Sunday, May 1, 2005

MAY DAY Isn't it time we heard a social sound for a change? TroopsOutNow: "It is hardly necessary to review the magnitude of suffering that global capitalism, and in particular the onslaught of U.S. imperialist war, has brought to the people of the world, especially since 9/11. Nor is it necessary to underscore the grave danger that endless war abroad in pursuit of empire and war at home against working and poor people represents." TimesofIndia: "The US prison population, already the largest in the world, reached a new high of more than 2.1 million last year, with one in every 138 residents of the country now behind bars, according to new government statistics." So, is America a nation of criminals? Add to that the fact that the greatest criminals, war criminals, are still at large. Or is the system corrupt? It can only be one of both possibilities. America has become a country where children are handcuffed and where a giant burrito is mistaken for a weapon. But where everyone can buy guns. BostonCom: "Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka extends that insularity all the way to the White House, describing President Bush as a religious fanatic who has helped Americans become 'slaves of fear' with his rhetoric about weapons of mass destruction. In his current book 'Climate of Fear', Soyinka likens Bush's you're-with-us-or-with-the-terrorists rhetoric to McCarthyism, 'where the mere failure to denounce the communist ideology with satisfactory fervor or to denounce one's colleagues for communist sympathies became an unpatriotic act'." ChristianScienceMonitor: "Chalk up another victory for Latin American people power. In the 1990s, what politicians feared most was apathy. But lately, Latin Americans from Mexico City to Quito, Ecuador - much like the citizens of Ukraine and Lebanon - have been taking to the streets in unprecedented numbers. Civic protest is emerging as an increasingly effective - if controversial - political tool." In Nicaragua the protest against the right-wing government is growing. But do we see these protests on our local tv channels? No, the powers that be do not want you to see them. Even military chiefs are questioning the legality of the war in Iraq. "In a remarkably frank interview that goes to the heart of the political row over the Attorney General's legal advice, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, the former Chief of the Defence Staff, said he did not have full legal cover from prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC). 'If my soldiers went to jail and I did, some other people would go with me,' said Boyce." 1:09:32 PM

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