Democracy
- Not "The Free Market" - Will Save America's Middle Class
March 16, 2004 By Thom Hartmann Here are a couple of headlines for those
who haven't had the time to study both economics and history: 1. There
is no such thing as a "free market." 2. The "middle
class" is the creation of government intervention in the marketplace, and
won't exist without it (as millions of Americans and Europeans are
discovering). The conservative belief in "free markets" is a bit like
the Catholic Church's insistence that the Earth was at the center of the Solar
System in the Twelfth Century. It's widely believed by those in power, those who
challenge it are branded heretics and ridiculed, and it is wrong. thepeoplesvoice.org
U.S.
Unloading WMD in Iraq March 16, 2004
(Mehr
News Agency) TEHRAN, Over the past few days, in the wake of the bombings in
Karbala and the ideological disputes that delayed the signing of Iraq’s
interim constitution, there have been reports that U.S. forces have unloaded a
large cargo of parts for constructing long-range missiles and weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) in the southern ports of Iraq. mehrnews.com
White House allegedly paid actors to pose as
journalists, endorse Medicare law March 16,
2004 Robert Pear, New York Times WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressional
investigators are scrutinizing television segments in which the Bush
administration paid people to pose as journalists praising the benefits of the
new Medicare law, intended to help elderly Americans with the costs of their
prescription medicines. startribune.com
New Spanish PM promises Iraq withdrawal
March 16, 2004 Simon Jeffery José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, whose
socialist party yesterday won a sensational election victory, today vowed to
pull Spanish troops out of Iraq. The prime minister elect used his first full
media interview since last night to affirm that he intended to follow through on
what had become a key election promise. "The Spanish troops in Iraq will
come home," he told Cadena Ser radio. guardian.co.uk
'Dynamite Is Everywhere' In Financial System Now
March 16, 2004 By Paul Gallagher As
Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche was addressing his Australian movement on
March 5 ("This World Monetary System Is on the Way to the Burial
Grounds," see below), alarm bells were indeed tolling very loudly for the
global financial system, which threatened to explode before the U.S. Democratic
Party holds its nominating convention in July in Boston. larouchepub.com
Was 9/11 Allowed to Happen? Summary of
the 9/11 Timeline March 16, 2004
Developed by Paul Thompson 9/11 was one of the most pivotal events
in world history. Its impact will be felt for years to come. You owe it to
yourself to go beyond the sound bites and the simplified official story. This is
an extremely complicated story with numerous players and motives. Not everything
makes sense or fits neatly together. It's a story full of espionage, deceit, and
lies. But if there are forces out there tricking us, they can only succeed if
we, the general public, remain ignorant and passive. wanttoknow.info
Secret Pentagon report warns climate
change "could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy..."
March 16, 2004 The report,
ordered by an influential Pentagon advisor but covered up by US defense chiefs
for months, warns that it might be too late to prevent future disasters, such as
violent storms that may make large parts of the Netherlands uninhabitable.
Climate change, the report says, "should be elevated beyond a scientific
debate to a US national security concern..." climate_change.pdf
Bush's record is one of abysmal leadership
March 16, 2004
Be concerned with four more years of continuing bad decisions and poor
leadership by George W. Bush, our president seems out of touch with the needs of
this country. We don't need a focus on marriage; we need to focus on the
economy, energy, clean air and water, and basic human rights. By stonewalling
9-11, hiding decisions on energy policy, among other things, he refuses to be
accountable to the media and the public. His decisions place us in record
deficits with a jobless economy, and he can't blame the Democrats. greenvilleonline.com
West against
Russia March 16, 2004 By Mikhail Chernov
As presidential elections
in Russia are approaching, Western media publish more and more critical stories
about Russia. Toughening the anti-Russian position of the West results from
rejecting Russian social order. english.pravda.ru
Journalists:
"US authorities control and intimidate media in Iraq"
March 16, 2004 Report, IFJ The
International Federation of Journalists today accused the US authorities in Iraq
of attempting to "control and intimidate" the media, following the
recent detention of several Korean journalists by the US forces in Baghdad. electroniciraq.net
"Clearly,
American corporations are cutting costs." |
Turning
their backs on US: AMERICAN CORPORATIONS
March 15, 2004 By Ted Lang Part of the format I have established when
interviewing local area businesses for my business feature column in a local
newspaper is a section on "corporate citizenship." By the term
"corporate," I actually mean the businesses' implied responsibility to
the community and its residents. I look for the contribution the business
makes to the public good; things like cash donations to local charities, or if
the owner or owners get involved in coaching Little League, or Scouts, or make
free donations of goods and services to local churches and synagogues to
establish goodwill. thepeoplesvoice.org
Rumsfeld Caught Lying, Yet Again, On
"Face the Nation." But This Time, a Journalist Actually Threw It In
His Face
March 15, 2004 Excerpt from "Face the Nation" SCHIEFFER: Well,
let me just ask you this. If they did not have these weapons of mass
destruction, though, granted all of that is true, why then did they pose an
immediate threat to us, to this country? ... Sec. RUMSFELD: Mm-hmm. It--my
view of--of the situation was that he--he had--we--we believe, the best
intelligence that we had and other countries had and that--that we believed and
we still do not know--we will know. See: [CBS
Interview Link for "Face the Nation" (.pdf file)] / buzzflash.com
AFL-CIO votes to spend $44m to unseat
Bush
March 15, 2004 By Leigh Strope, (AP) Labor
leaders voted yesterday to spend $44 million to mobilize union household voters
in November against President Bush, a record sum in an election they say is
do-or-die for the labor movement. boston.com
US trade gap highlights rising debt
burden
March 15, 2004 By Nick Beams The jump in the US trade deficit to a record
high of $43.1 billion for January has once again thrown the spotlight on the
rising external indebtedness of the American economy. The widening of the trade
gap, which occurred despite the fall in the value of the US dollar against major
currencies, represented a 0.9 percent increase on the $42.7 billion deficit
registered in December. The current account deficit, which measures the rate at
which the US is going into debt, continues to grow. According to the Commerce
Department, the payments gap was $542 billion last year, easily eclipsing the
previous high of $481 billion recorded in 2002. wsws.org
Missteps on Economy Worry Bush Supporters
March 15, 2004 By Jonathan Weisman and Mike Allen A string of glaring
missteps by President Bush's economic team has raised alarm among the
president's supporters that his economic policymakers may have lost the most
basic ability to formulate a persuasive message or anticipate the political
consequences of their actions. washingtonpost.com
On the border of disaster?
March 15, 2004 By Dan Glaister In 1993, Harvard academic Samuel
Huntington controversially identified Islam as the biggest danger to global
stability. Now he is arguing that Latino immigration into the US is destroying
the American way of life. guardian.co.uk
"...our technical positions are being exported..." |
Outsorcering
LOYALTY TO THE WORKER A THING OF THE
PAST!
February 14, 2004 By Ted Lang Along with the growing, disquieting
economic uncertainty of lost high level technical jobs in favor of lower labor
costs overseas, a deliberately induced self-deprecating assessment of workers
reflecting upon their own efficiency is yet another hollow dimension of job
outsourcing to foreign lands that is being advanced by both American businesses
as well as our own government. The message intended: American workers aren't as
good and as efficient as those in other nations. thepeoplesvoice.org
Don't Get Duped Out of Your Social
Security March 14, 2004 By Holly Sklar
George W. Bush won't need Social Security for retirement. He's a millionaire
many times over. Taxpayers will pad Bush's retirement with a large presidential
pension. Former presidents receive $175,700 this year plus office, travel,
medical and other benefits. Social Security isn't broke, but millions of
retirees who depend on it are, and many more would be broke without it. dissidentvoice.org
Spain's Socialists Claim Victory
March 14, 2004 By ED McCULLOUGH MADRID, Spain (AP) - Voters ousted
Spain's ruling party in elections Sunday, with many saying they were shaken by
bombings in Madrid and furious with the government for backing the Iraq war and
making their country a target for al-Qaida. infoshop.org
Area man relays
his claims about Bush Guard service
March 14, 2004 By Jerry Daniel Reed The
campaign to create an image for George W. Bush led to Bush and some of his top
aides lying about his military service, a retired Texas National Guard
lieutenant colonel claimed during a speech to the Taylor County Democratic Club
Thursday night. "They lied, and they continue
to lie," Bill Burkett told about 30 Democratic Club members. Burkett moved
to Abilene about 1985 and to rural Callahan County in 2000, he said. reporter-news.com
Roadside bombs kill 6 U.S. soldiers in
Iraq this weekend
March 14, 2004 (AP) BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four American soldiers died in two
bomb explosions in Baghdad, the coalition said Sunday, raising to six the number
of U.S. troops killed in roadside bombs this weekend. Hundreds of Iraqis,
meanwhile, mourned the death of a Shiite politician's relative in a bomb blast
in his shop the previous day. billingsgazette.com
Women arrested in FTAA protests sue over
Miami-Dade strip search
March 14, 2004 CORALIE CARLSON (AP) MIAMI
- Three women arrested during free-trade demonstrations in November have
sued Miami-Dade County and several corrections officials, saying they were
unnecessarily strip searched and forced to squat in the nude and "hop like
a bunny" in plain view of passers-by.
The suit, filed last week in federal court and
seeking class-action status, says that corrections workers performed cavity
inspections on the three women in violation of their constitutional rights to
freedom from unreasonable searchers and seizures and their right to due process.
"It's very
shocking for people who are arrested for exercising their first amendment right,
that they would be subjected to such extreme searching procedures," Randall
Berg, an attorney. miami.com
An
Insiders Look At the Iraqi Resistance March
13, 2004 With a mounting US death toll and well-executed daily ambushes, and
what seems to be an endless supply of weapons and innovative ways to use them,
the efforts of resistance fighters continue to impede the US agenda inside Iraq.
jihadunspun.com
Bush's pattern of breaking
promises March 13,
2004 By John Janney Besides the
question of taste, one particularly important issue regarding the Bush
campaign's use of imagery from the 9-11 tragedy is the Bush administration's
pattern of breaking promises. For example, the Bush campaign promised they would
not use the tragedy of 9-11 for political gain... yellowtimes.org
White House
Intimidation: A Brief History of Threats and Defamation
March 13, 2004 A look at the
historical record shows that the Bush Administration has summarily fired,
threatened, intimidated and defamed anyone who has had the courage to tell the
truth about major policies facing America. Download: DOC,
RTF,
PDF
/ americanprogress.org
Weapons Of Mass Destruction In Haiti
March 13, 2004 Marcelo Lewin World News Apparently, confused on were Iraq
is located, U.S. Marines began searching for weapons of mass destruction in
Haiti. "I know Saddam hid them somewhere within the country, and we will
find them and show the world that we were not incorrect in coming here." We
explained to the U.S. Marine that he was actually in Haiti and not in Iraq and
that Saddam never visited nor was he ever a member of the Haiti political
system. We also explained that Iraq is a completely separate country. thedailyfarce.com
Patriots
paid price for independence March 13, 2004 Ellen
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of
Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured
before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their
sons who served in the Revolutionary Army. Another had two sons captured. Nine
of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. What kind of
men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants. Nine
were farmers and plantation owners. All were men of means and well-educated, but
they signed the Declaration of Independence, knowing that the penalty would be
death. Freedom is never free. maebrussell.com
Al Jazeera Goes to Jail
March 13, 2004 by Christian
Parenti US troops interrogated him and repeatedly accused the
cameraman of knowing in advance about the bomb attack. "I told them to
review my tapes, that it was clear I had arrived thirty or forty minutes after
the blast. They told me I was a liar," says Hassan. Once inside the
sprawling prison, Hassan was greeted by US soldiers who sang "Happy
Birthday" to him through his tight plastic hood, stripped him naked and
addressed him only as "Al Jazeera," "boy" or
"bitch." He was forced to stand hooded, bound and naked for eleven
hours in the bitter autumn night air; when he fell, soldiers kicked his legs to
get him up again...thenation.com
The Coming Elections and the Future of
American Global Power March 13, 2004 By
GABRIEL KOLKO We are now experiencing fundamental changes in the
international system whose implications and consequences may ultimately be as
far-reaching as the dissolution of the Soviet bloc. The United States' strength,
to a crucial extent, has rested on its ability to convince other nations that it
is to their vital interests to see America prevail in its global role. But the
scope and ultimate consequences of its world mission, including its
extraordinarily vague doctrine of "preemptive wars," is today far more
dangerous and open-ended than when Communism existed. Enemies have disappeared
and new ones--many once former allies and even congenial friends--have taken
their places. counterpunch.org
Corruption
& Deception On Supreme Court: Justice Antonin Scalia
March 13, 2004 By
Mick Youther Antonin Scalia is President Bush’s favorite Supreme
Court Justice, and it is easy to understand why. Justice Scalia figured
prominently in the court’s decision to stop the Florida recount in the last
presidential election—effectively awarding the presidency to Bush without
bothering to count the votes. He didn’t care how bad it looked, as long as it
served the greater good—the election of George W. Bush. interventionmag.com
Medicare analyst
says Bush aides threatened to fire him
March 13, 2004 Amy
Goldstein He was told not to tell Congress how
much drug bill would cost. The government's longtime chief analyst of
Medicare costs said Friday that Bush administration officials threatened to fire
him last year if he disclosed to Congress that he believed the prescription drug
legislation favored by the White House would prove far more expensive than
lawmakers had been told. sfgate.com
Daschle calls for
revote on Medicare drug bill March
13, 2004 BY TONY PUGH The
Senate minority leader says a new vote is needed on the Medicare drug benefit
bill after learning the administration's top cost analyst may have been ordered
to provide skewed information to Congress. Senate Minority Leader Tom
Daschle said Friday that allegations of unfavorable cost estimates about the
Medicare prescription drug bill being withheld from lawmakers justifies
reopening the vote on the drug benefit. miami.com
US revealed to be secretly funding opponents
of Chavez March 13, 2004 By
Andrew Buncombe Washington has been channelling hundreds of thousands of
dollars to fund the political opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -
including those who briefly overthrew the democratically elected leader in a
coup two years ago. independent.co.uk
Madrid terror bombings strengthen
right-wing on eve of Spanish elections March
13, 2004 By Vicky Short and Chris Marsden Thursday’s bombing
atrocities in Madrid will inevitably dominate the March 14 general elections in
Spain. The outrage they have provoked is expected to benefit the right-wing
Popular Party of the outgoing prime minister, José María Aznar, and its
candidate to succeed him, Mariano Rajoy. wsws.org
This creeping sickness
March 13, 2004 Ken Coates So now we know: torture is routinely used by
the US in Guantánamo Bay. Truly we live in dark times. A sure sign that the
nights are getting longer, even as springtime approaches, comes from the
intensity of anxieties about torture. guardian.co.uk
A grotesque choice
March 13, 2004 Max Hastings Israel's repression of the Palestinian people
is fuelling a resurgence of anti-semitism. I asked a female member of the Vienna
government sitting opposite me how her country was coping with the Nazi
embarrassments of its president, Kurt Waldheim. She stiffened. "President
Waldheim is a fine and good man, who has been grossly traduced by a conspiracy
of Jews," she said severely. Her husband interjected: "My father
always told me that most of the things the Jews say about the war are
lies." Our English host added supportively: "Jews cause most of the
trouble in the world...guardian.co.uk
Bush administration cancels maintenance
of Hubble Space Telescope March
13, 2004 By Patrick Martin In what can only be described as an act
of cultural vandalism, the Bush administration has decided to halt scheduled
maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope—perhaps the most important
scientific instrument in the history of mankind—and allow it to shut down as
early as 2006. wsws.org
NASA Schedules News
Briefing About Unusual Solar
Object March 13, 2004 The
discovery of a mysterious object in our solar system is the topic of a
listen-and-log-on news briefing on Monday, March 15, at 1 p.m. EST. nasa.gov
Funnel Takes - A CARNIVAL SPECIALTY! March 12, 2004 By Ted Lang
There was a time in America when the waging of war was for a reason. The
primary reason was for the protection of our nation and its peace-loving
people. It was a matter of defense to ensure survival. Not any more!
We
are a capitalist society, which means everything we do is not even remotely
connected to either reason or justification. Wars are now being initiated
by "we the people" not to secure our protection and well being, but to
generate profits for the warmongering capitalists and their representatives
and stakeholders in Washington, D.C. thepeoplesvoice.org
MY HELL IN CAMP X-RAY
March 12, 2004 By Rosa Prince and Gary Jones A BRITISH captive freed from
Guantanamo Bay today tells the world of its full horror - and reveals how
prostitutes were taken into the camp to degrade Muslim inmates. Jamal al-Harith,
37, who arrived home three days ago after two years of confinement, is the first
detainee to lift the lid on the US regime in Cuba's Camp X-Ray and Camp Delta.
The father-of-three, from Manchester, told how he was assaulted with fists, feet
and batons after refusing a mystery injection. mirror.co.uk
Role in Haiti Events Backfiring on Washington
March 12, 2004 Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Mar 12 (IPS) - Last week's
U.S.-backed ''regime change'' in Haiti could yet backfire against the
administration of President George W Bush, according to independent analysts and
Democrats who are describing the U.S. role as another major foreign-policy
blunder--or worse. story.news
Bush
administration ordered Medicare plan cost estimates withheld March
12, 2004 By Tony Pugh
The
government's top expert on Medicare costs was warned that he would be fired if
he told key lawmakers about a series of Bush administration cost estimates that
could have torpedoed congressional passage of the White House-backed Medicare
prescription-drug plan. realcities.com
The
Bush Crime Family Tree March 11, 2004 Oldamericancentury
George Walker, GW's great-grandfather,
set up the takeover of the Hamburg-America Line, a cover for I.G. Farben's Nazi
espionage unit in the United States. In Germany, I.G. Farben was most famous for
putting the gas in gas chambers; it was the producer of Zyklon B and other
gasses used on victims of the Holocaust. The Bush family was not unaware of the
nature of their investment partners. They hired Allen Dulles, the future head of
the CIA, to hide the funds they were making from Nazi investments and the funds
they were sending to Nazi Germany, rather than divest. It was only in 1942, when
the government seized Union Banking Company assets under the Trading With The
Enemy Act, that George Walker and Prescott Bush stopped pumping money into
Hitler's regime. oldamericancentury.org
Why Bush Supports Outsourcing
March 11, 2004 Misleader
On the eve of his trip to Ohio to "focus on jobs,"1 President Bush
claimed yesterday that "we're creating jobs - good, high-paying jobs for
the American citizen."2 His comments come despite the country having lost
more than 2 million manufacturing jobs since he was elected. In Ohio, which lost
270,000 manufacturing jobs alone, the economic crisis has raised questions about
why the president last month strongly endorsed the outsourcing of U.S. jobs to
cheap overseas labor markets. A look at the president's donors offers an answer.
misleader.org
'We face
climate disaster' March 11, 2004 By
Ben Leapman The Government's chief scientist
today set out an "apocalyptic vision" of global warming bringing back
the conditions which drove the dinosaurs to extinction. Professor
Sir David King told a House of Lords committee that urgent action was needed
"within the next few years" to avert the threat of sudden and severe
climate change. thisislondon.co.uk
CIA
director disputes Cheney Iraq assertions March
11, 2004 By JONATHAN
S. LANDAY Knight
Ridder WASHINGTON
- CIA Director George Tenet on Tuesday rejected recent assertions by Vice
President Dick Cheney that Iraq cooperated with the al-Qaida terrorist network
and that the administration had proof of an illicit Iraqi biological warfare
program. realcities.com
Kerry
speech irks Bush campaign March
11, 2004 By MIKE GLOVER (AP) Democratic presidential
candidate John Kerry called Wednesday for deeper tax cuts for the middle class
than proposed by President Bush and described his Republican critics as
"the most crooked ... lying group I've ever seen." nwherald.com
Trade Gap Hits Record $43.1
Billion in January March 11, 2004 (Reuters)
The U.S. trade deficit widened to a record $43.1 billion in January, as rising
oil prices helped keep imports near historic highs and exports retreated
slightly despite the weaker dollar, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.
The monthly trade gap was larger than the mid-point analyst estimate of $42.1
billion. Average prices for imported oil leapt to $28.55 per barrel in January,
the highest since March 2003. reuters.com
U.S. official says trade deficit with
Israel too high March 11, 2004 (Reuters)
"U.S. exports to Israel have fallen every
year since 2000 to the point where the (trade) deficit is approaching $6
billion," Juster told Reuters. "Given
the expensive interaction with Israel, that's a troubling development."
Israel, which receives nearly $3 billion in mostly
military aid annually from the U.S., exported more than $12 billion to the
United States in 2003, while U.S. exports to Israel were less than $7 billion --
a drop from nearly $8 billion in 2000. But
while Israel has a trade surplus with the United States, it has a trade deficit
of about $6 billion with Europe. netscape.com
'The initiative lacks credibility'
March 11, 2004 Guardian Bush's
pro-democracy initiative was criticised for excluding Israel "Targeting the
Arabs and excluding Israel from the concept of reform implies that the Israeli
political system is perfect and that it has nothing to do with the cause of
terrorism. The truth is that Israel needs a comprehensive reform campaign
starting from its political rhetoric, which portrays it as the victim who
accepts peace but not suicide, and its religious rhetoric, on which expansion
and settlement is based ... Western pressure on Israel will serve western
interests and solve a lot problems, primarily terrorism." guardian.co.uk
Questions
Raised About Bomb Plan
March 11, 2004 By Paul Richter Last
year, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the effort was "a study. It
is nothing more and nothing less." But a report from the Congressional
Research Service says the five-year, $485-million budget proposal "seems to
cast serious doubt on assertions that the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator is
only a study." latimes.com
International
Election Monitors Take on Florida March 10,
2004 By Michael Peltier TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - An international
group that usually monitors elections in developing democracies said Monday it
would take up posts at Florida precincts in November in hopes of averting
another debacle when voters pick the next U.S. president. Four years after
Florida became the object of international ridicule, officials for the Catholic
group Pax Christi USA will place monitors from 30 countries at polls in four
Florida counties that were at the center of the 2000 U.S. presidential election
dispute. reuters.com
Report details abuse, torture of
prisoners by US forces in Afghanistan March
10, 2004 By Joseph Kay A report released over the weekend by Human Rights
Watch, entitled “Enduring Freedom: Abuses by US Forces in Afghanistan,”
details illegal and abusive treatment meted out by US troops against prisoners
captured as part of the American government’s ongoing operations in
Afghanistan. The report examines cases of indiscriminate and excessive use of
force, arbitrary arrests, indefinite detentions, and mistreatment in detention,
including torture. wsws.org
Where is the Love? Will the Filthy Rich Dump Bush?
March 10, 2004 By SAUL LANDAU "Let me tell you about the very rich.
They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does
something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are
trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to
understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are
because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves.
Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that
they are better than we are. They are different." counterpunch.org
Government's Policies On Guantánamo
Detainees Are 'Fundamentally Lawless' March
10, 2004 ACLU Executive Director Anthony
D. Romero In a National Press
Club speech charges that Bush Administration policies in a post-9/11 world
jeopardize the freedom of all Americans. The detention of enemy combatants
at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, violates America's most basic notions of fundamental
fairness, Romero says. aclu.org
US Plane
Carrying Mercenaries Seized In Harare March
10, 2004 The Independent Zimbabwe has
seized a US-registered cargo plane carrying 64 suspected mercenaries of various
nationalities and a consignment of military gear. jihadunspun.com
Sometimes,
bad is bad March 10, 2004 Molly
Ivins Bush administration's redefinition of problems
reaches comic heights Just when you thought no one could top Rod Paige calling the teacher's union
"a terrorist organization," along comes Veep Cheney with this gem,
"If Democratic policies had been pursued over the last two-to-three years,
the kind of tax increases both Kerry and Edwards are talking about, we would not
have had the kind of job growth that we've had." Uh, in the first place, Kerry and Edwards are not talking about tax increases
at all, but about repealing part of Bush's tax cuts -- so we would have had no
tax cuts, not tax increases. And in the second place, if losing 2.3 million jobs
is "job growth," Dick Cheney is a laugh riot. We've got a $500 billion deficit this year, and Bush's idea of a solution is
to make his tax cuts permanent, a move that would cost about $1.5 trillion over
the next 10 years. Their other helpful suggestion is to redefine burger-flipping
as " manufacturing jobs," (are these people never serious?) workingforchange.com
As the rich make $500 billion more this year,
millions of people are starving to death. |
Forbes report: Billionaires’ wealth grew by 36
percent in last year March 9, 2004 By
Jamie Chapman As at least a billion people on the planet subsist on the
equivalent of a dollar a day or less, the concentration of wealth among a
handful of people at the top has set new records. The combined wealth of this
year’s billionaires also reached record levels—a staggering $1.9 trillion,
an increase of $500 billion in just one year. The wealth of these few hundred
people exceeds the gross domestic product of the world’s 170 poorest countries
combined and equals nearly 4 percent of the annual production of the entire
world. wsws.org
Chavez warns United States against invading Venezuela
March 7, 2004 ALICE M.
CHACON Venezuela (AP) President Hugo Chavez on Sunday vowed to freeze oil
exports to the United States and wage a "100-year war" if Washington
ever tried to invade Venezuela. sfgate.com
The Forgotten Soldiers of Operation "Iraqi Freedom" March
9, 2004 By Greg Palast His name's Maurice. He's 26 years old with a face like an angel
and a computerized prosthesis where his left leg used to be. His name's Victor
and he still seems like a boy. His cherubic face, set against blond hair, is
plagued by an unanswerable question every time his restless eyes inadvertently
fall on the stump: "Why?" His name's Rob. Bound to a wheelchair, he's
mad at the whole world and explodes in a barrage of insults at everyone and
everything for the loss of his right leg and the uselessness of his left. gregpalast.com
Scientist 'gagged' by No 10 after warning of global warming threat March
9, 2004 By Steve Connor and Andrew Grice Downing Street tried to muzzle
the Government's top scientific adviser after he warned that global warming was
a more serious threat than international terrorism. Ivan Rogers, Mr Blair's
principal private secretary, told Sir David King, the Prime Minister's chief
scientist, to limit his contact with the media after he made outspoken comments
about President George Bush's policy on climate change. independent.co.uk
Medicare nominee avoids senators' queries
March 9, 2004
By Mark Sherman
Mark McClellan, President Bush's choice to run Medicare, said Monday he won't
answer senators' questions about his opposition to importing prescription drugs
from Canada before he takes over the government health program. salon.com
Payback:
The Bush Connection to Clear Channel Firing Howard Stern; It's Worse
than You Thought March 9, 2004 By
Dean Creekmore I
am surprised more people are not a more concerned about the connection between
the Bush administration, Clear Channel Radio and Howard Stern. This could
possibly the most frightening example of a government using party-friendly
corporations to squash dissenting opinions I have ever seen. opednews.com
Unreported US Casualties In Last Thursday's
Resistance Attack March 9, 2004 By
Muhammad Abu Nasr A report published on Saturday gives an eyewitness
account of Iraqi Resistance fighters ambushing an American occupation patrol and
killing and wounding a number of US aggressors in an incident that occurred on
Thursday. The attack occurred around 3:00am on Thursday, 4 March 2004, when an
American occupation patrol was passing through the area. The patrol consisted of
three Humvees and the Resistance fighters fired RPGs precisely, directly hitting
two of the Humvees. No one came out of the vehicles that continued to burn for
half an hour. No US or puppet police forces came until half an hour after the
attack. jihadunspun.com
