contributions

By Diana R. Gordon Global Policy Forum *Opinion Forum http://www.globalpolicy.org/ January 17, 2004
In his 2003 State of the Union speech, George Bush said that "One by one, the terrorists are learning the meaning of American justice." A year later, the facts of the matter are increasingly disturbing: While detained in a Navy brig in North Carolina, James Yee was kept in leg irons and allowed to read nothing but the Koran, his lawyer asserts. The former Muslim chaplain was initially (…)

Haiti’s Cracked Screen: Lavalas Under Siege While the Poor Get Poorer =========================
The Black Commentator, January 15, 2004
http://www.blackcommentator.org/73/73_haiti_pina.html
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Money is power and power is money. The Bush administration buys and sells political constituencies every day in pursuit of world domination. Haiti, which recently celebrated its bicentennial as the world’s first black republic, is not otherworldly or immune from purchase. (…)

Path of Globalization Will Lead to Violence Warns Nobel Laureate =====================
Raul Pierri, Inter Press Service (IPS) January 20, 2004
MUMBAI, Jan 19 (IPS) - The path of economic globalization must be changed to avoid undermining social security. Otherwise it will continue to exacerbate poverty, and therefore violence, warned World Social Forum panellists here Monday, including Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics.
"The essence of economic globalization is that it (…)

[To join as an organizational signatory, please write to: rashmawi@sbcglobal.net]
UPDATE AND BACKGROUND:
On January 12, 2004, an "Open Letter from the Arab-American and Muslim Community to the US Anti-War Movement" was initiated by 41 Arab-American and Muslim organizations in the United States and Canada. Today, this letter carries the names of 142 signatory organizations (listed below) that are supported by thousands of activists and community members, including solidarity (…)

by Antonia Juhasz*
http://www.leftturn.org/Default.aspx
"It should be clearly understood that the efforts undertaken will be designed to establish the basic legal framework for a functioning market economy; taking appropriate advantage of the unique opportunity for rapid progress in this area presented by the current configuration of political circumstancesŠ Reforms are envisioned in the areas of fiscal reform, financial sector reform, trade, legal and regulatory, and privatization." - (…)

By Tom Hayden, AlterNet January 19, 2004
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17595
MUMBAI, INDIA - Natalia Ablova faces a tough challenge in her campaign against the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Ablova, who looks like any friendly middle-American in her plain dress, shoulder-length hair and reading glasses, is opposing the Iraq occupation on the streets of Kyrgistan, the only Central Asian country where such protest is permitted.
"There is no chance for participatory democracy in (…)

Opinion By Amit Srivastava, Special to CorpWatch
January 17, 2004, CorpWatch
http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=9568
The Indian parliament has banned the sale of Coke and Pepsi products in its cafeteria. Indian parliamentarians should take the logical next step, and ban the sale of Coke and Pepsi products in the entire country.
The ban came as the result of tests, including those by the Indian government, which found high concentrations of pesticides and insecticides, (…)

By David Bacon
Ten years after the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed, President Bush calls it a great success and vows to extend it to Central America through a new Central American Free Trade Agreement, as well as the rest of Latin America through the Free Trade Area of the Americas. President Bill Clinton before him promised that the rising tide of cross-border trade would "lift all boats," benefiting everyone.
The agreement certainly produced some winners. Multinational (…)

Happy Birthday, Dr. King To Write Off the South is to Surrender to Bigots
By GREG MOSES January 14, 2004
It is the day before Martin Luther King’s birthday, 2004, and I am reading with great sadness reports of a recent political analysis that says to Democratic candidates for president, "forget the South, white voters will not be coming back to you this year."
From my home base in Texas, I cannot disagree with the report. I have watched the new racism and the new Repulbicanism rise (…)

by Victor Grossman, Berlin
Eleven leftist and communist parties, meeting in Berlin on January 11th, finally agreed after ten years of discussion and debate to found a party called the European Left.
The parties agreed on a common program but planned further debate on the statute, which will probably call for a chairperson, an executive committee and a council of party leaders. Eight other parties also attended the meeting did not join but remained as observers, waiting for confirmation (…)