Donors Should Press Israel to End Blockade

HRW: Israel’s unlawful blockade of Gaza is the primary impediment to reconstruction and to the economic activity that is essential to any society.

Israel: Rice is Humanitarian Aid; Pasta, No

Red-faced and unusually tongue-tied Israeli officials were forced to try and explain to U.S. Senator John Kerry during his visit to Israel last week why truckloads of pasta waiting to enter the besieged Gaza strip were not considered humanitarian aid while rice was.

‘Progressive’ Nobel Laureate’s Conclusion that Middle Class Tax Burden Must Increase and the ‘Crisis of Democracy’

Today’s Paul Krugman column in the New York Times, “Climate of Change” emphasizes the need for a ‘crisis of democracy’.

Wikileaks Cracks NATO’s ‘Master Narrative’ for Afghanistan

The global authority Newspeak on Afghanistan is remarkably unified — in its approval of the war, unified approval of Hamid Karzai’s coronation, and unified disapproval of Mr. Karzai when he began requesting a time-table for withdrawal.

Police Fears Over G20 and a ’Summer of Unrest’

Days after Latvia’s government steps down, weeks after Iceland’s government steps down, a couple of months after people in Greece rise up, Ireland begins to speak up and governments around the world have no clue what people will do. This is their worst fear — when we become unpredictable.

Israel and the US (Video)

al Jazzera’s “Empire” senior political analyst Marwan Bishara and his guests explore the deep relationship between Israel and the US — Israel’s primary military supplier — days after Obama taps co-founder of AIPAC lobby for administration, Amnesty Int’l calls for an arms embargo on Israel and Israel expands its illegal occupation of East Jersusalem.

Red Cross Struggles to Aid Gaza

Red Cross: “More than a month after the end of the war, people in the Gaza Strip are still struggling to rebuild their lives. Tens of thousands of people have had their houses partially or completely destroyed, while thousands remain without access to running water.”

Chomsky’s Lectern: The Consequences of Hegemony for Survival

Prof. Chomsky concisely explains the choice of Americans between hegemony or survival.

Afghanistan: Accountability for Civilian Casualties Needed Before More Troops Arrive

Amnesty Int’l on “Document – Getting Away with Murder? The Impunity of International Forces in Afghanistan”

Peter Schiff on Obama’s State of the Union Address

Peter Schiff attacks Obama’s plan to revive the economy through credit — where liabilites preceed assets.

Glenn Greenwald on Obama and the Law (Audio)

Scott Horton of AntiWar Radio interviews Glenn Greenwald who “discusses the Obama administration’s impact on civil liberties, the failure of Obama’s government to reverse a single Bush-era legal position, how the Bagram prison in Afghanistan is replacing Guantanamo as the new extralegal detention facility, the spectacular claim that a global war on terror makes the whole world a battlefield and all its inhabitants potential enemy combatants, the history of the state secrets privilege from its original limited exemptions to the current claims of total immunity and why non-prosecuting truth and reconciliation committees should be reserved for third-world countries.”

End Ban on Human Rights Monitors in Gaza

IDF denies Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem access to Gaza.

Georgia Power’s Appeal for Advance Funding of Its New Nuclear Plant

US nuclear power plant wants protectionism in advance from the taxpayers of the state of Georgia.

Thousands of Colombian Civilians Punished for Refusing to Take Part in Conflict

Amnesty Int’l researcher’s findings on civilian conditions in the middle of Colomibian inner-conflict.

Despite Obama Admin Report, Guantanamo Still Violates the Law

On top of Obama’s continuity — not change — toward the US’s ‘other Guantanamo’, the Center for Constitutional Rights experts dispute government assertion that Guantanamo complies with Geneva Conventions.