September 2008
-
Benjamin Dangl, “The Machine Gun and the Meeting Table: Bolivian Crisis in a New South America”
Source: MRzine On Monday, September 15, Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived in Santiago, Chile for an emergency meeting of Latin American leaders that convened to seek a resolution to the recent conflict in Bolivia. Upon his arrival, Morales said, ‘I have come here to explain to the presidents of South America the civic coup d’etat Continue reading
-
Bolivia: Fascism Seizes Power – Morales Complains By James Petras
Ever since Evo Morales was elected President over 33 months ago, the Bolivian far-right has taken advantage of every concession, compromise and conciliatory gesture by the Morales regime to expand their political power, block even the mildest social reforms and paralyze the functioning of the government, through legal maneuvers and gangs of violent street thugs. Continue reading
-
The end of (capitalist) history? By William Bowles
In a world of over-the-top production, with the world’s markets glutted with a never-stream of products, most of which sit unsold in shops and warehouses around the planet, a return to the ‘good old days’ of the Robber Barons was the only option left. Continue reading
-
Bolivia: A Profound Breakdown of Communication with Latin America
Once installed in office, the Bush administration found itself distracted from Latin American issues by the Iraq war, giving the region the required space to develop its own consensus on regional developments, regardless of Washington’s ululations. This has heightened the ability of hemispheric leaders to halt or reverse some of the most imprudent U.S. policies… Continue reading
-
Media Lens Alert: “Not Very Interesting” – Haiti, New Orleans And Media Hypocrisy
MEDIA LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media September 16, 2008 On September 1, the press began warning that “the storm of the century” was about to hit New Orleans as Hurricane Gustav “bore down nearly three years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city”. (‘It’s the storm of the Continue reading
-
Bolivia's elites seek a media coup By Justin Podur
The opponents of the Morales government, led by several governors of the wealthier provinces in a part of the country called the ‘media luna,’ are trying to use violence and sabotage to stop that agenda by provoking a civil war and chaos. Continue reading
-
Exhibition – Riding on Fire: Iraqi art under occupation
Men Snatcher 19 September – 31 October 2008 19 September – 31 October 2008 http://www.artiquea.co.uk/ Curated by the Iraqi sculptors Najim Alqaysi and Redha Farhan. This is the first exhibition to focus exclusively on Iraqi art after occupation. It will introduce artworks that have never been seen in London – oil paintings and bronze statues Continue reading
-
Middle East Report Online – Another Struggle: Sexual Identity Politics in Unsettled Turkey by Kerem Öktem
Middle East Report Online Kerem Öktem September 2008 (Kerem Öktem is a fellow at the European Studies Centre of St. Antony’s College at the University of Oxford.) For background on the court case against the AKP, see Hilal Elver, ‘Lawfare and Wearfare in Turkey,’ Middle East Report Online (April 2008). For background on Hrant Dink, Continue reading
-
‘Ex-Georgian Defense Minister Blames Saakashvili for War With Russia in Russified South Ossetia'
It now appears very certain that Georgian President Saakashvili had long planned a military strike against the Russian Autonomous Regions to seize back the breakaway territory starting with South Ossetia, but executed it very poorly. Continue reading
-
From Pristina to La Paz: Expelled US Ambassador to Bolivia had been in charge of Kosovo Secession
The US Embassy is deploying an effort of collective indoctrination against the indigenous crisis, promoting racial hatred and separatism that was evident during the events of January 11, 2007, in unison with business organizations such as the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Cainco) in Santa Cruz, which openly supports Reyes Villa and his ‘advisors.’ Continue reading
-
Georgia: The West's Phantom Pains By Elena Ponomareva
The EU politicians with their unsophisticated vision seem unable even to identify – least to condemn – the actual aggressor. They cannot admit that the mad Tbilisi ruler who has sent Georgia’s NATO-sponsored army to South Ossetia and thus inflicted unprecedented disgrace on his country is in fact their creature. Continue reading
-
Georgia: The War Which Will Help McCain Win By Yuri Baranchik
Strategic Culture Foundation Georgia has done a great job as the proving ground during the five-day war. With the help of this war, those who are promoting the Republican nominee in the US presidential race have found out all they needed to know. It was a part of Washington’s plan that Russia would respond resolutely Continue reading
-
Hugo Chavez Denounces Coup Plot in Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez denounced on Wednesday evening a coup and assassination plot against the Venezuelan leader in a TV program. He announced that some of the people involved in the conspiracy were already arrested. HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 11 (acn) The Venezuelan president said the new plot was another attempt by the United States against the Continue reading
-
Caucasus: Media Guilty as `Fog of War` Clears
“The screen reports were transmitting pictures of cluster bombs being used and indiscriminate shelling. The anchors described it as Russia’s shelling of Georgia. It was a pile of lies, distortions and propaganda of the event that happened in Georgia. The foreign press believed what the Georgian officials told them and it looked like the world… Continue reading
-
So you think you can dance? Israel ethnic profiles Alvin Ailey’s African American Dancer By Omar Barghouti
Dance Insider So you think you can dance? For Ailey dancer with Muslim name, rocky entrance in the Bosom of Abraham Copyright 2008 Omar Barghouti Dance Insider — September 12, 2008 JERUSALEM — Israeli security officers at Tel-Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport Tuesday forced an African-American member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater — by far Continue reading
-
Stop the lying! By: B. Michael
It is not clear which bluff broke the camel’s back this time. Was it the shooting in the head of an emotionally-disturbed person in Ni’lin village? The distraught mother who went to a police station to report the disappearance of her daughter and left it with a broken hand? The Israel Security Agency [ISA –… Continue reading
-
The Palestinians: Warehousing a “Surplus People” By Jeff Halper
So rapid is the pace of systemic change in that indivisible entity known as Palestine/Israel that it almost defies our ability to keep up with it. The deliberate and systematic campaign of driving Palestinians out of the country in 1948 was quickly forgotten, the plight of more than 700,000 refugees becoming an invisible “non-issue.” Instead, Continue reading
-
Double Standards: Israeli military occupation is not a bar to EU partnership By David Morrison
On 28 November 1995, the EU allowed Israel to become a partner, under Euro-Mediterranean Partnership arrangements with states bordering on the Mediterranean. At the time, Israeli troops were occupying parts of Lebanon and Syria and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (the West Bank and Gaza) and had been for many years – Lebanon since 1978, the… Continue reading
-
Bad News From Haiti: U.S. Press Misses the Story
It is the latest episode in a pattern of U.S. reporting on Haiti that has given many of the most important stories only a cursory glance. To get an idea of how and why this happens, I interviewed several U.S. journalists who have reported from Haiti, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. Continue reading
-
“Liquid Bomb” Plot: Trumping up the charges By Dr. Sahib Mustaqim Bleher
Whilst the government is gloating at having secured convictions of sorts, the fact is that its whole story of a plot on account of which every traveller in Europe had to surrender drinks at airport check-ins and carry toiletries in a clear plastic bag has been exposed as fiction. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 