Monthly Archives: February 2012

The War on Labor: Right to Work

The War on Labor: Right to Work By Jack Random; February 23rd, 2012 – Dissident Voicehttp://dissidentvoice.org/2012/02/the-war-on-labor-right-to-… When you are approaching poverty, you make one discovery which outweighs some of the others. You discover boredom and mean complications and the beginnings of hunger, but you also discover the great redeeming feature of poverty: the fact that [...]

U.S. Downplays North Korean Regime’s Overtures

US downplays North Korean regime’s overtures By James Cogan; 29 February 2012 – WSWShttp://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/kore-f29.shtml The North Korean regime has reacted bitterly to the indifferent response of the Obama administration to Pyongyang’s first talks with the United States since the death of its leader Kim Jong-il in December. American officials downplayed the discussions in Beijing over [...]

UK Labor Leader Threatens Strikes During the London Olympics

UK Labor Leader Threatens Strikes During the London Olympics By Dave Zirin; February 29, 2012 – The Nationhttp://www.thenation.com/blog/166507/uk-labor-leader-threate… If you were part of the 99 percent in the United Kingdom, you’d be forgiven for being somewhat befuddled at the moment. Deep spending cuts, austerity and privatization plans are the political agenda in Parliament, yet the [...]

Latest From the Hill: Congress Criminalizes the Right to Free Assembly; Strips Basic Protections of First Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Amendment IThe ConstitutionArticle source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SHTFplan/~3/kbgnx-XEieI/congress-criminalizes-the-right-to-assembly-strips-basic-protections-of-first-amendment_02292012

Occupy London Camp Cleared by Riot Cops

Occupy London camp cleared by police from St Paul’s Cathedral By Paul Stuart; 29 February 2012 – WSWShttp://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/occu-f29.shtml Riot police moved in at midnight February 28 to clear the Occupy protest camp established outside St Paul’s Cathedral last October. Twenty arrests were made as a small group of protesters peacefully resisted. The majority packed away [...]

Australia: Public Housing an Issue for Whole Community

Public housing an issue for whole community By Douglas Jordan, Melbourne; Saturday, February 25, 2012 – Green Left Weeklyhttp://www.greenleft.org.au/node/50132 Public housing in Victoria (and elsewhere around Australia) is in a state of crisis. For at least the last two decades, successive state governments have failed to meet the challenge of providing public housing to all [...]

Chinese Millionaires Spend Thousands to Satisfy Their Urge to Kill

Chinese millionaires fork out thousands to satisfy their urge to kill February 29 2012 – Libcomhttp://libcom.org/blog/chinese-millionaires-fork-out-thousan… It seems the new parasitic class of Chinese millionaires are not content with merely making millions through exploiting the Chinese working class. Increasing numbers of them are now choosing to spend these millions to pay for the right to [...]

Looting the Seas

Looting the Seas – by Stephen Lendman This article follows a previous one on the same topic. It covers work done by the Center for Public Integrity. It involves a multi-part series titled, “Looting the Seas.” The initial article discussed the overall problem globally. On November 7, 2010, Part I covers the “black market in [...]

What English Canadians Need to Understand About Quebec, the NDP and Thomas Mulcair

What English Canadians need to understand about Quebec, the NDP and Thomas Mulcair By Pierre Beaudet; February 28, 2012 – rabble.cahttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/pierre-beaudet/2012/02/what-… It is always amazing to observe the ignorance of the Canadian left when it comes to Quebec politics. The reasons for this, I believe, are similar to what blocked the English left over Ireland [...]

Israel Steps Up Repression in Occupied Palestinian Territories

Israel steps up repression in occupied Palestinian territories By Jean Shaoul; 28 February 2012 – WSWShttp://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/isra-f28.shtml On Friday, Israeli forces fired on Palestinian protesters at a checkpoint near Ramallah in the West Bank, killing one young man and injuring four more. Further clashes broke out at the funeral procession in north Jerusalem the following day [...]

Is the Québec Student Strike a Spark?

Is the Québec student strike a spark? By Stefan Christoff; February 28, 2012 – rabble.cahttp://rabble.ca/news/2012/02/qu%C3%A9bec-student-strike-spark Tens of thousands of students are on the streets protesting moves by the Québec Liberal government to inflate post-secondary tuition fees by $1,625 in the next five years. A serious grassroots battle is underway as students hold major street protests, [...]

An Open Letter to Bruce Springsteen, REM, Wilco and Arcade Fire on Obama

Open letter to Bruce Springsteen et al Rock stars quick to embrace Obama, but silent as he sings same old songs as Bush. By Ian Sinclair; February 25, 2012 – Winnipeg Free Presshttp://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/open-lette… Dear Bruce: First a few admissions in the interests of transparency. Bruce, I consider you to be the most important and vital [...]

500 People Dead in the U.S. Because Cops Tasered Them

500 People Are Dead Because Law Enforcement Tasered Them By Steven D., Booman Tribune; February 28, 2012 – AlterNethttp://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/818809 Non-lethal force. Saving lives. Who can argue with that. Well, in the United States, Amnesty International now reports that 500 people have been killed by Tasers employed by law enforcement officials. I imagine if they had [...]

Society’s Five Stages of Economic Collapse

Society as we know it will break down and collapse in a five stage process outlined here. While it can be accelerated by certain events like war, a natural disaster, pandemic, terrorist attack, or even an impending asteroid impact, history has shown that economic collapse will essentially happenArticle source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SHTFplan/~3/v0hesp0aJqY/societys-five-stages-of-economic-collapse_02282012

U.S. and Britain Gear Up for War on Iran

US, Britain gear up for war on Iran By Bill Van Auken; 28 February 2012 – WSWShttp://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/iran-f28.shtml The military commands in both the US and Britain have sought increased funding and stepped up deployments of arms and personnel to the Persian Gulf in preparation for an anticipated war against Iran. According to the Wall Street [...]

NGO Monitor Denies Truth for Israel

NGO Monitor Denies Truth for Israel – by Stephen Lendman NGO Monitor “was founded to promote accountability, and advance a vigorous discussion on the reports and activities of NGOs claiming to promote moral agendas, such as humanitarian aid and human rights.” In fact, it’s a Jerusalem-based pro-Israeli front group. It disseminates propaganda, other misinformation and [...]

10 Reasons Why the Israel Lobby AIPAC Is So Dangerous

10 Reasons Why the Israel Lobby AIPAC is So Dangerous By Medea Benjamin; February 28th, 2012 – Dissident Voicehttp://dissidentvoice.org/2012/02/10-reasons-why-the-israel-… The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is one of the most powerful lobby organizations in the country. AIPAC’s clout helps fuel a never-ending cycle of violence in the Middle East. Here are ten reasons why [...]

Living With Snipers: The Reality of Collapse *Photos; Video*

[Man runs from sniper in Homs, Syria. 2012] What does it look like when your relatively safe, stable and secure way of life is plunged into chaos, disorder and violence? Though history is replete with examples of entire civilizations collapsing for various reasons, we need only review the events of the last century to see how [...]

Hunger Striking for Justice

Hunger Striking for Justice – by Stephen Lendman Behind bars, prisoners have few ways to resist injustice. Refusing food’s a common tactic. Khader Adnan’s the latest detainee to attract attention. His heroism made it worldwide. After 66 days, he began eating after a deal was agreed to release him in April. It’s not without strings, [...]

"But That Would Be Torture!"

Moral Disconnect ‘But That Would Be Torture!’ By DAVE LINDORFF; February 27, 2012 – Counterpunchhttp://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/27/but-that-would-be-tor… I just received an object lesson into how easily we Americans are able to compartmentalize our principles and our sense of basic human decency. My father, David Lindorff Sr., who is 89, recently took a bad fall, hitting the back [...]

Man Arrested, Charged With Possession of Firearm, & Strip-Searched After 4 Year Old Daughter Draws Picture of Daddy Shooting at Monsters

North American educators and law enforcement officials continue to take zero-tolerance gun policies to obscenely ridiculous levels. The latest hypersensitive over-reaction comes to us from Canada, where educators contacted local law enforcement after a 4 year old kindergartener drew a picture of her daddy shooting a gun at monstersArticle source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SHTFplan/~3/OMZ4wDpdQDM/man-arrested-charged-with-possession-of-firearm-strip-searched-after-4-year-old-daughter-draws-picture-of-daddy-shooting-at-monsters_02272012

The Dershbag Dishes Dirt

Dershed By Harvard’s Giftzwerg By Daniel McGowan; February 27th, 2012 – Dissident Voicehttp://dissidentvoice.org/2012/02/dershed-by-harvards-giftzw… Could there be a more contemptible slime thrower than Alan Dershowitz? He is supposed to be a renowned defense attorney, but he is best known for his offense in defaming anyone who questions Zionism and the apartheid and misery it has brought [...]

Syrian Conflict Destabilizes Lebanon

Syrian conflict destabilizes Lebanon By Niall Green; 27 February 2012 – WSWShttp://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/leba-f27.shtml Lebanon’s defense minister met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran on Sunday for talks focusing on the escalating conflict in Syria. The official Iranian news agency reported that Ahmadinejad told Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn to “resist the plots” of “domination-seeking powers” who [...]

More Prisons, Higher Profits

More Prisons, Higher Profits Inmates have little power in challenging prison work conditions By Kaley Kennedy; February 27, 2012 – The Dominionhttp://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/4333 HALIFAX — Criticism of cheap prison labour is something often aimed at privately owned U.S. super jails, but here in Canada, thousands of imprisoned people form a labour pool where wages dip below [...]

The Imperial Way: American Decline in Perspective (Part 2)

The Imperial Way: American Decline in Perspective (Part 2) By Noam Chomsky; February 15, 2010 – Tomdispatchhttp://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175503/tomgram%3A_noam_choms… [Note: To view Part 1, click here.] In the years of conscious, self-inflicted decline at home, “losses” continued to mount elsewhere. In the past decade, for the first time in 500 years, South America has taken successful steps [...]