2007: January - April Political Notes - Richard Stallman

2007: January - April Political Notes - Richard Stallman
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Richard Stallman's personal political notes from 2007: January - April
These are my personal opinions and do not speak for the GNU Project, the FSF, or anyone else.
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Glossary
29 April 2007 (
Articles of impeachment against Cheney
Congressman Kucinich has introduced articles of impeachment
against Dick Cheney.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Democratic party leaders refuse to support the effort.
Shame on them!
29 April 2007 (
Supernanny
The TV show
Supernanny teaches that parental dictatorship is good
, but
doesn't measure the harm it does.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
29 April 2007 (
Fighting in Mogadishu
Fighting between Ethiopian troops and Islamists
continues in
Mogadishu.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Since this article says nothing about the departure of Ethiopian
troops, which they previously said would happen very soon, I wonder if
Bush has convinced them to make their occupation of Somalia permanent.
29 April 2007 (
Sunni-Shi'ite killings
Sunni-Shi'ite killings
are back
in Baghdad.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Note that the Al Qa'ida attacks described in this article are not
terrorism. "Iraqi" soldiers and police are collaborators, working
for the
Bush forces
and attacking them is attacking the occupying
army. It happens that most of these collaborators are Shi'ites.
29 April 2007 (
Rigging the next election
Mugabe is systematically rigging the next election in Zimbabwe
even as his
thugs
arrest and attack the opposition.
Attacking opposition leaders and activists is
not a new thing for Mugabe
Since the white colonizers took the land by force, I don't think they
have much of an argument to make for retaining it. But there are good
and bad ways to nationalize an enterprise. Zimbabwe's way wrecked
them.
29 April 2007 (
Supporting the lies
The Iraqi government has started to withhold figures
on civilian deaths.
Apparently it was ordered not to show that Bush is lying.
29 April 2007 (
Peacekeepers can't protect themselves
The African force which is supposed to protect
the people of Darfur from
the Janjaweed is so undersized that it can barely protect itself.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
29 April 2007 (
News announcements and propaganda
The Bush wants
army news announcements to cooperate with propaganda operations
, just as
they did in the Vietnam War.
Of course, the "facts" provided for army news announcements are often
pre-cooked for propaganda purposes. The US government systematically
ordered troops to lie about the death of Pat Tillman from friendly
fire, just as they systematically lied to make Jessica Lynch out as a
hero. Now the Democrats are
showcasing these lies
29 April 2007 (
Obtaining confessions through torture
How Bush's "military tribunals"
will treat confessions obtained by torture
as evidence.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This means they are designed to function as part of a system for torturing and
"convicting" people regardless of the facts.
29 April 2007 (
Christian fanaticism
A bomb was found at an abortion clinic
, designed to kill.
It surely was been planted by Christian theocratic fanatics. Other such
fanatics are suing the University of California
for refusing to recognize
creationist "biology classes" as filling the lab science requirement.
29 April 2007 (
The Panchen Lama
The Panchen Lama
, imprisoned by China at the age of 5, is now 18 (if
indeed he is alive), and is still in prison.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
29 April 2007 (
Al Qa'ida gains ground
Al Qa'ida successfully attacked
Bush forces
troops in Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This will enable Al Qa'ida to win more support among Iraqi Sunnis, nearly all
of whom want to fight the occupiers of their country. They don't all support
Al Qa'ida's other mission, which is killing Iraqi Shi'ites. But even those
who dislike sectarian war may give Al Qa'ida more support if it conspicuously
fights the
Bush forces
28 April 2007 (
Troops denounce Iraq war
UK troops returning from the Bush forces
have spoken out to denounce the
war. Their base in Basra is under siege by the resistance.
28 April 2007 (
Supermarket chains too powerful
Large supermarket chains are so powerful
that they are driving down wages
for farm laborers in India.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This article refers to the UK, but I'd expect it is even more true of the US.
28 April 2007 (
Crisis in Somalia
The fighting in Mogadishu
has driven 300,000 people to flee the city.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The Ethiopians, and the US-constructed "provisional government", have little
popular support, and thus no chance of defeating the Islamists.
28 April 2007 (
Fake news
A brief history
of fake news in the US.
28 April 2007 (
Greenhouse gas emissions
Tens of thousands protested
in the US to demand reductions in greenhouse
gas emissions.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link
was broken.]
28 April 2007 (
Baghdad's prison wall
Sunnis protest
against Baghdad's 'prison wall'.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
28 April 2007 (
Bush's skewed view of Iraq
Bush is using skewed statistics
to prove that Iraq is safer.
But car bombs are not the only form of killing that Bush omits from these
figures. Aerial bombardment by the
Bush forces
kills lots of Iraqis, and they
systematically under-report it.
28 April 2007 (
Tsetsegee Munkhbayar
Mongolian herder Tsetsegee Munkhbayar
launched an environmental movement that
made many mines stop polluting.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
27 April 2007 (
No treatment till you are blind
The UK's national health service
won't pay for drugs to treat
macular degeneration until the victim goes blind in one eye.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
However, privatized medicine is no solution. The private sector won't
treat most of these victims at all (they can't afford it).
27 April 2007 (
Using ill-gotten gains for charity
Bill Gates gives some of his money to charity, hoping thus to persuade
society to overlook the harm he does to get that money.
But how good is this
charity really?
27 April 2007 (
Pacific leatherback turtles
Pacific leatherback turtles
are headed for extinction, wiped out by human
fishing and habitat destruction. A migration "race" with turtles as
competitors is trying to get children interested in their fate.
The threats that these turtles face can be found in the "threats" section of
this page
27 April 2007 (
Greenland ice sheet
A part of Greenland
is revealed as a separate island after the ice shelf
connecting it to Greenland melted away.
The Greenland ice sheet is melting faster and faster, threatening to raise sea
level by 23 feet and inundate many major cities.
27 April 2007 (
Rigged elections
Nigeria's ruling party rigged
the elections there.
The opposition has denounced the elections
as fraudulent and calls for a
new election.
The US elections in 2000 and 2004 were also rigged, and Greg Palast says they
are working on rigging the next election already.
27 April 2007 (
Urgent note
Everyone: on May 3 the US will meet with Syria and Iran to discuss what to do
in Iraq.
Sign the petition
calling for diplomacy involving all parties.
25 April 2007 (
Urgent note: End the occupation
In the US:
join the rally in Washington
on June 10/11 to end the occupation of
Palestine.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 April 2007 (
Plight of Sunnis in Baghdad
The Sunni inhabitants of a Baghdad neighborhood
don't think that
building walls will make them safer. (Perhaps because the death squads
that kill Sunnis are Iraqi police and can go where they wish.)
Iraqi prime minister al-Maliki says that the construction should stop,
but he can't do anything to stop it, showing how powerless he is.
25 April 2007 (
Mugabe threatens western diplomats
Mugabe has threatened to expel western diplomats
unless they stop meeting
with opposition figures and going to their trials.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
It is better to have the ambassadors expelled than have them remain while
neutralized. However, what this shows is that diplomacy is useless. Only
armed intervention will save the people of Zimbabwe.
As a dictator and a murderer, Saddam Hussein was no worse than Mugabe. Yet
Bush, who called for an attack on Iraq because Hussein was such a tyrant, has
no interest in liberating Zimbabwe from Mugabe. Perhaps Zimbabwe has no oil.
25 April 2007 (
Urgent note
US voters: phone or write to your congresscritter in support of the Freedom of
Choice Act, which would repeal the federal ban on some abortions and endorse
abortion rights.
24 April 2007 (
Abandoned interpreters
B'liar has abandoned Iraqi interpreters
who worked for the
Bush forces
in
Iraq, and now need to flee for their lives.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I don't have much sympathy for Iraqi collaborators, who are rightly being
attacked as traitors by their countrymen. But this policy shows the moral
corruption of
B'liar
— the same moral corruption that led to his
participation in the attempt to conquer Iraq.
24 April 2007 (
Blaming the US for the violence
Many Iraqis hold the Bush forces
(which they think of as the US)
responsible for the violence in their country.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
24 April 2007 (
Undermining public schools
B'liar is trying to undermine public schools
with a system of
company-run publicly-funded schools. Popular opposition has blocked
one of them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
24 April 2007 (
Iran's nuclear bomb
Iran has made progress in uranium enrichment
, but is still a
few years away from having the uranium needed for a bomb.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I share the suspicion that Iran is planning to make nuclear weapons,
but since they seem to be the only thing that can deter an attack by
the US, I can't be very critical of this. Iran might use them for
attack, but so might the US. The US refuses to promise not to be the
first to use nuclear weapons, even against countries that don't have
any.
24 April 2007 (
Ban on irrigation
After a 6-year drought
, Australia is about to ban irrigation, essentially
wiping out agriculture. This drought is unprecedented and is probably due to
global warming. Howard, who had ignored warnings that global warming would
reduce rainfall in Australia, now reluctantly recognizes that global warming
may be real.
24 April 2007 (
Political censorship
The European Union took a small step
towards political censorship by
making it a crime to deny that various genocides took place, when done in a
way that constitutes "incitement to racial hatred".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The added second condition makes the step smaller, but it still goes in a
dangerous direction. Even Nazis have the right to advocate their views, and
to make "incitement to hatred" a crime is dangerous censorship in itself.
24 April 2007 (
Al Qaida propaganda war
B'liar's
recipe for winning hearts and minds away from Al Qa'ida is to work
harder at propaganda. However, it is
hard for propaganda to overcome setting a bad example
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
24 April 2007 (
Wang Xiaoning sues Yahoo
Chinese political prisoner Wang Xiaoning
has sued Yahoo! for giving the
Chinese government information that led to his being imprisoned and beaten.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
If there is no way for companies to operate in China without
supporting torture, then they shouldn't operate in China. (The same
applies to the US.)
24 April 2007 (
Releasing the prisoners
Uri Avnery
: Why Israel should release its Palestinian prisoners.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
24 April 2007 (
Israel's bullying of Palestine
A well-known Palestinian non-violent
activist was raided at night by
Israeli troops who sought to intimidate him into stopping.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The mother of a Palestinian prisoner
was imprisoned and shackled so as
to put pressure on her son.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
An Israeli sniper shot a Palestinian teenager
, and then shot another
Palestinian who went to rescue him. The teenager died.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
24 April 2007 (
Non-violent protests in Palestine
Nobel peace prize winner Mairead Corrigan
joined in the weekly
protest at Bil'in and was injured by a rubber bullet and tear gas.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Another non-violent protest
, near Bethlehem, was able to break up part of
the annexation wall under construction.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
24 April 2007 (
Desperation in Bush forces
The
Bush forces
are getting so desperate that they are
sending seriously injured soldiers into combat
24 April 2007 (
Sanctions against Sudan
Bush and B'liar called for stronger sanctions
against Sudan, for massacres
in Darfur.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
They can't actually do anything, because their armies (and their international
prestige) have been worn down by Iraq.
24 April 2007 (
Abortion law
Bush's appointees on the Supreme Court
upheld the ban on a specific
late-term abortion procedure, even when it is the best way to protect
the pregnant woman's health.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
In effect, they have found a way to make Roe v Wade meaningless while
pretending to uphold it. (Dishonesty from the right-wing is normal
practice.) The law is vague enough to be stretched to cover all
abortions after 12 weeks.
24 April 2007 (
Planners of the invasion
The neocons who planned
the invasion of Iraq are not the leaders of the
plot. Others more powerful than they asked them to plan it, and made the
decision to carry it out.
24 April 2007 (
Slanted patriotism
The US news media
systematically and intentionally slanted the news to
support Bush's invasion of Iraq. Opposition to the war was labeled
"unpatriotic", and talk show host Phil Donahue was fired for not looking
"patriotic" enough.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I would like to know more about the "patriotism police" — how it
operated, and who organized it.
24 April 2007 (
Aralia Island is drowning
In Bangladesh,
Aralia Island is gradually being drowned
as global warming makes sea level
rise.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
24 April 2007 (
Islamic law in Iran
Iran officially encourages vigilantes to kill
people who don't obey
Islamic rules. The Supreme Court just ruled that vigilantes that
killed 18 people-- for crimes such as having sex-- can't be executed
as murderers. They may however face imprisonment for the killings.
I don't criticize the outcome as such, since I think the death penalty
is wrong. But it comes from a combination of two wrongs (having the
death penalty, and supporting lynching). They canceled each other
out in this case, but that isn't usually so.
Both of these wrongs come out of Islamic law, which is just another
name for brutal tyranny. Respecting individuals' religious freedom
does not mean tolerating Islamic law.
24 April 2007 (
Merbau wood
Demand for merbau wood for floors
is destroying the forests of New Guinea.
In 35 years, this will stop, because that species will all be all but gone.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
24 April 2007 (
Hard to flee
Four million Iraqis have already become refugees,
and more are trying to flee, but they are
finding it increasingly hard to gain admission anywhere
(even in other
parts of Iraq).
24 April 2007 (
Restoring peace in Iraq
Large explosions in Baghdad
killed many civilians, and showed that the
Bush forces
cannot bring security to Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
My proposal for restoring peace in Iraq is to pull the
Bush forces
out, cancel all actions to steal Iraq's oil and privatize its state
assets, and give both the Sunnis and the Shi'ites armed help-- in the
form of troops from Islamic countries they can trust-- in maintaining
defensive perimeters around their parts of Iraq (and their parts of
Baghdad).
21 April 2007 (
Urgent note
US citizens:
sign the petition to US Congress
to take strong steps against global
warming.
21 April 2007 (
New constitution
In Ecuador,
78% voted to endorse President Correa's plan
for a new constitution.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
20 April 2007 (
Corrupting consumer groups
US telephone companies
are corrupting many consumer groups
into lobbying for them.
20 April 2007 (
The real massacre
As Bush wins favor among Americans by bemoaning the massacre of some
30 people, Americans mostly do not hold him
responsible for massacring 600,000 Iraqis
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
20 April 2007 (
Tal Afar
Last year, the
Bush forces
pointed to Tal Afar as a picture of
success. This year
it fell apart into sectarian bloodshed
20 April 2007 (
Muqtada al Sadr
Muqtada al Sadr has pulled his party's ministers out
of the Iraqi
coalition. He has also recently called for protests against the
Bush occupation of Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
20 April 2007 (
Preferring the Taliban
In Kandahar,
ordinary citizens prefer the Taliban to NATO
for simple safety.
They might be happy with a strong secular government too, but they
don't see any possibility of that.
19 April 2007 (
Issue over electronic voting machines at France
dispute about electronic voting has become an issue in the French presidential election
It is utterly foolish to use electronic machines for elections. The
practical advantages are insignificant compared to what we lose: confidence
in the outcome of the election.
19 April 2007 (
US marines seize journalists' camera
After US marines in Afghanistan wantonly killed civilians,
they
seized journalists' cameras
to cover it up. The US government
continues to defend their destruction of evidence.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
19 April 2007 (
Press photographer imprisoned in Iraq
Associated Press photographer
Bilal
Hussein has been imprisoned
for a year by the
Bush forces
in Iraq, with no charges filed.
It's too bad that the AP won the Pulitzer Prize, rather than Bilal
himself. If he had won such a prize, the heat on the Bush regime
might
be enough to make them release him.
19 April 2007 (
Democratic leaders firm against Bush
Democratic leaders seem to be
standing
firm against Bush
regarding their flawed but useful bill for Iraq troop withdrawal.
19 April 2007 (
Bush regime trying to disinform internet
The Bush regime has turned disinformation through the mainstream media
into a weapon, and the world has become aware of this. Now it is
trying
to
disinform
the Internet
as well.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
19 April 2007 (
Fake drugs
Fake
drugs are sold in large quantities
, and have taught the malaria
parasite to develop resistance to the real drugs.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
19 April 2007 (
Republican Congressman left the party
Former Republican Congressman McCloskey
left
the party
, saying "A pox on their values", and became a Democrat.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
While this is good news in the short term, it is partly a reflection
of the fact that today's Democratic Party largely has adopted values
and policies that once belonged to the Republican Party. As people
who sincerely support the former Republican values become Democrats,
we who sincerely support the former Democratic values become Greens.
18 April 2007 (
International Whaling Commission
B'liar
has done
one good thing
: a campaign to win control of the
International Whaling Commission away from Japan and maintain the controls
on whaling.
18 April 2007 (
Internet radio
A court decision in the US, made in the name of copyright law,
will shut down Internet radio unless it is reversed
Its retroactive
application will bankrupt the netcasters.
18 April 2007 (
Threatening the Galapagos islands
The UN as well as Ecuador recognize
that human activities are
threatening the ecology of the Galapagos islands.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I think that controlling the human population of the islands must be
part of the solution.
18 April 2007 (
Turn Baghdad into a semi-prison
Bush plans to turn Baghdad into a semi-prison to end the violence
(and the resistance). It is not likely to work.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Tens or hundreds of thousands of Iraqis
heeded Muqtada al Sadr's call
and protested peacefully, calling for the
Bush forces
to leave their
country.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Analysis of the situation.
18 April 2007 (
Courageous ex-Muslims
Courageous ex-Muslims in Europe have founded an organization to
oppose religious bullying by Muslims
The death threats they have received
illustrate the evil they are trying to oppose.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Evidence that Dr Kelly was murdered
British MP Norman Baker is assembling evidence
that Dr Kelly
was murdered by the British government. He already has plenty
of evidence to disprove the official story of suicide.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Cut emissions today or fight wars tomorrow
11 retired US generals say:
cut greenhouse gas emissions
today, or fight wars tomorrow.
16 April 2007 (
Interrogate Darfuri refugees
The
B'liar
regime is
letting Sudanese government officials interrogate
Darfuri refugees in the UK.
16 April 2007 (
Law that violates the Roe v Wade
A federal law that violates the Roe v Wade decision by prohibiting
abortions in many circumstances will
soon be considered by the Supreme Court
Bush's appointees there were most likely chosen for their
willingness to take away abortion rights.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Article in a major Canadian newspaper
An
article in a major Canadian newspaper denounces
the US "war on terror"
as a fraud for stealing oil, and says Canada should pull out of it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
No grounds for rejecting
Why Israel has no grounds for rejecting the
Arab peace offer
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Attack every day
Israeli soldiers attack Jenin refugee camp every day
, just to be
cruel. When they took over the family of pharmacist Ahmed Hourieh,
they admitted that nobody in the family was to be arrested. So they
just made the family stay out in the cold half the night, while they
trashed the house.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
In Qalqilia, Ali Shukri was wanted for arrest. Since he wasn't
home,
police shot some of the women in his family
, then blew up
their home, damaging the neighbors homes. That'll teach them not
to live near anyone who is a suspect!
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Members of the Palestinian Parliament have been in prison for a year
charged with the crime of having run as members of Hamas.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Hamas was built up by Israel in the 1980s so as to undermine
the influence of Arafat's secular Fatah organization.
In Nablus, Israeli troops following their usual practice of taking
civilian hostages and using them as human shields were caught on
video. This led to a scandal, which surprised them, because they
normally expect to get away with this.
16 April 2007 (
Financial blockade
Oxfam International calls for an end
to the financial blockade
of Palestine, because it is causing starvation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Police in Baltimore
Police in Baltimore arrested a 7-year-old child
for riding a motorbike
on the sidewalk. Then they handcuffed him and took him to the police
station.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I shudder at the thought of what they would do to an adult
caught riding on the sidewalk.
16 April 2007 (
Police in Pittsburgh
Police in Pittsburgh attacked peaceful protestors
, then arrested them.
One protester tried to photograph a policeman who had just made a
nasty remark and the policeman beat him up. Others who tried to
photograph the attack on the first one were then attacked and
arrested. This is part of a long-term systematic campaign of violence
and sabotage against antiwar activity in Pittsburgh.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The police are probably right-wing extremists who believe that dissent
is treason. This is par for the course, for police, but Bush is also
responsible since he created a climate of disrespect for human rights
and dissent.
16 April 2007 (
Suicide bomber
A suicide bomber attacked the Iraqi parliament, having
penetrated 8 lines of Bush forces security checkpoints
It is a dramatic indication
that Bush's troop increase has failed to crush the resistance.
16 April 2007 (
Exaggerate the success
Gordon Drown arranged for reports to exaggerate
the success of doing
government activities with private financing (and private profit).
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Wildlife preserves
UN campaign
aims to make "sacred" sites double as wildlife preserves.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
School for theocratic Christians
Bush has systematically appointed the graduates
of a school for
theocratic Christians, many of whom are incompetent or dishonest. And
they are already planning to keep this up after Bush is gone.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Chess champion turned dissident
Garry Kasparov, chess champion turned dissident, was
arrested in Moscow for a peaceful march
to criticize the antidemocratic
policies of President Putin.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Debate on Faux News
Leading Democratic candidates have refused
to debate on Faux
News.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Serb nationalists
Several
Serb nationalists have been found guilty
of killing
Bosnian Muslim prisoners in Srebrenica.
Bush forces
soldiers who have done
similar things have mostly gone unpunished.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Prisoner treatment
How did Iran treat its British prisoners? Some of the ex-prisoners
describe treatment that is rather nasty
, though not as bad as what
Bush does.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
However, there is
some reason to think
the ex-prisoners were pressured
into by the
B'liar
regime into making false accusations.
I don't find this evidence conclusive. I would not be surprised if
the Ahmadinejad regime abuses prisoners, nor if
B'liar
made the
ex-prisoners lie. In any case, we should focus our criticism on the
bigger and worse offender: the Bush regime.
16 April 2007 (
Political dissent as a security threat
Uri Avnery:
the Israeli Shin Bet now considers democratic political dissent
from the definition of Israel as a "Jewish state" as a
security threat.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Police in India
Police in India
tortured Choles Ritchil to death
. Mr Ritchil was a
leader of the Garo indigenous people.
Evicting people to make a nature preserve is sometimes necessary,
but India
needs above all to do a better job of protecting
its existing nature preserves.
16 April 2007 (
Casualties
Bush forces
casualties this month are going at the
highest rate in the
four years
of the occupation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Prosecutor firings
The
prosecutor firings was part of a scheme
to cover up
Bush's rigging of elections by distraction. And the cover-up
resembles the Watergate cover-up.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 April 2007 (
Urgent Note World Bank
Everyone:
sign the petition
demanding that Wolfowitz be fired
from the World Bank.
14 April 2007 (
Urgent Note REAL ID
Massachusetts citizens:
Call your state representative and state senator, and say you want
them to reject implementation of the federal REAL ID program, because
it would turn drivers' licenses into national ID cards and that is too
much government power.
(Implementation would also be expensive, but make it clear that's
a secondary reason.)
14 April 2007 (
Extend tours of duty
Bush's wars have so drained the army that he hijacked to
conquer Iraq that he has decided to extend tours of duty.
That will not help morale.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Lots of West Point graduates are leaving the army as soon as they can
--
the highest rate of leaving since the Vietnam war
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The weakening of the US Army is a good thing. It is far stronger than
it needs to be to face any actual military threats to the US, and any
additional strength it has is used for unjust wars on behalf of the
corporations our government serves.
There are a number of places in the world where governments oppress
people so badly that they justify a war of liberation. They include
Darfur, Zimbabwe, and Uzbekistan. (Afghanistan was one of them, but
Bush failed to follow through because he really wanted to attack Iraq
instead.) But there's no chance Bush would use the army for such
a worthy cause. What he wants to do is attack Iran.
14 April 2007 (
Regulate business
Bush has a new plan for sabotaging federal agencies
whose job is to
regulate business. It seems to authorize the OB to rewrite reports
produced by agency scientists.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
14 April 2007 (
Along with the lies
A PBS program by Bill Moyers
shows how the US press
systematically went along with the lies Bush told
to justify his conquest of Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
14 April 2007 (
Even more power
Bush's new
spy chief wants even more power
to do surveillance in the US.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I have a suspicion that "monitoring foreigners...by tapping phones and
email accounts" includes tapping the phones and email accounts of US
citizens that the foreigners talk with, or might talk with. In other
words, absolutely anyone.
14 April 2007 (
Currencies other than the US dollar
Iran is increasingly selling its oil in currencies other than the US dollar.
This may puncture the power of the US.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
If the US loses its ability to borrow from the rest of the world
through commerce conducted in dollars, the full weight of the US
economic weakness will come home to roost, and the burden will
probably fall on ordinary Americans, as the rich people who benefited
from the policies which caused this weakness will evade it. Injustice
after injustice.
14 April 2007 (
Wolfowitz girlfriend on the payroll
Wolfowitz,
installed by Bush as president of the World Bank
and disliked by nearly everyone there, is now in trouble for having kept
his girlfriend on the payroll.
I don't think the initial situation was actually wrong; I think it is
unfair to fire someone because "Your lover just became head of the
organization." On the other hand, the World Bank / State Department
shuffle that they set up to disguise the situation cannot be excused
at all.
14 April 2007 (
FBI short-handed
The FBI's focus on terrorism leaves it
short-handed for dealing with swindlers
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
How convenient for Bush's cronies.
14 April 2007 (
Corrections in 9/11 report
A group of scientists and 9/11 victims' relatives
have asked the NIST to for corrections in its report
on the collapse of the WTC towers.
13 April 2007 (
Greatest crisis of modern times
John Pilger:
Iran may be the greatest crisis
of modern times.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
13 April 2007 (
Iranian diplomat tortured
Iranian diplomat Jalal Sharafi, who was kidnapped early this year and
released just before Iran released the British
Bush forces
personnel,
says that while a captive he was tortured by CIA agents.
His body bears witness to this
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
13 April 2007 (
Syria
Speaker Pelosi's visit to Syria
threatens to undermine
Bush's desire
to isolate Syria just as Speaker Wright's discussions with Nicaraguan
President Orgeta brought an end to Reagan's policy of arming the Contras
to try to overthrow him.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Jimmy Carter praises her visit.
13 April 2007 (
Urgent Note: National Impeachment Protest Day
April 28,
National Impeachment Protest Day
13 April 2007 (
Urgent Note Impeach
April 23-27, wear clothing, buttons, stickers that say
Impeach!
13 April 2007 (
Tigers
Tigers are
on the way to extinction
, because the government of India
has failed to protect them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
13 April 2007 (
Nuclear enrichment
Iran announced
that it has begun large-scale nuclear
enrichment. President Ahmadinejad says that if Iran is threatened
it will pull out of the treaties that block it from producing
uranium for nuclear weapons.
Iran is not close to building a nuclear bomb
-- and due to the
IAEA supervision it has accepted, it can't even start preparing
uranium to make bombs unless it first rejects that supervision.
If it is true that Iran trains Iraqi resistance fighters, that is not
surprising, since the
CIA funds groups that carry out terrorist attacks in Iran
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
If Bush is serious about punishing terrorists and their supporters,
he should start with himself.
13 April 2007 (
Antivehicle mines
The antivehicle mines used by the Iraqi Resistance produce
shock waves that
can cause brain injuries in people who are not visibly injured
One can compare the unseen effects of TBI from the resistance's
IEDs with the unseen effect of radiation from the
Bush forces
' DU (dirty
uranium) weapons, or the unseen effect of standing in "stress positions"
for hours or being denied sleep for days.
13 April 2007 (
Martin Luther King Jr.
The official story is that Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by James
Earl Ray, acting on his own for no particular reason. King's relatives
do not believe this story
, and in 1998 they won a wrongful death suit
against others who admitted to conspiring to kill King.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Supporting evidence
about this conspiracy.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
13 April 2007 (
Urgent Note: Climate Change
In the US: participate in the
national day of action against climate change
More information.
Find
local actions near you
13 April 2007 (
Urgent Note: EU Directive
Citizens of the EU:
Phone or write your members of the European Parliament to demand
changes "Intellectual Property Rights" Enforcement Directive #2, which
threatens to criminalize many sorts software and deputize
entertainment companies as enforcement police.
www.copycrime.eu
You can tell that this directive is bad just from its name. The term
"intellectual property" lumps together laws that have very little in
common, and views all of them from the wrong perspective: that of
privilege holders, not that of the public. If a law is written based
on such confused goals, only monumental luck can make it good.
See
for more explanation.
Rejecting the directive outright would be even better than changing
it.
13 April 2007 (
Luis Posada
Bush's "war on terrorism"
includes releasing terrorist Luis Posada on bail
Venezuela is seeking to extradite him so as to try him
for the bombing of a Cuban airliner.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
13 April 2007 (
No fly list
Legal scholar and professor emeritus Walter Murphy
has been placed on the "no fly" list
for criticizing Bush
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The "authorities" will probably not admit that that was the reason
for putting Murphy on the list. But since they refuse to justify
what they do, we are entitled to judge them based on surmise.
12 April 2007 (
Air travel
Proposal:
put a warning on ads for air travel:
"flying causes climate
change".
12 April 2007 (
Freedom of the press
Al Jazeera stands firm
for freedom of the press,
despite murder and imprisonment of its correspondents
by the Bush regime.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
12 April 2007 (
Torture
Israeli prisons
regularly torture Palestinians 16 years old
and sometimes down to 14 years, just the way they torture adults.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
12 April 2007 (
Coral reefs
Over half of the tropical coral reefs for which data is recorded are
being
degraded by overfishing
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
11 April 2007 (
Cheney claims
Cheney is trying
once again to claim
that Saddam Hussein worked
with Al Qa'ida.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
11 April 2007 (
5 years
B'liar
is
planning to keep troops in the Bush forces
for 5 years.
11 April 2007 (
Nature reserve in Indonesia
A substantial new nature reserve established in Indonesia provides
hope for preservation of hundreds of bird and mammal species.
However, this is a small fraction of Indonesia's forests, and the
overall forest situation in Indonesia remains bleak
11 April 2007 (
Porbeagle shark
The porbeagle shark has been so nearly wiped out by fishing
that the
EU decided it could not deserve to be protected
11 April 2007 (
New constitutional convention
Ecuador's President
Correa has won a confrontation with Congress
permitting the referendum for a new constitutional convention
to go forward.
09 April 2007 (
Threats to the world and humanity
A coming UN report
will detail the many threats to humanity and the
natural world if we don't cut the CO2 emissions.
09 April 2007 (
Israeli atrocities in Palestine
Israel took a Palestinian mother hostage
to pressure her sons into
making a confession.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
If they do make a confession, we won't know whether it is true or false,
but Israel will surely present it as truth.
Israel's retired chief interrogator
proudly discussed his torture techniques
in an interview. As he pulled
the life support tubes out of a wounded Palestinian in the hospital, the
doctor willingly turned his back.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Bassam Amin is a Palestinian nonviolent activist. His 10 year old
daughter Abir was shot and killed from behind by an Israeli soldier
this year. The Israeli "authorities" lied about it in the usual way.
This article
is by Bassam's Israeli colleague.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
300 residents of a Palestinian refugee camp
near Jerusalem have been
made refugees a second time; Israel has declared their homes illegal.
This is a common practice of the occupation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
09 April 2007 (
Deporting to danger
As violence rages in Darfur,
the B'liar regime wants to deport Darfuris back to Sudan
. A judge blocked
these deportations, but the government plans to appeal the decision.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
09 April 2007 (
Linking Laden and Saddam
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International, set up by the CIA
under Bush I, provides the missing
link between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein
. It funded them both, in
the 1980s.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
09 April 2007 (
Sabotaging prosecutors
For Bush,
sabotaging prosecutors who are willing to apply laws
that hurt Bush's cronies is nothing new. He did it as governor of Texas.
09 April 2007 (
The capture and release saga
The Guardian gives the story
behind the Iranian capture and release of
British sailors in the
Bush forces
and the negotiations involved.
09 April 2007 (
Guantanamo Bay prison
Amnesty International says
the prison in Guantanamo is even nastier than before
09 April 2007 (
Lead mine poisons town
A whole town in Australia was poisoned
by a lead mine, but even after all
the birds died, the authorities insisted nothing was wrong.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This sort of thing happens when governments value big businesses
above the citizens, which is common with today's sick democracy.
09 April 2007 (
Ethanol fuel
Making ethanol fuel from straw
instead of corn may be on the verge of
commercial feasibility. But it is not quite certain.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
09 April 2007 (
Stifling the EPA
Bush told the EPA to claim that it has no authority
to regulate
CO2 pollution. The Supreme Court ruled that it can.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
However, as long as Bush is in charge, he will probably not let the
EPA
really do anything.
09 April 2007 (
Pressing for information
Canada, Eritrea and Sweden are pressing Ethiopia
for information
about their citizens among the hundreds that Ethiopia holds prisoner secretly
on behalf of the Bush regime.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
At least one US citizen is believed to be among these prisoners, but
his government won't do anything for him.
09 April 2007 (
No reference to 'war on terrorism'
Democrats in Congress decided not to refer to the "war on terrorism"
in
the military budget.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This change is both correct and important. Since terrorism is a
tactic, not a movement or a people or a nation, the idea of fighting a
war "against terrorism" is basically absurd. It is not good to endorse
absurdities, in laws or anywhere else.
Meanwhile, Bush uses that expression to keep Americans scared, so that
they will support measures that hurt themselves or others. Cutting
down this practice is very important.
09 April 2007 (
YouTube in Thailand
Thailand has "banned" YouTube
for a video that insults Thailand's
king. So YouTube (a product of Google) says it will implement a
special feature so Thailand can block just those videos.
That's not what I would call resolute defense of freedom of speech.
07 April 2007 (
Setback for theocratic Christians
A setback for theocratic Christians: Bush's
anti-birth-control appointee to family-planning post has resigned
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
07 April 2007 (
Killing and maiming journalists
Mugabe's
thugs
are killing and maiming journalists --
including the
one believed to have smuggled out footage of opposition leader
Morgan
Tsvangirai.
07 April 2007 (
Refused to hear the appeal
The
US Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of the Guantanamo prisoners
who have been denied due process -- for now.
It left open the possibility of hearing the case later.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
07 April 2007 (
Bill to set a time limit
MoveOn's founders
explain why they supported the flawed Democratic bill
that sets a time limit for removing the
Bush forces
from Iraq.
It's not what they really want, but it is progress.
07 April 2007 (
Veterans for Peace
Veterans for Peace is organizing US military personnel
(some of whom
have actually participated in the
Bush forces
) to call on Congress to
end the occupation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
06 April 2007 (
Censorship law
The
US-backed Afghan government
is preparing a press censorship law.
06 April 2007 (
Officials to control pollution
Continuing the War on Integrity
, Bush wants to appoint three officials
to control pollution who have represented the polluters they would
be supposed to regulate.
06 April 2007 (
Iraq withdrawal bill
The Iraq withdrawal bill passed by Democrats in Congress states
various conditions for the
Bush forces
to remain for more than a few
months.
One shameful condition
is passage of the law that would hand
over Iraq's oil to western oil companies.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
06 April 2007 (
The worst of the worst
An Australian who briefly fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan, and
was held in Guantanamo and described by the Bushmen as "the worst of
the worst", is to be
sent to Australia for 9 months imprisonment
This proves that the US does not really consider him much of a threat.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Part of the deal is that
he cannot tell what was done to him in Guantanamo for a year
This is to help the Bush-supporting government
of Australia in the next Australian election.
06 April 2007 (
Fight it out
Bush and the US Congress are going to fight it out
over pulling the
Bush forces
combat troops out if Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The Democrats in Congress are in a weak position because they don't
dare criticize Bush as he deserves to be criticized.
06 April 2007 (
Watching people in public
The UK has some 4 million TV cameras watching people in public.
Most
of them perform surveillance, but some are used to scold people
immediately for fighting and littering.
I don't much mind TV cameras when the limit of what they do
is enable someone to watch for fighting, littering or theft.
They become a threat to freedom when they are used to make
permanent records of where people go. Many of the cameras
in the UK are doing just that: the police aim to record all
car travel.
06 April 2007 (
Control order
UK resident
Mahmoud Abu Rideh has won a court battle
against a
"control order" which greatly denied his freedom even though
he was never charged with a crime.
I would like to find out what the new control order says.
06 April 2007 (
Urgent Note: Guantanamo
Everyone:
sign the petition
to Bush to close the Guantanamo prison,
and give every prisoner either freedom or a fair trial.
06 April 2007 (
Diplomatic envoys
The
Bush forces
tried in January to capture Iranian diplomatic
envoys that had gone to Iraq
to meet with Iraqi and Kurdish officials.
They captured only underlings, but angered Iran enough to spur
retaliation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Iran's retaliation showed restraint, since it captured military
personnel that had arguably entered Iranian waters without permission.
Iran said recently
that the
Bush forces
will allow its representatives
to meet with the Iranians captured in January.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
06 April 2007 (
Carbon trading scheme
The EU's carbon trading scheme is
failing to curb emissions
from big
polluters.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
It seems to be yet another case of the subservience of government to
business.
If our governments don't find the will to stand up to business and
impose major cuts in their emissions, the rich people that own the
large businesses will buy their way out of the resulting problems --
but that will be impossible for everyone else.
06 April 2007 (
Marijuana for sick people
New Mexico has passed a law saying that the state must supply
marijuana
to sick people that need it.
In other states, which have authorized sick people to grow their own
marijuana, the federal government sometimes arrests them. I wonder
what it will do in New Mexico.
06 April 2007 (
Urgent note: Polar bears
US citizens:
send a comment to the Fish and Wildlife Service
in support of listing the polar bear as an endangered species.
06 April 2007 (
Victory is impossible
Henry Kissinger says
that victory for the
Bush forces
is impossible.
He also hints at a solution along the lines previously suggested
here, in cooperation with neighboring countries.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
No plan that is based on establishing permanent control of Iraq will be
accepted by the Iraqi people.
05 April 2007 (
Veterans who oppose the war
Iraq veterans who oppose the war showed Americans what it's like
to be occupied by the
Bush forces
--
with street theater in Washington DC
04 April 2007 (
Taliban
The Taliban executed three Afghans for giving information to NATO forces.
They want Afghans to regard those three as traitors.
If Afghans do see it that way, NATO cannot possibly win.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
04 April 2007 (
Maoist rebels
The Maoist rebels have joined Nepal's government, to
prepare for a vote on abolishing the monarchy
04 April 2007 (
Nonviolent peace activist
Hussam Shaheen, a Palestinian nonviolent peace activist, was arrested
by Israel for a protest chant, and
faces 24 years imprisonment
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
04 April 2007 (
Urgent Note: One Peace
Participate in the world-wide demonstrations June 5
for and end to the occupation of Palestine.
"Two peoples, two states, one peace."
04 April 2007 (
Awareness of torture
former prisoner in Guantanamo is now running for parliament
in Australia, to spread awareness of torture.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
03 April 2007 (
Latest Bush regime norms
Uncivilized Iran humiliates its
Bush forces
prisoners,
because it
fails to apply the latest Bush regime norms
. (By Monty Python.)
03 April 2007 (
Iran
report perhaps coming from Russian intelligence
says that
Bush is planning to attack Iran on April 6.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
There is speculation that the Iranian capture of some British members
of the
Bush forces
may have been intended to prevent an attack.
03 April 2007 (
10 year in prison for spray painting
A foreign resident of Thailand has been sentenced to 10 years in
prison for
spray painting over pictures of the king
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Nobody has a right not to be criticized -- not a king, not a prophet.
Nobody.
03 April 2007 (
Heavy fighting
Heavy fighting has broken out in Mogadishu
between the Ethiopian
troops and the Islamists.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Lots of people predicted this would happen.
03 April 2007 (
Released from torture
After the US released some Russian citizens from torture in
Guantanamo, it sent them back to Russia,
where some have been tortured into confessing crimes
Russian officials gave diplomatic assurances that it wouldn't do this,
but I am sure they knew that the Bush regime would wink at
noncompliance. This is why diplomatic assurances that "we won't
torture them", coming from a regime that regularly practices torture,
are worthless.
03 April 2007 (
Plastic shopping bags
San Francisco is moving to ban plastic shopping bags
from supermarkets
and drugstore chains. Paper bags are made from cutting trees, it is
true, but these trees are renewable resources.
02 April 2007 (
Urgent Note
US citizens:
express your opposition
to "fast track"
authority for new "free trade" agreements.
Also please phone or write your senators and congresscritter
about this.
02 April 2007 (
CO2 emissions
The UK's CO2 emissions are soaring,
showing that
all of B'liar's talk about reducing them
is just
B'lies.
02 April 2007 (
US-imitating policy
B'liar's
government plans to reverse its US-imitating policy of more and
longer prison sentences, and
aim for rehabilitation instead
02 April 2007 (
Baby Seals
Remember the cute baby seals that were killed in Canada for their fur?
Thanks to global warming
, all the baby seals in the Gulf of St
Lawrence died this year. This problem, together with several years of
unsustainable hunting, has devastated the population.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
But
Canada will allow hunting
there anyway.
The other populations of these seals are not yet affected by the
warming, but they will be in the future. Global warming is leading to
the elimination of permanent ice in the arctic, and this could cause
the species' extinction -- along with that of polar bears.
02 April 2007 (
Anyone found near a protest
In Denmark
, anyone found near a protest can be arrested, and is
considered guilty unless proved innocent.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 April 2007 (
Soybean production
As the Amazon rainforest is cut down for soybean production, often
illegally, the shutdown of an export terminal
could be a substantial victory
if it is not reversed.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 April 2007 (
RFIDs
RFIDs are being
secretly snuck into many products
including credit cards. You can detect them with an
RFID detector
and
you can smash them with a hammer
[References updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
links
were broken.]
02 April 2007 (
Imprisoned in Guantanamo for 5 years
Bisher al-Rawi, who has been imprisoned in Guantanamo for 5 years
despite having worked for British Intelligence,
may be released to return to the UK
The UK government for a long time refused to even try to get him out.
01 April 2007 (
An inhumane system
A joint committee of MPs concluded that the
UK's asylum system is "inhumane"
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
01 April 2007 (
Robert Mugabe
Mugabe's police are arresting large number of the opposition
in
Zimbabwe, and beating them up just out of spite. Others in his own
party seems to be looking for a way to get rid of him.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
01 April 2007 (
Dishonest accusations
The US mass media repeatedly and systematically
attacked Gore using false and distorted quotations
. They accused him of
"lying" for words he didn't say.
I don't support Gore, and I didn't in 2000, because he bows down to
big business almost as much as Republicans do. He supports
antidemocratic "free trade" treaties. When he was vice president, he
tried to pressure South Africa not to authorize licenses for generic
medicines for AIDS -- acting, in effect, on behalf of the drug
companies. (Nowadays the Bush regime does the same thing.)
However, Gore's real faults don't make the media's dishonest campaign
against him any more excusable. It was in no way based on Gore's real
shortcomings. It was simple character assassination. I would expect
it was planned by the executives of the media companies, who know
which candidate they favor.
Gore is not the only victim of this. Remember how Howard Dean was
attacked, when he was the front runner for the Democratic nomination,
by playing his shout of victory in a distorted way? He had recently
criticized media concentration, so the media lied about him
nonverbally.
I can testify myself to the arrogance of reporters. Many of them
insist on calling the GNU system "Linux", and present the shallowest
of reasons to justify this unfairness -- and then they expect me
to be desperate for their attention.
01 April 2007 (
Iran war is on
Many US sources support Iran's contention that the
US is already engaged in acts of war against Iran
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
31 March 2007 (
Urgent Note
Massachusetts residents: contact your state senator and state representative
to support SB 1011, SB 944, and HB 2247. These bills would reduce penalties
for possession of marijuana.
31 March 2007 (
Saving the Amazon rainforest
As the Amazon rainforest is cut down for soybean production, often
illegally,
the shutdown of an export terminal could be a substantial victory
-- if it
is not reversed.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
31 March 2007 (
Pulling out the troops
The US Senate joined the House
in passing a requirement to remove
the
Bush forces
from Iraq. But it lacks the binding deadline
of the House bill.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
These bills are not what ought to be done. What ought to be done
is to pull out all the troops, without delay. Nonetheless, they are
much better than nothing, as evinced by
Dubya
's reaction.
It is interesting to analyze the fallacious Bush responses -- all
based on trying to confuse the issue.
31 March 2007 (
B'liar, Iran and the captured marines
B'liar
says the captured
Bush forces
marines and sailors
were in Iraqi waters.
This article argues
that, although no one can be sure, it is more
plausible that that location constitutes Iranian waters.
However, the Iranians could have just told those
Bush forces
personnel
to leave. That they did something more serious might be a response to
threats of war, undercover forces infiltrating, terror attacks, etc.
31 March 2007 (
Bob Barr changes stand
Former Congressman Bob Barr, former extreme prohibitionist, is
now lobbying for the Marijuana Policy Project
to end federal
anti-marijuana activity.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
31 March 2007 (
Disaster strikes Bangladesh
Bangladesh is being affected
by climate change in many disastrous ways.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
31 March 2007 (
Close to collapse
Darfur aid relief 'close to collapse'
, UN chief warns.
31 March 2007 (
Toolbox to defy regulation
When businesses face criticism for mistreating the environment or
the public, they have a
large toolbox of arguments
they use,
whether valid or not, to deflect pressure for regulation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
31 March 2007 (
Inadequate apology from Abe
Japanese Prime Minister Abe made an inadequate apology
to the
women that the Japanese Army used as prostitutes. not recognizing that the
Army forced them into this.
In Indonesia, the Japanese occupiers convinced families to send their
teenage daughters for "education in Japan", but the ships took them to
military zones where they were forced to act as prostitutes. After
the war, those who survived were too ashamed to try to go home.
Pramodya Ananta Toer encountered some of them while a political
prisoner, and later collected testimony which shows how widespread and
systematic this practice was.
30 March 2007 (
Urgent Note
Everyone:
Sign this petition
asking Israeli and Palestinian leaders
to make real peace their goal.
30 March 2007 (
Reinterpret the Endangered Species Act
The Bush regime has decided to reinterpret the Endangered Species
Act
so as to negate much of its effect
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
30 March 2007 (
War crimes
highly respected Spanish judge
who has been involved with the trials
of many important terrorists, has called for war crimes charges to be
filed against Bush,
B'liar
and their former Spanish supporter, Aznar.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
30 March 2007 (
Intentionally sabotaged
The Bush regime intentionally sabotaged the DOJ's
case against the big tobacco companies
30 March 2007 (
Native groups from Alaska
Native groups from Alaska have joined many others to
ask Congress to put limits on CO2 emission
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
A large coal company is lobbying to replace that with research on
clean coal
technology--research which might, perhaps, provide
an acceptable alternative. An absurd idea.
30 March 2007 (
Fleeing to Syria
What it is like
for Iraqi refugees fleeing to Syria.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
30 March 2007 (
Picture of threatening message
The New York Times published a picture of threatening message from a
wall in Baghdad.
This article claims
that the message must have been
written by someone that didn't really speak Arabic.
30 March 2007 (
EU constitution
The
EU may try again to write a constitution
(without using that
name).
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
With current political leadership, no good can be expected from this.
The proposed constitution enshrined the power of business, and they are
likely to try that again.
30 March 2007 (
No right to sue
A US
lawsuit accusing Rumsfeld of presiding over the torture of prisoners was thrown out
on the grounds that the prisoners
have no right to sue.
A system that refuses to hold officials that allow torture
responsible for their actions is a system that endorses torture.
30 March 2007 (
Lancet study
After The Lancet published a study estimating that the invasion of
Iraq had caused the violent deaths of 600,000 Iraqis,
B'liar's
scientific advisors told him that the study's analysis was valid.
B'liar
and his men
then told the public that the report was invalid
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The
B'liar
regime has still not admitted the truth. I have read
elsewhere that the BBC used the Freedom of Information act to find out
what the advisors said. No wonder
B'liar
wants to destroy the Freedom of
Information act.
For more information
see here
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
30 March 2007 (
Real peace
In Ulster, the
leaders of the Catholics and Protestants have made real peace
and now will go into government together.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
28 March 2007 (
Bush forces mercenaries
The
Bush forces
use
around 50,000 private mercenaries
in addition to
the soldiers who are officially soldiers. Around 800 have been
killed, but they are not included in the casualty lists. Since
military regulations do not apply, it is hard to get any information
about them.
28 March 2007 (
Mugabe imposes state of emergency
Mugabe has
imposed
a state of emergency
, sending police hit squads
against opposition leaders.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
28 March 2007 (
Fleeing Somalis interrogated by US
Somalis who fled to Kenya were
interrogated
by the US and then flown to secret prisons
in undisclosed locations.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
28 March 2007 (
Iran captures sailors
Iran
captured
some Bush forces marines and sailors
who were inspecting
a civilian ship.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Iran says they were in Iranian waters, while
B'liar
says no.
Neither side can be trusted, though.
International
double standard: Iran and the US
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The government of Iran is no champion of human rights either; it
arrests people without trial and sometimes tortures them. However, it
has not started wars of aggression.
Iran's democracy is rather limited, since elected officials can be
overruled by the mullahs, and candidates cannot even run without their
approval. The US' democracy is rather limited, since elected
officials can be overruled by the "free trade" treaties that transfer
power from the state to business, and candidates have little chance of
winning national office without support from business.
27 March 2007 (
Provance on Abu Ghraib
Former
Bush forces
Sergeant Provance, who was gagged when he tried to
push the Abu Ghraib torture investigation to the higher ups that
instigated the torture,
reports
on what he saw
at a screening of
"Ghosts of Abu Ghraib": Senator Lindsey Graham openly endorsed
torture.
27 March 2007 (
Turnpike Privatization
The governors of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Republicans of course,
are
planning
to rob the treasury by privatizing the turnpikes
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
27 March 2007 (
Mugabe opponent's wife killed
After opposition activist Tendayi Goneso fled Zimbabwe,
the police
killed
his wife
because they couldn't get him. Now,
as Mugabe's rule heads for absolute cruelty,
the UK seems to be preparing to deport him back to Zimbabwe.
That site has badly designed HTML; you may need to go to
the 18th article by hand.
27 March 2007 (
Palestinian and Israeli textbooks
Uri Avnery: Palestinian school textbooks
don't recognize
Israel and its frontiers
. And Israeli school textbooks don't recognize
Palestine and its frontiers -- so they are even.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
27 March 2007 (
GM crops may wipe out bees
Genetically modified crops
could
be responsible for wiping out bee populations
They don't kill bees directly, but seem to destroy their
immune systems.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
27 March 2007 (
Gagged by NASA
Dr. Hansen testified to Congress about
how NASA gagged him
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The orders were given verbally so as to be able to deny they were given.
27 March 2007 (
Tortured into false confessions
It appears that Khalid Sheik Mohammed was tortured into false
confessions--like many other Guantanamo prisoners. Even worse,
Senator Lindsay Graham knew about the torture
of Khalid Sheik
Mohammed, and did nothing to stop it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
26 March 2007 (
Law requiring combat troops withdrawal
The US House of Representatives approved a law requiring combat troops
from the US to be withdrawn from the
Bush forces
, by September 2008.
But this doesn't include all the troops in the Bush forces
, so it
doesn't really require a withdrawal, or an end of the occupation and
colonization of Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
26 March 2007 (
Arrested without charges
The Israeli police had arrested a Palestinian, without charges of
course.
To put pressure on him
, they humiliated his family and made
them pretend to be prisoners.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 March 2007 (
Consenting to a war
Congressional democrats have backed down on plans to block Bush from attacking Iran
thus in effect consenting to a war
at any time.
25 March 2007 (
Urgent Note: Habeas Corpus
US citizens: Sign Public Citizen's
petition to restore the right of Habeas Corpus
25 March 2007 (
Backed down
Congressional democrats have backed down on plans to block
Bush from attacking Iran --
obeying AIPAC over the objections
of most American Jews.
25 March 2007 (
Dirty Uranium shells
Belgium has passed a law banned Dirty Uranium shells and armor.
After
two years, the US will not be allowed to bring such weapons into
Belgium or ship them through Antwerp.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 March 2007 (
War on Integrity continues
Dubya
's War on Integrity continues
one that was started by Reagan
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
One point that this article does not mention is Reagan's destruction
of anti-trust law, which was only partly reversed by Clinton. This,
together with the transfer of power to large companies brought about
by Clinton's "free trade" treaties, has made the general political
situation much worse for progressives in a long-term way.
25 March 2007 (
Urgent Note: DRM
US voters: write to your congresspeople and senators to
oppose the Feinstein's PERFORM act
which is intended to impose mandatory DRM
on music on the internet.
25 March 2007 (
Siria Valley of Honduras
In the Siria Valley of Honduras,
a gold mine takes all the water
so that poor people have to buy water to drink. The government
hardly taxes the mine at all, so they get very little in exchange
for the loss of their water.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 March 2007 (
Birds in the US
Birds in the US are
staying north for the winter
-- possibly due to
global warming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 March 2007 (
Cruelty alternating with hospitality
An Italian journalist,
held by the Taliban as a spy for two weeks
when
he sought an interview, tells a story of bloody cruelty alternating
with hospitality. Before the Taliban decided he was a journalist and
let him go, they beheaded his driver.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Later it was revealed that the journalist had been
exchanged for Taliban prisoners
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 March 2007 (
Flagrantly illegal
The
occasions when FBI has got personal information
beyond even the weak limits of the U SAP AT RIOT Act
may number 3,000, and 600 of the cases may be flagrantly illegal.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This does not count the times when the U SAP AT RIOT Act
legally authorized the FBI to trample our rights. They number
almost 1000 a week.
23 March 2007 (
Taxes and low-paid workers
Gordon Drown announced plans
to cut taxes on some low-paid workers,
but increase taxes on the lowest-paid workers.
What poor people need is not a tax cut (assuming their taxes are fairly
low already), but rather increased social services paid for by taxing
the rich.
23 March 2007 (
Fear deportation
Uddhav Bhandari
, who fled to the UK from Nepal after exposing police
corruption there, went to a hearing that could have decided to deport
him back to Nepal. Rather than plead his case, he set himself on fire
and died.
Refugees like Bhandari should not have to fear deportation.
Shame on the UK!
23 March 2007 (
Proyecto Varela
Proyecto Varela is a campaign for human rights in Cuba.
Oswaldo
Payá obtained more than 10,000 signatures on a petition for a
referendum for basic freedoms, such as freedom of the press and
association, and release of political prisoners. According to the
Cuban constitution, that means the referendum must be held -- but it
has not been.
Payá seeks peaceful reconciliation among Cubans, and wants to
preserve the achievements of the Cuban revolution (health care,
education, elimination of extreme poverty, and independence from the
US and multinational business). As a result, the right-wing Cuban
exiles in Miami don't like him either.
Most reports say
that Castro regime holds 284 people prisoner without
trial in Cuba, but the last reliable figures are from late 2005: 70
political prisoners.
The bulk of the prisoners held without trial in Cuba -- almost 400 --
are not held by Castro's government. They are prisoners of the Bush
regime, in Guantanamo.
All of these prisoners, whichever government holds them, deserve to be
freed, or given fair trials.
23 March 2007 (
Changes in government reports
A Bush official who came from the oil business made hundreds of
changes in US government reports,
all to deny global warming
Even more disgusting,
some Republicans in Congress support it
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I disagree, however, with the accusation that Cooney acted out of
loyalty to Bush, who had appointed him. I would say that Cooney
continued was working for the oil companies once he was nominally
working for the US government -- just like Bush and Cheney.
23 March 2007 (
Blood-drenched disaster
Four years after Bush's invasion, Iraq is a blood-drenched disaster.
A rare journalistic visit outside Baghdad
shows the level of violence
in the rest of Iraq, and how little the
Bush forces
(whether nominally
American or Iraqi) can do about it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
23 March 2007 (
Policy of secrecy
Congressional democrats are
trying to reverse
part of the Bush
regime's policy of secrecy.
23 March 2007 (
Supermarkets in Venezuela
Supermarkets in Venezuela have been
pushing up prices of basic foodstuffs
--doubling
them in some cases. Chavez told them that if they
do this, they will be nationalized.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Price controls have a tendency to cause shortages, so they may be part
of the cause of the problem. However, businesses that take advantage
of such situations with speculation are not innocent. Nonetheless, I
would probably prefer to break up the big supermarket chains,
introducing more competition, rather than control prices.
22 March 2007 (
Stifling the opposition
Zimbabwe's dictator is arresting opposition leaders
as they try to leave
the country.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
22 March 2007 (
Urgent note
US citizens: call your congresscritter to ask him/her to support a binding
time limit for removing the
Bush forces
from Iraq-- and the sooner the limit,
the better. Also say you support the proposed Lee Amendment to shorten the
timetable.
21 March 2007 (
Urgent note
Everyone: sign the petition for
stronger sanctions against Mugabe
21 March 2007 (
Egyptian parliament
The
opposition has walked out of the Egyptian parliament
in protest
against new laws to suppress political opposition.
21 March 2007 (
System that encourages torture
Professor Zimbardo,
past president of the American Psychology Association
says that torture in Bush's prisons resulted from
a system that encourages it, and that Bush should be tried for
war crimes.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Hear, hear!
21 March 2007 (
The price of oil
A secret Bush regime plan
, written for the State Department by oil
company executives, called for using the occupation of Iraq to raise
the price of oil, so as to make a windfall for the oil companies.
A high oil price promotes conservation, so in itself it is good. But
it ought to be accompanied by a windfall profits tax, so that the
windfall goes to the treasury and not to Bush's cronies. However,
that's not what Bush would want. Enriching his cronies is his aim.
21 March 2007 (
B'liar may face ICC trial
Tony B'liar
may
someday face trial in the International Criminal Court
for the
crime of starting the war in Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 March 2007 (
Sick woman prosecuted for Marijuana
A court
ruled
in favor of prosecution on drug charges
of a sick woman, whose doctors say only marijuana can keep her alive.
If she is convicted and sentenced to prison, it would amount to a death
sentence with a very painful method of execution.
20 March 2007 (
Persecuted by the US government for 20 years
Two activists who vocally supported Palestinian rights
in the 1980s
have been persecuted by the US government for 20 years. When judges dismiss
charges, the US government files new charges.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
They have just won dismissal of the charges against them, but will
Bush allow that to stick?
20 March 2007 (
Nuclear power industry
The nuclear power industry has hired
spokesmen formerly associated with the environmental movement
and presents them
as environmentalists for nuclear power.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
20 March 2007 (
Confession in secret trial
The
Bush regime says that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has confessed
planning the 9/11 attacks in the US and other terrorist attacks.
Since this confession was presented in a secret trial, we have no way
of telling whether he really confessed at all. If he did, we cannot
be sure the confession is true. Torture will make people confess to
crimes they did not commit, and we know he was tortured.
Beyond general suspicion
, there is evidence that this confession is
not true: he confessed to planning to bomb a bank which was founded
only after he was captured.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
20 March 2007 (
Torture
Bush regime continues to torture prisoners
, in Iraq as well as in
Guantanamo.
Bush deserves a fair trial before he is imprisoned for this.
And he should not be tortured.
20 March 2007 (
Police in Pakistan
Police in Pakistan rampaged through a newspaper and TV station's
office,
to stop them from showing videos of protests
A statement by the organization attacked.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
19 March 2007 (
Poisoning the public
The old Union Carbide plant in Bhopal
is poisoning the public again.
The Indian government is ignoring its own laws and court judgment by
failing to supply them with potable water.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 March 2007 (
Palestinian unity cabinet approved
A new
Palestinian
national unity government
might end the fighting between Hamas
and Fatah. It has also won recognition from Norway.
The conditions that the US and EU demand of the Palestinians would
be fair if they were demanded also of Israel. Israel must recognize
the existence and territorial integrity of Palestine in exchange for
a similar recognition from Palestine. And it makes no sense to demand
that Palestinians end their rather small level of violence without
demanding that Israel end its much greater level of violence.
18 March 2007 (
Halliburton planning to move to Dubai
Halliburton
is planning to move to Dubai
, apparently so as to thwart investigation
of how it robbed the US treasury with Cheney's help.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 March 2007 (
Tsvangirai tries to inspire opposition with his injuries
Zimbabwean opposition leader Tsvangirai points to the
injuries
from his beating in prison
to galvanize opposition.
18 March 2007 (
Banana grower's paramilitary links
Chiquita
Banana funded paramilitaries in Colombia, and shipped arms to them
They killed union organizers, which Chiquita must have found useful.
Eventually Chiquita informed the Bush regime, and continued supporting
the paramilitaries for almost a year after.
The article says Chiquita sold its Colombian subsidiary, but I wonder
what relationship they continue to have. Perhaps it is enough relationship
that Chiquita remains morally responsible for its current conduct,
though I do not know.
Compare this with the world-wide boycott of Coca Cola Company for
using paramilitaries to kill union organizers in Colombia.
18 March 2007 (
US Spends a trillion for war
The US is now
spending
over a trillion dollars a year
on security, defense, and offensive war.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
17 March 2007 (
Darfur massacres
UN investigators place the responsibility for massacres in Darfur
squarely on the government of Sudan
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
17 March 2007 (
Gonzalez in trouble
Torture Gonzales is in political trouble
for the political firing of
US attorneys that had too much integrity.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Gonzalez was operating on orders from Harriet Miers
, a close aide of Bush.
It seems plausible that Miers discussed this with Bush, even though we
have no proof yet. But even if he did not specifically approve this
plan, he is responsible for it, because it comes out of the general
climate of corruption created by his
War on Integrity
17 March 2007 (
To be jailed for singing
A Sikh faces jail
in India for 'singing about human rights'.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
17 March 2007 (
Evicting the poor
In a wealthy area of Sao Paulo
, poor squatters who live in an abandoned
building wait to be evicted.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
They are squatting because they are poor, not on principle. They would surely
be happy to be bought out for a price that would be small potatoes to the rich
people that want to use the site. Their refusal to pay that amount just
reinforces the nastiness of their greed.
17 March 2007 (
Disaster for rights workers
An Iranian blogger who was arrested for reporting
on a police raid
has been freed -- but other human rights activists have been arrested.
I've seen reports that the US does support violent separatist groups in Iran.
And the US does have a practice of feeding money to opposition groups even
in democratic countries, for motives that have nothing to do with human rights.
This is a disaster for human rights workers, since it means that US funds
are tainted.
16 March 2007 (
Reductions in CO2 emissions
Bliar
has put forward a bill setting up a framework for
major reductions in CO2 emissions in the UK. However,
it
lacks the penalty provisions necessary to make sure it is enforced
and doesn't spell out policies to reach the targets.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 March 2007 (
Taking his job too seriously
Pakistan's ruler
Musharraf has arrested the chief judge
, who was
taking his job too seriously in a case about hundreds of human rights
activists that have been disappeared, Bush-style. Lawyers protested
this, and were attacked by policemen, receiving the treatment usually
reserved for poor and un-prestigious people that protest.
16 March 2007 (
Poverty in the UK
B'liar's
callous response to
greater poverty in the UK compared with the rest of Europe
is to reduce aid to the poor.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 March 2007 (
No one will be punished
The
Bush forces
soldiers accused of beating prisoner Baha Musa to
death
have been all acquitted. No one will be punished for his
murder.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
A colonel was acquitted based on evidence that higher officers
had approved the forms of violence that killed Baha Musa.
"Just following orders" is not supposed to be an excuse!
Another
Bush forces
soldier testified that
his commander ordered him
to kill prisoners
, then create fake evidence of a struggle.
What this means is that the
Bush forces
can murder civilians with
impunity, and can establish policies that encourage such murder with
impunity.
15 March 2007 (
Paramilitaries of Colombia
Amnesty International reports
on how the paramilitaries
of Colombia have built corrupted much of Colombian society.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
These paramilitaries were supported by the Colombian government which
was in turn supported by the US government.
15 March 2007 (
Paid advertising
Companies are paying thousands of bloggers to promote products
and not admit it is paid advertising.
15 March 2007 (
Copyright law to suppress criticism
Australian mining companies
are using copyright law to suppress
satirical criticism of their policies.
15 March 2007 (
Rite Aid
Rite Aid drugs works closely with the tobacco companies and lobbies
against measures to reduce smoking.
So when the American Heart Association cooperate with Rite Aid, is that honest?
To me, it is an instance of the systematic corruption of
civic institutions in the US by corporate money.
15 March 2007 (
Acts of brutality in Kosovo
Serbs were not the only ones to commit acts of brutality in
Kosovo. After the Albanian Kosovars won,
they more or less chased out the Serbs.
The former leader of the KLA is now accused of ethnic cleansing
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
(I think that it was less bad to have the Serb minority chased out
than to have them oppressing the Albanian majority. So the de-facto
independence of Kosovo was a good thing. But this does not justify
mistreating unarmed Serbs.)
15 March 2007 (
Wal-Mart
We all know how Wal-Mart mistreats its own workers, but that's just
the tip of the iceberg of the harm it does. Through its size, it
almost
compels producers to run sweatshops,
making Wal-Mart a substantial producer of poverty world-wide
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
15 March 2007 (
Captive women
As captive women raped and used as prostitutes by Japanese troops
increasingly speak out to condemn what was done to them,
the Prime Minister of Japan is lying to deny it
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
15 March 2007 (
Human rights in the US
China's report on human rights in the US.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The first section, about levels of violent crime not committed by the
government, seems like a side issue to me; go past that to see the
real meat of the report.
Isn't it a shame that the US has sunk so low that it is no longer
in a position to criticize China?
15 March 2007 (
Trying to stop new highway
Indians like Harriett Nahanee
aren't the only people
trying to stop British Columbia from building a new highway
and destroying rare
ecosystems.
14 March 2007 (
Police attacked non violent protest in Tacoma
Police in Tacoma
violently
attacked a nonviolent protest
against the embarkation of army
combat vehicles to join the
Bush forces
in occupation of Iraq. The
protestors are undeterred.
Police in the US must decide whether to serve the people or the traitor in the White House.
Please do not look at the videos on YouTube, because you would have
to install a non-free program (the Flash player) to do that, and installing
non-free software is not ethical. I am unhappy with the fact that
some of my speeches have been posted on YouTube, where they act as
inducement for people to do exactly the thing I believe they should
not do.
I hope to write to the people who run the indybay site and ask them
to post videos on their own site rather than on YouTube.
14 March 2007 (
Woman arrested over police rape claims
Bush's "Iraqi government" has
arrested
the woman who accused three "Iraqi policemen" of rape
This reflects the junction of the civil war with the Islamic attitude towards
women: that they are men's property. It is the same attitude that shows itself
when women are murdered by male relatives who believe the woman has damaged
her value to them by choosing her own lover.
14 March 2007 (
Treaty to prevent enforced disappearance
The latest UN treaty, the International Convention for the Protection
of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, commits governments not to
keep prisoners secretly or in secret prisons. Of course, such bastions
of liberty as
the US and the UK did not sign it
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
14 March 2007 (
Misusing power
The FBI has often misused the warrantless surveillance powers
that
were given to it by the U SAP AT RIOT Act, says a DOJ investigator who
reviewed FBI practices. That law gives the police power that cannot
be allowed in a democracy, but even that wasn't enough to satisfy them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The Bush regime tried to avoid having such reviews,
so that we would not find out about this.
14 March 2007 (
Driven into exile
Iraq's ancient minority groups are being
systematically driven into exile
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
14 March 2007 (
A planned invasion
Israel planned last summer's invasion of Lebanon in advance
, and
planned to use the capture of some Israeli soldiers (whenever that should
happen) as an excuse. Avnery draws an interesting conclusion: that these
events refute the theory that Israel controls US foreign policy. However,
lobbyists are pretty effective at stopping US politicians from criticizing
the occupation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
14 March 2007 (
Denying Medicaid payments
Many US citizens are being denied Medicaid payments
due to a new
requirement to prove one's citizenship.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
14 March 2007 (
Spying for Britain
The Taliban claims
the kidnapped Italian reporter was spying for
Britain.
I wonder if they tortured him to get this confession.
12 March 2007 (
Bush is touring Latin America
Bush is touring Latin America --
mostly countries whose governments are subservient
-- hoping that promises to "pay more attention"
to the region will win support.
Note the deception embodied in presenting the issue as one of how
much
attention the US pays or will pay to Latin America: it
assumes that such attention is beneficial, which is contrary to the
facts.
But the
people of these countries are not fooled
12 March 2007 (
Another Russian journalist murdered
Another Russian journalist has been murdered (though it's
supposed to be suicide
if you believe that).
12 March 2007 (
Animals born weeks too early
Global warming is causing many animals
in the UK to be born weeks
too early, which can endanger them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
And this is just the beginning of what will happen.
11 March 2007 (
Polluting the oceans
Human production of CO2
is not just heating up the atmosphere. It
also makes the ocean more acidic, and this has unpredictable effects
on life and chemistry in the ocean.
11 March 2007 (
Temporary surge
Bush's "temporary surge"
is turning into a permanent increase.
Who would ever expect Bush to tell the truth?
11 March 2007 (
Silencing the intellect
Turkey's liberal intellectuals have been silenced
by a nationalist
campaign of prosecution and murder.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
11 March 2007 (
Youth centre torn down
The city of Copenhagen evicted and tore down
a youth center
which was originally a squat, but later was authorized.
The city cannot justify this on the fact that the building had been
sold to a church, because selling it and providing no replacement was
the initial wrong, and it was the city's fault.
11 March 2007 (
Directed into debt
American life directs most Americans into permanent debt
that they
will find it hard ever to escape from.
10 March 2007 (
Criminal becomes attorney
As part of Bush's plan to reduce US attorneys to slavish obedience,
he appointed a man who helped Bush steal the 2004 election
, using a
scheme to systematically disenfranchise Black voters who are homeless,
away at school, or in the armed forces.
Greg Palast argues that this scheme was a felony: this man should be a
defendant, not a prosecutor.
10 March 2007 (
Deported and tortured
Amnesty International denounces the UK for deporting people to
deporting people to countries where they are likely to be tortured
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
B'liar
justifies this on the strength of formal assurances from those
governments that they won't torture these people -- but those
governments are well aware that
B'liar
would rather help them cover up
such torture than take them to task for it.
10 March 2007 (
Scooter Libby
Scooter Libby, Cheney's former aide, has been convicted
on several
charges, taking the fall to protect Cheney from something (and conceal
from us what that something is). People suspect that Bush will
eventually pardon him.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The US needs a constitutional amendment to prevent presidents from
pardoning people that commit crimes on their behalf.
10 March 2007 (
Fighting the Talibans
US forces tried to bomb Taliban fighters in a village
, and killed
a family instead.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Yes, it was dirty of the Taliban to retreat into a village, but the US
forces have to learn that, unfair as it may seem to them, they must
not bomb the village when that happens.
10 March 2007 (
Banning folk tales
Hamas removed a book of Palestinian folk tales
from Palestinian schools
because it talks about sex. Other Palestinians have protested this.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The success of Hamas is due to its refusal to accept the occupation.
The harm done by Hamas' imposition of strict religious standards is
therefore indirectly due to the occupation. (Hamas was originally
built up by Israel in order to weaken the PLO.)
09 March 2007 (
Driven by moral panic
The
UK Royal Society for the Arts condemned drug prohibition
as "driven by moral panic", based on a prejudice against drugs
other than tobacco and alcohol which often are safer than them.
09 March 2007 (
Positive stories only
The Bush regime has a
pervasive policy about journalists talking with soldiers
positive stories only!
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
09 March 2007 (
US-style sprawl development
10 ways that US-style sprawl development is harmful.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I could add that low-density living makes it hard
for buses and trains to work well, condemning people
to dependence on cars, which means more energy use,
more likelihood of wars over oil, etc.
09 March 2007 (
Environmental-minded investors
Some environmental-minded investors
bought out a company that was planning to build 11 new coal-fired power plants
and killed 8 of them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
09 March 2007 (
Anti-terror laws
Only 4% of those arrested under the UK's "anti-terror laws" has been
charged with anything.
Clearly the laws are being used for fishing expeditions
(as well as to suppress protests).
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Bush would have pushed that percentage up higher, by framing the
people arrested by mistake, or kidnapping them and not reporting it.
09 March 2007 (
Melting ice
major international campaign is starting to study
the
melting of ice in the Arctic and Antarctic.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
08 March 2007 (
Spies
Several
men arrested filming the attacks on the World Trade Center
appeared to be Israeli spies. It looks like they were part of a
network that was monitoring the hijackers, and that maybe they knew
about the attack in advance.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Bush had them released and shut down the investigation into what they
were doing.
08 March 2007 (
State secret
While Germany issues arrest warrants for the CIA kidnappers of
Khaled El-Masri, a US appeals court rejected his lawsuit on the grounds
that
the relevant evidence is a state secret
The court explicitly said that the regime can protect any sort of
injustice, no matter how egregious, and need not even explain why. It
adds up to carte blanche for kidnapping and torture, even murder.
08 March 2007 (
Standard tactics for tyrants
A reporter for Al Jazeera, who has been
held prisoner in Guantanamo for 5 years without charges
is being force-fed through the nose
after two months on hunger strike.
He says that the Bush regime's agents tortured him when he refused to
incriminate Al Jazeera, and that they threatened to harm his children.
Standard tactics for tyrants.
08 March 2007 (
NIH reports on chemicals
The NIH makes reports on chemicals likely to damage human reproductive
systems, but outsources this to a
consulting company that mostly works for other businesses
Its other employers may be influencing the
reports.
08 March 2007 (
Studies funded by drug companies
There is a
systematic pattern that studies of drug effects are less likely to show any problems
when the studies are funded
by drug companies.
Is this because the funding corrupts the investigators, or is it
because the drug companies study "safer bets"?
One approach that might make it unnecessary to answer this question
is to put a tax on the sale of patented drugs, and use that money
to fund studies of drugs that drug companies want to produce.
08 March 2007 (
Somalia
An
African army is arriving in Somalia
, but it doesn't
seem to be able to prevent the violence there.
The leader of neighboring Djibuti says that
things are no safer in the region
after the defeat of the Islamic Courts government.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
08 March 2007 (
Honeybees
A mysterious disease is killing honeybees in the US.
It has already
killed most of them. This can be a disaster for agriculture.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
08 March 2007 (
Exile
Iraq's ancient minority groups are being
systematically driven into exile
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
08 March 2007 (
Conscientious objector
Augustin Aguayo, who was sent to the
Bush forces
as a medic, was
forced into combat duty despite being a conscientious objector
. So he
refused to go to Iraq again. Now he faces 7 years imprisonment.
(He was convicted, I read later.)
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I do not agree with Aguayo's belief that war is never
justified. For instance, because the occupation of Iraq is a crime,
fighting against it is justified.
However, the treatment of Mr. Aguayo is a different issue. US laws
recognize that people with his views have a right to conscientious
objection, and he ought to be allowed that status.
What we are seeing is yet another instance of the Bush regime's
pattern of denying people their legal rights.
07 March 2007 (
Harriett Nahanee
Harriett Nahanee, an Indian in Canada who protested against plans to
sell off tribal land for a highway, received a two-week prison
sentence. As
she was old and sick, this was a death sentence
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This article does not say what Harriett was accused of, nor whether
she actually did it, nor give us a basis for judging whether it was
right or wrong if she did do it. However, sentencing a sick person to
prison without what's needed for that person's health cannot be
justified by any possible crime.
Killing people this way is done in the US too.
07 March 2007 (
Photographing acts of violence
France has passed a law making it a crime
for anyone but a
professional journalist to photograph an act of violence. This means
that police who want to attack someone on the street, perhaps a
protester, are protected from video recordings. If someone does
catch them in the act, that someone probably won't dare testify.
And anyone making a video of a protest, when the police start
attacking the protestors, will also be in danger of imprisonment.
France needs a hero who will defy this law -- and then dare
the French government to prosecute him, because by doing so
it would prove how evil it is.
07 March 2007 (
Asking Iran about Iraq
Bush is starting diplomatic contacts
with Iran over what to do in
Iraq.
Maybe it is a step forward.
07 March 2007 (
Violence around the world
Measuring
how the Iraq occupation has stimulated Islamist violence
around the world.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
07 March 2007 (
Ethanol
Substituting ethanol for gasoline is
creating grave environmental destruction in Brazil
where environmental laws are not enforced. And
it is driving up the price of food. People could starve to fill your
car's ethanol tank.
07 March 2007 (
Troops in Afghanistan
US troops in Afghanistan panicked after an attack
, and fired at cars
and pedestrians just passing by. This has led to big protests.
Such events happen in every war, and especially when a foreign army is
involved. The local people will tolerate it if they feel that army is
fighting for their cause and doing its best. Otherwise they will tend
to turn more and more against the foreign army. It is a dynamic that
is almost inevitable.
When Afghan journalists took pictures of the civilian cars that US
troops had destroyed, the
soldiers destroyed the pictures
. Then Bush
spokesmen denied that this had been happening, trying to destroy the
news of the destruction.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This follows the general Bush policy towards unfavorable press: block
it.
07 March 2007 (
Blocked Palestinians from fishing
Israel has blocked Palestinians from fishing
in from boats
for most of a year. This exacerbates food shortages in Gaza.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The excuse of blocking communication with Egypt is absurd,
since it would be just as easy to patrol further off shore instead.
Harassment of civilians, with an excuse that covers it when you don't
look very hard, is standard practice in the Israeli occupation of
Palestine.
05 March 2007 (
Independent Jewish Voices
Prominent British Jews who oppose Israel's treatment of the
Palestinians have
formed a new organization
, Independent Jewish
Voices.
This breaks the apparent monopoly of an old organization that supports
Israel 100% and claims to represent all British Jews.
05 March 2007 (
Root of veterans care scandal
As the Army Secretary resigns, the Bush regime has decided to go to the
root of the veterans care scandal:
the ability of wounded soldiers to talk to the press
05 March 2007 (
Student protestors in Iran
Student protestors in Iran were
punished by being expelled and drafted
into the army.
05 March 2007 (
Road taxes based on surveillance
Faced with an outcry against road taxes based on surveillance,
the UK now proposes:
"we won't track which street you are on,
only which part of which city you drive to."
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
That is still too much surveillance.
05 March 2007 (
Urgent Note: Marijuana
US citizens: write or phone your congresscritter to support
the bill, H. R. 1184, to repeal the law that kicks students
out of college for one marijuana cigarette.
05 March 2007 (
Canceled deal
The US canceled a deal for North Korean nuclear disarmament in 2002
based on an incorrect US assessment
of North Korea's nuclear weapons
program.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Everyone makes mistakes, but given Bush's propensity to pressure the
CIA to tell him what he wants to hear, I have to wonder whether this
was something worse than a mistake.
05 March 2007 (
We also target civilians
Israeli troops invading Nablus arrested and brutalized lots of young
men --
without bothering to check who they were
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The raid also seized a tiny quantity of weapons.
Israeli Idan Landau comments:
"We also target civilians".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
05 March 2007 (
Urgent Note
US citizens:
sign the petition
to Democratic Party of Nevada saying "Don't
deal with
Faux News
."
04 March 2007 (
Urgent note: Passports in UK
In the UK: renew your passport
, or get a passport, before April,
so as to avoid participating in the national ID scheme.
04 March 2007 (
Increasing poverty
16 million Americans now live in severe poverty
, and the number is
growing rapidly.
These statistics
say that extreme poverty increased by 1/5
from 2000 to 2005.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
04 March 2007 (
Elephant poaching
Elephant poaching in Africa
, formerly under control, has rebounded to
the point where it threatens the survival of some elephant
populations.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
04 March 2007 (
Making new warheads
Bush plans to make new nuclear warheads
, although labeled as
"modernization", could encourage other countries to work on them too.
04 March 2007 (
Welcoming a trial
Australian Prime Minister Howard "welcomes"
Bush's plan to subject an
Australian citizen to an unjust military tribunal.
Which shows how important Australian citizens are in his mind,
compared with the US.
03 March 2007 (
Pirates
A UN ship delivering aid
to Somalia has been captured by pirates.
For once, here is an action against piracy which deserves support.
03 March 2007 (
Proposed Nigerian Law
A proposed law in Nigeria would make it a
crime to advocate gay rights
02 March 2007 (
War resistor Kyle Snyder
US war resistor Kyle Snyder was
arrested by Canadian police
, who said
they were obeying the US Army. He was freed after appeals to the
Canadian government, which had to recognize that the US Army does not
have authority there.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 March 2007 (
Apologize for slavery
Virginia becomes first US state
to apologize for slavery.
02 March 2007 (
Not allowed to have lawyers
For Women's Day,
Iraq will execute some women prisoners
who are accused of connection with the resistance.
They were not allowed to have lawyers in their "trials".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 March 2007 (
Secret CIA prisons
Human Rights Watch has identified 38 prisoners that were held in
secret CIA prisons, and are now missing. In effect,
the US government has disappeared them
02 March 2007 (
The troops that deserve our support
Disregarding arguments that Lt Watada cannot be prosecuted again on
the principle of double jeopardy, the Army intends to try. Meanwhile,
other soldiers are imprisoned for refusing to fight for Bush, and
8,000 other soldiers have run away to avoid the evil of fighting in
Iraq.
These are the troops that deserve our support.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 March 2007 (
Colombian foreign minister
The Colombian foreign minister has
resigned due to ties with paramilitaries
[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 March 2007 (
Sudanese minister
A Sudanese minister has been
named by the ICC as a suspect for massacres in Darfur
The US message to Sudan is undermined by the US's own example,
since the US has pressured many countries to agree to exempt
US personnel from the ICC.
02 March 2007 (
British pull-out may be a deception
The planned British pull-out from Iraq may be a deception,
since it
depends on conditions that quite likely will not be met
01 March 2007 (
Illegal to insult
An Egyptian blogger has been
sentenced to four years in prison for insulting Islam and President Mubarak
No person, no idea, and no religion deserves to be illegal to insult,
not even the Church of Emacs — and certainly not Islam.
28 February 2007 (
A bomb a day
Laura Bush told a whopper even
Dubya
can't bring himself to say.
Just "
one bombing a day-- this discourages everybody
".
28 February 2007 (
Arrest warrants for agents
Germany has issued arrest warrants
for 13 CIA agents.
Next step -- figure out who they were.
Given the extent collusion between European governments and the CIA
over this, there may be people in the German government that
know the answer.
28 February 2007 (
Freedom from Religion Foundation
The
Freedom from Religion Foundation challenges the constitutionality
of Bush's "faith-based initiatives".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I think we have
an excess of faith-based initiatives
in recent years.
27 February 2007 (
Establishing martial law
Bush has made both legal preparations and rehearsals for
establishing martial law in the US-- disguised
I won't say that nationwide police cooperation to arrest criminal suspects is
necessarily unjust, or that there is no possibly use for it. I am skeptical of
the article's claim that murder suspects were deliberately "left on the
street" to be arrested in this sweep. Before accepting that conclusion, I'd
want to see if a large sweep has practical advantages as a means for
arresting them.
Nonetheless, the lack of clear information about why these people were
arrested makes these FALCON raids are suspect, and need to be investigated to
see if it is justified. Were all the people arrested the subject
of arrest warrants? How many of them have been charged with crimes?
What is the complete
breakdown of offenses? If those answers are not forthcoming, that would be a
sign of guilt.
Meanwhile, given the legal changes that increased Bush's power, the
possibility that this is a rehearsal for martial law, and for mass arrests of
dissidents is very threatening, even if these FALCON sweeps did nothing
actually wrong.
27 February 2007 (
Supporting terror
The US government is supporting
terrorists in Iran.
They can't stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but they could create
chaos and suffering there.
27 February 2007 (
Dr. Kelly's murderers
The suspicious death of Dr. Kelly
, who exposed the falsehoods about
Saddam's weapons, was not properly investigated; the
B'liar
regime assumed it
was suicide, but did not demonstrate this. Many in the UK, including an
investigating opposition MP, have concluded it was murder, but they are
reluctant to consider the suspect with the most obvious motive: the British
government.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I do not know who killed Dr. Kelly, but an investigation hat fails to consider
this plausible suspect is a sham investigation.
27 February 2007 (
Because things are going so well
B'liar
has
given in to public pressure to remove British troops slowly
from the
Bush forces
while claiming that this is because things are
going so well there.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Other countries plan to pull out
of the
Bush forces
too.
26 February 2007 (
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef, already in danger from global warming, is
being
polluted by pesticides
26 February 2007 (
Confessions extracted through torture
8 former Black Panthers
are being charged with murder
based on confessions extracted through torture.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
26 February 2007 (
Habeas corpus lawsuits
A US appeals court has dismissed all the Habeas corpus lawsuits of
Guantanamo prisoners,
thus accepting and implementing the official transformation
of the US into a state that does not respect the most
basic human rights.
26 February 2007 (
Retroactively legalized
The Israeli Supreme Planning Council for occupied Palestine
retroactively legalized a
large construction project on stolen Palestinian land
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
26 February 2007 (
Gross underestimate
Americans grossly underestimate the
number of Iraqis killed
by Bush's invasion of Iraq.
26 February 2007 (
Fleeing from the death squads
The
Bush forces shot and killed an Iraqi family that was fleeing
from
the death squads that the
Bush forces
unleashed.
26 February 2007 (
Some US generals will quit
Some US generals "will quit"
if Bush orders them to attack Iran
26 February 2007 (
Control
Noam Chomsky analyzes US policy
towards Iran, North Korea, South
America, etc. "It all comes down to control".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
26 February 2007 (
Iraqi government official fired
The
Iraqi government official who wanted to prosecute Shi'ite police
for raping a Sunni woman has been fired.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
26 February 2007 (
Corporate abuses in Angola
A human rights activist who investigates corporate abuses in Angola's
oil industry has been
accused of spying
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
She has been released on bail, but the
charges are still in effect
26 February 2007 (
The next war
Israeli soldiers and politicians are already talking
about "the next war",
but not talking about the most likely target -- Iran.
25 February 2007 (
Damaged whaling ship
The Japanese whale meat factory ship is
sailing
away from the penguin rookery
that could have been damaged by an oil spill.
The refusal to be towed away by Greenpeace prolonged the danger,
unnecessarily.
25 February 2007 (
UK to require immigrants to learn English
The UK government has decided to
require
immigrants to learn English
-- and to cut the funds for the classes to teach them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 February 2007 (
Tree planting won't make up for CO2 emissions
Many poor countries suffer from deforestation, and planting trees
can be helpful. But tree planting
won't
make up for the damage done by CO2 emissions
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 February 2007 (
WTC towers destroyed by explosives?
Oral
histories given by firefighters
provide evidence that the WTC
towers were destroyed by explosives planted inside them.
A NIST report
argues against some of these conclusions, but I find that answer number 6
does not present enough of an argument to be convincing.
25 February 2007 (
Bil'in protestors attacked
1500 Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners
protested in the second
anniversary
of the nonviolent movement at Bil'in against the confiscation
of their land by the annexation wall. Soldiers attacked the protestors
and some were seriously injured.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Meanwhile Israeli soldiers, mistaken for prowlers in a Palestinian
building,
shot
two Palestinian cops
who came to investigate.
One was shot in the back walking to his car.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Two
articles
explore both sides of one difficult dispute:
about whether Palestinians should have the right to return
to live in Israel.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 February 2007 (
Iraq Oil Assets
Bush's Iraqi government has
almost
finished its law
to allow
foreign oil companies to take over Iraq's oil assets.
The Iraqi Resistance denies the validity of the Iraqi government
and all its acts; it will certainly reject this law.
25 February 2007 (
Israel asks permission to attack Iran?
Israel is
reportedly
asking the US permission
for an air attack
on Iran.
I think that statement presents the Israel-US relationship in a
strange way, as if the desire for an attack came from Israel and the
US had to be persuaded to go along. But it does not seem that Bush
is reluctant to attack.
25 February 2007 (
Union of Iraqi journalists raided
The
Bush forces
raided
the union of Iraqi journalists
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 February 2007 (
EU agrees 20% CO2 cut
The EU
agreed
on a 20% further cut in CO2 emissions
, but has not
decided how to achieve this.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The fact that the poorer Eastern countries get to count the decreases
that have already occurred is probably a good idea, because they are
disadvantaged and probably don't make a large fraction of the
emissions.
The plan to reduce by 20% unilaterally, and increase it to 30% if
the rest of the world joins in, seems wise to me, because that both
shows leadership and encourages the rest of the world.
25 February 2007 (
UN envoy to Philippines accuses army
The UN envoy to the Philippines
accuses the army of killing many
political activists
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 February 2007 (
B'liar wants cluster bombs
B'liar is accused of trying to undermine efforts
to develop a
treaty against cluster bombs.
24 February 2007 (
Ban incandescent bulbs
Australia has decided to ban incandescent bulbs
, as a conservation
measure. However, they will take 3 years to phase them out.
24 February 2007 (
Fanatical prudes
Fanatical prudes are threatening to cut the funds for a public library
unless it imposes complete censorship of porn, even on adults.
The people running this library should say, "Shut us down if you want,
but you can't make us endorse your policy."
24 February 2007 (
Executed
Saudi Arabia convicted four foreigners
of robbery and sentenced them to
prison. Then -- surprise -- they were executed.
The trial wasn't fair either.
24 February 2007 (
Half of Palestinian families
Almost half of Palestinian families are
in danger of being unable to get enough food
24 February 2007 (
See-saws
First there was news that a US representative had told the Palestinian
Authority it would continue the boycott against the national unity
government. Then Condoleeza Rice said that this statement was an
erroneous report.
Then she made the same statement herself.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
What see-saws!
24 February 2007 (
Resembling apartheid
A UN envoy, who is South African and an expert on the apartheid system,
is the latest prominent person to point out how the
Israeli occupation of Palestine resembles that
The reason his report may appear to one-sided, paying much less
attention to Palestinian violence against Israelis, is that the latter
is much less in both quantity and quality, and thus deserves less
attention.
24 February 2007 (
Condemned to debt
Under the harsh, pro-business policies of the UK, a charity finds
that many
poor people are condemned to a lifetime of debt
24 February 2007 (
Driven by fanaticism
A Muslim fanatic says he assassinated
a Pakistani female politician
acting on his religious beliefs.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
23 February 2007 (
Illegal production of strawberries
Illegal production of strawberries in part of Spain, using
illegal wells, is drying up the rivers, and
threatens to cause an irreversible environmental disaster
before the shortage of water forces
the growing to stop.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
23 February 2007 (
Company that makes Kleenex
Greenpeace activists protested the company that makes Kleenex
for cutting virgin forests
, which is unsustainable.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
23 February 2007 (
Deep sea fishing bandits
Scientists call for an end
to government subsidies for unsustainable
deep-sea fishing, which uses very destructive methods.
Here's more information
on what they destroy.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
23 February 2007 (
Democratic socialism explained
Hugo Chavez' program of democratic socialism
with human rights,
explained in detail and contrasted with the Bush regime.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
23 February 2007 (
More troops to Afghanistan
More troops are being sent to Afghanistan
, but facing a guerrilla, it
is unlikely to do any good.
23 February 2007 (
Prescribing heroin
UK's police chief calls for prescribing heroin to long-term addicts.
He recognizes that this is the humane way to prevent the crime that
many addicts commit.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Allowing heroin addicts to get injected in doctors' offices
can lead to big decreases in use of the drug
23 February 2007 (
Food shortages
The
civil war in Iraq
has led to food shortages.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
23 February 2007 (
Vermont resolution
Vermont passed a
resolution calling for withdrawal
of the
Bush forces
from Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
23 February 2007 (
Bush's 'Iraqi' police
Bush's "Iraqi" police are
accused of raping an Iraqi Sunni woman
This is a step up from what they usually do to Sunnis (kill them).
23 February 2007 (
CO2-limitation treaty
US legislators and representatives of other major countries reached a
tentative agreement on a plan for a CO2-limitation treaty
, which could
perhaps be adopted once Bush is no longer in a position to interfere.
Will it come in time to save civilization? Or will Bush
block the rescue mission until it is too late?
23 February 2007 (
International Criminal Court
If Bush uses nuclear weapons against Iran
, all the current members of
Congress could be held liable by the International Criminal Court, if
they were ever to go to places such as Europe which support the court.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 February 2007 (
Spring arrived early
Spring arrived in the UK,
several weeks early
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 February 2007 (
The corporate economy
The corporate empire's economy
compared to a tapeworm.
I am not sure whether the suggested measures would be beneficial, or
feasible; but the issue is worth thinking about.
21 February 2007 (
Cataclysm is nearer
Rapidly moving rivers under the antarctic ice could enable the ice to
melt more rapidly than people previously knew-- meaning that
previous estimates of the danger of rising seas are too low
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 February 2007 (
UK stressed out
The UK is 'one of the most stressed
nations in Europe'.
The reason could be that
people there work more hours than anywhere in Europe
except Latvia.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The reason for this is almost 30 years of rule by parties
that put
business above people. (Their justification is a variant of
Reagan's "trickle down" theory.)
21 February 2007 (
Ready to attack
Bush seems to be ready to attack Iran
if he thinks that certain
Iranian activities have been proved.
Given Bush's standard of proof, this means he could attack
at any moment.
21 February 2007 (
Costs of the war
The costs of the Iraq war are deepening the cracks
in the US economy.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I don't know whether the proposed solutions are good ideas, or whether
they would be sufficient to solve this problem.
If we look at the Iraq war merely as a problem for Americans, it might be
valid to say that low wages and high debt are a bigger problem. However, that
way of looking at the occupation of Iraq misses the main point. The occupation
is not merely burdensome, it is a crime.
21 February 2007 (
Brandeis University
There reports that major donors are
trying to punish Brandeis University for inviting President Carter
to
speak.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 February 2007 (
Prisoners on hunger strike
Palestinian prisoners
, imprisoned without trial, are on hunger strike
because they have bad food and no blankets, and forced to urinate in
their clothing.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 February 2007 (
Rejecting unity
The Bush regime denies
previous reports about rejecting the
Hamas/Fatah unity government.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 February 2007 (
Whales and penguins
The Japanese whaling factory ship
caught fire.
This will keep the
whales safe whales for a year; but if oil leaks from the the ship, it
could be a disaster for penguins.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
20 February 2007 (
Early abortions
Portugal will legalize
early abortions.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
19 February 2007 (
Poisoned farm workers
The true cost of cotton includes
poisoned farm workers.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
"Free trade" treaties are the reason why governments of
countries as powerful as India don't dare act to prevent
use of these dangerous chemicals.
19 February 2007 (
Carbon-offsetting
A new program of
cheat
offsetting
shows what carbon-offsetting programs can turn into if
you're not careful.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
(This problem of "cheating" has a much better solution: polyamory.)
19 February 2007 (
Water shortage in Iraq
With the water shortage in Iraq
, people have to walk long distances to
get water from rivers-- water that can make them sick.
19 February 2007 (
CO2-limitation treaty
US legislators and representatives of other major countries
reached a
tentative agreement on a plan for a CO2-limitation treaty, which could
perhaps be adopted once Bush is no longer in a position to interfere.
Will it come in time to save civilization? Or will Bush
block the rescue mission until it is too late?
19 February 2007 (
B'liar's sham
A UK court ruled
that
B'liar's
"consultation" about building
additional nuclear power plants was a "sham".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
19 February 2007 (
Generic drugs
Drug companies have a practice of
paying their competitors not to produce generic drugs
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Once upon a time, this would have been illegal. It should be illegal
now.
19 February 2007 (
One-sided demands
Most countries don't ask other countries, even former enemies, to
recognize "their right to exist". They only ask to be recognized as
existing. But
Israel makes a special demand of the Palestinians
: part of a system of
one-sided demands that ensure peace is impossible.
19 February 2007 (
Illegal farming
Illegal production of strawberries in part of Spain
, using illegal
wells, is drying up the rivers. This threatens to cause an
irreversible environmental disaster long before the shortage of water
forces the growers to stop.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 February 2007 (
Resolution against troop increase
The US House of Representatives adopted a non-binding resolution
against Bush's troop increase in Iraq, and Democrats say binding
measures will follow. This could perhaps lead to an end to the
occupation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 February 2007 (
Eating fish
A study found that
nutrients in fish are important for babies
. But, thanks to human pollution,
eating fish can poison babies (and adults) with mercury.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
If mothers do try to eat more fish, it will speed the depletion of the
seas, which is already projected to be nearly complete in a few
decades.
18 February 2007 (
Bush hindering unity
Palestinians are trying to resolve
the violent dispute between Fatah
and Hamas by forming a national unity government, but the Bush regime
does not want them to succeed.
The fighting between Fatah and Hamas was provoked by the same outside
pressure that is being continued here.
18 February 2007 (
Labour Party going down
B'liar is dragging the Labour party down
in the polls, while the Liberal
Democrats are moving up. But they still have a ways to go to catch up.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 February 2007 (
Labour Party
Since the UK Labour Party came to power
10 years ago, its policies,
friendly to business and rather unfriendly to working people, have
increased poverty, especially among children, the old, and the ill.
This is the result of imitating
US-style policies, which
B'liar
loves
to do. The US government is like the parents of a dysfunctional
family.
18 February 2007 (
Saving the frogs
Scientists plan to try
to preserve hundreds of frog species in
captivity, as a fungus whose growth is boosted by global warming
wipes them out in the wild.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 February 2007 (
Making NZ carbon-neutral
New Zealand's PM proposes
to make the country carbon-neutral, but the plan
uses methods such as biofuels and tree-planting which have their own serious
problems.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 February 2007 (
Nowhere to escape
Anne Frank and her family
were sent to Auschwitz because the US and other
countries wouldn't let them in as refugees.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Today, once again, many refugees fleeing places of great danger can't
find a country that will let them in.
18 February 2007 (
Saying no to missiles
A campaign of many MPs and other public figures
opposes
B'liar's
plan to
build expensive new nuclear missile submarines.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 February 2007 (
Dumping toxic waste
Ivory Coast made a multinational company pay
almost $200 million for
dumping toxic waste. (This happens commonly there.) But the poisoned victims
say that is not enough.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 February 2007 (
Kidnapping suspects
The CIA spoke with Italy's spy chief
, in general terms, about the idea
of kidnapping suspects from Italy back in 2001.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 February 2007 (
British spies
The same UK soldiers who in Northern Ireland
ran spies in both sides
, provoking murders, are now at work in Iraq for the
Bush forces
If they are doing in Iraq what they did in Belfast, Bush nay be more
directly responsible for the civil war than we realized.
18 February 2007 (
Loans to poor nations
"Vulture companies" buy up poor country debts
that are about
to be forgiven, then demand repayment in full.
There is one anomalous point in this article. If governments really
want to forgive these debts, why do they agree to sell the debts?
Another point worth noting is that these "debt forgiveness" programs typically
impose
harsh privatization requirements
that keep the country in permanent
suffering.
There is very little good about the practice of making loans to poor
countries-- it is supposed to enable them to develop, but its real effect is
to put them in a permanent trap.
The main cause of these debt traps is the expectation that the exploitative
loans will be repaid. Therefore, what really is needed is for debtor
countries to start simply canceling their debts. Once rich people learn that
by trying to exploit poor countries this way they are likely to lose, they
will stop.
18 February 2007 (
Banning Wikipedia
A US bill to "protect minors"
would ban Wikipedia access
from schools and libraries, as well as making online discussion
forums unfeasible.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 February 2007 (
Medical marijuana
DEA judge calls for government to
end obstruction of medical marijuana research
The DEA prevents any research from being done to study the medical
effects of marijuana, by refusing to provide marijuana for studies.
17 February 2007 (
Journalist of the year
The US prosecutor who has
imprisoned Josh Wolf for six months
says he
is a journalist "only in his imagination". Meanwhile, a chapter the
Society of Professional Journalists has named him "journalist of the
year".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
17 February 2007 (
Sergeant punished for posing nude
The
US Air Force punished a sergeant for posing nude
, removing her
from active duty. She responded by resigning from the national guard.
If you want to avoid participating in a criminal war in Iraq, and you
are not heroic enough to follow Lt. Watada's path, this is the easy
way out!
17 February 2007 (
Environmental crimes prosecutor
Bush's top environmental crimes prosecutor got a
juicy reward for letting a big oil company off the hook
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Isolated instances of corruption happen in every government, but
they happen a lot more when the government treats corruption as acceptable
starting from the very top.
17 February 2007 (
Sex and torture
Sex and torture in America.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
17 February 2007 (
Road pricing
A petition against the plan for "road pricing" in UK received over a
million signatures in a short time. The arguments presented by the
authors included falsehoods such as denial of the danger of CO2
emissions from cars, but also a valid reason: opposition to government
surveillance of car travel.
The
UK already does total surveillance of car travel
; this wrong must
be corrected. If road pricing based on surveillance is introduced,
ending the surveillance will be impossible.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The right way to discourage driving and reduce CO2 emissions is to
increase the gas tax. Each gallon of gas burnt produces approximately
the same amount of CO2 regardless of circumstances, so why discourage
it more in one place than in another? Of course, the UK should also
make trains and buses cheaper and more frequent. Privatization of
trains in the UK has backfired, resulting in trains that are so
expensive that people fly instead.
17 February 2007 (
Religions protecting the environment
Various religions are starting to recognize the importance of protecting the environment
and to work with environmental
organizations.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The Free Software Movement also receives support from some religious
people who conclude that forbidding people to share with each other
is against their principles.
17 February 2007 (
Forests in Sumatra
Forests in Sumatra and Borneo are being cut down illegally
as if there were no tomorrow
And for orangutans, maybe there isn't one.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 February 2007 (
Charges dismissed
Charges were dismissed against some British troops
in the
Bush forces
who were accused of beating Iraqi prisoners (one of whom died from
this). Because they blindfolded the prisoners, the prisoners couldn't
identify the soldiers who beat them.
So where does this leave all the Iraqi prisoners that
Bush forces
soldiers might want to beat in the future?
16 February 2007 (
Lies and censorship from Google
Google has stopped indexing the uruknet.info site
, in effect carrying
out a form of censorship.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Google claims that this is due to some sort of technical problem, but
the claim is implausible and seems not to be true anyway.
Google has resumed indexing urknet as a news source.
15 February 2007 (
Harassed for using Tor
A professor at Bowling Green University was harassed by the police
for using a free software browser plug-in
Tor, which blocks some methods
of surveillance of what users browse.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The attitude that merely blocking surveillance is a crime is common
among the "security forces" of universities.
I am disappointed with this professor for granting even partial
legitimacy to the desire to suppress Tor. No matter what method they
use -- just making nasty threats, or by writing a policy against
anonymity -- it has to be resisted.
15 February 2007 (
Fired for reporting evidence
An
ex-CIA-agent is suing the CIA
, saying he was fired for reporting
evidence suggesting that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass
destruction.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I am both shocked and perplexed by the measures to forbid the agent
from even identifying himself to the public.
15 February 2007 (
New level of absurdity
The Bush regime's accusations against Iran have sunk to a new level of
absurdity. It says that Iran is supplying the antitank mines used by
Sunni resistance groups,
counter to all evidence
14 February 2007 (
Health care for wounded soldiers
To balance the budget,
Bush proposes to cut health care for wounded soldiers
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
It often happens that governments spend a lot of money to produce
something, then don't bother allocating any to take care of it.
14 February 2007 (
Real ID plan
The State of Maine has rejected
the US government's Real ID plan
to convert drivers' licenses into national ID cards.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Excessive government power is far more dangerous than terrorists. For
more information on the danger of Real ID, see
here
14 February 2007 (
Arrested Muslim leader
The UK arrested a
Muslim leader who called for Muslims in the UK army to be killed
He also endorsed the standard Muslim policy of killing
anyone who leaves Islam.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This belief shows the basic injustice of Islam as an organized
religion, in its current form. In most Muslim countries, rejection of
Islam by a Muslim is a capital crime. This offense against religious
freedom must be strongly condemned.
14 February 2007 (
Teenagers prosecuted for sexy photos
Two teenagers in Florida were prosecuted for taking sexy photos of themselves together.
It is legal for them to have sex, but if they
take a picture, that is "child pornography". The judges argued that
they should be punished now because the photos might be released some
day, even if it were against their will.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Meanwhile, this case reveals the dishonesty of the word "child" in the
expression "child pornography". When they use that term, they want us
to think of 10-year-olds, but then they apply it to sexually mature
young adults.
12 February 2007 (
Tentative agreement
Hamas and Fatah have made a tentative agreement
to stop fighting each
other and produce a "national unity" government.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The fighting, and the agreement, is a response to the blockade imposed
after Palestinian democracy elected Hamas. But Israel is not
satisfied with inclusion of Fatah: it demands total surrender by the
Palestinians to the occupation.
A real peace must include recognition of Israel, acceptance of all
former treaties except as modified, and a clear renunciation
by
all sides
of all terror and violence. A real peace must also
include ending the occupation and giving the Palestinians sovereignty
over the West Bank and its resources. It is unfair to demand that the
Palestinians make all their concessions at the outset, while Israel
does not.
12 February 2007 (
Antitank mines from Iran
The
Bush forces say
that the Iraqi Resistance is getting its antitank
mines from Iran.
These accusations could be true: why shouldn't Iran (or any country)
help the Iraqi Resistance kick out the occupying army? (We're not
ashamed of the help provided by France to the American Revolution.)
They could also be false; we can't trust what Bush says about this.
If Iran is working with the Iraqi Resistance, is it working with Iraqi
Shi'ites? That would mean that Iraqi Shi'ites are an important part
of the Resistance. Or is Iran helping Iraqi Sunnis? Neither
relationship is impossible, but either one would undermine the Bush
view of the situation.
12 February 2007 (
Terms for peace
The Iraqi resistance has stated terms for peace. They include
canceling all the decisions that the Bush regime has imposed
on Iraq.
This is a legitimate demand, since such decisions (which include
privatization of many state activities, plant patents, and debts, with
the theft of Iraq's oil in progress) have no validity when imposed by
a conqueror.
However, the fact that Iraq is now effectively divided makes it futile
to make peace with the Sunnis alone. Things are much worse in Iraq
now than they were 3 years ago.
12 February 2007 (
Monsanto false advertising
Monsanto advertised in France that Roundup is biodegradable and safe.
It was convicted of false advertising
, then fined a trivial amount.
Monsanto will probably tell its ad agencies in other countries, "Go
ahead and try it: the worst that can happen is we pay a small fine,
and millions of people will still believe what we told them."
Fines need to be millions of euros if they are to succeed
in deterring corporate crimes like these.
12 February 2007 (
Distorted intelligence reports
A DOD report confirms
that the Bush regime distorted intelligence reports
in order to fabricate an excuse to attack Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
12 February 2007 (
Bush regime has accused Iran of aiding
The Bush regime has accused Iran of aiding in a effective tricky
attack on a
Bush forces
base in Iraq. There is no evidence for this,
but
Bush wants to prepare excuses to attack Iran
. But there is
another theory: that the attackers were Americans.
I won't take for granted that the Iraqi resistance lacks the
capability to organize such an attack. I also won't assume that the
Bush regime has the moral scruples not to attack its own troops.
Brzezinsky recently warned Congress that Bush might be planning to do
that. (There's also the possibility that the Bush regime participated
somehow in the 9/11 attacks.)
12 February 2007 (
Trials without defense lawyers
The Iraqi government is
executing captured members of the resistance
as "criminals", after "trials" without defense lawyers.
Do these leaders want to be executed when the resistance captures
them?
12 February 2007 (
Soldier who shot Nicola Calipari
Italy will try the Bush forces soldier
who shot Nicola Calipari
on murder charges.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
12 February 2007 (
Developer power over the users
Here's
a good illustration of the kind of society
that non-free
software (which gives the developer power over the users) leads to.
12 February 2007 (
Prohibiting nuclear attacks
Prominent nuclear physicists called on the US Congress
to pass a law
prohibiting nuclear attacks against countries that do not have nuclear
weapons.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
12 February 2007 (
Imprisoning and torturing
Ethiopia, an ally of Bush, is
imprisoning and torturing political opposition
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Teaching allies to torture is standard US practice since at least the
60s. Maybe the Bush regime taught the Ethiopian government some of
the techniques.
12 February 2007 (
Lt Watada's mistrial
Here's
more detail
about Lt Watada's mistrial.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
It seems that prominent authorities on the law
agree that he cannot be prosecuted again.
But who knows whether the Bush regime will respect the law?
12 February 2007 (
Crimes that damage the environment
The EU proposes to
establish Europe-wide criminal penalties
for
crimes that damage the environment.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
If this is enforced energetically against shipment of waste to the
poor countries where a large amount of it now winds up, it could make
a big difference.
11 February 2007 (
Enforcing overpopulation
To demonstrate the absurdity of the main supposed argument against gay
marriage, a ballot initiative proposes to
annul any marriage that does not produce a child within three years
In an overpopulated world, the idea that the state has an interest
in encouraging births is suicidal insane.
11 February 2007 (
Victory for Lt. Watada
The judge in Lt. Ehren Watada's court martial found he was unable to
keep Watada's defense -- that the war is illegal and therefore the
order for him to fight is illegal -- from being heard in court. So he
found a strained excuse to declare a mistrial. This probably means
Watada cannot be prosecuted again, and therefore cannot be convicted.
But that would be less of a defeat for the Army than to see him found
not guilty.
It is a great victory
, but if another officer follows Watada's
in footsteps, the Army will probably find a different legal strategy.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
11 February 2007 (
Law-decrees in Venezuela
President Chavez was recently given limited power to decree laws in a
certain range of issues.
This article
explains more about law-decrees
in Venezuela. They can be overturned by the legislature or by a
referendum, or by the Supreme Court if it finds them unconstitutional.
I am confident that Chavez intends to respect democracy.
11 February 2007 (
Voter-verifiable paper ballot
Florida proposes to have a voter-verifiable paper ballot
for all votes
cast.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This will certainly make things better, but my enthusiasm for a
voter-verified paper backup ballot was dimmed by the experiment which
found that most people failed to notice that their paper backup ballot
didn't match the votes they had cast. Unless we
educate
voters to pay more attention
, we need
to have votes cast on paper.
Meanwhile, let's not forget that use of optical scanning machines does
not ensure an honest election. Evidence strongly suggests that
Bush stole the 2004
election
through the rigging of optical scanning vote counting machines in
Ohio.
11 February 2007 (
Death penalty
B'liar is accused of sabotaging
a UN push to abolish the death
penalty.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Note the British diplomats' half truth: they say they are "skeptical
about the resolution's chances of passage". This is dishonest if they
are the ones preventing it from passing. But even if it were honest,
it would not be a valid reason to oppose the resolution.
10 February 2007 (
Floods in Jakarta
Devastating floods made 340,000 people homeless
in Jakarta.
They were caused by deforestation of nearby hills, which was done to
make houses for the wealthy.
10 February 2007 (
Making the ISP spy
The latest Republican proposal: to
make your ISP spy on you
for the US government.
10 February 2007 (
Looking for an excuse
Zbigniew Brzezinski told a senate committee that the Bush regime is
looking for a provocation to excuse attacking Iran
, to carry out
its "self-fulfilling prophecy" of such a war.
He also condemned the Iraq war as morally wrong.
10 February 2007 (
PM Howard supporting hooligans
The Australian government attacked concert organizers
who tried to
restrain hooligans, because the hooligans literally draped themselves
in the Australian flag. The opposition, and mass media joined in the
attack.
The concert organizers made a mistake by going on the defensive. They
should have accused Prime Minister Howard of supporting hooliganism.
10 February 2007 (
Protests in Oaxaca
Tens of thousands marched in Oaxaca
demanding the resignation of the
governor, accusing him of stealing the election.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
In late 2006, the governor crushed massive protests
, arresting large
numbers of people and torturing some. Others seem to have been
"disappeared".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
But this did not put an end to the movement.
I suppose Bush would also respond to massive protests by arrests,
torture and disappearance. But people in the US have not shown the
courage in defense of their democracy that we have seen in Mexico.
10 February 2007 (
Professor Yayla Job
Professor Yayla job in Turkey
criticized some of the ideas of Mustafa
Kemal, founder of modern Turkey. For this, people called him a
traitor, and he was fired.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Academics in the US have been punished for their views in recent
years, too. This is equally wrong in any country.
10 February 2007 (
Indian Young Publisher award
The Indian Young Publisher award was given
to a publisher who focuses on
issues of caste.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Dr. Ambedkar's Navayana form of Buddhism is a rationalist form, with
the spiritualist aspects removed.
10 February 2007 (
Torture in Turkey
Amnesty International is concerned about the
torture of a conscientious objector in Turkey
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
09 February 2007 (
UN troops that control Haiti
On Feb 7 there were protests in many countries against the UN troops
that control Haiti.
This article
also explains why.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
09 February 2007 (
Kidnapped an Iranian diplomat
Soldiers of the
Bush forces
, in the "Iraqi" army,
kidnapped an Iranian
diplomat
, then released him.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The Bush regime could have ordered it as part of their campaign
against Iran, denying it afterward. Or perhaps these soldiers were
working on some other account.
09 February 2007 (
Just for belonging to a group
Spain arrested 18 people just for belonging
to a group that had
recently been declared "terrorist". Apparently there is no need for
them to be personally connected with any crime in order to be
convicted and punished.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
In Spain as in the US, this practice constitutes guilt by association
-- which is unjust use of government power. ETA bombings are
injustices, but that doesn't legitimize government injustices.
(I am not a supporter of Basque independence; treating people this way
is wrong no matter what cause they support.)
09 February 2007 (
New coal-burning electric plants
Bush is quietly pushing the construction of a hundred new coal-burning electric plants.
If they are built, there is little hope of reducing
US CO2 emissions. And it's totally unnecessary, since Greenpeace
shows how the US could cut emissions drastically by building windmill
farms and requiring cars to be more efficient.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
08 February 2007 (
Car company lobbies
Car company lobbies made the EU water down its CO2 emissions limits.
In order for governments to get serious about preventing climate
disaster, or protecting freedom, or reducing poverty, or anything
except pandering to business, they must have the strength to tell
business lobbyists to buzz off: "What you say is surely only half
true, and you are not very important anyway."
Note how the car companies blocked the previous effort by agreeing to
"voluntary standards", which they then ignored. Business always
proposed voluntary standards as a compromise because it can ignore
them, so that is really just a way for business to deflect the
pressure for regulation. A government which is serious about
achieving a goal will respond to such a proposal by saying, "Business
can't be trusted to keep voluntary standards. We'll make mandatory
standards, and avoid an unnecessary risk."
08 February 2007 (
Legislate by decree
You may have read that
President Chavez convinced Congress to give him the power to "legislate by decree"
The story is true, but only
partly; this is limited to a few specific areas.
I find this somewhat disturbing, because bypassing constitutional
procedures is generally worrisome, and because I don't see why it
should be necessary. However, these areas are not the ones that are
significant in terms of human rights, so I don't think this is
outright bad. I will wait and see what laws he makes this way
before I criticize.
07 February 2007 (
Arcology powered by renewable energy
China is planning to build
an arcology powered by renewable
energy that could house, employ and feed half a million people.
07 February 2007 (
Steve Jobs and DRM
Steve Jobs called on the record companies to end use of DRM
Here
is his actual article.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The article pleads for us not to hold Apple responsible for iTunes'
DRM. However, nobody held a gun to Jobs' head to make Apple implement
iTunes; he and Apple cannot evade responsibility for what they did.
The article also insults people who share by calling them "pirates"
and calls sharing "stealing".
Nonetheless, this article may help in the pressure to abolish DRM.
07 February 2007 (
Uranium
Iran is about to announce increased production of weapons-grade uranium
-- partly as bluff; some experts say it will need years
to really produce enough for weapons.
I do not believe Iran's claims that this is meant for peaceful uses;
they do face an oil crisis in the future, but if they only wanted
nuclear power plants, they could get them without this confrontation.
However, I would be more inclined to regard Iran as a particular
menace if the nuclear-armed US were not so aggressive, and more
inclined to blame Iran if the US had not made it clear that nuclear
weapons are the only way for other countries to protect themselves
from US attack.
07 February 2007 (
Disposable clothing
Disposable clothing
boosts pollution
both before and after it is worn.
07 February 2007 (
Fleeing
Iraqis fleeing the murder in Iraq can find refuge in Syria, but
Palestinians fleeing Iraq are
stuck in a camp at the border
07 February 2007 (
Denied asylum
In order to support the official pretense
that Afghanistan was a safe
place, UK officials denied asylum to a refugee who said he and his
family faced the threat of murder there. They deported him, and sure
enough, he was murdered.
The
B'liar
regime, like many, is more interested in creating an
appearance of validity for its lies, than with what they do to people.
07 February 2007 (
ID card plan
The Conservatives say they will scrap the
B'liar's ID card plan
if
they are elected. They are trying to scuttle the scheme even sooner
by scaring companies off of bidding to implement the scheme.
This approach should be applied to "free trade" treaties too.
07 February 2007 (
Palestinian civil war
Fatah and Hamas are meeting
in a last-ditch chance to avoid a
Palestinian civil war.
The conflict between them is the result of the Israeli blockade and
financial embargo. I would guess that many in the Israeli government
are hoping that civil war does break out among Palestinians. But I think
that if it does, they will eventually regret it.
07 February 2007 (
Not much of a trial
A Citizens' Hearing presented the
evidence that Lt. Ehren Watada was forbidden to present
at his trial -- which would appear not to be much
of a trial.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
07 February 2007 (
Prevent debate
Senate Republicans prevented any debate
about Bush's plans to
send more troops to the
Bush forces
07 February 2007 (
Feeding the homeless
Many US cities are passing laws making it
a crime to feed homeless people
. Politicians feel these unsightly
nuisances belong in the cemetery.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
07 February 2007 (
Haiti
The UN denies its troops in Haiti fired at shantytowns
from
helicopters, inevitably killing bystanders, but the roof damage seems
to prove they did.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
07 February 2007 (
Ashamed to be a MP
A Labour MP writes that
he is ashamed to be a Labour MP
, after he was
unable to stop a family of Pakistani refugees from being callously
deported from the UK.
The minister who deported them, trying to look tough on immigration,
considered the case in such a cursory fashion that he never had the
evidence the family offered, as proof that their lives would be in
danger in Pakistan, translated into English.
07 February 2007 (
Guantanamo becomes harsher
The new unit of Guantanamo prison is even harsher
-- solitary
confinement for everyone.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The Bush regime, as usual, lies about it. Prisoners should just love this new
prison.
07 February 2007 (
Global warming
The UK plans to teach all school students
about global warming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
However, the focus on what individuals can do-- supposing they pay
constant attention and that their work pressures allow them time to do
so-- could be an excuse not to do what is really needed to limit
global warming: firm and effective government policies.
07 February 2007 (
Shooting helicopters down
It looks like the Iraqi resistance has found a
new way to shoot down Bush forces helicopters
07 February 2007 (
Murdered pilgrims
The 200 or so pilgrims that the Bush forces killed
-- and then claimed
were terrorists-- were reportedly part of a group of Shi'ites that
want to stand with the Iraqi Sunnis against the
Bush forces
, rather
than with the Shi'ites that are slaughtering Sunnis, who control the
"Iraqi" government.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
So maybe the "Iraqi" government was being murderously rational in
killing them.
06 February 2007 (
Street children in Jakarta
There are now
over 140,000 street children in Jakarta
Many poor people can't afford to care for their children.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The best way to avoid this sort of problem is to help (and convince)
people to have fewer children.
06 February 2007 (
Police raids
The
B'liar
regime is using recent police raids as an
opportunity to demand
imprisonment of suspects for 90 days,
even though these raids have nothing to do with such a policy
Note the argument that "we can imagine circumstances in which this
power would be needed." Any conceivable proposed government power
could have such a "justification" -- therefore, if we value any kind
of freedom at all, we must conclude that such we-can-imagine
"justifications" are not sufficient reason to abolish a freedom.
06 February 2007 (
People who opposed the invasion
The people who opposed the invasion of Iraq are
now seen to have been right
but they cannot take much pleasure in it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The most noteworthy point in this article is actually the details of
the pressure that was put on some of these people to lie and support
Bush. That is fundamental corruption of the political system, waiting
to be used by any dishonest president for any purpose.
05 February 2007 (
Gagging US scientists
Congress is starting to document
Bush's record of gagging US scientists.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
05 February 2007 (
Seclists.org shutdown
Seclists.org, which archives various security-related mailing lists,
was
shut down by its domain registrar on request from MySpace.com
Neither MySpace.com nor the registrar bothered to talk with the
maintainers of Seclists.org before they did this.
05 February 2007 (
Brookings Institute
The Brookings institute says that the
Bush forces
must
give up on
trying to control Iraq's cities
, and invite Syria and Iran to help
reestablish order and end the civil war.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
That resembles what I've been saying here.
05 February 2007 (
Warrants for the CIA kidnap team
German prosecutors issued arrest warrants for the CIA kidnap team
that
seized a German citizen in Macedonia and imprisoned him in Albania.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
They ought to include the former head of the CIA, who must have
authorized this.
04 February 2007 (
"Vishnu Strategy"
The "Vishnu Strategy":
persistent massive use of armed force
, which
breeds the hatred that eventually defeats it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I'm told that the writer has misunderstood the Hindu conception of
Vishnu, and that the proper translation of that part of the
Bhagavad-Gita is "I am Time, that comes to destroy worlds", the point
being that everyone Arjuna fights in the coming battle is going to die
sooner or later anyway. I wouldn't consider that alone a
justification for war, but the point is that people shouldn't take
this article as a lesson about Vishnu. It is nonetheless interesting
for what it says about Bush.
04 February 2007 (
The net is closing
The net is
closing around B'liar's lieutenants
who offered honors
in return for contributions to the Labor party.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
04 February 2007 (
Drug companies
Novartis and other drug companies are pursuing a
campaign of mass murder
through a lawsuit in an Indian court that attempts to change
Indian patent law.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
When people die because the WTO made medicine too expensive for them,
their tombstones should say, "Patented to death by the WTO." This is
what the world needs to generate, over time, the movement that will
destroy the WTO.
The WTO deserves to be destroyed because it subordinates democracy to
the unjust power of business.
04 February 2007 (
Islamic Courts Union
The
destruction of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia
has brought back to Mogadishu the chaos and violence
that existed before the ICU.
The contents of "bin Laden tapes" has repeatedly produced suspicion
that they are made by someone working for the Bush regime (who may or
may not be Osama bin Laden). The statement connecting Somalia to al
Qa'ida is consistent with that theory -- if the Bush regime wanted to
intervene there, this gave them a fine excuse.
02 February 2007 (
Urgent note
What shall we call Gordon Brown?
Gordon Brown has already made it clear that, if he replaces Tony
Blair, he will continue Blair's attacks against the Rights of
Englishmen. Therefore, he will deserve to be the object of derision
and disgust.
But the name "
B'liar
won't fit him. So what should we call
him? "Frown"? "Clown"? "Drown"? Something else?
Please email your suggestions to rms at the site gnu followed by a
period and orgy without the y.
02 February 2007 (
B'liar blocked stand against death penalty
B'liar blocked the Italian initiative for the EU to take a stand
against the death penalty world-wide. The reason given: to pander to
the US.
Shame on the UK, and shame on the US.
02 February 2007 (
Two Iraqi generals
The
Bush forces
say they suspect two Iraqi generals helped plan a Jan
20 attack
by resistance fighters disguised as
Bush forces
If this is true, those generals are secretly loyal to their country,
even as they appear to collaborate with the occupation. And they are
far from alone.
02 February 2007 (
Population growth
An UK parliament report on poverty
urges a new focus on helping poor
countries reduce population growth.
I disagree with those that object to China's birth limitation policy:
it is both necessary and justified. To say to a person "have as many
children as you want" is tantamount to saying "50 years from now, take
for your descendants as much land, as much water, as much gasoline, as
much of everything as you want". Both are equally unsustainable.
In some countries the birth rate has decreased to the point where
there is no problem of population growth. In some countries,
providing free contraception would suffice to solve the problem. We
should do this, of course. But if in some places that doesn't solve
the problem, we must still curb that growth somehow, and letting it be
done by starvation and disease is not humane.
02 February 2007 (
Canada's depository library
Canada's depository library now requires submission of electronic
works --
copies sans DRM
02 February 2007 (
Cap on carbon emissions
Major US companies CEOs called for a cap on carbon emissions
-- in
other words, serious efforts to restrain global warming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The CEOs' goal is probably long-term economic growth. That's not a
very good goal, since it gives no direct value to ending poverty. But
the contrast with the Bush regime's policy shows that the regime has
much worse values. The Bush regime has the attitude of a looter.
02 February 2007 (
Military tensions, environmental condition
The Middle East's military tensions
block observers from studying the environmental condition of the Jordan River
but the parts they can
see have almost no water in them. And they are so polluted that they
are dangerous to visit.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 February 2007 (
Battling openly
Hamas and Fatah are battling openly in Gaza.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 February 2007 (
Cluster bombs in populated areas
The
US criticized Israel for using cluster bombs
in populated
areas.
So we cannot say that Bush regime has made the US do bad things 100%
of the time. But it comes pretty close.
02 February 2007 (
Iraqis on pilgrimage
The Bush forces wiped out a group of Iraqis on pilgrimage
, more than
200 people, after a fight that started by accident.
Like any tyrant, Bush would rather lie to accuse others than admit his
own mistake. So the
Bush forces
called the pilgrims "terrorists", and
called the fight a great victory.
02 February 2007 (
Divert aid funds
B'liar personally intervened to divert aid funds for African children
into buying an unneeded radar system.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The radar was made by a British company that
B'liar
persistently
operates to support.
02 February 2007 (
Campaign for a world boycott
The campaign for a world boycott of the Israeli Medical Association
and other Israeli
medical organizations that support the occupation of Palestine
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 February 2007 (
Firing effective federal prosecutors
Bush is firing effective federal prosecutors
and replacing them with inexperienced political hit-men
-- probably so as to stop them from
exposing and prosecuting corruption that Bush encourages.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 February 2007 (
UK prisons
The UK's prisons are full to capacity, but there's
still room for a peace protester
who refuses on principle to pay a fine for protesting.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
01 February 2007 (
Soldiers in Guinea
Soldiers in Guinea
shot protestors as a general strike
calls for the
ouster of the president. They also arrested the leaders of the unions
that organized the strike.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This article seems to want to give the feeling that the violence was
mutual, but the another article, for which I don't have a usable URL,
says that the killing was done by soldiers to protestors.
01 February 2007 (
Iceberg the size of a city
An
ice shelf disintegrating due to global warming
has produced a
giant iceberg the size of a city.
At least this problem won't get worse and worse.
In a few decades, there won't be any ice shelves left.
01 February 2007 (
Commander in chief
Dishonest presidents
, such as Nixon and Bush, pretend to be the
"commander in chief" of all Americans.
In fact the president is the commander in chief only of the armed
forces.
31 January 2007 (
Free trade treaties
WTO negotiations on a revised "free trade" treaty
, which appeared to
have collapsed, are being reopened.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
"Free trade" treaties are inimical to democracy because they transfer
power from states to big business. Some of these treaties attack
democracy explicitly, by requiring states to pay for the privilege of
regulating business. All attack democracy implicitly, by making it
easier for businesses to tell states, "If you dare to regulate us, we
will simply move."
Encouraging international trade is beneficial only so long as
democracy is not weakened, but weakening democracy is exactly what
businesses want. Thus, there is no practical prospect of a "free
trade" treaty which isn't a threat to the public good. All the
existing free trade treaties should be abolished because of the harm
they do to democracy.
31 January 2007 (
Disposable clothing
Disposable clothing threatens
to boost pollution, both while it is made,
and after it is thrown away.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
30 January 2007 (
More troops
Bush ignored Congress and sent more troops
to the Bush
forces. The result is that a lot of them are being killed,
along with a lot of Iraqis.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
30 January 2007 (
Iraqi cult group
The
Bush forces
say
they killed some 200 members of an Iraqi cult group
that was planning to
attack a religious festival.
It could be true, but I don't trust the Bush regime enough to take its
word for any of the facts that cannot be verified.
30 January 2007 (
Cheaper medicines
Thailand decided to produce
cheap generic versions of some life-saving
medicines.
This exercises a clause in the TRIPES agreement that the US keeps
trying to pressure poor countries not to use.
30 January 2007 (
Baghdad
Violence and division continue to increase
in Baghdad, and
the rest of Iraq, making Bush's supposed "strategy" absurd.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
30 January 2007 (
Killing the killer
Litvinenko killer 'will die
of poisoning within three years'.
Is that a clever move by the organizers of the killing, to get rid of
the killer as a possible witness? Will the killer confess to get
revenge on them?
29 January 2007 (
Waste from rich countries
Millions of tons of waste from rich countries are disposed of in
China,
where poor people sort through it by hand and get sick from it
29 January 2007 (
Banned human rights organizations
Russia has banned two human rights organizations
which have helped
Chechens publicize and go to court about Russian atrocities in Chechnya.
The practice of banning organizations arbitrarily has been championed
by the US and its allies, and has been extended by them to the UN level.
29 January 2007 (
Biofuel
Under NAFTA,
Mexico has become dependent on corn from the US
. The
increase in corn prices due to turning corn into ethanol has created a
food crisis there.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Biofuel is no solution to the problem of oil if it competes with food
for humans. Only if made from waste plant material (which is not yet
feasible) can it be a substantial renewable energy source.
29 January 2007 (
Ecuador and Columbia
Ecuador is going to sue Colombia
in the World Court for US-backed
drug-eradication spraying, which damages crops and people's health
in Ecuador.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
29 January 2007 (
Maryam Ibrahim
Maryam Ibrahim, 8 years old is in prison
in Texas, as is the rest of
her family. They came to the US legally and asked for asylum.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
29 January 2007 (
Wanting peace
The Palestinian peace activist
whose 11-year-old daughter
was murdered by the Border Police still wants peace.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
29 January 2007 (
Killing Iranians
Bush wants to win the occupation of Iraq by
killing Iranians
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
If the
Bush forces
start killing Iranians in Iraq, they will start
hiding better. A few will be killed nonetheless, but it won't change
anything directly. However, it will create an appearance of activity,
escalate the tension with Iran, and provide a lever to manipulate
Americans. I think that is what Bush wants.
Some senators think
this is leading to an attack against Iran
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Recent announcements suggest that
maybe Israel will make that attack
I would feel more sympathy for Israel's view of this situation if it
were not involved in a system of oppression that makes Iran look like
paradise.
28 January 2007 (
Uncounted casualties
Officially, some 3,000
Bush forces
soldiers have been killed by the
resistance. But that only counts official soldiers. Some 48,000
mercenaries fighting as well, but
the casualty figures do not count them
28 January 2007 (
Worse than Nixon
Carl Bernstein: Bush Administration has done
"Far Greater Damage" than Nixon
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
28 January 2007 (
Attacking cities and civilians
The Bush forces are attacking
in many Iraqi cities, and rampaging against
civilians too.
28 January 2007 (
Shia-Sunni riots
When Shi'ite and Sunni students started shooting at each other in
Beirut,
the army could not decide what to do
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
27 January 2007 (
Attacking open access
Publishers of restricted-access scientific journals have hired a
PR agent to attack the open access movement
. The agent previously worked
to deny global warming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
27 January 2007 (
Medical-marijuana operators
The people operating a medical-marijuana operation
in Canada, who
funded it through voluntary donations, were prosecuted and accused of
distributing the marijuana commercially.
Prosecutor Lindley's quote is a vicious act of misrepresentation. The
evidence which supposedly shows this was commercial actually proves
just the opposite, when carefully considered. It confirms that the
recipients of the marijuana were not charged any price: when some sent
money, that was a voluntary donation. But Lindley takes the fact that
many chose to donate as a sign of evil.
I wonder what Lindley would do if she suffered from a disease and the
only drug that provided relief were illegal.
27 January 2007 (
US kidnappings in Europe
The European Parliament's
investigation of US kidnappings in Europe
denounced government ministers of
various European countries for refusing to cooperate with the investigation,
and says they surely knew about these crimes.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
27 January 2007 (
Muslim immigrants mistreated
After 9/11, some
Muslim immigrants in the US were arrested on vague suspicions
and kept in
jail for a long time; while there, they were mistreated and beaten and labeled
as "terrorists". Now some have gone to court about it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
27 January 2007 (
Avoiding real solutions
Bush, forced to admit that global warming is an issue, continues
trying to block real remedies. His "solution" calls for a small
reduction in oil use over a long period of time, to be achieved by
biofuels--
thus avoiding real solutions
that would burn less.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Bush's plan
may actually cause harm.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
27 January 2007 (
Soldier convicted of murder
A soldier who killed some Iraqi prisoners has been
convicted of murder and sentenced
to 18 years in prison.
The Army is doing the right thing in this case, but it is a rare
exception. Even the killing of prisoners is punished only
occasionally. Killing unarmed Iraqis who are not prisoners happens
all the time. When soldiers do this intentionally, usually it is not
punished. Even more often, jumpy soldiers shoot unarmed Iraqis out of
fear they might be attackers. This is not considered a crime on the
part of those soldiers, but it is part of the crime that Bush
committed.
26 January 2007 (
Riots in Lebanon
Protests sparked riots in Lebanon
, threatening a re-ignition of the
civil war.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
It is worth noting that it was not the Hezbollah people that started
the violence.
25 January 2007 (
Law specifically to stop protest
Brian Haw won a victory in court to continue his 6-year protest
in front of Parliament.
B'liar
passed a law specifically to stop this protest; that shows how
much it stung him, and how little regard he has for democracy.
25 January 2007 (
Global Warming
The world's
leading climate experts now predict
that global warming
will do even more harm than previously estimated.
25 January 2007 (
In Kabul
In Kabul, the poverty is so great that
people regularly die from the cold
25 January 2007 (
Private water supply
Nepal has been pressured to privatize the water supply.
Resistance is beginning.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
25 January 2007 (
Joint protest
A joint Israeli-Palestinian protest made the Israeli government back
off its latest plan to restrict Palestinians; the prohibition on
Palestinians' riding in Israeli's cars.
More generally,
this article says how the Israeli rule of Palestine
resembles South African apartheid, and how it differs.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
24 January 2007 (
Nearer to doomsday
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists explains why
it has moved the doomsday clock
up to 5 minutes to midnight.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
24 January 2007 (
What they do to Palestinians
A list of what Israeli troops do
to Palestinians
when not shooting at them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
23 January 2007 (
Attacking Iran
Dubya's plans to attack Iran
amount to a major war.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
22 January 2007 (
Teenager shot for spitting
The Iraqi resistance says that Bush force
soldiers shot a 16-year-old Iraqi for spitting
at them.
Bush should teach his soldiers to say: IEDs can break my knees, but
spit will never harm me!
22 January 2007 (
New Orleans
The second
looting of New Orleans
We need to help rebuild New Orleans, but not in the same place! That
is asking for it to be drowned again. Even the parts that aren't
below sea level now will be below sea level in a few decades. If we
don't to take advantage of this opportunity to move the city to higher
ground, we will all regret it later.
22 January 2007 (
Slow failure
Bush admits his occupation of Iraq is a "slow failure"
, but as always
he insists on continuing it. Democrats are trying to end the
occupation -- slowly.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
22 January 2007 (
Somalia
In Somalia
, the guerrilla resistance of the Islamic Courts has begun.
It looks like Iraq all over again, except that Ethiopia has already
said it will not keep troops there for long.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
22 January 2007 (
Children are dying
Doctors say that
Iraqi children are dying by the hundreds
, and the US
and UK are responsible, since the invasion and occupation of Iraq
caused these deaths.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
22 January 2007 (
Carbon offsetting is ineffective
"Carbon offsetting"
can ease people's consciences without reducing CO2
emissions. "Offset" plans based on tree planting are especially
ineffective.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
22 January 2007 (
Lapid on Hebron
Former Israeli justice minister Lapid
recognized
the parallel
between the Israeli treatment of (some) Palestinians in Hebron
and the widespread antisemitism of the pre-WWII world.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Peace Now tried to protest there,
but
the protestors were blocked
The police seem quite capable of restricting Israelis who stand for
human rights. It's only the bigots bent on ethnic cleansing that they
can't stop.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
22 January 2007 (
Hawking on Climate Change
Stephen
Hawking warns
that climate change is nearly as dangerous
as the possibility of nuclear war.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 January 2007 (
Internet Censorship
The US Congress is
trying
to make all Internet sites censor all postings by "sex offenders"
(a category which includes people
convicted of skinny-dipping). If a site fails to do this, the
operators would be fined. Many sites sites would have to close
rather than run such a risk.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 January 2007 (
British mountains losing snow
In around 15 years, due to global warming,
Snowdon won't have any
snow
. All the snow-covered mountains of England and Wales are losing
their snow.
21 January 2007 (
UK Government Database
The UK's latest Big Brother proposal:
single combined data base
with
all the government's information about everyone.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 January 2007 (
B'liar accused over nuclear waste report
UK scientists
accused
B'liar of manipulating a scientific committee report about nuclear waste
so as to facilitate his plan to build new
nuclear plants.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 January 2007 (
B'liar regime attacks human rights
The
B'liar
regime
plans
another attack on human rights
: many
kinds of administrative punishment without a trial.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
One of
B'liar's
men
condemned
the Law Lords
for standing up
for human rights.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 January 2007 (
Burma Genocide
On
the run with the Karen people
forced to flee Burma's genocide.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 January 2007 (
Rioting Israeli Soldier killed child
Rioting Israeli soldiers, firing indiscriminately,
killed 10-year-old
Abir Aramin
who had just stepped out of school.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
21 January 2007 (
Iraq's refugee nightmare
Iraq's
refugee nightmare
: 1/6 of all Iraqis have fled their homes,
but it is increasingly hard for them to get into any other country.
Prominent doctors say that
Iraqi
children are dying by the hundreds
and the US and UK are responsible -- since the invasion and occupation
of Iraq caused these deaths.
21 January 2007 (
Surveillance of Anti-military protests
The ACLU has shown that the US military
has
tracked at least 186 anti-military protests in recent years
And that is just the
beginning of unjust government surveillance.
21 January 2007 (
Richard Dawkins on 'The God Delusion'
Atheist
Richard Dawkins on 'The God Delusion'
Please don't accept the invitation to post your statements of Atheism
(or anything) on YouTube.com. That site is designed so as to require
proprietary software (the Flash player) in order to view anything. If
you want to post a video, post an Ogg Theora file on your own site.
21 January 2007 (
Hrant Dink assassinated
Hrant Dink, a Armenian-Turkish editor who was convicted of "insulting
Turkish identity" for writing about the genocide of the Armenians,
has
been assassinated
21 January 2007 (
Halil Savda imprisoned
Turkey has
imprisoned
conscientious objector Halil Savda
. Turkey does
not recognize any right to conscientious objection.
20 January 2007 (
Unofficial peace talks
Secret unofficial peace talks between Israel and Syria
, carried out
with the Israeli government's knowledge, considered ways to return the
Golan Heights to Syria and ensure security. The proposed draft would
have had Syria stop supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
20 January 2007 (
Invasion of Lebanon
In Israel, the president, the prime minister, and the finance minister
all face possible prosecution
. And Defense Minister Chalutz has
resigned, taking responsibility for the "failure" of the invasion of
Lebanon (but not for its inexcusable attacks on civilians and their
infrastructure).
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I believe it was Chalutz who, when asked what he feels when he drops a
bomb from a plane, replied "a little bump".
20 January 2007 (
Henry Siegman
Henry Siegman, the former head of American Jewish Congress, defends
Jimmy Carter's new book and writes about
how Israeli
governments have killed the peace prospects
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
20 January 2007 (
Taliban raids
Taliban raids into Afghanistan have
tripled in certain parts of the Pakistani border
20 January 2007 (
Law to prohibit Bush from attacking
The
US Congress is considering
a law to prohibit Bush from attacking Iran.
This law could actually be adopted, if it were included in another law
that Bush couldn't afford to veto.
I've posted several warnings that an attack on Iran was under
immediate consideration, but no such attack has occurred. Perhaps all
Bush wanted to do was generate anxiety and keep people off guard.
20 January 2007 (
Iraqi security forces
Iran says it is willing to help
train "Iraqi security forces"
so that the foreign occupying troops will leave Iraq.
Perhaps Iran is already helping to train them. Iran has been accused
of supporting Shi'ite militias, many of whom are members of the "Iraqi
police" and run death squads that kill Sunnis.
Nonetheless, open Iranian help could be useful for ending the
violence, if some other country (a Sunni Arab country perhaps) could
help the Sunnis defend themselves from the Shi'ites.
19 January 2007 (
Salmon
Global warming has disrupted
salmon's mating cycle in Scotland.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 January 2007 (
Germany to make "holocaust denial" a crime
In a further attack on freedom of speech, Germany
wants to make
"holocaust denial" a crime
in the whole EU.
Denying the holocaust is a falsehood, but political and historical
positions must not be censored merely because they are wrong.
18 January 2007 (
Israeli Freedom Ride
Israelis
for peace plan a "Freedom Ride"
: they will defy the law that
prohibits them from carrying Palestinian passengers in their cars in
Palestine.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 January 2007 (
West's Blueprint for Africa on trial
A Malian film
puts
West's blueprint for Africa on trial
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
18 January 2007 (
BearingPoint connections with Bush regime
BearingPoint, the company that wrote the Iraqi law to enable Bush's
cronies to run off with Iraq's oil wealth, has a
long history of
inside connections with the Bush regime
, and a long history of not
accounting for what it does with the money that the Bush regime pays
it.
18 January 2007 (
NYT columnist calls Bush "defeated"
New
York Times columnist calls Bush "defeated"
, and calls on
Republicans to save the additional lives that Bush's troop increase
would destroy.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Before we start to crow about
Dubya
's
possible defeat, we must remind
ourselves that ending his war will not restore human rights in the US.
To make the US once again a country that deserves to be admired or
supported, there is a long way to go, and most US politicians are
against it.
18 January 2007 (
Krugman compares Iraq war to looting
Paul
Krugman says
Bush's continued pursuit of his war for Iraq is a
matter of looting, and compares it to the deceptive operation of a
bank that seeks new depositors after it is already broke.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
An
article
in the Atlantic claims
that Bush personally believes his
lies, because he has disconnected himself from reality. That could be
the explanation for why he persists in all these lies even after they
are disproved.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
If Bush wants to believe that Saddam Hussein possesses banned weapons,
and pressures the CIA until it fabricates evidence for this, whereupon
Bush cites the CIA's evidence, then Bush has not lied -- not exactly.
Rather, he has made the government as a system lie on his behalf.
Since he is in charge of that system, he is just as responsible for
this as he would be for lying personally.
18 January 2007 (
Murtha says occupation causes sectarian violence
John Murtha, proposing to forbid Bush from sending more troops to
Iraq,
said
on mainstream media
: "The invasion itself is what causes the
sectarian violence. It's the occupation [that] causes the violence."
I'm really glad that the wall forbidding people to say that the war
is wrong has been punctured.
Greg Palast says: instead of letting Bush have one more fix of troops,
ask
Saudi Arabia and Iran to work out peace
in Iraq.
I have
recommended similar things
18 January 2007 (
Baghdad Disease Alert
There is a
disease
alert in Baghdad
because the sewage system has been
overwhelmed. The tap water is now sewage.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Bush's attacks on infrastructure, and the violence that his occupation
unleashed, set the stage for problems like these.
17 January 2007 (
Caste system and apartheid
Indian Prime Minister Singh compared
the caste system to the former
apartheid regime.
17 January 2007 (
Sabotaging the law
A Bush regime official called for a
boycott of law firms that represent Guantanamo prisoners
. In effect, he is
trying to deny them the possibility of legal representation by sabotaging what
remains of the US system of justice.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Although other Bush regime officials did not support this plan, the
fact that it was proposed at all reflects the Bush regime's climate of
opposition towards the very idea of the rights of the accused.
17 January 2007 (
MI5 and Guantanamo
Some UK MPs demand that
MI5 account for its role
in sending two UK residents to Guantanamo.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
17 January 2007 (
Mistreatment of children
A new film tells about the
cruel and deadly mistreatment of Canadian indigenous children
carried out by
the United Church in Canada, and how it punished minister Kevin Annett for
exposing what was done.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
17 January 2007 (
Prisoners on hunger strike
11,000 Palestinians who are political prisoners of Israel are on a
hunger strike as a
protest against the fighting between Hamas and Fatah
17 January 2007 (
UN denounces execution
UN officials denounced the execution
of Saddam Hussein's lieutenants,
and the injustice of their trials.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
17 January 2007 (
Spying without supervision or restraint
The Bush regime seems to be trying to open the door for the US Army to
spy on Americans with no supervision or restraint
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
17 January 2007 (
Hamas recognizes Israel
Hamas took a step towards recognizing
Israel's existence, at least as
a fact that is not expected to change.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
17 January 2007 (
Insulting Islam and the king
Two journalists in Morocco were convicted
of insulting Islam and the
king, demonstrating the lack of freedom of speech there.
Does Morocco allow access to the
Jesus and Mo webcomic
16 January 2007 (
Surgical air attacks
"Surgical" air attacks in Somalia
did not hit their targets, but
they killed plenty of others. Tell us, Dr Bush, can their relatives
sue for malpractice?
16 January 2007 (
Protestors in Bangladesh
Protestors in Bangladesh achieved their goal:
a postponement of the elections
giving time to produce a correct voters' list.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Contrast this with the Bush's theft of the 2000 election--by excluding
some 50,000 mostly-Black, mostly Democratic voters from the Florida
voters' list.
16 January 2007 (
Police in Berlin
Police in Berlin raided a center organizing protests against the G-8
meeting --
before the protest started
16 January 2007 (
March of folly
Robert Fisk: Bush's new strategy --
the march of folly
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 January 2007 (
Doomsday Clock
The Union of Concerned Scientists has
decided to move the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight
reflecting an estimate of increased danger
of nuclear war.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 January 2007 (
Sue the US
NGOs in Niger are going to sue the US for
Dubya
's
false claims about
selling uranium
to Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
16 January 2007 (
Prohibited from speaking
Bush got an unenthusiastic response from troops
he was sending to
fight in Iraq, so they were prohibited from speaking to reporters
afterward.
16 January 2007 (
Re-nationalize
Venezuela's president
Chavez says he will re-nationalize energy and telephone companies
that were privatized by a previous government.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
It makes no sense to privatize state operations that do not operate in
competitive markets.
16 January 2007 (
Even Republicans
Even Republicans in Congress are rejecting Bush's plan
to send more
troops to Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
However, what Senator Hagel said is absurd. The "mistake" of
continuing the war is not bigger than the "mistake" of starting
it in the first place -- and calling them "mistakes" is
whitewashing a crime.
15 January 2007 (
Feuding Arabs
Arabs sometimes maintain family feuds
for hundreds of years after
forgetting the reason. Perhaps the fighting between Sunnis and
Shi'ites in Iraq has taken on the aspect of a feud. If so, it would
be very difficult to settle even if the underlying causes are removed.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
15 January 2007 (
Resisting authority
Imad Kabir, Egyptian, objected to how a policeman was treating his
cousin.
The policeman in response sodomized him with his stick.
Kabir complained, so he has been imprisoned for "resisting authority".
Police around the world think that their weapons entitle them to brutalize people
and make false accusations against them.
15 January 2007 (
Untrustworthy information
Dubya
's attacks against "al Qa'ida leaders" in Somalia
seem to have
killed mainly bystanders
. The intended targets may not have even been
there.
As usual, the US attacking based on untrustworthy information that it
buys, and the victims are innocent people, like most of the Guantanamo
prisoners. And, as usual, the US never admits any mistake.
15 January 2007 (
Guantanamo prison
After five years, the Guantanamo prison
continues to symbolize the evil of the Bush regime
for the whole world.
Guantanamo is not the only place where the US practices contempt for
human rights. It has disappeared thousands of people, who may be held
in secret prisons, or may be dead. Thus, closing Guantanamo is just
the first step of what the US must to to rejoin the society of
civilized states.
15 January 2007 (
Burden of global warming
The
wealthiest parts of the world cause global warming
, but the
burdens fall mainly on the poor.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
14 January 2007 (
Fredy Muñoz
Fredy Muñoz, reporter for Telesur in Colombia
, has been released from
prison, but still faces trumped-up criminal charges. They are based
on accusations by other prisoners, who say that the police leaned on them to
inculpate Muñoz.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Muñoz now fears he will be murdered, as has happened to other
political prisoners in Colombia.
14 January 2007 (
Political freedom
B'liar's most flagrant attack yet
on political freedom in the UK is a
proposal to arrest protestors for "offensive" chanting and signs.
14 January 2007 (
Shahawar Matin Siraj
Shahawar Matin Siraj has been sentenced
to 30 years in prison for
expressing willingness to participate in a theoretical bombing plot
that was suggested to him by an undercover police agent. Shahawar,
who is somewhat retarded, was arrested shortly after telling the
police agent that he had moral doubts about the plan.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
What we see is that Americans are so hungry for victims that they will
shred all kinds of legal protection in order to get their hands on
someone on whom to vent their rage.
14 January 2007 (
Prediction of casualties
A Pentagon memo predicts
10,000 or more Americans in the
Bush Forces
could be killed in Iraq by 2008.
Since hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have already been killed due to
Bush's occupation, it is likely that hundreds of thousands more will
be killed by 2008.
13 January 2007 (
Animal egg cells
The
UK proposes banning the use of animal egg cells to produce human stem cells
apparently for purely irrational reasons.
13 January 2007 (
New ethics rules
The Democrats' new ethics rules have
potential loopholes that could undermine them completely
if they are not
enforced very carefully.
13 January 2007 (
Climate change will transform Europe disastrously
An EU report says
that climate change will transform Europe
disastrously. The Mediterranean will become so hot and dry that
people will not want to live there.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
B'liar
refusing to act to reduce CO2 emissions
, ducks the issue by
saying that no politician would "ban" cheap flights.
Of course, the idea is not to "ban" them, just to tax them enough that
they won't be so cheap.
13 January 2007 (
Judge Jose Martinez
Judge Jose Martinez, who has
protected Coca Cola Company from lawsuits for its murders in Colombia
does fund-raising for the University of
Miami, and the big donor is the Coca Cola Company.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
13 January 2007 (
Future weapons
The US is spending billions on future weapons
. Some don't work at
all. Some do work, but they are only necessary to fight previous
generations of US weapons. Some might give the US power that no
country should be allowed to have.
13 January 2007 (
More troops
As Bush talks about sending more troops to Iraq, the UK says it will
cut troops in Iraq by almost half
, by May.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
13 January 2007 (
Unjust and unwinnable
One unjust and unwinnable war in Iraq isn't enough for Bush.
He now threatens to
include Syria and Iran
The
Bush forces
attacked an Iranian consulate
in the Kurdish part of
Iraq, arresting its staff.
I've heard elsewhere that this angered the Kurds, as well as Iran.
11 January 2007 (
Homelessness
A campaign of tent cities focused French politicians' attention on
the problem of homelessness
, and made them take action.
Contrast this with the total callousness of US politicians towards
the homeless.
11 January 2007 (
Impeach
1,000 people gathered on the beach in Pelosi's home district
to spell out "Impeach"
11 January 2007 (
Rising train fares
The UK is letting train fares rise
to the point where they drive
passengers to fly instead.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
If they keep this up, the problem will correct itself when London
disappears beneath the rising North Sea.
11 January 2007 (
More men and money
Bush will propose
sending 20,000 more troops to Iraq,
plus adding a billion dollars to the billions that were frittered
away ineffectively on "reconstruction".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
As a plan to "win the war", it is hopeless, but it can serve for
Bush's real aim, which is to continue the occupation and not admit
defeat.
11 January 2007 (
US in Somalia
Direct
US intervention in Somalia could give Islamists a boost
for
starting the guerrilla war that they have threatened.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
11 January 2007 (
Convicted soldiers
The Bush forces soldier who lead the rape and murder
of an Iraqi girl
and her family was previously diagnosed by a medical team as a
homicidal threat. The
Bush forces
often send such soldiers back into
combat, because they are scraping the bottom of the barrel for more
troops.
Another Bush forces soldier
who shot and killed several helpless
prisoners was sentenced to 9 months in jail.
I would suppose that the
murdered Iraqis' families do not think justice was done
11 January 2007 (
Biomass fuel
Producing ethanol for cars from corn
could lead to a worldwide rise in
corn prices.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This would be good for farmers in poor countries; they might be able
to compete. But in the long run we cannot afford to make car fuel the
way we grow food-- it is too resource-intensive. Biomass fuel will
only be a solution if it is made from weeds.
11 January 2007 (
Journalists arrested in Iraq
The Bush forces arrested journalists
who covered a march that
protested the execution of Saddam Hussein, as well as dozens of the
protestors. (Search for "reporter".)
That's the sort of "freedom and democracy" that Bush has brought to
Iraq.
11 January 2007 (
Segolene Royal
Segolene Royal
, candidate for President of France, took China to task
for its mounting inequality and its disregard for human rights.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Remember when US leaders used to try to put pressure on China about
this? Then they decided that copyright enforcement was more
important.
11 January 2007 (
Spying on visitors
The US is steadily increasing its spying
into the lives of everyone
that visits the US. Next step: taking all 10 fingerprints.
This is in addition to reading your email.
If you don't want to feed Big Brother, stay away from the US. Spend
your money elsewhere!
11 January 2007 (
President Chirac
French President Chirac told the Bush regime
, "I told you so."
He opposed the invasion of Iraq, and called for restoring "full
sovereignty" to the Iraqi people.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Full sovereignty would mean that Iraqis would be free to cancel
the theft of Iraq's oil resources, the imposition of plant patents,
and other privatizations.
11 January 2007 (
Open letter to Exxon-Mobil
Two US senators wrote an
open letter to Exxon-Mobil
, calling on the
company to end its support for global warming denial.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
11 January 2007 (
Energy conservation
India's prime minister made a strong speech
in favor of energy
conservation, calling on India to do more, and condemning the West for
failing to conserve.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
10 January 2007 (
Iowa
Iowa plans to build
a 300 MW wind-power storage facility.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
10 January 2007 (
Piergiorgio Welby
Piergiorgio Welby, paralyzed by muscular dystrophy, was condemned to a
life of torture by the Italian state. He begged to die; he went to
court, but it did not recognize his right to end his torture. Doctor
Riccio defied the court and disconnected his respirator, letting him
die.
I've read elsewhere that
the doctor now faces criminal charges
for his act of compassion.
The right to end one's life must not be limited to the "terminally
ill". Mr Welby was not "terminally ill", which means his torture
could have lasted decades if he had not received help.
10 January 2007 (
Politics of Iraq
Bush is about to achieve his goal
from the invasion of Iraq:
transferring Iraq's oil to his backers' oil companies.
An Iraqi expatriate who opposed Saddam Hussein
condemns the Bush
forces and supports the Iraqi resistance.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
A proposal for how to remove the Bush forces from Iraq
and protect
Iraqi civilians: give them a safe place to flee to.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
10 January 2007 (
Abolishing the death penalty
The State of New Jersey is
leaning towards abolishing the death penalty
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
10 January 2007 (
Israel plans nuclear attack
A newspaper reports receiving
secret Israeli plans for a nuclear attack
against Iran.
10 January 2007 (
Hurricane issues
Hurricane Katrina killed 1300 people.
A hurricane striking South Florida could kill more than 10,000
-- but
nobody is planning for this. Nor is there planning for how to make New
Orleans safer.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
New Orleans is a great city and we should not let it die. But it can
only survive, for more than a few decades, if it is moved.
10 January 2007 (
War on Integrity
In support of Bush's War on Integrity
, many government agencies in the
Bush regime are firing or sabotaging their own anticorruption
inspectors.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This reflects is a general Bush policy in favor of corruption.
10 January 2007 (
Photos of Haditha murders
Bush forces Marines took lots of photos
of the murders that some of
them committed in Haditha, Iraq.
10 January 2007 (
Germ warfare
The US is developing germ warfare technology
in corporate and
university labs, and maintain illegal secrecy.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
10 January 2007 (
Corrupt nutritional studies
Agribusiness funding
of nutritional studies corrupts the results.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
For full details,
here
is the study.
10 January 2007 (
Global warming hits Alaska
Entire towns in Alaska have to move
because of global warming. The
erosion is also filling up rivers, wiping out the salmon that spawn in
them.
08 January 2007 (
Bangladesh elections
The opposition in Bangladesh plans to boycott the election
, saying it
is being rigged.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
08 January 2007 (
Bottled water
There is a health warning
over safety of bottled water in the UK.
(And often it doesn't even taste any better.)
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
People have been manipulated into assuming bottled water is somehow
better, just because they have to pay for it.
08 January 2007 (
Minister proposes peace plan
A former minister in the "Iraqi" government has proposed
peace plan that might work-- if the
Bush forces
get out of the way.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
However, I am concerned that the provision of respecting the Iraqi
Constitution actually means respecting the Bush regime's robbery of
Iraqi oil and other state assets.
08 January 2007 (
Residents in New Orleans
Residents of public housing in New Orleans want to return
, and are
fighting government plans to demolish the housing and build new
buildings which would have room for fewer people.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
08 January 2007 (
UK minister on Hussein's execution
A UK minister was disgusted
by the video of Hussein's execution. Not by
the execution itself, mind you, just that there was a video.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The government of Italy
, by campaigning against the death penalty,
is focusing attention on what really matters.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
08 January 2007 (
Shuhada Street ban
A few weeks ago, the Israeli army announced that
Palestinians had been banned from Shuhada street in Hebron for six years "by mistake"
But Palestinians had to struggle to walk on that street-- and
when they finally did, they were attacked by Israeli settlers.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
A large nonviolent protest in Bil'in
, with both Israeli and
Palestinian officials, was met with violence from Israeli soldiers.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
08 January 2007 (
Soldiers avoid prosecution
Some British soldiers in the Bush forces
, who were caught on video
beating up helpless Iraqi prisoners, will not be prosecuted.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
08 January 2007 (
Tali Fahima released
Tali Fahima
, an Israeli who was threatened with execution for making
contact with a Palestinian militant, has been released from prison.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
07 January 2007 (
Diyala province
The Bush forces handed over Diyala province
to "Iraqi" troops. The
result was that the resistance more or less took over.
The Iraqi army of collaborators is good for only two things:
massacring Sunnis, and perhaps, in the future, saving face for Bush
while he pulls the
Bush forces
out.
07 January 2007 (
Israel versus Palestine
During 2006, Israeli attacks
killed 660 Palestinians, while
Palestinians killed 23 Israelis. Those 23 are Israel's excuse for
killing 660 (and wounding thousands). However, killing is just a
fraction of Israeli violence against Palestinians.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
07 January 2007 (
Fined for bringing medicine
Bert Sacks, who accuses the US of deliberately killing Iraqi children
through the economic sanctions, was
fined for bringing medicine to Iraq
. He has taken his case to the Supreme
Court.
I and most of the world expected, after the Gulf War, that Saddam
Hussein would comply quickly to get the sanctions lifted. If things
had taken that course, the sanctions would not have done much. Of
course, he did not. But I wonder what the US would have done if
Hussein had complied with the UN demands. Would it have twisted the
facts to keep the sanctions going?
07 January 2007 (
Sarah Olson
Journalist Sarah Olson
, who has been called to testify against Lt
Watada, says that such subpoenas of journalists threaten freedom of
political speech in the US.
07 January 2007 (
Robert Fisk on Saddam
Robert Fisk:
A dictator created then destroyed by America
07 January 2007 (
Bush's (surge) plan
Bush's "surge" plan
seems to come from neocons who have wanted more
troops for the occupation of Iraq all along.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
A temporary increase in troop levels has no chance of defeating a
popular resistance movement.
07 January 2007 (
Ramallah
Israel raided Ramallah
, killing four Palestinians, just before an
Olmert-Mubarak summit on "peace".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
06 January 2007 (
Trying to create doubt
Exxon
spent $16 million
trying to create doubt about global warming
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Perhaps
Exxon
should be held financially responsible for damage caused
by global warming which might have been prevented if not for
Exxon's
obstruction. They'd probably drop this campaign in a hurry!
06 January 2007 (
Trial of Lt. Watada
The trial of Lt. Watada, and
its implications
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
06 January 2007 (
Open mail
Bush is
trying to seize the power
to open Americans' mail without a
court order. He did this with a "signing statement" that totally
reverses the meaning of a law that he signed.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
President Bush is dedicated to the establishment of tyranny and the
abolition of human rights. He is the worst enemy of Americans -- and
the rest of the world as well.
06 January 2007 (
Asian Human Rights Commission
The Asian Human Rights Commission condemned the execution of Saddam
Hussein for the
failure of the trial to follow international norms of law and human rights
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
05 January 2007 (
Bush suffers setback
Bush's War on the Environment suffered a reverse
, as a court struck
down the
EPA's
relaxation of smog limits.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
05 January 2007 (
Execution of Saddam
The execution of Saddam Hussein
was used by Iraqi Shi'ites as part of
their murderous power struggle with the Sunnis.
04 January 2007 (
Human rights
Gone by not forgotten
: the basic human rights that separated the US
from tyranny.
04 January 2007 (
Conditions in Afghanistan
Driving Afghanistan's "almost finished" ring-road
is a good way to find out the
true conditions in Afghanistan
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
04 January 2007 (
Soldier killed by police
A retired
Bush forces
soldier with PTSD was notified that he would
be sent to Iraq, and threatened to kill himself. To prevent this,
the police shot him dead
The police's action was irrational, but at least this soldier
got his wish: to die rather than help oppress another country.
However, it would have been better for him to desert. That way
he could have done something positive with his life, rather than
only avoid doing harm.
04 January 2007 (
TV station's office closed
The Iraqi government
demonstrated its commitment to human rights by
closing a Dubai TV station's local office. The station is accused
of sympathizing with the Baath party.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
03 January 2007 (
Execution spurs violence
The execution of Saddam Hussein
seems to have spurred violence in
Iraq, and
Bush forces
casualties are increasing.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
03 January 2007 (
Bush attempts to gag analyst
Flynt Leverett, former CIA analyst, says
Bush tried to gag him by
falsely claiming his article revealed national secrets.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
(The CIA had already checked his text and decided it revealed
no secrets.)
02 January 2007 (
Bush interests in Iraq
Faux News has noticed
how the inter-sectarian war in Iraq
serves Bush interests.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 January 2007 (
Correa demands compensation
President-elect Correa of Ecuador demands
that the government of
Colombia pay compensation for the damages caused in Ecuador by the
drug-eradication chemical spraying which it carries out, mainly in
Colombia but also illegally in Ecuador, under the orders of the US.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
More about the damage
that this spraying causes--to crops, and to
human health.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 January 2007 (
Marijuana
Thanks to the War on Drugs,
marijuana is now the top cash crop
in the US.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
02 January 2007 (
Nurses tortured to confess
Libya has sentenced several Bulgarian nurses
to death, after torturing
them into confessing that they deliberately infected patients with
HIV.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
Evidence that HIV had contaminated the hospital before those
nurses worked there was ignored.
02 January 2007 (
The show goes on
The total failure of B'liar's middle east trip
is making the servility
of his "special relationship" with Bush clear to everyone.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
But don't expect
B'liar
to admit the truth, even when he knows
everyone knows. What
B'liar
says to the public is never honest, it is
theater, and his motto is, "The show must go on."
02 January 2007 (
International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group
, which studies how to end and prevent war,
says that only a new diplomatic approach can stop Iraq from falling apart
into a "failed state".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
I think it is too late already to prevent Iraq from falling apart.
The right thing to do is to accept this unstoppable change, and help
it go through in a way that results in reduced violence.
01 January 2007 (
Prison without bars
The US: prison without bars
. Most Americans are not aware of the
extent to which government surveillance is being extended over
all our activities.
Keep in mind that, through the USAP AT RIOT act, all businesses' data
about you and me is immediately available to Big Brother's police
without even a court order. This is why I use cash rather than credit
cards to buy things, and why I don't have a cell phone. And when I
travel on Greyhound, I never give them my right name.
I would say that surveillance is the first sign of incipient tyranny,
except that the US government has already gone well beyond the first.
01 January 2007 (
Wiping out the cod
The EU caved in to pressure from fishing interests and made just small
cuts in cod quotas, disregarding scientific advice that this could
lead to
wiping
out the cod
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
The EU's arrangements for regulating fishing are grossly and
dangerously inadequate.
01 January 2007 (
Bears not hibernating
Some bears in Europe
have stopped hibernating.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
This is one sign, among many, of how global warming has deranged the
world's ecosystems.
01 January 2007 (
Future of Israel
Uri Avnery writes about the possible
futures for Israel
01 January 2007 (
Iraq
How
many people died
in Iraq today?
01 January 2007 (
Florida election
House Democrats plan to acknowledge the
challenge to a Florida election that was apparently thrown
by electronic
voting machines.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
01 January 2007 (
Annexation wall
Nonviolent protest against the annexation wall
has spread to the
Palestinian village of Umm Salamuna.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
01 January 2007 (
Lobbying consultants
Political consultants who turn around and lobby
the officials they
once advised are a a growing form of corruption in US governments at
all levels.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the
old
link
was broken.]
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