September 26, 2015
Dear heads of state and government:
Distinguished heads of delegations:
Secretary General of the United Nations:
Mister President: (more…)
By José Pertierra on September 23, 2015
Photo: Bill Hackwell
For 54 years the United States has waged war against Cuba, in a futile effort to strangle and starve the Cuban population into mutiny against the Revolution. Ten different presidents tried to asphyxiate Cuba, by blockading the island, causing suffering, as well as human and financial loss in the billions of dollars. Now things appear to be changing. President Barack Obama, the 11th US President since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, seems intent on changing Washington’s strategy for dealing with Cuba. (more…)
September 23, 2015
Mass officiated by Pope Francis in the Sanctuary of El Cobre Photo: Ricardo López Hevia
“Both presidents have spoken; I hope that an agreement which satisfies both parties is reached,” stated the Pontiff in regards to the U.S. blockade imposed on Cuba.
According to the Vatican Insider, Pope Francis – asked to comment on the U.S. blockade of Cuba – stated that the lifting of the blockade is part of negotiations underway directed toward the normalization of relations, while speaking to journalists during his flight from Santiago de Cuba to Washington. (more…)
By Organizers of Days of Action Against the Blockade on September 20, 2105
Rafael Cancel Miranda speaking at Days of Action Against the Blockade in Washington DC, Photo: Bill Hackwell
Organizers of the Days of Action against the Blockade of Cuba which took place this past week in Washington D.C. issued a statement in response to Cuban President Raul Castro’s humanitarian gesture of releasing 3,255 prisoners in anticipation of the visit of Pope Francis. The organizers made a call to President Obama to follow Cuban President Raul Castro’s lead… (more…)
By Brad Hoff on September 18, 2015
Abu Omar al-Shishani, the red-bearded face of ISIS terror lately described in such headlines as ‘Star pupil’: Pied piper of ISIS recruits was trained by U.S. for the fact that he received American military training as part of an elite Georgian army unit in 2006 and after, did not stop playing for “team America” once he left his home country in the Caucuses. He actually enjoyed U.S. backing and American taxpayer largesse as late as 2013, soon after entering Syria with his band of Chechen jihadists. (more…)
By the New York Times Editorial Board on September 19, 2015
For almost 14 years, the United States’ military prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has sat festering on the edge of the Caribbean and the Constitution. Opened by President George W. Bush in the panicky months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the detention center has had a powerful radicalizing effect, has severely tarnished America’s standing as a nation of laws and has cost taxpayers more than $5.2 billion. (more…)
By Glen Ford on September 16, 2015
“It is not lack of training that breeds killer cops, but the training, itself.”
Black people don’t need more “training” of the cops that patrol their communities. What’s needed is a new mission for the police – one that is radically different than the current armed occupation – and Black community control over both the project and the personnel. U.S. police are already well trained – in containing, controlling, terrorizing and incarcerating Black people. “For decades, the essential U.S. police mission has been military in nature.” (more…)
By Glenn Greenwald on September 17, 2015
There are sprawling industries and self-proclaimed career “terrorism experts” in the U.S. that profit greatly by deliberately exaggerating the threat of Terrorism and keeping Americans in a state of abject fear of “radical Islam.” There are all sorts of polemicists who build their public platforms by demonizing Muslims and scoffing at concerns over “Islamaphobia,” with the most toxic ones insisting that such a thing does not even exist, even as the mere presence of mosques is opposed across the country, or even as they are physically attacked. (more…)