2.06.2009
2.05.2009
global hunger a 'crisis in democracy'...
so here's the question: with the world producing ever increasing quantities of food, why does the number of people going hungry just keep rising?
food scarcity is not the problem, never has been. food production has generally gone up faster than population growth, so there's enough food to go around, says frances moore lappé. (in 2008, for instance, world grain production went up five percent while population growth was up 1.2 percent.) the problem is how the world uses food, who controls the supply and the growing concentration of corporate power in global agribusiness, she argues. // sheila pratt, 02.01.09, the edmonton journal
...
food scarcity is not the problem, never has been. food production has generally gone up faster than population growth, so there's enough food to go around, says frances moore lappé. (in 2008, for instance, world grain production went up five percent while population growth was up 1.2 percent.) the problem is how the world uses food, who controls the supply and the growing concentration of corporate power in global agribusiness, she argues. // sheila pratt, 02.01.09, the edmonton journal
2.04.2009
it's not going to be OK...
at no period in american history has our democracy been in such peril or has the possibility of totalitarianism been as real. our way of life is over. our profligate consumption is finished. our children will never have the standard of living we had. and poverty and despair will sweep across the landscape like a plague. this is the bleak future. there is nothing president obama can do to stop it. It has been decades in the making. it cannot be undone with a trillion or two trillion dollars in bailout money. our empire is dying. our economy has collapsed.
how will we cope with our decline? will we cling to the absurd dreams of a superpower and a glorious tomorrow or will we responsibly face our stark new limitations? will we heed those who are sober and rational, those who speak of a new simplicity and humility, or will we follow the demagogues and charlatans who rise up out of the slime in moments of crisis to offer fantastic visions? will we radically transform our system to one that protects the ordinary citizen and fosters the common good, that defies the corporate state, or will we employ the brutality and technology of our internal security and surveillance apparatus to crush all dissent? we won’t have to wait long to find out... // chris hedges, 02.02.09, truthdig
how will we cope with our decline? will we cling to the absurd dreams of a superpower and a glorious tomorrow or will we responsibly face our stark new limitations? will we heed those who are sober and rational, those who speak of a new simplicity and humility, or will we follow the demagogues and charlatans who rise up out of the slime in moments of crisis to offer fantastic visions? will we radically transform our system to one that protects the ordinary citizen and fosters the common good, that defies the corporate state, or will we employ the brutality and technology of our internal security and surveillance apparatus to crush all dissent? we won’t have to wait long to find out... // chris hedges, 02.02.09, truthdig
2.03.2009
obama and the palestinian dream...
Last Sunday afternoon, I sat at home watching the 'We Are One' Obama Inaugural Celebration concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Irish rock band U2 took the stage and suddenly, in the midst of a tribute to Martin Luther King, lead singer Bono departed from script to suggest that Dr. King’s dream was not only an American dream but also an Irish, European, African and Israeli dream. He paused briefly, before adding, with certain emphasis, “It is also a Palestinian dream!” With the sound of Israeli gunfire and Palestinian screams still ringing in the air, and the President-Elect sitting attentively in the audience, Bono’s words were both poignant and powerful.
Shortly before noon on December 27, as children returned home from school and crowds milled around the busy streets, the massacre of innocent and defenseless Palestinians began. After 22 days of pounding Gaza with bombs and missiles, tanks and mortars, ground troops and sniper fire; after 22 days of horror for the people of Gaza who saw their schools destroyed and their children murdered and maimed; after 22 days which took the lives of at least 1,200 Palestinians, including 350 children and wounded another 5,200; after 22 days that left 26,000 Gazans homeless, damaged 20,000 residential buildings and destroyed much of Gaza's already-battered infrastructure, Israel declared a "unilateral ceasefire." The next day, Hamas also agreed to end its rocket attacks into Israel.
The current cessation of violence followed an earlier ceasefire that broke down on November 4 when Israeli soldiers launched a raid on Gaza, leading to the death of six Palestinians and a retaliatory barrage of rockets. Soon after that ceasefire expired, Israel began its brutal siege on the occupied territory. Despite the official pretext given by the Israeli government, namely that Israel reserved the right to defend itself from ongoing rocket attacks, it is clear that by violating the ceasefire and provoking Hamas, Israel intended to deter diplomacy in order to wage its war. To be sure, the objective of the invasion was not simply to reduce rocket attacks. Israel knew that it could not destroy most of the rockets or rocket-capabilities without seriously weakening and destabilizing the territory’s democratically elected government. (Reports that Israel began planning six months prior to the invasion further confirm the extent of the operation.) The meticulous planning also presumably included the timing of the latest ceasefire, approved only days before the transfer of power in the White House, so as to minimize the threat that President Obama might have a harsh word to say concerning these vicious US-supported crimes. Which brings us back to events in Washington.
The concerts and celebrations culminated with the President’s much-anticipated inaugural address, in which Obama set out his vision for remaking America. In his speech, he referred to many of the great principles that Americans eagerly embrace: peace, equality and, of course, freedom. He then turned to the world and proclaimed that the US is “a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity.” And yet, throughout the entire massacre in Gaza, Obama remained noticeably silent. What, then, of the Palestinian man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace from an aggressive and illegal occupying force, and the dignity to determine the course of his or her life? What of the equal treatment, value and consideration of Palestinians? What of their freedom to move freely, to health care, to receive an education or to feed their families? These are questions raised by the collective punishment imposed upon a population living under occupation. As its closest ally, the US government has willingly provided Israel with the considerable political, economic and military means required to carry out its sustained assault against the Palestinian people for over four decades. For nearly as long, the US has joined Israel—almost exclusively—in rejecting an international consensus for a two-state settlement. As the ultimate authority in American foreign policy, Obama could honour his pledge to defeat “those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents,” if only he would stop supporting them. // op-ed written for MIT 3901G, 01.22.09
Shortly before noon on December 27, as children returned home from school and crowds milled around the busy streets, the massacre of innocent and defenseless Palestinians began. After 22 days of pounding Gaza with bombs and missiles, tanks and mortars, ground troops and sniper fire; after 22 days of horror for the people of Gaza who saw their schools destroyed and their children murdered and maimed; after 22 days which took the lives of at least 1,200 Palestinians, including 350 children and wounded another 5,200; after 22 days that left 26,000 Gazans homeless, damaged 20,000 residential buildings and destroyed much of Gaza's already-battered infrastructure, Israel declared a "unilateral ceasefire." The next day, Hamas also agreed to end its rocket attacks into Israel.
The current cessation of violence followed an earlier ceasefire that broke down on November 4 when Israeli soldiers launched a raid on Gaza, leading to the death of six Palestinians and a retaliatory barrage of rockets. Soon after that ceasefire expired, Israel began its brutal siege on the occupied territory. Despite the official pretext given by the Israeli government, namely that Israel reserved the right to defend itself from ongoing rocket attacks, it is clear that by violating the ceasefire and provoking Hamas, Israel intended to deter diplomacy in order to wage its war. To be sure, the objective of the invasion was not simply to reduce rocket attacks. Israel knew that it could not destroy most of the rockets or rocket-capabilities without seriously weakening and destabilizing the territory’s democratically elected government. (Reports that Israel began planning six months prior to the invasion further confirm the extent of the operation.) The meticulous planning also presumably included the timing of the latest ceasefire, approved only days before the transfer of power in the White House, so as to minimize the threat that President Obama might have a harsh word to say concerning these vicious US-supported crimes. Which brings us back to events in Washington.
The concerts and celebrations culminated with the President’s much-anticipated inaugural address, in which Obama set out his vision for remaking America. In his speech, he referred to many of the great principles that Americans eagerly embrace: peace, equality and, of course, freedom. He then turned to the world and proclaimed that the US is “a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity.” And yet, throughout the entire massacre in Gaza, Obama remained noticeably silent. What, then, of the Palestinian man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace from an aggressive and illegal occupying force, and the dignity to determine the course of his or her life? What of the equal treatment, value and consideration of Palestinians? What of their freedom to move freely, to health care, to receive an education or to feed their families? These are questions raised by the collective punishment imposed upon a population living under occupation. As its closest ally, the US government has willingly provided Israel with the considerable political, economic and military means required to carry out its sustained assault against the Palestinian people for over four decades. For nearly as long, the US has joined Israel—almost exclusively—in rejecting an international consensus for a two-state settlement. As the ultimate authority in American foreign policy, Obama could honour his pledge to defeat “those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents,” if only he would stop supporting them. // op-ed written for MIT 3901G, 01.22.09
2.02.2009
the loneliness of noam chomsky...
if i were asked to choose one of noam chomsky's major contributions to the world, it would be the fact that he has unmasked the ugly, manipulative, ruthless universe that exists behind that beautiful, sunny word "freedom". he has done this rationally and empirically. the mass of evidence he has marshalled to construct his case is formidable. terrifying, actually. the starting premise of chomsky's method is not ideological, but it is intensely political. he embarks on his course of inquiry with an anarchist's instinctive mistrust of power. he takes us on a tour through the bog of the u.s. establishment, and leads us through the dizzying maze of corridors that connects the government, big business, and the business of managing public opinion.
chomsky shows us how phrases like "free speech", the "free market", and the "free world" have little, if anything, to do with freedom. he shows us that, among the myriad freedoms claimed by the u.s. government are the freedom to murder, annihilate, and dominate other people. the freedom to finance and sponsor despots and dictators across the world. the freedom to train, arm, and shelter terrorists. the freedom to topple democratically elected governments. the freedom to amass and use weapons of mass destruction—chemical, biological, and nuclear. the freedom to go to war against any country whose government it disagrees with. and, most terrible of all, the freedom to commit these crimes against humanity in the name of "justice", in the name of "righteousness", in the name of "freedom"...// arundhati roy, information clearinghouse
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