QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” – Chief Seattle, Duwamish (1780-1866)

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. … Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” – Martin Luther King – “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,”

STATS OF THE WEEK

In the world’s top four financial hubs — New York, London, Hong Kong, and Singapore — over 300 residential properties sold for over $15.5 million in 2012, says a new report co-produced by Deutsche Bank. The total outlay for the 300 properties: over $10 billion, for an average over $33 million each.

FEATURES

Michael Klare, The Coming Global Explosion http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175690/tomgram%3A_michael_klare%2C_the_coming_global_explosion/

Fighting drone wars behind our back: cheap, invisible and risk-free mass murder http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/159-stop-the-war/16402–fighting-drone-wars-behind-our-back-cheap-invisible-and-risk-free-mass-murder

Terrorism and the other Religions: Contrary to what is alleged by bigots like Bill Maher, Muslims are not more violent than people of other religions. Murder rates in most of the Muslim world are very low compared to the United States. http://www.juancole.com/2013/04/terrorism-other-religions.html

U.S. Seeks to Get Rid of Left Governments in Latin America http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/us-seeks-to-get-rid-of-left-governments-in-latin-america

WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS

The 1 percent’s solution by Paul Krugman http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/opinion/krugman-the-one-percents-solution.html

LAND, LABOUR AND THE ENVIRONMENT

If you Love the Earth on Earth Day, Close a Coal Plant – Dirty coal is killing us and killing the earth. Here is a shot documentary. http://www.juancole.com/2013/04/earth-close-plant.html

CULTURAL DISSENT

Denis Edwards: When it comes to Kiwi movies, Maori stories rule http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10877930%20

Gil Scott-Heron ” Work For Peace ” – Video:
Americans no longer fight to keep their shores safe,
Just to keep the jobs going in the arms making workplace.
Then they pretend to be gripped by some sort of political reflex,
But all they’re doing is paying dues to the Military Industrial Complex. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33379.htm

Film: Breaking the Taboo – Narrated by Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman, the film follows The Global Commission on Drug Policy on a mission to break the political taboo over the United States led War on Drugs and expose what it calls the biggest failure of global policy in the last 40 years. http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/breaking_the_taboo_film/

525 Free Movies Online: Great Classics, Indies, Noir, Westerns, etc. http://www.openculture.com/freemoviesonline

John Pilger: Real journalism http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/john-pilger-real-journalism/

BOLIVIA

The Enduring Legacy of Bolivia’s Forgotten National Revolution https://nacla.org/blog/2013/4/13/enduring-legacy-bolivia%E2%80%99s-forgotten-national-revolution

CANADA

Protests in Nova Scotia following institutional failure to protect female teen assault victim http://www.rogerannis.com/protests-in-nova-scotia-following-institutional-failure-to-protect-female-teen-assault-victim/

CHINA

Hong Kong: ‘We’re all on the same ocean’ — dock workers’ strike holds firm after three weeks http://links.org.au/node/3310

Striking Hong Kong workers block road, refuse to leave billionaire’s skyscraper http://hkstrikes.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/april26action/

CUBA

Cuba Tests a New Type of Public Administration: They got rid of half of the bureaucrats, drastically cut down on administrative expenses, transformed dozens of government office facilities into homes and now plan to house in one building all the offices for the population’s legal procedures. http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=91531

FRANCE

Hollande’s support drops further as tax scandal poses need for radical change http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53839

GREECE

Into the Fire – The Hidden Victims of Austerity in Greece

INDIA

The Bastar Land Grab in India – An Interview with Sudha Bharadwaj http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/808.php

IRELAND

Thousands attend anti-austerity protest in Dublin http://www.irishtimes.com/news/thousands-attend-anti-austerity-protest-in-dublin-1.1359805

IRAN

Is Anybody Listening? U.S. Intel Chief Says Iran Isn’t Building Nukes.

By Nima Shirazi. In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Director of National Intelligence reaffirmed what the U.S. intelligence community has been saying for years: Iran has no nuclear weapons program, is not building a nuclear weapon and has not even made a decision to do so.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34672.htm

IRAQ

Toxic Fallout in Fallujah – Video: Since the assaults on Fallujah in 2004, the city has seen an astronomical rise in birth defects and abnormalities, including some too new to even have a proper medical name. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34715.htm

MALAYSIA

Ruling party facing greatest challenge in poll http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53876

PALESTINE

Growing Voices Among Palestinians Calling for a Single Democratic Secular State http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10093

SOUTH AFRICA

Pro-government faction attacks COSATU’s Zwelinzima Vavi http://links.org.au/node/3312

SPAIN

Mortgage fraud, faux-democracy and escrache in Spain http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/international/16397-this-time-its-personal-mortgage-fraud-faux-democracy-and-escrache-in-spain

SYRIA

Syria behind the Lines: An unprecedented film documents the new and perilous reality of everyday life for both Syria’s rebels and its regime. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/syria-behind-the-lines/

THAILAND

Puppets on a string, dancing to the tune of the military http://links.org.au/node/3311

UK

It’s time to bury not just Thatcher – but Thatcherism http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/16/bury-not-just-thatcher-but-thatcherism

Ten Myths about Thatcher http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2013/04/17/glen-newey/ten-myths-about-thatcher/

Thatcher – black gold or red bricks? http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/oliver-huitson/thatcher-black-gold-or-red-bricks

DailyPolitics: George Galloway continues anti-Margaret Thatcher rants

How Thatcher gave Pol Pot a hand: Almost two million Cambodians died as a result of Year Zero. John Pilger argues that, without the complicity of the US and Britain, it may never have happened. http://www.newstatesman.com/node/137397

Dispelling the Thatcher myths http://www.redpepper.org.uk/dispelling-the-thatcher-myths/

USA

Inside America’s Dirty Wars http://www.thenation.com/article/173980/inside-americas-dirty-wars

Film: Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America’s expanding covert wars. http://dirtywars.org/

Jeremy Scahill: The Secret Story Behind Obama’s Assassination of Two Americans in Yemen http://www.democracynow.org/2013/4/23/jeremy_scahill_the_secret_story_behind

Walmart Workers Plan Wednesday Scheduling Showdowns in 100 Stores http://www.thenation.com/blog/173983/walmart-workers-plan-wednesday-scheduling-showdowns-hundred-stores

America Cannot Assert Moral Authority While Guantánamo Remains Open http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/21/observer-editorial-guantanamo-bay-should-close

The Persecution of Lynne Stewart By Chris Hedges http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34691.htm

NYT Uses News Story to Express Dislike of Danish Welfare State http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/nyt-uses-news-story-to-express-dislike-of-danish-welfare-state

277 Million Boston Bombings By Robert Scheer: President Obama made clear that “anytime bombs are used to target innocent civilians, it is an act of terror.” But are we as a society prepared to be judged by that standard?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34708.htm

VENEZUELA

The United States shows its contempt for Venezuelan democracy http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/22/united-states-contempt-venezuelan-democracy

Nicolas Maduro promises ‘revolution of the revolution’, advance to `socialist mode of living’ http://links.org.au/node/3309