Charities see an increase in aid applications

Despite reports of an improving economy, charities are experiencing an increase in the number of people asking for “help to pay the rent or feed their children.” At the Sullivan Center, requests for aid have doubled. North Fulton Community Charities is reporting that requests for rent money or food from the pantry are up about [...]

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New torture opinion issued

The Bush administration has issued a new directive retreating from its previously permissive view of torture. The new memo doesn’t repudiate the previous policy, which allowed interrogators to inflict pain approaching that of organ failure or death, but it does concluded that the 2002 memo was wrong when it found that only “excruciating and agonizing [...]

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Empty talk show outrage?

The Nation looks into the Oil for Food Scandal:
Listening to the cable pundits, you would never suspect that there is no proof at this point that Annan, or indeed anyone else at the UN, did anything wrong. Charges of corruption against UN official Benon Sevan are suspect at best, given that they come via Ahmad [...]

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Why we’re stingy

The NYT editorial page weighs in on the “Are We Stingy?” relief efforts debate and concludes that yes, we are. The paper contrasts the public perception that the U.S. gives 24% of its budget on aid to poor nations and the reality that we only spends a quarter of 1%. In 2003, America gave $16.2 [...]

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Is the U.S. too stingy with relief funds?

From Democracy Now!
President Bush has pledged to send $35 million in tsunami relief. To put the figure in perspective, Bush plans to spend $30 to $40 million for his upcoming inauguration celebration.
“The U.S. has spent an average of $9.5 million every hour on the war and occupation of Iraq. With a current price tag of [...]

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Does this mean that Bush is defending us with spitballs?

The NYT is reporting that in an effort to offset deficits and the costs of the war in Iraq, the Pentagon is considering “cuts in the Air Force’s program for the F/A-22, the most expensive fighter jet in history.” Where is Zell Miller now? (I wonder if he’ll be screaming about this from his new [...]

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In Ohio recount, Bush’s margin narrows

In the latest Ohio recount, spearheaded by Green and Libertarian, Bush’s vote margin shrunk by 318 votes, from 118,775 to 118,457. The NYT notes that “the state has become an emblem of continuing ailments in the nation’s electoral process, because of Election Day events like seven-hour lines that drove voters away from the polls, malfunctioning [...]

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U.S. to control more Iraqi oil and economy

The U.S. has “persuaded” the interim Iraqi government to cut social subsidies, reconsider past oil deals with France and Russia and allow U.S. companies full access to the nation’s oil reserves.
All this is part of a neo-liberal economic restructuring plan that emphasizes privatization of government entities, cuts to social spending and would prove a windfall [...]

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“Career soldiers solute Bush”

A Military Times Poll found that almost 66% of active duty U.S. soldiers approve of Bush’s handling of the situation, and 73% believe Washington is ”very” or ‘’somewhat likely” to succeed in Iraq.

60% of military respondents said Bush was right to invade Iraq
66% agreed or strongly that the military was stretched ”too thin to be [...]

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Evening news didn’t report forest rule change, gotta love the weekend/holiday news cycle

On December 22, 3 days before Christmas, the White House issued new rules to overhaul the 1976 National Forest Management Act, and allow managers of the nation’s 155 national forests to approve logging, drilling and mining operations without conducting environmental impact statements (for thorough Thoughtful Points coverage go here and here). According to Media Matters [...]

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