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WORLD WAR NO: Apocalypse Impending?

'The Middle East Theatre of War' (GlobalResearch.ca)

When a former Middle East bureau chief of The New York Times is writing that “War with Iran — a war that would unleash an apocalyptic scenario in the Middle East — is probable by the end of the Bush administration,” we should awaken to the possibility. When he continues, “It could begin in as little as three weeks,” concerned citizens everywhere should resolve to work together to prevent it.

Writing on Alternet on Tuesday, Chris Hedges warned of an American naval armada barreling towards the Strait of Hormuz: the 50 kilometer-wide, 21 kilometer-narrow waterway adjoining the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea…

“The aircraft carrier Eisenhower, accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio, guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage, guided-missile destroyer USS Mason and the fast-attack submarine USS Newport News, is, as I write, making its way to the Straits of Hormuz off Iran. The ships will be in place to strike Iran by the end of the month. It may be a bluff. It may be a feint. It may be a simple show of American power. But I doubt it.“

Three weeks ago, a Time magazine cover-story broke the news of a “‘Prepare to Deploy’ order sent through [U.S.] naval communications channels to a submarine, an Aegis-class cruiser, two minesweepers and two mine hunters” alongside “a second request, from the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)” asking “for fresh eyes on long-standing U.S. plans to blockade two Iranian oil ports on the Persian Gulf.” A follow-up post in The Nation reported the public affairs office of the Navy Department at the Pentagon confirming that “the Eisenhower Strike Group, bristling with Tomahawk cruise missiles… is scheduled to arrive off the coast of Iran on or around October 21“ — next Saturday — just over two weeks before mid-term elections in the US.
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Death of a Journalist: Anna Politkovskaya

Time Europe 2003 Hero: Anna Politkovskaya © Time Magazine

Since the death of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, bloggers have been positing possible theories of her murder. At Global Voices, there’s a translation of one of the most popular posts in the Russian blogosphere, which discusses the journalist’s murder and her investigative work in Chechnya. The Diplomatic Times Review provides a good number of related links on the news of her death.
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Upgrading International Development, Part II

A Talk with Ethan Zuckerman, Global Voices Online Co-founder, Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law

In part two of the interview, Ethan shares his views on conquering digital divides, activism and technology, and how improvements in technology might affect us in the future. You can read the first part of the interview here.
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How can we use technology to turn apathy into action?

I think the only force that combats apathy is empathy. Until you care about a situation in another part of the world, it’s very hard to decide to pay attention to that situation and even harder to decide to act.

To get people to care across cultural, language and geographic barriers requires some sort of exposure. I knew very little about Africa and cared very little until I lived in Ghana as a student in 1993. Coming back to the US, I was suddenly interested in African politics because there were a lot of people in Ghana I cared deeply for. This discovery is what led me to form Geekcorps - I wanted to give other geeks the chance to get exposed to different parts of the world, build interpersonal ties and work on solutions to tough technical problems.

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Power Players in Net Neutrality

Proposed US legislation on Internet neutrality is being hotly debated.

At Salon, there’s an interesting read about the grassroots organizations taking on large telecom companies in the fight for Net neutrality. The Telecom Slayers provides a clear overview of the main concerns with the proposed Internet legislation, as well as a rundown on the organizations and lobbyists working for and against the issue.

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Foreign Policy Index: Commitment to Development

The Netherlands tops the 2006 FP Index

Foreign Policy and the Center for Global Development released their annual ranking of the 21 richest countries, as posted on Idealist.org. The Commitment to Development Index analyzes at seven government policy categories to determine which countries are living up to promises to end world poverty.
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NGO ACTION: Human Rights Watch calls on Swiss voters to reject asylum restrictions

Swiss referendum today on changes to asylum law (LaSi), Photo:Freefoto.com

In an e-mail bulletin sent yesterday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on voters to reject changes to the Swiss asylum law (LaSi) in today’s referendum. HRW released an analysis of the proposed amendments in an open letter, detailing the failure to comply with international standards.

Elisa Mason provides a quick overview of pro and con links at the Forced Migration Current Awareness blog, including a post at the Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees (ICAR).
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Purge of Liberal Academics in Iran and… USA?

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seeks to revive Islamic radicalism

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has just called for the expulsion of all professors from Iranian universities who do not submit to the fundamentalist doctrines that underlay the Iranian revolution of 1979. In what some analysts interpreted as the start of a clampdown, Ahmadinejad derided secular lecturers as a fifth column of Western colonialism which he said was seeking to expand into Iran.
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Arundhati Roy asks herself: What form of resistance is effective and acceptable?

Be sure to take a close look at Arundhati Roy’s provocative question about the future of non-violent resistance and armed struggle. “What is effective?,” she wonders. “What is the right thing to do?”
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Ghana Bans Gay and Lesbian Conference

Information Minister Kwamena Bartels: 'Unnatural carnal knowledge is illegal'

The Ghanaian government has banned a gay conference due to take place in the capital Accra later this month, claiming that homosexuality was illegal in Ghana. Information Minister Kwamena Bartels warned that disciplinary action would be taken if anyone was found to have contravened the law. “Government does not condone any such activity which violently offends the culture, morality and heritage of the entire people of Ghana,” he said.
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Right-Wing Bigotry

Pat Buchanan only want to allow white immigrants into America

Think Progress takes a look at Pat Buchanan’s new book state of emergency where he argues for “an immediate moratorium on all immigration.” Why? To preserve the dominance of the white race in America. Using racist arguments of ‘genetic superiority’, Buchanan explains that:

“America faces an existential crisis. If we do not get control of our borders, by 2050 Americans of European descent will be a minority in the nation their ancestors created and built. No nation has ever undergone so radical a demographic transformation and survived.”
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ASK YOURSELF: “Is it irresponsible for somebody like me, who isn’t really educated in matters of politics, to vote?”

This question was donated to us on the World Question Tour and is available on our website in video format. Jordan Copeland from London, who is asking the question, regards himself as politically uninformed due to lack of interest. What do you think? Should people be able to answer certain criteria before they go to the polls? what can be done to better educate people about politics? Please leave your thoughts and comments in the field below.

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112 Free Voices: Pauline Tangiora, Aotearoa’s inspiration

“People who recognise that others have something to share must make themselves available too. I’m humbled to be able to offer our basket of the spirit for others to draw from, as well as to learn from other participants to increase my own awareness of what is happening in the world.”

Pauline Tangiora is an activist and campaigner whose work embraces both the local and the global.
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112 Free Voices: irrepressible protector of the right to free expression, Sanar Yurdatapan

“I loved the idea of the Table from the very first moment I heard about it. In a world drawn in fire, blood and tears, in a world where the jungle rules are imposed on humanity once again, the witnesses of the century should have some words to say to the present and the future. I feel proud to be one of them.”
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ASK YOURSELF: “Why can one person be reasonable but masses cannot?”

Ask Yourself

In my mind, today’s featured question relates to the idea at the core of dropping knowledge’s ‘Turn Apathy into Action’ campaign. Apathy means conforming and taking things for granted. dropping knowledge encourages people to question the world around them and their immediate environment. Give us your thoughts, share your experiences or even question the validity of the featured question itself by leaving your comment in the field below.
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Wireless in the Himalayas

A solar panel powering the mesh network soaks up sun on top of a Hindu shrine. Photo: Xeni Jardin

An article published in Wired Magazine on August 17 describes how western “hacktivists” and Tibetan refugees in Dharmsala, India built a mesh network in the Himalayas using junk parts and free software to communicate with organizations in Chinese-occupied Tibet. Shortly after the publication of the article the project’s website was attacked.

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Uri Grossman, son of David Grossman, Killed in Battle

Israeli author David Grossman and his son Uri

Uri Grossman, the son of Israeli novelist and peace activist David Grossman, has died in battle in Lebanon. Staff Sergeant Uri Grossman, 20, was killed when an anti-tank missile hit his tank in southern Lebanon. He was one of the last Israeli casualties before the ceasefire was declared.
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A New Era for Women in Rwanda

Staff at the Rwanda Women's Network © Rwanda Women Network 2006

Feministing find reasons to be cheerful in this article from the Seattle Times about the changing status of women in Rwanda. Since the devastating genocide which left the country with a 70% female population, Rwanda has out-paced Sweden and Norway as the nation with the highest percentage of female legislators in the world. 48% of MPs are women, as are 50% of the judges in the legal system, the head of the supreme court and half of Rwanda’s college graduates.

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A Documentary on Citizen Journalism

In a recent post on the My Heart’s in Accra blog, there’s a link to an interesting video on the blog phenomenon. Created for a Project Documentary class at Cambridge Community Television, Citizen Journalism: From Pamphlet to Blog is currently hosted on blip.tv, a video sharing site. The video positions blogging in the context of a long history of U.S. citizen or community-based media, like pamphleting and zines.
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So You Think You Can Do Better? Computer Games Get Serious

A screengrab from Peacemaker, © www.peacemakergame.com

Do you think you could sort out the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Now’s your chance to find out. Developers at Carnegie Mellon University in the USA have come up with Peacemaker, an interactive game based on the conflict in Gaza.
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Iranian Bloggers Joined by President Ahmadinejad

President Ahmadinejad as depicted on his very own blog

Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to have decided that he’s not getting his message across. He’s chosen an interesting new route to the hearts and minds of his own people and those in the West – blogging, which effectively lets him get his viewpoint across without being filtered through any hostile media. He provides translations from the original Farsi into French, Arabic and some rather quaint English reminiscent of a Persian folktale.
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Gay Rights and the War in Iraq

The bodies of three men suspected of being gay and subsequently killed, March 20 in the Iraqi city of Ramadi (Photo by Bilal Hussein/AP)

There have been a wave of vicious attacks against gay Iraqi men and women by Shia militants who believe that homosexuality is against their faith. Men are the main targets, and several have been found “executed” or beaten to death – worse still, their murder has been recorded on camera. The Observer trailed a Channel 4 documentary on the escalating homophobia in an article last Sunday, noting, most shockingly of all, that the attacks are permissable under current Iraqi law:

Homosexuality is seen as so immoral that it qualifies as an ‘honour killing’ to murder someone who is gay - and the perpetrator can escape punishment. Section 111 of Iraq’s penal code lays out protections for murder when people are acting against Islam.

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Iranian Government Cracks Down on Human Rights Group

Shiran Ebadi, image taken from her website www.shirinebadi.ir

The government in Iran has declared that:

“Any activity by [the Center for Defense of Human Rights (CDHR)] is illegal, and violators of this decision will be prosecuted,”

The NGO in question has provided legal aid for hundreds of dissidents, journalists and students who have spoken out peacefully against policies of the Iranian Government. Officials Kafka-esquely allege that the centre failed to obtain a permit to operate, although the organisation applied for one many times, and in any case, according the Iranian law, it is not even necessary for them to have such a permit.
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Watching the War on the Web II: the Blogosphere’s “Propaganda Watch”

News agency Reuters scrapped over 920 images by Lebanese photographer Adnan Hajj after bloggers alerted them to the fact that two of the pictures had been altered. The original picture is on the left, and on the right you can see someone has used a ’spray paint’ tool from a software package to add to the smoke rising from Beirut buildings. It’s pretty crudely done, and it’s no surprise that Reuters saw fit to issue a statement:

“Manipulating photographs in this way is entirely unacceptable and contrary to all the principles consistently held by Reuters throughout its long and distinguished history. It undermines not only our reputation but also the good name of all our photographers.”
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A Total Clash of Civilizations

Shah Muhammad Rais in his Kabul bookshop

Suraya Rais, the wife of Afghan bookseller Shah Mohammed Rais depicted in the international bestseller ‘The Bookseller of Kabul’ by Norwegian journalist Asne Seierstad, is applying for asylum in Europe because she claims the book has endangered her life. ‘The Bookseller of Kabul’ was recently published in Afghanistan, making life in Kabul impossible for the Rais family. But Mrs. Rais’ asylum application is only the latest development in the bitter aftermath of the book’s 2002 publication.
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Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents

In countries with limited freedom of the press, independant bloggers and online journalists often risk personal security by publishing information for a global audience. Journalists like Iranian blogger Arash Sigarchi and Table of Free Voices participant Sihem Bensedrine have been imprisoned because of their work. To support new bloggers, Reporters Without Borders published an online manual to help novices create, maintain and promote a blog, while addressing security concerns. Additional content includes technical advice on blogging anonymously, avoiding Internet censorship, and protecting e-mail communications. Download the PDF version.

features

Upgrading International Development, Part II

Upgrading International Development

Fighting Corruption: Bribe Payers Index 2006

Recycle Your Cell-Phone, Save a Gorilla

A Look Behind the Prison Walls

The Homeless World Cup 2006

Reach Out and Finance Someone

Arundhati Roy asks herself: What form of resistance is effective and acceptable?

Iranian Bloggers Joined by President Ahmadinejad

Creating A New Universe

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Democracy & Freedom

WORLD WAR NO: Apocalypse Impending?

Death of a Journalist: Anna Politkovskaya

Upgrading International Development, Part II

Power Players in Net Neutrality

Foreign Policy Index: Commitment to Development

NGO ACTION: Human Rights Watch calls on Swiss voters to reject asylum restrictions

Purge of Liberal Academics in Iran and… USA?

Arundhati Roy asks herself: What form of resistance is effective and acceptable?

Ghana Bans Gay and Lesbian Conference

Right-Wing Bigotry

ASK YOURSELF: “Is it irresponsible for somebody like me, who isn’t really educated in matters of politics, to vote?”

112 Free Voices: Pauline Tangiora, Aotearoa’s inspiration

112 Free Voices: irrepressible protector of the right to free expression, Sanar Yurdatapan

ASK YOURSELF: “Why can one person be reasonable but masses cannot?”

Wireless in the Himalayas

Uri Grossman, son of David Grossman, Killed in Battle

A New Era for Women in Rwanda

A Documentary on Citizen Journalism

So You Think You Can Do Better? Computer Games Get Serious

Iranian Bloggers Joined by President Ahmadinejad

Gay Rights and the War in Iraq

Iranian Government Cracks Down on Human Rights Group

Watching the War on the Web II: the Blogosphere’s “Propaganda Watch”

A Total Clash of Civilizations

Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents