CounterVortex

WESTERN SAHARA AND AMINATOU HAIDAR

Saudi Arabia's attorney general confirmed that prominent journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi died in the country's Istanbul consulate. A statement said that Khashoggi was killed after a fight inside the consulate, and that 18 Saudis are detained pending an investigation. Turkish officials believe Saudi agents killed and dismembered Khashoggi. His body has not been found. "Now the same government that lied to the world, claiming for weeks that it had no knowledge of Khashoggi's fate, expects us to believe he died in a fight," said the Committee to Protect Journalists. "This ridiculous assertion is further evidence of a cover-up. We need an international investigation and relentless pressure on Saudi Arabia from the Trump administration, if we ever hope to get to the truth." (Photo: CPJ)

MEXICO: BORDER MILITARIZATION CONTINUES IN 2010

from Frontera NorteSur Whether active duty or retired, military men will continue playing a central role in Mexico’s drug war in 2010. In the northern border state of Coahuila, incoming mayors recently ratified the continuation of former military officers to… Read moreMEXICO: BORDER MILITARIZATION CONTINUES IN 2010

HELPING HAITI: OUR DOLLARS AREN’T ENOUGH

by David L. Wilson, World War 4 Report On January 14, two days after the Port-au-Prince earthquake, I finally got a chance to look over my e-mail, courtesy of a small Haitian NGO in a quiet, relatively undamaged neighborhood in… Read moreHELPING HAITI: OUR DOLLARS AREN’T ENOUGH

HAITI AND THE JEWS: FORGOTTEN HISTORY

by Nirit Ben-Ari, Ha’aretz A field hospital established by the Israeli mission to Haiti treats dozens of earthquake victims every day, and is the only hospital prepared to perform complex surgeries and treatments in field conditions. But this delegation, which… Read moreHAITI AND THE JEWS: FORGOTTEN HISTORY

A NEW DEAL FOR IMMIGRANTS IN 2010?

by David L. Wilson, MR Zine Congress is almost certain to consider some sort of reform to the immigration system in 2010; when it does, we can expect a repeat of the “tea bag” resistance we saw at last summer’s… Read moreA NEW DEAL FOR IMMIGRANTS IN 2010?

HOLOCAUST DENIAL IN THE ARAB WORLD

Why It Is On the Rise by Gilbert Achcar and Pierre Puchot, Mediapart What pushes Arabs to deny the existence of the Holocaust? How and why does Israel continue to instrumentalize the memory of the destruction of European Jewry? What… Read moreHOLOCAUST DENIAL IN THE ARAB WORLD

ISRAEL & PALESTINE: COMBATANTS FOR PEACE SPEAK OUT

by Bassam Aramin, Sara Burke and Yaniv Reshef, Peacework Combatants for Peace is a group of Israeli and Palestinian individuals who were actively involved in the cycle of violence between their peoples. The Israelis served as combat soldiers and the… Read moreISRAEL & PALESTINE: COMBATANTS FOR PEACE SPEAK OUT

NOTES ON OBAMA’S ENERGY PLAN

In Episode 94 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg presents a special cannabis harvest season interview with Karla Avila in Northern California's Emerald Triangle. A licensed producer of artisanal outdoor cannabis for the legal market through her homestead-based company Flowerdaze Farm, Avila is an advocate for small-scale "legacy" growers through her work with the Trinity County Agriculture Alliance. She is also a founding member of the statewide Origins Council, which is seeking to establish official "appellations" for cannabis, certifying a strain's regional origin. Avila discusses the challenges now facing small legacy growers who are struggling to keep alive heirloom genetics and ecologically sound cultivation methods in a legal market increasingly dominated by large-scale enterprises on an agribusiness model. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

PERU’S AMAZON UPRISING

Indigenous Resistance to the Corporate Agenda by Bill Weinberg, World War 4 Report In the wake of this past year’s indigenous uprising in the Amazon, Peru is in many ways fundamentally changed. For the first time, indigenous leaders from the… Read morePERU’S AMAZON UPRISING

SOMALIA CASE THREATENS WAR CRIMINALS WORLDWIDE

US Supreme Court to Rule on Sovereign Immunity by Paul Wolf, World War 4 Report In March, the Supreme Court is to begin hearing oral arguments in a case that may breathe new life into the field of human rights… Read moreSOMALIA CASE THREATENS WAR CRIMINALS WORLDWIDE

OBAMA’S EUROPEAN MISSILE PLAN

Will the Czech Anti-Bases Movement Take the Bait? by Gwendolyn Albert, World War 4 Report From the perspective of the Czech Republic, the transition from the Bush to the Obama administration has been followed primarily through the lens of one… Read moreOBAMA’S EUROPEAN MISSILE PLAN

DID THE ‘GREEN REVOLUTION’ PREVENT FAMINES?

Assessing the Legacy of Norman Borlaug by Alexis Lathem, Toward Freedom Following the announcement of the death of Norman Borlaug in September, we have been reminded of the sweeping claims that have been made about the successes of the green… Read moreDID THE ‘GREEN REVOLUTION’ PREVENT FAMINES?