brilliant. will miss howard zinn.

an american hero passes on… “His writings have changed the consciousness of a generation, and helped open new paths to understanding and its crucial meaning for our lives,” Noam Chomsky, the left-wing activist and MIT professor, once wrote of Dr. … Continue reading →

The issue is not simply that these photographs pose a danger to the safety of existing soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan or the 30,000 soon to be deployed, but that they present more evidence that questions the legitimacy of what … Continue reading →

On Jan 21st, a group of student activists at Georgetown University provided guest speaker, General Patraeus, with an unexpected welcome, interrupting his address by reading out the names and ages of those killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. … Continue reading →

The French case provides eerie parallels to today, when we are faced every day with new allegations about the use of torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo. A democracy like the United States, France has long affirmed support for human … Continue reading →

“I received this from my friend Marajelena, whose friends Sasha and Amber went down to Haiti to volunteer.” Subject: Kouraj cherie: Update from Port au Prince January 19, 2010 This afternoon, feeling helpless, we decided to take a van down … Continue reading →

I didn’t realise what was going on until the guy had pushed his fingers ­ inside my eyes and I could feel the coldness of his fingers. Then I realised he was trying to gouge out my eyes,” Deghayes says. … Continue reading →

This Friday marks the Obama administration’s original deadline for closing Guantanamo. Even though it will not meet this goal, it must demonstrate its ongoing commitment to closing the book on torture. Find out how you can help bring accountability for … Continue reading →

US military in control of Haitian airport and is turning back aid flights from around the world. US is delivering guns not butter. how much more surreal is this gonna get!!! Watch video.

As the US plans to transfer administrative control of its Bagram detention facility to the Afghanistan government, a separate scandal links the Afghan government to the torture and murder of a prisoner in its custody. According to a report by … Continue reading →

The most visible face of the international aid effort here in Port-au-Prince. Most Haitians here have seen little humanitarian aid so far. What they have seen is guns, and lots of them. Armored personnel carriers cruise the streets. UN soldiers … Continue reading →

“All Protection and Security has made a commitment to the Haitian community and will provide professional security against any threat to prosperity in Haiti,” the site proclaims. “Job sites and supply convoys will be protected against looters and vandals. Workers … Continue reading →

why am i not shocked. Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the U.S. military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found. Full article and video.

A 2004 report by Amnesty International provides overwhelming evidence that racial profiling is not only ineffective and counterproductive in finding the real criminals, but that it also encourages hate and undermines national unity. The report was based on six public … Continue reading →

In its attempts to help Haiti, the IMF is pursuing the same kinds of policies that made Haiti a geography of precariousness even before the quake. To great fanfare, the IMF announced a new $100 million loan to Haiti on … Continue reading →

Up to 200,000 people are feared dead as a result of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that has destroyed much of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, officials in the Caribbean country say. Full article.

Despite having been bled dry by American bankers and generals, civil disorder prevailed until 1957, when the CIA installed President-for-Life François “Papa Doc” Duvalier. Duvalier’s brutal Tonton Macoutes paramilitary goon squads murdered at least 30,000 Haitians and drove educated people … Continue reading →

A Spanish lawmaker was horrified to find out the FBI used his photograph as part of a digitally enhanced image showing what Osama bin Laden might look like today, he said Saturday, calling into question the crime-fighting agency’s credibility in … Continue reading →

Many of the smaller government aid programmes and NGOs are run by able, energetic and selfless people, but others, often the larger ones, are little more than rackets, highly remunerative for those who run them. In Kabul and Baghdad it … Continue reading →

The noble “international community” which is currently scrambling to send its “humanitarian aid” to Haiti is largely responsible for the extent of the suffering it now aims to reduce. Ever since the US invaded and occupied the country in 1915, … Continue reading →

The history really defines the response and the vulnerability of Haiti to the earthquake. One of the most obvious ways it does that is the reason why the people got to the hillsides where they were most vulnerable to the … Continue reading →

This is incredible. Brandon Neely, a former Guantanomo Prison Guard, decided to join Facebook and upon signing up, begun searching for former army acquaintances. He came upon the profile of Shafiq Rasul, a former prisoner and decided to send him … Continue reading →

Haiti, the Western hemisphere’s most destitute country, has just experienced a crippling blow in the form of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. The earthquake, centered just 10 miles from Port-au-Prince, has devastated sections of the city and knocked out important infrastructure, … Continue reading →

Shaker Aamer was cleared for release from Guantánamo by a military review board in 2007. Difficulties securing his release appear to hinge on questions about whether he should be sent back to Saudi Arabia, the country of his birth, or … Continue reading →

The president claimed that the United States “has never fought a war against a democracy.” But he failed to mention that CIA operations have subverted democracy and overthrown legitimately elected governments in Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954), Chile (1973) and other … Continue reading →

The media have been swamped with reports about the attempt to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day. When Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, now dubbed the “underwear bomber,” failed in his alleged attack, close to 300 people were spared … Continue reading →

Howard Zinn is an American historian, social critic, and activist. He is best known as author of the best-seller “A People’s History of the United States.” He spoke at Boston University on November 11, on the subject of American “Holy … Continue reading →

A member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family was found innocent on Sunday of the torture and rape of an Afghan in a case that embarrassed the Gulf Arab emirate and raised questions over human rights. Full article.

What we don’t know will hurt us, and quite possibly on a more devastating scale than any Qaeda attack. Americans must be told the full story of how Wall Street gamed and inflated the housing bubble, made out like bandits, … Continue reading →

My new strategy begins like the old, with “shock and awe,” but this time let us “saturate” the cities and the villages of Yemen not with explosives and incendiaries, but rather with food, potable water, clothing, medicines and even money. … Continue reading →