January 2011
465 posts
3 tags
PSL: Corporations take millions of acres in... →
In countries throughout Africa, farmers are being displaced at an increasing pace as their land is being bought by or leased to multinational corporations at nominal prices. The United Nations and World Bank support the large-scale land acquisitions , arguing that, if done “equitably,” the practice could help boost worldwide food security by increasing productivity. According to a Sept. 7 World...
3 tags
PSL: Corporations take millions of acres in... →
In countries throughout Africa, farmers are being displaced at an increasing pace as their land is being bought by or leased to multinational corporations at nominal prices. The United Nations and World Bank support the large-scale land acquisitions , arguing that, if done “equitably,” the practice could help boost worldwide food security by increasing productivity. According to a Sept. 7 World...
December 2010
145 posts
1 tag
“The problem with sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, classist, ableist,...”
– I Don’t Care If You’re Offended by Scott Madin (via inherhipstheresrevolutions)
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America's Gulf: New Report Says It's Dying →
By Stephen Lendman
Concerned Citizens of Florida.com (CCF) believe efforts must be made now “to address what may very well be the greatest environmental catastrophe of North America in modern history….government (and media) cannot be relied on” for truthful information. As a result, its site is a platform for truth and accuracy on a disaster of such magnitude.
On December 1,...
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America's Gulf: New Report Says It's Dying →
By Stephen Lendman
Concerned Citizens of Florida.com (CCF) believe efforts must be made now “to address what may very well be the greatest environmental catastrophe of North America in modern history….government (and media) cannot be relied on” for truthful information. As a result, its site is a platform for truth and accuracy on a disaster of such magnitude.
On December 1,...
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Research links rise in Falluja birth defects and... →
By Martin Chulov
A study examining the causes of a dramatic spike in birth defects in the Iraqi city of Falluja has for the first time concluded that genetic damage could have been caused by weaponry used in US assaults that took place six years ago.
The research, which will be published next week, confirms earlier estimates revealed by the Guardian of a major, unexplained rise in cancers and...
3 tags
Research links rise in Falluja birth defects and... →
By Martin Chulov
A study examining the causes of a dramatic spike in birth defects in the Iraqi city of Falluja has for the first time concluded that genetic damage could have been caused by weaponry used in US assaults that took place six years ago.
The research, which will be published next week, confirms earlier estimates revealed by the Guardian of a major, unexplained rise in cancers and...
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Why the Rich Are Getting Richer →
If there is a flaw in their telling of this grim tale, it is that Hacker and Pierson perhaps underestimate the actual discontent of the American middle class over the period they discuss. In the 1960s and 1970s, Americans came increasingly to distrust their government, and not without reason. Their leaders had led them into a distant war that proved unwinnable and tore the country apart; a...
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Killer Fires and the Homeless →
Eight young people, who the Fire Department said were “trying to stay warm,” perished in a raging fire during the night in New Orleans. The young people were squatting in an abandoned wood framed tin walled warehouse in a Ninth Ward neighborhood bordering a large train yard. The young people apparently had a barrel with wood burning in it for heat. Officials said this was the city’s most...
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Killer Fires and the Homeless →
Eight young people, who the Fire Department said were “trying to stay warm,” perished in a raging fire during the night in New Orleans. The young people were squatting in an abandoned wood framed tin walled warehouse in a Ninth Ward neighborhood bordering a large train yard. The young people apparently had a barrel with wood burning in it for heat. Officials said this was the city’s most...
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Who cares about the dead?
Amy Goodman’s ‘The Comeback Kid’ and the Kids Who Won’t misses the point:
In the hail of this surprise bipartisanship, though, the one issue over which Democrats and Republicans always agree, war, was completely ignored. The war in Afghanistan is now the longest war in U.S. history, and 2010 has seen the highest number of U.S. and NATO soldiers killed.
As of this writing, 497 of the...
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Katie Sierra suspension controversy →
This is ancient history in comparison to the rest of this tumblr’s content, but the internet needs a “Where are they now?” search feature.
The Katie Sierra suspension controversy began in October 2001 when American anarchist and anti-war activist Katie Sierra was suspended from high school for her activism in opposition to the bombing of Afghanistan.[2] The fifteen-year old...
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Who cares about the dead?
Amy Goodman’s ‘The Comeback Kid’ and the Kids Who Won’t misses the point:
In the hail of this surprise bipartisanship, though, the one issue over which Democrats and Republicans always agree, war, was completely ignored. The war in Afghanistan is now the longest war in U.S. history, and 2010 has seen the highest number of U.S. and NATO soldiers killed.
As of this writing, 497 of the...
4 tags
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Israel's tolerance of Anarchists Against the Wall... →
Assaf Kintzer received a call on December 9: “Shalom, this is Rona from the Shin Bet. How are you?” After he said “okay,” she said she wanted to see him and asked him to come to the Dizengoff Street police station in Tel Aviv. It’s urgent, she added. Kintzer, 33, said he could not come immediately. She said: “I’ll call you again soon, and it’s...
4 tags
Israel's tolerance of Anarchists Against the Wall... →
Assaf Kintzer received a call on December 9: “Shalom, this is Rona from the Shin Bet. How are you?” After he said “okay,” she said she wanted to see him and asked him to come to the Dizengoff Street police station in Tel Aviv. It’s urgent, she added. Kintzer, 33, said he could not come immediately. She said: “I’ll call you again soon, and it’s...
3 tags
U.S. Sought to Retaliate Against Europe over... →
By Juan Gonzales
U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks reveal the Bush administration drew up ways to retaliate against Europe for refusing to use genetically modified seeds. In 2007, then-US ambassador to France Craig Stapleton was concerned about France’s decision to ban cultivation of genetically modified corn produced by biotech giant Monsanto. He also warned that a new French...
3 tags
U.S. Sought to Retaliate Against Europe over... →
By Juan Gonzales
U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks reveal the Bush administration drew up ways to retaliate against Europe for refusing to use genetically modified seeds. In 2007, then-US ambassador to France Craig Stapleton was concerned about France’s decision to ban cultivation of genetically modified corn produced by biotech giant Monsanto. He also warned that a new French...
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Henry Kissinger’s Long History Of Complicity In... →
Much was made earlier this year when President Obama became a recipient of the Noble Peace Prize, both by conservatives who claimed he hadn’t accomplished anything, and by progressives who pointed to his continuance of war in the mideast which has killed hundereds of thousands of civilians. But people should remember another, past winner of the “peace” award - Henry Kissinger,...
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Henry Kissinger’s Long History Of Complicity In... →
Much was made earlier this year when President Obama became a recipient of the Noble Peace Prize, both by conservatives who claimed he hadn’t accomplished anything, and by progressives who pointed to his continuance of war in the mideast which has killed hundereds of thousands of civilians. But people should remember another, past winner of the “peace” award - Henry Kissinger,...
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“We now live in a country in which the bottom 40 percent (120 million people)...”
– Sam Harris from A New Year’s Resolution For The Rich (via therecipe)
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Tabula Rasa: THE SEXISM OF BLACK SWAN →
tabularasae:
Black Swan feeds into and supports one of the most destructive forms of sexism; the movie tells us that women are constantly in competition with one another—that a success of a woman can’t be appreciated and valued by other women—and that a woman’s innate sense of jealousy will drive her to…
I don’t blog about sexism very much, but it is a very relevant topic worth...
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Julian Assange Threatens To Name Arab Leaders With... →
mohandasgandhi:
Julian Assange has set the ultimate dead man’s switch: Arrest or kill him and thousands of files will be automatically released, including documents that out CIA-backed Arabs.
The Wikileaks leader had previously claimed to have files on auto-release. That he had info on CIA ties was first-mentioned in an interview yesterday with Al-Jazeera.
This is exactly the type of...
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The Nation: Our National Secrecy Habit →
n July the Washington Post published “Top Secret America,” a series of articles based on a two-year investigation by Dana Priest and William Arkin. The report meticulously documented the growth of a vast secret government in the wake of Sept. 11 encompassing at least 1,271 government organizations, 1,931 private companies and an estimated 854,000 individuals with top-secret security...
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The Nation: Our National Secrecy Habit →
n July the Washington Post published “Top Secret America,” a series of articles based on a two-year investigation by Dana Priest and William Arkin. The report meticulously documented the growth of a vast secret government in the wake of Sept. 11 encompassing at least 1,271 government organizations, 1,931 private companies and an estimated 854,000 individuals with top-secret security...
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Making the Imperial Army More Diverse →
More on DADT’s worrisome implications for progressive and leftist thinkers.
Members of the lesbian and gay communities, this legislation is not a step toward justice. Marriage would be justice. Ensuring funding to eradicate anti-gay or anti-lesbian hate-crimes would be justice. Serving in the military openly? Sure, it is a victory. It was fought for, tooth and nail and won. It represents a...
2 tags
Making the Imperial Army More Diverse →
More on DADT’s worrisome implications for progressive and leftist thinkers.
Members of the lesbian and gay communities, this legislation is not a step toward justice. Marriage would be justice. Ensuring funding to eradicate anti-gay or anti-lesbian hate-crimes would be justice. Serving in the military openly? Sure, it is a victory. It was fought for, tooth and nail and won. It represents a...
2 tags
PSL: U.S. lies about Afghanistan health care... →
The U.S. government has been called on another lie regarding the “progress” of the war on Afghanistan. According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, “more than 85 percent of the [Afghan] population has access to some form of health care, up from 9 percent in 2002.” (USaid.gov) But health workers in Afghanistan say that this statistic is vastly inflated. According to the...
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Army edits its history of deadly battle of Wanat →
History is written by the winners - and revisionism is an important part of letting us know how “good” those winners were. It’s rare to catch a glimpse of it in progress, but that’s exactly what Greg Jaffe has done for us in this Washington Post piece from today.
The Army’s official history of the battle of Wanat - one of the most intensely scrutinized engagements...
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“The signs are now eloquent. The West has entered into a cultural revolution...”
– Noam Chomsky, The Function of a University in a Time of Crisis, 1969
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Decriminalizing Poverty →
By Bruce Western
…Our best research shows that criminal justice reform must be buttressed by drug treatment, education and employment. These measures complement one another. A less punitive drug control regime acknowledges relapse as a likely stage on the road to recovery. Keeping people out of prison can carry a steep social cost unless they’re meaningfully occupied. In this...
4 tags
Decriminalizing Poverty →
By Bruce Western
…Our best research shows that criminal justice reform must be buttressed by drug treatment, education and employment. These measures complement one another. A less punitive drug control regime acknowledges relapse as a likely stage on the road to recovery. Keeping people out of prison can carry a steep social cost unless they’re meaningfully occupied. In this...
5 tags
Speaking Truth to the Situation - Four Stories of... →
The Situationist is an excellent blog, albeit one I rarely read.
Lecture-goers were so intrigued last night (Dec. 2) by “The Razor’s Edge” that they stayed beyond the allotted time to try to get all their questions in. The talk, by four people who risked their careers and even their lives to stand up for principles they believed in, was sponsored by the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and...
5 tags
Speaking Truth to the Situation - Four Stories of... →
The Situationist is an excellent blog, albeit one I rarely read.
Lecture-goers were so intrigued last night (Dec. 2) by “The Razor’s Edge” that they stayed beyond the allotted time to try to get all their questions in. The talk, by four people who risked their careers and even their lives to stand up for principles they believed in, was sponsored by the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and...
1 tag
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“The signs are now eloquent. The West has entered into a cultural revolution...”
– Noam Chomsky, The Function of a University in a Time of Crisis, 1969
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Keynes on the 'Psychology of Society' →
Europe was so organized socially and economically as to secure the maximum accumulation of capital. While there were some continuous improvements in the daily conditions of life of the mass of the population, Society was so framed to throw a great part of the increased income into the control of the class least likely to consume it. The new rich of the 19th century were not brought up to large...
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“To the extent that the media of mass communication have had an influence upon...”
– Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert Merton, “Mass Communication, Popular Taste and Organized Social Action” (1948)
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2011: Year of Resistance →
Above all, we must become the media we wish to see in the world. If you take action for peace or justice and do not make that news available online, you have largely failed. If you cannot make it available online, you can Email it to me at david at davidswanson dot org and I will post it at http://warisacrime.org.
It’s all well and good to stand up in book events and ask everyone to...
2 tags
2011: Year of Resistance →
Above all, we must become the media we wish to see in the world. If you take action for peace or justice and do not make that news available online, you have largely failed. If you cannot make it available online, you can Email it to me at david at davidswanson dot org and I will post it at http://warisacrime.org.
It’s all well and good to stand up in book events and ask everyone to...
2 tags
“Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of cities...”
–
Does it matter? Some say Baudrillard, others say something else. Most don’t care.
(But if you care: It is Jean Baudrillard, Cool Memories, ch. 2.)
Something to think about during the no-man’s-land between Xmas and New Year.
(via nomoregames)
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Israel builds anti-migrant wall →
fyeahafrica:
After the separation barrier against Palestinian territories, Israel has begun to build a new wall, this one to keep migrants from Africa out.
The new wall is coming up on the Egyptian border, and with Egyptian support. The Israeli government approved plans late last month to build a detention camp near its border with Egypt to house illegal African immigrants. Local activists...
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Migrant workers missing in Mexico →
Armed men have kidnapped nine migrants in a southern Mexican state where 50 people disappeared last week.
El Salvador’s foreign ministry said on Monday that five of the migrants escaped and reported the kidnapping. Another was killed as he tried to flee and the other three remain missing.
The ministry said in a statement, quoting the survivors, that seven men kidnapped the Central...
2 tags
Migrant workers missing in Mexico →
Armed men have kidnapped nine migrants in a southern Mexican state where 50 people disappeared last week.
El Salvador’s foreign ministry said on Monday that five of the migrants escaped and reported the kidnapping. Another was killed as he tried to flee and the other three remain missing.
The ministry said in a statement, quoting the survivors, that seven men kidnapped the Central...
liberationstartswithourselves-d asked: its supposed to be about the incident when these officers shot and killed a 15 year old boy named Alexandros Grigoropoulos. it happened in Greece, i am sure you heard about this?
liberationstartswithourselves-d asked: its supposed to be about the incident when these officers shot and killed a 15 year old boy named Alexandros Grigoropoulos. it happened in Greece, i am sure you heard about this?