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Government`s Recent Performance Bolsters Skepticism About Its Role In Society

In mid-November, a Quinnipiac University poll showed Obama with the lowest approval rating of his presidency.

(WASHINGTON, DC) - Government's performance in recent days has been dismal. This is hardly new. One of the reasons for President Obama's election, after all, was dismay with President George W. Bush's eight years in office.

During that period we went to war in Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction which turned out not to exist, taxpayers bailed out failing banks on Wall Street, Medicare was expanded with an unfunded drug benefit and government deficits reached all-time highs.

Forty-Foot-Wide Sinkhole Leads to Evacuations, Possible Condemned Homes

"It's an unfortunate situation for homeowners, but fortunately no one is hurt at this time" - Dunedin, Fla., Fire Chief Jeff Parks

(ST. PETERSBURG Accuweather) - AccuWeather.com reports several Florida homes in a St. Petersburg-area neighborhood have been evacuated as a 40-foot-wide and 30-foot-deep sinkhole threatens the properties.

So far, a home's patio has already been swallowed by the hole. Neighbors were evacuated as a precaution.

The Chaos in Sri Lanka

The role of Britain & the Commonwealth...

(BRISBANE) - It is not widely appreciated that the current chaos in Sri Lanka is partly due to the damage done by colonial Britain, and later by the failure of the Commonwealth, to act when all the Commonwealth ‘core values’ had been systematically and blatantly violated by a succession of Sri Lankan (Sinhalese) governments.

The result is a Totalitarian State where human rights have taken a bashing, democracy has been dismantled...

Sri Lanka Hosting CHOGM 2013 - A Serious Problem

CHOGM is not a farce. Hosting this event is an opportunity for the host country to make a lot of money.

(BRISBANE) - This paper was written a month ago under a different title: “Sri Lanka hosting CHOGM is a joke. Is the (British) Commonwealth relevant any more?”

I argued that the Commonwealth was a farce, and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) a joke. That is not correct. I have re-written it to draw attention to an entirely different ‘event’ associated with CHOGM, the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF).

Just How Real is Hamas`s Transformation?

And is new spokesperson Isra on a 'mission impossible'?

(LONDON) - I wish 23 year-old Isra al Modallal all the luck in the world in her new and important job as the media face of Hamas - important, that is, if Hamas allows it to be. It's a courageous move on her part... and a curious innovation by Hamas.

Some reports say Isra is not even a member of Hamas and she'd be happy representing bitter rival Fatah and the Palestinian Authority as well. If she plans to freelance like that, I wouldn't mind betting it will end in tears.

Why, Really, Has Netanyahu Put Settlement Expansion on Hold?

Given that an Obama showdown with the Zionist lobby is a possibility, (not a probability), it’s worth recalling what Eisenhower said when, from the bully pulpit, he took on the Zionist lobby and won.

(LONDON) - His own explanation was that he wants to avoid or minimise the prospects for an “unnecessary confrontation” with the international community, for which read President Obama and the European leaders who would follow his lead (with the arguable exception of the French whore).

I think it’s more than reasonable to believe that Netanyahu was concerned, possibly even alarmed, by the explicit nature of U.S. Secretary of State Kerry’s condemnation on 6 November of Israel’s on-going colonization of the occupied West Bank.

Inside Oregon Prisons

Because he resisted the “good cop” strategy and tried to organize interracial groups and activities, Rashid lasted only about six months at OSP and less than another year at Snake River...

(PORTLAND, OR) - Most of us don’t get to learn much about our state’s penal system from the inside. But now, Kevin “Rashid” Johnson educates us in the March 2013 issue of Socialism and Democracy , here he exposes the penology practiced in the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem.

Tribute to Vietnam Veteran Gary E Harvey

Special Forces Veteran from the Vietnam War is being held against his will in New York hospital.

(HORSEHEADS, NY) - A wife's loving tribute to her husband, Gary Harvey - Veteran and unfortunately trapped in an abusive guardianship. Currently, Gary is confined to a hospital room and denied all visitation from family, friends, advocates - even clergy.

The guardian does not keep his wife informed of his medical condition and blocks all her efforts to advocate for his best interest and his preferences.

Philippines: UN Humanitarian Chief Appeals for Support for Typhoon Survivors

“People with absolutely nothing are doing their best to regain some degree of normality” - Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos

(MANILLA) - The top United Nations humanitarian official today called for a sustained and collective response from the international community to help those affected by Typhoon Haiyan, and added that despite logistical challenges, aid is increasingly reaching those in need.

The typhoon slammed the country over the weekend and according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), some 11 million people have been affected, and more than 600,000 people have been displaced.

Solutions Needed in Sri Lanka

To secure lasting peace and stability, Sri Lanka needs a durable and equitable political system that ensures all citizens are fairly represented and afforded equal rights and protections.

(WASHINGTON, DC) - More than four years after Sri Lanka’s ethnic-fueled internal conflict came to an end after 26 years, the country has yet to implement a viable plan for lasting peace and reconciliation.

In March, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a U.S.-led resolution calling for the “establishment of a truth-seeking mechanism as an integral part of a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to transnational justice” in Sri Lanka.