A year ago — on August 20, 1998 — the U.S. government launched cruise missiles at Sudan and Afghanistan, claiming retaliation for the U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya two weeks earlier. Key assertions by U.S. government officials — that the al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Sudan was producing chemical weapons and that it was linked to Osama bin Laden — turned out to be inaccurate. The owner of the plant, Salah Idris, has brought suit against the U.S. government. The following analysts are available for interviews: JASON VEST A Washington correspondent for the Village Voice, Vest has investigated the…

ROSS GELBSPAN Author of The Heat Is On: The Climate Crisis, the Cover-Up, the Prescription, Gelbspan said: “This year in the United States, a 315-mile-an-hour tornado destroyed parts of Oklahoma City, one of the worst droughts on record is decimating crops in the mid-Atlantic states and a summer heat wave has killed more than 270 people in the Northeast. These extreme weather events represent an early stage of global warming — the heating of our atmosphere from the buildup of coal and oil emissions. To restore our climate’s stability requires us to cut those emissions by 70 percent — and…

Newspaper accounts this week report that workers were unknowingly exposed to deadly radioactive isotopes at key Department of Energy facilities. The following analysts are available for interviews: JAY TRUMAN Founder and director of Downwinders, a group of people exposed to radiation during nuclear tests, Truman said: “The news that the workers at Paducah (Ky.) and Oak Ridge (Tenn.) were unknowingly exposed to plutonium and other dangerous isotopes for up to three decades is yet another tragic example of the price paid by average American citizens for this country’s nuclear weapons policy. For decades, these workers were led to believe by…

These analysts are available to talk about the drought and other issues facing farmers: KATHY OZER Director of program operations at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, which works with small (mostly African American) farmers, Zippert said: “What’s far more serious than the drought for our farmers is the price of agricultural commodities. They’re getting 3 or 4 cents a pound for watermelon… The prices that farmers are receiving are the same as 50 years ago… The farmers are not getting the full value of these products, a series of middlemen are. You have the food processors and the agribusiness corporations,…

WASHINGTON — While a congressional hearing today focuses on Nigeria, advocates for human rights and environmental protection are available for interviews on the role of oil companies in backing repressive actions by the Nigerian government. Among those available for interviews are: BRONWEN MANBY A researcher for Human Rights Watch, Manby is one of three witnesses to be testifying before the House subcommittee on Africa about the human rights status of the Niger Delta. She is author of The Price of Oil: Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights Violations in Nigeria’s Oil Producing Communities (1999). Manby said: “The oil companies operating in…

LINDA GORDON Professor of history at the University of Wisconsin/Madison, Gordon said: “The budget surplus provides Americans with an opportunity for a conversation about our priorities. Most Americans want better schools, better policing, cleaner air and water, an end to global warming, and above all, medical insurance for everyone. Taxes offer a fair and efficient way of providing these and many other services to the public. Buying these things privately is either impossible or more expensive for everyone. The proposed tax cuts, which benefit mainly those who live on investments and inflated CEO-type salaries, will further the deepening inequality which…

In a major development this morning in the uproar over the censorship and lockout of the staff at KPFA Radio, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that “a proposal to sell Berkeley radio station KPFA is expected to come today before the policy-making body of KPFA’s governing Pacifica Foundation.” Denials of plans to sell the station — which is broadcast throughout much of northern California — have come from Mary Frances Berry, who chairs the Pacifica Foundation board of directors and also chairs the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. But the San Francisco Chronicle reports today: “Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources…

These analysts are available for interviews about the tax bill just passed by the House of Representatives and the implications of such legislation: MICHELE McGEOY Michele McGeoy is the CEO of RH Solutions and a member of Responsible Wealth, a national network of affluent Americans working for fairer and more effective economic policies. She said: “Wealthy people like me, I’ve discovered over the years, tend to find we have ‘friends’ we never knew existed. My newest friends sit in Congress. They must really like me. With all the problems in the world today, they’re worried that I’m not rich enough……

A nationwide outcry is growing as the Pacifica Foundation continues its lockout of staff and volunteers at radio station KPFA in the San Francisco area. A week ago, the foundation’s management halted the station’s evening newscast in mid-sentence while the news anchor was reporting on the latest developments in the KPFA-Pacifica conflict. Since then, archival tapes have been airing. Among those who can be called for interviews are: MATTHEW LASAR Author of Pacifica Radio: The Rise of an Alternative Network (Temple University Press, 1999), Lasar said: “The Pacifica Foundation is clearly abandoning the most basic precept of community broadcasting —…

There have been a number of developments on trade issues this week: The World Trade Organization ruled on the European Union’s ban on U.S. hormone-injected beef, the Secretary of Agriculture made a speech on genetically modified foods and the House is set to vote on major Africa trade legislation. Among the analysts available to discuss these issues are: LORI WALLACH Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, Wallach said: “The House is about to vote on legislation that a coalition of oil companies dubbed the ‘African Growth and Opportunity Act.’ It certainly does nothing to help Africa grow or expand…