People Before Profit blog

LETTERS

Fri, 28 Jan 2005 09:17:00 +0000

Tsunamis and the Third World

The Dan Margolis piece (PWW 1/15-21) describing the lost lives in the tsunami because of the lack of an early warning system is right on. There are other preventive measures that save countless lives in other developed areas of the world. Most noted are the massive retaining walls built in Japan and elsewhere that have repelled tsunamis in the past. Yes, it takes money, concern and priority, things that have been denied the Third World nations.

But there are other parameters that Margolis did not get to. In the aftermath of nature’s anger, thousands of lives were either damaged or lost because of the dearth of infrastructural facilities in Southern Asia: transportation, health care facilities, and personnel. Medical supplies, ambulances, potable water and sanitation, etc., are not available in nations that are forced to spend half their income on debt service to the banking institutions of the developed world that steal the undeveloped world’s natural resources and exploit their labor forces.

Future tsunamis and other natural disasters will continue to play havoc until the world’s wealth is divided so we all share in its bounty. There is enough for all. It just has to be spread around.

Don SloanNew York NY

Free the Cuban Five

A short news story on the Internet sparked my curiosity: “Angolan Leader Honors Cuban Fighters Killed in Africa.” For those of us who know the history of the struggle for justice in the south of the African continent, the country of Angola is pivotal. For many of us the shame at how the United States supplied and trained the South African racist military monster in terrorizing the whole area is ever present.

Not so for the citizens of Cuba. From the bosom of Cuba came the response: 300,000 Cubans volunteered, traveling across the Atlantic to serve with honor in the cause of justice and international solidarity. They fought bravely and cunningly. They defeated the most highly trained and equipped troops the South Africans could muster. Together the Angolans and Cubans changed the course of the history on that continent. They inflicted such a blow that the very core of that system, apartheid South Africa, was mortally wounded.

Our country should have given its citizenry the opportunity to assist on the side of justice in that fight. It did not. And now several of those Cubans who did serve in Angola are imprisoned in our jails. Empower yourself to oppose their political imprisonment (www.freethefive.cjb.net). Learn about this case through the film “Mission Against Terror.” It is the story of how citizens of exceptional integrity and bravery came to enlist in the struggle against terror in south Florida and expose this wrong. Free the Five!

Stephen PaulmierPhiladelphia PA

Wal-Mart’s dirty tricks

I know all about Wal-Mart. I worked for them in the past. They did me real dirty. They made it so bad for me that I had to quit. I was told I could work somewhere else in the store, but they lied. I was told I could work only during the week and have the weekends off because I had to raise three of my grandchildren. They made me fill out a new application to cut my hours to only work the weekends and days so I could take care of the kids. But when they posted it up on the board they made me work every weekend and at nights knowing I could not do that.

A readerVia e-mail

We can bring them home, again

Lorenzo Torrez recalls (PWW 1/8-14) the mass antiwar protests by the American people against U.S. aggression in Vietnam. These protests, with widespread antiwar actions by GIs in Vietnam, antiwar actions by rank-and-file trade unionists, and the heroic stand by Vietnam, did in fact end the U.S. aggression and bring the soldiers home. Torrez then expresses confidence that the American people can do it again — end the war in Iraq, bring the soldiers home.

I express support for this confidence and cite an earlier example of mass antiwar action by the American people. This was in 1946 after the end of World War II. In the Philippines the U.S. military command, for Cold War geopolitical reasons, refused to discharge the U.S. soldiers occupying the large naval bases of the newly independent country.

The enraged GIs staged mass protests. They were supported by mass marches and rallies across the U.S. I remember marching with many others, including local shipbuilding trade unionists, down the main drag of Camden N.J., and, then a newly honorably discharged veteran, being asked to address the rally. We brought them home in 1946!

George FishmanNew Haven CT

Great news about Google

Thanks for the excellent reporting over the years. I’m tickled that thousands of people who look at Google online will also get a look at the PWW. To me, the pww.org web site ought to be at the top of the best hits for anyone who’s able to browse, read, and vote. I’m tickled that the PWW is more visible online. My annual check to the PWW is on the way. Thanks, again!

Dale AdamsPittsburgh PA

What happened?

Thank God my father is no longer around to witness the sad conditions our country is in today. He was an immigrant, hard-working, who came through Ellis Island in the 1920s.

He loved this country for what it stood for: true freedom and democracy. Both he and my mother worked hard to provide us children a decent home. I dare say if he were to return from his grave and see the situation our country is in, the dishonesty and corruption of the leaders, he would not believe it. What has happened to our country?

I recently read an amazing story of a 12-year-old girl writing her diary on a passenger ship heading to New York from Europe in the 1890s. Her great-granddaughter found the diary. In it she refers to the “moral values” that her papa told her they all would have to learn from America and its people.

Will someone please tell me what has happened to that? I am sure that our founding fathers wanted moral values to be dominant in our government. How do we get back to that?

Jad A. GhanemTucson AZ

NATIONAL CLIPS

Fri, 28 Jan 2005 06:31:00 +0000

NEW ORLEANS: Marchers ‘mourn’ second term

On Inauguration Day more than 1,500 people, mostly dressed in black, lined up behind a horse-drawn coffin carrying copies of the Patriot Act and the Constitution for a traditional New Orleans funeral procession to mourn the demise of democracy and justice.

“We should not be inflicting ‘democracy’ in other parts of the world when we don’t have democracy here in America,” said Buddy Spell, organizer of the January 20 Coalition. Many wore white armbands, a symbol of the movement to bring the troops home now.

SEATTLE: Students evict recruiters from campus

Students in cities around the state walked out of class Jan. 20, protesting the Bush administration’s agenda for the next four years.

In Seattle, the mid-day demonstration swelled to over 1,000 when students from Seattle Central Community College took to the streets. Before they left their campus, one group confronted military recruiters in the student union and forced them to leave.

Susan Livingston, 27, a member of Military Families Speak Out, said her brother, Spc. Joseph Blickenstaff, 23, was killed in Iraq Dec. 8, 2003. “My brother will always be in my heart, but today is about standing up and saying no to pre-emptive war,” she told the students. “It’s about saying no to tens of thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths.”

WASHINGTON: Push to bring troops home grows in House

When Congress approved war powers for President Bush two years ago, only one member of the House of Representatives, Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), said no.

On Jan. 16 – after the Republican gains in the House – 16 members sent a letter to Bush urging him to “to take immediate steps to begin the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.”

“It has become clear that the existence of more than 130,000 American troops stationed on Iraqi soil is infuriating to the Iraqi people – especially because Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction and did not have a connection to the tragic events of September 11, 2001 or to the al Qaeda terrorist organization,” the letter said.

ATLANTA: African Americans challenge Waffle House

Sharon Perry, 31, stopped in the Waffle House in Savannah, Ga., and gave her order. When she finished, the server told her she had to pay for her meal up front, before the order went into the kitchen.

“I was shocked,” said Perry. “I was disgusted by her attitude. When she spoke to us it was like we shouldn’t have been there.”

Currently there are 24 lawsuits against Waffle House in six Southern states. The suits charge servers used racial slurs, deliberately served unsanitary food to minority customers, ignored Black patrons while providing prompt service to whites and verbally abused Black diners.

Waffle House owns 1,400 restaurants in 25 states. In the last five years, similar suits against Denny’s and Cracker Barrel restaurant chains have been successful, and expensive for the chains.

HARRISBURG, Pa: Republicans cut unemployment benefits

The deepening economic crisis may be invisible to politicians and the media, but it is very real to families in this state. For the first time, the state has cut unemployment compensation. Starting Jan. 1, the state Legislature, dominated by Republicans for over a decade, cut unemployment checks by 2.3 percent.

“Because of recession-related job losses, the [Unemployment Compensation] Trust Fund has fallen from a record high of $3 billion in 2001 to a projected $440 million by the end of 2004,” said Pennsylvania Labor and Industry Secretary Stephen M. Schmerin.

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com). Julia Lutsky and John Thompson contributed to this week’s clips.

Capitalism spreads HIV

Fri, 21 Jan 2005 09:09:00 +0000

OPINION

It was New Year’s Eve and I was looking back over my favorite headlines of 2004 when I found what just might be the best one. It’s not that it’s a deeply moving Oprah-style human interest story, or laugh out loud knee-slappin’ funny. It is, actually, a very depressing report and forecast. But it is most telling.

According to the Guardian of London (online edition), HIV is spreading at its fastest — to the surprise of many — in areas of the former Soviet Union. A study by the United Nations Development Program, released back in February 2004, found that nearly one out of every 100 Russians may have already contracted the virus. The study also pointed to the dreadfully realistic possibility that up to 20.7 million Russians could die from AIDS by 2045.

It’s not just Russia either. Experts have also pointed to rapidly rising infection rates in Estonia and Ukraine.

The situation had gotten so appalling so quickly that Kalman Mizsei, director of the UN Development Program for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, has openly said: “It is too late to speak of avoiding a crisis in Eastern Europe.” Clearly the crisis is already very much under way.

Another study, conducted back in 2002 by Imperial College London, paints a truly dismal picture: 5 percent of Russians are likely to be HIV positive by 2007. Scary — that’s only two years away!

Now compare that to the 0.07 percent infection rate in Cuba — a “third world” socialist country under constant threat from U.S. imperialism. So, how does that work? Some little poor “undemocratic” socialist nation down south of Florida has a lower HIV infection rate than big “free” capitalist Russia. Hmmm, sounds suspicious.

The truth is: Cuban President Fidel Castro predicted way back in the early 1980s that AIDS would be “the disease of the century.” Preparations were made and — armed with one of their greatest weapons, a proactive system of universal health care — the Cuban government launched a no-holds-barred campaign to combat the disease, before most of the rest of the world was even thinking about it.

A long time ago, in a far off land, there was another population that benefited from a universal health care system. Citizens of the “bloody,” “repressive,” “Stalinist” Soviet Union had access to quality health care free of charge, provided courtesy of their “tyrannical” government.

It’s interesting to note that the rapid rise of infections in present-day Russia is due, in large part, to the sharing of needles by drug addicts — a widespread problem. And a new problem at that. While there were troubles with alcoholism in the USSR, there certainly wasn’t much else in the way of drug abuse. The desperate, cutthroat chaos of the “free market” brought the drugs in, and prostitutes too.

The Russian government doesn’t seem to mind. There have been some television ad campaigns to create public awareness around the issue. However, apart from that, the Kremlin has done very little to stop the spread of the disease. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin seems more concerned with consolidating his own power than fighting this killer of his people.

HIV/AIDS is an increasingly important issue on a global level, but Russia’s ruling class could care less. Correspondingly, this particular story received very little play in the U.S. corporate media.

These things don’t get thoroughly reported on, because they bring up real questions and sometimes irrefutable facts.

That is the case here: Capitalism spreads HIV.

Numbers don’t lie.

Shane Brinton (comradebrinton@moscowmail.com) is a high school student, community activist, and member of the National Council of the Young Communist League, USA. He lives in Northern California.

Social Security snow job

Fri, 21 Jan 2005 08:54:00 +0000

OPINION

Winter is here, and in keeping with the season the Republican White House is planning a carefully crafted campaign of obfuscation (i.e., a snow job!) in an effort to convince present and future retirees and the public in general that a “crisis” is looming with Social Security and changes need to be made.

While I agree that changes are needed, there is no crisis, and besides, the changes proposed by the White House are the first step toward the eventual elimination of the program.

People knowledgeable about the Social Security Trust Fund are saying the fund is solvent until 2042. They also say that removing the current $87,900 cap on income that is subject to the Social Security tax would make Social Security fiscally secure for the foreseeable future.

Raise Social Security taxes on our wealthiest citizens? No way, says the Bush administration. Instead, let’s create an “ownership society” where individuals will be allowed to divert 2 percent of their “own money” into more lucrative investments.

As we all know, the devil is in the details and the Bush proposal is lacking in any details.

What are some of the details the Bush administration refuses to divulge?

1. A 2 percent diversion from Social Security to private accounts creates a shortfall to be made up by huge borrowing, adding to the deficit.

2. When I was young retirement wasn’t on my radar screen, and it probably isn’t on a lot of young people’s radar screens today. I’m pushing 70, and Social Security is my major source of income. Would I have made the right “personal investment” decisions when I was 21? With the potential for increased returns comes increased risk. Who will make up for the losses?

3. Social Security is a single-payer system and its administrative costs are small compared to the administrative costs of all those “individual accounts,” both winners and losers!

4. Bush’s “ownership society” is a cynical attempt to divert billions of dollars from the Social Security Trust Fund into the hands of investment bankers and brokerage houses.

There are many other changes that could be enacted that would ease the financial burden on all retirees, without touching a percent of Social Security. Here are two: a single-payer national health plan that covers all medical needs including prescription drugs, and eliminating or drastically reducing in property taxes and utility bills for low-income retirees.

Bill Mackovich is a retired industrial worker in Chicago.

Federal campaign laws undermine democracy

Fri, 21 Jan 2005 08:47:00 +0000

OPINION

Over the past four years we have seen a broad progressive movement emerge on a grand scale. Although it did not stop Bush on Nov. 2, this relatively new movement was able to deliver at least a 49 percent vote against the ultra-right. Key components, including the AFL-CIO, NOW, the NAACP, and others, have already begun strategizing as to how to move forward.

The ultra-right has already launched a counter-offensive. The IRS has threatened the NAACP, and the Service Employees International Union has been targeted for investigation for violation of election laws.

Unfortunately, the Federal Elections Campaign Act contains rules that severely curtail, and even make illegal, certain aspects of this coalition. The rules have been in effect since the early 1970s, but the negative provisions were strengthened, under the guise of eliminating “special interests” from financing elections, by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (aka the McCain-Feingold Act).

McCain-Feingold purports to make elections fair and free from the control of “special interests,” by capping donations from individuals and organizations, curtailing “soft money” — money that goes to issues-oriented advertisements that favor one candidate over another — and so on. The law is long and complex, but some “highlights” are in order.

The amount of money that a political action committee (PAC) or political party district or local committee can contribute to a campaign for federal office is limited to $5,000 (for now — it is indexed to inflation). Therefore, the maximum a union can give to a campaign committee is $10,000 — $5,000 from a local and $5,000 from the international. These spending limits include “donations in kind,” meaning that if a union lends its hall for use by a campaign committee, the amount it would cost to rent the hall is taken out of the amount the organization’s PAC can contribute.

While there are fewer than 100 labor PACs that could give money to a federal campaign, there are hundreds or thousands of corporate PACs. This puts the unions at a multi-million-dollar disadvantage.

Also, the maximum an individual can give is $2,000. Most workers can’t afford to give this much, but individuals tied to corporate interests certainly can.

Moreover, these rules do not stop news organizations like Fox News from nakedly campaigning for certain candidates.

A case study of how the law weakens progressive campaigns is the Frank Barbaro for Congress campaign in Brooklyn and Staten Island, N.Y., in which I volunteered.

The Barbaro campaign was initiated by labor and attracted to it all the sectors of the population necessary to build a real people’s movement. It enjoyed support from nearly all of the main unions in New York City, the gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgendered community, the African American community, women’s groups, and others. Three political parties, including the Democratic and Working Families parties, endorsed Barbaro. Richmond County (Staten Island) is the most heavily unionized county per-capita in the nation. All of this should have led to a powerful, united coalition, and a sure victory.

Unfortunately, this was not the case.

While election law allows unions to do political activity amongst their membership, anything outside of that is considered a campaign contribution. Also, it is illegal for unions, political parties, and campaign committees to coordinate. For example, while the campaign and labor unions may all have their own phone banking operations — the campaign calling members of the community in general, and labor calling its own members — the two entities are banned from sharing their lists to avoid calling some people three or four times and missing other people entirely.

A Barbaro volunteer who is a union member came into the office with a piece of literature that had been mailed to his house from the state AFL-CIO, and said that someone from his union had also visited his home. Apparently, this mailing had gone out to all union members on the island, and many union families had been visited, but we had no way of knowing who. If we had been allowed to coordinate with labor, we would have been able to focus on members of the community who were not already being reached by their unions.

In effect, at least three separate campaigns were run, barred by law from coordinating with each other — the Barbaro campaign itself, the Working Families Party, and the vast armies of labor. With their resources pooled, this could have been an invincible coalition. But because of current election laws, it was fragmented and redundant.

While we must fight to abolish the Electoral College and to count every vote, we need to reform federal election law so that it truly defends the people from the multi-million-dollar corporate interests, yet allows a people’s coalition to emerge in an organized fashion.

Dan Margolis is on the staff of the People’s Weekly World.

LETTERS

Fri, 21 Jan 2005 07:25:00 +0000

What is a moral value?

I’d like to thank Stewart Acuff for his opinion piece “Restoring workers’ rights is a moral value.” I don’t speak of it often but everything I do and believe stems from my faith. I rejected capitalism and embraced socialism as the economic system more consistent with Christian values. I became an activist because I believe faith without works is dead. I embrace my friends of other faiths as well as my atheist and agnostic friends as I was raised to believe religion is not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of what is right for you.

My definition of morality is quite simple — think of someone other than yourself once in a while.

Deb Wilmer Tucson AZ

Why have to beg?

Can’t pay those mounting medical bills? A couple in Richmond, Va., has discovered that eBay, the online auction house, may be the answer.

The “Today” show aired a segment about a 9-year-old boy, David Dingman-Grover, whose parents are attempting to raise enough money for a biopsy of the tumor in his head. Because of the location and size of the tumor (the size of a grapefruit) it was impossible to remove, according to his mother in her ad on eBay.

After chemotherapy, his tumor shrank to the size of a peach pit, but now David is in need of specialized pediatric neurosurgery in order to determine if the tumor is still cancerous. David’s family must pay 20 percent of the surgery bill, as well as a $1,500 fee paid in advance.

As I watched this story, I was deeply touched by the plight of 9-year-old David and his family, while at the same time angered at “Today’s” coverage. Instead of questioning the fact that a family in the wealthiest country in the world has to resort to donations for the health care of a child, they focused on how clever they are for thinking of going on eBay to raise money.

I guess those moral values we keep hearing so much about go on the back burner when the country has such pressing issues at hand like the $50-million inauguration or the privatization of Social Security and, of course, those permanent tax cuts for the rich.

Thomas Fair Cleveland OH

Who’s the fool?

Hey, great article on the Bush privatization of Social Security. Too bad you’re all wet. If people don’t have the intelligence to invest in the stock market, then here’s a novel idea: Educate yourself. Learn about it!

If you and I had $10,000 to invest over the next 20 years, you’d put your money in the entitlement fund we call SS, and I’d put mine to work in the stock market, I’d have a lot more money than you when all is said and done. That’s a fact. Just because some people don’t know how to invest, that’s not my problem. You just simply don’t understand the issue. The silent majority will win this battle.

John MontgomeryVia e-mail

Editor’s note: A big and vocal majority thinks otherwise. See page 1.

Meditation #1

How can it be: our TV screens fill with dead “them”, dehumanized and inert, as our children watch dead-eyed. And soldiers, our own neighbors mouthe taught cliches, military jargon, to erase awareness of this ... Finalizing Act. Is not War the greatest obscenity?

Frances FordSt. Paul MN

Want to share story

I am a resident of Orrville, Ohio, who writes a column for the local newspaper, Orrviews. My column deals with the history of Orrville and famous and former residents. I believe Carl Geiser, the author of an article on your web site, is also the Carl Geiser who was born in Orrville, fought in the Spanish Civil War, and wrote a powerful essay on Cuban democracy. I suspect Mr. Geiser has a powerful story to tell, and I wish to share that story with my readers. Any information as to how to contact Carl Geiser would be very helpful.

Caleb T. MaupinOrrville OH

New layout a winner I like the new layout. It makes the paper look more professional and better organized. I was able to see and find what articles I wanted to read first more quickly. I do wish you would add some color pictures from time to time.

John E. ArmstrongVia e-mail

Media failure

Once the Nazification of America is completed — if not during the second term of George W. Bush, then surely in the first term of his brother, Jeb Bush — we may thank the mainstream media for allowing this to happen virtually unchallenged. Fittingly, it will be the mainstream media who will be among the hardest hit, once the neocons are through with them. The epitaph on the mass grave of the mainstream media will read: “Never did so many do so little for so many.”

Willard B. Shapira Minneapolis MN

Blockade of Cuba

A couple of recent letters deserve comment. One opined that it was erroneous to describe U.S. policy toward Cuba as a blockade, but that it is an embargo. The other stated that the ban on travel may have been constitutional while the Soviet Union existed, but that it surely could not be constitutional now.

The Cuban government maintains that U.S. policy constitutes a blockade because the U.S. punishes countries and companies that trade with Cuba. That most people side with the Cubans on this issue is evidenced by the fact that the UN General Assembly has frequently and overwhelmingly condemned U.S. policy. To most of the world, the U.S. defense that its policy is simply an embargo is not convincing.

The constitutionality of the travel ban has very little to do with the existence or disappearance of the Soviet Union. Every U.S. administration, except, for a time, that of Jimmy Carter, has restricted our right to travel to Cuba. Because the courts have made it difficult to ban travel outright, the restrictions now severely restrict travelers from spending money. For a variety of reasons, none of the people penalized for spending money have had the constitutionality of the restrictions decided in court. Whoever succeeds in getting this issue before a substantive court will need the support of all your readers!

Greg LaMottaAnnandale VA

NATIONAL CLIPS

Fri, 21 Jan 2005 05:48:00 +0000

This week’s clips highlight just a few of the people’s celebrations and struggles honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It took 15 years to establish the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. After Dr. King was assassinated in 1968, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced legislation creating the holiday. The bill stalled in Congress until a petition containing 6 million signatures was submitted and two national marches were held, in 1982 and 1983. Congress passed Conyers’ bill in 1983 and President Reagan signed it into law. The first federal King holiday was celebrated in 1986.

Some states resisted the federal law. Several Southern states still include celebrations for various Confederate generals on the King holiday. Following a mass struggle, Arizona finally recognized the holiday in 1992. New Hampshire became the last state to observe the holiday, changing the name of the third Monday in January from Civil Rights Day to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

DENVER, Colo.: Over 30,000 call for peace, justice, equality

Without the Civil Rights Movement and the leadership of Dr. King, Darryl Searuggs believes he would not have achieved his dream to become an airline pilot. That is the reason he decided to bring his teenage daughters to join a sea of people, topping the 30,000 who marched last year, to be part of the struggle for equal opportunity, justice and peace.

Behind the Searuggs family, a street-wide banner featured a peace dove aloft. Throughout the “marade,” Denver’s name for the celebration combining parade and march, signs and chants called for an end to the Iraq war and funding for housing, education and jobs.

Darnell Slaughter, a teacher, sees continued police brutality dimming the progress of racial equality since the 1960s. She marched with her daughters and a vanload of their classmates. “A lot of people, a lot of generations, not just the younger generations, but the older ones too, feel like we’ve arrived and we’ve overcome, but we haven’t,” she said. Slaughter cited the 2003 shooting of 15-year-old Paul Childs by a white policeman and the overturning of a 10-month suspension of that officer. Since then, said Slaughter, there have been increasing shootings of Black youth by white police officers. “A lot of small things happen that in an isolated way don’t look like a big deal, but when they happen constantly, you see the way different races are treated,” she said.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper addressed the crowd, assuring the city’s support for equal opportunity in housing and jobs.

GREENVILLE, S.C.: Struggle for King holiday continues

This is the only county in the U.S. that does not celebrate the King holiday. Two years ago, thousands marched here to establish the holiday. Last November, voters cleaned house and elected new County Council members who promised to celebrate the King holiday, including a paid day off for county workers.

On Jan. 15, Greenville son Rev. Jesse Jackson led a march of 500 through the streets to hold the newly elected officials’ feet to the fire. “We don’t have a holiday yet,” said marcher Corey Robinson.

The new council members held their first meeting Jan. 18. The King holiday was not on the published agenda.

COLUMBUS, Ga.: 8,000 march to end police murders

It was a routine traffic stop in 2003, but Kenneth Walker, 39, ended up dead. Walker was not armed. The deputy sheriff who shot him, David Glisson, was not indicted nor disciplined. Glisson said it was a drug investigation. No drugs were found.

Led by Rev. Jesse Jackson and Joseph Lowery of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, over 8,000 marched Jan. 16, to remember Walker and demand an end to police officers killing Black men and getting away with it.

Cheryl Walker, Kenneth Walker’s widow, was stunned at the turnout. “When they first talked about doing this march, I wondered how many people would be interested enough to show up. Y’all have shown there is a reason, there is a justice today.”

“Kenny has even been blamed for his own death,” she told the crowd. “I have asked questions and been personally attacked. It’s here where we live in society where this has been accepted and allowed. We have asked that justice be served. That has not happened.”

COLUMBIA, S.C.: Fund public schools, no to privatization

Full funding for public schools, not private schools, was on the minds of 2,000 South Carolinians as they marched on the State House, Jan. 17, in the footsteps of Dr. King.

Dennis Courtland Hayes, acting national NAACP president, addressed the rally on the state house steps. He challenged the state government to present a plan to close the academic achievement gap between white students and Black students.

“In rural South Carolina, the students are not getting the proper care as students in other areas,” said marcher Jarrett Smith. “We have a governor now who wants to put education in private schools … it needs to be in public schools. We’re all Americans here.”

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com).

LETTERS

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 08:26:00 +0000

Don’t yield an inch

The following is from an action letter from Working Families e-Activist Network.

President George W. Bush, his Republican allies in Congress and corporate chiefs are on an ideological trophy hunt to destroy Social Security — the most important family security effort in America’s history. Their privatization plans to replace guaranteed benefits with risky private accounts would fatally undermine Social Security, cut benefits drastically, most likely raise workers’ retirement age — and saddle our children with $2 trillion in debt.

Now is the time to fight back.

There is no way we’re going to yield an inch on Social Security. That is why the AFL-CIO is launching a petition to secure Social Security — one part of a multifaceted campaign to protect Social Security.

Our goal is to get 100,000 signers between now and Jan. 20 — President Bush’s Inauguration Day. Sign the petition and urge others to sign. Go to www.unionvoice.org.

Working Families e-ActivistVia e-mail

Youth and Social Security

On Social Security we need to mention the college support, which was once a part of the program before Reagan. And the actual cost of supporting a set of children after the death of the primary worker. Young people will find the level of survivors’ benefits useful, especially with the high cost of life insurance and the deaths due to this dirty war.

The Right is presently moving the idea among African Americans that Black males are not reaching the age to obtain Social Security benefits — apparently the average life span has dropped for African American males within the last decade to 60 years.

Ken HeardVia e-mail

Social Security reform

I am on dialysis but I support the AFL-CIO even though I was not in any union. Since Bush wants to “reform” Social Security we should do so with the federal pensions as a pilot program. The kinks could be worked out in a smaller pension and Congress could see more clearly what “reform” does to the innocent. Best wishes.

Eugene LoschVia e-mail

Bush’s torture order

What can we do to get rid of this president? He has disregarded all the rules of human dignity. He is a disgrace to this country and an insult to the American people. Those who make the excuse that our enemies would torture, so why shouldn’t we, in essence is condoning what Hitler did during World War II. Appalling!

Lynn ParkerVia e-mail

Ghastly failure

Last month, President Bush imperiously declared that, “It’s time for the Iraqi people to vote,” referring to upcoming elections planned for the end of this month. But, compelled by a growing catastrophe, Iraqi leaders are concluding otherwise. They can’t afford to be as pig-headed as the president on this matter of lurching to the polls just yet.

The situation in Iraq is now so dismal that even Republican war supporters in Congress are beginning to suggest that it’s time to consider pulling the troops out sooner, rather than later. Emerging sentiment in Congress seems to prefer declaring victory after the elections and then packing up for home.

Confirming observers’ worst fears, reports have now surfaced regarding an administration proposal to establish El Salvador-style death squads in Iraq, a desperate reaction to a bourgeoning insurgency, now estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands. Confident democrats do not hatch dark schemes like these. Rather, they’re the inevitable spawn of a ghastly policy failure, one that risks consuming the Iraqi people even as it destroys what’s left of Bush’s credibility.

Cord MacGuire Boulder CO

Proud to be from Boston

Regarding Jason Rabinowitz’s article “Taking on the ‘cultural divide’” (PWW 1/8-14) I live in rural North Carolina, though I am a Boston (Cambridge) Massachusetts proud liberal. Thank you for speaking about making Massachusetts a swear word. I am very proud to be a Boston Irish girl born across the street from Tip O’Neill. Also we are thoughtful liberals, not shallow Republican pawns.

Rita McNamara MooseVia e-mail

Venezuela’s changes

I enjoyed Bea Lumpkin’s article (PWW 12/11-17) on she and her husband’s visit to Venezuela. That is the best general article I have read that deals with the social dimension of the changes there under President Chavez.

Many articles deal with the international dimension, which does have crucial importance. But while it’s great for a Third World nation to stand up to imperialism, it is important that there is social change going on too. Your article really gave a good outline of that. I just wish it had been longer.

Only one thing that struck me as “missing” from your article — after the defeat of the coup in 2002 and the nationalization of the various industries — what happened to all the oligarchs and corrupt officials who have been ousted and who, I suppose, supported the coup? With Bush & Co. behind them, one can bet they haven’t thrown in the towel and decided to join the workers. With the people so solidly behind the government, there’s not much they can do, I suppose, but I suspect they’re actively trying.

For example, do they control some of the media? They could run a constant propaganda barrage against Chavez. And are there efforts to employ or organize those 7 million “self-employed” folks?

Eric MuellerDallas TX

Author’s reply: You are absolutely right. The coup-ists control all of the media except for one government TV channel that does not even cover the whole country. The media openly organized the coup. Chavez government is just beginning to call to make anti-government violence illegal. Of course, the U.S. State Department is hollering “freedom of press.” The street vendors do have an organization but I did not get the details. Thanks much for your encouragement.

Freon math

Another great article written by Mr. Halabi — “When does 2+2 not equal 4” (PWW 12/11-17) — interesting! It reminded me of when we used to play with freon in the lab. The stuff evaporated so fast we had to work under a hood. Pour one beaker full into another one of the same size and the receiving beaker was only two-thirds full. The rest is probably up there in the upper atmosphere gobbling up ozone now.

Dave ZinkVia e-mail

40 years after Selma's Bloody Sunday

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 07:44:00 +0000

Reps. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio), John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) defended the legacy of martyrs who died for voting rights when they blocked, for a few hours, Jan. 6, the certification of Ohio’s Electoral College votes to force a debate on the widespread vote suppression and irregularities on Nov. 2.

We reprint on the next page excerpts from their floor speeches that ring with the same conviction as Dr. Martin Luther King’s demands for voting rights. In her floor speech, Tubbs Jones cited “the plight of hundreds and even thousands of Ohio voters … denied the right to vote. … If they are willing to stand at the polls for countless hours in the rain as many did in Ohio, then I can surely stand up for them here in the halls of Congress.”

She thanked Boxer for joining the challenge. Not a single senator joined in the Congressional Black Caucus effort to challenge the stealing of the 2000 election in Florida.

Jocelyn Travis, who served as statewide coordinator of the Ohio Election Protection Coalition, hailed the lawmakers’ courageous stand.

“Stephanie Tubbs Jones was speaking for a majority of her constituents and so were Conyers, and Senator Boxer,” Travis told the World in a telephone interview from her office in Cleveland. “They were the target of ridicule and verbal abuse but they took a stand anyway. This is supposed to be a civilized society. We need to deal with the systemic problems in our election system. So many people, especially African American and Latino voters, were denied their voting rights because their registrations were not entered or there were too few voting machines. Too many provisional ballots were discarded. Many first-time voters lost confidence that the system is fair.”

The U.S., she added, needs a uniform voting system like most other nations to replace the crazy quilt of state and local election procedures. “We as a nation and a community must work to resolve these problems if we want to restore confidence in our elections.”

The lawmakers’ speeches came at the beginning of the 40th anniversary year of the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA). As if to remind the nation of that blood-drenched era, police last week arrested a Mississippi Ku Klux Klansman in the murder 41 years ago of three civil rights workers, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney. The youth, one Black, the others white, were lynched while working to sign up Black voters in Mississippi.

The challenge to widespread voter suppression in Ohio Nov. 2 brought home that the struggle for the right to vote is not yet fully won four decades after the VRA’s passage.

In some ways, the Republican voter suppression tactics are more insidious than the literacy tests and poll taxes of the earlier era. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush hired Choice Point, a state-of-the-art data-mining firm, to purge his state’s voter rolls of 90,000 or more voters in 2000. Voting machines with no verifiable paper trail opened the door for hackers to stuff ballot boxes without leaving fingerprints.

It would be a mistake to focus only on the negatives. The 2004 election set many new records for voter turnout. An all-time record 13.6 million Black voters went to the polls Nov. 2, three million more than in the stolen 2000 election, a 25 percent increase. Overwhelmingly they voted against George W. Bush. Contrary to early exit polls, Latino voters, too, voted in record numbers against Bush-Cheney.

Speaking to a Nov. 10 conference sponsored by the National Coalition on Black Voter Participation, the Rev. Jesse Jackson credited the youth movement. He cited the “Vote or Die” and “Hip Hop Voter” projects, which registered and turned out millions of new voters. “Young Americans were at the forefront of the civil rights movement in the 1960s and the Voting Rights Act, and it is young Americans today that are leading the charge for voting rights and participation,” he said.

Still, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of voters were denied their right to vote last Nov. 2. Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told a Dec. 15 post-election conference in Washington that Election Protection volunteers across the nation reported 40,000 voter complaints of irregularities, including harassment and intimidation at polling places across the nation.

So this year’s commemoration of VRA’s passage is more than an exercise in nostalgia. The fight to defend and extend the right to vote is here and now.

Organizers plan to reenact the march from Selma to Montgomery that galvanized Congress and the Johnson administration to approve the VRA 40 years ago. Titled “Jubilee 2005,” marchers will walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 5, commemorating “Bloody Sunday” March 21, 1965, when Alabama state troopers and Selma police brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding enactment of the VRA.

In outrage, Dr. King sent out a telegram to thousands of clergymen. “In the vicious maltreatment of defenseless citizens of Selma, where old women and young children were gassed and clubbed at random, we have witnessed an eruption of racism which seeks to destroy all America,” Dr. King wrote. “No American is without responsibility… . I call on clergy of all faiths to join me in Selma.”

Millions turned out for protest rallies and marches in towns and cities in the days that followed. The march from Selma to Montgomery proceeded and the VRA became law. Yet some made the ultimate sacrifice. Klan assassins shot to death Detroit housewife, Viola Liuzzo, wife of a Teamster organizer, who had come as a volunteer to chauffeur people between Selma and Montgomery. Earlier, Klan assassins murdered James Read and Jimmy Lee Jackson for their role in the Selma voting rights struggle.

Those joining in the reenactment of that march will be demanding extension of sections of the VRA that are scheduled to lapse within the next two years. Congress last voted in 1982 to extend it for 25 years.

The VRA includes the section requiring bilingual ballots in three states, Texas, New Mexico, and California, as well as the section of the law requiring election monitors in states with a history of voter disenfranchisement. Also needing renewal is the requirement that states and jurisdictions with a history of excluding minority voters prove that changes in voting procedures will not negatively impact minority voters. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s gerrymandering of congressional districts in Texas to insure five more Republican seats shows how needed that protection is. His scam, for which he may well be indicted, is deeply racist in its impact.

The fight is not limited to extension of the VRA. It also includes measures to strengthen the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The election reform movement seeks to make it easier for ex-felons to win back their right to vote. It favors voting machines with a verifiable paper trail. They would make Election Day a national holiday.

Some are calling for abolition of the Electoral College and the direct election of the president. Also under discussion is the elimination of the winner-take-all system in favor of proportional representation.

Given Republican control of Congress, these may seem like pie-in-the-sky demands. Yet civil rights workers of 1965 also faced long odds. They didn’t surrender and won a great victory. Likewise, today’s movement for equality and democratic rights is unlikely to surrender.

Tim Wheeler is the PWW’s national political correspondent, (greenerpastures21212@yahoo.com)

(see related statements below by U.S. Representatives)

Why we are here

By Rep. John Conyers

We are here today, not as partisans for one presidential candidate or another, but because we want to do our duty under the Constitution to protect our democracy. We are here because of the inner-city voter in Franklin County, who waited 10 hours in the pouring rain, while suburban voters in the same county had no wait because election officials decided to reallocate voting machines from Columbus to the suburbs.

We are here because of the Hispanic voter in Hamilton County who was directed to the wrong voting table, and had their ballot thrown out because of a decision by the secretary of state to throw out ballots cast at the right polling place but the wrong precinct.

We are here because of the elderly voter in Lucas County who requested an absentee ballot that never showed up and was refused a provisional ballot because of another partisan decision by the secretary of state.

We are here because of the new voter in Delaware County, whose registration form was thrown out because it did not meet the paper weight requirements of the same secretary of state.

We are here because of the African American voter in Summit County, who was targeted with an unlawful voting challenge because of her race and because she refused to answer a certified letter from the chairman of the Republican Party.

Most of all we are here because not a single election official in Ohio has given us any explanation for the massive and widespread irregularities in that state: No explanation for the machines in Mahoning County that recorded Kerry votes for Bush — No explanation for the improper purging in Cuyahoga County — No explanation for the lock down in Warren County —No explanation for the 99 percent voter turnout in Miami County — No explanation for the machine tampering in Hocking County.

The debate we have today will not change the outcome of November’s election. We know that. But out of today’s debate, I hope this Congress will respond to our challenge:

• A challenge to hold true bipartisan hearings to get to the bottom of what went wrong in Ohio and around the nation on election day.

• A challenge to show the same concern about voter disenfranchisement in this country that we show in Afghanistan, and the Ukraine, and Iraq.

• A challenge to enact real election reform; that gives all citizens the right to a provisional ballot; that gives all voters a verifiable paper trail; and that bans election officials from serving as campaign chairs.

The thing we should never fear in Congress is a debate, and the thing we should never fear in a democracy is the voters. I hope that today we have a fair debate and four years from now, we have an election all our citizens can be proud of.

Protect the will of the people

By Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones

While some have called our cause foolish, I can assure you that my parents, Mary and Andrew Tubbs, did not raise any fools. And as a lawyer, former judge and prosecutor, I am duty bound to follow the law and apply the law to the facts as I find them.

It is on behalf of those millions of Americans who believe in and value our democratic process and the right to vote that I put forth this objection today. If they are willing stand at the polls for countless hours in the rain as many did in Ohio, then I can surely stand up for them here in the halls of Congress.

This objection does not have at its root the hope or even the hint of overturning or challenging the victory of the president; but it is a necessary, timely and appropriate opportunity to review and remedy the most precious process in our democracy.

I raise this objection neither to put the nation in the turmoil of a proposed overturned election nor to provide cannon fodder or partisan demagoguery for my fellow Republican members of Congress.

I raise this objection because I am convinced that we as a body must conduct a formal and legitimate debate about election irregularities. I raise this objection to debate the process and protect the integrity of the true will of the people.

Proud to file this objection

By Sen. Barbara Boxer

Our democracy is the centerpiece of who we are as a nation. And it is the fondest hope of all Americans that we can help bring democracy to every corner of the world.

As we try to do that, and as we are shedding the blood of our military to this end, we must realize that we lose so much credibility when our own electoral system needs so much improvement.

Yet, in the past four years, this Congress has not done everything it should to give confidence to all of our people their votes matter.

After passing the Help America Vote Act, nothing more was done.

* * * * * *

Before I close, I want to thank my colleague from the House, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. Her letter to me asking for my intervention was substantive and compelling.

As I wrote to her, I was particularly moved by her point that it is virtually impossible to get official House consideration of the whole issue of election reform, including these irregularities. … I am proud to stand with her in filing this objection.

NATIONAL CLIPS

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 05:44:00 +0000

JONESBORO, Ga.: New sheriff cleans house

In November, voters in this rural county near Atlanta elected former state representative and police officer Victor Hill, 39, as sheriff. Hill is the first African American to lead the 345-employee department.

Hill, a lifelong resident of Clayton County, was sworn in Jan. 3 and immediately called in 27 of the department’s supervisory personnel, took their guns and badges and had them escorted out under armed guard. At least one of those fired is African American.

In a statement, Hill referred to the murder in 2000 of Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown, the first African American sheriff in nearby DeKalb County. Former Sheriff Sidney Dorsey shot Brown three days before he was to take office. Dorsey was convicted and is serving a life sentence.

Hill painted a picture of blatant sabotage of the Jonesboro sheriff’s office. Computers were infected with viruses and files were destroyed or missing, Hill told reporters.

The former employees went to court and Judge Stephen Boswell restored their jobs for at least 30 days. Hill placed all 27 on administrative leave until the full case is heard at the end of the month.

Harlan Miller, lawyer for the 27, filed suit against the University of Georgia in 2000, which resulted in the courts eliminating the school’s affirmative action program.

GREENSBORO, N.C.: Bush ally calls for troop withdrawal

Veteran member of the U.S. House Howard Coble, a Republican who has represented North Carolina’s 6th District since 1984, told his hometown newspaper Jan. 10 that he is “fed up” with reading that “we’ve lost another five or 10 young men and women in Iraq.” Coble joins Republican James Leech of Iowa and Democrat Dennis Kucinich of Ohio in calling for President Bush to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. Coble chairs the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security and said that he plans to put troop withdrawal before that committee.

Although Coble, a long-time ally of Bush, firmly supported the invasion of Iraq, his enthusiasm waned when he discovered that the administration lacked a post-invasion strategy.

PITTSBURGH: Tugboat workers killed

Workers who master the complex and dangerous currents on Pittsburgh’s three rivers are invisible to many, but their work delivering coal helps keep the lights on, computers blinking and coffee brewing.

The Ohio River was rushing at about 15 mph — 12 mph faster than usual — and was swollen from heavy rains Jan. 9, when a tugboat, the Elizabeth M, maneuvering six coal barges through the Montgomery lock, suddenly plunged over the dam. Lock workers tossed life preservers into the swirling water but the raging river kept volunteer firefighters, from the nearby town of Industry, from rescuing the tugboat crew members.

“The worst thing was, you could see two people in the boat screaming for help,” said Chuck Ward, Industry’s assistant fire chief.

Crews on nearby boats rescued Toby Zappone, Jacob Wilds and John Thomas. No one could reach Ed Crevda, 22, Tom Fisher, 25, and Scott Stewart, 36, whose bodies have been recovered. Rich Conklin, 40, is missing and presumed dead.

The Coast Guard has begun an investigation. They report “scant” cooperation from the owner of the Elizabeth M, Campbell Transportation.

GRANITEVILLE, S.C.: Toxic train wreck kills 9

Six textile workers died at their machines inside the Avondale Mills plant when a Norfolk and Southern train carrying chlorine gas slammed into railroad cars parked beside the facility. Charles Shealey, John Laird, Fred Rushton III, Allen Frazier and Steven Bagby were working the night of Jan. 6 and did not return to their families in the morning. A sixth unidentified worker was found in the plant. Outside the mill, chlorine gas killed a truck driver, Joseph Stone, as well as the train’s engineer, Christopher Seeling, and a town resident, Tony DeLoach.

The chlorine release forced the evacuation of 5,500 residents. Area hospitals treated 234 people and admitted 58, about a dozen in serious condition.

Pressurized railroad cars carrying toxic chemicals like chlorine through communities has worried government safety officials for months. However, the Bush-appointed officials at the Federal Railroad Administration don’t question the railroad corporations, who claim that they are doing everything possible to improve safety.

Last summer, three Texans died when a train derailment spewed chlorine gas on the town of Macdona. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the Graniteville wreck.

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com). Julia Lutsky contributed to this week’s clips.

Mara Levi: smart rock n roll

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 13:34:00 +0000

Music Review

“Just when you thought smart folk-pop was dead, here comes Mara Levi with her folkster sounds and powerful messages.”

— Discovering Artists, Sept. 17

Mara Levi introduces a new category of rock and roll — smart pop. She performs catchy, original rock and roll that entertains as it weaves its way into your subconscious.

Levi, a Massachusetts native, began playing piano when she was 4. At 10 she added the trumpet and by 20 she had mastered bass and guitar as well. She studied voice and composition with several renowned musicians and is well versed in jazz, classical, folk and rock and roll. All of these traditions lend Levi’s songwriting its eclectic, accessible flair.

Compared to Liz Phair, Fiona Apple, Alanis Morissette, and Aimee Mann, Levi combines musical worlds, creating a style that is uniquely her own. She recently released her first solo CD titled “Life’s a Ball.” Her East Coast tour begins Jan. 11 in Washington, D.C., and she plays New York City Jan. 13 (see box). For complete tour info, go to www.maralevi.com.

Mara Levi in NYC Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. Kenny’s Castaways 157 Bleeker Street (between Thompson & LaGuardia) • 21 and up •

LETTERS

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 12:56:00 +0000

Question on Puerto Rico

Why is it that in your states listing Puerto Rico is not shown?

Even though it is not a state, there are many people in the island interested in what your periodical publishes. Furthermore, your editorial line should be concerned with the realities faced by Puerto Ricans. I hope that this message will not fall onto deaf ears.

Carlos AguedaVia e-mail

Editor’s reply: Thanks for your letter. A quick search of our electronic archives shows that we published 97 articles in the past two years that at least mentioned Puerto Rico, in most cases in the context of the island nation itself. See this week’s article on page 7, for example. We would like to give Puerto Rico even more coverage than we presently do, and we welcome articles, especially written by people on the island.

The reason we don’t include Puerto Rico in our list of states is that we do not consider Puerto Rico to be part of the U.S. nation, but instead a U.S. colony. We support the transfer of all sovereignty to the Puerto Rican people.

Far-right controls radio

Just days before the end of the year, management at Chicago’s talk radio station (WLS-AM) terminated Jay Marvin, midday host and the lone liberal voice on a station that has become a shill for the Bush administration. Jay was the only one to voice opposition to the continued occupation of Iraq and policies of this administration, which affect the poor.

I am always amused by conservatives who state the left control the media. Talk radio today, with the exception of the few hosts on Air America, is populated almost entirely by those on the far right. In a city that has a proud history in the struggle of workers and the labor movement, it is sad no one with an opposing viewpoint can be heard on local radio. With the absence of an Air America affiliate here, Jay Marvin will be even more missed.

Tom DownesChicago

Working class solutions

The recent People Before Profits column “Who will pay for the falling dollar?” was an excellent primer on trade imbalances and the declining dollar. It gives current examples and highlights the anti-worker thrust of solutions put forward by ruling-class elements.

The columnist puts forward a number of ideas to begin probing working-class solutions to these problems. Among these is to “cut the trade deficit by reducing … oil expenditures.” This makes sense as these are a substantial part of imports. Of course, monopoly would love to take such a groundswell and turn it into an attack on environmental quality. High on its hit list would be drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Accompanying this would have to be a strong environmental program pushing increased mileage standards for vehicles, support for renewable energy such as solar and wind, and reversing urban sprawl.

Connected to the latter would be support for passive open space, that is, land with no impervious surfaces. In tandem with these, a strong movement for affordable housing for all would be needed. The above quoted column could lead to fruitful discussions in our trade unions, central labor councils and environmental groups.

Nick Bart Via e-mail

Who pays the piper?

Here’s another example of how the mainstream media are completely in the pockets of the rich and super-rich. Writing about business prospects for 2005 recently, AP correspondent Martin Crutsinger writes in part: “Economists think the boom in productivity may be coming to an end as rising demand is forcing companies to hire more employees.”

If this doesn’t tell you the workers exist solely for the benefit of The System, nothing will. What’s more, the mainstream media never report or opine that maybe the system should serve the workers. The mainstream media are just as rigid and/or clueless on this issue as they are on Iraq and so many others, all interrelated, of course. That’s why the PWW is a welcome voice of truth and clarity on matters concerning the global labor force.

Willard B. Shapira Minneapolis MN

Bush spends more for death than life

With up to 400,000 dead in Asia, why keep killing people in Iraq? With the dead of Asia spread out before us like some nightmare “Van Helsing” movie come to life, it seems a bit presumptuous for George Bush to continue to play God and go on killing and killing and killing in Iraq.

Would it finally come into perspective for Americans to know that Bush is spending the same amount of money in aid for the millions of tsunami victims in Asia as he spends in just four hours on killing people in Iraq?

Thousands of Americans were killed and wounded in Thailand. Thousands of Americans were killed and wounded in Iraq. One was a natural disaster. The other is a stupid, senseless waste.

Bush plans to spend more money on his inauguration party than he will spend on aid to the worst natural disaster in history. Bush spends more money in one hour in Iraq than he spends on relief to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. In Zimbabwe alone, 2,000 people a week die of AIDS. They have a 45-minute rule in Zimbabwe — funerals are not allowed to run over 45 minutes. There just isn’t time. Coffins are buried in stacks.

Are we going to continue to let George Bush play God — and go on killing and killing and killing in Iraq?

Jane Stillwater Via e-mail

Phony election

The extreme right can inveigle all of the donkeys all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. They can’t fool all of the people all of the time. The election was a fraud. Kerry probably won by a landslide. What is so ominous now is that the country of Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson no longer exists. The Democrats job now is to parade around as a minority party, never winning control despite the fact that the American people would vote them in to control the House and Senate, to give the illusion that we still live in a freedom-democracy and have a choice. It wasn’t bad enough that the American people had a choice of the completely for capitalism (the Democrats) or the totally for capitalism (the right-wing Republicans). The situation that exists today is that the “totally” have destroyed the “completely.”

John BorowskiVia Email