David Swanson: US Justice Dept Urges Spain Not To Prosecute Torturers

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Walter Brasch: Charlie And The CBS Factory (and Other News)
There has been a lot in the news this past week. Most important, if measured by getting most of the ink and air time, is the continuing soap opera, “Charlie and the CBS Factory.” The latest in a seemingly never-ending story is that after Charlie Sheen ... More>>

Kip Brook: Christchurch – The Only Place With A Cordoned Off Inner City
One month on since the fatal February 22 earthquake, the most English of New Zealand cities is a city no more. The inner central area is still cordoned off to the public. More>>

ALSO:

• Scoop Full Coverage - Christchurch Earthquake 22/2/11

Werewolf: Left Coasting - On Edge
Rosalea Barker on quake, at home and abroad We’re kind of a bit on edge here in California. On March 11, having been horrified by the TV news images of what had happened in northeastern Japan overnight, I was seeing way too many “soft first story” buildings on my way to work. More>>

ALSO:

• Word of Mouth Media - Christchurch – the only place with a cordoned off inner city
• Werewolf issue 22

Binoy Kampmark: Misfiring At Gaddafi: To Kill Or Not To Kill
The supposed humanitarian mission in striking Libyan targets has suddenly seemed rather unclear. First, what of those civilians, convenient props in yet another grand operation of international politics? Second, what of the fate of the elusive drag fetishist and dictator, Colonel Gaddafi? More>>

ALSO:

• TV3 Video - Clinton: Gadhafi's son killed - report - France: Body outside NATO needed to head Libya fight - US jet crashes in Libya - Anti-aircraft fire, explosions terrorise Tripoli - Libyan rebels: We want Gadhafi alive
• Binoy Kampmark - The Dangerous Intervention? Libya and the Coalition Attacks
• Michael Boldin - Obama's War on Libya vs the Constitution
• Julie Webb-Pullman - No-Fly Zone Needed Over Israel - Jordan: In their own words
• Connie Lawn - Libya under attack (audio report, 20/3/11)

Binoy Kampmark: Remembering The Military Industrial Complex
When he went to play golf, a note of ease could be detected in the American populace. Ike, as President Dwight D. Eisenhower was referred to, could be counted on winning the Cold War on the golf course. His reactionary Secretary of State John Foster Dulles ... More>>

Dina Rasor: How To Reform The Pentagon And Cut Its Budget
Yesterday, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, put out a statement as he released his 2011 National Military Strategy. In it, he spoke words that have been rarely uttered by any high-ranking military or civilian member of ... More>>

Truthout: George Bush Cuts And Runs From Torture Case In Switzerland
Apparently, former president George W. Bush does "cut and run." On February 7, 2011, two torture victims were to have filed criminal complaints for torture against Bush in Geneva. More>>

Stephen Soldz: The Torture Career Of Egypt's New Vice President
In response to the mass protests of recent days, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has appointed his first Vice President in his over 30 years rule, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. When Suleiman was first announced, Aljazeera commentators were describing ... More>>

Iraq Invasion: Donald Rumsfeld Book Admits 'misstatements' Over WMD Sites
Former US defence secretary's memoirs express regret for saying 'stuff happens' over Iraq war Donald Rumsfeld's autobiography Known and Unknown has provoked John McCain and shifted the blame to Paul Bremer. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP The former ... More>>

Rosalea Barker: Arizona
The 48th state has always been a pain in the United States’ left butt, geographically speaking. After the defeat of the Mexican army in 1847, the US could have taken over all of Mexico but chose not to and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo instead established ... More>>

David Swanson: At Stake In Egypt- Reading Gaza Mom
The danger of permitting the Egyptians democracy, rather than replacing a dictator with his (and our) torturer lies, let us be honest, not in the possibility that Egyptian politics will approach the religiosity of our own Republican Party, and not in the ... More>>

Wellington: Experience The Joys Of Motor Camping At Circa
Circa is offering a no risk opportunity for the uninitiated to experience the joys of a motor camp holiday, and as it wont require annual leave, takes one hour and fifty minutes of your valuable time and no special gear is needed, here’s your ... More>>

Connie Lawn: Audio Report From President Hu Visit
Connie Lawn, Scoop’s correspondent in Washington DC has prepared an audio report following the visit of President Hu of the Peoples Republic of China to the White House. There were dramatic scenes outside where Chinese demonstrators demanded more ... More>>

David Swanson: Wars Are Not Fought On Battlefields.
We talk of sending soldiers off to fight on battlefields. The word 'battlefield' appears in millions, possibly billions, of news stories about our wars. And the term conveys to many of us a location in which soldiers fight other soldiers. We don't ... More>>

Interview: Explosive Revelations From 9/11 - Susan Lindauer
Today on The Intel Hub Radio, Shepard interviewed former U.S. asset Susan Lindauer. Susan worked primary in the Libyan and Iraqi embassies and warned of the 9/11 attacks months before they happened. More>>

Bush III? Could Jeb Bush's "Plan Latino" Lead Him To The White House?
Jeb Bush is politically and media savvy, ambitious, engaging, has an established resume as a winner, and is plugged in to the top echelons of the Republican Party establishment. He is bilingual and he's married to a Mexican-born woman. He is also ... More>>

Diamond Life: Why Putting A Ring On It Still Really Matters
When Beyonce sings Put A Ring On It she means all the single ladies want a diamond. The juxtaposition of those two words – More>>

Martha Rosenberg: Tucson Shooter From Long Line Of Legal Gun Owner/Murders
Some are calling the National Rifle Association's silence on last weekend's shooting of Arizona Representative Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson restraint or respect for the dead. More>>

Rick Rozoff: Is Washington Preparing For War With Russia?
Recent reports in the Russian news media have detailed plans by the U.S. to provide the Mikheil Saakashvili government in Georgia with tens of millions of dollars worth of anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons. More>>

Australia: Women Prisoners Set Up To Fail In 'dumping' Jails
Most of the growing numbers of women who are imprisoned in NSW in Australia are suffering psychiatric disorders. In a rare glimpse into Silverwater Corrections Centre, Inga Ting investigates and finds that imprisonment itself may be making mental health ... More>>

Indonesia: West Papua 2010 - full Chronology Of Events
The human rights situation in West Papua continued to deteriorate in 2010. One incident in particular highlighted the worsening human rights situation and that was the shocking video footage of West Papuans being tortured by Indonesian soldiers. The video showed ... More>>

Uri Avnery: Hi, Joe!
GOOD MORNING, Joe. At home In the US, your name is mud. But here you can really feel at home. In your time, you succeeded in infecting all of the US with hysteria. You detected a Soviet agent under every bed. You waved a list of Soviet spies in the ... More>>

In the navy: Frat Boys And Navy Officers
When the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot two weeks ago published on its internet page three videos made four years ago by the executive officer of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise, it unleashed a firestorm that would sink the career of a decorated officer. More>>

Tucson Shootings: Connie Lawn Audio Report On Arizona Shootings
Connie Lawn audio report from Washington DC for Scoop on the attempted killing of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona. Giffords remains in critical condition after being shot in the head by a man who opened fire at her community meeting in Tucson, killing six people including a federal judge. More>>

Hollywood: Men Aging Disgracefully On Screen
There is yet another double standard in Hollywood and it goes like this – men are allowed to age and get fat without comment, whereas women in a similar position dare not add a kilo or the wrath of public indignation will hit them with the force of ... More>>

Religion: Army's "Spiritual Fitness" Test Comes Under Fire
An experimental, Army mental-health, fitness initiative designed by the same psychologist whose work heavily influenced the psychological aspects of the Bush administration's torture program is under fire by civil rights groups and hundreds of active-duty ... More>>

Foreign Affairs: Wikileaks/ SMH: Indonesian Kopassus Threatens Obama
INDONESIA threatened to derail a visit to Jakarta by President Barack Obama this year unless he overturned the US ban on training the controversial Kopassus army special forces. Leaked US State Department cables reveal that the Indonesian President, ... More>>

Breasts In 2010: Keeping Abreast Of The New Conservatism
As 2010 draws to a close, it's hard to keep abreast of the inconsistencies that have taken place on the mammary front this year. Breasts are back in the news, and this time in the spotlight, women have been asked to cover up; they've been asked to get ... More>>

Military Build-up: U.S. Builds Military Alliance With Japan And South Korea
Last week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton summoned her Japanese and South Korean counterparts, Foreign Ministers Seiji Maehara and Kim Sung-hwan, to Washington for trilateral talks on the Korean crisis in an open affront to China and Russia, which ... More>>

Middle East: Iranian Sentiments Overwhelm The Gaza Caravan
After overcoming the initial obstacles in South Asia, where, first the Pakistani government denied visas to some Indians, then Indian government delayed permission to those of its citizens who had obtained visas from the Pakistani government to ... More>>

David Swanson: Is Warmaking Irrational?
Most of what we're told about wars is not true, and many of the real reasons for wars are easily discovered: economic reasons, control of domestic populations, control of resources like oil, extension of empire, profiteering by the weapons industry, ... More>>

Bill Berkowitz: The Palin Principle: Show Me Your Anger And Your Money
Sarah Palin represents a remarkable brew of celebrity, politics, religion and sex appeal. To borrow a construct from Esquire's Stephen Marche, she More>>

Yves Engler: Canada Attempts To Undermine Democracy In Venezuela
While many on the left know that Washington has spent tens of millions of dollars funding groups that oppose Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, less well known is Ottawa's role, especially that of the Canadian government's More>>

Gordon Campbell: On The Wikileaks Window On US Diplomacy
By far the most interesting aspect of the Wikileaks bundle released so far though, has been the pattern of behaviour that has been revealed Yes, US diplomacy during the Bush era did fit the stereotype of the blundering global bully dimly aware, if ... More>>

ALSO:

• Scoop Link - Wikileaks: Subject Information For New Zealand Cables
• The Scoop Team - Wikleaks: Clinton Seeks Helen Clark's Frequent Flyer Number
• Binoy Kampmark - Elevated Gossip: WikiLeaks and the Art of Diplomacy
• Sherwood Ross - Assange is Headed for Prosecution For Publishing the Truth
• Noam Chomsky - WikiLeaks Cables Reveal "Profound Hatred for Democracy"
• Scoop Full Coverage - Wikileaks 'Cablegate' Diplomatic Leak

Pike River Editorial: Should Superintendent Knowles Step Down From Command?

West Papua: Search For Justice - An Eyewitness Perspective
One of the great things about my November visit to West Papua was the chance to reconnect with some of the special people who have been here to New Zealand on speaking tours over the last few years. More>>

Binoy Kampmark: A Failure Of Service - Flying Domestic In The US
The domestic airport scene in the United States is one of permanent lines, warnings on leaving bags unattended and jittery surveillance. Warning alerts on potential strikes by unspecified ‘terrorists’ sound like a game children might like: ‘The ... More>>

Wikileaks: In Defense Of Julian Assange
In October 2010 Julian Assange won the Sam Adams Award for Integrity. He has also been awarded the 2009 Amnesty International Media Award and the Economist Index on Censorship Award in 2008. It is important to remember that accolades such as these ... More>>

Alaska: Joe Miller Would Be Wise To Seek 'Hand Count'
A fully transparent reconciliation would well serve democracy, particularly given AK's dreadful election history... After a week of hand-counting paper write-in ballots in Alaska's three-way U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski (who ... More>>