tagged w/ Current News Latino
-
Juarez, Mexico has become a war zone featuring the sort of ghastly crimes Americans thought only happened in Africa a la 'Blood Diamond'. Drug cartels waging all-out war have plunged Juarez into a melee of retaliatory violence. The situation is worse than previously reported by Vanguard eight months ago. (http://current.com/items/89845362_narco-war-next-door.htm)
These are some of the most disturbing quotes:
" New figures released to CNN on Wednesday by Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz indicate the death toll for this year has already surpassed 2,000 homicides -- almost 400 more murders than the total count for 2008.
"It has been 22 months of this war, and it hasn't stopped. The violence has increased, and the possibility that it will stop is becoming more remote," Reyes Ferriz told CNN in a phone interview."
"A government source close to the investigation told CNN about a case where a relative of a drug cartel member was tied to two trucks and stretched until his arms where ripped apart. Dismemberments and beheadings have become a common method of retaliation."Juarez, Mexico has become a war zone featuring the sort of ghastly crimes Americans... more
-
-
Betsy Smith and her husband, Robert El, have lived on Court Street for more than 20 years, and in all that time they thought their street near Martin Luther King Boulevard in Newark was zoned residential. They started to wonder one day recently when they saw workers on the roof of a commercial garage next door to their home.
by Barry Carter/Star-Ledger ColumnistBetsy Smith and her husband, Robert El, have lived on Court Street for more than 20... more
-
-
Since 1945, by deed and by example, the US has overthrown 50 governments, including democracies, crushed some 30 liberation movements and supported tyrannies from Egypt to Guatemala (see William Blum's histories). Bombing is apple pie. Having stacked his government with warmongers, Wall Street cronies and polluters from the Bush and Clinton eras, the 45th president is merely upholding tradition. The hearts and minds farce I witnessed in Vietnam is today repeated in villages in Afghanistan and, by proxy, Pakistan, which are Obama's wars.
Liberals say that the United States is once again a "nation of moral ideals", but behind the façade little has changed. With his government of warmongers, Wall Street cronies and polluters from the Bush and Clinton eras, Barack Obama is merely upholding the myths of a divine America.
Mourn On The 4th of July
By John PilgerSince 1945, by deed and by example, the US has overthrown 50 governments, including... more
-
-
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Like most thoroughfares in booming cities of the developing world, Bogotá’s Seventh Avenue resembles a noisy, exhaust-coated parking lot — a gluey tangle of cars and the rickety, smoke-puffing private minibuses that have long provided transportation for the masses.
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
The New York TimesBOGOTÁ, Colombia — Like most thoroughfares in booming cities of the... more
-
-
Rua XV de Novembro
We've already written about Curitiba's great Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, but that's not all the Brazilian city has to teach us. Our friends at StreetFilms write: "In 1972 under the direction of then Mayor Jaime Lerner, it became the first major pedestrian street in Brazil. The first phase of closing the street took place in only 72 hours. At first the project was unpopular, but today is seen as a success and spans 15 blocks." Check out the video at the link above!Rua XV de Novembro
We've already written about Curitiba's great Bus Rapid... more
-
-
"Electric Vehicles" Mostly Means Electric Bikes, So Far...
Petrobras, the semi-public Brazilian oil giant (the government of Brazil owns 55.7% of Petrobras' common shares with voting rights), has just built the first of what it hopes will be many electric charging stations. It is located in the Barra de Tijuca neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro because that area has the most electric motorcycles and bikes in circulation in the country.
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada"Electric Vehicles" Mostly Means Electric Bikes, So Far...
Petrobras, the... more
-
-
It sounds big, but it just isn't enough. Leaders of the G8 industrial nations meeting in Italy this week are likely to agree that the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2050. That means cuts of 80 per cent among the rich nations.
They will say that this is essential to keep global warming below 2 °C - widely regarded as the tipping point beyond which scary global feedbacks could wreck the climate system that keeps us fed and watered.
Sorry, guys, but this is scientifically illiterate. We might be lucky: if the atmosphere is less sensitive to those gases than most scientists suppose, it could be enough to keep us below 2 degrees, for a while at least. But the best estimate is that the world needs at least 80 per cent cuts in global emissions, and probably more like 100 per cent, to stay below two degrees.
The smart talk back at the climate lab is about negative emissions. We may need to construct a planetary air-conditioning system to keep us cool by sucking carbon dioxide out of the air.
Now I have been writing about climate change since the mid-1980s, when it was not much more than a scary thought among a few atmospheric chemists. Even at the end of the 80s, insiders say Greenpeace decided not to launch a campaign on climate change because they were not sure about the science.
So I am amazed at how far the world has come since, in admitting the need to control the emissions of gases fundamental to our economies. I know the 1997 Kyoto protocol was a bit of a damp squib, with the US bailing out and everyone else taking their cue. But even to be talking about 50 per cent emissions cuts today is, from the historical perspective, dazzling politics.
The trouble is the science has moved on even faster. The planet is not waiting for the diplomats. Climate chaos is coming down the tracks fast.
Even a decade ago, most scientists figured that we could probably cope with doubling the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from pre-industrial levels. That is, going from 275 parts per million to 550 ppm. Right now, we are at approaching 390 ppm and pushing up by around 2 ppm a year. So it seemed that we had a bit of time.
But five years ago, with growing concern about climate tipping points, scientists began to see 450 ppm as the threshold we should not exceed. That's a lot closer. We will be there in 30 years.
And more recently the talk has been about 350 ppm. In other words, because of the timelags involved in the whole global warming process, we will need to lower concentrations of greenhouse gases to below where they are now.
Either that or we may face the rapid breakup of the Greenland ice sheet, runaway African droughts, drowned cities and oceans so acid they dissolve coral reefs. As the cover story of New Scientist magazine eloquently put it last week: "It's worse than we thought".
But I won't despair when the G8 leaders walk away basking in the glow of having made a strong statement on climate change. Despair isn't really an option. And there is good news.
The White House is listening to its chief scientist, Nobel prize-winning energy campaigner Steve Chu, who certainly gets it. He tells Americans they will have to abandon California to the desert if they don't act fast. He and Obama believe there can be a worldwide revolution in how we generate energy: a low-carbon revolution within a generation.
I believe that too. There are tipping points in human society, as well as the climate system. But will we reach ours in time to prevent nature going over the edge? That I don't know.It sounds big, but it just isn't enough. Leaders of the G8 industrial nations... more
-
-
The late Edward Said explained his title in what he wrote: "The extermination of the Native Americans can be admitted, the morality of Hiroshima attacked, the national flag (of the US) publicly committed to flames. But the systematic continuity of Israel's 52-year oppression and maltreatment of the Palestinians is virtually unmentionable, a narrative that has no permission to appear." It appeared boldly and courageously in Pilger's book, and it's long past time for it be prominent in the mainstream as well to finally expose Israeli crimes and demand they end. It's especially important now as Israel just began an intensive military assault against the defenseless people of Gaza, which, before it ends, may result in many deaths, great destruction of property and an overwhelming humanitarian disaster even beyond the one already existing in The Occupied Territories.
Few people anywhere have suffered more or longer than the beleaguered Palestinians. For nearly four decades they've lived under a harsh and unending Israeli occupation of their land. They've endured a continued assault to seize it, a loss of their personal and economic rights and a denial of any chance for justice or their very humanity. These courageous people remain isolated in their own land with little support from the outside. Yet it's never broken their spirit as they continue their heroic efforts to survive and struggle to gain their freedom.The late Edward Said explained his title in what he wrote: "The extermination of... more
-
-
CIA shuts down its secret prisons
Leon Panetta said the CIA no longer used harsh interrogation techniques
The US has stopped running its global network of secret prisons, CIA director Leon Panetta has announced.
"CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites," Mr Panetta said in a letter to staff. Remaining sites would be decommissioned, he said.
The "black sites" were used to detain terrorism suspects, some of whom were subjected to interrogation methods described by many as torture.
President Obama vowed to shut down the facilities shortly after taking office..............................................................CIA shuts down its secret prisons
Leon Panetta said the CIA no longer used harsh... more
-
-
Download the original attachment
I rish Luck - Remember to send it back!,
I want this back. It DOES work
His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.
There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.
"I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."
"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
"Is that your son?" the nobleman asked.
"Yes," the farmer replied proudly.
"I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of." And that he did.
Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia.
What saved his life this time? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name?
Sir Winston Churchill.
Someone once said: What goes around comes around.
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.
It's National Friendship Week. Send this to
everyone you consider A FRIEND.
Pass this on, and brighten someone's day.
AN IRISH FRIENDSHIP WISH: You had better send
this back!! Good Luck!
I hope it works...
May there always be work for your hands to do;
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you;
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
OK, this is what you have to do... Send this to all of your friends.
But - you HAVE to send this within 1 hour from when you open it!
Now.....Make A wish!! I hope you made your wish!
Now then, if you send to:
1 person --- your wish will be granted in 1 year
3 people --- 6 months
5 people --- 3 months
6 people --- 1 month
7 people --- 2 weeks
8 people --- 1 week
9 people --- 5 days
10 people --- 3 days
12 people --- 2 days
15 people --- 1 day
20 people --- 3 hours
If you delete this after you read it, you will have 1 year of bad luck!
But, if you send it to 2 of your friends, you will automatically have 3 years good luck!!!Download the original attachment
I rish Luck - Remember to send it back!,... more
-
-
Happy Easter, happy resurrection to evrybody!
-
-
F7
-
added this
-
4 years ago
- |
-
Dear President Obama:
The world was transfixed on that remarkable day in January when, to poetry, song, and dance, you gazed upon Abraham Lincoln's likeness at the Lincoln Memorial and searched for wisdom to navigate these difficult times. Indeed, you have so many things in common with that venerable President that one might imagine you were his reincarnation in different dress. You are both thin and wiry, brilliant speakers, appearing on the national stage at pivotal times. Fertile imaginations could envision you coming back triumphantly as one of those slaves you freed, to prove once and for all the proposition that all men are created equal and can achieve great things if given a fighting chance. But as Wordsworth said, our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; and if that is true, you may have forgotten a more subtle form of slavery from which Lincoln freed his countrymen, even if you were there at the time. You may have forgotten it because it has been omitted from the history books, leaving Americans ill-equipped to interpret the lessons of our own past. This letter is therefore meant to remind you.
We are now met on another battlefield of that same economic war that visited Lincoln and the Founding Fathers before him. President Obama, the fate of our economy and the nation itself may depend on how well you understand Lincoln's monetary breakthrough, the most far-reaching “economic stimulus plan” ever implemented by a U.S. President. You can solve our economic crisis quickly and permanently, by implementing the same economic solution that allowed Lincoln to win the Civil War and thus save the Union from foreign economic masters. ..................
click aboveDear President Obama:
The world was transfixed on that remarkable day in January... more
-
-
PAGE 2 on this thread has a lot of info. on this movie
Arna's Children.
link:
http://current.com/items/89964792/movie_arna_s_children.htm
My name is Anna. I am Irish. Yes I have lived in the Middle East in the past (17 plus years), and have visited Israel 200 times, possibly more often.
I have had the latest questionnaire from a rather polite man in Jerusalem, but he's sadly misinformed. So...LET'S SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT.
In the last months I have had strange messages...........some initially were bullying (during Gaza War) in an effort to silence me. Then there were those that wanted to be friendly, but two people have written long messages to me and they definitely deserve the courtesy of a reply. So lets set the record straight as such directness and honesty deserves a direct and honest reply.
During the week one asked me :
"........... the future generation has come back to say this is our land and the powers that be in the world recognize it. while i have you here im dying to know why do you hate us so much?i genuinly honestly dont understand it and desperately wish to."
MY RESPONSE:
I understand you were told a lot of lies growing up (as your post indicates) but as an adult I expect you to listen and read to learn the truth about how and why Israel exists. Clearly you are blinkered and want to believe you are the "chosen" race, which is about as factual as a little girl wanting to believe she is a princess because Daddy told her so.
You ask why I hate you...........I hate nobody and want peace in the region.
I speak out against wrong.
I speak out against murder.
I speak out against thieves.
I speak out against liars.
I speak out against people who kill little children and women.
I speak out against people who obstruct FREEDOM OF SPEECH and control the media.
I speak out against people who obstruct journalists reporting the facts (locked out of Gaza Strip during latest war/genocide).
I speak out against people who manipulate Congress and the White House shamelessly.
I speak out against people who starve a Palestinian population and cut off water and electricity, which was shameful, and since 2006 has caused them untold hardship.
I speak out against those who condone killing aid workers.
I speak out against shooting and dropping bombs on innocent victims.
I speak out against people who drop WHITE PHOSPHOROUS to burn the flesh of innocent victims in the way SADDAM HUSSEIN used mustard gas to kill Kurds and Iranians.
I speak out against people who commit GENOCIDE.
I THEREFORE SPEAK AGAINST ISRAEL.
I SPEAK AGAINST ISRAEL REPEATEDLY.....I also speak against RAWANDA.
I WANT THE WORLD TO SEE ISRAEL FOR WHAT IT IS despite all the Jewish owned MEDIA CORPORATIONS in the world portraying Israel as the victim.
Only when the world bands together and calls HALT to Israel's expansionism can we have peace.
Personally I don't think anyone has a right to take Palestinian land and give it away. Would Britain have a right to take Mexico and give it to the United States? No. Neither did they have a right to give Palestinian land to Jews. As for the Bible..........it's like Eve giving Adam an apple. Do you believe that is what happened? Forget the land of Canaan stuff..........and move on..........fact is you displaced the Palestinians and you don't want them to stay....you want them to run away for Israel to expand.....you even say so in your message to me.......re read it.
Reporters are told by their editors to use the word "targeted killing" when Israel murders. Gaza was called a "war"....................it strikes me as not much of a war................a few rockets made with agricultural fertilizer against the most advanced military hardware in the world................it's a joke to call it a "war". Were babies and children called "combatants"..................er, perhaps throwing their bottles and soothing rings as missiles?
.PAGE 2 on this thread has a lot of info. on this movie
Arna's Children.... more
-
