Yesterday, as a member of the Financial Services Committee, Congressman Bernie Sanders heard testimony from Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez and from HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. The hearing primarily focused on the Bush Administration's proposal to slash federal investments in our nation's towns, cities, and states -which is not surprising from an Administration that is attempting to dismantle almost every federal program for low and moderate income Americans.

What Congressman Sanders did find surprising was the Orwellian nature of the testimony from Secretary Gutierrez and the shameless degree to which the Bush Administration is prepared to turn truth on its head. In his prepared opening remarks, Secretary Gutierrez stated that America is experiencing "tremendous economic prosperity." Really? What America is Secretary Gutierrez living in?

Has the Secretary visited with any of the 21.9% of children in America who are living in poverty? Or did he mix us up with Denmark where virtually 100% of children live poverty-free lives.

Has the Secretary visited with any of the 4 million Americans that have entered the poverty ranks since President Bush was first elected, or is he only attending cocktail parties at country clubs with the rich and famous?

Has the Secretary visited with any of the 5 million Americans who have lost their health insurance since President Bush was first elected?

Has the Secretary ever met any of the 3.5 million Americans who will experience homelessness this year including 1.35 million children and 500,000 veterans? more....

April 9, 2005

On the eve of the 2nd anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, March 18th, 2005, the Pentagon released its National Defense Strategy of the United States of America, in which it made clear its views on international law. The document states "Our strength as a nation will continue to be challenged by those who employ a strategy of the weak, focusing on international fora, judicial processes and terrorism." Douglas Feith, the outgoing undersecretary of defense for policy, explained that "the arguments some people make try to, in effect, criminalize foreign policy."

Who is criminalizing U.S. foreign policy? Does Feith think people will believe that victims of U.S. torture are trying to criminalize U.S. policy. Is Maher Arar, the Canadian engineer who was kidnapped by the U.S. government and tortured for 10 months in Syria and is now bringing a lawsuit against the U.S. just trying to criminalize U.S. foreign policy? Are the prisoners in Guantanamo who have sued the U.S. to obtain the constitutionally guaranteed right to legal representation trying to criminalize U.S. foreign policy? No. Make no mistake. George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and their co-conspirators are the ones guilty of criminalizing foreign policy. more....

April 8, 2005

The 1,130 soup kitchen guests, as they're respectfully called, began gathering outside the church doors an hour early, curling around the corner in a long line to await a free main meal - their safety-net highlight in another day of being down and out, part of the working poor, or surviving somewhere in between. more....

April 7, 2005

April 6, 2005

By Deborah Davies

They are just some of the victims of wholesale torture taking place inside the U.S. prison system that we uncovered during a four-month investigation for BBC Channel 4. Itâs terrible to watch some of the videos and realise that youâre not only seeing torture in action but, in the most extreme cases, you are witnessing young men dying.Ê

The prison guards stand over their captives with electric cattle prods, stun guns, and dogs. Many of the prisoners have been ordered to strip naked. The guards are yelling abuse at them, ordering them to lie on the ground and crawl. ÎCrawl, motherf****s, crawl.âÊ

If a prisoner doesnât drop to the ground fast enough, a guard kicks him or stamps on his back. Thereâs a high-pitched scream from one man as a dog clamps its teeth onto his lower leg.Ê

Another prisoner has a broken ankle. He canât crawl fast enough so a guard jabs a stun gun onto his buttocks. The jolt of electricity zaps through his naked flesh and genitals. For hours afterwards his whole body shakes.Ê

Lines of men are now slithering across the floor of the cellblock while the guards stand over them shouting, prodding and kicking.Ê

Second by second, their humiliation is captured on a video camera by one of the guards.Ê more, including video....

April 5, 2005

....Two years ago, the major part of the war in Iraq was all about bombarding us with smart bombs and high-tech missiles. Now thereâs a different sort of war- or perhaps itâs just another phase of the same war. Now weâre being assailed with American media. Itâs everywhere all at once.

It began with radio stations like Voice of America which we could access even before the war. After the war, there were other radio stations- ones with mechanical voices that told us to put down our weapons and remain inside our homes, ones that fed us American news in an Iraqi dialect and ones that just played music. With satellite access we are constantly listening to American music and watching American sitcoms and movies. To be fair- itâs not just Iraq that is being targeted- itâs the whole region and itâs all being done very cleverly.

April 4, 2005

April 10, 2005


April 9, 2005


April 8, 2005


April 7, 2005


April 6, 2005


April 5, 2005


April 4, 2005

Archives

On April 3, 2005, Barbara and I went to see the Klezmatics, with guest Joshua Nelson, Jewish gospel singer. To quote the concert program, "Their soul-stirring Jewish roots music recreates klezmer in arrangements and compostions that combine Jewish identity and mysticism with a contemporary zeitgeist and a postmodern aesthetic. Since their founding in New York City's East Village in 1986, the Klezmatics have celebrated the ecstatic nature of Yiddish music with works by turn wild, spiritual, provocative, reflective and danceable." The concert was phenomenal.