October 4th, 2007 by CD
War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. Narrated by actor and activist Sean Penn, the film exhumes remarkable archival footage of official distortion and exaggeration from LBJ to George W. Bush, revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war messages of successive presidential administrations.
Read more…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5CF5pfVzLI[/youtube]
August 20th, 2007 by CD
What do you think about this topic? A country which was created under the basis of people fleeing persecution is now turning away “its own.” Israeli spokesman David Baker said on Sunday (8/19/2007) that “The policy of returning back anyone who enters Israel illegally will pertain to everyone, including those from Darfur.”
As many as 50 asylum seekers arrive in Israel each day, lured by the prospect of employment, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates.
Israel estimates that 2,800 people have entered the country illegally in recent years - nearly all were from Africa, including 1,160 from Sudan.
March 13th, 2007 by CD
Social situations in Zimbabwe have not change very much over the last several decades. Civil liberties are not honored by the government (perhaps they are learning from the U.S.) and many of Zimbabwe’s neighbors are failing to criticize the Zimbabwean government for its abuses.
Civil Rights and Political Activist Morgan Tsvangirai was recently released from prison after an arrest at a political rally. During his two day stay in the police station he was severely assaulted with deep cuts all over his face, his eye swollen shut and he could barely walk. One of the activists was shot dead, so it appears that Mr. Tsvangirai was one of the lucky ones. The U.S. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, urged Zimbabwe to conduct an “immediate, impartial and comprehensive investigation” into what happened. We all know that will not happen.
In any case, all around us the world is demanding change. Unlike the citizens in Zimbabwe, we here in the U.S. have the ability to vote liars and even more so officials who break the law out of office. If congress can’t get their act straighten out its time for the people of America to do the job for them. Hearing Morgan Tsvangirai’s story should empower us to want the best for our country. Sadly, as statistics show, American’s are not that eager to engage themselves in politics. As a result, the current administration can continue the war on the middle class.
February 16th, 2007 by CD
A fascinating broadcast was shown on BBCTV a couple day ago on vulture funds. Vulture funds - as defined by the International Monetary Fund and Gordon Brown amongst others - are companies which buy up the debt of poor nations cheaply when it is about to be written off and then sue for the full value of the debt plus interest - which might be ten times what they paid for it. In many cases as seen in the broadcast, this simply put keeps the third world from improving their economy and social standings. It won’t be surprising that many of these companies that buy up the debt are not only located in places like Washington, D.C. and New York but that they have ties to the U.S. government.
Download the 15min video here
January 8th, 2007 by CD
The ongoing violence in Nigeria is bringing promises of more threats to the country’s oil production. This is all the more reason why every person should be paying more attention to the conflict in Nigeria is because they play such a huge role in worldwide oil production. Nigeria is the fifth largest supplier of oil to the U.S. and any disruption with the production of oil will have grave consequences. Some experts like Ann Korin of the Institute for Analysis of Global Security stated “every little spike in Nigeria causes us serious problems when it comes to global oil prices.”
The crisis in Nigeria which is being led by a group called the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has some justified points that should be addressed. In a country with such a rich research most of the Nigerian people live in poverty. People live in shacks made out of straw; many have no electricity and bath in dirty water. How can this be? It is corruption. Corruption plays a large role in many African countries in terms of reinvesting money earned from resources like diamonds and oil. Until the corruption is stopped millions of people in Nigeria and other countries within Africa will continue to remain in poverty as they have been doing for decades.
So are these people terrorist or revolutionist? Shouldn’t corruption be stopped when a few leaders are living in wealth while millions are living in poverty? What are your thoughts?
January 4th, 2007 by CD
For nearly sixteen year, the Somali people have been living in a country that has not changed since American troops were there. Extreme violence couple with warlordsim and humanitarian suffering has put Somalia further down the road towards improving basic human and economic developments.
The current situation which brings Ethiopian troops in direct involvement in trying to bring back heavily Islamic controlled areas has been an ongoing battle. Fighting seems to be everywhere with the Somalia government being backed through international assistance. Secretary Condoleezza Rice said that the U.S. “will continue to work in the context of the Somalia Contact Group to mobilize the support of the international community in support of the Somali people.” Well, what has the U.S. been doing for the last two decades? This conflict did not end when American troops left.
It would seem to me that a little bit more action and a little less of political statements needs to come forward. The new U.N. Secretary General is expect to visit Africa in the upcoming weeks and hopefully a framework of peace and development can come out of that visit through the U.N. member states.
January 3rd, 2007 by CD
I talk about the rich quite often in terms of them investing their money in social issues. In a world filled with poverty, disease and violent crimes, much of the third world looks at the U.S. and thinks “how can they waste of so much that they have?” One particular area that is taken for granted in the U.S. is education. If you take a look at education standards in other countries like Singapore, China where education is of high importance in teens as they grow up and compare it to that of the U.S. there is a huge difference.
Even in poor countries in Africa, where they often grow up in poverty and literally study if they are lucky to during the day light because of no electricity, education is still of high importance. Well, Oprah recently dedicated and built a girl’s school in South Africa to a group of 73 young girls who will now have the chance of receiving a wonderful education and future. The girls will be subjected to higher standards of excellence compared to what is being taught in U.S. schools. In addition, the school will eventually host about 425 girls from grades 7-12.
Winfrey said, “One of the things that’s very important for me is for the girls to be proud of themselves and to be proud of the way they look and where they come from, and a lot of them in the beginning were very embarrassed about being poor.” Coming from a poor family myself (American standards) I too was embarrassed of being poor. It was through education that I saw a way out for myself. It is true, we in America have so many opportunities that others do not.
Most of the girls come from “true poverty” with no running water and no electricity. The opposition that Oprah was faced with when building the school was great. She said “The resistance was too much, What are you doing? What do they need all that room for? Why does a girl need all that closet space when she has no clothes? That’s what they first said to me. And my idea was to understand, yes, you come from nothing, but oh, what a something you will become, if given the opportunity,”
Touché Oprah, a round of applause for giving a dream to a group of what will become over 400 students who would have probably lived their who lives without knowing how to read and dying just as poor as they were born.
January 2nd, 2007 by CD
With the start of the New Year, the U.N. is also starting off anew with a brand new leader. I must admit that having a new leader represent and lead the world in international affairs is like getting a new Pope for me. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon from S. Korea has a daunting task ahead of head in many regions of the world. He is scheduled to visit parts of Africa along with the Middle East. I would encourage him to spend more time in Africa as parts of it are in need of badly needed help.
He stated in a press conference that “As the secretary-general, at the same time, while I am firmly against impunity, I also hope that members of the international community should pay due regard to all aspects of international humanitarian laws. During my entire tenure, I’ll try my best to help member states, (the) international community, to strengthen the rule of law.”
This year will prove to be a difficult year for him as many parts of the world are in need of either humanitarian assistance or diplomacy negotiations.
