Democracy Now! offers a rememberance of Ruben Salazar, a speech by Desmond Tutu and Katrina vanden Heuvel addressing what's happening in Russia.
Headlines for February 24, 2005
- Bush's Uncle Makes $450K Off Iraq War
- Lawmakers Call No Child Left Behind Act 'Unconstitutional'
- Car Bombing in Tikrit Kills 15
- 12,000 Protest Bush Visit to Germany
- UK Attorney General: Iraq Invasion Was Illegal
- No Charges Against Marine Who Shot Wounded Un-Armed Iraqi
- Wal-Mart Abandons Plans for NYC Store
Katrina vanden Heuvel on U.S.-Russian Relations
President Bush is due to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava today on the last leg of his European tour. We examine U.S.-Russian relations with Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor of the Nation magazine.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu on South Africa, Poverty and Militarism
Nobel Peace prize-winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks after receiving an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Fordham University. He says, "South Africa, improbably, divinely amusingly, has become a beacon of hope. If peace could come to South Africa, then peace could come any- and everywhere."
Race and Imprisonment in Texas: The Disparate Incarceration of Latinos and African Americans in the Lone Star State
A newly-released study from the Justice Policy Institute called "Race and Imprisonment in Texas" finds, in part, that finds that African-Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of whites in Texas and that Latinos are incarcerated nearly twice as much as whites." We speak with the author of the report. [includes rush transcript]
Remembering Latino Journalist Ruben Salazar Who Was Gunned Down in 1970 by the LAPD
Salazar died after being shot by tear gas projectile shortly after he was covering the Chicano anti-Vietnam War Moratorium rally in East Los Angeles in 1970. He was a reporter and columnist at the Los Angeles Times and the news director of Spanish-language television station KMEX in Los Angeles. Juan Gonzalez and Amy Goodman reflect on his life, 35 years after he was killed. [includes rush transcript]
Please note that BuzzFlash interviews Danny Schechter and also note that they are offering Schechter's WMD as a BuzzFlash Premium.
Let's note Katrina vanden Heuvel's Editor's Cut today:
Ex-Nation intern Chris Kromm and the Institute for Southern Studies--a "think tank/act tank" founded by civil rights veterans, which publishes the award-winning Southern Exposure magazine--have launched a new blog, Facing South.
The Institute has been at the forefront of campaigns for economic justice, campaign finance reform, environmental sanity and most recently the defense of voting rights and the reigning in of war profiteers (over 40 percent of military contracts go to corporations operating in the South).
Why Facing South? Because the South is far from a lost cause for social change. Progressives in the region are getting energized, laying infrastructure and finding openings that draw on the region's populist streak and unbroken history of movements for justice and dignity.
At The Daily Howler, Bob Somerby's discussing a number of issues including Maureen Dowd:
This morning, Dowd has to teach a sad Logic Lesson: Just because you oppose a program, that doesn't mean you hate the troops. She has to do so because mainstream pundits have allowed this Outrage Machine to keep running -- and because the liberal web has allowed these pundits to tremble, quake, hide, refuse to speak. The liberal web simply has to insist that mainstream pundits speak up loud and long -- and if they’re going to shame these pundits into action, they’re going to have to call them by name. They're going to have to name E. J. Dionne. They’re going to have to name Richard Cohen -- and Mark Shields, Al Hunt, Chris Matthews, Eugene Robinson. But uh-oh! These are powerful figures at powerful papers -- papers your heroes may hope to write. Is that one reason why years have gone past with only THE HOWLER calling these names? Is that the reason why this obvious theme has failed to spread far from this site?
He also addresses the Summers issue (where obviously we will elect to politely disagree).
Brad notes Matthew Rothschild's "This Just In:"
Seymour Hersh has already noted that a U.S. military strike may be in the offing. And Scott Ritter puts the date somewhere in June. Don't discount Ritter. He was absolutely right on Iraq and its nonexistent stash of WMDs.
European leaders need to put their smiles away and unbow themselves.They shouldn’t placate Bush.
He only wants to push them around, this time with charm (such as it is), next time, like last time, with disdain.
Trina: Can you note these headlines from this morning's NYT? "Jobless Claims Rise; Factory Orders Fall," "Canada Says It Won't Join Missile Shield With the U.S.," and "2 British Soldiers Convicted of Abusing Prisoners in Iraq." And could you pull a quote from this one please "The Germans Bush Wasn't Able to See?"
"The Germans Bush Wasn't Able to See" is by Richard Bernstein and from A8 of this morning's paper. Addressing the Bully Boy's Bullying the World Tour, specificially the stop in Germany:
Most conspicuous was the lack of contact between ordinary Germans and an American president visiting what could almost have been a stage setting: a town with buildings but no people, the shops and restaurants in the center of town closed, and only uniformed police officers on the street.
. . .
But the dispute over the Iraq war awoke German citizens to something new in their relationship with the United States, an unease over the price that they might have to pay to be members of an alliance led by a figure whose instincts they distrust.
"Most Germans are still emotionally averse to what Bush stands for -- going it alone not paying attention to due process, which we love in Europe," said Eberhard Sandschneider, the director of the German Council on Foreign Relations.
Brady e-mailed to note the photo accompanying this article (by Markus Schreiber of the Associated Press) and state that he felt "it belongs on the front page." Use the link to the story to see a powerful photo of Germans protesting the Bully Boy.
