Mostly Water
"Radical, Reckless and Inhumane:" Experts Say New Mental Health Manual is "Dangerous"
By Kate Kelland - Thursday, February 9, 2012
Millions of healthy people - including shy or defiant children, grieving relatives and people with fetishes - may be wrongly labeled mentally ill by a new international diagnostic manual, specialists said on Thursday...In a damning analysis of an upcoming revision of the influential Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), psychologists, psychiatrists and other experts said new categories of mental illness identified in the book were at best "silly" and at worst "worrying and dangerous."
The Philippine-American War: A War Anniversary the U.S. Wishes to Forget
By Emil Guillermo - February 4, 2012
February 4 marks the anniversary of a war America won — but doesn’t care to crow about. When the memory only produces shame and regret, you can understand why...Such is the fate of the Philippine-American War, otherwise known as the Philippine Insurrection, which began on Feb. 4, 1899...Insurrection doesn’t begin to describe the full-fledged war that lasted three years, with more than 100,000 Americans involved...[T]he Filipino civilian death toll ranged from 250,000 to as high as 1 million, counting those who died from disease or starvation.
Australia Lines Up with U.S. for War with China
By Peter Symonds - WSWS
An Australian defence posture report...is the latest sign of the Obama administration’s reckless and aggressive push against China on all fronts — diplomatic, economic and military...The interim review spells out the wide scope of the military agreement announced...by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and President Barack Obama. While the stationing of up to 2,500 Marines near the northern city of Darwin dominated the headlines, the deal provided for extensive access for American warships and warplanes to Australian naval and air bases.
Targeting Iran
By Ghali Hassan - Znet
Iran is unfairly accused of having an “ambition” to develop nuclear weapons and posing a “threat” to world peace and stability...To begin with, the allegation is a U.S.-Israel manufactured pretext promoted and disseminated by the mainstream Zionist media...For years, Iran has been the target of a vicious and hostile media campaign of distortion and demonization, including the demonization of Islam. The media coverage is the second front of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran...mirroring the media coverage in the lead-up to the U.S. aggression against Iraq.
NATO's Secret War on Syria
NATO special forces are helping killer gangs in Syria.
America's Sham Economic Recovery
Official government data are manipulated. Credibility's entirely lacking. Reported good news is hype. Grim underlying reality is suppressed.
Thomas Mulcair: Israel, Right or Wrong
By Sid Shniad and Fabienne Presentey - Independent Jewish Voices Canada
Thomas Mulcair is well known in Quebec. But except for readers of pro-Israel newspapers...people in Quebec and English Canada are not familiar with his unquestioning support for Israel...It is Mulcair’s single-minded support of Israel that has been a major factor behind the [New Democratic Party's] equivocation when it comes to supporting Palestinian human rights and applying international law to the Israel/Palestine conflict.
Rich London, Poor London: A Tale of Two Cities
By David Hewitt - Znet
As Britain celebrates the bicentenary of Charles Dickens...his works have arguably never been more popular...Driven by his own experiences of childhood poverty, the writer rallied against inequality, using his work to bring attention to what he regarded as some of the key social issues of his time: childhood poverty, rising inequality and high levels of unemployment. Given that these very same issues still dominate the news agenda in modern-day Britain, it’s only too tempting to speculate what Dickens would have made of London today.
Ongoing Atrocities by NATO-Installed Libyan Regime
By Will Morrow - 11 February 2012
The Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) regime installed by the US-NATO intervention in Libya last year is responsible for ongoing atrocities, particularly against black-skinned Libyans, detainees and other alleged supporters of the previous Gaddafi government...Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders have recently published statements protesting against the systematic abuse and torture of prisoners in detention centers controlled by the TNC and tribes.
Peruvian Lives on Canada's Conscience
By Tyler Shipley - February 10, 2012
Monday's crash, which occurred as the Peruvian workers were returning home in a 15-passenger van from work on an Ontario chicken farm, killed 11 passengers and left the remaining three in critical condition. These kinds of vans are cheap and usually carry more workers than would a more expensive truck or SUV. They have also been described as "death traps" and have been investigated and banned in several states and provinces for failing to meet safety standards.
Why MIA Was Right to Give America the Finger at the Super Bowl
By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd - February 10, 2012
...[F]or a young, rebellious pop starlet, the Superbowl halftime stage is the perfect place to drum up controversy. And controversy is what followed when the singer-rapper-artist M.I.A....looked into the camera and flipped the bird to 111.3 million viewers, while rapping the line, “Imma say this once/yeah/I don’t give a shit”...and so America got a huge dose of brown-girl disdain in the form of a beautifully rounded manicure and a traditional South Asian wedding bracelet.
Gaza: Isolated Under Siege
Under repressive occupation, Military Orders govern virtually all aspects of life. Freedom is entirely restricted. Police state authority runs Palestine.
Pentagon Plans U.S.-Backed War Against Syria
By Chris Marsden - 10 February 2012
The Pentagon has drawn up plans for military intervention in Syria...A military strike would be coordinated with Turkey, the Gulf States and the NATO powers, according to reports that acknowledge such plans officially for the first time. The plan is described as an “internal review” by Pentagon Central Command, to allow President Barack Obama to maintain the pretense that the White House is still seeking a diplomatic solution.
Murdering Khadar Adnan
Adnan's a political prisoner hunger striking against gross Israeli repression and injustice.
Should Occupy Use Violence? (I Dunno, Should the Cops?)
By KEVIN CARSON - Counterpunch Weekend Edition
In the official narrative, the question always concerns whether anyone and everyone but the state should engage in violence...That’s a shame. The state is not a mystical entity, a sum greater than the human beings making it up. The state is simply a group of human beings cooperating for common purposes...And violent actions by an association of individuals who call themselves “the state” have no more automatic legitimacy than violent actions by associations of individuals who call themselves “the Ku Klux Klan” or “al Qaeda.”
How a Tragic "Soccer Riot" May Have Revived the Egyptian Revolution
By Dave Zirin - February 7, 2012
“[T]his disaster played a role in uniting the fans of all clubs. It might be a turning point in ending intolerance and hatred in Egyptian football. I will go to the Ahly club along with my teammates to offer our condolences to the families of Port Said martyrs. The fans of Ahly are my brothers. I hope Ahly and Zamalek fans can sit together in the stands without barriers.”
- Zamalek winger Mahmoud Abdel-Razek (also known as Shikabala), Egypt’s top soccer player.
Act Up Against ACTA
ACTA will destroy Internet freedom as we know it.
Toronto Municipal Union Accepts Mayor Ford’s Layoff and Concessions Contract
By Carl Bronski - WSWS
This past Sunday negotiators for 6,000 outside Toronto municipal workers accepted the “framework” for a concessions-laden contract that guts job security protections won over several decades of struggle...The leadership of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) was anxious to isolate and suppress any struggle...So anxious that National President Paul Moist flew into Toronto on the weekend to press for a quick sell-out agreement...[T]he deal has yet to be released to the membership for a contract vote.
Toronto Municipal Union Accepts Mayor Ford’s Layoff and Concessions Contract
By Carl Bronski - WSWS
This past Sunday negotiators for 6,000 outside Toronto municipal workers accepted the “framework” for a concessions-laden contract that guts job security protections won over several decades of struggle...The leadership of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) was anxious to isolate and suppress any struggle...So anxious that National President Paul Moist flew into Toronto on the weekend to press for a quick sell-out agreement...[T]he deal has yet to be released to the membership for a contract vote.
Why the NDP Silence on Palestine?
By Stefan Christoff - February 10, 2012
Difficult questions on Palestine need to be raised within the [New Democratic Party]...Why are NDP leadership candidates seriously out-of-step with the grassroots left in Canada on Palestine?...Why is the NDP not taking a more active role to support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement as a clear and practical method to work for peace in Palestine and Israel?...Why do NDP politicians continue to perpetuate the myth of Canada as an "honest broker" on Palestine/Israel?
