“the problem is that france is a traditionally conservative, catholic country. the visible growth of the muslim population since the second world war is regarded as a threat to the french way of life.” Full article.

remember BCCI, the ultimate banking scandal? it was child’s play. now at UBS, their employees smuggled diamonds in toothpaste tubes in order to save their clients some tax money. and what did they get for all their fraud and tax … Continue reading →

omg, this is hilarious – and to the point! Is Using A Minotaur To Gore Detainees A Form Of Torture?

On August 19, the New York Times revealed that the company was, in fact, a central part of a secret CIA assassination program that Dick Cheney allegedly ordered concealed from Congress. Blackwater is also being investigated by the Justice Department … Continue reading →

what’s wrong with the people shouting her down, cheering the problems she faces? surreal.

This month, a lot of media stories have compared President Johnson’s war in Vietnam and President Obama’s war in Afghanistan. The comparisons are often valid, but a key parallel rarely gets mentioned — the media’s insistent support for the war … Continue reading →

“The initial turn-off when western feminism comes to the rescue, is the blanket assumption that the victim has no volition nor can respond to adversity with the commensurate degree of outrage because she is so accustomed and desensitised to her … Continue reading →

One of the most influential and longest-serving senators in U.S. history — a liberal standard-bearer who was also known as a consummate congressional dealmaker — Kennedy had been battling brain cancer, which was diagnosed in May 2008. Full article.

“by the next decade’s end, the national debt will equal three-quarters of the entire U.S. economy” – perhaps we should stop fighting misleading wars half way around the world? it could save us some money… Read full article.

A young Afghan prisoner has returned to Afghanistan following his release from Guantanamo Bay. Mohamed Jawad arrived in Kabul on Monday. He was ordered freed last month after more than six years at Guantanamo. He was as young as twelve … Continue reading →

Adding insult to injury, some of those responsible [for torture] have been rewarded with lucrative careers in the private sector. Tenet, for example, is making millions of dollars in the intelligence business, including as a board member for defence contractor … Continue reading →

Monday’s five-year-old report by the CIA’s inspector general, newly declassified and released under a federal court’s orders, described severe tactics used by interrogators on terror suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Seeking information about possible further attacks, interrogators threatened … Continue reading →

A U.S. Marine reservist and general has created a detailed report recommending that up to 400 of the 600 prisoners at the U.S.-run prison at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan have done nothing wrong and should be released, NPR … Continue reading →

FOCUS: OPINION Guantanamo’s ‘more evil twin’? By Andrew Wander While Obama concentrates on closing Guantanamo, rights activists say the US-run prison at Bagram continues to operate ‘in the shadows’ [EPA] It is a US-run prison built from scratch on an … Continue reading →

heartbreaking to see three families struggle with disease and economic hardship, in the absence of healthcare insurance: BILL MOYERS: Welcome to the Journal. Some years ago, surgeons opened my daughter’s skull and removed a brain tumor that threatened to kill … Continue reading →

“Afghanistan is adjacent to Middle Eastern countries that are rich in oil and natural gas. And though Afghanistan may have little petroleum itself, it borders both Iran and Turkmenistan, countries with the se…cond and third largest natural gas reserves in … Continue reading →

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF and SHERYL WuDUNN Published: August 17, 2009 IN THE 19TH CENTURY, the paramount moral challenge was slavery. In the 20th century, it was totalitarianism. In this century, it is the brutality inflicted on so many women … Continue reading →

Extremists struck at the Iraqi Government with a wave of bombings and mortar attacks, killing at least 95 people and injuring more than 560 and raising new doubts about the withdrawal of US soldiers from the country. Full article.

Dostum’s return to prominence in Afghanistan comes despite his role overseeing a 2001 massacre at Dasht-e-Leili that left at least 2,000 Taliban POWs dead. He’s also had extensive ties with the US and was formerly on the CIA payroll. Full … Continue reading →

Something strange has happened in America in the nine months since Barack Obama was elected. It has best been summarised by the comedian Bill Maher: “The Democrats have moved to the right, and the Republicans have moved to a mental … Continue reading →

The demonstrators said John Yoo should be dismissed, disbarred and prosecuted for war crimes for his work as a Bush administration attorney from 2001 to 2003, when he helped craft legal theories for waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques. Shouting … Continue reading →

Compiled below, in hopes that it may be of some assistance to Eric Holder, John Conyers, Patrick Leahy, active citizens, foreign courts, the International Criminal Court, law firms preparing civil suits, and local or state prosecutors with decency and nerve … Continue reading →

Actor Mark Ruffalo reads union leader Eugene Debs’ famous “Canton, Ohio” speech. Part of a reading of Voices of a People’s History of the United States (Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove) at All Saints Church in Pasadena, CA on Feb … Continue reading →

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan – The pace of American combat deaths in Afghanistan has quickened anew as roadside bombs killed five U.S. troops in 24 hours in the same western province, the American military said Thursday. Full article.

Jarrett, one of Obama’s closest friends and top advisors, also linked the Blackwater question to the safety of U.S. personnel in war zones: “Do not forget that we have men and women who are at risk every day overseas doing … Continue reading →

The Supreme Court, over two Justices’ dissents, on Monday ordered a federal judge in Georgia to consider and rule on the claim of innocence in the murder case against Troy Anthony Davis (In re Davis, 08-1443) The Court told the … Continue reading →

Written by qunfuz, PULSE, August 17, 2009 at 4:07 pm In “The End of Tolerance: Racism in 21st Century Britain”, Arun Kundnani writes, “Racisms are no longer domestically driven but take their impetus from the attempt to legitimise a deeply … Continue reading →

Kashmiri activists and human rights groups say that rapes by men in uniform, extrajudicial killings and a lack of redress are endemic, not least because security forces are largely shielded from prosecution by laws put in place when Indian troops … Continue reading →

“Shocking, disturbing … downright disgraceful. It’s such behaviour that fuels hatred and racism. SRK’s a world figure for God’s sake. Get real!” actor Priyanka Chopra said on her Twitter feed. The federal information minister,… Ambika Soni, angrily suggested that India … Continue reading →

Sgt. Bishop is the second soldier from Fort Hood in as many weeks to be tried by the military for his stand against an occupation he believes is “illegal.” He insists that it would be unethical for him to deploy … Continue reading →

We denounce the new ‘Cyber Crime Act’, imposed to curb Freedom of Speech. The “democratic civilian” government announced on Sunday that sending indecent messages through e-mails and mobile telephone Short Messaging Service (SMS) was an offense under the Cyber Crime … Continue reading →

This business about al-Qaeda somehow taking control of Pakistan’s nukes is a fantasy, but if fear of a nuclear-armed Osama bin Laden is going to lead us into invading and occupying entire countries, then neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan qualify as … Continue reading →

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Eight Taliban militants were among 14 people who died in a missile strike Tuesday along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman said Wednesday. Full article.

at the risk of being labeled a taliban sympathizer by my pakistani friends who send me disturbing images of policemen being beheaded by what looks like 12-14 year old boys and tell me to watch obaid chinoy’s alarmist documentaries, i … Continue reading →

A fact-finding mission of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan to Swat has documented accounts of extrajudicial killings by the security forces, discovery of mass graves in the conflict-hit region and the unabated suffering of the civilian population. Full article.

300,000 people displaced by the fighting in Sri Lanka are held by the government in de facto detention camps. They cannot leave the camps, where conditions are “appalling” according to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Call on the Sri … Continue reading →

Aung San Suu Kyi is found guilty and sentenced to 18 more months of house arrest. Full article.

The American empire has not altered under Barack Obama. It kills as brutally and indiscriminately in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as it did under George W. Bush. It steals from the U.S. treasury to enrich the corporate elite as rapaciously. … Continue reading →

When respondents were asked what they consider to be the biggest threat to the nation of Pakistan, 11 per cent of the population identified the Taliban fighters, who have been blamed for scores of deadly bomb attacks across the country … Continue reading →