Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/bank-f15.shtml

After a record year for Wall Street profits, details of the multi-million dollar salaries and bonuses paid to hundreds of individuals at financial firms have begun to trickle out. The New York Times compiled a list of 19 of the most highly-paid Wall Street figures, whose combined compensation in 2009 amounted to an estimated $226.8 million

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/02/2010215185531314415.html

At least 18 people have been killed in a train crash outside the Belgian capital, Brussels, with officials warning that the death toll may rise further. Two packed commuter trains collided head-on at rush hour near Buizingen, about 15km southwest of Brussels, on Monday, after one reportedly missed a red stop signal

Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50324

CAIRO, Feb 15, 2010 (IPS) - A salty, crunchy salad herb known to gourmands as samphire could revolutionise agriculture in the Middle East by providing food, fodder and fuel without using a single drop of freshwater. Salicornia, a succulent plant that can grow in either fresh or salt water, has traditionally been seen as a source of food. However, with rising energy prices and increasing concern over global warming, the halophyte (salt- tolerant plant) is now prized for its other properties.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/afgh-f15.shtml

In what is likely to be the first of many such atrocities, two US military rockets slammed into a house near Marjah, the target of the current offensive, killing 12 people. US military authorities admitted that the victims were innocent civilians sheltering in their own home, as they had been advised to do by US and NATO officials.

Link: http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.5510/pub_detail.asp

It all started with a phone call I received in early May/2009. The caller sounded troubled, as so many are these days. He told me he had spent several days researching his options.

Link: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2010/02/160_60822.html

The Federal Reserve Board faces a delicate task. Having pumped $2.2 trillion into the economy to fight the recession, it must start pulling that money back. It would have to sop up over half of that liquidity to get back to pre-recession levels. The problem: Do it too quickly and the Fed might cut off or curtail the recovery. Wait too long and risk setting off a punishing round of inflation.

Link: http://www.uruknet.info/index.php?p=m63319&hd=&size=1&l=e

Something about 12-year-old Bassam caused two Israelis to smile. Two
Palestinians noticed, but did not remember their smiles as being disparaging or arrogant. On the contrary. The Palestinians regarded the smiles as a rare moment in which two Israelis - and not just any Israelis, but military judges - realized how ridiculous the situation was. There were three other Israelis present, who held back their cries as they watched the boy enter, faltering - the chains around his legs clanging against each other, the prisons service coat he wore much too big for him. These three women, of their own accord, go regularly to the caravans that house the Ofer military tribunal and take notes. Were it not for these three women, who eventually shared his story, Bassam would have become yet another hidden detail of a non-event. A non-event of the sort that takes place countless times, all the time. Without those non-events, it is impossible to comprehend what life is like under hostile rule.

Link: http://www.redress.cc:80/zionism/jgates20100215

Jeff Gates analyses Zionism as “a strategy for targeting thought and emotion as a means to influence behaviour” and “a mental state that manifests as a dispersed form of internalized nationalism—a diaspora—that binds to an extremist enclave those who may never set foot there”. He argues that Zionism "relies for its success on deception and self-deceit". ”Law is irrelevant to those who consider themselves above the law. Morality and conscience are of no concern to those who consider themselves The Chosen—by a god of their own choosing. Such a nationalist ideology has no place in a system of nation states dedicated to the rule of law.”

Link: http://www.alternet.org/economy/145667/the_economic_elite_have_engineered_an_extraordinary_coup%2C_threatening_the_very_existence_of_the_middle_class

The economic elite have robbed us all. The amount of suffering in the United States of America is literally a crime against humanity. "The American oligarchy spares no pains in promoting the belief that it does not exist, but the success of its disappearing act depends on equally strenuous efforts on the part of an American public anxious to believe in egalitarian fictions and unwilling to see what is hidden in plain sight." -- Michael Lind, To Have and to Have Not We all have very strong differences of opinion on many issues. However, like our founding fathers before us, we must put aside our differences and unite to fight a common enemy.

Link: http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/gaza-strip/4169-congressman-us-should-break-gaza-siege

The United States should break Israel's blockade of Gaza and deliver badly needed supplies by sea, a US congressman told Gaza students yesterday. Rep. Brian Baird, a Democrat from Washington state, also urged US President Barack Obama's Middle East ambassador to visit Gaza to get a firsthand look at the destruction caused by Israeli's military offensive last year.

Link: http://www.nationalexpositor.com/News/2218.html

Surviving the Middle Class Crash - During the Bush administration, Monsanto illegally won USDA approval for its genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa by convincing regulators to bypass a mandatory environmental review. In response to a lawsuit by consumer groups, the courts then stepped in and banned GE alfalfa until the USDA followed the law.

Link: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50320

Whether they choose to light up their first cigarette on their own or are unwitting victims of passive smoking, Filipino youth are increasingly at risk from tobacco exposure. "The younger a child starts to smoke, the greater the chances of becoming a regular smoker," said Dr Maricar Limpin, executive director of the non- government group Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP), during a media forum on tobacco use in the Philippines, held on Feb. 12 in the Philippine capital Manila. "The youth are being specifically targeted by the tobacco industry as future customers."

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/02/201021513055995562.html

Tens of thousands of Haitians have been taking part in prayers religious ceremonies marking the final day of public mourning for the victims of last month's deadly earthquake.