contributions

Although the majority of the media and the American public have moved on, Bernard Ellis says there are less-visible throngs of people who are still trying to make sense of last November’s presidential election.
"I’m convinced that a host of laws were broken - both small and large laws - in the 2004 elections," Ellis says.
Ellis, a Tennessee public health epidemiologist with 30 years experience in the field, will speak 7-9 p.m. Monday at Austin Peay State University’s Morgan University (…)

We lived through dark days under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. When the regime fell, people wanted a new life: a life without shackles and terror; a life where we could rebuild our country and enjoy its natural wealth. Instead, our communities have been attacked with chemicals and cluster bombs, and our people tortured, raped and killed in our homes.
Saddam’s secret police used to creep over the roofs into our homes at night; occupation troops now break down our doors in broad daylight. (…)

The mysterious death of a third soldier with North Carolina ties is raising questions. All three died from flu-like symptoms after returning from overseas deployments, according to a report by affiliate station WRAL.
Sgt. Clay Garton was a flight medic at Fort Bragg. He spent 16 months in Iraq and returned home in July. Then, he got sick.
His family said he had symptoms like the flu. He fought it for three weeks, but his fever soared to 106 degrees. The day after Christmas, he died. (…)

Part I - Part III
Imagine
Imagine there’s no heaven, It’s easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine all the people living for today...
Imagine there’s no countries, It isn’t hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, No religion too, Imagine all the people living life in peace...
Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man, Imagine all the people Sharing all the world...
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the (…)

Excerpts/Highlights from Lynne Stewarts Speech, February 17th, at the Community Church of New York (Hall of Worship) at 40 East 35th Street.
(Lynne enters to a standing ovation, wild cheers, and applause--- audience chants, “No justice, no peace!”)
...I came down from Harlem where I spoke at a rally. I spoke on the radio this morning to Portland, and on our own WBAI.
(cheering)
Tuesday night we were on the way home. We were at the drugstore, and who comes on the radio, but my friend (…)

We were delighted to receive a phone call yesterday, February 15, from Camilo Mejia, letting us know that he has just been released from prison. Some of you might remember Camilo, a courageous soldier who spent more than 7 years in the military, 8 months fighting in Iraq, came home for a 2-week furlough, and decided that he could not-in good conscience-return to Iraq. He applied for Conscientious Objector status, and was declared a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International. But the US (…)

by US Rep. Bernie Sanders
The following is a 2/16/2005 floor statement by Rep. Bernard Sanders in opposition to The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act 2005:
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I think we can all agree that we do not want our children exposed to obscenity on the public airwaves. That goes without saying.
As someone who last year voted in favor of similar legislation, I am increasingly alarmed by the culture of censorship that seems to be (…)

By James Sturke
Greenpeace campaigners, not a group of people unaccustomed to flying in the face of danger, were forced into a tactical retreat yesterday after feeling the wrath of angry oil traders.
On the day the Kyoto Protocol came into force, 35 eco-warriors stormed the Interna- tional Petroleum Exchange [IPE] in the City. Armed with fog horns, rape alarms and whistles they tried to stall business by creating a deafening noise that made it impossible for the traders to work. But the (…)

Even though we have George Bush’s pledge that, "We’re not going to have a draft, period," the draft-age men of his home state, Texas, are apparently not so confident that he’ll keep his word if the statistics compiled by the Selective Service System (SSS) are to be believed. Since 1999, the SSS has been issuing a state-by-state report card on selective service registration compliance that shows the Lone Star state’s compliance has been consistently below the national average.
In 1999, (…)

Carl Webb is very clear about what he is doing: "I’m refusing to go to war because I do not believe the U.S. is on the right track. I think this war is not about liberating people, it’s about oppressing them. It’s a war that’s being fought for profit."
Webb is a 38-year-old African Amer ican antiwar activist from Austin, Texas. He is also a fugitive with a federal warrant out for his arrest—for refusing to participate in the war against the people of Iraq.
Webb, who is active with Austin (…)