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July 12, 2002 | Issue 414
FRONT AND BACK PAGES
This whole system is crooked
Den of thieves
The director of an energy company makes obscene profits by selling stock he knows will tank. On any given day, you could expect to find this story about another CEO exposed for committing fraud. This time, though, the corporate criminal is George W. Bush.
Behind the AIDS nightmare:
Drug bosses profit while millions die
HIV infection rates and deaths from AIDS are skyrocketing worldwide. And the blame lies squarely with the U.S. and other governments in the advanced world.
SPECIAL FEATURES
How can we stop wars?
Humankind is naturally aggressive, territorial and warlike. You can find this claim in all sorts of places--in school textbooks and throughout the media. In this special feature, Socialist Worker shows why the claim that humans are naturally warlike lets the real culprits off the hook.
UPS spares no expense in attacking workers
The truth about Brown
On July 31, the union contract will expire for some 210,000 Teamsters at United Parcel Service (UPS). UPS likes to promote a squeaky-clean image. But the realities of working for Brown are very different.
Does the mainstream media really lean to the left?
Exposing the media bias hoax
The idea that the mainstream media is biased to the left has long been a favorite complaint of right-wing blowhards. But now the right is claiming that they have the inside scoop.
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WHAT WE THINK
U.S. slaughter in an Afghan village exposes the reality
Bush's war of terror
A war against terror or a war of terror? That's the question that comes to mind when you hear how the latest victims of the U.S. war on Afghanistan died--dozens, mainly women and children, torn to pieces by U.S. bombs for the "crime" of being at a wedding celebration.
Will Argentina's crisis drag down the whole continent?
Revolt against the free market
Argentina's wrenching social crisis could spread throughout Latin America, causing trouble for the U.S. in every corner of its "backyard." Plus the U.S. has reason to fear that the pressure of the crisis is leading to growing struggles of workers and the poor.
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NATIONAL NEWS
Pentagon's invasion plan is "pretty far along"
Preparing more horrors for Iraq
After giving the CIA the green light in June to "remove" Saddam Hussein--meaning to assassinate him--the Bush administration has the Pentagon planning more horrors for Iraq, which was reduced by the U.S. military to a "pre-industrial state" during the 1991 Gulf War.
Joblessness jumps again
Is the recovery on the ropes?
Will the jobless recovery give way to a new recession? That was the fear of many mainstream economists following reports that unemployment in June rose to 5.9 percent despite six months of economic growth.
Judge's ruling leaves an innocent man on death row
"Justice didn't prevail"
"An innocent man could be executed because all these people are preventing him from getting a new trial to protect their careers." That's what Robin Milan-Hobley told reporters after a Cook County judge refused to grant her brother Madison Hobley--an innocent man on Illinois death row--a new trial.
Clinic director faces jail time
The director of Planned Parenthood in Iowa could go to jail for refusing to turn over the names of women who got pregnancy tests at the agency's clinics.
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COLUMNS
WHAT DO SOCIALISTS SAY?
Should we blame the "Israel lobby"?
It's no secret that the United States is the most powerful and important backer of the state of Israel. The most common explanation is that the "Israel lobby" exercises huge influence over the U.S. government. But this explanation is wrong.
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
The fraud at the heart of capitalism
It's unlikely that MSNBC producers read Socialist Worker before they came up with a graphic to appear on-screen behind their talking heads. "Corporate Crime Wave" it read, mimicking a recent SW headline.
ON THE PICKET LINE
Will dockworkers' union stand up to attacks?
Bosses up pressure on ILWU
West Coast dockworkers' union leaders were continuing to negotiate with management and extend their contract day-to-day as Socialist Worker went to press.
Strikers hold the line
Toronto city workers fight privatization
Nearly 22,000 public workers are on strike in Toronto, Ontario, in the largest municipal strike in Canadian history.
R.I. Teamsters' strike hits beer distributor
Almost 50 Teamsters at the Rhode Island Anheuser-Busch (A-B) distributor McLaughlin & Moran went on strike at midnight July 1 for higher wages and respect.
Labor in brief
Cook County workers; Los Angeles County budget cuts; No Sweats!; Queens bus drivers; San Francisco painters; Fletcher Allen Health Care; University of California nurses
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SW READERS SPEAK OUT
An injustice in the making in New Orleans
Framed for murder
My live-in boyfriend, Ahmad Nelson, is being framed for killing a police officer.
Denying decent schools to NYC students
Last week, a New York State appeals court ruled that New York City students do not deserve any more than the bare minimum when it comes to their education.
Other letters
LA's health care nightmare; "Somos uno! We are one!"; Bush's hypocrisy at the G-8 summit; A pledge for our side to take
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REVIEWS
Unearthing racism in the Sunshine State
American independent movie making doesn't get any better than John Sayles. His latest film, Sunshine State, is a sharp satire and drama about a Florida community being torn apart by the pressures of real-estate developers and corporate tourism.
Crime and technology in a future world
Minority Report is like a nightmare version of Attorney General John Ashcroft's America, where people are imprisoned on the basis of crimes they might commit.
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