Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Blackwater

Investigative journalist and correspondent for The Nation and Democracy Now! Jeremy Scahill is the author of “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.”

This is a massive collection of Blackwater related articles:

http://www.democracynow.org/features/blackwater_usa

Here's a few examples of the headlines:

June 02, 2008: Blackwater: From the Nisour Square Massacre to the Future of the Mercenary Industry

May 23, 2008: ‘War, Inc.’: John Cusack’s New Film Satirizes the Corruption, Profiteering and Hubris Behind the Iraq War

May 02, 2008: Southern California Residents Gear Up for New Fight to Stop Secretive Expansion by Military Firm Blackwater

April 07, 2008: State Dept. Renews Blackwater Contract in Iraq Despite Pentagon Labeling Sept. Baghdad Killing of 17 Civilians ‘A Criminal Event’

December 19, 2007: EXCLUSIVE…Blackwater Sued Again For Sept. 9th Attack, Five Iraqis Dead, Ten Wounded

December 19, 2007: TV BROADCAST EXCLUSIVE: Iraqi Witnesses, Victims Describe Blackwater Shooting in Harrowing Detail

December 10, 2007: What is Blackwater’s Role in the 2008 Presidential Race?

November 09, 2007 An Act of Terrorism? Blackwater Sniper Shot Dead Three Iraqi Guards At Iraqi Media Center in February

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The end of water privatization?

The city of Paris, France has ended a hundred years of private water, putting the essential resource back in the public trust.

" "That France, once known as the heartland of water privatisation, is embracing a return to public management of water services, is a strong signal in this new pattern," Olivier Hoedeman of the Water Remunicipalisation Tracker told IPS. The group, a sub-division of the Amsterdam-based Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and the Transnational Institute, documents the decline of water privatisation."

http://www.alternet.org/water/89982/


" In the 1990s many countries privatised their water and sanitation services, particularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America, under strong pressure from neo-liberal governments, particularly in the European Union (EU), and from international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to 'open up' national services. "

A memorable segment from a documentary called The Corporation, chronicling the first days of the global struggle for water. The Bechtel corporation and an army of police v.s. the people of Cochabamba. Hundreds of young people were maimed and injured by the police serving and protecting the state allocated contract to annex and sell back the citizens their water.


"Bechtel, Bolivia resolve dispute

San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp. has dropped a $25 million dispute against the Bolivian government for canceling a water contract, after major street demonstrations forced a Bechtel-owned subsidiary to withdraw from Bolivia’s third-largest city."

http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=3612

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Nelson Mandela to be removed from " Terror Watch List "

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/07/01/mandela.watch/index.html
Photobucket( Nelson Mandela displays his Nobel Peace Prize. )
Photobucket( Nelson Mandela looking out a barred window in the Prison on Robin Island where he spent most of his 27 year sentence. )

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