Progressive news feed

Earlier this year, award-winning playwright and bestselling author Eve Ensler was diagnosed with uterine cancer. In a widely read article in The Guardian newspaper of London titled "Congo Cancer," Ensler writes about her illness and relates it to the widespread violence against women in Congo. "The atrocities committed against the people of Congo are not arbitrary, like my cancer. They are systematic, strategic and intentional," she writes. [includes rush transcript]

The award-winning playwright Eve Ensler plans to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina by staging performances of her new work Swimming Upstream in New Orleans and New York City. The piece was written by sixteen women from New Orleans who describe surviving the flood and living through the aftermath of the storm, which permanently changed their city and many of their lives. [includes rush transcript]

A New York City taxi driver was stabbed multiple times Tuesday after a drunken passenger determined he is a Muslim. The victim, Ahmed Sharif, was slashed across his face, neck and hands. Sharif says the suspect, Michael Enright, had asked him several questions about his religion, including whether he’s a Muslim and observing Ramadan. Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance spoke with Sharif at his hospital bed. She describes what he said happened. [includes rush transcript]

• Over 50 Killed in Iraq Violence
• Report: Corruption-Linked Afghan Official on CIA Payroll
• New York Taxi Driver Stabbed in Anti-Muslim Attack
• Religious, Civic Groups Form NY Coalition to Back Islamic Center
• Islamic Center Vandalized in California; Kentucky Board Rejects Mosque
• Top Obama Environmental Advisers Sidelined During Drilling Talks
• 72 Killed in Mexico Drug Killings
• Pakistani Towns Evacuated; 800,000 Cut Off from Aid
• Scores Killed in Somali Clashes
• Zelaya: US Subverting Honduran Democracy
• Honduran Journalist Found Dead with Gunshot Wounds
• Sweden Continues Probe of WikiLeaks Founder
• WikiLeaks Releases CIA Report
• Ex-RNC Chair Reveals He's Gay
• Study: More Than Half of Poor Infants Raised by Mothers Suffering from Depression
• Deficit Commission Co-Chair Urged to Resign over Social Security Comments

Plane Stupid climate protesters break through the perimeter fence at Aberdeen airport before setting up a barricade on an aircraft taxiway.

Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, a conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, will address the Virginia Tea Party Convention in October.

Could Barack Obama become the first person in history to win the Nobel Peace Prize two consecutive years? It is hard to dispute the premise that awarding him the Prize this year would be every bit as justifiable as last year's award.

By MICHAEL MARQUSEE - August 25, 2010

Swaziland is a small country with a big problem. The 1.3 million inhabitants of the land-locked southern African kingdom live under the thumb of one of the world’s last absolute monarchies, a venal and repressive regime whose plunder of the country is systematic and comprehensive.

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By Yossi Sarid - 18.08.10

Zionism has 70 faces, and each of us has the right to chose the face he prefers. If the face of Zionism resembles that of Im Tirtzu and its funders, we should consider a face transplant.

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August 24, 2010

Locally-based activists...are mounting a picket line at the Port of Vancouver's Delta Port facility at Roberts Bank, south of Vancouver, as part of a mounting international campaign to put pressure on the government of Israel...“The behaviour of the Israeli government has been going from bad to worse...We are going to be out there today to tell Zim and other Israeli companies that their business won't be allowed to continue normally as long as Israel's blockade on Gaza continues...”

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A Republican civil war is raging, with righter-than-thou conservatives dominating ever more primaries in a fight for the party's soul.

By Tim Kennelly - August 25, 2010

On March 13, 2008, Canada's Parliament voted to extend the country's military “mission” in Afghanistan to July 2011. The motion by the minority Conservative government was supported by the opposition Liberals. The war makers correctly estimated that fixing an exit date would deflect mounting opposition to the war among the Canadian public and buy time for Canada's continued participation.

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By Krystalline Kraus - August 25, 2010

I am updating yesterday's post with the information finally released from the Ontario Attorney General regarding the official tally of the G20 related charges from Monday, August 23, 2010. To do the math, 1090 were arrested on G20 related charges and only 227 people remained charged after Monday's court hearings.

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By Pratap Chatterjee - August 25, 2010

...[T]he mission of their military-led “provincial reconstruction team”...appeared to be in direct conflict with those of the “capture/kill” team of special operations forces...whose mandate was to pursue Afghans alleged to be terrorists as well as insurgent leaders. That team was leaving a trail of dead civilian bodies and recrimination in its wake.

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Animal-welfare advocates waging an ongoing war to free caged birds have seized on the U.S. recall of half a billion eggs over fears of salmonella contamination as evidence that common industrial egg-producing systems are not only inhumane, they pose a real threat to food safety.

By Neve Gordon - August 25, 2010

As Israeli citizens, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman want us to prove our loyalty to the flag by supporting a policy of oppression and humiliation. We must champion the separation barrier in Bi’lin and in other places throughout the West Bank...We are also expected to bow our heads and remain silent every time government ministers, Knesset members and public officials make racist statements against Arab citizens.

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Police in central China have detained an AIDS activist who contracted the virus as a boy and whose tireless campaigning for the rights of those with the disease angered local authorities, his fellow activists said Saturday.

Shirley Sherrod, ousted from her job at the Agriculture Department last month, has rejected an offer to return to the USDA. Sherrod was forced out shortly after a right-wing website ran a video clip that was deceptively edited to make it appear that she was racist toward white farmers. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack forced Sherrod to resign shortly after the video was posted. Vilsack met with Sherrod Tuesday morning to try and convince her to return to the department. The two also discussed a settlement pending in the Senate for black farmers who have been victims of racism. We speak with John Boyd, the founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association. [includes rush transcript]

An article in the latest issue of The New Yorker magazine by Jane Mayer profiles billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, two of the richest men in America who have quietly given more than a hundred million dollars to right-wing causes. Mayer writes, "The [Koch] brothers have funded opposition campaigns against so many Obama Administration policies—from health-care reform to the economic-stimulus program—that, in political circles, their ideological network is known as the Kochtopus." [includes rush transcript]

Voters headed to the polls in Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma and Vermont yesterday in a big day of state primaries. Florida Rep. Kendrick Meek defeated billionaire real estate mogul Jeff Greene in the state’s Democratic Senate primary. But billionaire businessman Rick Scott pulled off an upset over Attorney General Bill McCollum in the Florida gubernatorial primary after spending $30 million on the race. We take a look at the role of money in those and other primary races with Charles Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity. [includes rush transcript]