World Report

"Russia calls on US to probe WikiLeaks documents," Daily Star (Lebanon)/AFP, October 29, 2010.

2010-10-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

[You won't find this article in the North American free press, but the Daily Star (Lebanon) is a pretty good rag. --jlt]MOSCOW: Russia called on the US Thursday to carry out a detailed investigation into allegations contained in leaked Iraq war documents published by WikiLeaks.“The US authorities bear the responsibility to conduct a thorough, independent and transparent investigation of all the

"The Hurt Locker producers to sue illegal file-sharers," BBC, June 2, 2010.

2010-06-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

[The BBC's bias on this story is clear from the headline. The file-sharers are "illegal" period--not "alleged," no quotation marks. Apparently, no trial was necessary. In the view of Voltage, the media company, new technology makes it easier to commit piracy which is "directly contributing" to the decline in the "film" industry. It seems not to occur to them that new technology is making their

Richard Pithouse, "South Africa: Freedom not yet," Pambazuka News, April 29, 2010.

2010-05-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

‘Freedom only for the supporters of the government, only for the members of a party – however numerous they may be – is no freedom at all.’  – Rosa Luxemburg, Berlin, 1920The assumption that political freedom begins and ends with the right to vote runs a real risk of overlooking escalating grassroots repression, the general conflation of the party and the state and the damage that is done to

Debate free trade vs fair trade at The Economist

2010-05-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

Fair trade must be threatening someone's bottom line. Starting today, The Economist is hosting an online debate. The proposition: "This house believes that making trade fairer is more important than making it freer." Two economists, one for and one against present their positions. You can vote or comment after completing a free registration. Read my own comments below. "Free trade" is a

"Gush Shalom removes Intercosma from settlement boycott list," April 27, 2010.

2010-04-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

Press ReleaseGush Shalom removes the cosmetics company "Intercosma" from the settlement boycott list. We checked and can affirm that the company departed from the Atarot Industrial Zone on the West Bank. We call on the Israeli companies still in the Occupied Territories to follow the example.The Gush Shalom Settlement Boycott Team decided to remove the name of the cosmetics

Emily J Kirk, John M Kirk, and Norman Girvan, "Selective Commendation, Selective Indignation," Counterpunch, April 16-18, 2010.

2010-04-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

[We might be well-advised to ask Cuba for help with the Canadian health care system. -jlt]The January 2010 earthquake in Haiti caused some 230,000 deaths, left 1.5 million homeless, and has directly affected 3 million Haitians—1/3 of the population. On March 31, representatives of over 50 governments and international organizations gathered at the United Nations Haiti Donor Conference to pledge

Uri Avnery, The Big Gamble, Gush Shalom, April 10, 1010.

2010-04-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

I MET Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Prime Minister, two weeks ago, and was again impressed by the calm and modesty he radiates.Generally, I meet him at demonstrations, such as those at the Bil’in fence. This time, too, there was no opportunity for more than a perfunctory handshake and a few polite words.We appeared together at the Land Day event in a small village near Qalqilyah, whose name is

Amy Goodman, "Holding corporations accountable for apartheid crimes," Truthdig, January 12, 2010.

2010-01-16T17:39:00.000-08:00

[This will be interesting to follow. Does "too big to fail" really mean, "above the law"? -jlt]A landmark class action case is under way in a New York federal court, with victims of apartheid in South Africa suing corporations that they say helped the pre-1994 regime. Among the multinational corporations are IBM, Fujitsu, Ford, GM and banking giants UBS and Barclays. The lawsuit accuses the

Şener Aktürk and Mujeeb R. Khan, "How Western anti-Muslim bigotry became respectable," Zaman, January 3, 2010.

2010-01-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

As scholars who work on the centuries-old Islamic presence in Europe and the continent’s first post-Holocaust genocide against, not coincidently, the Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we were deeply disturbed but not surprised that an ostensibly tolerant and pluralistic Western democracy like Switzerland would vote by a margin of 57 percent to ban the religious symbol of 400,000 of its Muslim

Robin Forestier-Walker, "Trouble brewing in Tajikistan," Al Jazeera, July 16, 2009.

2009-07-20T06:54:00.000-07:00

Mirzo Ziyoyev's battle-hardened lieutenants watched us closely from the fields of his farmstead, as we drove up in our four-wheel drive vehicle.We had come to the Rasht valley, a geographical area that includes several smaller valleys, to meet the former military chief of staff of the Tajik Islamist opposition.Although welcomed as guests and given tea and bread, as is the custom, we did not have

Mark Weisbrot, "Who's in charge of US foreign policy," The Guardian, July 16, 2009.

2009-07-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

The coup in Honduras has exposed divisions between Barack Obama and his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. It turns out that two of the Honduran coup government's top advisers have close ties to the US secretary of state.The current stand-off in Honduras, in which the coup government headed by Roberto Micheletti is refusing to allow the return of elected president

Pepe Escobar, "Kashmir: Ground zero of global jihad," Asia Times, July 17, 2009.

2009-07-18T22:03:00.000-07:00

[Further evidence that US/NATO "strategy" in Afghanistan is really "shooting in the dark." If our leaders know why the war on terror is being fought, where and against whom, they aren't letting on. It's a war of retaliation for 9-11, joined by NATO because of the Three Muskateer clause in the NATO treaty, one of the treaties that the US takes seriously, or expects others to take seriously. But

Emily Chung, "Bell reveals internet throttling details to CRTC," CBC, July 15, 2009.

2009-07-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Bell Canada slows certain types of downloads to as little as 1.5 to 3 per cent of their advertised speed during 9½ hours of the day, but not to the same extent during the entire period, company executives revealed to Canada's internet regulator Tuesday.The details of the way the company throttles — selectively slows down — peer-to-peer (P2P) file transfers will soon be posted on the company's

Tyler Hamilton, "$26B cost killed nuclear bid," Toronto Star, July 14, 2009.

2009-07-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

[The new Conservatives, in line with traditional neoliberal dogma, are looking to privatise AECL (Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd), the nation's nuclear manufacturer. We need to recite the Follies of Privatization yet another time. Shall we begin with prisons? or the new security contractor armies? -jlt]The Ontario government put its nuclear power plans on hold last month because the bid from Atomic

Henry Aubin, "Mini-fluorescent light bulbs and mercury vapor," Montreal Gazette, July 14, 2009.

2009-07-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

I used to think I was making a better world for my grandchildren by using compact fluorescent bulbs. Now I'm not so sure.It's not that I doubt the claim that they use a quarter as much energy as regular incandescent light bulbs and last many times longer. Nor is it that I don't applaud their utility in fighting climate change: The Washington-based Worldwatch Institute says that if everyone in the

Connie Woodcock, "Hydro lights us up," Sun, July 15, 2009.

2009-07-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

[In a weakly regulated market, distinguishing between poor judgement and fraud becomes increasingly difficult. What foreign adventures will this innovative new money pay for? If the government doesn't serve the people, who does it serve? When the government turns a blind eye, where can people turn? -jlt]Smart meters will increase bills dramatically for many OntariansChristine Acres and her fiance

Mazin Qumsiyeh, Gaza under seige and more," July 11, 2009.

2009-07-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

[Mazin Qumsiyeh calls himself a bedouin in cyberspace. I have reproduced the whole of his newsletter. You can subscribe to it here => -jlt]Quote from the past (1938): "There is in existence already a considerable body of literature in English and other European languages on the history of the British mandate in Palestine. But it has to be used with care partly because of the high percentage of

Sisule F. Musungu, "Obama's Africa Policy - A response to the Ghana speech," Ideas in Development, July 11, 2009.

2009-07-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

It was another eloquent and powerful speech. That was President Barack Obama’s speech, laying out his Africa policy, delivered to the Parliament of Ghana today morning. In the main, Obama outlined four key planks of the United States of America’s (U.S.A) policy on Africa during his administration. The four planks are: * Good governance. * Supporting development that provides opportunity for

"Leaner GM emerges from bankruptcy," BBC, July 10, 2009.

2009-07-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

[BBC correspondent says, "It's easy to dismiss, even ridicule these changes. But they're more than purely cosmetic." He can say that again. Now the US Government owns 61% of GM. While the World Bank and IMF strain at gnats in Africa and Latin America, it's nice to know Uncle Sam can still swallow elephants. Humanitarian aid isn't just for the poor you know. Meanwhile the price of oil continued

Heather Scofield, "Ricardian Equivalence makes comeback," Globe and Mail Report on Business, July 6, 2009.

2009-07-06T23:13:00.000-07:00

A long-forgotten theory suggesting that stimulus spending is doomed to failure draws attention nearly 200 years later.Stimulus is supposed to be the key to recovery, and governments around the world are embracing it as never before.But a long-forgotten theory dating back almost 200 years is increasingly weighing on the minds of policy makers: Ricardian equivalence.Named after the writings of

Roger Pulvers, "Double standards fly high when it comes to bombing of civilians," Japan Times, July 5, 2009.

2009-07-06T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sad to say, every generation for the past century has known its own war — wars that have touched so many millions through the loss or traumatization of relatives, friends or fellow citizens."My war" was America's in Indo-China, centered on Vietnam. Abhorrence of what my country, the United States, was doing to the region caused me, and many in my generation, to choose the life of an

"Scores killed in China protests," BBC, July 6, 2009.

2009-07-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

[This is not a new conflict. There is a history of violence on both sides. Why now? Is the Beeb playing a role in this, do you think? -jlt]Violence in China's restive western region of Xinjiang has left at least 140 people dead and more than 800 people injured, state media say.Several hundred people were arrested after a protest, in the city of Urumqi on Sunday, turned violent.