Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Dieci buone notizie

Sulla consequenzialita' di alcune di queste notizie, nutro seri dubbi.
Ad ogni modo, e' l'anno nuovo.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1228-28.htm
As we close this year on the low of a devastating conflict in Iraq and
a President contemplating sending yet more troops to fight and die in
an unwinnable war, let us not forget that it was a year of many
positive gains for the progressive movement. Here are just ten.
1. First, of course, is the November elections, when voters gave
Repubicans an "electoral thumpin'". From California's Jerry
McNerney to Ohio's Sherrod Brown to Minnesota's Keith
Ellison-Democrats all over the country won elections by slamming
Bush's war. The collapse of one-party rule in Washington reflected a
spectacular repudiation of George Bush and handed Congress a mandate to
get out of Iraq.
2. Latino communities throughout the United States took center stage in
the spring of 2006, putting May Day back on the map as a day of
grassroots mobilizing. From high school students to union members to
community organizers, the spirit and energy of millions of immigrants
demanding to be treated with dignity and respect took the nation by
surprise. Immigrants not only carved out new political space, but in
the age of e-activism, they breathed new life into the importance of
"street heat."
3. After decades of dictating the rules of the global economy, World
Trade Organization talks fell flat on their face in 2006. Activists the
world over celebrated its collapse after years of work to sink this
titanic tool of empire. The work to derail corporate-dominated trade
policies is far from over, with bilateral free trade agreements taking
the place of the WTO. But the WTO and its model of globalization have
been exposed as a dismal failure and opposition continues to grow
worldwide.
4. George Bush opened 2006 with a State of the Union Address bemoaning
our "addiction to oil"; 86 prominent Evangelicals called global
warming a moral issue; Al Gore educated millions with his film, An
Inconvenient Truth; and Time magazine declared the Earth is at a
tipping point with melting ice, drought, wind, disease, and fires
raging out of control. Historians may one day look back on 2006 as the
"tipping-point" year when human societies-including the United
States as the major superpower and the major polluter-woke up to the
precarious state of our world and decided it was time to find
solutions.
5. As a clear indicator of the shift from debating global warming to
doing something about it, this year California passed the nation's
toughest legislation to curb greenhouse gases. The groundbreaking bill
would require the state to cut back its greenhouse gas emissions to
1990 levels by 2020-a reduction of approximately 25 percent. A smart
politico, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger saw the green
writing on the wall and joined the state's Democrats in setting a new
environmental standard for the rest of the nation to follow.
6. In a year when Enron executives were found guilty of cooking the
books, Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for proving
that poor people can be more reliable money managers than rich ones.
Yunus' "microcredit movement" that started out giving small loans
to poor Bangladeshis, mostly women, mushroomed into a worldwide
movement that has extended small loans to millions of the world's
poor. By awarding Yunus the Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee
not only recognized the credit-worthiness of the poor but acknowledged
that poverty is a threat to peace. As Yunus said in his acceptance
speech, "I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of
the poor people is a better strategy [for combating terrorism] than
spending it on guns."
7. While the fighting between Israel and Lebanon left over 1,000 dead,
mostly Lebanese, a ceasefire was achieved after only 34 days. When the
violence threatened to spiral out of control, the United Nations, the
Arab League and individual governments stepped forward to insist on
negotiations, to hammer out a ceasefire agreement and to provide
international peacekeeping forces to serve as monitors. What could have
been a prolonged conflict with devastating consequences for the entire
region was halted. The lessons that SHOULD have been learned when the
powerful Israeli military was unable to "win" the conflict through
force are that military aggression will not solve the deep-seated
problems in the region, and that negotiations and peace processes can
work.
8. Speaking of dialogue, Jimmy Carter, with his new book Palestine:
Peace Not Apartheid, took on the greatest taboo in US politics: the
gross violation of Palestinian rights and the unqualified US government
support for the Israeli government. Likening Israel's policies in the
Palestinian territories to the racist white rule in South Africa,
Carter has raised a firestorm of controversy. But finally, FINALLY,
someone with the credentials of a statesman, a peacemaker and a friend
of Israel is crying out against Israel's hellish treatment of
Palestinians. The public is embracing his views: his book quickly
became a bestseller and he has been greeted by enthusiastic crowds at
appearances around the country. Hopefully, our elected officials will
start listening as well.
9. In 2006 we managed to stop the next war from starting! With the US
bogged down in Iraq and the public sick of war, it has been impossible
for the Bush administration to launch an attack against another country
like Iran or North Korea. The army doesn't have enough recruits to
fight a new war and the politicians know it would be political suicide
to reinstate the draft. Two major warmongers-Donald Rumsfeld and John
Bolton-were forced out of power. And with Bush obligated to appoint a
new ambassador to the United Nations, perhaps diplomacy will come back
into fashion.
10. Across Latin America, elections have continued to bring a wave of
progressive leadership to power. With the victories of Daniel Ortega
and Rafael Correa, Nicaragua and Ecuador join Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile
and Brazil as governments committed to improving the lives of the
majority. As a sign of the radical changes in the region, Bolivia's
Evo Morales marked May 1 by nationalizing the country's oil and gas
resources. "After today," he declared, "the hydrocarbons will
belong to all Bolivians. Never again will they be in the hands of
transnational corporations. Today the country--la patria--stands up."
So here's a toast to nations standing up to greedy transnationals, to
people standing up to leaders who abuse their power, to humanity
standing up to save the planet we inhabit-and to bringing our troops
home in 2007!

racist white rule in South Africa,
Mostrando che e' oramai un *COGLIONE* vecchio di parecchi decenni.
-Stefano