t r u t h o u t | 29/11/07
Truthout’s Kelpie Wilson on peak oil and US interests; judge orders federal government to release information on telecoms’ lobbying efforts to protect them from prosecution; Democrats in the California State Assembly weigh in on the burgeoning sub-prime mortgage crisis; Janet Pelley writes on the whittling away of the National Environmental Policy Act; global warming and drought could drain Lakes Ontario and Erie; greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks rose in 2006; Eric Schlosser reports on pressure by America’s fast food companies to cut migrant farm workers’ wages; unions list heavily anti-worker rulings by the National Labor Relations Board; E-Verify system wrongly flags foreign-born hires as illegal; 12 states sue EPA over a regulation that exempts companies from disclosing details about their use and emission of toxic chemicals; and more … Browse our continually updating front page at www.truthout.org
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Kelpie Wilson | Hey Bubba, Where You Going With That Oil?
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112907R.shtml
Truthout’s Kelpie Wilson writes, “The global oil supply is starting to run out, and in response the Bush-Cheney bubba boys are running tanker loads of precious fuel into the Gulf to fuel a saber-rattling operation or worse. War, whether hot or cold, will never achieve the objective of securing oil supplies for US interests, but it might serve to obscure what is really going on.”
Judge Calls for Data on Telecoms’ Lobbying
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112907S.shtml
Kim Curtis, The Associated Press: “An electronic privacy group challenging President Bush’s domestic spying program scored a minor victory when a judge ordered the federal government to release information about lobbying efforts by telecommunications companies to protect them from prosecution.”
California Lawmakers Wade Into Sub-Prime Crisis
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Marc Lifsher, The Los Angeles Times: “Democrats in the State Assembly today weighed in on the burgeoning sub-prime mortgage crisis, announcing proposed legislation that would help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosures and prevent future victims by toughening enforcement against predatory lending practices.”
NOW | Will the 2008 Elections Be Free and Fair?
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112907U.shtml
How safe is your right to vote? Former Justice Department official and voting rights activist David Becker, who worked under both President Bush and President Clinton, alleges a systematic effort to deny the vote to hundreds of thousands, even millions of people.
Bill Moyers Journal | Middle East Peace?
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In the wake of this week’s peace summit in Annapolis, Bill Moyers Journal profiles the politically powerful group Christians United for Israel (CUFI), whose leader, Pastor John Hagee, wants to bring millions of Christians together to support Israel.
Environmental Magna Carta Under Siege
www.truthout.org/issues_06/112907EA.shtml
Janet Pelley for Environmental Science and Technology Online: “Environmental assessment in the US was enshrined in law for the first time when President Richard Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act on January 1, 1970. Since then, however, the US has slowly cast aside its role as a leader in the field of environmental assessments, as successive administrations have chipped away at the scope of NEPA, experts say.”
Great Lakes Face Trouble on Two Fronts
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Jerry Zremski for The Buffalo News reports that Lakes Erie and Ontario “are facing an unprecedented twofold threat from both global warming and the increased water demand prompted by it.”
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Up for Cars, Trucks in 2006
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Justin Hyde for The Detroit Free Press reports that “Greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks rose slightly in 2006, even as the United States cut its overall emissions by 1.5 percent, the US Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.”
Eric Schlosser | Penny Foolish
www.truthout.org/issues_06/112907LA.shtml
Eric Schlosser writes for The New York Times about the 40 percent pay cut that migrant farm workers who harvest tomatoes in South Florida are about to get this holiday season. Schlosser says the pressure is coming from the largest purchaser of these tomatoes, American fast food chains.
Unions Disclose Long List of Anti-Worker NLRB Cases
www.truthout.org/issues_06/112907LB.shtml
Mark Gruenberg reports for Press Associates, “The recent AFL-CIO-led protests against the National Labor Relations Board highlighted dozens of rulings that undermine the rights of people on the job.”
Worker Status Checks’ Errors Called “Severe”
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Theo Milonopoulos, The Los Angeles Times: “Possible discrimination against foreign-born employees remains a concern for an electronic verification system that ultimately catches a tiny fraction of workers in the United States illegally, immigration officials were told Tuesday.”
States Sue Over Eased EPA Disclosure Rule
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Marla Cone, The Los Angeles Times: “California and 11 other states sued the US Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday over a new regulation that exempts thousands of companies from disclosing to the public details about their use and emission of toxic chemicals.”
Leahy clears way for contempt charges against Rove, Bolten, others; former Illinois congressman, Henry Hyde, dies at 83; Lott’s brother-in-law, Mississippi attorney indicted on bribery and fraud; Democratic candidates force cancellation of debate, refuse to cross picket lines; FEMA to close Katrina trailer camps still housing over 3,000 families; and more … Browse our continually updating front page at www.truthout.org
Leahy Clears Way for Rove, Bolten Contempt Charges
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Laurie Kellman, writing for The Associated Press, reports, “A powerful Senate chairman acknowledged explicitly on Thursday that President Bush was not involved in the firings of U.S. attorneys last winter and therefore ruled illegal the president’s executive privilege claims protecting his chief of staff and former adviser Karl Rove.”
Former Illinois Congressman Henry Hyde Dies
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Jim Abrams, writing for The Associated Press, reports, “Former Rep. Henry Hyde, the Illinois Republican who steered the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton and championed government restrictions on the funding of abortions, died Thursday.”
Trent Lott’s Brother-in-Law Indicted on Bribery Charges
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Michael Kunzelman, reporting for The Associated Press, writes, “An attorney who helped negotiate a multibillion-dollar settlement against tobacco companies in the 1990s and has sued insurers over unpaid Hurricane Katrina claims was indicted Wednesday in a suspected scheme to bribe a Mississippi judge.”
Democratic Debate Canceled Over Writer’s Strike
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Reuters report, “A planned televised debate among the Democratic presidential contenders was canceled on Wednesday after candidates vowed to boycott the event rather than cross picket lines of striking Hollywood writers, organizers said.”
FEMA Sets Date for Closing Katrina Trailer Camps
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Leslie Eaton, reporting from New Orleans for The New York Times, writes, “Almost 3,000 families here and across Louisiana will have to leave their government-supplied trailers over the next few months under a new schedule prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
1973 US Cable on Mideast Mirrors Current Events
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Walter Pincus, from The Washington Post, writes, “A March 1973 State Department cable released yesterday by the National Archives recounts a promise by Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal that terrorist threats to U.S. interests could be resolved as soon as Washington pressed Israel to withdraw from territory it had seized.”
Serge Truffaut | Russian Payback
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112907G.shtml
Le Devoir’s Serge Truffaut looks to the last 17 years of US foreign policy to partially explain the hardening of Vladimir Putin’s line.
John Aravosis | State Dept. Plagiarizes Major Media in “Iraq Weekly Status Report”
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112907H.shtml
John Aravosis reveals plagiarism of major media sources in the US State Department’s weekly status report on Iraq.
Truthout’s Matt Renner reports on criticism of the Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act; State Department’s top lawyer calls for clarity on interrogation techniques; concern over US arming of Sunnis in “local concerned citizens” groups; top general wants large contingent of Marines redeployed to Afghanistan; Giuliani’s business contracts tie him to a terrorist supporter; The New York Times on a loss for privacy rights; the privatization of public libraries; and more … Browse our continually updating front page at www.truthout.org
The Violent Radicalization Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007
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Truthout’s Matt Renner reports: “A month ago, the House of Representatives passed legislation that targets Americans with radical ideologies for research. The bill has received little media attention and has almost unanimous support in the House. However, civil liberties groups see the bill as a threat to the constitutionally protected freedoms of expression, privacy and protest.”
Top State Department Lawyer Seeks US Clarity on Torture
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Reuters reports, “The United States, accused of using torture on terrorism suspects, should make clearer what it permits during interrogation and what it does not, the State Department’s top lawyer said on Tuesday.”
US Sponsorship of Sunni Groups Worries Iraq’s Government
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Leila Fadel reports for McClatchy Newspapers, “The American campaign to turn Sunni Muslims against Islamic extremists is growing so quickly that Iraq’s Shiite Muslim leaders fear that it’s out of control and threatens to create a potent armed force that will turn against the government one day.”
A “Surge” for Afghanistan?
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Gordon Lubold reports for The Christian Science Monitor, “The top general of the Marine Corps is pushing hard to deploy marines to Afghanistan as he looks to draw down his forces in Iraq, but his proposal, which is under discussion at the Pentagon this week, faces deep resistance from other military leaders.”
Giuliani’s Ties to a Terror Sheikh
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Wayne Barrett reports for The Village Voice: “In retrospect, Giuliani’s embrace of the emir appears peculiar. But it was only a sign of bigger things to come: the launching of a cozy business relationship with terrorist-tolerant Qatar that is inconsistent with the core message of Giuliani’s current presidential campaign, namely that his experience and toughness uniquely equip him to protect America from what he tauntingly calls ‘Islamic terrorists’ – an enemy that he always portrays himself as ready to confront, and the Democrats as ready to accommodate.”
The New York Times | A Loss for Privacy Rights
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112907O.shtml
The editors of The New York Times write: “The Constitution protects individuals against unreasonable searches, but for this protection to have practical meaning, the courts must enforce it. This week, the Supreme Court let stand a disturbing ruling out of California that allows law enforcement to barge into people’s homes without a warrant. The case has not prompted much outrage, perhaps because the people whose privacy is being invaded are welfare recipients, but it is a serious setback for the privacy rights of all Americans.”
Public Libraries for Profit
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112907P.shtml
Akito Yoshikane reports for In These Times: “In late October, Jackson County, Ore., re-opened the doors to 15 of its public libraries after a lack of funds had forced them shut on April 6 – the largest library closure in US history. However, as patrons returned to the bookshelves in the southern Oregon county, they learned that their libraries are now under private, for-profit management.”
VIDEO: John Lewis on Iraq and Civil Rights
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807A.shtml
Civil rights pioneer and congressman, John Lewis, sat down with Truthout’s Geoff Millard to talk about both Iraq and today’s civil rights resurgence.
Go directly to our issues page: www.truthout.org/issues.shtml
t r u t h o u t | 28/11/07
Truthout’s Maya Schenwar reports on the parole ban for federal prisoners; US troops kill 14 construction workers in Afghanistan; Congressional Democrats focus in on the economy; poll finds military progress doesn’t make Iraq war or Bush more popular; J. Sri Raman on two South Asian artists exiled by competing forces of bigotry; Indian MPs slam government over nuclear deal with US; witnesses testify in private lawsuit against Blackwater; and more … Browse our continually updating front page at www.truthout.org
Maya Schenwar | Set in Steel: Prison Life Without Parole
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807J.shtml
Truthout’s Maya Schenwar writes: “For federal prisoners, the prospect of early release expired in 1987. As prisons bulge and recidivism persists, why is the parole ban still in place?”
Afghans: US Airstrikes Kill 14 Workers
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807K.shtml
Amir Shah reports for The Associated Press, “US-led coalition troops killed 14 road construction workers in airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan after receiving faulty intelligence, Afghan officials said Wednesday.”
Democrats Switch Tack, Seize on Economic Woes
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Jonathan E. Kaplan reports for The Hill: “Congressional Democrats will focus on the economy next week in an effort to win political advantage from public fears about an approaching recession. This underscores the party leadership’s concern to avoid getting bogged down in more debate about Iraq and to make sure it is President Bush and Republicans who are blamed in the 2008 election for voter anxieties about the economy.”
Military Progress Doesn’t Make War More Popular
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Peter Baker reports for The Washington Post: “A new poll released yesterday underscored the changing political environment, finding the public more positive about the military effort in Iraq than at any point in 14 months as a surge of optimism follows the rapid decline in violence. Yet Bush remains as unpopular as ever in the survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, and the public remains just as committed to bringing US troops home.”
J. Sri Raman | Exiled by Bigots’ Edicts
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807N.shtml
J. Sri Raman writes for Truthout: “A woman writer who won literary trophies in her twenties. An aged artist once known and loved for his bare-foot charm and innovative brush. Both are on the run today. And no force in the vast South Asian region, stretching from New Delhi to Dhaka, can help either return home in dignity.”
Indian MPs Slam Government Over US Nuclear Deal
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Reuters reports, “Indian lawmakers opposed to a landmark nuclear energy deal with the United States slammed the government in parliament on Wednesday, saying it was misleading the country and compromising national interest.”
Witnesses Testify in Blackwater Lawsuit
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The Associated Press reports, “A federal grand jury investigating Blackwater Worldwide heard witnesses Tuesday as a private lawsuit accused the government contractor’s bodyguards of ignoring orders and abandoning their posts shortly before taking part in a Baghdad shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.”
John Lewis speaks to Truthout’s Geoff Millard on Iraq and civil rights; Musharraf resigns as military chief; Bush appoints new chairman of National Economic Council; nine Iraqis killed by US fire; Japan parliament votes to stop air force’s Iraq mission; VA decisions on disability claims fall behind; Robert Reich discusses what Supercapitalism means for democracy; and more … Browse our continually updating front page at www.truthout.org
VIDEO: John Lewis on Iraq and Civil Rights
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807A.shtml
Civil rights pioneer and congressman, John Lewis, sat down with Truthout’s Geoff Millard to talk about both Iraq and today’s civil rights resurgence.
Musharraf Quits Pakistani Army Post
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807B.shtml
Carlotta Gall, writing for The New York Times, reports, “President Pervez Musharraf resigned his military post as chief of army staff today, handing over the command stick to his successor in a ceremony at Pakistan’s army headquarters and ending his eight years of military rule.”
Bush Chooses New Economic Adviser
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807C.shtml
Deb Riechmann, of The Associated press, reports, “President Bush announced on Wednesday that Keith Hennessey is his pick to be chairman of the National Economic Council, replacing Al Hubbard, who is joining a growing line of top presidential advisers exiting the White House as the Bush administration heads into its final year.”
US Fire Kills Iraqi Civilians as “Shepherd” Bombs Police
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Agence France-Presse reports, “Nine Iraqis, including three women and a child, were reported killed by US fire while a suicide bomber disguised as a shepherd killed seven people in an attack on police on Tuesday, officials said.” Also, The Associated Press reports that Japan’s parliament voted Wednesday to halt air force’s transport mission in Iraq.
VA’s Performance on Benefits Slips
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Chris Adams, reporting for McClatchy Newspapers, writes, “The Department of Veterans Affairs fell farther behind this year in its attempts to give veterans timely decisions on their disability claims, new records show.”
Robert Reich: Consumer-Driven Culture Killing Our Democracy
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807F.shtml
Terrence McNally, from AlterNet, writes, “Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich believes we are all suffering from this split agenda – as consumers we want low prices, while as citizens we may oppose corporate behaviors that make them possible. And he believes – at least on a national scale – our citizen selves are losing.”
Is ElBaradei a Trustworthy Arbiter?
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Le Figaro’s star foreign service reporter, Renaud Girard, reviews AIEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei’s character and record to determine whether his judgments concerning Iran’s nuclear program should be trusted.
Catherine Collins and Douglas Frantz | The Proliferation Game
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Catherine Collins and Douglas Frantz, of TomDispatch, write: “Globalization, what a concept. You can get a burger prepared your way practically anywhere in the world. The Nike Swoosh appears at elite athletic venues across the United States and on the skinny frames of t-shirted children playing in the streets of Calcutta. For those interested in buying an American automobile – a word of warning – it is not so unusual to find more ‘American content’ in a Japanese car than one built by Detroit’s Big Three.”
Hounding the Bush Dogs
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From In These Times, Adam Doster reports: “Mark Pera is not one to back down from a challenge. The son of a steelworker, Pera toiled in Northwest Indiana’s mills to put himself through college and law school. As a Cook County assistant state’s attorney, he worked on environmental criminal prosecution and public utility regulation, diligently fighting special interests. Now the broad-shouldered, 52-year-old father of four is setting his sights on the 2008 Democratic primary in Illinois’ 3rd congressional district, which encompasses southwest Chicago and nearby suburbs. By the looks of it, he’s not messing around.”
Head of Rove inquiry under investigation for erasing files; US military “feels terrible” about continuing to kill Iraqi civilians; Steve Biddulph writes about the imminent demise of Australia’s Liberal Party; seven species have endangered status restored; presidential hopefuls have mixed bag of energy policy proposals; corn-based ethanol “has gone from panacea to pariah”; US transnationals leaving unions out; what went wrong with GreenStone women’s radio?; dioxin plume discovered downstream from Dow Chemical plant; and more … Browse our continually updating front page at www.truthout.org
Rove Investigator Destroyed Computer Records
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807R.shtml
The Wall Street Journal’s John R. Wilke reports: “The head of the federal agency investigating Karl Rove’s White House political operation is facing allegations that he improperly deleted computer files during another probe, using a private computer-help company, Geeks on Call.”
US Military Kills Civilians in Iraq, Apologizes
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807S.shtml
Leila Fadel, McClatchy Newspapers, reports: “For the second day in a row, US soldiers on Tuesday killed Iraqi civilians when they fired on a vehicle that they thought was a threat, the US military said.”
Steve Biddulph | The Party’s Over for Australia’s Liberals
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807T.shtml
Steve Biddulph of The Sydney Morning Herald says, “The Liberal Party is in trauma. The corporate sector is attempting to calm its nerves, and even the victors in the Labor Party cannot quite believe the seismic change in the landscape of power. But the ramifications of last Saturday may be much greater than just one election won or lost. In a way that seems unthinkable to us now, 2007 may mark the end of the Liberal Party itself.”
Reversal of Endangered Species Rulings
www.truthout.org/issues_06/112807EA.shtml
The Associated Press reports: “The US Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday reversed seven rulings that denied endangered species increased protection, after an investigation found the actions were tainted by political pressure from a former senior Interior Department official.”
In US Presidential Race, a Glut of Oil Promises
www.truthout.org/issues_06/112807EB.shtml
Edmund L. Andrews, The International Herald Tribune, writes: “As oil prices flirt with record highs, hovering around $94 a barrel Wednesday, the Democratic and Republican US presidential candidates are offering few quick fixes but profoundly different long-term approaches to energy policy.”
Ethanol Craze Cools as Doubts Multiply
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The Wall Street Journal’s Lauren Etter says, “Little over a year ago, ethanol was winning the hearts and wallets of both Main Street and Wall Street, with promises of greater US energy independence, fewer greenhouse gases and help for the farm economy. Today, the corn-based biofuel is under siege.”
American Transnationals Keep Undermining Trade Union Growth
www.truthout.org/issues_06/112807LA.shtml
Writing in Political Affairs, the Socialist Voice says, “A recent large-scale survey by the University of Limerick, which examined the patterns of trade union recognition among transnational corporations in Ireland, points to a growing trend of union avoidance among already unionized companies, which are establishing new sites on a non-union basis.”
David Morris | An Electrifying Thought for Ford’s St. Paul Plant
www.truthout.org/issues_06/112807LB.shtml
In the Minneapolis Star Tribune, David Morris says, “In these pages two years ago I urged the Ford Motor Co. to make its St. Paul Ranger plant the centerpiece for a bold new transportation initiative – a battery-powered vehicle, charged from a household socket, with a backup biofueled engine…. At the time Ford was uninterested, and worse.”
The GreenStone Story: Radio That Talked to Women
www.truthout.org/issues_06/112807WA.shtml
Writing for The Women’s Media Center, Kristal Brent Zook reports: “On September 12, 2006, GreenStone Media threw a star-studded soiree for the official, public launch of its female-targeted radio network at New York City’s Museum of Television and Radio. Named prominently on the invitation were co-founders of the venture, Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem, who, together with activist and writer Robin Morgan, had spun GreenStone off from the not-for-profit Women’s Media Center, founded two years earlier. The buzz was thick, the mood crackling with expectation.”
Dioxin Plume Could Be Worst Ever in US
www.truthout.org/issues_06/112807HA.shtml
The Associated Press reports: “A find of dioxin at the bottom of the Saginaw River could be the highest level of such contamination ever discovered in the nation’s rivers and lakes, according to a federal scientist involved in cleanup efforts downstream from a Dow Chemical Co. plant.”
VIDEO: John Lewis on Iraq and Civil Rights
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112807A.shtml
Civil rights pioneer and Congressman John Lewis sat down with Truthout’s Geoff Millard to talk about both Iraq and today’s civil rights resurgence.
Go directly to our issues page: www.truthout.org/issues.shtml |
