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America the Titanic

America the Titanic THE LAST LIVING American survivor of the Titanic died last week. Lillian Gertrud Asplund was 5 when the luxury liner sank after hitting an iceberg in 1912. Her father and three brothers were lost. She, another brother, and her mother survived. At death, Asplund was 99. In reading her obituary, one could not escape the feeling that her entire life was shadowed by this tragedy. Is such a thing true more broadly? Does her passing mark the end of the Titanic story? What was that story anyway? Many ships have been ill-fated. Why did the fate of that particular one

Blame North America megafauna extinction on climate change, not human ancestors

Blame North America megafauna extinction on climate change, not human ancestors Even such mythical detectives as Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot would have difficulty trying to find the culprit that killed the mammoths, mastodons and other megafauna that once roamed North America. Scientists have been picking over the bones and evidence for more than three decades but cannot agree on what caused the extinction of many of the continent's large mammals. Now, in two new papers, a University of Washington archaeologist disputes the so-called overkill hypothesis that pins the crime on the New World's first humans, calling it a "faith-based credo"

Anti-Personnel Weapons: Israels Crime, or Americas

Anti-Personnel Weapons: Israels Crime, or Americas The U.S. State Department, we hear, is investigating Israels use of U.S.-produced and U.S.-supplied anti-personnel weapons against civilian populations in Lebanon. It seems UN and Human Rights investigators have found nearly 300 sites where unexploded examples of these horrific weapons of mass destruction have turned up, many of them with their Made in USA labels intact. (Isnt it amazing how we cant make shoes or TVs in America anymore, but we can make fancy bomblets and even win export contracts...) The N.Y. Times even ran a color map displaying the wide area of southern Lebanon where

America silent about Israeli attacks

America silent about Israeli attacks Since the outbreak of the war in Lebanon between Hizbollah fighters and Israeli soldiers, which has killed hundreds of civilians, including children, America as a superpower has remained mostly silent about it. In the past, this superpower called some countries human rights violators for opposing its policies, now when Israel is attacking innocent people in Lebanon, it makes no more rights violation charges. Americas political double standards are becoming clear. When the Indonesian Military (TNI) was going to use American armaments to crush separatists, it imposed a ban for rights infringement, but now it does not

Noam Chomsky: Why its over for America

Noam Chomsky: Why its over for America The selection of issues that should rank high on the agenda of concern for human welfare and rights is, naturally, a subjective matter. But there are a few choices that seem unavoidable, because they bear so directly on the prospects for decent survival. Among them are at least these three: nuclear war, environmental disaster, and the fact that the government of the worlds leading power is acting in ways that increase the likelihood of these catastrophes. It is important to stress the government, because the population, not surprisingly, does not agree. That brings