A crash of a U.S. military transport helicopter (August) at Okinawa International University in Ginowan City, Okinawa, clearly showed how dangerous it is for U.S. bases and their aircraft to be located in the center of densely populated areas. As long as U.S. military bases continue to exist in Okinawa and the U.S. forces are stationed there, the lives and safety of the residents are in danger.

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Premier Wen Jiabao has pledged that China will adhere to its fundamental economic system, with public ownership pre-dominant and other types of ownerships being developed simultaneously.

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A new proposal that calls for detailed questioning of immigrants after they receive emergency medical care is drawing criticism from both immigrant rights advocates and healthcare providers. Critics say such questioning may cause immigrants to avoid seeking emergency health services out of fear that information gathered by hospitals will be shared with other government agencies.

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The past months have witnessed soaring oil prices in international markets, which have come on top of increases in the previous three years. In the third week of August world trade prices of crude oil nearly touched $50 per barrel before settling somewhat lower. But further increases are not ruled out in the near future.

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The racial slings and arrows are easier for the sporting public than the uncomfortable truth. The straight dope is that the US no longer owns a patent on the game of basketball. Unlike 1992 when the first Dream Team of Magic, Larry and Jordan posed for pictures and signed autographs for opponents and then won by 40.

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Across the country there is a growing anti-Bush feeling, but that alone is not enough. To win requires that millions be convinced that the differences between Bush and Kerry are real, substantial and consequential to their lives on the whole range of issues: Social Security, Medicare, health care, overtime, minimum wage, public education, affirmative action and much more.

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After the collapse of the dictatorship, Iraqis of various political, ethnic, religious and communal affiliations were looking forward to building a new life on the basis of respect for different opinion, multiparty system, discarding violence irrespective of type and source, practicing civilized debate, and the rule of justice and law.

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Dear Mr. Bush,

I know you and I have had our differences in the past, and I realize I am the one who started this whole mess about "who did what" during Vietnam when I brought up that "deserter" nonsense back in January. But I have to hand it to you on what you have uncovered about John Kerry and his record in Vietnam.

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Patrick Bond of the University of Witwatersrand in Johanneburg has developed a reputation as one of the more trenchant critics of both governments in Southern Africa – especially the African National Congress led regime in Pretoria and the ZANU-PF administration in Harare – and international financial agencies, e.g. the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

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The South African agricultural economy is dominated by large agri-business that spans the entire agricultural value chain. Like the rest of the South African economy, the accumulation regime in agriculture has not fundamentally changed over the last ten years. Even worse, South Africa’s agriculture and its accumulation regime still represent some of the worst features of the political economy of land and agriculture under apartheid.

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Executive Director of Pastors for Peace, Rev. Lucius Walker, sent a letter this week to all American students enrolled in medical studies in Cuba informing them that the US government will allow the continuation of these scholarships, in spite of recent travel restrictions.

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The People's Republic of China is one of the major political and economic powers in the world today. It has reached sixth place in the world in terms of economic aggregate. For a country which was utterly backward, feudal and semi-colonial till the People's Revolution in 1949 and for a country which is the most populous in the world.

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It is good, at certain hours of the day and night, to look closely at the world of objects at rest. Wheels that have crossed long, dusty distances with their mineral and vegetable burdens, sacks from the coal bins, barrels, and baskets, handles and hafts for the carpenter’s tool chest.

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There are battles happening everywhere these days about such difficult and obscure issues as how to define "torture," from Washington, DC to Teheran to Guadalajara. Is torture actually torture, or is it only "mistreatment?" Are "we" not the kind of people who do what US soldiers and "intelligence" operatives have been photographed doing, or do "we" actually have some "responsibility?"

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When you arrive in New York City over the weekend of Aug. 27, bring your own slogans on homemade, union-made and community-made poster boards displaying your anger and demands for health care for all. Mobilize for the November elections to oust Bush, Frist and the other Republicans from leadership in Washington, D.C.

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A "gentleman’s agreement" exists in both establishment circles and even among some on the academic left to recognize respectfully the academic red-baiters and ignore the academic Reds. In essence, what this does is create the impression that the CPUSA or any socialist movement doesn’t exist in the country.

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(photo by Glen Rose)

The most important presidential election of our lifetime was less than seven months away and we desperately wanted to weigh in, both as artists and as citizens of a democracy. By the time some of you hear these songs the election will be over. Then the real struggle begins.

--From the liner notes of Earle's most recent album, Revolution.

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Two recent articles in Political Affairs indicate that more clarity is needed on the question of the socialist market economy. For example we read that "The socialist market economy is designed for transition from an early capitalist or even pre-capitalist society and the focus is to create the prerequisites for socialism." But an observer of the situation in China state to the contrary that "China is already a socialist society."

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In a report released this week [ed. – August 13], the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) describes what it calls a growing "surveillance-industrial complex" in which the US government is increasingly relying on the private sector to collect personal information about US citizens and residents.

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Sportswear companies have negotiated $81 million worth of licenses from the International Olympic Committee, allowing them to adorn their products with the Olympic emblems. Behind the five inter-twined rings and the Athens 2004 kotinos laurel wreath insignia, hidden from the eyes of the world, non-union, underpaid labor will be sewing the shirts, gluing the shoes, and putting zippers to running suits and track apparel branded as Olympic in working conditions that would make even the most highly trained athlete sweat.

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