contributions

A left-wing minister just appointed by Prime Minister Romano Prodi has outraged his opponents with a plan to legalize any foreigner in Italy with a job. The dust-up recalls a recent controversy in the US over "amnesty" for illegal aliens.
First it was the United States that began wrestling with how to deal with a ballooning illegal immigrant population. Next came Spain, as would-be African immigrants have begun targeting the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa as a possible new (…)

By Saul Hudson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. commission is preparing to advise President George W. Bush on how to inject democracy into a post-Castro Cuba, but critics say Washington’s 40 years of isolating the island may limit its chances of heading off a communist succession.
The report by the Commission on Assistance to a Free Cuba, expected in the next few days, will suggest ways Washington can influence Cubans to turn away from communism and move to democracy and a free-market (…)

By Dean Baker
The New York Times had an article today that inadvertently revealed a huge amount about how wages are set in the US economy ("US Plan to Lure Nurses May Hurt Poor Nations," 5-24-06; A1). We all know the official story - wages are supposed to be set by the market, our old friends supply and demand. When certain skills are in short supply, the wages for workers with these skills are bid up. This leads more people to acquire the skills and may also reduce the demand. Eventually, (…)

Publisher’s note: While Conyers backs away from impeachment indicating that the allegations of misconduct are not proven, he is also trying to pass a law to stop Bush from illegal wiretapping...a law to force Bush to obey the law. Why is he making it seem as if the case for impeachment over illegal wiretapping has not been made when he knows that Bush has broken the law? As Republicans have become increasingly nervous about whether they will be able to maintain control of the House in the (…)

Uranium as a force multiplier Bob Nichols
May 27, 2005
It always pays to listen, and to listen exactly, to what the senior U.S. military officials say about fighting wars. In 1991, Gen. Colin Powell sent 500,000 men with Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, lots of 70-ton Abrams Tanks and other soldier equipment for a 100-hour war against a weak third world country - Iraq. It was called the Powell Doctrine and required a quick enemy defeat by "overwhelming force," "defined goals" and an "exit (…)

IRAN TOP SECRET: EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG
What if everything that you think that you know for certain about Iran is wrong? After 27 years of status quo, why do you believe that the Brits and the Yanks really want to get rid of the Islamic regime in Iran? Is it possible that the oft-stated slogan of “regime change in Iran” is cloaking a naked, 27-year-old status-quo truth? Is it possible that the British and American emperors are wearing no clothes?
Recent warnings about an (…)

Dear President Bush: I’m writing to you from Iraq to say to your honor I’m true. I know that I’m fighting to keep our land free to stamp out a tyrant, protect family. This is a tough war, it’s hard but it’s worth it, but I know you’ll protect me, unlike that John Murtha!
....John. Q. ********************************* Mr.Bush: I’m here at the hospital in Ramstein Air Base an IED blew off a lot of my face Part of my spleen was destroyed in addition, and docs say I’m not in the finest (…)

WE DON’T WANT BLAIR IN ROME
In these days we have repeatedly asked the [Romano] Prodi government to abolish the obscene war parade of June 2. Why should the Holiday of the Republic be celebrated with lethal weapons and units of the occupation troops of Iraq and Afghanistan? Why not transform it into a holiday for everyone, eliminating the military presence? No answer: the parade has been confirmed.
We have then asked the new president of the House, Bertinotti [Fausto Bertinotti, former (…)

Con artists come from diverse backgrounds. They may come from a broken home or the most stable and well-adjusted of families. They may have been afforded an excellent education, or very little. Such backgrounds do not set them apart.
Nor are they set apart by their country of origin, sexual preferences, political bent, religious beliefs, or ingrained social values. Actually, pertaining those last three, the con artist is a free spirit. His own personal welfare far outweighs any such (…)

OSAKA — An Iraqi journalist and a Japanese human rights activist said the public has a poor idea of the situation in Iraq and warned of an impending health catastrophe as more Iraqis contract cancer from exposure to depleted uranium shells used by the U.S. and Britain.
Speaking at a public gathering Thursday evening in Osaka, Isam Rasheed, a freelance journalist, and Fumikazu Nishitani, head of Osaka-based NGO Rescue the Iraqi Children, gave an update of what was going on in the Middle (…)