|
|
home / subscribe / donate / tower / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events
|
Bush's Worst Appointment Yet? Read Jeffrey St Clair's blazing expose of the new Interior Secretary nominee , Dirk Kempthorne, and make up your own mind. Even in the dingy history of Idaho's predators, Kempthorne stood proud as the dingiest of them all. Now he's poised to seize his place in history. Will he be the sleaziest Interior Secretary in history, sleazier than Watt, fouler than Fall? More on the great Israel Lobby debate! Norman Finkelstein cuts a new path, asks "Are the Neo-Cons really committed Zionists?" "Bliss was it in that dawn" Not in Michigan! Raymond Garcia describes Dem governor's appalling plan to scapegoat youth and teachers. Plus the full print version of Virginia Tilley's savage dissection on this website of the double-standard onslaught on Hamas by the US and EU. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! |
|
Today's Stories May 25, 2006 Robert Bryce May 24, 2006 Michael Donnelly Patrick Cockburn Lucinda Marshall Dave Lindorff Shmuel Rosner Moshe Adler Heather Gray Pratyush Chandra Paul Craig Roberts Floyd Rudmin Website of the Day
May 23, 2006 Paul Craig Roberts Sharon Smith Sunsara Taylor Joel Whitney Alice Cherbonnier Ron Jacobs Kristen Ess Patrick Cockburn Website of the
Day
May 22, 2006 Alan Maass William Blum Elaine C. Hagopian Stan Cox Chris Floyd Alexander Cockburn Website of the Day
May 20 / 21, 2006 Patrick Cockburn Kathy Kelly Ralph Nader Hugh O'Shaughnessy Greg Grandin P. Sainath Greg Moses Stephen Philion Landau / Hassen Fred Gardner Missy Comley
Beattie Michael Dickinson Seth Sandronsky Luke Young John Zavesky Ben Tripp Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement
May 19, 2006 Winslow T. Wheeler José Pertierra John Ross Dave Lindorff Jeff Juel Alan Farago Eric Johnson-DeBaufre José Martî Jonathan Cook Website of the
Day
May 18, 2006 Bill Simpich Patrick Cockburn Christopher Brauchli Nora Barrows-Friedman Victoria Buch Eric Ruder George Wuerthner Juan Santos Website of the Day
May 17, 2006 Lenni Brenner Carlos Villarreal Larry Everest CounterPunch News Service Lee Sustar Anthony Papa William S. Lind Bruce K. Gagnon JoAnn Wypijewski Website of the Day
May 16, 2006 Ward Churchill Ted Honderich Paul Craig Roberts Annie Nocenti Charles V. Peña Ron Jacobs Norman Solomon Harvey Wasserman Michael George
Smith Harry Browne Website of the
Day
May 15, 2006 Alexander Cockburn William Blum Tanya Golash-Boza
and Douglas A. Parker Dave Lindorff Debra Schaffer
Hubert Patrick Cockburn Tom Turnipseed Ken Livingstone Gideon Levy Mickey Z. Jeff Faux Website of the Day
May 13 / 14, 2006 Vijay Prashad Joan Roelofs Kathy Kelly Michael Neumann Dr. Susan Block Daniel Cassidy Christopher Reed Mike Roselle Saul Landau Robert Fisk Ralph Nader Evelyn Pringle Fred Gardner Stanley Heller Conn Hallinan Valentina Palma Novoa David Krieger Col. Dan Smith Christopher Brauchli Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
May 12, 2006 Michael Snedeker Dave Lindorff Leah Fishbein
/ RJ Schinner Brian Kwoba Chris Kromm Kai Diekmann David Swanson Virginia Tilley Website of the
Day
May 11, 2006 Sunsara Taylor Jonathan Cook Tariq Ali Wayne S. Smith Mike Whitney Pratyush Chandra Joshua Frank Mickey Z. Francis Boyle Edward S. Herman
/ David Peterson Website of the
Day
May 10, 2006 Werther Larry Birns / Michael Lettieri Ramzy Baroud Kevin Zeese Evelyn Pringle Amira Hass Michael Donnelly Ron Jacobs Sharon Smith Website of the Day
May 9, 2006 Ray McGovern M. Shahid Alam Moshe Adler Walter MIgnolo Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor William S. Lind Todd Chretien Dave Lindorff Ishmael Reed Website of the
Day
May 8, 2006 Kate McCabe Paul Craig Roberts Col. Dan Smith Norman Solomon Ingmar Lee Robert Jensen Ricardo Alarcon Will Youmans / M. Kay Siblani Alexander Cockburn Website of the
Day
May 6 / 7, 2006 Jeffrey St. Clair Ariel Dorfman Joe Allen Fred Gardner Jeff Taylor Saul Landau Stephen Philion Trish Schuh Ralph Nader Robert Fisk Paul Cantor John Holt James Ryan Lawrence R. Velvel Greg Moses Laray Polk Ron Jacobs Ben Tripp Mickey Z. Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the Week
May 5, 2006 Vijay Prashad Robert Fisk David Swanson Mearsheimer / Walt Dave Lindorff Sarah Ferguson CounterPunch
News Service Corporate Crime Reporter Website of the
Day
May 4, 2006 John F. Sugg Jonathan Cook Roger Burbach Chris Dols Christopher Brauchli Tony Swindell Website of the Day
May 3, 2006 Robert Bryce Paul Craig Roberts James Petras Lee Sustar David Bolton Joshua Frank Jeffery R. Webber Website of the
Day
May 2, 2006 Evelyn Pringle Tariq Ali Saul Landau Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs Sen. Russell
Feingold Anthony Papa Website of the
Day
May Day, 2006 Norman Finkelstein Christopher Reed Michael Donnelly Dave Zirin Mike Whitney Gilad Atzmon Missy Comley Beattie Alexander Cockburn Website of the
Day
April 29 / 30, 2006 Peter Linebaugh Ralph Nader Robert Bryce Rev. William
Alberts Lee Sustar John Chuckman Eric Ruder Seth Sandronsky Ron Jacobs Ben Tripp Fred Gardner Don Monkerud Tommy Stevenson Lettrist International Contratiempo St. Clair, Vest
and D'Antoni Poets' Basement Website of the
Weekend
April 28, 2006 James Ridgeway Ramzy Baroud Sarah Knopp William S. Lind Werther April 27, 2006 Winslow T. Wheeler Robert Fisk Juan Santos Robert Jensen Dave Lindorff Jose Pertierra
April 26,2006 Robin Philpot Sherry Wolf Pratyush Chandra Joshua Frank Gary
Leupp Bill
Quigley
April 25, 2006 Gary
Leupp Paul
Craig Roberts Linda
S. Heard Ralph
Nader Mike
Whitney Michael
Donnelly Sharon
Smith Website
of the Day
April 24, 2006 Tim
Wise John
Stanton Dave
Lindorff Steve
Shore Amadou
Deme Mickey
Z. Ralph Nader Alexander
Cockburn Website
of the Day
Subscribe Online
|
May 25, 2006 An Interview with Malik RahimFinding Common Ground in New OrleansBy BOB WING Malik Rahim is a longtime activist and co-founder of Common Ground. Founded last September, Common Ground is a grassroots collective that has provided 80,000 people in and around New Orleans with legal, health, bio-remedial, immigrant and eviction defense services. Global Exchange will present Mr. Rahim, along with Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano and anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, with a Human Rights Award on June 1 at the Gift Center Pavilion in San Francisco. Q. Eight months after Hurricane Katrina, what do you see as the most pressing problems facing people in New Orleans? A. The biggest is housing. We know now that the trailers provided by FEMA are a joke. They cost close to $35,000 each to purchase and be assembled for a family to use. Yet these trailers won't even withstand a tropical depression or any winds above 40 miles per hour. We'd have to get out of these trailers. Where will these folks be housed? Thousands of trailers would be flying around. Placing all these trailers in a hurricane prone area was insane. There was so much more that could have been done with that money. The other big problem is crime. Crime is on the increase here in New Orleans. We are still trying to arrest or prosecute our way out of crime, and it's not working. We need to have programs. Right now I would say the main cause of crime is depression. You have people here under this kind of stress after coming back and losing everything. We're seeing an increase in domestic violence, so the need for safe shelters for women is crucial. Drug and alcohol addiction are on the rise. Right now I don't believe the city is even operating a drug treatment center. Q. What's gone well in New Orleans? Some schools are open and functioning. The city is doing well economically in the sense that there are plenty of jobs. There is a shortage of workers here unlike anywhere else. We probably have almost zero unemployment. If you want a job and can find a place to stay, you can get a job here in New Orleans. But half of the people in the City have recovered and they really don't give a damn about the other half. Their lives are back in order and that's all that counts to them. Q. What is your assessment of the policies and actions of the federal, state and local authorities toward the disaster and its survivors? A. I see the federal, state and local governments as absent. But in the community-based grassroots organizations, I see the essence of America. The things that they are doing are phenomenal. If the government would work with the grassroots organizations, we could have a whole army of volunteers here in this city over the summer. But they refuse to make a call or to assist those who are doing so. At the current rate, things are getting worse, not better as it relates to our wetlands, to establishing emergency shelters, cleaning out homes, removing the debris. We need an army of students and other volunteers to come help do these things. Q. Tell us your views about the recent mayoral election. A. I believe that it showed that the African American community will not give up despite the attempt at mass disenfranchisement. I did not support Ray Nagin, but that's who the majority of people have chosen to be the mayor. So whatever ill feelings I have about Nagin I have to place to the side, because that's our mayor and I will have to support him. We are not here to just have an adversarial relationship with him and his administration. We are going to be critical and try to highlight some of the things that we think are the most important in bringing the city back together--like I said, housing, education, crime abatement, recreation, schools. But these are things that not only he, but the entire City Council, our entire state need to get behind. The problems of New Orleans are enormous. It's going to take the entire City to make the federal government do what they are supposed to do. We can't just depend upon them. We need a working collaboration, one that is led by Nagin's administration, but a broad working collaboration. We have positive relations with the majority of the City Council members in that their offices are open to us and they understand that we are here to help people who are in crisis. We have a real good working relationship with four of the seven Council members, especially with two newly elected members, James Carter and Arnold Fielkow. They are willing to sit down and explore innovative ways of dealing with old problems. Q. What is the mission of Common Ground and what are its main activities? A. Our main purpose is to offer assistance to anyone or any community caught in the same dilemmas from the hurricane, whether national or natural disaster. Our collective is based upon environmental justice. There cannot be social justice without environmental justice. If we don't save our environment, it doesn't matter what rights we have. If we can't breathe the air and drink the water we're doomed. Since our inception last September, we have served almost 80,000 people with a variety of services. We have served over 50,000 in New Orleans alone, and the rest in many different parishes in and out to the bayou, even Gretna. We operate three health clinics and are in the process of opening a couple more. Our health clinic offers no cost or low cost, high quality health care. We have a legal clinic and an eviction defense clinic. We have an immigrant workers' program. We have a bio-remediation and a gardening program, and we are still doing food distribution. We are gutting out homes and we are just being there for the residents. We have about 300 people working in our projects. There are no paid people at Common Ground. None. We take care of housing and food for all volunteers, but no one is paid. We try to make the living conditions for our volunteers as good as what the people who live here have. But coming to New Orleans and volunteering with Common Grounds is not going to the Ritz Carleton. We spend about ten percent of the resources we receive on that and the rest, 90 percent, go to direct service. Q. How do you deal with the environmental issues in some of New Orleans' neighborhoods, especially those that are really located badly from an environmental point of view? A. It's up to the communities. We follow their lead. If they want to build, we want to show them other alternatives about how to build. We want them to have sustainable options. What we're saying is that we can't just look at past ways if we are going to survive in the future. If your house received eight feet of water, then maybe when you rebuild you ought to raise your home twelve feet. Maybe you need to understand the need to clean all the toxins out of your home; to get rid of all of the pesticides that you have under your kitchen cabinet or in your garage. Maybe you should look at planting trees to keep your home cool. There are ways that we can live within this area, regardless of whether it is prone to flooding. We need a new way of living. Q. What are some of the most important things people from outside the Gulf area can do to help Katrina survivors? A. People need to be coming here because almost seventy percent of the American population lives in flood prone areas. Look at the floods in New England now. So people need to come down here and learn the skills that can be used for first responding. It's not only New Orleans that's in harms way this hurricane season. Even New York can be hit by hurricanes. It behooves us to learn how we can keep the standard of living that we all enjoy, but learn to live within nature rather than always trying to challenge it or control it. How can we survive within nature and make this a better place? How can we mobilize all the expertise and all the knowledge that exists. How can we use it? The main thing is to develop ties throughout the hurricane region so we can assist each other. How can we work with New York to make sure if New York is threatened with a hurricane, that people can come to New Orleans and other places to find safety. How can we develop a mechanism to work together? Can we establish teams of ten in every community that can prepare themselves to work together to assist in case of emergency? Bob Wing was the founding editor of War Times
newspaper and ColorLines magazine. He can be reached at: bobwing@sbcglobal.net To volunteer with or contribute
to Common Ground, visit www.commongroundrelief.org
or speak to Kone at 504-368-6897.
|
from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org. |