1
POPSTaking a Stand Article was interesting. However, it switched gears a bit in the last half where the author hits on the other issues like UN Protocol and complaints from leader(s) about the UN Charter vs what is really taking place within.
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POPSCharter Cities A brilliant idea that bears in mind the ecology as well as the possibility of changing the rules so that more people can share the best working ideas. A video of a TED presentation can be watched here: http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_romer.html
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POPSItalian Parliament in Rome: Italy stands with Israel against Hamas
"The change of attitude is great: the terrorist and religious nature of Hamas and the democratic, civilized nature of Israel are seen face to face for what they really are at least by the European elite at large, dead and wounded notwithstanding, and there rises an identification with Israel against a regime that uses human shields and promises slaughter of Jews in its charter. What happens today, at least in Italy, is the defeat and fall of the leftist ideologies: ideology that has allowed justification of all the most violent crimes and most disgusting verbal attacks. If Arafat launched the terrorist Intifada, if he promoted the martyrdom of children in public speeches, the ideologists were ready to justify him with the issues of occupation, the Palestinian misery and loss of any hope. Not so with Hamas. History, in Italy, has brought to a profound crisis the ideology of revolution and the justification of any cruel attack against a so-called unjust imperialist order."
8
POPSHaaretz: "Why should Hamas recognise Israel?"
Israel's stance against recognizing a Palestinian government composed primarily of Hamas members who do not recognize Israel seems completely understandable. Most of the Palestinian public is not demanding that Hamas recognize Israel. This is what a reliable survey conducted in the territories indicates. The explanation for this is expressed by Hamas spokesmen in every corner, from Rafah to Jenin, and is very accepted in the territories: Look, Yasser Arafat and the PLO recognized the State of Israel in the Oslo agreement and what did they gain from that? Only suffering and misfortune. The economic siege on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the targeted killings, the raids and checkpoints can be explained as an Israeli defense against terror attacks. But how can one explain the doubling of the number of settlers in the West Bank and Jerusalem since the Madrid conference and Oslo agreement? Since the 1996 elections in Israel, and almost through the end of Ehud Barak's government, there
4
POPSprotest The more we lump terrorist groups together and draw the battle lines as a simple binary struggle between moderates and extremists, or good and evil, the more we play into the hands of those seeking to unify groups with little in common. Terrorist groups need to be tackled at root, interdicting flows of weapons and finance, exposing the shallowness of their claims, channelling their followers into democratic politics. The "war on terror" also implied that the correct response was primarily military, but it has become clear that it could not kill its way out of the problems of insurgency and civil strife. All forms of dissent that are linked, however tenuously, to politically-motivated illegal behaviour now fall within the purview of anti-terrorism measures. The Tarnac 9 were politicised, on the left and clearly anti-capitalist like lots of people here, but they were people active in community life who wanted to change society at a local level first.
2
POPS "Own It" President Obama The Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill badly miscalculated by treating the bill as a victor's charter. Not that it seemed to bother Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, who grinned from ear to ear as she announced the result of the vote. Obama said yesterday he did not feel he had ownership of the bill. Be that as it may, if it goes through the Senate in similar fashion and is signed into law then - the efforts of Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid notwithstanding - it will be his and his alone. "They keep comparing this to Eisenhower, but he proposed a $500 billion highway system, and they're going to put $30 billion" in roads and bridges, he said. "How farcical can you be? Give me a break." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/27/AR2009012703655_pf.html
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POPSThe Case for U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan So if aerial bombardments and occupations give legitimacy to those very fundamentalists who Afghans would remove from power, what does the real war on fundamentalism look like? And it's not just that the Afghan population believes that the Taliban resistance is legitimate; that resistance is legitimate under international law. No less important a document than the United Nations charter gives the Taliban and other Afghans the right to legitimate self-defense against U.S. aggression. Instead of scaling up an already disastrous war, the United States should change it's course The whole article is worth a read.
2
POPSSomething Scary This Way Comes On the weeks leading up to Halloween something evil has been unearthed. Hidden away for 7 years it finally came to light here on the week before the election. This is enough to make your skin crawl. The above commentary was intended tongue in cheek for all those liberals out there who lack a sense of humor.
0
POPSHarvard Dean focused on educational change In a CNN article on the lack of focus on education in the presidential campaign, Kathleen McCartney, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, calls on the public to drive the issues so that the candidates respond - and one of the key ways to do that is through effective early childhood education . . . before a child ever reaches school.
0
POPSObstruction and Racist Politics in Haiti If just the rest of the world could be like the US. So the thinking at the department of treasury and apparently in all our institutions ...Perhaps it is about time to change the US and adhere to international agreements. Blackmail instead of diplomacy...
2
POPSPalestine: how a battle for land became religious Article is brief and needs reading in its entirety to consider its overview of how a minority of religionists have turned a secular struggle into a religious one, a trend which is not completed but, the author feels, becoming increasingly dangerous.
6
POPSAhmadinejad's Speech: Lost In Translation? Well, well, well, ironic indeed! Why are no questions being asked as to was actually said? Oh I know.. .the US doesn't really need a real reason to stage yet another stupid war. If no reasons exists, then heck, they just invent one! The pot's calling the kettle black. Tss!
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