News Releases

  • University Protests

    “During the hearing, you were asked about the political views of specific professors and encouraged to take disciplinary action, including termination, against them. Such clear retaliation for First-Amendment protected speech would be prohibited at a state institution. Although Columbia University is a private institution not governed by the First Amendment, the role of state actors — in this case members of Congress — in instigating the action would raise serious First Amendment concerns. Even if the First Amendment could not be found to apply, it would still be a serious breach of norms of academic freedom.”


  • UAW Launching Union Wave?

    “In two prior union elections in Chattanooga, the UAW was unable to move the needle enough to win, losing the first time, 626-712, and on a second try in 2019, 776-833. The U.S. remained the only country in the world where Volkswagen workers were non-union. Things began to change in 2022, when Volkswagen expanded the plant to produce the all-electric ID.4. In the process, the company hired over 2,000 new workers. With labor shortages throughout the manufacturing sector, many of the workers hired by Volkswagen were much younger and more diverse. Some had even moved from more pro-union parts of…


  • Billions More for Israel as It Attacks West Bank

    Jarrar, advocacy director at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), said: “Members of Congress should understand that approving more military aid could subject them to personal liability for aiding and abetting an ongoing genocide in Gaza.”


  • International Civilian Aid Flotilla to “Break the Siege of Gaza”

    The International Freedom Flotilla Coalition recently released a statement: “International Civilian Aid Flotilla to Break the Siege of Gaza” that it “will sail in mid April with multiple vessels, carrying 5,500 tons of humanitarian aid and hundreds of international human rights observers to challenge the ongoing illegal Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. This is an emergency mission as the situation in Gaza is dire, with famine setting in in northern Gaza, and catastrophic hunger present throughout the Gaza Strip as the result of a deliberate policy by the Israeli government to starve the Palestinian people. Time is critical as…


  • Race-Based Kidney Tests

    Medical school activists are sounding the alarm over the EDUCATE Act, a bill that aims to remove Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion curricula and ban race-based admission mandates at medical schools.


  • Government Compelling Private Universities to “Pledge of Allegiance” to Israel; Universities Disciplined Students for Rallies

    “What we are seeing now is only the latest manifestation of a longstanding campaign to try to redefine the term ‘anti-Semitism’ — to take it away from the dictionary meaning that worked very well for a long time, and to turn it into something else. Under the new definition, anti-Semitism includes criticism of Zionism and of the policies and actions of Israel. … Congress should not be involved in overseeing private universities, or even public universities, because they’re state-managed, not managed by the federal government. And yet, suddenly, Congress was inserting itself into issues on campus with a clear disciplinary…


  • “Terrifying” “Make Everyone A Spy” Amendment Provokes Outrage

    “As we have said for months, the Make Everyone A Spy provision is recklessly broad and a threat to democracy itself. It is simply stunning that the administration and House Intelligence Committee do not have a single answer for how frighteningly broad this provision is. While the Department of Justice wants us to believe that this is simply about addressing data centers, that is no justification for exposing cleaning crews, security guards, and untold scores of other Americans to secret Section 702 directives, which are issued without any court review. Receiving one can be a life-changing event, and Jim Himes…


  • NSA, Palantir “Feed Israel’s Killing Machine in Gaza”

    “Now, with Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, critical information from NSA continues to be used by Unit 8200, according to a number of sources, to target tens of thousands of Palestinians for death — often with U.S.-supplied 2,000-pound bombs and other weapons. And it is extremely powerful data-mining software, such as that from Palantir, that helps the IDF to select targets.”


  • “Iran’s Attack and Prospects for Regional War”

    “Yesterday’s attack failed to inflict any serious damage on Israel. This was no accident. Iran expected this result. It warned the U.S. in advance of its plans. Unlike Israel, [the Iranian government] exercised calculated restraint.” The Iranian government told the U.S. government “through back-channels what it intended. It negotiated an understanding with the U.S. about what the latter would do in response. … Israel will counter-attack. The only question is whether it will be symbolic or full-force. The latter would demand an Iranian response. And not the restrained one of yesterday. Then, we would be right back where we started, when Israel initiated…


  • Potential Medicaid Cuts in New York State Budget

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed major Medicaid cuts to this year’s state budget that would impact the state’s Health Homes program.


  • Pentagon and Propaganda

    CHRISTOPHER SIMPSON Associate professor of communication at American University and author of the books Blowback and Science of Coercion, Simpson said today: “Donald Rumsfeld strongly implied last night that the Department of Defense is not running covert operations in its military operations. The truth of the matter is that U.S. psywar and covert operations against…

  • * Iraq * China * Korea * Milosevic Trial

    DENIS HALLIDAY Halliday is a former UN Assistant Secretary General and ex-head of the UN oil-for-food program. He said today: “The International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors were in Iraq just two weeks ago. Those types of monitoring programs could be expanded to include chemical and biological weapons capability, but re-starting an Iraq-specific regime like UNMOVIC…

  • “Covering the Uninsured”: Remedy or Placebo?

    In recent days, a coalition of 13 groups has begun a $10 million ad campaign, “Covering the Uninsured.” The coalition released data showing that 2001 witnessed the largest one-year increase in the number of uninsured Americans in nearly a decade. Participants include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AFL-CIO, AARP, the Business Roundtable, American Medical Association,…

  • The Olympics: Some Downsides

    HELEN LENSKYJ Lenskyj is author of Inside the Olympic Industry: Power, Politics, and Activism and the forthcoming The Best Olympics Ever? Social Impacts of Sydney 2000.She is professor of sociology at the University of Toronto. Lenskyj said this afternoon: “How much do the Olympics really cost and who ends up paying? The International Olympic Committee…

  • Enron: Interviews Available

    ANDREW WHEAT Wheat is the research director for Texans for Public Justice, a non-profit policy and research organization which tracks the influence of money in politics. Wheat said today: “President Bush’s explanation of his relationship to Enron is at best a half truth. He was in bed with Enron before he ever held a political…

  • Visions of Global Democracy

    VAN JONES The World Economic Forum, meeting in New York City, has named Jones as one of the “100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow.” Jones, who founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in 1996, said today: “I think it is a grudging admission on their part that the growing movements against corporate-led globalization and…

  • A Tale of Two Summits

    WALDEN BELLO JOY CHAVEZ Bello is the executive director and Chavez is a research associate for Focus on the Global South. Bello said today: “Porto Alegre, site of the World Social Forum [WSF] last year and again this year, has become the byword for the spirit of the burgeoning movement against corporate-driven globalization. Galvanized by…

  • An Enron Model for the World?

    GREG PALAST Palast is an internationally recognized expert on regulation of power markets and author of Regulation and Democracy, an upcoming U.N. study. On a Jan. 24, 2001 news release by the Institute for Public Accuracy, he said: “The California blackouts are a simple case of greed run amok…. The big winners in this monstrosity…

  • Interviews Available: Welfare Reauthorization

    GWENDOLYN MINK Author of the newly-revised Welfare’s End and a political scientist at Smith College, Mink said today: “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families reauthorization is Congress’s opportunity to undo some of the damage of the 1996 welfare law. The first step toward TANF reform must be to repeal TANF’s current goal of abolishing single motherhood,…

  • Interviews Available on Major Legal Issues

    MATT ROTHSCHILD Editor of The Progressive, Rothschild recently wrote the article “The New McCarthyism.” The Progressive is offering a regular feature called “McCarthyism Watch.” More Information SARAH HOGARTH Director of the National Lawyers Guild Post 9-11 Project, Hogarth said today: “The government is talking out of both sides of its mouth about the detainees. It…

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