Salem-News.com World- articles Page 20

And the State, is it Loyal?

The demand of a loyalty oath in Israel has ominous similarities to the demands made by Mussolini's Italy.

(BEERSHEBA, Israel) - Several weeks ago, hundreds of students demonstrated in front of Ben-Gurion University’s administration building. About a third of the protestors were expressing their opposition to the government’s decision to attack the relief flotilla, while the remaining two thirds came to support the government.

At one point the pro-government protesters began chanting: ‘No citizenship without loyalty!’

Lebanon Scatters a Little Chicken Feed and Labels it `Manna from Heaven`

Part of a series on securing civil rights for Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon.

(SHATILA REFUGEE CAMP, Beirut) - At 3:02 p.m. on 8/17/10 Lebanon’s Parliament began to deliberate on granting basic civil rights to its Palestinian refugees and within four minutes agreed to alter article 50 Lebanon’s 1964 labor law to theoretically make it easier for Palestinian refugees to obtain a work permit and a job.

There was no discussion of other draft bills to grant Palestinian refugees elementary civil rights, and fifteen minutes later, by 3:17 p.m. Parliament had agreed on the next bill involving excavating for oil, which may bring millions to some well placed members. Many MP’s hadn’t studied either bill.

Americans Won`t Back Attack on Iran

If Iran is attacked, a large percentage of Americans will have nothing to do with it.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Want to see the end of the world as we know it? If you do, you are in luck, because your chance to see the future of your kids and grandkids go up in smoke is nearing, and if the republicans and Israelis have anything to say about it, the grand final act will be here before you know it.

What will cause this? Israel. Why? Because the leaders of Israel represent the dark forces of nature, that's why.

Public Enemy Number One: the American Press

Stealing America's freedoms like a thief in the night...

(CINCINNATI) - It’s 2010 and a few members of congress have noted that we have a corruption problem in Afghanistan. Over a period of 9 years. $2.4 trillion dollars has been stolen with a dozen enquiries, dozens of reports, audits, all saying the same thing.

The “war on terror” was more “pickpocketing” and not so much “Osama bin Waldo.” It’s 2010 and reports are trickling in that, just maybe, terrorist mastermind Osama has been dead for years and years.

Front Row of a Drug War

If current policies and trends continue, the Mexican refugee situation could become an issue for the United Nations.

(LAS CRUCES, NM) - They could have been videos from the Middle East or Central Asia. But the images flashed to the crowd at Texas Congressman Silvestre Reyes’ annual border security conference at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) showed graphic scenes from the so-called narco war in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

After giving a content advisory, the presenter, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official Alonzo Pena, started the show.

American Denialism

America is the most economically inequitable nation on earth among the developed countries.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - I recently read a book: Denialism: How irrational thinking hinders scientific progress, harms the planet and threatens our lives.

It was about: people who refuse to have their children vaccinated in the face of all the evidence demonstrating the efficacy of vaccination; people who believe that “organic” food is “better”...

Africa: Faces in Words

New weekly update on the breaking stories in the African nations.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Unseen, unheard; no one should be the bearer of these two words. Unfortunately, Africa is often in the forefront of this association.

Our common humanity should change this; we should never look away because it is too distant. Our commitment to one another, to human rights, and the ability to learn should always keep us connected no matter the severity and complexity of problems.

Feature from Occupied Palestine:
First Friday of Ramadan: When 5 Seconds Seems Like Five Minutes

Includes an eyewitness account of the attack of masked racist settlers on members of the Christian Peacemaking Team in Hebron area.

(AL WALAJA, Occupied Palestine) - On the first Friday of Ramadan, thousands of Palestinians tried to reach the Haram Al-Sharif in Jerusalem for prayers in Al-Aqsa mosque.

But only some men above 50 and some women above 45 year old were allowed to enter through the checkpoints in the apartheid wall. Some of those left behind participated in demonstrations.

`2011 Solar Storms Could Plunge US Into Great Depression`

The last massive cycle that occurred in 1859 brought catastrophe and caused telegraph lines around the US to burst into flames.

(CHICAGO) - With the US economy still tottering and the European economy in shambles, some economists are predicting a double-dip recession in early 2011.

Few economists, however, are predicting a collapse into another 'Great Depression' such as that experienced by the US during the late 19th Century and the 1930s.

The Family: a Secretive Christian Fundamentalist Organization

"You know Jesus said 'You got to put Him before mother-father-brother sister? Hitler, Lenin, Mao, that's what they taught the kids. Mao even had the kids killing their own mother and father. But it wasn't murder..." - Doug Coe, 'Family' leader

(SAN FRANCISCO) - There is a secretive group known as “The Family” or “The Fellowship,” one of the most powerful, well-connected Christian fundamentalist movements in the United States. The Family’s membership includes congressmen, corporate leaders, generals, and foreign heads of state.

The Family is anti-labor, anti-gay, and pro-life. It is also anti-communist, but not necessarily a firm believer in democracy.