Archive of Articles

Note: Be sure to check article dates. This archive includes stories published between 1993 and 2010.

Hot Topics:

Apocalypse 2012? A closer look at how prophecies of an approaching doomsday and the science of global warming appear to be converging. From the TheCityEdition.com.

Sept. 11th Investigation A compilation of articles, U.N. documents and links that probe the terrorist attack in the United States and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

Women:

Sex Trafficking Articles From the TheCityEdition.com.

Why Pakistan and Benazir Bhutto are Important On October 18, 2007, less than twelve hours back from exile, a massive bomb exploded near Bhutto's motorcade on a jam-packed Karachi boulevard. On December 27th, a second assassination attempt was successful. Read this in-depth account about the the life and times of Bhutto, and the strange love-hate relationship between Pakistan and the United States.

Islamic Fundamentalism's War on Women Ann Louise Barbach's article containing fascinating interviews with Fatima Mernissi, Benazir Bhutto and other key players on this issue.

An American Woman Imprisoned in Peru. Several years ago, Lori Berenson, a former student at M.I.T., was convicted by a military tribunal of treason for supporting an outlawed resistance movement. Because of Peru's anti-terrorist measurers, her lawyers were not allowed to crossexamine witnesses, including a disgruntled ex-lover who accused her of planning an armed attack against the Peruvian Congress. From the Los Angeles Times.

The Invisible Girl Indian researcher Neera Sohoni argues that international development efforts too often overlook the situation of girls, who suffer most from poverty and discrimination. Robbed of their self-esteem and life prospects while still underage, their chances for empowerment as women are limited. From Choices, a publication of the U.N. Development Programme.

Women Spies A look at the role played by American women in espionage efforts - from World War II to today's CIA. Actress Marlene Dietrich and cooking guru Julia Child both served in the O.S.S, and plenty of others were influential in winning the war for the Allies. Valerie Plame and other CIA officers have reshaped the nation's top spy agency and been on the forefront of the search for key al Qaeda operatives.

Liberia Gets the First Female African Head of State President Ellen John-Sirleaf isn't going for broke in Liberia. She's already there... Find out about a nation teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and how you can help this former World Bank economist make a difference.

Sex, Lies, and Night Vision Video Feminist author Susan Faludi takes on the damsel in distress myth in a fascinating account of how the American public was subliminally coersced into supporting the Administration's war plans and dismantling of civil rights. While the Jessica Lynch episode may offer the most searing indictment of a propaganda machine gone wild, it appears that this same storyline has been reprised over and over since colonial times. The Terror Dream is Faludi's latest book.

(PDF file) Journalist Anna Politkovskaya is Shot Down in Moscow A popular Russian journalist was shot to death at her apartment in Moscow on October 7th. It wasn't the first attempt on her life, either, which is why everyone suspects the Kremlin had a hand in it. From the TheCityEdition.com.

U.N. Relief Agency Incorporates Women Refugees into Relief Distribution (Finally!) The U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees recently discovered that its aid often did not reach the most vulnerable victims, and even worse, were sometimes sold for profit by the men entrusted with the task. From Refugees, the official magazine of the UNHCR

The Beijing Conference: Now the 1,000 Mile Journey Begins A report on the Fourth World Conference on Women summing up all the highlights and international intrigue. From The Minaret: America's Source on Islam

Rite is Wrong - Female Circumscision Travels to the West Every year an estimated two million girls around the world are forced to undergo the excision of their clitorises. Now the practice is spreading to the West with African immigrants. From the Los Angeles View.

Feminists in Iran? Maryam Rajavi and Faiza Hashemi are two Iranian women making the male-dominated Muslim world take notice. But they differ sharply in their tactics. Maryam Rajavi is fightig the Tehran government from the outside, while Faiza Hashemi works for change from within the regime.

(PDF file) Abortion ruling sets new precedent putting the fetus before the woman On April 18, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed part of the historic Roe v. Wade precedent set in 1973. Defying the principle of starry decisis, the court ruled that a woman's health can no longer be taken into consideration when it comes to one late-term procedure. Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsberg thinks this is about more than simply abortion, saying the decision is "alarming". Meanwhile, the national advocacy group NARAL has swung into action to try undue the damage and Barabara Boxer has introduced new legislation to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land. From the TheCityEdition.com.

(PDF file) Dixie Chicks rise up from ashes of London anti-war remark In 2003, the hottest female band in the universe saw its fortunes disintegrate after one of its members made an anti-war comment at a concert in London. But the red-state country trio bounced back, writing their own songs and going after the broadcast networks who conspired to ruin their careers. From the TheCityEdition.com.

See also Health and United States sections below...

Latin America:

Central American Women Risk Jobs to Denounce Sweat Shops Catholic worker Leslie Wirpsa visited Guatemala and El Salvador in 1995 to investigate complaints of abusive working conditions and complaints of union-busting, and the American corporations with plants in the region. From the National Catholic Reporter. See also Bob Herbert's editorial on Who's Benefitting from Sweat Shops? appearing in the Los Angeles Times.

Guatemalan Women: On the Outside Looking In With the support of some innovative United Nations programs, women refugees in Mexico are challenging their abusive treatment and taking charge of plans to return to their communities in Guatemala. From Refugees, Official Publication of the U.N High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) .

CIA Backs Out of Guatemala as the DEA Steps In. On December 29, 1995, an armistice brought peace to Guatemala after thirty years of civil war. But as the Central Intelligence Agency abandons its frontline operation there, a new war on narcotics is just gearing up. From the New York Times.

U.S. Military Involvement in Mexico's Quagmire Deepens Satellites, telecommunications equipment, infrared rays and a heavy arsenal of firepower have been placed at the disposal of Mexico to combat a peasant uprising that threatens to erupt into a full-scale civil war. from Global Exchange

Central Asia and Middle East:

Afghanistan Falls to Islamic Fundamentalists Of the two bloody episodes that disfigured south-western Asia in September, the fighting between Israelis and Palestinians won far more headlines than the capture of Afghanistan's capital by a murky army of Islamic militants who call themselves the Taliban, "the Seekers." Yet what has happened in and around Kabul is much the bloodier of the two stories, and it may matter at least as much to the rest of the world. From The Economist.

Islamic Fundamentalism's War on Women Ann Louise Barbach's article containing fascinating interviews with Fatima Mernissi, Benazir Bhutto and other key players on this issue.

Iran, Iraq, and the Little Army that Could Confined to its two bases in Iraq since 2003, the Mujahedeen Khalq, or MEK, an army led by women, opposes the ayatollahs in Iran and has been battling to overthrow them since 1980. The U.S. State Department says the MEK is a terrorist organization, but the designation is disputed and several million Iraqi citizens have signed petitions asking that the force be allowed to re-arm and fight the jihadists streaming into the country.

Tank Girls - The Frontline Feminists Article by Christine Aziz published in the British-based Independent in 2004.

The Talibanization of Iraq Bay Fang, a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune writes that women are being targetted by the Islamic militias and that their rights are eroding fast despite (or perhaps in tandem with) the U.S. occupation. Published in Ms. Magazine.

Iraqi women survive in Damascus by prostituting themselves An article by Katherine Zoepf, published in the International Herald Tribune.

Negotiate with Iran? With all the talk of taking a kinder, gentler approach to Iran's ayatollahs, people in Europe must be wondering what Americans are smoking. Since the Reagan Administration first took office in 1980, the Bush/Cheney/Pentagon team has maintained an ongoing, covert relationship with the dictatorship. The results of those consultations have not been pretty, and just as the Trojan Horse got through the front door of Troy, the progressive movement has been cleverly connived into defending one of the grisliest governments on earth. From the TheCityEdition.com.

Terrorist Hamas: A Frankenstein Created by the U.S. Taxpayer? A former reporter for ABC looks at U.S. support and financing of the Muslim Brotherhood, the principle organization of islamic fundamentalism. Ostensibly recruited to fight communism and the PLO, the Brotherhood from its inception had a far more ambitious agenda. From the International Herald Tribune. Child Servitude in the Global Economy In India, and elsewhere, the children of poor families provide a source of cheap labor for making oriental carpets and other products for export. Human rights groups try to stem the rising tide of kidnappings and forced servitude. From The Christian Century.

Child Labor in Pakistan. An in-depth report on the Dickensian labor practices and enslavement of children in Pakistan, government indifference, and the efforts of human rights groups to rescue the victims. From The Atlantic Monthly. (Note: this is a direct link to their database.)

Asia (China, Japan, Burma)

China's Factories Operate on a War FootingMilitary-style obedience portends rigid discipline, enforced overtime, imprisonment in compounds and sometimes even corporal punishment, all in the quest to make a cheap pair of shoes. Sociologist Anita Chan gets an inside look. From the Washington Post.

How One Family Came to Boycott China and Corporations Responding to Public Pressure. Tibetan Nun Tells Story of Arrest, Torture and Escape. China's occupation of Tibet in defiance of international law has been accompanied by widespread human rights abuses. A firsthand account from this underreported area of the world. From the New Internationalist magazine.

Seeking Reparations for the "Comfort Women" During World War II, the Japanese government sanctioned a scheme by which its army kidnapped some 200,000 girls and women from its Asian territories and forced them to serve as prostitutes. At the 1995 Commission on Human Rights session in Geneva, humanitarian law specialist Karen Parker delivered a searing speech on Japan's war crimes and the United Nations' failure to protect women in time of war. From the Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law.

Africa:

The Voice of Her people Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi almost overnight became the heart of Burma's struggle for democracy and freedom, and continues to challenge the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) despite house arrest. From Parade Magazine Also, an article about Burma's Pro-Democracy Movement, from Asiaweek. Third, an article on the building of the Death Railway that is being built with slave labor, including children. From the South China Morning Post. Finally, an article on Tourism in Burma From Geographical Magazine.

Executions in Nigeria spark global boycott of Shell The hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists protesting environmental destructionhas set into motion one of the largest consumer boycotts since the battle over apartheid in south Africa. From the Los Angeles Weekly.

United States

(PDF file) Judging Amy She may not be a household word, but Amy Goodman has spent the last decade scooping the networks with breaking news on human rights abuses abroad, scandals in two Administrations, and the murky situation in the Middle East. In the process, she's amassed a worldwide audience for her hour-long daily newscast, Democracy Now! From the grassroots to the regal, Goodman interviews the people at the center of controversy, from Julia Butterfly Hill to Hugo Chavez to Bill Clinton. But it was the hour-long chat with Hustler publisher Larry Flynt that has raised the most eyebrows so far. From the TheCityEdition.com.

Famed Author of Reviving Ophelia Protests CIA Torture Policy In 1993, a Nebraska child psychologist shook the nation when she published her book about the epidemic of cutting and anorexia in adolescent girls. But Mary Pipher made headlines again when she announced she would return a presidential citation awarded her by the American Psychological Association. From the TheCityEdition.com.

(PDF file) Nancy Pelosi's Stairway to Heaven Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's meteoric rise to become Speaker of the House was not without controversy. In fact, the way she went about it leads some to question her loyalties. Follow her political track, beginning with San Francisco's hotly contested 8th congressional district in 1987. From the TheCityEdition.com.

Regulating Sex in the Ranks American admirals and generals like to boast that they carry around contingency plans for wars, riots and even hurricanes. But they're still stumped when it comes to solving one of their most basic problems: sex. And in a go-along, get-along male-dominated culture, women may also have to change their tactics. From the New York Times.

Ex-DEA Agent Outlines Agency's Role in CIA crimes. A former employee of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency discusses how the DEA and CIA aided Guatemalan intelligence personnel in the commission of human rights crimes in that country, citing file numbers and case names to corroborate his claims. From the National Catholic Reporter. Plus an additional story regarding the same DEA agent's claim that the CIA sponsored cocaine flights for the "Contras". From the Los Angeles Times.

Multinational Corporations Tackle Ethics in their Foreign Dealings U.S. Companies are saving a bundle by shipping their production facilities to developing countries. But are they guilty of human rights violations in the process? From The Economist.

Woman in the Shadow of The DaVinci Code Mentioned in the copyright lawsuit against Dan Brown is an obscure theologian named Margaret Starbird, whose books about Mary Magdalene significantly influenced the writing of the blockbuster novel. Hear the story of how this mild-mannered wife of a West Point graduate stumbled upon one of the greatest cover-ups in the history of organized religion. From the TheCityEdition.com.

Health

The Autism-Thimerosal Scandal In 2005, the son of Bobby Kennedy reported that the Centers for Disease Control knew mercury-laced vaccines could be linked to autism but covered it up. And he had transcripts obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request to prove it. So why hasn't the mainstram media picked up the story? From the TheCityEdition.com.

(PDF file) Killing us Softly with their Guidelines The American Heart Association has issued new guidelines urging all women to consult their doctos about taking an aspirin every day to avoid heart disease. However, two recent Harvard studies suggest that taking aspirin is not only ineffective as a preventive therapy but can cause serious bleeding, ulcers and even hypertension. With so much circumstantial evidence demonstrating that it's a bad idea, why is the AHA pitching the over-the-counter medication? From the TheCityEdition.com.

(PDF file) The jury's still out on Merck HPV vaccine The lack of long-term follow-up to assess vaccine efficacy and safety, as well as the lack of testing in the age group targeted for the vaccine (11 to 12 year-old girls), are among the main reasons that two UCSF School of Obstetrics professors are advising caution in the use of the new Merck drug.

(PDF file) Tap Water Versus Bottle Debate There has been a lot of press afoot urging Americans to wean themselves off the bottle and go back to drinking water from their faucets. Empty plastic bottles may be clogging the landfills, but is tap water a safe alternative? Here's an in-depth report, with info on a third option: installing water filters at home. From the TheCityEdition.com.

Healing Migraines - The Whole Package On the trail of a migraine, is the posse finally catching up? A look at treatment approaches, both western and eastern. Additional articles include an interview with UCSF neurology professor, Dr. Louis Ptacek. Also, learn how (PDF file) progressive relaxation can help alleviate non-headache symptoms and shorten the severity of your headaches. From the TheCityEdition.com.

(PDF file) Easy Diet Changes Will Prevent Many Chronic Illnesses PBS introduced us to Brenda Watson, N.D. (meaning she's a naturopath), and she's got a plan that works. Watson believes a lot of chronic illness starts in the gut. By adding four handy ingredients to your daily diet (more fiber, pro-biotics, enzymes and Omega-3s) , you may be able to beat back irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, diabetes, cancer and a host of other maladies without ever having to pop a single pill. From the TheCityEdition.com.

The Truth about Infectious Diseases The demise of antibiotics in fighting drug-resistant strains of diseases like tuberculosis may take us back to the days of widespread epidemics. An in-depth look at the approaching crisis. For additional information, see the Answers to Common Questions. From UCSF Magazine.

(PDF file) The Nurse in Charge Top-ranked UCSF School of Nursing celebrates its centennial in 2006. Take a rare, closer look with us at the profession and how it's changed since the days of Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War. From the TheCityEdition.com.

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