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Special Issue: the Collapse of America Paul Craig Roberts gives CounterPunchers the definitive data on what is happening to jobs in America. Not just blue collar jobs. Middle-class, white collar jobs. Roberts' stunning probe is the first true picture of what the U.S. economy is fast becoming and of the savage class wars that lie ahead. Plus Mike Ferner on what it really means to investigate war crimes in Iraq. 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! |
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Today's Stories August 5 / 6, 2006 Virginia Tilley August 4, 2006 Ralph Nader Brian Cloughley Eliza Ernshire Roger Assaf George Bisharat Remi Kanazi Laura Carlsen Niranjan Ramakrishnan Derrick O'Keefe Mickey Z. Col. Dan Smith Website of the Day
Jonathan Cook Uri Avnery Saree Makdisi Robert Fisk Farrah Hassen Nicola Nasser Ron Jacobs Mitchel Cohen Seth Sandronsky Bruce K. Gagnon Alexander Cockburn
John Ross Chip Mitchell Saul Landau Naseer Aruri Winslow T.
Wheeler Matthias Gebauer Joshua Frank Bill Quigley Manuel Yang Shamai Leibowitz David Himmelstein Lara Marlowe Website of
the Day
August 1, 2006 Michael Neumann Robert Fisk Omar Barghouti Marc Levy Diana Barahona / Jeb Sprague Claud Cockburn Ross Eisenbrey Dave Lindorff John Chuckman Francis Boyle Phil Doe Stephen Soldz Website of the Day
July 31, 2006 Jonathan Cook Uri Avnery Robert Fisk Amina Mire Marjorie Cohn Sibel Edmonds / William Weaver John Ross Stanley Rogouski Gideon Levy Ron Jacobs James Ridgeway
/ Alicia Ng Brian Tokar Alexander Cockburn
July 29 / 30,
2006 Michael Neuman Vijay Prashad Ramzi Kysia Werther Robert Fisk Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader Rachard Itani Eduardo Galeano Gary Leupp Eve Poretsky John Chuckman Fred Gardner Juan Santos Punyapriya Dasgupta Liaquat Ali
Khan Israel Shamir William A.
Cook Stanley Heller Dave Lindorff Moshe Adler Susie Day Pat Williams Anthony Papa John V. Whitbeck Jackie Corr Myles Palmer Tom D'Antoni Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
July 28, 2006 Jonathan Cook Uri Avnery Renee Bowyer Robert Fisk Patrick Cockburn Ramzy Baroud Don Fitz Elaine Cassel David Price Mike Whitney Mickey Z. Niranjan Ramakrishnan Charles Glass Website of
the Day
July 27, 2006 Tanya Reinhart Saul Landau Ramzi Kysia Tom Barry Joseph Grosso Sharon Smith Gale Courey
Toensing Christopher Reed Werther Yusuf Mansur Richard Harth Website of the Day
Norman
Solomon Barbara
Olshanksy David
Nally Jonathan
Cook Patrick
Cockburn William
Blum Joshua
Frank Gabriel
Kolko Daniel
Cassidy Michael
Dickinson Robert
Fisk Uri
Avnery Website
of the Day
July 25, 2006 Harry
Browne Marjorie
Cohn Robert
Bryce Sharat
G. Lin George
Bisharat CounterPunch
News Desk Zena
El-Khalil Larry
Lack Mike
Mejia Ashraf
Isma'il Website
of the Day
July 24, 2006 Mark
Levy Robert
Fisk Maher
Osseiran Paul
Craig Roberts Patrick
Cockburn Website
of the Day
July 22-23, 2006 Jonathan
Cook Paul
Craig Roberts Gilad
Atzmon Robert
Fisk Ralph
Nader Fred
Gardner Christopher
Reed Dr.
Susan Block Najla
Said Uri
Avnery July 21, 2006 George
Galloway P.
Sainath Aseem
Shrivastava Alexander
Cockburn Website
of the Day July 20, 2006 William
S. Lind Robert
Jensen John
Ross Tom
Hayden Paul
Craig Roberts July 19, 2006 Patrick
Cockburn Trish
Schuh Jonathan
Cook Vicente
Navarro July 17 / 18 2006 Mike
Whitney Kathleen Christison Atrocities in the Promised Land
July 14 / 15,
2006 Alexander Cockburn Tanya Reinhart Robert Fisk Daniel Cassidy Winslow Wheeler Hugh O'Shaughnessy M. Shahid Alam William S. Lind Ramzy Baroud Gilad Atzmon Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Samar Assad Ron Jacobs Lee Ballinger Walter Brasch Dave Lindorff Clifton Ross Tom Crumpacker Ricardo Alarcon William Hughes Susie Day Farrah Hassen Poets' Basement
July 13, 2006 Rev. William
Alberts Ramzi Kysia Rep. John P. Murtha Radford / Santos Stan Cox Saul Landau José
Pertierra Website of
the Day
July 12, 2006 John Ross John Stauber Robert Boston Wayne S. Smith John Graham Kevin Prosen Jonathan Cook Website of
the Day
July 11, 2006 Dave Lindorff Dave Zirin Mokhiber / Weissman Amira Hass Clare Hanrahan Brian Cloughey Felice Pace Raed Jarrar Website of the Day
July 10, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Uri Avnery Roger Burbach Ron Jacobs Joshua Frank Missy Comley Beattie Alexander Cockburn
Stephen Green Paul Craig
Roberts Greg Moses Ralph Nader Laura Carlsen Conn Hallinan John Chuckman Fred Gardner Dr. Tod Mikuriya Pierre Tristam Lucinda Marshall David Swanson Heather Gray Dave Zirin
/ John Cox Mark Engler Michael Lettieri Ron Jacobs Jamal Juma' Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement
July 7, 2006 John Ross July 6, 2006 Nick Dearden John Stanton Ralph Nader Laray Polk Saul Landau Joshua Frank William S. Lind Adelman / Lindorff Jonathan Cook Website of
the Day
Mike Whitney Saul Landau Ramzy Baroud Missy Comley Beattie Arthur Neslen Vincent Maruffi Paul Cantor Paul D. Johnson David Price
Col. Dan Smith Chris Floyd Marjorie Cohn James Brooks Medea Benjamin Matt Reichel Elisa Salasin Rick Wilhelm Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
July 3, 2006 Robert Bryce Dr. Bouthaina Shaban Julia Olmstead Dave Lindorff Andres Gomez Alan Singer Alexander Cockburn
Paul Craig
Roberts Stephen T.
Banko Daniel Cassidy Fawzia Afzal-Khan Jeff Taylor John Ross Greg Moses Laura Carlsen Justin E.H.
Smith Brian Cloughley Anthony Papa Mike Ferner Jerry Tucker Jane Goodall / Rick Asselta Phyllis Pollack Poets' Basement
June 30, 2006 Marjorie Cohn Heather Williams Burbach / Cantor Nick Dearden Michael J.
Smith Brian Concannon Virginia Tilley
Bill Quigley Ron Jacobs Paul Craig
Roberts June 28, 2006 Jorge Mariscal Greg Moses Mark Weisbrot Ramzy Baroud Dave Lindorff William S.
Lind Mike Ferner Zoltan Grossman
Marjorie Cohn Benjamin /
Jarrar William Hughes Doug Giebel Uri Avnery Alexander Cockburn
June 26, 2006 Don Santina Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Rafael Rodriguez-Cruz Evelyn Pringle Jonathan Cook
June 23, 2006 Youmans / Erakat Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Col. Dan Smith
June 22, 2006 Marjorie Cohn Winslow T.
Wheeler Tanya Reinhart Mike Marqusee William Blum
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Weekend
Edition Pot ShotsDr. Denney Sues the DEA, et alBy FRED GARDNER "This is to keep Big Brother out of my exam room," says Philip A. Denney, MD, explaining the civil suit that attorney Zenia Gilg filed on his behalf Aug. 3 in the U.S. District Court for Eastern California. Denney had been sent documents by a sympathizer revealing that in the Fall of 2005, two individuals -an agent of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau, and an informer controlled by the Redding Police Department- had obtained his approval to medicate with cannabis by providing false histories. The documents also made reference to a "DEA case number," apparently from another investigation of his practice. "Doctors have to trust their patients when taking a history," says Denney. "Violating that trust has a chilling effect on my ability to practice ethical and thorough medicine." Denney's suit claims that he was a target of "an investigation involving the DEA acting under Administrator Karen Tandy, ATF acting under director Carl J. Truscott, Shasta County District Attorney Gerald Benito, the Shasta County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff James Pope, the Redding Police Department and Police Chief Leonard Moty," all of whom are named as defendants. Denney says that the protections afforded doctors by the First Amendment and upheld by a federal-court injunction in the Conant v. Walters case have been ignored by the agencies named in the suit. Earlier this year, when Denney first learned about and protested being lied to by law-enforcement agents, Police Chief Moty and DA Benito contended that it was incidental to their investigation of a local dispensary, Dixon Herbs. As reported in the Redding Record-Searchlight: "The purpose of visiting Denney's office, Redding police Chief Leonard Moty said, was to obtain signed statements from a physician that could then be used to purchase pot at Dixon Herbs. 'Many people use (the medicinal marijuana law) as a means to get around illegal use of marijuana,' Moty said. The investigation into Dixon Herbs 'demonstrates how easy it is (to get a recommendation). It speaks a little bit to the credibility of the examination.' "Both Moty and District Attorney Jerry Benito said Denney was never the focus of the investigation. 'Under the medicinal marijuana laws, we cannot touch the doctors in any way,' Benito said... The aim of the investigation was to build a case against Dixon Herbs, Benito said. 'If he feels like somehow he was used or exploited to get a recommendation, perhaps he should review his procedures.'" Denney said at the time that whether or not he was their primary target, the visit to his office by law enforcement operatives left him feeling "violated and threatened." He added, "The effect of Moty's move against Dixon Herbs is that a thousand or so patients in the Redding area are forced onto the black market to buy their medicine. Is that really what the chief of police wants? Even if Dixon Herbs was not 100 percent up to snuff, it was far better than the alternative and deserved to be worked with. That's what the law requires -safe and affordable access. The collusion between the state agencies and the feds is for no other purpose than to overturn the will of the voters." Denney has been licensed in California for almost 30 years and has never run afoul of the medical board. He has a cannabis-oriented practice with offices in Sacramento and Orange County, as well as Redding. "I'm confident I can convince a jury that my rights and my patients' rights were violated, and that government agencies have been conspiring to block the implementation of the medical marijuana law since it was enacted. This goes back to 1996, to [former attorney general] Dan Lungren's strategy of forcing doctors to appear in court and [former drug czar] Barry McCaffrey's threat to revoke Tod Mikuriya's license." Denney hopes to learn through the discovery process details of the DEA investigation into his practice. The suit cites ITAL Planned Parenthood v. Casey END ITAL as a case in which "the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that physician speech is entitled to First Amendment protection."
Vroman in the Gloamin' Terence Hallinan of San Francisco was the only district attorney in California who supported Prop 215 when it was on the ballot in 1996. When Norm Vroman was elected DA from Mendocino, Hallinan was grateful to have an ally. He came back from a meeting of the DAs Association with glowing words of praise for the principled Libertarian from up North. Albion activist Pebbles Trippet also spoke admiringly of Vroman -and still does. Even David Moore and Mike Schneider of the MendoHealing collective, whom Vroman has charged with cultivation of cannabis for sale, think that the DA has been misinformed about the nature of their operation. They say that if only he knew how many poor people were beneficiaries... Everybody seems to think Norm Vroman is committed to full implementation of California's medical marijuana law. I don't -not after listening to Vroman at a meeting of the Medical Marijuana Advisory Board in Fort Bragg July 28. I heard a man trying to pass off stubbornness for integrity and electoral pandering for a righteous worldview. "My philosophy," Vroman said more than once, "is that if you're from Mendocino County and you're providing marijuana for people in Mendocino County, you won't have a problem." This elicited a knee-jerk cheer from some in attendance -New Settlers who now consider themselves Original Gangstas. They reminded me of anti-immigrant vigilantes in the Southwest who come on like native Americans. When did these gringos' forbearers fall off the pickle boat? David Moore's "crime" is that he moved to Fort Bragg in 2002 and provided high-quality marijuana to people in San Francisco at a low price. Mike Schneider's "crime" is that he worked for MendoHealing. (He thought it was fulfilling the purpose of Prop 215. Schneider, an idealist, earned a fraction of what a grower with his skills could have made if his goals were commercial.) People in San Francisco, especially the poor, don't have the set-up or the training to grow high-resin cannabis. They don't grow their own wine grapes or tomatoes, either. Vroman's comments about letting people in other counties "fend for themselves" might evoke applause from some Mendoland chauvinists, but it's disconnected from socioeconomic reality and mean-spirited. Vroman said that "people driving up the 101 corridor" to get marijuana have "created a lot of problems." He didn't specify what the problems have been. He doesn't express contempt for people who drive up 101 to visit the wineries and drive home with a case of Merlot from Handley or Maple Creek. Are the wine people better drivers, or are the "problems" the result of law enforcement profiling and stopping the marijuana people? Pebbles Trippet heard in Vroman's comments an "openness" to re-examine the law created by SB-420 (which protects "Qualified patients... and the designated primary caregivers of qualified patients... who associate within California in order to collectively or cooperatively cultivate marijuana for medical purposes"). What I heard was a zealous prosecutor intent on taking down MendoHealing himself or seeing the case transferred to the U.S. attorney. With the sole exception of Terence Hallinan, officials from every branch of government at every level -local, state, and federal- opposed Prop 215. The voters passed it by a 56-44 margin, rejecting a lifetime of War on Drugs propaganda. We were trying to tell the government something about marijuana -that it's no BFD, it can even be good for you- based on our collective experience and understanding. Our important message has been ignored. The authorities who opposed Prop 215 in '96 have succeeded in severely limiting its implementation and are actively trying to roll it back. They have the nerve to justify the rollback in the name of "what the voters envisioned." They claim that the voters didn't envision doctors approving marijuana for the treatment of depression and other "hardly terminal diseases." They claim the voters didn't envision distribution through Cannabis Buyers Clubs... How would they know why the people voted "Yes?" They all voted "No." Fred Gardner is the editor of O'Shaughnessy's
Journal of the California Cannabis Research Medical Group. He
can be reached at: fred@plebesite.com
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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.                    |
