[APR-news] December 7, 2006

Thu Dec 7 10:15:19 PST 2006

Alternative Press Review - Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream
www.altpr.org - December 7, 2006

http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_cartoon&itemid=3936
When will it stop?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15740.htm
Torture American Style

******
http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=694
The New Republic Attacks Rachel Corrie
By Starhawk

I was shocked that the New Republic would publish a review so biased, 
inaccurate and vitriolic, one more worthy of Fox News than a magazine which 
courts intellectuals and progressives. In the past, I've been moved by 
Ozick's work and respect her considerable literary gifts. This piece, 
however, had the shrill, defensive tone of an abuser attacking the victim 
who brings an abuse to light.

http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=693
A Review of Tariq Ali's Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope
By Ron Jacobs

By now, much of the world is familiar with the Disney produced Pirates of 
the Carribean films starring Johnny Depp as the pirate Jack Sparrow. These 
films portray pirates as men with humor and a desire for freedom and a sense 
of honor. Tariq Ali's newest book borrows the title of these films, while 
utilizing a more politicized definition of the term pirate. The most 
succinct definition of Ali's view of piracy can be found in the footnote he 
provides during a discussion of Simon Bolivar. In that note he quotes the 
author William S. Burroughs on the pirates of the 17th and 18th centuries 
from the introduction to his Cities of the Red Night trilogy: "Imagine such 
a (pirate) movement on a worldwide scale," writes Burroughs. "Faced by the 
actual practice of freedom, the French and American revolutions would have 
to stand by their words....." At the same time, Pirates of the Caribbean: 
Axis of Hope elucidates the perception of Chavez, Morales and Castro held by 
the capitalist nations-that these men and their followers are thieves, 
stealing what rightfully belongs to the already wealthy.

******
Other articles of interest

http://www.redress.btinternet.co.uk/pjballes40.htm
Delusional fabrication: Propaganda tools of Israel and American Zionists
Paul J. Balles, Redress

The sly and deceitful way that propagandists distort facts, events and 
history never ceases to amaze me. That kind of disingenuous propaganda came 
recently from both Israeli leaders and American Zionists. The latest was the 
attempt to gloss over criticism of the Israeli murder and destruction in 
Lebanon by claiming that the Hezbollah militia used civilians as human 
shields. That's one way to attempt to divert attention from the thousands of 
bombs the Israelis dropped on hundreds of civilian targets all over Lebanon. 
A typical evasion, the Israeli claim has been coyly used to purge attention 
from the reality: Israel had no business invading Lebanon in the first 
place!

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HL07Dj03.html
The post-abundance era
Michael T Klare, Asia Times

At least some strata of the global population will continue to experience an 
increase in personal wealth in the 21st century, but the sense of abundance 
that characterized the late 20th century is likely to evaporate for the 
great majority of us. One day now-affordable luxuries such as overseas 
vacations and meals out will become unattainable, and even basic necessities 
such as energy, electricity, water and food are likely to become less 
plentiful and more expensive. This global austerity will produce great 
hardship for the poor and will force even lower-middle-class families to 
choose from among long car trips, restaurant meals, air-conditioning in 
summer, and high thermostats in winter.

http://thetyee.ca/Life/2006/11/29/BackToTheLand/
My Back to the Land Fantasy
Dorothy Woodend, TheTyee.ca

There's an odd split in our culture at the moment. Doom and gloom glowers 
from news headlines and movie documentaries. But the cars roar up and down 
Vancouver's Oak Street night and day, the coffee shops are full until 
midnight, and the price of real estate, especially anything with even a 
distant view of water, continues to shoot through the roof. A big lie 
maintains we can continue to have our consumptive lifestyle, and stave off 
environmental chaos, if we use only one coffee cup at Starbucks, turn off 
the lights, walk to work and recycle plastic bags. We can have our cake, and 
everyone else's cake too. And yet, underneath the ordinary activities of 
daily life, many people have the anxious sense things have gone too far, and 
something is coming that will push it back in the other direction -- hard.

http://energybulletin.net/23259.html
Closing the 'Collapse Gap': the USSR was better prepared for peak oil than 
the US
Dmitry Orlov, Energy Bulletin

The subject of economic collapse is generally a sad one. But I am an 
optimistic, cheerful sort of person, and I believe that, with a bit of 
preparation, such events can be taken in stride. As you can probably 
surmise, I am actually rather keen on observing economic collapses. Perhaps 
when I am really old, all collapses will start looking the same to me, but I 
am not at that point yet. And this next one certainly has me intrigued. From 
what I've seen and read, it seems that there is a fair chance that the U.S. 
economy will collapse sometime within the foreseeable future. It also would 
seem that we won't be particularly well-prepared for it. As things stand, 
the U.S. economy is poised to perform something like a disappearing act. And 
so I am eager to put my observations of the Soviet collapse to good use.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15809.htm
Global Dimming
BBC Documentary

This is a film that demands action. It reveals that we may have grossly 
underestimated the speed at which our climate is changing. At its heart is a 
deadly new phenomenon. One that until very recently scientists refused to 
believe even existed. But it may already have led to the starvation of 
millions.

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0612b.asp
End the Other War Too
Sheldon Richman, FFF

The war in Iraq goes on, but we shouldn't let it overshadow the war at 
home - one that frequently takes the lives of people who don't deserve to 
die. It's known as the War on Drugs, but it's really a war on people who 
themselves are not making war against anyone. Too often individuals minding 
their own business are killed by government officers. In the name of 
decency, this war must end.

http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/2006/12/paralytic-apocalypse.html
Paralytic Apocalypse
Layla Anwar, Arab Woman Blues

I am past being shocked anymore. I have resigned myself to this state of 
paralysis. Ghost cities like Baghdad with its pools of blood dont affect me. 
Raped little girls are part of my daily scenery. An unknown limb lying in 
the street is not even an object of curiosity. Smashed jaws, teeth, eyes, 
nails pulled out are nothing but sentences for me, anonymous black and white 
images. Barren towns, abandoned children, families executed, hospitals 
raided, lethal injections given to those belonging to the wrong sect are 
routine.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_20773.shtml
Murderous army
Khalid Amayreh, Palestinian Information Center

As the Nazis made a living out of killing Jews and others, many, actually 
too many, Israelis are also making a living and prosperous careers out of 
killing Palestinians, destroying their homes, stealing their land and 
keeping them in perpetual subjugation.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_stephen__061204_the_destruction_of_j.htm
The destruction of Jose Padilla
Stephen Soldz, OpEd News

The New York Times today gives a glimpse of the systematic destruction of a 
human being as they describe the routine treatment of U.S. citizen Jose 
Padilla, held for years without charges as an "enemy combatant" until the 
government, on the eve of a crucial court hearing challenging their ability 
to hold him without charges, decided to charge him after all. The Times 
article describes the total isolation he was held in for three and a half 
years, before being charged.

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/45194/
Antiwar Vietnam Vets Mentor Next Generation of Resisters
Jessica Pupovac, AlterNet

About 8,000 soldiers have gone AWOL since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and 
many of them are looking to their predecessors for support.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/3683
Will The Fall Of America Follow The Fall Of Baghdad?
Danny Schechter, Smirking Chimp

That economic crisis may be here sooner than we thought. Economist Paul 
Krugman, hardly an alarmist, is beginning to hit the alarm button, writing 
in the New York Times: "Here's the bad news: this kind of confusion about 
what's going on is what typically happens when the economy is at a turning 
point, when an economic expansion is about to turn into a recession (or vice 
versa)." He adds: "If that sounds ominous, it should: the bond market, which 
has a pretty good record of forecasting recessions, is pointing toward a 
serious economic slowdown next year."

******
NewsWire

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3014
Flirting with fascism on CNN

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/opinion/03glover.html
Business as Usual: Liberal bloggers turn propagandists, rake in cash to pimp 
for politicians

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34164
Journalists release report detailing depravity and torture at Guatanamo

http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/7556.html?PHPSESSID=85e7b6c5a4408eb33c2757f8748eec33
Censorship is rampant at US colleges and universities

http://prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/051206gingrichlies.htm
Gingrich lies to assault free speech again

http://public.cq.com/public/20061201_homeland.html
Fine print in Defense bill opens door to martial law

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/dec2006/cctv-d06.shtml
Britain is video surveillance capital of the world

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/3740
The Iraq Report - Typical cover-your-ass Washington Bullshit

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_alex_gab_061205_bush_adminstration_i.htm
Bush administration implicated in narco death squad cover-up

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401311_pf.html
Making a killing: 100,000 contractors in Iraq

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/exactly-how-dangerous-is-_b_35577.html
International War Criminal and Wacko Nutcase John McCain: The Most Dangerous 
Man in America?

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/diet.fitness/12/06/insidersfreeganism/
Insiders guide to freeganism

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1963387,00.html
Scientists launch unprecedented effort to protect world's food supplies from 
ravages of climate change

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/39344/story.htm
Alps warmest in 1,300 years

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4380090.html
Water War Brewing Along Mexican Border

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6211250.stm
Richest 2% own half the wealth

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2488836,00.html
Richest tenth own 85% of world's assets; bottom 50 per cent own barely 1%

http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=530a883b-0abe-421a-0036-0dce0e9d44c1&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf
Denver housing market in free-fall as foreclosures eclipse record

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2006/12/05/1206bizforeclose.html
Georgia foreclosures jump 99%

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1963092,00.html
Forget shopping, this could turn into a crash

******
http://www.infoshopdirect.com/alternativepressreview/
Subscribe to Alternative Press Review magazine

You can also support Alternative Press Review by making a donation online at
http://www.infoshopdirect.com/alternativepressreview/ or send donations by 
mail to:

Alternative Press Review
PO Box 6245
Arlington, VA 22206 