clipped from www.fides.org

ASIA/HOLY LAND - “Come celebrate Christmas in Gaza!”: appeal from Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

“Come celebrate Christmas in Gaza!” This is the appeal being made by Archbishop Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who tomorrow, December 20, will travel to the Gaza Strip to celebrate Christmas.

Living and celebrating Christmas in Gaza with the delegation of the Patriarchate will be representatives of an alliance formed by many European organizations including Pax Christi, with the spirit of "establishing a bridge from different places of the earth to the Strip. The initiative is called "Christmas in Gaza: A Hundred Cities for Peace,” as in several European cities there will be initiatives and celebrations held in communion with Gaza.

clipped from florida-issues.blogspot.com

DNA Evidence Frees Florida Inmate After 35 Years

JEFFREY BROWN: James Bain is a free man tonight. Yesterday, he was released from a Florida prison, where he had spent 35 years for a crime he didn't commit. A court-mandated DNA test proved Bain was wrongly convicted of sexual assault in 1974.

According to the Project, since 1989, there have been 248 post-conviction exonerations based on DNA evidence. Seventeen of those exonerated served time on death row. Twenty-seven states, the federal government and the District of Columbia, compensate individuals who were wrongfully incarcerated.

clipped from www.organicconsumers.org

Millions Against Monsanto Campaign

Join OCA's Campaign to Mobilize One
Million Consumers
to End Monsanto's Global Corporate
Terrorism

Multi-Billion $$ Monsanto
Sues
More Small Family Farmers

Percy
Schmeiser is a farmer from Saskatchewan Canada, whose Canola
fields were contaminated with Monsanto's genetically engineered
Round-Up Ready Canola by pollen from a nearby farm. Monsanto says
it doesn't matter how the contamination took place, and is therefore
demanding Schmeiser pay their Technology Fee (the fee farmers must
pay to grow Monsanto's genetically engineered products). According
to Schmeiser, "I
never had anything to do with Monsanto, outside of buying chemicals.
I never signed a contract.

clipped from www.babelgum.com

Music Razorlight 'Rock and Roll Lies' clip 1

An exclusive clip from forthcoming documentary 'Rock and Roll Lies': an intimate portrait of one of music’s most enigmatic and controversial frontmen Johnny Borrell, and his band, Razorlight. The film airs in full, exclusively on Babelgum from DECEMBER 9TH. Find out more at babelgum.com/razorlight

clipped from bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Ruling out the Nuclear Option -- Not Clean or Green

The Legacy of Nuclear Energy, Nuclear and Chemical Weapons Upon
US Indigenous & Communities of Color

Our communities suffer from diseases and illnesses that we contend are related to our exposure to the highly toxic processes of mining and milling uranium, the unsafe storage of radioactive materials and the lack of clean-up of sites and facilities, the transportation of highly radioactive waste through our communities, and the lack of safe disposal methods for highly deadly nuclear waste. Cancer, neurological damage, genetic damage, lung disease, respiratory disorders, lupus, and heart problems are among some of the illnesses that affect our communities.

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com

Obama's War

Up to 56,000 more contractors likely for Afghanistan, congressional agency says

The surge of 30,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan could be accompanied by a surge of up to 56,000 contractors, vastly expanding the presence of personnel from the U.S. private sector in a war zone, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service.

clipped from act.credoaction.com

School Lunch Meat Gets an 'F'

It's hard to believe, but the USDA uses school lunch funds to help Big Meat offload thousands of tons of meat from old chickens that Kentucky Fried Chicken won't buy and usually goes to compost or pet food.

A recent investigation by USA Today found that the meat sold to U.S. school cafeterias faces less testing and lower safety standards than the meat that's served in most fast-food restaurants

clipped from www.haaretz.com

Police shoot U.S. student's laptop upon entry to Israel

Lily Sussman, 21, wrote on her blog that border police subjected her to two hours of questioning and searches prior to shooting her Apple Macbook three times.

clipped from awwproject.wordpress.com

Where the Wild Dogs Were

I belong to a family in which love has died. I am the sister of a brother who thinks money is what makes life, and who is always angry; the word “happy” has been removed from his life’s dictionary. I am the daughter of a mother who can’t say anything; when she speaks, my brother will say, “You just shut up.” Then my mom will sit in the corner and pray.

She didn’t eat dinner. My brother and I ate. There was everything to eat on the tablecloth but my brother started complaining. He threw a glass at my head. My head hurt and I was afraid he would throw plates at me. Mom asked him, “Why?”

“She brought the wrong glass for me. I am going to teach her how to be a good woman, so she can have a future and marry someone.”

When I returned home with Mom, sad, tired and disappointed, my brother was at home, angry and nervous, and he didn’t ask what happened to us. He looked at me and asked, “When will you get your salary?”

His words were salt for my wounded heart.