contributions

CAROL GOAR
There was a time when health activists thought a global trade deal on affordable medicines would be an achievement worth celebrating.
Now they have one. But they’re not celebrating.
Last weekend, members of the World Trade Organization agreed on a plan to offer poor countries improved access to life-saving drugs. The deal, which ended a 21-month test of wills between the United States and the developing world, was hailed as a breakthrough by relieved negotiators.
Canada’s (…)

By Andrew Grice and David Usborne
05 September 2003
Washington suffered a double blow in its plans for Iraq yesterday as France and Germany balked at proposals for an international force while the Prime Minister gave a cautious response to a call for 5,000 extra British troops.
The French and German leaders delivered a cool response to a draft resolution sponsored by the United States, which aims to create a United Nations mandate for an international force while keeping the troops (…)

U.S. Employers Shed 93,000 Jobs in August
By John M. Berry Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, September 5, 2003; 1:00 PM
Despite signs the U.S. economy is gathering a strong head of steam, the number of payroll jobs fell by another 93,000 last month, bringing the total job loss since January to almost 600,000, the Labor Department reported today.
"The jobs report is just awful," said Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services in Boston. "Businesses across the (…)

Report Blasts American Infrastructure
===================================== WASHINGTON (AP) - America’s infrastructure is full of cracks,leaks and holes and is getting worse, according to an analysis by civil engineers that concludes the nation’s transportation, water and energy systems have shown little improvement since they were given an overall grade of D-plus in 2001.
A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers released Thursday assessed trends over the last two years in (…)

Powell and Joint Chiefs Nudged Bush Toward U.N.
By Dana Milbank and Thomas E. Ricks Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, September 4, 2003; Page A01
On Tuesday, President Bush’s first day back in the West Wing after a month at his ranch, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell walked into the Oval Office to present something close to a fait accompli.
In what was billed as a routine session, Powell told Bush that they had to go to the United Nations with a resolution seeking a (…)

The Smearing of Bustamante - The Far Right and Anti-Mexican Racism
By Jorge Mariscal - Counterpunch - August 30, 2003
http://www.counterpunch.org/mariscal08302003.html
It would be tempting to dismiss the recent media flap around the candidacy of Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and his membership in the student organization Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) as much to do about nothing. But for those of us who have been following over the last decade the political propaganda of (…)

Child trafficking is a global human rights tragedy. Over one million children worldwide, including thousands in West Africa, are recruited from their homes each year by individuals seeking to exploit their labor.
Extreme poverty, sometimes combined with the death of one or both parents, makes children highly vulnerable to false promises of education, vocational training or paid work. Human Rights Watch’s April 2003 report "Borderline Slavery: Child
Trafficking in Togo" highlights (…)

Momentum is growing inside the United States for a successful national demonstration in Washington on October 25 against the occupation of Iraq and to bring the U.S. troops home now. The ANSWER Coalition is asking the world movement to consider making this same date - October 25 - a date for worldwide actions against the occupation. From mid-to-late August-a time when there is usually a low level of political activity in the U.S.-there were surprisingly significant protests in New (…)

The annual meeting about literacy, poetry, music of the countries of the south begin in Piacenza Italy septenber the 6th, 2003.
Concerts, poems, meetings, etc... (all free)
Link: http://www.carovane.pc.it/html/la_manifestazione.html

Change Needed by U.S. in Iraq - Resistance to American Occupation is Growing, Thriving on the Country’s Instability by Scott Ritter
Published on Sunday, August 31, 2003 by the Baltimore Sun
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0831-04.htm
DELMAR, N.Y. - Nestled in the center of the Balidiyat district of Baghdad, Iraq, the Canal Hotel was a distinctive landmark for those who traveled on the major highway that swung through the eastern (…)