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  • Election Reforms: Falling short

    WASHINGTON — Proponents of progressive election reform gave cautious approval to the recent report issued by a commission assigned to investigate the improvement of federal elections. Many critics, however, point to several obstacles that remain in the way of free and fair elections throughout the United States. The report, issued by the National Commission on…

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  • Son of Star Wars: Another arms race?

    WASHINGTON — Reports emerging from the Pentagon about plans to test a “Space Bomber” are drawing accusations that the U.S. government is attempting to engage in another arms race. The bomber, a spacecraft reportedly capable of destroying targets on the other side of the globe within 30 minutes, is a key component of Defense Secretary…

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  • ExxonMobil: Facing a boycott

    ExxonMobil, one of the biggest corporations on the planet, is now facing a boycott spearheaded by activist groups protesting the company’s policies at home and abroad. The boycott was launched by PressurePoint, a grassroots organization looking to “take real action on climate change and corporate influence,” according to Chris Doran, campaigns director for the group.…

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  • Beyond the Ford-Firestone Uproar: Critics blast lack of regulation, accountability in SUV safety

    WASHINGTON – Recent congressional hearings probed the accountability of Ford and Firestone in many incidents where car or tire malfunctioned, causing injury or death. The hearings also questioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal government’s chief regulator of automobile safety, and its role in providing the public with adequate information. While the blame-placing…

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  • NEWS BRIEFING WITH LAWRENCE SUMMERS, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY RAYMOND OFFENHEISER, PRESIDENT, OXFAM

    Questions from IPA appear below in bold HEADLINE: NEWS BRIEFING WITH LAWRENCE SUMMERS, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY RAYMOND OFFENHEISER, PRESIDENT, OXFAM DEBT RELIEF TO POOR COUNTRIES AND OXFAM EDUCATION NOW AWARD INTRODUCTION: MARTA ARIAS LOCATION: NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, WASHINGTON D.C. BODY:

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  • Ten Real Reasons To Impeach Clinton

    We all seem to have lost our sense of proportion. Why are the political leaders of the United States and the major media talking of impeaching Bill Clinton for lies about sex, surely not the most important sins of his administration? If Clinton is to be impeached, why do it for frivolous reasons? I can…

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  • Autopsy Of A Disaster: The U.S. Sanctions Policy On Iraq

    For a shorter version of this timeline, click here. Myth: The Sanctions Will be Lifted When Iraq Complies with the U.N. Inspections April 3, 1991: U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 687 which states that upon “the completion by Iraq of all actions contemplated in” specific paragraphs of the resolution, “the prohibitions against financial transactions ……

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  • Confronting Iran

    MUHAMMAD SAHIMI Sahimi is professor of chemical engineering at the University of Southern California. He co-wrote, with Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, the Los Angeles Times op-ed “Defusing Iran with Democracy.” Sahimi said today: “The only way to have a peaceful resolution of Iran’s nuclear program is through negotiations without any preconditions and/or threats.…

  • Health Care: · Record Uninsured · Latinos · California Battle

    Bloomberg is reporting on new government data showing that “the number of people living in the nation without medical insurance rose 2.9 percent to a record 46.6 million in 2005 as health-care costs climbed.” CLAUDIA FEGAN, MD Co-author of the book Universal Health Care: What the United States Can Learn from the Canadian Experience, Fegan…

  • Poverty: One Year After Katrina

    ROBERT GREENSTEIN LAWRENCE MISHEL JARED BERNSTEIN Greenstein is executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Mishel is president of the Economic Policy Institute and Bernstein is director of the Living Standards Program at EPI. They will hold a joint conference call briefing Tuesday, August 29, at 1:30 p.m. (ET) to provide analysis…

  • One Year After Katrina

    SANGITA NAYAK Nayak is communications director of the Praxis Project, which coordinates the Katrina Information Network, an informational clearinghouse. She can arrange media interviews with grassroots groups and survivors from East Biloxi to New Orleans who can comment on the gaps in the recovery. More Information TRACIE WASHINGTON Washington, a lifelong New Orleans resident and…

  • Will the U.S. Accept Iran Talks Without Preconditions?

    ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN Author of the article “Iran: The Next Target?” and several books including Inventing the Axis of Evil and Iran Between Two Revolutions, Abrahamian said today: “Some seem to want to move to air strikes in the near future as if Iran were on the verge of having a nuclear bomb when the CIA…

  • Behind Bush’s Rhetoric on Iraq: · Democracy · Oil

    RAED JARRAR Jarrar, the Iraq Project director for Global Exchange, is just back from a trip to the Mideast which included meetings with Iraqi Parliament members in Jordan and a visit to Syria. Bush said today at his news conference: “The United States of America must understand it’s in our interests that we help this…

  • Back from Meeting with Iraqi Parliamentarians

    CINDY SHEEHAN Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004 and who inspired Camp Casey, which is currently set up near President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, as it is whenever he is scheduled to be there. Sheehan’s latest piece about her experiences in the Mideast,…

  • Using Terror Scare?

    CRAIG MURRAY Former ambassador from the UK to Uzbekistan, Murray wrote in a recent piece titled “The UK Terror Plot: What’s Really Going On?” that: “None of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb. None had bought a plane ticket. Many did not even have passports, which given the efficiency of the UK Passport Agency…

  • Peace Activists in Lebanon and the U.S.

    ADAM SHAPIRO HUWAIDA ARRAF RASHA SALTI MEDEA BENJAMIN SAMAH IDRISS WADIH AL ASMAR All of these activists are participating in a civilian peace convoy to the south of Lebanon. More information is at Lebanon Solidarity. Arraf and Shapiro are co-founders of the International Solidarity Movement. Shapiro said today: “Israel has in effect depopulated the south…

  • Tenth Anniversary of Welfare Reform

    August 22 marks the tenth anniversary of President Clinton signing into law “The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.” GWENDOLYN MINK Co-editor of the two-volume Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics and Policy, Mink said today: “Congress changed the welfare law last February, stepping up federal disciplinary control…

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