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Governments

  • A U.S. view: So this is how democracy dies
    1 January 2006 par (Open-Publishing)
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    This is the land of the free and the home of the brave? This is the “democracy” we’re killing people to spread around the world? by Keith Gottschalk
    Sorry to interrupt what has been a very entertaining election season in Canada this holiday period, but I regret to inform you that your neighbour’s house is on fire.
    As reported by Ron Hutcheson of the Knight Ridder new service on Tuesday: A defiant President Bush said he didn’t need explicit permission from Congress or the courts to (…)

  • American Jews’ split personality
    1 January 2006 par (Open-Publishing)
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    By Avi Beker
    The attack by AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S., on the Bush administration over its handling of the Iranian nuclear question, is unprecedented. It took the shape of a broad media campaign that included press releases and targeted members of Congress. Last week the Washington Post, which is read by the top political echelon in the capital, noted that this is the first time that AIPAC has issued broad and open criticism of the Bush administration. In a background paper (…)

  • It Wasn’t All Bad
    1 January 2006 par (Open-Publishing)

    by Katha Pollitt
    All year long it’s been one piece of bad news after another, but now it’s time to put on the rose-colored glasses and list some of the good things that happened in 2005. I had to e-mail about fifty people to come up with these items, but that’s OK. Keeping you cheerful is part of my job. I mean, the war could be wrong, but the Iraqi elections could still be good. So fill that glass half full with whatever and...and...well, just drink it.
    1. The Bush Administration is on (…)

  • Predictions for 2006
    1 January 2006 par (Open-Publishing)

    by Alec Baldwin
    My prediction for 2006 is a multiple, all connected politically. I predict that another barrage of fierce storms and hurricanes will so disturb the American people, that the Democrats will take the Senate in the ’06 election and whittle away at the House in those races as well. Whether those storms can be attributed to global warming conditions or more normal meterological cycles will not matter. Americans typically arrive, albeit slowly at times, at the sensible conclusion (…)

  • The year in politics
    1 January 2006 par (Open-Publishing)

    Bush began 2005 celebrating his electoral victory and proclaiming a "turning point" in Iraq. But in every crisis he faced this year — from Terri Schiavo to Hurricane Katrina to Iraq — the tide turned against him
    By Sidney Blumenthal
    Dec. 29, 2005 | In his second inaugural address, George W. Bush four times summoned the image of fire — "a day of fire," "we have lit a fire," "fire in the minds of men," and "untamed fire." Over the course of the first year of his second term, all four of (…)

  • Happy New Year! What, no terror alerts?
    1 January 2006 par (Open-Publishing)
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    If anybody needs any more proof of how phony the Bushies’ war on terror is, all one had to do was go out on New Year’s Eve or watch the festivities in NY or elsewhere.
    Everywhere, people were reveling, partying and generally having a grand time. What was missing from this year’s festivities were the fascist federal government’s phony terror alerts.
    What, were the terrorists taking a vacation? The right-wing loonies will tell us that our beneficient federales are doing such a bang-up job (…)

  • Happy New Year! MSNBC Poll Says 86% Favor Impeachment
    1 January 2006 par (Open-Publishing)

    Happy New Year! MSNBC Poll Says 86% Favor Impeachment MSNBC poll now, at this link, with 184,866 responses (as I write this)...... The online question: "Do you believe President Bush’s actions justify impeachment?"
    The 184,866 responses:
    "Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial. 86%
    No, like any president, he has made a few missteps, but nothing approaching ’high crimes and misdemeanors.’ 4%
    No, the man (…)

  • Chad angry at World Bank over oil
    1 January 2006 par (Open-Publishing)
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    Chad has reacted angrily to warnings from the World Bank, after its parliament voted to relax controls on the use of its oil revenues.
    The government has accused the World Bank of acting like a coloniser.
    The body lent Chad more than $39m (£23m) to build a pipeline with an estimated total cost of almost $4bn.
    It was on condition that Chad’s churches, trade unions and non-governmental organisations monitored how oil revenues were spent.
    This was meant to guaranteed that oil money was (…)

  • POLITICS-IRAQ: US-Shiite Struggle Could Spin out of Control
    1 January 2006 par (Open-Publishing)

    by Gareth Porter*
    WASHINGTON, (IPS) - The George W. Bush administration has embarked on a new effort to pressure Iraq’s militant Shiite party leaders to give up their control over internal security affairs that could lead the Shiites to reconsider their reliance on U.S. troops.
    The looming confrontation is the result of U.S. concerns about the takeover of the Interior Ministry by Shiites with close ties to Iran, as well as the impact of officially sanctioned sectarian violence against (…)

  • Chilean Judge Strips Pinochet of Immunity
    1 January 2006 par (Open-Publishing)

    By EDUARDO GALLARDO
    SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet was stripped of his legal immunity Friday to face charges of diverting public funds to personal bank accounts.
    Judge Juan Escobar, president of the Santiago Court of Appeals, said his tribunal voted 21-3 to remove the immunity Pinochet enjoys as a former president.
    Friday’s decision is part of a wider corruption-related legal process in which Pinochet also lost immunity against charges of tax evasion and (…)