Global

As one who regards Gerry Ford as our greatest president (least time served, least damage done, husband of Betty, plus John Paul Stevens as his contribution to the Supreme Court), I'd always imagined the man from Grand Rapids, Mich., would never be surpassed in sheer slowness of thought.

            But I think Bush has Ford beat. Had he ever made a mistake, the reporter asked at that White House press conference. The president's face remained composed, masking the turmoil and terror raging within, as electronic networks went into gridlock. It should have been easy for him. Broad avenues of homely humility beckoned him on. "John, no man can stand before his Creator as I do each day and say he is without error . " Reagan would have hit the ball out of the park. But the president froze. He said he'd have to think it over.

April 17, Washington, DC - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) strongly condemned today's assassination of Abdel Aziz Rantisi, leader of the Hamas movement, by the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Rantisi, his 27 year old son Mohammed, and a number of others were killed by an Israeli missile strike on their car as it was traveling through Gaza City Saturday evening.  ADC has a long-standing policy of opposing any attacks directed against civilians, no matter who the victims or the perpetrators might be.

ADC has been strongly critical of the policy of assassinating Palestinian political leaders by the Sharon government, most recently the March 22 murder of Hamas' founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.  ADC notes that today's murders constitute yet another escalation in the conflict by Sharon and a provocation that is almost certain to intensify the cycle of violence and complicate efforts to resume peace negotiations.  ADC reiterated its conviction that the only way to stop the conflict is to bring about a complete end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

Dick Cheney's recent appearance at the NRA conference in Pittsburgh confirms this administration's commitment to violence and the abrogation of a humane approach to world peace. The U.S. laissez faire approach to Israel's retaliation to Hamas has further inflamed the Islamic world as well as the military's inept actions in Iraq. As represented by our current selected (p)resident, our government pauses at the action of creating any dialog of peace and increasingly trounces on the notion of peace as solution.

Why has the world view of the U.S. remained consistently negative? Why the NRA is a priority, as violence sweeps the world, is a sure sign of what our illustrious leaders have in mind for the future. Israel continues its dominance of the Palestinian nation with no stop to their inflicted violence.

Even if the rule is followed "an eye for an eye", then the Palestinian, Afghani and the Iraqi's surely have lost much more.

As the election comes nearer,  we must look at look at who has done the most to benefit hard working, middle-class families as well as the working poor. We must see through the fog of overly negative spin and distortion that the Bush campaign has been working overtime to produce and look at the facts about who helps middle-class American’s and who doesn’t.

While the Bush campaign attempts to distort John Kerry’s record, the facts show that John Kerry has proposed nearly three times as much new tax relief for middle-class families as George Bush.  John Kerry has innovative proposals to help families pay for tuition so their children can get the education they deserve and to create a health care plan to provide coverage to the hard-working families that deserve and to lower the tax rate for companies, large and small, that create good, quality jobs in America.

The City of Burlington, Vermont will be the host of an innovative international conference on sustainable communities, to be held from July 14-18, 2004.   The Sustainable Communities 2004 conference will bring together academics, professionals, citizens, businesses, and educators from all over the world to discuss and address real-life problems so that participants can go home with new tools, practices, and skills to use in their own communities.  Registration is now open - and the early registration deadline has been extended to May 1, 2004.

 The conference will feature site visits, case studies, simulations, and dialogue sessions to focus on issues ranging from the role of the arts in community development, the restoration economy, citizen empowerment and public participation, to more technical sessions on financing mechanisms for innovative development strategies, environmentally certified construction practices, performance contracts for energy efficiency, local currency, new opportunities in the business sector, and green purchasing.  

Dear Mr. Shipway, Bath Iron Works:

We are gathering at Bath Iron Works on this day, April 23, in order to sound the alarm about the dangerous and destabilizing role of the Aegis destroyer in U.S. foreign and military policy.  

Last year the Bush administration walked away from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic (ABM) Treaty with Russia that outlawed testing and deployment of so-called "Theatre Missile Defense" systems, a part of the new Star Wars program.  The Aegis destroyer is now testing, and will soon deploy, these new interceptor systems just off the coast of China.  The U.S. intends to deploy Aegis interceptors in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan (just 90 miles off the coast of mainland China), and in Australia.  This will be a provocative move that will essentially negate China's 20 nuclear missiles thus forcing them to build more.  Today the U.S. has 7,500 nuclear weapons of our own.  

When the anchor of public television’s main news program goes out of his way to tell viewers that he’s setting the record straight about a recent historic event, the people watching are apt to assume that they’re getting accurate information. But with war intensifying in Iraq, a bizarre episode raises some very troubling concerns about the “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”

     Here’s what happened:

     During a panel discussion April 7 on the NewsHour, while battles raged in close to a dozen Iraqi cities, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel referred to the American authorities’ closure of a newspaper that had served as a megaphone for the anti-occupation Shiite leader Moktada al-Sadr. “The immediate problem we have to remember is we started this ... with the aggressive policies towards Sadr that came from us, shutting down his press,” Col. Sam Gardiner said.

     The program’s anchor spoke next.

     Jim Lehrer: “The reason we shut down his press is because it was calling for violence and anti-American --”

     Col. Gardiner: “Sure.”

Washington, DC, April 15 - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) today expressed dismay at President George W. Bush's apparent endorsement of the plan for "unilateral disengagement" presented by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, aspects of which contradict the President's own "roadmap" for peace.

ADC President Mary Rose Oakar said that, "negotiations to determine the future of the Palestinian people cannot be conducted between the United States and Israel alone. The Palestinians must be full and equal parties to any deliberation that affects their fundamental rights, such as final borders of a Palestinian state and the right of return for refugees." Former Congresswoman Oakar added, "President Bush, citing what he described as 'realities on the ground,' appears to have abandoned decades of American policy and United Nations Security Council resolutions. The most important reality is that this conflict can only be resolved through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians that result in a complete and final end to the occupation."

Get ready for another jolt this summer. California energy officials are expected to issue a startling report next week warning that the state is going to be terribly short of electricity, which could result in a repeat of the energy crisis that wreaked havoc on consumers and businesses in the Golden State three years ago.

Last month the National Weather Service predicted that above normal heat and dryness will blanket much of California this summer meaning that demand for power to keep air-conditioners humming will likely outstrip the state's supply. The state is relying heavily on consumers to implement conservation measures in order to avoid issuing power emergencies and rolling blackouts.

A draft summer outlook report prepared by the California Independent System Operator, the state agency that manages supply and demand, expects demand for juice during a hot spell to peak at 44,422 megawatts, a 3.6% increase from last summer, mostly due to 195,000 new homes that were built in the state the past year and two-dozen old power plants that were permanently idled. As a result, California has 873 megawatts less than it did last summer.

Dear Editor:

In the two and a half years since the September 11, 2001, the threat of terrorism has been in the foreground of the national consciousness. During this time concern for security has been a major focus, and, although justified, has inspired equally disturbing attacks on basic freedoms. The greatest example of this is the USA PATRIOT Act.

While well-intentioned, the Patriot Act carries with it a number of grave concerns. The first is the lack of restraint put on the powers of the government. In a six-month period from late 2002 to mid-2003, the Justice Department received 34 credible complaints of civil liberties abuses under the new law, some of which involved physical abuse of Arabs who were detained. Last year the FBI used the provisions of the Patriot Act to arrest a strip-club owner for bribery, a crime that has nothing to do with terrorism. If we are going to trust our government with such extraordinary powers as those granted under this Act, shouldn't they be using them for their intended purpose? While they use such provisions to chase after corrupt businessmen, how many real terror suspects are going undetected?