[APR-news] Alternative Press Review - December 29, 2004

Wed Dec 29 18:10:28 PST 2004

Alternative Press Review - Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream
www.altpr.org
December 29, 2004

This will be the last APR e-mail update in 2004. If you have found the
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Alternative Press Review
PO Box 6245
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Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement over the past year.
Have a happy New Year! - Thomas Wheeler, APR

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http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=411&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
A Wave of Questions: Putting a Disaster in Context
By Mickey Z.

Even if we were to trust the estimates of $1 billion in aid eventually
coming from the U.S., that number pales in comparison to the tens of
billions being spent in Iraq to keep the world safe for petroleum. At this
writing, the U.S. has spent an average of $9.5 million every hour on the war
and occupation of Iraq. In a global sense, the U.S. spends $1 million
dollars a minute on war...a percentage of which helps create Third World
poverty and the inability to deal with natural disasters.

http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=409&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Holiday Season, 2004
by Mina Hamilton

At 10:30 PM I got onto an almost deserted subway in Brooklyn. It was a cold,
wintry evening -- with the wind chill factor it was 7 degrees. As is usually
the case at this hour on a weekday, I was the only white person in the car.
Sitting opposite me was a young woman who looked as if she had just put in
an 18-hour, minimum-wage day. She held a baby in the crook of her right arm.

http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=410&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
AS TIME GOES BY* WITH ANDY GOLDSWORTHY: A BREATH OF FRESH AIR
by Richard Oxman

The phoney fog in Casablanca was designed to hide the cheap airport, shroud
the plywood plane...not to create the romantic atmosphere we all associate
with the cinematic classic's ending. Ending? Real fog comes and goes,
transforming what it will, enveloping as it sees fit...and terminating,
tweaking much to give us fits...under its enchanting cover. Careful planning
doesn't make art happen. Meticulous consideration --while it has its place--
certainly doesn't guarantee a thing in Nature. And what endures (and what
tsunamis away* without warning or sign of sympathy) is contingent
upon...what can't be labeled, verbalized or anticipated.

http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=408&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Cutting off the Supply Line
by J. S. Winn, MSW

Over the past fifty years the US government and military have shaped both
foreign and domestic policy almost exclusively in the service of
multi-national corporations. Today the make-up of the executive branch, the
President, Vice President and cabinet, comes primarily from corporate
culture.

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Other articles of interest

http://www.counterpunch.org/donnelly12272004.html
How Nonprofit Careerism Derailed the "Revolution"
Michael Donnelly, CounterPunch

"The Revolution was derailed by three things: the end of the draft; Roe v.
Wade and the rise of the nonprofit sector. Once the children of privilege
were no longer subject to any personal pain, it was over. It was a brilliant
strategy by predatory capitalism."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=596433
Tank girls: the frontline feminists
Christine Aziz, The Independent

These women have come from around the world to bring down Iran's ayatollahs.
So why were they bombed by the West?

http://207.44.245.159/video1037.htm
The Power of Nightmares
BBC Documentary

This was Truman's America, and many Americans today regard it as a golden
age of their civilization. But for Qutb, he saw a sinister side in this. All
around him was crassness, corruption, vulgarity-talk centered on movie stars
and automobile prices. He was also very concerned that the inhabitants of
Greeley spent a lot of time in lawn care. Pruning their hedges, cutting
their lawns. This, for Qutb, was indicative of the selfish and materialistic
aspect of American life. Americans lived these isolated lives surrounded by
their lawns. They lusted after material goods. And this, says Qutb quite
succinctly, is the taste of America.

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/PET412A.html
The Empire in the Year 2005
James Petras, Rebelion

World developments in 2005 will be determined by the major events and
tendencies in 2004. First and foremost, 2004 demonstrated in the most
dramatic and definitive manner that the US imperial military machine could
be defeated. The Iraqi resistance has proven that the US Empire is not
invincible. With over 1500 combat deaths, close to 25,000 disabled soldiers
and over 35,000 suffering severe "mental illnesses", the US occupation army
is incapable of bringing the colonial war to a victorious conclusion. The US
colonial forces and their satellites face over 100 attacks a day throughout
the country. Reliable reports from returning soldiers suggest that
demoralization and disaffection is all pervasive. In contrast, the Iraqi
resistance is growing, as thousands of new volunteers enter into combat -
95% of which are Iraqis.

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/122904_current_situation.shtml
Current Situation & 2005 Projections
Dale Allen Pfeiffer, From the Wilderness

This past year we have seen how volatile the oil market has become as the
world approaches peak oil production. But the recent softening of oil prices
demonstrates that we have not yet peaked. What we are experiencing right now
is a tight oil market. Production can still increase, but not by much and
only with difficulty. The good news is that we are producing more oil than
ever before. The bad news is that production is barely keeping up with
consumption, and the decline is still ahead of us.

http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/12213/
America and Islam: Seeking Parallels
M. Shahid Alam, Media Monitors

The colonial elites had imbibed well the lessons of the Enlightenment, and
here in the new world, they had an opportunity to harness liberty in the
service of their economic interests. Backed by the self interest of their
landed and commercial elites, and inspired by revolutionary ideas, the
colonists had a dream worth pursuing. They were prepared to die for this
dream - and to kill. They did: and they won. On September 11, 2001, nineteen
Arab hijackers too demonstrated their willingness to die - and to kill - for
their dream. They died so that their people might live, free and in dignity.

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NewsWire

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=4897
Was Gary Webb 'Suicided' To Kill New Book?

http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2004/12/susan_sontags_d.html
Susan Sontag's death

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/266027p-227868c.html
'Day After Tomorrow' scenario could play out here

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index601.htm
Unknown Energy Surges Continue to Hit Planet, Global Weather Systems in
Chaos

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1229-07.htm
Did Animals Sense Tsunami?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7569.htm
Tsunami warning halted "out of courtesy for the tourist industry"

http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/mattaponi12272004/
New Bill To Wipe Out Land Treaties with Virginia Tribes

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122904G.shtml
Selling the Forest for the Trees: Bush admin is thinning national forests
and cutting down government scientists who stand in the way

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Dec2004/Cardinale1228.htm
Cities Becoming Meaner to Homeless

http://www.antiwar.com/ips/fisher.php?articleid=4222
Homeland Security pushes for more secrecy

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1227-26.htm
The politics of porn

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/12/27/100204.shtml
Warren Buffet warns of financial 'chaos'

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0452/ridgeway.php
The American empire goes for broke-and it could be heading that way