The Nation: Immigration Agents Holding US Residents in Unlisted, Unmarked Facilities

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Democracy Now!
Dec. 24, 2009

The Nation: Immigration Agents Holding US Residents in Unlisted, Unmarked Facilities

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is holding an untold number of people in secretively maintained detention facilities all over the United States. That’s according to an explosive report that’s the cover story of the latest issue of The Nation magazine. They also report that ICE agents regularly impersonate civilians and rely on other illegal tricks to arrest longtime US residents who have no criminal history. We speak with the author of the two-part investigation, Jacqueline Stevens. [includes rush transcript]

Gaza aid held-up in Jordan + Stranded in Aqaba, Jordan + International Hunger Strike by John Hurson

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rafyselles
December 27, 2009

Since June 2007  Gaza has been under a crippling blockade with few essential goods making it through. Now an aid convoy of 250 trucks and ambulances is attempting to reach the Strip to deliver much needed supplies. But a bureaucratic argument with Egypt is holding it back in Aqaba in southwest Jordan. Al Jazeera’s Clayton Swisher reports.

Air Toxicity in Passenger Jets by Malcolm Steinberg

by Malcolm Steinberg
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
December 26, 2009

Patricia was 5 years old when her parents took her and her older brother on a vacation trip from Ireland to Florida [names have been changed to protect privacy]. Within a few hours of take-off, a number of people were feeling sick with similar symptoms: nausea, shortness of breath, sweating and headaches. Upon arrival in Florida, over 40 or so people would be suffering from these symptoms and those that followed. Uncommon in its extreme perhaps, but the story for those 40-odd people doesn’t end there. A number still suffer side effects including headaches and dizziness, but also measurable damage to the autonomic nervous system, impairment of short-term memory (just to name a few), damage which is physiological as shown in medical tests and on-going exams. The psychological effects are hard to measure, but are more pronounced in some than others.

Afghan youth release ‘doves’ in support of World March for Peace

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Afghan youth release ‘doves’ in support of World March for Peace (more pics)

photo by Hakim

ourjourneytosmile
December 25, 2009

As this country is built into a verdant meadow, oh why dont the intellectuals care about peace?‎

Peace is priceless.‎

Without peace, its impossible to survive.‎

Peace is love and friendship.‎

We the youth of Afghanistan want peace & a culture of non-violence for Afg & the world.

We are participating in The World March for Peace and Non-violence.

Honduras: The Coup That Never Happened by Tyler Shipley

Dandelion Salad

Crossposted with permission from www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/

by Tyler Shipley
Socialist Project | The Bullet
December 22, 2009

“When the media goes quiet, the walls speak.” — graffiti in Tegucigalpa.

What strikes a visitor to the Honduran capital most immediately in this moment is the degree to which the social and political conflict that has erupted since the golpe de estado (coup d’etat) on June 28th is actually written on the walls, the fences, the rockfaces, bridges, errant bits of siding, abandoned buildings, and even the concrete upon which one walks. Though the discourse in the international press is muddled and misinformed, the situation in Honduras is very obvious to those who are here – as a quick taxi ride around Tegucigalpa demonstrates.

Bomb, Bomb Iran: Lessons From Iraq Unlearned by Jeremy R. Hammond

by Jeremy R. Hammond
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Foreign Policy Journal
26 December 2009

In a New York Times op-ed this week that advocates bombing Iran, the author, Alan J. Kuperman, director of the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Program at the University of Texas at Austin, begins by suggesting that President Barack Obama should “sigh in relief that Iran has rejected his nuclear deal”.

In fact, Iran has said it is still open to discussion with the U.S. about its nuclear program, but that if meaningful dialogue is to continue, the threats of sanctions and military aggression must first cease.

The U.S., however, continues to threaten yet further sanctions, while also insisting that the threat of force must remain “on the table” — a threat of aggression that itself violates the U.N. Charter, which forbids member nations from threatening the use of force as a tool for leverage in international relations.

‘Explosion attempt’ on US flight + Passenger caught with explosives on US plane

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Various news organizations’ reports on the incident in Detroit.

Al Jazeera English
Dec. 26, 2009

A reported attempt by a Nigerian man to light an explosive aboard a US passenger aircraft has been described by the White House as “an attempted act of terrorism”.

Abdulmutallab, who was overpowered by passengers and crew of Delta Flight 253, was taken into custody after the jet landed safely in Detroit.

US officials said he appeared to have links to al-Qaeda.

via Al Jazeera English – Americas – ‘Explosion attempt’ on US flight