Source: IPIS Research “On average, resource-rich <African> countries have done even more poorly than countries without resources.” ~Joseph Stiglitz, former chief economist at the World Bank and professor of economics at Columbia University Africa is going to be the a smaller version of the new Middle East in the years to come.  Africa has played [...]

im·pe·ri·al·ism /imˈpi(ə)rēəˌlizəm/ Noun A policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force. America is an imperialist country; we have been for a great many years.  I don’t think we really appreciate or understand the wide ranging impact of American foreign policies outside the water’s edge.  My first memory of this [...]

  “The security forces and the shabiha took whole families outside after destroying their homes. They stripped my girls from their clothes, raped them then killed them with knives. They were shouting: ‘You want freedom? This is the best brand of freedom.’ You could only hear the screams and the cries of the little ones asking [...]

“It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a (pesticide) maker is found guilty of such a poisoning.” ~Plaintiff’s attorney  Well this is bad news for Monsanto and very good news for anyone who cares about their health.  Monsanto makes tremendous profits by not only engineering (and placing [...]

In January of 2009 – right as the Taliban outlawed young girls from attending school – the NY Times spent 48 hours documenting then 11 year old Malala Yousafzai’s experience in the lawless SWAT valley.  The video really is moving.  It’s completely unacceptable and an excellent example of what happens when religious fundamentalists take over. [...]

“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” ~Malcolm X  I’m not a religious person.  I find religion unnecessary and agree with Einstein’s thoughts on religion HERE although that is [...]

Recently – TIME magazine named President Obama as the “Person of the Year”; I think they’re wrong.  For me – it’s Malala Yousufzai – the 14 year old Pakistani girl who advocated for a woman’s right to an education despite threats of violence that ended up with her being shot in the head by the [...]

It’s no secret that I have advocated for President Obama’s re-election; I voted for the guy … hands down and with visceral abandon.  I don’t regret it and I don’t apologize for it; the world will have become a much better place because of his re-election and certainly our country will be on a much [...]

“She was too young for gold.” ~Geysina’s father Mohamad Rahim The Muslim world is predominantly mainstream; the vast majority of Muslims wish to see their children grow old, gain an education and do well for themselves.  There are very few real differences between what Muslims, Christians and Jews want.  At their core – they’re all [...]

“About five to six rockets hit our building.  I am really surprised to see that we journalists are being attacked. What do they want? Do they want to silence us and stop us telling the truth? No, we will continue our work unabated and will not fear their strikes.” ~Hussein al-Madhoun, journalist for Al-Quds in Gaza  [...]