Common Dreams
by Bill Quigley
Though Haitian priest Father Gerard Jean-Juste died May 27, 2009, at age 62, in Miami from a stroke and breathing problems, he remains present to millions. Justice-loving people world-wide mourn his death and celebrate his life. Pere Jean-Juste worked uncompromisingly for justice for Haitians and the poor, both in Haiti and in the U.S. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: May 2009
Official: No Easy Way to Stop Human Trafficking
Archbishop Considers Roots of Problem
ROME, MAY 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Though trafficking in human beings is a “tremendous offense to dignity,” there is no easy solution to this multifaceted and international problem, says a Vatican official. Continue reading
Now at last it’s time for Shell to atone for my father’s death
The Guardian The son of the executed activist faces the oil giant in a human rights trial this week.
He seeks understanding rather than retribution
This week, a US court will hear a case that I and nine other plaintiffs filed against Royal Dutch Shell for its part in human rights violations committed against some Ogoni families and individuals in Nigeria in 1995. For some, the case is already being cast as a bookmark in the struggle for corporate accountability, but to me and the other nine plaintiffs it is all that and more. Continue reading
Environmental communication: A South African perspective
Africa Files
African Chart er Article# 24: All peoples shall have the right to a general satisfactory environment favorable to their development.
Summary & Comment: The environmental crisis is a fundamental element of our lives across the globe today, and we cannot conceive of life in the next generation without at the same time engaging with and responding to that crisis. Just as important, however, is responsible Christian thinking and communication about the earth crisis that engages with Africa and with all the people of Africa. AB Continue reading
More Calls to Ban Zimbabwe’s Blood Diamonds
By Michael Deibert
PARIS, May 23 (IPS) – Amid allegations of human rights abuses and government corruption, international calls are growing to ban or restrict the trade in diamonds from politically unstable Zimbabwe. Continue reading
Spain holds ‘voodoo’ traffickers
The traffickers allegedly supplied women for the sex trade across Europe
Spanish police have arrested 23 people suspected of trafficking Nigerian women into the country and forcing them into prostitution by using voodoo curses.
Experts said the women were scared into submission because of a vow they were forced to take on the graves of their ancestors before they left Nigeria. Continue reading
MPs put US ambassador on notice
By Standard Team
US ambassador Michael Ranneberger is on a collision course with Members of Parliament over his grassroots campaigns to turn up the pressure for reforms.
His enthusiastic push for reforms — involving the youth and ignoring MPs — has earned him the legislators’ wrath, many of who accuse him of overstepping his diplomatic mandate. Continue reading
Bill Clinton to be UN Haiti envoy
A house in Cabaret, Haiti damaged by Hurricane Ike '07 Sept 2008. Storms caused some $1bn in damage to Haiti in 2008
Bill Clinton is to be the new UN special envoy to Haiti, a spokesman for the former US president said.
Mr Clinton was quoted by the Miami Herald newspaper as saying he would be honoured to accept the position.
He would work to help Haiti rebuild after last year’s tropical storms which claimed the lives of nearly 800 people and caused $1bn (£660m) in damage. Continue reading
The Disease of Permanent War
Truth Dig
By Chris Hedges
[Image:peace.jpg]
Retired McClellan Air Force base employee Clifford Potter looks over an F-111 displayed at the base in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, April 9, 2001. AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
The embrace by any society of permanent war is a parasite that devours the heart and soul of a nation. Permanent war extinguishes liberal, democratic movements. It turns culture into nationalist cant. It degrades and corrupts education and the media, and wrecks the economy. The liberal, democratic forces, tasked with maintaining an open society, become impotent. The collapse of liberalism, whether in imperial Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Weimar Germany, ushers in an age of moral nihilism. This moral nihilism comes is many colors and hues. It rants and thunders in a variety of slogans, languages and ideologies. It can manifest itself in fascist salutes, communist show trials or Christian crusades. It is, at its core, all the same. It is the crude, terrifying tirade of mediocrities who find their identities and power in the perpetuation of permanent war. Continue reading
Changing Obama’s Mindset
The Progressive
by Howard Zinn
We are citizens, and Obama is a politician. You might not like that word. But the fact is he’s a politician. He’s other things, too-he’s a very sensitive and intelligent and thoughtful and promising person. But he’s a politician.
If you’re a citizen, you have to know the difference between them and you-the difference between what they have to do and what you have to do. And there are things they don’t have to do, if you make it clear to them they don’t have to do it. Continue reading
