contributions

Tomgram: The CIA’s La Dolce Vita War on Terror
The Spies Who Came In from the Hot Tub
Be All That You Can Charge
By Tom Engelhardt
Like so much else in our moment, it contravened laws the U.S. had once signed onto, pretzeled the English language, went directly to the darkside, was connected to various administration lies and manipulations that preceded the invasion of Iraq, and was based on taking the American taxpayer to the cleaners. I’m talking about a now-notorious Bush (…)

Former Agents Criticize Bush Over CIA Leak
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush’s failure to take action against a top aide involved in the outing of a covert CIA operative sends the wrong message’’ overseas, former U.S. intelligence officials said on Friday.
At a hearing sponsored by Democrats, the retired agents said U.S. intelligence gathering had been damaged by the leak of Valerie Plame’s name two years ago after her husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson, criticized the White (…)

The Labor Movement: It’s More than We Bargain for
by Kim Fellner
The battle over labor’s future is heading toward a showdown at the AFL-CIO Convention, beginning Monday July 25th in Chicago. But the confrontation pitting a team of insurgent unions led by the Service Employees International Union against the AFL-CIO establishment is shaping up to be organizationally bloody, but spiritually bloodless. We’re fighting for the heart and soul of the labor movement as though we had neither. (…)

Big Labor Split Now Seems Certain:
Four of Six "Change-to-Win" Unions to Boycott AFL-CIO Convention
by Jerry Tucker
In a meeting held late Sunday afternoon, the leaders and delegates from the rival "Change-to-Win" (CTW) faction of the ALF-CIO announced their intentions with regard to participation in the AFL-CIO Convention, scheduled to convene tomorrow, Monday July 25 in Chicago.
The presidents of all six CTW unions, SEIU, Unite-HERE, Teamsters, UFCW, Laborers, and UFW participated (…)

US union movement ’faces split’
Four of the largest trade unions in the US are boycotting a convention by their umbrella organisation, in what is seen as a prelude to pulling out.
The four unions say the umbrella AFL-CIO has not done enough to halt the decline in union membership in the US.
They are among seven dissident unions representing a third of the AFL-CIO’s 13 million members - and $35m in dues.
Experts say a split in US labour could hurt the Democratic party, which generally (…)

UK pension ’near lowest in West’
Britain’s state pension is one of the lowest among the richest nations, a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development claims.
In a comparison of pensions in OECD countries, Britain’s state pension ranks 26th out of 30 in the percentage of average post-tax salary it pays out.
A Briton on average pay of £22,000 could expect their pension to be less than 48% of their post-tax earnings.
The average pay-out from other advanced (…)

Police gun down worker in London subway: another tragic consequence of Blair’s war policy
The public state execution of Jean Charles de Menezes in a London subway carriage on July 22 marks a watershed.
England, the country of the Magna Carta, is now one in which innocent civilians can be shot dead on the capital’s streets at the discretion of the police, without any explanation, much less justification, and with the only outcome being a brief statement of regret.
Eyewitnesses have (…)

The powers that be are taking us down another notch towards a total police state. What should cause public outrage is being swept aside as par for the course in today’s world of terror attacks.
London police just chased down a man and shot him- after they had him detained and he did NOT appear to be a threat.
He was pinned down on the floor and shot through the head five times- is that ok with you?!
If he had a bomb strapped on him, why didn’t the police remove his coat to prove it? (…)

Audio Interview with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., conducted by Between the Lines’ Melinda Tuhus Broadcast-quality MP3 for fast connection only download (28MB)
Near CD-quality MP3 for dialup or fast connection download (14MB). _ Interview with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., conducted by Melinda Tuhus
Rep. Barbara Lee Introduces Bill That Would Prohibit Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq
California Rep. Barbara Lee — the only member of Congress to vote against authorizing President (…)

Former foreign secretary Robin Cook has said the invasion of Iraq had "undoubtedly" boosted terrorism around the world.
Mr Cook, who quit the Cabinet over his opposition to the war, said that unless the Government addressed the issue it would struggle to win over young Muslims in Britain.
He stressed that he was not arguing that the attacks on London would not have occurred if Britain had not joined the invasion.
However he said intelligence agencies had warned Tony Blair on the eve of (…)