contributions

By JOSHUA FRANK
After all they have been through, they still don’t get it. The Democrats are as inept a political opposition as George W. Bush is at running his daddy’s oil companies. DNC Chairman Howard Dean has just finished a long 30-state trip across the country, during which he met with thousands of enthusiastic Democrats looking for some way to challenge the Republican Party.
"There are Democrats everywhere," Dean exclaimed in Vermont on August 8 at the finale of his barn-storming (…)

Without Saddam’s iron fist,can the country called Iraq survive?What chances for partition or even outrite civil war?

No man is an island, entire of itself...any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
John Donne
No woman is an island either. Even if she’s a powerhouse of a woman named Cindy Sheehan. This diary is a collection of news clippings to celebrate some of those who’ve heard the bell toll, and are now answering its call by descending on Camp Casey.
First, a good introduction: The Chattanoogan (…)

William Pitt is blogging live at truthout
The sun is finally beginning to set behind a small line of trees, and the crowd has begun to thin out. The official count for today’s gathering was 705, not counting press. Given the fact that we are in a drainage ditch by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, that is a great number.
It will grow tomorrow again.
Thursday 11 August 2005 6:34 PM
Update: the Saturday rally at the Peace House will be at noon, Texas time. (…)

From Tom Baldwin in Crawford, Texas
GEORGE BUSH loves his Prarie Chapel Ranch in Crawford so much that he has spent almost one fifth of his presidency “taking the pulse of the heartlands” in this big-buckled, open - if not red - necked, beef-eating corner of Texas.
He knows this enthusiasm is not shared by everyone but apparently delights in forcing aides, journalists and, yesterday, even Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld, to do a stint of ranch duty. “I just checked in (…)

by Cindy Sheehan
Today started at 4am when the rain started blowing into my tent and my head and my feet started getting soaked then thunder and lightening came over my tent. I was really frightened for my life, so I abandoned ship and went into Crawford.
By the time we made our way through the floods and got into Crawford, I had a fever, sore throat, and bad headache. So I was made to rest and not have any interviews until noon.
We had a little bit of trouble with locals today. We are (…)

Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denied Palestinian suspicions that Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, due to begin next week, was designed as a swap for permanent control over far bigger settlements in the West Bank.
Sharon has ruled out dialogue on a Palestinian state before Palestinians disarm militants. Palestinians call this demand unrealistic without statehood on the horizon and fear Israeli settlement growth in the West Bank could dash their dreams.
"Gaza is not a tradeoff for the West (…)

This is George Bush’s accountability moment. That’s why I’m here. The mainstream media aren’t holding him accountable. Neither is Congress. So I’m not leaving Crawford until he’s held accountable. It’s ironic, given the attacks leveled at me recently, how some in the media are so quick to scrutinize — and distort — the words and actions of a grieving mother but not the words and actions of the president of the United States.
But now it’s time for him to level with me and with the American (…)

Dear Elected Officials,
When are you all going to take back your constitutional authority from the maniac in the White House? If you all won’t protect us, who willl?
We are seriously screwed and you all sit back and let the administrative branch take away our freedoms and foist criminals on us: people with no humanity or regard for our American Constitution or humanity. People like Alberto Gonzales and John Negroponte and most recently, John Bolton...torturers and murderers, to name a (…)

Moving Back To America: Health Care Overseas Will August 09, 2005 In a few months, I’ll move back to the United States after five years of living abroad. I can’t wait to be home again and to be closer to family and friends. However, there are some annoying administrative details to sort out, the worst of which is researching health care plans for my wife and me. The process is only slightly more enjoyable than a Chlamydia test.
In England, we were covered by National Insurance. While (…)