be just

Jimmy Carter Says Elections Corrupted • Ex-president: United States has worst election process on planet By Pete Papaherakles Injecting billions of dollars into U.S. politics is a recipe for corruption, says former President Jimmy Carter. Placing the blame squarely on the Supreme Court for endorsing a corporate spending free-for-all in American politics, he said the justices gave unlimited freedom to special interest groups representing corporations and lobbyists to provide campaign funding through third parties that don’t have to disclose their donors. “We have one of the worst election processes in the world right here in the United States of America,” he said, “and it’s almost entirely because of the excessive influx of money.

US-Backed Nigerian Military Kills 30 Civilians -- News from Antiwar.com US-supported Nigerian soldiers killed up to 30 civilians on Monday “using assault rifles and heavy machine guns mounted on armored personnel carriers” and set fire to about 50 homes and businesses in the area, according to the Associated Press.

The US presidential debates' illusion of political choice | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | The Guardian Wednesday night's debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney underscored a core truth about America's presidential election season: the vast majority of the most consequential policy questions are completely excluded from the process. This fact is squarely at odds with a primary claim made about the two parties – that they represent radically different political philosophies – and illustrates how narrow the range of acceptable mainstream political debate is in the country. In part this is because presidential elections are now conducted almost entirely like a tawdry TV reality show. Personality quirks and trivialities about the candidates dominate coverage, and voter choices, leaving little room for substantive debates.

On the killing of eight Afghan women   :   Information Clearing House: ICH October 06, 2012 "Information Clearing House" - If you looked carefully at the news last week, you might have heard a report from Afghanistan about how the U.S./NATO forces bombed and killed eight Afghan women who were out walking in the mountains early in the morning before dawn to collect wood. Eight other women were seriously injured.

Massive Rally Against US Drone Strikes to Be Held in Pakistan -- News from Antiwar.com A convoy of Pakistanis and foreign supporters (including a handful of Americans) are in the capital city of Islamabad tonight preparing for the start of tomorrow’s major march into the South Waziristan Agency.

Israel excluded as model UN meets in Gaza The opening ceremony of the model United Nations in Gaza City. (Majdi Fathi / APA images) There were three items on the agenda when the United Nations Security Council held an extraordinary meeting in Gaza City last weekend: the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank; the siege of Gaza; and the status of East Jerusalem. Israel was prevented from having any input into the discussions because it does not recognize Palestine. As you may have gathered, the exclusion of Israel was not officially approved by Ban Ki-moon or others in the UN hierarchy. Rather, it was a decision taken by the Model United Nations, a forum set up by Gaza youth. “We have not included Israel mainly because of the fact that Israel does not recognize us and works tirelessly to prevent any possible move at the UN to recognize Palestine as a member state,” said Yasmine Khader, Palestine’s “representative” and “observer” at the mock Security Council meeting. ...

  Hate-Speech Hypocrites  :   Information Clearing House: ICH October 01, 2012 "Information Clearing House" - Jews have too much influence over U.S. foreign policy. Gay men are too promiscuous. Muslims commit too much terrorism. Blacks commit too much crime. Each of those claims is poorly stated. Each, in its clumsy way, addresses a real problem or concern. And each violates laws against hate speech. In much of what we call the free world, for writing that paragraph, I could be jailed. Libertarians, cultural conservatives, and racists have complained about these laws for years. But now the problem has turned global. Islamic governments, angered by an anti-Muslim video that provoked protests and riots in their countries, are demanding to know why insulting the Prophet Mohammed is free speech but vilifying Jews and denying the Holocaust isn’t. And we don’t have a good answer. If we’re going to preach freedom of expression around the world, we have to practice it...