contributions

– Developing countries demand share of control US says urge to censor underlies calls for reform
by Richard Wray
A battle has erupted over who governs the internet, with America demanding to maintain a key role in the network it helped create and other countries demanding more control.
The European commission is warning that if a deal cannot be reached at a meeting in Tunisia next month the internet will split apart.
At issue is the role of the US government in overseeing the (…)

Michael P. Wright — Norman, Oklahoma, USA mpwright9@aol.com
The newspaper of the University of Oklahoma is eager to put an end to speculation that bomber Joel Hinrichs, who killed himself in an explosion not far from a packed football stadium on October 1, was associated with terrorism. The Oklahoma Daily is following signals from OU President David Boren, mentor of George Tenet. Boren is extremely worried that terrorism fears would cause ticket sales and donations to the athletic (…)

by Jason Leopold
Cheney’s role in CIA outing not known
Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is trying to determine whether Vice President Dick Cheney had a role in the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame-Wilson, individuals close to Fitzgerald say. Plame’s husband was a vocal critic of prewar intelligence used by President George W. Bush to build support for the Iraq war.
The investigation into who leaked the officer’s name to reporters has now turned toward a little known (…)

Dear Mike,
You asked what Bush has done to make things better for the majority of the countries citizens. Name even ONE THING you said.
I think that Bush has, through his cronies at Diebold and ES&S and Sequoia, managed one feat to make it EASIER for the majority of U.S. Citizens.
He’s made it easier for the 53% of lazy asses that don’t go to the polls to justify screwing off the elections. After all, Karl Rove can just sit in the White House basement and dial up the central (…)

They do say that appearances can be deceptive. Perhaps whoever coined the phrase had the foresight to have the Cannabis Man in mind.
Here is a man who works seven days a week, works out five times a week and has been growing his precious plants for thirteen years whenever time allowed.
Not once in thirteen years has he sold so much as a leaf. All he has done in that time is learn everything there is to know about the weed; experimenting on himself; examining health benefits; testing (…)

Congressman Ron Paul has accused the Bush administration of attempting to set in motion a militarized police state in America by enacting gun confiscation martial law provisions in the event of an avian flu pandemic. Paul also slammed as delusional and dangerous plans to invade Iran, Syria, North Korea and China.
Ron Paul represents the 14th Congressional district of Texas. He also serves on the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, and the International Relations (…)

My son returned from Iraq last weekend after a year’s service. I confess to breathing much easier now that he is out of that quagmire.
I have a personal request for all of you George W. Bush supporters and Christian warhawks: please do not support my troop. I have visions and aspirations of having him around, seeing him settle down and start a family at some point, and being near as I grow older. Your support would mean that he would be sent back to this war started and continued on lies (…)

When Robert Davis emerged from the temporary detention center in New Orleans, his eye was swollen nearly shut, his face was bruised, and he had a couple of stitches under his left eye. He told The NewStandard that police had beaten him and then charged him with public intoxication and battery, even though he had not had a drink in 25 years and had merely asked a police officer to leave him alone.
The 64-year-old retired elementary school teacher sat sadly in a chair Sunday morning outside (…)

The lack of critical media coverage at the beginning of the Iraq War is widely acknowledged. But the media’s failure to cover Iraqi voices of opposition is arguably a greater default.
The mainstream media convey the impression that there are two categories of Iraqis—the handful of fanatical jihadist terrorists and the majority who showed their yearning to be free during January’s election. In this paradigm, our troops are seen as defending, even cultivating, a nascent democracy. Not (…)

Soldiers brandishing automatic weapons, a defining characteristic of life in Third World dictatorships, have become commonplace at airports, bus and train stations, government offices and highway checkpoints since 9/11. Now troops are becoming our first responders to situations, such as natural disasters and flu outbreaks, which normally fall under civilian jurisdiction.
Everything’s gone topsy-turvy: The National Guard, charged with keeping order here at home and legally under the control (…)