February 13, 2014
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Fracking: Suicide Capitalism Poisons The Earth’s Fresh Water Supplies By Dylan Murphy
Lena Headley lives in in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. She and her husband bought a small farm for their semi-retirement with the mineral rights but not the oil and gas rights. Over the last seven years five gas wells and a transmission pipeline have been put on their land. The effect has been devastating: Pollution of… Continue reading
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Police State UK: Stripping UK citizenship by stealth By Alice Ross and Patrick Galey
Despite official denials, evidence has emerged that the Home Office has deliberately waited until UK citizens it plans to deprive of their citizenship have left the country. This requires no judicial approval—and greatly hinders any appeal Continue reading
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West and Ukraine: Looking at Possible Scenarios By Irina LEBEDEVA
The Ukraine 2020 report was published in 2010 by the Center for Global Affairs. The paper presents possible options for Ukraine’s political development. Professor Michael Oppenheimer, Center for Global Affairs, New York University, was the founder of the project. The events in Ukraine appear to unfold at present according to the «three scenarios» described in… Continue reading
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U.S. Continues War by Proxy: Playing the Al-Qaeda Card to the Last Iraqi By Nicola Nasser
International, regional and internal players vying for interests, wealth, power or influence are all beneficiaries of the “al-Qaeda threat” in Iraq and in spite of their deadly and bloody competitions they agree only on two denominators, namely that the presence of the U.S.-installed and Iran–supported sectarian government in Baghdad and its sectarian al-Qaeda antithesis are… Continue reading
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The nasty country? Debating immigration in the UK By Roger Roberts
A new Bill removes the right to appeal wrong immigration decisions, excludes undocumented migrants from the rental market, turns landlords into immigration police and extends charges for NHS care. On Monday Lords debated the proposals. Continue reading
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UK watchdog takes another bite out of failing outsourcer G4S By John Grayson
Stephen Small spends a lot of his time trying to convince Members of Parliament that his employer is nothing like as bad as they think. He works for G4S, the gigantic security company that holds £2 billion worth of UK government contracts spanning public health, welfare, education, immigration and the justice sector. Continue reading
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The Middle East: State and revolution By Maged Mandour
The title is borrowed from the great Russian revolutionary and founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin. Lenin argued that in order for the revolution to succeed, revolutionaries have to take over the state and use it to reshape society. Many observers have evaluated the causes, effects, and future prospects of Arab revolutions. Continue reading
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Ed Miliband, the NHS, and the lurch back towards Blairism By John Lister
Ed Miliband’s Hugo Young lecture this week represents a giant step back to Blairism, and an extended statement of Labour’s failure to get the message. Continue reading
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VSC Statement Condemning Extreme Right-wing Violence in Venezuela that Seeks the “Exit” of the Government
As part of a campaign launched by Venezuela’s extreme right-wing opposition leaders, which they have called La Salida (The Ousting), groups of violent Venezuelan opposition thugs launched a wave of violent street disturbances in various parts of Venezuela on Wednesday 12 February. Tragically this has resulted in the death of at least two people with… Continue reading
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Music: The Brother Moves On
13 February 2014 — The Brother Moves On This band, from South Africa, winner of a British Council award of some kind will be playing at the Roundhouse, London on 20 and 23 February as part of a large lineup of bands, the headliner on the 20th being hip-hop artist Simz. Click on the link Continue reading
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Venezuela coup? Gunfire, clashes as 3 dead in violent Caracas protest (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
At least three people have died in violent protests in the Venezuelan capital, officials have confirmed. President Nicolas Maduro has condemned the unrest as an attempt at a coup d’état orchestrated by extremist members of the political opposition. Continue reading
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UK Environment Minister Paterson Slammed over Africa GMO Promotion
UK Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, who has been widely criticised for his complacency in the face of the current flooding disaster, has now been slammed for planning a visit to Africa to promote the interests of the biotechnology industry. Continue reading
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The Corporate Media’s Dubious Syria Coverage By James F. Tracy
Western news media reportage on the rampant criminal activities of foreign-backed paramilitary groups operating within Syria still relies heavily on unreliable sources frequently referred to as “activists.” Such spokespersons routinely claim the Syrian military are committing atrocities against the Syrian population. The reports are often disputed by the Bashar al-Assad government and proven suspect or… Continue reading
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GPs slam NHS England for poor publicity of data grab plan By Kelly Fiveash
The Tory-led government has failed to make a good case for its plans to share GP medical records with information that is already stored by NHS England, the Royal College of General Practitioners warned on Wednesday. Continue reading
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Syria: Whose sarin? By Seymour M. Hersh
This exceptional piece was commissioned by the New Yorker, which turned it down; it was then submitted to the Washington Post, which also rejected it, to be finally released in the U.K. by the London Review of Books. Continue reading
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Years of government cuts worsen UK flooding By Paul Mitchell
The government has sought to shift blame for the weeks of misery and chaos caused by the floods onto the EA. Accusations by Floods Minister Eric Pickles that the agency was driven by political correctness, gave bad advice to government, and attempted to divide town and country over funding matters have been met with almost… Continue reading