Surprise, Surprise: A Corrupt Wal-Mart Executive!!!

A high-profile Wal-Mart Stores Inc. board member resigned Friday after an internal probe turned up evidence of financial improprieties of up to half-a-million dollars. Three Wal-Mart employees, including a company officer, also lost their jobs.
(AP)

BU$H FOR SALE

Bush and national Republicans have taken more than $100 million from the pharmaceutical, health services, and insurance industries in the past few years, an investment that has been repaid many times over. Bush has consistently worked to keep the interests of industry ahead of patients' interests, meaning higher costs and fewer protections for American families.

BUSH'S APPROVAL RATINGS CONTINUE TO PLUMMET

Despite President Bush's continued efforts to sell his scheme to privatize Social Security, a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that the American people just aren't buying it. In fact, Bush's approval ratings have slipped considerably from last week and now stand at 45%, the lowest point in his Presidency.

FOX NEWS: LYING YET AGAIN!
Doctor never nominated for Nobel Prize

Martha MacCallum identified Dr. William Hammesfahr, a Florida neurologist who claims he can help Terri Schiavo, as a "Nobel Prize-nominated neurologist," despite the fact that Hammesfahr was never actually nominated for a Nobel Prize.
(Media Matters)

Bush Administration Rolls Back Title IX

The Bush Administration's Department of Education has quietly changed the rules for compliance with Title IX, the statute that bars sex discrimination in athletics at federally funded institutions. President Bush has repeatedly praised the role of women in athletics. Yet these new changes by the Bush Administration undermine the prospects for women's athletics.

Bush Changes Social Security Plan

He warns audiences they will not be able to just cash in their accounts when they retire. He says that the accounts may enhance retirement income for younger workers, but he admits they will not fix the ailing Social Security system over all.
(New York Times)

Romney Moves to the Right at the Expense of Choice

Governor Mitt Romney removed a reference to Roe v. Wade in a proclamation he signed this week, raising eyebrows among abortion rights advocates who say the move corresponds with a rightward shift by Romney as he mulls a presidential bid.
(Boston Globe)

Froma Harrop: One person, or 45 millions? -- Questions for 'pro-life' folks

I HAVE A QUESTION for all those "culture of life" people praying in front of Terri Schiavo's hospital: Where were you last week when President Bush and the Republican Congress were pushing to cut Medicaid? Medicaid is the medical lifeline for the poor. And, by the way, it is picking up some of Schiavo's hospital bills.

Are you aware of your inconsistency? Or are you just pawns of the Republican Party?

You fixate over a woman who has hung in a vegetative state for 15 years, but stand mute as 45 million of your fellow Americans go without any health coverage. Over 18,000 adult Americans die every year for lack of health insurance, according to the Institute of Medicine, in Washington.

Perhaps you'd like to hear the story of another woman, Annette Arrico. A divorced mother, Arrico ran a tiny beauty parlor in Rhode Island, serving mostly elderly ladies. After expenses, she took home only $150 a week and could not afford health insurance.

Some years ago, Arrico found a lump in her breast. She knew that the lump meant trouble, but she tried to ignore it.

"I had all I could do to bring up our daughter," she said at the time.

Pushed by her daughter, Arrico finally saw a doctor, but by then it was too late to help her. She subsequently died.

There are thousands of Annette Arricos among us today. Lacking health insurance, they do not seek preventive care and avoid getting a diagnosis. That's why the mortality rate from cancer is up to two times higher for uninsured people than for those with coverage, says a Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation study.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has spent the past year plumping up his "pro-life" credentials with grand displays of hypocrisy. He made a big show of inserting himself into the Schiavo case -- basically denying a husband's rights as his wife's legal guardian. While doing that, Bush presided over the unspeakable act of throwing 105,000 poor children off the state's health-insurance program.

Where were the religious leaders then, and where were their followers?

"I see many religious groups stepping forward and saying it's wrong to take a feeding tube from Terri," says Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics, at the University of Pennsylvania. "I don't hear anything about it being wrong not to vaccinate tens of thousands of children. The Congress still accepts the reality of uninsured children in America, which is beyond the moral pale."

But the "pro-life" advocates have nonetheless rallied to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Wisconsin Rep. James Sensenbrenner as they make political hay off the Schiavo tragedy.

That "leaders" of disability groups would add their praise is beyond comprehension. After all, Americans with disabilities get most of their funding from Medicaid. Frist, DeLay and Sensenbrenner were directing the attack on the program. The disabled might ask why their alleged spokesmen did not stop them.

Here is another question for the "pro-life" folks: Where were you two weeks ago, when the Senate voted to toughen America's bankruptcy laws? The bill made no distinction between debt run up in a casino and debt run up in a hospital. A recent Harvard study found that nearly half of the personal bankruptcies were caused by unexpected medical bills. Funny, but I don't recall any spiritual leaders rushing to protect families in a medical crisis from losing all in a bankruptcy.

Of course, the Schiavo case is ripe for political exploitation. The following memo was sent to Republican senators: "The pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue."

To the pliant members of the "pro-life" base: Follow your orders and get excited over a poor woman who can neither think nor emote and for whom doctors can do nothing. Interfere with a husband's decision to end medical treatment for a wife who has floated between life and death for 15 years.

Then sit back as your political masters try to cut the programs that help the sick, the frail and the dying. Let credit-card companies harass families overwhelmed by medical expenses.

You have every right to call yourselves "defenders of life." Just as long as no one else has to.
(The Providence Journal)

American Official Shot in Sudan

An American foreign assistance official was shot and wounded Tuesday while riding in a four-vehicle convoy in the lawless Darfur region of western Sudan, the State Department said.

The woman, who suffered facial wounds, was treated at a facility in Sudan before being evacuated to another country for additional treatment, said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.
(AP)


Relatives mourning over the body of 1-year-old Ali, who died of malnutrition in a refugee camp in El-Geneina in Darfur, Sudan, 2004. More than 180,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region in the past 18 months, UN humanitarian affairs chief Jan Egeland told AFP.(AFP/File/Marco Longari)

Bush Administration Acts As Roadblock to Prosecution of Sudanese War Criminals

Most council nationssupport referring war crimes proceedings to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the world's first permanent tribunal for crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes.

Yet the administration of US President George W. Bush staunchly opposes the ICC over fears that US citizens could be the target of lawsuits politically motivated by opposition to US policies.

The council has been deadlocked over the issue for two months, since a commission of enquiry found crimes against humanity had likely been committed in Darfur.
(Mideast-AFP)

John Edwards Takes Job As Head of UNC's Poverty Center

"I have a campaign and a cause right now and this is it. This is where I'm going to spend my passion and my energy."
(AP)

AP Photo

Jeb Still Seeking to Gain Political Glory Via Schiavo

Terri Schiavo's parents saw their options vanish one by one Wednesday as a federal appeals court refused to reinsert her feeding tube and the Florida Legislature decided not to intervene in the epic struggle. Refusing to give up, Gov. Jeb Bush sought court permission to take custody of Schiavo.
(AP)

WORLD CRISIS

SHAME: ONE BILLION LACK ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER

"People who can turn on a tap and have safe and clean
water to drink, to cook with and to bathe in often take it for granted, and yet
more than 1 billion of our fellow human beings have little choice but to use
potentially harmful sources of water," said Dr. Lee Jong-Wook, head of the World
Health Organization.

(CNN)

Not-So-Coincidentally, Santorum Re-Thinks Death Penalty Stance

Could it be motivated by polls showing Catholics' opposition to capital punishment is growing dramatically???

Overall, the poll showed that Catholic opposition to the death penalty has grown from 27 percent in 2001 to 48 percent. Opposition jumps to 63 percent among daily Mass-goers -- making it 1 percent above the percentage of daily communicants who voted for Bush in 2004. Of those who say they only attend Mass on holidays, 62 percent support use of the death penalty.

A Letter from the Executive Director of Amnesty International USA

Women Human Rights Defenders

This month on our website, we spotlight the all-important work of four extraordinary women who have made a difference. Two of them are among the twelve women who have received the Nobel Peace Prize. One woman, Mexico’s Digna Ochoa gave her life for her cause. And another will receive Amnesty International USA’s highest award next month. All have sacrificed much for the rights and well-being of others.
Read about these women. »

On every continent, women are rising up to end the abuse, torture and neglect that has long plagued their communities. Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi aroused an entire nation against decades of corruption and abuse. “It is not power that corrupts,” she has said, “but fear.”

Women are often uniquely able to appeal to everyday people and to engage them in collective struggle. Aung San Suu Kyi has written, “It is the cumulative effect of [ordinary people’s] sustained effort and steady endurance which will change a nation where reason and conscience are warped by fear into one where legal rules exist to promote humanity's desire for harmony and justice while restraining less desirable, destructive traits in human nature.”

Wangari Maathai has converted the seemingly mundane and domestic act of planting trees into a continent-wide movement aimed at empowering women and reshaping society’s relationship with the natural environment. Says Maathai: “When you start working with the environment seriously, the whole arena comes: human rights, women's rights, environmental rights, children's rights, you know, everybody's rights. Once you start making these linkages, you can no longer do just tree-planting.”

Please join me in celebrating the heroism of these remarkable women – and the contributions of countless women everywhere who stand up for our rights every day -- by donating in their honor to AIUSA’s Stop Violence Against Women Campaign.

Make a donation now. »
Your donation will help us carry out important life-saving work – to champion needed reforms in international law, to document and report widespread abuses of women’s rights, and engage an ever-wider circle of supporters like yourself.

Thank you for all that you do.

Sincerely,

Bill Schulz
Amnesty International USA

A Letter from John Edwards

Dear Friend,

Today, at the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I am going to join a group of prominent experts from across the country who have dedicated their careers to fighting poverty. We are going to talk about one of the most important things we can do to help lift people out of poverty and into the middle class - helping people save so that they can start getting ahead instead of just getting by. While poverty is all around us, the first step in eradicating it is to shine a bright light on it.

Here's what we know: 36 million Americans live in poverty today, which is 13 million more than 30 years ago. About one in four working families is earning so little they struggle to make ends meet. And nearly 30 percent of families have less than $10,000 in assets - which means that the value of their savings, their home, and their car altogether is less than $10,000. What we can do as a country is help families build a foundation and a safety net so that if they have a medical emergency, lose a job, or go through a traumatic event like a divorce it doesn't push them off the cliff and into bankruptcy. So today we are going to talk about how we can help families save and put money in the bank.

We will explore ideas like establishing savings accounts for children at birth, like baby bonds, to help them prepare for the future. We'll also look at different types of savings accounts for adults with matching funds to encourage people to save. And we will take a close look at ways to help more families become homeowners while also making sure that predatory lenders don't take away homes families already own. These are some of the many ideas that we will discuss. We will report back on our blog but please let me know what you think we can do to help people save.

Please visit the One America Committee Blog where we have started a new thread entitled: Poverty, Work, and Opportunity and give us your thoughts and ideas about this important issue. Some of our best ideas will come from you! Your input is invaluable, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Your friend,

John

Republicans Hold Mock Town Hall Meeting, Can't Sell the Plan In Real Ones

As members of Congress head back to their districts for recess this week, the GOP leadership has urged Congressional Republicans not to hold town hall meetings or public events and instead to opt for lower profile events. After the disastrous reaction members received during the last recess, Washington republicans are shifting to events they hope will be less likely to highlight growing opposition to Bush's privatization plan. Even Senator Rick Santorum admitted recently in USA Today, that with these lower profile events 'there isn't an opportunity for it to disintegrate into something that's less desirable.'

Randall Terry: Schindler Family Spokesman and Founder of Anti-Abortion Group

In case you were wondering if there was a nexus between the Schiavo case and the anti-abortion movement...

Christian activist Randall Terry has reappeared in the news in recent days as the spokesman for the parents of Terri Schiavo. Terry, founder of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue and the Society for Truth and Justice, appeared on Fox News at least four times in the past four days -- on the March 18 edition of Hannity & Colmes, and during live coverage of the Schiavo case on March 20 and March 21. But Terry has a controversial past that was not fully disclosed in any of his Fox News appearances or on the March 19 edition of National Public Radio's Weekend Edition, which aired a brief clip from Terry. In all but one of those instances, Terry was identified only as the Schindler family spokesman.
(Media Matters)

Vast Majority of Americans Feel Republican Congress Acted Inappropriately in the Schiavo Matter

Seventy percent deemed the congressional intervention inappropriate, while 67 percent said they believe lawmakers became involved in the Schiavo case for political advantage rather than the principles involved.
(Reuters)

Meanwhile, a child was taken off of life support in a Houston hospital under a law signed by then-Governor George W. Bush that allows hospitals to remove life-sustaining apparatus if the family is unable to pay its bills--even if the family objects to such removal.

White House spokesman Scott McClelland said that the issue was a "gray area" in the law. However, once again, this was not true. The law reads as follows:

If the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient is requesting life-sustaining treatment that the attending physician has decided and the review process has affirmed is inappropriate treatment, the patient shall be given available life-sustaining treatment pending transfer under Subsection (d). The patient is responsible for any costs incurred in transferring the patient to another facility. The physician and the health care facility are not obligated to provide life-sustaining treatment after the 10th day after the written decision required under Subsection (b) is provided to the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient …

ACLU Challenges Anti-Gay Ruling in Michigan

A lawsuit challenging a recent attorney general's opinion that bans public employers from offering benefits to same-sex couples in future contracts was filed Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.
(Detroit Free Press)

Brit Hume Lies About Social Security...Again

Fox News Washington managing editor Brit Hume used a misleading poll on Social Security conducted by a pro-Republican public relations firm to claim falsely that "nearly 60 percent of seniors who know the facts support personal accounts" and accuse Democrats of waging a "disinformation campaign." In fact, far from presenting "the facts" to respondents, the poll Hume cited left out key information about President Bush's likely plan for Social Security, and Hume failed to note the poll itself was sponsored by two pro-privatization advocacy groups.
(Media Matters)

Click here to sign the petition to save the Filibuster (and the Federal Courts).

BOSOX COMPLICIT IN US TORTURE SCHEME?

BREAKING NEWS--JET USED FOR TORTURE RENDITIONS BELONGS TO PART-OWNER OF THE BOSTON RED SOX!

Last June, the Boston Red Sox chartered an executive jet to help their manager make a quick visit home in the midst of the team's championship season. But what was the very same Gulfstream--owned by one of the Red Sox's partners, but presumably without the team's logo on its fuselage--doing in Cairo on Feb. 18, 2003? Perhaps by coincidence, Feb. 18, 2003, was the day an Islamic preacher known as Abu Omar, who had been abducted in Italy the previous day and forced aboard a small plane, also arrived at the Cairo airport.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

THOUSANDS PROTEST THE US WAR IN IRAQ AROUND THE WORLD

Police guard the U.S. Embassy as demonstrators walk past during an anti-war demonstration in central London to mark the second anniversary of the start of war in Iraq (news - web sites), March 19, 2005. REUTERS/Stephen Hird

First Amendment Rights Protected by the ACLU

A VICTORY FOR FREE SPEECH...AT CHENEY'S EXPENSE!
In a victory for free speech rights and the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, a federal judge ruled today that Evansville police violated a protester's constitutional rights by restricting his movement and arresting him for disorderly conduct before a 2002 appearance by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Hudson River Faces Sewage Crisis

Crumbling sewage systems and raw sewage discharges increasingly threaten the health of the Hudson River.

America's Teachers Examine New Ways to Oppose the War in Iraq

"We must be creative in our attempts to counter the action the government has taken," Nancy Romer, a teacher and leader of the American Federation of Teachers, said to open the conference's morning plenary. In practice, during the daylong series of workshops this meant analyzing how Bush's education initiatives have served to advance his military aims. The fact that the majority of soldiers fighting in Iraq are in their mid-20s or younger, and a little less than a year ago there were 2,500 soldiers under the age of 18 serving, hints at a connection between today's education system and military interest among youth.
(The Nation)

New Anti-Labor Rules Threaten National Security

New workforce rules that gut civil service and collective bargaining rights for some 750,000 Department of Defense civilian employees will destroy civilian defense worker morale and threaten national security, AFGE President John Gage told a Senate subcommittee March 15.

Death of a Sales Pitch

Even though President George W. Bush is refusing to detail his plan to privatize Social Security, Washington Republicans are already distancing themselves from the plan. Republican leaders in Congress this week directed Republican members to cancel any open town-hall meetings with constituents out of fear of the increasing public opposition against privatization.

TWO YEARS LATER: TROUBLE IN IRAQ

(Center for American Progress)

NEWSWEEK POLL: BUSH APPROVAL RATINGS AT A TEN MONTH LOW

Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. March 17-18, 2005. N=1,010 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?"

Approve: 45%
Disapprove: 48%
Don't Know: 7%

DEMS SLAM BUSH ON VETERANS' BENEFITS CUTS

"During this time of war, it is absolutely the wrong time for our federal government to step back from any of its commitments to our veterans. To do so would be penny wise but pound foolish," said Gov. Ed Rendell in the weekly Democratic radio address.
(CNN)

Halliburton Abuses Continue

Authors of the report on Iraq say that most of the anticipated spending on building and procurement has not yet occurred. "If urgent steps are not taken Iraq will become the biggest corruption scandal in history," the authors say.
(Asia Times)

More Idiocy from the President

"In this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis; you don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely, in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, 'How do you think my standing will be?' "—Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005