Month: October 2008

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Howard Zinn: Vote for Obama But Direct Action Needed

The Real News Network October 30, 2008 The Real News Network

Howard Zinn says vote against McCain, vote for Obama. Even though Obama does not represent any fundamental change, he creates an opening for a possibility of change. Obama will not fulfill that potential for change, unless he is enveloped by a social movement, which is angry enough, powerful enough, insistent enough, that he fills his abstract phrases about change with some content. We need direct action, because only that kind of indignation is going to have some affect on the people in Washington. read more

May 1st Protest at General Dynamics

Vermonters Stand Up to War Profiteer General Dynamics

Jonathan Leavitt October 29, 2008 Jonathan Leavitt

Whether Barack Obama or John McCain wins the election, war profiteer and military contractor General Dynamics will be well represented in the next administration. That was one of the messages from a group of peace economy activists speaking at a radical bookshop in Montpelier, Vermont on Monday; John McCain has a General Dynamics lobbyist, Rob Chamberlin, working for his campaign. And that "voice for change" Barack Obama? According to the NY Times, James S. Crown, a board member of General Dynamics, is on Obama's national finance committee. With these kinds of connections, General Dynamics' war profiteering will likely continue well into the next presidency - but not if a group of Vermont peace activists gets its way.

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Tracking Your Every Move: ‘Enhancing’ Driver’s Licenses at the Cost of Privacy

Christopher Parsons October 28, 2008 Christopher Parsons

Provincial and state governments in North America are proposing to 'enhance' driver's licenses in coming years by including a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips in them. These 'enhanced' licenses emit unique identifiers and will be optional when they are first available to the public, though they will be required to enter the United States using a driver's license beginning in July 2009. The proposed Enhanced Driver's Licenses (EDLs) are intended to be associated with border security, but are also accompanied with concerns linked to individuals' reasonable expectations of privacy.

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Tenuous Agreement on Maintaining U.S. Troops in Iraq

Phyllis Bennis October 27, 2008 Phyllis Bennis

Despite the recent surge of attention to the U.S.-Iraqi negotiations over an agreement to keep U.S. troops in Iraq for years into the future, the resulting agreement or lack of agreement is likely to have little actual impact on the occupation. The negotiations are being conducted by representatives of President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki - neither of whom actually want the U.S. troops to leave.