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April 22, 2002
Rep. Cynthia McKinney
We Come for Peace
Daniel
Bar-Tal
Is
There a Way Out?
Occupation, Terror
and Understanding
David Wilson
A Week of Coups, But Now
The Freedom Train Hits Town
Shaik
Ubaid
Today
I Was a Palestinian
April 21, 2002
Michelle Campos
Suckered Again in Israel
Mike Leon
200,000
in DC Protest Say:
"We Are All Palestinians Today"
C.G. Estabrook
Sex and Power in Catholicism
Kathy
Kelly
Gimme
Some Truth Now
A Walk Through Jenin
April 20, 2002
Philip Farruggio
Drowning in a Sea of Apathy
Kristen
Schurr
Leaving
Nablus
Bernard Weiner
Israel and the Intifada
for Dummies
Jean-Guy
Allard
A
Coup Signed by Otto Reich
Chris Floyd
The "Grandeur" That Was Rome:
A Letter from the Front
April 19, 2002
Eric Flint
Free
the Books!
David Krieger
A Peace Proposal:
Bring in the Children
Jeff Paterson
Advice
to Recruits from
a Gulf War Vet
Jeffrey St. Clair
From Sen. "Lunkhead" to
Bush Energy Czar: A Year in the Life of Spencer Abraham
April 18, 2002
Tom Turnipseed
Latin
America's Dilemma:
The Propaganda of Otto Reich
Sam Bahour
Bush is Playing Russian
Roulette with Palestinians
M. Shahid
Alam
A
Colonizing Project
Built on Lies
Alexander Cockburn
Austin Cultural Limits:
Willie Nelson, Film and BBQ
April 17, 2002
Norman
Finkelstein
Behind
the Carnage in Palestine
Kristen Schurr
With the Wounded
and the Homeless in Nablus
Norman
Madarasz
Undoing
Chavez:
The View from South America
Brian Wood
Combing The Ruins of Jenin
George
Monbiot
Chemical
Coup: The CIA's Attempt to Undermine the UN's Weapon Inspector
for Iraq
Robert Fisk
Fear and Learning in America

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The Memphis Blues Again:
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Photos by Ernest Withers
Text by Daniel Wolff

The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid
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April 22, 2002
EPA Ombudsman Resigns
Accountability in Handling of Superfund Sites Threatened
CounterPunch
Wire
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ombudsman
Robert Martin resigned today, ending a long-running battle to
preserve his office and its ability to independently investigate
cases where the agency mishandled Superfund sites. His resignation
came on the heels of actions taken by EPA Administrator Christine
Todd Whitman to disband his office, including sending agents
to confiscate his files and his computers, and to change the
locks on his office last Thursday and Friday.
"This is a tremendous loss for Superfund
communities nationwide as well as advocates for good government,"
stated Danielle Brian, Executive Director of the Project On Government
Oversight (POGO), one of many organizations supporting increased
independence and authority for the EPA Ombudsman. Background
on the EPA Ombudsman issue can be found at http://www.pogo.org/hazmats/hazindex.htm.
For years, the Ombudsman has been deeply
critical of numerous EPA decisions regarding the clean-up of
Superfund sites across the country. Efforts to limit his independence
began under the Clinton Administration and dramatically escalated
under Whitman's authority. In recent months, Whitman prevented
him from investigating sensitive cases and ordered that he be
moved under the direct control of the Inspector General.
Actions by EPA Administrator Whitman
have drawn widespread criticism. Supporters of Ombudsman independence
include Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, the
General Accounting Office, and community groups across the country
who are affected by Superfund sites in their neighborhoods.
Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
and eleven other Democrats have asked the U.S. Office of Special
Counsel (OSC) to accept Martin's request for whistleblower protection.
In May, Representative Michael Bilirakis (R-FL) plans hearings
on the EPA's efforts to interfere with the work of the Ombudsman.
Last year, Representative Bilirakis and Senator Michael Crapo
(R-ID) introduced the Ombudsman Reauthorization Act of 2001 (H.R.
1431, S.606) to improve the independence and authority of the
Ombudsman to pursue Superfund investigations.
Attorney Tom Devine of the Government
Accountability Project is representing Mr. Martin in
his filing before the Office of Special Counsel.
In 1998, POGO gave Mr. Martin its "Beyond
the Headlines" award recognizing his ability to expose wrongdoing
in the handling of Superfund sites and negotiate solutions between
communities, polluters and the EPA.
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