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Today's
Stories
April
24 / 25, 2004
William
A. Cook
Tweedledee and Tweedledum: Kerry
and Bush Melt into One
April
23, 2004
Ron
Jacobs
The Only Solution is Immediate Withdrawal
Dave
Lindorff
Imagination Deficit Disorder
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Contractors and Mercenaries: the Rising Corporate Military Monster
Norman
Solomon
Country Joe Band, 2004: "What Are We Fighting For?"
Cynthia
McKinney
All Things Are Not Equal: the Perils of Globalization
CounterPunch
Wire
A Bitch Called Wanda
Karyn
Strickler
Sierra Club, Inc.
Hammond
Guthrie
Yellow Caked in the Face
Paul
de Rooij
Graveyard of Justifications: Glossary
of the Iraqi Occupation
April 22, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
When Terror Came to Basra: "I
Saw a Minibus of Children on Fire"
Tanya
Reinhart
The Wall Behind Disengagement
Lance
Selfa
Why is Kucinich Still in the Race?
Josh
Frank
Street Fighting Man? Kucinich's Pulled Punches
Sen.
Robert Byrd
Bush Owes America Answers on Iraq
William
S. Lind
Why We Get It Wrong
Mickey
Z.
Undoing the Latches
Robert
Jensen
Why They Fast: Remembering the Victims of the World Bank
John
L. Hess
The New York Times from 30,000 Feet
April
21, 2004
Gary
Leupp
Yeats on Iraq
Alfredo
Castro
Colombia's Forgotten Prisoners
Dr.
Susan Block
Bush's Taliban Drug Deal
William
A. Cook
George 1 to George 2
Jack
Random
Iraq and Vietnam
Jean-Guy
Allard
Alarcon Meets the Editors
Mike
Whitney
Charade in the Desert
Bill
Christison
Only Major Policies Changes Can
Help Washington Now
April 20, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Bush and Kerry Share a Problem
Stan
Cox
Wal-Mart's Magic Numbers
Bruce
Anderson
On Listening to Air America
Joseph
Kalvoda
Czech Mate for Condi
Greg
Moses
Yesterday's Intelligence
Stan
Goff
The Democrats and Iraq
Website
of the Day
Santorum Happens
April 19, 2004
Kurt
Nimmo
The "Central Hand" of the
Resistance
Mike
Whitney
Bob Woodward's Imperial Trifles
Douglas
Valentine
52 Pick-Up and the 100-to-1
Rule
John
Chuckman
The Sharon Annex: Evil Does Often
Triumph
Doug
Giebel
Welcome to the Club
Rahul
Mahajan
Hospital Closings and War Crimes
April
16 / 18, 2004
Robert
Fisk
Bush Legitimizes Terror
Saul
Landau
Subverting Brazil and Cuba
Dave
Lindorff
Paying for War: $2,150 per Family
and Counting
Brandy
Baker
Fallujah's Collateral Damage
Mickey
Z.
The Left Attacks from the Right
Bruce
Jackson
The Bush Press Conference: Gott Mit
Uns
Norman
Solomon
How the "NewsHour" Changed
History
Alexander
Cockburn
Bush, Kerry and Empire
April
15, 2004
Greg
Moses
Follow the Families, Not the Script
Virginia
Tilley
The Carnage According to Gen. Kimmitt:
Just Change the Channel
Ron
Jacobs
They Coulda Been Champions of the
World: Hurricane Carter and Ron Kovic
Michael
Neumann
A Happy Compromise: Hate Crimes
Reporting in the Toronto Globe and Mail
April
14, 2004
Tom
Reeves
Return to Haiti: an American Learning
Zone
Reza
Fiyouzat
Japan and Iraq
Ron
Jacobs
What Bush Really Said
Diane
Christian
The Real Passion
April 10 /
12, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
The
Greatest Radical Journalist of His Age
Patrick Cockburn
Ambush, Kidnap, Murder: Another Day in "Post War" Iraq
Ellen Cantarow
Health Under Siege on the West Bank
Tariq Ali
Iraqi
Resistance: a New Phase
Werther
Pseudoconservatism Revisited: When God is Pro War & Other
Delicacies
Robert Fisk
Bush's War Lords to Their Critics: "Just Shut Up"
Gary Leupp
Indian Wars, Vietnam and Orientalist Fantasy
Ron Jacobs
The Iranian Revolution, Cont.
Jorge Mariscal
Perils of the Bootstrap
Phil Gasper
Defying Stereotypes About Death Row
Dave Zirin
Bringing the Black Freedom Struggle Into Sports: an Interview
with Lee Evans
Brandy Baker
The Revolution is Playing at a Theater Near You
Mickey Z.
Underground Music is Free Media: an Interview with Twiin
Ali Tonak
Get Ready for the Million Worker March
Harry Browne
Asking the Wrong Question About Richard Clarke & 9/11
Gideon Samet
The Sharonizing of America
Conn Hallinan
Remote Control Warriors
Website of
the Weekend
Taboo
Tunes
April 9, 2004
Robert Fisk
This
War's Simple Truth: Iraqis Do Not Want Us
John L. Hess
The
Non-Confessions of a Warrior Princess: Condi on the Stand
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Condoleezza's Condescensions
Christopher Brauchli
Holes in the Sky: Bush's Crazed Missile Defense Plan
Don Santina
Forget the Alamo!: Glorifying the Fight for Slavery in Texas
William S. Lind
The 4G Warfare Seminar, Cont.
Bill Christison
9/11
Commission is Bush's New Lapdog
Website of the Day
What We've Done to Fallujah
April 8,
2004
Wayne Madsen
Rice
(and the Record) Proves It: Bush Knew, But Failed to Act
Kurt Nimmo
Will
Bush Flatten Fallajuh?
Patrick Cockburn
Guided
Missile; Misguided War
Laura Flanders
Steamed
Rice
Larry Everest
What Condi Rice is Hiding
Adam Federman
Sacred Capitalism Hits Russia
M. Junaid Alam
The Iraqi Intifada Begins
Norman Solomon
The Quest for a Monopoly on Violence
Douglas Valentine
Echoes
of Vietnam: Phoenix, Assassination and Blowback in Iraq
Website of the Day
Xispas: Chicano Art, Culture and Politics
April 7, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Those
Pulitzers!
Sen. Robert
Byrd
Deeper
into the Mouth of Hell: We Must Find the Exit from Iraq
Ron Jacobs
Tet
in Iraq: Closer to the Cosmic Disaster?
Patrick Cockburn
Battles
Across Iraq: US Death Toll Mounts
Kathy Kelly
Pacification: Worth the Price?
Sonali Kolhatkar
What Are You Doing About Afghanistan?
Rahul Mahajan
Report from Baghdad: Opening the Gates of Hell
Robert Fisk
US Airlifts Saddam to Qatar
Mike Whitney
America Out of Iraq, Now!
Sam Hamod
Bush, Pandora's Box and the Tiger
April 6,
2004
C.G. Estabrook
Mercenaries
and Occupiers
William Blum
The
Anti-Empire Report: the Israel Lobby
Col. Dan Smith
The
Language of Disbelief: 1.3 Billion Still Live in War Zones
Dr. Bulent Gokay
The Coming Islamic Republic of Iraq?
Lynn Landes
Faking Democracy: Americans Don't Vote; Machines Do
Sheila Samples
What Would Royko Write?
Jason Leopold
Condi's Blind Spot: Rice Never Mentioned al-Qaeda
Mickey Z.
A Reality Show with No End in Sight
Robert Fisk
Iraq on the Brink of Anarchy
April 5, 2004
John Farrell
Lessons
from El Salvador and Iraq
Robert Fisk
Bloodbath
a Bad Omen for Bush
Gary Leupp
Shiites Say No: Another "Nightmare
Scenario"
April 3 / 4, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Anti-Depressants
a Problem? We're Shocked
Jeffrey St. Clair
How Neil Bush Succeeded in Business
Without Really Trying
Gary Leupp
On Jefferson, Diderot and the Political Uses of God
Lawrence Davidson
Orwell and Kafka in Israel / Palestine
Frederick B.
Hudson
Condi Rice: the Family Retainer
Phillip Cryan
The Magic of Coca-Cola: Colombian Workers, Civil Rights and Advertising
Dave Zirin
Lester Speaks: an Interview with Lester "Red" Rodney
Ben Tripp
Talking Dirty: Obscene But Not Heard
Bruce Anderson
Phony Liberals and Fake Concern for the Homeless
Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Justice and Legitimacy in Haiti
Mark Scaramella
Do You Have What It Takes to Be Sec. of Defense? Take the Rumsfeld
Quiz
Sharon Smith
Do Most Iraqis Really Want the US to Stay?
Rick Giombetti
Melissa Ann Rowland: a Witch for Our Time
Nader/Kerry
Quandary
Stephen Gowans
Communists
for Capitalism?
Frank Bardacke / Doug Lummis
Support Nader; Dump Bush: an Election Manifesto
Mickey Z
Turn ON
Saul Landau
Kerry: a Less Dangerous Imperialist?
Richard Oxman
Nader and/or Death?
Poets' Basement
Holt, LaMorticella, Davies, Albert and Tripp
Website of the Weekend
Missing
April 2, 2004
Dave Lindorff
Barbaric
Relativism: the Press and Fallujah
Kurt Nimmo
Wherever
Bush Goes, Osama is Bound to Follow
Emma Miller
The
Role of the West in the Rwandan Genocide
Dr. Susan Block
Same
Sex Marriages: Just Say "No" to Prohibition
Norman Solomon
Media Strategy Memo for George & Dick
Sacha Guney
The Meaning of the Elections in Turkey
Christopher
Brauchli
The
Disturbing Case of Cpt. Yee
Website of the Day
Mercenaries, Inc.
April 1, 2004
Ron Jacobs
Dying in Vain in Iraq
Harry Browne
No Smoke, Plenty of Fire: Ireland's Pubs Go Smokefree
Chris Floyd
Towel Boy: Bush Hits Workers with Chemical Weapons
Nicole Colson
Inside America's Concentration Camp: Tortured at Guantanamo
Charles Arthur
Haiti's Army Cracks Down on Workers
Laura Flanders
Elaine
Chao: a First Daughter for the First Son
March 31, 2004
M. Junaid Alam
Israel:
Suicide Nation?
John L. Hess
Condi
Under Oath: But What About the NYTs Reporters?
Fernando Suarez
del Solar
A
Year Since My Son's Death in Iraq
Sofia Perez
Spain's
U-Turn on Iraq is Real Democracy in Action
David Vest
Stick 'Em Up: Put Cheney and Bush Under Oath
Tanya Reinhart
As in Tiannamen Square: Justice and the Yassin Assassination
Mike Whitney
Time to Dump the Pledge
Donald Kaul
Martha Stewart's Lesson: Never Talk to the FBI
Milt Bearden
Mired in the Tracks of Alexander the Great
Marjorie Cohn
The
Illegal Coup in Haiti: How the Kidnapping of Aristide Violated
US and International Law
Website of the Day
New Pentagon Papers Dropped at DC Starbucks
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
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Weekend
Edition
April 24 / 25, 2004
Letter from
Australia
Why an Independent
Won Sydney
By VANESSA JONES
Well, co-editor Alex, you are asking
me to do a piece on the Sydney City Council elections, after
I forwarded some articles summarizing the surprise election results
for Lord mayor 3 weeks ago. I am a bit washed out after an Easter
vomit bug. Then the toilet broke down and the plumber should
come tomorrow. The kids are having their night time story- Eric
Carle's "The Very Busy Spider" and Angela Banner's
old classic "Happy Birthday with Ant and Bee"- an originally
1964 published book, reissued in 1999. The current federal opposition
Labor Leader, Mark Latham, recommends reading kids 3 books a
night- but I'm sure there are nights when he also only manages
2.
So- I am wondering why you
are so determined to get a story up about small town Sydney.
Could it perhaps be an example of democracy in progress- a hope
for an upcoming US election? Independent Clover Moore goes against
the Labor party machine and wins- a "green" minded
Independent can actually become a Lord Mayor of a major city?
Well, I do have a love of Sydney
and yet I hate a lot of what's happened to it over the past 10
years. A huge increase in high-rise development, traffic congestion,
little commitment to public transport, a lack of affordable housing
and a long wait for public housing. Sometimes it's hard to write
about something you love- something you see as worsening. Deteriorating.
It's interesting that a city like "third world" Cairo
has built a superb underground metro in the past 10 years, but
no such public transport progress has happened in "first
world" Sydney over a similar period. But Clover Moore's
win 3 weeks ago gives hope to Sydney.
To find out something about
Clover Moore- go to her
website or check out this Sydney
Morning Herald article.
The Sydney Morning Herald is
a very chunky and heavy newspaper on Saturdays. It has a huge
part of its weekend Saturday paper devoted to classifieds advertising,
the famous "rivers of gold" which try and sell real
estate, cars, advertise jobs, lease units and houses and announce
births and deaths. Within the paper you will find a bit of journalism
within all these ads. It is Sydney's main broadsheet, with Murdoch/
News Corp's national broadsheet The Australian its prime broadsheet
rival. You won't find in these papers many reprints of articles
from The Independent, as The Canberra Times often carries. No
big rush to reprint Robert Fisk or Patrick Cockburn or Robin
Cook. Sydneysiders are better off dialing up The Independent
online if they hope to get another perspective of the world.
Or perhaps Counter Punch! Or even Al Jazeera! Thank God for the
Internet! Perhaps one day we'll even be able to dial up God himself.
So, within this city, the New
South Wales Labor Party, led by Bob Carr, decided to forcibly
amalgamate 2 nearby councils. Sydney City Council, and South
Sydney City Council. They got it into one super council, and
they wanted to get a Labor guy, Michael Lee, elected to the position
of Lord Mayor. Many said that this was a way of adding to Sydney's
over development of residential units, and these developments
would be used as a cash cow, property rates flowing each year
to the new mega council. Now, the Labor party was trying to get
out of towner Michael Lee into office with buckets of cash expended
on this project. Now, the funny thing is that one day, I met
Michael Lee by surprise. I was living near his electorate on
the Central Coast- a seaside commuter zone one and a half hours
north of Sydney. Many people go there for affordable housing,
the clean air and the seaside lifestyle. I was there with young
kids for pretty much those reasons. I was in the upmarket store
David Jones which is perhaps like Peter Jones in the UK. It is
pretty much the most upmarket department store in Australia.
Well, my family and I were
about to go on a trip to France, to visit some dear friends.
And it was October. Autumn on the other side of the world. So
I'd looked around for a black skivvy for my partner, and of course,
I ended up in DJ's, as it's known. Black skivvies (like turtle
necks) are not sold in all men's stores in Australia. I won't
go into that now. Another cultural issue. Well, I was standing
in a queue at the counter, when Michael Lee, this year's Labor
Lord Mayor candidate, was in line behind me. He was contesting
his federal seat, and he was buying a suit. A new suit. A day
or 2 before elections. Well, he is a good looking man, a bit
smaller than me, and we started talking about local politics
and local Labor supporters who faithfully display Labor posters
each elections, outside their home. I told him that the posters
of himself were displayed well at a particular local site, with
wide exposure for all passing traffic. These Labor supporters
were known to both of us, and he had a funny tale of having a
few drinks with one of them. Knowing the chap involved, it made
a good story, as I could imagine the passion of his opinions
and arguments, and knew of his commitment to Labor party ideals.
It was an odd chat- he walked away with his suit, and I drove
home with my black skivvy.
That was 5 years ago, or 6,
and now that federal seat is no longer Labor. The area has changed-
house prices have increased, and Michael Lee was gonna have a
go at being elected the Sydney Lord Mayor.
But it didn't all pan out that way for Michael Lee. Clover Moore-
ex school teacher, is now Lord Mayor of Sydney. She is also the
state independent politician for the inner city area known as
the state seat of "BLIGH".
You asked in you email, Alex,
"Why did she win, what are her policies and what will she
do for Sydney?". I think she won because the people in
Sydney City Council and South Sydney Council didn't like the
state Labor government amalgamating 2 local councils into one
super size council and then trying to get one of their own voted
in. Like me, probably a lot of people were sick of seeing cranes
at street corners, building gigantic apartment buildings which
ordinary people cannot afford to buy, and hearing about developer
donations to the state Labor party, while people saw no improvement
in public transport and local services. It was possible for people
to vote in a local Independent because it was a localized issue.
Getting up committed independent candidates state wide or nation
wide is harder, and there is less independent media state wide
and nationwide. When issues are local there seems to be more
chance of an independent getting in, and the local diverse media
can express independent voices. For her policies, check out her
website- they spell out, for example, transport, parkland and
development policies. I think a lot of locals would think that
just to freeze development for a while would at least be a good
thing. As for what she will do for Sydney- of course citizens
hope for the best, but with politics, what is promised is not
always what eventuates. What she will do for Sydney remains to
be seen. Check out her website for what she claims to have done
in the past, at state level. One huge issue is bringing back
light rail to Sydney. There used to be trams in Sydney, but there
are none now, except a small light rail line to a middle class/
yuppie area. It is a more a tourist gimmick to the fish markets.
A trip to Melbourne will show the affect of trams- the traffic
feels like a country town, compared to Sydney, but services a
similar population.
Clover Moore said of her win,
"There is a rejection by the Sydney community of the thuggish
sacking of a democratically elected council and the attempt to
install a candidate who moved into our area last September--there's
been a real rejection of that," she told her supporters.
"Secondly, I believe people have embraced our positive policies
of open and accountable local government that will support responsible
planning that will protect our harbour foreshores, that will
have progressive social policies for the people most in need."
Now, one of the simple reasons that Clover Moore won seems to
be that she is able to communicate well with people and listen
to what they say, what they need, and she seems to do something
about it. The seat of Bligh is a seat edging the city, Centennial
Park, and the Sydney Harbour foreshore. Many in her electorate
are gay, and they like her a lot. Her electorate encompasses
the rainbow district of Oxford street- famous for its Mardi Gras
parade. People handed out her leaflets at the latest election
for free, while other parties had to pay for people to hand out
party "how to vote cards".
So, Alex, that's a plain and
simple story about Clover Moore, and how she won against the
Labor Party. After 4 months in Sydney this previous summer, we're
back "home", out of Sydney. This piece just makes me
miss Sydney, its beaches, its buzz, and from a distance, I forget
the traffic, the stress, the tired look on people's faces. The
separation of desirable areas by who can afford to live there.
The traffic problems make the city inaccessible for those who
don't live near where they want to go. A distance of 10 kilometers
can take an hour to drive, at times. Thinking of Sydney makes
me just wanna drive down Anzac Parade, along Darley Road, beside
Centennial Park, down Clovelly Road, and plunge into the sea.
I'm too far away, but I love it still. I suppose that's what
the people of Clover Moore's state and local electorates feel.
It's a city they love, and when they go to the ballot box, they
follow their hearts, as well as their minds, and tick or number
the box next to her name. Nothing too complicated. Somehow they
must know that she'll do a better job looking after their city,
and the humans within it, than a Labor party or Liberal party
member.
Best wishes,
Vanessa
Vanessa Jones lives in Sydney. She can be reached
at: post4@bigpond.com
Weekend Edition
Features for April 3 / 4, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Anti-Depressants
a Problem? We're Shocked
Jeffrey St. Clair
How Neil Bush Succeeded in Business
Without Really Trying
Gary Leupp
On Jefferson, Diderot and the Political Uses of God
Lawrence Davidson
Orwell and Kafka in Israel / Palestine
Frederick B.
Hudson
Condi Rice: the Family Retainer
Phillip Cryan
The Magic of Coca-Cola: Colombian Workers, Civil Rights and Advertising
Dave Zirin
Lester Speaks: an Interview with Lester "Red" Rodney
Ben Tripp
Talking Dirty: Obscene But Not Heard
Bruce Anderson
Phony Liberals and Fake Concern for the Homeless
Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Justice and Legitimacy in Haiti
Mark Scaramella
Do You Have What It Takes to Be Sec. of Defense? Take the Rumsfeld
Quiz
Sharon Smith
Do Most Iraqis Really Want the US to Stay?
Rick Giombetti
Melissa Ann Rowland: a Witch for Our Time
Nader/Kerry
Quandary
Stephen Gowans
Communists
for Capitalism?
Frank Bardacke / Doug Lummis
Support Nader; Dump Bush: an Election Manifesto
Mickey Z
Turn ON
Saul Landau
Kerry: a Less Dangerous Imperialist?
Richard Oxman
Nader and/or Death?
Poets' Basement
Holt, LaMorticella, Davies, Albert and Tripp
Website of the Weekend
Missing
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