Category: politics

With the latest news that ADHD in children is linked to common pesticides used on fruits and vegetables, it is more important than ever to be aware of what we are putting on our plates. Of the 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides used annually in the US, less than .01% actually reach their intended targets–the bugs! Obviously they are completely contaminating our food, and the consequences are disastrous, with numerous national and international government agencies acknowledging the connection to various health problems–nervous system toxicity, cancer, hormone system effects, and irritation of skin, eyes, and lungs among them. Full article.

It is a crime to exploit patriotism in the service of hatred, and it is, finally, a crime to ensconce the sword as the modern god, whereas all science is toiling to achieve the coming era of truth and justice. (Emile Zola – I accuse, Letter to the President of the Republic, 1898)

it is not enough for journalists to see themselves as mere messengers without understanding the hidden agendas of the message and myths that surround it. (john pilger)

Naomi Wolf has been outspoken about the loss of civil liberties and our creeping police state. In this interview she explains how things are getting much worse under Obama. Full interview.

Women supporters of Islamic political party Jamaat-e-Islami hold a placard during a protest against Facebook in Karachi May 19, 2010. Full article.

my two cents on the “draw muhammad” controversy:

this is hardly about free speech. it’s not like people r not allowed to criticize islam or muslims. the media are replete with blatantly islamophobic rhetoric – the kind that would not be acceptable were we talking about any other religion, or ethnic group or culture. so it’s certainly not that we can’t criticize islam which is what counts as far as free speech.

this insistence on ridiculing muhammad is more about spectacle and less about substance. it’s not to advance political debate or engage in dialogue, it’s to provoke. making fun of/denying the holocaust is also covered by free speech but u can go to jail for that in some european countries. making fun of 9/11 is also permissible under free speech, but what goal will that accomplish?

it’s a matter of respect and commonsense. u don’t wear a t shirt with a swastika to a bar mitzvah.

in the present context of wars with and occupations of muslim countries, this is even more provocative. it’s not enough that muslims r being tortured in black jails or blown to bits by drones or incarcerated in guantanamo, no, they also have to grin and bear the denigration of something they hold sacred and dear. coz it’s free speech? that’s a joke no?

what about debbie almontaser’s free speech? she was forced to resign for talking about a keffiyeh. norm finkelstein’s free speech? his academic career has been willfully destroyed for voicing his views on the middle east. what about ward churchill, a professor at the university of colorado, who was fired for writing an article on 9/11 and bringing up the genocide of native americans?

the academic and political arenas are where free speech really matters. that’s where ideas, ideologies and policies r brought to life which make us who we r as a people. that’s where we should be fighting for free speech. this is just a distraction, a circus.

also, check out juan cole’s take on this controversy: Top Ten Other Gratuitously Offensive Draw-a-Cartoon Day

Washington’s zeal for deregulation let offshore oil drilling proceed virtually without interference from government, even though scientists and engineers repeatedly raised safety and environmental concerns over the past decade. Warned specifically that the blowout-prevention technology drillers were relying on to avoid an explosive spill was faulty as long ago as 2000, the oil industry did nothing except to drill deeper. Full article.

Today, the richest 1% of the US population owns close to 40% of its wealth. The top 25% of US households own 87%. The rest is divided up among middle and low income Americans. In that competition white people come out far ahead. Only one in 10 African-Americans owns any shares. A third do not have a pension plan, and among those who do the value is on average a fifth of plans held by whites. Full article.

1,000 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan. Please take a moment to voice your opposition to this costly, bloody war that’s not making us safer. This is a heartbreaking toll on American families. These were people’s sons and daughters, husbands and wives, moms and dads. Our hearts go out to all of their families. Our hearts also go out to the families of the many thousands of Afghan civilians who have died. We want the President and the American people to know that we abhor the awful cost of this war and want our troops to come home. Please post a message on the White House Facebook page by clicking on the FB link here and following the instructions.

As U.S. test scores drop below those of impoverished countries, some are saying it is time to demand sweeping change. “McCarthyism wasn’t such a bad thing after all” seems to be the mantra of a small band of right-wing extremists, who are running the program that determines what kind of education your kid will receive. These political extremists want to teach America’s kids a narrow and scaled down politically correct version of American history, where words as descriptive and innocent as “capitalist” finds its way onto the list of words “not allowed” in textbooks. Full article.

The point here is that there is every indication that the air war is going to intensify in Pakistan on two fronts. The US drone campaign appears to be escalating and the Pakistani military is building up, modernizing and elevating the lethality of its air force thanks to US training and the approval of military hardware sales. Full article.

shame on the pakistani army!

“OSLO: Pakistan suffered the highest number of internally displaced people in 2009 due to the Taliban insurgency and Pakistan’s military response, a United Nations study showed on Monday.” Full article.

This attitude, that some amount of suffering is necessary in the current [economic] system, and that any major changes in it would be self-defeating, is what I call Sacrificing to the Volcano God. We have turned economics into a religion, where the mistakes are common, yet the fundamental assumptions it is based on is beyond question. Gaping flaws in logic are ignored, or even held up as unanswerable mysteries that laymen could never understand. When the Volcano God rains ash and lava upon us, it is because we angered the Volcano God with our sins of minimum wage laws, child labor laws, environmental regulations, and worker safety laws. More sacrifices are needed or the Volcano God will destroy us all. Full article.

Texas is home to one of the fastest growing Pakistani communities in the United States. In the Dallas area alone, there are at least three places on the radio dial where you can get news and music in Urdu. And on two popular South Asian talk shows, the Pakistani-American hosts address the problem of Muslim extremism. Shomial Ahmad listened in. Full story here.

sign an aclu petition to protect ur privacy on fb here.