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News Items

  • 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 Federal Election Reform headed by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, was presented to President Bush. Among its recommendations are provisions regarding increases in equipment standards and stepped-up federal funding for the administration of elections.

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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 Donald Rumsfeld’s plan to modernize U.S. weaponry. The satellite is currently under production by NASA and Lockheed Martin, a leading military contractor. Pentagon claims that the bomber can cause greater and deeper ground damage from a virtually unassailable height have many critics questioning it as…

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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. “The U.S. government’s climate change policy is the ExxonMobil policy,” Doran says. “What sort of democracy do we have when one company can buy off our political process for its own gains?” ExxonMobil is a charter member of the Global Climate Coalition, an influential industry…

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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 among corporate executives and congressional subcommittees occurred on Capitol Hill, several analysts decried the lack of accountability being demanded of the corporations involved. Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, pointed to a lack of regulation of sport utility vehicles and rollover standards.

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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 think of at least ten reasons to impeach him, for acts far more serious than his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky or his lies to Kenneth Starr. I am speaking of matters of life and death for large numbers of people. 1. Clinton approved, very early…

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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 … shall have no further force or effect.” The paragraphs cited have to do with weapons inspections. Other paragraphs in the resolution have to do with “return of all Kuwaiti property seized by Iraq” and Iraqi liability for losses and damage resulting from Iraq’s occupation of…

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  • As Afghans Face Starvation, Biden Is Withholding $7 Billion of Their Money

    70 economists sent President Biden a letter advocating for the release of 7 billion dollars worth of foreign reserves owned by Afghanistan, as the majority of the population continues to suffer from acute poverty and starvation.

  • CIA Sued over WikiLeaks Spying, Roger Waters to Speak at Rally at DoJ

    Stefana Maurizi said today, “What happened in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London is a complete scandal. It is a very sinister fact that a media organisation was targeted by espionage activities that you would expect in an authoritarian country.”

  • Espionage Act Misreporting and the Prosecution of Assange

    Chip Gibbons, policy director for Defending Rights & Dissent, said: “many media commentators are now misrepresenting what the Espionage Act, a law with a troubled history of abuse, is and what is required for conviction. Some have gone so far as to equate criticisms of the law with disloyalty to the nation. Neither an assertion…

  • Monkeypox Crisis: Activists Tell White House to Take Urgent Steps for Equity

    After activists sent an open letter to the White House national monkeypox response coordinator Robert Fenton and deputy coordinator Demetre Daskalakis earlier this week, a meeting between the letter’s co-authors and the two officials was scheduled for Thursday.

  • Is the FBI Targeting Legitimate First Amendment Activity?

    Patrick Eddington of the Cato Institute says the FBI targeting “marginal groups with little to no impact on the broader political process” could be a warning sign for similar groups with foreign ties despite “First Amendment” activity.

  • The Policing of Roger Waters

    Kevin Gosztola, the managing editor of Shadowproof, recently critiqued CNN’s negative portrayal of Pink Floyd’s Roger Walters for his condemnation of US wars and Biden

  • “Monkeypox”: What’s In a Name?

    As monkeypox is declared a public health emergency worldwide, health justice advocates are urging experts not to exacerbate stigma among those most at risk of the virus. Dr. Stella Safo, an HIV primary care physician and the founder of Just Equity for Health, told the Institute for Public Accuracy that renaming the virus is an…

  • Analysis of White House Decision to Declare Monkeypox a Public Health Emergency

    The White House announcement Thursday declaring the monkeypox outbreak a state of emergency was made by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who has come under fire in recent weeks for what activists see as his “lack of urgency” with regard to the virus.

  • Long Covid: Activists Disappointed in Two New Reports from Biden Administration

    The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services released two new reports about long Covid on Wednesday, sparking a critical response from activist organizations. 

  • “How Israel Made AIPAC”

    Director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, Grant Smith says, “In 1962, AIPAC was the lobbying and foreign propaganda division of an umbrella group (the American Zionist Council) that triggered the Department of Justice order to AZC to register as an Israeli foreign agent.. AIPAC should still be seen as a creation of…

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