contributions

By Harold Meyerson
I am about to become a traitor to my class. Among my estimable colleagues in the Washington commentariat, the idea that Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman is facing a serious challenge from a fellow Democrat over Lieberman’s support for the Iraq war seems to evoke incredulity and exasperation. On the op-ed pages of leading newspapers, we read that Lieberman is "the most kind-hearted and well-intentioned of men" (that’s from the New York Times’ David Brooks), a judgment that (…)

By Sandy Kleffman
More than 400 nurses rallied Tuesday in downtown Oakland, hoping to prevent a legal decision they said could sharply restrict union membership and limit the power of the influential California Nurses Association and other labor groups.
This is a fight we’re going to win — they’re not going to bust our union,’’ Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the nurse’s union, told the crowd.
The noon event mirrored a rally in downtown Los Angeles that also drew several hundred (…)

By: Michael H. Cottman
A broad coalition of civil rights groups will gather Wednesday evening on Capitol Hill for an "urgent call to action" to pressure the U.S. Congress to stop stalling and vote on the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Black leaders say because congressional lawmakers have delayed voting on the re-authorization of the Voting Rights Act, many black Americans could find their right to vote in jeopardy.
"We are urging Congress to take action now," Melanie Campbell, (…)

Venezuela’s socialist government is using a 1936 Chaplin film to educate workers about their rights. Employers are not applauding.
By Chris Kraul, Times Staff Writer
LOS TEQUES, Venezuela - In his classic 1936 film, "Modern Times," Charlie Chaplin has to work so fast tightening bolts in a steel factory that he finally goes crazy. In a memorable scene that has become a metaphor for labor exploitation, the Little Tramp is run through the factory’s enormous gears.
For President Hugo (…)

By Remi Kanazi
In the last two weeks, Israel has sent a chilling message to the Palestinian and Lebanese people: civilians and infrastructure are legitimate targets in their war of aggression. The Geneva Conventions have been fragrantly violated and humanitarian law has been thrown into the garbage can. The Israeli government would have us believe that the killing of civilians is the “necessary consequence” of holding one Israeli prisoner in Gaza and two Israeli prisoners in Lebanon.
On (…)

http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/07/14/120.html
Over and over, the Bush regime and its media apologists have peddled the same mendacious line in defense of their war crime in Iraq: "We’re fighting the terrorists over there so we don’t have to fight them over here." But in fact the occupation is breeding a cadre of vicious terrorists intent on bringing death and destruction back home to America’s streets, using the deadly skills they’ve learned — in the U.S. military. (…)

Joe Wilson’s Response To Robert Novak Column Posted by SusanUnPC on behalf of Ambassador Joseph Wilson Thursday, 13 July 2006 UPDATE FROM LARRY JOHNSON:
Many thanks to Susan for getting this story up. I just got to a computer and wanted to add a couple of notes. First, Robert Novak has been repeating the nonsense that he learned Valerie’s name because he looked her up in Who’s Who. Excuse me? If you looked up Valerie in Who’s Who back in July 2001 it said nothing, I repeat NOTHING, (…)

US Policy In Lebanon By Ray Close || a former CIA analyst in the Near East division || Member, Steering Group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (sent via Larry Johnson, and posted by SusanUnPC) Thursday, July 13, 2006 Dear Friends:
Not surprisingly, some (not all) of my Israeli and American Jewish friends have objected strenuously to my characterization of Israel’s response to recent Hamas and Hizballah actions as disproportionate and counterproductive.
Let me make it (…)

As the result of Israel’s overreactive attack on Gaza and then on Lebanon, already causing many inncocent’s deaths (accidents, of course!), the absurd war on Hezbellah and Hamas has seriously escalated and brought out a hoard of political pundits for their erudite pronouncements.
Not the least of these theories is that IRAN is guilty of supplying weapons and cash to terrorists (true), but they may well, according to some Right wingers, enter into Lebanon, then cross the border into Israel, (…)

The Israelis have launched a series of punitive raids in Lebanon following the kidnapping of two Israelis soldiers along a contested portion of its border.
Hezbullah fighters apparently found the soldiers more or less alone and unsupported, which raises suspicions about the willingness of the Israelis to expose their soldiers to danger.
The Israelis have lashed out at Beirut and the Lebanese government for failing to police their southern border; escalation involves destruction of the (…)