contributions

by Anne-Marie Cusac
What if Republican shenanigans tip the election? Many members of the media are looking at the dangers voting machines may pose to the integrity of the national election. Others are wondering whether voters may be disenfranchised by use of faulty felon lists, as happened in Florida in 2000. But there is another danger: Republicans may use a variety of tactics to suppress the vote of racial minorities in swing states. These tactics could determine control of the White (…)

By JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
Coda: The House Rules
Even Laura couldn’t stop him. By most inside accounts, the first lady opposed the war on Iraq. She told Bob Woodward on the eve of the war that she found the prospect of the invasion horrifying. Later she whispered to others of being repulsed by the killing of Iraqi children and American soldiers. Generally, Bush cleaves to Laura like a security blanket. Since 1988, he hasn’t spent more than two consecutive nights away from her. Still, he denied (…)

US Policy Now Affects Every Citizen on the Planet. So We Should All Have a Say in Who Gets to the White House
by Jonathan Freedland
There were few pleasures to be had following Bob Dole’s doomed presidential campaign in 1996, but one was the unique brand of anti-charm adopted by the candidate. I was once on the receiving end of it myself, during a stop in New Hampshire. Dole had just inspected a factory and a huddle of reporters gathered to ask some questions. I was only three words into (…)

By KIM HOUSEGO
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A British hostage appeared on a video posted on an Islamic Web site Wednesday weeping and pleading for his life as Iraq’s leader and U.S. officials crushed reports that a high-profile female Iraqi weapons scientist could be released from jail soon - as demanded by the kidnappers. The captive, Kenneth Bigley, appealed to British Prime Minister Tony Blair to intervene. "I think this is possibly my last chance," he said. "I don’t want to die."
Bigley (…)

United States military prosecutors have dropped an espionage charge against a Syrian-American airman accused of carrying messages for detainees at the Guantanamo naval base in Cuba.
Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the charge today at court martial proceedings in California after Airman Ahmad al Halabi agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges.
The Associated Press reports the lesser charges include photographing the prison and later lying about the photos, and taking home a classified (…)

By Alan Elsner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Millions of U.S. citizens, including a disproportionate number of black voters, will be blocked from voting in the Nov. 2 presidential election because of legal barriers, faulty procedures or dirty tricks, according to civil rights and legal experts.
The largest category of those legally disenfranchised consists of almost 5 million former felons who have served prison sentences and been deprived of the right to vote under laws that have roots in the (…)

Israel challenges Iran’s nuclear ambitions
By Anton La Guardia
Israel admitted yesterday that it is buying 500 "bunker-buster" bombs, which could be used to hit Iran’s nuclear facilities, as Teheran paraded ballistic missiles as a warning against attack.
The BLU-109 bombs, which can penetrate more than 7ft of reinforced concrete, are among "smart" munitions being sold to Israel under America’s military aid programme.
The US and Israeli governments did not comment publicly but Israeli (…)

by ALEX MAR
Yusuf Islam, who scored several Top Ten hits in the Seventies as Cat Stevens before leaving the business to devote himself to Islam, was denied entry into the U.S. yesterday, because his name was on several border protection watch lists. Islam’s plane, en route to Washington from London, was rerouted to Bangor, Maine, where the artist was detained for questioning.
After recording rock classics like "Wild World" and "Moonshadow," he quit the music industry in 1977, adopted a (…)

Ernesto Guevara - a revolutionary in the making
by Maarten Vanheuverswyn
“Always be capable of feeling deep inside any injustice committed against anyone anywhere in the world. It is the finest quality of a revolutionary.”
Che Guevara
The Motorcycle Diaries, the recently released film on Ernesto Che Guevara, is an exciting adaptation of Guevara’s writings of the same name. Also based on Alberto Granado’s memoirs Travelling With Che Guevara, Che’s travelling companion, the director (…)

by DAVID DISHNEAU
CUMBERLAND, Md. - When Army reservists from the 372nd Military Police Company are welcomed home Friday at a belated public ceremony, the loudest cheers will likely come from the local chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America, who say they’re heeding their vow to never again let one generation of veterans be shunned by another.
Seven members of the 372nd were accused of abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and the Vietnam vets say they want the community to embrace the (…)