MARCH 8-1, 04 Archives

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Chief export: our jobs! WILL THAT EASE THE TRADE DEFICIT? March 8, 2004 By Ted Lang My father and mother both emigrated from Germany in the 1920's.  My dad began his employment career working as an unskilled laborer in low paying jobs.  He enrolled in night school and trained to become a machinist. This included mathematical computation, reading blueprints and measuring with and reading a micrometer, dial indicator and calipers. He learned to operate turret lathes, milling machines, shapers and punch and drill presses. thepeoplesvoice.org

US forces accused of looting, torture and death in Afghanistan March 8, 2004 By Kim Sengupta American forces in Afghanistan have been accused of flouting international law with arbitrary arrests, torture and killing of prisoners in a report by a civil rights watchdog. Soldiers are accused of using unprovoked deadly force in capturing civilians, some of whom were then allegedly subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment leading to deaths in custody. It is also alleged that looting has taken place during searches of homes. news.independent.co.uk

Bush Stalling Iraq, 9/11 Probes March 8, 2004 By MIKE GLOVER John Kerry on Sunday accused President Bush of "stonewalling" separate inquiries into the events leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks, as well as into the intelligence that suggested Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "Why is this administration stonewalling and resisting the investigation into what happened and why we had the greatest security failure in the history of our country? The American people deserve an answer now," Kerry said. "The immediate instinct of the Republicans and this administration was to shut it down." nwitimes.com

Did the FBI conceal wider right-wing involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing? March 8, 2004 By Joanne Laurier The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been forced to reopen its investigation into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing amid claims that the federal police agency suppressed information pointing to wider right-wing terrorist involvement. The Associated Press (AP) revealed last week that FBI agents destroyed evidence pointing to the possibility that bomber Timothy McVeigh, eventually executed for the crime, may have been assisted by a group of white supremacist bank robbers. wsws.org

President George Bush and the Gilded Age March 8, 2004 Yoshi Tsurumi (Professor of International Business) Something really strange has happened to the U.S. under the Bush Administration. With her ever bulging budget deficits and foreign debts, America's skewed income distribution is rapidly making the U.S. resemble Argentina or Mexico. glocom.org

Another flawed fact on the war in Iraq March 8, 2004 By George McEvoy When John Kerry lists the wrongs he attributes to the administration of President Bush -- the budget surplus turned into a huge deficit, the loss of jobs and pensions, the lack of an exit strategy in Iraq, etc. -- he always leaves out one that bothers me greatly. And that is that Mr. Bush and his advisers have changed our world image completely and made us into an aggressor nation. palmbeachpost.com

Two-thirds of US crops GM contaminated, claims report March 8, 2004 By GEOFFREY LEAN More than two-thirds of conventional crops in the United States are now contaminated with genetically modified material - dooming organic agriculture and posing a severe future risk to health - a new report concludes. nzherald.co

Will Global Rules for GMOs Be Too Late? March 8, 2004 Stephen Leahy (IPS) As activists celebrated the emergence of a strong Biosafety Protocol to control genetically-engineered organisms (GEO) last month, U.S. scientists reported that contamination of GEOs is spreading and might be impossible to stop. ipsnews.net

Democracy Took the Day Off  March 8, 2004 PRNewswire Author and Gospel singer Bob Miller, a registered Republican shocked his fellow song writers at their annual conference this week with his most unexpected political opinions. There were no hecklers, but then most everyone appeared speechless except Miller, "I'm not campaigning against a fellow Republican. The truth is, Bush does not represent the Republican Party or any other party for that matter. He represents the Bush dynasty. Is it not bad enough that another four years of his dictatorship will produce yet more unemployed, homeless and demoralized Americans? biz.yahoo.com

13 die in Israeli attack on refugees March 8, 2004 ISRAELI forces swept into refugee camps in the Gaza Strip yesterday, killing 13 Palestinians, including an 8-year-old boy, and wounding up to 60 people. theaustralian.news.com

US detaining 10,000 Iraqis March 8, 2004 More than 10,000 Iraqi men and boys are being kept in jail by their US occupiers, with the youngest captive being just 11 years old. aljazeera.net

Austin, TX Activists Unite Against Police Oppression March 8, 2004 Last year, while undercover agents from the Austin police department were infiltrating anti-war activist workshops, officers of the same department continued the customary practice of harassment and brutality against communities of color on Austin's east side. indymedia.org

RNC tells TV stations not to run anti-Bush ads March 8, 2004 GOP committee says MoveOn.org's spots are illegally financed (CNN) The Republican National Committee is warning television stations across the country not to run ads from the MoveOn.org Voter Fund that criticize President Bush, charging that the left-leaning political group is paying for them with money raised in violation of the new campaign-finance law. cnn.com

Bush Lied to the American People about 9/11 Terrorists' Motives March 7, 2004 By: Tom Murphy Bush's lie hides from many Americans the fact that we were attacked by Al-Qaeda because of specific foreign polices and not because we are the "brightest beacon of freedom and opportunity" We don't deserve to be lied to. What Bush lied about was WHY WE WERE TARGETED. The day after the worst terrorist attack in American history, President Bush addressed the nation. Those looking for an explanation for why the terrorists attacked America got only a lie. thepeoplesvoice.org

Bush jobless recovery hits middle class March 7, 2004 In his new campaign ads, President Bush speaks warmly of a nation on the rebound, with a growing economy that's producing jobs. But the America that Bush sees is not the reality for millions of workers, especially in the middle class. The federal government's latest employment numbers are, again, dismal. The U.S. added only 21,000 jobs in February, less than one-tenth the monthly increase the country needs to stay even. nydailynews.com

He molests the dead March 7, 2004 By Jimmy Breslin In his first campaign commercial, George Bush reached down and molested the dead. But this only in keeping with both Bushes. George Bush, Sr., had the badge of officer Eddie Byrne, who was gunned down in South Jamaica, and he stood up at Christ the King High School in Middle Village and held it up. This second George Bush came up with the badge of a Port Authority cop, George Howard, who died. He was from Hicksville. His mother gave Bush the son's badge. When Bush came back to the trade center a year later, he reached into his pocket and whipped out that badge and he had a tear in his eye. newsday.com

Bush and the myth of great leadership March 7, 2004 By BILL MAXWELL President Bush's new campaign ads are on the air and generating unintended consequences. Nov. 2, of course, will tell us if these ads were effective. We do not need to wait until November to know, however, that these ads are some of the most cynical, tasteless, deceptive and exploitative the nation has ever seen. sptimes.com

Buffett says Bush tax cuts favor corporations March 7, 2004 OMAHA (AP) Billionaire investor Warren Buffett accused the Bush administration Saturday of pursuing tax cuts that favor business and the wealthy. "If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning," Buffett said in Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s annual report. siouxcityjournal.com

Operation Sweatshop March 7, 2004 By Chris Floyd Jean-Bertrand Aristide's move to raise Haiti's minimum wage was the last straw for American corporations and elitist U.S. factions. This week, the Bush administration added another violent "regime change" notch to its gunbelt, toppling the democratically elected president of Haiti and replacing him with an unelected gang of convicted killers, death squad leaders, militarists, narcoterrorists, CIA operatives, hereditary elitists and corporate predators -- a bit like Team Bush itself, in other words. tmtmetropolis.ru

Godfather Colin Powell The Gangster of Haiti "The deed is done. Haiti has been raped. The act was sanctioned by the United States, Canada and France." - Editorial, Jamaica Observer Colin Powell is "the most powerful and damaging black to rise to influence in the world in my lifetime." - TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson. zmag.org

"Unknown Soldier" Speaks Out To Bring Troops Home March 7, 2004 by Daniel Redwood "We don’t care about Iraqi deaths. It’s something that does not even count. The hospital was told not to keep count. The Iraqi infrastructure does not keep an account of the deaths anymore. The American government told them not to. We do always keep a list of the Americans injured and the number that die. But here in America you don’t see anything about these soldiers coming back. You don’t read anything about the funeral. It’s like it’s a secret, like these people didn’t exist." interventionmag.com

Stern predicts will be run off air for criticizing Bush March 7, 2004 Howard said he got a call from someone who tells him about what's going on inside the FCC. He said that he heard that the FCC is going to fine him and make it impossible for his company to keep him on. He said he has to get this message out before he's kicked off the air. . . sianews.com

2003 summer hottest in 500 years March 7, 2004 European researchers say last summer was the hottest on the continent for at least five centuries. Thousands of deaths were blamed on the heatwave news.bbc.co.uk

The Discovery of Rapid Climate Change March 7, 2004 Spencer Weart Only within the past decade have researchers warmed to the possibility of abrupt shifts in Earth's climate. Sometimes, it takes a while to see what one is not prepared to look for. physicstoday.com

How Industry Won the Battle of Pollution Control at E.P.A. March 7, 2004 By CHRISTOPHER DREW and RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. Just six weeks into the Bush administration, Haley Barbour, a former Republican party chairman who was a lobbyist for electric power companies, sent a memorandum to Vice President Dick Cheney laying down a challenge. nytimes.com

1,188 Americans Killed in Iraq - Your Son Will Be Next
March 6, 2004 By Joe Vialls According to a well-placed Pentagon source, the White House and corporate media are reporting less than half the actual American military deaths in Iraq. As of 3 February 2004, the 'official' media total stood at 528, while the real total at midnight on the same day was 1,188. This criminal discrepancy in the fatality figures is not the fault of soldiers on the ground in Iraq, but of corrupt civilians in the Pentagon working for Paul Wolfowitz Inc. The Pentagon officer explained it like this. joevialls.altermedia.info

US job growth at a standstill March 6, 2004 By David Walsh The US Labor Department’s jobless report for February revealed that almost no new jobs had been produced during the month. The official jobless rate held steady at 5.6 percent, but it failed to rise only because of a sizable contraction in the active labor force, as hundreds of thousands lost hope of finding a job. wsws.org

Bush close to imposing sanctions on Syria March 6, 2004 By Reuters The Bush administration plans to impose sanctions on Syria within weeks for its support of terrorist groups and for failing to stop guerrillas entering Iraq, congressional officials and other sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. haaretzdaily.com

Hide and Seek in Florida March 6, 2004 By BOB HERBERT Tens of thousands of youngsters from low-income families who were eligible for a children's health insurance program in Florida but, instead of being allowed into the program, were diverted by state officials to a long waiting list. Even children with serious health problems were put on the list. Republican leaders in the Florida House and Senate have crafted the new legislation in ways that will radically limit future access to KidCare and prevent the press and the public from getting information about the number of kids who are frozen out. nytimes.com

A Chilling Possibility March 6, 2004 nasa Global warming could plunge North America and Western Europe into a deep freeze, possibly within only a few decades. That's the paradoxical scenario gaining credibility among many climate scientists. The thawing of sea ice covering the Arctic could disturb or even halt large currents in the Atlantic Ocean. Without the vast heat that these ocean currents deliver Europe's average temperature would likely drop 5 to 10°C (9 to 18°F), and parts of eastern North America would be chilled, similar to global average temperatures toward the end of the last ice age roughly 20,000 years ago. science.nasa.gov

Haiti: Thousands march in Port-au-Prince against US-backed coup March 6, 2004 By Keith Jones A crowd, estimated by Reuters at more than 10,000, marched on the US embassy in Port-au-Prince Friday to denounce the US-orchestrated coup against Haiti’s elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and demand the withdrawal of US and French troops from the Caribbean island country. wsws.org

The price of occupying Iraq March 6, 2004 By Tariq Ali The whole world knows that US President George Bush and British PM Tony Blair lied to justify the war, but do they know the price being paid on the ground in Iraq? greenleft.org.au

Has Bush no shame? March 6, 2004 By Geraldine Sealey Relatives of 9/11 victims say the president's new ad campaign desecrates ground zero and demand that he pull it off the air. salon.com

And justice for all March 6, 2004 Bush EPA dilutes meaning of environmental justice The U.S. EPA has failed to integrate environment al justice research into the development of its policies, says a report [PDF] More troubling still, the EPA under President Bush seems to have watered down the very definition of environmental justice to the point of emptiness. workingforchange.com

Israeli Terrorists Mysteriously Released by Mexico March 6, 2004 By Fred Lingel A retired colonel from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and a suspected Mossad operative caught entering the Mexican Congress with weapons and explosives were quietly released and the story was hushed up to hide an attempt to force Mexico to join the United States’ “war on terrorism,” according to the ACN news service, a Mexican media company. americanfreepress.net

Martha Stewart Guilty on All Counts March 6, 2004 Martha Stewart was found guilty on Friday of all counts in the trial over a suspicious sale of stock where she was accused of lying to investigators. Each count carries a possible prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine. reuters.com

George Bush: World Class Monster March 5, 2004 By Anonymous Evil is arrogant. It has no conscience. It is utterly self-serving. It hides from the light and will attack, even destroy others to preserve its own demented delusions. It is an unrestrained sociopath, wallowing in the murky darkness of its own psychosis while endlessly rationalizing its terrible deeds. It infiltrates the weak-minded and subverts the weak of character. beachnet.com

Greenspan Testimony Highlights Bush Plan for Deliberate Federal Bankruptcy March 5, 2004 By Michael Meurer Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's Feb. 25 testimony to the House Budget Committee provided an unintentionally candid look at the Bush administration's deliberate fiscal policy of bankrupting the federal government to justify a sweeping program of privatization. During his February 25 testimony before the House Budget Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan generated sensational national headlines by recommending that President Bush's $1.5 trillion in tax cuts be made permanent while Social Security and Medicare benefits be dramatically cut to achieve long term deficit reduction and a balanced budget. truthout.org

The Assault On American Freedom March 5, 2004 By Kenneth W. Phifer All Americans will become casualties of the war on terror, if Attorney General Ashcroft has his way. Civil liberties are at the heart of our American democratic ideals, a heart that today is being attacked. The civil liberties proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence and secured in the Constitution give us freedom of religion and speech and press and assembly, give us freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. A significant minority of people in this country, shown a copy of the Bill of Rights, year after year call it enemy propaganda. washtenawweb.com

Bush's Dark Age: The End of Science March 5, 2004 By Frederick Sweet A group of leading American scientists, including over a dozen Nobel Prize laureates, have made public their 46-page report, "Scientific Integrity in Policymaking: An Investigation into the Bush Administration's Misuse of Science." The highly detailed report gives alarming examples of the Bush Administration's misuse of science that have already cost American lives, and foretells of soon-to-arrive national disasters directly caused by the Administration's wholesale ideological distortion of science. interventionmag.com

The Haitian Army Returns: Who Is Guy Philippe? March 5, 2004  Watch 128k stream The feared Haitian army, disbanded by Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is making a comeback. We take an in-depth look at the paramilitary leader who now claims to be in control of the Haitian police and military: Guy Philippe, a former Haitian police chief who was trained by US Special Forces in Ecuador in the early 1990s. democracynow.org

Furor over Bush's 9/11 ad March 5, 2004 By MAGGIE HABERMAN The Bush reelection campaign yesterday unveiled its first three campaign commercials showcasing Ground Zero images, angering some 9/11 families who accused President Bush of exploiting the tragedy for political advantage. nydailynews.com

Illness blamed on GM crops in Phillipines March 5, 2004 By John Aglionby Villagers say the trouble began in July last year when the genetically engineered maize plants started flowering. "There was this really pungent smell that got into our throats," said Maryjane Malayon. "It was like we were breathing in pesticides." Her sister, Amaniel, their parents, Samuel and Merlina, and Maryjane's nine-month-old daughter, Eileen, began coughing, vomiting, feeling dizzy and suffering from head and stomach aches. mg.co.za

Ann Coulter: The True Voice of "Compassionate Conservatism" March 5, 2004 “Then there are the 22 million Americans on food stamps. And of course there are the 39 million greedy geezers collecting Social Security.”  washtenawweb.com

What’s behind the attack on pensions and social security? March 4, 2004 By Nick Beams One of the most significant features of government policy in all the advanced capitalist countries is the growing attack on the pensions and social security systems developed in the post-war period. Greenspan ruled out tax increases on businesses and the wealthy and sought to present the planned attack on social security as the inevitable result of changes in the demographic structure of society. wsws.org

Insurer warns of global warming catastrophe March 4, 2004 By Thomas Atkins GENEVA (Reuters) The world's second-largest reinsurer Swiss Re warns that the costs of global warming threaten to spiral out of control, forcing the human race into a catastrophe of its own making. reuters.co.uk

Four wars and a cloud of dust Administration's big trick plays help conceal dozens of smaller ones March 4, 2004 Molly Ivins AUSTIN, Texas -- Anyone see any reason to think Haiti will be better off without Jean-Bertrand Aristide? Just another little gift from the Bush foreign policy team, straight out of the whacko-right playbook workingforchange.com

The close relationship between the Venezuelan opposition group Súmate and the U.S. Government March 4, 2004 The documents on this site reveal the intimate economic and political relationship between the National Endowment for Democracy (“NED”) and the Venezuelan opposition group Súmate. NED approved a grant of $53,400 to Súmate on September 12, 2003, the grant states that Súmate will “train citizens throughout Venezuela in the electoral process and will promote participation in a recall referendum”. venezuelafoia.info

The passion of Howard Stern March 4, 2004 The shock jock says radio colossus Clear Channel fired him because he criticized George Bush -- and he's sure as hell not going to go quietly. salon.com

Radio Activist March 4, 2004 BY KEN PICARD Can Thom Hartman reclaim the airways for America's radical middle? “Calling for a rapid and radical return to the old values that made America great,” says an announcer’s voice, “the values of democracy upon which this country was founded, here’s Thom Hartmann.” sevendaysvt.com

Laughter of the Gods March 3, 2004 By: Sheila Samples The more I look at the chaotic mess George W. Bush is making in every blessed corner of the world, the more I am inclined to take a closer look at the God in whose name he claims to be making it. Just who IS this God that chats up brazen hypocrites and zealots in our midst -- whipping them into a frenzy of pharisaic attempts to strangle democracy at home and abroad? This awesome creature is on a murderous rampage in the Middle East, Africa, South America and -- as Donald Rumsfeld would say -- east, west, north and south somewhat. Armed and jackbooted, Bush's flinty-hearted Diety bears no resemblance to the compassionate and forgiving God in whom Christians have put their faith for more than two millenia. thepeoplesvoice.org

Aristide: 'U.S. Forced Me to Leave Haiti' March 3, 2004 Haiti’s President Jean-Bertrand Aristide said that he was “forced to leave” the Caribbean country by US military forces who said they would “start shooting and killing” if he refused. news.scotsman.com

Reign of terror follows US-backed coup in Haiti March 3, 2004 By Bill Van Auken The US ouster of President Jean Bertrand Aristide and Haiti’s occupation by a US-led military force have set the stage for a bloody wave of repression in the impoverished Caribbean island nation. By means of covert subversion and overt military intervention, the Bush administration has overthrown a popularly elected president and resurrected political forces linked to decades of dictatorship and counterrevolutionary terror in Haiti. wsws.org

President Chavez Frias warning the United States he will cut oil supplies March 3, 2004 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias is warning the United States government that he will cut oil supplies if the Bush 2 administration makes any further move against his government by trying to invade Venezuela or to impose a trade blockade. "If Mr. Bush is possessed with the madness of trying to blockade Venezuela ... or worse, for the Americans to attempt to invade Venezuela in response to the desperate whining of his lackeys ... not a drop of petroleum with come to them from Venezuela." vheadline.com

Opposition radicals refuse to accept defeat by due democratic process March 3, 2004 Spontaneous riots have broken out across Venezuela this evening as embittered opposition radicals refuse to accept that they have been defeated by due democratic process. vheadline.com

GI denied health care after speaking out March 3, 2004 By Mark Benjamin (UPI) An Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran says Army officials at Fort Knox, Ky., refused him medical treatment after he talked publicly about poor care at the base, which helped spark hearings in Congress. upi.com

THE MAD GAS RUSH March 3, 2004 By Ted Williams In its haste to indulge energy companies, the White House is sacrificing fish, wildlife, and the ranchers of the Rocky Mountain West. Extract as much gas and oil as possible as fast as possible, at any cost to fish and other wildlife and with enormous subsidies to industry at a time of record profits. That pretty much sums up the Bush administration's “energy policy,” magazine.audubon.org

USA OUT OF BUSINESS March 3, 2004 By Don Smith It has been quite some time since I felt the need to formally write to you regarding the state of the US economy. The first time was back at the beginning of the year 2000. I will let the events that have occurred since then speak for themselves. Once again I charge myself with the task of issuing a warning to good people under the influence of stock-pushing analysts and office-seeking politicians. Many people think we are in a bull market in stocks again while others believe we are in a bear market rally that is going to end shortly and wreak havoc unseen since the early part of the 20th century. What I would like to throw into the mix is the idea that the entire "Game" is about over. gold-eagle.com

EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS: PRESIDENT ARISTIDE SAYS 'I WAS KIDNAPPED' 'TELL THE WORLD IT IS A COUP' March 2, 2004 democracynow.org Watch 128k stream Multiple sources that just spoke with Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide told Democracy Now! that Aristide says he was "kidnapped" and taken by force to the Central African Republic. Congressmember Maxine Waters said she received a call from Aristide at 9am EST. "He's surrounded by military. It's like he is in jail, he said. He says he was kidnapped," said Waters. democracynow.org

Why they had to crush Aristide March 2, 2004 Peter Hallward Jean-Bertrand Aristide was re-elected president of Haiti in November 2000 with more than 90% of the vote. He was elected by people who approved his courageous dissolution, in 1995, of the armed forces that had long terrorised Haiti and had overthrown his first administration. He was elected by people who supported his tentative efforts, made with virtually no resources or revenue, to invest in education and health. He was elected by people who shared his determination, in the face of crippling US opposition, to improve the conditions of the most poorly paid workers in the western hemisphere. guardian.co.uk

The overthrow of Haiti’s Aristide: a coup made in the USA March 2, 2004 Editorial Board The actions taken by the US government in Haiti demonstrate the farcical character of its claims that the aim of the US invasion of Iraq was to inaugurate an era of democratization and freedom in the Middle East and around the world. wsws.org

Dick Cheney’s Nigerian nightmare March 2, 2004 BY DAN KENNEDY Investigators in three countries are probing an alleged $180 million bribe involving Halliburton. How long can the veep keep this tale of international sleaze from dominating the news? bostonphoenix.com

The New Evil Empire March 2, 2004 By John Kaminski America has become what Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union used to be Remember the Red Menace, also known as the Communist threat? Or how about the Third Reich, the creator of which became the chief metaphor for evil in the 20th century? Most Americans, certainly those younger than 30, don't remember either. Hell, they don't even remember Vietnam or Nixon or The Beatles. The terms and their connotations are totally unfamiliar, unless encountered in history texts. Millions of Americans simply do not remember what America used to stand for - freedom, justice, equality - and as a result, don't fully comprehend the appalling reality of what America has become. rense.com

RecommendedThe Social Security Promise Not Yet Kept March 2, 2004 By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON SOCIAL Security retirement benefits are going to have to be cut, Alan Greenspan announced last week, because there just is not enough money to pay the promised benefits. President Bush said those already retired or "near retirement age'' should not worry. They will get their promised benefits. That, in short form, was the story carried on front pages and television news programs across the country. But there is an element that was forgotten in the rush of news. nytimes.com

Mexico is Contaminated by Its Neighbor March 2, 2004 By David Bornstein Mexico, which has never authorized cultivation of transgenic corn on its territory, is possibly the victim of massive contamination. The key to the enigma probably lies in the importation of genetically modified grains from the United States. "Mexican peasants planted their fields with seed corn imported from the United States and distributed by a government agency at prices that defied any competition. This corn is transgenic, but the farmers in our poorest regions know nothing about that. Nobody ever told them what transgenic was," truthout.com

Bush Diverts Attention From Real Problems March 2, 2004 Harley Sorensen The Great Divider was at it again last week, rallying his religious fundamentalist troops in their never-ending war against the principles of freedom. sfgate.com

China issues human rights record of the US March 2, 2004 english.people.com The report reviewed the human rights record of the United States in 2003 from six perspectives: Life, Freedom and Safety; Political Rights and Freedom; Living Conditions of US Laborers; Racial Discrimination; Conditions of Women, Children and Elderly People; and Infringement upon Human Rights of Other Nations. The United States has turned a blind eye to the rights and interests of common laborers, leading to serious problems like poverty, hunger and homeless people. The disparity between the rich and the poor keeps widening in the US, says the record, the fifth of its kind issued by China, in response to the annual country reports on human rights by the United States. english.people.com / Full text

Union surrenders benefits, wages in sellout of California grocery strike March 2, 2004 By Rafael Azul and John Andrews The United Food & Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) surrendered to all of the major demands of the supermarket chains after a19-week strike/lockout of 59,000 workers in Southern California. This betrayal of the longest work stoppage in the history of the US supermarket industry sets the stage for devastating rollbacks in the working conditions and living standards for hundreds of thousands of workers who already face low wages and brutal exploitation. wsws.org

'I would vote for anyone but Bush - even Donald Duck' March 2, 2004 Berlin Many American expatriates are flocking to Democratic primaries abroad and pinning hopes on a John Kerry election victory in November. "Bush is one of the biggest threats to world peace and to the standing of the US in the world community," Darren Sullivan, a photographer who lives in Amsterdam, said yesterday. thestar.co.za

America has super-sized March 2, 2004 By ALAN FREEMAN I knew that something was up when I wandered into the drugstore next door to The Globe and Mail's Washington office looking for a soft drink and realized that the smallest size available was a neat 20 ounces. globeandmail.com

Bin Laden Has Confronted American Forces Inside Afghanistan Numerous Times March 2, 2004 The chief of Al-Qaida, Osama Bin Mohammad Bin Laden, has confronted American forces many times inside Afghanistan says a Taliban spokesman. Speaking to Ausaf sources in Khost, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Saif ul Adil has said that Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri are both in Afghanistan and not Pakistan as some officials claim. jihadunspun.com

Chavez calls Bush 'asshole' as  foes fight troops March 1, 2004 By Patrick Markey CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called U.S. President George W. Bush an "asshole" on Sunday for meddling, and vowed never to quit office like his Haitian counterpart as troops battled with opposition protesters demanding a recall referendum against him. Chavez, who often says the U.S. is backing opposition efforts to topple his leftist government, accused Bush of heeding advice from "imperialist" aides to support a brief 2002 coup against him. "He was an asshole to believe them," Chavez roared at a huge rally of supporters in Caracas. news.yahoo.com

 

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