January 31, 2005
Israel, Palestine and Land
I must admit to a rising level of confusion about what is going on between Israel and Palestine. On one hand you have cease fires followed by attacks followed by cease fires. On the other, you have Israel returning land...
The Power, Military, and Covert Dimensions of a Disaster
By: Mathew Maavak On Sept 1, 1923, a 36-feet high tsunami rose up in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan. This time the tsunami wasn't the major killer in a tragedy that took 140,000 lives. Two thirds...
January 30, 2005
Bad Week for Global Warming News
The last week has not been a good one for news on global warming. In fact, we haven't had any good news for quite some time. A flurry of reports were released - my guess is to coincide with the...
January 29, 2005
Iraq and Hope
People in Iraq will very soon start to vote. There has been tremendous criticism of this election. There are all kinds of problems. There is violence, which is likely to escalate. Polling places are secret as are those who are...
Iraq's Non-Election
By: Jack Dalton 18 months ago, the people of Iraq demanded elections be held in Iraq so they, the Iraqi people, would be able to determine their own future. However, the Bush Brigade initially said no! It was not until...
January 28, 2005
On the Lookout for Good Economic News?
I've been on the lookout for good news about the U.S. economy ... but I can't find any. It goes from grim to grimmer. The US dollar continues to slide, which fuels increasing concerns about international banking shifting away from...
January 26, 2005
Update on Jennifer Dyer: Raped in the Military
By: Jack Dalton For those of you who have been following the case of 1st Lt Jennifer Dyer, the young woman who was sent to Camp Shelby, Ms for pre Iraq deployment training, where she was subsequently raped by 1st...
What Computer System Did the FBI Scrap?
On January 14, 2005, the news came out that FBI may scrap $170 million computer overhaul (Anderson, AP). My eyebrows went up at this news as two questions jumped out at me. First, what software was considering being dumped, and...
January 25, 2005
Tsunamic Calamity -- Media and Individual Disconnectivity
By: Mathew Maavak It was a resplendent afternoon in Goa on Dec 26. Tourists were tripping towards the famed Calangute-Baga beach when fellow vacationer Ashwin Sivakumar stumbled upon the news of a tsunami disaster at a net cafe. Goa, on...
January 24, 2005
Freedom on Steroids
By: John Chuckman A writer at The Times counted 27 references to freedom in Bush's inaugural speech. The speech contained not one reference to his ugly war in Iraq, but for hundreds of thousands of Iraqis the only freedom established...
Right to life
By: Kevin Benderman I have come to the conclusion that the creator does not want us to fight wars or to leave our brothers to die in hunger or disease for we have been given the things we need to...
Iraq - The Video Game
Starting this spring, the Defense Department is sending a robot into combat. Its name is SWORDS - short for Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection System. According to the BBC, starting in April, the US is shipping over 18 of the...
January 22, 2005
To War or Not to War, That is the Question
By: Jack Dalton If there is one thing I understand it is simply this, once one "sees" war up close and personal and you look into the abyss, that "Heart of Darkness" of war; you are forever changed--period. Some become...
January 21, 2005
Death By a Thousand Cuts
I have refrained from ranting for a while, but I think the time has come. I am fighting a losing battle against what I call my "global depression." That is where I look at the world and feel powerless in...
This is Choice
A photographer for the BBC captured the following picture of the Bush inauguration, and it is too apt to pass by. (The photo is posted with Bush plays variations on freedom theme - 1/21/05)...
January 20, 2005
Who's the Biggest Threat?
Who is the biggest threat? Well, it depends on who you ask. If you ask the world, it is Bush and the U.S.. If you listen to the Bush Administration, it is a bit more confusing. During Condoleeza Rice's appearance...
Who is the Enemy?
There is an expanding vocabulary of evil designation morphing out of the Bush Administration. First we had "the axis of evil," then they added "State sponsors of terrorism," and now Rice puts forward "outposts of tyranny." I decided to track...
Protesting Four More Years
Information and action resources (Thanks to Emily at Strangechord for passing on these links) Black Thursday Counter-Inaugural - links for information on what is going on throughout the day. Not One Dime Day Turn Your Back on Bush - links,...
January 19, 2005
The U.S. Army Has Formally Charged Sgt. Kevin Benderman
By: Jack Dalton Sgt. Kevin Benderman, who recently refused deployment a second time to Iraq and had filed Conscientious Objector status paperwork, has been today formally charged with violation of articles 85 and 87 of the Uniform Code of Military...
Condoleeza Rice Passed by Committee
The committee voted 16 to 2 to approve Condoleeza Rice as Secretary of State today. The two dissenting votes were from John Kerry and Barbara Boxer. Go Barbara, and I'm glad Kerry finally found some backbone. The transcript of today's...
January 18, 2005
Rice Confirmation Hearing Transcript: Barbara Boxer's statement and questions
The full transcript of Condoleeza Rice's confirmation hearings in her appointment as Secretary of State are available from the New York Times. Part I is the morning portion from 1/18/05 and Part II is the afternoon session from 1/18/05. I...
January 17, 2005
A Man of Integrity: Sgt. Kevin Benderman - "No To War"
By: Jack Dalton One can only imagine the struggle, the agonizing process Sgt Kevin Benderman has gone through which culminated in his decision to refuse orders for deployment to Iraq a little over a week ago - which would have...
One Man Has Stopped Killing: Hope for More to Do the Same
By Monica Benderman For the past two weeks, my husband Kevin and I have answered questions from reporters, journalists, interested citizens from almost every state in the union, and about 8 foreign countries. After all of these interviews, I have...
Well It's News Now - Iran Supposed Next Target
The timing of the news that the U.S. may attack Iran is too perfect. As the bad news about the upcoming "election" in Iraq mounts, the public needs something to forget (or displace) the importance that was placed by the...
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today is the holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Across the nation there are likely to be endless renditions of "I have a dream." While this is King's most well known speech, it is only one speech. Martin Luther...
January 16, 2005
Support Barbara Boxer's Efforts to Get Some Answers
Senator Barbara Boxer intends to ask Condoleezza Rice some tough questions at her Senate confirmation hearing in the coming days -- questions the American people deserve to have answered: * Why did the United States go to war in Iraq...
Do Voters Approve of Bush's Iraq Policy?
George W. Bush believes that his "winning" the election reflects the public's support of his Iraq policy This belief is no surprise as he also feels he has a mandate to "reform" (corporatize and loot) the government, re-write the constitution,...
January 15, 2005
Tsunami Disaster Entering Next Stages
As the news from the Asian tsunami start to fade from the top of the news, new and old issues arise. The number of dead continues to climb. Recovery efforts move forward, while those injured are getting medical care for...
The News in Brief
There is a lot going on in the world and just not enough time to address it all adequately. So here are some highlights that may have slipped by. After all the hoopla about a new start for Israel-Palestine relations...
January 14, 2005
Not One Damn Dime Day - Jan 20, 2005
You may have seen the following email or not - I have gotten about 10 copies of it, and I think it is a darned good idea. So if you haven't heard about this or gotten an email, think about...
Saving Money on Health Care by Limiting Malpractice Awards? Don't Believe It.
In yet another addition to the bottom line of insurers, big pharma, and the hospital industry, Bush is pushing to cut malpractice awards. Aren't you sick of hearing about the "evil trial lawyers" who are ruining our health care system...
Lying to Your Face
You know we have come to a rather frightening place when someone can tell you they are going to lie to you and they get believed anyway. Such is the case with the Bush Administration's push on Social Security "reform."...
CBS' Cowardice and Conflicts Behind the Purge
By: Greg Palast reprinted with permission Network's Craven Back-Down on Bush Draft Dodge Report Sure to Get a Standing Rove-ation at White House "Independent" my ass. CBS' cowardly purge of five journalists who exposed George Bush's dodging of the Vietnam...
January 12, 2005
How Many More Will it Take - How Many More Will Have to Die?
By: Jack Dalton Andreas Raya, a Marine that had been to Iraq once, and was scheduled to go back to Iraq a second time, has committed suicide--by forcing the police to shoot him in front of a convenience store in...
January 11, 2005
Torture as Government Policy
As US torture of prisoners and detainees resurfaces in the news, and the legitimator of torture, Gonzales, is interviewed to be the Attorney General of the United States, it seems only fitting that the Pentagon plans on sending assassination and...
January 10, 2005
The Debt of a Nation
Oh "debt" is a nasty word when it is a private individual's, but it is even nastier when it is the national debt. The U.S. national debt currently stands at $7.6 trillion and climbing. The Bush agenda calls for more...
January 9, 2005
Tsunami Survivors We Won't Be Seeing
Six tribes (Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Onge, Nicobarese, Sentinelese, and Shompen) live on the Nicobar and Andaman Island chains which are part of India's territories. These tribes have survived the onslaught of Britain's efforts at genocide in the late 1800s and...
January 8, 2005
Challenging the Electoral College Was Not Sour Grapes
I had to work on January 6th so I missed most of the coverage on the Congressional vote on the Electoral College results. What I did hear made me very angry. Thirty-one brave legislators (30 Representatives and one Senator), called...
January 7, 2005
Tsunami Relief Efforts
For those of you from the United States, Bush has signed a package that allows you to claim private donations for relief efforts in SE Asia made in January 2005 deductible on your 2004 taxes. Yesterday (1/06/05) Kofi Annan made...
Senator Edward M. Kennedy Statementat the Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales
January 6, 2005: Senator Edward M. Kennedy Statementat the Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales to be the Attorney General Mr. Gonzales, I join in welcoming you to today's hearing and I commend you on your nomination as Attorney General....
January 6, 2005
What about the Children of Iraq?
By: Jack Dalton|POAC Co-Editor This past week has shown how people of various religions, nationalities, ethnic backgrounds are able to come together to help in a crisis--the victims of the Tsunami in this instance. Tens of thousands of children are...
January 5, 2005
Iraq and the Coming "Election"
Well, aside from Allawi, George Bush & Company, and Tony Blair, most folks are concerned about the January 30th elections in Iraq. Significant portions of the interim government have withdrawn in protest (mostly over the so-called "siege" of Falluja). Back...
January 3, 2005
If You Only Read One Article This Week
If you only read one article in its entirety this week then please read Mike Whitney's CounterPunch piece Injustice as State Policy - The Guantanamo Gulag. It is not only excellent, it is tremendously revealing. He discusses Guantanamo as an...
Profiting from War - By Hook or Crook
The Center For Public Integrity has released its Top Ten War Profiteers of 2004 Report and attached the top ten list with specific issues. Leading the list is Aegis, who got a $293 million Iraq contract even though they had...
January 2, 2005
Tsunami Disaster and the Wealth Divide
I have been struck over and over again by how wealth plays out in this disaster. The pictures we see on TV and the web are largely from tourists who had video cameras. I see the pictures of the missing...
Update on Ko Lanta
There has been a lot of interest in the post The Tsunami from Ko Lanta Thailand. Some people are looking for people they know from the island and area, so check out the comments for that post. From what I...
January 1, 2005
News of the Day: Tsunami, Torture, and Legislative Offenses
Tsunami News: The death toll from the 12/26/04 tsunami heads towards 150,000, and the US raises its commitment to $350 million. However, it is important to realize that the first US offering was not $35 million, but $400,000. Meanwhile, the...
