News For November 15, 2010

Conversations with Fidel Castro: The Dangers of a Nuclear War

By Fidel Castro Ruz and Michel Chossudovsky

“In a nuclear war the collateral damage would be the life of humankind.  Let us have the courage to proclaim that all nuclear or conventional weapons, everything that is used to make war, must disappear!” Continue

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How The Zionist Press Reacts To Criticism Of Israel
British Politician: ‘Israel is the Root Cause of Terrorism'

By JONNY PAUL

Liberal Democratic peer asks why world allows Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to continue – "Is it Holocaust guilt?" Continue

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AIPAC Bares All to Quash Lawsuit
Sex, Spies, and Videotape

By Grant Smith

If Rosen proves in court that AIPAC has long handled classified information while lobbying for Israel, the worn public pretense that AIPAC is anything but a stealth extension of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs – from which it emerged in 1951 – will end forever. Continue

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White House Says Child Soldiers Are Ok, if They Fight Terrorists

By Michelle Chen

The Obama administration just decided to leave countless kids stranded on some of the world’s bloodiest battlegrounds. Continue

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Masters And Servants of War

By Clancy Sigal

I grew up believing in the nobility of military service. But today, I mainly feel angry at those who profit by others' sacrifice. Continue

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China to the US:
Stop With the Monopoly Money

By Eric Margolis

The US government is stoking worldwide inflation in order to lower its outstanding debt by repaying creditors with depreciated dollars. The rest of the world is boiling angry at Washington. Continue

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The Coming Sell-Out to the Super Rich
What It Means for the Rest of Us

By MICHAEL HUDSON

The argument is made that “The rich create jobs.” After all, somebody has to build the yachts. What is missing is the more general principle: Wealth and income inequality destroy job creation. Continue

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When Fascism Masquerades as Populism

By Charles Sullivan

With its reliance on corporate money and financial contributions by the wealthy, the U.S. electoral system provides movement in only one direction: to the right. Continue

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The Stench of American Hypocrisy

By Paul Craig Roberts

The ignorant population of the “Great American Superpower,” buried in fear propagated by a Ministry of Truth, has acquiesced in the total destruction of the US Constitution and their civil liberties. Continue

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The Origin of America’s Intellectual Vacuum

By Chris Hedges

Universities stand as cowardly, mute and silent accomplices of the corporate state, taking corporate money and doing corporate bidding. Continue

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Nine guards, seven Taliban killed: Nine security guards and seven Taliban have been killed in a gunfight at a telecommunications tower in northern Afghanistan, a police commander says.
Taliban Kill 8 Police in N. Afghanistan: The Taliban attacked a police checkpoint in Chahargul village of Qalai Zal district at around 06:30 am and killed 8 police soldiers, Abdullah Daneshi, the acting governor of Kunduz said.
Blue-Ribbon Panel Finds AfPak Strategy at "Critical Point": The current counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy is not working, according to a new report by a bipartisan task force of 25 prominent analysts and former top foreign policy officials.
Afghan President Karzai call for less troops frustrates U.S. general: — Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, was frustrated by the Afghan president's blunt call for a reduced military footprint in the country — a remark that threatens to undermine efforts to maintain international support for the war at this week's NATO summit.
Karzai opposes drone attacks in Pakistan: Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in a newspaper interview published Sunday, voiced his opposition to US done attacks in Pakistan, and said that he now realises that the Pakistanis are suffering more than Afghans due to terrorist violence afflicting the region.
Two killed in Pak blast: The imam of a mosque was among two persons killed, they said.
Mubarak's Critics See Hypocrisy in U.S. Support: The Egyptian government's crackdown on political opponents continues unabated in advance of parliamentary elections Nov. 28, even as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week hailed the "partnership" between the two countries as "a cornerstone of stability and security in the Middle East and beyond".
Haiti cholera death toll soars: Death toll jumps to 917 as international organisations appeal for funds to fight epidemic.
Haiti: Where is the UN? Where is the help?: Thousands may be dead as scale of cholera epidemic is underestimated
Data reveals higher Greek debt: Greece expects the budget deficit in 2010 to be larger than initially targeted after the EU's statistics agency announced that the country's debt last year was actually much higher than projected.
Irish Bailout Under Way, Claims Opposition: The Irish opposition's finance spokesman says he believes European intervention is "under way" and that the matter will "come to a head in 24 hours".
Austerity fails to save Ireland: Troubled European governments are discovering that fasting is no cure for a giant debt hangover.
The view from China: US forces world to donate blood: The world should come up with a powerful tool to bridle the US dollar and the people managing it.
Fed's ability to influence market could be over: The Federal Reserve took the first step in a $600 billion plan to boost the economy Friday. The same day, the Standard & Poor's 500 index tumbled to its worst weekly loss in three months. It wasn't just a coincidence.
Current Mortgages Turning Delinquent Rises for First Time in a Year: During the third quarter of this year, 2.7 percent of current mortgage balances transitioned into delinquency, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That’s up from 2.6 percent that became newly delinquent in the second quarter.
Mortgage Modifications Aren't Stopping Foreclosures: Programs designed to keep owners in their homes are being upended by lost paperwork and procedural errors
People on unemployment face big cut: It’s ironic: Even as the conspicuous consumption season revs up to a screaming pitch over the next few weeks, in the same period millions of Americans are at risk of losing the ability to buy so much as a gum ball.