From Syria to Iran: The Dynamics of Global Power

Interview with Lawrence Wilkerson, published on Global Research.ca, by Miguel Villagra, Sept 27, 2013.

Lawrence Wilkerson, the former chief of staff to Colin Powell, has blamed senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham of being “close to traitors”. His statement comes ahead of the upcoming UN meeting in which Iran will be thoroughly discussed. In an exclusive interview with the Voice of Russia, he told what reaction he expects to his statement and shares his opinion on the Syrian issue and prospects of US-Iranian relations:

Voice of Russia: What reaction do you expect from senators McCain and Graham to your statements, if any?   Continuer la lecture de « From Syria to Iran: The Dynamics of Global Power »

The Growing Resistance to the Trans-Pacific Partnership

A Corporate Coup of a Different Order – Published on Toward Freedom, by Arthur Phillips, September 26, 2013.

Transparency was supposed to be a White House priority from the very start. In his first inaugural address, when the world celebrated an historic and improbable election, Barack Obama made the case for how an open government was necessary to earn the trust of the people.[1] The next day, he issued a memo that asserted his commitment to creating an “unprecedented level of openness.”[2] And in February, more than four years later, President Obama claimed his to be “the most transparent administration in history.”[3]  Continuer la lecture de « The Growing Resistance to the Trans-Pacific Partnership »

US: Supreme Court is ill-equipped to judge NSA surveillance programs – Scalia

Published on Russia Today RT, September 26, 2013.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Wednesday the court eventually will have to determine the legality of far-reaching National Security Agency spying programs, though he is not convinced the court is equipped to based on modern security threats.

Scalia, speaking at the Northern Virginia Technology Council, said elected officials are most qualified to discern how much personal information of Americans the NSA can collect, and under what circumstances.   Continuer la lecture de « US: Supreme Court is ill-equipped to judge NSA surveillance programs – Scalia »

as Women Take to Streets in Dhaka

… hundreds of Bangladesh garment factories shut down – Published on Waging NonViolence Blog, by Laura Gottesdiener, Sept 23, 2013.

Exclusive stores in Manhattan, London and Milan are busily stocking shelves with the one-shouldered dresses and Miley Cyrus-esque crop tops that were on display earlier in September at New York City’s Fashion Week.

But half a world away, in the city where the western world’s clothes are actually made, the sewing machines have stopped.

More than 300 garment factories are currently shut down in Dhaka, Bangladesh, as hundreds of thousands people — mostly women — take the the streets in the third day of sweeping protests for wage increases in the notoriously exploitative industry.   Continuer la lecture de « as Women Take to Streets in Dhaka »

protecting wild harvests through the white earth land recovery project WELRP

with Winona LaDuke – Published on nourishing the planet, by Devon Ericksen, September 15, 2013.

… One of the indigenous foods that LaDuke and the WELRP (White Earth Land Recovery Project) are working to protect is wild rice, a sacred part of Anishinaabeg culture. Wild rice is the only grain native to North America, found mainly in the Great Lakes region. It is higher in protein than other grains and contains numerous vitamins. The Anishinaabeg people have used sustainable harvesting methods for generations, relying on canoes and beater sticks to collect the ripe seeds.   Continuer la lecture de « protecting wild harvests through the white earth land recovery project WELRP »

Winnie Overbeek

Oil Palm in Africa: Voices from the communities, 7.08 min, published on Food Crisis and the Global Land Grab (first on World Rainforest Movement WRM), Sept 18, 2013 (video also in fr, es, pt): Industrial oil palm plantations are rapidly expanding, not only in Liberia. In many African countries expansion projects are happening and plans are announced. Everywhere they go, the companies promise jobs and development …;   Continuer la lecture de « Winnie Overbeek »

Women in the Teachers’ Movement: A Lesson in Resistance

Published on America’s Program, by Laura Carlsen, Sept 13, 2013.

Mexican teachers have hit the streets in protests against education reforms that threaten their livelihoods and the quality and accessibility of public education in the country.

Among thousands of protesters who have set up a make-shift tent city in the downtown blocks of Mexico City, women make up the less visible core of the movement. More than a million women teachers–61 percent of the education labor force–work in ill-equipped classrooms across the nation, often at wages of only several hundred dollars a month.   Continuer la lecture de « Women in the Teachers’ Movement: A Lesson in Resistance »

Tales from village-turned-battlefield: Maaloula siege survivors talk

Published on Russia Today RT, Sept 20, 2013 (with a video, 3.34 min).

… The Syrian village of Maaloula is considered a symbol of Christianity in Syria and is one of only a few places where the Aramaic language – believed to have been spoken by Jesus Christ – is still used by both the Muslim and the Christian residents. Home to some 2,000 residents, the village is on a UNESCO list of proposed world heritage sites.    Continuer la lecture de « Tales from village-turned-battlefield: Maaloula siege survivors talk »

In an Age of Realists and Vigilantes, there is Cause for Optimism

Published on Zcommunications, by John Pilger, September 19, 2013.

The most important anniversary of the year was the 40th anniversary of 11 September 1973 – the crushing of the democratic government of Chile by General Augusto Pinochet and Henry Kissinger, then US secretary of state. The National Security Archive in Washington has posted new documents that reveal much about Kissinger’s role in an atrocity that cost thousands of lives.   Continuer la lecture de « In an Age of Realists and Vigilantes, there is Cause for Optimism »

What Greece’s and Mexico’s teachers have in common

Published on ROARMAG.org, by Leonidas Oikonomakis, September 17, 2013 (inclusive two short-videos);

… Of course, this indirect privatization of public schools was downplayed by the state-controlled (or vice-versa?) Mexican media, which focused on the “quality controls” finally imposed on the “lazy and privileged” teachers. The teachers on their own turn mobilized, organized marches and bloqueos and — most importantly — occupied the main square of the capital in thousands since the 19th of August 2013. The teachers’ mobilization lasted for three weeks until his highness, the Butcher of Atenco — a.k.a. Enrique Peña Nieto — ordered the police to brutally evict the teachers from the Zócalo, on 14 September 2013.  Continuer la lecture de « What Greece’s and Mexico’s teachers have in common »

GMOs: controversy and a new study by EFSA over the next 2 years

Seralini validated by new EFSA guidelines on long-term GMO experiments – Published on GMwatch.org, Comment by Claire Robinson of GMWatch and Earth Open Source, 31 July 2013.

The European Food Safety Authority  (EFSA) has issued guidelines for two-year whole food feeding studies to assess the risk of long-term toxicity from GM foods: Considerations on the applicability of OECD TG 453 to whole food/feed testing, EFSA Journal 2013;11(7):3347 [18 pp.]. – doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3347   Continuer la lecture de « GMOs: controversy and a new study by EFSA over the next 2 years »

Neoliberalism, or the Catastrophic Management of Catastrophe

Published on ROARMAG (also on ZNet), by Jérôme Roos, September 14, 2013.

… The catastrophic management of catastrophe. If there is one line that describes the nature of neoliberal crisis management, that must be it. From Mexico and Latin America in 1982 to the South-East Asian crisis of 1997-’98, and from Turkey and Argentina in the early 2000s to the European debt crisis from 2010 onward — the most catastrophic thing about neoliberal crisis management is not only that it has a penchant to turn already catastrophic financial crises caused by runaway private speculation into an immense source of private gain for the same very financiers responsible for the catastrophe to begin with;  Continuer la lecture de « Neoliberalism, or the Catastrophic Management of Catastrophe »

Leiharbeit im deutschen Wahlkampf

ARD Video-Sendung: Endspurt im Wahlkampf, wer kann jetzt noch punkten? 67.39 min, auf ARD mediathek.de, 16. September 2013. Nach zirka 42 Minuten erscheint folgende Reportage: zirka 50 Leiharbeiter* bei ThyssenKrupp sollen nach ihrem Arbeitstag am Ausgang in einer Test-Wahl ihre Stimme abgeben, wen sie denn nächsten Sonntag wählen würden.

Resultat: CDU  64% / FDP   2% / SPD  13% / Grüne 4% / Linke 9%       Continuer la lecture de « Leiharbeit im deutschen Wahlkampf »