NOVEMBER 7-1, 03 Archives

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WAL-MART IS LEVELLING AMERICA November 7, 2003 Wal-Mart department store, which employs 1.2 million people at 4,000 stores worldwide, and in 2002 became the largest company in America, is levelling America. It demands outsourcing by its suppliers, i.e., that the suppliers supply goods to Wal-Mart at such low prices that the goods could only be produced at low-wage sweat shops overseas. Wal-Mart also crushes all labor, paying slave-labor wages. In an Oct. 29 article in the {Washington Post} entitled "Wal-Mart's Hidden Costs," author Steven Pearlstein reports on Wal-Mart's practices: "To win Wal-Mart's business, suppliers have been forced to close U.S. factories and source overseas, with millions of American jobs lost in the process. Wal-Mart alone accounts for 10% of all imports from China, and its shelves bear little trace of the 'Buy America' philosophy of its founder. rumormillnews.com

Bye, Bye Miss American Pie November 7, 2003 By Norma Sherry I'm just going to blurt it out; tell it like it is. In the words of the venerable, Walter Cronkite, "and that's the way it is"; here it is folks; outsourcing is tantamount to legalized slave labor. Of course, it's much more than that to the American worker. Ask anyone who is out of work, out of unemployment, on the verge of losing their home and all that they worked for and thought was their American dream come true. Their jobs by the multi-millions have left the shores of the U.S. for greener, cheaper labor. Slave labor. scoop.co.nz

National Environmental Trust Statement on the Backroom Deal on Department of Defense Environmental Exemptions November 7, 2003 WASHINGTON Newswire Following is a statement of Gerald Leape, vice president of the National Environmental Trust: "Today the Republican Congressional leadership opened gaping new loopholes in two of the nation's bedrock environmental laws. The backroom deal on the Department of Defense authorization bill will significantly weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. "This deal is a crippling blow for marine mammals. It lets the Secretary of Defense bypass these key protections, and appears to trump the recent court decision protecting whales and dolphins from the impacts of navy sonar. Anyone who's been watching the Bush White House knows this is an open invitation to the Administration's friends in the oil and gas industries. "Finally, the deal lets military installations bypass the Endangered Species Act by letting the military substitute their own "management plans" -- with no funding and no dedicated resources." usnewswire.com

EPA Drops Its Cases Against Dozens of Alleged Polluters November 7, 2003 By Elizabeth Shogren Times -- In a policy reversal, the agency halts actions on Clean Air Act violations brought by the Clinton administration against coal-fired power plants.   The Bush administration has dropped enforcement actions against dozens of coal-fired power plants that were under investigation for violating the Clean Air Act and allegedly spewing thousands of tons of illegal pollution into the air, EPA officials said Wednesday. Until now, the Bush administration had said it would vigorously pursue the enforcement actions, which were launched by the Clinton administration. However, the Bush administration recently eased a provision of the Clean Air Act that requires companies to install modern pollution controls when they build new plants or expand or modernize old ones. Under the new policy, the alleged release of pollution that sparked the original enforcement would be legal. latimes.com

Iraq is not America's to sell November 7, 2003 Naomi Klein International law is unequivocal - Paul Bremer's economic reforms are illegal. Bring Halliburton home. Cancel the contracts. Ditch the deals. Rip up the rules. Those are just a few of the suggestions for slogans that could help unify the growing movement against the occupation of Iraq. So far, activist debates have focused on whether the demand should be for a complete withdrawal of troops, or for the United States to cede power to the United Nations. But the "troops out" debate overlooks an important fact. If every last soldier pulled out of the Gulf tomorrow and a sovereign government came to power, Iraq would still be occupied: by laws written in the interest of another country; by foreign corporations controlling its essential services; by 70% unemployment sparked by public sector layoffs. guardian.co.uk

Washington rejected sweeping Iraqi concessions on eve of war November 7, 2003 By Bill Vann On the eve of its invasion of Iraq, carried out without United Nations sanction and in violation of international law, Washington brushed aside Baghdad’s offer of sweeping concessions that would have realized nearly all of the Bush administration’s publicly stated war aims without the massive loss of life that followed. wsws.org

One in 7 Americans agree with Bush on Iraq November 7, 2003 WASHINGTON (AFP) One American in seven agrees with President George W. Bush that the Iraq conflict constitutes the most important fight in the war on terrorism, according to a Washington Post-ABC poll. news.yahoo.com

Perle Warns Germany To Stop Backing France November 7, 2003 BERLIN (AFP) Senior US defence adviser Richard Perle urged Germany Tuesday to stop following France on the international political stage and said that the Franco-German relationship is harming ties with the United States. www.rense.com

Blair could face international court over war conduct November 7, 2003 Donald MacLeo Government ministers, including Tony Blair, could potentially face international prosecution for war crimes over the conduct of the war in Iraq, the organiser of a legal debate into the conflict, said today. guardian.co.uk

New FBI rules relax restrictions Easier to check backgrounds November 7, 2003 By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press WASHINGTON The FBI will be able to more easily check a person's background for potential terrorist activities under national security guidelines issued Wednesday by Attorney General John Ashcroft. Civil libertarians said the rules could invite abuses against innocent people. ajc.com

Executive privilege seen as leak-case option Shielding material is not ruled out; Democrats protest November 7, 2003 By Wayne Washington, Globe Despite President Bush's repeated pledges of full cooperation, administration officials yesterday refused to rule out invoking executive privilege to shield some documents from Justice Department investigators looking into whether someone in the White House illegally leaked the name of a CIA operative. boston.com

Arabs Wary of Bush's Democracy Message November 7, 2003 By PAUL GARWOOD Associated Press CAIRO, Egypt Many people across the Middle East agreed with President Bush's call Thursday for greater democracy in the region, but they reacted coolly to backing a message from a U.S. leadership seen as siding unfairly with Israel and fomenting war in Iraq. gainesvillesun.com

Free Yourself from Conservative Talk Radio: 12 Steps to Recovery November 6, 2003 by Thom Hartmann Step 1: Admit that you were under the sway of right-wing, anti-democracy radicals. This is the first step for every conservative or "ditto-head" listener on the way to recovery. It is important to understand that the people you were listening to are not "compassionate conservatives," "Republicans," or "pillars of morality." They're right-wing conservative radicals, more interested in strong corporations than strong democracy, and you must be honest with yourself about that fact. thepeoplesvoice.org

In wake of helicopter attack—Washington prepares for mass killing in Iraq November 6, 2003 By Bill Vann The Bush administration is preparing a major escalation of repressive violence in Iraq following the November 2 guerrilla attack that downed a Chinook helicopter near Fallujah, claiming the lives of 15 US soldiers. The missile attack, which caused the worst loss of life for US forces in any single incident since the Bush administration launched its unprovoked war against the country last March, is part of a continuing pattern of resistance that underscores the tenuous hold of the US military occupation. wsws.org

Bush is a liar November 6, 2003 The President has no idea where his aggressive policies are leading America, warns Robert Scheer. On Sunday, 18 more young Americans died in Iraq serving the vanity of an American President who woefully betrayed them and who has no idea where his policies are taking his country. This is a President who, as is now amply clear, has systematically lied to the troops and the American people about the reasons for going to war, distorting evidence to claim that the United States was threatened by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and linking Iraq to the September 11 terrorist attacks. theage.com

44% say they’ll vote against Bush November 6, 2003 New poll finds only 38% support president’s re-election. More than four in 10 voters nationwide say they definitely plan to vote against President Bush next year — more than plan to vote for him, according to a poll released Tuesday. msnbc.com

The Wounded Come Home November 6, 2003 For every soldier who dies in Iraq, many more are injured. TIME takes an up-close look at the battle they face after the shooting is over. For several seconds after the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) drilled through the back of their armored M113 "battle taxi," the soldiers inside, mainlining adrenaline, continued firing. Then they started screaming. "It blew my leg clean off," says Private First Class Tristan Wyatt, who was standing at the rear of the armored personnel carrier (APC), unloading an M-240 machine gun at a dozen or more Iraqis who had ambushed them minutes before. He was the first to be hit. The RPG then passed through Sergeant Erick Castro's hip, spinning him violently to the floor. His left leg was still attached — but barely. "I picked up my leg and put it on the bench," he says, "and lay down next to it." Finally, the RPG shredded Sergeant Mike Meinen's right leg. "It was pretty much torn off," he says. "There was just some meat and tendons holding it on." There is horror and there is luck, and in war they sometimes come together. The RPG that severed three legs in a fire fight late last August near Fallujah didn't explode, which probably saved the lives of Wyatt, Castro and Meinen. time.com

THE LAST SENATOR November 6, 2003 Justin Raimondo One man had the moral courage to stand up to the War Party in the well of the U.S. Senate. Those cowards in the U.S. Senate wouldn't be put on the record as having voted in favor of the $87 billion appropriation for waging war on Iraq – they preferred a voice vote. When it came time to speak out, very few were actually in the Senate chambers, and the muttered assent of these few stragglers was put to shame by the stentorian "Nay!" of Senator Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) – the last man with any balls in the U.S. Senate. The New York Times reported Byrd's lonely defiance: antiwar.com

Shocking Poll: Majority Of Americans Cannot Name A Single Department In The Presidents Cabinet November 6, 2003 Washington, DC – Most Americans are unable to identify even a single department in the United States Cabinet, according to a recent national poll of 800 adults.  Specifically, the survey found that a majority (58%) could not provide any department names whatsoever; 41% could. Only 4% of those surveyed specified at least five of the 19 executive-level departments, a figure comparable to the poll’s overall margin of error (+/-3.5%). informationclearinghouse.info

What is happening to the Sun? November 6, 2003 By Dr David Whitehouse The Sun's intense activity in the past week will go into the record books. Scientists say they have been amazed by the ferocity of the gigantic flares exploding on the solar surface. The past 24 hours have seen three major events erupt over our star, hurling billions of tonnes of superhot gas into space - some of it directed at Earth. news.bbc.co.uk

They ban textbooks, don't they? November 6, 2003 By Frederick Clarkson Texas school officials rejected a widely used environmental textbook, claiming it was filled with errors. The author says they're censoring him because they didn't like his green views -- and he's suing. salon.com

Israel hands out land confiscation notices November 6, 2003 JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian farmers in the northern Jordan Valley on Wednesday received letters stating Israel would use their property to erect a security barrier, Palestinian officials said. Palestinian Authority officials subsequently fired off protests to the United States and the European Union. They said the commander of the Israel Defense Force's central command had ordered the land confiscation. edition.cnn.com

Microsoft offers virus-writer bounties November 6, 2003 If you know who unleashed the MSBlast or Sobig computer viruses, turn them in and Microsoft Corp. will pay you a bounty. Redmond-based Microsoft, along with law enforcement officials, today announced the creation of an anti-virus reward program that it funded with $5 million. Two $250,000 bounties were also announced: Those who want to provide information can contact the FBI or Secret Service at any of their local field offices; Interpol at www.interpol.int; or the Internet Fraud Complaint Center at www.ifccfbi.gov. bizjournals.com


William and Sue Kamstra and sons. He lost a $43,000-a-year job, forcing them to live at the mission.

  

US workers see hard times November 5, 2003 By Chris Gaither FRAMINGHAM High-tech firms tout outsourcing as crucial to survival. Andre Brassard keeps sending out resumes but has largely given up on the profession that employed him for a decade: writing software. In his old department at Mindspeed Technologies Inc., most of the software engineers are gone. The work Brassard and his colleagues did is now largely done in Ukraine for one-quarter to one-third the cost. boston.com

Layoffs more than double in October November 5, 2003 By Rex Nutting WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Layoff announcements from U.S. companies more than doubled in October to 171,874, the highest in a year, according to the monthly tally released Tuesday by outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas. cbs.marketwatch.com

An act of ‘Betrayal’ November 5, 2003 By Karen Jowers In the midst of war, key family benefits face cuts. Commissaries and the Defense Department’s stateside schools are in the crosshairs of Pentagon budget cutters, and military advocates, families and even base commanders are up in arms. The two initiatives are the latest in a string of actions by the Bush administration to cut or hold down growth in pay and benefits, including basic pay, combat pay, health-care benefits and the death gratuity paid to survivors of troops who die on active duty. The roots of all these efforts reach back to the highest levels of the Defense Department, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. navytimes.com

Troops suffer while Bush cronies make out like bandits November 5, 2003 BY JESSE JACKSON In the world of top dogs and underdogs, the Bush administration has made it clear that it stands with the ''haves and have mores'' that the president called ''my base.'' So we have ''trickle down'' tax cuts -- with millionaires pocketing tens of thousands of dollars every year while most taxpayers get less than $100. That was, perhaps, to be expected. But amazingly, that same lack of concern about workaday people is at display in Iraq -- and the young men and women whose lives are on the line are paying the price. Item: The White House wants to paint the picture in Iraq as rosy, so the Pentagon has banned photos of coffins and body bags leaving Iraq or arriving in the United States. Worse, the president hasn't attended funerals or memorials for the soldiers who have lost their lives, breaking with military tradition. President Bush apparently doesn't want to draw attention to the U.S. casualties. suntimes.com

US television network caves in to right wing over Reagan mini-series November 5, 2003 By David Walsh Executives at the CBS television network announced November 4 that they were canceling a two-part series, “The Reagans,” scheduled to be broadcast November 16 and 18. Instead they will license the program’s exhibition rights to cable television’s Showtime (like CBS, a division of Viacom), which has a much smaller audience. The network’s decision is a direct response to a campaign by right-wing forces in the US enraged by the supposedly uncomplimentary portrait of former President Ronald Reagan presented in the mini-series. This is apparently the first time a major network has ever removed a completed project from its schedule due to political pressure and the threat of an advertising boycott. wsws.org

Corporate Media Abandons Washington's Sinking Ship-of-Fools November 5, 2003 Les Blough The U.S. economy is weakened. The media is reporting a surging stock market to be enjoyed by the rich. - while the national debt grows to burden future generations of young American taxpayers and joblessness, homelessness, personal bankruptcies, home foreclosures and living-on-debt become a fact-of-life for the bourgeois and poor. Funds have been diverted from education, healthcare and support for our poor to war on others. The assault on civil liberties in the U.S. is now institutionalized in the "Homeland Security Act". U.S. soldiers are being critically wounded and dying in Iraq in increasing numbers. And U.S. citizens are enjoying the status of the most hated people in the world. thetruthseeker.co.uk

US will deny aid to countries that refuse court immunity deals November 5, 2003 By Rupert Cornwell The United States aims to secure agreements "with every country in the world" guaranteeing immunity for its citizens from any prosecution from the new International Criminal Court (ICC), and will cut off military aid to countries which do not comply. In an uncompromising defence of Washington's decision to shun the court, Under Secretary of State John Bolton announced yesterday that the US has already reached so-called Article 98 exemption agreements, under the Rome statutes setting up the ICC, with 70 countries; 50 of them among the ICC's 90 signatories. Speaking at the conservative thinktank, the American Enterprise Institute, Mr Bolton also accused the European Union of imposing an "unfair choice" on aspirant members by insisting they do nothing to weaken the authority of the ICC. This made it harder for these countries to reach exemption deals with the US, he complained. independent.co.uk

Waiting for the command to start killing Americans November 5, 2003 By Jen Banbury In Sadr City, a friendly young Shiite shopkeeper buys me a 7 Up, then says he wants his ayatollah to call for jihad. And he's not alone. SADR CITY, BAGHDAD, Iraq -- I met Ithir yesterday when I visited Sadr City, the poor, crowded area in northern Baghdad that is home to more than 2 million Shiites. Ithir, who holds a master's degree in computer science, is devoted to Sistani. He goes to his local mosque regularly and, like any good Muslim, is fasting for the month of Ramadan. However, one issue leaves him at odds with Sistani. Ithir desperately wants his ayatollah to declare jihad on the Americans, so that he can start killing American soldiers.

Putin reaffirms Russia's right to preemptive strikes November 5, 2003 MOSCOW (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed his position that Russia can resort to preemptive military strikes because the policy is also practiced by the United States. yahoo.com

How the White House deletes the truth November 5, 2003 By Derrick Z. Jackson PRESIDENT BUSH blames the media for filtering out good news on Iraq. He says he does not even read newspapers. "The best way to get the news is from objective sources," Bush said in a Fox News interview. "And the most objective sources I have are people on my staff who tell me what's happening in the world." This is the same president who erases history itself. Bush's desire for us to become ostriches over the deaths and wounding of American soldiers in Iraq -- 379 dead and 2,155 hurt at last count -- is but one more pathological act in sticking all of America into the sand. boston.com

Israel destroys US-built wells November 5, 2003 By Justin Huggler The US has reportedly complained after the Israeli army destroyed wells built for civilians in Gaza by an American government aid agency. Huge areas have been demolished by the Israelis in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, including more than 150 homes. The wells had just been dug by the United States Agency for International Development (USAid). A few months ago the agency announced a $20m (£12m) project to rebuild infrastructure including roads, electricity supply lines and sewers in the occupied territories. The agency was reporting good progress. But its workers were dismayed when they turned up to finish the wells and found that their work had been destroyed. independent.co.uk

ECTV WARNING: LARGEST SOLAR FLARE EVER RECORDED HAS JUST OCCURRED November 5, 2003 by Mitch Battros (ECTV) This is an official press release.... At 12:40 PM (MDT) the largest solar flare every recorded has occurred. It came from sunspot region 486. Luckily, region 486 is at the furthest portion of the Sun's western limb therefore minimizing the effects to Earth. "This solar flare was the largest I have every seen" said Dr. Ernest Hildner, director of the NOAA/NASA Space Weather Center. "The solar flare that occurred today was so large, we do not have a chart high enough to register it. My best guess would be between a X-25 and an X-30." earthchangestv.com

Scientists Confirm Risks Of Genetically Engineered Crops November 5, 2003 by Richard Caplan With hardly a mention in the American press, the results of the largest field study ever conducted on genetically engineered crops were just made public in Europe. The British government research concluded that genetically engineered crops could lead to significantly lower numbers of insects, an important part of the wildlife food chain. Of the three crops examined – corn, canola, and sugar beet – the genetically engineered varieties of canola and sugar beet were found to be more harmful to wildlife than conventional varieties. commondreams.org

Pot Shrinks Tumors; Government Knew in '74 November 5, 2003 By Raymond Cushing The ominous part is that this isn't the first time scientists have discovered that THC shrinks tumors. In 1974 researchers at the Medical College of Virginia, who had been funded by the National Institute of Health to find evidence that marijuana damages the immune system, found instead that THC slowed the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice – lung and breast cancer, and a virus-induced leukemia. The DEA quickly shut down the Virginia study and all further cannabis/tumor research. americanmarijuana.org

Party Calls for Bush Impeachment November 5, 2003 Boulder, CO - At its October 25, 2003 National Committee meeting, the America First Party passed a resolution calling for the impeachment and removal from office of President Bush for taking our Nation to war without proper constitutional authority. This resolution is in keeping with ones passed at the 2002 Convention and in April of this year. americafirstparty.org

Land Where Calling An Ambulance Is First Step To Bankruptcy The Inflated Hospital Bills Facing The Uninsured Poor November 5, 2003 By Julian Borger Rose Shaffer's heart attack taught her a lot of things that, as a nurse, she should have known. She learnt it pays to eat carefully and exercise regularly. And she learnt the hard way that if you cannot afford medical insurance in America, you better hope you don't get sick. A Chicago hospital saved Mrs Shaffer's life but she feels it is now trying to take it back. Since that frantic October night three years ago, the hospital owners, a Christian, non-profit foundation, have hounded her for crushing bills she could not afford, partly because as an uninsured patient she had been charged double. rense.com

'Bring the criminals to justice' November 4, 2003 John Pilger [This message was sent by journalist John Pilger to the October 22, 2003 Sydney protest against the visit of US President George Bush.] This demonstration, and our anger, is not simply directed at a foreign politician we don't like and like to poke fun at. It's directed at the criminality of George W Bush. In attacking Iraq, Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair and PM John Howard broke every rule of international behaviour and every convention of international law. To call them war criminals is not to take a cheap shot. It is to speak the truth. In 1946, the judges at the Nuremberg war crimes trials said that unprovoked aggression against another state was, and I quote, “the supreme international war crime because it contains all the evils of other war crimes. There is now no doubt that at least 10,000 civilans were killed in Iraq by Bush and Blair's forces, backed by Howard. If you count the Iraqi teenagers conscripted into the army, the figure is probably more than 30,000. informationclearinghouse.info

Growing Iraqi Fighting Dims US Post-War 'Glow' November 4, 2003 By Randall Mikkelsen "Bush was at his ranch in Texas on Sunday and made no comment after a guerrilla attack on a U.S. helicopter in Iraq killed 15 soldiers." CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) -- The triumphal post-war glow in which President Bush once taunted Iraqi militants by saying "bring them on" has faded to a grim determination against a resistance growing more deadly. rense.com

Deficit Disaster November 4, 2003 It is not our intent to alarm anyone, but we do hope that readers are aware of the latest pronouncement from Warren Buffett, the second-richest man in the world who is frequently referred to as "the most successful investor ever." The corporate free trade agenda, says Buffett, has created a mess so serious that he is losing confidence in the stability of the U.S. dollar, and the economy it underpins. rense.com

Diebold Documents Spark International Campaign November 4, 2003 Swarthmore, Pa.--Diebold Documents Spark International Campaign: Will Your Vote Count?  When American citizens step into the voting booth tomorrow, will their votes be counted? Today, with Diebold Elections Systems operating electronic voting in 37 states, the answer is a resounding "maybe." As a result of widespread security flaws and the lack of any verifiable check on their systems, Diebold cannot guarantee the accuracy of any election in which their machines are present. scoop.co.nz

Freed Iranians accuse US of torture November 4, 2003 AFP Two Iranian journalists with state-run television who were freed by US forces in Iraq after four months of detention have charged they were subjected to "severe torture" while in American custody. But in Baghdad a coalition military spokesman denied that anyone was mistreated in its custody. "The detention was unimaginable. The first 10 days were like a nightmare. We were subjected to severe torture," Saeed Abou Taleb told state television as he and his freed colleague Sohail Karimi crossed back into Iran. news.ninemsn.com.au

The new Inquisition November 4, 2003 By Walter Cronkite President Bush's televised answer to the growing concerns of many - including some Republicans - about the powers granted to him in the USA Patriot Act was to ask for even stronger measures, particularly the expanded use of "nonjudicial subpoenas." That means a federal agency such as the FBI can write its own subpoenas to conduct a search - no judges needed. denverpost.com

New US Attack About to Happen? November 4, 2003 By Empire Slayer From: the Peacewatchers at USAF’s Fairford and Welford bases in the UK Since Saturday, people in the Highlands of Scotland have been witnessing large movements of US warplanes overhead. Experienced observers say the large numbers are reminiscent of those that preceded the bombing of Iraq in 1998 and military strikes on Libya in the1980's as well as the first Gulf War. At the weekend warplanes were flying over at a rate of roughly one every 15 minutes. As well as watching them from the ground the plane spotters have also been able to overhear pilots talking by listening to their radio frequencies. At this rate some 288 warplanes would have passed over Scotland in three days. indymedia.org

Sun on Fire, Unleashes 3 More Major Flares November 4, 2003 By Robert Roy Britt The Sun cut loose with three severe flares in less than 24 hours through Monday morning, bringing to nine the number of major eruptions in less than two weeks. Scientists have never witnessed a string of activity like this. The three additional outbursts on top of two back-to-back monster flares Oct. 28 and 29. "I think the last week will go into the history books as one of the most dramatic periods of solar activity we have seen in modern time," Brekke told SPACE.com. Reports of the third flare are preliminary. The trio of outbursts comes within a week of the unprecedented, back-to-back severe flares rated X17 and X10. All flares of this magnitude are capable of disrupting communications systems and power grids and harming satellites. A storm's precise strength, however, cannot be known until about 30 minutes before it strikes space.com

Is pressure cooker of Yellowstone set to burst? November 4, 2003 By Scott Canon Kansas City Star YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — When European settlers wandered upon this otherworld of gurgling mud pits and angry geysers, they described it as a place where "hell bubbled up." They didn't guess, as geologists believe now, that three times in the past 2 million or so years, hell blasted the Earth's crust here with a fury that can barely be imagined. Most recently, some 640,000 years ago, Yellowstone's rage toppled mountainsides, changed the course of rivers and sprayed ash ankle deep over all of what is now the Western United States. deseretnews.com

Tens of thousands to mobilize for Nov 9th International Day Against the Wall November 4, 2003 Press Release The Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, International actions will take place across Europe, Canada, the US, Chile and Brazil. Many groups are building a mock Apartheid Wall which will be symbolically torn down at the end of demonstrations, speaking events and vigils. In Europe demonstrations and information dissemination will take place in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Brittan, France, and Norway. As of yet, over 30 demonstrations worldwide are known to be taking place. electronicintifada.net

Pentagon keeps dead out of sight November 3, 2003 TIM HARPER Bush team doesn't want people to see human cost of war. Even body bags are now sanitized as `transfer tubes'. Charles H. Buehring came home last week, he arrived at the air force base in Dover, Del., in the middle of the night, in an aluminum shipping case draped in an American flag. When the military truck drove his remains across the tarmac, workers paused and removed their hats. But America never saw Lt.-Col. Buehring's arrival, days after a rocket ended his life at age 40 in Baghdad's Rasheed Hotel. Americans have never seen any of the 359 bodies returning from Iraq. thestar.com

Iraqi guerrillas shoot down US helicopter, killing 16 soldiers November 3, 2003 By Patrick Martin Rumsfeld says more such “bad days” to come The shooting down on Sunday of a CH-47 transport helicopter, in which sixteen US soldiers died and 20 others were wounded, many of them horribly burned, was a stark demonstration of the mounting cost of the US occupation of Iraq. It was the single bloodiest incident, in terms of US casualties, since Bush began the war against Iraq last March 20. wsws.org

Rebel war spirals out of control as US intelligence loses the plot November 3, 2003 Peter Beaumont and Patrick Graham The ghosts of Vietnam are returning as Baathists, zealots, criminals, tribal leaders and al Qaeda unite in a deadly alliance of hatred. Sharp disagreements are emerging between the US and the UK over the exact nature of the Iraqi resistance, amid warnings that the US is losing the intelligence war against the rebels. guardian.co.uk

For first time Bush faces majority who disapprove of war strategy November 3, 2003 By Gary Younge For the first time, a poll has found that a majority of Americans disapprove of President George Bush's handling of Iraq, even before yesterday's devastating helicopter attack. The Washington Post-ABC poll released yesterday shows the number who approve of Mr Bush's handling at 47%, a fall of 28% percentage points on the end of April. Those who disapproved had climbed to 51%, the first time the figure has broken 50 since the war began.guardian.co.uk

US soldiers kill four workers after bomb blast November 3, 2003 By Alex Berenson American soldiers killed four civilians near the violence-racked city of Fallujah after a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy, according to town officials and witnesses. theage.com.au  

Iraqi child crushed by US tank November 3, 2003 By Nurah Tape A six-year-old Iraqi child has been crushed to death by an American tank. The incident was said to be reminiscent of scenes caused by the Israeli occupation of Palestine as the child was killed underneath the tank's tracks. english.aljazeera.net

Bush is a powerful personality; no wonder he inspires hatred November 3, 2003 By Barbara Amiel "Bush Hatred" is on the boil. His name ignites conversation like kerosene. I've heard Americans gloat over their own casualties in Iraq, as if every death were a stab in Bush's heart alone rather than in American soldiers, so profound is their hatred. telegraph.co.uk

Oiling up the draft machine? November 3, 2003 By Dave Lindorff The Pentagon is quietly moving to fill draft board vacancies nationwide. While officials say there's no cause to worry, some experts aren't so sure. salon.com

Long queue at drive-in soup kitchen November 3, 2003 The Guardian George Bush's America, the wealthiest nation in history, faces a growing poverty crisis. In the first of a three-part series Julian Borger takes the pulse of the US with elections just a year away. The free food is handed out at nine, but the queue starts forming hours earlier. By dawn, there is a line of cars stretching half a mile back. In Logan, it is what passes for rush hour - a traffic jam driven by poverty and hunger. guardian.co.uk

Hospitals Try Extreme Measures To Collect Their Overdue Debts Patients Who Skip Hearings On Bills Are Arrested November 3, 2003 By LUCETTE LAGNADO Some hospitals now rank among America's most aggressive debt-collectors, as they put increasing pressure on poor and uninsured patients to pay their bills. Adding to the problem, as The Wall Street Journal has reported, hospitals generally charge uninsured patients far more than the discounted rates negotiated by health-maintenance organizations and other private insurers and government agencies. Some also use one of the harshest and least-known collections tactics of all: seeking the arrest of no-show debtors. democrats.com

The Cheney-Bush energy disaster is about to come to a vote November 3, 2003 By Harvey Wasserman As would be expected in the Age of Bush, an energy bill that will affect all Americans for decades to come, and cost us hundreds of billions of dollars, is being hashed out in secret.  It's a direct off-shoot of those notorious secret meetings held by Vice President Dick Cheney, about which he refuses to disclose anything, despite a string of court orders.  A final Congressional vote may come this week. freepress.org

Florida school bus racism scandal November 3, 2003 By Lawrence Smallman November 3, 2003 A school bus service in Florida has refused to carry Iraqi and Afghani refugee students for a second time in a week. Some 27 students aged between 10 and 14 were abandoned outside Jacksonville last Wednesday, over eight miles away from home. Concerned parents contacted the school, which informed them that nothing could be done other than to make sure the driver was not given responsibility for these particular students again. One teacher picked up some of the students in her car and took them to their homes, Fryer said. aljazeera.net

"SHOCKING FUTURE" CAN SO MANY BE SO WRONG? November 2, 2003 Posted By: Nemesis "though there is still increase in people waking to love, the increase of hate, selfishness and delusion have become so pronounced, that the spirits being sent to Earth to inhabit human bodies, will not have even the most minimal chances of acquiring the learning and knowledge they would come to Earth for, their choices are being reduced to a level that makes continued incarnation a valueless experience. The great troubles are here, and they will only increase in number, intensity and will be wide spread, Earth wide, all continents, even the seas. There will be safe places, pockets large and small throughout most lands for those that will flee. But only the righteous in heart, those that love others equal to themselves will be able to enter, all the rest will be turned back, and not by the force of man. Great calamity comes, increasing, one on top of the other. As one ends another begins. America will be in another war sometime in December this year. In January next year the economy will go into a spiraling tail spin downward, and this will incite chaos. In July many nations will gather with Russia and attack the United States. Before all of this, and during, nature will herself increase in potent killing intensity." rumormillnews.com

Food security in the United States November 2, 2003 Eighty-nine percent of American households were food secure throughout the entire year 2002, meaning that they had access, at all times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The remaining households were food insecure at least some time during that year. The prevalence of food insecurity rose from 10.7 percent in 2001 to 11.1 percent in 2002, and the prevalence of food insecurity with hunger rose from 3.3 percent to 3.5 percent. ers.usda.gov

Bomb Kills At Least 2 US Soldiers At Iraq Police Station November 2, 2003 MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) A bomb blast outside a police station in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul Saturday killed at least two U.S. soldiers, Iraqi police at the scene told Reuters. They said four U.S. soldiers had been driving past in two civilian vehicles when the bomb was detonated. "There was a huge blast. The two drivers of the vehicles were definitely killed," said policeman Abdul-Rahman Fawaz, who witnessed the explosion, his face spattered with blood. Other police officers at the scene said they believed three U.S. soldiers had been killed. rense.com

Afghan rebels kill two CIA agents November 2, 2003 Associated Press Two CIA agents have been ambushed and killed in a mountainous border region of Afghanistan, the US military said today. The CIA confirmed that William Carlson, 43, of Southern Pines, North Carolina, and Christopher Glenn Mueller, 32, of San Diego, California were killed on Saturday near the village in Shkin in Paktika province while "tracking terrorists". guardian.co.uk

Chopper Shot Down in Iraq, Killing 15 GIs November 2, 2003 By TINI TRAN FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - A U.S. Chinook helicopter carrying troops en route home for leave was struck by a missile Sunday and crashed west of Baghdad, killing 15 soldiers and wounding 21, the U.S. command and witnesses reported. guardian.co.uk

Corruption in US legal system November 2, 2003 In 1975, a former Berrien County judge named Harry Laity and his wife Frances were robbed of two rings and approximately fifty dollars in cash. Caldwell adamantly denied holding up the couple.  The facts appeared to support him.  The assailant was described as having a scar on his forehead, which Caldwell did not have.  The victims identified another man in a line-up, and Caldwell passed a polygraph test.  Perhaps most compellingly, fingerprints taken from the crime scene pointed to a perpetrator in possession of all ten fingers.  Caldwell was missing two fingers from his left hand. Despite these facts, Caldwell was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, where he remains to this day. pravda.ru

Bush election donors share $8bn bonanza November 2, 2003 Suzanne Goldenberg Major donors to George Bush's election campaigns were the main beneficiaries of an $8bn (£4.7bn) bonanza in government contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq, an investigation published yesterday said. guardian.co.uk

Diebold Memos Disclose Florida 2000 E-Voting Fraud November 2, 2003 by Alastair Thompson The Diebold Memos' Smoking Gun Volusia Co. Memos Disclose Election 2000 Vote Fraud . "DELAND, Fla., Nov. 11 - Something very strange happened on election night to Deborah Tannenbaum, a Democratic Party official in Volusia County. At 10 p.m., she called the county elections department and learned that Al Gore was leading George W. Bush 83,000 votes to 62,000. But when she checked the county's Web site for an update half an hour later, she found a startling development: Gore's count had dropped by 16,000 votes, while an obscure Socialist candidate had picked up 10,000--all because of a single precinct with only 600 voters." portland.indymedia.org

U.S. Rejected Davis on Aid to Clear Trees November 2, 2003 By Gregg Jones and Dan Morain SACRAMENTO FEMA spent six months studying the governor's request, then turned it down hours before fires began, saying state was already getting funds. The Bush administration took six months to evaluate Gov. Gray Davis' emergency request last spring for $430 million to clear dead trees from fire-prone areas of Southern California. latimes.com

US puts right to protest at risk November 2, 2003 Duncan Campbell Greenpeace is being taken to court by the US government because of its action against the illegal importation of mahogany. Its lawyers says it is the first time an entire organisation has been criminally prosecuted for the activities of two members. guardian.co.uk

Bicyclists Accuse DJs of Inciting Attacks November 2, 2003 By CONNIE MABIN CLEVELAND Bicyclists are demanding that the nation's largest radio group be punished because disc jockeys at three stations made on-air comments they say encouraged drivers to throw bottles at bike riders or hit them with open car doors. They say the morning show hosts at Clear Channel Communications stations in Cleveland, Houston and Raleigh, N.C., also suggested motorists blast horns at cyclists, and speed past them and slam on their brakes in front of them. yahoo.com

White House wins, but wins ugly November 2, 2003 Inquirer Washington Bureau Even Republicans complain that Bush will use his muscle when Congress sees things differently. For President Bush, victories in Congress don't come wrapped in pretty bows. The White House wins ugly these days.When the President walked away with his $87.5 billion postwar spending request generally intact last week, he left behind lawmakers complaining that a ham-handed administration did not seem to understand that the White House and Congress are equal branches of government. And those are the Republicans talking. philly.com

Israel outraged as EU poll names it a threat to peace November 2, 2003 Peter Beaumont Israel has been described as the top threat to world peace, ahead of North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran, by an unpublished European Commission poll of 7,500 Europeans, sparking an international row. observer.guardian.co.uk

Bush Ignores Soldiers' Burials November 1, 2003 By Christopher Scheer Bodies boxed up and sent home for burial, deliberately shielded from view, lest the media capture on film the dark image of this ultimate sacrifice. It is almost certain, as well, that like all of the hundreds of U.S. troops killed in this war to date, these dead soldiers will be interred or memorialized without the solemn presence of the President of the United States. Increasingly, this proclivity on the part of President Bush to avoid the normal duty of a commander-in-chief to honor dead soldiers is causing rising irritation among some veterans and their families who have noticed what appears to be a historically anomalous slight. alternet.org

Number of Hungry Families in U.S. Rising November 1, 2003 By EMILY GERSEMA (AP) - About 12 million American families last year worried that they couldn't afford to buy food, and 32 percent of them actually experienced someone going hungry at one time or another, the Agriculture Department said Friday. It was the third year in a row that the department has seen an increase in the number of households experiencing hunger and those worried about having enough money to pay for food. Based on a Census Bureau survey of 50,000 households, the department estimated that 3.8 million families were hungry last year to the point where someone in the household skipped meals because they couldn't afford them. That's an 8.6 percent increase from 2001, when 3.5 million families were hungry, and a 13 percent increase from 2000. guardian.co.uk

The Incredible Lying BushCo November 1, 2003 This just in: More irrefutable proof that Dubya's is the slimiest administration in 100 years November 1, 2003 By Mark Morford Like you even needed more proof. Like you even need to read about the incredible and ever-increasing list of lies and misinfo and deeply, colon-clenchingly humiliating wrongness shot forth from the mouth of the GOP machine, a truly jaw-dropping assortment of falsehoods and fabrications about war, and war, and war. Oh, and the economy. And the environment. And war. Look. There is no doubt left. Zero. None. Even many high-ranking Republicans are deeply worried over the increasingly embittered national timbre regarding BushCo's lies... sfgate.com

Sounds Of Silence November 1, 2003 Surely the White House realizes that the perception of a cover-up is more politically damaging than turning over a few intelligence reports. Last December, when President Bush named Tom Kean, the mild-mannered Republican former governor of New Jersey, to lead the commission investigating the September 11 attacks, critics scoffed that Kean would be an administration patsy. But the White House's resistance to releasing crucial information about the attacks has stirred him to anger. "I will not stand for it," Kean fumed last week. "Anything that has to do with 9/11, we have to see it -- anything." cbsnews.com

Secret 9/11 case before high court The justices consider a petition for a case with no public record November 1, 2003 It's the case that doesn't exist. Even though two different federal courts have conducted hearings and issued rulings, there has been no public record of any action. No documents are available. No files. No lawyer is allowed to speak about it. Period. Yet this seemingly phantom case does exist - and is now headed to the US Supreme Court in what could produce a significant test of a question as old as the Star Chamber, abolished in 17th-century England: How far should a policy of total secrecy extend into a system of justice? csmonitor.com

Democrats, uninvited, march into Medicare talks to make their point November 1, 2003 DAVID ESPO A delegation of House Democrats marched unbidden Thursday into closed-door talks over a Medicare prescription drug bill, an act of political theater scripted to dramatize opposition to legislation taking shape in negotiations dominated by Republicans. Despite the well-mannered intrusion, a core group of negotiators reported progress toward agreement on a bill that would remake the government's 38-year-old program of health care for 40 million Americans age 65 and older and the disabled. "I think we're very close" to a compromise, said Speaker Dennis Hastert. "There are a couple of things that we haven't put to bed yet," the Illinois Republican said, sfgate.com

American imperialism off the rails November 1, 2003 HAROON SIDDIQUI More people dead in Iraq proves that the American occupation of Iraq is working. That's what George W. Bush says. "The more successful we are on the ground, the more the killers will react," he said following the latest terrorist attacks. "The killers can't stand the thought of a free society." torontostar.com

French Experts Predict US Failure In Iraq November 1, 2003 By Pierre-Marie Giraud Neither force nor Saddam's arrest will end Iraq attacks: French experts Agence France Presse: PARIS, Oct 29-- Neither a full-on military response by US forces nor even the killing of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein will be enough to halt a series of bloody attacks in Iraq, French international relations experts say. "There is no possible response to these attacks. When you have the population against you, anything is possible," informationclearinghouse.info

The Danger of Defeat November 1, 2003 By Fred Hiatt KIRKUK, Iraq -- When you journey abroad, news from home tends to arrive in disjointed snippets. But rarely has such a tidbit seemed as unrooted in reality as the comment of President Bush that reached here a day after a series of devastating bombings in Baghdad. The attacks, Bush said, resulted from the progress of the occupation and the desperation of the insurgents. washingtonpost.com

Democracy for whom? November 1, 2003 By DOUG BANDOW Although the Bush administration won formal U.N. recognition for its rule in Iraq, that diplomatic victory is likely to yield few allied troops for occupation duty. In fact, even Turkey, which agreed to dispatch 10,000 soldiers after Washington's approval of $8.5 billion in loans, is now reconsidering its decision in the face of overwhelming Iraqi opposition. japantimes.co.

Iraqi farmer 'killed' by US fire November 1, 2003 Iraqi farmer 'killed' by US firead, today and his brother was detained for attempting to retrieve the body, witnesses told AFP. The farmer, Ziad Yass Abbas, was watering his crops when US troops, standing about 400 metres away, opened fire on him at around 6am (2pm AEDT), said his nephew, Yass Amer Abbas, who was with him at the time. His uncle was killed instantly, he said. thecouriermail.news.com

Criticism is not about patriotism November 1, 2003 SIOUX CITY I have had it with the Republican right calling into question the patriotism of those who question this Administration's Iraqi war program. We were duped and now are being told to be quiet because if we dare question our great President, then we are guilty of "... providing aid and comfort to the enemy." siouxcityjournal.com

E-Vote Protest Gains Momentum November 1, 2003 He said he has received a crash course in copyright law, but added that the copyright issue was not the main concern. "My concern and I think the concern of the students is to focus attention on electoral fraud. The copyright stuff is a sideshow," he said. "If what the memos suggest is true, this makes hanging chads look like state-of-the-art (election technology)." wired.com

Repeal of meat labeling law may be intent of Bush administration November 1, 2003 BY ROGER LARSEN Repeal of the country-of-origin meat labeling law may be the intent of the Bush administration a full year before it becomes mandatory, South Dakota's two senators said Wednesday. In a letter to the White House, Sen. Tim Johnson and Sen. Tom Daschle are asking why administration officials didn't meet with farm and consumer groups supportive of COOL during the Office of Management and Budget's eight-day review period. "The White House and USDA have been against labeling from the start," Johnson said. zwire.com

Cloned meat a step nearer US menus November 1, 2003 Suzanne Goldenberg Food agency gives the all clear, but it will be years before test-tube animals are cheap enough to eat. America moved a step closer to serving meat and milk from cloned animals or their progeny yesterday when the government's food regulation agency said they would be as safe to eat as conventional foods. guardian.co.uk

Bush To Allow Drilling In Utah Wilderness November 1, 2003 The Bush administration will apparently allow oil and gas drilling on Utah lands once reviewed for possible wilderness protection. Critics are outraged. Sen. Joe Lieberman said, "We are now beginning to see the fallout from the closed-door deals that the Bush administration negotiated this spring ... just so its supporters could pump a few weeks' supply of oil and gas." thewmurchannel.com

Global Warming Bill Defeated in Senate November 1, 2003 LCG A measure sponsored by Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., that would have created an incentive-based program for limiting emissions of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide was rejected yesterday in a 55-43 vote. energyonline.com

Senate Chainsaw Massacre November 1, 2003 Senate Passes Healthy Forests Initiative Meanwhile, forest management in the rest of the U.S. is set to change, too, with yesterday's 80-14 Senate vote in favor of a compromise version of President Bush's Healthy Forests initiative. Although the vote was somewhat influenced by the fires in California, its effect will be felt well beyond the Golden State, on as many as 20 million acres of federal land. gristmagazine.com

 

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