Page 734 – Toward Freedom

Obama’s Politics as Usual on Economic Stimulus and Healthcare

Joel S. Hirschhorn July 21, 2009 Joel S. Hirschhorn

Perhaps most Americans deserve the federal government they have, a government that, contrary to the lofty rhetoric of Barack Obama, is just politics as usual, a government that is as corrupted by moneyed interests as ever. A government that is as dysfunctional and inefficient as ever.

Argentina: Turning Around – Interview with Mark Dworkin & Melissa Young

Mark Dworkin, Melissa Young and Benjamin Dangl July 20, 2009 Mark Dworkin, Melissa Young and Benjamin Dangl

At Argentine Worker Coop

Argentina: Turning Around is an exciting film which captures the spirit of Argentina's grassroots response to economic meltdown. Drawing from diverse interviews and incredible footage, the film offers an inside look at the victories and challenges of Argentina's neighborhood assemblies, protest movements and worker-run factories.

Public Overwhelmingly Rejects Genetically Engineered Trees

Anne Peterman and Orin Langelle July 16, 2009 Anne Peterman and Orin Langelle

Nearly 17,500 public comments were sent to the US Department of Agriculture opposing their recommendation for approval of an ArborGen proposal to plant over a quarter of a million genetically engineered (GE) eucalyptus trees. Only 39 favorable comments were received by the USDA. If allowed, the plantings would take place on 330 acres of land across seven states in the Southern U.S., to supposedly feed future cellulosic ethanol production.

The U.S. is Compromising Democracy in Honduras

Shamus Cooke July 15, 2009 Shamus Cooke

Zelaya and Obama

Can a solution to the crisis in Honduras - itself the result of a military coup - be "mediated," where on one side sit coup leaders and on the other a democratically elected but ousted President? Does any "middle ground" exist? Of course not. If President Zelaya unconditionally returns to finish his term in office, democracy will be restored; anything short of that will have democracy "compromised" into its opposite.

Why Carbon Trading Won’t Save Us From Catastrophic Climate Change

Alexis Lathem July 14, 2009 Alexis Lathem

Sugar Plant in Florida

One of the hopes attached to a regime change in Washington was that a new administration would at last take action on climate change. The refusal of the nation responsible for the largest share of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, and with the world's largest economy, to participate in the international treaty on climate change, has isolated the

United States

from the international community and has stymied the world's ability to address the problem.

Piracy and Washington: The Somalia Crossroads

William Minter and Daniel Volman July 13, 2009 William Minter and Daniel Volman

In October 2008, Human Rights Watch rated Somalia the most ignored tragedy in the world. Almost 1.5 million Somalis are internally displaced, and an additional half million are refugees. Two decades of instability, including a U.S.-backed intervention by Ethiopian troops in December 2006, have failed to put Somalia on the map. If the American public has thought about Somalia at all this decade, it was as the setting of the popular 2001 movie Blackhawk Down, based on the October 1993 battle in Mogadishu between U.S. troops and Somali militia, rather than as a real place where Washington's policies were fueling conflict and prolonging suffering.