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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  • Report: Over 1,000 Attacks on Health Care for Palestinians

    “In the Gaza Strip where 785 incidents were reported, most involved airstrikes damaging or destroying hospitals and clinics and killing health workers. The IDF’s unrelenting aerial attack on the strip has had a catastrophic and far-reaching impact on the population and the health care system. Only 12 out of 36 hospitals are still functioning at…

  • Israel Targets Children, Aid Workers; Escalates Attacks in Syria

        “One Israeli drone fired three missiles at three cars that were clearly marked with the WCK’s logos and were traveling on roads preapproved by the Israeli military. After the first car was hit, wounded survivors were picked up by a second car. After that car was hit, they went into the third car.…

  • Israel Destroys Hospital, Kills Aid Workers, Threatens Relief Organization

    The Cradle reports in “Israel presents plan to shutter UNRWA in defiance of ICJ order” that: “Israel has put forth a proposal to the UN for the dismantlement of its relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in exchange for permitting more humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.” Doctors Without Borders released a statement: “Israeli forces…

  • Wisconsin’s “Uninstructed” Campaign: “End Israel’s Genocide Now”

    Ahmad is a spokesperson with Listen to Wisconsin, the group driving the state’s “Uninstructed” campaign. She notes that a majority in the U.S. are opposed to Israel’s attack on Gaza. Gallup recently found: “Americans now oppose the campaign by a solid margin.” In These Times magazine reports in: “’This Is a Movement of Hope’: Wisconsin’s…

  • Far-Right Extremism in Brazil

    A new report examines the presence of and connections between far-right hate and extremist groups in Brazil. 

  • New World Court Order Against Israel: Could Uniting for Peace Stop Israel’s Assault?

    “If Israel invades Rafah as it is currently planning to do and inflicts tremendous civilian casualties on the Palestinians there that will undoubtedly happen, the ICJ will have more genocidal egg on its face just like when it refused to give me what I asked for in my Second Request for Provisional Measures of Protection…

  • Hollywood’s Big Backlash Against Glazer’s Oscar Speech

    “The letter even denied that an occupation actually exists — objecting to ‘the use of words like ‘occupation’ to describe an indigenous Jewish people defending a homeland that dates back thousands of years.’ Somehow the Old Testament was presumed to be sufficient justification for the ongoing slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, most of whose ancestors…

  • The Status of the Anti-Vaccine Movement

    As the country faces an increasing number of measles cases, researchers say anti-vaccine narratives reach from Covid to measles to HIV.

  • Evidence Grows of Israeli Military Sexual Violence Against Palestinian Women and Girls

    “For months U.S. media have published hundreds of articles lending credibility to Israeli claims that Hamas carried out a campaign of rape during the Oct. 7 attacks. Those claims were dubious from the start, lacked solid evidence and survivor testimony, and many have been discredited. Most recently the New York Times was forced to retract…

  • U.S. Still Hindering Ceasefire as European Group Demands Action on Gaza

    “Through adopting this approach, the EU continues to support the Israeli blockade by steadfastly refusing to call for a ceasefire, and by not calling for Israel to open the land borders to allow the hundreds of aid trucks already positioned to enter Gaza. This is the only effective means through which aid can be distributed…

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