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News Releases

  • The Election in Ohio … and in Ukraine

    EVAN DAVIS SUSAN TRUITT Co-founder of the Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections (CASE), Truitt said today: “The Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections has organized a rally to demand that every vote be counted accurately from the November 2 election. We demand a full recount of Ohio’s votes and a thorough investigation of all reported irregularities and discrepancies and charges of voter disenfranchisement throughout the state. The right to vote is a civil right and in a democracy no abridgement of that right can be tolerated. The rally will be held on Saturday, December 4 at 1 p.m. at the Ohio…

  • Bhopal: 20 Years After the Disaster

    A series of events are planned this week as human rights, legal, environmental and other experts are demanding that Dow Chemical, the current owner of Union Carbide, be held accountable for the Bhopal disaster, which took place 20 years ago in India. On Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 1:00 p.m. ET there will be a media teleconference call. It will include: * Irene Zubaida Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International, which has just released the report “Clouds of Injustice: Bhopal Disaster 20 Years on.” She is currently in London. The report states: “More than 7,000 people died within a matter of…

  • Bush in Canada

    MAUDE BARLOW Barlow is national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest public advocacy organization with over 100,000 members. The group has done extensive work on examining various policy issues around U.S.-Canadian relations. More Information MICHAEL MANDEL GAIL DAVIDSON Mandel is a professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Canada and author of the book How America Gets Away With Murder: Illegal Wars, Collateral Damage and Crimes Against Humanity. Davidson is a member of Lawyers Against the War. They are authors of the article “Why Bush Should Be Banned from Canada.” Mandel said today: “Many of the…

  • Thanksgiving: * Supporting the Troops * First Thanksgiving * Buy Nothing Day

    MIKE HOFFMAN Co-founder and national coordinator of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Hoffman said today: “For Thanksgiving, one can expect President Bush and others to pontificate about the troops and the sacrifices we’ve made in Iraq; but what has he actually done to support us?” Hoffman is currently near Philadelphia. More Information ROBERT W. VENABLES Author of the two-volume book American Indian History, Venables said today: “Hallmark Cards is not likely to promote the fact that the first thing the Pilgrims did when they landed in what is now Massachusetts was loot Indian graves. The original Thanksgiving held great potential…

  • American Politics at a Crossroads

    MICHAEL PARADIES SHOOB Shoob, co-director (with Joseph Mealey) of the recent documentary film about Karl Rove titled “Bush’s Brain,” commented today: “I would say that the ‘mark’ of a Rove operation is absolute control, no leaks, no visible dissent. And, it would seem to me that the resignation of Colin Powell and the wholesale purge of dissenting voices at the CIA indicate the kind of consolidation of power by the White House that Rove is looking to create. Also, Rove has been very successful in portraying anyone who disagrees with the administration as either ‘evil’ or ‘unpatriotic.’ That will continue.…

  • Ohio: Official Recount Now Expected

    DAVID COBB Cobb was the 2004 presidential candidate for the Green Party. He said today: “We announced our intention to seek a recount of the vote in Ohio. Since the required fee for a statewide recount is $113,600, the only question was whether that money could be raised in time to meet the filing deadline. That question has been answered. Thanks to the thousands of people who have contributed to this effort, we can say with certainty that there will be a recount in Ohio.” The Green Party is working with the Libertarian Party in securing a recount. The presidential…

  • Israel’s Re-Arrest of Nuclear Whistleblower Vanunu

    “Heavily armed police commandos stormed a Jerusalem church compound Thursday and arrested nuclear whistle blower Mordechai Vanunu,” the Associate Press reports. Vanunu had been restricted from speaking to non-Israelis or media and had openly violated such prohibitions, including appearing on a news release of the Institute for Public Accuracy on Sept. 17. The following are available for interviews: FELICE COHEN-JOPPA, ART LAFFIN Cohen-Joppa is the coordinator of the U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu; Laffin is associate coordinator of the group. Cohen-Joppa said today: “It is an outrage that Israel has re-arrested nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu only six months after…

  • Arafat

    NADIA HIJAB Hijab is executive director of the Palestine Center in Washington. She said today: “Yasser Arafat has two main achievements. He forged a unified voice for the Palestinian people who suffered three different fates after Israel was created — exile and refugee camps, Israeli occupation, and Israeli rule. He also put the question of Palestine back on the map in 1968 — 20 years after the creation of Israel — and kept it there. But he was also the leader who signed over a dozen peace agreements with Israel but was powerless to achieve peace based on an end…

  • Is the U.S. Committing War Crimes in Iraq?

    MARJORIE COHN Professor of law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and author of the article “Aggressive War: Supreme International Crime,” Cohn said today: “Between 10,000 and 15,000 U.S. troops with warplanes and artillery have begun to invade the Iraqi city of Fallujah. To ‘soften up’ the rebels, American forces dropped five 500-pound bombs on ‘insurgent targets.’ The Americans destroyed the Nazzal Emergency Hospital in the center of town. They stormed and occupied the Fallujah General Hospital, and have not agreed to allow doctors and ambulances to go inside the main part of the city to help the wounded, in…

  • Fallujah

    RAHUL MAHAJAN Currently in New York City, Mahajan said today: “I was in Fallujah during the attack in April, and reported on the closure of the Fallujah General Hospital as well as the closure of the al-Sadr Teaching Hospital in Najaf. This time, U.S. forces have gone a step further. Not only did a bomb destroy the Nazzal Emergency Hospital, but Fallujah General Hospital was a primary initial target in this assault. It has been occupied and largely kept from functioning by U.S. soldiers; they have also turned it into a military target by attacking resistance fighters from nearby positions.…

  • Clinton’s New Budget: Behind the Rhetoric

    GREG SPEETER The executive director of the National Priorities Project, Speeter said: “The fact that we’re looking at increasing the Pentagon budget by $110 billion over the next five years, at a time when it ought to be going down, is ridiculous. Our domestic needs are increasing. We have a child poverty rate of 20.8…

  • Wider Perspectives on Senate Trial

    As the Senate trial of President Clinton continues, here are the perspectives of some analysts — available for interviews — outside the crossfire of Republicans and White House allies. TED GLICK The national coordinator of the Independent Progressive Politics Network, Glick said: “We hear a lot about polls and what people think of Clinton and…

  • Outside the Partisian Boxes: Other Views of Senate Trial

    By now, the public is very familiar with the partisan arguments over whether the Senate trial of President Clinton should continue. This week, loyal Democrats and Republicans are spinning as fervently as ever. But some other positions don’t fit into the partisan trenches. The Institute for Public Accuracy offers different perspectives on impeachment and the…

  • The Day After “State of the Union” Speech, Critics Charge Double Standard for Parents

    Some researchers said Wednesday that President Clinton’s proposal to provide a tax credit for parents who stay home to care for their children is based on a double standard. The specialists contended that Clinton’s new plan is at odds with his welfare reform policy. Among those available for interviews: MIMI ABRAMOVITZ A professor of social…

  • Assessing the “State of the Union”: Social Security, Education, Health Care

    With President Clinton’s State of the Union address focusing attention on such issues as Social Security, education and health care, the following policy analysts are available for interviews: SOCIAL SECURITY MARK WEISBROT Economist and research director at the Preamble Center, Weisbrot said: “Social Security never did need saving; proposals to `reform’ the system are driven…

  • With National Spotlight on the Senate, Campaign Finance Is a Simmering Issue

    With all eyes now on the Senate, advocates of campaign finance reform are pointing to the vast amounts of money that were required for the 100 senators to win their seats. Among those analysts available for interviews are: GWEN PATTON Archivist of the Montgomery Pioneer Voting Rights Activists at Trenholm State Technical College in Alabama,…

  • A Renewed Debate: Guns vs. Butter

    The Joint Chiefs of Staff told a congressional panel Tuesday afternoon that the nation needs a substantial boost in military spending. But some policy analysts dispute those assertions. The following researchers are available for interviews: WILLIAM HARTUNG A senior fellow of the World Policy Institute at the New School for Social Research and author of…

  • Assessing Some Key Trends of 1998

    Two of the most important trends during the past year seem certain to have major impacts in 1999 and beyond — the momentum of “merger mania” and the unraveling of America’s safety net. Experts critical of these developments can be contacted directly by editors, reporters and producers: ** Merger Mania ** ROBERT WEISSMAN Co-director of…

  • Role of Former High Official in Pinochet Dictatorship Is Now Subject of Pointed Questions in United States

    WASHINGTON — While former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet continues to face the possibility of prosecution in Spain for human-rights abuses, a former high official in his regime is the subject of growing controversy in Washington. An article published Tuesday (Dec. 22) in Investor’s Business Daily condemns Jose Pinera’s role in Chile and raises questions…

  • Rule of Law and the Bombing of Iraq

    In a little-noticed speech on the House floor last Thursday, Rep. David Skaggs (D-Colo.) said: “President Clinton acted in violation of the Constitution in ordering these attacks without authority of Congress.” Among the legal scholars available for comment are: MICHAEL RATNER Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City FRANCIS BOYLE Professor of International…

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