Those who hoped that Barack Obama would be arriving in Israel to bang Israeli and Palestinian heads together, after four years of impasse in the peace process, will be sorely disappointed. 

 The U.S. president’s trip beginning today may be historic — the first of his presidency to Israel and the Palestinian territories — but he has been doing everything possible beforehand to lower expectations. 

At the weekend, Arab-American leaders revealed that Obama had made it clear he would not present a peace plan, because Israel has indicated it is not interested in an agreement with the Palestinians. 

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Stephen Harper’s government and a big part of Canada’s ruling establishment are in a frenzy over Keystone XL. 

The Conservatives and their provincial allies have spent millions (probably tens of millions) of dollars in public money to push a pipeline that will export Canadian jobs, trample First Nations rights and, overall, be bad for the environment. But it’ll be good for the profit margins of some of their oil industry friends. 

In recent weeks, a half dozen Conservative ministers have trekked south to push for the approval of the pipeline while Harper has made it the top priority for Canada’s embassy and 22 consular offices in the U.S for the last three years.

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On the tenth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, we look at a massive new report by a team of 30 economists, anthropologists, political scientists, legal experts and physicians about the Iraq War’s impact. “The Costs of War” report found the total number of people who have died from the Iraq War — including soldiers, militants, police, contractors, journalists, humanitarian workers and Iraqi civilians — has reached at least 189,000 people, including at least 123,000 civilians. Financially, the report estimates a cost to U.S. taxpayers of $2.2 trillion, a figure that could one day approach $4 trillion with the interest accrued on the borrowed money used to fund the war. We’re joined by the report’s co-author, Neta Crawford.

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Ten years ago today, Iraqis braced themselves for the anticipated “Shock and Awe” attacks that the United States was planning to launch against them. The media buildup for the attack assured Iraqis that barbarous assaults were looming.

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Richard ‘Hub’ Hughes- Political Blogger

We have been conned by the Oil & Gas crowd for so long it is often met with resignation. I mean other choices do we have?

Truth is we have a great many choices especially if you target a substantial reduction say by 2035.

A goal of a 75 percent drop would be about right for a start. It is time to accelerate investment into planet saving Research & Development and accept that we are destroying our planet with fossil fuel use.

Alberta Premier Redford – Showing signs of desperation

Governments in Newfoundland, Alberta & BC all depended on revenues from resource extraction but now all three are facing deficits.

In the case of Alberta their Premier Alison Redford is sounding desperate and deluded in her thinly veiled threat issued to the Americans over the Keystone Pipeline.

Check out this Canadian Press . . . → Read More: Cowichan Conversations: Alberta Premier Redford’s Desperation Is Showing!

Monday, March 18, 2013

The tragedies of the Iraq War have been so horrific and large-scale that the overall reporting by U.S. mass media scarcely provides a…

On March 16, 2003 U.S. solidarity activist Rachel Corrie was killed by the Israeli army in Gaza.

A message from the parents of Rachel Corrie on the 10th anniversary of her death

Some days it feels like the different sides of the US political map really are different species. Today was one of those days. Controversial freshman Republican Senator Ted Cruz got into a bit of an exchange with a Dianne Feinstein, a stalwart of the Senate Democratic leadership, over gun rights.

The video of this exchange lit up on the blogosphere today (yes, I am making one of those self indulgent posts where a blogger comments on the state of the blogosphere). What was interesting, however, is how both sides considered the victory an amusing knock out win for their side. Here is Redstate, one of the most prominent right wing blogs: 

A Ted Cruz Missile Strikes Dianne Feinstein: 

If Ted Cruz keeps this up in the Senate, Democrats might try to impose gun control on his Cruz missile strikes. Earlier today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing . . . → Read More: Progressive Proselytizing: Republicans are from Mars, Democrats are from Venus

Photo: casmaron/Flickr

Reports are emerging from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay that a majority of the prisoners are on a hunger strike. One hundred sixty-six remain locked up, although more than half of them have been cleared by the Obama administration for release. Yet there they languish (in some cases now in their second decade) in a hellish legal limbo, uncharged yet imprisoned. President Barack Obama’s failure to close Guantanamo, as he boldly promised to do with an executive order signed on Jan. 22, 2009, and the deterioration of conditions at the prison under his watch will remain a lasting stain on his legacy.

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Arkansas has finally gone too far when it comes to women. Really. This is a new forward advance in the war against women and it’s awful. And it’s on abortion.

If you’ve followed my entries here you know that I think abortion is absolutely despicable and that Canada should have some kind of line drawn at when restrictions kick in (Canada, of course doesn’t have any) provided the debate is

Photo: CSIS: Center for Strategic & International Studies/Flickr

You could say that a filibuster occurs when a senator drones on and on. The problem with the U.S. Senate was that there were too few senators speaking about drones this week.

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Take a few minutes to watch and listen to Amy Goodman one of our top alternate journalists as she hosts a panel discussion the death of Hugo Chavez.

Bradley Manning has pleaded guilty to 10 charges including possessing and willfully communicating to an unauthorized person all the main elements of the WikiLeaks disclosure. The charges carry a total of 20 years in prison. For the first time, Bradley spoke publicly about what he did and why. His actions, now confirmed by his own words, reveal Bradley to be a very brave young man.

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As an American co-op activist, I’ve always looked up to the much more robust and successful Canadian co-op movement. In 2011, I was finally able to meet many of the people behind Canada’s movement when I visited Winnipeg.

I came to the city in order to share Co-opoly: The Game of Co-operatives with my co-op allies up north. (Co-opoly is a project of the worker co-op I am a member of – The Toolbox for Education and Social Action.) During this visit, though, I was amazed to learn all that the Canadian movement truly had to offer my fellow American co-operators.

 A growing movement

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dek: 

New book examines the intersections of racism and militarism in the war on terror.

Story_publish_date: 

February 28, 2013 …

Image: Sheila Steele/Flickr

Albert Woodfox has been in solitary confinement for 40 years, most of that time locked up in the notorious maximum-security Louisiana State Penitentiary known as “Angola.” This week, after his lawyers spent six years arguing that racial bias tainted the grand-jury selection in Woodfox’s prosecution, federal Judge James Brady, presiding in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, agreed. “Accordingly, Woodfox’s habeas relief is GRANTED,” ordered Brady, compelling the state of Louisiana to release Woodfox. This is the third time his conviction has been overturned. Nevertheless, Woodfox remains imprisoned.

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The Week perfectly summarizes the GOP’s rationale behind the great Chuck Hagel freakout: Hagel, a former GOP senator, won by the narrowest margin of any defense secretary since the job was created in 1947, raising concerns even among his supporters that he would emerge as a wounded leader as he takes over a Pentagon facing […]

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

On Tuesday there were protests in a number of U.S. cities, marking one year since the killing of Trayvon Martin , a 17 year-old…

Richard Hughes-Political Blogger

Nice to see many Americans, including Former President Jimmy Carter standing up and telling the real story behind the Canadians major role in free American Hostages through a daring plot born in the Canadian Embassy.

In the movie the Canada’s Ambassador Ken Taylor’s role was written out and fictitious accounts crediting the CIA inserted.

It is unfortunate that such a fine movie has been tainted by Hollywood’s revisionist version of the dramatic event.

Ever since ‘Argo’ came out, Canadians have been critiquing the skewed portrayal of America’s contribution to the daring Iran hostage rescue — and now got a former U.S. president on our side.

Jimmy Carter appeared Thursday on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight and offered some fact checking for the Oscar-nominated film.

“Ninety per cent of the contributions to the ideas and consummation of the plan was Canadian, and the movie gives almost . . . → Read More: Cowichan Conversations: Jimmy Carter Sets Record Straight About Oscar Winning ‘Argo’