(Many thanks, again, to Cursor.org for locating most of these articles).
PETA Leader To Be Barbequed: (off-topic) - The head of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Ingrid Newkirk, has written her will - which calls for her feet to be used as umbrella stands like those from elephants' feet, for her liver to be vaccum packed and sent to France for an anti foie-gras campaign, her body to be barbecued, and other similar things.
Russia Has Reason To Smile: Pravda makes a fairly good case that the recent rounds of US aggression will lead to a banner year for Russian arms sales, especially with the success of small human-portable systems used in limited quantities, like the Kornet-E. Plus: Iraqwar.ru wows the reviewers.
Syria Is A Go: US troops have been given authorization to invade Syria if they think Saddam is there. "We respect international law", said one person at CENTCOM, "But if it was the ace of spades, it would be different."
The Roots Of War: Barbara Ehrenreich writes about the root causes of war, concluding with "The idea of a war to end war is one of [the world's] oldest, and cruelest, tricks.". Plus: Mark Twain's take on wars of aggression and imperialism; includes such memorable quotes, such as making a new flag for the Philippines, which we had just conquered: "just our usual flag, with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by the skull and cross-bones."
Music Galore!: Ok, so it's not news, but it's an *awful* lot of (mostly excellent) peace music. While it includes such big-name artists such as John Melloncamp and The Beastie Boys who couldn't manage to get any radio play for their new antiwar songs, some of the best songs are from the no-name artists. Everything from the groovy "Forgiveness and Love" to the almost creepy "Flag City, USA" and "Ground War", to Bush speech remixes of all kinds.
De-Americanization of Language: German professors have declared war on the English language, using the current wave of anger at the US to try and remove US words from their common speech - and replace them with French words.
Bomb The World: Download the new anti-war song "Bomb The World". Also available: The dance remix version.
The Stars May Want It, But...: The movie industry has been trying to play down peace and play up war in recent days, going as far as to edit out a peace sign someone in a movie poster was giving, and plugging The Core by bringing up that the aircraft carrier Constellation was used in it.
Antiwar Music: Now, in addition to the previously linked Beastie Boys antiwar song "In A World Gone Mad", feel free to download Bombs Over Baghdad (first link) and Code Pink For Peace (second link).
Faked Arrest Date?: Pakistan has come under fire for preportedly faking a video of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed being arrested so that they could abstain in a UN security council vote. Plus: Why have we seen so few faces of the people that we supposedly captured? Why instead, just show their FBI's Most Wanted mug shots?
Satire Lives: A Canadian offers a passive-aggressive apology to America, while a Brazilian thanks America.. Plus: Another Brazilian offers advice on on how to resolve this crisis..
Dead Man Captured?: The Asia Times was one of many newspapers to report last fall that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was killed in a raid, and that Ramzi Bin al Shibh, who was captured, was actually the planner of Sept. 11th. If you'll remember, before that, Osama bin Laden was the key planner of Sept. 11th. Who's next? Plus: PakNews does a rundown of the problems with this story, and the Chicago Sun-Times looks at Khalid's metoric rise up the most-wanted chart.
Lysistrata: The recent spate of readings of Lysistrata have been called the largest expression of theatrical dissent in history. As a sidenote, the Iowa City Lysistrata performance made the daily show; tape available (on loan!) on request.
Humanitarian Targets: Democracy NOW! reports with Jeremy Scahill live from Baghdad about the Bush administration's recent contacts with humanitarian agencies in Iraq. Quoting one worker on the subject of Bush's humanitarian plans, "It would be funny if it wasn't so sad." Additionally, the US has asked for coordinates of agency buildings and civilian sites, which, after many such buildings in Afghanistan were hit within days of agencies handing over their coordinates, there is question as to whether or not to cooperate. The Red Cross also has been instructed to not condemn the illegal and questionable practices that they carry out as they did during Afghanistan.
Condemn, But Pocket: Remember Rumsfeld's intense condemnation of the Clinton-era policy that resolved the North Korean issue back in 1994? He's starting to catch flak for the fact that his company in fact made a huge amount of money selling North Korea the nuclear equipment he apparently so despises. Plus: US weighing the military option in North Korea, in a disturbing way.
Shutting Down Italian Weapons Transport: Antiwar protesters, acting on information leaked from sympathetic rail unions, blockaded and lit fires on train tracks carrying trains shipping US weapons from Italy.
Venezuela's Media Coup: A former Venezuelan journalists interviews with Rabble, and talks about why he left - due sole to being forced to report anti-Chavez stances, often even outright lies, and to block all coverage of any real news that might be construed as helping Chavez.
Shutting Down The UK: Should Blair go to war without UN support, a wave of protests and civil disobedience is planned around Britain with the goal of bringing the country to a standstill.
Name Change: An article which most outlets covered under the title "Saddam, al-Qaida Would Be Unusual Allies", was picked up by
Japan 'Loses' 206 Kg Of Plutonium: Japan has reported that, while it doesn't think it was stolen, it can't account for 206 kg of plutonium - enough for 15 atomic bombs.
USA Oui! Bush Non!: Eric Alterman of The Nation attempts to dispel the notion that there is widespread anti-Americanism in Europe. To quote one French citizen, George W. Bush "is like a cartoon stereotype" represeting "the worst side of the US culture". In the next sentence, he sings his praises of Bruce Springsteen. Includes some excellent quotes from foreign figures and news outlets.
Greenpeace Delays: The Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior", delayed British shipping of supplies from a military port for several hours by anchoring itself in the inlet before being driven away by bad weather. They are considering re-blockading the port.
Malaysia's Prime Minister At The WEF: Malaysia's Prime Minister, speaking at the World Economic Forum, stated that the Third World War has already begun. "We fear terrorists. We fear flying. We fear night clubs. We fear parcels. We fear white powder. We fear shoes. We fear Muslims. We fear metal cutlery. They fear starvation. They fear military invasion. They fear being rocketed. They fear being captured and detained."
France's "No.": With its threat of veto, France has sharply escalated the war against the war in Iraq. France has the firm support of Germany, China, and Russia, thus comprising 3 of 5 permanent security council members and its new rotating head.
Tony Blair's "No.": Williams: "Is there any link between al-Qa'ida, Iraq, and terrorist groups in Britain?" Blair: "No." Williams: "So, the US government knows of no link either?" Blair (bluntly): "I've said what I've said, and I don't think I can add to it."
Conflict Of Interest On Venezuela: Narco News criticizes the New York Times's heavily one-sided coverage of Venezuela, following the resignation of their Venezuelan correspondent for "conflicts of interest" (he was participating in the anti-Chavez movement and taking part in protest marches). His reporting was continually fraught with errors and distortions. Plus: The CIA does editing work on a book by a New York Times reporter.
'The Speaker': Nicholas Kristof talks about North Korea's use of propaganda like "The Speaker", our overemphasis of China's power on North Korea, and why our foreign policy with North Korea is likely to fail. Plus: Picturing Pyongyang.
The Detroit Project: Ariana Huffington launches her new campaign, the Detroit Project, which launches commercials parodying the "Drug Money Supports Terror" commercials, with the theme "Oil Money Supports Terror." Check out George and talking heads.
The Venezuelan Split: In a move designed to help break the strike, the government of president Hugo Chavez is considering splitting the state oil company, PDVSA, into two companies. Plus: Two radio DJs call Hugo Chavez and pretend to be Castro.
Butter Over Guns: Brazil's new leftist leader, Lula, has delayed the purchase of 12 new fighter aircraft (750$ million USD), to use the money to work on hunger eradication projects. Meanwhile, experts are trying to stave off US demonization of South American leftist leaders, in assuring them that they don't have sympathies for al-Qaeda.
Be An Activist, It's Good For You: Researchers at the University of Sussex found that people who get involved in campaigns, strikes, and political demonstrations experience an improvement in psychological well-being that can help them overcome stress, anxiety, and depression.
The War On Third World Population Control: The United States' donation of condoms to the third world has dropped from 800 million at the end of Bush Sr.'s time in office to 300 million, in a plan that will lead to millions of deaths of AIDS and increased overpopulation in the third world. 300 million per year is 60 million less than Phil Harvey's foundations.
North Korea: Curbs Mean War: While the US rails against Iraq, which is cooperating with inspectors, North Korea (who recently kicked out theirs) has stated that economic sanctions over its atomic program would "mean war and the war knows no mercy".
Lands Of The Free: This year's Freedom House report shows that, despite concerns about civil liberties at home, the world has actually trended toward becoming a more "free" place (of course, exclusively through peaceful means in almost all situations, as if war would *help* freedom). Of interest is the statistic that most of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims live under democratically elected governments, there is no inexorable link between Islam and tyranny, and that more "free" societies produce less terrorists. Time to rethink US support of oppressive middle eastern dictators? Plus: Bahrani women get the right to vote and run for office.
Inverse Deterrence In Korea: Paul Krugman talks about how North Korea has been receiving inverse deterrence from abroad - being punished when not doing bad things and then being rewarded when they do.
The Strike Nears Its End: A compelling argument for why the Venezuela strike is nearing its end and how opposition to Chavez never was as strong as it was being portrayed (for example, the oft-cited statistic - 60% opposed to him and 30% support him - was based on phone interviews. Only 12% of Venezuelans have phones, mostly the rich who oppose Chavez). Includes an article from the Financial Times. Plus: Otto Reich, Bush's appointment for Deputy Secretary of State for Latin America will soon be out of a job. To read why this is a good thing, go here and here.
Terrorizing The Open Seas: US officials have stated that they have identified about 15 cargo freighters around the world that are either in control of, or able to be used by, al Qaeda.
North Korean Reactor Restarting: Albeit with a deceptive article title, the Times Online reports that North Korea has now not only taken out all monitoring equipment and and kicked out international inspection teams, but has restarted a nuclear reactor whose only purposes lead to the building of a nuclear weapon. The report speculates that it could mean that an atomic weapon would be ready in as little as 30 days; yet, they only discuss a few of the necessary technological achievements along the way to building a bomb. Plus: Many Koreans Fear Bush, Not A Nuclear North.
Rhetoric In Venezuela: Chavez is Stalin, the opposition leaders are terrorists, and other gems from the Venezuelan crisis - including how a riot in Caracas turned into a soccer match.
Al-Jazeera In America: The al-Jazeera satellite news network is beginning plans to introduce itself to the US, starting with an English news website in early 2003, with satellite and cable service later in the year. One prospective reason for the market attempt: coverage of Gulf Wars Episode II. Plus: South Africa considering switching CNN to Al-Jazeera.
Russia: North Korea's Nukes Are Your Fault: Russia's deputy foreign minister Georgy Mamedov recently placed sole responsibility on North Korea's unfreezing of its nuclear program on Bush's policy of having the world's largest superpower portray to its people that North Korea, a tiny country, is part of biblical proportions of forces of evil and should be fought against, for no particular reason.
The War Of Words: Venezuela's media has become defacto politicians in the battle for the citizens' hearts and minds, with the major wealthy businessmen-owned commercial stations heavily siding with the opposition and the public broadcasting station siding heavily with Chavez.
South Korean Anti-Americanism: In south Korea's most recent election, a labor lawyer rode the tide of anti-Americanism in South Korea to a victory over the conservative candidate, by promising to draw at least symbolic distance between the US and South Korea, while resolving the conflict with North Korea diplomatically.
Osama bin Laden: Not on the tape?: In an interesting twist of events, the Swiss director of one of the world's leading voice recognition institutes says the voice on the famous bin Laden tape is not him, and questions the US's motives for saying that it is.
No Early Vote Here!: Chavez, responding to U.S. demands that Venezuela hold an early election in the middle of a depression instead of waiting 8 months till when a referendum is supposed to be held, responded "I think they haven't properly evaluated Venezuelan affairs. They are confused. We will have to send them a copy of the constitution.". Plus: Chavez interviews with US papers.
Regime Change in Venezuela: The same US government which was previously caught trying to sponsor a coup in Venezuela is now trying less "obvious" methods to oust Hugo Chavez. As Mark Weisbrot comments about the Media distortion of Chavez (whom a Washington Post op-ed called "a dictator"), "A little noticed retraction published in the Chicago Tribune on April 20 summed up ... 'An editorial on sunday mistakenly said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had praised Osama bin Laden. The Tribune regrets the error.'. Oops." Plus: The New York times talks about what a dangerous game they're playing here.
The Perpetual War Portfolio: A web site unveils the "Perpetual War Portfolio", a set of stocks that are based on the concept of a world perpetually at war. Not doing bad so far :)
Missiles To Yemen: The U.S. has released a shipment of seized missiles to Yemen, in exchange for Yemen's agreement that they won't buy from North Korea again. The missiles are reported as being "Scuds"; however, seeing as the US media tends to call SS1 ("scud")-based missiles like the "al-Hussein" as "scuds", and North Korea's primary export is actually the Nodong missile which is based on the SS1, there is a huge potential difference in terminology. The SS-1b Scud has a range of only 130 km, up to the SS-1e with a range of 700km; the Al Hussein has a range of 600km, and the nodong 1350-1500km; all with widely varying payloads and accuracies. Regardless, thankfully, Yemen is not our enemy, just an anagram of "enemy".
Action Against Arabia?: "US Officials" release a plan for unilateral action against Saudi Arabia if they don't clean up their finances within 90 days. With a US base in the middle of Saudi Arabia, are they effectively a "hostage" to what the US wants on all things (including Iraq)?
The Vilnius 9: "The Vilnius 9", the name for the 9 new former warsaw pact countries to join NATO, have (*gasp*) expressed their support for an attack on Iraq. As if that wasn't expected to be a prerequisite for a US endorsement to enter NATO ;) This statement puts them at odds with most of Europe. John Laughland contends that the new NATO expansion is nothing short of a racket.
Looting At The WTC?: While widespread looting at "The Pile" has become pretty much accepted, despite the fact that the area was a closed zone to only rescue workers, medical professionals, and cleanup crews, a controversial book not only documents this but evidence that the looting began before the towers even fell. Firefighters are up in arms over the book. Plus: What were firefighters up in arms over a couple months ago? Why, it's George Bush. To quote the IAFF president Harold Schiatberger, "Don't lionize our fallen brothers in one breath, and then stab us in the back by eliminating funding".
Stewart, on Cable News: The Daily Show's John Stewart talks about his journey from sorting mosquito's to being one of the top-watched cable news programs' host. He also targets the recent trends in cable news, commenting that the news fact checker today, "is just the one going, 'You know what I heard'? That's what they should call CNN - 'You Know What I Heard?' I don't even know if they've got an acronym for that."
McDonalds McLeaving: A day after McDonalds announced that it will be closing down restaurants in a number of Middle Eastern countries, a Pizza Hut and other restaraunts are bombed in the middle of the night.
CNN's Ailing Memory: CNN talks about Hans Blick's admission that the US discredited UNSCOM previously by having spies tied in among its ranks. The article doesn't go into the fact that the information garnered from the spies was used in Operation Desert Fox, thus ensuring inspectors wouldn't be allowed back in. CNN, strangely, acts like this is *news*. Inspectors have been coming out since 1998 about this (see the Iraq Myths and Misinformation dossier, sections 1&2 references, for more information, mostly from CNN itself.)
Fisk on Bin Laden: British journalist Robert Fisk gives his take on the turning up of a new bin Laden tape, offering a number of good bits of analysis and insight, albeit with a touch of ego about being right. ;) Plus: Could an impostor fool voice recognition experts?
Holy Rolling: As an anti-SUV campaign begins, focusing on the link between driving an SUV and environmental destruction (with the tagline, 'What Would Jesus Drive?"), another group starts anti-SUV ads tied in to the War on Terror and US dependence on foreign oil. Plus: Saddam's Gas, by Michael Moore
Ramsey Clark Speaks Out: Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark sent this letter to the United Nations, beginning with the unambiguous first sentence, "George Bush will invade Iraq unless restrained by the United Nations."
East African Famine: Ethiopia and Eritrea have both been plunged back into famine, one which could rival their 1984 famine that led to 1 million deaths. Sudan and Somalia are also heavily at-risk, which makes one wonder about the effects this will have on the 'War on Terror', which is heavily active in both of those countries.
Pet Names For Dates: Egyptian date-sellers, famed for giving humorous pet names to the different varieties of dates available, show off their wares. An import from Iraq, 'Saddam's Weapons Of Mass Destruction', have been selling poorly because of their price, while the low-quality, bitter 'Bush-Sharon' dates have been selling in large amounts because of the stagnant Egyptian economy.
Moldova: How organ sales and sexual slavery thrive in Europe's poorest country.
"War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning": Author, and long time war correspondant/veteran Chris Hedges talks about his new book, on the addictive nature of war.
How The World Sees Americans: Journalist Mark Hertsgaard's new book, "The Eagle's Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World" - written after travelling the globe and speaking with people all across it - gets into the interesting paradigm of how around the world American culture is generally loved while the American government and military are hated, by the same people. An interview with its author. Mentions a point where he interviewed retired terrorists in Egypt, who had nothing but contempt for America and would barely even talk to him, except when he mentioned Hollywood movies, where they gladly talked about Kirk Douglas.
Carve-Up Of Oil Riches Begins: One might call it "assault" with the motive of "grant theft" in excess of 1 trillion dollars, but as the US war on Iraq approaches, evidence mounts that the carve-up of Iraq's oil has already begun.
Self Isolation: About 1 million Japanese men are believed to have a condition called "hikikomori", wherein an event causes them to isolate themselves, for years at a time, often just in a single room in their house where they're cared for by their parents.
Lula Wins!: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, or Lula as he is known, won Brazil's presidency. Lula is a solidly-leftist leader (by US standards) who supports economic Independence from the US, a South American cooperative trade union, free trade with Cuba, etc, and now his government will take charge of 176 million people, almost as much land as the US, and a GDP of 1.34 trillion (just a touch smaller than the UK). Will the US attempt to sponsor a coup there like they did with far less significant Venezuela?
Fighting for Coltan: Coltan, the substance armies in the Congo have killed 2 1/2 million people over, is explained.
Qatar Coup: ('Liberated' from Stratfor): The US attempted, unsuccessfully, to keep the lid on a nearly successful military coup attempt to establish a pan-Arab, pan-Islamist promoting state, to replace the current pro-American regime. The coup involved many top-ranking military officers and even the members of the royal family.
Chechnya's Challenging Census: An unexplained rapid rise in Chechnya's population despite massive emigration is just one of the many problems that arose in conducting Chechnya's new census. Also discusses the complications bombed-out buildings add to the mix.
Dad's 'Immoral' Poem Exiles Son: An Egyptian learns the hard way that even the Internet doesn't provide a place for free speech in Egypt, as a poem written by his father over 30 years ago gets him sentenced just for posting it, while he hides in Russia.
No More Billiards in Uzbekistan: Uzbekistan's government, for unknown reasons, recently banned the playing of Billiards, leading many to see them as on their way to being the "new Taliban". One little catch, though - they're our allies ;) Read about equipment human rights record here.
Missing Inaction: The US deports a Syrian-born Canadian Citizen passing through the US on a Canadian passport to Syria without consulting the Canadian government, where he "dissapears" in transit; despite protest from the Canadian government, the US seems entirely uninterested in followup.
Gee, Thanks Friend!: According to US intelligence officials, North Korea got much of its equiptment to create nuclear materials from.... Pakistan, our ally!
War on Terror As Effective as War on Drugs: Just days after a takner near Yemen was destroyed in an act believed to be organized by al Qaeda, and Kuwaiti al-Qaeda members opened fire on US soldiers (towardany other recent attacks), a popular night club in Bali was completely obliterated by a car bomb leaving the death toll climbing at near 200. Whee, aren't we safer now that we've destroyed Afghanistan's infrastructure and plunged the country into chaos? I bet we'll be even safer after we do the same to Iraq, don't you think?
Commandeering Barbie's Dream House: Sick. This is even worse than the latest collection of Topps Cards.
The Vice Fund: Putting money towards bad causes, since August 30th, 2002.
The "Other" Rigged Election: How George Bush Sr, head of the CIA at the time, and William Casey met with Ayatollah Khomeini's mullahs to keep the hostages for an additional 52 days to help ensure Carter didn't them released right before the election, in exchange for weapons.
WMD: Only Diplomacy Can Save US: How all the technology in the world can't save us from destruction, as there is no technological solution.
More on the "Success": Reason.com compiles a rather nice compilation about the supposed success of the War on Terror.
Blind Dates: Ok, so it's a bit off context, but: A new bar opens in Germany, in complete darkness, where the blind waiters have to carefully guide the non-blind around.
Beauty Tips and Politics: Advertisers and networks begin to realize that women are interested in things like human rights and equality.
Greedy? Save the planet!: A recently published report analyzes the short-term economic benefit of environmentally-friendly policies.
The Saudi Way: Why Saudi Arabia and the US have diverged. Includes the difference between Saudi and US "bin Laden policy" - the latter being to bomb his camps, and the former being to pay him off with hundreds of millions of dollars, according to official sources
Where'd that 50 Billion Go?: An interesting interview with a Saudi Prince. Among other things, he brags about how in the past 30 years, 400 billion has been spent on their country, and the Saudi royal family only took 50 billion of it.
Czech reporter's narrow escape: How a government official in the Czech republic ordered a hit on a critical journalist