror process that brought about the war against Iraq, the world communities must face the reality that the US cannot control Israel nor its own policies. Therefore, the UN must assert its responsibility for all its member states and resolve a conflict that has plagued the world for the past 60 years. It's time illusion gives way to reality
Fadlallah And The Western Media's
Dangerous Complicity
By Matthew Cassel
There is a lot to say about Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, the Lebanese Shia Muslim cleric who passed away on 4 July 2010 at the age of 75. Unfortunately, much of what there is to say is being left unsaid for more of the same sensationalist reporting on this region and its people
What Tea Party Activists Owe Liberals
By Sherwood Ross
Tea Party activists may put up as many billboards as they like accusing President Obama of "socialism" and comparing him to Hitler but the fact is the only people Obama successfully bailed out so far are the big bankers and, as economist Dean Baker puts it in the July 19th issue of The Nation
The Case of Civil Liability for
Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010
By Yash Thomas Mannully
Submission befor the parliamentary standing committee on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010
Kashmir Back In The News
By Ali Ahmed
The clear message is that while the insurgency is under control, the 'root causes' remain. An acknowledgment of this is visible in both the chief minister Omar Abdullah and the Army Chief recently accepting the need for a 'political' solution
Essentials Shortage Hits Kashmir
By Bilal Hussain
Defying government claims of sufficient supply of essential items to the valley, locals here say they are facing shortage of critical commodities. Traders too maintain, not to have taken fresh supplies from past few weeks
Gujarat: Making Of A Fascist State
By Ram Puniyani
Social activists are being put behind bars in Gujarat branding them maoists
Archived Articles
Here is a large collection of articles since the time countercurrents.org came online in 27th March 2002
About countercurrents.org and the people behind
06 April, 2010
Globalisation And Terror
By Helena Norberg-Hodge
To really understand the rise in religious fundamentalism and ethnic conflict, we need to look at the deep impacts of what might be described as the jihad of a global consumer culture against every other culture on the planet. Doing so not only allows us to better understand the September 11 tragedy, but to see a way forward that lessens the violence on all sides
Coke: Black Spring In Plachimada
By Prabhat Sharan
Not many knew about Plachimada 10 years back. But today it has become a sign of a Goliath vs David clash
03 April, 2010
Beyond The Monoculture: Strengthening Local Culture, Economy And Knowledge
By Helena Norberg-Hodge
Despite the fact that almost every news item today brings information about the seeming endless list of crises there is hope that we have the power to turn things around. Localisation is a positive and realistic alternative to economic globalisation. It is the best way to ensure our future wellbeing and that of the planet
27 February, 2010
Going Local
By Helena Norberg-Hodge
Today, the planet is on fire with global warming, toxic pollution and species extinction, with fundamentalism, terrorism and fear. The most powerful solutions involve a fundamental change in direction - towards localizing rather than globalising economic activity. In fact, "going local" may be the single most effective thing we can do. Localisation is essentially a process of de-centralisation - shifting economic activity back into the hands of local businesses instead of concentrating it in fewer and fewer mega-corporations
26 February, 2010
The Economics Of Happiness
By Helena Norberg-Hodge
Global warming and the end of cheap oil demand a fundamental shift in the way that we live. The choice is ours. We can continue down the path of economic globalisation, which at the very least will create greater human suffering and environmental problems, and at worst, threatens our very survival. Or, through localisation, we can begin to rebuild our communities and local economies, the foundations of sustainability and happiness
12 February, 2010
Globalization Is Killing The Globe:
Return To Local Economies
By Thom Hartmann
Globalization is killing Europe, just as it's already wiped out much of the American middle class
18 November, 2009
Globalization Unchecked: How Alien Media Is
Suffocating Real Culture
By Ramzy Baroud
Globalization is not a fair game, of course. Those with giant economies get the lion's share of the 'collective' decision-making. Those with more money and global outlook tend to have influential media, also with global outlook. In both scenarios, small countries are lost between desperately trying to negotiate a better economic standing for themselves, while hopelessly trying to maintain their cultural identity, which defined their people, generation after generation throughout history
19 April, 2009
From Corporate Strategy to Global Justice
By Jessica Ludescher
It has become fashionable to laud corporate social responsibility as a win-win practice for business and society. Yet CSR is a misleading and distracting doctrine that blinds us to the political realities of corporate economic globalization, writes Jessica Ludescher
02 January, 2009
Beyond Resistance And Cooption
By C.R Bijoy
Resisting privatization and promoting a people's agenda for reclaiming and controlling public services in this era of neo-liberal globalization cannot be achieved under the neo-liberal frame!
25 February, 2008
India And China: Conflict, Competition,
And Cooperation In The Age Of Globalization
By Dr. Aqueil Ahmad
India and China are two of the world's most ancient civilizations. For centuries they shared advanced ideas, inventions, religious and philosophical traditions. But their economies and societies stagnated during the colonial period. In the post-colonial era mutual relations suffered a setback due to political and boundary disputes. In contemporary times they have reemerged as leading techno-economic nations. It is high time for them to move beyond conflicts and start cooperating politically, economically, and technologically for mutual benefits
12 February, 2008
Towards Corporate City-States?
By Aseem Shrivastava
While the details are unclear, the broad political consequences of SEZs are fairly clear. By shifting the very mode of governance towards the corporate sector, they will render unaccountable and opaque decision-making which will have long-lasting and widespread consequences for the citizens of the country. Not only will the formal success (and consequent expansion)of SEZs threaten more lives and livelihoods in the countryside, they will institute an autocratic labour regime in the workplace. In this and other ways already explored in the essay, they will undermine democracy in India in profound respects and might well pioneer a full-scale transformation of the political system in the direction of formal corporate totalitarianism through the via media of autonomous corporate city-states
10 September, 2007
Book Review:Making Globalization Work
By Jim Miles
Review of Joseph Stiglitz' book Making Globalization Work
22 June, 2007
Displacing Farmers: India Will Have
400 Million Agricultural Refugees
By Devinder Sharma
Almost 500 special economic zones are being carved out. What is however less known is that successive government's are actually following a policy prescription that had been laid out by the World Bank as early as in 1995
07 June, 2007
Paradoxes Of Globalization
By Md. Saidul Islam
Evidence shows that Freedman's propagation on globalization is nothing but a "mere dream" and a form of deception, as even in the USA the middle class is gradually shrinking. On the other hand, the middle class/Disney land is now moving to the wretched of the earth. From priests to prostitutes all are selling their labors in capitalism as long as their labor is valued in the market. The capitalists will move to any place where labor is poor and cheap
28 May, 2007
The Growing Abuse Of Transfer Pricing By TNCs
By Kavaljit Singh
Transfer pricing, one of the most controversial and complex issues, requires closer scrutiny not only by the critics of TNCs but also by the tax authorities in the poor and the developing world. Transfer pricing is a strategy frequently used by TNCs to book huge profits through illegal means
26 May, 2007
Globalization And Democracy:Some Basics
By Michael Parenti
The fight against free trade is a fight for the right to politico-economic democracy, public services, and a social wage, the right not to be completely at the mercy of big capital
30 April, 2007
Free Trade vs. Small Farmers
By Walden Bello
Today, perhaps the greatest threat to small farmers is free trade. And the farmers are fighting back. They have helped, for instance, to stalemate the Doha round of negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This tug of war between farmers and free trade is nowhere more visible than in Asia
India Needs Her Small Farmers
By Vandana Shiva
India is a land of small farmers, with 650 million of her 1 billion people living on the land and 80 per cent farmers owning less than 2 ha of land. In other words, the land provides livelihood security for 65 per cent of the people, and the small farmers provide food security for 1 billion
21 April, 2007
Human Rights And Globalization
By Dr Samir Naim-Ahmed
If economic corporations became transnational and that much powerful what is needed is a powerful transnational government based on real democracy for all the countries and citizens of the world . A government which is capable of issuing and implementing global rules aimed at realization of the maximum use of all humankind achievements for the sake of all the dwellers of our globe . A government which is capable of making economy in the service of man instead of making man a victim and a slave for the market economy
11 April, 2007
Globalisation, Yes, Globalisation, No
By Sirajul Islam
In reflecting on the good and bad sides of globalisation we find that whatever good has come out of it is actually a by-product. The very motive, maximising profit is responsible for its bad sides. So, globalisation may well be one of the most serious challenges ever to the integrity of human civilisation. As a citizen of an underdeveloped country, Bangladesh, how can we deal with this challenge?
03 March, 2007
Migrants: Globalization's Junk Mail?
By Laura Carlsen
Migrant workers are central to cross-border economic integration. A political system that ignores them -- or worse, treats them as junk mail -- is not only hypocritical but severely out of touch with reality
26 February, 2007
Market Fundamentalism Versus
Sustainable Development:
A Titanic Struggle To Save The World
By Dr Zeki Ergas
I will confess: I am pessimistic about the future of the planet. I think that NLG and MF are like a train that has left the station and cannot be stopped. In the following years, and even decades: China, India, Russia and Brazil – not to mention the other medium-sized 'powers' -- will continue to industrialise at neck-breaking speed. The thousands of billions of tons of carbon dioxide that will have accumulated in the atmosphere probably cannot be removed. Neither is the bridging the great divide between the rich and the poor in the cards. Extreme poverty will persist. It is probable that the no-holds-barred competition between the great powers for natural resources and standards of living will end in a world war. I agree with the British scientist who predicts that we have a 50 per cent chance to reach the end of the century
Markets Hate Farmers
By Devinder Sharma
Farmers in United States, Europe and for that matter in other rich and industrialised countries are quitting agriculture. That makes me wonder. Why? After all, they get huge subsidies. They have the advantage of being literate and techno-savvy. They can take benefit of future trading and commodity exchanges. Linked to supermarket retail stores, they supposedly get a bigger share of the consumer price
The Other Side Of Globalization
By Paul Buchheit
Corporate leaders are driven by the profit motive, and from a business standpoint they're unmoved by the plight of the 50% of the world's population that can't take advantage of capital gains
22 February, 2007
Whither Globalisation?
By Bal Patil
Even after more than half century of freedom in India the gulf between rich and poor is ever widening and with all the glitter of globalisation hunger, starvation and suicide deaths are increasing amidst agricultural surplus, and sometimes fifty million tonnes of grain in godowns rots but cannot be sold at subsidised prices for fear of pushing the market prices down. That is the harsh economic reality!
17 December, 2006
The New Maharajas Of India
By Devinder Sharma & Bhaskar Goswami
What is it like to be a modern-day Indian prince? Devinder Sharma and Bhaskar Goswami explain how the laws of the land are being redefined to bring in the reality of the royal tag for the rich and beautiful in the name of Special Economic Zones
04 December, 2006
Monga, Micro credit And The Nobel Prize
By Anu Muhammad
While Muhammad Yunus must be credited highly for his contribution in innovation in banking and opening up vast sea of market for the huge accumulated finance capital, linking of poverty alleviation with this corporate success is ridiculous and may not be very innocent one
20 November, 2006
Avoid Farmers Suicide In Ladakh
By Stanzin Dawa
The Government while advocating in the WTO to protect the due interest of the Indian farmers also need to act locally by reforming its own distorting policies and programmes, so that farmers in Ladakh can also be pride of their own production, their own wisdom, their own economy which is based on organic, cooperation and compassion. This way we can avoid 'Farmers Suicide' in Ladakh
07 November, 2006
Seeing Globalization From The Other Side
By Bob Wise
Here was the industry we would have seen in the northeast and around the great lakes half a century ago. It has migrated to the other side of the planet, while the US builds little more than houses and weapons
05 November, 2006
U.S. Corporate Mafia Fighting Chinese
Efforts To Help Workers
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
Greedy and powerful American companies not content with using economic inequality to devastate working- and middle-class Americans are now using their clout to fight efforts in China to combat economic inequality there. They want to keep wages low there so they can drive wages down here and everywhere else
31 October, 2006
Pushing India Toward A Dollar Democracy
By Aseem Shrivastava
You cannot hide 300 or 400 million starving mouths, and the insistently unjust social reality of India will break through into one or another rear-view mirror, disturbing the fantasies of financiers' wives and girlfriends
30 October, 2006
The Battle In Seattle
(Looking Back Seven Years)
By Mickey Z.
Infighting and compromises aside, those five days in Seattle injected American dissidents into an internationalist movement
18 October, 2006
Capital Invading Spaces Of The Poor
By Vidyadhar Date
Thousands of textile workers in Mumbai are now being evicted from central parts of the city with the closure of the mills and the rich taking over their spaces which are highly coveted by the property market
07 October, 2006
Resisting The Canadian Capital In South Asia
By Harsha Walia
Let us strengthen our end of this resistance by demanding an end to Canadian and other Western countries projects for the corporatization, militarization, and NGOization of the people of South Asia
25 September, 2006
The Geopolitics Of Latin American Foreign Debt
By Pablo Dávalos
The adjustment and structural reform policies of the IMF and the World Bank and now the strategic plans of the IADB and the CAF are part of this perpetual war. A war whose purpose is conquest, territorial control, domination and pillage, as in any war
23 September, 2006
Kerala High Court Quashes Ban On
Coca-Cola, Pepsi
By Karthika Thampan
Just after the judgement was delivered, employees of a cola company distributed press notes welcoming the judgement. They also distributed cola to the assembled lawyers and journalists. Advocate Ramakumar who represents the Perumatty Grama Panchayath where the Coca Cola factory is situated alleged that the cola companies had prior knowledge of the judgement
Task On Running Unions -Role Of The State
By V.Krishnamurthy
Present environment in India is reflecting the spirit drawn from the fascist ideals. Some ardent believers are for honest implementation. So, State, an oppressive power is slowly erasing the rights of trade union. The freedom expression to voice against corporates is being slowly chocked. Judiciary is speaking Liberalisation of economy and curbing of labour rights
22 September, 2006
Society And Suicide
By Amit Chamaria
Sociologically, the incident of farmer suicides in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra due to indebtedness is actually the result of the combined effect of 'Relative deprivation' and 'Sudden crises', which came in the category of anomic suicide. Significantly, the feelings of relative deprivation are the outcome of the first green revolution and these feelings has been augmented by the present market policy of Globalization
11 August, 2006
Arrogance And Impunity - Coca-Cola In India
By Amit Srivastava
In what can only be characterized as arrogance and impunity, we are learning that Coca-Cola and Pepsi have continued to sell soft drinks in India with dangerously high levels of pesticides - three years after even the government of India confirmed that these products were dangerous
25 April, 2006
The Corporate Control Of Society
And Human Life
By Stephen Lendman
As corporations have grown in size they've gained in power and influence. And so has the harm they cause - to communities, nations, the great majority of the public and the planet. Today corporate giants decide who governs and how, who serves on our courts, what laws are enacted and even whether and when wars are fought, against whom and for what purpose or gain
22 April, 2006
Coke Slammed At Shareholders Meeting
For Practices In India
By Haider Rizvi
As the level of anger and resentment against Coca Cola touches new heights throughout India, rights activists in the U.S. have increased pressure on the company to mend its ways of doing operations in rural areas
13 February, 2006
Indian Villages For Sale
By Devinder Sharma
Harkishanpura is a non-descript village in Bathinda district of Punjab in northwestern India. It suddenly made its way into news when in an unprecedented move the village panchayat announced that the village was up for sale. That was in Jan 2001. Since than five more villages in Punjab - in the midst of the food bowl of the country - are awaiting auction
19 December, 2005
Empire Of Shame
A Conversation With Jean Ziegler
Translated from the French By Siv O'Neall
Jean Ziegler, rapporteur at the UN on questions of food resources has just published a book translated in 14 languages: Empire of Shame. Here in this interview Jean Ziegler presents his work
17 December, 2005
The WTO in Hong Kong
By Mark Engler
Is market access the answer to poverty?
23 September, 2005
Globalisation Of Education
By K V Sagar
Any hasty involvement in the global educational market can end up in harming the vital interests of students, and particularly of poor and downtrodden for generations to come
20 August, 2005
Coca-Cola Ordered To Stop Production
By The Hindu
The Kerala State Pollution Control Board on Friday ordered stoppage of production at the Palachimada unit of the Coca-Cola Company in Palakkad district for failure to comply with pollution control norms
04 June, 2005
Court To The Rescue Of Coca Cola
By Karthika Thampan
In an unprecedented judgement Division Bench of the Kerala High Court directed Perumatty gramapanchayath (local council) to renew within one week from Wednesday, the licence granted by the panchayat to Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Ltd to run its plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district, in the south Indian state of Kerala. The court ordered that if a formal licence is not issued by the panchayat within the time prescribed, it should be deemed that the company possesses the renewed licence
27 April, 2005
Coca-Cola Refused Licence
By Karthika Thampan
The Perumatty grama panchayath (local council) yesterday refused to renew the licence of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverage Limited at Plachimada, in the Indian state of Kerala
18 April, 2005
How Coca-Cola Gave Back To Plachimada
By Alexander Cockburn
An on the report of the water theft done by Coca Cola company at Plachimada, Kerala, in India, with institutional and judicial support
India Adopts WTO Patent Law
With Left Front Support
By Kranti Kumara
In a move designed to make India's patent legislation conform with the World Trade Organization's Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) patent regime, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has pushed a patent amendment bill through India's Parliament with the support of the Left Front
07 March, 2005
An Evening With P. Sainath
By Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Fluent in his subject and familiar (rather too well, it appeared at times) with the American lecture circuit, Sainath sprinkled his talk with interesting factoids about the rich-poor divide, the politics of SARS, why he stopped drinking Coke and Pepsi, and a host of other gems
06 March, 2005
An Economic Hit Man Speaks
By Kathyayini Chamaraj
One of the exciting events at the World Social Forum (WSF) at Porto Alegre in Brazil this year in the last week of January, was a dialogue with John Perkins, the author himself, who, from being an economic hit man, has now crossed over to the "other side" and joined those who have all along believed that "Another world is possible"
22 February, 2005
The Law For Food Facism
By Vandana Shiva
The Food Safety Law 2005 p is a dismantling of the PFA. It is in effect the legalizing of adulteration of India's entire food system with toxic chemicals and industrial processing
21 February, 2005
U.S. Dominates World Bank Leadership
By Alex Wilks
There is a vacancy for the most senior post in official world development circles, a job that is of direct interest to billions of people across the globe. The process and candidates are shrouded in secrecy and the only candidates in the running are U.S. citizens
15 February, 2005
The Indian Seed Act And Patent Act:
Sowing The Seeds Of Dictatorship
By Vandana Shiva
In India two laws have been proposed – a seed Act and a Patent Ordinance which could forever destroy the biodiversity of our seeds and crops, and rob farmers of all freedoms, establishing a seed dictatorship
13 January, 2005
Why Boycott Coca Cola
By Mohammed Mesbahi
Coca Cola's appalling human rights record, combined with its high boycott vulnerability ratio make it the ideal target for a boycott. Max Keiser, investment activist, and Zak Goldsmith, editor of the Ecologist, have formed a partnership to target Coca Cola by bringing down the value of its shares
12 November, 2004
Hedge Fund To Target Coca-Cola
By Adam Porter
American Max Keiser has teamed up with some other "high net worth individuals" to create a boycott-based financial assault on Coca-Cola
09 November, 2004
Things Grow Better With Coke
By John Vidal
Indian farmers have come up with what they think is the real thing to keep crops free of bugs. Instead of paying hefty fees to international chemical companies for patented pesticides, they are spraying their cotton and chilli fields with Coca-Cola
06 November, 2004
Crime and Reward: Immunity To The World Bank
By Anu Muhammad
The government of Bangladesh has submitted a bill seeking legal immunity for multilateral lending agencies, especially the World Bank on 31st October 2004 in the national parliament
11 October, 2004
Globalization And The Agenda For A Free
And Democratic South Asia
By Anu Muhammad
The increasing collaboration of ruling classes in the form of unity and conflict demands much more increasing collaboration in the form of unity in thoughts and in struggles from the democratic and revolutionary forces
26 August, 2004
WTO Tricks
By Devinder Sharma
The July 31 WTO framework agreement, agreed upon by 147- members in Geneva has drawn a structure that needs to be implemented for furthering the Doha Development Agenda.No sooner the details began to be analysed, it became clear that the developing countries had not only been duped but robbed in the daylight
11 August, 2004
Funding For Vanuatu's Rural Electrification
By Ching Ching Soo
Who can provide the investment for an energy supply for small communities who do not have significant cash incomes, who are dispersed over mountains and seas, usually without local experience in technical and financial aspects of an energy system and largely without the economic linkages for exploiting electricity-based small enterprises?
05 August, 2004
Monsanto Prevails In Patent Fight
By Kristen Philipkoski
The Canadian Supreme Court upheld a ruling against a farmer who used genetically modified canola seeds patented by Monsanto while replanting his field. The farmer maintained that he inadvertently used seed that had blown into his field
01 August, 2004
Kerala - Loss Of All Hope
By Saji P. George
The student community has joined the farmers in seeking the 'final solution' in the economically and socially ravaged state of Kerala, a classic case study of neo-liberal globalisation
20 July, 2004
Mounting Sucides: Urgent Need To
Save Wayanad Farmers
By P Krishnaprasad
In the recent years, Wayanad, a tiny hill district in Kerala famous for its spices and coffee plantations, has been in the news for the widespread suicides by distressed farmers - a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly commonplace in rural India as a result of implementation of free market economic policies
18 July, 2004
US Prisons vs Indian Call Centres
By Indo - Asian News Service
Competition is brewing for Indian call centres from an unlikely source, American prisons.
15 July, 2004
The Fantasy of "Fair Globalisation"
By Sukomal Sen
The recent publication" Fair Globalisation: Creating Opportunities for All", produced by the World Commission on Social Dimension of Globalisation, appears as a formal recognition of the unfair and inhuman character of globalisation
29 June, 2004
Indian Farmer's Final Solution
By Devinder Sharma
Ever since Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy took charage on May 14, more than 300 farmers have committed suicides. This was the official death toll in the suicides register till June 25. Unofficially, the death toll is estimated to be much higher
22 June, 2004
World Bank Rebuked For Fossil Fuel Strategy
By Paul Brown
The World Bank's drive to promote fossil fuel-generated power for 1.6 billion people lacking electricity will drive developing countries deeper into debt
20 June, 2004
Debt Trap Or Suicide Trap?
By RM Vidyasagar and K Suman Chandra
About 3,000 Andhra Pradesh farmers committed suicide in the past five years owing to debt trap, drought and crop failure. After the government of Y S Rajashekhar Reddy announced free electricity for agriculture , waiver of electricity dues and a Rs.150,000 financial assistance for the relatives of the farmers who committed suicide , there is a spate of suicides, on an average 70 farmers a week
18 June, 2004
Let's Plant Ideas
By Fidel Castro
The dilemma into which humanity has been dragged by the system is such that there is no option now: either the present world situation changes or the species runs a real risk of extinction. But let's not lose heart, Let's plant ideas
27 May, 2004
Suicide For Survival
By Binu Mathew
According to official figures, 50 farmers have died since the Y S Rajashekhar Reddy government took over on May 14. However, according to the Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangam, a farmers outfit of CPI(M), 92 farmers have killed themselves in the last two weeks. According to another estimate, 220 farmers have committed suicide from Jan 1 to May 13
28 April, 2004
Earth's Riches Should Help the Poor
By Desmond Tutu and Jody Williams
It is a cruel irony that countries around the world that suffer from some of the highest rates of poverty, disease, corruption, violent conflict and human rights troubles are also - at least on paper - some of the richest
05 April, 2004
The Suicide Economy Of Corporate Globalisation
By Vandana Shiva
The Indian peasantry, the largest body of surviving small farmers in the world, today faces a crisis of extinction. More than 25,000 peasants in India have taken their lives since 1997
30 March, 2004
Coca-Cola Hunger Strike Ends In Union Win
By Jana Silverman
A 12-day-old hunger strike to protest Coca-Cola labor policies in Colombia ended March 27 in a rare victory for the National Food Industry Workers Union
26 March, 2004
Outsourcing In The Developing
And Developed World
By Huck Gutman
Outsourcing is despair for some, and job and jubilation for others. But it is always a race to the bottom, a search for the lowest wages and the highest profit for the multinational corporations
17 March, 2004
India Reacts With Dismay To US
Legislation On Outsourcing
By Kranti Kumara
Outsourcing has become a phenomenon that's restructuring the labour relations around the world, undermining the life source of some and benefitting some others but always benefitting the transnational corporations. No solution is possible outside of a political struggle waged by the working class against the profit system as a whole
13 March, 2004
Consensus Is Emerging On The Destructive
Effects of Globalization
By Joseph Stiglitz
A new report, issued by the International Labor Organization's commission on the social dimensions of globalization, reminds us how far the Bush administration is out of line with the global consensus
07 March, 2004
The Sale of India : ONGC Disinvestment
A U.S. financier, Warren Buffet, who has close links with the "military-industrial complex" is the main buyer in the disinvestment of the state owned oil company ONGC of India.It is a take-over of India's oil resources by American oil-interests
06 March, 2004
Outsmarting Terrorism With Outsourcing
By Naomi Klein
Thomas Friedman's argument that outsourcing "low-wage, low-prestige" jobs will prevent the third world youngsters becoming suicide bombers and make life safer for the American youth smacks of racism
31 January, 2004
Fighting The Cola Giants In Kerala
By R Krishnakumar
The World Water Conference at Plachimada adds immense strength to the local people's fight against the exploitation of their groundwater resources by Coca-Cola and Pepsi
13 January, 2004
Towards A People Centred Fair Trade
Agreement On Agriculture
By Vandana Shiva
All rewriting of trade rules for agriculture is being driven by the same forces and interests that brought agriculture into the Uruguay Round of GATT, with its genocidal impacts on peasants and the poor
05 January, 2004
Coffee In The Times Of Globalisation
By Josh Frank
The global coffee industry has endured colossal changes over the past fifty years. Production of beans has shifted from country to country in the interest of transnational corporations pushing the price to historical lows and impoverishing millions of farmers
05 November, 2003
Fuzzy Words And Sharp Bullets
By Satya Sagar
Smokescreen of the global media has been dispensed with and the real messages in our times come from the armed forces of the imperialist powers. While their words have become fuzzier, their bullets have become sharper
30 October, 2003
Outsourcing Culture
By Jeremy Seabrook
Call centres may be creating thousands of jobs for Indians - but the price they pay is a loss of culture and alienation
26 October, 2003
The Flight To India
ByGeorge Monbiot
The jobs Britain stole from the Asian subcontinent 200 years ago are now being returned
22 October, 2003
Global Trade Keeps A Billion Children In Poverty
By Maxine Frith
More than one billion young people in the developing world are now living in conditions of severe deprivation, according to a report for the Unicef
15 October, 2003
IMF Confidential
By Greg Palast
To reduce its deficit per IMF decree, Argentina had cut $3 billion from government spending-a cut that was necessary, the authors note here, to "accomodat[e] the increase in interest obligations." The Secret Documents the Masters of the Universe Would Rather You Not See
19 September, 2003
Why It's Good That The Trade Talks Broke Down
By Anuradha Mittal
Cancun is not a failure -- for it offers a lesson: Strong-arm tactics are not going to work any more. And no agreement is better than a bad agreement
17 September, 2003
Cancun, A New Beginning
By Devinder Sharma
First Seattle in 1999, and now the sudden death at Cancun 2003, the developing world has demonstrated that it will no longer take it lying down. Their anger and rebellion has already caused the biggest derailment to the development agenda. And, rightly so
16 September, 2003
The Collapse In Cancun And
The Transformation Of The Global System
By Andreas Hernandez
The collapse of the WTO negotiations in Cancun was the result of a tremendous organizing by the global south. It directly challenged the neoliberal world and might be the first visible signs of the possibility of a social democratic turn in the global system
WTO Kills Farmers: In Memory of Lee Kyung Hae
By Laura Carlsen
On September 10, opening day of the Fifth Ministerial of the World Trade Organization, Lee Kyung Hae climbed the fence that separates the excluded from the included and took his life with a knife to the heart
14 September, 2003
Free Trade Is War
By Naomi Klein
The brutal economic model advanced by the World Trade Organization is itself a form of war because privatization and deregulation kill--by pushing up prices on necessities like water and medicines and pushing down prices on raw commodities like coffee, making small farms unsustainable
11 September, 2003
Developing Countries Take Early Initiative
By C. Rammanohar Reddy
On the eve of the formal opening of the World Trade Organisation's ministerial conference, a 20-member coalition of developing countries led by India, Brazil, China, South Africa and Argentina, has taken centre stage with its distinctive proposals for reform of global trade in agriculture
10 September, 2003
Battle Lines Drawn At Cancun
By Stephen Castle
Europe and the United States - so often economic enemies - arrive at crucial world trade talks today lined up against some of the poorer nations, insisting that developing countries must make their share of concessions
Protectionism Trumps Free Trade At The WTO
By Mark Weisbrot
At the Cancun ministerial conference one bone of contention is the international trade in pharmaceuticals. On one side are most developing countries and humanitarian groups who want poor people to have access to cheap, generic, essential medicines. Against this proposition stand the big pharmaceutical companies, backed by their governments in the United States and Europe
06 September, 2003
The Real Cancun: Behind Globalization's Glitz
By Marc Cooper
A de facto economic and social apartheid keeps the two worlds of Cancún--the served and the server--quite distant except when conducting necessary business
19 August, 2003
Heat On Cold Drinks
By Arjun Sen
Coke and Pepsi may be following the Enron foot steps in India, unless they do not answer the grave environmental and safety questions raised against them
07 August, 2003
No More Coke And Pepsi
In Indian Parliament
Indian Parliament banned from its premises the soft drinks manufactured by Pepsi and Coca-Cola following allegations by a non-governmental organisation that they contained toxic pesticides
Tests Confirm Toxicity In Sludge From Coke Plant
By P. Venugopal
Tests conducted by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) have confirmed recent media reports about the toxic nature of the sludge generated by Coca-Cola's bottling plant at Plachimada, in Kerala's Palakkad district
06 August, 2003
Residues Of Toxic Pesticides In 12 Soft Drink Brands
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) today announced that 12 soft drink brands collected for testing from in and around Delhi contained residues of four extremely toxic pesticides and insecticides — lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos
02 August, 2003
Abandoning Agriculture
By Devinder Sharma
The dreams of billions of farmers have been completely shattered,who were initially promised the stars when the WTO was formally launched. It is only a matter of time before the collapse of agriculture in the developing world triggers massive displacements from the rural areas
01 August, 2003
Coke Accused Of Supplying Toxic Fertiliser To Farmers
By George Iype
BBC investigative report reveals that the sludge produced by
the Coca Cola factory in Kerala contains dangerous toxic chemicals that are polluting the water supplies, the land and the food chain
31 July, 2003
WTO In Montreal
By Aziz Choudry
Wherever we live, let's make sure that the world's free traders get no satisfaction in Montreal, Cancun and beyond
28 July, 2003
One Billion suffer Extreme Poverty
By David Rowan
The UNDP report notes that 54 nations are poorer now than they were in 1990.The populations of 21 countries are hungrier today than in 1990.
24 July, 2003
Coke vs People
By Paul Vallely, Jon Clarke and Liz Stuart
In the Kerala state of India impoverished farmers are fighting to stop drinks giant 'destroying livelihoods'
Boycott Coca-Cola!
By Andy Higginbottom
An international boycott of Coca Cola products have been launched after eight Colombian Coca Cola workers were assassinated
20 July, 2003
We Are Sitting On A Volcano
By Arthur Mitzman
It is centuries since humanity anticipate an alarmingly bleak future for its coming genearations
15 July, 2003
A Global Left Turn?
By Andreas Hernandez
As the imperialist forces were waging a war to colonize Iraq a silent revolution was occuring on the other side. Signs of a new global order have begun to unfold. This tremendous organizing on a global scale, directly challenges a uni-polar world
10 July, 2003
Global Poverty and Progressive Politics
by Thabo Mbeki
If Progressive Politics is to Have Any Meaning, it Must Start From the Reality That You Can't Overcome Global Poverty Through Reliance on the Market
09 July, 2003
Our water, Their Profits
By Jonathan Leavitt
Twenty years from now, there will be a war somewhere in this world, but that war will not be an "oil war" but a "water war"
25 June, 2003
Coffee, The Deadly Embrace
By Ben Gregory and David McKnight
A report of the Seventh Welsh Delegation to Nicaragua -Nicaragua's economy is slowly being strangled by the dictates of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
I Was Wrong About Trade
By George Monbiot
George Bush seems to be preparing to destroy the WTO at the next world trade talks in September not because its rules are unjust, but because they are not unjust enough. "Our Aim Should Not Be To Abolish The World Trade Organization., But To Transform It", says George Monbiot
17 June, 2003
We Can seize The Day
By George Monbiot
Economic globalisation has made us stronger than ever before, just as the existing instruments of global control have become weaker than ever before
07 June, 2003
On The Defensive : Coke And Pepsi
By R. Krishnakumar
Popular struggles against Coca- Cola and Pepsi in Palakkad district of Kerala gather momentum
Battling Coke In Sivaganga
By S. Viswanathan
The people in Sivganga in Tamil Nadu are agitating against Coke's plans to exploit large amounts of water from the region, which is already facing water scarcity
04 June, 2003
Another Fiasco At Evian
By John Lichfield in Evian
Evian was another choreographed summit of fixed smiles that evaded all the most contentious issues, from the plunge of the dollar to the explosion of Aids in Africa
Lausanne Solidarity Declaration
In Support Of Activists At The G8
30 May, 2003
Showdown In Evian
By Mark Engler
The French city of Evian is getting ready for a showdown between the super rich and the antiglobalisation activists
Patents and Pharmaceutical Access
By Sanjay Basu
The 56th World Health Assembly held in Geneva was alive by a controversy over a resolution mandating the WHO to advise governments about patent rules and access to medicines
12 May, 2003
The New Peasants Revolt
By Katherine Ainger
All of us, affected by trends in the global economy, in the most intimate and fundamental way possible - through our food
Bechtel And Blood For Water
By Vandana Shiva
In Iraq blood was not just shed for oil, but also for control over water and other vital services
11 May, 2003
"Corporism: The Systemic Disease
That Destroys Civilization"
By Ken Reiner
Huge corporations now control America's body politic by reason of their bald-faced purchases of the three branches of the American government and America's major media
11 April, 2003
Privatizing Water: What the European Commission Doesn't Want You to Know
By Daniel Politi
Leaked documents and an exchange of e-mails reveal that the European Union has asked 72 countries to open up their markets to private water companies.
Why Does the WTO Want My Water?
By Lori Wallach
A leak of European negotiating demands in WTO service sector negotiations reveals that it will be extremely difficult for countries, states and local governments to reverse privatization experiments that fail if the demands are incorporated in GATS.
Zero Tolerance for Farm Subsidies
By Devinder Sharma
Indian farmers are starting to feel the direct impact of the farm subsidies provided by rich nations to their farmers. American wheat is available at Chennai at a landing price much lower than that of the home grown golden grain while the wheat surplus in the north western parts of the country rots in the open
Confronting Empire
By Arundhati Roy
Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness — and our ability to tell our own stories. Arundhati Roy's speech at Porto Alegre , for the world social forum
Statement OF The Asian Social, Mass And Peoples' Movements And Organisations gathered for the Asian Social Forum held at Hyderabad from January 2-7,2003
Produce and perish - The Fallacy of Raising Crop Yields
By Devinder Sharma
To ask the third world farmers to increase productivity and thereby reduce the cost of production to remain competitive in a globalised world is a fallacy since it is impossible for them to compete with the farmers of the developed world ejoying huge amount of state subsidy.
Now Corporations Claim The "Right To Lie"
By Thom Hartmann
Kasky v. Nike case in U.S. Supreme court poses a serious challenge to the corporate claim of personhood.
The two faces of Mr. Gates
By C. P. Chandrasekhar
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates' visit to India was part of a strategy to check the growing trend of developing countries preferring open source software over proprietary software.
The Great Myths Of Globalization
In perhaps the most comprehensive study to date, Scorecard on Globalization 1980-2000, Mark Weisbrot, Dean Baker and other researchers at the Center for Economic and Policy Research documented that key measures of progress have declined globally in the past twenty years
Selling India to Bill Gates
by C. Ram Manohar Reddy
Bill Gates needs India more than India needs Bill Gates. But we don't seem to want to see that.
UN Consecrates Water As Public Good,Human Right
by Gustavo Capdevila
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights declared access to water a human right and water a social and cultural good, not merely an economic commodity.
PSDS: The Latest Chapter in the World Bank's Privatization Plans
by David Tannenbaum
World Bank's new Private Sector Development Strategy (PSDS) promises to intensify the Bank's support for privatization, extend its privatization advocacy to sectors still generally conceived of as public, and introduce novel approaches to create private markets where none now exist.
Paradoxes
by Eduardo Galeano
About some of the paradoxes that we see in daily life
The Passion for Free Markets- Exporting American values through the new World Trade Organization
by Noam Chomsky
A Moment Of Deep Hope
An interview with Vandana Shiva
by Geov Parrish
Export at Any Cost - Oxfam's Free Trade Recipe for the Third World
by Vandana Shiva
The Bankruptcy of Globalisation
by Vandana Shiva
Speech made at the World Social Forum, 2002
IMF'S FOUR STEPS TO DAMNATION
by Gregory Palast
How crises, failures, and suffering finally drove a US Presidential adviser to the wrong side of the barricades
Privatisation: from the Guru himself
by Prashant Bhushan
Joseph Stiglitz, the World Bank's Chief Economist for three years until January 2000 and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001, speaks out with brutal frankness about the Washington Consensus institutions' hypocrisy and the effects that the globalisation programme has had on the developing world.
They Are Systematically Destroying Economies
An interview with George Monbiot who is one of the leading voices of the global justice movement worldwide.
Book Review
Global Self -Organization From Below
by Jeremy Brecher and Tim Costello
Based on material from the new Second Edition of Jeremy Brecher, Tim Costello, and Brendan Smith, GLOBALIZATION FROM BELOW: THE POWER OF SOLIDARITY
by Robert Jensen
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