In The News

US Plans Strike to Topple Iran Regime - Report

Julian Borger April 10, 2006
An investigative article in the US magazine “The New Yorker” reports that President George Bush is seriously considering military strikes against Iran – strikes aimed not only at preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but also at achieving “regime change.” The White House assumes that Iran will retain its nuclear weapons program as long as it retains its current government, writes...

The 7,000-Km Journey That Links Amazon Destruction to Fast Food

John Vidal April 10, 2006
Greenpeace released a report detailing the illegal destruction of large portions of the Amazon rainforest by multinational food companies and commodity traders involved in the Brazilian soya bean industry. The process begins with farmers clearing vast tracts of virgin forest for soya, destined to become animal feed, and ends with consumption of McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets throughout Europe....

Xenophobia’s Threat to Prosperity

Charles Prince April 5, 2006
In the wake of the abortive acquisition of terminal operations at US ports by Dubai Ports World, Congress is considering more than thirty proposals to tighten the rules governing foreign investment in the US. Some of these proposals, writes Charles Prince, CEO of Citigroup, Inc., would spell disaster for the US economy – choking off the foreign investment that now fuels American economic growth...

Making American Money at Home in Mexico

Manuel Roig-Franzia April 4, 2006
In the classic story, Mexican migrants surreptitiously cross the US border in search of jobs. The treacherous journey requires long separations from family and friends, and proposed US legislation would increase restrictions for such hires. But tourism is increasing employment opportunities in Mexico. In the late 1960s, the Mexican government focused on turning the fishing village into a tourist...

We Need Alexander Hamilton

Ernest C. Hollings March 30, 2006
Ernest Hollings, former senator of South Carolina, relies on early American history to compare the government and corporate approaches to trade. The second bill to pass through US Congress, in 1789, was a 50 percent tariff on all trade, which according to Hollings, allowed the US to develop its manufacturing and reduce dependence on Europe. Other presidents managed trade to nurture specific...

Terrorism and the Message of Carnage

Norman Solomon March 29, 2006
“Fighting terror” has become a rational for the war in Iraq, and author Norman Solomon argues that the US President George Bush views the war on terror as black and white, good versus evil conflict. Without doubt, terrorism is pure evil, but Solomon points out that a terrorist attack doesn’t take place in a vacuum. He identifies the post-9/11 trend in the government and media that neglect...

A Carbon Cloud Hangs Over Green Fuel

Mark Clayton March 29, 2006
To save costs, some fuel refineries burn coal instead of using natural gas to turn corn into ethanol. The choice could nullify ethanol’s very purpose – to reduce environmental damage. According to David Hawkins, climate director for the National Resources Defense Council, if conversion plants unleash large amounts of CO2 into the air – the result of burning coal – that could erase the positive...