Dec. 3, 2005

In the wake of dissolution of Israel’s parliament and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s subsequent resignation from the right-wing Likud Party on Nov. 21, a new election has been set for March 28. This will be the fifth Israeli election in the past 10 years, yet it may be the first one in a long time to have real potential for promoting peace and justice in the region.

Evo Morales, an indigenous leader and candidate of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), is favored to win Bolivia’s presidential elections on Dec. 18.

Ireland: Ferry workers protest
Haiti: UN complicit in deaths
Indonesia: U.S. military aid hit
New Zealand: Starbucks strike
Liberia: Firestone sued

PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak’s Board of Directors is engaged in union busting in order to shift the ownership of this valuable public asset over to the Bush administration’s private campaign contributors. This was the charge leveled by Mark Kenney, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) at a rally at the 30th Street Amtrak station here Nov. 16. The situation is heading toward a service shutdown of Amtrak, which would also shut down the commuters who depend upon the Northeast Corridor, according to union rail workers.

The federal deficit is becoming a central point of political struggle. Republicans in Congress are trying to enact a series of cuts in vital programs while extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. In the midst of this struggle, President Bush has been given the opportunity to make an important appointment. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (the Fed) since 1987, is stepping down in January, and Bush has nominated Ben Bernanke to replace him.

Veep hopes to secure place in history. Vice President Dick Cheney announced plans today to seek an historic sixth draft deferment, realizing a longstanding personal dream of his.

Human Rights Day: Dec. 10
Mr. Grinch, you’re a mean one
Wal-Mart employees association
Solidarity with Australia
Hold the tomato
Movement grows to de-privatize health care

WASHINGTON (PAI) — Hurricane Katrina shows the U.S. public health care system, which is supposed to handle millions of people in event of a calamity, is in great danger, Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association and a former Maryland secretary of public health said.

NEW YORK — Wall Street and much of this city’s renowned financial district were built on the burial ground of African slaves. New York’s prosperity stems in large part from the grotesque profits of the African slave trade and African enslavement.

President George W. Bush is continuing his lies to justify the unjustifiable. In a Nov. 30 speech crafted to contain a brewing rebellion against his failed Iraq policy, he led off with a long-discredited whopper, alluding to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and linking them to the Iraq “battlefront.” As we know, there was no Iraqi involvement in 9/11. But since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, terrorist attacks have increased worldwide, especially against Iraqi civilians.