MIXED FORTUNES FOR SRI LANKA TAMILS - Despite the end of the war, the lives of Tamils in Sri Lanka's north remain difficult. Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay takes a look at the challenges they still face.
WEEKLY DIGEST
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PEACE JOURNALISM PERSPECTIVE
EDITORIAL
POOR AMERICA By Johan Galtung - 8 February 2010
Consider this. Obama promised change we can believe in and delivered non-change we certainly believe in, betraying those who voted for him. His deeds do not match... Read more
TMS PEACE JOURNALIST
BETWEEN IRAQ AND A HARD PLACE By Jake Lynch
“If people really knew, the war would be stopped tomorrow. But of course they don’t know, and can’t know. The correspondents don’t write and the censorship wouldn’t... Read more
THE CREED OF OBJECTIVITY KILLED THE NEWS By Chris Hedges – Truthdig
The symbiotic relationship between the press and the power elite worked for nearly a century. It worked as long as our power elite, no matter how ruthless or insensitive, was competent. But... Read more
THERE'S REAL HOPE FROM HAITI AND IT'S NOT WHAT YOU EXPECT By Johann Hari – The Independent
When people live so close to the edge, even small price increases can break them.
In the weeks after a disaster like the Haiti earthquake, journalists always search... Read more
COMMENTARIES
ANALYSIS
DEMYSTIFYING SOCIAL CHANGE: PAY THE PRICE (Part 1) By John Jensen – Dissident Voice
Why does social change seem so difficult? What can we do about it?
With the array of needs unmet, it’s fair to say that our collective efforts fall short. Worse,... Read more
MEDIOCRE THINKING: DEMYSTIFYING SOCIAL CHANGE (PART 2) By John Jensen – Dissident Voice
The basic point is this. Results come from our quality of thinking. Poor quality means poor results. Less obvious is that our quality stays low if we’re pained when others try to help us... Read more
SPOTLIGHT
WHAT NEXT FOR HAITI AS "RECOVERY" REPLACES RELIEF? By Danny Schechter – Global Research
As Media Coverage Fades, Urgent Issues on the Disaster Go Uncovered
UN Takes Over Aid Distribution; Admits Effort Has Been a Failure
THE VULTURES CIRCLE HAITI AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY, NATURAL OR MAN-MADE By Regan Boychuk – Information Clearing House
Despite the impression you might have been left with from the media, Haitians are perfectly capable of managing their own affairs and know what they need a hell of a lot better than we do.... Read more
THE FLOOD TO END OCCUPATION By Manuel Rozental - ZNet
The obvious is now being stated daily from different angles and perspectives and supported by strong evidence. The occupation of Haiti for transnational Capital through the US and its allies is... Read more
THE FATEFUL GEOLOGICAL PRIZE CALLED HAITI By F. William Engdahl – Global Research
President becomes UN Special Envoy to earthquake-stricken Haiti.
A born-again neo-conservative US business wheeler-dealer preacher claims Haitians are condemned for making a... Read more
IN FOCUS
TEN YEARS OF WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: ANOTHER WORLD IN THE MAKING By Francine Mestrum – Centre Tricontinental
It should always be repeated: no one can have a final and total position on the World Social Forum. Since hundreds of seminars are organized, one can only speak about the impressions one has... Read more
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM, TEN YEARS ON By Esther Vivas – Znet
Since the World Social Forum was launched in June 2000, at the Alternative Social Summit in Geneva, coinciding with the United Nations Assembly on Social Development, ten years have passed. In... Read more
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: RECONCILING SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL NEEDS By Mario Osava - IPS/TerraViva
One of the greatest challenges facing the world today is to attend to the urgent social needs of the planet’s population, and particularly the one billion people living "on the... Read more
BY TRANSCEND MEMBERS
COGNITIVE IMPLICATIONS OF LIFESTYLE DISEASES OF RICH AND POOR By Anthony Judge – Laetus in Praesens
Transforming Personal Entanglement with the Natural Environment
Introduction
Lifestyle diseases (also called diseases of longevity, diseases of... Read more
HITCHENS HAS NO CLOTHES: A RESPONSE TO ‘VIDAL LOCO’ By Dr Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, MA DPhil (Sussex) – The Independent
In his February Vanity Fair hitpiece, Christopher Hitchens argues that the post-9/11 world has driven Gore Vidal ‘Loco’ – the signs, he says, were always there, but... Read more
CURRENT AFFAIRS
BAGRAM: GRAVEYARD OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS By Andy Worthington - Truthout
On January 15, 2010, the Pentagon released the first-ever list of prisoners held in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility, the main US prison in Afghanistan for the last eight years. An... Read more
IDEA OF COMPANY-AS-PERSON ORIGINATED IN LATE 19TH CENTURY By Martha C. White - Washington Post
The Supreme Court's 5 to 4 decision that rolled back long-standing restrictions on corporate campaign finance donations has generated a lot of Sturm und Drang from proponents of campaign reform... Read more
A MARVELOUS VICTORY By Howard Zinn
An excerpt from his recent book A Power Governments Cannot Suppress published by City Lights Books, www.citylights.com.
In this world of war and injustice, how... Read more
VIDEO GAMES WITH A PROGRESSIVE MESSAGE By Amitabh Pal- The Progressive
The best thing about being invited to conferences is not the chance to spread the word about your work (though I do enjoy doing that), but the opportunity you get to learn about the good work... Read more
AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICA'S DATE WITH DESTINY By Mike Hanna in Africa – AlJazeera
Mike Hanna remembers the day in February 1990 when South Africa began its march to democracy.
The image that stuck with me that bright February morning was never filmed or... Read more
ASIA
MALAYSIA & THAILAND: CIVIL SOCIETY AND ETHNIC CONFLICT By Daniel Semcesen , Pierre Nikolov – Centre Tricontinental
The importance of civil society for advancing peace efforts and outcomes generated increased and wide interest after the Cold war. During this era the number of armed intra-state and violent... Read more
TIME TO SET OKINAWA FREE By Sherwood Ross – Global Research
It’s way past time for the U.S. to get out of Okinawa—and, for that matter, to take its Tokyo good buddies with it. Before Japanese warlords annexed the Ryuku islands in 1879,... Read more
AMERICA'S SECRET AFGHAN PRISONS By Anand Gopal – The Nation, February 15, 2010 edition
The research for this story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
One quiet, wintry night last year in the eastern Afghan town of Khost, a young... Read more
LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN
THE UNITED STATES MISREADS BRAZIL'S WORLD POLICY By Immanuel Wallerstein - ZNet
When the United States first realized circa 1970 that its hegemonic dominance was being threatened by the growing economic (and hence geopolitical) strength of western Europe and Japan, it... Read more
COLOMBIA’S MASS GRAVES By Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey – Pravda
The dark history of President Alvaro Uribe is well known for its seedy connections to narco-traffickers, terrorists and murderers. When Mayor of the City of Medellin, narco-terrorist death... Read more
THE US GAME IN LATIN AMERICA By Mark Weisbrot – The Guardian
US interference in the politics of Haiti and Honduras is only the latest example of its long-term manipulations in Latin America.
When I write about US foreign policy in... Read more
MIDDLE EAST
MOSSADEGH AND AHMADINEJAD: IRAN FACES ALMOST THE SAME DILEMMA AS 1953 By Ardeshir Ommani - Iranian
There is a stark similarity between some aspects of the political atmosphere dominant over Iran today and those under Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh right before the U.S.-led coup of 1953... Read more
ANALYSIS OF MULTIPLE POLLS FINDS LITTLE EVIDENCE IRANIAN PUBLIC SEES GOVERNMENT AS ILLEGITIMATE By World Public Opinion
PLEASE, MR. PRESIDENT, STOP TALKING NONSENSE By Alan Hart – Information Clearing House
At a town hall meeting in Tampa, Florida on 28 January, President Obama explained what in his view had to happen if there is to be a two-state solution which would see Israel and the... Read more
ISRAELI OCCUPATION SUPPORTIVE COMPANIES TO BOYCOTT By Stephen Lendman – Dissident Voice
In July 2005, a coalition of 171 Palestinian Civil Society organizations created the global BDS movement for “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel Until it Complies with... Read more
ISRAEL AND HAITI By Mohsin Drabu
Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, which may have wiped out up to 3% of the population, one of the most publicised national aid and rescue efforts was provided by Israel. The day... Read more
ISRAEL FEELS UNDER SIEGE. LIKE A VICTIM. AN UNDERDOG By Robert Fisk – The Independent
Anyone who is anyone in Israel will come to Herzliya this week for a conference about the state of the Jewish nation. Our correspondent joined them and found a climate of unprecedented... Read more
WHY DOES THE US TURN A BLIND EYE TO ISRAELI BULLDOZERS? By Robert Fisk – The Independent
Most of the West Bank is under rule which amounts to apartheid by paper.
"Palestine" is no more. Call it a "peace process" or a "road map";... Read more
MAKE ISRAEL A NON JEWISH SECULAR DEMOCRACY By Helen Gavaghan in Manchester, UK
Sociologist and New York-based peace activist, Joel Kovel, outlined personal arguments for a deeper understanding of Zionism if one is to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He spoke at a... Read more
NO RELIEF FOR THE PALESTINIANS WHILE ISRAEL ENJOYS IMPUNITY By Andrew Phillips – The Independent
The West should now look to the imposition of escalating cultural and economic sanctions on Israel.
To visit Gaza for a third time in five years still induces a gut... Read more
VIEWS FROM THE EMPIRE
AMID MEDIA BLACKOUT: CONGRESSIONAL HEARING REVEALS US INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES SHIELDED FLIGHT 253 BOMBER By Alex Lantier – WSWS
The revelation that US intelligence agencies made a deliberate decision to allow Abdulmutallab to board the commercial flight, without any special airport screening, has been buried in the... Read more
MEDIA
EMERGING FROM THE MEDIA FOG By Stéphane Baillargeon - Le Devoir
Marcel Gauchet pleads for a reenchantment of the world of information.
Philosopher and historian Marcel Gauchet agreed to deliver his reflections on the present crisis in the... Read more
AL JAZEERA: THE MOST HATED NAME IN NEWS? By Deborah Campbell – The Walrus Magazine
Can Al Jazeera English cure what ails North American journalism?
There are three forces shaping the world, an Arab reporter I met in the Gaza Strip once told me: money,... Read more
ENVIRONMENT
CLIMATE CRIME: PHISHING SCAM CRIPPLES EUROPEAN EMISSIONS TRADING By SPIEGEL
Sneaky cyber-thieves have made millions by fraudulently obtaining European greenhouse gas emissions allowances and reselling them. The scam has hampered trading of the credits, which are... Read more
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN COPENHAGEN? By Anne Petermann and Orin Langelle – Znet
The iron fist of the market versus iron in the soul of the social movements.
When the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate... Read more
MILITARISM
THE LESSONS OF IRAQ HAVE BEEN IGNORED. THE TARGET IS NOW IRAN By Seumas Milne - ZNet
The US military buildup in the Gulf and Blair's promotion of war against Tehran are a warning of yet another catastrophe.
We were ¬supposed to have learned the... Read more
OBAMA'S BUDGET CALLS FOR BILLIONS IN NEW SPENDING FOR DRONES By Jason Leopold - Truthout
This is how major US defense contractors reacted to the unveiling of President Barack Obama's Read more
ISLAND RESIDENTS SUE U.S., SAYING MILITARY MADE THEM SICK By Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein - CNN
Vieques, Puerto Rico (CNN) -- Nearly 40 years ago, Hermogenes Marrero was a teenage U.S. Marine, stationed as a security guard on the tiny American island of Vieques, off the coast of Puerto... Read more
US DRONES KILLED 123 CIVILIANS, THREE AL-QAEDA MEN IN JANUARY By Amir Mir – The News, Lahore
Afghanistan-based US predators carried out a record number of 12 deadly missile strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan in January 2010, of which 10 went wrong and failed to hit their targets,... Read more
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
US 'MISSILE DEFENCE' MOVE CRITICISED BY CND By Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament-CND
Press Release - Feb 4, 2010
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament regrets moves towards the establishment of a US interceptor missile base in Romania , announced... Read more
FULL-COURT PRESS: THE "FOUR HORSEMEN" CALL FOR A NUCLEAR WEAPONS SPENDING SURGE By Darwin BondGraham, Will Parrish and Nicholas Ian Robinson
In the December edition of Z Magazine we published a lengthy feature examining the new politics of "anti-nuclear nuclearism," a rhetoric whereby hawkish elites vaguely tout the goal of... Read more
CAPITALISM
EXPOSED: BERNANKE'S "SKIMMING OPERATION" By Mike Whitney – Information Clearing House
The banks didn't care if the loans were repaid because they got their money "up front" on volume originations. That's why they were so eager to issue mortgages to people with no... Read more
ENERGY
PORTUGAL: RACING FOR RENEWABLES By Mario de Queiroz – TerraViva Europe
Just a decade ago, criticism rained down on sunny, windy Portugal for not making the most of nature's gifts to develop renewable energy sources. Now all signs indicate that it did not fall on... Read more
BOOK REVIEW
“MY FATHER WAS A FREEDOM FIGHTER” By Gilad Atzmon
Ramzy Baroud’s “My Father Was A Freedom Fighter” is more than a book, it is actually a masterpiece. In an overwhelmingly evoking personal style Baroud manages to bring... Read more
OTHER THAN POLITICS
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE BIPOLAR TO BE A GENIUS – BUT IT HELPS By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor – The Independent
Study reveals that high-achievers are far more likely to be manic depressives.
Scientists have for the first time found powerful evidence that genius may be linked... Read more
THE EX-GAY FILES: THE BIZARRE WORLD OF GAY-TO-STRAIGHT CONVERSION By Patrick Strudwick – The Independent
Is homosexuality a form of mental illness? A small but evangelical band of psychotherapists believe that it is – and they're on a mission to 'heal' the afflicted. Patrick Strudwick... Read more
APPEALS
RAINFOREST RESCUE By TMS Editor
Dear friends,
A leaked draft EU document shows that the Commission would like to rename palm oil plantations as “forest” in order that biodiesel from palm oil... Read more
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
(FRENCH) HAÏTI: LE MOUVEMENT SOCIAL SE PRONONCE By Centre Tricontinental
Le mouvement social haïtien a fait parvenir cette déclaration aux gouvernements et organisations réunis à Montréal, le 26 janvier, pour faire face à... Read more
(SPANISH) LOS DESAFÍOS DE LOS MOVIMIENTOS POPULARES LATINOAMERICANOS FRENTE A LA CRISIS CAPITALISTA By Emilio Taddei & José Seoane - Centre Tricontinental
En noviembre de 1999 la “Batalla de Seattle” contra la tercera reunión ministerial de la Organización Mundial de Comercio (OMC, bautizada “Ronda del... Read more
(SPANISH) AMÉRICA LATINA Y EL CARIBE, UNA REGIÓN DE PAZ: FUERA LAS BASES MILITARES EXTRANJERAS By CETIM - Centre Europe-Tiers Monde, Genève
Reunidos en Porto Alegre, Brasil, en el marco de los eventos celebrados durante el 10º aniversario del Foro Social Mundial, frente a una nueva escalada agresiva del imperialismo, nosotros... Read more
(SPANISH) PATRICIO LUMUMBA, EL ROSTRO OLVIDADO DEL GENOCIDIO NEGRO By Carlos Ml. Vega Bolaños - TeleSur
"Ninguna brutalidad maltrato o tortura me ha doblegado porque prefiero morir con la cabeza en alto, con la fe inquebrantable y una profunda confianza en el futuro de mi país, a... Read more
(PORTUGUESE) OS NÚMEROS DO DÉCIMO FORUM SOCIAL MUNDIAL – PORTO ALEGRE, 25-29 JAN 2010 By Cristiano – Brasil de Fato
35 mil pessoas participaram de 915 atividades como conferências, seminários e oficinas em sete cidades.
Cerca de 35 mil pessoas participaram da... Read more
VIDEO
CANADIAN STUDENTS DEMAND DIVESTMENT FROM ISRAELI APARTHEID By saiacarleton
SAIA-Students Against Israeli Apartheid demands that Carleton University immediately divest its stock in BAE Systems, L-3 Communications, Motorola, Northrop Grumman and Tesco, and adopt... Read more
THE CORPORATION By Information Clearing House
I believe this is one of the best and most important documentary films to be made in many years.
This is an extraordinary film about the creation of the American... Read more
HOWARD ZINN ON ANARCHISM AND MARXISM By JJNoire
An excerpt from the DVD "Theory and Practice: Conversations With Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn" in which Prof. Zinn answers interviewer Sasha Lilley's questions about a... Read more
INSIDE ISRAELI LAND GRABS By The Real News Network
Real News speak to settlers, Palestinians and experts to understand the process of land confiscation in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.
ISRAEL HAVE BEEN USING WHITE PHOSPHORUS WEAPONS SINCE 1960'S By SoLongLivePalestin2
"War game" involved [amongst others] a "terrorist" scenario to hijack jets by remote control - crash them & blame the crash on purported "others" [purported... Read more
JOKE OF THE WEEK
DOGS By Dietrich Fischer
Inspector Cluzeau stood at the door of a house with a lady and a dog. He asked the lady, "Does your dog bite?" She said no. He entered, and the dog... Read more
