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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  • Is the U.S. the “De Facto Occupier” of Lebanon?

    “Awkar also forced Middle East Airlines to comply with its orders not to transport injured people from Lebanon on its flights for treatment abroad, especially those injured in the pager and telecommunications bombings on 16 and 17 of September, by threatening to impose sanctions on MEA should it disobey. …

  • Election Day ICBM Test Launch Denounced as “Dangerous” and “Wasteful”

    “Test launches damage human communities and ecosystems. The Marshall Islands, already forced to bear the overwhelming environmental costs of U.S. nuclear weapons testing, are still used as a target test area.

  • Election Denialism as Voter Suppression

    “If you look at all the things being done to disrupt, dismantle, or dissuade people about the election results, it is all about voter suppression: keeping people [the Republican Party doesn’t] want to vote from voting.”

  • Is Israel Turning Lebanon into Gaza?

    “Amos Hochstein, born in Israel in 1973 and once an Israeli tank crewman, returned to Lebanon as a U.S. envoy, not to protect peace but to redefine it” on Israel’s terms.

  • Mapping Election-Related Violence

    Experts from the Center for Election Innovation and Research, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law gathered for a webinar on Oct. 30, “Red, White & Coup: Mapping Threats of Violence Around the 2024 Election.” They discussed credible threats to election integrity and safety before, during,…

  • Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing and Violations of U.S. Law

    From a legal standpoint, the Biden administration is breaching international humanitarian law by providing ongoing military assistance to Israel while these grave violations occur. This conduct exposes U.S. officials to potential accountability under international law, including before the International Criminal Court.

  • Gaza Stance Could Mean Harris Loss

    “A recent poll from the Arab American Institute received some much-deserved attention (if not enough) because it showed a massive decline in support for Democrats among Arab American voters because of White House support for Israel’s attack on Gaza. That decline could cost the Democrats several swing states.

  • “Pope Francis, Go to Gaza for God’s Sake!”

    KATHY BOYLAN, [email protected] Boylan is a member of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker community. Video of her — “Pope Francis, go to Gaza for God’s sake!” — has gone viral on Instagram. She said: “The Pope should go to Gaza — immediately. I think the Pope has a responsibility to go. The Pope knows that…

  • Oxfam Condemns Israel Banning UNRWA, Highlights Right of Return

    “Israel will have the obligation to take UNRWA’s place under the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, The Hague Regulations of 1907, and international humanitarian law. … If not, this would be a war crime and a crime against humanity and an element of genocide.”

  • South Africa Files Over 700 Pages at World Court Against Israel

    The Biden administration’s phony ‘ceasefire negotiations’ maneuvers have simply bought Israel more time to commit more crimes, including its recent annihilation of northern Gaza.” See IPA news release from June: “U.S. ‘Ceasefire’ a ‘Ploy to Sabotage the Rule of Law.'”

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