U.S. and the World

Contractors Aiding U.S. War Effort Are Taxed Nearly a Billion Dollars by the Afghan Government

At least 43 contractors have been told by the MOF that they owe a combined $921 million in business taxes and associated penalties, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). SIGAR pointed out that the government of Hamid Karzai signed deals with the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Aid and other bodies to excuse non-Afghan businesses from paying local taxes as long as they are helping with the war. read more

50,000 Plant and Animal Species Threatened by Loss of Their Natural Habitats from Climate Change

Researchers in the United Kingdom examined more than 48,000 species and concluded that 55% of common plant species and 35% of common animal species could lose half of their living space by 2080 if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions continue at their current pace. The study’s investigators, based at Britain’s University of East Anglia, believe the species most at risk are amphibians, plants and reptiles. read more

Latest Middle East Cyber Attacks on U.S. Corporations Employ Sabotage

A senior official told the newspaper that DHS is concerned about a repeat of what happened in Saudi Arabia last summer, when an Iranian-based cyber assault affected 30,000 computers at Saudi Aramco, one of the world’s largest oil producers. That attack was similar to the American-Israeli operation that unleashed the Stuxnet worm on computers used in Iran’s nuclear enrichment plants, which was intended to slow Tehran’s goal of developing nuclear weapons. read more

Reagan-Supported Dictator Convicted of Genocide; Is Current President of Guatemala Next?

President Ronald Reagan stood by Rios Montt, calling him “a man of great personal integrity and commitment,” even as human rights groups published accounts of atrocities and abuses under the dictator. Such accounts were bolstered by the disclosure of a 1983 secret CIA cable that implicated Montt’s government in “hit squad executions.” read more

Judge Orders KBR to Pay National Guardsman over Poisoned Water in Iraq

Judge Paul Papak said there was “a preponderance” of trial evidence that showed the defendants “knew of [the]…contamination” at the site, “affirmatively misrepresented the extent of the risk posed by sodium dichromate at Qarmat Ali” to the plaintiffs and that the company “failed to disclose the extent of that risk” to them. read more

Afghanistan Watchdog Complains that Government Officials want Him to Tone Down Audits

Sopko has been busy since taking office last summer, tripling the number of audits and investigations. To date, his office has come up with 73 recommendations to government agencies that would save at least $450 million if enacted, he says. “I am not a cheerleader. I’m a watchdog—it is my job to point out what isn’t working, so it can be fixed." read more

Acidification of Oceans Caused by Climate Change to Last Tens of Thousands of Years

As it stands, the average acidity of surface ocean waters is now about 30% higher than before the Industrial Revolution, experts estimate. The increase in acidity could affect many ocean species, including commercially important fish, scientists say. They also predict major changes in the marine ecosystem in the years ahead, with some species being harmed, while others thrive. read more

Free Speech-Deprived Chinese Find Outlet on White House Petition Site

Stifled by their government’s opposition to free speech, citizens of China have used the Internet to reach out to the White House and voice their concerns about problems back home. On the We the People website created by the Obama administration, thousands of Chinese have joined a petition calling for an investigation into a nearly 20-year-old case involving an alleged murder attempt. read more

Elephants are being Slaughtered in Central African Republic

Now word has filtered out of the area that seventeen Sudanese poachers, in search of ivory, have swooped into the area, driven out the researchers and, as of last night, begun slaughtering the elephants at Dzanga Bai. This is a sickening development. Not only are wild elephants one of the earth’s treasures, but the sort of people who would shoot them to death are just one step away from turning their weapons on the Pygmies and others who either stand in their way. read more

U.N. Fact-Finding Mission Finds U.S. Businesses have Little Interest in Rights of Workers and Local Communities

The UN representatives singled out for concern low-wage agricultural workers and harmful practices by the mining industry, among other problems. They cited employee complaints about being paid less than minimum wage, as well as “chronic disregard” for health and safety measures, including the destructive practices of strip mining and “mountaintop removal” by the coal industry. read more

Hundreds Die While Making Clothes for J.C. Penney, Benetton and others in Bangladesh

More than 3,000 people, mostly young women, worked in the Rana Plaza building that contained five garment factories producing items for JCPenney, Cato Fashions, Benetton, Primark, Canada’s Joe Fresh, Walmart’s Canadian operation and others. Immediately following the tragedy, Benetton officials insisted they had not purchased clothes made in the factories. However, photos and other evidence surfaced indicating Benetton products were indeed produced in the shops. read more

Hospitals Save Money by Deporting Patients

The process often involves hospitals putting patients on chartered international flights and shipping them out of the country, all without going through the government’s deportation system. Advocates for immigrants say the number of medical repatriation cases may increase once the federal healthcare reform law goes into effect. This is because the new law will reduce government payments to hospitals that receive uninsured patients. read more

Judge Orders Defense Dept. to Release Names of Instructors and Students at School of Americas

Its training manuals advocated targeting civilians, extrajudicial executions, torture, false imprisonment and extortion. Not surprisingly, many of its graduates—including such notorious figures as Gen. Efrain Rios Montt of Guatemala, Gen. Manuel Noriega of Panama and Captain Roberto D’Aubuisson of El Salvador—went on to form death squads and commit human rights abuses. read more

U.S. Military Photographers Help Counter Enemy Propaganda and Support American Propaganda

"Combat camera teams were directed to acquire imagery of key districts as the local population moved back to local village areas and business trade resumed. These images were used during dignitary visits and provided to the media to illustrate security progress.” When local insurgents used photo of civilian casualties to promote hostility against U.S. forces, Pentagon photographers were ordered to provide images of Americans treating injured Afghans. read more

Supreme Court Helps Corporations Protect Themselves Against Human Rights Violations Overseas

The plaintiffs alleged that a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Petroleum, the parent company of Shell Oil, supported the Nigerian government in torturing and killing people protesting against the company’s construction of a pipeline in the Ogoni region in the 1990s. But the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Nigerian plaintiffs, although they are now resident in the United States, could not sue in American courts. read more

U.S. Children Less Satisfied with Life than Those of other Developed Nations

A new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on children’s well-being in 29 countries revealed that, during the years 2009 and 2010, the U.S. ranked only 23rd in terms of life satisfaction for those age 11, 13 and 15. The U.S. finished just ahead of Canada, as well as Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. read more