November 27th, 2007 05:18pm Rowan Wolf
By Rowan Wolf
Back on October 30, 2007, a draft law was put forward to end Paul Bremmer’s Order 17, which granted immunity from Iraqi law to Multinational Force (MNF), MNF civilian personnel, Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), Consultants, Foreign Liaisons, Contractors and others. Order 17 (implemented in 2004) placed all of these people and corporations and entities outside of all Iraqi jurisdiction and law.
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November 27th, 2007 08:22am Rowan Wolf
By Ramzy Baroud’s (ramzybaroud.net) author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006).
What do an organic farmer from Spain, a union worker activist from Brazil and a human rights scholar living in London have in common? They are all individuals who affect substantive change in their communities and they are also individuals who are overlooked by the corporate media.
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November 26th, 2007 09:00am Rowan Wolf
By: Monica Benderman of Benderman Defense and Benderman’s Bridge
The doors have opened on another holiday season. Utility workers have spent hours hoisting holiday decorations to the tops of buildings and attaching lights to all the telephone poles in town. It won’t be long before the entrance displays of massive armored fighting vehicles that represent the muscle of the Rock of the Marne at Fort Stewart, Georgia are covered with lights.
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November 26th, 2007 08:12am Rowan Wolf
By Kellia Ramares reposted from Speaking Truth to Power
Being rich is not wrong if you come by your wealth ethically, though it is not the sign of God’s favor that Calvinists and their progeny take it to be. I advocate more people having the chance to be rich. As a T-shirt in sold in Berkeley says, “There is no disgrace in being poor, but it’s damned inconvenient.” And for people who don’t have the funds to obtain adequate health care, food, or housing, poverty can be damned deadly. I really have no use for those “progressives” who make a fetish of poverty. What good is a political and economic philosophy if it can’t sustain its adherents in the real world? (more…)
November 25th, 2007 12:47pm Rowan Wolf
By Rowan Wolf
One of the things that has become increasingly evident is that private “security” firms are critical to the Bush “war on terrorism.” The deaths (murder) of civilians in Iraq vaulted Blackwater into the spotlight. Given the news of private security and militia in Iraq, my ears perked at the news that had “responded” to a suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan (Baghlan) and over 50 people were killed.
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November 23rd, 2007 05:23pm Rowan Wolf
By Rowan Wolf
Hey Pelosi? Is impeachment still off the table with the information from Scott McClellan’s publisher that he was told to lie about the leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity by Cheney and Bush (along with Card, Libby, and Rove)?
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November 21st, 2007 07:52am Rowan Wolf
By Rowan Wolf
Back on November 6th, I explored the convoluted information (or disinformation) regarding the September 6, 2007 bombing of Syria in Who Bombed Syria? Did Syria Get Bombed?. Well Gareth Porter has returned to the topic with new information that Israel’s Syrian Airstrike Was Aimed at Iran. … OK …
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November 21st, 2007 07:52am Rowan Wolf
By Carolyn Baker of Speaking Truth to Power
A few moments ago I posted on my site the MSNBC version of “The Coming Consumer Crunch” which forecasts severe and painful belt-tightening for American families in 2008. Then when I checked my inbox, a Truthout bulletin listing Kelpie Wilson’s latest article “Give Thanks For Oil” appeared. One paragraph leapt out at me:
Why should we give thanks that the future holds no cheap oil? There are several reasons, but the first is that cheap oil has fueled a 50-year-long party in the industrialized West that has left us with an unsustainable economy that is wrecking the planet. The recent awareness of global warming is beginning to put a damper on our out-of-control binge, but not fast enough to slow the heating of the planet. Rising oil prices will force a cutback in consumption. Rising oil prices will also chill the fantasy of endless growth and force us to confront the reality of planetary limits. (more…)
November 20th, 2007 12:36pm Rowan Wolf
By Rowan Wolf
Living on Earth and Grist and sponsored a Democratic candidate forum in Los Angeles on Global Warming and America’s Energy Future. Only Kucinich, Edwards, and Clinton bothered to show up - which dramatically narrows the candidate field for me. Here are links to their YouTube opening statements.
also has a “How Green Is Your Candidate?” section in the middle of their front page. It includes both Republican and Democratic candidates. It gives a nice summation of their views and policies they support.
November 20th, 2007 12:34pm Rowan Wolf
BY Joel S. Hirschhorn author of Delusional Democracy and Friends of the Article V Convention
The phrase honest politician has become an oxymoron. We should not be impressed by the prospect of having the first woman, first black or first Latino president. What would be far more radical would be to have the first honest president, if not ever, certainly in a very long time.
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