contributions

by Nature Medicine
Condoms are ineffective in the fight against AIDS. Abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. An emergency contraceptive, recommended as safe and effective by two independent scientific advisory panels, is not approved for over- the-counter status in the United States.
These are just a few of the positions the current US administration has taken, in each case ignoring scientific evidence to the contrary. It arrived at these conclusions by either disbanding (…)

By CONN HALLINAN
Behind a recent, highly controversial indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Bush administration is maneuvering to revive military ties with the Indonesian Army (TNI), one of the world’s most oppressive institutions.
In late June, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft convinced a federal grand jury to indict Anthonuis Wamang for a 2002 ambush in West Papua that killed two Americans, an Indonesian, and wounded 12 others. The indictment identifies Wamang as a (…)

by Robert Thompson
We have at last watched this brilliant film, which, as my wife has since said, should be compulsory viewing for every single voter in the U.S.A., and I hope that as many of you as possible have seen it.
Having been made aware by so many of you of the deliberate misinformation spread across the U.S.A. by media subject to the control of the neo-cons, and their failure to tell the public so much of what goes on in the word, we obviously do not know how much was known on (…)

by Arianna Huffington
The passion invested by the Democratic faithful in taking back the White House has meant that not enough has been said about the imperative of taking back control of the place John Kerry will hopefully be leaving - the United States Senate.
If Kerry is the next occupant of the Oval Office, he will need legislative muscle to undo the disastrous policies of the Bush administration, which have damaged our economy, degraded our environment, added millions to the roll of (…)

NEW Zealand’s military personnel in Iraq will be home Saturday, Defence Minister Mark Burton said in a statement Thursday.
The 61 army engineers, who have been based in Basra in southern Iraq, were due to leave by the end of the month after a year long deployment.
They are to be flown out on a military Boeing 757 and be greeted by Prime Minister Helen Clark at Ohakea base, north of here.
Clark earlier said it was unlikely any further deployments would be made.
"I can’t see that at (…)

Former US President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday said bloodshed in Iraq "would be tremendously reduced" if Iraqis knew U.S. troops were not there to stay.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday he hopes the United States will withdraw its troops from Iraq next year, if Iraqis are able to govern themselves by then.
Carter said bloodshed in the country "would be tremendously reduced" if Iraqis knew U.S. troops were not there to stay.
The former (…)

By Arnon Regular, Amos Harel and Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondents and AP
Some 15 Palestinians, a number of police officers and an Israel Defense Forces officer were wounded Wednesday morning in clashes during a protest against the construction of the separation barrier in the West Bank village of Budrus located near Modi’in.
Palestinians reported five of the casualties suffered head wounds, including a small boy. The IDF officer and a number of police officers were lightly wounded by (…)

By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad
The US has detained for far too long Iraqi scientists arrested last year in the belief that they would provide information about Saddam Hussein’s WMD, according to an Iraqi government source.
Even when US investigators concluded that no such weapons existed the scientists were not freed because the Americans feared their release would be seen as a tacit admission that Iraq had no WMD. This may explain why the US embassy in Iraq is determined to detain Dr (…)

by Louise Walker & Sue Bolton
Over the last few months, Howard’s Coalition government has been lobbying big business about the dangers of the ALP’s industrial relations policy giving trade unions “too much power”. Labor workplace relations shadow minister Craig Emerson has responded by telling employers that the ALP’s industrial relations changes won’t give unions much in the way of extra power, while telling unions that they will have much increased rights.
On August 6, the NSW (…)

By CHRIS HEDGES
Monroe Township, N.J.
WHEN Sue Niederer heard that Laura Bush was planning to speak in nearby Hamilton, N.J., she went to the local Republican headquarters, showed various forms of identification and took a ticket. Along with hundreds of Bush supporters, she found a spot in the Colonial Fire Hall last Thursday morning before the first lady was introduced.
But Mrs. Niederer, 55, had no intention of chanting praise for Mrs. Bush or her husband. Clutching an Army cap and a (…)