July 30, 2007. Volume VI, Number 31
A PROJECT OF THE CASCOGREENS
Paul Stephens, Editor and Publisher 406.216.2711 greateco@3rivers.net
Much of the content of this Bulletin is now being posted at http://greateco.blogspot.com/
Table of Contents:
UPCOMING AND ONGOING EVENTS
Missoula gets it
http://www.ourevolutionradio.com/
AWEA Legislative Action Alert: RPS vote looms for next week as AWEA launches TV campaign
http://www.awea.org/newsroom/video/AWEA_TV_ad.html
Democracy School, October 5-7, 2007 in Missoula, Montana
FROM MAZIN QUMSIYEH
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/
GREEN SOLUTIONS by Paul Stephens, CasCoGreens
Wall Street Journal heirs prove that inherited wealth destroys economic viability and the moral fiber of those burdened with it
9-11 and The Fountainhead
HEALTH CARE
CHIP Reauthorization is a first step to health care reform
KUFM Commentary by Olivia Riutta, WEEL http://www.mtpr.net/commentaries.html/
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
An Immoral Philosophy
By Paul Krugman
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/opinion/30krugman.html?hp
FROM DEMOCRACY NOW!
Should Impeachment Be Off the Table? A Debate with Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan, Ex-CIA Analyst Ray McGovern and Democratic Strategist Dan Gerstein
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/27/144218
The political meaning of the conflict between Cindy Sheehan and the Democratic Party By David Walsh 27 July 2007 World Socialist Web Site http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jul2007/conf-j27.shtml
IMPEACHMENT
Thirty-Three Years Later: A Statement on the Articles of Impeachment
By Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, http://www.commondreams.org/
FROM ACTION GREENS LISTSERVE
Cynthia McKinney Makes Green Party Overtures
By Matthew Cardinale, News Editor and National Correspondent, The Atlanta
Progressive News (July 24, 2007)
http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/news/0200.html
Courts struggle for jurors
By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/;_ylt=AjQAqpPAHVLLw0eCDH6FzgtH2ocA
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES http://www.gp.org/
Greens urge far-reaching steps in the US justice system http://www.sentencingproject.org/
Cancellation of the war on drugs, which Greens have called "a war on youth and people of color" http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_05_16.shtml
COAL ISSUES
Green groups sue U.S. government to stop coal plant http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN2338210820070723?sp=true
ZNET COMMENTARY
Union With the Devil By George Monbiot
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2007-07/18monbiot.cfm
A NOTE ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION
WEBSITES AND OTHER RESOURCES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE GREENS SUPPORT:
HEALTH CARE DOLLARS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS -- NOT INSURANCE COMPANIES AND CORPORATE PROFITS
STOP THE WARS! BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW! WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION ARE NOT A LOCAL GROWTH INDUSTRY!
COAL DEVELOPMENT MUST BE MINIMIZED, NOT MAXIMIZED: GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL!
END CORPORATE DOMINATION AND PREDATION: CORPORATIONS AREN'T PEOPLE, AND THEY DON'T HAVE "PROPERTY" OR OTHER RIGHTS!
For an introduction to Green Party philosophy and programs, go to http://www.gp.org/welcome.shtml
You can join the Montana Green Party at the NEW MONTANA GREEN PARTY WEBSITE!!
http://www.mtgreens.org/
Please read the Platform to find out what we support and oppose:
http://www.mtgreens.org/node/25
New section on Instant Runoff Voting with model bills/initiatives:
http://mtgreens.montanalinux.org/node/22
Please help us circulate petitions to regain our ballot status. Information and downloads available at http://www.mtgreens.org/node/112
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
UPCOMING AND ONGOING EVENTS
We are circulating petitions to regain Green Party ballot status
Please help us circulate petitions to regain our ballot status. Information is available at http://www.mtgreens.org/node/112 You must register and log in to actually download the petition forms. Otherwise, call 216-2711 or send me an e-mail greateco@3rivers.net , and I'll send you one to print out or copy, or contact Chris Frazier, MGP Secretary in Billings greenfuture2000@yahoo.com or Steve Kelly, MGP Coordinator in Bozeman at 586-0180 botanica@imt.net
_______________
Wednesdays, 5:30 to 6 pm, on the Great Falls Civic Center steps. Join the Quakers Peace Vigil. Also on August 6 at 8:30 pm, they are holding their 13th Hiroshima Commemoration on the banks of the Missouri River at Odd Fellow's Park.
FOCUS Bush Appointee Blocked Surgeon General's Report
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/072907Y.shtml
Christopher Lee and Marc Kaufman of the Washington Post report in Sunday's edition that a 2006 report urging Americans to help tackle global health problems was kept from public view largely because it did not promote White House objectives.
_____________
MISSOULA GETS IT
http://www.ourevolutionradio.com/
Our Evolution Radio (OuRevolution Radio) is a community-based effort to bring a revolutionary voice to the public airwaves of Missoula and beyond. Our intention is to broadcast over the local FM airwaves as well as the Internet, promoting community interests, alternative ideas and great music-while also providing a vital communication link for all Missoulians.
Our purpose is to serve as:
• An unfiltered media source, unbeholden to corporate or "special" interests, where news and opinion deemed important by the community is shared over the public airways
• A gathering place where creative ideas and artistic visions can be shared, discussed, and adapted in an ever changing world both in and outside of Missoula
• A venue for local musicians to express themselves and promote local musical happenings
• A networking medium where local organizations can promote their interests and create pathways for greater community participation
• A center for promoting communication among Missoula's diverse population
The timing of our mission coincides with a first time ever Non Commercial Educational (NCE), FCC filing window for that will open, for a few days only, sometime in the spring or summer of 2007. In order to file with the FCC, we must have our engineering, non-profit organization status and broadcast format ready for submission during the brief filing window.
We are currently in the process of raising funds and preparing our application materials for submission. We are looking for assistance from all quarters of the community.
Please contact us if you would like to get involved with OuRevolution Radio or join our email list. Our website is undergoing a redesign so check back for a new website!
Talk at you soon!
Contact: web@ourevolutionradio.com
The Great Spectrum Giveaway -- for Radio By Megan Tady
From In These Times http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3278/the_great_spectrum_giveaway/ , July 18, 2007
____________________
AWEA Legislative Action Alert: RPS vote looms for next week as AWEA launches TV campaign
Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) - Urge your Representative to cosponsor H.R. 969, a bill to create a national RPS.
Please contact your Representative and ask him or her to cosponsor and vote for H.R. 969, a bill that would create a national RPS, requiring utilities to generate or buy 20 percent clean, renewable energy by 2020, when the energy bill comes to the House floor next week. The RPS vote will be a pivotally important referendum on the future of renewable energy in the U.S.
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has provided a sample letter for you to use when you contact your Representative.
Click here to email your Representative. http://capwiz.com/windenergy/utr/1/KXWKHLZOGZ/JLUIHLZRBQ/1327128596
BACKGROUND: A national standard of 20 percent renewable-based electricity by the year 2020 offers a least-cost, market-friendly way to ensure that we meet an increasing share of America’s growing electricity needs with clean, domestic energy resources while promoting energy security and providing an essential first step to address the global warming problem at a cost savings for the American public.
The long-term predictability of an RPS will enable the industry to attract investment capital and achieve manufacturing economies of scale that will spur economic development, create tens of thousands of new jobs, lower consumer prices, strengthen U.S. energy security, and help our environment.
AWEA TV Ad Urges Congress to Adopt Renewable Portfolio Standard
In anticipation of the RPS vote when energy legislation reaches the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives next week, AWEA has launched a major media campaign including television advertising targeted to encourage the support of 11 key House members for a national RPS. The ads will begin to air on Sunday, July 29 in key markets.
Click on this link to view the video. http://www.awea.org/newsroom/video/AWEA_TV_ad.html
______________
FROM MONTANANS FOR CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY
Dear Folks
This thing isn't until October, and who wants to spend $400 to miss out on an Indian summer weekend?
But Thomas Linzey is really neat, and I'm sure the material will be fascinating and obviously relevant to anyone concerned about corporate power. Michelle went to a Democracy School this past February in Pennsylvania and was so taken with it that she wanted to do one here.
We hope to do something similar later this year, but with Jeff Milchen of ReclaimDemocracy.
After visiting with a Helenan who also attended a Democracy School recently, I think the key complement to the training is having an organization, like MCA, through which you can put to work all the good information and inspiration you get.
So please let me know if you are interested in this sort of thing, and especially if you decide to attend.
Cedron
---------------------------------
Cedron Jones
Volunteer Coordinator
Montanans for Corporate Accountability
corp@mhrn.org
============================================
The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund Presents
Democracy School
October 5-7, 2007 in Missoula, Montana
For the first time in Montana, Thomas Linzey, co-founder of the grassroots Community Environmental Legal Defense fund and featured speakers at the 2006 Bioneers Conference, leads this powerful, inspiring workshop.
Join us for a stimulating, illuminating weekend course whose curriculum teaches citizens and activists how to "re-frame" exhausting and often discouraging work such as opposing mining, dams, logging etc. Participants explore the limits of conventional regulatory organizing and learn how to confront corporate control a powerful single front: People's Constitutional Rights.
Originally formed to provide free and affordable legal services to community-based groups and governments, the Community Environmental Defense Fund www.CELDF.org created this means of organizing for positive chance, and communities around the United States have helped to safeguard their future by creating local constitutions or home rule charters. Backed up by enforceable law, these measures enumerate the rights of local citizens and of ecosystems.
"If we are going to make a difference we are going to have to think and act differently"
See an Introduction Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3do_Nx9VxW0IA to the Democracy School on YouTube
--------------------------------------------------------
As with all Democracy Schools, the Missoula weekend curriculum will be built around carefully designed readings, clear presentations and group discussion.
Democracy School is for people of all ages, interests and occupation but space is limited to 10-15 people--early registration is highly recommended.
The cost of the 3 day weekend is $400 per person. This price includes appropriate meals and necessary learning materials.
For more information about this unique weekend opportunity or for details on registration, contact the Montana Democracy School host, Michelle Walters:
Phone: 720-684-9178 or 406-728-0258
Email: onejoe2@hotmail.com
or visit Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund's website at http://www.celdf.org/
________________
FROM MAZIN QUMSIYEH
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/
It is difficult to put into wards our experiences since I wrote last and sent any emails in over 8 days - our visits to Hebron, Ramallah, Jenin, Aida Refugee camp and much more. Over 10 meetings with international delegations (including talks I gave to a number of these delegations). So many inspiring stories and so many sad stories. But how can I describe the Jenin general hospital which had a neonatal intensive care unit in which they had to put two premature babies in one incubator due to lack of enough incubator. In which the pediatric ward was overflowing with children and their mothers. A hospital that had three ambulances at one time, two were bombed by the Israeli occupation forces, and the third was involved in a car accident and so now there are no ambulance for a hospital serving 350,000 people. How can one describe the situations of the villages of Tayba, Romana, and Salem in the northern West Bank. How can we talk about the 20 year old killed in Bethlehem while we were here. The military jeep that threatened us as we were filming on the apartheid wall while locals explained how they were forced to relocate graves of their relative. How can one describe any of our experiences.
I urge everyone receiving this message to take time to come and visit Palestine and spend as much as possible. Nothing can replace that. In the next few weeks, I will try to put up some videos on Youtube to relay some of the experiences. A couple of videos with relevant material are linked below. But in the meantime, please take a few minutes (if you are in the US or a US citizen living abroad) to contact congress and demand they reject both the military sales to subservient Arab regimes AND the increases in military grants to Israel (free weapons given for racist wars). Israel's military aid is to increase from $2.4 billion to $3 billion annually for the next ten years (a total cost to us taxpayers of $300 billion in addition to other aid). For contacts of your representatives, go to
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt
Boycott apartheid Israel--- Free Palestine
Bil'in Demonstration and follow-up hospital interview of injured Palestinian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZB_hlziDKQ
Palestinian Summer Celebration videos so far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0PHXE1-TYg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1MMve_qHK0 (via Dolorossa, religious)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ5jzZHqvnY\
A Lost Opportunity? The Palestinian Left By RAMZY BAROUD
http://www.counterpunch.com/baroud07092007.html
Jerry Kroth: Democratic Defectors and the Israel Lobby
"Curiously, all of the traitor democrats were huge career recipients of funds from the Israeli lobby. If we took ten Democratic apostates and compared them to ten Democrats who stood by the voters, pro-Israeli PAC contributions were "ten times" greater for the turncoats than those who stayed with their constituencies ($322,000 versus $34,000 on average)."
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story-071007164230.htm
Action: Vote in support of boycott of Israeli academic boycotts My reason as stated when I voted was: "Israeli universities are built and prospered partly by the suffering of the Palestinians and the ethnic cleansing that took place.Tel Aviv University for example is partly built on Palestinian village lands. Not one of these institutions showed any element of recognition let alone remorse or attempt at restorative justice. On the contrary these institutions aid and abet the occupation and further colonization of Palestine including the apartheid wall and apartheid system.
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD, Fellow of the American Board of Medical Genetics"
http://www.surveymk.com//s.aspx?sm=zrDgLYed7wn_2fe_2bcR2lC4Pw_3d_3d
20 years of the assassination of Palestinian political cartoonist Naji AlAli
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6911815.stm
Documentary movies about Palestinian history in Arabic (good especially for children)
http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Palestinian_History_For_Beginners_5375/ar/index.htm >
The Apostate: A Zionist politician loses faith in the future.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/07/30/070730fa_fact_remnick?printable=true
Mazin Qumsiyeh
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/
/\/\/\/\/\
GREEN SOLUTIONS by Paul Stephens, CasCoGreens
Wall Street Journal heirs prove that inherited wealth destroys economic viability and the moral fiber of those burdened with it
"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within." --Will Durant
We've seen it happen over and over, again. The owners of key American companies allow themselves to be bought out by vulture capitalists, raiders, foreign corporations, or even communist or totalitarian governments. In most cases, they have no choice. The laws are already rigged in favor of corporate irresponsibility. Small (or even large) stockholders have no more control over the companies they own than Montana pension funds and small investors had over Montana Power, when Goldman, Sachs targeted it for takeover and dismemberment at the behest of PPL.
So why do the "defenders of capitalism" seem to always self-destruct? Marx explained it rather simply, yet comprehensively. Capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction. As capital is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, we move from industrial capitalism to monopoly finance capitalism. Internationally, this becomes the basis for imperialism. As domestic workers become poorer and the industrial infrastructure is outsourced and dismembered, Americans can no longer afford to buy the products produced here. Corporations must seek new markets and sources of supply abroad.
Since Marx's day, a number of other factors have come into play. One is the military-industrial complex. Another is corporate control of the government. This is the literal meaning of "capitalism" -- rule by the owners of capital, and those who manage it. We have become locked into a cycle of "perpetual war for perpetual peace." Earlier Marxists identified the conquest and subversion of the governments of India and China, the rise of industrial Japan, the Japanese-Russian War, the Boer War, the Spanish-American War, and finally, the Great War (WWI) as all being manifestations and vindications of Marx's theories. It was during this period that monopoly finance capitalism came into its own, still centered in the City of London, but increasingly matched by Wall Street and the big German banking houses, the Paris Bourse, etc.
During World War I, U.S. financiers as well as munitions makers profited handsomely, supplying both sides and selling their war bonds to American investors. Some of the Wall Street firms (usually with European head offices) actually sold war bonds from Germany, Britain, and France simultaneously. But the American government and most of the press, then as now, sided with British imperialism, and it was only a matter of time until we entered the war on the side of the Allies (which also included Italy and Japan in that war).
The Wall Street Journal commenced publication the same year Montana became a state - 1889. At first, it was simply a tool for Wall Street investment banks, with its stock tickers and "Dow Theory" analysis of stock market activity. Later, it was taken over by a journalist and foreign policy pundit, Clarence Barron. It was his adopted daughter (of the woman he married) who married into the Bancroft family, descendents of the first great American historian, George Bancroft, who was a friend and co-founder of the American Transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau. Thus, The Wall Street Journal became one of the most respected and trustworthy sources of information about the American and world economy, foreign affairs, etc.
In a Wall Street Journal article published last Friday (I happened to read it in my broker's office, while waiting for them to close out my IRA account), there was extensive coverage of the attempts by Rupert Murdoch to buy the Journal, and the conflicts among its trust-fund shareholders as to whether or not to sell it to Murdoch. Although most of the Bancroft descendents were against it, there are others whose thinking was more or less along the lines of "this is twice what the stock was worth a few months ago, and it's not likely that anyone else will make a better offer." This caused me to reflect on the irony that a company which is literally a cornerstone of America's economic pre-eminence would end up being owned by people who apparently have no understanding of the importance of an independent, ethically-driven information network, and only see their interest as being financial, as measured by the value of Dow Jones stock. This is a company which most of them have never worked for and know nothing about. The fact that their trust fund capital could double in size was seemingly their only concern.
Although few, if any, of them would probably agree with or have much respect for Rupert Murdoch, they see nothing wrong with selling him "the goose that laid the golden egg." Again, one is reminded of Marx's dictum that under such a system, "all human relations are reduced to a mere cash nexus."
Perhaps the Dow, Jones, and Barron heirs understand only too well that we no longer have constitutional government, individual rights, a free and open society, or any of the other values which Barron and the Bancrofts held dear. We are living in a fascist state with virtually no free press beyond a few small non-commercial media outlets. And we live in a climate of fear in which a few "strongmen" like Murdoch rule the world. Better to have someone who is white, British, and thus by his antecedents "one of us" than to see the Journal and our other key corporations come under Japanese, Chinese, Russian, or Arab (not to mention Zionist) control. So long as the game is rigged in favor of corporate globalization, the military-industrial complex, and the "National Security State," there is no safe haven for anyone. We are doomed. Our "great civilization" has, indeed, destroyed itself from within. -- PHS
________________
9-11 and The Fountainhead
I recently had occasion to watch the film of "The Fountainhead," the novel about an architect which made Ayn Rand famous. She wrote the screenplay and was on the set, able to argue every shot and interpretation with the director, King Vidor. Thus, she approved the film (and she had extensive experience in Hollywood before) and was very happy with the finished product.
It may be that most New Yorkers, from a cultural standpoint, hated the domination of their skyline by the ugly, square towers of the World Trade Center. This might have included Ayn Rand, who often expressed racist attitudes towards Asians (the WTC was designed by a Japanese architect). At a screening of "Westside Story" a couple of years ago, I read that the audience cheered during the opening credits, which showed NYC as it was prior to the construction of the WTC.
With all the subsequent conjectures about 9-11 being a planned "Reichstag Fire" sort of event, blamed on "Islamic extremists" but actually carried out by the CIA, the Bush Administration Neocons, Mossad, or some more obscure and unknown terrorists or agents provocateurs, many critics of the Bush Administration (including the Green Party) have long demanded a complete, independent, scientific investigation of the events of 9-11-2001. Although we did see Boeing 757 airliners crash into each of the towers, many scientists and engineers claim that the towers could have only collapsed as they did with the help of carefully-placed explosive detonations, much as buildings are collapsed safely within their own footprint by professional demolition crews. Although I haven't seen anyone claim that the explosives were placed there in the original construction of the building, it would make a certain amount of sense for buildings of this height. Think of it as a tree. If only one side of the supporting structure was removed, the building might lean and fall along its entire length, thus destroying nearly four blocks of adjacent buildings. Or, if the demolition was planned in advance, as many people now think it was, it would be necessary to place Thermite explosives (which melt steel -- jet fuel isn't hot enough to even weaken a steel girder) symmetrically throughout the building so that its collapse stayed within the footprint of the WTC buildings. We also know that Building 7 and perhaps some other buildings were intentionally brought down shortly afterwards, even though they were hardly damaged by the collapse of the towers.
"The Fountainhead" reminded me vividly of this sort of event, because near the end of the film, the architect Howard Roark actually does set explosives and destroy buildings of his own design, for reasons (laughably enough) of "artistic integrity." And we know, of course, that the WTC (along with the Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan) was heavily influenced by the capitalist-imperialist views of Ayn Rand. This "monument to global capitalism" was certainly an appropriate target for the victims of imperialism, but those who theorized along those lines (like Ward Churchill) were generally punished for the expression of their views. At one time, academic tenure was a safe haven for unpopular views. Not any more. Not even in first-tier public universities in Indian Country, apparently.
In fact, Churchill's views supported the Bush Administration's contention that Iraqi and other victims of American imperialism were responsible for 9-11. As it turned out, nearly all the 9-11 highjackers were Saudis, Egyptians, or Pakistanis, all of which are close allies of the United States. Each of those countries, of course, has Islamic fundamentalist hit squads who are dedicated to the overthrow of the puppet governments in their respective countries supported by the United States, and they constitute the "terrorist network" which American troops are still fighting, today. Still, it is unlikely that without CIA or other "counter-intelligence" infiltration and co-option, they would have ever thought of attacking the WTC or the Pentagon. They are most interested in neutralizing the Zionist threat and taking back their own governments from the oil imperialists.
In fact, Al Qaeda and other Islamacist groups would probably be the last to attack something like the WTC. It is much more likely that their enemies (the oil sheiks, American/Israeli intelligence, the Neocons, the Bush Administration) would promote something like this in order to provide an excuse and justification for their planned takeover of the Middle East oil resources under Israeli/Saudi/Egyptian hegemony.
It all fell into place today when Bush's global strategists announced significant increases in military aid to those very three countries (those apparently most responsible for 9-11, along with Pakistan), including satellite-controlled "smart" munitions which could be used against Iran. Having been so successful in dismembering Iraq under false pretenses, there is only one country left in the Middle East which could mount any resistance to the Oil Junta's plans, and that is Iran. Here, again, there is a concerted media barrage of false propaganda against Iran and its Islamic Republic government. Only impeachment and prosecution of the criminal Bush/Cheney war machine can prevent this. Winning the next election for Democrats like Clinton or Obama won't prevent another war. They have proven to be just as bellicose and dependent on the military-industrial complex as the Republicans. -- Paul Stephens
_______________
Solicitor to Decide on Gonzales Special Prosecutor
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/073007A.shtml
"Four Senate Democrats have asked for a special counsel to determine whether Gonzales was truthful when he testified about a warrantless domestic spying program and the dismissals of nine US attorneys," writes Donna Leinwand for USA Today.
Cindy Sheehan "Brought to You by Boeing"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/073007B.shtml
Cindy Sheehan, writing for Truthout, argues the peace and justice movement needs to rage against "the machine that is brought to us by Boeing and The Oil and Natural Gas Council, among thousands of other companies that profit off of war, and our politicians who let the machine tell them how to govern to keep that same machine well oiled, while stealing financial and human resources right out from under the noses of families and communities."
Report Finds Dire Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/073007C.shtml
"Poverty, hunger and public health continue to worsen in Iraq, according to a report released today from Oxfam International, which demands more humanitarian aid from abroad and calls on the Iraqi government to immediately decentralize the distribution of food and medical supplies," reports Damien Cave for The New York Times.
Hendrik Hertzberg Votescam
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/073007D.shtml
"Two weeks ago, one of the most important Republican lawyers in Sacramento quietly filed a ballot initiative that would end the practice of granting all 55 of California's electoral votes to the statewide winner. Instead, it would award two of them to the statewide winner and the rest, one by one, to the winner in each Congressional district," writes Hendrik Hertzberg for The New Yorker.
An Unsolved Killing and the US Attorney Scandal
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/073007S.shtml
"Tom Wales was not supposed to be home on the night of October 11, 2001. Wales, an assistant United States attorney in Seattle, had planned to have dinner and spend the evening with his girlfriend, Marlis DeJongh, a court reporter who lived downtown. But that afternoon Wales called DeJongh and said that he had projects he needed to work on at home. In the evening, after leaving his office, near the federal courthouse, he returned to his Craftsman-style, wood-frame house in a quiet neighborhood known as Queen Anne," writes Jeffrey Toobin in next month's The New Yorker
Rep. Major R. Owens D-Day Is Off the Table
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/073007T.shtml
Congressman Major R. Owens, writing for The Huffington Post, says, "With impeachment 'off the table,' Carl Rove spends a few hours celebrating every day as he prepares his war plans for the 2008 elections."
Energy Bill Will Test Pelosi's Command
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/073007EA.shtml
Zachary Coile reports in The San Francisco Chronicle, "Democrats, in taking back the House from Republicans, promised to tilt the nation's energy policy away from oil drilling and toward efficiency and cleaner sources of energy. This week their pledge will be put to the test."
Old Growth Species Mandate Lifted From Northwest Forest Plan
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/073007EB.shtml
Jeff Barnard of The Associated Press says, "Acting on an agreement with the timber industry, the Bush administration has decided to quit looking for little-known snails, lichens and other sensitive species before selling timber in Northwest national forests, setting up another round of litigation over a plan created to protect spotted owls and salmon."
Study Blames Climate Change for Rise in Hurricanes
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/073007EC.shtml
Jim Loney reports for Reuters: "The number of Atlantic hurricanes in an average season has doubled in the last century due in part to warmer seas and changing wind patterns caused by global warming, according to a study released Sunday."
China Moves to Change Damaged Global Image
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/073007LA.shtml
The New York Times's David Barboza writes, "After years of being accused by Western nations of making only token gestures to fight fake goods and months of complaints about the safety of its exports, China is taking extraordinary steps to change its image."
Global Grandmothers' Eco Movement
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/073007WA.shtml
"Several times a day over three days, 13 women from around the world, several in their 80s, gathered around an open fire as each led a prayer ceremony unique to her native tribe. The women share a common vision and mission to spare future generations problems that now vex much of society," says Carson Walker, The Associated Press.
No comments:
Post a Comment