contributions

by Ali al-Fadhily
FALLUJAH, Nov 20 (IPS) - Three years after a devastating U.S.-led siege of the city, residents of Fallujah continue to struggle with a shattered economy, infrastructure, and lack of mobility.
The city that was routed in November 2004 is still suffering the worst humanitarian conditions under a siege that continues. Although military actions are down to the minimum inside the city, local and US authorities do not seem to be thinking of ending the agonies of the over (…)

New bombshell testimony before Congress has revealed that Alvin B. “Buzzy” Krongard, the former CIA executive director connected to 9/11 insider trading, is a consultant and advisory board member of Blackwater USA, the New World Order’s leading intelligence-related corporate mercenary death squad now under investigation for war crimes, murder, arms smuggling, and fraud in Iraq.
By Larry Chin Online Journal Associate Editor Nov 19, 2007, 01:18 (…)

Joannides served as the chief of psychological warfare operations in the Agency’s Miami station at the time of Kennedy’s assassination. Using the alias "Howard," he was the case officer for a Cuban exile group whose members had repeated contact with accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald in August 1963 — rendering any records of Joannides’ secret operations at that time potentially relevant to the JFK assassination story.
by: Jefferson Morley Posted October 22, 2007 05:10 PM (EST)
Lawyers (…)

Swiss Re Has $1.07 Billion Credit-Default Swaps Loss
By Warren Giles
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) — Swiss Reinsurance Co., the world’s biggest reinsurer, lost 1.2 billion-Swiss francs ($1.07 billion) on derivatives in October after the U.S. subprime mortgage crash roiled debt markets.
Swiss Re fell the most in more than 4 1/2 years in Zurich trading after the loss, which amounts to 981 million francs after tax. Losses occurred on two credit-default swaps Swiss Re sold to protect clients (…)

Slain Pakistani Jounalists Widow Killed
Muhammad Taimoor – Islamabad , 18 Nov. 2007
Mehrunnisa, the widow of Pakistani journalist Hyatullah has been killed by a bomb planted outside her house in Harmaz, North Waziristan, Pakistan. Her late husband, Hayatullah, was killed last year after reporting a missile attack on his village, which exposed the lies of the Musharraf regime.
Possibly in an effort to make an example of him, Hayatullah was abducted by unknown armed men and killed after (…)

CNN reports another man has been killed by a taser used by police this time in USA. This makes the "don’t taser me man" guy look even more heroic. And shows that yes he was unjustly attacked. That university should be sued. John Kerry should answer as well.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/18/taser.death/index.html

Millions of historical documents seized by US occupation forces from Iraqi archives remain held in the United States by the CIA and the Pentagon and must, under international law, be returned to Iraq, Dr. Saad Eskander, the director of the Iraqi National Library and Archive in Baghdad, told an audience at Columbia University in New York City on November 12.
wsws.org By Sandy English 17 November 2007
Eskander stressed that the taking of these documents threatened the Iraqi people with (…)

“The first community-currency system was born in Canada in 1983. Since then the concept has spread to more than 2,000 communities across North America, South and Central America, Europe, Africa and Asia. The mechanics of these systems change to reflect individual circumstances. But the basic concept of an interest-free, community-controlled exchange medium has remained the same.”
Using local currency can “stimulate the local economy by giving people incentive to shop in their own (…)

Baltimore, MD - They met in one of this city’s swankiest hotels. It’s a Marriott, located on the waterfront, just east of Harborplace, where the per diem rates begin at $260. I just can’t imagine Jesus and the Apostles hanging out at a place like that discussing their soul-awakening agenda. But, there they were—the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, all 220, in their expensive silk suits—holding their annual confab. I think they like the digs, since they were there last year, too. In a (…)

I’m feeling more and more like a person about to complete the assembly of a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece of information I discover about the economy, the environment, resource depletion, diseases, business, and politics is like a piece of the jigsaw puzzle. The puzzle is nearly finished in my mind, and what I see is frightening as hell.
The global economy is being destroyed, starting with the U.S. Why? Partly to enrich the wealthy elites – they benefit by hoarding valuable assets as the (…)