TRUTHOUT
HAITI EARTHQUAKE LIVE BLOG: Who to Follow and What to Read for Breaking Developments
Here is the link to Thursday's live blog. Please check the page regularly for updates.
7:45am PDT: The BBC has a disturbing first hand video report from a hospital in Port-au-Prince where, last night, injured people waiting for treatment slept amongst dead bodies.
Snake Oil Salesmen: Big Oil and Hip-Hop Don't Mix
Rule No. 1 in hip-hop: don't knock the hustle. And KRS-One stated clearly in the first principle of The Hip-Hop Declaration of Peace, that among the nine elements fundamental to the kulture is street entrepreneurialism. It is hard, I understand, to speak ill of a rapper or MC making business moves to better their living and, in some cases, enrich the communities from which they emerged.
And Jay-Z laid the statutes down a decade and half ago: "Let's get
As Biden Visits, Israel Keeps Iran Fears in Mind
Jerusalem - Israeli leaders would like nothing better than to smash Iran’s putative nuclear capability with a swift bombing raid. Trouble is, most Israeli military and political chiefs are doubtful it could be done and fear the broader consequences of any attempt.
That might make for uncomfortable times down the road for Israel when it comes in the range of Iranian nukes. But it also could lead to domestic political conflict over the peace talks with the Palestinians, which U.S. mediators announced this week will restart in the coming days.
New Hope for Progress on US Ratification of CEDAW
Women have been stymied for years in efforts to achieve U.S. ratification of CEDAW, the UN treaty to eliminate discrimination against women. Now, meeting at the UN, U.S. women hope to regain influence in establishing rights for women around the world.
US AIDS Fund Flat-Lining, Groups Complain
Washington - The debate between those who favour investment in AIDS treatment and those who favour investment in its prevention came to the forefront Thursday at a U.S House of Representatives hearing on U.S. investments in HIV/AIDS in Africa.
International health organisations working to help check the spread of AIDS in Africa said meagre increases in funds from the U.S. government this year would be a step backwards. Some experts also emphasised that prevention must get appropriate attention in any fight against the disease.
Robert Scheer | An Oscar for America's Hubris
What a shame that the one movie about the Iraq war that has a chance of being viewed by a large worldwide audience should be so disappointing.
According to press reports, members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences finally found a movie about the Iraq war they liked because it is "apolitical." Actually, "The Hurt Locker" is just the opposite -- it's an endorsement of the politically chauvinistic view that the world is a stage upon which Americans get to deal with their demons no matter the consequence for others.
Froma Harrop | Coming Between You and Your Doctor
The lights must dim around Google's data-storage centers every time someone does a search for "government bureaucrat coming between you and your doctor." Foes of the Democrats' health-reform proposals have been chanting this on the hour for a year -- with a surge after Democrats put money for "comparative effectiveness research" in the stimulus bill.
Rachel Corrie Case Stirs Fresh Pain and Hope
Haifa, Israel - Shortly before Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer on March 16, 2003, she said in a video interview that she marveled at Palestinians’ ability to “hold onto their humanity as much as they have.”
Antiwar Activists Plan Nationwide Protests to Mark Seventh Anniversary of Iraq Invasion
Antiwar activists are gearing up to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq with a weeklong series of events to protest the ongoing occupation of the country.
The US invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. Then-President George W. Bush and top administration officials told the American people Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat to the US, had concealed weapons of mass destruction and helped plan the 9/11 attacks.
Clinton Call to Netanyahu: Israel Settlement Move a "Deeply Negative Signal"
Tel Aviv, Israel - A day after Vice President Joe Biden ended a fence-mending trip marred by the Israel settlement issue, tension hung over the embattled city of Jerusalem both in the streets and in government offices.
Israeli police in the capital went on high alert for violent demonstrations after Friday prayers in East Jerusalem – and the military enforced a total closure on Palestinians in the West Bank.
Building Settlements, Not Peace
Jerusalem - Had Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu been a devotee of Robert Burns, he would now be tearing up the pessimistic view of the legendary Scottish nationalist poet that even the best made-plans tend to go wrong just when one thinks everything's going according to what's planned.
How well-laid his plan was: He had put on the warmest of welcomes for Joe Biden, the U.S. Vice-President, the highest ranking visitor to come to Israel from Washington since Netanyahu and President Barack Obama both took office just over a year ago.
The Tonton Macoutes: The Central Nervous System of Haiti’s Reign of Terror
A Malediction on Haitian Society
Pakistan: Suicide Bomb Attacks in Lahore Cap Particularly Grim Week
Suicide blasts rocked Pakistan’s cultural capital of Lahore for the second time this week, killing at least 45 people Friday and rebuffing notions that recent arrests and killings of Taliban leaders have weakened the militants' capacity to strike deep inside the country.
Robert Reich | The Sham Recovery
Are we finally in a recovery? Who's "we," kemosabe? Big global companies, Wall Street, and high-income Americans who hold their savings in financial instruments are clearly doing better. As to the rest of us – small businesses along Main Streets, and middle and lower-income Americans – forget it.
Final Health Care Bill Vote Due As Early As Next Week
Nearly a year after Democrats introduced legislation to reform the health care industry - first by flirting with the prospect of having a government-run program to compete with private insurers and then floating a proposal to expand Medicare to a younger demographic - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that Congress is ready to vote on a final bill as early as next week that doesn't include either of those plans.
What Torture Is and Why It's Illegal and Not "Poor Judgment"
It's now over two weeks since veteran Justice Department (DOJ) lawyer David Margolis dashed the hopes of those seeking accountability for the Bush administration's torturers, but this is a story of such profound importance that it must not be allowed to slip away.
Margolis decided that an internal report into the conduct of John Yoo and Jay S. Bybee, who wrote the notorious memos in August 2002, which attempted to redefine torture so that it could be used by the CIA, was mistaken
Six Democratic Senators Poised to Kill Student Loan Reform
Graduating from college is a great feeling. Not so great: being saddled with $23,200 in student loans, the average debt owed by graduates of the class of 2008, according to the Project on Student Debt.
“Soul of a Citizen” Excerpt: The Real Rosa Parks
One reason people despair so easily these days is that we often have little sense of how change has occurred in times past, and of what it took for ordinary people to persist until they prevailed. The Rosa Parks story offers an example that we all think we know, but where the story as usually told omits the key context and blurs the key lessons.
Taboo Thwarts Candor on Israel/Iran
Participants at an otherwise informative discussion on "Iran at a Crossroads" at the Senate on Wednesday seemed at pains to barricade the doors against the proverbial elephant being admitted into the room - in this case, Israel.
This, despite the fact that the agenda virtually dictated that the elephant be allowed in - the cavernous hearing room also could have accommodated it - however awkward and untidy the atmosphere might have become.
David Sirota | The Tax War Goes Online
Is the Internet everywhere or is it nowhere?
This question will strike many readers as a navel-gazing exercise in post-modern existential inquiry, prompting reflections on the 21st-century meaning of location (is an IP address really an address?) and space (is cyberspace actually "space"?). But thanks to Amazon.com, it's become a question about more concrete and imminent issues like budget deficits and tax fairness.
