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July 26, 2002
Walt Brasch
Ashcroft's War on Bookstores
July 25, 2002
Norman Madarasz
Paul
Krugman's Howl:
Populism, War and
the Melting Economy
Gavin Keeney
Van Morrison: In September
Rep. Cynthia McKinney
War
on Terrorism or
Police State?
July 24, 2002
Gary Leupp
An Islam Primer
July 23, 2002
Jeffrey St. Clair
The Battle
for Zuni Salt Lake
Ansar Ahmed
Am I with You, George?
Bill Christison
The
Disastrous Foreign Policies of the US: Oppression Abroad Means
Repression at Home
July 22, 2002
Rick Giombetti
Glaxo Raises White Flag
in Paxil Case
Wayne Madsen
Forbidden
Truth
The Press, Bush, Oil
and the Taliban
July 21. 2002
Francis A. Boyle
The Rogue Elephant
Jennifer Harbury
Why are
the FBI & CIA Targeting Me?
Joan Claybrook
Time
for a Special Prosceutor
for Thomas White
Gloria Bergen
The Struggle
of Workers
in Palestine
Dave Marsh
Mr. Big Stuff:
Alan Lomax, Great White Fraud
James T. Phillips
"I'll
Tell You No Lies"
The Human Rubble of War
July 20, 2002
Gavin Keeney
The Grave
New Urbanism
World Trade Center Burlesque
Jacob Levich
"I
Was Schooled in Hate"
Confessions of a
Summer Camp Terror Tot
Thomas Croft
Augusta,
GA
Growing Up in the Deep South
Alexander Cockburn
The
Market Hogwallow:
Popgun Populism Isn't Enough
July 19, 2002
Abe Bonowitz / SueZann
Bosler
A Discussion
with Jeb Bush on the Death Penalty
Jonathan Power
No Need
for War Against Iraq
Rick Giombetti
Qwest
Death Watch
Kurt Nimmo
Of Mice,
Bullets & Bombs
M. Shahid Alam
Through
Racist Eyes:
Is Eurocentrism Unique?
July 18, 2002
Mokhiber / Weissman
Business
As Usual
Jerre Skog
I Spy: Now
Let's be Fair,
the USA Ain't East Germany
Ralph Nader
The CEO
Crimewave:
Corporate Socialism
Mahbubul Karim (Sohel)
The Rising Tensions
Between Spain and Morocco
Alexander Cockburn
Drivel
and Squawk:
Can the Times' Jeff Gerth
Save the White House?
July 17, 2002
Philip Farruggio
The
New Role Model:
Remember Jesus, George?
Zara Gelsey
Who's
Reading Over
Your Shoulder?
Behzad Yaghmaian
9/11 and
Fotress Europe:
the Drama of the New
Moslem Diaspora
Mike Ferner
War, Incorporated
Gary Leupp
Bush, Burqas
and the Oppression of Afghan Women
July 16, 2002
Pierre Tristam
Faith--based
Capitalism in
the Ruins of the Market
Kurt Nimmo
How My
35mm Camera Almost Became a Tool of Treason
Robert Fisk
The Kashmir
Distraction
Salam al--Marayati
When
is Terrorism
Not Defined as Terrorism?
Kathleen Christison
The
Image Problem:
Anti--Palestinian Bias
from Wilson to Bush
July 15, 2002
Gavin Keeney
In One
of Safire's Ears,
Out the Other
CounterPunch Wire
Nader in
Cuba
Ralph Nader
The Secret
World of Banking
Dave Marsh
Vincible:
Michael Jackson, Racism and the Music Cartel
Rahul Mahajan
Justice
for Bhopal
Jeffrey St. Clair
Seduced
by a Legend
The Return of Jimmy T99 Nelson
July 14, 2002
Bill Christison
The
DOA (Poem)
David Vest
I'll Never
Get Out of This Band Alive
July 13, 2002
M. Junaid Alam
A Process
of Dehumanization
Gavin Keeney
Go Tell
Karl Rove!
Matt Vidal
Corporate
"Ethics" Red Herrings
Ed Whitfield
Lessons
from Independence Day
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
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Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By Alexander
Cockburn
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How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The Memphis Blues Again:
Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs
Photos by Ernest Withers
Text by Daniel Wolff
The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid
Edited by Roane Carey
A Pocket Guide to
Environmental Bad Guys
by James Ridgeway
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The
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Al Gore:
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July
26, 2002
Monitor Thy Neighbor
by Rep. Ron Paul
Opposition to the Patriot Act, legislation passed
by Congress and signed by the President last year, is growing.
Americans are beginning to understand that many precious liberties
have been put in jeopardy by the government's rush to enact new
laws in the wake of September 11th. Federal law enforcement agencies
now have broad authority to conduct secret, warrantless searches
of homes; monitor phone and internet activity; access financial
records; and undertake large-scale tracking of American citizens
through huge databases. We're told this is necessary to fight
the unending war on terror, but in truth the federal government
has been seeking these powers for years. September 11th simply
provided an excuse to accelerate the process and convince all
of us to relinquish more and more of our privacy to the federal
government.
Now the Justice department wants to extend
the new investigative powers to private citizens. It recently
unveiled Operation TIPS--Terrorism Information and Prevention
System--as part of President Bush's Citizen Corps initiative.
The goal is to enlist thousands or even millions of Americans
to act as spies for the government, reporting suspicious activity
to officials using a handy toll-free hotline. The Justice department
especially hopes to enlist mailmen, delivery drivers, plumbers,
gas-meter readers, and the like, as they have access to private
homes and businesses in their daily work. As usual, the war on
terror is offered as justification for this proposal.
This almost might be funny if it were
not real. Imagine the rampant abuses possible with a national
spy program. Busybodies across the country will clamor to join
the effort and act as self-appointed neighborhood vigilantes.
Unscrupulous individuals of every stripe will abuse the program
by snitching on ex-spouses, personal enemies, and racial groups
they don't like. Bickering neighbors will enjoy calling in to
report unkempt lawns and barking dogs as sure signs of nefarious
activity. I certainly hope the Justice department employs some
very patient people to field the flood of useless calls.
If a government-sponsored snitch program
sounds pretty bad to you, you're not alone. Some commentators
draw parallels between Operation TIPS and the citizen informants
of the former East German Stasi secret police. Of course, suggesting
the obvious--that citizen spy programs are incompatible with
a free society--invites denunciations and sharp reminders that
"we're at war." Remember, however, that wars have been
used throughout modern history to justify rapid expansion of
state power at the expense of personal liberty. We cannot remain
free if we allow the endless, undeclared war on terror to serve
as an excuse for giving up every last vestige of our privacy.
I applaud Congressman Dick Armey for
adding a provision to the homeland security bill that would prohibit
the Justice department from implementing the TIPS program. His
opposition brings needed public attention to this terrible idea.
But even if Congress supports him, there is no guarantee another
informant proposal will not surface soon thereafter. Congressional
oversight of administrative agencies (consider the Treasury department
and its renegade IRS) is nonexistent. The Justice department
almost certainly will seek another way to implement the program,
with or without congressional approval.
Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves
what kind of society we hope to leave our children and grandchildren.
A civilized and free society would not be discussing, much less
seriously debating, any proposal to enlist private citizens to
act as federal neighborhood snitches.
Ron Paul, M.D.,
represents the 14th Congressional District of Texas in the United
States House of Representatives.
Today's Features
Walt Brasch
Ashcroft's War on Bookstores
Norman Madarasz
Paul
Krugman's Howl:
Populism, War and
the Melting Economy
Gavin Keeney
Van Morrison: In September
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