contributions

By Mike Davis
The decisive battle for the liberation of Europe began sixty years ago this month when a Soviet guerrilla army emerged from the forests and swamps of Belorussia to launch a bold surprise attack on the mighty Wehrmacht’s rear. The partisan brigades, including thousands of Jewish fighters and concentration-camp escapees, devastated the rail lines linking the German Army Group Center to its bases in Poland and Eastern Prussia.
Three days later, on 22 June — the third (…)

Mark Solomon
The war continues to go badly. Violence is surging with mounting civilian and military casualties as occupying forces respond with more lethal force to the increased frequency and growing sophistication of car bombings, mortar attacks and roadside bombs. US forces are stretched thin and the tours of duty of regular army and reservists are being routinely extended - fanning the anger of military families. With thousands of Iraqi dead and injured and with US losses (…)

By SELENA ROBERTS
Less than an off-season since Janet Jackson was busted for her material breach of decency on the Super Bowl stage, Bill Parcells decided to open his flap.
Within weeks after the Dallas Mavericks were chastised for mocking Sacramento in a video skit that depicted the "Queens" in drag, Larry Bird indulged in a TV chat that dragged out an offending thought on race.
Over the past month or so, Shaquille O’Neal has blurted curse words on air, while Steve *&!# (…)

Equitable Pay? Studies Detail How Women
Earn Less Than Men in Most Jobs
By Adrienne Mand
ABCNews.com
June 7, 2004 — Christina Tucker used to work in retail and was training to be a manager. Her husband joined the same company about six months after she did.
But when it came to making money, their experiences were quite different. According to Tucker, women’s wages at her employer would start around $4.75 an hour for unloading trucks and merchandising, while men got paid $6 an hour (…)

Unlike the current occupant of the White House, Reagan was willing to improvise on the far-right script, which is what ultimately saved his presidency.
By Sidney Blumenthal
Ronald Reagan’s presidency collapsed at the precise moment on Nov. 25, 1986, when he suddenly appeared without notice in the White House briefing room, introduced his attorney general, Edwin Meese, and instantly departed from the stage. Meese announced that funds raised by members of the National Security (…)

Notice: this is only a short summary . A long version of minutes will be published soon on the UK list
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There were people from London Social Forum, Leeds Social Forum, Manchester Social Forum, Sheffield Social Forum, Liverpool, St Denis Social Forum (France), Red Pepper, Madrid Social Forum (Spain)
The meeting was interesting and constructive.
After introducing each other we (…)

Matthew Taylor and Julian Borger
The Guardian
The death of Ray Charles, the blind singer who defied musical categories, drew tributes from some of the biggest names in the world of entertainment last night.
Soul diva Aretha Franklin said the 73-year-old was "the voice of a lifetime" and country singer Willie Nelson declared he had lost one of his "best friends".
Charles died yesterday in Beverly Hills after a long fight with liver disease, surrounded by friends and family.
A hip (…)

Purported "Transfer of Sovereignty" Condemned as Farce, Despite UN Resolution
NEW YORK, NY – June 10, 2004 – The Bush Administration is committing war crimes and other serious violations of international law in Iraq as a matter of routine policy, according to a report released today by the Center for Economic and Social Rights. The report, Beyond Torture: U.S. Violations of Occupation Law in Iraq, documents ten categories of war crimes and rights violations regularly committed by U.S. (…)

Without legal sanction, British troops will continue to torture and kill Iraqi civilians with impunity
Phil Shiner
The Guardian
Baha Mousa was 26 when he died. A recent widower, following the death of his young wife from cancer, he looked after his three- and five-year-old sons and worked at a hotel in Basra. Over the course of three days last September, according to eyewitnesses, he and six other hotel employees were systematically beaten, abused, humiliated and tortured while (…)

The torture and mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison was the predictable result of the Bush administration’s decision to circumvent international law, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
The 38-page report, “The Road to Abu Ghraib,” examines how the Bush administration adopted a deliberate policy of permitting illegal interrogation techniques – and then spent two years covering up or ignoring reports of torture and other abuse by U.S. troops. “The (…)