Greetings, fellow Freedom Fighters™ and Defenders of Democracy™!
Well, gentle Readers, 2006 wasn’t exactly a stellar year, now, was it?
We read reports that over 655,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a direct result of George W. Bush’s insane invasion.
We saw our 3000th serviceperson killed in Iraq.
We saw Saddam Hussein permanently silenced to stop him blabbing about how the Bush crime family made him the tyrant and dictator that he was, proving to the world that what the Bush crime family creates, it also willingly destroys.
Yes, gentle Readers, George W. Bush has killed far more Americans via Iraq, Afghanistan, and Katrina than al Qaeda ever did. According to Greg Palast, George W. Bush was informed by the Army Corps of Engineers that New Orleans’s levees had failed during Katrina’s wrath. According to Greg Palast, George W. Bush chose not to inform the elected officials of New Orleans that the levees had in fact failed. If Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco had known, it stands to reason that they would have continued to evacuate the poor Blacks, many of whom died needlessly as a result. The Katrina and Rita survivors, who continue to suffer from inadequate housing and lack of basic necessities, have been gerrymandered out of dry, livable homes by FEMA and the other corporate gentrification police who are busily whitening New Orleans.
George W. Bush has killed, oh, maybe for or five hundred thousand more innocent Iraqis than Saddam Hussein ever did. And yet Saddam Hussein was executed while the smirking chimp continues to brachiate his brainless way through life as if everything is Skittles and beer.
Sick bastard.
America also witnessed the passing of ex-President Gerald Ford, who was perhaps only one step above George W. Bush in (lack of) intelligence and (deliberate refusal of) understanding. Chimpie sure makes Ford look good by comparison. Chevy Chase was only too kind.
We of The Scallion can only hope for karmic justice because the human variety falls desperately short of what truth and reality demand.
We of The Scallion also hope that 2007 is better than 2006.
After all, things can’t get much worse, now can they?
Last week, our staffers took a well-deserved and much needed holiday -- Happy Christmakwanzaayulekkahfestivus, y’all! This week, we bring you a slightly overstuffed issue consisting of news to use from our information clearinghouse, goodies from our mailbag, and a bit of fun.
Read all about it:
-- One carbonated beverage a day is worse for you than smoking
-- A soldier’s family speaks out and hands the stay-the-course crowd its arse in a sling
-- Contraception saves money and families in ways the “religious” “right” does NOT want to acknowledge
-- Hillary Clinton pocketed campaign donations and screwed the Democratic party and the American public
-- The most right wing outrageous comments of 2006 (hint: offensive, inaccurate, and bigoted)
-- Right-wing Christian video game encourages young players to leave trails of corpses
-- The corporatocrat FDA declares cloned animals and their products “safe” for human consumption (yet another case of Chimpco believing that they can change reality by decree whenever it’s convenient)
-- Gerald Ford’s rotten-to-the-core legacy
-- Greg Palast did a heartbreaking interview with Buzzflash describing how the Katrina victims’ lives haven’t changed one iota for the better over the last year. Why? Because Bushco LIKES it that way!
-- And, of course, all those year-end summaries that make us all laugh and cry
We of The Scallion beg each of our Readers to make and keep the pledge to hold our newly-elected Democratic leadership accountable for holding Bush and the neocons accountable. We must hold the Democrats' feet to the fire: we elected them to office with the mandate to carry out our will for the benefit of the nation and the world.
If we do nothing else, we must all work together to mandate Congress to revoke any further funding for Bush’s wars and invasions of aggression and greed.
Keep the faith and keep fighting: together, we WILL win our nation back!
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From our mailbag
From Reader D.F. -- New Israel lobby aims to take on AIPAC:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/12/19/israellobby/
From Reader K.R. -- "The Guardian's take on Gerald Ford. Some postings on weblogs have excoriated Ford for pardoning Nixon, thus showing Republicans that they could get away with anything. He also brought Cheney & RUMMY out of obscurity. Thanks so much."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1978938,00.html
Also from Reader K.R. -- "Here you go! A nice 'before and after' retrospective on the glorious war we're winning in Eye-rack. The pix are pretty gruesome...but I don't give a rat's ass if every serviceman ever born winds up like this so long as the mighty, manly Decider keeps me safe from the BEHEADING SQUADS!!!!!!! Seriously, the poor kid looks like something out of a horror movie. He'll be in physical and mental pain the rest of his life, and I want a better explanation than 'Saddam was a bad man.' Thank God that this young man, Ty Ziegel, has a wife to give him a reason to go on living."
http://archive.reduxpictures.com/Production/
PhotoGroupView.aspx?pbid=4&msa=1&pgid=6415897
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From our information clearinghouse
These are items we receive from the countless mailing lists to which The Scallion collectively subscribes. They are worth the effort of at least a good skim.
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From ActForChange
WORKING ASSETS ACTIVISM -- YEAR IN REVIEW
December 28th, 2006
Thanks to your efforts, we were able to achieve some very significant
victories this year. Here's just a sampling of what you helped
accomplish.
CITIZEN ACTIVISM
Through both our ActForChange and Citizen Action Letter programs, you
sent more than 3.7 million messages this year, and helped convinced
decision-makers to do the right thing on the following issues:
- Permanent repeal of the estate tax -- The Senate adjourned this
year without making Paris Hilton's generous tax breaks permanent -- an
unnecessary giveaway to the already-wealthy that would have made our
national debt even worse.
- Judicial appointments -- Despite repeat attempts, four of President
Bush's unqualified and ideologically-extreme nominees (Myers, Haynes,
Wallace and Boyle) were never confirmed for lifetime appointments to
the federal bench.
- John Bolton -- President Bush gave him a recess appointment as UN
Ambassador and repeatedly sent his name up for permanent confirmation,
but the Senate wisely declined to act, and Bolton resigned in early
December.
- Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage -- This proposed
amendment would have been the first to enshrine discrimination into
our U.S. Constitution, but fortunately Senate conservatives fell far
short of the 67 votes necessary to pass the amendment.
- The Cheney-Specter wiretapping bill -- S. 2453 would have
retroactively authorized all of the President's warrantless
wiretapping, but it never passed the Senate, and expired when the
109th Congress adjourned late this year.
- Reauthorization of Voting Rights Act -- In July, Congress renewed
and strengthened the Voting Rights Act, including bilingual ballots
and other protections for language minorities in 500 jurisdictions.
The law also requires federal observers to document and deter
intimidation and discrimination at the polls.
- Stem cell research -- The bill allowing federal funding of this
medically-promising field of research passed both houses of Congress,
only to be stopped by the President Bush's first (and so far, only)
use of his veto pen.
- Punitive immigration legislation -- H.R. 4437, if passed in the
Senate, would have made it a felony to provide any assistance
whatsoever -- such as a drink of water to someone dying of thirst in
the desert -- to undocumented immigrants. Fortunately, the Senate
passed different legislation, and the two versions of the bill could
never be reconciled.
- National Uniformity in Food Safety law -- This legislation would
have preempted state regulations and set a uniform, and completely
inadequate, national standard for truth in labeling on the foods we
eat. This legislation never passed the Senate.
- Corruption in Congress -- Following exposure of their unethical
(and potentially illegal) acts, Representatives Ney of Ohio and DeLay
of Texas both resigned from their seats in Congress. (We're still
calling on Representatives Jefferson and Doolittle to do the same.)
- State-level victories -- In California, we helped convince the
Public Utilities Commission to create a $3 billion solar energy
program (the nation's largest); helped pass the Global Warming
Solutions Act to mandate a 25% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions
by 2020; helped pass AB 774 to prevent hospitals from overcharging the
uninsured; helped pass AB 1870 to require a visible smoke test as part
of statewide smog check inspections; and helped persuade the governor
to formally request protection of all 4.4 million acres of the state's
roadless wilderness. In Oregon, we helped convince the Environmental
Quality Commission to officially adopt the California clean car
standard. In Washington, we helped pass expanded family-leave
legislation; and helped convince the Washington Pharmacy Board to
require that all pharmacists fill prescriptions (including emergency
contraception) regardless of personal objections. In Texas, we helped
establish the Neches River Wildlife Refuge, and protected school
funding equity through amendments to House Bill One. In Utah, we
helped reject the teaching of creationism by stopping a plan to add
'Divine Design' to the state's curriculum. In Arizona, we helped pass
a bill to provide tax incentives for solar energy installations. In
Massachusetts, we helped secure a $1.25 million increase in funding
for state housing vouchers for low income residents. In New York, we
helped convince the state Environmental Review Board to move forward
on strict regulation of mercury emissions from power plants.
PUTTING YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR HEART IS
In addition to Working Assets' regular annual donations process, you
helped make the world a better place this year through the following
projects:
- Holiday Phone Cards for Veterans -- Together with Veterans for
Peace, CODEPINK and other organizations, you helped raise over $92,000
to buy more than 24,000 phone cards loaded with 3.18 million
long-distance minutes so that veterans at VA hospitals could call home
over the holidays. Click here for more information about this project:
http://act.actforchange.com/cgi-bin7/DM/y/erjk0FA7wb0COb0BTao0El
- Carbon Offsets -- You helped contribute more than $165,000 to
neutralize carbon emissions, which equals more than 30,000 tons of
offsets through investments in efficiency and renewable energy
project. Click here for more information about Carbonfund.org:
http://act.actforchange.com/cgi-bin7/DM/y/erjk0FA7wb0COb0BS4J0EO
- Roses for the Mothers Day White House Vigil -- To support Cindy
Sheehan and other mothers of fallen soldiers at their vigil outside
the White House, you helped buy more than 3,500 roses to carry the
message of peace to the White House and Walter Reed Hospital. Click
here for stories and photos from this event:
http://act.actforchange.com/cgi-bin7/DM/y/erjk0FA7wb0COb0BUXy0En
NONPARTISAN CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
With your help, we were able to produce some amazing programs to
strengthen our democracy. This year, we:
- Registered more than 50,000 voters through our innovative website,
www.govote.org.
- Created Pollworkers for Democracy in partnership with Mainstreet
Moms and VoteTrust USA, which recruited and trained over 5,000
pollworkers to be citizen watchdogs and protect the election on
November 7th.
- Funded effective voter-registration programs for traditionally
underrepresented constituencies -- single women (Women's Voices Women
Vote); Hispanic citizens (Democracia USA and Clean Water Fund) and
African Americans and Latinos (Project Vote). Our early critical
support helped register nearly 200,000 voters.
- Helped stop the draconian abortion ban in South Dakota, by raising
more money than any other organization, and providing an organizer for
the crucial last days of the campaign.
- In California, helped stop Propositions 85 (restrictions on a
woman's right to choose) and 90 (a back-door attempt to wipe out
environmental laws) with fundraising and volunteer support.
- Supported victorious minimum-wage initiatives around the country
and provided an experienced Working Assets organizer for the critical
last week in Ohio.
- Developed a text-messaging activism program, and used it to notify
thousands on Election Day about potential voter suppression.
- Threw more than 100 nonpartisan "Parties at the Polls" to make
voting more fun and increase turnout.
- Introduced VolunteerforChange.org, a dynamic tool for nonprofits to
manage volunteers, used by thousands of people and organizations,
including the successful campaign to defeat California Proposition 85.
- Helped set up a toll-free hotline that supported the Election
Protection Coalition's effective monitoring of precincts around the
country where there was a high risk of voter disenfranchisement.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for helping us build a stronger democracy and a
better America. There is still much to be done, but with your
participation and loyalty, we'll be hard at work in 2007 -- and in the
110th Congress, we look forward to accomplishing even more.
Most Sincerely,
Will Easton
Manager, ActForChange.com
Working Assets
P.S. -- As a New Year's gift, Working Assets Wireless customers can
get a free "War -- What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothing!" ringtone
by clicking here:
http://act.actforchange.com/cgi-bin7/DM/y/erjk0FA7wb0COb0BSRH0Eq
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From AlterNet
For Religion or Money: Jesus on the Big Screen
By Jonathan Jones, AlterNet
Hollywood doesn't care as much about Christmas or Christians as it does about making a profit. But just how much money do religious films make?
Iraqi Women's Bodies Are Battlefields for War Vendettas
By Kavita N. Ramdas, Global Fund for Women
The United States' so-called "liberation" of Iraqi women has made them less free than they were under the Baathist regime, with abduction, rape, and "honor" killings now a daily reality.
Forgotten Prisoners: The Problem With Our Immigrant Deportation System
By Jacob Wheeler, Worldpress.org
What's the price of our inefficient, arguably racist deportation system? About seven times the amount it would cost to buy deportees a plane ticket home. And that's just the money.
Why Smoking Marijuana Doesn't Make You a Junkie
By Bruce Mirken, Marijuana Policy Project
The idea that marijuana is a "gateway" drug has been once again squelched by two new scientific studies.
Zines Explore Transgender Culture Beyond Stereotypes
By Maya Schenwar, Punk Planet
How increasingly popular transgender zines are creating community and building diversity in ways that the Internet and the big screen can't.
Powell, Baker, Hamilton -- Thanks for Nothing
By Norman Solomon, AlterNet
The problem with the U.S. war effort is not strategy and management, as the ISG will have us believe, but lies and slaughter.
Crocodile Tears
By Will Durst, AlterNet
Enough of the demonstrations from political pundits of fake concern for Sentator Johnson's health.
From Powell-mania to Obamarama
By Sean Gonsalves, AlterNet
Americans may vote for a black presidential candidate, but would they vote for a black Democrat with pragmatic-progressive values and policy ideas?
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web
Man of the Year [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Time chose "You," GQ chose Colbert...
The joke of "Surging" to victory in Iraq
By Barry Lando
Dispatching another 20,000 troops is a joke -- just look at the figures.
PEEK-analia
By Evan Derkacz
The secret of Borat's success in Israel... the Bushification of McCain... Murdoch-Regan Smackdown...
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Wake Up, Employers: Working Moms Are Giving Up
By Courtney E. Martin, AlterNet
The majority of working moms who leave their jobs do so because of inflexible office policy, not Martha Stewart fantasies.
Iraq: More Hellish Now Than Under Saddam
By Anthony Arnove, AlterNet
Each day the occupation continues, life gets worse for most Iraqis. Yet the U.S. still won't admit to failure.
How Environmental Pollutants Are Causing Reproductive Problems
By Molly M. Ginty, Women's eNews
Across the U.S., female animals exposed to toxic chemicals are suffering from a flurry of health problems, from shrunken ovaries to spontaneous abortions. What does this mean for female humans?
Hillary Clinton and My Visa Bill
By Paul Rogat Loeb, AlterNet
How Hillary Clinton pocketed campaign contributions and shortchanged the Democratic Party in the name of personal political power.
Christmas Has Not Been Stolen
By Mary Shaw, AlterNet
It only takes one look at tinseled-out storefronts to see that Christmas is alive and thriving.
Wikipedia vs. Women
By Annalee Newitz, AlterNet
WikiChix was recently formed by women contributors sick of how male-dominated Wikipedia has become. The question their move raises is as old as feminism itself.
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web
Colin Powell pressed on Pre-war lies [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Mommy, what was journalism?
Worse than Al Qaeda?
By Philip Barron
Always look askance when the official storyline changes...
If only we could get the propaganda right
By Joshua Holland
Joshua Holland: He who has the more compelling narrative wins the info-war.
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Military Escalation: Bush Can't Kick the Habit
By Robert Scheer, Truthdig
The Bush Administration is hooked on the drug of military might, with Gates calling for sending more troops to a war we can't win.
Contraception Saves Money and Marriages
By Cristina Page, TomPaine.com
Family planning has led to seismic change in our society, but not the kind of change the religious right would have you believe.
The Hidden Opportunity in Global Warming
By Marjorie Kelly, Tellus Institute
The U.S. media might have missed the significance of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, but the public shouldn't miss the message: It's about hope.
Saudi Royals Snub Bush, Fund Opposition to U.S. Troops
By Jeffrey Klein, Paolo Pontoniere, New America Media
Saudi Arabia, fearful of a nuclear Iran and a Shiite Iraq, is taking steps to influence U.S. policy in Iraq. The kingdom may also be building its own nuclear program.
Why Impeaching Bush Is Good for Our Species
By Robert Weitzel, Smirking Chimp
In his position as the Alpha Male, leader-of-the-pack, Bush may represent the vanguard of our species' future evolutionary development.
20 Questions for CBS News' Chief
By Rory O'Connor, AlterNet
CBS News Chief Sean McManus discusses the future's newsroom, citizen media, and the failure of pre-Iraq media.
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web
Colbert's word: The Draft [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
'We need some spoiled rich kid to throw a mochachino at Jessica Lynch.'
War On Drugs: that other disastrously misguided non-war
By Joshua Holland
Joshua Holland: Could there be a more counterproductive policy than the "source country" strategy in the "War on Drugs"?
McCain hires Rove's boy
By Evan Derkacz
Get ready for a swiftboaty '08
Let's Use Our Best Weapon Against Iran:
By Cenk Uygur
Cenk Uygur: Capitalism
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Announcing the P.U.-litzer Prizes for 2006
By Norman Solomon, Jeff Cohen, AlterNet
Many can plausibly lay claim to stinky media performances, but only a few can win a P.U.-litzer.
More Dangerous Than Smoking? Death by Soda
By Joshua Frank, AlterNet
Drinking one soda a day could cause you to gain 15 pounds a year. Other related health risks include type 2 diabetes, heart disease, bowel cancer and nerve damage.
Maternal Profiling: How Employers Discriminate by Marital Status
By Sheila Gibbons, Women's eNews
Only 22 states and Puerto Rico specifically prohibit employers from inquiring about applicants' marital status. That means "maternal profiling" is a real problem for many women.
Bush Could Usher in a Very Dangerous New Year
By Robert Parry, Consortium News
Intelligence sources say President Bush -- along with Israel's Ehud Olmert and the UK's Tony Blair -- are weighing the possibility of Israeli-led attacks on Syria and Iran in early 2007, with the United States providing logistical back-up.
109th Congress: Goodbye, Farewell and Don't Let the Door Hit You ...
By Michael Winship, AlterNet
With 19 members under federal investigation and a record-low number of days in session, let's hope our new Congress can do more than the old one did.
A Call for Publicly Financed Elections
By Jennifer James, Yale Daily News
Voters are fed up with Abramoff-style politics. Using public money to fund elections could help clean up corruption.
Ghost Reading with the Prez
By Sean Gonsalves, AlterNet
In a recent interview Bush said that he was reading "King Leopold's Ghost." What exactly did he learn from a book about a foreign occupier using violence to "liberate" the occupied and establish "free trade"?
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web
Christopher Dodd on withdrawing troops and Presidential bid
By Bob Geiger
Connecticut Democrat laying groundwork for 2008 ...
A soldier's family speaks out ...
By Joshua Holland
Joshua Holland: And gives the stay-the-course crowd a spanking.
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Throw the Bums Out and Change Direction
By Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown
The voters had their way: Now there are reasons to be cheerful -- and vigilant -- about a Democratic Congress.
Most Outrageous Right Wing Comments of 2006
Media Matters for America
The offensive, the senseless, the bigoted, the inaccurate; a year in right wing-nuttery.
Hopeful Signs For Global Justice
By Mark Engler, TomPaine.com
Despite the challenges presented by the current administration, the global justice movement has made impressive strides.
"What's Going On?" A Vietnam-Era Song Rings True Today
By Marjorie Cohn, AlterNet
Marvin Gaye's 1971 song spoke of the madness of the Vietnam War. His timely lyrics should prompt us to work to end today's senseless war in Iraq.
From Foley to Frey: The Year in U.S. Scandals
By Martha Rosenberg, AlterNet
This year's follies by the famous can be blamed on a host of evil twins.
New Year's Resolutions for Geeks
By Annalee Newitz, AlterNet
Eight noble intentions for 2007.
2006 XMA$ GIFT WI$H LI$T
By Will Durst, AlterNet
There's something on this list for everyone -- even Saddam Hussein and Jason Alexander.
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web
Ford's legacy is Cheney and Rumsfeld
By Tara Lohan
Jon Wiener writes for the Nation about the political appointments made by Ford.
Charlie Rangel v. George Bush [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
An interview.
Castro Outlives Another One
By Alexander Zaitchik
Remembering Gerald Ford (and Frank Church), who took the bulls-eye off the bearded one.
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'Christian' Game Leaves Behind A Pile of Corpses
By Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com
The Left Behind video game encourages you to celebrate the birth of Jesus by wasting dozens of people at a time, using a variety of Christ-sanctioned weapons.
Celebrate Global Orgasm for Peace Day
By Liz Langley, AlterNet
In the name of peace, find a partner -- or find yourself -- and have an orgasm. Just don't fake it.
Bush Is Waiting for An Iraq Solution That Will Never Come
By Larisa Alexandrovna, AlterNet
It's becoming increasingly clear that the US is in a holding pattern with regard to Iraq, stuck on stall while our soldiers and more Iraqis die.
Ten Things the Democrats Can Do to Hold Corporations Accountable
By Charlie Cray, Phil Mattera, TomPaine.com
After years of lax congressional oversight, most Americans think corporations wield too much power. Only by restoring the balance between government and the private sector can corporate America regain the public's trust.
America Has Become Incarceration Nation
By Marc Mauer, TomPaine.com
The United States has now become the world leader in its rate of incarceration, locking up its citizens at 5-8 times the rate of other industrialized nations.
Christmas Shopping 2006: The Way Forward
By Arianna Huffington, AlterNet
The annual list of presents for favorite -- and not so favorite -- public figures.
Long Beach Hate Crimes Trial Conflicts Civil Rights Leaders
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson, AlterNet
Civil rights leaders unfortunately know all too well the appropriate community response when whites are responsible for hate crimes against blacks, but what about when the tables are turned?
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web
GOP-er fears Korans in government [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Muslim Dem out-graces Christian Rep...
Reality Rape TV?
By Jessica Valenti
What could be more fun...
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Pressuring Israel May Prevent a 'Generational' Mideast War
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
Israel may well find itself at war with Syria and Hezbollah in the coming months, and the American foreign policy establishment needs to let go of its long-standing biases to prevent these conflicts.
Jimmy Carter Speaks A Simple Truth About Palestinian Apartheid
By Chris Hedges, The Nation
There's nothing outrageous or bigoted about Jimmy Carter's book arguing that Palestinians are victims of apartheid, as critics are claiming. If anything, Carter mutes his case.
Home of the Brave: The Psychic Toll of the Iraq War
By Jeanine Plant, AlterNet
Despite its ripped-from-the-headlines feel, Home of the Brave, the new film about Iraq war veterans who have trouble readjusting to life at home, is Hollywood all the way.
Christmas Shopping 2006: The Way Forward
By Arianna Huffington, AlterNet
The annual list of presents for favorite -- and not so favorite -- public figures.
Looking Back at History, from 2026
By Rebecca Solnit, Tomdispatch.com
A view of our recent past from the distant future -- from the death of the Republican party to the Latin Americna renaissance.
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web
Place Your Bets: Pro Occupation, or Pro Iraq?
By Raed Jarrar
Raed Jarrar: The Bush administration is not just beating a dead horse in Iraq -- it's betting all our tax money on it.
How Much Risk Can We Risk?
By Don Hazen
Don Hazen: Intervention: Confronting The Real Risks of Genetic Engineering And Life On A Biotech Planet, a new book by Denise Caruso, raises many tough questions.
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Living in America
Living in America's Fringe Economy -- By Howard Karger, Dollars and Sense
Millions of Americans live on the margins of the American economy, depending on the likes of payday lenders and pawnshops, who charge excessive interest rates and superhigh fees for their services.
The 2006 You Didn't Hear About
By Rebecca Solnit, AlterNet
While many of the big stories in 2006 were bad news, there were hundreds of activist successes in 2006 that permanently changed the world.
Top Ten Iraq Myths for 2006
By Juan Cole, Informed Comment
Sunnis, Civil War, Sadr and the prospects of 'victory.'
Sure Bets in the Coming News Year
By Rory O'Connor, AlterNet
What changes and trends can we expect on the U.S. media scene in the coming new year?
Making Carbon Trading a Fair Trade
By Kelpie Wilson, TruthOut.org
When industrialized countries use monoculture tree plantations in the developing world to offset carbon pollution they are doing more harm than good. Fortunately, there is a more sustainable alternative.
Gerald Ford: The Conflicted President on Civil Rights
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson, AlterNet
Ford scored points by appointing the first black Secretary of Transportation, but then stumbled on civil rights during the rest of his time in office.
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web
Park Service inanity: they won't tell us how old the Grand Canyon is
By Don Hazen
A new book claiming that Noah's Flood is responsible for the big hole is for sale at the Grand Canyon book store.
Ford Attacks Bush (Cheney, Rummy) from Grave
By Evan Derkacz
'I don't think I would have gone to war'
Saddam wins big! (And human rights take a thumping)
By Joshua Holland
Joshua Holland: Saddam Hussein might have been the first leader to be held accountable for genocide. Instead, he'll go down as a martyr to neocolonialism.
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From Center for American Progress
GOOD NEWS
"Streetcars began running on the city's famed St. Charles line Tuesday for the first time since Hurricane Katrina knocked them out of service."
STATE WATCH
MASSACHUSETTS: "Massachusetts has agreed to pay $22.5 million to dramatically reduce air pollution from every public school bus and regional transit bus in the state within four years, a landmark deal designed to offset pollution from the Big Dig."
CALIFORNIA: San Francisco County is distributing condoms to prison inmates "despite California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) veto of a bill (AB 1677) that would have allowed not-for-profit organizations to distribute condoms in jails."
ILLINOIS: From 7 a.m. Wednesday through 7 a.m. Thursday, the State Journal-Register's online site is banning all comments that aren't "really, really nice to each other."
ENVIRONMENT: "More than a dozen states sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to lower soot levels from smokestacks and exhaust pipes, a move the state officials argue would save thousands of lives."
BLOG WATCH
THINK PROGRESS: In a shift to the right, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) embraces Henry Kissinger.
CLIMATE PROGRESS: Droughts and wildfires singe the backyard of climate skeptic Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK).
HUFFINGTON POST: Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) opposes sending more troops to Iraq.
ONE CAMPAIGN: Act now to save a billion dollars for fighting extreme poverty.y in Arkansas.
DAILY GRILL
"As we determine the right force level, our troops can know that I will continue to be guided by the advice that matters: the sober judgment of our military leaders."
-- President Bush, 6/28/05
VERSUS
"The Bush administration is split over the idea of a surge in troops to Iraq, with White House officials aggressively promoting the concept over the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."
-- Washington Post, 12/19/06
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GOOD NEWS
Fifty thousand copies of An Inconvenient Truth that "were rejected by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) after apparent pressure from Exxon and oil industry advocates are now offered free of charge to teachers via Participate.net."
STATE WATCH
GEORGIA: Civic leaders back a $100-million plan to build a civil rights museum in downtown Atlanta.
TENNESSEE: Right-wing pastor upset over Gov. Phil Bresenden's (D) hand-painted Christmas card with a Muslim girl on the cover.
NEW JERSEY: Gov. Jon Corzine (D) on Tuesday "signed into law a bill that allows six cities in the state to establish needle-exchange programs and provides $10 million to drug treatment programs in the state."
BLOG WATCH
THINK PROGRESS: Flashback: Bush said Kerry proposal to increase size of military would make the country "less safe."
THINK PROGRESS: Talk host Mike Gallagher: "Round up" Keith Olbermann, Matt Damon, and "put them in a detention camp."
CARPETBAGGER REPORT: The war on Christmas explained: it's a giant cash cow for the religious right.
DAILY KOS: Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) to President Bush: Did you censor information on Iran?
DAILY GRILL
"[W]e must...work together to achieve important goals for the American people here at home. This work begins with keeping our economy growing. ... I encourage you all to go shopping more."
-- President Bush, 12/20/06
VERSUS
"Bush did nothing to mobilize public opinion [after Sept. 11] to accept the sacrifices that war implies -- the first thing a leader would do. Tax cuts could go ahead as planned, and energy saving was dismissed out of hand. 'Go shopping' was the administration's message."
-- International Herald Tribune, 1/14/03
-----
Naughty and Nice 2006
The Progress Report is on hiatus so we can fight the War on Christmas full time. Your regularly scheduled Progress Report will return January 2, 2007. Happy Holidays!
NAUGHTY: Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA), for attacking incoming Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim elected to Congress.
NICE: Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), for still wanting to be friends with Rep. Virgil Goode.
NAUGHTY: The 109th Congress, for doing nothing.
NICE: The 110th Congress, for promising to work five days a week.
NICE: Nancy Pelosi, for becoming the first female Speaker of the House.
NAUGHTY: The Capitol, for having no women's restroom in the Speaker's office.
NAUGHTY: Maf54.
NICE: NetNanny.
NAUGHTY: President Bush, for refusing to see Al Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
NICE: Participate.net, for giving teachers 50,000 free copies of An Inconvenient Truth that "were rejected by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) after apparent pressure from Exxon and oil industry advocates."
NAUGHTY: The 109th Congress, for failing to raise the minimum wage and allowing it to fall to its lowest level since 1955.
NICE: Voters in Ohio, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado, for raising the minimum wage.
NICE: Fox owner Rupert Murdoch, for not subjecting America to two hours of O.J. Simpson.
NAUGHTY: Fox owner Rupert Murdoch, for subjecting America to a three-hour Bill O'Reilly Christmas marathon.
NAUGHTY: Right-wing preacher Ted Haggard, for buying meth.
NICE: Right-wing preacher Ted Haggard, for throwing out the meth before he used it.
NAUGHTY: Rush Limbaugh, for falsely accusing Michael J. Fox of exaggerating symptoms of Parkisnon's disease -- and then refusing to apologize.
NICE: Michael J. Fox, for speaking out about the need for embryonic stem cell research and not giving "a damn" about Rush Limbaugh.
NICE: Tom DeLay, for engaging Americans by starting a blog.
NAUGHTY: Tom DeLay, for having someone else ghostwrite his blog.
NICE: William Cullen, for inventing the refrigerator.
NAUGHTY: Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), for using his refrigerator to store $90,000 in cash.
NAUGHTY: The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), for causing cervical cancer.
NICE: The Food and Drug Administration, for approving Gardasil, the first HPV vaccine.
NAUGHTY: "Experts" at the Exxon-funded Competitive Enterprise Insitutute, who say that "the best policy regarding global warming is to neglect it."
NICE: The state of California , for doing something about it.
NAUGHTY: Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), for blaming everyone but himself for his legal problems.
NICE: The federal district court, for blaming Bob Ney.
NAUGHTY: Larry King, for never using the Internet.
NICE: You.
Happy Holidays! The Progress Report Team.
-----
From CodePink
With the November elections, the voters gave a clear mandate for the new Democratic Congress to end the war in Iraq. We hoped our newly elected officials would listen to the people, but they're already backsliding. We were appalled to hear Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, on Sunday's ABC show "This Week," say he would support a "short-term" increase of U.S. troops in Iraq. AN INCREASE IN TROOPS? What is Harry thinking? The voters didn't put his party in power to escalate this war, but the end it!
Harry's website may be named GiveEmHellHarry.com, but now it's time for us to give him hell for buckling so quickly to Bush's war machine.
Please take a moment out of your busy holiday schedule to call, email or FAX Harry Reid and tell him this just isn't acceptable.
Call:
202-224-2158 -- Democratic Leadership Office in DC (or call his scheduler: 202-224-7003)
Email: Susan_McCue@reid.senate.gov (chief of staff)
Fax: 202-224-7327 -- DC Office
You can use the sample letter below or write your own. Let Harry Reid know that he must honor the peace sentiment of the American people and bring our troops home!
Wishing you (and the world) a peaceful holiday season,
Andrea, Dana, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jodie, Laura, Liz, Medea, Nancy, Patricia, Rae, Samantha, and Sonia
P.S. Harry Reid's actions make our plans to mobilize in Washington D.C. on January 27th even more pressing. Find out more about our upcoming actions and how to join us here.
Dear Senator Reid,
The November 7 election was a voter mandate for peace, not for escalating the war in Iraq. Your recent remarks supporting the sending of more troops in an ill-conceived effort to "pacify Baghdad" is an affront to the voters who put your party in power.
We passionately oppose such an ill-conceived escalation that will only lead to more dead and wounded American soldiers, and more dead and wounded Iraqis. It will not lead to peace, but only intensify the cycle of violence and inflame anti-American sentiments throughout the region.
After the historic November 7 election, this is no time for caving into the Bush war agenda. It's a time for honoring the peace sentiment of the American people. We call on you to oppose any escalation of US troops and firmly demand a timetable for bringing our troops home.
-----
From "Democracy Now!"
* From Bolivia to Baghdad: Noam Chomsky on Creating Another World in a Time
of War, Empire and Devastation *
World-renowned scholar and linguist Noam Chomsky spoke this weekend at an
event titled, "What's Next? Creating Another World in a Time of War, Empire
and Devastation." Chomsky spoke about the Iraq Study Group report, recent
elections in Latin America, the current situation with Iran and much more.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/19/1433244
* John Mohawk, Iroquois Leader and Scholar, Dead at 61 *
John Mohawk, a leading scholar and spokesman for the Six Nations Iroquois
Confederacy, died in Buffalo, New York on December 12th. He was 61 years
old. Mohawk was a leading advocate for the rights of the Iroquois
Confederacy and of indigenous people worldwide. We play an excerpt of an
address he gave at the Indigenous Peoples' Resistance to Economic
Globalization.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/19/1433248
* Headlines for December 19, 2006 *
- Robert Gates: Failure in Iraq Would Haunt Our Nation For Decades
- Pentagon: Violent Attacks in Iraq At An All-Time High
- Joint Chiefs of Staff Oppose Sending More Troops to Iraq
- Sen. Reid Supports Temporarily Sending More Troops to Iraq
- Iraqi Labor Leaders Oppose Oil Privatization Law
- Three Dead in Hamas-Fatah Violence
- White House Tries to Silence Ex-Official from Criticizing Iran Policy
- 10 U.S. Lawmakers Visit Havava; Call for End to Embargo
- U.S. Army Considers Breaking Goodyear Strike
- U.S. Accused of Bribing UN Security Council Nations
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/19/1433237
-----
* Oaxaca Protesters Describe Jail Beatings, Abuse by Police
In Mexico, the government has released 42 protesters two weeks after they
were rounded up during a demonstration in Oaxaca. Many of those released say
they were beaten in jail and describe abuse at the hands of police.
Democracy Now! producer, Elizabeth Press and journalist and Global Exchange
Human Rights Fellow, John Gibler file a report from the streets of Oaxaca.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/20/1443211
* Robert Fisk Criticizes 'Experts' Cited in Iraq Study Group Report *
Robert Fisk, Chief Middle East Correspondent for the London Independent,
recently participated in a roundtable discussion on the Iraq Study Group
report held at the sixth annual convention of the Muslim Public Affairs
Council. We play his comments.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/20/1443225
* "I Don't Think We Westerners Care About Muslims" - Robert Fisk Delivers
Keynote Address at MPAC Convention *
Veteran war correspondent Robert Fisk of the London Independent recently
delivered the keynote address at the sixth annual convention of the Muslim
Public Affairs Council. Fisk says, "Do we in fact really understand the
extent of injustice in the Middle East? When I finished writing my new book,
I realized how amazed I was that after the past 90 years of injustice,
betrayal, slaughter, terror, torture, secret policeman and dictators how
restrained Muslims have been towards the West."
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/20/1443230
* Headlines for December 20, 2006 *
- Bush Acknowledges US Not Winning Iraq War
- Bush to Seek Troop Increase
- New Defense Sec. Gates in Iraq; Abizaid to Step Down
- Iraq VP: Bush "Blackmailed" and "Brainwashed" Blair over Iraq
- US Contractors Accused in Baghdad Jailbreak
- 2 Killed as Hamas-Fatah Truce Begins
- GOP Rep.: "I Fear We Will Have Many More Muslims in the US"
- Cheney to Testify in CIA Leak Case
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/20/1442255
-----
* Target Iran: Former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter and Investigative
Journalist Seymour Hersh on White House Plans for Regime Change *
The Pentagon has announced plans to move additional warships and strike
aircraft into the Persian Gulf region to be within striking range of Iran.
We air an in-depth discussion between two of the leading critical voices on
the Bush administration's policy in Iran: former UN weapons inspector Scott
Ritter, author of "Target Iran: The Truth About the White House's Plans for
Regime Change", and Seymour Hersh, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative
journalist for The New Yorker magazine.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/21/143259
* Headlines for December 21, 2006 *
- US to Add Persian Gulf Warships in Display to Iran
- Bush Links Minimum Wage Hike to Tax Cut
- Record 76 Bodies Found in Baghdad
- GOP Rep. Refuses to Apologize for Anti-Muslim Comments
- Michigan Universities Granted Affirmative Action Extension
- Disabled Immigrants Sue US Gov over Benefit Cuts
- FCC Hands Telecoms Victory on Cable Franchising
- Archives: Ex-National Security Advisor Hid Stolen Documents
- FBI Releases Remaining Classified John Lennon Documents
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/21/143228
-----
* Zapatistas Call For International Day of Protest in Solidarity With Oaxaca
*
Democracy Now! producer Elizabeth Press is in Oaxaca, Mexico covering the
popular uprising against state governor Ulises Ruiz. She files this report
on the eve of world-wide protests for Oaxaca solidarity.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/22/1453210
* Massacre in Haditha: Eight Marines Charged With Killing 24 Iraqis *
The victims were asleep the night of November 20th, 2005 when Marines burst
into their homes and shot them dead. The military initially claimed 15
civilians had died in a roadside blast caused by insurgents. Human rights
activists have described the killings in Haditha as perhaps the worst case
of deliberate killing of Iraqi civilians by US service members since the war
began.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/22/1447221
* Survivor of Congenital Arteriovenous Malformation Speaks About Sen. Tim
Johnson's Illness and Her Own Recovery *
Donna Cappella suffered AVM a year and a half ago. She is the former
business manager here at Downtown Community Television. Donna talks about
how she had to re-learn how to walk, speak, read and see.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/22/1447232
* The Nation's UN Correspondent Ian Williams on the Legacy of Kofi Annan and
the Future of the UN Under Ban Ki-Moon *
At the United Nations, the South Korean diplomat Ban Ki-Moon is preparing to
become the next Secretary General replacing Kofi Annan who has served since
1996. Ban Ki-Moon officially assumes the role on January 1. Ban Ki-Moon will
become the first Asian to lead the world body in 35 years. In his last weeks
in office, Kofi Annan has repeatedly criticized the Bush administration"s
foreign policy and the invasion of Iraq.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/22/1447237
* "Rum: A Social and Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776" *
To mark the start of the holiday season, Ian Williams talks about his new
book on the history of rum. He writes about how rum and revolution have been
associated together for centuries. Rum is "the global spirit with its warm
beating heart in the Caribbean," the one factor that is shared by all the
cultures of the region, and drunk by the descendants of those who were
enslaved to produce it.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/22/1447241
* Headlines for December 22, 2006 *
- 4 Marines Charged with Murder in Haditha Killings
- Iraq PM: Troop Increase Up to US Military
- NYT Publishes White House-Redacted Op-Ed on Iran
- Thousands Flee as Somali Islamic Leader Declares State of War
- Audit: World Bank Ignores Evidence in Promoting Policies
- Australia Called off East Timor Rescue Days Before Killings
- DHS: Passenger Screening Program Violated Privacy Law
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/22/1447213
-----
* As Hundreds Die in an Oil Pipeline Explosion in Lagos, A Look At the Fight
Over Nigeria's Natural Resources *
Sandy Cioffi, the director of the film "Sweet Crude," joins us in New York
just hours after she returned from Nigeria. She talks about how the popular
resistance movement in the Niger Delta continues to fight multinational oil
companies for control of the country's natural wealth.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/26/1518254
* Thousands March on Day of Solidarity With Oaxaca *
In southern Mexico's Oaxaca City, supporters of the People's Popular
Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) again took to the streets Friday to demand the
resignation of Gov. Ulises Ruiz, the release of political prisoners and the
withdrawal of federal police. Democracy Now! producer Elizabeth Press files
a report from the streets of Oaxaca.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/26/1518257
* FCC Sides with Verizon & Wireless and Votes to Strip Local Communities of
Control Over Cable Franchising *
Anthony Riddle, of the Alliance for Community Media, joins us in the
Firehouse to talk about last week's 3-2 vote. The FCC's two Democratic
commissioners, Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein voted against the
measure.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/26/1519200
* James Brown, 1933-2006: Harry Allen on How JB Revolutionized Popular
Music, Provided the Soundtrack to the Civil Rights Movement and Created the
Blueprint for Hip-Hop *
Musical legend James Brown died on Christmas at the age of 73. He was one of
the most significant musical pioneers of the past 50 years. The Rev. Al
Sharpton said yesterday "What James Brown was to music in terms of soul and
hip-hop, rap, is what Bach was to classical music."
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/26/1519203
* Headlines for December 26, 2006 *
- At 2,974, US Death Toll in Iraq Exceeds 9/11
- 9 Killed in UN Attack on Haiti Neighborhood
- Ethiopia Bombs Mogadishu Airport as Somali Conflict Escalates
- Olmert, Abbas Hold First Meeting
- US: Top Taliban Military Leader Killed in Afghanistan
- VA Secretary Withdraws Apparent Support for Draft Reinstatement
- FEMA Wins Delay to Housing Payments for Katrina Evacuees
- "My Name is Rachel Corrie" Cancelled at Canadian Theatre
- James Brown Dead at 73
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/26/1518235
-----
* President Gerald Ford Dies at 93; Supported Indonesian Invasion of East
Timor that Killed 1/3 of Population*
Former President Gerald Ford died last night at the age of 93. We begin our
coverage of Ford's time in office with a look at his support for the
Indonesian invasion of East Timor that killed one-third of the Timorese
population. We're joined by Brad Simpson of the National Security Archives
and journalist Alan Nairn. [rush transcript included]
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/27/1638254
* Investigative Journalist Robert Parry on Gerald Ford's Legacy and the Bush
Administration's Roots in the Ford White House*
Journalist Robert Parry talks about Gerald Ford's role in ending the
Watergate era, his moves to limit Congressional and media oversight on
executive power, and the roots of Bush administration in the Ford White
House. [rush transcript included]
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/27/1645231
* Did Gerald Ford Agree to Nixon Pardon Before Taking Office? The Nation's
Victor Navasky on Ford's Memoirs and the Lawsuit that Followed*
In the late 1970s, the Nation magazine published excerpts of Gerald Ford's
memoirs in which he revealed the idea of pardoning Richard Nixon was raised
with him before Ford replaced Nixon in the White House. The Nation magazine
publisher emeritus Victor Navasky talks about Ford's account and the
landmark lawsuit that ensued. [rush transcript included]
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/27/1647206
* Barbara Ehrenreich on Poverty, War and Feminism's Place in the World*
We play an excerpt of a recent address by Barbara Ehrenreich, best-selling
author of "Nickel and Dimed: Surviving in Low-Wage America." Throughout her
three decades of journalism and activism, Ehrenreich has been one of the
most consistent chroniclers of class in America. [rush transcript included]
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/27/1649215
* Headlines for December 27, 2006 *
- Former President Gerald Ford dies at 93
- Saddam Loses Death Sentence Appeal
- Nigerian Oil Explosion Kills 269, Injures 160
- UN Calls for End to Somalia Fighting
- Israel to Build New West Bank Settlement
- Surgeon: Castro Does not Have Cancer
- Body of James Brown to Lie "In Stage" at Apollo Theatre
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/27/1644237
-----
* Conflict in Somalia: Islamic Courts Abandon Mogadishu as UN Warns of
Humanitarian Crisis
Hundreds of people are feared dead as fighting between Ethiopian forces
backing Somalia's government and militias loyal to the Union of Islamic
Courts intensifies. Islamic fighters have abandoned their stronghold in the
capital Mogadishu as the UN is warning of an impending humanitarian crisis.
Who are the key players in this conflict? What is the US role? We host a
roundtable discussion with three Somalia experts. [rush transcript included]
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/28/1450201
* Angela Davis Speaks Out on Prisons and Human Rights Abuses in the
Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Scholar and former prisoner Angela Davis was in New Orleans this month to
speak out against human rights violations and demand amnesty for those
imprisoned during Hurricane Katrina. We hear from her keynote address at the
event "Amnesty for Prisoners of Katrina: A Weekend of Reconciliation and
Respect for Human Rights." [rush transcript included]
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/28/1450208
* Headlines for December 28, 2006 *
- Islamic Fighters Abandon Mogadishu As Ethiopian Forces Advance
- Ford to Lie in State Ahead of National Cathedral Memorial
- Embargoed Interview Reveals Ford Opposed Iraq War
- US Death Toll in Iraq Hits 87 in December
- Hussein Releases Farewell Letter
- Ex-Interior Secretary to Work for Shell
- John Edwards Enters 2008 Presidential Race
- James Brown's Body to Lie in Repose at Apollo Theatre
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/28/1449201
-----
From Free Press
Meet Frannie Wellings.
She needs your help!
Meet Frannie Wellings. Frannie's a lobbyist for Free Press. She needs your help.
Frannie's no ordinary lobbyist. She works for you, defending the public interest and advocating for policies that would improve local news and information, safeguard your Internet freedom and make Big Media more accountable to people like you.
"Media is the lens through which every critical issue is filtered," Frannie says. "I fight for better media every day in Washington -- because I know our democracy's at stake."
Frannie made a difference this year -- but she didn't go it alone. Your help is key to her success. With more than a million letters, calls, and e-mails to Congress and the FCC, here are just a few of the victories you helped make happen:
No tollbooths on the Internet. We blocked a powerful telephone and cable company scheme to control the Internet.
Official investigations launched. We compelled the FCC to crack down on fake news -- sounding the alarm about widespread government and corporate propaganda.
Giving the public a voice. We organized thousands of citizens to attend hearings across the nation and to demand better coverage of local issues, more critical journalism, and diverse voices on radio and TV.
Looking ahead, 2007 will be a critical juncture for the media reform movement. A new and more receptive Congress will help, but we're still up against one of the most powerful lobbies in history. In the past five years, Big Media spent more than $615 million to influence Congress -- more than double what the oil and gas industry spent.
For every public interest lobbyist like Frannie Wellings, there are more than 100 Big Media lobbyists working to place corporate interests ahead of the public interest. We've fended them off with just a fraction of what the big guys spend -- but we still have lots of work ahead of us. This is where you come in.
We need to keep the pressure on in Washington and keep the movement for media reform growing in cities and towns across the country. Gifts of any size will help.
- Your gift of $25 will put media reform toolkits in the hands 10 grassroots activists.
- Just 10 people giving $50 will pay for a bus to carry 50 people to the next official FCC hearing.
- A gift of $100 will enable Frannie and her colleagues to distribute issue briefings and research reports to congressional staffers.
- Your gift of $1,000 will allow Frannie time to make a real difference in Washington.
All of us at Free Press are working hard to take media reform to the next level. We're grateful for all of your help and are honored to have you by our side.
Sincerely,
Carrie, Nicole, Sarena, & the Free Press team
www.freepress.net
P.S. We really can beat them with only 10% of their money! Donate now to help raise $50,000. Click here.
-----
From Greg Palast
New Orleans -- One Year Later -- Nothing Much Has Happened
A Buzzflash Interview
December 22, 2006"The White House knew [the levees broke] because the Army Corps of Engineers sent them photographs. Again, I want to emphasize that the White House had the photographs of the levees breaking, and didn't tell state and local officials who had stopped the evacuation because the hurricane missed New Orleans. Everyone thought they dodged a bullet, but the White House didn't tell anybody the levees broke and were drowning the city." -- Greg Palast
*****
Greg Palast is just unstoppable, and after you watch his remarkable new DVD, "Big Easy to Big Empty: The Drowning of New Orleans," you'll understand why. You have read about the Katrina disaster for more than a year now, but you'll see it in a new light after watching Greg Palast's reporting.
In an expanded documentary that now includes a half-hour interview with Amy Goodman, Palast, in his usual bold style, reveals new factual details about the Bush Administration complicity in the deaths of Katrina victims. You'll be convinced by the end of watching "Big Easy to Big Empty" that what we are dealing with here is criminal negligence.
*****
BuzzFlash: Greg your new DVD, "Big Easy to Big Empty: The Untold Story of the Drowning of New Orleans" is absolutely shocking because all of the footage you shot was one year after Katrina hit New Orleans. After all the devastation, virtually nothing has happened to recover from Katrina, and the residents have been left to fend for themselves.
Greg Palast: It's unbelievably ugly. You will see in the film mile after mile of destroyed houses. The 9th Ward looks worse than Berlin after the war because there's hardly a building standing. And this was just filmed a couple months ago! This was filmed one year after the flood. In Indonesia, they have rebuilt after the tsunami. The only thing they are rebuilding here is a Disneyland on the Mississippi to recreate a new, white, conservative city.
And don't forget, keeping African-Americans from coming back into New Orleans is amazing political gerrymandering. This is going to be crucial to keeping Louisiana in the Republican column in 2008. That's really part of the story.
BuzzFlash: Sometimes I'll see you on TV or read something by you and I'll think to myself, there goes Greg again, saying something crazy -- Greg's saying they want to destroy the public housing in New Orleans to build new condos and keep the African Americans out.
But let me read you this from the Washington Post from December 7th: "Public housing officials decided Thursday to proceed with the demolition of more than 4,500 government apartments here, brushing aside an outcry from residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina who said the move was intended to reduce the ability of poor black people to repopulate the city." (Read the Washington Post Article)
Well, you were right again.
Greg Palast: Understand -- I used to work for the Housing Authority of New Orleans. The most beautiful housing in New Orleans are the townhouses near the French Quarter. And as Malik Brahim, an African-American leader there, says, "They just don't want them poor black people back." That's a crucial part of the film. It's about keeping the working class black people out of the city.
They're talking about knocking down 4,000 public townhouses. These are dry, safe, good houses. That's why they're still there. They literally want to bulldoze these homes because they don't want those "black people back."
You'll see in the film a woman, Patricia Thomas. We help break into her home because they've boarded it up. Everything is dry. You could eat the dry cereal. They've shuttered up their houses with steel bars. Katrina didn't do this, she says, "Man did this." And "the man" is in the White House and in the Mayor's Mansion.
BuzzFlash: Why do you think the rebuilding effort and relief effort in New Orleans has just come to a complete halt?
Greg Palast: It's not stalled. This is the plan. This is another White House gimmick to hide their evil intent in the clothing of incompetence.
The same with Iraq -- oh, we screwed up? We didn't get all the cheap oil that Wolfowitz promised in his congressional testimony, when he said the price of oil would decline. Well, it's gone up. Golly gee, who funds the Bush Administration but the oil companies and Saudi Arabia? Who profits when the price of oil goes up? That's "Mission Accomplished."
Look to New Orleans. Golly gee, the black folks haven't come back. There are no labor unions anymore in New Orleans. There are no public schools. It's all vouchers. Worker wages have gone down. It's "Mission Accomplished." This is the plan. This is the program.
The idea that this is just a screw-up, or a delay, or a stall is wrong. This is the plan. You're seeing it in effect. They don't ever want those people back. You still have 73,000 POWs - prisoners of "W."
New Orleans residents are locked in these "aluminum Guantanamos," also known as FEMA trailers, as you'll see in the film. There are a thousand mobile homes next to the Mobil Oil refinery. These trailers are in the middle of nowhere, and there's no way those people can get any jobs. It's a cycle. Some businesses and homeowners would like to rebuild New Orleans, but they can't get workers, and those who would like to work live too far away to get any jobs.
Families are not even allowed to move their trailer to their own home property. It's a deliberate program of ethnic and class cleansing in the City of New Orleans.
BuzzFlash: One of your big scoops in "Big Easy to Big Empty" was you found a company, "Innovative Emergency Management," that gave large donations to the Republican party, to create an evacuation plan in case of a hurricane. No one seems to be able to find that plan.
Greg Palast: The most innovative thing about their emergency management is that they had no plans that anyone knew about.
When I went and talked to "Innovative Emergency Management," they called security. I just went in and said where's the plan? What makes you qualified to do an evacuation plan besides your relations to the Republican Party?
These people had zero qualification to do this planning. We were told that the main problem was that they had no plan for getting people out without cars. I mean, their whole plan was "jump in your car and drive like hell."
But what if you didn't have a car? We had one guy who didn't have his car with him, and he was abandoned for four days in the rising water, standing on the overpass. He told us how he closed the eyes of a grandfather who had died giving his last bottle of water to his kids. The guy died of dehydration.
That's a story that no one has reported. Forget Anderson Cooper and his tears. By the way, we can't find Anderson Cooper after the fact.
BuzzFlash: Have you been able to find "Innovative Emergency Management's" evacuation plan yet?
Greg Palast: Actually, I finally got the contract that said they were "supposed to create" an evacuation plan. FEMA had withheld the documents we requested for a year and a half. FEMA was keeping it secret and was telling us it's a national security document until we threatened to sue.
I worked on an evacuation plan in Long Island, New York, for a hurricane. And you know what the key part about an evacuation plan is? You have to have it. Cops have to have it. Emergency workers have got to have it. The bus drivers have got to have it.
The most important thing is that we found out from the experts at the Hurricane Center at Louisiana State University that they had a detailed evacuation plan.
BuzzFlash: Do you think part of the reason is that they may have had an evacuation plan for a hurricane, but not necessarily for a breach of the levees or a major flood?
Greg Palast: That's part of the problem, because they had no plan in case of a breach. Number one, the LSU Hurricane Center told the White House before the flood -- and I want to reemphasize this -- before the flood -- that New Orleans would be under water on a class 3 hurricane, that the levees were deficient, and that they were 18 inches short. The White House completely ignored their warnings.
You have to understand that the LSU hurricane experts actually spoke directly to the White House about this and what they saw as an emergency situation.
You should also know that the White House knew for nearly a full day that the levees had in fact been breached, and were about to drown the people left in the city. The emergency crews and police stopped the evacuation because they thought the city had survived Hurricane Katrina because the storm missed New Orleans. The hurricane watch center didn't realize that the levees had started to crack.
The White House knew it because the Army Corps of Engineers sent them photographs. Again, I want to emphasize that the White House had the photographs of the levees breaking, and didn't tell state and local officials who had stopped the evacuation because the hurricane missed New Orleans. Everyone thought they dodged a bullet, but the White House didn't tell anybody the levees broke and were drowning the city.
BuzzFlash: What explanation could anyone have for that kind of "criminal negligence," as a City Councilman says in the film.
Greg Palast: It is criminal negligence. Remember, I was a racketeering investigator.
The levees are federal property. If the federal levees failed, then it becomes a federal evacuation issue, and Bush and his gang did not want to be responsible.
Even more important is that they are financially responsible for all the homes lost, because the levees were deficient.
The original story coming out of the White House was that the Mississippi River and the lake north of New Orleans simply overflowed, right? Just big waves crash over the city and later the levees broke. Uh-uh. The city flooded because the levees broke.
Ivor van Heerden of the Louisiana State University hurricane center said he flew over those levees and he counted 28 levee breaks.
He said the White House, when they knew that the city was about to drown, said that there was one break. And he found 28. As he said, "That's not an act of God. That's an act of negligence."
BuzzFlash: You have a lengthy interview with Amy Goodman as part of the bonus features of the DVD. At one point, you spoke about the wetlands and the marshes that protect New Orleans from storm surges and floods. You place at least part of the blame on the oil industry, which is continuing to drill off the coast.
Greg Palast: The oil industry laid pipelines and canal routes through the marshlands. People say, "How come these people live in a city that's below sea level?" Well, they weren't anywhere near the sea, is the answer, except that over this past century, the oil industry has drained and destroyed the marshes. Now the Gulf of Mexico has come real close to the city.
BuzzFlash: What needs to happen to turn the situation around, when you have so many people and families displaced and so much profiteering going on? How do you ever break the deadlock?
Greg Palast: A couple things. One, people have to know what the hell's going on. That's why they should get the film, invite friends and family, and have a screening so people can get informed. If you don't know what's going on, you can't solve it. This is like the war in Iraq. Once people figured out what's going on, they started wanting to get our troops the hell out.
And second, we have to allow the people of New Orleans to rebuild their homes. We need to give the people back their homes, and give them the jobs to rebuild their homes. And that will take care of it.
In fact, I show an example of a group called "Common Ground" which is rebuilding homes with the residents with their own sweat equity and a few bucks for materials. And this week, they're being evicted.
You have a group which has already put 115 families into homes that they've built themselves, and now they're being evicted this week. And by the way, all the money -- the million dollars of material and the hundred thousands of hours of sweat equity -- are all being stolen away from them by developers who are saying "Oh, you didn't have the right to rebuild those houses, we own them." And they're literally stealing their houses. That's what's happening.
And that's all with the grand approval of the Bush Administration. It's all with the grand approval of the Mayor of New Orleans, who is doing nothing about the mass evictions of people who have rebuilt their homes, and now their properties are being seized by banks and land speculators.
BuzzFlash: Greg, as always, thank you for speaking with us.
Greg Palast: Thank you.
* * *
Interview conducted by BuzzFlash Senior Editor Scott Vogel.
Get your personally signed copy of "Big Easy to Big Empty: The Untold Story of the Drowning of New Orleans" or browse for other signed gifts at the Palast Investigative Fund Store
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From HuffPo
Rob McKay: Its Beginning To Look A Lot (More) Like Global Warming...
APFrom Rob McKay's Blog:
It is 60 degrees on December 18th in New York City. I'm hardly relieved I didn't have to bundle up my daughter and trudge with her through ice and now to go see "The Nutcracker" today. The temperature is terrifying. I want to crack some sense into the nuts who tell us there's nothing to worry about....
..Bush won't even use the term "global warming." He occasionally makes reference to the world's "climate change." Conservative politicians and pundits chalk up global warming to the next liberal bully pulpit, a rehash of "political correctness" or outcries from the "feminazis"...
...There's nothing ideological about global warming and the necessity of a policy agenda to protect the planet. We shouldn't need another call for bipartisanship to unite behind aggressive environmental protection policies that are so glaringly necessary...
Click here to read more.
ON THE BLOG TODAY
Arianna Huffington: Premature Prognostication: Presidential Polls Come Two Years Too SoonMax Cleland: Holiday Wishes
Sean Penn: On Receiving the 2006 Christopher Reeve First Amendment Award
Harry Shearer: This Just Not In
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Rep. Jane Harman: Bush Admin's Escalated Military Option Not A Credible Path...
APExcerpted From Rep. Jane Harman's Blog:
...The White House's Iraq strategy has failed, our brave military is stretched to the breaking point, and neither Congress nor the American people will support for much longer throwing good money after bad or sending good people after good people into a hopeless war zone.
Rather than talk about additional troops, it's time to begin redeploying troops out of Iraq immediately and engaging other governments and allies in crafting a diplomatic and political solution to the nightmare. That this administration could still think an escalated military option is a credible path to stability and democracy in Iraq is alarming, and indicative of how far removed from reality this president and his inner circle are...
Click here to read more.
ON THE BLOG TODAY
Arianna Huffington: Christmas Shopping 2006: The Way ForwardSteven Weber: All I Don't Want for Christmas
Michael Shaw: Reading The Pictures: Approaching 3,000
Daniel Levy: The Syrian Litmus Test
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Former President Ford Dead At 93...
APFormer President Gerald R. Ford has died at the age of 93, his wife Betty announced late Tuesday.
As the only unelected president in American history, Ford was hand-picked to replace Richard Nixon after the disgraced 37th president resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Ford was noted for his straight-forward manner, and his controversial pardon of Nixon for all crimes committed while president. The pardon may have cost him the election of 1976, but it was a decision generally admired years later.
The statement delivered by Betty Ford did not name a cause of death, although Ford suffered from a number of health problems in recent years. He recently surpassed Ronald Regan, who also died at 93, to become the longest-living president.
Click here to read more.
Click here to discuss it on HuffPost.
ON THE BLOG TODAY
Russell Shaw: Gerald Ford - A Man For His TimeJane Smiley: The Buck Stops Everywhere
James Pinkerton: A Leak From An Undisclosed Location
Danny Miller: Dreamgirls: Crossing Over...Again
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From International Planned Parenthood
As 2006 draws to a close we want to thank you for your generous support, celebrate victories, and highlight the work that we need to do in 2007 to ensure that women throughout the region enjoy access to quality reproductive and sexual health care.
Best wishes in the New Year!
Sincerely,
Carmen Barroso
Regional Director
International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region
A Selection of Sexual and Reproductive Health Issues in the News in 2006 :
Thumbs Up
Courts in Venezuela this December granted Linda Loaiza an appeal in her long-running effort to seek justice for the violence and abuse she endured in 2001. After years of continuing to advocate for the trial of her alleged perpetrator, on December 13, 2006 Linda was granted an appeal, requiring the man who raped and tortured her to be re-tried and sentenced according to the severity of his crime. Click here to learn more about the case and Linda's continued battle.
In August 2006, the Mexican government agreed to pay reparations to Paulina Ramirez, who was raped and became pregnant in 1999 at the age of 13. In 2002, the Center for Reproductive Rights and two Mexican human rights groups filed a petition on Paulina Ramirez s behalf with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging violations of her legally guaranteed rights under Mexican law, as well as her rights to physical and psychological integrity and health, among others.The government was also required to develop guidelines regulating access to abortion in the case of rape.
In May 2006, Colombia's highest court ruled that abortion can be performed when a woman's life, physical health, or mental health is in danger, as well as in cases of rape, incest and certain fetal abnormalities. Colombia's first legal abortion was performed in August 2006, on an 11-year old girl who had been raped by her stepfather. For further information click here.
During the November 2006 elections, South Dakota voters rejected a sweeping abortion ban. Fifty-five percent of voters in South Dakota rejected the ban which would have rendered abortion illegal in all circumstances, including rape and incest, unless the woman's life was at risk. For further information please click here.
Chile's new President Michelle Bachelet ushered in a progressive new policy: that the emergency contraceptive known as the morning-after pill would be available for all women 14 years of age and older. The decision has been challenged in court, which means that throughout Chile the struggle continues to make EC accessible to all women. For further information click here.
IPPF/WHR's Member Association in Mexico, MEXFAM was recently recognized for its work, winning three distinct awards for contributions to sexual and reproductive health and rights: an award in recognition of Integrity, Transparency and Gender Equity among Civil Society Organizations, granted in partnership by the Ministry of the Public Function, the National Institute of Women, and United Nations Development Programme in Mexico; the Clarence H. Moore Award for Voluntary Service presented by the Pan American Foundation for Health and Education, a partner of the Pan American Health Organization; and the 2006 Hermila Galindo Recognition award, granted by Mexico City's Human Rights Commission. MEXFAM was presented with this final award at a ceremony held on November 24, 2006, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. For more information about MEXFAM, click here.
Thumbs down
On November 17, 2006, Nicaragua's President signed into law one of the most restrictive abortion bills in Latin America. Health experts already estimate the number of illegal abortions in the country at more than 30,000 a year and the number will only continue to rise with this legislation. Because these restrictions violate 20 constitutional rights in Nicaragua, the Nicaraguan Center of Human Rights (CENIDH) and other rights groups will soon be mounting an appeal in the Supreme Court. For further information please click here.
In November, President Bush appointed anti-sex education advocate Erick Keroack to head the family planning programs at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. This outrageous appointment illustrates the Bush administration's disregard for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. Please click here for more information.
In November, the New York Times reported that although funding for foreign assistance has risen in the 2007 budget "money for programs to address childhood disease and maternal mortality is down by one-third in this year's budget request" (NYTimes11/25/2006). As the 109th Congress comes to a close, it is time to focus on the 110th Congress, to ensure that the U.S. is at the forefront of the global fight against poverty. Click here to urge Congress to allocate increased foreign aid for poverty reduction and comprehensive family planning services.
Support Our Work - Click here now to make a secure online donation to help support our crucial advocacy efforts on behalf of women and girls around the globe.
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And now ... a bit of fun!
Reader R.R. sent in this little gem we're sure you'll really like. The gift that keeps on giving?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1dmVU08zVpA&mode=user&search
posted by The Scallion @ 8:25 PM
