contributions

by DAVE ZIRIN
"Years ago, I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth.... While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free." —Eugene V. Debs
These words of the fabled social activist also define the life of NFL hall of famer and actor Jim Brown. He has mediated truces between the toughest gangs in Los Angeles and (…)

by Gregory Wilpert
Caracas, Venezuela, December 4, 2005-Chavez’s party, the Movement for the Fifth Republic (MVR), won 114 or 68% of the 167 seats in the new National Assembly, according to preliminary results that MVR deputy William Lara announced this evening. Pro-Chavez parties won all 167 seats in the new National Assembly.
The President of Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), Jorge Rodriguez, said that with 79% of the voting center results examined, voter turnout so far was (…)

The campaign of Bolivian indigenous leader Evo Morales is lending hope to the region’s poor but increasingly assertive underclass.
By Jimmy Langman
Dec. 12, 2005 issue - On the ballot, he is listed as Sixto Jumpiri, one more candidate in the Bolivian national elections later this month. But to the Aymara and Quechua Indians of the Bolivian highlands, he is better known as Apu Mallku, or Supreme Leader. Not long ago, that millennial honorific might have sounded quaint. Today, traditional (…)

The New Old Strategery for Failed Victory
By Peter Fredson
December 5, 2005
After a recent Bush speech to Annapolis Cadets the Pentagon announced a “growing consensus” to cut down on the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.
It seems to me a stronger statement would have been that, in view of very strong criticism, Bush is now, at least, considering doing “something” about the Iraq quagmire. He’s not considering doing very much but is pulling out all emotional stops to defend his (…)

Nov 27, 2005 by egrass, Stevegilliard.blogspot.com [Excerpt]
I’m back from Thanksgiving with my wife’s family and I’ve got some first-hand feedback from the troops on Iraq, leaving Iraq, and Murtha.
You see, my wife is a former military officer and her brother is an active-duty Major, decorated Army Ranger, and West Point graduate with more than 15 years in and about to ship out to Afghanistan. My wife is a good liberal on military issues, while my brother-in-law has always been a (…)

Deeper into the Wilkes/MZM scandals (Updated) (Note: If you came here by way of LiePar Destin’s excellent piece in Kos, you may want to read "Wilkes: The Invisible Empire" first. Also, I’m happy to report that this blockbuster piece on Wilkes in the San Diego Union Tribune strengthens the thesis presented here.) The good news is that reporters working for the mainstream media have caught on — in part. They understand that Randy "Duke" Cunningham is hardly the only Republican (…)

Baghad - Iraq’s largest Sunni Muslim party called Saturday for the release of Western hostages in Iraq, saying such kidnappings tarnish the image of Islam and will have negative effect on those who call for ending the U.S. military presence.
The Iraqi Islamic party cited the four members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams - two Canadians, a Briton and an American - who were taken hostage in Baghdad on Nov. 26. The kidnappers have threatened to kill them on Thursday if Iraqi (…)

The Ping-Pong Ball Theory:
I believe that there are tremendous stresses being built up in the Earth’s crust due to Global Warming. I further believe that this will trigger numerous earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, even in volcanoes long thought dormant.
How could Global Warming, heating of the atmosphere, trigger events deep in the Earth, you ask?
Consider the Earth like a giant ping-pong ball. If you squeeze it on two sides with your fingers, the sides at ninety degree (…)

Michael P. Wright — Norman, Oklahoma, USA mpwright9@aol.com
See the website of the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, in Oklahoma City.
Edwin Corr and CIA agent David Edger are good friends of University of Oklahoma president David Boren, the former U.S. Senator widely known as the mentor and patron of George Tenet. The Institute website is lying about Edger when it says he arrived at OU in 2004. Edger actually was brought to OU a few weeks before the 9/11 (…)

Bush Wows at Annapolis
By Peter Fredson
December 4, 2005
President George W. Bush gave an eloquent and emotional speech at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland recently to another captive audience of bright and shiny cadets, plus enough admirals, generals and politicians to let the public think that someone with some sense was backing him up.
He included a 35-page policy paper "OUR NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR VICTORY IN IRAQ," a rehash of his arguments for the past 3 years, including (…)