[APR-news] Weekend Edition (March 18-19, 2006)

Sun Mar 19 09:28:09 PST 2006

Alternative Press Review - Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream
www.altpr.org - Weekend Edition (March 18-19, 2006)
"Magazine of the Year" -  2005 Press Action Award

http://www.boston-legal.org/19-stickit/ep19-stickit.shtml
Alan Shore's closing argument from Boston Legal

When the weapons of mass destruction thing turned out to be not true, I 
expected the American people to rise up. Ha! They didn't. Then, when the Abu 
Ghraib torture thing surfaced and it was revealed that our government 
participated in rendition, a practice where we kidnap people and turn them 
over to regimes who specialize in torture, I was sure then the American 
people would be heard from. We stood mute. Then came the news that we jailed 
thousands of so-called terrorist suspects, locked them up without the right 
to a trial or even the right to confront their accusers. Certainly, we would 
never stand for that. We did. And now, it's been discovered the executive 
branch has been conducting massive, illegal, domestic surveillance on its 
own citizens. You and me. And I at least consoled myself that finally, 
finally the American people will have had enough. Evidentially, we haven't. 
In fact, if the people of this country have spoken, the message is we're 
okay with it all. Torture, warrantless search and seizure, illegal 
wiretappings, prison without a fair trial - or any trial, war on false 
pretenses. We, as a citizenry, are apparently not offended.

******
http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=616&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Solidarity is a Weapon
On the Recent Wave of Repression

Many have come to recognize that the fight against ecological destruction 
has many fronts, and that striking the enemy, while dangerous, is quite 
simple. Radical participation in social struggles, attacking structures of 
power, and rejecting compromise and reconciliation with those who are 
destroying our lives and our world, are the real cause for the state's fear. 
Thus they round up those on their watch-lists, hoping to make an example of 
them in order to frighten others into submission, to halt any attempts at 
solidarity for fear of being swept up as well, and to make us remember that 
the State is master of orchestrating violence.

http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=617&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
TeenScreen Shuns Medical Science
By Mary Collins

TeenScreen clearly shuns standard medical care in favor of the psychiatric 
model of brain disorders and chemical imbalances though these have never 
been scientifically proven.

******
Other articles of interest

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=9934
Bob Herbert Doesn't Get It: It's About Empire, Not Democracy
Paul Street, ZNet

American liberals, even left-liberals, just don't get United States (U.S.) 
imperialism.
For an excellent case in point, see a recent opinion-editorial titled "Stop 
Bush's War" by Bob Herbert, who is probably the "liberal" New York Times' 
leftmost columnist (Hebert, "Stop Bush's War, New York Times, 16 March 2006, 
p. A23).

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12395.htm
The farcical end of the American dream
Robert Fisk, ICH

Here are the sources - on pages one and 10 for the yarn spun by reporters 
Josh Meyer and Mark Mazzetti: "US officials said", "said one US Justice 
Department counter-terrorism official", "Officials ... said", "those 
officials said", "the officials confirmed", "American officials complained", 
"the US officials stressed", "US authorities believe", "said one senior US 
intelligence official", "US officials said", "Jordanian officials ... 
said" - here, at least is some light relief - "several US officials said", 
"the US officials said", "American officials said", "officials say", "say US 
officials", "US officials said", "one US counter-terrorism official said". I 
do truly treasure this story. It proves my point that the Los Angeles 
Times - along with the big east coast dailies - should all be called US 
OFFICIALS SAY. But it's not just this fawning on political power that makes 
me despair. Let's move to a more recent example of what I can only call 
institutionalised racism in American reporting of Iraq.

http://www.counterpunch.org/philpott03162006.html
Community Farming in LA: Neoliberalism at the Garden Gate
Tom Philpott, CounterPunch

The fate of LA's South Central Community Farm, the nation's largest 
community garden, hinges on a dubious back-room deal between a developer and 
an ambitious city attorney.

http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=21681&s2=19
Baby Killers
Mike Whitney, Uruknet.info

March 15 was another defining moment in America's downward moral-spiral in 
Iraq. Eleven members of an Iraqi family were killed in a wanton act of 
slaughter executed by American occupiers. Photos taken at the scene show the 
lifeless bodies of young children, barely old enough to walk, lying 
motionless in the back of a flatbed truck while their fathers moan 
inconsolably at their side. What parent can look at these photographs and 
not be consumed with rage?

http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2527/
Are Hospitals Hazardous to Your Health?
Terry J. Allen, In These Times

Margaret Jannetti and David Cohen were victims of a lax and secretive 
medical system. Both underwent surgery and both died, not on the table, and 
not from the disease the operation was meant to correct. Although they had 
little in common in life, Jannetti and Cohen shared a cause of death with 
the estimated 90,000 people who are infected every year by the 
life-threatening bacteria that cling to clothing, walls, food trays, 
stethoscopes, catheters and other surfaces in every hospital in the country. 
But the main culprit is a practice condemned in the 19th century: Hospital 
personnel going from patient to patient without properly washing their 
hands.

******
NewsWire

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=2006iraqwar_protests
Global protests mark Iraq war anniversary

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/03/operative-swarmer-revealed-to-be.html
"Operation Swarmer" revealed to be nothing more than a media stunt

http://www.counterpunch.org/weir03182006.html
AP erases video of Israeli soldier shooting Palestinian boy

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article352181.ece
Good News: Soldiers going AWOL has dramatically increased

http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=269
Peak oil is now official

http://www.salon.com/books/review/2006/03/16/phillips/
Conservative Kevin Phillips says America is headed for doom

http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2969
Gulf coast tribes face erosion, lack of aid

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article351538.ece
Japan cracks down on rebel pupils who refuse to stand to attention and sing 
the national anthem

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11861986/
Anti-psychotic drug use in kids skyrockets

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14232047p-15054297c.html
Three eco-liberators sentenced

******
http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=81&page=1
Subscribe to Alternative Press Review magazine

To help support Alternative Press Review you can make donations online at 
the APR website (www.altpr.org), or send donations by mail to:

Alternative Press Review
PO Box 6245
Arlington, VA 22206 