[APR-news] APR -- November 9-10, 2005

Thu Nov 10 22:21:12 GMT 2005

Alternative Press Review - Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream
www.altpr.org
November 9-10, 2005

http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=524&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Stealing Veterans Day from the Militarists
By Mickey Z.

In a society where "support the troops" is little more than a euphemism for
"support the policy," the concept of setting aside a day to celebrate
military veterans has always been touchy for the Left. But here's an idea:
what if we instead honored veterans of the anti-war movement? I mean
those--from Eugene Debs and Helen Keller to the Berrigans, right up to Cindy
Sheehan--who put their ass on the line to stop war...not wage it. To add a
twist, how about military veterans who have since become veterans of the
anti-war movement, e.g. Howard Zinn, Stan Goff, Ward Churchill, and
Rosemarie Jackowski?

http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=523&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Any Soldier Will Do
By Gene C. Gerard

What has not been known until now is that recruitment shortages have
resulted in the Pentagon calling up reservists who are ill or medically
unfit. According to the GAO report, this includes reservists who have
suffered from heart attacks, those with severe asthma (weather conditions in
the desert exacerbates this condition), hernias, severe hypertension, and a
woman who was four months into chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. It
also includes reservists suffering from sleep apnea who need medical
equipment to help them breath, yet large portions of Iraq and Afghanistan
lack the electricity necessary to run the equipment. Reserve forces that are
diabetic and require insulin pumps have been called to active duty. A
soldier was called up only two weeks after receiving a kidney transplant.

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Other articles of interest

http://www.ivaw.net/index.php?id=201
Is Ron Harris telling the truth?
Jimmy Massey, IVAW

Major newspapers and media outlets published my story. Neither the Marine
Corps nor any of my platoon members filed any charges against me as a result
of my claims in over 20 months. Nor did they attempt any defamation campaign
to counteract my allegations that the large numbers of civilians killed in
the invasion, as a result of failed strategies, fomented anti-American
sentiment, and fueled the insurgency. Until Saturday.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=21&ItemID=9083
Johnstone Reply to Guardian Smear
Diana Johnstone, ZNet

Neither I nor Professor Chomsky have ever denied that Muslims were the main
victims of atrocities and massacres committed in Bosnia. But I insist that
the tragedy of Yugoslav disintegration cannot be reduced to such massacres,
and that there are other aspects of the story, historical and political,
that deserve to be considered.  However, any challenge to the mainstream
media version of events is stigmatized as "causing more suffering to the
victims" -- an accusation that makes no sense, but which works as a sort of
emotional blackmail.

http://www.counterpunch.org/cassel11092005.html
The Shocking Trial of an American Citizen
Elaine Cassel, CounterPunch

Abu Ali's shocking treatment is the first that tests the notion that
Americans can be imprisoned abroad by their government, interrogated by
foreign and domestic law enforcement, and be denied all rights as coercive
confessions are obtained to be used against them in a U.S. court. (The value
of Abu Ali's confessions cannot be underestimated, given that at least some
of the unnamed co-conspirators are thought to be convicted terrorists
themselves.) Abu Ali, if convicted, won't find much sympathy on appeal to
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court.
Justice John Roberts and, if confirmed, a Justice Samuel Alito, are strong
proponents of virtual unbridled executive and prosecutorial powers,
especially in the "war" on terrorism. Abu Ali's case may be the beginning of
the end of differences between the U.S. criminal justice system and those of
repressive, undemocratic regimes like Saudi Arabia, its partner in this
case. In terms of criminal cases, the Bill of Rights is being tested like
never before in Judge Lee's courtroom. So far, the cherished rights are on
the losing side.

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/jfrank.php?articleid=7963
Talking Points Propaganda: The liberals' ridiculous defense of Bill Clinton
Joshua Frank, Antiwar.com

It seems that liberals will go to any lengths in order to protect the
sanctity of President Clinton's legacy, and it is getting downright
aggravating. Take Joshua Micah Marshall, the Ivy-league liberal who
publishes Talking Points Memo, an enormously popular online political blog
with a prog-centrist tilt, à la Eric Alterman.

http://susiebright.blogs.com/susie_brights_journal_/2005/11/hell_hath_no_fu.html
Hell Hath No Fury Like a Lesbian Cheerleader
Susie Bright, Susie Bright's Journal

They committed the unpardonable female sin of tying up the women's john in
an overcrowded Tampa bar. The impatient ladies in line revolted: "Goddammit,
we've got to tinkle and those dykes are GETTING IT ON in the stall." There
was an ambush. Someone called the police- "Officer, this is Florida, and
homosexuals are using our toilets." The dykes came out swinging-  the
younger one, underage,  gave a registered nurse a perfect black eye.  The
dark-haired older one, (also a RN!) tussled with the police. The sheriff
announced they were almost too drunk to stand up, and the mug shots show the
beginnings of a hangover. I've always wondered- how can you  be too drunk to
stand, yet have deadly aim with your fists?

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Nov05/Pilger1110.htm
The Rise of America's New Enemy
John Pilger, Dissident Voice

Venezuela is an extraordinarily open society with an unfettered
opposition -- that is rich and still powerful. On the left, there are those
who oppose the state, in principle, believe its reforms have reached their
limit, and want power to flow directly from the community. They say so
vigorously, yet they support Chavez. A fluent young anarchist, Marcel,
showed me the clinic where the two Cuban doctors may have saved his
girlfriend. (In a barter arrangement, Venezuela gives Cuba oil in exchange
for doctors).

http://www.alternet.org/story/27997/
Is Nigeria The Next Persian Gulf?
Andy Rowell, AlterNet

In the 10 years since Ken Saro-Wiwa's execution, oil remains the curse of
the Niger Delta. And as the U.S. relies more heavily on the region's oil,
tensions continue to rise.

http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/politicsphilosophyandsociety/story/0,6000,1635328,00.html
In the name of my father
Ken Saro-Wiwa, The Observer (UK)

'Your dad's dead.' For most of my adult life I'd lived in dread of hearing
those words. Even before he became a global icon of social justice I was
keenly aware that my father's death, whenever it came, would have a profound
impact on my life. Years before they killed him I would imagine what it
would be like to receive the news. I would rehearse scenarios in my head;
how would I feel, how would I react? I never imagined, not even in my
wildest calculations, that my father's death would have such an impact well
beyond my personal universe.

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_162.shtml
Normalising genocide
Ghali Hassan, Online Journal

So far, 2,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the March 2003 illegal
and unprovoked U.S. war on Iraq. The number has been meticulously pronounced
and printed in every Western media outlet. What about the hundreds of
thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women and children who have been needlessly
massacred by the combined U.S.-British sanctions and war? It is a deliberate
genocide.

http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/22482
Off with his head!
Tanya C. Hsu, Media Monitors

In absolute fairness, Iran should be put before the UN to address any
charge. Israel can debate its neighbor side-by-side, face-to-face, equal
time. Israel can then tell us why it contravenes scores of UN Resolutions,
extra-judicially assassinates political leaders, and has hundreds of nuclear
weapons it refuses acknowledge let alone account for. British Prime Minister
Tony Blair responded to Iran's charges by expressing shock at never heaving
heard of another country ever making such a statement, adding "Can you
imagine a state like that with an attitude like that having a nuclear
weapon?" Mr. Blair forgets our own British history regarding the use of
weapons, and might want to recall Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who said
of the Iraqis, "[I advocate] using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes
[and] against recalcitrant Arabs as an experiment. [I do not understand] the
squeamishness about the use of gas [...]."

*****
NewsWire

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/11/9/164137/436
US Army Admits Use of White Phosphorus as Weapon

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/111005K.shtml
US Army Ready to Snap: 'the wheels are coming off'

http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/recruiting1102
Parents Resisting On-Campus Military Recruiting of Their Kids

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1110-07.htm
Colorado Soldier Founds Anti-War Group

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/clausen031105.html
Media Campaign Attempts to Get Farmed Salmon off the Hook

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1108/p01s04-uspo.html
Seceding seldom succeeds, but Vermonters try

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/nov2005/home-n09.shtml
St. Louis: 'urban revitalization' targets the homeless

http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2584
Grassroots Group Plans Thanksgiving Relief Effort in New Orleans

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-11-09T151654Z_01_SPI954973_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-GERMANY-USA.xml
German to file suit over US kidnapping

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/10/1527205
How the US helped create Zarqawi and the terror financing network

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4423456.stm
Britain facing large energy gap

http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2005/11/08/67244.html
Turkish publisher charged with insulting the State

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/6c3e51ac-508a-11da-bbd7-0000779e2340.html
Revolt of youth without religious motivation

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09640206.htm
French youths turn to Web, cellphones to organize attacks in guerrilla-like
tactics they have copied from anti-globalisation protesters

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