What Russia proposed in Istanbul in March 2022 (tags)
Sachs writes that Russia has proposed negotiating security arrangements with the US for the fifth time since 2008. NATO, led by the US, has steadily expanded its alliance to the east, which has contributed to the current crisis in Ukraine. Putin's fourth offer of negotiations came in March 2022, which led to Russia and Ukraine almost concluding a peace agreement.
Ukraine will not win. Only a peace plan by the major powers can end the war (tags)
A genuine peace treaty would require agreement on a host of thorny issues (e.g., borders, reconstruction assistance, prisoner repatriation, accountability for war crimes, security guarantees, transit arrangements for the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, etc.),
No fear of peace negotiations (tags)
For Ukraine, security means that a peace agreement will not be followed by renewed Russian threats or incursions. For Russia, security means that their withdrawal from Ukraine will not be followed by NATO's eastward expansion.
The cost of Trump’s chaos just keeps accumulating (tags)
On January 20, 2021, Donald Trump departed the White House on a helicopter that took him to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where he delivered the final remarks of his presidency to some of his supporters. Before boarding Air Force One for the flight to Mar-a-Lago, his gilded palace in Florida, Trump promised them, “We will be back in some form.”
Was the policy of detente a political mistake? (tags)
Diplomacy instead of preparation for war (tags)
All existing mutual obligations under international law should be used to achieve mutual security. Lasting security cannot be achieved against each other, but only with each other.
Open Letter: Write off debt, win the future! (tags)
We are fortunate to have a creditor that does not have to fear losing its money: the ECB (European Central Bank). Our proposal is therefore very simple: let us conclude an agreement between the European states and the ECB. The ECB writes off the debt it holds (or converts it into perpetual interest-free debt).
The US under President Trump: Gravedigger of International Law (tags)
The US collaboratively built international law and its institutions and had an authoritative influence for more than 100 years.The US shows an unparalleled contempt for international law by recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Syrian Golan Heights.
UN Forum Wrestles with Funding Development (tags)
After months of negotiations and four days of formal meetings, the United Nations voted on development policies at the fourth UN Financing for Development Forum. The UN meetings convene world leaders, ministers, governments, the IMF, World Bank and development groups. The annual process attempts to implement the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda, an international agreement that includes policies on debt, tax, trade, transparency and aid.
The Shortwave Report 06/15/18 Listen Globally! (tags)
A weekly 30 minute review of international news and opinion, recorded from a shortwave radio and the internet. With times, frequencies, and websites for listening at home. 3 files- Highest quality broadcast, regular broadcast, and slow-modem streaming. NHK Japan, Radio Havana Cuba, and Spanish National Radio.
They Knew What They Did: Texaco in Ecuador (tags)
The world has created a system where businesses only have rights but no obligations. There is no internation al tribunal that can make businesses liable for human rights violations abroad. What is perverse is that Terxaco knew it polluted the land.
5 Reasohns for UN Agreements Regulating Corporations (tags)
Countless cases of human rights violations by corporations show voluntary self-commitments of businesses cannot ensure social and ecological standards. UN agreements create rights for persons instead of companies.
Statement on the Trump Visit to the Philippines (tags)
Filipino left coalition condemns Trump's visit, demands end of support for Duterte's human rights abuses
38 Arguments Against TTIP (tags)
TTIP (Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership) agreement continues an old thinking instead of everyone sharing int he profits of a few. The private arbitration courts enable corporations to sue states and could have a chilling effect on labor and environmental protection.
TTIP and CETA Must Be Prevented (tags)
Under TTIP, TPP and TiSA, corporations can sue states for lost profits. The German Judges Union calls additional protection of foreign investors "nonsense" that undermines democracy and the constitutional state.
Free trade agreements serve geo-political goals. They are the "weapons," so to speak, in the global economic war. Critical persons see through this and rebel against "corporate rule" and against the dissolution of the primacy of politics by the primacy of the economy.
Economist: "TTIP is Doomed" (tags)
Resistance rages across the two parties. Two hegemons negotiate who are not accustomed to making compromises. The US and the EU are like two proud gorillas. The lawyer branch will put up a fierce resistance to losing that niche.
Cochabamba: Water as a Human Right (tags)
The economy should be part of life, not a steamroller crushing self-determination and creativity. The TTIP, TPP and TISA trade agreements create a parallel private arbitration system that gives corporations special rights to sue states. Labor and environmental arein danger.
TTIP: Attack on Democracy and the Constitutional State (tags)
A mass demonstration is planned for Saturday October 10 in Berlin against the TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership. A parallel private ad hoc arbitration system is created where corporations can sue states for lost profitsLabor and environmental rules undermined
New Nafta Interpretation allows Mexican 18 Wheelers into U.S> Markets (tags)
According to "Overdrive" Magazine April 2015 a new interpretation of NAFTA's 1996 agreement between Mexico City's Partido Revolucionario Institutional and PAN party of Vicente Fox will allow the Mexican Trucking Industry to compete for picking up and delivery jobs in U.S. markets 50 stat
Senate Fails to Block Iran Nuclear Deal (tags)
Iran
Rabbis Against Peace and Stability (tags)
Iran
Israel v. the World on Iran Nuclear Deal (tags)
Israel
Greece and Troika Agree on Bailout Deal in Principle (tags)
Greece
Iran Nuclear Deal: Binding Under International Law (tags)
Iran
Iran Nuclear Deal Aftermath: Campaigning to Kill It (tags)
Iran
Iran Nuclear Deal: The Real Battle Begins (tags)
Iran
Netanyahu and AIPAC Vow to Undermine Iran Nuclear Agreement (tags)
Israel
Iran Nuclear Talks: Agreement in Vienna (tags)
Iran
Iran Nuclear Talks: No Deal Yet (tags)
Iran
Leaked Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) Draft Text (tags)
trade
High Stakes Game of Chicken in Greece (tags)
Greece
Iran Bashing in Late Stage Nuclear Talks (tags)
Iran
Tentative Deal on Iran Sanctions Relief? (tags)
Iran
No Deal as June 30 Iranian Nuclear Talks Deadline Arrives (tags)
Iran
Irresponsible Iran Bashing (tags)
Iran
Slicing and Dicing Greece to Pay Bankers (tags)
Greece
TTIP: Trifling Economic Advantages at the Cost of Democracy and the Public Interest (tags)
TTIP represents a crisis for democracy and the constitutional state. Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO describes the TTIP as “secret tribunals” where only “foreign investors” can sue. Frank Bsirske of the German Verdi service union said the TTIP is a “black box” transferring sovereignty.
TPP designed to make medicine more expensive (tags)
The TPP is the latest and most important new trade agreement that seeks to create new standards for intellectual property that are more friendly to pharmaceutical companies and publishers. The TPP chapter on intellectual property expands and extends drug monopolies.
Various Groups in the Philippines Conduct a Peace March (tags)
Various groups unite and conducted a peace march from Sandiganbayan to the House of Representatives in support of the immediate passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and for lasting peace in Muslim Mindanao.
Greece Defies Washington: To Join Russia's Turkish Stream Pipeline Project (tags)
oil and gas politics
Iran Nuclear Talks: Raising the Bar (tags)
Iran
Racist Wendy Sherman Leaving State Department (tags)
State Dept.
The TPP is being hailed as the strongest free trade agreement yet. But this is not the first time this claim has been made. Proponents of previous trade agreements have made similar claims about every free trade agreement signed in the last 20 years,
A Partial Privatization of Justice (tags)
On www.socialeurope.eu, Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO warns that the TTIP is a secret tribunal where only foreign investors can sue. The TTIP brings a crisis for democracy and the constitutional state by creating a parallel private arbitration system with irrevocable decisions.
Free Trade and Economic Growth instead of Democracy and Ecology (tags)
The TTIP agreement between the EU and the US creates a parallel private arbitration system where corporations can sue states for lost profits and decisions are irrevocable. Labor and environmental regulations can be invalidated as “takings” or “indirect expropriation.”
Governments Negotiate UN Agreement on Global Development (tags)
The United Nations, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and finance ministries are meeting in New York to finalize an agreement for the Financing for Development Conference (FfD) to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in July
The Trans-Pacific Partnership suggests Obama has no sense of irony (tags)
The president’s statement that there’s nothing secret in the classified agreement is plainly wrong, writes Evan Greer
Myths of Free Trade: Attac Refutes TTIP Arguments (tags)
TTIP and CETA are far more than trade agreements. They help strengthen the power of transnational corporations and weaken democratic institutions. Attac promotes just trade instead of free trade. Labor rights, environmental standards and democracy must have priority...
Politics Faded Out the Constitutional Offensiveness of Trade Agreements (tags)
The arbitration jurisdiction with the ISDS mechanism is the most controversial point of the two trade agreements. US corporations could file lawsuits against the German prohibition of gas production through fracking. Public interest laws could be stylized as "indirect expropriation."
Fast Track, TPP and TTIP Should Be Scrapped! (tags)
How scandalous that communities and states should lose sovereignty to corporations! In the TTIP, corporations can sue states for lost profits. Public interest legislation can be called a trade barrier or indirect expropriation.
Iran
Netanyahu Insists Iran Deal Include His Demands (tags)
Iran
Iranian Nuclear Program Framework Deal Postmortems (tags)
Iran
Iranian Nuclear Program Framework Deal: Hold the Cheers (tags)
Iran
Iran Nuke Deal Status: Hold the Cheers (tags)
Iran
Iran Nuclear Talks: Kicking the Can Down the Road (tags)
Iran
No Deal on Iran's Nuclear Program - So Far (tags)
Iran
Nuclear Armed and Dangerous Israel Blasts Iran's Peaceful Program (tags)
Iran
Iran Nuclear Deal: Getting Close, Hold the Cheers (tags)
Iran
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation has voted a no-confidence resolution on Chief George Tiger (tags)
- Muscogee (Creek) Nation tribal council member Thomas Yahola leads an emergency meeting of the National Council at which a vote of no-confidence on Chief George Tiger was taken in Okmulgee on Thursday evening.
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation has voted a no-confidence resolution on Chief George Tiger (tags)
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation has voted a no-confidence resolution on Chief George Tiger as members of the tribe are launching a petition drive to oust the current Chief.
PHILIPPINES: Statement on International Women’s Day (tags)
The Philippines Should Stop Being US’s Pawn and Warfront
Fascist Republican Senators Threaten Iran (tags)
Iran
Democracy for Sale: Stop Fast Track and TTIP! (tags)
The investment protection clause of the TTIP grants investors special protection regarding their so-called :"legitimate expectation." Businesses can sue when they feel restricted in their business activity by new laws in the public interest. Financial services are an important sector for US investors.
Greece Surrenders to Troika (tags)
Greece
TTIP: Trifling Economic Advantages at the Cost of Democracyand the Public Interest (tags)
The controversial investment-protection agreement establishes a parallel justice giving security to all investors.. The states would be liable for compensation for any lower profits.. We all know our plane can only survive when we do everything for a sustainable economy.
Minsk Agreement: What's Most important to Know (tags)
Ukraine
Ukraine
Charles W Freeman Jr Says the US Has Not Cauterized MidEast Problems But Metastasized Them (tags)
US policy toward Israeli leadership can be compared to giving car keys to a drunk.
Putin v. Obama and Netanyahu on Iran's Nuclear Program (tags)
Iran
TTIP: Redistribution of Power, not Free Trade (tags)
The TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement) involves the redistribution of power away from the parliaments and to the executive and its unelected lobbyists. The TTIP does not involve freedom of trade.
The European Commission suspended the secret TTIP negotiations for four months to get citizen consultation on the Investor-State-Dispute SettlementThis proposed parallel system with 3-person courts of arbitration allows corporations to sue for lost profits. Decisions are irrevocable.
Fatal encounter: Jennifer Laude meets US Marine Corps (tags)
PHILIPPINES: As I peered at Jennifer Laude’s serene face in the open casket, I saw the wound on her forehead that was barely concealed by the mortician’s make up. I did not see the bruises on her neck and shoulders, but a person familiar with the autopsy said they were severe.
Palestinians uses water as a political weapon (tags)
A thesis titled ‘The politicization of the Oslo water agreement’ written by Lauro Burkart a Swiss graduate of the Institute of International and Development studies in Geneva gives an accurate and impartial picture of the topic of the scarcity of water in the Palestinian Authority.
Making Sense of the CETA, 128 pp (tags)
An analysis of the final text of the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
TISA: Everything Will Be Marketed (tags)
A new agreement (TISA, Trade in Services Agreement) could privatize drinking water and health care through the back door. The resistance by many non-governmental organizations to the free trade agreement TTIP seems to pick up speed
Free Trade Agreement TTIP Endangers Democracy (tags)
Investor courts of arbitration create an exclusive special right for foreign corporations. They could demand compensation when their profits are narrowed by democratic decisions.
Political economies are calibrated to a form of economics oriented exclusively in competitiveness and high profits...The selling off of public services through the agreement on trade with services and the new edition of MAI were prevented because of social protest.
Anti-Democratic Straitjackets (tags)
The TTIP Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (also called TAFTA) is an undemocratic corporate investment agreement that allows corporations to sue sovereign states for lost profits. This agreement negotiated in secret since 2013 does not allow states to sue.
TTIP: Threat to Democracy and the Constitutional State (tags)
The TTIP, the largest free trade zone comprising 800 million of the EU and the US is being secretly negotiated. Democracy and the constitutional state are threatened by 3-person arbitration courts where corporations can sue states and decisions are irreversible.
Eliminating currency speculation would be simple. The big central banks, the American Fed, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Japanese Central Bank...$5.3 trillion whirl through the world daily seeking lucrative currency bets.
Both Germany and the US follow an economic policy without enlightenment. Slight economic stimulation will not solve problems of mass unemployment and corporate welfare. Tax evasion of corporations and tax cuts for the super-rich lead to suffering and a revenue crisis.
TTIP Undermines the Constitutional State (tags)
TTIP, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, is a deregulation agreement, a great redistribution project benefiting mammoth corporations at the expense of women and the 99%. Loud protest caused the EU commission to suspend negotiation on the investor right to sue.
Free Trade Agreement: Special Rights for Corporations (tags)
The TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) gives corporations the right to sue sovereign states for lost profits and endangers public sector jobs and social and environmental protections
Investment Protection at a Crossroads (tags)
TTIP gives foreign investors the right to sue sovereign governments before ad hoc arbitration courts when lost profits occur as a result of political decisions. These decisions cannot be appealed and undermine social, environmental and labor regulations.
Memorandum on Leaked TISA Financial Services Text (tags)
This memorandum provides a preliminary analysis of the leaked financial services chapter of the Trade in Services Agreement dated 14 April 2014.
Iranian Nuclear Roulette Continues (tags)
Iran
TTIP: Emperor's New Clothes (tags)
Welfare state achievements, quality and environmental standards as well as consumer interests are up for negotiation..For Austria, an annual jobs gain of 0.06% is forecast...93% of the consultations were with lobbyists.
No to US Militarism in the Philippines and Asia-Pacific! (tags)
“To achieve enduring peace in the region, Asia must be de-militarized; its maritime waters assigned mainly for commerce; and its disputed territories declared as regional commons and war-free zones.”
US President Obama Visit in Manila (tags)
The small window of opportunity to forge an independent foreign policy that the Philippines gained with the expulsion of the US bases in 1992 will disappear with the impending signing of the Agreement on Enhanced Defense Cooperation with the US.
Slavyansk Braces for Onslaught (tags)
Ukraine
Palestine
Ukraine
Kiev Violates Four-Party Agreement (tags)
Ukraine
Four-Party Agreement on Ukraine (tags)
Ukraine
The Philippines-Bangsamoro Agreement (tags)
The Bangsamoro Agreement: A Step towards Re-imagining and Rebuilding the Philippine Nation
TTIP Attacks on Wages, the Social and the Environment (tags)
The belief that growth and prosperity for all people are promoted by free trade is as old as capitalism. This is often wonderfully represented in the model worlds of economists. But reality looks different. Specific particular interests are sold as the general interest.
TTIP: A Tranatlantic Constitution of Corporations? (tags)
TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, endangers the economy, health and food policies of countries outside the EU and the US. The Investor-State Settlement mechanism gives corporations the same status as nation states. A flood of lawsuits can be expected.
The Free Trade Agreement TTIP - New Version of the "Golden Age" (tags)
Lobbyists and think tanks of transnational corporations dreamt of a global market without limits. With enticing slogans like more economic growth or creation of new jobs, the population should accept the trade-and investment agreement.
New York Ending Stop and Frisk? (tags)
police state
Akbayan welcomes Philippines-MILF deal with hopes for inclusive peace (tags)
Akbayan Party today said it welcomes with high hopes the signing of the last annex to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the Aquino government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Governments give themselves a ‘free trade’ offer they can’t refuse (tags)
The secret agreement Obama doesn’t want you to know about will have secret tribunals as well.
Iran Nuclear Talks Resume in Geneva (tags)
Iran
Jubilee USA Applauds FATCA Agreements between United States and Isles of Man, Jersey and G (tags)
On December 13th, the Isles of Man, Jersey and Guernsey signed an intergovernmental agreement with the United States to improve international tax compliance and implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), a US federal law designed to combat offshore tax evasion. The Isles signed a similar agreement with the United Kingdom in October.
Obama Violates Geneva Agreement (tags)
Obama
Congressional Budget Deal Betrayal (tags)
class war
AIPAC Pressure Threatens Iran Nuclear Deal (tags)
Iran
Proposed Senate Bill Risks Undermining Geneva (tags)
Iran
Ukraine
Iran
Deal in Geneva: Hold the Cheers (tags)
Iran
Permanent US Afghanistan Occupation (tags)
Afghanistan
Stop the TTIP - Elephants-Marriage! (tags)
TTIP Is old wine in new wineskins. Free trade- and investor-protection prescriptions from the 20th century according to the style of the WTO are not solutions for current challenges. A transatlantic partnership for social-ecological transformation would look very different.
Iran
Netanyahu Launches Anti-Iranian Twitter Campaign (tags)
Israel
Washington and Israel Conspire to Oust Assad (tags)
Syria
Harsh Criticism of Israeli/Palestinian Peace Talks (tags)
Israel
LA Code 41.18 (d); Policing Our Way Out of Homelessness (tags)
The L.A. Municipal Code 41.18 (d) remains an easy way for police to criminalize homeless individuals and make their lives more difficult than they already are, resulting in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court to rule in their "Jones vs. City of L.A." case that this code violates the U.S. Constitution's 8th Amendment (No cruel and unusual punishment). Certain officers issue citations to people arbitrarily without providing ANY time for individuals to comply.
US-Style Free Trade in Good Hands with Michael Froman (tags)
corporatism
Corporations versus States: Arbitration Boards against Democracy (tags)
In 2012 Ecuador paid the largest compensation sum in history $1.76 billion to Occidental for cancelling its oil production contract. Germany is threatened with a compensation of 3.5 billion for turning off two nuclear reactors.
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Philippine Gov’t lacks political will to go after the Marcoses (tags)
One can understand Andres Bautista’s deep frustration in wanting to abolish the Presidential Commission on Good Government, which he has headed since October 2010, although — or because — it has failed to accomplish its two-pronged mandate, 27 years after President Cory Aquino created the PCGG through Executive Order No. 1.
MILF to CPP: Judge not by your way (tags)
Mindanao, Philippines: The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has been mum on the criticisms hurled against it by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). We know it is not beneficial to both organizations if they are dragged into the verbal tussle. However, it is not good either if the MILF allows the one-way verbal assault continues. There must be a brake to it by way of this explanation.
AMIN Joins Mindanao Week of Peace 2012 Celebrations (tags)
PHILIPPINES: Anak Mindanao (AMIN) Party List members joined the Solidarity-Cultural Walk for Peace from Bantayog ng mga Bayani to the Quezon City Memorial Circle this morning (December 5, 2012) for the culmination ceremony of this year’s Mindanao Week of Peace celebration.
The Roadmap for Peace in Mindanao, Philippines (tags)
The Party of the Laboring Masses (PLM), a national political party of the marginalized sectors, welcomes the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement as a roadmap for peace in Mindanao. The agreement is also the first step to end the centuries-old oppression of the Moro people in Mindanao.
PHILIPPINES: On the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement (tags)
The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) joins the Filipino people, especially the Bangsamoros in Mindanao, in welcoming, although guardedly, the historic signing today of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the Philippine government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
CAO attests to successful dialogue process between Nicaragua Sugar and ASOCHIVIDA (tags)
The Office of the Compliance Adviser/Ombudsman of the World Bank (CAO) highlighted the main achievements of the successful dialogue process between Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited, owner of the San Antonio Sugar Mill, and the Chichigalpa Association for Life (ASOCHIVIDA) in a document whereby the parties agreed to end the mediation of the CAO as of June 30 of this year.
“NO!” means “NO!” EDU response to Tentative Agreement (tags)
Workers Action Introduction The following statement was produced by Educators for a Democratic Union (EDU), a progressive caucus in the San Francisco teachers union, United Educators of San Francisco (UESF).
Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact more draconian than NAFTA (tags)
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is intended to be a new floor in the ongoing effort to lock in the domination of industrialists and financiers through the multi-national corporations that they control.
Opponents of Corrupt "Trade" Agreement Stage March, Rally July 7 (tags)
About 200 opponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the so-called "trade" agreement that has been negotiated in secret between government and corporate representatives, marched on the Bayfront Hilton Hotel in San Diego July 7 during the most recent round of TPP talks. The march and rally finished a week of events protesting the secret negotiations of a corporate-welfare treaty under the guise of "free trade."
Solidarity message from Sydney Stop The War Coalition (tags)
Sydney Stop the War Coalition in Australia extends its solidarity the Philippines Stop the War Coalition and the other groups demanding that your country's Senate not to ratify the Republic of the Philippines-Australia Status of the Visiting Forces Agreement.
Community Activist Join Labor Against Phony "Trade" Deal (tags)
Progressive San Diego's official opposition to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — a NAFTA-like agreement seeking to subject the U.S. and a wide range of other countries to corporate dictatorship — began July 2 with a rally outside the Bayfront Hilton Hotel, where the TPP's negotiators are meeting. Speakers from labor, environmental, women's and Queer organizations explained what the TPP means to them and why it should be stopped.
Time for Azerbaijan to Cease its Occupation of Territories Belonging to Armenia (tags)
To ensure stability in the region, prevailing arbitration over occupied lands must be implemented.
free expression
ACTA
STOP A "NAFTA OF THE PACIFIC!" RALLY VS SECRET NEGOTIATIONS HELD IN SOFITEL HOTEL IN LA (tags)
As Trade negotiators from throughout the Pacific Rim are gathering in Sofitel Luxury Suites, Los Angeles, activist to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement, groups opposed to the “NAFTA of the Pacific picketed outside the hotel in Beverly Hills. Trade negotiators from nine countries that includes the the U.S. to Vietnam are pressing for a NAFTA-style deal that encourages offshoring, expands downward corporate pressure on labor and environmental standards, raises drug prices, and bans "Make it in America," among other problems. STOP THE FTAA The protest dubbed as RALLY TO STOP A "NAFTA OF THE PACIFIC!" was sparked because of the negotiations are being done out of the public eye, trade ministers and corporate lobbyists (over 600 of ...whom have certified "corporate adviser" status). Protestors asked : “will this become a "NAFTA of the Pacific?"
Repeal NAFTA to Restore Mexico's Economic Stability (tags)
The economic crisis in Mexico was worsened by the passage of NAFTA free trade agreement. Currently the neoliberal and neoconservative status quo politicians have appeared unable to try to repeal NAFTA, as if the document were written in stone and handed to William "Moses" Clinton by none other than God. Reality is that NAFTA was crafted by some very deceptive human beings who placed the interest of profits for corporations above the well being of the people of the U.S. and Mexico.
Trans Pacific Free Trade Agreement Action Wed! (tags)
SOFITEL hotel in Beverly Hills, Wednesday. NOON to 2:30
ACTA: Worse Than SOPA and PIPA (tags)
Internet freedom
Debts? Whose Debts? and Keith Olbermann (tags)
Truth is inwardness and must well up in everyone. Life is full of supernova explosions, a universe of possibilities where stars remain invisible until they find their partner star. "We keep the madness going that we call the economy when we do nothing against business as usual."
Chabil Utzaj, economic momentum with social responsibility (tags)
The reactivation of Chabil Utzaj, as a sustainable sugar project, is a great opportunity for Valle de Polochic not only because it constitutes an important pole of development for a rural area with high poverty rates in Guatemala, but also because of its respect for the fundamental rights of the inhabitants of the area, its commitment to the protection of the environment and compliance with the legal framework of the country.
Quartet Anti-Palestinian Statehood Proposal (tags)
Palestine
NDF-MINDANAO REAFFIRM COMMITMENT TO NDF-MILF ALLIANCE (tags)
The EPCC NEWS based in Los Angeles reported today that the NDF-Mindanao thru its spokesperson Jorge Madlos reaffirmed the rebel alliance with the MILF in the island of Mindanao. Madlos said that: ? The breaking of diplomatic protocol by the respective principals of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), for the sake of achieving a final peace settlement is admirable if only the outcome of their talks truly serve the best interest of the Moro and non-Moro peoples alike.? The NDF also said; ? Such an agreement must be based on the Moro people?s genuine right to self-determination, sovereignty, patrimony, and basic economic and political reforms that shall mainly benefit the long-suffering Bangsamoro.
Philippine peace process gaining headway (tags)
Upon assuming office a year ago, President Benigno S. Aquino III declared that the government was ready to resume peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Communist National Democratic Front (NDF) without pre-condition and repeated it in his first State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA).
Los Angles Dodgers screw Glendale, Arizona? (tags)
Los Angles Dodgers to screw the city of Glendale? Like the Coyotes did? On the other hand it sounds like the LA Dodgers have already screwed the city of Glendale taxpayers
Palestinian Unity Deal Announced (tags)
liberation
FCGOA Pres Guy James SELLS-OUT 188 Securitas Officers Working at ESPN in Conn For $75,000 (tags)
After GUY JAMES SOLD-OUT These Securitas Officers, Securitas Lost the Contract and the Majority of These 188 Officers Lost Their Jobs Including the Lead Organizer for FCGOA
Obushma and The Rich Satanist on Wall St. Make a Slave Trade Deal in Colombia (tags)
Once again Obushma The George W Bush Carbon Copy is making another Slave Trade Deal in Cahoots with The Rich Apostles of Satan on Wall St. and The Government of Colombia. Much to the Discomfort of Colombians and Americans.
BTL:Environmentalists: Agreement Reached at Cancun Climate Summit Nonbinding and Dangerous (tags)
BETWEEN THE LINES - A four-time winner of the Connecticut Associated Press Broadcast Award for Best Feature in the non-commercial category, this syndicated, half-hour program provides a platform for individuals and spokespersons from progressive organizations generally ignored or marginalized by the mainstream media. Between the Lines covers a wide range of political, economic and social topics.
Obama's Decision to Push Bush's NAFTA-Style Korea Trade Deal Without Real Fixes Is Mistake (tags)
Press release by Public Citizen about the Korean trade agreement that's being pushed.
NDF Response to military propaganda for surrender before peace talks (tags)
THE PESANTE NEWS based in Los Angeles learned today that the National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas today ( August 5 in the Philippines or PST) said that the 8th Infantry Division, by calling for the surrender of the revolutionary forces, highlighted the unjustness of the ceasefire-and-surrender line of the Aquino administration. "Through its program in a radio station last August 1, the 8th ID essentially dismissed the peace talks as irrelevant and called on the revolutionary forces to surrender first," said NDF-EV spokesperson Fr. Santiago Salas.
El Paso Corp. Bribes Environmentalists for Ruby Pipeline (tags)
In order to appear more environmentally friendly, proponents of the 680 mile long Ruby Pipeline Project have reached a conservation agreement with two prominant environmental groups (WWP & ONDA) in exchange for the environmental groups dropping any opposition to the proposed pipeline route through pristine sagebrush wilderness, mating ground for endangered sage grouses.
The American government wants new world war.
Nepal Maoists continue the struggle (tags)
Updates on the situation in Nepal
Keep Venice Streets Free for All (tags)
Prevent Venice parking permit and vehicle height restrictions proposed implementation on public streets. Keep Venice free for all members of our community. Current settlement of anti-homeless group does not represent the majority of Venice. Venice is love. Love is free. Keep Venice Free.
USA INTENDS TO CLOSE EMBASSY IN BRAZIL (tags)
The empire counterattacks. Hillary "Dart Vader" Clinton ahead of the troops.
BRAZILIAN DIPLOMACY ISOLATED THE USA (tags)
Lift his pants Uncle San.
MILITARY AGREEMENT BRAZIL-USA (tags)
Good American is American far away.
The Accusation that Links Chávez with ETA and the FARC is Fraudulent (tags)
"The computer in the hands of the Colombian authorities survived a missile attack which killed several people in the encampment and, by chance, confirmed all the arguments of President Alvaro Uribe to enable him to increase his bellicose internal campaign. Strange as it may sound, the “magic bomb resistant” computer has never been shown in public."
On the US Puppet High Court Ruling that the VFA is legal (tags)
"Philippine Supreme Court- a US Imperialist Puppet Court.” As the Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) expected, the Philippine Supreme Court has reiterated the legality of the 1999 RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago once described as “void for vagueness” and “a failure.” The AJLPP scored the two-page resolution dated Jan. 12 but released only Tuesday. The full Supreme Court upheld its Feb. 11, 2009, ruling on the constitutionality of the agreement which re-allowed the large-scale presence of American troops in the country for joint military exercises after the 1991 pullout of the US military bases, and which governs the conduct of the servicemen participating in the military exercises.
Netanyahu is running scared. (tags)
The Saudis, Abbas and the Emerites about to declare an independent Palestine at UN.
WHOSE COUNTRY IS IT ANYWAY? (tags)
After 11 years of peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the two sides were close to a deal known as the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain. This was essentially an agreement that would have granted points of autonomy to the Moro people in Mindanao and the Southern Philippines. Just before the signing, the government stopped the negotiations on Sept. 3 and plunged into attack mode. They launched joint police-military offensives against the MILF and civilians. Since then, more than 500,000 people, mostly women and children, have been forced to abandon homes and thrown into refugee camps. Now, one-third of the Philippines is on the verge of erupting into open warfare. I'm not talking about your garden variety guerilla skirmishes here and there. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front and their allies have proven capable of launching conventional maneuvers into the theater in the past. Add to that milieu the very vibrant Communist led New People's Army Southern Command and of course the reactionary group Abu Sayyaf - then you have a situation that could explode into a conflict that could rival the Balkans in the 90's.
VLCC begins another inning with Delhi Government (tags)
An initiative under the PPP model VLCC offers vocational education to the underprivileged section of society under the Swarn Jyanti Shahri Rozgar Yojna (SJSRY)
Lieberman, Israeli foreign minister, announces Israeli policy on peace. (tags)
No peace but Palestinians must stop resisting occupation, give up using force and do as they are told. Which part of this does Obama not understand?
SNWA's 300 Mile Pipeline to Las Vegas Faces Growing Opposition (tags)
At a recent SNWA board meeting, the SNWA's proposed 300 mile pipeline from Snake Valley aquifer to Las Vegas has met with a few bumps in the road, mainly strong public opposition and increasing hesitancy on the part of SNWA board members to jump into this plan without a safety net. Though the SNWA board voted to continue seeking an EIS for the pipeline, the reality of future costs and risks of an overdrawn aquifer made several board members question their previous zealotry in following Gen. Manager Pat Mulroy down her pipeline's path for much longer.
With Amanda Villatoro, of CSA: CRF must be recognized as an occupational illness (tags)
http://www.rel-uita.org/agricultura/agrotoxicos/irc/2009/con_amanda_villatoro-eng.htm
Cracks Emerging in NAFTA (tags)
The once-solid North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) is starting to show its age. The 1994 trade agreement that laid the foundation for the economic/political integration of North America is encountering serious internal ruptures, threatening future “progress.” The problems are numerous: fights over trade, immigration, and military cooperation are all issues that Obama recently discussed in Mexico with his NAFTA partners, Mexico and Canada. The annual meeting that usually delivers plans for additional integration was instead used to remedy these heated issues, none of which were fully solved.
The Dowry in Islamic marriages (tags)
In the Islamic marriage, the bride may bring “jihaz” (dowry) to the house. Contrary to the popular view that Islamic mahr is a dowry; it is not. Because the mahr is mandated by the Quran and is part or the Islamic Shari’a; the dowry is optional. This article deals with the jihaz.
CONCEPT OF SHARED SACRIFICE “JUST A CRUEL JOKE” (tags)
In a last minute plea to state legislators, the UDW Homecare Providers Union tonight urged a “No” vote on the state budget agreement reached earlier this week by Gov. Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders.
California Budget Crisis (tags)
A petition to Governor Schwarzenegger and State Legislature regarding the California budget crisis
( The AJLPP Secretariat reprinted the editorial of the Inquirer, the prime newspaper in the Philippines in its reaction in the CA decision on the Smith rape case) MANILA---Close this When the Court of Appeals handed down its decision acquitting Daniel Smith, no one was surprised. The departure of “Nicole,” his accuser, from our shores had already conditioned the country into believing an “arrangement” was in the works. In that sense, whatever the actual merits of the court’s decision, the case may be relegated as yet another one decided on clout rather than in fulfilment of justice. The United States can claim it fulfilled the letter—though not the spirit—of the Visiting Forces Agreement by keeping Smith in Manila throughout the judicial process, but not a second longer. Smith is now out of sight and, probably, out of mind—seemingly the objective of both the Philippine and American governments. Smith’s co-defendants went on to dishonorable or less-than-honorable discharge from the military. And no one expects Smith to be glorified or rewarded by his military or country. But that is a pretty small consolation for the manner in which Smith’s case proved that the VFA is a lopsided agreement; and worse, that the instinct of our own officials is not to assert Philippine rights and processes but to kowtow and grant every possible consideration to American wishes. Public opinion forced the prosecution of Smith and company. Public opinion kept the justice system creaking along; and while the beginning of the case found American authorities complying with their obligations under the VFA, Philippine authorities began finding ways to subvert the spirit of the agreement. Most dramatic of all was the handing over of Smith to American custody in the dead of night in December 2006. All throughout the judicial process itself, it was hard to tell whether the Department of Justice, for one, was lawyering for the government, the alleged rape victim, or the American soldiers.
BAYAN-USA Holds 3rd Congress in Los Angeles Amidst VFA Protests (tags)
Information about BAYAN-USA congress scheduled for March 27-29, 2009. Progressive members of the Filipino community representing labor, youth, church groups, academia, and cultural workers will gather in Los Angeles.
PHILIPPINES: Scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement now! (tags)
The secret Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) document exposed by Sen. Joker Arroyo is the latest in a string of arguments to hang the iniquitous agreement. The secret document is an insult that adds to the injury of Daniel Smith’s contempt of our justice system.
SCIC Planning Meeting to Protest ABC's "Homeland Security USA" (tags)
Let's organize against this racist "reality" show
Starbucks plans to settle another labor complaint one more reason why we need the EFCA NOW (tags)
Starbucks has reached a settlement in principle over a Michigan barista whom the National Labor Relations Board said was fired in June because of his union activities. " By Poster: This is One More Reason WHY WE NEED THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT NOW!" www.employeefreechoiceactnow.org/
Employee Free Choice Act NOW! (tags)
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is legislation in the United States which aims to "amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an efficient system to enable employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during organizing efforts, and for other purposes."Under current labor law.
MILF SETS CONDITIONS FOR PEACE TALKS (tags)
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has set its conditions for the resumption of the GRP-MILF Peace talks in the coming new year-2009. The AJLPP sources learned that based on the an earlier decision by the MILF Central Committee and Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, issued the statement on December 26, 2008. Murad said the MILF is “open to resume the ‘collapsed’ or stalled” peace negotiations with the Philippine government.
MILF OFFICIAL STAND ON PEACE TALKS WITH GRP (tags)
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has announced its official stand on the resumption of the GRP-MILF Peace. The AJLPP sources learned that based on the an earlier decision promulgated by the its Central Committee, Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, issued the statement on December 26, 2008. Murad said the MILF is “open to resume the ‘collapsed’ or stalled” peace negotiations with the Philippine government. This in deference to the call of both the local and international communities to resume the talks and stop the fighting and to the standing policy of the MILF that the track of peace and negotiation is the “most practical and civilized way of solving the age-old Moro Problem and armed conflict in Mindanao.”
NYCLAW ANTIWAR DIGEST -- 11.19.08 (tags)
Despite SOFA, U.S. Withdrawal Still Depends, Says Admiral Mullen: Asked if the agreement could be changed, he said "that's theoretically possible".
FIGHT THE SECOND JAPANESE INVASION OF THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
The Filipino Community and all concerned Filipino Americans in the United States vehemently condemn the Senate's railroading of the ratification of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) on Wednesday night. October 8th.. Pro-Japan collaborators also known as the modern MAKAPILIS, the sixteen senators led by JPEPA's sponsors Senators Miriam Santiago and Mar Roxas (whose grandfather was a Japanese and an American puppet) have compromised the country's national patrimony and sovereignty by approving a patently one-sided, anti-Filipino economic treaty.
OPPOSE JANP-RP TREATY (JPEPA), STRUGGLE AGAINST JAPANESE IMPERIALISM (tags)
The Filipino Community and all concerned Filipino Americans in the United States vehemently condemn the Senate's railroading of the ratification of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) on Wednesday night. October 8th.. Pro-Japan collaborators also known as the modern MAKAPILIS, the sixteen senators led by JPEPA's sponsors Senators Miriam Santiago and Mar Roxas (whose grandfather was a Japanese and an American puppet) have compromised the country's national patrimony and sovereignty by approving a patently one-sided, anti-Filipino economic treaty. This is a reminiscence of how the Philippine Senate in 1972 passed the RP-Japan Treaty of Amity that opened the Philippines to the exploitation and oppression of the Japanese Imperialists.
TXI Riverside Cement pays $1M for hex-chromium in dust (tags)
After many years of residents' exposure to carcinogenic hexavalent chromium particulates found in their cement dust, TXI corporation of Riverside agrees to a 1 million dollar settlement for the damages they caused.
US-India nuke deal is signed, sealed, and delivered (tags)
WASHINGTON: Generations to come may slice and dice the US-India nuclear cooperation deal, but for now it has been firmly stated by New Delhi and broadly accepted in Washington that India will be bound only by the bilateral 123 Agreement with regards to the terms of the deal, other sentiments of the US Congress notwithstanding.
Munich Agreement papers declassified (tags)
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR in Russian abbreviation) has declassified archive materials related to the 1938 Munich Agreement, which triggered the most dramatic events of the 20th century.
Philippine Government Launches New War on Muslim Groups (tags)
War officially came to southern Philippines again as the government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo unilaterally put an end to eleven years of negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) September 3. A month early the government abruptly broke off talks with the MILF on the eve of signing an autonomy pact. There are numerous reports of U.S. Special Forces accompanying Philippines Army units on their deadly sweeps in the Bangsamoro (land of the Moro people) region. More than 100 people have been killed so far and half a million refugees have fled from the fighting. Bourgeois liberals and the petty-bourgeois left lamely call on the government to resume the “peace process,” which in any case was only intended to wear down the insurgents. Revolutionaries instead seek to mobilize Philippine workers to drive out all U.S. forces, whatever their legal status; to force the withdrawal of the AFP from the contested southern areas; and to defend the Bangsamoro people and their right to self-determination.
STOP THE MILITARY OFFENSIVES, RESUME PEACE TALKS NOW! (tags)
The Alliance Philippines (AJLPP) expresses serious concern on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) warned of a full-blown war with the peace process “in purgatory” after the government told the Supreme Court on Friday that a Moro homeland deal had been scrapped. The AJLPP also are very wary about reports that more than 400,000 people in Mindanao have been affected or dislocated by the heavy fighting as Ramadan sets in. MILF chief negotiator Mohaqher Iqbal told Reuters news agency that the MILF was no longer confident it could strike a final peace agreement under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration. “We might as well wait for the next president after the 2010 elections,” Iqbal said. “She is just trying to save her own neck. That’s why she was not willing to defend the peace agreement and was also willing to sacrifice everything just to stay in power.”
FIGHTING CONTINUES AS RAMADAN BEGINS (tags)
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Sunday warned of a full-blown war with the peace process “in purgatory” after the government told the Supreme Court on Friday that a Moro homeland deal had been scrapped. MILF chief negotiator Mohaqher Iqbal told Reuters news agency that the MILF was no longer confident it could strike a final peace agreement under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration.
Women to rule Middle East (tags)
It's the only way for peace
Rude Awakening in Mexico (tags)
US businesses invested $120 billion in Mexico between 1994 and 2006. Only 80,000 jobs were created per year while 730,000 Mexicans pressed on the labor market every year. While migration climbed 95% from 1980 to 1994, it soared an incredible 452% from 1994 to 2006.
Legitimizing Permanent Occupation of Iraq (tags)
Washington plans to stay
BUSH SENDS NUCLEAR AIRCRAFT CARRIER TO THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
With the subservience of the Arroyo regime, Bush continues the political-military intervention in the "killing field" of the Philippines, wasting millions of tax-dollars in suppressing the Moro insurgents and Filipino national-democrats, abetting the horrendous extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances and widespread poverty and oppression, all in the name of the war against "terrorism," a code-word for popular resistance against global capital's greed and inhumane devastation of the planet.
Agreement Lets US Attack any Country from Inside Iraq (tags)
This story is funny, since this has been the plan all along, and was one of the real reasons behind this illegal war. This seems to be a way of hiding these facts, since the developments on the ground makes this hard to hide under the rug.
ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative) Has Brought Nicaragua out of Darkness (tags)
Nicaraguan foreign minister Samuel Santos explains how twice as many children are in school one year after the new government assumed power. Nicaragua now exports beans instead of importing beans. The South is helping itself.
New Orleans North American Leaders’ Summit: Misrepresentation in SPP Joint Statement (tags)
Bush, Calderon and Harper, in their April 22, 2008 Security and Prosperity Partnership Agreement statement emanating from New Orleans made spurious claims. They claim that “they are committed to democratic government, the rule of law and respect for individual freedoms”.
Delay in peace talks deliberate, says MILF (tags)
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim separatist rebel group in the country, accused Manila on Wednesday of delaying the peace talks. Manila is negotiating peace with the MILF, an army of about 12,000 rebels with millions of Muslim supporters. Peace talks were stalled after both sides failed to sign an agreement on the Muslim ancestral domain.
Sigue Corporation to Forfeit (tags)
(“Sigue”), a San Fernando, California-based money service businesses, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement on charges of failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and will forfeit $15 million to the U.S. government.
Orange County Attorney Agrees to Plead Guilty to International Money Laundering (tags)
Thomas Burton, 60, of Newport Beach, agreed to plead guilty to international money laundering in a plea agreement filed today in federal court in Santa Ana.
Free Speech Victory in Central Park Lawsuit (tags)
Free Speech Victory in Central Park Lawsuit
On the Stalled MILF-GRP Peace Talks (tags)
The Alliance for Just and lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) through its National Coordinator Mario Santos expressed dismay over the break-off of peace talks between the Moro Islamic Front (MILF) and the Government of the Philippines (GRP ) last December 16,2007. The AJLPP’s Santos saidthat the news is bad for the cause of peace, learned through media sources that the scheduled exploratory talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Saturday did not push through after the MILF backed out of the meeting due to a dispute over a draft agreement on territorial boundaries. The MILF rejected the inclusion by government negotiators of the phrase “constitutional process” in the proposed draft Memorandum of Agreement on ancestral domain as the mode for implementation of the agreement.
Mesa Photo Radar beefed us - Their losing money (tags)
Tom Rawles says they ain't cherry picking to raise revenue - “I don’t want to create the impression that the contractor or the city is trying to cherry pick the locations in order to get revenue up"
UAW Sellout at GM and Chrysler (tags)
Corrupt UAW bosses sell out their rank and file
STOP CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement)
American Missiles Smash through Treaty with Russia: The U.S. Won't Renew START-1 (tags)
The U.S. military leadership has stated for the first time that it has to decline to renew the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Chief of the U.S. Strategic Command Gen. James Cartwright claimed that the decision makes a possible strike in the war against global terrorism easier. In Russia, they are worried that the United States will have potential to make a disarming nuclear strike and, with the missile defense system in Europe, avoid a counterstrike.
MILF UNFAZED BY ARREST WARRANTS, MILITARY OFFENSIVE (tags)
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is unfazed by the threat of “punitive action” from the government and urged it to review first the provisions of the ceasefire agreement before serving the warrants of arrest on those allegedly involved in the July 10 ambush of Marines in Basilan. MILF chief negotiator Muhaquer Iqbal said they are unfazed by the military’s threat to arrest those behind the ambush.
Venezuela's Withdrawal from the IMF and the World Bank (tags)
With their emancipation from the Bretton Woods institutions, the states of Latin America now try to lessen their dependence. A Bank of the South could assume the role of structural creditor in the future.
AJLPP Oppose Another US-Arroyo Sell Out of Philippine Sovereignty. (tags)
SOFA, another grand sell-out”. This is how the Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace (AJLPP)-USA characterize the treasonous action of puppet president when it signed the RP-Australia Status of Forces Agreement. (SOFA) The AJLPP never forget that the United States and Australia connived in supprting the US-Marcos dictatroship and its active involvement in the counter insurgency war against the Filipino and the Moro people since the end of World War II. Expect that the terrorism of the Arroyo regime is further emboldened by VFA and SOFA treaties and the military intervention and hegemonic superpower support of the US and its regional junior partner Australia." ?
RP, Australia sign defense pact (tags)
The Philippines and Australia signed signed a security pact yesterday that will allow the countries’ militaries to hold joint counterterrorism exercises. The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) is the second such agreement entered into by the Philippines. President Arroyo and Australian Prime Minister John Howard witnessed the signing of the agreement by Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and Australian Minister for Defense Dr. Brendan Nelson. Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo vowed to question SOFA and said that they would press for the public disclosure of all the terms indicated in the agreement. “The VFA has already allowed the year-round presence of American troops. Now, they have the SOFA and they are saying that they are also taking other countries. How many soldiers from foreign countries would be allowed in our country?” he asked. Ocampo said Congress, particularly the committee on foreign affairs, was not informed about the provisions of the agreement.
Philippine-Australia SOFA furthers foreign intervention, fascist terror under Arroyo (tags)
The Philippines revolutionary movement today in a statement posted over the internet scored the Arroyo regime and the Australian government for entering into a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), saying this only furthers foreign military intervention in the Philippines, and also serves to boost the Arroyo regime's fascist repression of the people.
Perhaps someone with one of those new computer programs developed by Bill Gates could calculate the resources being used for war expenses at the cost of education, healthcare and culture for humanity...
Insurance Companies Pay Silverstein Properties $2 billion For 9/11 Claims (tags)
"Seven Insurance Companies Pay Silverstein Properties $2 billion As Settlement For 9/11 Insurance Claims"
North American Union Plan Headed To Congress In Fall (tags)
same perps as 911
North American union plan headed to Congress in fall (tags)
"Powerful think tank prepares report on benefits of integration between U.S., Mexico, Canada"
North American union plan headed to Congress in fall (tags)
this is when the money will change to world paper currency...be ready....
PROTEST VS POLITICAL KILLINGS GREETS GMA IN TOKYO TRIP (tags)
President Arroyo was greeted with protest on Tuesday as Japan-based human rights groups gathered in front of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo urging her to immediately end the spate of political killings in the Philippines and prosecute the perpetrators. Members of Amnesty International Japan, Human Rights Now and other groups also called on Tokyo to push visiting Mrs. Arroyo on human rights issues.
Democracy and its Enemy, Capitalist Globalization (tags)
The core problem of globalization is the dismantling of democracy. The elected are without power and those with power are not elected. The bonds between the generations burst. An absolute amoral individualism dominates in the most progressive states of capitalism.
MILF-GRP Peace Talks Update ; MILF wants entire Kudarat- GRP (tags)
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is demanding the inclusion of the entire Sultan Kudarat province as part of a new autonomous region in Mindanao as a condition for a final peace agreement with the government, a ranking Malacañang official revealed yesterday.
Border Fence- The Cost is Far Too High (tags)
A study released last December by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service says a proposed 700 mile stretch of fence, along the 2,000 mile U.S. – Mexico border, could cost an estimated $49 billion. But what the report fails to say, U.S. –built walls on the border would cost both the U.S. and Mexico trillions of dollars in economic losses over the predicted 25-year lifespan of the fence, and non-monetary damage to political and cultural relations between the two countries would also last for decades.
Israel comes begging, again (tags)
The US peace movement should ask Congress to stop this.
AJLPP Support The Petition to the Supreme Court To Declare VFA unconstitutiona (tags)
The Alliance for A Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) –USA militantly support the call of nationalist Filipinos led by Former Senate president Jovito Salonga, former Senator Wigberto Tañada, retired Court of Appeals associate justice Jose de la Rama; and lawyers Emilio Capulong, Harry Roque, and Florin Hilbay to declare as unconstitutional the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) for allegedly creating a "privileged class among criminals." The AJLPP –USA express elation that the Former Senate president Jovito Salonga led complainants in filing the 43-page petition before the high tribunal Friday. They said that the VFA had given the US soldiers "a class above all others" when it allowed the US to have custody of its erring
AFP: Peace pact with MILF by April (tags)
A peace agreement with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is expected early this year, Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. disclosed yesterday. "A final peace agreement with the MILF would be signed by March or April," Esperon told a press conference held at the AFP Eastern Mindanao Command headquarters here. The contentious issues affecting the peace negotiations, particularly disputes over ancestral domain, are now being discussed by both panels, said Esperon, who arrived here as part of a series of camp visits to implement the second phase of President Arroyo’s campaign against insurgency.
RP, US: VFA review only after Smith case over (tags)
Both Malacañang and the United States Embassy said yesterday that the review of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) will only take place once the rape case against US Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith reaches its conclusion. While Malacañang said the Philippine government should already study the controversies that resulted from the implementation of the accord, US Embassy charge d’affaires Paul Jones said the US government will wait and see how the case concerning Smith’s custody progresses.
Philippines: shameless act of collaboration of the Arroyo regime and the U.S. government (tags)
"It's an utterly shameless act of collaboration of the Arroyo regime and the U.S. government." This was the statement of Myrla Baldonado, spokesperson of Task Force Subic Rape (TFSR) on the stealthy transfer of custody of Daniel Smith from the Makati City Jail to the U.S. Embassy.
On the Philippine Judge’s Decision to Deny Custody of a Convicted US Marine to the US Emba (tags)
The Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) USA highly commends Judge Benjamin Pozon of Makati City, Philippines for standing firm on his decision not to give the U.S Embassy custody of convicted rapist Cpl. Daniel Smith of the U.S. Marines despite the lap-dog subservience of the US-Arroyo government and its Department of Justice. What remains now is to ask all patriotic Filipinos to unite and act to scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) that is the source of all the indignities and violations of our national territory and honor as a people. The United States will always use the onerous and lop-sided VFA to advance their interest against our people and nation. Truly, it took the courage of a Filipino woman, “Nicole”, who stood up for her dignity as a person to emphasize the unequal relationship between the US and the Philippines. It took another brave Filipino man, a judge, to uphold our sovereignty and the majesty of Philippine laws to make us proud to be on a moral high ground and to stand firm as Filipinos. It will take the people of the nation to unite the country to continue to stand and fight for its sovereign rights.
Government the cause of the problem, not the solution to the problem!!! (tags)
Judge signs order lifting 40-year construction ban on Navajo land
Photos / Seoul - Stop FTA. 10,000 South Korean protesters stage an anti-FTA (tags)
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 (Seoul): Thousands of farmers and factory workers took to the streets of Seoul on Wednesday to protest against a free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the US. Holding anti-FTA banners and chanting slogans, the protesters gathered as a fifth round of talks continued at the Big Sky Resort in the US state of Montana to discuss removing tariffs and other trade barriers.
On the Verdict of the the GANG Rape of a Filipina by Four US Marines (tags)
The gang rape of Nicole by four US marines in the Philippines is not only an issue of a woman but a whole nation raped for the last century, made possible through onerous and lopsided military agreements, much like the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Darfur crisis- the worse is yet to come (tags)
The crisis in Darfur could become "infinitely worse" if a deal to send a combined United Nations and African force is not implemented quickly, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Saturday.
Daniel McGowan and codefendants take non-cooperation plea agreement (tags)
We would like to inform everyone about the events in court today. After months of negotiations and consideration, Daniel, along with Jonathan Paul, Joyanna Zacher and Nathan Block, pled guilty to some of the many charges. We cannot emphasize enough what an extremely difficult decision this was for Daniel and we will continue to give him our full support.
PHILIPPINES: Junk the Toxic Deal with Japan! Junk JPEPA! (tags)
With the battle shifting to the Upper House, AKBAYAN Partylist today trooped to the Senate to call for the junking of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). “Japan may have done it once, but we will not allow the dumping of toxic wastes in the country again”, the group said referring to the 1999 incident, when 122 containers declared as “recyclable paper” (which turned out to be clinical wastes) arrived at the Port of Manila.
MILF denies agreeing to plebiscite (tags)
A senior leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has denied having said the Front agreed to holding of a plebiscite in new areas to be added to the present territory of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Ghazali Jaafar, MILF deputy chairman for political affairs, was reacting to a news article published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) today, bylined by Jeffrey Maitum and Charlie Seòase, quoting him as saying, “We are for the constitutional process, if that’s what they (meaning, the government) want…."
Congressman Ney Convicted of Bribery (tags)
Rep. Bob Ney was convicted today of bribery charges stemming from the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation
EU will provide airline data to US (tags)
English Police State to sleep with the U.S. Police State
THE SINGULAR STORY OF THE CUBAN FIVE (tags)
THE SINGULAR STORY OF THE CUBAN FIVE
Nike Just Does it Again (tags)
Students and community to hold demonstration and press briefing in response to Nike’s actively shutting down its non-sweatshop factories
MNLF officials belie GMA (tags)
Top Muslim leaders and Moro National Liberation Front officials in Central Mindanao on Wednesday belied President Arroyo’s claims that government has met “80 percent” of its peace deal with the MNLF, as contained in the 1976 Tripoli agreement.
Preconditioning the resumption of formal talks with capitulation is completely absurd (tags)
The Alliance-Philippines(AJLPP)-USA desires that the peace negotiations between the NDFP and the GRP resumes. But the Arroyo government is hell bent to obstruct the peace process. Thus AJLPP-USA reprinted this NDFP statement so people are informed of the latest development. The GRP has rejected the NDDF proposals to resume the peace negotiations in Oslo, Norway. The Hague Joint Declaration stipulates that no precondition from any side shall negate the inherent character and purpose of peace negotiations. The Arroyo regime’s demand for capitulation and pacification of the revolutionary forces ignores the roots of the armed conflict and the people’s demands for basic reforms. It runs counter to The Hague Joint Declaration. It is completely absurd for Gloria M. Arroyo and her subalterns to precondition the resumption of formal talks in GRP-NDFP peace negotiations with the capitulation of the NDFP under the guise of a permanent or prolonged ceasefire that is not based on any agreement on social, economic and political reforms satisfactory to the people and the revolutionary forces.
Update on the current situation of the South Central Farm (tags)
Update on the current situation of the South Central Farm
Colombia: How Not to Negotiate a Trade Agreement (tags)
Article by Andres Mejia-Vergnaud, Executive Director of the Instituto Progreso ILP, Bogota, Colombia.
Charles Schwab,SRA International,Mantas Inc.,CIA and Bellador Group (tags)
Should the CIA be allowed to both invest in U.S. SECURITIES AND 'ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING' TECHNOLOGY OR A COMPANY INVOLVED IN 'AML' THAT COULD BE USED BOTH TO DETECT UNUSUAL ACTIVITIES IN STOCKS BUT ALSO TO COVER IT UP ? NOTE,MANTAS WAS IN CHARGE OF CHARLES SCHWAB'S ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING OPS WHEN JAMES DALE DAVIDSON OF AGORA INC.,BALTIMORE AND THE BELTWAY'S FAR RIGHT NATIONAL TAXPAYERS UNION PROMOTED THE FRAUDULENT ENDOVASC OF MONTGOMERY, TEXAS THROUGH AGORA INC.'S 'VANTAGE POINT' AND MILLIONS OF SHARES WERE DUMPED FROM A SCHWAB ACCOUNT.(I.E.ILLEGAL PUMP AND DUMP SCAM.)
Wolf Blitzer,Agora Inc,Baltimore:J.D.Davidson,Lycos Ragingbull.com & Gary Valinoti's Jag M (tags)
I for the first time was able to draw attention to the fraud occuring here because of the wolfblitzzer0 alias(do a google search of wolfblitzzer0'.I actually believed I was doing Ragingbull a favor by drawing some attention to the boards but also by drawing some attention to the frauds that had been going down here for years.My interest in UCSY was and is the transfer agent Alexander Walker who has been involved in numerous penny stock frauds that have been used to rob Americans and send the stolen money offshore,Harvard Scientific, Brek Energy,Endovasc,Sulphco,UCSY,ARE JUST A FEW THAT COME TO MIND...
SOS/MM/KKK Supporter Sent to Jail!!! (tags)
A Minuteman Domestic Terrorist is convicted and sent to prison. Another one of these terrorists are running for office (Jim Gilcrist).
Anchor Cultural Diversity in International Law! (tags)
Making the theme cultural diversity the subject of a conion was urgent through the extension of the WTO and its services agreement GATS to education, culture, social necessities and the media.
GATS as a Political Project (tags)
The goal of GATS is the worldwide liberalization in trade and investments for the service sector.. Call 1-800-828-0498 and urge your senators to reject any budget reconciliation that includes Medicade cuts.
The Vile and Self-Defeating Betrayal That is Bipartisanship (tags)
The Democrats finally had a plan to put a wrench in the Republican juggernaut—a shutdown of the Senate. And what did they do? Let a bunch of sell-out DLC-types blow it with a bi-partisan compromise that will just put more right-wing judges on the appellate bench. ----------------
Hundreds of thousands of families are at risk with CAFTA, The import duties will be dompletely removed. Guatemala's small farmers will not be able to compete with the heavily subsidized products of the US agricultural industry.
Timor Society Demands Fair Median Line (tags)
" ... the Australian government is anxious about discussions regarding the Maritime Boundary and prefers to discuss the distribution of natural resources, of which we are all aware that according to international UNCLOS law, 100% of the natural resources in the Timor Sea belong to Timor-Leste." 11 East Timorese NGOs
THE CHERNOBYL CATASTROPHE AND HEALTH CARE (tags)
The origin and consequences of the Agreement concluded between the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the IAEA are discussed. This Agreement may explain why the WHO remained absent during the first five after the Chernobyl accident on health studies and in particular studies on the genome The WHO-IAEA Agreement has led to risks for scientists intending to study and publish on the real consequences of such accidents or even the show damages due to chronic, low-dose radiation in the organism due to incorporation of radionuclides with food.
Portland IMC responds to SF Indymedia Conflict (tags)
Portlands response, on SF IMC
BTL:Opponents of US Ratification of Central American Free Trade Agreement Say.. (tags)
...Victory is Within Reach~ Interview with Shane Stevens, of CISPES, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, conducted by Between the Lines' Melinda Tuhus
Education is not a Commodity for Trade (tags)
"Educational policy can and must bring light into globalization.. The world is no longer as simploe as in biblical times when the traders could be simply chased from the temple. Education must remain master in its own house.. Education is not a commodity.."
A Plea for the Politics of Peace (tags)
In advance of the May 22-23 Arab League summit held in Tunis, the London Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat published an open letter by renowned Egyptian playwright and satirist Ali Salem to the participants. The following are excerpts from his letter, translated and reprinted courtesy of memri.org.
Anti-FTAA initiative in Paraguay (tags)
The anti-FTAA movement considers that this agreement will mean subdue mechanisms for our nations. The governments will be subdued to this mechanisms or game rules that respond to the interests of the big corporations and which will negatively affect the social and sensitive sectors of the national economy. They state that the FTAA is supposed to be a stage of negotiation with low operative costs for corporations, but at the same time it impose concepts and laws that won’t allow the governments to make public policies encouraging the strength of the little and middle companies and national industries.
Transforming Ecuador Into Another Cambodia (tags)
Thirty-five years ago the Nixon administration launched a secret campaign of intense aerial bombing in Cambodia and in doing so plunged that country into the flaring quagmire in neighboring Vietnam. Today, the U.S. may again be pushing another small, neutral and peaceful nation into a comparable entanglement. Ecuador is now in the early stages of being a combatant in the seemingly intractable conflict engulfing its much larger and bellicose neighbor to the north, Colombia, says the liberal Washington-based think tank COHA (The Council on Hemispheric Affairs).
100,000 strikers force SBC to pick up phone (tags)
CHICAGO – Phone giant SBC Communications got the message when 100,000 workers in 13 states put down their headsets and tool belts to hit the streets, transmitting their own powerful message.
Who Will Stop CAFTA Contest (tags)
Quest for Peace of the Quixote Center will run a full-page, New York Times signature ad in opposition to CAFTA- the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The 44,000 dollars and 2,500 signatures it takes is being raised from engaged citizens like you, who wish to proudly and publicly say "No" to CAFTA. The state with the highest number of signers (as a percentage of the state's total population) will be specifically acknowledged in the New York Times Ad. Show the country and Mr. Bush that your state will not tolerate CAFTA! See ad text below.
Because it is such a broad issue, free trade is a difficult topic to convey to the public. In it's struggle to oppose CAFTA- the Central American Free Trade Agreement, Quest for Peace has created a short flash film which it hopes will highlight some of those problems found in free trade agreements.
A Message to Young People Who Are Considering Taking a Job as a Union Staffer
Grocery Settlement at What Cost? (tags)
It appears that the proposed contract settlement will be at a huge cost to future employees. Would that the leadership matched the membership in determination and courage!
Peasants and workers demonstrate against the FTAA in Puebla. (tags)
Mainly Mexican peasants and unions organizations have demonstrated in Puebla, against the FTAA negotiations, that are having place in that Mexican city.
225 UGSOA Members are Voting to Stop Dues Payments to UGSOA (tags)
225 LOCAL 52 UGSOA MEMBERS WILL SOON VOTE TO STOP THE PAYMENT OF DUES TO UGSOA PRESIDENT JIM (THE RAT ) VISSAR
Open Letter to the Global Indymedia Network from SF Bay Area IMC (tags)
It is with much sadness and urgency that we inform the greater indymedia community about the ongoing crisis within the San Francisco Bay Area IMC.
BTL:Costa Rica Walks Out of Talks for Central American Free Trade Agreement... (tags)
...Signaling Growing Opposition to Pact. Interview with Karen Hansen-Kuhn, coordinator of the Alliance for Responsible Trade, conducted by Between the Lines' Melinda Tuhus
The US and the Straitjacket (tags)
"According to Kyoto, the output of fuel gases should be lowered to under 95 percent of the 1990 emission level by 2012. Fuel gases are regarded as causal agents of a global warming of the atomosphere.. The US is responsible for 36% of carbon dioxide.."
Building Bridges Radio- Central Amer Free Trade Agreement & Taxi Workers Demand a Raise (tags)
Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Reports presents this 27.5 min radio program. TO LISTEN CLICK ON INDYMEDIA LINK.
After the Failure of the World Trade Conference (tags)
"There is growing skepticism toward the past structure of the WTO and the procedures and results of previous world trade conferences. With the founding of the WTO in 1994, all 148 member countries were promised that there would `only be winners'."
Infoshop News to provide expanded coverage of the FTAA protests (tags)
Infoshop News will be providing special coverage of this week's protests in Miami, Florida, against the FTAA.
Current U.S. Intervention in the Philippines* (tags)
Over the past century, the U.S. has been the leading interventionist power in the world often victimizing small independent countries and national liberation movements and using the military as its chief instrument. In many cases, U.S. interventionism leads to wars of aggression. Other methods used are: political and diplomatic pressures; economic pressures and trade sanctions; covert operations; media manipulation; and others.
Statement Condemning Geneva Accord (tags)
The Palestinian refugees' Right of Return to the homes and lands from which they were exiled is an individual, collective, national and human right that cannot be abrogated, denied or modified by any negotiation or agreement.
Winds of change in Israel? (tags)
A recent article by Akiva Eldar in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz signals the realisation that by supporting the Likud-rightwing combination, the United States is actually working against the long-term interests of Israel. The op-ed is appropriately titled: “With friends like these”.
The Central American Free Trade Agreement will do to Central America what NAFTA did to Mexico. The ministers are meeting in Houston from October 20 through the 24.
STOP CAFTA IN HOUSTON OCT 20-24 (tags)
YO BASTA!!!! STOP CAFTA Free Trade Talks are coming to Houston and the resistance needs to begin
KPFK LAB Votes Vs. Bylaws Draft B (tags)
The Local Advisory Board (LAB) of Los Angeles Pacifica Network Radio Station KPFK (90.7 FM) met Monday evening and voted against endorsing draft "B" of Pacifica's Proposed Bylaws.
A dangerous Israeli pattern (tags)
The helicopter attack against a Hamas political leader (which missed him but killed a woman and a child) has been nearly a regular occurrence in the Palestinian areas during the past two years. Israelis killed more than ten Palestinians including children and women before and after the suicide attack in Jerusalem.
Workers Struggle's In Costa Rica (tags)
Costa Rica
Chavez and Opposition Sign Agreement to End Violence (tags)
The Venezuelan government says it will organize a commission to investigate the deaths of demonstrators....
Via Campesina Requests Action in Sacramento (tags)
Via Campesina is an international movement which coordinates peasant organizations of small and middle-scale producers, agricultural workers, rural women, and indigenous communities from Asia, Africa, America, and Europe. It is an autonomous, pluralistic movement, independent from all political, economic, or other denomination. It is integrated by national and regional organizations whose autonomy is jealously respected.
Eight days in May Birmingham and the struggle for civil rights (tags)
The eight days between May 2 and May 10, 1963, when thousands of school children in Birmingham, Ala., defied the fire hoses and police dogs of Eugene “Bull” Connor, marked a turning point in the civil rights movement.
"The System is always Fair", the Cat says to the Mouse (tags)
"Behind closed doors, the WTO negotiated GATS, an agreement on liberalization of services. Health conglomerates all over the world can steal solvent patients. The existential necessity water could soon be much more expensive." Trans. from German
U.S. Unilateralism Worries Trade Officials (tags)
Interesting.
Treesit in Santa Clarita (tags)
Boy takes to 400 year Oak tree to save it from newhall ranch developement. Mothers of community are feeding him. Send support.
Short ILWU Analysis- whats at stake (tags)
The ILWU may be "only" 10,500 strong, but it's arguably one of the strongest and most militant unions in the US. It's never a good idea to get hysterical, but this is definitely a serious threat.
PMA reject agreement, Closes West Coast ports (tags)
From the ILWU website. KPCC also reported on this. What does it mean? Are the ports closed?
Israel and the U.S. sign mutual pact to avoid criminal court proceedings. (tags)
Is U.S/Israel guilty of war crimes? Hitler and Mussolini had something like that, didn't they? An agreement to restrict the extradition of their citizens to the International Criminal Court in the Hague is to be signed Sunday by Israel and the United States.
Salvadorans Dispatch Leader To Los Angeles (tags)
PRESIDENT BUSH PUSHES FREE TRADE IN EL SALVADOR; WORKER DEFENSE MOVEMENT OF THE CENTRAL AMERICAN COUNTRY DISPATCHES LEADER TO LOS ANGELES TO RESPOND
COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS FOR BOYCOTT TACO BELL RALLY AND MARCH!!! (tags)
BOYCOTT TACO BELL!
(Video) Quebec 2001: The Battle Against the F.T.A.A. (tags)
34 heads of state. 6,000 cops. 60,000 protesters. Two miles of chain link. One secret document. A journey through the historic protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas in Quebec City, April 2001.
TRIPS: will the majority prevail? (tags)
NGO Statement on Ministerial Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. From Act-Up Paris, Consumer Project on Technology, Consumers International, Health GAP Coalition, Médecins sans Fronteires, Oxfam, Tebtebba Foundation, Third World Network
Stop the FTAA
Free America - Trade Bush (tags)
Free America - Trade Bush
Civility & Double Standards (Corporate Media & Bush Lies Re: FTAA, etc.) (tags)
It seems like just yesterday when the national news media was quick to accuse leading politicians of lying. But "George W. Bush has changed that, with journalists now won to the "civility" that Bush vowed to bring to Washington. Take how The New York Times delicately stepped around the apparent contradictions in Bush's words at the Quebec free-trade summit...."
Bill Lockyer to Riverside: sign agreement or go to court (tags)
California's state attorney general bill Lockyer issued an ultimatum to Riverside's City Council: sign an agreement to reform the police department or he'll see them in court. Mayor Ron Loveridge urged the council to sign but council member Ed Adkison says he'll have to think about it.
SO CALLED PEACE AGREEMENT (tags)
Why the latest "peace agreement" between Israel and Palestine should not be taken seriously
City Agrees to Let Protesters Use Area Closer to Staples (tags)
Convention: Officials yield to pressure from a judge and the Democratic Party. But demonstrators say they won't be confined.
Shutdown the Summit of the Americas (tags)
Shutdown the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, Canada