PeoplesGeography

Cited in a recent Ha’aretz piece about the decline of the israeli left, the late academic Yeshayahu Leibowitz is described as remarking that he is not sure whether Israel’s policies since 1967 are evil stupidity or stupidly evil. In another, verbatim citation, Leibowitz is quoted as having said, more resolutely, in 1990: “Everything Israel has done, and I emphasize everything, in the past 23 years is either evil stupidity or stupidly evil.“

Along with a number of other academics such as Ilan Pappe and Neve Gordon, journalists such as Amira Hass and Gideon Levy, and other critics of conscience such as David Grossman, it is good to see instances of intellectuals fulfilling their proper role of speaking up. In Liebowitz’s case, he is not as well known outside Israel. In 1969 he reportedly began describing the “inevitable Nazification” of Israeli society. Further, by the time of the (first major, 1982) Lebanon War, he became known for using the term Judeo-Nazi to describe the Israeli army. He also called for soldiers to refuse to serve in the IOF.

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by Walter Brasch

More than 230,000 cases of the Swine Flu have been confirmed world wide. About 2,100 persons have died. As much as one-fourth of America's workforce may be infected by Swine Flu when it peaks in Winter, according to studies conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC scientists isolated and developed the seed strain of swine flu. Working furiously to manufacture the vaccine are five major drug companies, which received about $1.8 billion in federal funding to produce the anti-virus. Leading the testing, analyses, and education campaigns about the swine flu, in addition to the CDC, are the U.S. Public Health Service, the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Federal Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in addition to the Department of Health and Human Services, which developed the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza protection.

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Allen L Roland

Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock

To me the spirit of Woodstock was not just the spirit of the freedom seeking 60's ~ it was the final set of the weekend when Jimi Hendrix played his solo version of the Star Spangled Banner, which included all the sounds and anguish of war, and which still moves and shocks listeners now as it did then:

40 years ago I was a stockbroker intent on making money while more than 400,000 people converged on the town of Woodstock intent on having fun and watching big names like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

Many feel that the music and spirit of Woodstock during those three days ( August 15 -17,1969 ) was more of a revelation to the millions who listened to the album and saw the movie ~ but I think it was indeed a revelation of human connectedness particularly with the deep on going unrest and divisions of the Vietnam War.

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Damian Lataan

Israel seems determined to provoke its enemies hook or by crook in order to get a war going against Iran. If they’re not continually directly accusing Iran of having a nuclear weapons program – despite the total lack of any evidence to even suggest Iran has any nuclear weapons program – then Israel is accusing Hezbollah of wanting to attack Israelis and Israeli interests outside of Israel warning that, if any Israeli is harmed, Hezbollah will be held responsible. Just to help the provocation along, Israel is also still sending their military jets into sovereign Lebanese airspace. In their latest piece of warmongering chutzpah, Israel is accusing Hezbollah of stockpiling rockets in order to strike Israel. The ploy here is to use this as some sort of casus belli to attack Lebanon in the hope of dragging Iran into the fray – and then, of course, the US.

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By Emily Spence

One's living in a proactively progressive family is not easy from a number of standpoints. Especially as a youngster, one can feel torn between wanting to fit in with contemporaries and standing up for an altogether different viewpoint and lifestyle -- an alternative that could cause one to be ostracized and shunned by peers.

Relative to this, I well remember the day that Justin, the empathetic son of leftist friends, burst through his kitchen door and started to cry. His mother and I asked him about the reason and he replied that he couldn't figure out the response that he should take in a heartrending situation. Therefore, he simply felt overwhelmed in frustration and anguish.

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Joanne Nova

Science is broken, and you don’t need to be a scientist to see that.

Other industries call their critics “whistleblowers”, but in climate science they’re known as “deniers”, or variously: conspiracy theorists, dinosaurs, oil shills, paid hacks, morons, traitors, inactivists and delayers. This is not science. Bullies need to be exposed. It has gone on far too long in the theatre that masquerades as “the scientific process”.

The term skeptic, once a title every scientist would aspire too, has become so polluted by misuse that even skeptics try to avoid it.

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Allen L Roland

Americans should be rightfully angry. We were run over by the Bush administration and we're being run over by the Obama administration who refuse to deliver the change we demanded and no where is this more apparent than with healthcare reform:

Americans are rightfully angry because we were ripped off by the Cheney/Bush administration for eight scandal ridden years ( both of whom are now writing their multi million dollar advanced memoirs ). We were promised the change of an open and transparent government by Obama ( which millions of Americans, including myself, enthusiastically voted for ) and we are apparently being ripped off again ~ which doubles our anger because our trust has been seemingly betrayed.

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Sherrie Wilcox

We have all heard about the FEMA camps, the Georgia Coffins AND the Georgia Guidestones (well lots of us, have heard about them before). We have seen pictures on the internet and have read all kinds of things about them.

I wanted to check these out for myself. I was visiting someone in Georgia, so I thought it would be a Great time to look into all of the internet claims and conspiracy theories. The person I was visiting was Totally up for it too. We felt like kids, our first ever spy type adventure. We met a friend for lunch and she wanted to join in on the adventure also. The three of us women, set out in 2 cars to tour Georgia and the conspiracies surrounding the FEMA camps, coffins and Guidestones.

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Franklin Lamb
Along the ‘Blue Line’ with Palestine

Part I: Zeroing in on Israel’s existential threats

It’s becoming tense again down along the ‘Blue Line’, three years after Israel’s 5th war against Lebanon. Israeli Brig. General. "Alon Friedman" told the Times of London in an interview this week that border tensions between Israel and Lebanon could "explode at any minute."

If one were to credit the myriad recent threats these past few weeks against Lebanon and President Obama from Israeli officials and AIPAC operatives in Congress, recently swarming around Palestine, it could be disconcerting as one recalls how quiet summers in this region sometimes heat up fast. Israel has been moving troops back and forth along Lebanon’s southern border and in and out of Ghajar village and Shabaa Farms, which has caused the Lebanese army to move some of its forces towards the borders with Israel while nearby Hezbollah forces remain on full alert.

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by Stephen Lendman

James Petras is Binghamton University, New York Professor Emeritus of Sociology. Besides his long and distinguished academic career, he's a noted figure on the left, a well-respected Latin American expert, and a longtime chronicler of the region' popular struggles. He's also a prolific author of hundreds of articles and dozens of books, most recently his new one titled, "Global Depression and Regional Wars" addressing America, Latin America and the Middle East.

Part I - Global Depression

Variety's famous October 30, 1929 headline is again relevant: "Wall Street Lays an Egg," or as economist Rick Wolff puts it: "Capitalism hit the fan" following a familiar pattern of boom and bust cycles punctuated by bubbles that always burst. Petras explains it this way:

"All the idols of capitalism over the past three decades have crashed. The assumptions and presumptions, paradigms and prognosis of indefinite progress under liberal free market capitalism have been tested and have failed. We are living the end of an entire epoch (and bearing witness to) the collapse of the US and world financial system."

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