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Showing posts from July 7, 2007

Fire on the Prairie -- Indian Labor Activists, Michelle Goldberg and Rashid Khalidi

"For this episode Emily Udell speaks with Indian labor activists Ashim Roy and Anannya Bhattacharjee. Roy and Bhattacharjee were recently visiting the U.S. as part of a Jobs with Justice initiative to build solidarity between American and Indian workers. Roy is the General Secretary of the New Trade Union Initiative and Bhattacharjee is the first international program coordinator for Jobs with Justice. Aaron Sarver interviews Michelle Goldberg, author of the new book Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. Goldberg is a senior writer for salon.com. You will also hear an excerpt of a talk about Hamas’ rise to power in Palestine by Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University. "
: "How recent U.S. wars of choice, driven largely by war profiteering, are plundering not only defenseless peoples and their resources abroad, but also the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens and their resources at home. "

CJR: Prisoner 345

CJR: Prisoner 345 : "In Sadah’s recollection, the official produced a letter from Pakistani intelligence—written, curiously, in English. It said that al-Haj had Al Qaeda ties and should be apprehended. Al-Haj noticed that the passport number in the letter didn’t correspond to the one in his current passport, but instead to an old passport he had lost several years ago in Sudan and had reported missing. Despite his protests, the official insisted on detaining him overnight. The next morning, Sadah returned to the border post just in time to see a Pakistani military officer lead al-Haj to a car and drive him away. Al-Haj is a tall, slender man whose round face and glasses give him a boyish demeanor. In photographs, he looks much younger than his thirty-eight years. People who have met him invariably describe him as polite; in conversation he is said to smile almost constantly. "

Somalia refugees held in Ethiopia, group says - 07/07/2007 - MiamiHerald.com

Somalia refugees held in Ethiopia, group says - 07/07/2007 - MiamiHerald.com : "Human rights activists said dozens who fled the war in Somalia are being held in secret under a U.S.-backed program."The Muslim group's report, titled ''Horn of Terror,'' provides the fullest accounting so far of the fates of 152 people from 21 countries who were arrested in a shadowy antiterrorism operation run by U.S. allies in the Horn of Africa that activists think had the backing of American officials.

Nieman Watchdog > Commentary > 'Supporting the troops' means withdrawing them

Nieman Watchdog > Commentary > 'Supporting the troops' means withdrawing them : "After the first year, following a few months back home, these same soldiers are sent back for a second year, then a third year, and now, many are facing a fourth deployment! Little wonder more and more soldiers and veterans are psychologically disabled. And the damage is not just to enlisted soldiers. Many officers are suffering serious post-traumatic stress disorders but are hesitant to report it – with good reason. An officer who needs psychiatric care and lets it appear on his medical records has most probably ended his career. He will be considered not sufficiently stable to lead troops. Thus officers are strongly inclined to avoid treatment and to hide their problems."

the Defense Department's 'average monthly obligations for contracts and pay is running about $12 billion per month

Danger Room - Wired Blogs : "It's not just the troops that are surging. War costs are up for American operations in Iraq and Afghanistan* -- way up, more than a third higher than last year. In the first half of this fiscal year, the Defense Department's 'average monthly obligations for contracts and pay is running about $12 billion per month, well above the $8.7 billion in FY2006,' says a new report, obtained by DANGER ROOM, from the non-partisan Congressional Research Service. "