20 November, 2009
Bantustans And The Unilateral Declaration Of
Statehood
By Virginia Tilley
The Ramallah PA's suddenly serious initiative to declare an independent Palestinian state in non-sovereign territory must surely force fresh collective realization that this is a terribly pragmatic question. It's time to bring closer attention to what "Bantustan" actually means. The Palestinian national movement can only hope someone in its ranks undertakes that project as seriously as Israel has undertaken it before it's too late
19 November, 2009
Should We Prop Up A Dying Economy?
By Richard Heinberg
Rather than attempting to prop up banks and insurance companies with trillions in bailouts, it would probably be better simply to let them fail, however nasty the short-term consequences, since they will fail anyway sooner or later. The sooner they are replaced with institutions that serve essential functions within a contracting economy, the better off we will all be
17 November, 2009
Too Late To Prepare For Peak Oil?
By George Monbiot
It’s probably too late to prepare for peak oil, but we can at least try to salvage food production
Peak Oil: IEA Knew It Long Ago
By Colin Campbell
Colin Campbell's Response To The Guardian IEA Reporting
14 November, 2009
Huge Rise In Birth Defects In Falluja
By Martin Chulov
Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting
10 November, 2009
Key Oil Figures Were Distorted By US Pressure,
Says Whistleblower
By Terry Macalister
The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying
08 November, 2009
We Cannot Fight Climate With Consumerism
By George Monbiot
Small actions allow people to overlook the bigger ones and still claim they are being environmentally responsible
07 November, 2009
India's Defining Moment
By Trevor Selvam
This is now imperative, that what the Maoists have raised through sometimes irrational activities be understood as Constitutional Issues. Never before in the post-independence period has fundamental constitutional issues been brought to the forefront with such intensity, as now. The PM knows that very well. He knows that the Naxalites have exposed India’s chancre, in his own words, the “poorest of the poor.”He has to either change the Constitution or he has to engage in settler colonialism. Those are his historic choices
06 November, 2009
My Memories Of Fort Hood
By Stephanie Westbrook
Over three years have passed since I was at Fort Hood. At the time, the Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the White House. Now the Democrats have the majority. But I feel certain that if I were to go stand in front of the base with the same sign, the scene of three years ago would repeat itself
05 November, 2009
Citizens Initiative For Peace
And The Maoist Challenge
By Nandita Haksar
Nandita Haskar's response to the resolution adopted at the National Convention of the Citizens Initiative for Peace held in New Delhi on October 20, 2009
04 November, 2009
Israel's Right To Exist?
By Alan Hart
The truth of the time was that the Zionist state, which came into being mainly as a consequence of pre-planned ethnic cleansing, had no right to exist and, more to the point, could have no right to exist UNLESS … Unless it was recognised and legitimized by those who were dispossessed of their land and their rights during the creation of the Zionist state. In international law only the Palestinians could give Israel the legitimacy it craved
03 November, 2009
Situation In Sri Lanka Absolutely Grim:
Arundhati Roy
By Nilantha Ilangamuwa
That the Indian government armed and trained the LTTE is well known. But then it switched sides. India has done everything it can, including blocking the demand for an investigation into the possibility that the Sri Lankan government might be guilty of having committed war crimes in this war against the Tamil people of Sri Lanka
02 November, 2009
The Lungs Of The Earth
By Andrew Glikson
The recent warning by Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact: “We are simply talking about the very life support system of this planet” is consistent with the lessons arising from the history of the Earth’s atmosphere/ocean system. A rise of CO2-e above 500 ppm and of mean global temperature toward and above 4 degrees C would transcend the conditions which allowed the development of agriculture in the early Neolithic
31 October, 2009
The Heart Of India Is Under Attack
By Arundhati Roy
To justify enforcing a corporate land grab, the state needs an enemy – and it has chosen the Maoists
25 October, 2009
Operation Saffron Hunt?
By Satya Sagar
As the UPA government embarks on its ‘Operation Green Hunt’ against the Maoists maybe what it should really be carrying out is an ‘Operation Saffron Hunt’ - against Hindu extremists who pose a far greater threat to the internal security of India
26 August, 2009
Video Evidence Of Extra-Judicial Killings In
Sri Lanka
By Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka
A video clip released by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) has revealed extra-judicial killings being conducted in Sri Lanka. Although You Tube subsequently removed the video for violating terms of use, you can View the video here
India's UID And The Fantasy Of Dataveillance
By Binu Karunakaran
According to one estimate Rs. 150,000 Crore (US$ 30.9 bn) of taxpayers' money will flow out into the gargantuan task of making our lives similar to that of aquarium fish and no less secure. Imagine that kind of money and political will power going into healthcare and sanitation or basic education and poverty alleviation
05 August, 2009
Oil Supplies Are Running Out Fast
By Steve Connor
The first detailed assessment of more than 800 oil fields in the world, covering three quarters of global reserves, has found that most of the biggest fields have already peaked and that the rate of decline in oil production is now running at nearly twice the pace as calculated just two years ago. On top of this, there is a problem of chronic under-investment by oil-producing countries, a feature that is set to result in an "oil crunch" within the next five years which will jeopardise any hope of a recovery from the present global economic recession
02 August, 2009
Terrorism At Where There Is
No Road To Afghanistan
By Dr. Khurrum Shaukat Yusafzai
Excellent report from eyewitness in Peshawar, detailing precisely the criminal negligence of both Pakistani and American governments in their transshipment of hazardous materiels (fuel, explosives and weaponry) through the narrow crowded back roads of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Not only is Pakistan forced to submit to American demands upon it, but the people of Pakistan are paid in the currency of suffering and death for their peaceful acceptance of these outrages
24 July, 2009
A Day In Gaza
By Viva Palestina Delegation
The Viva Palestina delegation of solidarity activists from the U.S. was allowed to enter Gaza on July 15 with truckloads of desperately needed humanitarian supplies--but under the condition that the convoy leave again within 24 hours. This is a diary of the 24 hours in Gaza by Tom Arabia, Karen Burke, Ream Kidane, Brian Lenzo, Khury Peterson-Smith, Eric Ruder and Martin Smith
"Breaking The Silence:" Testimonies Of
Israeli Soldiers
By Stephen Lendman
"Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects anonymous testimonies of soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories during the Second Intifada." They recount experiences that deeply affected them, including abusing Palestinians, looting, destroying property, and other practices "excused as military necessities, or explained as extreme and unique cases." Its new booklet features 54 damning testimonies from 30 Israeli soldiers on their experiences in Operation Cast Lead. They recount what official media and government sources suppressed
20 July, 2009
We Are Neurologically Fucked
By Tim Murray
Less immediate threats are beyond human comprehension while immediate gratification commands our attention
19 July, 2009
Investigate Peak Oil Urgently
By Phyllis Sladek
An online petition calling on national academy of sciences to study peak oil urgently
Earth Egg
By Guy R. McPherson
The very notion that we can rely on other planets for resources after we trash this one is ignorant and offensive. I'll start with the offensive part before discussing the ignorant part
17 July, 2009
Unratified India And Tortured People
By NM Salih
In the wake June 26, which marked the International Day against torture, the Asian Centre for Human Rights released a report named ‘Torture in India 2009’, compiling the true facts of ill-treated human rights in India. This report has zeroed in on custodial tortures especially by the police, armed forces and armed opposition groups etc. It reveals several accounts of atrocities by the so called law enforcement officers from all over India. The panoptic narrative of deaths in the police custody with detailed state wise account of such incidents rules the roost in this report
15 July, 2009
Peak Oil And The Remaking Of Iraq
By Michael T. Klare
Has it all come to this? The wars and invasions, the death and destruction, the exile and torture, the resistance and collapse? In a world of shrinking energy reserves, is Iraq finally fated to become what it was going to be anyway, even before the chaos and catastrophe set in: a giant gas pump for an energy-starved planet? Will it all end not with a bang, but with a gusher? The latest oil news out of that country offers at least a hint of Iraq's fate
