default.html Issue 46
Table of Contents

Unapproved Broadcasts, Unapproved News

Editorial by Jeff Elliott The Monitor's new look accompanies a new partnership with local public broadcaster KRCB


New Study Proves Global Warming, Say Researchers

The study, published in in the April 23 issue of the journal Nature, places in a new context long-standing controversy over the relative roles of human and natural changes in the climate of past centuries


Unprecedented Melting at South Pole

by Ron Kenner For weeks now, scientists who monitor satellite images of Antarctic ice have been witnessing a silent drama: an iceberg three times as long and nearly twice as wide as Manhattan has sloughed off -- and another ice sheet as large as Connecticut is also ready to collapse


Death of James Earl Ray Leaves Unanswered Questions

by Bill Johnson It seems unlikely now that anyone will ever be able to answer definitively whether Ray, acting alone, fired the shot that killed King, but new evidence suggests a conspiracy, and recently members of King's family said they now believed Ray was an innocent pawn


Reporters Sue TV Station, Claim Firing Over Suppressed Story

by Jeannette Batz Monsanto attorney sent a warning letter to the CEO of Fox News, which led to nine months of postponements, bitter arguments and 73 rewrites before the experienced reporters were unexpectedly fired


Fear and Favor in the Newsroom

by Beth Sanders and Randy Baker Documentary about intimidation of journalists finds itself censored by public broadcasting


PBS' Pro-Corporate Stance Hurts Union

by Chris Potter Pittsburgh filmmaker Tony Buba says, "I had to really document for PBS that there hadn't been any union money at all going into the production. I was told that if there had been union support, it would probably have been seen as a conflict of interest." Buba wonders if he would have encountered the same level of scrutiny if he'd been funded by USX (formerly U.S. Steel). "Every show I see is underwritten by corporations," he says. "But a union can't underwrite anything. No one else gets this kind of scrutiny."


OK Bomb Grand Jury Nears One-Year Milestone

by Bill Johnson Approaching its one-year anniversary in June after hearing from more than 100 witnesses, the county grand jury investigating the federal building bombing has told the lawyer who defended Timothy McVeigh that he will be summoned to testify


Global Forest Crisis Accelerating

by Danielle Knight Increasing demand for paper and other wood products -- combined with government corruption, illegal logging and the burning of thousands of hectares for quick profit -- is turning local forest destruction into a global catastrophe, warns a new environmental study


Round Valley Marks Third Anniversary of Shooting Deaths

by Nicholas Wilson In his first opportunity to participate in memorial ceremonies since his aquittal, Bear Lincoln spoke at a twilight ceremony honoring the anniversary of Leonard "Acorn" Peters' death, held at the spot where his friend was killed by sheriff's deputies


Baby Milk Companies Routinely Violate Global Pact

by Judith Perera Respected British Medical Journal compares strategy to tobacco companies


EPA to Regulate Heavy Pollution From Livestock Factory Farms

by Danielle Knight Farms, some with more than 500,000 animals, produce as much raw sewage as some middle-sized cities but without the same waste treatment requirement


America's 10 Most Endangered Rivers Named

by Elaine Hopkins Animal manure and other farm runoff pose threats to the Potomac and Pocomoke rivers in Maryland, the Chattahoochee River in the Southeast, the Kansas River in Kansas, and Apple River in Illinois Causes include factory poultry and hog farms, proposed mines and dams


Backlash Growing To NIKE Empire

by Don Hazen Negative publicity has eroded the corporation's public image, but Nike only has itself to blame. Consider the Asian factory tour by former UN Ambassador Andrew Young, who came through with a positive report. After Nike had taken out full page newspaper ads trumpeting the Young findings, a devastating internal memo about unsafe working conditions at Nike plants was leaked to the press


NIKE Sued For Allegedly Lying to Public About Sweatshops

Suit demands Nike turn over any profits made in violation of California's unfair business practice laws and undertake a "corrective" advertising campaign to explain how its shoes are produced


NIKE Drops Charity Donation After Sweatshop Criticism

by Mark Bourrie After a spat with members of the Ottawa City Council, Nike withdrew a $50,000 donation to build a new basketball court in a poor area of the Canadian capital


NIKE Supports Women Consumers But Not Workers, Say Groups

by Danielle Knight While running ads that promote its image as a champion of women's rights, NIKE is charged with mistreating its Asian factory workers -- most of whom are young women


NIKE Dictates The Newsroom

Commentary by Jim Hightower Making editorial decisions at TV networks, S.F. Examiner


Two Books Document Rise of Nike

by Doug Nufer The company was built on "years of simple honesty" -- and suing the shit out of anyone in their way


U.S. Chinese Garment Workers Fight for Lost Wages

by Farhan Haq Chinese workers in New York's garment districts are fighting back against factory owners who regularly deny them back wages -- a practice, they say, which continues despite union representation and U.S. labor laws


U.N. Health Agency Fails to Suppress Pot Report

by Meg Murphy A leaked World Health Organization report revealing that pot is healthier than booze and cigarettes has left officials in Geneva scrambling to downplay its significance


Asylum Seekers at Risk by U.S. Immigration

by Jim Lobe People with legitimate claims to political asylum in the United States are being mistreated and denied their rights under tough immigration rules introduced one year ago, according to U.S. human rights groups


Indonesia Notebook: Activists are Disappearing

by Andreas Harsono Fears are mounting in Indonesia nowadays over the fate of scores of activists who have been rudely taken into custody by plainclothes intelligence officers and others who have just mysteriously disappeared over the last two months


Tensions in East Timor Rising Amid Indonesia Crisis

by Sonny Inbaraj Reports of torture and murder by army troops on island suffering worst drought in 50 years


Public Served Despite Fire and Flood

by Randolph T. Holhut Imagine trying to produce your newspaper when the plant is first inundated by flood waters, and then is gutted by fire. How do you keep publishing when your computers, your presses, your photo files and clippings -- virtually everything you use to put out a paper each day -- is destroyed, along with the homes of almost all of your employees?

Publisher's Memoir Needs Scrutiny, Not Prize

by Norman Solomon Read as a memoir, Katharine Graham's book is a poignant account of her lifelong struggle to gain confidence, power and stature among the nation's elites. Read as history, however, it is deceptive


Hucksterism as Culture

by Norman Solomon Bob Dole is now a huckster for such products as Dunkin' Donuts and the Visa Check Card, joining actors and cartoon characters in the great sellout. Underneath all the enthusiasm for the commercializing process is the notion that just about everyone and everything is for sale, or should be -- that our "net worth" is what we own rather than who we are


RICO Conviction of Anti-Abortion Zealot is Bad News

by Steve Chapman When the famously contentious anti-abortion activist Joseph Scheidler was found this week to be a racketeer, few people came to his defense. But even his worst enemies ought to ask themselves if they really want this sort of justice. The head of the Pro-Life Action League is being punished under a law that may someday come back to haunt those on the other end of the political spectrum


Immigration is an Issue for More Than the Sierra Club

by Donella H. Meadows Immigration opponents are accusing the Sierra Club leadership of denial, disinformation, and dirty tricks. They in turn are being called racist and elitist


Letters

DPT vaccine, stopping drugs, HBO soft peddles the Nazi connection, Canada's justice for Native people


Michael Moore is a Dangerous Man

by Patrick Dobson With his new movie, The Big One, following Roger & Me, Downsize This! and TV Nation, Moore has asked questions that journalists, both in the mainstream and alternative press, aren't asking. And he has been able to make money doing it


Ward Valley Protest Passes Milestone

by Dan Hamburg Former Congressman writes from Ward Valley, where protesters have occupied the site where the state of California wants to construct a "low-level" nuclear dump


IBM and the Fine Art of Bribery

by Alexander Cockburn Argentina has warrants out for senior IBM executives, and that country is convulsed with this story -- but in the United States, all is sedate calm


The Paula Jones Card

by Alexander Cockburn Both Demos and Republicans will have to face the fallout of her claims in upcoming elections


Error 404: Information Missing From Your Daily News

Oil companies planned a disinformation campaign about global warming, Columbian tribal chief wins award, neo-Nazi party wins stunning German victory, Native hero given harsh jail sentence in Canada



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