contributions

By now, the manner in which Blair & Co have again hoodwinked Britain into a totally illegal military strike -this time using nuclear weapons- against a peaceful nation should have become frighteningly clear.
But it hasn’t.
The Bliar’s low-profile treatment of Iran, added to the contradictory signals sent out by him and others such as Foreign Minister, Jack Straw and John Reid, whose job is better described as the Secretary for War, has worked very well to keep the country in the (…)

Today is the day, as promised when we will take the time out to have a little look at the benefits that cannabis could bring to a society willing to embrace its possibilities.
But first, and perhaps most importantly, it may be necessary to address one or two of the issues raised by previous posts under this banner.
Many, many are supportive but others raise issues and debating points that we will not duck.
We are not sure at which point the Cannabis Man’s views have ever expressed a (…)

http://progressive.org)
Woman Claims She Was Fired for Bumpersticker
By Matthew Rothschild March 11, 2006
Linda Laroca has a bumpersticker on her car that says, “1360 Air America Progressive Talk Radio.”
That allegedly got her into trouble with her boss at Advantage Sales and Marketing, according to an article in North County Times [1] by Teri Figueroa.
Laroca appeared on the Ed Schultz radio show on March 10 and gave this account.
She and her boss were speaking in a parking lot (…)

http://progressive.org)
Homeland Security Hassles Owner of Truck with Bumperstickers
By Matthew Rothschild February 22, 2006
Dwight Scarbrough used to be in the Navy. He was a machinist on submarines, some of them nuclear, in the Pacific from 1975-1980.
Now he heads up the Vets for Peace chapter in Boise, Idaho.
And he’s not shy about expressing his opinion.
At any given time, he may have as many as ten bumperstickers or peace signs on every conceivable spot of his truck.
He (…)

http://progressive.org)
History Professor’s Mail Opened by Homeland Security
History Professor’s Mail Opened by Homeland Security
By Matthew Rothschild January 2, 2006
Grant Goodman is an 81-year-old emeritus professor of Asian history at the University of Kansas.
He has had an ongoing correspondence by snail mail with a former professor of history at the University of the Philippines, where Goodman had taught on three separate occasions.
In early December, he was shocked when a (…)

Published on Tuesday, April 4, 2006 by Inter Press Service
Bush’s War Hawks Edged Out of the Nest
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - Although still united in pushing for confrontation with Iran, the coalition of hawks that propelled U.S. troops toward Baghdad three years ago appears to have finally run out of steam.
Demoralized by the quagmire in Iraq, as well as Pres. George W. Bush’s still falling approval and credibility ratings, the coalition of aggressive nationalists, (…)

Published on Tuesday, April 4, 2006 by TomDispatch
Returning to the Scene of the Crime: War Crimes in Iraq
by Noam Chomsky
This piece is adapted from Chapter 2 of Noam Chomsky’s newest book, "Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy" (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006).
In 2002, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales passed on to Bush a memorandum on torture by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). As noted by constitutional scholar Sanford (…)

Published on Tuesday, April 4, 2006 by OneWorld.net
by Abid Aslam
WASHINGTON - Florida tomato pickers converged on McDonald’s Corp.’s flagship Chicago restaurant over the weekend to protest poor working conditions and wages they say have stagnated for 30 years.
The farm hands, members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, want a penny-per-pound pay raise from their employers, growers based in and around Immokalee, Florida. And they want Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald’s to (…)

Posted on April 3, 2006, Printed on April 5, 2006 http://www.alternet.org/story/34321/
[Editor’s Note: This is an edited transcript of an interview from the radio program Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. The interview originally aired on March 31, 2006, and the full transcipt and podcast are available for download from Democracy Now!.]
AMY GOODMAN: The New York Times calls him "arguably the most important intellectual alive." The Boston Globe calls him "America’s most (…)

The Hyperpower Hype
By Tom Engelhardt, Tomdispatch.com Posted on April 5, 2006, Printed on April 5, 2006 http://www.alternet.org/story/34468/
Just last week, a jury began to deliberate on the fate of Zacarias Moussaoui, who may or may not have been the missing 20th hijacker in the September 11th attacks. At the same time, newly released recordings of 911 operators responding to calls from those about to die that day in the two towers were splashed across front pages nationwide. ("All I (…)