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Also, check out this link to David Harvey's lecture on the 'Neoliberal City', it provides a crucial insight into our stadium fiasco and how city governments are on the frontline of neo-liberal globalization.
Playlist
Fela Kuti - VIP
Killah Priest - One Step
Gregor Issacs - Payroll
Mos Def & Cornell West
Stevie Wonder - You Ain't Done Nuthin'
Gil Scott Heron - H20gate Blues
Sage Francis - How to Write a Political Poem
Ice Cube - I Wanna Kill Sam
Zizek on Israel
The Coup - 5 Million Ways to Kill a CEO
The Abyssians - Declaration of Rights
George Akaeze - Business Before Pleasure
Curtis Mayfield - Other Side of Town
Richard Pryor on the Cops
Junior Murvin - Strikes And Demonstrations
Gil Scott Heron - Madison Avenue
JBs - Watergate
Sunz of Man - Israeli News
Capleton - Wings of the Morning
Dead Prez & Talib Kweli - Suffering & Smiling
AntiBalas - Small Man Big Man
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50,000 US Troops to Remain in Iraq Under Withdrawal Plan
President Obama is reportedly set to announce an order to withdraw most US troops from Iraq by September of 2010. Obama’s plan will leave 35,000 to 50,000 troops in Iraq until the end of 2011. The deadline is three months longer than what Obama promised on the campaign trail. The remaining US troops won’t be classified as “combat,” but they’ll retain free reign to carry out attacks.
Iraq Loosens Restrictions on Foreign Oil Companies
Menawhile, The Iraqi government is granting international oil corporations an increased stake in developing Iraqi oil. Winning bidders in future projects will be granted a 75 percent stake rather than the current limit of 49 percent. Iraq has also lowered the minimum production target for companies to get paid for their work.
Obama Backs Bush Policy on Bagram Detainees
The Obama administration has embraced a key argument of former President Bush’s counterterrorism policy. In a court filing Saturday the Justice Department told a federal judge that prisoners held at the US Air Force base at Bagram in Afghanistan have no legal rights to challenge their imprisonment. Human rights groups say they are becoming increasingly concerned that the use of extra-judicial methods in Afghanistan could be extended under the new US administration. Bagram Air Base is about to undergo a $60 million expansion to provide enough space to house five times as many prisoners as remain at Guantanamo. Last year on the Revolution, Drr Najib Lafraie reported that the situation in Bagram was worse than Abu Graib.
CIA Director Backs Pakistan Attacks, Rendition
Meanwhile, CIA director Leon Panetta reiterated the Obama administration’s commitment to continue several Bush administration policies in the so-called war on terror. Panetta told reporters the US will continue controversial drone attacks in Pakistan that have killed hundreds of civilians. He also said the US will continue to practice “rendition”—the kidnapping and sending of foreign suspects to other countries. And he said that while interrogators will have to abide by the Army Field Manual, President Obama can still approve harsher techniques using wartime powers.
Freed Gitmo Prisoner Alleges Torture in US Captivity
A newly released prisoner from Guantanamo Bay has accused US officials of torturing him and beating him dozens of times at a secret CIA prison and later at Guantanamo. The Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed returned to Britain on Tuesday after becoming the first Guantanamo prisoner freed under President Obama. In a statement read by his attorney, Clive Stafford Smith, Mohamed called for his captors and jailers to be held accountable.
Clive Stafford Smith: “For myself, the very worst moment came when I realized in Morocco that the people who were torturing me were receiving questions and materials from British intelligence. I had met with British intelligence in Pakistan. I had been open with them. Yet the very people who I had hoped would come to my rescue, I later realized, had allied themselves with my abusers. I am not asking for vengeance, only that the truth should be made known so that nobody in the future should have to endure what I have endured.”
Mohamed was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and taken to Morocco and Afghanistan before going on to spend more than four years at Guantanamo Bay.
Palestinians Appeal for Global Opposition to Israeli Settlements
In Israel and the Occupied Territories, Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank are appealing for international pressure to halt ever-expanding Israeli settlements. On Wednesday, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority led foreign diplomats on a tour of Palestinian areas carved up by settlement activity. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the settlements are destroying what slim chances remain for a peaceful two-state solution.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad: “This is a project entitled ‘E1,’ which, if seen through, will destroy the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state in the occupied Palestinian territory. It will separate the northern West Bank from southern West Bank and will completely isolate Jerusalem from the West Bank.”
The Obama administration has yet to voice any public opposition to the expanding Israeli settlements.
Israel Bombs Gaza, Blocks Food Aid
Meanwhile, the Israeli government is facing new international criticism over its latest refusal to allow aid into the Gaza Strip. The aid group Mercy Corps says Israel is blocking a ninety-ton shipment of macaroni into Gaza. Much of Gaza’s 1.4 million population relies on humanitarian aid. The US is expected to pledge around $900 million for Gaza at a donors’ conference beginning on Monday. All of the money would go to non-governmental organizations.
Murdoch Offers Limited Apology for Post Cartoon
News Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch has offered a limited apology for a New York Post cartoon that critics say depicts President Obama as a chimpanzee. The cartoon shows a white police officer shooting dead a chimpanzee in the street. His partner, another white officer, says, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” African American leaders have called for a boycott of the New York Post and the firing of cartoonist Sean Delonas and editor-in-chief Col Allan. In a statement, Murdoch said, “Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted…It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such…I promise you that we will seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community.”
Senate Report Faults Cuban Embargo
A new report from the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee urges major changes to US policy toward Cuba. After reviewing the US embargo and restrictions on travel there, the report concludes “we must recognize the ineffectiveness of our current policy and deal with the Cuban regime in a way that enhances U.S. interests."
California Legislator Proposes Marijuana Legalization
In California, a state legislator has introduced a bill to legalize the sale of marijuana. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano says the measure would generate over $1 billion amidst California’s budget woes.
bama Awards Stevie Wonder with Gershwin Prize
And finally President Obama honored the musician Stevie Wonder Wednesday night at a White House ceremony. Obama presented Wonder with the nation’s highest honor for popular music, the Library of Congress Gershwin Award for Lifetime Achievement.
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