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Amazing Plan Surfaces: "We Need Ethno-Weapons!" David Price tells how top-flight US anthropologists eagerly obeyed US government's mandate to "think in a-moral terms". One scheme of OSS's willing executioners: target Japanese physical "weak spot", the respiratory tract, with anthrax germs. Gabriel Kolko asks What's so New About the Neo-Cons? If they had not existed, would the policies have been the same? Jeffrey St Clair digs up more dirt on Halliburton's secret history. Alexander Cockburn on why we need more "celebrity justice". Get the answers you're looking for in the latest subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch ... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
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Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison by KATHY KELLY ![]() Today's Stories Mike
Marqusee July 6, 2005 Elaine
Cassel Sean
Donahue Jeremy
R. Hammond Joshua
Frank Ali
Khan Michael
Dickinson Norman
Solomon Dave
Zirin Gary
Leupp Website
of the Day July 5, 2005 Behrooz
Ghamari Elaine
Cassel Ron
Jacobs Bob
Libal Dr.
Peter Rost Mark
Engler Gideon
Levy Dave
Zirin Sameer
Dossani
July 2 / 4, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Lenni
Brenner Laura
Carlsen James
Petras William
A. Cook Brian
Cloughley Saul
Landau Tom
Crumpacker Greg
Moses Dr.
Susan Block Fran
Shor Fred
Gardner Moshe
Adler David
Model Seth
Sandronsky Ramzy
Baroud Suzan
Mazur Ben
Tripp Justin
Taylor Brendan
Bailey Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
July 1, 2005 Christopher
Brauchli Pat
Williams Gary
Leupp John
Stauber John
Chuckman Justicia
y Paz Cockburn
/ St. Clair
June 30, 2005 Kathy
Kelly John
Stauber Virginia
Rodino Jason
Leopold Dave
Lindorff Greg
Moses Norman
Solomon Joshua
Frank Alexander
Cockburn
June 29, 2005 Mike
Schaefer Roger
Burbach / Paul Cantor Sharon
Smith Sam
Husseini John
Stauber Ahmad
Faruqui Linda
S. Heard Stew
Albert Ray
McGovern
June 28, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Landau
/ Hassen John
A. Murphy Mike
Whitney CounterPunch
News Service Dave
Zirin Dave
Lindorff Patrick
Cockburn
June 27, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Mike
Marqusee Mark
Scaramella Leigh
Saavedra Kathy
Kelly June 25 / 26, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Jennifer
Van Bergen George
Corsetti Mark
Chmiel / Andrew Wimmer Kevin
Zeese P.
Sainath John
Stauber Scott
Handleman Tom
Barry John
Walsh Justin
E.H. Smith Alan
Wallis Ben
Tripp Frederick
B. Hudson Poets'
Basement
June 24, 2005 Ray
McGovern Jorge
Mariscal Desiree
Hellegers Zeynep
Toufe Joshua
Frank David
Lindorff Michael
Neumann Website
of the Day June 23, 2005 Christopher
Brauchli Clay
Conrad Standard
Schaefer P.
Sainath Mark
Engler Norman
Solomon Cockburn
/ St. Clair Kathy
Kelly
June 22, 2005 Kevin
Zeese William
S. Lind Arsalan
Iftikhar Dan
Nagengast David
Krieger Kathleen
& Bill Christison
June 21, 2005 Brian Cloughley Mike Whitney Dave Lindorff Mark Weisbrot Matthew R.
Simmons Dave Zirin Virginia Rodino Paul Craig
Roberts
June 20, 2005 Alan Maass Tariq Ali Mickey Z. William Blum Gary Leupp Jason Leopold Dave Lindorff Alan Maass Uri Avnery Website of
the Day
Hot Stories Alexander Cockburn Subcomandante
Marcos Norman Finkelstein Steve Niva Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams Steve
J.B. Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber Wendell
Berry CounterPunch
Wire Cindy
Corrie Gore Vidal Francis Boyle
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July 7, 2005 We Must March Again and Again and AgainShowdown at the Supreme CourtBy NICOLE COLSON George W. Bush is getting his chance to put a right winger on the U.S. Supreme Court who can overturn a woman's right to abortion and bolster the already conservative majority. But around the country, there is an urgent sense that we need to take action and send a message to the politicians: We won't go back! The National Organization for Women (NOW) declared a "state of emergency," and in the midst of the group's national conference in Tennessee, more than 800 people marched to the state capitol building in support of abortion rights. Other emergency mobilizations action alerts had been called in cities such as Chicago and New York, as Socialist Worker went to press. The instinct to take to the streets was a welcome response to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's unexpected announcement on July 1 that she is retiring. But it's critical that supporters of the right to choose not fall back on the failed strategies of lobbying and letter writing--and concentrate on mobilizing a grassroots response. Before the July 4 weekend, the media were filled with speculation about whether Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who is suffering from cancer, would retire. Rehnquist is one of the most right-wing judges on the court, so Bush would have a hard time finding someone more conservative to replace him. But O'Connor has been the "swing" vote on the Court on a number of issues ranging from affirmative action to the death penalty. On abortion rights, her vote is considered especially important. O'Connor was credited with "saving" legal abortion in the Webster v. Reproductive Health Services decision in 1989 that--by a 5-to-4 margin--upheld legal abortion. Yet O'Connor doesn't deserve the tributes she got from liberals and pro-choice organizations after her retirement announcement. "Twenty-four years ago, as president of the National Organization for Women, I testified for Sandra Day O'Connor before the Senate Judiciary Committee," said Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal. "I knew then that O'Connor, although a conservative voice, would be one who would not permit the elimination of women's fundamental rights, including the right to privacy." But it should be pointed out that while her vote preserved the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, O'Connor has also helped anti-abortionists chip away at abortion rights--by voting to uphold restrictions such as mandatory waiting periods and parental consent laws for young women. In other words, while O'Connor voted to keep abortion legal, she made sure to severely limit the right of ordinary women to get one. The mainstream media immediately began a frenzied guessing game over who Bush would nominate to replace O'Connor. One early favorite was Attorney General Alberto Gonzales--the architect of the Bush administration's torture policies in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. Nonetheless, Gonzales is viewed as a moderate--because the hard-line conservative organizations that make up Bush's base consider him unacceptably pro-choice. The right wingers want someone like 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Michael Luttig--who in 1998 granted a stay that allowed a Virginia ban on late-term abortion to go into effect. Or D.C. Circuit Court Judge John Roberts--who, as deputy solicitor general for the Bush Sr. administration, helped craft a policy that barred doctors and clinics receiving federal funds from discussing the possibility of abortion with their patients. Whoever Bush picks to take O'Connor's place, however, don't count on the Democratic Party to put up a fight. On the Democrats' "Save the Court" Web site, the lead article urges Bush to see O'Connor's retirement as a "chance to rescue his legacy." Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean urged Bush to "follow the example established by President Reagan when he nominated Justice O'Connor"--and choose "a moderate, thoughtful jurist." Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) issued a challenge:
None of this is surprising coming from a party that already "compromised" with Republicans to not block the most reactionary of Bush's federal court nominees. While mainstream pro-choice groups responded quickly to O'Connor's retirement, they have done little in recent years to mobilize grassroots activism that could turn the tide against the attacks on our right to choose. Last year, groups like NOW and NARAL had a golden opportunity to begin to rebuild the fight for abortion rights as 1 million people came together in Washington, D.C., for the pro-choice "March for Women's Lives." But the opportunity was squandered. Instead of calling for grassroots action, rally speakers did nothing more than urge a vote for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry--so that, as Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) told the crowd, we could "avoid having to march again and again and again." A year later, we're faced with a grave new threat to our rights. There's no time to waste. Marching "again and again and again"--and giving an active expression to the widespread support for keeping abortion safe and legal--is precisely what can put pressure on the courts and the politicians of both parties. Nicole Colson writes for the Socialist Worker.
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