Akhtar: Not in my name6 Nov 2007On November 3rd, General Pervez Musharraf enforced his second coup, a little over eight years after the first one that brought him to power. His reason? That this was the only way to ensure that the so-called ‘war on terror’ remained on track.
Lamrani: The deceit of Reporters Without Borders6 Nov 2007On October 16, 2007, the Paris based organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published its “Worldwide Press Freedoms Index 2007.” RSF claims to be neutral, objective and solely interested in press freedoms.
Raina: Gujarat 20026 Nov 2007The German philosopher, Kant, gave to the world two highly consequential orders of epistemology. In a throwback to Plato, he stipulated that it is within the intuitive powers of the human mind that it can have a priori knowledge of the totality of relations among entities.
Terkel: The Wiretap This Time6 Nov 2007EARLIER this month, the Senate Intelligence Committee and the White House agreed to allow the executive branch to conduct dragnet interceptions of the electronic communications of people in the United States. They also agreed to “immunize” American telephone companies from lawsuits charging that after 9/11 some companies collaborated with the government to violate the Constitution and existing federal law.
Doyle: Brazilian land activist killed in dispute over experimental GM farm6 Nov 2007November 5, 2007—When a Brazilian peasant organiser led a group of landless farmers on to a European-owned farm last month he was making an environmental protest as well as seeking farmland for about 20 families to cultivate. Within hours, Valmir Mota de Oliveira, 42, and known as “Keno” would be dead, killed execution-style by two shots to the chest.
Lendman: Punishing Gaza6 Nov 2007On September 20, Haaretz reported: “The security cabinet voted unanimously yesterday to increase sanctions against the Hamas-run Gaza Strip (and declare) the region a ‘hostile entity.’ ” A further statement read: “We will reduce the amount of megawattage we provide to the Strip, and Hamas will have to decide whether to provide electricity to hospitals or weapons lathes.
Fisk: Rendition5 Nov 2007At university, we male students used to say that it was impossible to take a beautiful young woman to the cinema and concentrate on the film. But in Canada, I’ve at last proved this to be untrue.
Sagar: Burma: Do-it-Yourself Democracy5 Nov 2007If sheer sacrifice of body, mind and soul for a noble cause were convertible into hard currency Burma’s legions of pro-democracy warriors would be among the richest citizens in the world. And yet, for all their great sacrifices the saga of the Burmese struggle for democracy seems to run like an old horror movie one has seen too many times before.
Sinclair: Ani DiFranco5 Nov 2007IT’S the one of the great ‘unmentionables’ of music journalism – with a few exceptions, most musicians, presumably because they spend their lives perfecting their music and image, actually have very little to say about politics and the wider world. The US singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco is an exception.
Khatib: Israel’s Settlement Blocs Carve Up the West Bank5 Nov 2007For the people of our small village of Bil’in, which lies west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the planned negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli leaders in Annapolis, Maryland evoke mixed feelings. Like all Palestinians, we pray that our children will not spend their lives as we did, under Israeli military occupation.
Chicago SDS: Morton West High School Expulsion5 Nov 2007Over 30 anti-war protestors at Morton West High School in Berwyn face expulsion for a demonstration at the school on Thursday. Scores of Students Face Expulsion Due to Sit-in Berwyn, IL Over 70 students participated in a sit-in against the Iraq War on All Saint’s Day, Thursday, November 1st.
Ali: Musharraf’s Second Coup5 Nov 2007After months of feverish speculation, Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf, in his capacity as chief of the army staff, carried out what appeared, on the face of it, to be a coup against his own government. Employing a method that has long been a staple for Pakistan’s military dictators, he issued a provisional constitutional order (PCO) whereby the nation’s constitution stands suspended until further notice.
McCormack: North Korea and the Birth Pangs of a New Northeast Asian Order4 Nov 2007In February 2007, agreement was reached at the Six Party talks in Beijing on the parameters for resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue. The frame was one of comprehensive settlement of one of the long unresolved legacies of the 20th century and the prospect it opened was for a new, diplomatic, military, political, and economic order.
Conason: Rudy’s Bogus Healthcare Stats3 Nov 2007Nov. 02, 2007 | To a politician pandering to his party’s right wing, a role that Rudolph Giuliani plays every day now, citing his own recovery from prostate cancer as an argument against “socialized medicine” must have seemed like pure genius.
Babcock: The Global Debate on the Death Penalty3 Nov 2007The debate over capital punishment in the United States-be it in the courts, in state legislatures, or on nationally televised talk shows-is always fraught with emotion. The themes have changed little over the last two or three hundred years.
Nkrumah: Furl the Flag3 Nov 2007As if his marital challenges were not enough cause for concern, “Sarco the Sayan” has suddenly emerged as the most infamous accolade of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The influential French daily Le Figaro last week revealed that the French leader once worked for—and perhaps still does, it hinted—Israeli intelligence as a sayan (Hebrew for helper), one of the thousands of Jewish citizens of countries other than Israel who cooperate with the katsas (Mossad case-officers).
ZNet