Story Archives - Page 573 of 661

Selling Sex in Siam

Elayne Clift November 30, 2005 Elayne Clift

Even paradise has its seedy side, a fact that comes through clearly in Louise Brown's important book, Sex Slaves: The Trafficking of Women in Asia (Virago, 2000). Examining the region's sex trade and shedding light on its abuses and exploitations, Brown's book is a wake-up call and a condemnation. But mostly it is a chronicle of commodification, filled with very sad stories about the lives of innocent girls and women forced to sell their bodies as if they were just so much meat.

The Revolution May Never Be Televised

Rob Williams November 29, 2005 Rob Williams

Joseph McCarthy

"I am entirely persuaded that the American public is more reasonable, restrained and more mature than most of our industry's program planners believe." - Edward R. Murrow, 1958

To say that George Clooney's new film "Good Night and Good Luck" is one of the most important films of this year is to be guilty of significant understatement. Not since Michael Mann's 1999 thriller "The Insider" has a Hollywood film director made a media-focused mainstream movie this important or timely.

An Interview with 9/11 Truth Activist Carol Brouillet

Bob Feldman November 28, 2005 Bob Feldman

A co-founder of both the International Media Project, Making Contact alternative media group and the Northern California 9-11 Truth Alliance, Carol Brouillet is one of the most energetic, creative and politically productive West Coast-based anti-war activists.

Toward Freedom: Since October 2001, you've been organizing weekly "Listening For Peace" anti-war protests in Downtown Palo Alto, California. In what various ways have people in Palo Alto responded to your weekly "Listening For Peace" actions during the last four years?

China guarding against “color revolutions”

Super User November 23, 2005 Super User

BEIJING – China has suspended plans to allow the domestic publication of foreign newspapers due to what officials are calling the threat of “color revolutions” backed by the West.

"When I think of the ‘color revolutions’, I feel afraid," Shi Zongyuan, head of the General Administration of Press and Publication, told the UK‘s Financial Times.

Shi was referring to the growth of opposition movements that have toppled regimes in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and the Ukraine. China’s leaders compare these "color revolutions" -so named because of the color and flower symbols adopted by protesters – to the uprisings that led in the late 1980s to the fall of Communist governments in Europe, and claim that Pres. George Bush’s repeated calls for the global promotion of democracy fuel such revolts. read more

UN rejects Guantanamo visit conditions

Super User November 23, 2005 Super User

NEW YORK – The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture has cancelled a planned trip to the Guantanamo detention center on Dec. 6 due a refusal by U.S. officials to allow private contact with detainees. According to Agence France Press, a UN inspection team led by Manfred Nowak had set a Nov. 17 deadline for acceptance of specific conditions, including interviews with some of the more than 500 prisoners being held at the detention facility within the U.S. naval base.

Deutsche Presse Agentur, Germany‘s national news agency, notes that only representatives of the Red Cross International Committee have been allowed to talk to the detainees in private. International conventions require that they not discuss thee conversations. read more

CIA’s Castro intelligence flawed

Super User November 23, 2005 Super User

HAVANA – The CIA has recently issued a report that Cuban leader Fidel Castro is suffering from Parkinson’s disease. "The assessment is that he has the disease and that his condition has progressed," an unnamed official told Reuters and other news outlets.

The news quickly spread around the world, accompanied by a rehashing of Castro’s fall last year, which resulted in a fractured kneecap and right arm.

But mainstream news outlets were less eager to report that the 79-year-old spoke on his feet for several hours last week, addressing University Student Federation leaders, students and teachers during a 60th anniversary ceremony for his entry to Havana´s University. read more