TRUTHOUT
HAITI EARTHQUAKE LIVE BLOG: Who to Follow and What to Read for Breaking Developments
Here is the link to Thursday's live blog. Please check the page regularly for updates.
7:45am PDT: The BBC has a disturbing first hand video report from a hospital in Port-au-Prince where, last night, injured people waiting for treatment slept amongst dead bodies.
To Teach Is to Seduce
To be a good teacher, must one be an erudite academic or a perceptive pedagogue? The debate is endless. Jean-Paul Brighelli brings a new element to the discussion: knowing how to teach is knowing how to seduce.
In these days, when the master's degree and other requirements fall thick and fast from the Education Ministry, when some would like to emphasize the disciplines, knowledge and true competency, while the others intone the great song of professionalization and other pedagogical nonsense
"We Have 51 Senate Votes for Public Option" Adam Green to Ed Schultz (VIDEO)
Adam Green, of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told Ed Schultz yesterday that he counts 51 votes in the senate for the public option, and cites details on senators who have not yet signed the letter, but who have clearly publicly stated that they will vote FOR the public option if they get that bill from the house.
Nancy Pelosi has said the votes aren't there, so she won't include the public option in the House legislation. Read this and try not to be angry.
Obama's Health Care Legacy Hangs on 216 House Votes
Washington - The looming vote for final passage of the historic health-care bill is the stiffest challenge House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn has faced in his three-plus years as the lawmaker responsible for counting heads and ensuring passage of major legislation.
The South Carolina Democrat has spent the past week in endless meetings and conversations with key factions of Democrats in the House of Representatives, among them black, Hispanic and the fiscally conservative "Blue Dog" lawmakers.
A Place to Make Sparks
We're all tired of the suffocating parameters of "left versus right," of "blue America versus red America," of manufactured conflict - the evil twin of manufactured consent. We're tired of the haters, the snake oil salesmen, the hypocrites, the phonies. We're tired of toxic politics, of baseless accusations, of cowardly efforts to wound with code words like "socialism" ... all played out in our illiberal media.
Obama's Plan for Education Reform: Short on Specifics, So Far
President Obama will send the outlines of an education overhaul bill to Congress on Monday, promising sweeping changes to a faltering American education system.
Israel Lands in Public Relations Nightmare
Jerusalem - Israeli riot police and soldiers have, since Friday, sealed off the Al Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine, restricting entry to women and Palestinian men over 50. Outside the walled Old City, where the Al Aqsa mosque is situated, and in several West Bank villages, clashes were reported between Palestinian protestors, their Israeli and international supporters, and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), leaving at least 20 Palestinians wounded.
Homes for Our Troops Building 32 Houses for Disabled Veterans
After losing his right leg and severely injuring his left leg while serving in Iraq, veteran Frank Pierson moved in with his wife at her mother's home in Cicero, Illinois. Although it's home, it has some inconveniences.
Navigating from ground level to the basement bedroom is a challenge, for instance. Soon, though, Pierson and his wife, Arielle Carroll-Pierson, will get to move into a new home in Plainfield, a suburb of Chicago, that is designed especially to help Pierson get around the home with ease.
Teamsters' New Tactic Scores at Continental Airlines
The Teamsters Union's February 12 election victory to represent 7,600 ground workers at Continental Airlines shows that good old-fashioned hard work might be making a comeback.
Several hundred union organizers fanned out across the country and knocked on doors in 24 cities in preparation for the vote. This time, Teamsters volunteers did not limit themselves to the large Continental hubs in Cleveland, Houston and Newark, as other unions had done in failed organizing efforts over the last 12 years.
Another Accused American Terrorist in Yemen
From a Yemeni perspective, it appears that the West is sending terrorists to Yemen. This week, Sharif Mobley, a 26-year-old from Buena, New Jersey has joined the list of suspected Al Qaeda militants, believed to be bred in the West, and trained in Yemen.
As this list grows larger, it also appears to grow less random. Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical U.S.-born Yemeni cleric, who preaches jihad on the internet is believed to be connected to Mobley.
Thailand: Rural Masses Stage Historic Protest
Bangkok - An unprecedented show of force by men and women from Thailand’s rural hinterland was on display over the weekend as they poured into Bangkok in the tens of thousands to stake a claim on having a voice in shaping this South-east Asian kingdom’s national agenda.
Please, Enough With the Partisan Chain E-mail
For five years, Joyce and John Good silently tolerated angry partisan e-mails forwarded by family and friends.
They even ignored the steady vitriol flowing from the husband and wife they'd known for 40 years.
"We'd raised our children together," Joyce said of the couple. "We never talked politics. We'd just say, 'We're bipartisan.' But they started sending us these awful e-mails, and it was clear they assumed we agreed with them."
Snake Oil Salesmen: Big Oil and Hip-Hop Don't Mix
Rule No. 1 in hip-hop: don't knock the hustle. And KRS-One stated clearly in the first principle of The Hip-Hop Declaration of Peace, that among the nine elements fundamental to the kulture is street entrepreneurialism. It is hard, I understand, to speak ill of a rapper or MC making business moves to better their living and, in some cases, enrich the communities from which they emerged.
And Jay-Z laid the statutes down a decade and half ago: "Let's get
As Biden Visits, Israel Keeps Iran Fears in Mind
Jerusalem - Israeli leaders would like nothing better than to smash Iran’s putative nuclear capability with a swift bombing raid. Trouble is, most Israeli military and political chiefs are doubtful it could be done and fear the broader consequences of any attempt.
That might make for uncomfortable times down the road for Israel when it comes in the range of Iranian nukes. But it also could lead to domestic political conflict over the peace talks with the Palestinians, which U.S. mediators announced this week will restart in the coming days.
New Hope for Progress on US Ratification of CEDAW
Women have been stymied for years in efforts to achieve U.S. ratification of CEDAW, the UN treaty to eliminate discrimination against women. Now, meeting at the UN, U.S. women hope to regain influence in establishing rights for women around the world.
US AIDS Fund Flat-Lining, Groups Complain
Washington - The debate between those who favour investment in AIDS treatment and those who favour investment in its prevention came to the forefront Thursday at a U.S House of Representatives hearing on U.S. investments in HIV/AIDS in Africa.
International health organisations working to help check the spread of AIDS in Africa said meagre increases in funds from the U.S. government this year would be a step backwards. Some experts also emphasised that prevention must get appropriate attention in any fight against the disease.
Robert Scheer | An Oscar for America's Hubris
What a shame that the one movie about the Iraq war that has a chance of being viewed by a large worldwide audience should be so disappointing.
According to press reports, members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences finally found a movie about the Iraq war they liked because it is "apolitical." Actually, "The Hurt Locker" is just the opposite -- it's an endorsement of the politically chauvinistic view that the world is a stage upon which Americans get to deal with their demons no matter the consequence for others.
Froma Harrop | Coming Between You and Your Doctor
The lights must dim around Google's data-storage centers every time someone does a search for "government bureaucrat coming between you and your doctor." Foes of the Democrats' health-reform proposals have been chanting this on the hour for a year -- with a surge after Democrats put money for "comparative effectiveness research" in the stimulus bill.
Rachel Corrie Case Stirs Fresh Pain and Hope
Haifa, Israel - Shortly before Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer on March 16, 2003, she said in a video interview that she marveled at Palestinians’ ability to “hold onto their humanity as much as they have.”
Antiwar Activists Plan Nationwide Protests to Mark Seventh Anniversary of Iraq Invasion
Antiwar activists are gearing up to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq with a weeklong series of events to protest the ongoing occupation of the country.
The US invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. Then-President George W. Bush and top administration officials told the American people Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat to the US, had concealed weapons of mass destruction and helped plan the 9/11 attacks.
