Judith Regan was one of those self-righteous, moralistic people who were screaming for the head of Bill Clinton because he was a married man having a consensual, sexual affair with Monica Lewinsky, a younger single woman. Judith Regan was a single woman having a consensual sexual affair with an older man, Bernard Kerik (Rudy Giuliani recommended Kerik for Homeland Security, to replace Tom Ridge). Clinton besmirched the Oval Office by conducting his affair there, Regan and Kerik besmirched the 9/11 victims by carrying out their affair in an apartment the City of New York was paying for to coordinate rescue and cleanup efforts. So you had a woman of questionable morals loudly hollering about another woman of questionable morals.

Did the Bush Administration ever really come clean about Abu Ghraib? No, they didn't. John Ashcroft refused to tell the Congressional Inquiry anything that they didn't already know and refused to provide originals of even the documents that the Inquiry already had copies of. Donald Rumsfeld verbally took responsibility but didn't resign and failed to tell the Inquiry anything they hadn't already found out about through other channels. President Bush never took responsibility but now it appears that some military interrogators posing as FBI agents tortured suspects and that they referred to "an Executive Order" several times, which strongly suggests a direct presidential hand in the decision-making that led to the atrocities of Abu Ghraib. Of course, recommending Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General after Gonzales composed at least one of the memos that justified torture puts Bush into very close proximity to the whole mess.

Did Ms Regan have the moral right to complain about Ms Lewinsky? By the same token, does the Bush Administration have the moral right to put Saddam Hussein on trial?

[ US groups working to influence Iraq's January 30th vote | The real significance of Mosul bombing | Accountability and the awarding of medals ]

This would have been a satisfactory answer had the US been forced to go to war before it was ready to do so. In March 2002, Bush came to three Senators & Condoleezza Rice and said "F--- Saddam. We're taking him out.", thereby indicating that a decision on the Iraq War had long since been made. The New York Times pointed out that serious, in-depth planning for the invasion and occupation of Iraq began in April 2002. The project was reportedly of uneven quality, but successfully predicted many of the problems that would later befall the occupation.

And it's not like it took so long for things inside Iraq to start going sour.Has the situation in Iraq improved in the meantime? Apparently not. A Phildelphia soldier is accused of arranging for a relative to shoot him so that he wouldn't have to return to Iraq. Retired Col. David Hackworth had recieved numerous emails about poorly and under-equpped units by August 2003, only three months after Bush's infamous aircraft carrier landing. It's been a long, long time since the Department of Defense needed to reexamine their strategy.

[ Soldiers For The Truth features special report on armoring of Humvees | Comment on Medal of Freedom winners | ]

The now ex-Reverend Beth Stroud has served as a pastor at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown (FUMCOG) since 1999. Knowing that it might result in the loss of her ordained status, she came out to her congregation in an April 2003 sermon, and introduced her partner of 4 years, Chris Paige, during worship for the first time. Several months later, she was charged by the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church of violating the sacred trust of her ordination compact by engaging in practices that are "incompatible with Christian teaching."

The narrow vote to remove Stroud's credentials is notable because it was cast by a jury who had already been screened carefully for willingness to uphold the denomination's policy on exclusion based on sexual orientation.

FUMCOG has supported Beth's decision to come out, and plans to rehire her as a lay minister immediately. The congregation is a member of the Reconciling Ministries Network, a coalition of Methodist churches that have pro-actively declared themselves to be welcoming spaces to queer people.

[FULL STORY]

[ Beth's Website | Coverage by national UMC | Coverage by Local UMC ]

When Ed Rendell proposed increases on tires and driver's records, the state's GOP senators wouldn't support it. This has led to the stalling of proposals for dedicated funding or emergency funding in the state legislature whose session closed 10 days early.

About 600,000 riders use SEPTA on weekends and evenings to get to evening and weekend jobs among other things. Such a cutback will have a drastic effect on the city. Activists are encouraging residents to write to their legislators about the importance of getting dedicated funding.

On December 2, SEPTA's plan to raise the fare was vetoed.

Email Ed Rendell and urge him to come up with emergency funding while the legislators work for dedicated funding.

The jury did not consider Banks' mental illness as a mitigating factor, due to jury instructions that the Third Circuit ruled unconstitutional on on October 31, 2001, and on January 14, 2003. The Third-Circuit ruling in Banks' case prompted PA courts to overturn several other death sentences, including that of Mumia Abu Jamal. Yet on June 24, 2004, the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that this constitutional standard was set in 1988, eight months after Banks exhausted his state appeals, and therefore could not be applied retroactively to Banks. Prompted by this Supreme Court decision, on June 29, 2004, the Third Circuit lifted its stay of Mumia Abu-Jamal's execution.

A massive letter-writing campaign to Governor Rendell and to the Board of Pardons is under way, demanding that he immediately rescind the death warrant for George Banks. (See Governor Rendell's response.) On Dec. 2, activists will demonstrate throughout Pennsylvania against the scheduled 7 p.m. execution.

Breaking News: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has just issued a stay of George Banks' execution, pending a hearing of his mental competency. READ MORE...

[ Full Story | PA Abolitionists | Mumia Abu-Jamal's legal updates ]

Supporters believe that Abu-Jamal, who was under FBI surveillance for over a decade before the murder, was the target of racial and political discrimination for his involvement with the Black Panther Party (BPP) and his vocal support of the radical community MOVE. Though it is now well established that the FBI engaged in routine setup and sabotage of BPP members, skepticism that this influenced the verdict in Abu-Jamal's case runs high, even among those who oppose his death sentence.

Last spring, Abu-Jamal released his first-ever memoir on his Panther years. We Want Freedom evolved from a masters thesis Abu-Jamal completed while imprisoned, and offers a historical overview of the Party interspersed with personal reflection. The book's publisher, South End Press, has released a series of excerpts from the book for limited web publication. These writings, accompanied by a series of historical commentary by historian Todd Steven Burroughs, offer a frank and personal portrait of the background of this controversial case. Click here to read these limited-edition posts.

[ Political Prisoner Awarness Week Events | Review of We Want Freedom | Z Magazine's archive of Mumia Abu-Jamal material ]

Until now, federal prosecutors had declined to prosecute Forchion and Duff for this monthly act of civil disobedience; however, on November 12, 2004, Federal Eastern District Judge Arnold Rapoport convicted Forchion and Duff of violating Independence Park regulations and federal drug laws, and sentenced them to a $150 fine and a year of random drug testing. One year in federal prison would result from any violation of probation. Judge Rapoport argued that the smokeout was a political demonstration, not a religious ceremony, on the basis of a video the two had made of the smokeout. Rapoport further argued that since Forchion had once abstained from marijuana for three years, Forchion had no compelling reason to smoke. Forchion plans to appeal, to the US Supreme Court if necessary.

[ NJWeedman.Com | Inquirer article on the sentence | NORML ]

Get out the vote efforts have proliferated this election season, the combined result of changes in campaign law and a vigorous activist response to the unelection of 2000. Local efforts have been augmented by national organizations such as MoveOn.org that are focusing on Pennsylvania as one of the key swing states that could decide the presidency.

Much energy is being focused on getting information out to voters regarding the details of their right to vote. Groups like ACORN, the Vote for Homes! Coalition, and the Black Radical Congress are focusing especially on populations that might face barriers to voting due to social and ecnomic disenfranchisement. Local and national groups have set up legal response teams to facilitate a quick response to situations where a person's right to vote might be challenged at the poll.

At 7pm on Monday all these efforts will take a collective deep breath and converge at Rittenhouse Square for an election eve vigil initiated by the American Friends Service Committee.

Several protests are organized for the day after the election. Anticipating the possibility of a close race, the Kengington Welfare Rights Union has called for an 8am protest outside of the Federal Court Building and, if necessary, "massive acts of civil disobedience" to defend the right of each person's vote to count before the election is called. On 4:30pm, anti-war activists will hold several "free speech gatherings" to express their dissatisfaction with both Bush and Kerry's military policies -- one at Vernon Park in Germantown, and one at Love Park in Center City. Finally, at 7pm, the Uhuru Solidarity Movement will host a conference on postelection strategy at the William Way Center.

[ Find your Polling Site | Official Ballot Info for Philly | An Anti-Authoritarian Argument for Voting ]