Good
internet sources of information
on US political news
http://www.commondreams.org
http://www.truthout.org
http://www.alternet.org
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
http://www.zmag.org/weluser.htm
http://www.thenation.com/
http://antiwar.com/
http://www.counterpunch.org/
http://www.newsdissector.org/blog/
"journalist/filmmaker/writer Danny Schechter’s “news dissections”
is in this blog five days a week... almost like a personalized newspaper
with news, views, and the latest on the media issues we need to know
about."
To keep up with the US peace movement check in with
the 1,000-group strong coalition United for Peace and Justice at
http://www.unitedforpeace.org.
See also CodePink,
Women for Peace
2006
Elizabeth White reported for the Associated Press on
the increase in the number of people now in jail in the U.S.: "one
in every 136 U.S. residents... Men were 10 times to 11 times more likely
than women to be in prison or jail, but the number of women behind bars
was growing at a faster rate, said Paige M. Harrison, the report's other
author..." Read the full article at:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Prison_Population.html
Molly Ivins writes on the next two years with Bush: "
Can
Things Get Any Worse?" (May 21, 2006)
"A recent
poll showed that the majority of Americans feel the war in Iraq will be
the overriding issue of Bush’s presidency. I think that future historians
will fixate instead on his global warming record—not only doing
nothing to stop it but letting the hole get dug deeper..."
Three
Who Made a Revolution Rebecca
Solnit on the historical importance of three women: "Jane Jacobs,
Rachel Carson and Betty Friedan did it in books."
Enough
of the D.C. Dems
by Molly
Ivins
Progressive Magazine, March 2006
" Mah fellow progressives, now is the time for all good men and women
to come to the aid of the party. I don’t know about you, but I have had
it with the D.C. Democrats, had it with the DLC Democrats, had it with
every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting
son of a bitch up there, and that includes Hillary Rodham Clinton..."
Lap
Dogs of the Press
by Helen
Thomas
March
9, 2006, The Nation
(This article is adapted from Helen Thomas's
forthcoming book, "Watchdogs of Democracy? The Waning Washington
Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public".)
"Of all the unhappy trends I have witnessed--conservative swings
on television networks, dwindling newspaper circulation, the jailing of
reporters and "spin"--nothing is more troubling to me than the obsequious
press during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. They lapped up everything
the Pentagon and White House could dish out--no questions asked..."
Losing
Our Feminist Leaders By Jessica Valenti, AlterNet. February 8,
2006.
"America lost three amazing leaders in the course of only six days.
Betty Friedan, Coretta Scott King and Wendy Wasserstein all worked for
change in their own distinct ways, but the impact they had on women's
lives spanned class, race and generation lines..."
Is
Our
Mission About Preserving Our Way of Life, or Helping U.S. Extend its Supremacy?
by
Linda McQuaig
February 12, 2006, Toronto Star (Canada)
She asks -- and answers -- the question: "Why are there so many suicide
bombers in the Muslim world?"
Who
Will Feel Budget's Impact?
by Linda Feldmann
8 February 2006, The Christian Science Monitor
"Wednesday
Bush signs bill with $39 billion in cuts. His 2007 budget would point
to more cuts ahead.
Washington - With President Bush's signature Wednesday, Medicaid recipients
can expect higher copayments and deductibles. College students may face
higher interest rates on student loans, as lenders are squeezed. Work
requirements for women on welfare are likely to be tightened. Federal
aid to states for child-support enforcement will be curtailed..."
Bush
Mouthpiece Defends Illegal Spying
By Marjorie Cohn t r u t h o u t | Perspective Tuesday
07 February 2006
"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was called before the Senate
Judiciary Committee yesterday to explain why George W. Bush's program
of warrantless spying on Americans is lawful..."
When
Will US Women Demand Peace? Medea Benjamin
The Nation website,
24 January 2006
"Whenever I travel to international gatherings to talk about the
war in Iraq, economic development and women's rights, the question I
get asked most frequently is: 'Where are the women in the United States?
Why aren't they rising up?' ..."
Bush:
'L'etat, C'est Moi' by Helen Thomas
(After 57 years as White House correspondent for United Press International,
Helen
Thomas recently joined Hearst Newspapers as a syndicated columnist.)
January 27, 2006, Boulder Daily Camera (Colorado)
"We are now learning what President Bush considers to be the limits
of his power—nothing. In public appearances this week, Bush defended
his program of domestic spying without court approval, citing the inherent
war powers of the presidency under the U.S. Constitution..."
Why
Hillary Won't Save Us (an important opinion piece by well-known
columnist from Texas Molly
Ivins)
AlterNet. January 23, 2006.
"If Democrats in Washington haven't got enough sense to own the
issue of political reform, I give up on them entirely."
..."There are times when regular politics will not do, and this
is one of those times. There are times a country is so tired of bull
that only the truth can provide relief...
What kind of courage does it take, for mercy's sake? The majority of
the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake
and that we should get out. The majority (65 percent) of the American
people want single-payer health care and are willing to pay more taxes
to get it. The majority (86 percent) of the American people favor raising
the minimum wage. The majority of the American people (60 percent) favor
repealing Bush's tax cuts, or at least those that go only to the rich.
The majority (66 percent) wants to reduce the deficit not by cutting
domestic spending, but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.
The majority (77 percent) thinks we should do "whatever it takes" to
protect the environment. The majority (87 percent) thinks big oil companies
are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax. That
is the center, you fools. Who are you afraid of?..."
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