http://104.192.218.19/October-2004-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/letters-25930/ <p>Vote for change<br /><br /> I have lived through the greater part of the 20th century and can well remember the Great Depression. President Herbert Hoover did not lift a finger to relieve the pain and suffering of the nation. Children were dying of hunger, farmers were leaving their fields unplowed, potatoes were dumped in the ocean because there was no money to buy, and then the banks closed. <br /><br /> In 1932, during the election, Republican Hoover promised a chicken in every pot. But the people responded with the demand for change of direction. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected. Despite the growing fears of the fascist terror and war, the people organized, they marched to Washington, they picketed, and they sat down and took over factories, demanding relief. <br /><br /> It was to the credit of FDR that he listened and watched the polls. The NRA (National Recovery Act) was passed and we won the biggest jobs program the nation had ever seen. Dams were built, parks restored, roads, schools and the arts were funded and much more. We won Social Security, unemployment compensation, veterans’ benefits, farm aid and the right to organize unions. <br /><br /> FDR was the only president to be elected four times. This is the kind of “liberalism” that George W. Bush denounces. <br /><br /> Ask any senior if he or she is willing to give up Social Security. Ask any worker if he or she is willing to give up workmen’s compensation or unemployment insurance. Ask any veteran if he or she is willing to give up veterans’ benefits. <br /><br /> We need jobs at a living wage, an increase in the minimum wage, an end to racist and sexist discrimination, health care, quality public education an end to terrorism and we need peace. If this is called liberalism, so be it. We must vote for change, not only for the presidency but for the Congress as well! <br /><br />Frances GabowPhiladelphia PA<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anti-democratic ballot measures in Calif., Wash. <br /><br /> Your readers should know there are ballot initiatives in Washington and California that would limit the general election ballot (for Congress and state office) to just the top two vote-getters in the primary. <br /><br /> In California, it is Prop. 62; in Washington, it is I-872. Both propositions have been condemned by the Coalition for Free and Open Elections; by former Illinois Congressman John B. Anderson; by all seven qualified parties on the ballot in California; by all the parties that ever appeared on Washington state’s ballot; and by many important unions, including SEIU of California. <br /><br /> Here is what the San Francisco Bay Guardian says about Prop. 62: “No, No, No! Presented as an open-primary plan designed to include independent voters, this dangerously disingenuous measure is really about helping rich candidates and those backed by wealthy interests destroy small political parties and narrow the public debate over important issues. Basically, it would remove political parties from the primary process and send just the two top vote-getters on to the general election — virtually ensuring that no minor-party candidate would ever appear on a fall ballot. <br /><br /> “Not surprisingly, every small party in the state, including the Greens, is actively opposing it. But it could wind up hurting major-party candidates too: a primary in which two Republicans and five Democrats competed in a majority-Democratic district could very easily lead the Democrats to split the vote so that the general election would feature only the Republicans. In the end, it would help the candidates with the most money, depriving voters of any kind of real choice. Vote No.” <br /><br /> Prop. 62 supporters have raised $4 million and are running a TV ad campaign. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed it five days ago. Eighty-eight percent of the money came in contributions of $50,000 or more. Eight billionaires have contributed to it. John Walton, CEO of Wal-Mart, gave $250,000 last month. <br /><br /><br /><br />Richard WingerEditor, Ballot Access News San Francisco CA <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Peg minimum wage to congressional wage? <br /><br /> I read with interest your recent cover article about the federal minimum wage (“Bushonomics: 39 million locked in poverty,” PWW 10/16-22). Why not simply peg the minimum wage at an hourly rate that is a fixed fraction of the average annual salary of a member of Congress? For example, if the combined average annual salary of a U.S. Representative and a Senator were $84,500 per year, then the federal minimum wage could be pegged at an hourly rate of 1/1000 that amount, or $8.45 hour. Forever after, whenever the Fat Cats in Congress saw fit to lift up their own wages, they would also be voting to raise the minimum wage. What could be simpler and more fair than that? <br /><br />Dan PensAberdeen WA<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Immigrants face other problems<br /><br /> We appreciate the article, “Backlog blocks many immigrants from voting” (PWW, 9/18-24), which addressed the problems of the immigration process. The article identified with its readers who face the problem of the backlog and we, have been personally affected by it as well. Although the main point in the article was about the overly dragged-out immigration process, causing immigrants the inability to vote, there are more consequences immigrants face as noncitizens. <br /><br /> Similar to Jose’s story in the article, Jinho has been waiting three-and-a-half years for his green card. Besides the inconvenience of waiting, immigrants without a green card are denied of any type of financial aid or student loans. <br /><br /> The article misses the emphasis of the problems that is caused by backlogs. Children are forced to work to support their family. And students are denied of any financial help, thus causing education to be far more difficult than it should be. These are only some of the problems immigrants face each day. <br /><br /> It is important for the public to understand how severe this problem is. Hopefully in a future articles, this issue would be addressed, thus motivating voters to take action to change the lives of our immigrants. <br /><br />Jinho Lee &amp; Carrie LinSkokie IL<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 29 Oct 2004 07:25:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/letters-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/editorials-25930/ <p>End the coup — vote Nov. 2<br /><br /> When Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist went into the hospital for thyroid cancer, Oct. 22, millions were reminded of a key presidential responsibility: appointments to the nation’s highest court. These lifetime appointments have repercussions far beyond the four-year presidential term. <br /><br /> The 5-4 Supreme Court decision on Dec. 12, 2000, to stop Florida’s vote recount is a case in point. That infamous ruling installed George W. Bush in the White House for four years. In our Dec. 16, 2000, front-page editorial, this newspaper called it a “very American coup,” a violation of voting rights and democracy. We wrote: “The American people will look back at the [2000] election and post-election days as a new moment in the struggle for democracy. It will become clearer which forces stand for democracy and its expansion and which forces stand for subversion.” We predicted that “there will be new and bigger struggles, with a new kind of multiracial labor and people’s coalition emerging. With this a historic negative can be turned into a historic positive.” <br /><br /> This year, that broad multiracial, multiethnic, multi-issued labor and people’s coalition has emerged, savvy and united in a common purpose: to put an end to George W. Bush’s administration, so dangerous to democracy, humanity and all living things. A historic electoral coalition — highly motivated on basic issues of war and peace, jobs and health care, defense of the Constitution, civil rights and liberties — has materialized out of the fires of battle against the pro-corporate, extremist Bush policies. <br /><br /> The profound calamity of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks erased for a short time the memory of the Bush-Cheney election theft of 2000. But their true colors came shining through again with their illegal, unfounded war on Iraq. Their lies, cheating and “organized crime” behavior landed the U.S. in a quagmire in Iraq, trampled our hard-won democratic rights, and wrecked our economy. <br /><br /> Now is our chance to end this illegal regime. On Nov. 2, tell Bush-Cheney: “You’re fired!” <br /><br /><br /><br /> * * * * * * <br /><br /><br /><br />An outlaw administration<br /><br /> After repeating for over a year that everyone captured in Iraq would be treated as a prisoner of war under the Geneva Conventions, Bush administration offices have now added an asterisk to that statement. They have issued a new legal opinion that non-Iraqi prisoners are exempt from the Conventions. The opinion was sought by the CIA to establish the legality of its secret transfers of non-Iraqi prisoners — beginning in April 2003 — for interrogation outside Iraq. <br /><br /> This is not the first time we’ve heard such a declaration from the Bush administration. In 2001, they said the same thing about suspected members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. This allowed them to be sent to the prison at Guantanamo, where some 550 prisoners from 40 countries remain today, anonymous and hidden from sight. Four British citizens recently released filed a lawsuit Oct. 27 against the United States seeking $10 million each in damages for abuse. There have been at least eight substantiated cases of abuse at the U.S. naval base, according to a U.S. congressional report. <br /><br /> If the atrocities committed at Abu Ghraib are what the administration allows under the Geneva Conventions, what horrors await the new class of “ghost prisoners” now being moved out of Iraq? <br /><br /> The world was aghast at the images of torture in Abu Ghraib and there was international outcry against the detentions in Guantanamo. Human rights groups are outraged at this latest move, yet another case of the Bush administration placing itself outside international law. This is one of the shameful themes of the administration — from its refusal to recognize the International Criminal Court to the rejection of the UN vote to let weapons inspectors do their job in Iraq. <br /><br /> On the eve of the presidential elections, this is a disturbing glimpse into what a second term might bring. But it doesn’t have to be that way. On Nov. 2 the American people can issue its own legal opinion, and turn the Bush-Cheney gang out. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 29 Oct 2004 07:14:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/editorials-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/cuba-s-uniqueness/ <p>This is a wonderful book. Thanks to Isaac Saney’s gracefully written summation of the struggles, problems, shortcomings, and vision of the Cuban Revolution, one-stop shopping for knowledge about Cuba is now available. And who has not yearned for a compendium of accurate, understandable information to pass on to novices on Cuba who are short on basic knowledge? <br /><br /> The book focuses on the uniqueness of Cuba. In a world where human development is left to the mercies of markets and entrepreneurs, Cuba, seemingly alone, still sees the world through the lens of social justice. And though a bullying neighbor, the seat of empire, may have dealt Cuba one dirty deed after another over 45 years, the Revolution survives. The principal contribution of “Cuba – A Revolution in Motion” is to attest to the difference that is Cuba. <br /><br /> Saney tells how the twin pillars of national independence and socialism have contributed mightily to the survival of the Revolution. He also highlights the pragmatism that is a central characteristic of Cuban socialism. <br /><br /> The book begins with an overview of history and proceeds on to a description of government in Cuba. A chapter on racism and the lives of Afro-Cubans is immensely valuable, as is another on the Cuban legal and criminal justice system. <br /><br /> A chapter on U.S.-Cuba relations provides a clear overview of the subject. The book concludes with a review of economic realities, Cuba’s approach to the environment, and Cuban internationalism. A wide-ranging bibliography will itself serve as a useful resource. <br /><br />The author can be reached at pww@pww.org.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 29 Oct 2004 05:29:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/cuba-s-uniqueness/ http://peoplesworld.org/letters-25930/ <p>What’s wrong with being a lesbian?<br /><br /> Enough. The Bush-Cheney campaign has succeeded — yet again — in using a gay matter to distract voters from the real issues facing our nation. <br /><br /> Simply put, there is nothing wrong with being a lesbian, let alone saying that an out lesbian is a lesbian. It wasn’t a story in the first place, and continued focus on it is insulting to any thinking person. <br /><br /> Can we talk about something real, not the patently bogus hurt and anger of Dick and Lynne Cheney? After all, for the last 18 months, these folks have supported using gay people and our families as a wedge to divide the electorate. They have not said one word while their allies have aggressively pushed the “Federal Marriage Amendment” on the grounds that allowing couples like their daughter and her partner to marry would undermine Western civilization. Not a peep when it was revealed that the GOP is paying for egregiously anti-gay campaign mailings in at least two states. Not a whisper while their buddies in the religious and political right have engaged in an unprecedented, national campaign of fear-mongering and demonizing of gay people. <br /><br /> Now, they’re offended? Come on. Let’s move on. <br /><br />Matt Foreman?Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Bush against affirmative action?<br /><br /> President Bush’s Oct. 13 debate answer on affirmative action opposed it, adding, “We ought to have an aggressive effort to make sure people are educated ... so that every child learns to read, write.” This blames the victims rather than compensates for the patterns of prejudice. <br /><br /> The U.S. Census Current Population Report, March 2002, shows that the median incomes in California in 2001 for whites exceeded that of Latinos at every level: $800 more for non-high-school graduates, $3,400 more for high school graduates, $2,700 for some college or associates degree, $8,600 for bachelors degree, and $17,300 for masters degree or higher. As a rule, the more the education, the more the racism. The situation for African Americans was almost as bad. We do have a chance for progress with John Kerry who supported affirmative action in the debate, saying, “Too many people still in this country feel the stark resistance of racism.” <br /><br />Rosalio Munoz?Los Angeles CA<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Election platform omission?<br /><br /> I read the Communist Party USA election platform in the PWW and believe you did a great job except for the obvious question of how to pay for all this. <br /><br /> Mention was not made and should be made of the billions that are always found to make war and kill. The argument of “lack of funds” always applies only to those programs that benefit the people. <br /><br />Karl Dennis?Tucson AZ<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Vote suppression in Florida?<br /><br /> An attitude of voter discouragement is rampant at polling places across Florida, my home state. The Republican Party plans to have their “poll watchers or poll challengers” to disqualify as many Democratic votes and voters as possible. <br /><br />J. Corlett?Via e-mail<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Say ‘no’ to defeatism?<br /><br /> My brother is a strong Democrat, always voting “right,” but his latest letter to me shows defeatism. He said “Kerry is behind, and Bush will win.” <br /><br /> I say: “No!” Kerry can win if he keeps up the good work and keeps the swing Democrats in his column. <br /><br /> There’s more Democrats in America and they have the best ideas. The GOP has little to offer America. <br /><br /> Let’s keep up the Kerry momentum. Bush is so bad. Let’s keep faith — the American people will throw him out. <br /><br />George T. Gaylord?Tustin CA<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />A war to avoid a depression? ?<br /><br /> I want you to know how much I appreciated Wadi’h Halabi’s recent article (“Bush’s dis-ownership society,” PWW, 9/18-24). <br /><br /> You may be interested to know that we went to war against Afghanistan and Iraq in order to prevent our stock market from collapsing and setting off what I call “The Great Depression II.” The stimulus from those wars and increased military spending are starting to wear off now, so I suppose the administration will try to kick up another war. <br /><br />Harold Dorland?W. St. Paul MN<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />A telling coincidence?<br /><br /> The irony was exquisitely revealing! Recently, I saw a film segment of a massive demonstration in Havana, Cuba. Tens of thousands of Cuban citizens were marching down a wide boulevard protesting U.S. militarism and the Bush regime’s treatment of prisoners under U.S. occupation. <br /><br /> Later that same day while watching a commentary segment on a major news station, I heard one commentator ask another, in reference to the mounting charges of abuse being leveled at occupation forces in Iraq and Afghanistan (paraphrased), “Can U.S. soldiers use the same argument that German soldiers made at the Nuremburg trials — that they were only following orders?” <br /><br /> When the “stockpiled” Weapons of Mass Destruction charade began to be exposed for the lie that it is, Bush and his cronies shifted and said that the main reason for the war and occupation has really always been about “regime change” and bringing “freedom” and “democracy” to the (remaining) Iraqi people. That the world’s second largest natural oil reserves lie buried under Iraq’s soil has nothing to do with the matter, of course. <br /><br /> The words of Bush &amp; Co. would be much more on target were they to admit that the necessary precondition for establishing a real democracy in the United States is regime change — here. <br /><br />Eric Ray?Tampa FL<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:02:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/letters-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/editorials-25930/ <p>Soldiers say no to ‘suicide’ <br /><br /> Knowing they faced possible court martial, it was an act of great courage for 18 Army Reservists in Iraq to refuse to obey an order that they viewed as “suicidal.” <br /><br /> The soldiers were ordered to drive aging, ill-equipped fuel tankers with inadequate armed escort from their base in Tallil to a base north of Baghdad, a zone in which dozens of insurgent attacks on poorly defended convoys have killed or wounded many U.S. soldiers. <br /><br /> In calls to their families, the soldiers reported that they took their stand after months of unkept promises of better equipment, more armor, and reinforced escorts. Instead, the security situation has worsened and the frequency of insurgent attacks has sharply escalated. <br /><br /> The Pentagon is treating the rebellion as a hot potato, waiting to see if Bush and Cheney steal a second term before throwing the book at these brave dissenters. The soldiers performed a valuable service in shining the spotlight on a crisis that George W. Bush would like to sweep under the rug as he prattles about the situation in Iraq “improving,” and that the U.S. is “spreading freedom.” <br /><br /> The Pentagon claims the protest is “isolated,” but groups like Military Families Speak Out have received many messages from families of soldiers in Iraq, who charge that they, too, are being forced to carry out “suicidal” orders in an unwinnable war. <br /><br /> Reservists and National Guard members like Camilo Mejia, now serving a two-year prison term, are refusing to report for deployment to Iraq. Recruiters report they can’t fill their recruiting quotas. A new generation is telling Bush, “Hell no, we won’t go!” <br /><br /> Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has accused Bush of using a “draft,” forcing Americans to act as cannon fodder. Concern is growing that Bush could well bring back the military draft if he gains a second term. We should all join this new movement against “suicide.” Go to the polls Nov. 2 and vote to dump Bush. <br /><br /><br /><br />Exposed! Bush vs. Social Security<br /><br /><br /><br /> The 100 big-money donors who gathered in Washington last month for a hush-hush luncheon surely felt they got their money’s worth in promises from George W. Bush. He told the group what he was planning to give them if he’s re-elected: the environment, Iraq, the justice system, and — the pièce de résistance — Social Security. <br /><br /> Last week, the New York Times Magazine reported on the event, quoting Bush’s remarks about his intent to “come out strong” in January with the “privatizing of Social Security.” Bush campaign officials tried to smooth things over by saying that he never used the word “privatize.” But call it what you will, the Bush plan by any other name stinks just as bad. <br /><br /> Relying on scare tactics and threats of bankrupt Social Security funds, Bush’s faulty logic says the only way to “save” Social Security is to take money away from it and give that money to private investment firms. Instead of putting their money into Social Security, Bush wants younger workers to gamble with their future while potentially devastating today’s seniors. <br /><br /> The fact of the matter is that Bush’s plan will certainly benefit one group — the investment firms that have been chomping at the bit for decades to get a piece of the more than $600 billion that workers put into Social Security each year. <br /><br /> When Social Security was first implemented, President Franklin Roosevelt intended it to be a protection for workers from “a poverty-ridden old age.” To put that money into the stock market and other so-called high-yield investments puts everyone at risk —everyone, that is, except the investment firms that stand to make huge profits off Bush’s plans. No matter what the performance of the accounts, these firms will find a way to skim their unfair share off the top. <br /><br /> Bush and those applauding the January gifts he was pledging are counting on his re-election and a Republican majority in Congress. While the struggle to protect Social Security will likely continue, the first step is to defeat Bush on Nov. 2. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 22 Oct 2004 08:52:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/editorials-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/arizona-students-protest-campus-racism/ <p>PHOENIX — Students at Glendale Community College (GCC) marched against continuing racism in the Maricopa County community college system Oct. 12. The demonstration, which attracted about 150 people, was in reaction to the GCC administration ignoring a series of racist comments and e-mails from a faculty member. <br /><br /> The student protest, which was organized by the local chapter of the Chicano student organization, MEChA, denounced the racist messages posted to all GCC students and staff, and the failure of the college administration to act. In the messages, math teacher Walter Kehowski criticized Mexican American cultural events on campus as a threat to the “superiority of Western civilization.” <br /><br /> Filmmaker John Carlos Frey chaired the rally, which included statements of support by MEChA leaders from other area community colleges, and from Phoenix-area civil rights groups. GCC student Jennie Martinez said she decided to attend college so as to challenge the stereotype of Chicano youth, only to find the college rife with the very racism she had hoped to leave behind. <br /><br /> Silverio Garcia, Arizona education director for the League of United Latin America Citizens, pledged his organization’s solidarity. “What’s going on here at GCC is what I continuously have had to deal with,” Garcia said. “I say, ‘No más!’ [No more!]” He promised to look into the possibility of filing a federal class action civil rights suit. <br /><br /> State Rep. Steve Gallardo told the rally that colleges need an atmosphere where all students will feel welcome, and called for hiring more minority faculty. He urged students to “take back your campus.” <br /><br /> Also joining the rally was Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose soldier son was a victim of the war in Iraq. Suarez del Solar, who was in Arizona to participate in peace movement activities surrounding the presidential debate, told students that a disproportionate number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq have been Latino. <br /><br /> “It is immoral for our government to recruit soldiers at colleges and high schools for a war that only serves the rich,” he said. “We need to ask recruiters to get out. We need books, not wars.” <br /><br />The author can be reached at stelnik@webtv.net.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 22 Oct 2004 05:41:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/arizona-students-protest-campus-racism/ http://peoplesworld.org/letters-25930/ <p>Writer needs help<br /><br /> I’m a writer conducting research on the 1951 execution of Willie McGee in Laurel, Mississippi. I’m eager to hear from anyone who was involved in the case, has memories of it, or knows of anyone who was affected by it. I also seek surviving relatives of the principal persons in the case, all deceased: Willie and Rosalee McGee, and Troy and Willette Hawkins, all of Laurel. <br /><br /> Willie McGee was a Black Mississippian who was convicted in 1945 on a charge of raping Willette Hawkins, a white woman. He was defended, in part, by the Civil Rights Congress. <br /><br /> After three trials and numerous appeals that made the case internationally famous — among those who played a role in it or commented on it were Bella Abzug, Emmanuel Bloch, Jessica Mitford, Norman Mailer, Rep. Vito Marcantonio, Josephine Baker, William Patterson, Paul Robeson, and Howard Fast — McGee was executed by the state on May 8, 1951. <br /><br /> Anyone who has leads can contact me at alexheard@yahoo.com, or by phone at (505) 989-7100. <br /><br />Alex HeardSanta Fe NM<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Aliant strike is over<br /><br /> I just wanted to let you know that the strike at Aliant in the Atlantic Provinces is now over. (“Canada phone strike solid after 4 months” by Tim Wheeler, PWW 8/21-27). The tentative agreement was voted in by 76 percent of the membership and we returned to work on Sept. 20. Many thanks for your interest and support. <br /><br />Penny FawcettNova Scotia, Canada<br /><br /> Fawcett is a member of the Atlantic Communications and Technical Workers Union. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Bush must go<br /><br /> I am enclosing a $40 donation to help keep presses rolling. The main reason for this is to get evil President Bush out of office on Nov. 2. We cannot let Bush have another term. On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate Bush and Cheney minus-100. They are both rotten to the core. Bush and Cheney should be impeached and removed from office. The People’s Weekly World should print stories that Bush and Cheney are “war criminals” who should be put in jail for life. <br /><br />Edward BroderichWest Haven CT<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Republican for Kerry <br /><br /> I’m a Republican and have been since I first registered to vote in 1955. I changed parties after my son-in-law was killed on 9/11 and George Bush decided to invade Iraq. <br /><br /> When I joined the Republican Party, it was the party of fiscal responsibility, a party that believed in the free enterprise system, the separation of church and state, conserving resources and fighting wars only as a last resort. Today the Republican Party seems to believe in reckless spending, raping the environment, supporting the wealthy, prayer in the schools, and invasion of privacy. <br /><br /> I believe that our country was duped into going to war against Iraq by an ignorant president who now insists that any deviation from his ill-considered action is a mark of disloyalty. <br /><br /> Disloyalty to whom, I might ask? Disloyalty to a president who lied to us, who caused the deaths of over a thousand American soldiers and over ten thousand Iraqis? Disloyalty to an administration that rewards its supporters with lucrative no-bid contracts to rebuild what it has destroyed? <br /><br /> I’m going to vote for Kerry, and I urge all other freedom-loving Republicans to do the same. <br /><br />Wright SalisburyLexington MA<br /><br /> The author is an architect and the former chairman of the Republican Committee of Irvington, N.Y. His son-in-law, Ted Hennessy Jr. of Belmont, Mass., was killed on 9/11. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Bushie threatens Irish America<br /><br /> I read that the former U.S. ambassador to Ireland and one of President Bush’s top fund-raisers — Richard Egan — threatened the publisher of Irish America magazine that she had “better think twice before trying to influence American politics” as “the Irish are not the only ones with long memories.” This Bush group is nothing but an organized crime syndicate. They bully, bribe, threaten and kill to be the kingpins of imperialism. (Going to war is killing, right?) <br /><br /> I’m so glad Patricia Harty, the publisher, stood up to the menacing tactics. She told Egan Irish America was an American publication and she was an American citizen. “I’m sure I need not remind you of the First Amendment, which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest freedoms ever given to any country,” she said. <br /><br /> So many other Americans who are standing up, across the country, and fighting to “take our country back” from the organized crime/corporate syndicate in the White House and Congress also hearten me. Together we can do it. <br /><br />Mary LyonsMilwaukee WI<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Liberty demands participation<br /><br /> I am an American and I would be proud to serve or die for it. To many Americans this holds true. Since birth we are told of the greatness of America. We pledge allegiance to the flag. The United States is a country reputed for its stances on liberty, justice, and the democracy that we live by everyday. However, is that true? <br /><br /> Until I visited another country, did I understand that with us there are barriers that we never talk about. We are losing our liberty without noticing, and our democracy is more imagination than truth. I do not blame, for I have been blind too. Now is the time to awaken, since in November there will be an election that will be decisive in American history. <br /><br /> Why are we still in Iraq with thousands of men and women dying, for what? For businesses to grow their infrastructure in Iraq while so many Americans are unemployed or looking for jobs? Did those people on September 11th die for our soldiers to help build the infrastructure of Iraq or find the man who caused those innocents to die? <br /><br /> This election will be decisive and we all must take a part. <br /><br />Jodie Quince Bronx NY<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 15 Oct 2004 10:17:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/letters-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/editorials-25930/ <p>Credibility gulch<br /><br /> Some folks speculate that the mysterious bumps showing under the back of President Bush’s jacket during the first two debates were actually audio devices feeding debate lines to Bush. The White House says they were just big wrinkles. <br /><br /> Whatever the truth about Bush’s back, he needs more than audio prompting to sell his failed presidency to the voters. It’s clear the GOP knows this too, judging by the dirty tricks they’re pulling. Just this week in the battleground state of Nevada, employees of a a company called Voters Outreach of America, which has collected thousands of voter registrations in Las Vegas, said they personally witnessed company supervisors rip up and trash registration forms signed by Democrats. In Reno the registrar has asked the FBI to investigate. The shady outfit has now moved its activities to Oregon and other states. Guess what? The company is funded by the Republican National Committee. <br /><br /> Why would the Bush team resort to such low-down tactics? Because their credibility gap is turning into a credibility gulch. <br /><br /> Take the Iraq war. Every rationale that Bush and Cheney have given us for this bloody adventure has turned out to be false. Instead of bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq, and making us safer, the disastrous war and occupation have ravaged Iraq, fueled terrorism, cost more than 1,100 American lives, and drained our Treasury. Meanwhile, Bush &amp; Co. are assaulting our most basic rights and freedoms here at home. <br /><br /> Then there’s the economy. As our front-page story reports, while Bush prattles about an “ownership society,” Bushonomics has left working-class Americans out in the cold. <br /><br /> War, jobs, health care, environment, equality, democracy, even religion — you name it, this president and his top officials have lied about it. <br /><br /> Millions of ordinary Americans are on the move as never before, working days, nights and weekends to send this administration packing. Bush and Cheney are on the defensive. We are many, they are few. We can win! <br /><br /><br /><br /> * * * * * * <br /><br /><br /><br />Bush on race, civil rights<br /><br /> Republican members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights are agitated about a draft report on George W. Bush’s poor civil rights record. They are demanding the highly critical report get pulled from the Internet, although it was posted according to the bipartisan commission’s own rules. <br /><br /> The Republicans don’t want to give the surging “Dump Bush” movement more evidence of a failed presidency. Too late. This report spells out what millions of people already know from their own experience. “President Bush has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words,” it states. <br /><br /> The report charges Bush’s policies constitute a retreat from long-established civil rights promises. Voting rights, education, affirmative action, funding for civil rights enforcement, housing, environment, racial profiling and hate crimes are all areas where the administration comes up short. <br /><br /> Bush’s judicial appointments do “not support civil rights protections.” Looking down the road, the report warns, “The effect may be eventual weakening of civil rights laws.” A wake up call for voters, since the next administration will appoint two or three Supreme Court justices! <br /><br /> In the second debate, Bush showed his ignorance on the history of race and racism. Stating he wouldn’t appoint someone who would use personal opinion instead of constitutional interpretation, Bush referred to the Dred Scott decision, stating it was based on “personal opinion” that the Constitution allowed slavery. “The Constitution of the United States says we’re all — you know, it doesn’t say that,” Bush said. What ignorance! At the time of the Dred Scott decision the Constitution did allow slavery — the reason for the Civil War. <br /><br /> This editorial page has consistently listed reasons to dump Bush come Nov. 2. His woeful civil rights record is reason enough. There are real differences between the two candidates on this issue — giving all of us a reason to vote, a reason to hope and struggle for a better, more democratic future. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 15 Oct 2004 09:59:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/editorials-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/n-calif-pww-banquet-says-beat-back-bush/ <p>OAKLAND, Calif. — The mood was both joyous and determined as Northern California supporters of the People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo gathered Oct. 8 to celebrate their favorite newspaper and to rededicate themselves to the banquet’s theme — “Beat back Bush!” <br /><br /> The full-house, rainbow crowd honored leaders and organizations from the labor, antiwar, Cuba and Haiti solidarity movements and enjoyed a rich cultural program. Honorees received certificates of appreciation from area Congresswoman Barbara Lee and from Friends of the People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo. <br /><br /> The second Presidential Debate, shown during the dinner hour, formed the backdrop for the evening. <br /><br /> “I listened to Mr. Bush’s answers,” said Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son Jesus — a U.S. Marine — died in Iraq in March 2003. “I’m sorry to say, he explained nothing.” <br /><br /> Since no connection has been found to the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy nor to weapons of mass destruction, “Mr. Bush is the real terrorist,” said Suarez, founder and director of the Guerrero Azteca Project and a founder of Military Families Speak Out. <br /><br /> “Mr. Bush destroyed my son’s life, destroyed 1,054 beautiful American girls and boys and a thousand innocent children in Iraq,” he said, while at home, the huge U.S. expenditures on weapons are destroying jobs, medical care, housing and education, affecting working-class people of color most sharply. <br /><br /> “If I were one of the questioners in that debate,” said San Francisco Labor Council head Walter Johnson, “I would have asked, ‘President Bush, would you today, landing on that aircraft carrier, say again, mission accomplished?’ I don’t think he would know what to do in answering that question.” <br /><br /> “I don’t need to tell you that it will take an all-out fight to get Bush out of the White House,” said Juan Lopez, chair of the Northern California Communist Party. “Bush and company will spin a victory as a mandate to go full blast with their extreme policies,” he said, while “a Kerry victory, especially with a new leadership in Congress, can open new possibilities for an energized labor and people’s movement to struggle and make gains.” <br /><br /> Judy Goff, head of the Alameda County Central Labor Council, called ballot Proposition 72, the Health Insurance Act, “the single largest increase in extending medical coverage since Medicare was created.” She said the measure will both assure health coverage to a million presently uninsured Californians and help guarantee continued workplace coverage of millions more. <br /><br /> Honored for their own and their organizations’ work were Kathryn Hall, founder and director of The Birthing Project USA and a Sacramento leader in Pastors for Peace/Friendshipment, and Bay Area Venceremos Brigade participant Tshaka Barrows, both of whom emphasized the urgency of ending the U.S. blockade and normalizing relations with Cuba, a move that would benefit both countries. <br /><br /> Recalling that Haiti was founded by slaves who won their freedom, Pierre Labossiere, co-founder of the Haiti Action Committee, said it was no accident that this year, the Bush administration heeded the sweatshop corporations and deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide despite Aristide’s overwhelming support among Haitian working people. <br /><br /> Highlighted in the cultural program was the San Francisco Bay Area Labor Heritage Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus, along with singer-songwriter Eliot Kenin, and spoken word artists Tiara Ragsdale and Tamika Peterson. A special delight was the lively and skilled performance by members of the Total Eklipze Cheer Academy, who with their director, Aronda Morris, were honored during the proceedings. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 15 Oct 2004 05:29:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/n-calif-pww-banquet-says-beat-back-bush/ http://peoplesworld.org/letters-25930/ <p>A possible solution<br /><br /> A while ago, a couple of guys came up with a carburetor system that ran off cooking oil! They applied their invention to an old VW bus. They drove it across the country, with no problems. My inquiry is: Why don’t we make the change from gas to cooking oil? <br /><br /> If all it takes is a simple change to the existing motor then America’s farmers could grow the seed for the oil, and be the new oil barons for the 21st century. That would really put the U.S. as a leader for world conservation — instead of being a leader in contributing to the problem! This would improve the economy with growing our own fuel, and it would also do our Mother Earth a great deal of good. Seems like it could be a win-win situation. What about you? What about your readers? I wish someone would throw this point out into the open. <br /><br />Linda RichardsVia e-mail<br /><br /><br /><br /> Editor’s note: Thanks, Linda, for bringing this to our attention. A quick search of the Internet found a few articles about VWs running on vegetable oil. Maybe a reader with more knowledge on this will send us a story. For humanity’s sake, we need to find renewable, clean energy sources. Maybe these cooking oil pioneers are onto something! <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />A long fight for women’s rights<br /><br /> I was happy to see an article in the PWW (9/18-24) that U.S. District Court Judge Richard Kopf ruled the so-called “Partial Birth Abortion Ban” is unconstitutional. This is a victory for women’s rights. However, the war is not over yet. The Bush administration and anti-choice fundamentalists are waging a major war on women’s right to reproductive education and health. The abortion issue is only the tip of the iceberg. <br /><br /> I highly recommend Gloria Feldt’s book, “The War on Choice — The Right-Wing Attack on Women’s Rights and How to Fight Back.” Reading the book was a wake-up call for me. The removal of Bush from office, as well as other anti-choice politicians, is critical to the safety of women’s reproductive freedoms. Women and the men that love them cannot afford to be passive in the fight to preserve our reproductive freedoms. <br /><br />Susan DelventhalVia e-mail<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Hamdi’s release<br /><br /> I enjoyed Emile Scheper’s article (“Stop Bush’s drive to shred the Constitution” PWW 9/18-24). Will you do a follow-up now that Hamdi is being released? <br /><br /> Attorney General John Ashcroft will tout the deal that was made as saving America from evil, vicious Hamdi by sending him away never to return. But what about Hamdi’s guilt or innocence — are these irrelevant? What about the processes for arresting and holding him — will these continue? <br /><br />Mark SingerVia e-mail<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Author’s note: Thank you for your kind words. The Hamdi case indeed cries out for analysis and comment. At the very least, it raises the suspicion that the reason they are freeing Hamdi is they had no evidence against him in the first place. <br /><br /> There are several new developments on civil liberties, one of which is a story that came out in The New York Times that the Bush administration will proceed with Patriot Act II, or at least parts of it, if they are still in power when the election is over. Good a reason as any to make sure that they are not still in power. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />What a candidate should do<br /><br /> Last week I saw a news photo of firefighters picketing outside a hotel in Providence, R.I., where Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards was scheduled to attend a fundraiser. Workers were protesting the contract negotiations with their mayor, David Cicilline. Edwards missed the fundraiser because he refused to cross the union’s picket line. This is what I expect from any candidate I support. <br /><br /> Contrast this with both Bush and Cheney crossing the picket lines at the Republican National Convention, where New York police and firefighters have been working without a contract for 27 months. <br /><br /> The choice seems clear. Edwards honors a union picket line. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are standing on the opposite side of that picket line from me. I will remember this on Election Day. <br /><br />Kenneth BeSawBronx NY <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Truth on Reagan<br /><br /> Your article on Ronald Reagan (“The real Ronald Reagan” by Jarvis Tyner, PWW 6/19-6/25) was a hard-hitting antidote to the pap that has been served up in much of the mainstream media. I recently attended a lecture by social critic and linguist Noam Chomsky. Dr. Chomsky pointed out that Reagan had the dubious honor of being the first and only world leader to simply ignore a World Court decision (in this case the court’s condemnation of the U.S. mining of Nicaraguan harbors during the Contra war.) It could certainly be argued that Reagan’s arrogant and contemptuous attitude towards international law and world opinion helped to pave the way for George W. Bush’s unilateral and imperial misadventures in Iraq. <br /><br />Adam MinskyBrookline MA<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />From a Christian pacifist<br /><br /> I am not a Marxist, but I do want a free economy in which everything is free. A direct democracy with local associations the size of South Buffalo being the only governmental coercive body enforcing one law, pacifism, and a public opinion favoring Christian Pacifism. <br /><br /> If you would express your goals, you would find an increase in popularity. I know you would not establish a free economy, or abolish governmental institutions with their military power and deadly weapons, and you are neither Christian nor pacifist. Despite our differences I wish you God’s blessings because you at least try to work for the poor in the United States and throughout the world. <br /><br />Bob EschBuffalo NY<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 08 Oct 2004 08:59:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/letters-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/editorials-25930/ <p> ‘Cash starved’ Pentagon? <br /><br /> Buried in the business pages of the Sept. 30 New York Times was a story by Tim Weiner headlined, “Pentagon is Cash Poor Even as Spending Jumps.” <br /><br /> In the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, the Pentagon budget is a record $500 billion, including funding for 77 weapons systems whose combined price tag will eventually total $1.3 trillion. <br /><br /> That astronomical sum is twice their original cost. The top 10 defense contractors, including Vice President Dick Cheney’s Halliburton, raked in $82.5 billion in contracts last year. <br /><br /> The Sept. 11 terrorist attack, Weiner reported, became a smokescreen for ramrodding weapon systems through Congress no matter how expensive, unworkable, or useless in the “war on terrorism.” <br /><br /> Yet U.S. occupation forces in Iraq, Weiner said, are falling $1 billion short each month and are forced to beg Congress regularly for additional operating funds. This supplemental funding is a deceitful Enron-style accounting trick to hide the mushrooming cost of the war and occupation of Iraq. <br /><br /> Secondly, it exposes the cruel disregard for our soldiers’ safety, even as Bush and Cheney spout demagogy about “supporting our troops.” <br /><br /> The parents of some soldiers are spending hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets and mailing body armor to their sons and daughters in Iraq because Bush put them in harm’s way lacking this protection. <br /><br /> In the vice presidential debate in Cleveland Oct. 5, John Edwards pointed out that he voted against a supplemental appropriation because it contained a $7.5 billion “no-bid” contract for Halliburton coupled with a cut in combat pay for the troops. <br /><br /> The real question is why did Bush send the soldiers to die in the first place when he knew there were no weapons of mass destruction, no Iraqi ties to Sept. 11? Surely this war for oil and empire is an impeachable offense that calls for a vote to remove Bush and Cheney Nov. 2. They deserve a long term in a federal penitentiary, not a second term in the White House. <br /><br /> Bush flouts Kyoto<br /><br /> The Russian cabinet approved the 1997 Kyoto Protocol Sept. 30, clearing the way for the parliament to ratify the agreement on curbing greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. <br /><br /> To take effect, it must be ratified by at least 55 countries who were parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and who account for at least 55 percent of global emissions. The United States has rejected the protocol, but Russia’s approval would allow it to go into effect. <br /><br /> Scientists have grown more alarmed in their warnings that global warming is worsening and may reach a point of no return. Already, the polar icecaps and glaciers are melting, raising sea levels that ultimately will flood coastal cities and plains, such as those in Bangladesh and The Netherlands. <br /><br /> The arctic permafrost is melting, deserts in Africa are spreading, and there is a discernible rise in climatic extremes, with more violent storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding. The string of devastating hurricanes that lashed the Caribbean and the southern tier of the U.S. this season are a harbinger of worse to come if we do not act now. <br /><br /> The costs of this climate change run in the hundreds of billions globally each year and hit impoverished Third World nations hardest. The Kyoto Protocol is a minimum step to reverse the process and it is an outrage that the Bush administration continues to flout it, rejecting global warming as “unproven science.” <br /><br /> Why does Bush resist? Part of it is his “know-nothing” hatred of science, which also explains his rejection of stem cell research. Part of it is his contempt for international law. Another factor is his close ties to the petrochemical and auto companies. <br /><br /> These billionaires call the tune and George W. Bush dances. By contrast, Democrat John Kerry has endorsed the Kyoto Protocols and will be far more responsive to the demands of the growing environmental movement. It is another reason to vote to oust the entire oily Bush gang. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 08 Oct 2004 08:46:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/editorials-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/grassroots-power-25930/ <p>‘So glad you’re here’<br /><br /> ST. PAUL, Minn. — “Minnesota ACORN is going to reach our goal of 38,000 new voters. We’ve been going to malls, neighborhoods, high schools. We’ve gone to naturalization ceremonies. As soon as the people become citizens they can act in their best interest and register to vote. <br /><br /> “We hear so many positive things like ‘I’m so glad you’re here. Let me register.’ Education, jobs, housing, health care and safety issues — well-lit streets or countering negative life styles in the neighborhoods like drugs or prostitution — are issues that concern people. <br /><br /> “There is a real meanness to this particular administration and campaign. Cutting overtime pay or pushing back other gains, they have a way of hurting American citizens, not building up American citizens. They are pitting people against each other. They pit people of color against each other. They have a bully mentality. <br /><br /> “I’m optimistic but Democrats need to articulate their message on people’s concerns. Taking away overtime pay is un-American. Social programs and looking out for your brother is a Christian value. <br /><br /> “We are calling those we’ve registered. We are also telling voters to bring a photo ID to the polls or something with their address on it. We are door-knocking. On Election Day we will be visible early in the morning and after work, during drive time, to remind people to vote. We are part of the Wellstone bus caravan. We will be giving rides to the polls. Our members are precinct captains. We are educating our membership on their rights. We’ll be answering the phones Election Day as a resource to be there for voters.” <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />— Shada Buyobe-Hammond, Minnesota ACORN board chair (Interviewed by Terrie Albano) <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 01 Oct 2004 08:45:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/grassroots-power-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/letters-25930/ <p>Bush’s road: a one party system<br /><br />The following is adapted from an open letter sent to the Mexican American Political Association in preparation for its endorsing convention.<br /><br /> I understand the convention will not have a representative of John Kerry’s campaign, nor of George W Bush’s and will only consider endorsing the Green Party candidate. This is truly unfortunate because MAPA members will not have a full discussion of the political dangers and opportunities in this year’s election. We will not have the grass roots opportunity to put forward our communities’ concerns to the campaigns of the two candidates who can win the presidency. The battles on key issues like the war on Iraq, the Patriot Act, immigration, labor rights, etc., is now and the next session of Congress. <br /><br /> I have been involved with the Peace and Freedom Party for about 25 years and was also Green for the short time P&amp;F was not on the ballot. I am for a multiparty system. Bush, however, is moving toward a one party system. <br /><br /> Our people will vote overwhelmingly for Kerry on Nov. 2. The MAPA convention could be an opportunity to help define this mass movement for democracy in a more progressive direction. Bush’s main strategy for this election, and especially for our people, is to cast doubt on Kerry as an objective alternative. I hope MAPA members don’t go down that road. <br /><br />Rosalio MuñozLos Angeles CA<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Pennsylvania ballot battle<br /><br /> The People’s Weekly World reported in the Sep. 4-10 issue that Ralph Nader had been ruled off the Pennsylvania ballot. The article seems to view this as a positive development. <br /><br /> Actually, the basis for ruling Nader off the ballot was so hostile to all minor party and independent presidential candidates that the PWW should have condemned the basis for the ruling. The Commonwealth Court ruled that anyone who files an independent presidential petition in Pennsylvania (which is the only type of petition in existence in that state for minor party and independent candidates) cannot qualify, if that candidate has accepted the nomination of any other minor party in any other state. <br /><br /> This principle would have kept Henry Wallace off the ballot as the Progressive Party nominee in Pennsylvania in 1948. Since he was simultaneously the presidential candidate of the American Labor Party in New York, under the Commonwealth Court’s reasoning, the Wallace independent petition would have been invalid and he could not possibly have appeared on the ballot in Pennsylvania. <br /><br />Richard WingerVia e-mail<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Say it loud and clear<br /><br /> Our “Bush Out the Door in 2004” committee just spent a couple of days distributing leaflets and bumper stickers at the New Mexico State Fair. In speaking with different people their main concern, either pro- or anti-Kerry, was what kind of exit strategy Kerry had for disengaging the troops — with honor — out of Iraq. If we are going to defeat Bush the general public must see a clear and sharp difference between Bush and Kerry on Iraq. People want to hear a time plan for getting our soldiers out with honor. They want to hear Kerry state loud and clear that he will get rid of the corrupt Halliburton consortium now stealing from the people of Iraq and also the people in this country. That he will see to it that water and electricity are restored in Iraq and that the Iraqi unions will have the right to organize and after having somewhat repaired the damage caused by our bombs that he will bring the troops home. Kerry has to be more forthright and we will win against Bush. <br /><br />Emil ShawAlbuquerque NM<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As important as Enron<br /><br /> In response to the article, “Contractor probed on Guantanamo deal” (PWW 8/14-20) are you are aware of what is going on with Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) and Lockheed-Martin in other accounting areas? The Fraud and Racketeering division of the U.S. Department of Labor did just request all documentation from Pinellas County, Florida. One fact is clear, the multiple states that are involved just have not pulled it together. They have yet to understand that a series of major fraud crimes have occurred. This is as important as Enron because ACS is the largest government services contractor and over-billing and accounting fraud is still continuing in light of Enron. Especially it is heinous when it is the unemployed and poor. <br /><br />Don MeyersBradenton FL<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Issue for all Americans<br /><br /> In reference to the article titled “Soldier’s grieving mom confronts Laura Bush” (PWW 9/25-10/1), is there any way we can verify this story? Perhaps a police report, an independent eyewitness, videotape, audiotape, etc. If this is what it appears to be, this is a huge issue for all Americans. If there is some other explanation (e.g. she was seen as a threat to Ms. Bush for some legitimate reason) then it may be understandable. Also, if it is “denial of free speech” then it should get some major press coverage in the mainstream media. <br /><br />Adam NicholsVia e-mail<br /><br />Editor’s note: Major media outlets did report this story, but perhaps didn’t highlight the free speech issue. The charges of trespassing were dropped. However the Secret Service opened an investigation alleging the soldier’s grieving mom, Sue Niederer, made comments months ago that threatened the president. A lawyer from the ACLU is assisting in this new case. This new Secret Service twist seems to be another example of the Bush administration’s arrogant, vengeful and ultimate disregard for democracy and dissent. We agree it is a huge issue for all Americans. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Radio Havana response<br /><br /> A PWW reader inquired about Radio Havana being off the air. According to www.radiohc.cu/ingles/programdiaria1.htm on 9/23/04: “Radio Havana Cuba — the island’s international short-wave voice — is still experiencing problems with its transmissions. When Hurricane Charley slammed into Cuba on Aug. 13, winds clocked at nearly 200 km/hour damaged the radio station’s antennas. For now, Radio Havana Cuba can only be heard on its digital audio channel on the Internet. Just click on ‘Broadcasting’ to hear our programs. Thank you.” <br /><br />Mike FaheyNew York NY<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 01 Oct 2004 07:17:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/letters-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/editorials-25930/ <p>U.S. troops home now!<br /><br /> Despite last week’s sunny forecast by President Bush and Iyad Allawi, the U.S.-installed ruler of Iraq, about how swimmingly things are going over there, the quagmire is rapidly deepening. U.S. troops and Iraqis continue to die each day. <br /><br /> Allawi, a well-known CIA “asset” who during his recent visit to the U.S. served as a major campaign prop for the president, claimed democracy is making advances. Bush chimed in, “We are succeeding in Iraq.” This is a lie. <br /><br /> Senior political and military analysts point out that the vast majority of ordinary Iraqis deeply resent the U.S. occupation, that attacks on the occupation forces average 80 per day, and that huge swaths of Iraq are “no go” zones for U.S. troops or other “coalition forces.” The U.S. government’s own National Intelligence Estimate spells out a grim outlook for Iraq’s future, saying the best case scenario would be maintaining the shaky situation that currently exists. The worst case would be Iraq’s descent into civil war. <br /><br /> Even Secretary of State Colin Powell, when asked last week about the situation, admitted, “Yes, it’s getting worse.” <br /><br /> Meanwhile, working people in the U.S. and Iraq continue to suffer terribly. Over 1,049 GIs have died, and more than 20,000 have been wounded. Iraqi casualties exceed 10 times these figures. Crying needs in both countries go unmet, thanks to the Pentagon’s runaway budget, war profiteering by outfits like Halliburton, and widespread graft. <br /><br /> Ominously, there is mounting evidence of a planned Pentagon offensive, right after the Nov. 2 election, to “flatten” Fallujah and other strongholds of resistance to the U.S. occupation. This would risk the deaths of untold numbers of innocent Iraqi civilians. Such “collateral damage,” in Pentagon-speak, is already responsible for at least two-thirds of Iraqi civilian deaths today, according to a recent report. <br /><br /> This illegal war — waged on the basis of Bush’s lies — for oil company profits and U.S. imperial domination of the Mideast, must be stopped. There is no time to lose. Bring the troops home now! <br /><br /><br /><br /> * * * * * * <br /><br /><br /><br />The Teflon prez? <br /><br /> The GOP presidential campaign continues to bulldoze through the American landscape despite the heinous crimes this president and his cohorts have committed. <br /><br /> First, there was preemptive war in the name of WMDs that didn’t exist. Then there’s the detention and torture of innocent people at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Bush’s tax cuts make the rich richer, but leave unemployment sky-high. His prescription drug program enriches the pharmaceutical companies while opening the way for privatization of Medicare. The stories of these crimes and rip-offs appear for a few days and then vanish in thin air. How do they get away with it? <br /><br /> Bush seems to be coated with Teflon. The corporate media is a part of the problem. Led by Fox News (guided by the dictum that if a lie is repeated often enough it becomes the truth) the rest of TV news seems to just follow suit. Where are the hard-hitting, investigative reports on the record of this administration? There were more TV stories on Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky than Bush’s misleading the American public into war. <br /><br /> After the CBS memo debacle, will the corporate media throw in the towel and give Bush a free ride? <br /><br /> In “Rich Media, Poor Democracy,” professor Robert McChesney writes that the problem is corporate ownership and the solution is democratizing the media through public ownership. <br /><br /> The mass base is already mushrooming. Millions surf the Internet seeking other sources of news. Syndicated columnists like Molly Ivins and Bob Herbert cut through the curtain of deceit, as do investigative reporters like Seymour Hersh. But these are all in the print realm. We need more “truth-tellers” on TV. <br /><br /> The turnout for Michael Moore’s film, “Fahrenheit 9/11” proves that millions hunger for the truth and would want to see it nightly on their television sets. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 01 Oct 2004 06:08:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/editorials-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/labor-update-25930/ <p>Vermont Labor: Bring ’em home<br /><br /> The Vermont State Labor Council called on Gov. James Douglas to demand that all Vermont National Guard and Reserves be discharged from duty in Iraq and immediately return to the state. In a resolution passed nearly unanimously by the council’s Sept. 25 annual convention, delegates also accused the Bush administration of using the Iraq war as an excuse to attack labor unions in this country. The resolution provided for the council to become an affiliate of U.S. Labor Against the War. <br /><br /> Delegates speaking in favor of the resolution cited the growing number of international unions (CWA, AFSCME, SEIU, APWU, Mail Handlers), the California, Washington, Maryland/DC Federations of Labor, the AFL-CIO constituency groups as well as the dozens of labor councils and local unions that have already taken similar action. <br /><br /> According to a report from U.S. Labor Against the War, public forums held in conjunction with Military Families Speak Out and months of discussions with union leaders and activists preceded the vote. <br /><br /><br /><br />19 arrested in overtime protest<br /><br /> Over 300 protesters rallied in St. Louis against George W. Bush’s proposed overtime changes Sept. 16. The new regulations, which make 6 million workers ineligible for overtime pay, were rejected six times by the House and Senate. <br /><br /> The protest started at the downtown federal building and continued to a major intersection, where 19 protesters were arrested for blocking traffic. Sara Kanevsky, an organizer for Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition, told the World, “We had to escalate our action to draw attention to the devastating impact Bush’s attacks on overtime will have on working families. The overtime cuts will be especially devastating to women, who are already paid much less than their male counterparts.” <br /><br /> Members of the Service Employees Union, Jobs with Justice, Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition, and the AFL-CIO participated. <br /><br /><br /><br />Justice denied for newspaper workers<br /><br /> A baby born on the day the 150 reporters and editors at the China Daily News in Monterey Park, Calif. voted to form a union would now be out of diapers, walking, and talking in complete sentences. One question that comes to mind is “What’s the hold-up?” because after three-and-a-half years, the workers decision to unionize with The Newspaper Guild (TNG) is still on appeal before the National Labor Relations Board. The Taiwan-based Chinese Daily News vowed to spend a million dollars to fight representation, and its teams of union-busters have been delaying the process ever since. The 150 employees of the Chinese Daily News write and edit stories, take pictures, write headlines, sell advertising space and print and sell the paper with a circulation of over 100,000 copies. <br /><br /> To mark the anniversary of the vote to unionize, 750 delegates to the recent Communications Workers of America national convention signed birthday cards to each of the five members of the NLRB. <br /><br /> The cards were delivered Sept. 17 to the board members in Washington, D.C. In a cover letter, TNG-CWA Secretary-Treasurer Bernie Lunzer said, “Please convey Birthday Wishes to the case, and our hopes that we won’t be back here next year wishing it a happy 4th. ‘Justice delayed, is justice denied.’” <br /><br /><br /><br />Union veteran? <br /><br /> If you are a union veteran, visit the new website, www.unionveterans.com, and sign up for e-mail alerts. <br /><br />Labor Update is compiled by Roberta Wood (rwood@pww.org). Tony Pecinovsky contributed to this column.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 01 Oct 2004 05:33:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/labor-update-25930/ http://peoplesworld.org/nova-scotia-oks-same-sex-marriage/ <p>VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Nova Scotia became the sixth Canadian province to sanction same-sex marriages Sept. 24 when Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Heather Robertson upheld the Ontario marriage of a lesbian couple living in Nova Scotia. Three gay couples had challenged the marriage laws, resulting in the judge’s ruling that “civil marriage between two persons of the same sex is therefore lawful and valid.” <br /><br /> “We are celebrating our 20th anniversary together this year,” said Ron and Bryan Garnette-Doucette, two of the six plaintiffs, “and we are so thrilled and excited that finally at this milestone in our loving relationship we now have the right to get married here in our home province, with our friends and families at our side.” <br /><br /> The ruling came about a week after a Manitoba judge ruled along the same lines. In that case, in response to a legal challenge launched by three gay and lesbian couples against provincial laws that did not permit same-sex marriage, Judge Douglas Yard ruled Sept. 16 that “the traditional definition of marriage is no longer constitutionally valid in view of the provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” He ordered the province to immediately begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples who wanted to marry. <br /><br /> The Nova Scotia and Manitoba rulings represent the latest of a string of successful court challenges of discriminatory provincial marriage laws that only allow marriage between opposite-sex couples. Since last year, in addition to Nova Scotia and Manitoba, courts in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, and the Yukon have forced provincial governments to make marriage laws inclusive of gay couples. <br /><br /> Same-sex marriage proponents vow that they will continue to undertake legal actions against discriminatory marriage laws in the remaining six provinces and territories of Canada that do not allow same-sex marriage. However, their biggest test will come on Oct. 6 when the Supreme Court begins assessing the federal government’s legislation allowing same-sex marriage. <br /><br /> Currently, Canada has around 3,000 married gay and lesbian couples. About 82 percent of Canadians live in provinces and territories where same-sex couples can marry. According to the Centre for Research and Information on Canada and Environics, the number of Canadians supporting same-sex marriage rights has increased, with 57 percent in support as opposed to 38 percent against. <br /><br /> In related news, an Ontario judge has granted the first divorce to a same-sex couple in Canada and annulled the Canadian Divorce Act because it only includes heterosexual couples. Madam Justice Ruth Mesbur of the Ontario Superior Court on Sept. 13 granted a divorce to a Toronto lesbian couple who did not want their names mentioned. <br /><br /> The two women, who had been together for 10 years, married in 2003 after the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered the provincial government to permit same-sex marriage. In granting the divorce, Mesbur declared “unconstitutional, inoperative and of no force and effect the definition of ‘spouse’” in the federal Divorce Act because of its failure to include same-sex couples.” Mesbur is expected to announce over the next few weeks measures that the federal government must take to remedy the situation. While gay couples can legally marry in Ontario, divorce laws were not changed to allow divorce between same-sex couples. <br /><br />The author can be reached at tpelzer@shaw.ca.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> Fri, 01 Oct 2004 04:43:00 +0000 http://peoplesworld.org/nova-scotia-oks-same-sex-marriage/