The elimination of the economic, commercial and financial US blockade on Cuba could generate 100 thousand workplaces and additional earnings for six billion dollars in the United States, says a study revealed here...Last April more than 30 important companies, state agencies and business groups announced the creation of a coalition in the US to counter the blockade against Cuba.

The British Prime Minister’s slavish support is appreciated by the Bush administration, but it is not crucial and it is not seen as having to be paid for. Rather, it is viewed as the president’s due...President Bush has no deep interest in, or commitment to, Africa.

"As repeated presentations at the OAS General Assembly made clear, people are becoming frustrated that democracy is not delivering the promised development results. With an overall poverty rate of 62.4 percent and a rural poverty rate of 79.2 percent, it is perhaps not surprising that Bolivians are taking to the streets to press for some indication of rapid improvements in their daily lives."

Yesterday’s announcement of a proposal for a small increase in humanitarian assistance to African countries by the Bush administration ahead of the G-8 weekend meeting was met with harsh criticism by observers of Bush’s policy toward African countries...Critics of Bush’s aid increase proposal described it as "disingenuous."

According to the watchdog group Public Citizen, White and his business partners are trying to secure funding for a project to produce energy from coal in Wyoming, specifically, “a $2.8 billion coal gasification project in Medicine Bow, Wyoming...Interestingly, though, there’s not a single reference to White’s tenure at Enron on his bio. Instead, White’s bio states that he “has 11 years experience in energy markets.”
So what’s he hiding?

A coalition of faith-based organizations, civil rights, and even one Republican Party affiliated group are calling for opposition to seating William Pryor on the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. “Mr. Pryor repeatedly has exhibited that he is far outside of the mainstream of American jurisprudence.”

A campaign to promote writing a permanent democratic constitution in Iraq, laying the basis for a modern Iraqi state based on the rule of law and institutions, was launched at a meeting attended by about 120 Iraqi democrats earlier this month at the Kufa Gallery in London.

FoxSpeak is a term that describes chatter from the ultra-right 'news' channel owned by the Fox network. David Swanson provides a play-by-play running commentary of an exchange with Brit Humes, conservative talking head, and guests.

" Every sports fan in the Bay Area who doesn’t share the idea that homelessness, Gay rights, and Asian minstrelsy are punch lines has an obligation to stand up. Let the team know that they may be named the 49ers, but this ain’t 1849."

PA Book Reviewer Thomas Riggins, also reviews the book reviews. His 'Round Up' series offers insight on recently published books and critical comments. He reminds us.
"If any of you are inspired to read one of these books and write a full review, please contact: pabooks@politicalaffairs.net

A recent study of almost 2,000 death penalty cases in Ohio between 1981 and 2002 shows that race and geography played strong roles in determining the imposition of capital punishment.

On June 5, 2005, Ken Mehlman, Chairman of the Republican Party, was asked about the Downing Street Minutes on "NBC News’ Meet the Press."

"Journalists are not just being targeted verbally or politically, they are also being targeted for real in Iraq. The ignorance and immaturity of the US military which does not make differences [differentiate] between the insurgents and the press has been adopted brutally against the media in our country," Ahmed Abdul-Satar, an Iraqi journalist working for a French media organisation, told IRIN.

Los Angeles is among many local governments enacting living wage laws. With the federal minimum wage frozen at $5.15 since 1997, local union leaders and activists from New York City to Santa Monica, Calif., have helped pass more than 100 living wage ordinances nationwide. The first such law was passed in Baltimore in 1994.

In a chaotic, divided Haiti, there is one thing that everyone agrees on: the United Nations Mission to Stabilize Haiti (MINUSTAH) is not helping...Washington has been pushing the MINUSTAH’s Brazilian military commander, Lieutenant-General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, to use more repression against Haiti’s rebellious anti-coup and anti-occupation popular quarters...

"Jerusalem is ours for eternity and will never pass into foreign hands," Sharon said on marking the 38th anniversary of Israel's capture of the entire holy...Arab MKs boycotted Monday a special meeting of the Knesset.
MK Abdulmalik Dahamshe) said "Jerusalem Day is fictitious. Jerusalem is not united but occupied and this occupation must end."

The asylum seekers had fled from Andijan on 13 May after Uzbek security forces reportedly opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters in the city square. They killed up to 1,000, according to local rights groups, but the Uzbek government claimed the death toll was 173.

Meantime, human rights organizations reiterated accusations against Haitian security forces for the arrest of several members of the Lavalas Party -founded by Aristide- as well as executions and tortures.

It seems likely to me that forcing a public discussion of the lies that started the war, and of the resolution of inquiry into impeachment that they justify, will fundamentally change what counts as acceptable to say out-loud. Once the I word (impeachment) is commonly associated with the war, ending the war might just become less of a taboo.

Since President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s February 2004 ouster, Haitian police and the 7,400-member UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSTAH) have been struggling to find peace on the island, let alone maintain it.