Twas The Night Before......

Doctors Without Borders Names Ten Worst Humanitarian Crises Of 2008

For the eleventh year in a row Doctors Without Borders has named the ten worst humanitarian crises of the year. Although these conditions are beyond horrible they see very little focus in the news. I honestly believe many of these situations would be properly dealt with if people were made more aware. Instead of telling these stories the news chooses to focus on domestic puff pieces which although often tragic don't come close the suffering you'll read about here.

Here is the list:

1. Somali
2. Myanmar
3. Zimbabwe
4. Democratic Republic Of Congo
5. Childhood Malnutrition
6. Ethiopia
7. Pakistan
8. Sudan
9. Iraq
10. HIV/TB

To read about these situations in detail you can check out the site set up by Doctors Without Borders:

Top Ten Worst Humanitarian Crises of 2008

Noticiably missing from the list is the humanitarian crises taking place in Palestine. To read about the humanitarian crises in Palestine check out this piece from Chris Hedges:

Israel’s ‘Crime Against Humanity’ By Chris Hedges

Happy Holidays From The Vatican

Just in time for the holidays Pope Benedict XVI has made some extremely anti-gay comments in a holiday addresses from the vatican. In short the the Pope compared saving humanity from homosexuals to be as noble as protecting the environment. The Pope claimed that gays weren't listening to the language of the creator and that in effect homosexuality is a threat to the existence of humanity. At this time of such unprecedented threats to the safety of humanity it is not only shocking but disgusting that the church sees homosexuality as the greatest threat to civilization.

Pope: Save Humanity from Homosexuality? By James Martin

Merry Christmas From Iraq

Take a look at this peice of propaganda aired on CNN this weekend.

Katrina's Hidden Race War

This weeks issue of "The Nation" features a peice by A.C. Thompson on the violence that occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The article sheds light on how groups of white vigilantes banded together to shoot black New Orleans residents. Only a handful of murder cases that took place after Katrina have been investigated. Below I have provided a link to the article as well as a Democracy Now! interview with Thomspon which features a short documentary on his research. The docmentary features interviews with police, victims and the shooters.


"Katrina's Hidden Race War"by A.C. Thompson

Obama Appoints Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of Interior

Barack Obama has appointed Tom Vilsack to head the Agricultural Department and Ken Salazar heading the Interior Department. Upon appointing Vilsack Obama again made clear his support of ethanol. Vilsack is not only in favor of ethanol but also bio-enginerd crops. Salazar on the other hand is a friend to the coal mining industry, he has also worked at keep many animals off the endangered species list. Below I've included two pieces from CounterPunch on both men.

Salazar and the Tragedy of the Common Ground By Jeffery St. Clair

Tom Vilsack's Kind of Agriculture, Another Shill for Monsanto By Ronnie Cummins

Amnesty International Calls For Ban On Tasers

From Democracy Now: Amnesty International is calling for new limits on the use of taser stun guns by law enforcement officials. In a new report, Amnesty says 334 people have been killed by taser weapons since 2001. 90 percent of the victims were unarmed and did not appear to present a serious threat. Some of the people to be shocked by taser weapons include schoolchildren, pregnant women and an elderly person with dementia.

To read the report from Amnesty International click here: Amnesty International's continuing concerns about taser use

John Lennon
October 9, 1940 - December 8, 1980)

Woman Is The Nigger of The World


Dear Yoko


Baby's In Black


You Can't Do That

D'Oh Canada

Americans spend very little time paying attention to African, Asian, European, and South American politics. They spend even less time paying attention to what is going on north of the border in Canada. This past thursday Canadian Prime Minster suspended meetings of Canada's parliament. Reason being that opposition parties were trying to take him out of power.

Harper stood in opposition to a proposed economic stimulus package meant to minimize effects of the finical crisis. According to the other parties he is attempting to eliminate subsidies for political parties, place a ban on civil servants right to strike (lasting three years), and placing limits on the ability of women to sue for the right of equal pay. Harper has been a major support of the Bush administration and its unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not surprisingly he is also in favor of the proposed North American Union. Harper is talking about making extreme changes to Canadian polices, among them the elimination of their nationalized health care system.

Canadians don't vote for their prime minster that choice is made by elected officials. If they lose the confidence of a majority of those officials they can be ousted. Parliament is scheduled to reconvene in late January.

To read more check out this artilce published by Counterpunch: "Powergrab in Ottawa" Mike Whintey

"Were Back!" Hollered The Clintons

With announcement of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, I found this cartoon to be most appropriate. The cartoon is by Mr.Fish I've added a link (in the links column to the right of this post) to his archive at Truth Dig, I highly recommend checking out some of his other work.