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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  • Antisemitism: Does Israel Really Care?

    “For an Israeli diplomat to compare college students defending Palestinian human rights to a mass murderer is reprehensible, insulting and frankly dangerous. Criticising Israeli policy or defending Palestinian human rights is not in any way antisemitic. However, employing white supremacists, as Trump and other politicians have done, is indeed antisemitic.”

  • Why Doesn’t the U.S. Stop Supporting Saudi Attack on Yemen?

    “The United States has been actively at war in Yemen since 2015, yet [Sec. Pompeo and the State Department] are acting like concerned, neutral observers by urging ‘all parties’ to end the war. Why not announce an end to the U.S. role in the war instead?”

  • “Antisemitism Sits at the Root of White Nationalism”

    “Eleven American Jews were killed because their synagogue embodied the Jewish values of supporting refugees and immigrants. Eleven American Jews were killed after a week of conservative leaders pushing the antisemitic lie that paints Jews like [George] Soros as responsible for the Honduran migrant caravan  —  and paints immigrants and asylum seekers as a danger…

  • America’s Secret Water Crisis

    “In several communities, water has become unaffordable, forcing families to choose between it and other essentials, like food, medicine and transportation. Detroit and New Orleans stood out in our survey. A typical water bill in those cities exceeds $1,000 a year, putting this critical service beyond the budgets of low-income households”

  • The Violent Consequences of Antisemitic Bigotry

    “”The damage done by conspiracy and vigilante violence alters the fabric of democracy, and our collective capacity to understand what is going on in our world, to trust each other. The degradation of politics and attacks on the vulnerable, now proliferating, did not start with Donald Trump, but he rides its wave.”

  • Brazil Elects Far-Right Authoritarian

    “We will have very difficult times ahead in Brazil with increasing intolerance, violence, racism, sexism, homophobia and repression against progressive movements, universities and indigenous communities, stimulated by a discourse of hate that characterizes Bolsonaro and his supporters. At the same time, we saw a new wave of hope for progressive politics in the campaign of…

  • Bomb Suspect Arrest

    “As editor of CHD’s newsletter, The Dignity Report, and principal writer and analyst on a series of articles and reports, he helped to shape understanding and arm the resistance to antisemitism, Holocaust denial, the Patriot and militia movements, anti-immigrant xenophobia and anti-LGBTQ politics. In 2004 Gardiner received a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Cornell University for…

  • Disinformation and Anthrax Mailings

  • Trump Decries Violence; Will He Denounce Saudi Maiming Children in Yemen?

    “President Trump insists on selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have repeatedly used U.S. missiles to kill innocent Yemeni civilians. Prolonging the war in Yemen has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in a country where 14 million people are now on the verge of famine. Is President Trump prepared to denounce the maiming and killing…

  • Illegitimate Regime is Fueling the Honduran Refugee Crisis

    “Honduran and other Central American immigrants are refugees and therefore should be treated as such by U.S. immigration law, border patrol and ICE as well as the Mexican government. Many are escaping weak neoliberal and militaristic governments, such as the one in Honduras, where narcotrafficking and narcomenudeo have thrived under the U.S.-backed Juan Orlando Hernandez…

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