Book Review: Webs of Power by Starhawk

I just finished reading Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising by Starhawk. The book spans the years between 1999 and early 2001. Starhawk is prolific Neo-Pagan writer and is best known for her book the Spiral Dance. This book however, is in comparison to her other books focused entirely on politics, though her spirituality influences her political activism.

The book is broken into two parts. The first part gives an overview of the major demonstrations around the world between 1999 and 2001 and are largely unedited non-fiction stories and reports that the author wrote around those. It specifically addresses the famous Battle of Seattle around the WTO protests, A16 around the World Bank and IMF meeting, Prague also around the World Bank and IMF, the World Social Forum in Brazil, the FTAA demonstrations in Quebec City, the G8 protests in Genoa and, the aftermath of 9-11.

The second part dealt with the very real issue of what type of world that progressive movements would like to build. The main critique generally of progressive movements is what would be put in its place. In reality those alternatives are being created in many places around the world. Starhawk gives essays on what is needed for a new world. They are Our Place in Nature, The Practice of Direct Democracy, Building a Diverse Movement, Cultural Appropriation, "Many Roads to Morning:" Rethinking Nonviolence, What We Want: Economy and Strategy for the End Times and, Spirit in Action. It is through these principles of living sustainably as a part of nature, direct democracy, diversity, respect for each other's culture, a concerted look at tactics, a just economy and, a vibrant non-dogmatic spirituality that we can create a new world.

Overall a very good book. 5 out of 5.

Opinion: International Terrorism

I decided to post this as I will be gone for the weekend. This was from the same course as the Free Trade paper. I think I've seriously progressed since writing this but its still something interesting to read.

The Fall of the Soviet Union brought with it hope for a more peaceful future, a future that had been hoped for after many major wars such as World War One and Two. A concept of not having two opposing sides in constant opposition and struggle, that undermine world peace. President George W. Bush's famous speech after the September 11th terrorist attacks has undermined that concept of peace and reinvigorated a duality of being ' either with us or with the terrorists'. They have since used hegemonic control to lead a war on terror. The war on terror however, only further destabilizes the world in their defile of international law in the name of national security.

Terrorism creates an entirely mode of physical conflict in comparison to war. Conventional methods of military intervention are not effective in the ending of terrorism. The United States method of otherthrowing governments that are deemed bastions for terrorists has proven extremely ineffective. Iraq has become a breeding ground for terrorist organizations since the fall of Saddam Hussein and, although the Taliban, who had close ties with Al Qaeda, in Afghanistan was overthrown the country is mainly run by regional warlords. This entire policy runs upon a concept that the United States can combat terrorists in other nation-states so, they do not have to deal with terrorists upon it's soil. This entirely conception of reality has flaws if one looks at September 11th and the London Bombings. The terrorists who flew the planes into the World Trade Center were trained at flight schools in the United States and, the London suicide bombers were British born. Terrorism is a new type of warfare, a international battle that in many ways cannot be fully won.

United States' foreign policy tends to create more problems that it later combats with military force. Here are three examples Panama in 1990, Afghanistan in 2001 and, Iraq in 2003. In 1990 United States troops invaded Panama and devastated the civilian population to capture the 'narco-terrorist' General Noriega. Noriega was a former CIA contact who had been on the CIA payroll when George H. W. Bush was CIA director. In 2001 the United States led a coalition to invade Afghanistan in order to disband the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda had been given CIA money and training in the 1980s in an effort to stop the country from coming under Soviet control and, the Taliban had been honoured guests of George W. Bush earlier in his political career. The most currently talked about war is the war in Iraq. The United States led a “coalition of the willing” to invade Iraq to quell terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction yet both of these reasons were false. The ruler they deposed was Saddam Hussein who had been given United States' support during the Iran-Iraq war and whose Ba'ath party had been given support earlier to launch a coup d'etat over the former government of Abdul Karim Qassim. These three conflicts are only a small example of United States' international involvement. The first and foremost change the United States government could do to prevent terrorism would be to stop funding terrorist groups or regimes, even if at that time the support is militarily convenient.

The worst part of United States foreign policy is its disregard for international law. The invasions of Panama in 1990 and Iraq in 2003 were direct violations of international law and were in fact condemned as illegal by many states around the world. The United States government did not stop with its illegal activities there. There have been growing scandles about unlawful detention, illegal invasions of privacy and, the use of torture. For the stability of world peace and to be in the moral right a state must follow international law especially in relation to the conduct of war.

The United States' approach to the war on terror goes against moral and legal conviction. International law and cooperation are the only way to ensure world peace. The United States has gone against the fundaments of peace and has been a major contributor to terrorism. To prevent further terrorism the United States should begin by ending their engagement in it and to work with the other many states of the world.

9/11: Zogby Poll say 42% of Americans believe in Cover Up

A new poll released by Zogby International about 9-11 states that 42% of Americans believe there is a coverup by the United States government and the 9-11 commission about what happend on 9-11. Another 10% were unsure while about half of Americans (48%) believe that the US government and 9-11 commission was accurate.

The poll continues by looking at the collapse of building 7 of the World Trade Centre complex. 43% of Americans said they were unaware about the collapse of building 7. 38% of Americans say they knew about it and thought it should be investigated in comparison to 14% who knew, but did not think it needed investigating because, it was not hit by an airplane.

The poll also looks at the percentage of people who think that 9-11 should or should not be reinvestigated. 47% said the attacks were thouroughly investigated, 45% thought they should be reinvestigated and, 8% did not know. The question of how well the media portrayed 9-11 after the attacks. 55% of Americans rated the media coverage negatively, while 43% rated it positively. This poll shows the issue of 9-11 is still in people's minds and there is still a significant about of dissention about what happend.

9/11: The Pentagon Another View

Here is a very good essay which doesn't agree with a no 757 theory. Provides a good view of the other side. However, they don't explain the piloting, the engines, the many other eyewitness reports that don't corroberate the official story plus the question as to why the tapes haven't been release other then the two I posted. Personally I wish I saw tapes of a 757 hitting the pentagon, it would cure a lot of issues.

9/11: More on the Pentagon

The videos that I posted have created a bit of a stir, so here is a bit of a deeper look at the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001. I don't believe the official story, but I think it is important for each person to decide on their own what they believe. What is very important is that everyone keeps an open mind and allows debate. September 11th left people's hearts low and instead of doing a serious investigation the case was barely addressed and almost imediately blamed on Osamma Bin Laden. I think it is especially important for Canadians to look at this now that the Afghanistan mission is so firm in all our minds and Conservatives start to use it to justify our role there. Below are images of the American Airlines plane, as well as of the pentagon.

Here is a comparison of the American Airilines flight and one of the small fragments that is given.





This is an image of the pentagon right after the alleged plane hit.





Here is another picture of right after the alleged plane hit, notice the size of the hole and the fact that there are unbroken windows where the wings would have hit.




This of course is after it collapsed.

9/11: Judicial Watch Gets Pentagon Videos

Judicial Watch, a non partisan government transperency group in the United States has obtained footage of the pentagon on September 11th, 2001. The two videos are below. First watch them yourself then read my commentary. The object is in view at 1:26 in the first, 0:24 in the second.

In my opinion the look of that is by no way a 747 jet. Whatever is flying there is small and white as anyone can see. The people who run Judicial Watch say that now conspiracy theories about 9/11 surrounding the pentagon can be put away. The only conspiracy theory I see that can be put away is that an inept Arab man hijacked a 747 and flew it into the pentagon. These videos are fairly short and basically only show the five frames that were released a few years ago, but much clearer. There is also still no answer to why all videotapes from other cameras, which would have viewed the alleged plane, are still classified. Remember the plane they cite was blue, large, and bounced off the lawn. What I see is small, white, extremely fast, doesn't hit the lawn, and doesn't leave any traces from a 747.