Many of you have probably followed the debate at the University of Berkley re: the position of Professor John Yoo. Briefly, Yoo is deemed to be one of the chief enablers of the U.S. torture program and the author of key memos in this area. The New York Times, in an editorial, describes the memos […]
This weekend saw an increase in violence against immigrants in South Africa. The attacks began a week or so ago in the township of Alexandra (near Johannesburg) and has been escalating. As in similar outbreaks in recent years around the world, this situation seems to be one where immigrants are being blamed for the ills […]
Intrepid is the usual label for a distinguished character, a person of influence. It would be fair to judge Italy's own Pier Paolo Pasolini as such and more. Film-maker, playwright, poet, novelist, etc., indelibly surrounded by controversy. Perhaps less well known was Paolo's column as a political thinker who challenged the traditionalist conventions of Italian […]
U.S. holding 2,500 juveniles among detainees, according to a report filed with United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The report indicates that some 2,500 detainees are under 18 years of age are among the many detainees being held as “enemy combatants” in facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan and the detention center in Guantanamo […]
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) ‚ A military judge on Friday postponed the first war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, saying he wants to wait until the Supreme Court makes its highly anticipated ruling on the right of detainees to challenge their confinement in civil courts.Navy Capt. Keith Allred ruled the trial for Osama bin […]
“There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.” -Walt Streightiff Children truly see the world through unclouded eyes, in everything they see beauty and hope. It never ceases to amaze me what the eyes of a child see that the eyes of adulthood cannot, as […]
The gang world has always been viewed through a predominately male lens, however the gang culture seems to be in the midst of a feminine revival. Many Central America countries have spent decades fighting gang wars on their streets, leaving most with the view that it is boys who make up this violent subculture and […]
Pain carries along with it a burden, sometimes visible, sometimes hidden. You and I both understand this, we have all experienced it. And undoubtedly, we too have used it to our advantage, feigning strength while at our weakest. From Hammurabi's Code to the New Testament to the Quran, women, indentured servants, and homosexuals have historically […]
The chief judge for the U.S. war crimes tribunal at the naval detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, set a June 5 court date for the self-professed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and four other suspected co-conspirators. Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, who presided over the earlier trial of Australian David Hicks, […]
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is perfectly clear. Everyone has a right to an education. And yet after seven years of brutal war in Afghanistan, education and schools in the Helmand district have plummeted to an all time low as the Taliban regain momentum and influence. "Make no mistake, NATO is […]
India’s child malnutrition and stunted growth problems are on the rise, and as food prices across the globe continue to rise there appears to be no sign of a slow down. India continues to come to grips with one of the world’s highest child malnutrition rates, with one third of the worlds malnourished children. The […]
Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon spoke on Darfur today, arguing that the joint UN/African Union peacekeeping mission is seriously hampered by a variety of logistical problems. In Sudan, rebels reached Omdurman, a suburb of Khartoum, this weekend. AP reports 200 people died in the attack. Sudan blames Chad, and has cut diplomatic ties. The rebel movement […]
The executioners wear suits and ties to match. Clean-shaved, hair brushed back, a news camera crew follows all five of them into a sterile lobby at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, its capital city. They came for Ama Sumani, in her wheelchair, and dying of malignant myeloma she requires kidney dialysis three times […]
Judge Susan Crawford, the prosecutorial authority for the U.S. military tribunal at the naval detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Tuesday refused charges filed by prosecutors against Mohammed al-Qahtani, an alleged Sept. 11 conspirator. Crawford accepted charges filed against five other high-profile suspects, including alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammad and Ramzi bin al-Shieb. The […]
In the blistering summer heat of the Algerian desert, 28-year old Sahrawi refugee Brahim Boudjemaa is telling me his story. It is one shared by many like him, that of anger, frustration, and a hope against the odds. Born and still living in a refugee camp, he sweeps his arm across his chest so as […]