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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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  • Trump Congo Deal: For Peace or Profit?

    U.S. President Donald Trump will host the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday to sign what the White House called a peace agreement. 

  • U.S. War Crimes and Plans in Venezuela

    “The evidence that the U.S. Navy’s buildup in the Caribbean is not about combating drugs but rather regime change in Venezuela is overwhelming.”

  • Pesticides Causing Antimicrobial Resistance

    A coalition of conservationists, farmworkers and public health groups petitioned the Trump administration to ban the use of drugs as pesticides when they are crucial for humans, citing the dangers of cross-resistance to medically important antibiotics and antifungals. This fall, the World Health Organization warned that antimicrobial resistance threatens families worldwide. The petition requests that…

  • U.S. Bombs Somalia for 100th Time this Year

    “AFRICOM said the strikes targeted the ISIS affiliate in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region. … AFRICOM said that the airstrikes were launched on November 21 and November 22 about 37 miles southeast of the Gulf of Aden port city of Bosaso, where U.S.-backed forces have been fighting against an ISIS affiliate in the Caal-Miskaad Mountains.”

  • Psychotherapists Challenging Insurance Company Denials

    The Psychotherapy Action Network has created an Insurance Toolkit that includes an Insurance Guide and Insurance Tracker. The guide outlines what psychotherapists and patients should know when insurance companies deny or question care, while the tracker aims to document obstacles dealing with insurance and reimbursement. 

  • Israel Strikes Beirut, Has Violated Lebanese “Ceasefire” 10,000 Times in Last Year

    “The strike comes after an unprecedented escalation in threats of launching a major military campaign that would not amount to a war according to Israeli officials. It was the first time the southern suburbs were hit since July. It comes only two days after Lebanese president Joseph Aoun said in a speech, on the occasion…

  • “The UN Embraces Colonialism” and Israel Escalates Bombing Gaza, Moving Yellow Line

    Not since the UN partitioned Palestine in 1947 against the will of the indigenous people, setting the stage for 80 years of Nakba, has the UN acted in such a baldly colonial (and legally ultra vires) way, and trampled so recklessly on the rights of a people.

  • “How to Monkeywrench a Genocide”

    Police in England and Wales arrested more than 140 people on Tuesday, the first day of coordinated protests against the UK government’s proscription of the direct action group Palestine Action. This is happening as a trial of members of the group begins.

  • “America First Global Health Strategy”

    The State Department’s new America First Global Health Strategy and reorganization of foreign assistance “fundamentally change the structure and goals of U.S. foreign aid in a way that marginalizes children,” writes an advocate for international children’s issues and global health. The shift moves foreign assistance toward a focus on serving the U.S.’s “national security” interests.…

  • Israel Continuing to Block Aid to Gaza

    Dr. Sidhwa said: “Israel continues to block approximately half of healthcare workers with Emergency Medical Teams. No reason for the denials is given.”

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