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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 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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  • Bahrain and Yemen Regimes: Saudi and U.S. Backing

    Abdulla is director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain. He recently wrote the piece “The Revolt in Bahrain.” He said today: “King Hamad bis Isa Al Khalifs, the ruler of Bahrain, is in Saudi Arabia today to get assurances from the Saudi regime. The Saudi regime will back the Al Khalifa ruling…

  • The Attack on Unions

    Fletcher is co-founder of the Center for Labor Renewal and author of the book Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice. He just wrote the piece “Modern-day Pirates: the Republicans vs. the Public Sector.” Fletcher has been a critic of unions as well, see this interview: YouTube.

  • U.S., International Law, Libya and Israel

    Worthington just wrote the piece “Revolution in Libya: Protesters Respond to Gaddafi’s Murderous Backlash with Remarkable Courage; U.S. and UK Look Like the Hypocrites They Are,” which states: “An adept survivor, Gaddafi came onside in the ‘War on Terror’ after the 9/11 attacks, prompting the most miserably transparent examples of hypocrisy on the part of…

  • Wisconsin and Egypt: Waves of Protests and Solidarity

    KAMAL ABBAS, TAMER FATHY Abbas is general coordinator for the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services in Egypt. Fathy is international relations coordinator for the group, which is an umbrella advocacy organization for independent unions in Egypt. It has been awarded the French Republic’s Human Rights Prize, suffered repeated harassment and attacks by the…

  • U.S. Silence on Libya Slaughter

    A scientist and Libyan-American activist, Gheriany said today: “Gaddafi is hiring foreign mercenaries who have shoot-to-kill orders, it’s not tear gas, it’s just killing. He’s been in office with his erratic, oppressive rule since Nixon was president. Communication with the outside world has been largely cut. The UK has issued a reasonable statement, though we…

  • Clinton Talks Freedom as Dissident Bloodied and Dragged Off

    Robert Parry, editor of ConsortiumNews.com just wrote: “Sometimes the hypocrisy is just overwhelming. So, it probably shouldn’t surprise us that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would deliver a speech hailing the peaceful protests that changed Egypt while 71-year-old Ray McGovern was roughed up and dragged away for standing quietly in protest of her support for…

  • “No Taxation Without Demilitarization”

    Feffer is a fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies. He said today: “But the Pentagon won’t actually have to shrink its overall budget, which will continue rising until 2015. The Pentagon will likely have to give up some items, such as an amphibious landing craft and a surface-launched missile system. But in exchange for…

  • Wisconsin: “Closest Thing to a General Strike”

    Editor of The Progressive magazine, based in Madison, Wisconsin, Rothschild said today: “The people of Wisconsin have risen up against Governor Scott ‘Hosni Walker,’ as some of the signs say. He and his Republican henchmen in the legislature want to destroy public sector workers and in the process they intend to inflict maximum pain on…

  • Massacre in Bahrain

    REEM KHALIFA Available for a limited number of interviews, Khalifa is senior editor for diplomatic affairs at Al Wasat in Bahrain. She said today: “The regime forces just came and massacred a crowd of people as they slept. “The young people marching were so beautiful. They were chanting together, shouting ‘neither Sunni nor Shia but…

  • Egypt: * Region * Real Transition * Labor

    JONATHAN KUTTAB Kuttab, a noted Palestinian human rights attorney, said today: “The Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions have already had a profound impact throughout the Middle East. We formerly believed the only change coming to the region was through the Islamists, but now we are enthusiastic about the possibility of secular reform. Arab nationalism, Christian-Muslim unity,…

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