The case of death row inmate Troy Davis on hold

Written By Jesse Muhammad

“I want you to know that the trauma placed on me and my family as I have now faced execution and the death chamber three times is more punishment than most can bare”, said Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis in a recent letter to his supporters.

Mr. Davis was granted a third stay of execution and his defense team was granted 20
minutes in an oral argument in early December to demand that the federal courts grant them the opportunity to file an appeal for their client based upon what they call evidence of clear innocence. If two of the three judges decide that there is merit to their argument, the court may allow Mr. Davis to seek an evidentiary hearing in the
Savannah district that first convicted him. Read more...

Where are the concrete programs to address Black on Black violence?

Written by Jesse Muhammad

A Northwestern study released at the close of last year showed that violent crime nationally is declining but unveiled an increase in murders by and of young Black men in America. When focusing on the period between 2000-01 and 2006-07, the study found Houston leading a list of 28 U.S. cities, with a 139 percent increase in the number of young Black suspected in killings by offenders ages 14-24.

A coalition of community leaders, clergymen, and celebrities joined forces at a January 15 press conference to announce an emergency Black male summit with a critical element of block by block follow up. Read more...

Rangel To Push Universal Military Draft Legislation Once More

Steve Watson

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) has said that he will most likely reintroduce legislation to reinstate the universal military draft this year.

Asked if he plans to introduce the legislation again in 2009, Rangel last week said, “Probably … yes. I don’t want to do anything this early to distract from the issue of the economic stimulus.” according to an article featured in The Hill yesterday. Read more...

Here is a clip of Rep. Rangel talking about reinstituting the draft back in 2006. Asked if here was serious about introducing the bill, Rangel replied, "You can depend on that."

U.S. Democrat Rangel to reinstitute the draft

Black Caucus Abandons King Legacy and Black Opinion, Votes For War on Gaza

by Glen Ford

It's hard to believe that a generation ago, the Congressional Black Caucus was known as "the conscience of the congress, a political and moral high ground long deserted by the current CBC, which has utterly collapsed under Israel-lobby pressure for the second time in three years.

All but two Black lawmakers voted either "Yes" or "Present" on a Resolution that absolved Israel for its crimes against humanity in Gaza - placing all blame on Hamas. In 2006, only two Black Caucus members opposed a Resolution supporting Israel's savage destruction if Lebanon's infrastructure and the killing of 1,000 people. Hypocritically turning their backs both on Black public opinion and on the work of Dr. King, whose name they invoke at every public opportunity, the CBC has put itself "out of the anti-war business," and well outside the mainstream of Black opinion on the Israel- Palestine question. Read more...

Top 11 Compounds in U.S. Drinking Water

The 11 most frequently detected compounds — all found at extremely low concentrations — were:

• Atenolol, a beta-blocker used to treat cardiovascular disease

• Atrazine, an organic herbicide banned in the European Union, but still used in the US, which has been implicated in the decline of fish stocks and in changes in animal behaviour

• Carbamazepine, a mood-stabilising drug used to treat bipolar disorder, amongst other things

• Estrone, an oestrogen hormone secreted by the ovaries and blamed for causing gender-bending changes in fish

• Gemfibrozil, an anti-cholesterol drug

• Meprobamate, a tranquiliser widely used in psychiatric treatment

Read more...

US veterans sue CIA for alleged drug and mind control experiments

Plaintiffs seek to force the government to contact all the subjects of the testing

The experiments have been the subject of congressional hearings, and in 2003 the US department of veterans affairs released a pamphlet that said nearly 7,000 soldiers had been involved and more than 250 chemicals used on them, including hallucinogens such as LSD and PCP as well as biological and chemical agents.

Lasting from 1950 to 1975, the experiments took place at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. According to the lawsuit, some of the volunteers were even implanted with electrical devices in an effort to control their behaviour. Read more...

Zimbabwe introduces $50 billion note

Zimbabwe's central bank will introduce a $50 billion note -- enough to buy just two loaves of bread -- as a way of fighting cash shortages amid spiraling inflation.

Zimbabwe's dollar is virtually worthless, with foreign currency now being used to purchase basic items.

The country's acting finance minister, Patrick Chinamasa, made the announcement in a government gazette released Saturday. Read more...

A LETTER FROM GAZA TO PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ

We can ask no more of you than you have already done - for you have proven that a nation cannot be cowed simply because it drives its own destiny, nor will a leader lose his throne for challenging imperialism. We salute the citizens of Venezuela for choosing President Chavez; and we commend you for being among the few leaders of this age who put people before politics. I may not live to honor our commitment to meet you; but our people will not rest until they have sent a delegation to meet the man who put politics aside, spoke with honor and acted with courage. Read more...

Related Articles

• Venezuela severs ties with Israel

• Chavez Turns Into Palestinian Hero

U.S. school segregation on the rise - report

By Matthew Bigg

Black and Latino students are educated in U.S. schools that are increasingly segregated, said a report on Wednesday that undercuts optimism about race in America surrounding the presidency of Barack Obama.

Blacks and Hispanics are more separate from white students than at any time since the civil rights  movement and many of the schools they attend are struggling, said the report by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California.  Read more...

The Folly of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Eric Copage

When most people think about Martin Luther King Jr. Day, images of the white dove of peace, silver scales for social justice and a rainbow coalition of clasped hands come to mind. When I think about the holiday, I see the grim apparel of shackles and chains African Americans were once forced to wear. To me the national celebration of Dr. King's birth is a symbol of the continued bondage of African Americans. Read more...

CIA warned Condi on Niger claim

By Jason Leopold

A high-ranking CIA official warned Condoleezza Rice in September 2002 that allegations about Iraq seeking yellowcake uranium from Niger were untrue and that she, as national security adviser, should stop President George W. Bush from citing the claim in making his case against Saddam Hussein’s regime, according to new evidence released by a House committee.

Nevertheless, the false Niger story showed up in Bush’s State of the Union Address on Jan 28, 2003, and Rice later joined other White House officials in blaming the CIA for failing to alert them about the dubious intelligence.  Read more...

FDA Scientists Complain About Corruption Inside The Agency

By Anna Boyd

A group of nine scientists at the Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to  President-elect Barack Obama and his transition team, asking for immediate intervention as the agency is “fundamentally broken” and fails to fulfill its mission.

“The purpose of this letter is to inform you that the scientific review process for medical devices at the FDA has been corrupted and distorted by current FDA managers, thereby placing the American people at risk,” read the six-page letter, written on the agency’s Center for Devices and radiological letterhead.  Read more...

From Oscar Grant to Barack Obama

By RON JACOB

If the state of black America could be summed up with the life of one individual, which of these men would we choose to represent that state? Barack Obama, who will become president of the United
States on January 20th, 2009, or Oscar Grant, whose life was ended by a police bullet on January 1st, 2009? The very fact of Grant's death shows the world that there is no post-racial America. In fact, it reminds us all that, despite the gains in the area of race in the United States, Barack Obama is the significant exception to the rule. Read more...

Wall Street Powerhouses Invested Alongside Madoff

By PAM MARTEN

For the past two decades, Wall Street watchers could count on four U.S. firms to land in the middle of every securities scandal. From Nasdaq price fixing to fake research to rigging the IPO markets to peddling toxic subprime assets, one could rest assured that Citigroup’s Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs would be heading the lineup. Their complete absence from the greatest Ponzi scheme in history raises the question: what did they know and when did they know it? Read more...

S.T.D. Rates Increasing in the U.S.

By RONI CARYN RABIN

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rates of infection with chlamydia and syphilis increased in the United States in 2007, the latest year for which data are available, The Los Angeles Times reports.

For several years, rates of gonorrhea infection have held study. Chlamydia infections, which can cause infertility in women, now top 1.1 million in the U.S., the highest figure since record-keeping began. Read more...

Virtually the Entire Dem-Controlled Congress Supports Israel's War Crimes in Gaza

By Stephen Zunes

Congressional leaders are advancing a radical view of international law that would allow powerful countries to get away with war crimes.

In a direct challenge to the credibility of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Red Cross and other reputable humanitarian organizations, an overwhelming bipartisan majority in both houses of Congress has gone on record supporting President George W. Bush's position that the Israeli armed forces bear no responsibility for the large and growing numbers of civilian casualties from their assault on the Gaza Strip. Read more...

Is Israel using illegal weapons, again?

Jonathan Cook

Is Gaza a testing ground for experimental weapons?

Israel appears to have used a range of controversial weapons during its attack on Lebanon in 2006. After initial denials, an Israeli government minister admitted that the army had fired phosphorus shells, and the Israeli media widely reported millions of cluster bombs being dropped over south Lebanon. There are also suspicions that Israel may have used uranium-based warheads. A subsequent inquiry by a British newspaper found elevated levels of radiation at two Israeli missile craters. Read more...

• 
  White Phosphorous and Dense Inert Metal Explosives: Is Israel Using Banned and Experimental Munitions in Gaza?

Brother Akbar Muhammad, International Freedom Fighter, Under Attack by the FBI

---

To My Family and Friends Visit Brother Akbar's site at: Friends of Akbar

Many of you are aware of the legal challenges that I am facing because I have received your inquiries and outpour of love and support. However, there are many different stories circulating. I have decided to share some of the details and clear up the rumors.

On September 17, 2007 the FBI visited my home in St. Louis with a search warrant. They confiscated my computers, packed and removed boxes of paperwork from my office and went through all of my personal belongings. In their effort to build a case against me, they contacted my family members, friends and business associates to ask questions about my travels overseas, my international contacts and other personal information. Shortly after September 17, I was accused of several indictable charges centered on the use of my Muslim names and other fiscal matters Read More

Madoff Avoids Jail, Remains in Penthouse (Tell me, are the laws for Jews different than the rest of us?)

By Alexis Garrett Stodghill

So, it turns out that the biggest swindler in Wall Street history will be allowed to stay in his $7 million apartment, even though he confessed to losing people $50 billion, and was caught mailing $1 million in jewelery to loved ones over the holidays. Madoff gets to rest his head in his own bed, while he and his lawyers bargain a way out of this mess -- at least for him.

The reasoning?  Read more...