World-News

The Associated Press's economics writer, Jeannine Aversa, reports, "The economy nearly sputtered out at the end of the year and is probably faring even worse now amid continuing housing, credit and financial crises."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032708E.shtml



Equity Loans as Next Round in Credit Crisis

Vikas Bajaj, reporting for The New York Times, writes: "Little by little, millions of Americans surrendered equity in their homes in recent years. Lulled by good times, they borrowed - sometimes heavily - against the roofs over their heads. Now the bill is coming due."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032708F.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=housing
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=credit+crises
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=equity+loans
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jeannine+Aversa

http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0327-01.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+deaths

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/27/7912/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Norman+Solomon

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/27/7934/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McCain
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Elana+Schor

Für das Fortkommen der IKB muss vor allem der Steuerzahler bluten.
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/27/27593/1.html

http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/roadless_ID_0308?rk=y7%5fXhB91i9IxE



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=roadless

The editors of The New York Times write, "With foreclosures surging, the last thing the nation needs is another government-hosted meeting where mortgage lenders pledge once again to do their utmost to help distressed borrowers stay in their homes - and then go back to the business of foreclosure."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032708P.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=foreclosure
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=mortgage

Justine Sharrock reports for Mother Jones: "When I first set off to interview the rank-and-file guards and interrogators tasked with implementing the administration's torture guidelines, I thought they'd never talk openly. They would be embarrassed, wracked by guilt, living in silent shame in communities that would ostracize them if they knew of their histories. What I found instead were young men hiding their regrets from neighbors who wanted to celebrate them as war heroes."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032708N.shtml

--------

In Iraq, Was I a Torturer?

By Justine Sharrock

When 27-year-old Ben Allbright returned from Iraq, he was treated like a hero. But he is haunted by the "harsh interrogations" he oversaw.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19615.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=interrogation
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=war+heroes

The Associated Press reports: "Behind the Pentagon's closed doors, US military leaders told President Bush Wednesday they are worried about the Iraq war's mounting strain on troops and their families. But they indicated they'd go along with a brief halt in pulling out troops this summer."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032708M.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=strain+on+troops

Declan Walsh reports for The Guardian UK: "The Bush administration is scrambling to engage with Pakistan's new rulers as power flows from its strong ally, President Pervez Musharraf, to a powerful civilian government buoyed by anti-American sentiment.... On Tuesday, senior coalition partner Nawaz Sharif gave the visiting Americans a public scolding for using Pakistan as a 'killing field' and relying too much on Musharraf."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032708L.shtml

--------

Pakistanis' anger over U.S. 'meddling'

Pakistanis expressed growing outrage today over the timing of a visit by two senior U.S. envoys who landed even before foes of U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf could name a new Cabinet, decrying the visit as American "meddling."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5652337.html



A chill ushers in new diplomatic order in Pakistan

If it was not yet clear to Washington that a new political order prevailed here, the three-day visit this week by America's chief diplomat dealing with Pakistan should put any doubt to rest.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/28/asia/28pstan.php


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pakistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sharif
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Musharraf
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Declan+Walsh

Agence France-Presse reports: "Heavy fighting erupted in a bastion of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's militia in Basra on Thursday, witnesses said, as military operations against gunmen in the southern city entered a third day."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032708J.shtml



Thousands in Baghdad Protest Basra Assault

James Glanz and Graham Bowley for The New York Times report, "In direct confrontation with the American-backed government in Iraq, thousands of supporters of the powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia took to the streets of Baghdad on Thursday to protest the Iraqi Army's assault on the southern port city of Basra, as intense fighting continued there for a third day."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032708R.shtml



Stalled Assault on Basra Exposes the Iraqi Government's Shaky Authority

Patrick Cockburn, reporting for The Independent, writes: "Instead of being a show of strength, the government's stalled assault is demonstrating its shaky authority over much of Baghdad and southern Iraq. As the situation spins out of Mr. Maliki's control, saboteurs blew up one of the two main oil export pipelines near Basra, cutting by a third crude exports from the oilfields around the city."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032808B.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Basra
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Moqtada
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mahdi+Army
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Shiite+cleric
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Maliki
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=James+Glanz
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Patrick+Cockburn

http://groups.google.de/group/freepage-news/t/a88c67f7558d8601?hl=en


Informant: Jon Carlson



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+oil
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Big+Oil
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Dreyfuss
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Michael+Klare

http://groups.google.de/group/freepage-news/t/f34929608b491f76?hl=en



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=CodePink
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=anniversary
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=4,000

http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1224&thisview=item



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McCain
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney

Council nets over £5,000 in rent

MOBILE phone masts located in Mexborough netted Doncaster Council more than £5,000 in rent last year.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that Orange paid DMBC £1,738 for its mast at Mexborough High School while T Mobile shelled out £3,500 for its masts at nurseries in the town.

Across the borough as a whole Doncaster Council made £72,871.75 from eleven masts.

Read More...
http://www.southyorkshiretimes.co.uk/news/Profits-from-phone-masts-fuel.3914724.jp

--------

Phone masts net council £72,000

Campaigners raise fears about health

By Kate Liptrot

MOBILE phone masts in public areas such as schools, nurseries and council buildings netted Doncaster Council more that £70,000 in rent last year.
But campaigners remain concerned that the masts could cause long term health problems after claims of cancer clusters around masts in other parts of the country.

In total, Doncaster Council made £72,871.75 from the eleven masts located at Rossington High School, Mexborough High School, Mexborough Nurseries, Council House, Bentley ITEC and the racecourse.

Read More...
http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/free/Phone-masts-net-council-72000.3921785.jp

„Ein Besucher unserer Website, der ungenannt bleiben möchte, hat uns ein Papier zur Verfügung gestellt, in dem er nachweist, dass die Bundesrepublik Deutschland mit ihrem ausufernden Niedriglohnsektor eindeutig das in der Europäischen Sozialcharta festgeschriebene Recht auf ein gerechtes Arbeitsentgelt konterkariert. Wir übernehmen dieses Papier in redigierter Form…“ Artikel vom 20. März 2008 bei forced labour http://www.forced-labour.de/archives/706


Aus: LabourNet, 27. März 2008



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Niedriglohn
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sozialcharta

„Wir die „Unabhängige Bürgerinitiative für ein Referendum über den EU – Vertrag !“ fordern Sie auf zur Mithilfe im Kampf, um die Demokratie in Europa. Ein Zusammenschluss von österreichischen Bürgerinitiativen und Organisationen veranstalten am 29.03.2008 in Wien eine Demonstration für ein Referendum über den EU – Vertrag. Wir als unabhängige Bürgerinitiative, ein Zusammenschluss von Studenten, die durch einen Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Schachtschneider aufmerksam geworden sind, haben beschlossen eine Unterstützungsdemonstration zu veranstalten und für ein Referendum in Deutschland zu kämpfen…“ Aus dem Aufruf von Unabhängige Bürgerinitiative "Für ein Referendum über den EU-Vertrag!"

Siehe dazu:

Demo in Berlin für ein Referendum über den EU-Vertrag!

Wir treffen uns um 13 Uhr an der Weltzeituhr, laufen dann eine kleine Runde. Um 14 Uhr gibt es eine Kundgebung. Ende ist gegen 15 Uhr. Siehe das Flugblatt zur Demo (pdf) http://eu-vertrag-stoppen.de/Bilder/demoberlin.pdf

Demo in Essen für ein Referendum über den EU-Vertrag!

Samstag, 29.03.2008. Start: Willy-Brandt-Platz (hinterm Bahnhof) um 11 Uhr, Abschlusskundgebung: 12.30 Uhr Kennedyplatz. Siehe das Flugblatt zur Demo (pdf) http://eu-vertrag-stoppen.de/Bilder/demoessen.pdf


Aus: LabourNet, 27. März 2008

--------

"Diese Ermächtigungsklauseln lassen schon an schlimmere Zeiten denken"

Ein Interview mit Professor Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider zum Lissabon-Vertrag, Teil 1.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/28/28372/1.html



Aufrüstungsgebot, EuGH und Korruptionsanreize

Ein Interview von Peter Mühlbauer in telepolis vom 23.07.2008 mit
Professor Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider zum Lissabon-Vertrag, Teil 2.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/28/28379/1.html



Weltwirtschaftliches Wirken der EU, Parteienstaat und Ethnogenese

Ein Interview mit Professor Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider zum Lissabon-Vertrag, Teil 3.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/28/28391/1.html



Politiker, Journalisten und Wähler in der Authentizitätsfalle

Was für eine erfolgreiche Karriere in Politik und Wirtschaft unentbehrlich ist.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/28/28396/1.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=EU-Vertrag
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Lissabon
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Schachtschneider

Artikel von Elmar Altvater in Freitag vom 28.03.2008 http://www.freitag.de/2008/13/08130101.php

Aus dem Text: „…Anders als beim Pokern kommt beim Börsenspiel die Zentralbank zum Zug und rüstet die Spieler mit neuem Spielgeld aus, so dass aus der Kredit- eine Preisinflation wird. Die Zentralbanken und die Aufsichtsbehörden konnten oder wollten das nicht verhindern. Ansonsten hätten sie den Zockern auf die Finger klopfen müssen - stattdessen verkünden sie harte Eingriffe gegen die Preisinflation. Lohnforderungen, um das Dahinschmelzen von Realeinkommen zu verhindern, will der EZB-Präsident unbedingt zinspolitisch unterbinden. Die Spekulationssuppe sollen also diejenigen auslöffeln, die am wenigsten dafür können, dass sie ungenießbar ist. Wenn die Steuerzahler für die Verluste gerade stehen, sollen sie auch die Institute kontrollieren dürfen, durch die Vergesellschaftung oder Verstaatlichung von Banken etwa…“


Aus: LabourNet, 27. März 2008



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Finanzmärkte

Ärzte wollen sich dem Einfluß der Konzerne entziehen und sich stärker am Wohl der Patienten orientieren. Ein Interview von Gitta Düperthal mit Eckhard Schreiber-Weber, Facharzt für Allgemeinmedizin in Bad Salzuflen und Vorstandsmitglied der Initiative »Mein Essen zahl’ ich selbst« (MEZIS), in der jungen Welt vom 26.03.2008 http://www.jungewelt.de/2008/03-26/050.php

Siehe dazu:

»Mein Essen zahl’ ich selbst« (MEZIS)

Homepage der Initiative unbestechlicher Ärztinnen und Ärzte http://www.mezis.de/


Vier Konzerne beherrschen Klinikmarkt

„Nun hat Deutschland selbst die USA überrundet. In keinem anderen vergleichbaren Industrieland werden so viele und so große Krankenhäuser an private Investoren verkauft. Dies belegt eine aktuelle Erhebung der Gewerkschaft Verdi, die dem Tagesspiegel vorliegt. Der Marktanteil renditeorientierter Klinikkonzerne liegt hierzulande inzwischen bei 14,1 Prozent - in den Vereinigten Staaten sind es 14,0 Prozent. Höher ist die Rate nur noch in Frankreich, wo allerdings in den vergangenen zehn Jahren kein einziges Krankenhaus mehr privatisiert wurde. Außerdem gehörten die Häuser dort meist kleinen lokal verwurzelten Trägern, von denen die Hälfte gar keinen Erwerbscharakter habe, sagte Verdi-Experte Niko Stumpfögger. Kliniken mit mehr als 70 Betten befänden sich in Frankreich fast ausnahmslos in öffentlicher Trägerschaft…“ Artikel im Tagesspiegel vom 21.03.2008 http://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/Gesundheit-Klinken;art271,2498745


Aus: LabourNet, 27. März 2008



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pharmaindustrie

National Review
by the editors

03/26/08

Democrats have long been counting on the Iraq war being a big political bonus this fall, but that is by no means guaranteed. McCain is a staunch supporter of the war who is not associated with its initial failures because he was warning against them from the beginning. As early as November 2003 he gave a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations that identified the need for a surge in Iraq, even if no one was calling it that yet...

http://tinyurl.com/27w2d7


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McCain
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Council+on+Foreign+Relations
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=troop+surge

Consortium News
by Nat Parry

03/26/08

Mainstream American journalists and politicians have a new excuse for why they were so oblivious to the Iraq War risks five years ago — that no one could have foreseen the likely disaster. But that simply isn’t true: many brave people spoke up but were ignored...

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/032608b.html?menu=


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Nat+Parry

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

03/26/08

Some workers are doing it at Dunkin’ Donuts, at Hilton hotels, even at Marine Corps bases. Employees at a growing number of businesses are starting and ending their days by pressing a hand or finger to a scanner that logs the precise time of their arrival and departure — information that is automatically reflected in payroll records...

http://tinyurl.com/24wms7


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=fingerprint

The Hartford Courant's Monica Polanco reports: "AFSCME has filed a complaint against the Connecticut Bar Association, alleging that it fired an employee for union organizing."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/032608LB.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=AFSCME
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=trade+unions

In The Albany Times Union, Ed Ludwig says, "The furious moans and groans about gasoline and heating oil prices have been met with a public-be-damned attitude from the oil industry - and nothing is being done to rectify the problem."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/032608EC.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=oil+price
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Big+Oil

This week, Bill Moyers Journal asks, "Forty years after race riots in Detroit, Newark and dozens of other cities stunned the nation, has anything changed?"

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032608U.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Moyers

The Associated Press reports: "About 60 protesters opposed to the US Federal Reserve's help in bailing out Bear Stearns (BSC.N) entered the lobby of the investment bank's Manhattan headquarters on Wednesday, demanding assistance for struggling homeowners."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032608T.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bear+Stearns
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Federal+Reserve
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=homeowners

Truthout's Maya Schenwar and Christopher Kuttruff report: "As conflicts swell in Basra and Baghdad, the Maliki government, supported by the Bush administration, claims it is subduing terrorism and cracking down on militia violence. However, the attacks on the Sadr forces may be primarily motivated by electoral politics and oil control, according to policy experts following Iraq's civil conflict closely."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032608R.shtml

--------

Iraq ruling elite needs US troops to stay in power

Sabah al Nasseri: Gov. attack on Sadr movement meant to prevent their election victory.

http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1254&thisview=item

--------

Why al-Maliki Attacked Basra

By Juan Cole

The three reasons the Iraqi prime minister launched his ill-fated assault on the Sadrists of southern Iraq.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19666.htm



Who Is Iraq's "Firebrand Cleric"?

Veteran Middle East correspondent Patrick Cockburn explains why Muqtada al-Sadr is no maverick.

By Justin Elliot

If there were elections tomorrow he would probably sweep Shia Baghdad and most of the south. He's not going to take over the whole of Iraq because Iraq is such a divided place these days. The Kurds are never going to let the Arabs take over their chunk, and the Sunni are going to fight like tigers to keep the Shia from taking over their areas.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19665.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Basra
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Maliki
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Muqtada
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sadrists
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=militia+violence
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sadrists
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+oil
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Big+Oil
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Maya+Schenwar
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Christopher+Kuttruff
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Juan+Cole
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Patrick+Cockburn

The price of the average home was 11 per cent lower than a year ago, the S&P Case-Shiller index showed yesterday, as repossessed homes flood the market - and economists predict that the price adjustment may belittle more than half over.

http://tinyurl.com/3bppuy



Down day on Wall Street

Stocks tumbled Wednesday as weak economic news, spiking commodity prices and a bearish analyst note on investment firm earnings gave investors a reason to bail after the recent advance.

http://tinyurl.com/3yv5sr


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=price+slump
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=credit+crisis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stocks+tumble

Video

Hillary Clinton has been challenged over claims she came under sniper fire while visiting Bosnia.

http://tinyurl.com/39bhwn


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Hillary

"Pakistan cannot be made a killing field for the interests of others,'' Sharif told reporters yesterday after meeting with U.S. government officials in Islamabad, the capital.

http://tinyurl.com/3bqnxx


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sharif
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pakistan

The US blames the latest attacks on rogue Mahdi Army elements tied to Iran, but analysts say the spike in fighting with Shiite militants potentially opens a second front in the war when the American military is still doing battle with the Sunni extremists of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0326/p01s13-woiq.html



Mahdi Army Stands Firm in its Basra Neighborhoods

By Juan Cole

The US faced a dilemma in Iraq. It needed to have new provincial elections in an attempt to mollify the Sunni Arabs, especially in Sunni-majority provinces like Diyala, which has nevertheless been ruled by the Shiite Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. But if they have provincial elections, their chief ally, the Islamic Supreme Council, might well lose southern provinces to the Sadr Movement.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19625.htm


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mahdi+Army
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=sadr
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Shiite+militants
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sunni+extremists
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Basra
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Juan+Cole

By M K Bhadrakumar

The coming few weeks are going to be critical in the standoff between the United States and Iran as the upheaval in the Middle East reaches a turning point. And all options do remain on the table, as the George W Bush administration likes to say, from military conflict to a de facto acceptance of Iran's standing as the region's dominant power.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19610.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Middle+East
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bhadrakumar

http://groups.google.de/group/freepage-news/t/1b740a015a7e5d7d?hl=en



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=ACLU

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Thompson_Files_The_US_Navy_and_Iran_999.html


Informant: Kev Hall



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/03/26/iraq_debate/index.html


Informant: Lew Rockwell



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Glenn+Greenwald

http://www.lewrockwell.com/lind/lind138.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/lind

http://www.lewrockwell.com/bovard/bovard55.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=9/11
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/bovard

http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north616.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/north

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rozeff/rozeff199.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/rozeff

http://journal.telospress.com/cgi/reprint/2007/139/170.pdf


Informant: Lew Rockwell



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Hurricane+Katrina
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=New+Orleans