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News Releases

  • From Manhattan to Brazil: Major Economic Summits

    On Jan. 31, the annual World Economic Forum — a gathering of the “1,000 most powerful corporations in the world” which has been held in Davos, Switzerland for three decades — will get underway in New York City. Meanwhile, the World Social Forum, bringing together tens of thousands of activists from human rights, environmental, labor and other organizations, will convene in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The following analysts are available for interviews: EMILY LABARBARA-TWAROG An organizer with Chicago Jobs with Justice, Labarbara-Twarog said today: “Trends in world economic policies have an impact not just in the global South, but the driving…

  • High-Profile Summits Will Take On

    For several days beginning Jan. 31, two global summits — one in Manhattan, one in Porto Alegre, Brazil — will offer dramatically different visions for the future of the world economy. The World Economic Forum in New York City: According to its website (www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Annual+Meeting+2002%5CAbout+the+Annual+Meeting), the WEF was established in 1971 as a “member-based institution comprised of the 1,000 most powerful corporations in the world.” Annual meetings — billed as “the world’s global business summit” to “shape the global agenda” — have taken place in the Alps in Davos, Switzerland, where they faced growing protests. This year, sessions have been relocated…

  • Dr. King: Beyond the Dreamer

    Quotes from speeches and sermons of Martin Luther King, Jr. (full texts available at www.stanford.edu/group/King) From “The Drum Major Instinct”: Nations are caught up with the drum major instinct. “I must be first.” “I must be supreme.” “Our nation must rule the world.” And I am sad to say that the nation in which we live is the supreme culprit. www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/sermons/680204.000_Drum_Major_Instinct.html From “The Most Durable Power”: If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in your struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will…

  • Enron: Interviews Available

    WENONAH HAUTER Director of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy & Environment Program and co-author of the report “Blind Faith: How Deregulation and Enron’s Influence Over Government Looted Billions from Americans,” Hauter said today: “The Bush administration should immediately release all communications it has had with Enron because its selective disclosure of Enron contacts so far doesn’t tell the whole story. For example, on Feb. 17, 2001, Bush’s Secretary of the Treasury, Paul O’Neill, announced that the administration was scrapping an international treaty negotiated by Bill Clinton that would have ended the ability of U.S. corporations to utilize off-shore tax havens…

  • * Colombia * Haiti * Turkey

    SANDRA ALVAREZ, via Jason Mark The peace talks in Colombia, which seemed on the verge of collapse, have been extended until Jan. 20. Today the Washington Post reports that, according to administration officials, the “Bush administration is considering expanding U.S. counternarcotics assistance to Colombia to give more aid to that country’s counterinsurgency war against leftist guerrillas.” Alvarez, Colombia program coordinator for Global Exchange, will be traveling to Colombia from Jan. 17 to 27. She said today: “The resumption of the peace talks marks an important moment for Colombians and people worldwide who support a negotiated solution to that country’s conflict.…

  • * U.S. vs. Iran? * Otto Reich

    KAVEH EHSANI A contributing editor for Middle East Report and for Goft-o-Gu (“Dialogue” in Farsi), Ehsani — who is writing a book on Iran — said today: “A stable Afghanistan is in Iran’s interest. Obviously, Iran is concerned about undue influence that other powers like the U.S., Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the Russians, may exercise over the shaping of Afghanistan. It has been precisely this kind of external unprincipled interference that has destabilized and reduced Afghanistan to its present state. Iran has also been guilty of interference there in the past. But it has suffered seriously as a result of the…

  • Too Early to Declare Hunger Crisis Averted in Afghanistan

    The Associated Press reported yesterday that Afghan villagers in Bonavash are starving while attempting to survive by eating grass. The following statement, released today (Jan. 9) by the Institute for Public Accuracy, is from James Jennings, president of the humanitarian aid organization Conscience International. Jennings will return to Afghanistan on Jan. 16 for the group’s third mission since May, bringing assistance with food, blankets and health care. [See: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10129-2002Jan7.html,www.msnbc.com/news/682220.asp?0SB=I413 ] Statement by JAMES JENNINGS [Contact: [email protected]]: It is too early to declare a humanitarian disaster averted in Afghanistan. Early in the Afghan campaign the U.S. recognized that it was necessary…

  • The Economy: Bush vs. Daschle?

    DOUG HENWOOD Author of Wall Street, Henwood said today: “It’s nice to see the Democrats doing something other than rolling over. It’s too bad, though, that Daschle is spending so much time on the importance of fiscal discipline — an obsession of Wall Street, but not any broader constituency — when 2.6 million workers have lost their jobs over the last year, and millions more are worried that they’ll be next. And investment and employment tax credits won’t help much; businesses only invest and hire when sales and profits look good, which they don’t right now. Daschle and his colleagues…

  • * India-Pakistan * Israel-Palestine * Argentina

    ANITA WEISS Co-editor of Power and Civil Society in Pakistan (Oxford University Press, 2001) and professor of international studies at the University of Oregon, Weiss said today: “If this situation is not diffused and tensions escalate further between India and Pakistan, it will play into the hands of extremist and sectarian groups in Pakistan. Many people in Pakistan feel they have been good allies to the U.S., but I doubt the U.S. will come to Pakistan’s assistance, militarily, against India. The ensuing social unrest will further exacerbate an already tense situation and the result may well be politically and economically…

  • * Just Back from Afghanistan * Legal Status of Walker * Otto Reich: Backer of Terrorist? * Argentina Meltdown

    JIM JENNINGS President of Conscience International, a humanitarian aid organization, Jennings has just returned from his third trip to Afghanistan. He said today: “The public is being shielded from the extent of civilian casualties; if people saw the war close up, they would not be so enthusiastic about it. I witnessed this ‘collateral damage’ in the form of children with legs blown off, eyes blinded, and internal organs damaged — they were reportedly playing with a U.S.-dropped cluster bomb when it exploded. One boy of about 10, Zarwali, lost his left foot. They were driven over bombed-out roads for two…

  • UN Suspending Israel * Ireland

    “Israel’s abusive repudiation of the very idea of the United Nations, its escalating and lethal violation of countless international norms, its repeated, deadly attacks on UN sanctuaries and peacekeepers justifies its expulsion.”

  • Targeting the Post Office

    “President-elect Donald J. Trump has confirmed the incoming administration’s interest in exploring privatization of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Privatization would repudiate the Postal Service’s public service mission. The public postal system exists to serve all, delivering such critical items as medications and lab tests, not to turn a profit. No profit-making company would…

  • Israel’s Impunity Extends to Destroying Syria’s Ability to Defend Itself

    “Regardless of who ultimately controls a future government in Damascus, Israel exploited the chaos following Assad’s fall to make sure that Syria does not retain the military capacity to defend itself. And Israel did so with the tacit support of Joe Biden and his administration, who repeated Israel’s argument that it was acting pre-emptively in…

  • Genocide Denial

    “Imagine for a moment that a magnitude 8 earthquake occurred somewhere in the world, and the Western corporate media refused to use the word ‘earthquake’ in reporting it, instead talking ambiguously of a ‘tectonic incident’ that had caused buildings to collapse and people to die.”

  • Espionage Act Defendant Asif Rahman Will be Held in Pre-Trial Detention

    “Based on pure speculation the government claimed Rahman was ideologically motivated and therefore more dangerous than other defendants. If taken to its logical conclusion, it would mean the government believes whistleblowers who act out of the public interest are a greater threat than spies who betray their country for financial gain.” 

  • Trying to Make Sense of RFK Jr.

    “It’s absolutely true that RFK Jr. is an unusual political figure. But it’s also true that he has deep roots in our politics going all the way back to his uncle, John F. Kennedy. The Kennedys have always been present in our political system because mainstream Democrats have tried to recapture the political magic of…

  • Israel Bombing Gaza, Lebanon, Syria

    “HTS has every reason to approach the UN Security Council and to charge Israel with aggression, both for Israel’s encroachment on territory of Syria beyond the illegally occupied Golan Heights, and for Israel’s bombing of Syria’s naval fleet and other military sites.”

  • Insurance CEO Shooting Highlights Street Crime vs Corporate Crime Contrast

    “We often view street violence as a moral failing deserving punishment; in the corporate world, we often view decisions that cause harm as unfortunate but necessary byproducts of business. But the public’s shocking reaction to Thompson’s shooting suggests that people are interpreting the ruthless tactics of private health insurers as forms of violence akin to…

  • Threats to Regulation of Formaldehyde

    New reporting from ProPublica found that under the incoming Trump administration, regulations to curb formaldehyde are under threat. Formaldehyde is one of the most widespread toxic pollutants and causes more cancer than any other air pollutant. Under President Biden, the Environmental Protection Agency will release its final health assessment of formaldehyde by the end of…

  • Syria’s Future: Democracy or Subservience to U.S., Turkey and Israel?

    “The Israeli bombardment of Syrian military facilities had weakened the Syrian armed forces’ logistical and ordinance capabilities. These attacks had been sustained and painful for the Syrian armed forces…. The nearly three years of conflict in Ukraine had certainly denied Syria the ability to call upon further Russian assistance for the protection of Damascus or…

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