February 2007 - Toward Freedom

A Bleak Resurgence of the Russian Radical Right

Dan Read February 28, 2007 Dan Read

For many, Russia is now a land of dashed hopes and profound disappointment. After the heady days of the Solidarnosc, the resounding defeat of the August 1991 coup, and the eventual collapse of the USSR itself, a feeling of numbing disillusionment has set in. For those who had held out hope of a new dawn of social equality and, dare I say it, economic abundance, the current epoch lies in stark contrast to the times of the late 1980s and early 1990s and the intense political enthusiasm they brought with them.

Russell Davenport: World Citizen, Political Strategist

Rene Wadlow February 28, 2007 Rene Wadlow

With the US presidential campaign preliminaries beginning in the Democratic and Republican parties, it is useful to recall one of the most innovative of campaign strategists, Russell Davenport, the spirit behind those chanting "We want Willkie" at the 1940 Republican convention in Philadelphia.

GOP ‘Catch the Immigrant’ Game Catches Flak

Sam Graham-Felsen February 27, 2007 Sam Graham-Felsen

The stunt works like this: College Republicans give a student a name tag that reads "Illegal Immigrant" and players scour the campus to find him or her. The winner gets a gift certificate. This kind of event has been staged by College Republican chapters all over the country.

Monsanto Merger Sows Fears over Skewed Seed Market

Michelle Chen, NewStandard News February 26, 2007 Michelle Chen, NewStandard News

A pending merger in the cotton-seed industry is prompting sharp legal and environmental criticisms of biotechnology in US agriculture.The proposed merger would fuse the world's largest seed company, Monsanto, with one of the country's leading cotton-seed firms, Delta and Pine Land. Announced last year, the deal is now awaiting antitrust clearance from the Justice Department.

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Super User February 26, 2007 Super User

The Taliban Rises from the Ashes

Nafisa Hoodbhoy February 22, 2007 Nafisa Hoodbhoy

In a recent visit along the Pak-Afghan border, I found growing evidence that the battle hardened Islamic militants had regrouped with a vengeance. It should have come as no surprise: last year the Taliban insurgency had set a new record of over 4,000 people killed. Although the Northwest Frontier Province has traditionally been more conservative than the rest of the Pakistan, I discovered that Islamic militancy had grown almost reflexively in proportion to U.S. bombardment in the region.