What price Zionism—In the Arab district of East Jerusalem, 88 Arab veteran homeowners are facing demolition of their homes by the illegal Israeli rulers of what was supposed to be an international city of Arabs, Jews, and Christians. But in 1980, the Zionist parliament brazenly declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Currently, it says the Palestinian residents are being dispossessed to make way for an archeological park.

Read it and retch—The global stench of U.S. abuse of Guantánamo Bay prisoners is such that members of Congress have advised shutting it down. In response, Vice President Dick Cheney declared that the prisoners have been treated better by the U.S. than “virtually any other government on the face of the earth.”

Sheer coincidence—Four days after Cheney’s rap, the Pentagon disclosed it had given a $30 million contract to a Halliburton construction subsidiary. It says the new Guantánamo prison will include day rooms, exercise areas, medical bays, air conditioning, and a security control room (?). The other, civilized-sounding features will obviously be a first. (Amnesty International called it a gulag.)

Maybe, possibly—In Dillon, South Carolina, two cops were fired when a video of a traffic stop showed them cursing and beating the driver. A news report said they “could” face criminal charges.

Not with ‘ownership society’?—The United Pension Convention in England released a study that one in five pensioners are living below the poverty line and 1.5 million are undernourished. Also, they add, in winter their homes are too cold.

Harsh numbers—For the first time, Los Angeles County says it made a serious head count of the homeless. It reports that on any given night, 90,000 men, women, and children are camping in the streets and shelters. A majority are Black and Latino plus a smaller number of other non-Anglos.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home