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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to JMiller@bestcyrano.org

By Dr. Habib Siddiqui

10/7/07

On September 25, 2007 President Bush announced “new” sanctions against the military government of Burma, symbolically joining hands with tens of thousands of protesters in the streets of Yangon and challenging the United Nations to join him in a broader “mission of liberation.”

However, as I see it, the older sanctions imposed by the USA and some western countries did not really bite deep into the skin of the SPDC regime that is ruling Burma. There is also crass hypocrisy in how the sanctions have thus far been imposed by the Bush Administration. A multi-national oil company like Chevron was apparently exempted from adhering to the sanction rule book and is allowed to do business as usual in the oil and gas exploration sector with the SPDC.

Why this selective application for an oil company? Well, we don’t have to be reminded that oil is important to the trio - Bush, Cheney & Rice – all linked with the oil industry before joining the Administration. As is also obvious now, it was not the WMD but the control of the oil fields in Iraq that was the primary motivation for why they invaded Iraq. [And of course, there are other reasons too, namely, making the region ‘secure’ for the rogue state - Israel.] I doubt that the Bush Administration is unaware that the Chevron-money goes directly to the pockets of the SPDC regime, providing the necessary blood infusion that it needs to function. [But then again, we are continuously reminded by our Wall Street pundits that if Chevron does not do business, there are many other non-American companies willing to close the deal with the Myanmar regime! They argue: why should a U.S. company suffer the brunt of unfair trading or business practices?] So, if the Bush Administration wants it to be taken seriously, it must go beyond the hollow rhetoric to imposing biting sanctions to isolate the hated regime.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to JMiller@bestcyrano.org

Rana Ghassan’s “David and Goliath”

By Ramzy Baroud

9/27/07

When one commits to the life of an active citizen, spending their hours days and years reading and writing about current events, it becomes a daily struggle to overcome the cynicism that chases after you with the despairing headlines marking each newspaper or magazine. Rare is it when someone or something comes along to revive the feelings of courage, tenacity and wilfulness of the young and hopeful activist.

In my office, hanging above the fireplace in conspicuous view from any part of the room is a large print of Rana Ghassan’s “David and Goliath”. It has been placed in a strategic location, where beholding it daily is unavoidable. I am forced to study the foreboding danger portrayed as soldiers gather in the distant dust. I must consider that the young faceless boy in the work stands with no barricade to protect him, no riot gear, armoured vehicle, just a worn-out cotton t-shirt and a steadfastness that can move mountains.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to JMiller@bestcyrano.org

Reacting to the decision, Finkelstein, the son of Holocaust survivors, said, “They can deny me tenure, deny me the right to teach. But they will never stop me from saying what I believe.”

[NOTICE TO OUR ESTEEMED READERS: Cyrano’s Journal Online/Thomas Paine’s Corner has weathered numerous contradictory and false accusations concerning our stance on Israel and Zionism. Some assert that we are “Jewish conspirators”; others contend we are “anti-Semitic”; and there are even those who characterize us as “Zionists.” Guess what, folks? We are none of the above!

As a declaration of our position on the highly contentious subject of Israel and the Palestinians, we are throwing our full support behind people of all races, religions, ethnicities, nationalities, and political stripes who oppose Zionism and the myriad miseries it has rained down upon the Palestinian people. We salute bold groups like Jews for a Just Peace, intrepid Jewish American academics like Norman Finkelstein, and many courageous Jewish people within the state of Israel (including much-decorated members of the IDF and Israel’s brave peace movement) who vehemently oppose the horrific crimes their state commits against the Palestinians (with the full approval and financial backing of the filthy plutocracy ruling the United States)—The editors]

06.21.2007 | www.mostlywater.org

By Yom Shamash, on behalf of
Jews for a Just Peace, Vancouver, B.C.

Vancouver, British Columbia – On the eighth of June, DePaul University in Chicago denied tenure to one of the world experts on the Israel/Palestine conflict, Norman G. Finkelstein. There’s been a great uproar on campus and worldwide because it is well known that Prof. Finkelstein’s contract was terminated as a result of intervention from outside the university, and ultimately because of the power of his ideas. In a book entitled The Holocaust Industry, Dr. Finkelstein argues that since 1967 Zionist organizations and certain Jewish leaders have capitalized on the memory of the Holocaust to generate wealth and power for themselves and to silence criticism of Israel’s [war] crimes against Palestinians. Professor Finkelstein’s ideas are dangerous, and he has paid the price, losing his position in academia despite his tremendous intellectual productivity – 5 books in 12 years.

We, Jews for a Just Peace, write this statement because we are disturbed by the events at DePaul. We have been impressed by Dr. Finkelstein’s incisive analysis and passionate defense of human rights and international law in the context of Israel/Palestine. We take this opportunity to share our thoughts about the relationship between his dismissal and the struggle to which we are committed.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to JMiller@bestcyrano.org

By Jim Miles

8/25/07

Fair Trade For All – How Trade Can Promote Development. Joseph Stiglitz and Andre Charlton. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K., 2005.

In 2003 Joseph Stiglitz published his much acclaimed and critically popular book Globalization and it Discontents. Its overall thesis, arguable particularly to those hidebound within the ‘Washington Consensus’, simply stated that following International Monetary Fund (IMF) rules and regulations – the combination of trade rules, loans, and ‘structural adjustments’ required to receive financial assistance – “the result for many people has been poverty and for many countries social and political chaos. The IMF has made mistakes in all the areas it has been involved in.”

These allegations have become more apparent as truths as time has passed since the publication of Stiglitz’ first book. It is a book that is readily accessible to the public. Stiglitz’ writing is clear and well argued. He does not slip into a frenzy of economic jargon and presents concise historical examples of the different situations that unfolded globally due in part to IMF ministrations (along with other non-governmental organizations and other governmental interference, especially with the EU and the US.). At the end of his arguments he presents what he sees as reasonable ways and means to help correct the faults of the IMF, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to JMiller@bestcyrano.org

Three men with the intestinal fortitude to defy a malevolent empire, despite its overwhelming economic and military power….Viva La Revolución!

By Fidel Castro

Originally published at Cuba News Agency

08/20/07

The history of Cuba during the last 140 years is one of struggle to preserve national identity and independence, and the history of the evolution of the American empire, its constant craving to appropriate Cuba and of the horrendous methods that it uses today to hold on to world domination.

Prominent Cuban historians have dealt in depth with these subjects in different periods and in various excellent books which deserve to be readily available to our compatriots. These reflections are addressed especially to the new generations with the aim of helping them learn about very important and decisive events in the destiny of our homeland.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to JMiller@bestcyrano.org

“….members of one dalit family was slaughtered on 29th September 29th, 2006 in bhandara district.”

By Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, published in openDemocracy

8/20/07

Surekha Bhotmange, a Dalit (or so-called “untouchable”) member of the Hindu caste system in Maharashtra, was cooking the family evening meal on 29 September 2006 when a group of upper-caste men surrounded her home. Surekha, her 17-year-old daughter Priyanka, and two sons, 23-year-old Roshan and 21-year-old Sudhir, were dragged out of the hut. The two women were stripped, beaten and paraded through the village. The young men were beaten up so badly their faces were disfigured. All four died. Almost all of Khairlanji village witnessed this spectacle of caste vengeance. No one did much to stop it.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to JMiller@bestcyrano.org

By Bal Patil

8/12/07

I think it would be most appropriate to recall the great Ahmedabad trial at this juncture when the centennial of the Gandhian Satyagraha in South Africa is commemorated worldwide. When Mahatma Gandhi entered the Central Hall of the Government Circuit House at Ahmedabad on the 18th of March, 1922 to face a trial on a charge of sedition under section 124A of the Indian Penal Code about two hundred spectators inside the improvised courtroom stood up as a mark of respect to the frail figure in loincloth.

The spectators included Kasturaba, Sarojini Naidu, Pandit Malaviya, N.C. Kelkar, Smt. J.B. Petit and Ansuyaben Sarabhai.. Sarojini Naidu has described how the entire court rose in an act of spontaneous homage to a “frail, serene, indomitable figure in a coarse and scanty loin cloth.” who joked in a characteristic manner looking at them saying: “This is like family gathering and not a law court.”

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to JMiller@bestcyrano.org

By Usman Khalid

8/3/07

The entire world was shocked beyond belief when the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon building were struck on 9/11 by US planes hijacked by Arab young men. There was sympathy for the victims and justifiable anger in America. But the US response in invading the already devastated country of Afghanistan was excessive. More important, the USA did not obtain the endorsement of the UN Security Council and the invasion violated International Law. A military attack is permissible only in response to an invasion or imminent aggression. The Afghans did not invade the US nor were capable of doing so. That the 9/11 attacks had been planned and executed by Arab mujahideen in Afghanistan, did call for action, perhaps even punishment, but not the wanton bombing that resulted in the death of over 40,000 mostly innocent non-combatants.

The invasion of Afghanistan set the stage for the “US war on terror” that is still going on. There is little point in quarrelling about this name which many consider misleading. What is important is that it is a new type of war, with new rules. When President Bush said, “You are either with us (the USA) or with the terrorist”, he propounded a new doctrine of war the chief features of which are: 1) strategic ‘pre-emption’ and 2) ‘unilateralism’. Both of these features constitute a violation of international law. America has assumed the right to invade or bomb any country which it accuses of providing refuge or assistance to terrorists. America makes demands to hand over to them persons it accuses of being terrorists. A country that refuses on the plea that it does not have an extradition treaty with America, or that legal procedures should be followed before extradition, or that they cannot hand over a person to be sent to a dubious jurisdiction like Guantanamo Bay, or that the accusation made by America does not constitute a crime in their country, earns the wrath of the USA. Most countries take the threats from America seriously and comply. Those countries that resist are demonised, isolated and sometimes even invaded. Three countries have been invaded since 9/11 - Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon – and thousands have been incarcerated in many countries without trial or handed over to America by their own governments because of dire American threats.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online, Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop are initiating a weekly email which will include links to both the most recent offerings and to timeless classics available on our very diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to JMiller@bestcyrano.org

By Stephen Lendman

7/9/07

Making Gaza “scream” is same kind of scheme the Nixon administration planned for Chile after social democrat Salvador Allende won a plurality of the votes in September, 1970. Before the Chilean Congress confirmed him as president in October, an infamous Nixon CIA Director Richard Helms handwritten note read: “One in 10 chance perhaps, but save Chile!…not concerned with risks involved…$10,000,000 available, more if necessary…make the economy ’scream.’ “By it, he meant saving the country from a socially responsible leader, like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, using his nation’s wealth equitably and not just for its privileged elites. “Scream” it did through Nixon’s “soft line” scheme “to do all within our power to condemn Chile and Chileans to utmost deprivation and poverty,” in the words of his Chilean ambassador Edward Korry.

It lasted three years until a “hard line” one replaced it on another September 11 Chileans won’t soon forget in 1973. It was when a CIA-orchestrated military coup ended the most vibrant democracy in the Americas, replacing it with the brutal 17 year reign of General Augusto Pinochet.

The US has a notorious record of imposing economic or political sanctions against any nation daring to operate outside of Washington Consensus political and market rules. It’s also quick to levy trade sanctions for corporate friends whose notion of “free trade” is the one-way kind benefiting them. The Clinton administration was a frequent abuser of these practices imposing them unilaterally against 35 or more countries during its eight years in power. They were also in place against the Soviet bloc during the Cold War and other nations aligned with it. The Bush administration currently has them in place against such countries as Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Burma, Belarus, Sudan, and Venezuela. It’s our way of saying we’re boss, what we say goes and no outliers are tolerated even when they only wish to govern independently from us or are targeted by a close ally we support.

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