Today, Members of the United States Congress enjoy a vast web of perquisites that benefit them personally as well as professionally.

http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=343


From Information Clearing House

U.S. officials have tried to demonize Evo Morales, a former leader of coca farmers and the country's first Indian leader, since he first came to prominence. He himself has called his Movement Toward Socialism a "nightmare" for Washington.

http://tinyurl.com/dkj54


From Information Clearing House

I wrote this post with a heavy heart, fully aware of the existence of millions of Americans who do not fit the gloomy picture the post portrays… but sometimes it may be more useful in the long run to face ugly conclusions.

http://iraquna.blogspot.com/2005/12/road-to-anti-americanism.html


From Information Clearing House

THE U.S. POLICY of "extraordinary rendition" has a human face, and it is mine.

By Khaled El-Masri

I am still recovering from an experience that was completely beyond the pale, outside the bounds of any legal framework and unacceptable in any civilized society. Because I believe in the American system of justice, I sued George Tenet, the former CIA director, last week. What happened to me should never be allowed to happen again.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11338.htm

http://www.counterpunch.org/jacobs12192005.html


Informant: John Johnson

From: "Kathy Guthrie" Friends Committee on National Legislation

Legislative Action Message

Save ANWR Today–Tomorrow Will Be Too Late! - FCNL

The Senate will decide the future of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), as early as tonight or tomorrow, and your senators will cast crucial votes. Please help to save ANWR today by calling them now!

Find the names and telephone numbers of your members of Congress by entering your zip code here:
http://capwiz.com/fconl/directory/congdir.tt Or call the Capitol Switchboard directly and ask to be connected to your members of Congress by name: 202-224-3121. Tell them to support the removal of ANWR from the military appropriations bill, H.R. 2863.

By contacting your senators today, you can persuade the Senate to stop its sneak attack on ANWR. After a failed attempt to pass drilling in ANWR through a filibuster-proof budget process, the Republican leadership shifted the ANWR measure into the military appropriations bill over the weekend. Your senators, regardless of their positions on the other measures contained within the military appropriations bill, now have the opportunity to require senate leadership to remove ANWR from the military appropriations bill. There is a strong chance that ANWR drilling can be blocked in the Senate if there is enough public outcry in the next 12 to 24 hours. You could make the difference.

Take Action

Your senators need to hear from you now to stop ANWR oil drilling!

Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Background

Drilling in ANWR furthers the dead-end energy policy of oil dependence. Promoting domestic oil production and consumption is no way to advance future peace and prosperity for our country. It makes our country and world less secure and is threatening to transform the global climate upon which we depend. Twenty-year government projections estimate U.S. oil consumption will rise sharply to 28 million barrels per day from the current rate of 20.5 million barrels per day. Many in Congress are wrongly focusing on domestic production’s potential to quench our growing thirst for oil, but the U.S. cannot possibly drill its way out of trouble. For long-term economic stability, national security, and to avoid future conflicts over energy the U.S. must reduce its oil dependence and consumption now.

Read an interfaith sign-on letter opposing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge-
http://www.fcnl.org/pdfs/Faith_Communities_ANWR_Letter.pdf

The Next Step for Iraq: Join FCNL's Iraq Campaign, http://www.fcnl.org/iraq/

Contact Congress and the Administration: http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/


Friends Committee on National Legislation
245 Second St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-5795 fcnl@fcnl.org * http://www.fcnl.org phone: (202)547-6000 * toll-free: (800)630-1330

We seek a world free of war and the threat of war We seek a society with equity and justice for all We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled We seek an earth restored.


Informant: Martin Greenhut

The unemployment rate among whites is holding steady at 4.3 percent, while the black unemployment rate climbed to a staggering 10.6 percent, according to the US Department of Labor. Black congressional leaders and some economists said the inability of black Hurricane Katrina evacuees to find jobs as a result of their displacement is a factor.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121905LA.shtml

The catch-22 of the American healthcare system is that while many people work "for the insurance," when they become too sick to work and are most in need of that insurance, they are most at risk of losing it. This is particularly true of workers at small companies, which are not covered by existing laws protecting workers' rights.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121905HA.shtml