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Israeli Use of Palestinians As Human Shields
Stephen Lendman
It continues to use civilian men, women and children as human shields.
The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights is a Gaza-based Palestinian NGO mandated "to promote, protect and prevent violations of human rights in general, and economic, social and cultural rights in particular, to provide effective aid to those victims of such violations, and to enhance the quality of life of the community in (Gaza's) marginalized sectors."
It monitors and documents violations, provides legal aid and advocacy, and helps Gazans on "fundamental issues such as basic human rights, democracy, and international humanitarian" matters. It also produces reports and publications on its work.
23 years after Chernobyl, nuclear power is still a threat
Mary Shaw
I am writing this on April 26, 2009, the 23rd anniversary of the tragic and deadly explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The Chernobyl disaster is widely considered to be the biggest technological and industrial disaster the world has ever known.
And I am remembering the 1979 meltdown at the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island, about 100 miles from where I currently sit.
Today, about a block from my home, I can look to the west and see the cooling towers of the Limerick nuclear power plant sending a steady flow of steam into the sky.
The truth about pirates in less than 4 minutes
chycho
So, we are able to go to the horn of Africa, bring back 16-year old children and put them on trial as adults for piracy, but we succumb to the demands of the Wall Street pirates within our midst?
"Sure, the pirates are like a small-time, entrepreneurial version of the big-time crooks on Wall Street. The financiers and investment bankers hijack the economy for their own quick profit, and then when they're caught, they hold the economy's future hostage while they demand humongous amounts of money. The only differences are that the Somalis may actually need the money, and they pulled guns while the bankers didn't even have to."
European Airs: Unity of the Left, Chimera or Reality?
Gaither Stewart
In Rome, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who long ago decided
that Parliament is unnecessary continues his trip toward Fascism.
(Rome-Paris) Four parties and movements of the quarrelsome and divided Italian Left have allied for the European parliamentary elections next June. That is good news. Communist Refoundation, Party of Italian Communists, Socialism 2000, and United Consumers have agreed to unify their meagre forces in order to surpass the 4% electoral barrier so that Communists, with their red flag with the hammer and sickle emblem, can again sit in the Assembly of the European Union.
For many years now such unity on the Italian Left has been painfully absent, its former voters, bewildered and confused, wandering from center-left to right, in an electoral diaspora. Running separately in national elections in 2006, the two parties using the name Communist garnered a total of 10% of the vote. In comparison to today’s numbers those were the good old days. For during the breakdown of Left unity, proletarians in the Rome periphery even voted for the neo-fascist National Alliance and workers in north Italy cast their votes for the rightwing Northern League. Communists now hope to win back their traditional Left vote that once—though today almost a political relic—counted one-third of the nation’s electorate.
Multitask, Mr. President
Mary Shaw
During last year's presidential campaign, one of the many reasons why I supported Barack Obama so strongly was because I believed that he could multitask. A U.S. President has a lot on his plate.
I think back to when Republican rival John McCain canceled an appearance on the David Letterman show at the last minute last fall, alleging that he was hurrying back to Washington to save the economy, when in reality he chose instead to appear on air with Katie Couric. McCain clearly does not know how to multitask. If he is unable to juggle Letterman, Couric, and the economy -- two of which are relatively easy and straightforward -- then he most likely would have trouble dealing day-to-day with the multitude of issues that currently face the nation.
What Jesus Might Tell the Pope Regarding Gaza
eileen fleming
Pope Benedict announced that he would visit the Holy Land this May to pray "for the precious gift of unity and peace for the Middle East and for all of humanity," but he would not be going to Gaza.
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Vatican custodian of the holy sites stated, "This visit is aimed first and foremost at encouraging them to remain in this country."
Prayer without action is hypocrisy and faith without works is dead.
Dr. King Spanks Obama: Part 1
David Kendall
It seems ridiculous to speculate about what Dr. King might say to Barack Obama when we have a published record of what King actually did say to his government immediately before they had him assassinated. [1]
"Humanity is waiting for something other than blind imitation of the past. If we want truly to advance a step further, if we want to turn over a new leaf and really set a new man afoot, we must begin to turn mankind away from the long and desolate night of violence. May it not be that the new man the world needs is a nonviolent man? Longfellow said, "In this world a man must either be an anvil or a hammer." We must be hammers shaping a new society rather than anvils molded by the old. This not only will make us new men, but will give us a new kind of power. It will not be Lord Acton's image of power that tends to corrupt or absolute power that corrupts absolutely. It will be power infused with love and justice, that will change dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows, and lift us from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope. A dark, desperate, confused and sin-sick world waits for this new kind of man and this new kind of power." [2]
Child Labour in the United States vs. child labour in Bangladesh: How far have we come in 100 years?
by chycho
Click images to enlarge and expand, and visit the referenced sites for
additional photos and information.
While reviewing the following information about child labour, let’s take a look at some photographs of what child labour looked like in the United States at the turn of the last century, and what it looks like in some parts of the world at present. Regarding the photographs, to the left are photos of child labour in the United States from 1908 to 1912 by Lewis W. Hine, and to the right, photographs of present day child labour in Bangladesh by G.M.B. Akash.
Yes, Senator, it is like a banana republic
Mary Shaw
But not for the reasons that Senator Specter would think.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has released a newly declassified report that details the history of the Bush administration's torture policy.
The first page contains three very good points:The collection of timely and accurate intelligence is critical to the safety of U.S. personnel deployed abroad and to the security of the American people here at home. The methods by which we elicit intelligence information from detainees in our custody affect not only the reliability of that information, but our broader efforts to win hearts and minds and attract allies to our side.
On Earth Day and beyond: Say no to plastic bags
Mary Shaw
I am writing this on April 22 -- Earth Day. And I am thinking about how many Americans still take home their groceries in plastic bags.
Every time I go to the grocery store and most other stores, I take along my reusable canvas shopping bags. They're easy to find, and they're inexpensive. Most grocery stores in my neighborhood sell them for about a dollar, and I see them reasonably priced in a lot of department stores, too. One supermarket chain here even gives customers a 4-cent discount on each shopping order when you bring your own bags. There, the sturdy canvas bags eventually pay for themselves.
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