Sometimes I read something that puts the notion of human rights into perspective. This story about a man who escaped from a North Korean gulag is shocking beyond belief. It sounds like hell on earth: His first memory is an execution. He walked with his mother to a wheat field, where guards had rounded up…
Showing all posts tagged United States
Nothing is private in the 21st century
Our digital world is increasingly monitored by a range of state and non-state actors. Be afraid and be aware. A recent cover story in Wired showed how the US government, with no transparency, is building a massive listening station where everybody is targeted: Under construction by contractors with top-secret clearances, the blandly named Utah Data…
What happened that night in Kandahar when US solider committed massacre?
Australian TV SBS Dateline travelled to the site and investigated:
Destroying Afghanistan one freedom bomb at a time
After 9/11, the West invaded Afghanistan under the guise of eradicating terrorism and helping its poor people. Years later, this is our legacy: The Afghan government should release the approximately 400 women and girls imprisoned in Afghanistan for “moral crimes,” Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The United States and other…
“Paper of record” still too keen to report US/Israeli view over Iran
Editor of the New York Times Jill Abramson claims her paper’s coverage on Israel and Iran is impartial and there’s no chance the “flawed” 2003 reporting over Iraq could happen again (via Politico): Q: What are the concerns and considerations you take into account when covering the tensions between Israel and Iran, especially in light…
How Australia enjoys being a client state part 975432
The Washington Post explains how Canberra is desperate to help America maintain hegemony: The United States and Australia are planning a major expansion of military ties, including possible drone flights from a coral atoll in the Indian Ocean and increased U.S. naval access to Australian ports, as the Pentagon looks to shift its forces closer…
Hello America, my name is Australia and we’d love to help you isolate Wikileaks
Is there anything Canberra won’t do to please its Washington masters (hint: no)? New Matilda reveals just the latest episode: As Julian Assange tilts at the Senate, new laws have been passed that will make it harder for organisations like Wikileaks to operate legally – and there are more to come, writes Matthew da Silva…
American invasion of Iraq caused mass destruction and still Baghdad gives DC the finger
This is almost comical. After years of occupation, mass killings and utter American criminality and incompetence, Foreign Policy reports that Washington just can’t get any love or support: The first major test of U.S. post-war influence in Iraq is now raging over efforts to stop Iran from funneling arms to Syria through Iraqi airspace, but…
When will Jews get past their incessant victimhood?
Strong essay by Israeli Uri Avnery: Yeshayahu Leibowitz, an observant Jew, said years ago that the Jewish religion had practically died 200 years ago, and that the only thing that unites all Jews now is the Holocaust. There is much truth in this, but the Holocaust must be understood in this context as the culmination…