August 4, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

Fighting For Union Rights and Clean Air: Truck drivers and community groups unite in Oakland, California to demand better working conditions and environmental protection (Socialist Worker) July 24, 2008

Sexual Assault In Military: A congresswoman said Thursday that her "jaw dropped" when military doctors told her that four in 10 women at a veterans hospital reported being sexually assaulted while in the military. A government report indicates that the numbers could be even higher. (CNN) July 31, 2008

Sexual Assault in the Military: A DoD Cover-Up? Sexual violence against both female and male military personnel must stop. (ZNet) August 4, 2008

River Diversion Plans For Whose Benefit in Thailand? Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej’s plans to divert water from rivers in neighbouring Laos to help feed agricultural production faces stiff opposition from those who argue the projects could threaten the environment and local people’s lives. (Inter Press Service) August 4, 2008

Stinging Tentacles Offer Hint of Oceans' Decline: The explosion of jellyfish populations, scientists say, reflects a combination of severe overfishing of natural predators, like tuna, sharks and swordfish; rising sea temperatures caused in part by global warming; and pollution that has depleted oxygen levels in coastal shallows. (International Herald Tribune) August 2, 2008

Why For Profit Water Companies Are Behind A Bottled Water Backlash: In the UK, private water delivery companies see bottled water as a direct competitor for their product, tap water. The next time we hear of a new tap water campaign coming out of the UK, let's cheer for the profile the issue is getting, but we need to be wary that such a campaign is driven by a for profit water services company whose aim is to promote its brand of privatized water. (Alternet) July 31, 2008

The Fists Still Hold Power: The image lasted for only as long as it took to play the national anthem -- yet it still resonates four decades later. Black American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, winners of the gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200-meter race bow their heads and raise their black-gloved fists to protest racism during the medal ceremony at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. (Los Angeles Times) August 3, 2008

Dave Zirin on Why Jonah Goldberg Fears the Fist: Jonah Goldberg’s regular column in the LA Times is usually an awkward grab bag of right wing talking points backed by knowledge of history that would shame a poodle, although a poodle would never be so pompous. Goldberg stepped on to Zirin's beat this past week with a column about the 1968 Olympic protesters, Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Goldberg's piece was such a cheap, dishonest scribble, Zirin feel compelled to respond. (Dissident Voice) August 2, 2008

Schwarzenegger Imposes Minimum Wage On California State Workers & Cuts 22,000 Jobs (Workers Independent News) August 1, 2008

June 29, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

Amazon Tribes Fight to Keep the Xingu Alive: For five days in May, hundreds of tribal people from the far reaches of the Amazon Basin came together to protest plans for huge dams on the Xingu River, the largest tributary of the Amazon. (IRC Americas Program) June 24, 2008

Green Fascism and the Greening of Hate: Population control — the ideology of the green right (Climate and Capitalism) June 27, 2008

War As Environmental Disaster (The Mahatma X Files) June 28, 2008

Mike Davis: The real question is this: Will rich counties ever mobilize the political will and economic resources to actually achieve IPCC targets or, for that matter, to help poorer countries adapt to the inevitable, already "committed" quotient of warming now working its way toward us through the slow circulation of the world ocean? The real danger is that human solidarity itself, like a West Antarctic ice shelf, will suddenly fracture and shatter into a thousand shards. (TomDispatch.com) June 26, 2008

Great Apes To Have Rights in Spain (Telegraph UK) June 27, 2008

Circus Brings USDA-Documented Animal Cruelty to Dallas (In Defense of Animals) June 27, 2008

Obama’s Circle of Imperialist Foreign Policy Advisors (Socialist Worker) June 18, 2008

June 18, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

For Mass Transit, Mass Investment: With record ridership and fuel prices, subways, trains, and buses are strapped. (Christian Science Monitor) June 16, 2008

Co-operatives Turn Idle Landed Estates Green in Venezuela (Inter Press Service) June 14, 2008

U.S. Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney's Call to Action in Support of Dennis Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment Against Bush (RunCynthiaRun.com) June 2008

Essential Information On Carbon Trading From The Corner House: A great source of analysis and comment on global carbon trading is The Corner House, based in Britain. These are just some of the documents, presentations and videos available on their website. Highly recommended. (Climate and Capitalism) June 17, 2008

Fallujah's Legacy (Lenin's Tomb) June 16, 2008

U.S. Democrats to Back Down on Iraq War Conditions: Democrats in the U.S. Congress, who came to power last year on a call to end the combat in Iraq, will soon give President George W. Bush the last war-funding bill of his presidency without any of the conditions they sought for withdrawing U.S. troops, congressional aides said on Monday. (Reuters) June 16, 2008

Calif. City Halls Swamped With Same-Sex Couples Seeking Marriage Licenses (365Gay.com) June 17, 2008

Retirement for Seven Lab Chimps: The last seven chimpanzees at a Penn. research facility have been permanently retired and head to sanctuary. It's time the country's remaining 1,200 chimps living in laboratories are similarly relieved. (HSUS.org) June 13, 2008

June 4, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

The 2nd of May Revolt at the UN Forum on Indigenous Peoples: The United Nations censors indigenous people at a forum for indigenous people (w/ links to video) (Climate and Capitalism) June 2, 2008

From Kennedy to Obama: Liberalism's Last Fling: John Pilger refers back to his travels with Robert Kennedy to describe the false hopes offered by those, like Barack Obama, who exploit the appeal of liberalism then present a very different reality. (JohnPilger.com) May 29, 2008

The American Electoral Charade: Two candidates with almost identical positions on virtually every issue fight to exhaustion over non-substantial concerns for months, and will doubtless soon celebrate having achieved "unity." Those citizens that want to abolish the American oligarchic form of government should vote for the Green Party, and put Cynthia McKinney at the head of the ticket. (Black Agenda Report) June 4, 2008

Dirty Deeds in Bolivia: Bolivia’s right-wing extremists who have been doing their best to rip their own country apart for the past two years rather than accept the rule of their constitutionally elected President Evo Morales finally have showed themselves in their true colours. (Bolivia Rising) June 2, 2008

Blackwater: From the Nisour Square Massacre to the Future of the Mercenary Industry (w/ audio and Video) (Democracy Now!) June 2, 2008

West Coast Winter Soldier: “Enough Is Enough, It’s Time to Get Out”: Dozens of veterans from the U.S. occupation of Iraq converged in Seattle over the weekend to share stories of atrocities being committed daily in Iraq, in a continuation of the "Winter Soldier" hearings held in Silver Spring, Maryland in March. (Inter Press Service) June 2, 2008

Whalemeat Traders Defying Ban: Icelandic and Norwegian companies have begun exporting whalemeat to Japan (BBC News) June 2, 2008

May 16, 2008 - News, Views, and Info

US Naval Fleet To Be Positioned Off the Coast of South America (Upside Down World) May 13, 2008

John Cusack’s War: The Actor Battles to Un-Embed Hollywood With His New Film, ‘War, Inc.’ (Common Dreams) May 16, 2008

The Horrors of ICE: Dangerous Forced Psychotropic Drugging, Frightening Lack of Medical Care (American Leftist) May 14, 2008

California Supreme Court Strikes Down Same Sex Marriage Ban (365Gay.com) May 15, 2008

China's All-Seeing Eye: With the help of U.S. defense contractors, China is building the prototype for a high-tech police state. It is ready for export. (Rolling Stone) May 29, 2008

Species are dying out at a rate not seen since the demise of the dinosaurs, according to a report published today – and human behaviour is to blame. (The Independent UK) May 16, 2008

May 10, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

Indigenous Speak Out Against Carbon Markets (Inter Press Service) May 4, 2008

Two More Gruesome Weeks Under Colombia's Alvaro Uribe (Latin America News Review) May 7, 2008

The Wages of Left Capitulation to the Democratic Party 1 (Counterpunch) April 26/27, 2008

McCain, Clinton, Obama and the Wages of Left Capitulation to the Democratic Party 2 (Counterpunch) May 9, 2008

Polarizing Bolivia: Santa Cruz Votes on Autonomy (Upside Down World) May 8, 2008

Expanded Undercover Investigation Shows Mistreatment of Downer Cows Is Commonplace at Livestock Auctions (Humane Society of the United States) May 7, 2008

Mumia Abu-Jamal Asks: Who's uncle is really crazy? Uncle Jeremiah or Uncle Sam? (Prison Radio) May 1, 2008

Rockefeller Family Fables (Dissident Voice) May 8, 2008

Burger With a Side of Spies: How Burger King Hired a Sketchy Private Security Firm to Spy on Non-Violent Activists (New York Times) May 7, 2008

The Border Wall and Jaguars

No Border Wall, May 1, 2008

The Center for Biological Diversity is bringing suit to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop a recovery plan for jaguars in southern Arizona. Listed under the Endangered Species Act, the jaguar is one of the first species that will be driven to extinction by the border wall. If the walls that are on the books for 2008 are built, the Sonoran pronghorn, cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, ocelot, jaguarundi, and a number of other species will follow the jauar into oblivion.

Continue reading 'The Border Wall and Jaguars'. . .

New “Green Scare” Legislation Pending in California

By Will Potter, Green is the New Red, April 14, 2008

California has been a hotbed of both legal and illegal activity in the name of animal rights lately.
The largest beef recall in history began here, after an undercover investigation by an animal welfare group. Meanwhile, California universities have been the site of a protracted battle between animal experimenters and underground activists using threats and property destruction. And last week, the secretary of state announced that a proposal to eliminate some of the cruelest confinements in animal agriculture will go before voters in November.
These are disparate tactics, yet they all threaten animal businesses.
Enter Gene Mullin, a member of the California State Assembly and a Democrat, who has introduced AB 2296, the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, to stifle the First Amendment rights of animal advocates. The law would prohibit the posting of publicly available information on activist websites, restrict access to public meetings, and require heavy-handed penalties for non-violent civil disobedience.
All in the name of fighting “terrorism.”

Continue reading 'New “Green Scare” Legislation Pending in California'. . .

Another Byproduct of Factory Farming: Livestock Incinerating Fires

By Martha Rosenberg, Dissident Voice, April 9, 2008

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8,700 pigs burned alive at Netley Hutterite Colony in Manitoba, Canada about 30 miles north of Winnipeg on April 2.
The pigs were housed together in a 900 foot by 80 foot barn with only six full-time and two or three part-time employees caring for them.
Efforts to stop the fire by cutting a path through the barn with a bulldozer failed when it “got hung up” on the factory farming style manure pits beneath the stalls.
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Of course factory farms, with their uninterrupted rows of confined animals and manure pits, are known to be harmful to the environment, animals and people who live or work near them. For the Netley Hutterite Colony and similar communities often targeted by corporate farming interests, they are not even profitable.
Nor are barn fires new.
But only a factory farm can incinerate 10,000 pigs in a few hours in a fire–as they wait, in vain, for their guards to rescue them.

Read all of 'Another Byproduct of Factory Farming: Livestock Incinerating Fires'. . .

Factory Farms Hurt the Environment

By Judy Vorreuter, Auburn Citizen, March 5, 2008

Factory farms differ from smaller farms because they raise tens of thousands of animals for food in very crowded facilities. They have become widespread throughout the United States, and they cause problems for animal welfare, the environment and public health. They produce giant quantities of manure, which can lead to tainted water and severe air pollution. Consumers, too can end up with meat loaded with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and milk containing bovine growth hormone.
Factory farming is one of the biggest contributors to the most serious environmental problems. A recent United Nations report concluded that the meat industry causes almost 50 percent more greenhouse-gas emissions than all of the world's transportation systems - including all the cars, trucks, SUVs, planes and ships in the world combined.

Continue reading 'Factory Farms Hurt the Environment'. . .

The Slaughter of Seals Continues in Canada

By Rebecca Aldworth, HSUS.org, April 1, 2008

The merciless slaughter of baby seals continued yesterday in the Cabot Strait, with countless pups cruelly clubbed to death for their skins.
We flew toward where the sealing boats were killing every seal pup in their path.
Miles away from them, we saw the grim evidence of their activity over the morning—ice floes, one after the other, stained red with blood.

Continue reading 'The Slaughter of Seals Continues in Canada'. . .

Protesters Say They Have Bugged Japanese Whalers

By Rob Taylor, Reuters UK, February 25, 2008

Anti-whaling activists said on Monday they had chased the flagship of Japan's whaling fleet out of waters near Antarctica after tracking it with high-tech bugs planted by two protesters who boarded the vessel last month.

Continue reading 'Protesters Say They Have Bugged Japanese Whalers'. . .

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who's the Cruelest Species of Them All?

By Anneli Rufus, Alternet, February 23, 2008

We are, of course, but a new book on animal cruelty will make your jaw drop about how vicious humans can be to other animals.

Continue reading 'Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who's the Cruelest Species of Them All?'. . .

U.N. Says World Fisheries Face Collapse

Reuters UK, February 22, 2008

A deadly combination of climate change, over-fishing and pollution could cause the collapse of commercial fish stocks worldwide within decades, said Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Environment Program.

Continue reading 'U.N. Says World Fisheries Face Collapse'. . .

Elephants and the Circus: The Story of Janet

By Jason Hribal, Counterpunch, February 22, 2008

Janet was a female elephant born in 1965. She had been taken from the jungles of Southeastern Asia. Stripped from her mother and extended family, she was ultimately shipped to the United States. After arrival, she was put to work in the circus, and it was in the circus where she remained for the rest of her life. Her main job was to give rides to children and adults. And it was one day, while providing just such an amusement, that this elephant reached her breaking point.

Continue reading 'Elephants and the Circus: The Story of Janet'. . .

HSUS Investigation Leads to Largest Beef Recall in U.S. History

HSUS.org, February 18, 2008

In the wake of the staggering recall of 143 million pounds of beef—the largest in the nation's history by far—The Humane Society of the United States is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Congress to take immediate steps to strengthen federal humane handling procedures and to enact more stringent laws to prevent a recurrence of the gross abuses documented at a southern California slaughter plant.
The HSUS affirmed the USDA-initiated recall as a prudent response. While most of the recalled beef has already been consumed, the recall is an appropriate measure not only to mitigate risks to public health, but also to send a message that such inhumane behavior can have dramatic consequences for slaughter plants which permit it.

Continue reading 'HSUS Investigation Leads to Largest Beef Recall in U.S. History'. . .

Anti-Whalers Set to Resume Hounding Japanese Fleet

AFP, February 13, 2008

A ship carrying militant anti-whaling activists was due to head back to Antarctic waters Thursday to resume harassing Japanese whalers, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said.
The group's ship the Steve Irwin has been in port in Melbourne, Australia for 12 days to refuel and take on supplies after weeks of pursuing the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.
"A special thank you to Australia," the group's leader Paul Watson said in a message posted on Sea Shepherd's website. "You helped to send the Steve Irwin back to sea as a Valentine?s Day gift to the whales."
Donations of cash, food and supplies had "flooded onto the decks of the whale conservation ship" while it was in port, the statement said, adding that it was due to leave for Antarctic waters on Thursday night.

Continue reading 'Anti-Whalers Set to Resume Hounding Japanese Fleet'. . .

Pictures Reveal Truth About Japan's 'Scientific' Whaling

By Michael McCarthy, The Independent UK, February 8, 2008

New pictures expose the gory reality of Japan's so-called "scientific" whale hunt in the Southern Ocean, with a slaughtered adult minke whale and calf being hauled on board a Japanese factory ship.

Continue reading 'Pictures Reveal Truth About Japan's 'Scientific' Whaling'. . .

The World's Rubbish Dump: A Garbage Tip That Stretches From Hawaii to Japan

By Kathy Marks and Daniel Howden, The Independent UK, February 5, 2008

A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said.
The vast expanse of debris – in effect the world's largest rubbish dump – is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting "soup" stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan.

Continue reading 'The World's Rubbish Dump: A Garbage Tip That Stretches From Hawaii to Japan'. . .

US Censors Arctic Scientists’ Findings as it Prepares for Oil and Gas Auction

By Daniel Howden, Common Dreams, January 22, 2008

The United States has blocked the release of a landmark assessment of oil and gas activity in the Arctic as it prepares to sell off exploration licences for the frozen Chukchi Sea off Alaska, one of the last intact habitats of the polar bear.

Continue reading 'US Censors Arctic Scientists’ Findings as it Prepares for Oil and Gas Auction'. . .