Editorial - Specter Paints Pennsylvania Senate Map Blue

admin @ April 28, 2009 # No Comment Yet

So part of the reason Senator Specter made the switch to join the Democrats is so that he would not lose his place on the ballot as senatorial candidate of the Republican Party in 2010. The general consensus is that Specter will not have any serious Democratic primary opponents that could unseat him next year. I understand Senator Specter wants to win another term but I did not expect him to switch parties to do so.

Until at least the midterm elections next year, two Democratic senators will represent my home state.

This is a first in my lifetime.

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Bulletin:War Resistor Successfully Challenges ‘Misconduct’ Charge

admin @ April 21, 2009 # No Comment Yet

Bulletin: War Resistor Sgt Chiroux successfully challenged his ‘Misconduct’ hearing, facing down the U.S. Army and offering a potential “green light” for other soldiers challenging the legality of U.S. action in Iraq and Afghanistan…And what about AWOL soldiers seeking asylum in Canada…

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Surprise, Coleman Appeals Franken Ruling - Again

admin @ April 20, 2009 # No Comment Yet

With a 2 - 8 week window open until oral arguments are heard, it could be almost be in May until the Minnesota Supreme Court hears any presentation of Norm Coleman’s appeal in the seemingly endless U.S. Senate race.

After a 7 week long trial by a three judge panel in the lower courts of Minnesota, Coleman refuses to concede his loss to challenger Al Franken. Coleman filed a notice of appeal declaring he want the Supreme Court of MN to overturn the lower court’s ruling.
Filing with the Minnesota Supreme Court, Coleman this afternoon appealed the rulings of the three-judge panel that declared last week that Al Franken received the most votes and that the 2008 U.S. Senate election was a properly executed election.

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EXCLUSIVE Interview: Vet and Iraq War Resistor Faces “Misconduct” Trial in St.Louis,MO Special

admin @ April 15, 2009 # No Comment Yet

Interview: Sgt.Matthis Chiroux -Veteran, war resistor, and outspoken critic of the both the Bush and Obama administrations Mid East and Central Asian Policy faces Military Hearing for “Misconduct” on April 21st. We spoke to Matthis about his upcoming case…

Stephen Dohnberg, who has been reporting on the IVAW since 2003, will join Sgt Chiroux on Toronto’s News/Talk CFRB 1010 AM to discuss the case, and the broader issues surrounding it on April 19th at 8 PM eastern standard time. Callers can phone toll free 1 800 561 CFRB.

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excerpt:Combating Somali Piracy: How Many People Can We Afford To Kill?

admin @ April 14, 2009 # No Comment Yet

You don’t have to be a serious news junkie to know that there is currently a lively debate ongoing in the media on the issue of combating Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Commentators from across the political spectrum have laid out countless detailed plans for fighting the pirates both at sea and on land, and some such as CNN’s Jack Cafferty and Rick Sanchez have even put the question directly to their audiences. However, all of the solutions presented seem to involve some level of military force used against Somalia, specifically US military force, and the major differences between the plans are over questions of financial cost and political willpower. To put it bluntly, the real question at hand is how many Somali people we really feel like killing right now.

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What Would ‘Alive in Kabul’ Look Like?

admin @ April 8, 2009 # No Comment Yet

It’s rare to hear about Afghanistan these days, despite the so-called re-deployment of forces and a new direction for the “war on terror” under a new president. But when we do hear about Afghanistan it often looks something like this:

KABUL (AP) — The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan says its troops have killed four suspected militants and detained two others during a raid in the country’s south.

A coalition statement says the raid targeted a Taliban bomb-making cell in Maywand district of the southern Kandahar province Monday.

Southern Afghanistan is a center of the Taliban-led insurgency, where thousands of new U.S. troops have been ordered to join the fight by President Barack Obama to try to reverse militant gains of the last three years.

I’ve re-posted that in full, because it’s the ENTIRE ARTICLE. That is what often passes as an article fro Afghanistan these days. Where are the photos? What did the “militants” look like? Who did they work for? Where is the evidence of the “bomb-making cell?”

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Department of Peace Conference: a Sliver of a Peek

admin @ April 6, 2009 # One Comment

On March 20-23, the third meeting of the Campaign to Establish a Cabinet Level Dept of Peace met at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City, Arlington VA. The location itself feels paradoxical - conference goers meet in this location surrounded by the offices of some of the biggest organizations that solely exist to profit from war and unrest; KBR (Haliburton), Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and any number of offices of lobbyists that are situated a stone’s throw across the Potomac from the legislative core of the United States.

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Remembering Vancouver’s Missing Women

admin @ April 2, 2009 # One Comment

On Monday March 30th, at 12 in the afternoon, a small crowd of about thirty people gathered outside the University Avenue courthouse in Toronto to remember Vancouver’s Missing Women. Within the last twenty years, over 500 Aboriginal women and girls have gone missing in Canada. On Monday, at an event planned by Robyn Bourgeois and Robbyn Zwaiggenbaum of CAVE (Coalition Against Violence Everywhere), activists and students gathered to pay respect and commemorate the lives of the 76 women who have gone missing from or been murdered in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside since 1978. An alarmingly high proportion of these women have been Aboriginal. Although Aboriginal women make up less than 1% of the population of Vancouver, they represent one-third to one-half of Vancouver’s Missing Women.

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Eyewitness: Thousands March to Call on Obama to End Occupation

admin @ March 27, 2009 # No Comment Yet

On Saturday, Mar 21, thousands of coalitions rallied to protest the Obama Administration’s carryover of ‘War On Terror’ policies — including an escalation in Afghanistan. It was the first major protest action since Obama’s election on Nov.4,2008…

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IVAW, ANSWER Coalition, & 1200 Groups Engage in First Nation-wide Antiwar Action Since Obama Inuaguration

admin @ March 20, 2009 # No Comment Yet

Washington,D.C. - Iraq Vets Against the War (IVAW), in concert with the the ANSWER Coalition ( Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) held a 12:30 press conference on Mar.19, kicked off by a banner drop above the front portico of the Department of Veterans Affairs at 810 Vermont Ave.

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