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Why Blacks Keep Quiet About Obama
“Comedian Jon Stewart asked Obama, if elected, ‘Will you pull a bait and switch and enslave the white race?’ Kinda funny. Except that’s precisely the sentiment that underlies white race fear.” Read Kevin Gray’s compelling report in the new edition of our subscriber-only newsletter. PLUS Would the US politically exploit Myanmar’s killer cyclone? Would Laura Bush be the pitcher in this dirty game? You bet. Read Peter Lee’s savage dispatch. PLUS You breathe, you die. Jeffrey St Clair on L.A.’s Weapon of Mass Destruction. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.Order CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year !
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Today's Stories June 5, 2008 Patrick Cockburn June 4, 2008 Eric Walberg Gary Leupp Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff George Wuerthner Victor M. Rodriguez Remi Kanazi Stephane Luçon Farzana Versey Laray Polk Website of the Day June 3, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts / Mike Whitney Steve Early Manuel Otero George Bisharat Nikolas Kozloff Dan Bacher Website of the Day June 2, 2008 Uri Avnery Nikolas Kozloff Allan J. Lichtman Malini Johar Schueller Robert Weissman Peter Morici Manuel Garcia, Jr. John Ross Ahmad Al-Akhras Website of the Day May 31 / June 1, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Gary Leupp Stan Cox Rannie Amiri P. Sainath Binoy Kampmark Robert Fantina Seth Sandronsky Corporate Crime Reporter Anthony DiMaggio Karl Grossman Matt Reichel Paul Myron Hillier Andy Worthington David Yearsley Daniel Cassidy Charles Thomson Gary Corseri Wajahat Ali Ron Jacobs Poets' Basement Website of the Day
May 30, 2008 Bassam Aramin Andrew Cockburn Saul Landau Nikolas Kozloff Robert Sandels Dave Lindorff Martha Rosenberg Harvey Wasserman Doug Giebel Shaun Harkin Website of the Day May 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair Nikolas Kozloff Col. Dan Smith Karl Grossman William S. Lind Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff David Macaray Chris Genovali Laura Carlsen Website of the Day May 28, 2008 Wajahat Ali Ralph Nader Brian McKenna Corporate Crime Reporter Brian Cloughley Eric Walberg Michael Dickinson Ijaz Khan Website of the Day May 27, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Greg Kafoury Jean Bricmont Tim Wise Ricardo Alarcón Stephen Soldz Andy Worthington Alan Singer Richard Neville Susie Day May 26, 2008 Uri Avnery Bill Quigley Col. Dan Smith Cindy Sheehan Marjorie Cohn Fred Gardner Raymond J. Lawrence Harvey Wasserman Moncia Benderman David Rovics Website of the Day May 24 / 25, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Barbara Rose Johnston Nikolas Kozloff Adriana Kojeve Robert Fantina Dave Lindorff David Yearsley Nelson P. Valdés Kathleen M. Barry John Ross Allison Kilkenny Fred Gardner Elizabeth Schulte Daniel Gross Christopher Brauchli Richard Rhames Daniel Cassidy Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
May 23, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Alan Farago Conn Hallinan Mark Engler George Wuerthner Kamran Matin Sandy Boyer / Robert Weitzel Cindy Sheehan Liaquat Ali Khan Website of the Day
May 22, 2008 Vijay Prashad Joanne Mariner Sharon Smith Jeff Birkenstein Brendan McQuade Peter Morici Niranjan Ramakrishnan Dave Zirin Ron Jacobs Stephen Lendman Website of the Day May 21, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair Nikolas Kozloff Alan Farago Dave Lindorff David Model Eric Walberg Franklin Lamb Kenneth Couesbouc Website of the Day
May 20, 2008 Ralph Nader Uri Avnery Patrick Irelan Ray McGovern David Macaray Chris Genovali Ibrahim Fawal Christopher Ketcham Andy Worthington Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day May 19, 2008 Saul Landau Paul Craig Roberts Brian McKenna Patrick Cockburn B. R. Gowani Dr. Trudy Bond Cindy Sheehan John Mohawk Remi Kanazi Robert Day Website of the Day May 17 / 18, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Tim Wise Andy Worthington Robert Fantina Karim Makdisi Harry Browne John Ross Dave Lindorff Robert Weissman Laray Polk David Yearsley Ron Jacobs Paul Quinnett Sam Bahour Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Dr. Susan Block Kim Nicolini Jeremy Scahill Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement
May 16, 2008 Stephen Soldz Jonathan Cook Paul Craig Roberts Christopher Brauchli James L. Secor Franklin Lamb Linn Washington, Jr. Dave Lindorff
May 15, 2008 Stan Cox Jeff Halper Greg Moses John Ross Ron Jacobs Binoy Kampmark Eve Spangler Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day May 14, 2008 Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Reza Fiyouzat Felice Pace Hamdan A. Yousuf / Dania S. Ahmed Robert Weitzel Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Missy Comley Beattie Neve Gordon Dr. Susan Block Website of the Day May 13, 2008 David Rosen Alan Farago Saul Landau Saree Makdisi Paul Craig Roberts Andy Worthington Brother Bede Vincent Linda Mamoun David Macaray Website of the Day
May 12, 2008 St. Clair / Frank Ziga Vodovnik Gary Leupp Frankln Lamb Suzanne Baroud Martha Rosenberg Dave Zirin Carl Finamore Peter Morici Richard Rhames Website of the Day May 10 / 11, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Franklin Lamb Ciara Gilmartin Diane Farsetta Kent Paterson Alan Farago Rannie Amiri Patrick Irelan Robert Fantina Nikolas Kozloff George Ciccariello-Maher David Yearsley Ron Jacobs John Holt David Michael Green Ben Terrall Kim Nicolini Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement
May 9, 2008 Franklin Lamb Andy Worthington Benjamin Dangl Mark A. Huddle David Macaray Dave Lindorff C.G. Estabrook Matt Kosko Robert Weissman Michael Dickinson Website of the Day May 8, 2008 Sharon Smith Saul Landau Laura Carlsen Binoy Kampmark Kenneth Couesbouc Liaquat Ali Khan Franklin Lamb Sen. Russ Feingold George Wuerthner Richard W. Behan Adam Federman Website of the Day
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June 5, 2008
Schwarzenegger Declares Drought, Calls for New Dams The Parching of CaliforniaBy DAN BACHER Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a drought proclamation and called for "immediate action" at a press conference at the State Capitol in Sacramento on Tuesday, using the event to campaign for his plan to build more dams and "improve conveyance"- a euphemism for the construction of the peripheral canal - to increase water exports from the California Delta to agribusiness and southern California. “For the areas in Northern California that supply most of our water, this March, April and May have been the driest ever in our recorded history,” Governor Schwarzenegger said. “As a result, some local governments are rationing water, developments can’t proceed and agricultural fields are sitting idle." The final snow survey of 2008 in May by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) showed snowpack water content at only 67 percent of normal and the runoff forecast at only 55 percent of normal. Before gathered members of the press and the governor's staff including DWR Director Lester Snow, and Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy, the Governor signed an Executive Order proclaiming a "statewide drought" and directing the Department of Water Resources and other entities to take "immediate action" to address the situation. The order also directs DWR "to coordinate with other state and federal agencies and departments to assist water suppliers, identify risks to water supply and help farmers suffering losses, and expedite existing grant programs to help local water districts and agencies conserve." The Governor then renewed his call for more dams and conveyance as proposed in his $11.9 billion water bond boondoggle for "water management investments" that he claimed will "address population growth, climate change, water supply reliability and environmental needs." The proposal includes $3.5 billion dedicated to the development of additional storage, including the controversial Sites Dam in the Sacramento Valley and the Temperance Flat Dam on the San Joaquin River that a coalition of recreational fishing groups, commercial fishing organizations, Indian Tribes and environmental groups are opposing. The Governor said he would prefer to get his infrastructure plan passed through the Legislature, but did not rule out putting it on the ballot as an initiative "if that's what it takes." "But let me tell you, I prefer to do the same thing as we have done successfully in 2006, where we sat down and we negotiated and we worked together and out came $37 billion of infrastructure. And now we are rebuilding our roads and we are building extra classrooms, expanding our universities, building career-tech educational facilities and also fixing our levees," he said. He emphasized, " And I don't see water as a political issue. I think that there are Democrats that want to drink safe and reliable water and there are Republicans that want to drink safe and reliable water and they want to have a guarantee that they'll have water 20, 30 years from now. So I think it shouldn't be a party issue, it should be a people's issue and it should be an issue that is facing farmers and business people. Ordinary people, everybody is suffering when we have no water. So this is why I think Democrats and Republicans must get together and solve this problem once and for all." Traci Sheehan Van Thull, Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation League, criticized Schwarzenegger for using "outdated strategies" to deal with the water crisis. She encouraged the Governor to embrace measures that will allow California to grow without increasing demand on already over-allocated water sources. "We need strong policies that can decrease water demand, provide climate-resilient water supplies, and truly provide relief for the communities, fisherman, businesses and ecosystems that are suffering from lack of reliable water," noted Sheehan. I found it revealing that Schwarzenegger failed to mention the impact of the salmon fisheries disaster now ravaging California and Oregon coastal and inland communities, the result of abysmal water management by the state and federal governments, in his press conference, press releases and the executive order. While agribusiness, industry and municipalities face water shortages this year, Central Valley fall run chinook salmon and California Delta fish species have faced a "man made" drought, in spite of some good water years, since 2002. The Sacramento River fall run chinook population has declined from over 800,000 fish in 2002 to less than 60,000 this year, prompting the complete closure of salmon fishing off the Oregon and California coast for the first time in history, along with the closure of Central Valley rivers to the take of salmon except for one small stretch of the Sacramento River in November and December. The sudden and unprecedented decline of Sacramento River fall chinook salmon parallels the collapse of delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile shad and threadfin shad. These Delta "pelagic" - open water - species have declined because of three reasons (1) increases in water exports, (2) toxic chemicals and (3) invasive species, according to a team of state and federal scientists. More recently, studies point to high levels of ammonia in Sacramento River water as a factor in the collapse of salmon and other California fish species. There is no doubt we are in a drought. However, we need to use this crisis as an opportunity to mandate increased water conservation and to consider retiring drainage impaired land on the West side of the San Joaquin Valley. Sheehan's characterization of the Governor's water plans as "outdated strategies" is absolutely correct. Rather than relying on outdated strategies such as new dams and "improving" conveyance - building the peripheral canal- we need to adopt new strategies based around water conservation, sustainable agriculture and developing new sources of water such as desalination, provided it is done in an environmentally friendly and energy efficient manner. Dan Bacher can be reached at: Danielbacher@fishsniffer.com
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