Latest articles
Is Victor Orban the 'Chavez of Europe? (Part 1 of an 11 part series)
by Gearóid Ó Colmáin / January 16th, 2016
If aggression against another foreign country means that it strains its social structure, that it ruins its finances, that is has to give up its territory for sheltering refugees, what is the difference between that kind of aggression and the other type, the more classical type, when someone declares war, or something of that sort.
— Sawer Sen, India’s Ambassador to the UN
In an EU press conference on September 3rd, 2015 Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban candidly referred to the current refugee crisis in Europe as “Germany’s problem”. Orban was referring to the fact that refugees amassing at the border of …
by Annie Robbins / January 16th, 2016
Screenshot: Palestinian protestors falls after being targeted and shot by Israeli sniper
A chilling video has been published by Palestinian activists on the YouTube page of Kareem Asakra, showing Palestinians being shot while protesting near Ramallah. The video includes the voices of Hebrew speakers, purportedly between an Israeli sniper and his commanding officer. The officer is heard praising, encouraging, and congratulating the sniper. Ma’an News is reporting …
by Eva Bartlett / January 15th, 2016
I live in Tayr Filsey, not Madaya, and I am fine.
— Marianna Mazeh: “Starving Syria child” revealed as south Lebanon girl
This is a brief article with the intent of merely alerting people to the latest campaign to demonize the Syrian government and army, and also at the same time to depict the terrorists inhabiting Madaya as somehow noble or in the right… as somehow not the human shielding terrorists that they, in fact, are. Madaya is the new Yarmouk. [See this post regarding the lies and propanda that were put forth in the exact same manipulative manner on …
The Imperialist Violence in Syria: Part 5 of 7
by Kim Petersen and B.J. Sabri / January 15th, 2016
Read Part 1, 2, 3, and 4.
As viewed from American, European, and Israeli angles, a system of united Arab states presaged a challenge mainly on three issues: the primacy of imperialism, Zionism, and anti-communism in their geopolitical agenda. This explains why the West has consistently adopted anti-Arab policies. For the imperialist West, accepting the emergence of unified or even confederated Arab states means dealing with the largest political entity on earth sitting on an enormous land mass in excess of five million square miles stretching from the Arab-Persian Gulf to …
by Ralph Nader / January 15th, 2016
As the New Year gets underway, the highest-paid CEOs of many large corporations have already paid themselves more than the average worker will earn in the entire year! By the end of the first week of January, the highest-paid CEOs had already made as much as their average workers will earn over 8 years.
An analysis by Equilar, a consulting firm specializing in executive pay, found that on average, the 200 highest-paid CEOs make approximately $22.6 million a year, or almost $10,800 an hour, a 9.1% increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, the Census Bureau reports the average household earns approximately …
by National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee / January 15th, 2016
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.
— Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. denounced the deep connections between United States militarism and the social and racial problems in the United States. He warned of the moral injury created by the war in Vietnam and the impact of war back home. As our country celebrates his life, war tax resisters call for action to shift national priorities from war spending to peace.
King’s birthday and the annual holiday coincide with the time when …
by William H. Cook / January 15th, 2016
“No nation dares to attack us or our allies because they know that’s the path to ruin.” — US President Barack Obama
Militarism
“The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. It’s not even close. We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined. Our troops are the finest fighting force in the history of the world.” One of the most prominent themes in President Obama’s State of the Union Address of January 12, 2016, was militarism.
Militarism. It is “[t]he belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a …
Best Films of 2015
by Jordan Flaherty / January 15th, 2016
Yesterday the Oscars were announced, and once again they were notable for a lack of diversity. Popular entertainment helps shape how we view the world, and Hollywood shapes the world as a very white male place. While every year has exceptions, the Oscars often follow the trend of the rest of Hollywood, snubbing films like Selma for the awards last year, and giving its seal of approval to a whitewashed world. But the Oscars are also just reflecting the bleak reality of who is given the resources to make films that might qualify.
My list of the best films of 2015 …
by Felicity Arbuthnot / January 15th, 2016
One of the tasks that we clearly have is to rebuild trust in our political system … it’s about making sure people are in control and that the politicians are always their servants and never their masters.
— David Cameron, First speech as Prime Minister, May 11, 2010
David Cameron has made “transparency” a mantra. In May 2010 he vowed to rip off the: “cloak of secrecy” around government, extending transparency and stating:
Greater transparency is at the heart of our shared commitment to enable the public to hold politicians and public bodies to account.
He was specific, adamant even:
If there’s one thing I’ve …
The Emerging Dystopian Republic
by John Stanton / January 15th, 2016
The systems engineering discipline is at once an exceptional holistic and precision tool for conceptualizing, designing, fielding, maintaining, upgrading and recycling systems as diverse as handheld mobile communications devices, the Internet/WWW, urban transportation systems, and US military weapons systems like an aircraft carrier. Generally speaking, the systems engineering methodology considers the entire life cycle of the system/product from beginning to end. The life cycle process must account for other key inputs: materials, human/humans, labor, time, funding, costs/prices, operational environment, disposal, etc.
A critical determinant in the overall systems engineering process is often the role of human capital: Where does …
International Left Intellectuals Respond to Venezuelan Government’s Legislative Election Setback
by Roger D. Harris and Chuck Kaufman / January 15th, 2016
Five hours after the polls had closed, the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced a landslide victory for the opposition in Venezuela’s the National Assembly elections.
Almost immediately after, President Maduro addressed the nation accepting “these adverse results,” the worst defeat for the followers of Hugo Chávez in the 20 elections since 1998. Maduro subsequently has called for a “deep process of revision and self-criticism” in the wake of the December 6th, 2015, election.
The response of international left intellectuals has ranged from critical support to outright rejection of the socialist project in Venezuela. We argue for the importance of …
by Yves Engler / January 14th, 2016
Blowback. Karma. Unintended consequences. A corollary to the golden rule. We have many words to describe the concept: Doing harm to others often results in bad things happening to us or people we “care” about, sometimes many years later.
Since the November attacks in Paris Boko Haram has killed nearly twice as many people as Daesh/ISIL/ISIS did in the City of Lights. But the carnage in northern Nigeria has received much less attention and Canada’s connection to it none at all.
Five days after the Paris killings Boko Haram claimed responsibility for suicide attacks in Yola and Kano that killed 50. …
by Rajesh Makwana / January 14th, 2016
Research by Dr. David Bailey provides empirical evidence for what many activists and campaigners have long suspected: that we have entered a prolonged period of dissent characterised by an escalation in the magnitude and diversity of public protest. The UK-based data clearly indicates that the catalyst for this upsurge in social unrest was the financial crisis of 2008, which continues to have a detrimental impact on economic security for the vast majority of citizens – even while the combined wealth of the richest 1% continues to soar.
Although many would regard 2011 as the year that mass civil disobedience …
Context is lacking in the media’s coverage of the minor naval dispute between the US and Iran
by Eoin Higgins / January 14th, 2016
A tense 24 hours followed the capture of ten US sailors in Iranian territorial waters. The situation was resolved quickly, though, with Iran releasing the sailors, apparently none the worse for wear, the morning after their detainment.
For the past 24 hours and counting, US media sources have been perpetuating story-lines and assumptions about US-Iranian relations that are at best misleading, while leaving out context and important facts.
*****
First of all, US media has glossed over the fact that the US naval forces were violating Iranian territorial waters. …
The Imperialist Violence in Syria, Part 4 of 7
by Kim Petersen and B.J. Sabri / January 14th, 2016
Read Part 1, 2, and 3.
So far, we have argued that international and regional interventions brought Syria to the present violent point and that Western imperialist and regional objectives (American, Israeli, European, Saudi, Turkish, etc.) are at work throughout the Arab world. It is also self-evident that all of America’s wars after WWII were about imposing its dominance and confirming its aspiration to be a super-hegemon. Moreover, American imperialism (hyper-imperialism ((B. J. Sabri, “The Hyper-Imperialist Paradigm,” Parts Part 1, Part 2, Part …
by Christy Rodgers / January 13th, 2016
Literary scholar and critic Walter Benjamin said that for human social progress to occur it was necessary to “dissolve myth into the space of history” but he was wrong. From the vantage point of the early 21st century, myth is back, and badder than ever. It is the ultimate Ghost in the Machine of the Scientific Revolution. And I’m going to suggest that not only will we not rid ourselves of the mythic worldview in any conceivable social formation that might actually be thought of as progress, but that it has been a great mistake even to try.
Benjamin applied a …
by Peter Breschard / January 13th, 2016
A room that isn’t any larger than 10 feet square. Two metal folding chairs face one another. Acoustical tile ceiling. Windowless. One door. Might have been a storage closet in some previous incarnation but found its true vocation being what it is now: a minor interrogation room for those whose assumed intelligence remains of dubious import.
Jeremy’s interrogator does not lift his eyes as the prisoner is escorted to his seat. The interrogator is a pale man in his late forties or early fifties. Short gray black hair receding a good way back on his scalp. Clean shaven. In process of …
BBC Caught Manipulating the News
by Media Lens / January 13th, 2016
Nobody with a questioning mind seriously expects impartiality from BBC News. Certainly not anyone who has followed its reporting on the National Health Service, Scottish independence, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn or a myriad of other important issues.
While some may believe that the corporation’s failure to provide fair and balanced journalism is a relatively recent phenomenon, many others will recognise that it stretches back many decades: coverage of the West’s destruction of Libya in 2011; the invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003; Nato’s war on the former Yugoslavia in 1999; genocidal UN sanctions …
by John R. Hall / January 13th, 2016
Step right up folks and see the greatest show on the planet. El Chapo is his name, and magic is his game. Is he saint or is he sinner? Watch in awe as this vertically challenged boy from Sinaloa transforms himself from lowly peasant to powerful prince before your very eyes. Gaze in amazement as El Chapo escapes daringly from not one, but two maximum security prisons, only to be captured and imprisoned once again. Observe him attending a Mexican Governors’ Conference, joking and partying with top executives from all over the country, while under the protection of heavily-armed soldiers …
by Ramzy Baroud / January 12th, 2016
Ali Abumghasib knows little about the current intrigues of the Fatah Movement, or, perhaps, he is just not interested. Although he has dedicated most of his life fighting within its ranks, he never saw his membership in Fatah as his defining identity. For him, it was, and will always remain, about Palestine and nothing else.
Now living in an old, rusty and tiny caravan somewhere in Gaza, Ali has no money, no family, but also no regrets. We spoke at length about his life. He wanted to share his story, and I wanted to understand what went wrong in what …
On the Fifth and Sixth Points of the Mont Order
by L'Ordre / January 12th, 2016
The Western powers are still deemed imperialist by their critics, due to their history of imperialism and their recent behavior as conquerors and exporters of their supposed “democratic” superiority. On the other hand, they try to accuse their own foreign opponents such as Iran, Russia or even the Palestinian people of having imperialist or similarly coercive goals against them or their allies.
Some commentators even astonishingly try to convince anti-war activists in the West to shift all their attention to criticizing non-Western governments and advocating military intervention for the sake of “peace” as well as the old “democracy”. They accuse …
by Jonathan Cook / January 12th, 2016
The decision to outlaw the northern wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel was announced by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on November 17, 2015, days after attacks claimed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, left 130 dead in Paris. Although the ban had been long in the making, the timing was patently opportunistic, with Netanyahu even comparing Israel’s Islamic Movement to ISIS. It is still unclear how the Israeli intelligence services and police will enforce the ban, given that the group has thousands of paid-up members among Israel’s large Palestinian minority, and ties to welfare associations and …
by Matt Peppe / January 11th, 2016
Five months ago, I wrote an article titled “Jimmy Carter’s Blood-Soaked Legacy” about how the former President’s record in office contradicted his professed concern for human rights. Despite campaigning on a promise to make respect for human rights a central tenet of the conduct of American foreign policy, Carter’s actions consistently prioritized economic and security interests over humanitarian concerns.
I cited the examples of Carter’s administration providing aid to Zairian dictator Mobutu to crush southern African liberation movements; financially supporting the Guatemalan military junta, and looking the other way as Israel gave them weapons and training; ignoring …
The imperialist Violence in Syria, Part 3 of 7
by Kim Petersen and B.J. Sabri / January 11th, 2016
Read Part 1 and 2.
From The WikiLeaks Files
A December 13, 2006 cable, “Influencing the SARG [Syrian government] in the End of 2006,” indicates that, as far back as 2006 – five years before “Arab Spring” protests in Syria – destabilizing the Syrian government was a central motivation of US policy. The author of the cable was William Roebuck, at the time chargé d’affaires at the US embassy in Damascus. The cable outlines strategies for destabilizing the Syrian government. In his summary of the cable, Roebuck wrote:
We believe Bashar’s weaknesses are in how he …
by subMedia / January 11th, 2016
2015 wrapped up with a bang, with dozens of militant actions carried out by anarchists under the banner of “Black December.” In Turkey, aspiring Fuhrer, Tayipp Erdogan, is attempting to wipe out the Kurds, but is faced with fierce resistance from the PKK and its allies. On the music break, a Savage Fam drops an anti-colonial hip-hop classic with “War Mask”. We follow up with news from Canada, as the country elects a new prime minister who’s cozying up to indigenous peeps, followed up by an exclusive interview with Ant-Loc of Savage Fam.
To hear the full interview with …
by Bruce Clark / January 11th, 2016
Section 91(24) of the Canadian Constitution Act, 1867, allots to the federal level of government the trust of “Protection” confirmed by King George the Third in the Royal Proclamation of 1763:
And whereas it is just and reasonable and essential to our Interest and the Security of our Colonies that the several Nations or Tribes of Indians with whom We are connected and who live under our Protection should not be molested or disturbed in the Possession of such Parts of Our Dominions and Territories as not having been ceded to or purchased by Us are reserved to them …
by Felicity Arbuthnot / January 11th, 2016
Human rights is a cause that runs deep in the British heart and long in British history.
(Britain is) Driven by a belief in fundamental human rights and a passion to advance them.
— Prime Minister David Cameron, Speech on the European Court of Human Rights, January 25, 2012
The British government under Prime Minister David Cameron’s leadership can claim absolute consistency in just one policy: towering, jaw dropping hypocrisy.
They follow Tony Blair and his tantrum prone, nail biting successor, Gordon Brown’s bombing, year zero inducing, orphan-creating footsteps as they attempt to market potential war crimes and illegal assaults, dressed as democracy bringing, …
by Alli McCracken / January 11th, 2016
President Obama should be given props for the progress made in thawing US-Cuban relations, but there’s a piece of unfinished business that he could–and should–still attend to: returning the US Naval Base in Guantanamo to the Cuban people. In doing so, he could also solve another dilemma that has plagued his administration: closing the Guantanamo prison.
In November 2015, CODEPINK brought 60 delegates to the city of Guantánamo for an international conference about the abolition of foreign military bases. To delve more into the impact of the Guantánamo naval base on the Cuban people, we took a …
by Kathy Kelly / January 11th, 2016
In Kabul, where the Afghan Peace Volunteers have hosted me in their community, the U.S. military maintains a huge blimp equipped with cameras and computers to supply 24 hour surveillance of the city. Remotely piloted drones, operated by Air Force and Air National Guard personnel in U.S. bases, also fly over Afghanistan, feeding U.S. military analysts miles of camera footage every day. Billions of dollars have been invested in a variety of blimps which various vendors, such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, and Aeros have shipped to Afghanistan. All of this surveillance purportedly helps establish “patterns of life” in …
by Walter Brasch / January 10th, 2016
Several TV networks covered the Rose Parade. ABC, NBC, RFD, the Hallmark network, and Univision had frequent interruptions to unleash commercials on us. The Home and Garden network ran the two hour parade uninterrupted—except for endless on-air self-promotion about HGTV and its programs.
The networks had commentators who chatted with each other and seemed to spend more time enjoying being on air than in reporting the parade.
They aren’t unusual.
TV news—including parade coverage—has become more of a personality-based medium than a news medium. The Happy News TV anchors chat with each other. A few seconds here. A few seconds there.
“With Tonight’s weather …
