wow!
On February 15, an estimated 15,000 citizens, including union and non-union workers, surrounded the state capitol to express opposition to Republican Governor Scott Walker’s plan to strip the state’s 175,000 public employees of almost all of their collective bargaining rights and require them to make larger contributions to their pensions and health insurance plans. Full article.
obama called lara logan to check on her after she was groped. maybe he should also call the millions of women who have been killed, harassed, abused, terrorized, maimed, rendered homeless or childless by his CONTINUING and ESCALATED wars. or is that outside the purview of feminism and good taste, mr president?
This isn’t about Islamism, it’s about regional alliances. Whether it’s the Muslim Brothers or the Communist Party or the Green Party of Egypt who takes over after Mubarak, we can be certain that the new regime will be less of a puppet and less part of the American, Saudi and Israeli alliance in the Middle East than was Mubarak.
In Egypt there is no relevant Islamic extremist movement. It would be a stretch to even call the toothless Muslim Brotherhood’s party Islamic. It’s a collection of opposition voices that united under the organization’s banner. If a real pluralistic democracy were to be formed in Egypt it is most likely that their coalition would fall apart.
Egyptians, Tunisians and other Arabs have proved they are more democratic than the west, that they understand the power of collective action. Can you imagine Americans organizing against injustice the way the Egyptians and Tunisians have? Meanwhile, it sounds silly when Americans worry about religious extremists elsewhere, given that the US is the most religious extremist nation in the West.
On Jan 26, 2011, Mohammad Faheem and Faizan Haider were shot by Raymond Davis, an American contractor in Lahore, Pakistan. In an ensuing effort to flee the scene of the crime, an American consular car ran over Ibad-ur-Rehman, a pedestrian who was instantly killed. On Feb 6, Faheem’s wife committed suicide when she lost all hope that justice would be done in the murder of her husband. Pls join this group on Facebook: Justice for Faheem, Faizan and Ibad: victims of US contractor Raymond Davis.
The Senate voted 86-12 to extend the Patriot Act for three months. “Contrary to rhetoric on Capitol Hill, the Patriot Act is first and foremost a weapon to bludgeon whistleblowers and political dissidents. Indeed, it has been singularly crafted for that purpose.”
The American people are not nearly as frightened as they should be. Many Americans expect the Patriot Act to limit its surveillance to overseas communications. Yet while I was under indictment, Maryland State Police invoked the Patriot Act to wire tap activists tied to the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, an environmental group dedicated to wind power, solar energy and recycling. The DC Anti-War Network was targeted as a “white supremacist group.” Amnesty International and anti-death penalty activists got targeted for alleged “civil rights violations.” Full article.
Saturday, March 19, 2011, the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, will be an international day of action against the war machine. Be there!!!
March 19 is the 8th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Iraq today remains occupied by 50,000 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of foreign mercenaries.
The war in Afghanistan is raging. The U.S. is invading and bombing Pakistan. The U.S. is financing endless atrocities against the people of Palestine, relentlessly threatening Iran and bringing Korea to the brink of a new war.
While the United States will spend $1 trillion for war, occupation and weapons in 2011, 30 million people in the United States remain unemployed or severely underemployed, and cuts in education, housing and healthcare are imposing a huge toll on the people.
Actions of civil resistance are spreading. More here.
On June 28-29 1996 an estimated 1200 prisoners were killed in Abu Saleem prison, in Libya. The protests in Libya have already started, two days before their scheduled date of February 17, after Abu Saleem families’ advocate and lawyer Fathi Terbil was arrested in Benghazi. For more info check out human rights watch here.
Our Moroccan friends are demonstrating on February 20th to be heard. Please spread this information. Long live the people and long live freedom.
The demonstration by an estimated million women across Italy Sunday points to a continuing denial of fair opportunities for women at work. The protest demonstrations, in 280 cities in Italy and 28 cities abroad, were called to demand action against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over the latest scandals. The turnout was some measure of the determination among women to take the political and public debate in Italy to the real problems of women. The protest followed weeks of intense debate over allegations that Berlusconi paid for sexual intercourse with a number of young women, including a 17- year-old undocumented girl from Morocco. In Italy the age of consent is 14, but prostitution below 18 is illegal. Full article.
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i saw this excellent doc a while back called “videocracy” (a combination of video and democracy). it’s a terrific exploration of everything described in this article. berlusconi’s life and politics, his social stature and corporate media dominance have altered italian culture in a v sick way. no wonder millions of women have had enough. my review of the film here.
Number of Americans who died worldwide in terrorist attacks last year: 8. Minimum number who died after being struck by lightning: 29. (Harper’s Index).
of course we should also talk about how “preventing” terrorist attacks (when u are much more likely to be struck by lightening) has impacted the world: millions killed, many more millions displaced, thousands tortured, hundreds of thousands maimed, countries and societies destroyed, etc. the human, environmental and even financial costs r dizzying. maybe we should invest all this money and effort in trying to minimize car accidents:
Car Crash Stats: There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005. The financial cost of these crashes is more than 230 Billion dollars. 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed. About 115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States – one death every 13 minutes.
based on this we should fear cars, maybe even profile them or put them away in maximum security junkyards.
an u imagine what would happen if a pakistani citizen shot two americans in nyc and a third american was run over by a pakistani consular car in an ensuing effort to leave the scene of the crime?
Davis may have been involved in some kind of covert US program to actually finance or orchestrate some of the bombings that have been rocking, and destabilizing Pakistan. (Certainly that could explain the stop at the ATM for a bundle of cash, and for all of those cell phones recovered from Davis’s car, which could serve nicely as bomb detonators – a popular method adopted by terrorists everywhere. Full article.
I can’t say what seems to me the worst of Mohammad Mukheir’s ordeal. Whether the torture by the soldiers, or the harsh discovery that his parents cannot protect him. And their almighty image, smashed to smithereens. Or was it the insight, cast in him at such a young age, that regardless of who he is, what kind of a person, that for the various Israelis he has met and will meet all his life he is not “who” but “what”. Full article.
The tumult in a region normally kept tranquil under the heavy-handed security of conservative Gulf regimes underscored the widening reverberations of new pro-democracy movements in the Middle East. Full article.
Mallouhi, a student from Homs, was summoned for interrogation last December and immediately detained. Her computer, CDs, books and other belongings were confiscated. Her blog was known for its poetry, social commentary and passionate focus on Palestinian issues. Full article.
