August 2009 - Page 3 of 4 - Toward Freedom

Drones and Democracy in Afghanistan

Ramzy Baroud August 24, 2009 Ramzy Baroud

With elections just around the corner in Afghanistan, it might be timely to reflect on the US engagement with that stricken nation and consider just how much foreign intervention has contributed to the prospect and possibility of free and democratic elections. More, it is fitting to consider what kind of example the US and its allies have given to the people of Afghanistan, if they have bestowed any wisdom and guidance for a nation facing a turbulent and uncertain future.

Looting Africa: Canadian Company Eyes Gold in Democratic Republic of Congo

John Lasker August 20, 2009 John Lasker

Mining in DRC

A Canadian mining company is prepared to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in gold out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of Africa's most embattled and poorest countries. One expert says that to extract gold, the company will have to cut a deal with a violent African militia.

Detroit’s Urban Farms: Food Among the Ruins

Mark Dowie August 19, 2009 Mark Dowie

Detroit, the country's most depressed metropolis, has zero produce-carrying grocery chains. It also has open land, fertile soil, ample water, and the ingredients to reinvent itself from Motor City to urban farm.

A Thousand Little Gitmos: Will Obama Keep Secret Courts?

Petra Bartosiewicz August 18, 2009 Petra Bartosiewicz

Photo from Freefahad.com

The last person to see Syed Mehmood Hashmi as a free man was his friend Mohammed Haroon Saleem, who on June 6, 2006, drove Hashmi to London's Heathrow Airport, walked him to the security checkpoint, and watched him hoist his bag and head for the gate. But Hashmi never made his flight. At passport control, constables pulled him from the line and told him they had an extradition warrant on behalf of the US government. He was to be charged with aiding Al Qaeda.

Town Hall Forums on Healthcare Unmask Dark Side of US Culture

Sandy LeonVest August 17, 2009 Sandy LeonVest

The town hall meetings being held across the country by Democrats to revive Obama's gasping healthcare plan have opened a door that Americans from all corners of the political spectrum hoped would stay closed. This time around, the right may have gotten more than they bargained for.

The Globalization of Garbage: Following the Trail of Toxic Trash

Michael Fox August 13, 2009 Michael Fox

Garbage Heap in Philippines

"English Trash Going Home" read the front page of Brazil's Porto Alegre journal, Correio do Povo on Monday, August 3rd. The image showed the hefty MSC Oriane tanker piled with dozens of containers. The photo's caption explained that 920 "tons of domestic and toxic trash, imported illegally and which were in Rio Grande, were embarked and will make the return trip home to England." On her way North, the tanker stopped by the Santos port in Sao Paulo and picked up another 41 containers. For Brazil, it was the welcomed resolution to what had become a small-scaled international scandal. But globally, it is not even a scratch on the surface.