17 Mar, 2013

America Can Never Live Without War: Chidanand Rajghatta’s blog – Times Of India

President Obama ended the Iraq War and is now winding down a more justifiable war in Afghanistan that was aimed at eliminating terrorists and flushing out toxic fundamentalists whose nihilistic credo is to destroy modernism. It’s an unfinished job, but the US has no appetite for war, for now, although there are warmongers in Washington […]

14 Mar, 2013

BLACKOUT: Networks Ignore Report Finding Massive Waste In Iraq Reconstruction | Media Matters for America

Broadcast and cable news networks have largely ignored a new report which concluded that the United States’ rebuilding efforts in Iraq squandered billions of dollars due to widespread fraud, abuse, and waste. Last week, Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, released a report concluding that of the $60 billion the U.S. has […]

14 Mar, 2013

The Impact of the Bradley Manning Case – NYTimes.com

LAST month Pfc. Bradley Manning pleaded guilty to several offenses related to leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks in 2010, a plea that could land him in jail for 20 years. But Private Manning still faces trial on the most serious charges, including the potential capital offense of “aiding the enemy” — though […]

13 Mar, 2013

Majority of British children will soon be in families ‘below the breadline’, Government warned – The Independent

The majority of British children will soon be growing up in families which are struggling “below the breadline” because of welfare cuts, tax rises and wage freezes, the Government is warned today. Within two years, almost 7.1m of the nation’s 13m youngsters will be in homes with incomes judged to be less than the minimum […]

13 Mar, 2013

PressTV – Australia, Mossad base for espionage

No public official would dare go near the ‘IE’ word… Israeli Espionage in Australia. Why not? It’s because they have been complicit in Israeli spying inside their own country for decades. That’s why. They have been letting Israeli Intel recruit Aussies, both to recruit other spies amongst the many foreigners living there, but also to […]

12 Mar, 2013

If Corporations Don’t Pay Taxes, Why Should You? – Truthdig

Go offshore young man and avoid paying taxes. Plunder at will in those foreign lands, and if you get in trouble, Uncle Sam will come rushing to your assistance, diplomatically, financially and militarily, even if you have managed to avoid paying for those government services. Just pretend you’re a multinational corporation. That’s the honest instruction […]

12 Mar, 2013

New U.S. Middle East Envoy says Time For Two-State Solution Is Now

The OneVoice Movement

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert H. Serry, told nearly 200 audience members at Tel Aviv University today that if the peace process does not happen in the next few months, it would be the end of the two-state solution. Not […]

12 Mar, 2013

The Fall of the House of Europe : Pepe Escobar – Asia Times Online

A detailed case can be made that the financial Masters of the Universe used the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to turbo-charge the political disintegration of the EU via a tsunami of salary cuts, job precariousness for the young, the flattening of pensions and hardcore privatization of everything. No wonder roughly 75% of Italians […]

11 Mar, 2013

Brokers of Deceit; Pathways to Peace | Foreign Affairs

In Khalidi’s view, the limits of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process were established in 1978, when Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin laid down markers for the Camp David negotiations. Ever since then, the United States, although occasionally tempted to stray from these rules, has carefully adhered to them and sometimes argued for them even more strenuously […]

10 Mar, 2013

Living With Less. A Lot Less. – NYTimes.com

My success and the things it bought quickly changed from novel to normal. Soon I was numb to it all. The new Nokia phone didn’t excite me or satisfy me. It didn’t take long before I started to wonder why my theoretically upgraded life didn’t feel any better and why I felt more anxious than […]

10 Mar, 2013

PressTV – UK journalists worked as spies for MI6: Investigation

Several high-profile British journalists have collaborated with Britain’s secret intelligence agency MI6 during the Cold War, a new investigation shows. According to a BBC Radio 4’s Document programme called “The ‘secret agents’ of the UK press”, reports by a Soviet newspaper 45 years ago of “leaked” MI6 documents revealing the agency’s links with leading British […]

10 Mar, 2013

‘Israelis love the peace process, but achieving peace is not their goal’ — RT Op-Edge

The majority of Israelis are in love with the process, not with the peace. They are talking a lot about peace but doing nothing, nothing in order to achieve it. They are fascinated with dialogue, with photo op, with talking, with negotiations as to say this is the goal. But it is the tool, not […]

10 Mar, 2013

Canadian traditional Chinese medicine school seeks university status

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VANCOUVER, March 8 (Xinhua) — Following six years of preparations, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) school in the Canadian province of British Columbia has applied to local educational authorities to become the first institute in the country to offer a TCM curriculum at the university-degree level. PCU College of Holistic Medicine in Burnaby, a Vancouver […]

10 Mar, 2013

Credit card nation: Till debt do US apart by Chidanand Rajghatta – The Times Of India

There are nearly 200 million credit card holders in the United States, according to data from the Census Bureau, which means more than 60 per cent of the population is “plastic-ky” or “pla-sticky”. Then there are debit cards, prepaid cards, and other assorted synthetic instruments. The average American credit cardholder has 3.5 credit cards, with […]

10 Mar, 2013

After Shah Rukh Khan, Irrfan Khan ‘humiliated’ at US airport – Indian Express

The actor, who is currently starring in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s ‘Sahib, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns’, says he is tired of facing this everytime he travels to the US. “The policemen with big guns just take you to a room and ask you to sit. They don’t allow you to speak to anybody, nor use cellphones. And […]

10 Mar, 2013

Unilever CEO: Companies Need to Rebuild Citizens’ Trust

We remain convinced that businesses that both address the direct concerns of citizens and the needs of the environment will prosper over the long term. Companies need to show leadership to rebuild citizens’ trust – currently at an all time low. This thinking lies at the heart of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan USLP and […]

9 Mar, 2013

Canadian CAs’ Optimism Dips In Wake of Concerns Over U.S. Economy

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TORONTO, March 8, 2013 /CNW/ – Optimism about the national economy is down among Canada’s executive chartered accountants for the second straight quarter, according to the latest CICA Business Monitor (Q1 2013). Only 26 per cent of those surveyed in the first quarter of 2013 are optimistic about how the Canadian economy will perform over […]

8 Mar, 2013

How the Economic Slump is Affecting U.S. Small Businesses

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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– March 04, 2013 – U.S. small business employment increased slightly in February, with employees earning more money and working more hours. Small business revenues continue to drop, with the retail industry seeing the largest decline. Those are among the findings of the monthly Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) Small Business Employment and […]

8 Mar, 2013

Older workers – Europe cannot assess if programmes actually help, say EU Auditors

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Luxembourg, 5 March 2013 (European Court Of Auditors Press Release) – Increasing the employment rate of older workers is part of the EU’s strategic goals. But a new report by the European Court of Auditors has found that neither the Member States nor the Commission are in a position to establish how many older workers […]

8 Mar, 2013

A Look at U.S. Public Opinion on Drones | Pew Research Center

Drone strikes against terrorists abroad are supported by a majority of Americans but they draw widespread opposition in most other countries surveyed. A Pew Research Center survey conducted Feb. 7-10, 56% of Americans said they approved of the U.S. conducting missile strikes from drones “to target extremists in countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.” […]

8 Mar, 2013

The Worst Mistake in U.S. History — America Will Never Recover from Bush’s Great Foreign Policy Disaster | Alternet

Having noted the ease with which a numbed American public patriotically looked the other way while our wars followed their particular paths to hell, our leaders no longer blink at the thought of sending American drones and special operations forces ever farther afield, most notably ever deeper into Africa, creating from the ashes of Iraq […]

8 Mar, 2013

UK Universities ignoring binge drinking culture – The Independent

UK Universities are failing in their duty of care to undergraduates by ignoring the binge drinking culture and failing to help young people settle into student life, according to head teachers. A survey of school leaders at both private and state schools revealed almost universal concern over the level of pastoral support on offer at […]

8 Mar, 2013

Israel denies entry to pro-Palestinian American Jew | Haaretz

A Jewish-American pro-Palestinian activist who is married to an Israeli woman was not allowed to enter the country with his pregnant wife. An Israeli court rejected his petition to cancel the order against his entry Tuesday, and he is expected to be put on a plane back to the United States Wednesday night. Adam Shapiro, […]

7 Mar, 2013

Australian diplomats broke rules on Zygier as case was flicked to ASIO

Fairfax Media understands that ASIO and Mossad had a deal not to use each other’s nationals as spies but that the Israelis broke the agreement by recruiting Mr Zygier and at least two other dual citizens. Relations had also plummeted because of Israel’s use of forged Australian passports in the assassination in Dubai of Hamas […]

6 Mar, 2013

Obama and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: It’s Time to Act | Inter Press Service

As President Barack Obama travels to Israel and Palestine in the spring, Washington’s unconditional backing of Israel could soon begin to harm U.S. interests and security in Arab Muslim countries. Recent Pew and Gallup polls show animosity toward the U.S. in many Muslim countries has deepened since he took office with most respondents citing U.S. […]

6 Mar, 2013

U.S. Fed Refuses To Protect Consumers & Merchants From Banks’ 500% Mark Up On Debit Card Swipe Fees

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WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March 05, 2013 – The Federal Reserve refused today to protect consumers and merchants from a 500 percent mark-up levied by banks and credit card companies every time someone swipes a debit card. The fees directly impact the cost of consumer prices and merchants’ ability to hire employees and keep their doors open. A […]

6 Mar, 2013

China Loans US$200 mln for Railway Project in Sri Lanka

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COLOMBO, March 4 (Xinhua) — China’s Exim Bank has agreed to lend Sri Lanka 200 million U.S. dollars to finance a railway project, the Finance Ministry said in a statement here on Monday. The loan will be given to the Sri Lankan government under a Preferential Buyer’s Credit facility to finance the Matara- Beliatta Section […]

6 Mar, 2013

Watching the Watchers: Israeli Espionage in U.S.

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WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March 05, 2013 – On March 21, 2012 U.S. prosecutors played FBI surveillance video in court of former NASA employee Stewart Nozette agreeing to sell U.S. government secrets to Israel. Nozette was then sentenced to thirteen years in prison. The FBI surveillance video, obtained by the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) under […]

6 Mar, 2013

Toyota Launches ‘Toyota i-Road’ Personal Mobility Concept at Geneva Motor Show

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Toyota City, Japan, Mar 4, 2013 – (JCN Newswire) – Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has unveiled the “Toyota i-Road” personal mobility concept at the 83rd Geneva International Motor Show(1) now under way in Geneva until March 17. The concept, a three-wheeler with motorcycle-like maneuverability, is ideally suited for short-distance urban travel and was designed to […]

5 Mar, 2013

FREE Download: McKinsey Institute Report on Financial Globalization: Retreat or Reset?

by Susan Lund, Toos Daruvala, Richard Dobbs, Philipp Härle, Ju-Hon Kwek, and Ricardo Falcón

March 2013 (McKinsey Global Institute) – For three decades, the globalization of finance appeared to be an unstoppable trend: as the world economy became more tightly integrated, new technology and access to new markets propelled cross-border capital flows to unprecedented heights. But the financial crisis brought that era of rapid growth to a halt. Drawing […]

5 Mar, 2013

Popular Resistance: Rethinking South Africa by Dr Mazin Qumsiyeh

We were given tours of places like the Apartheid Museum, the Voortrekker monument, the Freedom Park, the Diepsoot Township/settlement, and Mandela’s house. At the Apartheid Museum we were painfully reminded of all the suffering and indignity of the era. The killings, economic injustice, and human rights violations were then rampant as they are today in […]

5 Mar, 2013

US is the Don Corleone of International Politics — RT Op-Ed

The US corporate over-world has always worked closely with the CIA, the State Department and the Pentagon promoting the overthrow – known as “regime change in rogue states” – of governments that do not automatically align to US interests; or, better said, of governments that do not automatically align with the interests of the supra-national […]

5 Mar, 2013

Sequestering American Exceptionalism: Asia Times Online

The United States is moving against the tide of history in attempting to maintain its self-appointed world policeman role. The development of international institutions and law are more than a century in the making and will no doubt require another century to secure. But the “American Century” is most certainly coming to an end. The […]

4 Mar, 2013

Open Letter by Civil Liberties Group to Indian PM on Hyderabad Blast

So, Mr. Prime Minister, people of this country are wondering as to why the investigative agencies are fighting and competing with each other to investigate the Hyderabad blasts? Why the Hyderabad police are not allowing NIA to investigate the case? The Hyderabad police have already failed in solving the Makkah Masjid bomb blast and twin […]

3 Mar, 2013

Bradley Manning’s Full Statement: My Goal was to Spark Domestic Debate on Iraq war

I believe that if the general public, especially the American public, had access to the information contained within the CIDNE-I and CIDNE-A tables this could spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general as [missed word] as it related to Iraq and Afghanistan. I also believed the […]

2 Mar, 2013

Gallup Poll: Americans’ Reactions to Sequester Include “Bad,” “Disaster”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans are much more likely to use negative words or phrases — including “bad,” “disaster,” and “God help us” — than positive ones to describe their views on the federal government budget sequester. These responses are from an open-ended question Gallup asked Americans on Feb. 25-26, as politicians and the media heightened […]

2 Mar, 2013

Attack on Mosque Illustrates Relationship Between F.B.I. and Muslims in Bay Area – NYTimes.com

Early one morning in 2007, Muhammad Chaudhry showed up at the Islamic Center of East Bay in Antioch, Calif., and found seven bullet holes in one of the building’s front windows. Soon, agents from the San Francisco office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrived and documented it and previous incidents at the center. In […]

2 Mar, 2013

UK Doctors: urgent action on alcohol needed | The Guardian

Doctors’ leaders want tough action to limit the sale and promotion of alcohol, including cigarette-style graphic warnings and an end to drinks firms sponsoring sport, to tackle the growing toll of drink-related problems. A coalition of medical organisations, including those representing GPs, A&E doctors and surgeons, urges ministers in a new report to implement an […]

2 Mar, 2013

Sky Aviation takes delivery of its first Sukhoi Superjet 100 | The Jakarta Post

Last year’s crash involving a Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ 100) that claimed the lives of 45 was heartbreaking, but Sky Aviation president director Krisman Tarigan says that he is optimistic its first Russian aircraft will provide customers with safety and comfort, and attract a full complement of passengers in the first quarter of its operation. […]

2 Mar, 2013

Meet the real ‘neo-libs’ of Indonesia | The Jakarta Post

Traditional markets may be coming under a lot of pressure from the modern, big-money supermarkets and hypermarkets, but small traders know a thing or two about surviving the competition. And that may just be their saving grace. Anyone looking for evidence of how a free market operates based on the forces of supply and demand […]

1 Mar, 2013

Facing the Specter of Muslim American Terrorism | Alternet

Muslim Americans are feeling more insecure. We no longer know who is watching us at school, work, or even at our place of worship. We don’t know if our friend is really a friend or an undercover agent. Life is bound to become full of fear, suspicion and stress. Add to that the current wave […]

1 Mar, 2013

Department of Homeland Security: Bloated, Ill-defined Boondoggle | Alternet

Imagine a labyrinthine government department so bloated that few have any clear idea of just what its countless pieces do. Imagine that tens of billions of tax dollars are disappearing into it annually, black hole-style, since it can’t pass a congressionally mandated audit. Now, imagine that there are two such departments, both gigantic, and you’re […]

1 Mar, 2013

The rise and fall of mysterious Mossad agent – English pravda.ru

According to publications, being a Mossad agent, Australian citizen Zygier registered a satellite communications company in Italy and worked there with two other Australians, who also held Israeli citizenship. Mossad’s fake company was selling electronic equipment and components to Arab countries. Judging by publications, Zygier personally visited Iran several times, and possibly also Syria and […]

28 Feb, 2013

India, Iran must promote trade, economic links: President Mukherjee

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New Delhi,  Feb 28 2013 (Press Trust of India) – India and Iran must work together to further promote trade and economic links, increased people-to-people contacts between them and within the region, President Pranab Mukherjee has said. Welcoming a Parliamentary delegation from the Islamic Republic of Iran at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President said, “Throughout history, […]

28 Feb, 2013

Gallup Poll: Desire to Leave Same in U.S. and Mexico

The U.S. has long prided itself on its ability to attract rather than lose residents, and some have seen Mexico as the main hub for U.S.-bound immigration. The Gallup data call into question these long-held assumptions because as many Mexicans would leave Mexico as Americans would leave America. Read the rest: Desire to Leave Same […]

28 Feb, 2013

The Hindu: India’s Water Crisis

“Every apartment is a dream come true — the coronet that tops the king-sized lifestyle of true blue blood.” So run the ads. Yup. The blue bloods do it big. Each apartment has its own private swimming pool. These are, after all, “super-luxurious, supersized designer apartments.” The kind that “match the royal lifestyles.” There are […]

27 Feb, 2013

China, Russia Ink Major Energy Deal

By DING QINGFEN and DU JUAN

Beijing, 2013-02-26 (China Daily) – In a perfect demand and supply arrangement, energy-rich Russia agreed to provide an annual supply of 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas to energy-thirsty China. The deal was struck during a high-level meeting in Beijing on Monday and comes ahead of an expected visit by Party leader Xi Jinping […]

27 Feb, 2013

Asia Times Online: Did Australia sell out ‘Prisoner X?’

Senior Israeli defense correspondents say an Australian-born Israeli Mossad operative who killed himself in Israeli custody two years ago was neither a traitor nor a daredevil spy but someone who endangered Mossad operations seriously by talking too much. Known only as Prisoner X since 2010, following two years of strictly enforced Israeli censorship, the agent […]

27 Feb, 2013

Asia Times Online: And the Oscar goes to… the CIA

Even in his wild, stoned to death, easy rider cuckoo times, Jack Nicholson would never have imagined he would one day tag team with the First Lady of the United States to present an Oscar for Best Picture. This is more Hunter S Thompson than Academy territory – and hardly presidential. But it did – […]

27 Feb, 2013

Nation of ‘secret boozers’: English people underestimate alcohol intake – The Independent

England is a nation of secret boozers, with more than a third of the population drinking unhealthy quantities of alcohol, new research suggests.The finding, which also uncovers high levels of binge drinking, is based on the discrepancy between alcohol sales and the amount people say they drink in surveys. Read the rest: A nation of […]

25 Feb, 2013

Gallup Poll: Americans See U.S. Global Standing as Better, but Not Its Best

Americans’ perceptions of the United States’ status in the world have improved somewhat since the depths recorded during the Iraq war, which received lackluster international support and even criticism from some allies. However, the biggest gains are in perceptions of how the U.S. president is viewed internationally. The 51% currently believing Obama is respected by […]

25 Feb, 2013

Chris Hedges: Rebels Stand Alone – Truthdig

Although history has vindicated resistance groups such as the White Rose and plotters such as von dem Bussche, they were desperately alone, reviled by the wider public and forced to defy the law, their oaths of national allegiance, and public opinion. The resisters, once exposed, were condemned in vitriolic terms by most of the German […]

24 Feb, 2013

The definition of chutzpah – James Zogby in Al-Ahram Weekly

James Zogby

I can agree with a few of Keyes’s observations in the passages cited above. “Palestinian human rights… are the key to the peace process” and “Human rights, often seen as a diversion from the peace process, are in fact the secret to it.” Oh yes, and by the way, I agree with his argument that […]

24 Feb, 2013

Debate on terror blasts generates more heat than light: Dileep Padgaonkar in Times Of India

The finger of suspicion for the Dilsukhnagar blasts has been pointed to the Indian Mujahideen whose links with extremist and terror groups in Pakistan are no secret. Nor are their antecedents. But until the police possess prima facie evidence of its involvement, all that you are likely to get is a media trial that, in […]

23 Feb, 2013

Inciting Violence in This Culture of Violence | Tikkun Magazine

Our military budget grows ever larger. The war and armaments business is probably our most innovative and certainly our most profitable industry, with no curtailment of its excesses in sight. That lobby always wins, even in an economic depression, constantly citing terrorism and self-defense as the rationale for its growth. There was no “peace dividend” […]

13 Feb, 2013

Israel’s ‘Prisoner X’ was Australian Mossad agent, documentary claims | World news | guardian.co.uk

Like the fictional Man in the Iron Mask, Israel’s infamous “Prisoner X” was allegedly held in solitary confinement in conditions of such strict secrecy that even his own jailers were told neither his name nor the crime he had allegedly committed. The man’s identity became the subject of intense speculation when he was reportedly found […]

13 Feb, 2013

Towards a police state in New York – Opinion – Al Jazeera English

Joseph Goldstein’s New York Times article of February 3 outlines a request from US civil rights lawyers to federal judge Charles S Haight Jr for an independent evaluation of the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism techniques. Writes Goldstein: “The lawyers said the police’s tactics have placed Muslim communities under surveillance in violation of longstanding federal […]

12 Feb, 2013

Zionism neoliberal style – Opinion – Al Jazeera English

The language of benevolence and goodwill decorates Begin’s 16-page report and disguises the Plan’s actual intention of displacement as one of “development”. At least 44,000 Bedouin citizens of Israel will be displaced from their homes if the plan goes forward. Attempts to prettify Israel’s land-grabbing policies are not new, but have metamorphosed over time. Once […]

11 Feb, 2013

Palestine Note: ‘Cultivator of community and perspectives of issues facing Palestine’ | IJNet

The world will learn and hear more about Palestine, and take note that we are a people that works hard and loves life. This is the place where people of all backgrounds including Palestinians can write, show videos, pictures, and tell stories about their lives and experiences with Palestine. If anything, I hope this site […]

11 Feb, 2013

Cagle Post: Beware The Consequences of Pre-Emptive War

Last year more US troops died by suicide than died in combat in Afghanistan. More than 20 percent of military personnel deployed to combat will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some 32 percent of US soldiers reported depression after deployments. More than 20 percent of active-duty military are on potentially dangerous psychotropic drugs; many are […]

11 Feb, 2013

Chris Hedges: The NDAA and the Death of the Democratic State

If we lose in Hedges v. Obama—and it seems certain that no matter the outcome of the appeal this case will reach the Supreme Court—electoral politics and our rights as citizens will be as empty as those of Nero’s Rome. If we lose, the power of the military to detain citizens, strip them of due […]

11 Feb, 2013

A Tax to Pay for War – NYTimes.com

Military spending has been declining since 2009, easing the conflict between pursuing our national security interests and solving our fiscal crisis. But if we undertake new military interventions, that tension will come roaring back. Those who look at our military spending as a percent of gross domestic product and argue that we could spend more […]

10 Feb, 2013

A First Hand Account Of What Went Down At The Anti-Modi Protests

The anger and disgust against the communal politics of Modi was palpable, all of us spoke out with the accumulated rage of the victims in Gujrat. The clinched fists, raised voices and the fiery expression on the faces showed how passionately the students felt for the victims. It’s a shame for a politician who is […]

10 Feb, 2013

A Look at English words derived from Arabic – GulfNews.com

What do zero, a giraffe, and alcohol have in common? Not much, other than all these words originate from Arabic, and are part of the huge heritage of language and knowledge that Europe has absorbed from the Arabs over the centuries. Read the rest: ‘It’s Arabic’ | GulfNews.com.

10 Feb, 2013

Dear Facebook friends, we need a break

FORGET about the privacy concerns, the onslaught of ads, the annoying design of your profile page. If people are turning away from Facebook, it is not because the company has overreached or gone over to the dark side. It is because we have come to realise people are boring. Read the rest: Dear Facebook friends, […]

10 Feb, 2013

Spying on Law-Abiding Muslim Citizens – NYTimes.com

A motion filed in federal court last week by the lawyers in the Handschu case makes a strong case that the city has simply ignored those guidelines in its antiterrorism fight and is targeting Muslim groups because of their religious affiliation, not because they present any risk. In a particularly striking declaration, a Queens man […]

10 Feb, 2013

Suraj Sharma on Life after Pi – Indian Express

He says he’s determined to keep his life normal. “I get a little more attention but I still take the Metro all the time, play football and basketball at Siri Fort and hang out with friends. Fortunately, I am quite stealthy and don’t get recognised very often,” he says. His college, St Stephens, has treated […]

10 Feb, 2013

Ready to do anything for Hindutva: Praveen Togadia – Hindustan Times

Maharashtra Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Venkatesh Abdeo, on whose phone the call was made, threatened, “there will be severe reaction all over the country if Togadia is arrested. Togadia has not done anything wrong by speaking about Akbaruddin Owaisi.” He also dared the government to arrest Togadia “if it has guts.” via Ready to do […]

10 Feb, 2013

What exactly is this thing Israeli Jews call ‘Arab Mentality’? – Haaretz

The residents know they have nowhere to go, have no exit. They’re born, they study, work, marry, have children, so that they, too, will remain in villages and have children who will remain in villages. Villages? What sign of a village can you find in the Arab villages? Or in those that are called cities […]

10 Feb, 2013

PressTV – Int’l conference on Hollywoodism and Cinema wraps up in Tehran

The third International Conference on Hollywoodism and Cinema has wrapped up in the Iranian capital city of Tehran on the sidelines of the 31st Fajr International Film Festival.The conference came to an end on Wednesday in a ceremony in Tehran’s Azadi Hotel. Some 50 cineastes and critics from across Europe and the United States attended […]

5 Feb, 2013

FREE Download: Threat of Financial Contagion to Emerging Asia’s Local Bond Markets

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Synopsis of Asian Development Bank Report: This paper employs multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (GARCH) models with a Baba–Engle–Kraft–Kroner (BEKK) specification to show significant shock and volatility spillovers from mature bond markets into select emerging Asian local currency bond markets. Results reveal that while the growth of individual bond markets in recent years has been […]

5 Feb, 2013

FREE Download: Hot Money Flows, Commodity Price Cycles, & Financial Repression in US and China

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Synopsis of an Asian Development Bank report: Under near zero interest rates in the United States, the international dollar standard malfunctions. Emerging markets with naturally higher interest rates are swamped with hot money inflows, while central banks in the same countries intervene to prevent their currencies from rising precipitously. They subsequently lose monetary control and […]

5 Feb, 2013

Philippines Plans Nationwide ‘Super Wi-Fi’ | The Manila Bulletin

Due to scant broadband frequencies, the government plans to harness unused Television channels – White Space (TVWS) or “Super Wi-Fi” – nationwide within 3 years to connect rural areas, schools and also for health, disaster migration, e-services and e-business. Between them, Metro Manila and Cebu have 18 unused channels, with 46 percent of spectrum wasted. […]

5 Feb, 2013

Tapping Vast Renewable Energy Resources | The Manila Bulletin

The Philippines is endowed with an abundance of resources that could propel it as renewable energy (RE) leader in Southeast Asia. Rice, coconut, and sugarcane crops generate volumes of residues that are utilized as fuel. Many provinces harness wind energy; the Philippines holds the largest potential for wind energy among Southeast Asian countries. The country’s […]

5 Feb, 2013

Betting on Macau – Counting the Cost – Al Jazeera English

Macau’s economy expanded 14 percent last year and shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, quite the opposite. If all predictions are correct, the former Portuguese colony will have the fastest growing economy in the world this year with an unemployment rate of two percent. But all this is dependent on gambling, which makes […]

5 Feb, 2013

China Facing a Year of Challenges

By Zhang Yansheng (China Daily)

2013-02-02 – The tottering global economy and slowing growth rate at home make it important to transform (China’s) economic development model. The decision of the 2013 Central Economic Working Conference is to raise the quality of economic growth and make it more result-oriented by focusing on “six musts”. The first is expediting economic restructuring. The […]

5 Feb, 2013

Indo-Pak travel & trade “mother of all confidence-building measures” – DAWN.COM

The clashes along the Line of Control, the first of which took place on January 6, prompted fears that tensions between Pakistan and India could escalate, but a ceasefire agreement on January 16 between commanders from both armies has held. Another attempt to ease the tensions saw trade resuming between the two countries via the […]

5 Feb, 2013

Sex scandals, lies mar US churches: China Daily

LOS ANGELES – Anyone who rapes teenage boys and girls is a crime, but when priests had sex with teenagers, archbishops tried to cover them up to avoid punishment. That has happened in churches in Los Angeles and other US cities. In 2007, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles paid at least $660 million to settle […]

5 Feb, 2013

Iran and Egypt in landmark meeting: China Daily

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Cairo this week as the first Iranian head of state to travel to Egypt since Iran’s revolution in 1979 soured ties. Officials and analysts said the visit is a significant step in restoring Teheran-Cairo ties and an attempt to bring the views of the two most populous countries in […]

5 Feb, 2013

Book Review: “Australian Universities. A Portrait Of Decline”

“Australian universities. A Portrait of Decline” by Donald Meyers (AUPOD), is an important and hard-hitting book by an Australian neuroscientist and environmental scientist who argues passionately, cogently and with biting irony for a return to decency of a corrupted, dumbing-down, and managerialist Australian university system. The world is running out of time to deal intelligently […]

5 Feb, 2013

US control is diminishing, but it still thinks it owns the world: Noam Chomsky

To everyone except a dedicated ideologue, it was pretty obvious that we invaded Iraq not because of our love of democracy but because it’s maybe the second- or third-largest source of oil in the world, and is right in the middle of the major energy-producing region. You’re not supposed to say this. It’s considered a […]

5 Feb, 2013

Chinese Commentary Warns U.S. Against Unilateralism, Power Politics

CHINA DAILY, 4 FEB 2013

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Song Tao made a significant point when he elaborated on a more active role for emerging economies in international affairs at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Song said emerging economies have thrived within the current international system, and ensuring the smooth voyage of the boat is in the interest of all […]

4 Feb, 2013

Islamophobia incidents on the rise in US : GulfNews.com

In Oklahoma City, a Muslim family placed a sign on their lawn wishing “as-salaamu alaykum” or peace be upon their neighbours. On Friday night, just after 8pm, the neighbours answered. A volley of high-calibre shots ricochetted off the walls and ripped through windows, spreading fear and terror to the family inside. Luckily, no one was […]

27 Jan, 2013

Has America Become an Authoritarian State? | Alternet

This undoing of democracy to which (Arundhati) Roy refers, and the dystopian society that is being created in its place, can be grasped in the current subordination of public values to commercial values and the collapse of democracy into the logic and values of what might called a predatory casino capitalism where life is cheap […]

24 Jan, 2013

CGMA Survey: U.S. Debt Debate Will Have Sweeping Effect on Global Business

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NEW YORK & LONDON-January 23, 2013-(BUSINESS WIRE)–As the U.S. Congress prepares a temporary patch for the nation’s debt ceiling, the world’s CFOs, controllers and other management accountants are predicting at least some impact on their own operations and a weaker position for the U.S. in the long run. That’s according to a survey of 1,300 […]

24 Jan, 2013

Global Warming Is a Domestic Crisis – Juan Cole’s Columns – Truthdig

As President Obama made clear in his inaugural address Monday, failing to confront the threat of climate change in his second term would be a betrayal of future generations. “Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science,” Obama said, “but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought and more […]

24 Jan, 2013

Israeli-Palestinian peace process entering critical period – UN envoy

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23 January 2013 – UN News Centre – The Middle East peace process is entering a critical period that requires “courageous” steps by Israelis and Palestinians to save the two-State solution, a senior United Nations envoy told the Security Council today, warning that the consequences of inaction could be dire for everyone. “No international effort […]

24 Jan, 2013

UK must review measures affecting right to peaceful assembly – UN expert

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23 January 2013 – UN News Centre – A United Nations expert today urged the United Kingdom (UK) to revise a series of legal and policing measures that are having a negative impact on its citizens’ right of peaceful assembly and association. Measures such as the use of undercover police officers embedded in protests, containing […]

23 Jan, 2013

China: Is US A Peacemaker Or Provocateur On South China Sea Issue?

China Daily Commentary

January 21, 2013 – The United States is sending a dangerous message on the territorial dispute between China and Japan, which may lead the tension in the East China Sea to spin out of control. On the one hand, after talking with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington on Friday, US Secretary of […]

23 Jan, 2013

Dirty Wars: New Film Exposes Hidden Truths of Covert U.S. Warfare | Alternet

Rick Rowley: The global war on terror is the most important story of our generation, you know, and it’s a story that’s been completely not covered. It remains invisible and hidden from most Americans. I mean, this is a war—this is the longest war in American history. It’s a war in which hundreds of thousands […]

23 Jan, 2013

Xinhua Commentary: World Needs Common Development of China, India

Zhong Sheng, People's Daily

January 19, 2013 – At the beginning of this year, China and India expressed their mutual desire to deepen bilateral cooperation, achieve common development, and create a better future. This reflects two countries’ appreciation on the importance of developing interrelations. The Times of India recently published an article saying in 2012 “China-India relations encountered a […]

23 Jan, 2013

US Navy fined for ‘illegal entry’ at Philippines coral reef — RT

The Philippines government has fined the US Navy for unlawfully entering and damaging a World-Heritage listed coral reef aboard the USS Guardian, even after receiving radio warnings by park rangers to avoid the reef. Penalties of unauthorized entry to the Tubbataha Reef are severe, and include a maximum penalty of one-year imprisonment and a fine […]

23 Jan, 2013

U.S. Drone Strikes “Counterproductive,” Pakistani FM Warns

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ISLAMABAD, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) — Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar Tuesday told the parliament that the world is raising concerns on the civilian casualties in U.S. drone strikes, local media reported. The United States has ruled out any change in the CIA- controlled drone mission in Pakistan, claiming that it is a key to […]

22 Jan, 2013

Operation Hollywood: How The Pentagon Shapes And Censors The Movies

Operation Hollywood: How The Pentagon Shapes And Censors The Movies via Operation Hollywood: How The Pentagon Shapes And Censors The Movies – 12160 Social Network.

21 Jan, 2013

Chris Hedges: A Time for ‘Sublime Madness’ – Truthdig

Posted on Jan 20, 2013 By Chris Hedges The planet we have assaulted will convulse with fury. The senseless greed of limitless capitalist expansion will implode the global economy. The decimation of civil liberties, carried out in the name of fighting terror, will shackle us to an interconnected security and surveillance state that stretches from […]

20 Jan, 2013

China set to lead smartphone market in 2013

China Daily

2013-01-18 (China Daily) – China will cement its lead as the world’s largest smartphone market in 2013 as the nation is expected to sell 240 million smartphones, nearly one-third of global shipments, industry analysis firm Canalys said on Thursday. Analysts said Chinese manufacturers will dominate the domestic market and are well positioned to enter overseas […]

20 Jan, 2013

China increases holdings of US debt

By ZHANG YUWEI in New York and CHEN JIA in Beijing (China Daily)

Beijing, 2013-01-18  – China, the biggest foreign creditor of the United States, increased its holdings of US Treasury bills to $1.17 trillion in November, up $200 million from the previous month, the Treasury Department disclosed on Wednesday. According to the department’s monthly Treasury International Capital report, November saw a rebound in foreign demand for US […]

20 Jan, 2013

10 simple things that make us happy – Indian Express

It’s the little things in life that give us the greatest moments of happiness, a new survey has revealed. The researchers found that5 nothing can beat the burst of pleasure you get on at discovering a forgotten 20-pound note in the pocket of an old coat. The next best thrill is being notified that you’ve […]

20 Jan, 2013

Maha Kumbh Mela: Now a Harvard University case study – Indian Express

The Maha Kumbh Mela, considered the largest public gathering in the world, will be the subject of a case study at Harvard University, which will study the logistics and economics behind it and the “pop-up mega-city” that comes to life in Allahabad during the religious event. A team of faculty and students from Harvard’s Faculty […]

20 Jan, 2013

Banking system shows signs of instability on rising NPAs: RBI – Indian Express

The banking system has recently shown signs of moderate rise in instability due to increase in non-performing assets (NPAs), the Reserve Bank has said in a working paper. “The movements in the banking stability indicator…that there are symptoms of a moderate rise in instability of the banking sector in recent periods perhaps due to the […]