William Blum

More than 50 years now it is. The propaganda and hypocrisy of the American mainstream media seems endless and unwavering. They can not accept the fact that Cuban leaders are humane or rational. Here's the Washington Post of December 13 writing about an American arrested in Cuba:

"The Cuban government has arrested an American citizen working on contract for the U.S. Agency for International Development who was distributing cellphones and laptop computers to Cuban activists. ... Under Cuban law ... a Cuban citizen or a foreign visitor can be arrested for nearly anything under the claim of 'dangerousness'."

That sounds just awful, doesn't it? Imagine being subject to arrest for whatever someone may choose to label "dangerousness". But the exact same thing has happened repeatedly in the United States since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. We don't use the word "dangerousness". We speak of "national security". Or, more recently, "terrorism". Or "providing material support to terrorism".

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John Izzard

As the murk surrounding the arcane world of the global warming industry begins to clear, two intriguing questions emerge. Does our Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd realise just who he, and his Climate Change minister Penny Wong, are associating with at the IPCC. And is the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, asking the right questions?

Largely ignored in the local Australian media was an extraordinary story published in London’s Daily Telegraph two weeks ago which accused the Chairman of the International Panel on Climate Change, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, ‘of making a fortune from his links with “carbon trading” companies.’ The Daily Telegraph’s revelations are explosive to say the least.

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What Really Happened

On December 27, 2009, an unusual event in an already dirty war brought its standards to new depths. It happened in a deserted area in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar. Does it mark a turning point in this war?

The headmaster of the local school, Rahman Jan Ehsas, explained:

“Seven students were in one room. A student and one guest were in another room, a guest room, and a farmer was asleep with his wife in a third building. First the foreign troops entered the guest room and shot two of them. Then they entered another room and handcuffed the seven students. Then they killed them. Abdul Khaliq [the farmer] heard shooting and came outside. When they saw him they shot him as well. He was outside. That’s why his wife wasn’t killed."[1]

At first, media reports mentioned that the crime was committed by foreign troops, not Afghan ones. Then, rather soon, it emerged that American troops were involved. The regular troops thereupon declared that they were not involved [2], thus suggesting they were part of an elite Special Forces unit.

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