News Items

  • Affidavit by Daniel Ellsberg for Plowshare Activists Being Allowed a Defense of Necessity

    In 1971 I gave the U.S. Senate, the New York Times and the Washington Post copies of what have come to be known as The Pentagon Papers. I was arrested on twelve felony counts. My trial was dismissed because of government misconduct which figured in the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon…These considerations bear on two other elements of the necessity defense, the “lack of legal alternatives” and the “imminence” of the harms to be averted. Again, I speak from my own experience, but not only mine, in saying that it is the perceived insufficiency of other means, by themselves not…

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  • A Long List of Democratic Candidates Requires a Large Catalog of Their Funders

    By Sam Haut: As the first debates for the Democratic primary begin, and the list of candidates has grown to 24, it can be difficult to contextualize where each candidate has received funding from over the course of their time in office. What follows is a list of the Democratic candidates and the top sources for how much money they’ve made and where those top sources come from.

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  • NATO and US Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead

    RootsAction.org held a news conference Thursday on “NATO and U.S. Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead” hosted by the Institute for Public Accuracy. Speakers include former State Department officials Matthew Hoh, Ann Wright, as well as Martin Fleck. The event was moderated by Norman Solomon.

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  • Media Advisory: “NATO and U.S. Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead”

    At 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at the National Press Club: On the same day that President Trump is scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House, this news conference will focus on the U.S.-NATO relationship. Speakers include former State Department officials Matthew Hoh and Ann Wright.

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  • Statement by Floyd Abrams in response to Attorney General nominee William Barr’s remarks on the First Amendment

    “It’s one thing to say that there could be circumstances in which a journalist’s need to protect her sources could lead to a potential finding of contempt of court if she refused to obey a court order requiring such disclosure. But the notion that a journalist could properly be jailed for publishing material that the government thinks could ‘hurt the country’ is something else entirely and would be deeply threatening to First Amendment norms in general and journalistic freedom in particular.”

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  • Statement on NAFTA’s “Kafkaesque” Turn

    The supposedly concluded renegotiation of NAFTA has reached a Kafkaesque stage. As the United States Trade Representative has stated: “The United States and Mexico have reached a preliminary agreement in principle, subject to finalization and implementation.” Not only the negotiations have not been finalized, and without Canada, but the texts remain hidden from the public.

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  • What’s the Cost of Medicare for All?

    Even a Koch-backed think tank finds Medicare for all would cut health care spending. In a report released by the Mercatus Center, a single-payer health care system would offset costs with even greater savings. The Intercept and other media reporting on this are citing the work of Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler. They are distinguished professors of health policy at the City University of New York at Hunter College and lecturers in medicine at Harvard Medical School. They have written an analysis of the work of the Koch-backed think tank, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which is…

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  • Trump Team Hired Israeli Spy Firm Used by Harvey Weinstein to Attack Obama Officials on Iran Deal

    “Aides to Donald Trump, the U.S. president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a ‘dirty ops’ campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, the Observer can reveal. People in the Trump camp contacted private investigators in May last year to ‘get dirt’ on Ben Rhodes, who had been one of Barack Obama’s top national security advisers, and Colin Kahl, deputy assistant to Obama, as part of an elaborate attempt to discredit the deal.”

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  • From the desk of Noam Chomsky

    From the desk of Noam Chomsky

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  • 15 Years Later: The Whistleblower Who Almost Blocked the Iraq War

    Media Advisory: Press Conference to Mark 15th Anniversary Of Leak by GCHQ Translator Katharine Gun Revealing US “Dirty Tricks” at UN for Iraq War When:  Thursday, 1 March 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Where:  Head office, National Union of Journalists Headland House, 72 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NB Who:  Katharine Gun, Thomas Drake, Matthew Hoh, Jesselyn Radack This press conference will take place the day before the 15th anniversary of the Observer’s publication of the explosive March 2, 2003 story “US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war” — based on a leak by GCHQ translator Katharine Gun — revealing the US National Security Agency’s UN surveillance memo that aimed to grease the way for the…

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  • Randall Terry and the Schiavo Case: “Pro-Life”?

    Randall Terry is a spokesperson for the Schindler family. Here are some of his past statements: “When I or people like me are running the country, you’d better flee because we will find you, we will try you and we’ll execute you. I mean every word of it. I will make it part of my…

  • Who Was Right About Iraqi WMDs? Why? What Now?

    IMAD KHADDURI Khadduri worked on the Iraq nuclear weapons program beginning in 1981. In November 2002, Khadduri wrote the article “Iraq’s Nuclear Non-Capability” in which he commented: “Bush and Blair are pulling their public by the nose” with “their hollow patriotic egging on.” He is author of the book Iraq’s Nuclear Mirage: Memoirs and Delusions.…

  • Laura Bush, Women and Realities of Afghanistan

    SAHAR SABA A member of the foreign affairs committee of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, Saba is in Pakistan working with Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan. She said today: “It’s very sad that there is little discussion of Afghanistan except with events like this visit by Laura Bush. The last three…

  • The Future of Copyright in the Internet Era

    Today, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in the case of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v. Grokster. The case raises questions about the nature of copyright in the age of the Internet. The following are available for interviews: DEAN BAKER Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Baker wrote the paper “The Artistic Freedom Voucher:…

  • Analysts Assess Call by Carter to “Save Nonproliferation”

    Today’s Washington Post features a piece by Jimmy Carter entitled “Saving Nonproliferation” about the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference beginning in early May at the United Nations. In the piece, the former president writes: “So far the preparatory committee for the forthcoming NPT talks has failed even to achieve an agenda because of the deep divisions…

  • WTO Rules: Pulling the Plug on Hundreds of Thousands with AIDS?

    The Associated Press reports that “international aid groups slammed India’s passage on Wednesday of a new patent law that ends the decades-old practice of allowing domestic drug companies to make low-cost copies of expensive Western medicines, saying millions of poor people across the world will be affected. “The changes in patent rights stem from India’s…

  • Israel Trying to Gag Nuclear Whistleblower

    MORDECHAI VANUNU Vanunu exposed the Israeli nuclear weapons arsenal in 1986. He was released from prison in April 2004 after serving an 18-year sentence, most of it in solitary confinement. Since then, Israeli authorities have placed numerous restrictions on his activities and attempted to prevent him from speaking to non-Israelis or media. Last week, a…

  • Terri Schiavo Case: “Err on the Side of Life”

    President Bush stated yesterday regarding Terri Schiavo: “This is a complex case with serious issues but, in extraordinary circumstances like this, it is always wise to err on the side of life.” JEAN KILBOURNE The AP recently reported: “The Schiavos’ lawyer said her 1990 collapse was caused by a potassium imbalance brought on by an…

  • Responses to “Sweeping” UN Report

    United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan today unveiled a report that advocates what the AP is calling the “most sweeping changes to the United Nations since it was founded 60 years ago.” The following are available for interviews: DENIS HALLIDAY Former assistant secretary general of the UN, Halliday said today: “The report importantly brings together…

  • Rice Trip: * Afghanistan * Korea * China

    SONALI KOLHATKAR JAMES INGALLS Kolhatkar and Ingalls are co-directors of the Afghan Women’s Mission and have just returned from a trip to Afghanistan. Kolhatkar said today: “Any victories for women’s rights have been tremendously exaggerated. Unfortunately, little has changed since the fall of the Taliban. A recent United Nations Development Program report ranked Afghanistan’s education…

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