Debate is now raging about the agenda for the World Conference Against Racism that begins in Durban, South Africa at the end of this month. The following analysts, most of whom will attend, are available for interviews: More Information LORETTA ROSS Executive director and founder of the National Center for Human Rights Education, Ross said today: “The U.S. government is resisting calling slavery a crime against humanity because that would raise the subject of reparations. Most reasonable people would consider slavery and Native American genocide to be crimes against humanity. The U.S. government has argued that a crime against humanity…

SIMONA SHARONI Executive director of the Consortium on Peace Research, Education and Development, Sharoni is an Israeli Jew living in the United States. She recently returned from leading a delegation to the Mideast. Sharoni said today: “The ongoing Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians and infrastructure flagrantly contradict Israel’s proclaimed commitment to a negotiated, let alone just, solution to the conflict. The targeted assassinations campaign against Palestinian leaders is likely to provoke a violent response. In fact, one wonders if Israel is using these illegal attacks to provoke such a response and then use that as a pretext to reoccupy the…

Today, the National Commission on Federal Election Reform chaired by former Presidents Carter and Ford released its report. The following electoral analysts are available for interviews: MILES RAPOPORT President of Demos, a new public policy and advocacy organization on democracy issues, Rapoport said today: “Many recommendations would be real steps if adopted by the states. But we need to go much further to expand participation in our election process. One major step not recommended by the Commission would be Election Day voter registration, which could increase turnout by 10 percent and resolve many problems voters face at the polls. The…

PRESTON J. TRUMAN Director of the Downwinders organization, Truman said today: “This past weekend seemed almost deja vu. We found out that the much-touted July 14 test was rigged, with the target basically having a beacon on it saying ‘hit me.’ Tests involving the X-ray laser during the 1980s were similarly dubious. It’s also reminiscent of the public relations extravaganza of the Patriot missile during the Gulf War…. The Pentagon is conducting a witch hunt against an MIT scientist, Theodore Postol, who has been critical of the Star Wars program. Many of the critics during the 1980s were harassed for…

JOAN CLAYBROOK President of Public Citizen, Claybrook said today: “Thursday’s Senate cloture vote to stop the filibuster of the Murray-Shelby agreement in the Department of Transportation appropriations bill is a significant victory for the safety of motorists in the United States. The Murray-Shelby provisions are designed to protect Americans from the potential hazards of Mexican trucks, which currently are not subjected to the same safety standards as American carriers. If the current DOT bill is passed, the Murray-Shelby provisions will help ensure that non-discriminatory inspections of Mexican trucks will be carried out both at the border and on site at…

ROGER HICKEY Co-director of the Institute for America’s Future, Hickey said:”The interim draft report released Tuesday by President Bush’s Social Security Commission confirms what we originally said about this commission when it was created: These people…are driven by ideology, not truth. Their report shamelessly distorts the facts in an attempt to frighten the American public into supporting their pre-ordained goal: to privatize and thus undermine the Social Security system…. Bush and his party want to cut Social Security’s guaranteed benefits…in order to create millions of private stock market accounts that will benefit Wall Street and hurt most who live and…

NEIL WATKINS Watkins, a project coordinator for the Center for Economic Justice, is scheduled to return to Washington from Genoa at 4 p.m. ET today (Monday). He said today: “The real story in Genoa, where the largest anti-corporate globalization protests yet took place, is the failure of the G-8 to cancel the debt of the poorest countries and respond to the call of the protesters to stop policies that are causing global economic apartheid.” More Information ASIA RUSSELL Russell is currently in Genoa and will be returning to the U.S. on Tuesday. She is a member of the Health Gap…

THEODORE LOWI Professor of American Institutions at Cornell University and author of The End of the Republican Era, Lowi said today: “The most serious issue in the Bush administration is that there is a stigma in his election…. The Supreme Court aborted the election process. This was unprecedented. To try to overcome this lack of legitimacy, Bush has engaged in a permanent campaign like no other president has. He visited 26 states in his first 100 days. The tax cut was very skillful politically, it’s spread over 10 years, so you get the credit now and pay later. It’s smart…

As leaders of the G-8 countries gather in Genoa, the following policy analysts are available for interviews: ELLEN FRANK Author of the forthcoming book Money Illusion and a professor of economics at Emmanuel College in Boston, Frank said today: “The U.S. is sliding into a recession, Europe is stagnant, Japan is in a depression. Argentina and other major developing countries face debt problems that are insurmountable without a coordinated international response…. We sit on the brink of a serious world economic crisis that will require imaginative and thoroughgoing policy coordination between the major countries. But the political will to undertake…

ROBERT WEIL Author of Red Cat, White Cat: China and the Contradictions of “Market Socialism,” Weil said today: “The new Sino-Soviet Friendship Treaty signed today, though largely economic in focus, is also a response to the strategic goals of the Bush administration, and especially its anti-missile program. Despite its supposed ‘rogue nation’ rationale, the effort to erect a shield against intercontinental ballistic missiles is clearly directed against Russia and in particular China, in an effort to maintain U.S. global dominance, give it a free hand in its military actions, and attempt once again to force these two ‘unfriendly’ nuclear powers…