We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, November 18, 2011

Obama moves to legalize cluster munitions

Click here to access article by Scott Martin from World Socialist Web Site.
Although the US is not a member, the Obama Administration is now leading an effort to invalidate what modest effect the CCM treaty has had. It has proposed a treaty, as part of the CCW, which would allow the use of all cluster munitions made after 1980 for twelve years after the treaty comes into force. This covers practically all the stockpiles of cluster munitions, as weapons older than 1980 are past their service life anyway. Moreover, all recent usage of the weapons has been with models made after 1980.
Meanwhile, the US military-industrial complex is constantly developing more weapons with which to impose its domination over the world. See this for the latest weapon.