Greenwald: The Truth About Telecom Amnesty21 Oct 2007Today I interviewed Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the lead counsel in the pending litigation against AT&T, alleging that AT&T violated multiple federal laws by providing (without warrants) unfettered access for the Bush administration to all telephone and Internet data concerning its customers. The Bush administration intervened in that lawsuit to argue that the “state secrets” doctrine compelled dismissal of the lawsuit, but the presiding judge, Bush 41-appointee Vaughn Walker, last year rejected that argument and ordered the case to proceed (Oral Argument on the administration’s appeal of that ruling was heard by the 9th Circuit earlier this year).
Austin: When words are weapons20 Oct 2007Transcribed by Matt Espinoza Watson Sherman Austin first gained national attention in 2002 when the FBI ransacked his home and eventually held him in 24 hour lockdown in connection with internet activity. After a maze of interrogations and court proceedings from LA to New York, Sherman served one year in Federal Detention, mostly in Arizona.
Wendland: Turks and Kurds Protest Invasion Policy20 Oct 2007Protests erupted this past week in Turkey and Iraq over Turkey’s decision to authorize an invasion of Iraq in order to fight Kurdish separatists. In addition to the Kurdish Parties in Turkey, both the Labor Party of Turkey and the Communist Party of Turkey rejected a bill put forward by Prime Minister Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party to authorize an invasion of Iraq to pursue Kurdish separatists affiliated with the Kurdish Workers’ Party or PKK.
Brecher: Watada’s Double Jeopardy19 Oct 2007The double jeopardy clause of the US Constitution ensures that no American can be tried twice for the same offense. But at a time when our civil liberties are rapidly eroding, a drama is unfolding in Washington State over whether that constitutional protection applies to a US soldier.
Gindin: The CAW and Magna: Disorganizing the Working Class19 Oct 2007In the neoconservative Canada of the late 1990s, the labour movement needs to become more militant, less accommodating to the demands of corporations and governments. If this sounds like a return to the days of the 1930s or 1950s, so be it.
Leung: The Human Rights – Economics Connection19 Oct 2007Grand Theft The violence that constitutes the majority of human rights abuses is a result of the dominant powers using force to maintain a status quo of vast inequality. Of the six billion people in the world, half live on less than $2 a day, and a billion of those live on less than $1 a day.
Milmo: Fury at DNA pioneer’s theory: Africans are less intelligent than Westerners18 Oct 2007One of the world’s most eminent scientists was embroiled in an extraordinary row last night after he claimed that black people were less intelligent than white people and the idea that “equal powers of reason” were shared across racial groups was a delusion. James Watson, a Nobel Prize winner for his part in the unravelling of DNA who now runs one of America’s leading scientific research institutions, drew widespread condemnation for comments he made ahead of his arrival in Britain/st1:country-regi.
Danner: The Bush-Aznar Meeting on Iraq18 Oct 2007[See here for the full translated transcript of the Bush-Aznar meeting discussed below.] The only thing that worries me about you is your optimism.
Ireland: Lessons From the ENDA Mess18 Oct 2007Regardless of whether or not Congress, in the days ahead, passes an Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that protects all LGBT people, there are lessons to be drawn from the controversy that has been roiling our community for weeks now. Let’s briefly recall the facts.
Noureddine: Awaiting justice18 Oct 2007Since the US and UK forces invaded Iraq in 2003, an estimated 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes, the majority in the last two years.
Weisbrot: IMF Misses Epoch-Making Changes in the Global Economy18 Oct 2007Finance ministers, bankers, and businessmen will gather in Washington DC this week for the annual Fall Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. As is customary, the IMF is publishing its analysis of the world economy, and this year it has released some research that is sure to cause controversy and provide some fuel for its critics.
Lendman: Nobel Hypocrisy18 Oct 2007Alfred Nobel was a wealthy nineteenth century Swedish-born chemist, engineer, inventor of dynamite, armaments manufacturer and war profiteer who remade his image late in life by establishing the awarding of prizes in his name that includes the one for peace. This most noted award was inspired by his one-time secretary and peace activist, Bertha von Suttner, who was nominated four times and became the first of only 12 women to be honored.
Trigona: Argentina: Priest Imprisoned for Dirty War Crimes18 Oct 2007Former Chaplin Christian Von Wernich was sentenced to life in prison on October 9th in Argentina, for committing crimes against humanity during the nation’s bloody military junta. He is the first catholic priest to be charged with human rights abuses committed during the 1976-1983 military junta, during which an estimated 30,000 people were killed.
Glick: Not Just Our Minds and Hearts but Our Bodies17 Oct 2007It was gratifying, I have to admit, to get a fairly long phone message from Nancy Pelosi’s Policy Director at the end of last week, the latest in a series of back-and-forth calls since I visited Pelosi’s office on the 17th day of my climate emergency fast over three weeks ago. On that day, I visited 15 offices of key people in the House and Senate who are dealing with the global warming issue, making efforts, their staffers indicated, to come up with legislation to address this deepening crisis.
Love: Color of Law17 Oct 2007A group of journalists is determined to seek a fair retrial of death row prisoner, noted journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, and they point to evidence they say provides further proof of his innocence: photos from the crime scene that the jury never had the chance to see. The group, Journalists for Mumia, was founded by Hans Bennett, a Philadelphia journalist, and Dr.
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