The World Trade Organization has indicated that it will hold its next ministerial meeting at the beginning of November in Qatar. This has prompted objections from human rights groups and critics of the WTO concerned that Qatar will not allow protests. The WTO is expected to make its official selection within the next two weeks. The following people are available for comment: JOE STORK Washington director of the Middle East/North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, Stork said today: “Either Qatar must pledge that free assembly will be respected or the WTO ministers should find another location. Qatar’s human rights…

MEDEA BENJAMIN Founding director of Global Exchange and spokesperson for the Campaign for Public Power Now, a new coalition of consumer, community and environmental groups, Benjamin said today: “Dozens of municipalities throughout the state, including Los Angeles and Sacramento, have no power crisis because they publicly own and control their power systems…. Governor Gray Davis should use the power of eminent domain to take over the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. Politicians should give back the money their campaigns got from the utility industry and fight for the interests of consumers, not grossly mismanaged utility companies.” More Information TYSON…

Al Gore: 50,996,116 George W. Bush: 50,456,169 In the nationwide popular vote, Gore received 539,947 more votes than Bush. Source: The Associated Press

WENONAH HAUTER Director of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program, Hauter said today: “Americans are proud of the progress made over the past three decades to clean up our environment. George W. Bush’s nomination of Gale Norton for Secretary of the Interior would turn back the clock…. For instance, she was a strong advocate of Colorado’s ‘self-audit’ law, which allows corporations to perform voluntary audits to determine if they are complying with federal environmental regulations. This law also gives companies immunity from fines and lawsuits if they report and correct violations. To Coloradans who fished in the Alamosa…

Factual Background: Mid-1990s Southern Partisan sells T-shirts celebrating the Lincoln assassination with a quote from John Wilkes Booth (“Sic Semper Tyrannis”) on the front, and Jefferson’s quote about liberty requiring “the blood of patriots and tyrants” on the back. April 19, 1995 Timothy McVeigh is arrested after bombing the Oklahoma City federal building, wearing a T-shirt identical to the one sold by Southern Partisan. (Front and back views of the Southern Partisan shirt can be seen at FAIR’s website.) December 1995 Southern Partisan General Store sends out form letter stating: “Due to a surprising demand for our anti-Lincoln T-shirt, our…

Critics expressed concern today about a previously unexamined aspect of the record of attorney general nominee John Ashcroft — his successful efforts to block legislation designed to equalize access to voter registration in the St. Louis area. As governor, Ashcroft twice vetoed measures passed overwhelmingly by the Missouri legislature that sought to make it possible for volunteer deputy registrars from nonpartisan organizations to engage in voter registration in the city of St. Louis, which was about 50 percent black. “Mr. Ashcroft’s vetoes show a disturbing commitment to maintaining separate and unequal access to voter registration for African-Americans,” John Hickey, executive…

WASHINGTON — With Senate confirmation hearings on the nomination of John Ashcroft for attorney general scheduled to begin Tuesday, the Institute for Public Accuracy today raised pointed questions for Ashcroft on the subject of abortion rights: In 1998, you were one of three original Senate sponsors of the “Human Life Amendment” to the Constitution, and you submitted a written statement to the publication Human Events in which you said: “If I had the opportunity to pass but a single law, I would fully recognize the constitutional right of every unborn child, and ban every abortion except for those medically necessary…

This afternoon, the Institute for Public Accuracy released the following list of suggested questions for attorney general nominee John Ashcroft, who faces Senate confirmation hearings later this month: 1) Will you furnish the text or a tape recording of your 1999 commencement address to Bob Jones University? 2) You have said that you were unaware in 1999 of Bob Jones University’s racial and religious positions. Are you now willing to renounce your honorary degree from that university? 3) Please explain what you meant in your 1998 interview with Southern Partisan magazine when you said that the magazine “helps set the…

The Pacifica Foundation, which in the summer of 1999 locked out the staff of KPFA Radio in Berkeley, Calif., has recently begun a similar series of actions at WBAI Radio, its New York City station. Management changed locks over Christmas weekend and fired and banned several targeted workers from the station. There have been a series of protests in New York. The following people are available for interviews: BERNARD WHITE Longtime co-host of WBAI’s “Wakeup Call” and program director for the station, White was fired without explanation two days before Christmas. More Information SHARAN HARPER Producer for WBAI’s “Wakeup Call,”…

Two specialists on the political dynamics of neo-Confederate and white nationalist groups in the United States today commented on aspects of racial politics and John Ashcroft, the nominee for attorney general. DEVIN BURGHART Burghart is director of the Building Democracy Initiative at the Center for New Community. The initiative works to counter the white nationalist movement in a 10-state region across the Midwest. “Sen. John Ashcroft gave an interview and legitimacy to one of the leading white nationalist groups in the country,” Burghart said today. “The Senate Judiciary Committee should focus on Sen. Ashcroft’s endorsement of Southern Partisan.” Burghart added:…