Catégorie : Politics

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Anne Backhaus and Simone Salden in Bhopal, India, Dec 9, 2014.

Thirty years after the worst chemical accident in history, the disaster is hitting a new generation. The victims have received little help, professional clean-up has not happened and there are no signs the ongoing environmental catastrophe will end.

When the monsoon washes away the dust of the Indian summer from the landscape, huts and people of Bhopal, the dry basin behind the slum of J.P. Nagar turns into a lake. Laughing children swim in it, fishermen wait for the telltale tug on their lines to signal a catch, and buffalos greedily devour the succulent stems of water lilies … // Continuer la lecture de « Generations of Victims: Bhopal's Unending Catrastrophe – part 1 »

Published on Russia Today RT (first in german on DIE ZEIT) *, Dec 8, 2014.

A group of prominent Germans are urging their country and the West to open dialogue with Russia. They believe this is essential to ensure peace in Europe, rather than further isolate Moscow, which they say would be “dangerous for the world.”

The petition named ‘New war in Europe? Not in our name!’ was signed by 60 people from Germany’s politics, economy, culture and media sectors – among them former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and film director Wim Wenders.   Continuer la lecture de « Prominent Germans urge West to stop sabre rattling toward Russia »

Published on Global Research.ca, by RT, Dec 8, 2014.

(The 113th US-) Congress is poised to give a foreign mining company 2,400 acres of national forest in Arizona that is cherished ancestral homeland to Apache natives. Controversially, the measure is attached to annual legislation that funds the US Defense Department … //

… Arizona Sen. John McCain was instrumental in adding to the NDAA the land deal that had been pursued by Rio Tinto for a decade, according to HuffPo. Some in Congress were reportedly concerned with the deal, but it ultimately materialized thanks to economic assurances. Rio Tinto claims mining in Tonto will generate $61 billion in economic activity and 3,700 direct and indirect jobs over 40 years.   Continuer la lecture de « Congress Gives Native American Lands to Foreign Mining Company With New NDAA »

Published on ZNet (first on TeleSUR english), by John Pilger, Dec 6, 2014.

Why has so much journalism succumbed to propaganda? Why are censorship and distortion standard practice? Why is the BBC so often a mouthpiece of rapacious power? Why do the New York Times and the Washington Post deceive their readers?

Why are young journalists not taught to understand media agendas and to challenge the high claims and low purpose of fake objectivity? And why are they not taught that the essence of so much of what’s called the mainstream media is not information, but power?   Continuer la lecture de « War by media and the triumph of propaganda »

Video – Interview with Noam Chomsky: Can we save our Democracy and History, 28.04 min, uploaded by The Chomsky Videos, Dec 3, 2014 – (see (US-)Republicans ‘dedicated with utter servility’ to the needs of the 1 percent – Noam Chomsky, on RawStory, by Scott Kaufman, Dec 5, 2014): “The last vote,” he said, referring to the November elections:

• “was the lowest turnout since 1940, in the middle of [World War II], when people couldn’t vote.”
• “Why? Because people understand what is shown in academic political science — that their voices just don’t matter. The opinions of the lowest 70 percent of the population — the lowest on the income scale — are simply disregarded” … //

… (full text).

Chomsky in 2014: FULL List and SMALL Clips, on raw story.   Continuer la lecture de « On the Republicans and the 1% – Noam Chomsky »

Abbas and the ISIS scheme, on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Dina Ezzat, Dec 5, 2014: Arab heavyweights are backing Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, not in the hope of reaching a final status deal with Israel, but in order to focus on ISIS and militant threats;

Egypt: Trial and revolution, on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Amira Howeid, Dec 5, 2014: Mubarak’s trials say much about Egypt’s post revolution political trajectory;   Continuer la lecture de « what happens? »

first this:

• FULL video: Black Man KILLED After NYPD Cop Puts Him In CHOKEHOLD For Breaking Up a FIGHT, 3.53 min, uploaded by Forever Stars, July 19, 2014: Advocates and family members are demanding answers following the death of a man who had a heart attack and died in police custody after officers put him in a chokehold – a tactic prohibited by NYPD policy …;
• Dozens arrested as NYC protests Eric Garner decision, on Russia Today RT, Dec 4, 2014: At least 30 people were arrested by the New York Police Department on Wednesday evening, as thousands of protesters flooded city streets after a grand jury declined to indict an officer for killing a Staten Island man via chokehold …;
• LIVE UPDATES on Russia Today RT, Published time Dec 4, 2014;

Continuer la lecture de « Eric Garner: WHAT IS THIS PROTEST ABOUT? »

Published on Spiegel Online International, a Commentary by Christoph Schult in Brussels, Dec 2, 2014.

The president of Ukraine is talking up the idea of a national referendum to join NATO, an idea that the military alliance’s chief has openly supported. But such a debate is dangerous — because it divides member states and provides Putin with powerful ammunition … //

… Playing with Fire: … // Continuer la lecture de « Opinion: Stop Talking about NATO Membership for Ukraine »

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Nikolaus Blome, Matthias Gebauer, Hubert Gude, Frank Hornig, Gordon Repinski and Marcel Rosenbach, Dec 1, 2014 (Photo Gallery).

The German government has had enough of reading about state secrets in the media. SPIEGEL has learned that officials are now preparing to file a criminal complaint against unknown persons and has undertaken other efforts to identify moles as well. Continuer la lecture de « War on Whistleblowers: Berlin Gets Serious in the Search for Moles »

Published on The Guardian, by Farai Chideya, Nov 30, 2014.

Soon after the decision not to charge Officer Darren Wilson, the man who shot and killed Michael Brown in still-roiling Ferguson, Missouri, President Barack Obama acknowledged “disappointment”. But he added: “We are a nation built on the rule of law, so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury’s to make.” Continuer la lecture de « The vital lessons we have learned from Ferguson »

Published on World Socialist Web Site WSWS, Nov 28, 2014.

The Second National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (Britain) adopted this resolution unanimously on October 28:

• 1. The Socialist Equality Party endorses the International Committee of the Fourth International resolution, “Socialism and the Fight Against Imperialist War.” The resolution of this Congress incorporates and elaborates on the ICFI’s resolution, applying it to the work of the SEP in Britain.   Continuer la lecture de « Britain: the fight against war and the political tasks of the Socialist Equality Party SEP »

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1060, November 28, 2014.

The 10th Asia Europe People’s Forum (AEPF), representing citizens, people and social movements from Asia and Europe (which met on 10th to 12th of October 2014 in Milan, Italy), urges the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and its member Governments to recognize the following issues and priorities and to take forward our recommendations:

1). Socially and Environmentally Just Trade and Investment – (including Calls and/or Key Recommendations):   Continuer la lecture de « The 10th Asia-Europe People’s Forum Call to Action »

Published on ZNet, by Cynthia Peters, Nov 27, 2014.

• (Published first as Raising a child in a moral way is not just up to parents, its up to society, on TeleSUR English, Nov 26;
• from: Raising a Moral Child, on NYT, by Adam Grant, April 11, 2014).

… So, parents, this is how they mess with our minds:   Continuer la lecture de « This Is How They Mess with our Minds – Peters Parents »

Published on Activist Post, by Tony Cartalucci, November 26, 2014.

When faced on the battlefield with a numerically superior enemy, one must attempt to divide his enemy into smaller, more easily dispatched opponents – or even more ideally, divide them against one another, and have them defeat each other without ever drawing your sword. For Wall Street’s 0.1%, divide and conquer is a way of life … //

… Divide and Conquer: … //
… Ferguson – Playing America Like a Fiddle: … //

… Get Off the Hamster Wheel: Continuer la lecture de « Ferguson and the False Promise of Revolution »

Related Links:

• From the Civil War to Ferguson today – racism, rebellion & class struggle in the US, on Facebok;
• Germany and the European Commission’s €315 Billion Infrastructure “New Deal” is Yet More Smoke and Mirrors, on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, Nov 26, 2014;
• What is Class Oppression? on ZNet, by Tom Wetzel, Nov 26, 2014;
• Middle class struggles to preserve retirement security, on The Bay State Banner, by Pamela Yip, Nov 26, 2014;   Continuer la lecture de « Class Struggles actually on the web »