By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, August 29 2016
In mid-July, President Erdogan pointed his finger at the CIA, accusing US intelligence of having supported a failed coup directed against his government. Turkish officials pointed to a deterioration of US-Turkey relations following Washington’s refusal to extradite Fethullah Gülen, the alleged architect of the failed coup. Erdogan’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag was categorical: “If the US does not deliver (Gulen), they will sacrifice relations with Turkey for the sake of a terrorist”. Public opinion was led to believe that relations with the US had deteriorated. This was a hoax.
By Prof. James Petras, August 29 2016
The Financial Times editorial page carries a logo that proclaims: “Without fear and without favour”. Indeed the editors have shown no fear when it comes to. . . fabricating lies, promoting imperial wars decimating countries and impoverishing millions, whether in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and now Venezuela. The fearless “Lies of Our Times” have been at the forefront forging pretexts for inciting imperial armies to crush independent governments.
This America, This House Divided, Cannot Stand
By Michael T. Bucci, August 29 2016
In an election cycle that has scored the lowest in human decency, civilized behavior and speech – from Maine’s Gov. Paul LePage to Donald J. Trump; a cycle characterized by hate, viciousness, competing scandals, voluminous unproven allegations, scapegoats, fear-mongering, incitements to violence, death threats, and general moral decline bordering on decadence, I advise no child be exposed to any of it – none!
Children, the Media, and Political Agendas
By Chandra Muzaffar, August 29 2016
The image of 5 year-old Omran Daqneesh rescued from the rubble in the aftermath of a devastating airstrike in Aleppo on 17 August 2016 has reverberated around the globe. Every major media outlet— from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to the BBC and Al-Jazeera — has highlighted the picture. It shows a little boy “sitting in an ambulance after the attack, his face, arms and legs caked in blood and dust…” It has become “a symbol for the suffering of children in Syria’s brutal five-year conflict.”
Banning Burkinis: The Politics of Beachwear
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark, August 29 2016
For as long as women have gone to the beach to try to enjoy themselves, it seems, people have followed them there to pester them about their clothes. Selina Cheng, Quartz, Aug 24, 2016 Revolutions are often sparked by folly driven ideas about regulating human behaviour. Banning the worship of symbols renders them more sacred than not; prohibiting certain items that would otherwise be embraced with general enthusiasm adds unintended zest.
