News Releases

  • Thirst Strike Ends in Texas

    Representative Greg Casar held an eight-hour thirst strike on the steps of the Capitol to raise awareness about worker conditions during heat waves.


  • “Twin Crises of Israel”

    Following the Israeli government’s decision to overhaul the judicial system, Abba Solomon, author of two books on Zionism says, “The Israeli ‘pro-democracy’ movement’s sea of Israeli flags, exclusion of Palestinian flags, and the threat of Israeli Defense Forces reservists — key to continuing IDF raids and attacks on Gaza and West Bank communities —  to refuse deployment until the judicial overhaul is scrapped, illustrates that the cause is to return to Zionist rule as usual”


  • “Oppenheimer” Omits Information About H-Bomb Testing Just Before Scientist’s Career Was Destroyed

    Thomas Reifer, Sociology professor at University of San Diego and a fellow at the Transnational Institute says, “The film ‘Oppenheimer’ raises many important issues, none more urgent than the vast increase in destructive power that came with the making of atomic and then thermonuclear weapons…Unfortunately, the film doesn’t take the time to go into the period of U.S. testing of the H-Bomb, which along with the earlier atomic explosions, spread radioactive waste, and led to the infamous Lucky Dragon incident, about a month and a half before Oppenheimer’s security hearing depicted in the film.”


  • Peace Groups to Protest Cluster Munitions at Weapons Factory 

    Multiple U.S. peace organizations are set to protest on Saturday, July 22 at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in light of the recent sale of cluster munitions to Ukraine. The groups say, “t reveals to the world just how little the U.S. cares for Ukrainian people and their futures and the futures of the Russian people. Corporations reaping bloody profits from cluster bombs are the only beneficiaries of this tragic policy and this war.”


  • Congress Declares Support for Israel as It Recognizes Morocco’s Annexation of Western Sahara

    Salka Barca, a native Saharawi and coordinator of the feminist human rights group ‘Karama Sahara’ says “The Israeli official recognition of Moroccan ‘annexation’ is not a surprise… The Israelis provide Morocco with ongoing intelligence training, drones, and technology to repress and kill the Saharawis as the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians.” Mubarak Awad, founder of Nonviolence International, is of Palestinian origin and says, “The Palestinians and Saharawis are suffering invasion, occupation and annexation with U.S. support. This must stop.”


  • Assessing RFK Jr. and Claim That Covid Is “Ethnically Targeted”

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested that SARS-CoV-2 may be an “ethnically targeted” bioweapon engineered by China.


  • “No Labels” a “Trojan Horse for Israel Support” 

    Editor of MondoWeiss, Philip Weiss, recently wrote about the organization ‘No Labels’ as a “Trojan Horse for Israel Support”. At the helm of ‘No Labels’ is Nancy Jacobson. Weiss wrote, “She bragged of creating the Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress (led by pro-Israel hack Josh Gottheimer) that attacked BDS: ‘Jacobson also credited the Problem Solvers for forcing House leadership to vote on a resolution condemning the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement targeting Israel. The resolution was praised by many pro-Israel and Jewish groups, though critics said it infringed on free speech.’”


  • Realities of War 

    Charles Glass’s new book ‘Soldiers Don’t Go Mad’ says, “rom the moment war broke out across Europe in 1914, the world entered a new, unparalleled era of modern warfare… Second Lieutenant Wilfred Owen was 24 years old when he was admitted to the newly established Craiglockhart War Hospital for treatment of shell shock. A burgeoning poet, trying to make sense of the terror he had witnessed, he read a collection of poems from a fellow officer, Siegfried Sassoon, and was impressed by his portrayal of the soldier’s plight.”


  • SAG-AFTRA Joins Writers Guild Strike

    Mike Elk, founder and Emmy-nominated senior labor reporter at Payday Report says, “Today, over 160,000 SAG-AFTRA (The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) members in TV and film went on strike, joining the 11,000 Writers Guild members, who have already been on strike for nearly three month.”


  • Flooding in Vermont and Rural-Urban Inequities

    Vermont is currently experiencing its worst flooding since Tropical Storm Irene hit the state in 2011. Rural communities are particularly at risk of the effects of the floods.


  • Globalization Without Representation?

    The following analysts, many in Seattle, are available for comment on the World Trade Organization: LORI WALLACH Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, Wallach said: “President Clinton’s PR stunt on the child labor treaty is the height of hypocrisy, given he knows that absent major WTO changes – which he has refused to demand…

  • Clinton and Protests in Seattle

    JUDITH BARISH An editor of the World Trade Observer and former communications director for the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, Barish said: “In 1994, Clinton promised not to support the establishment of the World Trade Organization unless it addressed labor standards, but that was forgotten. Now the administration is again talking up labor standards. But their…

  • WTO vs. Democracy?

    REP. DENNIS KUCINICH A letter to President Clinton initiated by Rep. Kucinich (D-Ohio) and signed by 113 House Democrats says: “The WTO infringes on the sovereignty of nations to enforce worker rights. A proposed bill to ban products made with child labor is WTO-illegal…” Speaking to World Trade Watch, a daily national radio program co-produced…

  • WTO Rules: The Record

    SEATTLE – Since its founding five years ago, the World Trade Organization has consistently settled trade disputes in favor of corporate interests, frequently deeming labor and environmental regulations “non-tariff trade barriers.” Conflicts between countries are decided by three unelected WTO officials in Geneva in secretive proceedings. With each nation challenging or threatening to challenge each…

  • Road to Seattle: Key Battles on WTO

    WASHINGTON — In the lead-up to the World Trade Organization ministerial summit in Seattle next week, U.S. trade representative Charlene Barshefsky spoke at the National Press Club today. But critics charge that she is speaking on behalf of discredited U.S. trade policies. SCOTT NOVA Director of the Citizens Trade Campaign, Nova said Tuesday afternoon: “Barshefsky…

  • Road to WTO Summit in Seattle: Why the Protests?

    JUDITH BARISH An editor of the World Trade Observer and former communications director for the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, Barish said: “There will be thousands of people protesting in the streets in Seattle, but not because we oppose trade and economic globalization. We want to see the rules written to protect workers and citizens as…

  • Budget Debate: Public Vs. Politicians

    STEVEN KULL Director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes and co-author of Misreading the Public: The Myth of a New Isolationism, Kull said: “When pollsters ask Americans how they feel about spending — on, for example, defense and foreign aid — they say to keep defense where it is and cut foreign aid. However,…

  • Human Rights, Trade and Foreign Policy

    While President Clinton visits Turkey and tries to bring China into the World Trade Organization, the following analysts are available for comment: BAMA ATHREYA Director of Asia Programs for the International Labor Rights Fund, Athreya said: “The U.S.-China negotiations on China’s entry into the WTO are certainly a boon for U.S. business, but will it…

  • Battles on Campaign Finance

    Mass. Legislature Tries to Loophole Reform; Judge Upholds Maine Initiative DAVID DONNELLY Campaign manager for Mass Voters for Clean Elections, Donnelly commented: “For years the legislature would not pass public funding of campaigns even though that’s what most people wanted. We put it on the ballot and it won by two-to-one a year ago. On…

  • Berlin Wall Anniversary

    MARTIN A. LEE The author of The Beast Reawakens, a recent book about neofascism and right-wing extremism in Europe and the U.S., Lee said: “Ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany is a deeply troubled nation, vexed by high unemployment, a stagnant economy, acrimonious relations between eastern and western residents, a charged…

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