GREG PALAST Author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, Palast is featured in the investigative documentary “Counting on Democracy,” which is currently being shown on PBS stations. He said today: “In 2000, Katherine Harris, Florida Secretary of State, ordered county elections officials to purge 57,000 citizens from voter registries as felons not allowed to vote in Florida. In fact, about 95 percent of these voters were innocent of crimes — but 54 percent were guilty of being African-American. Harris and the state admit that tens of thousands of black voters had been wronged, and with plantation noblesse have agreed…

STEVE COBBLE Senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, Cobble was recently in Brazil. He said Monday afternoon: “On his fourth run for president, Lula da Silva, the former leader of the San Bernardo Metal Workers Union, has won a huge victory. Brazil is the eighth-largest economy in the world and it’s clear that the overwhelming majority of Brazilians have voted against the expansion of corporate domination over their lives. Lula’s victory also means that the Free Trade Agreement for the Americas now faces major new obstacles. The opponents of unfettered corporate trade, both in Latin America and inside…

As the UN Security Council considers the new resolution on Iraq put forward by the Bush administration, the Institute for Public Accuracy has made available a detailed analysis of the proposed resolution. The assessments feature a number of legal and political analysts. The multifaceted critique is available at: www.accuracy.org/un Among the points made by analysts who are available for interviews: PHYLLIS BENNIS, Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Bennis is author of the new book Before and After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the September 11th Crisis. She said today: “The resolution seems to be an effort to ensure Iraq’s…

M. J. PARK Park, an educator and director of Little Friends for Peace, runs a “Peace Room” based in Washington, D.C. She said today: “I’ve been working daily with my students at our Peace Room. There’s a circle of fear that’s increasing the awareness of bad people out there. The children are being deprived of their normal routine. It’s more fear than anger, though they are beginning to be angry as they realize what this will mean for Halloween…. Our society acts as though it is horrified by the sniper, but there’s a sniper video game that has as the…

ANAS SHALLAL A “Partner for Peace” with the Seeds of Peace program, Shallal is a founder of the Mesopotamia Cultural Society and an Iraqi-American small business owner in Washington, D.C. TAMIM ANSARY Ansary is an Afghan-American and the author of West of Kabul, East of New York. He said today: “Reducing functioning societies to anarchy by destroying their infrastructure and killing great numbers of their citizens is likely to increase whatever legacy of grudge and grievance is already in place. It is also likely to increase the number of dislocated individuals living in furious impotence and stewing in secrecy.” More…

VERNON BELLECOURT, Director for International Affairs of the American Indian Movement, Bellecourt said: “You can trace the history of American militarism. It started with waging war, including smallpox on the Eastern Seaboard. Beginning then on one side you have talk about God-fearing, Jesus-loving people; on the other side committing genocide and war. Look at the history of degrading and demonizing people: ‘Injuns,’ ‘Redskins,’ ‘Niggers,’ ‘Kikes,’ ‘Japs,’ ‘Krauts,’ ‘Terrorists,’ ‘Towelheads.’ You now have comedians on late night shows telling jokes about Arabs and Muslims. You demean and trivialize a people — whoever it is at the time you portray as being…

As Congress debates war with Iraq, the Institute for Public Accuracy has made available a detailed analysis of President Bush’s Cincinnati address. The assessments feature a dozen Middle East, legal, weapons and policy analysts with multifaceted critiques of Bush’s claims. Issues covered range from biological weapons to U.N. Security Council resolutions to Congress’s constitutional role. The analysis is available at: www.accuracy.org/bush Here are some of the points made: CHRIS TOENSING The editor of Middle East Report, responding to allegations that Iraq is threatening the region, Toensing said: “There is no evidence whatsoever that Iraq is doing so, or has any…

An in-depth factual critique of Bush’s speech last night is posted at www.accuracy.org/bush — with the following analysts available for interviews: CHRIS TOENSING Toensing is editor of Middle East Report. More Information SUSAN WRIGHT Co-author of the book Preventing a Biological Arms Race and the forthcoming Biological Warfare and Disarmament: New Problems/New Perspectives, Wright is a research scientist at the University of Michigan. More Information JACQUELINE CABASSO Executive director of the Western States Legal Foundation, Cabasso is co-author of the report “The Shape of Things to Come: The Nuclear Posture Review, Missile Defense, and the Dangers of a New Arms…

STEVEN KULL Kull is director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes, which just released a report entitled “Americans on the Conflict With Iraq.” Among the findings of the poll: 68 percent agreed more with the statement “If Iraq allows the U.N. to conduct unrestricted inspections, the U.S. should agree to not invade Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein as long as Iraq continues to cooperate, because we should only go to war as a last resort”; 30 percent agreed more with “The U.S. should invade Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein, whether he cooperates with U.N. inspectors or not, because the…

JAMES PAUL Executive director of Global Policy Forum and author of several recent papers on Iraq, Paul said today: “The U.S./U.K. draft of a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution, leaked to The New York Times [published in the Oct. 2 edition], says that ‘Iraq shall provide … immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access to any and all areas, facilities,…’ and ‘Any permanent member of the Security Council may request to be represented on any inspection team with the same right and protections….’ This is one of several booby traps in the text to make sure that the Iraqis don’t accept it.…