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June 6, 2003 | Issue 456

FRONT PAGE

Celebrating their latest tax cut theft
They're stealing our future
The real purpose of George W. Bush's latest tax cut giveaway was made crystal clear when Republican leaders of Congress and White House hacks used a last-minute change in the fine print to deny tax breaks to millions of working poor families.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Arundhati Roy on war and occupation
The day of the jackals
The Indian author and global justice and antiwar activist speaks out against Bush's war and occupation in Iraq at a national antiwar teach-in in Washington, D.C.

Bush's new war threat
Is Iran the next target?
Washington's saber-rattling toward Iran is part of the U.S. drive not just to dominate the Persian Gulf, but to prevent the emergence of any rival at a global level.

The FCC's rule changes:
A green light for the media monopolies
Socialist Worker explains what the controversy over new rules voted on by the Federal Communications Commission is all about.

WHAT WE THINK

Unraveling the lies they told to get their war on Iraq
Bush's weapons of mass deception
"The disarming of Iraq has begun." These were the words that the Bush administration used in March to announce that its war on Iraq had begun. Two months later, the U.S. has declared victory. Just one thing: Still no weapons of mass destruction.

Arrogance of American empire
When Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, he parlayed his victory over what is now modern-day France into becoming leader of the Roman Empire. Today's would-be emperor, George W. Bush, also plans to succeed at France's expense.

NATIONAL NEWS

Killings spark new round of police brutality protests
Victims of the NYPD
Alberta Spruill was a 57-year-old city worker. Ousmane Zongo was a 35-year-old West African immigrant. Both fell victim to the terror of the NYPD, and their deaths are sparking a new round of anti-police brutality protests.

Supreme Court's new limit on Miranda rights
Chipping away at civil liberties
The U.S. Supreme Court gave police a green light to demand answers from potential defendants--even before they've been informed of their Constitutional rights.

Execution by shooting spree
Utah prison officials have put out the call. Help wanted: Sharpshooters needed to execute two death row prisoners on back-to-back days in late June.

Trying to silence Head Start critics
Keep your mouth shut--or else. That's the message going out from Washington to Head Start centers and staffers who speak out against the Bush administration's plans to wreck the preschool program for poor kids.

Will Camp X-Ray get a new death row?
The Bush administration is floating plans to add a death row and an execution chamber to its prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Helping Israel tighten its grip on Palestine
Bush's "peace" without justice
Before Bush even arrived in Jordan--the site of his meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders--the joint declaration that was supposed to be issued at the end of the summit was scrapped.

Defying a crackdown
Mass strike brings Peru to standstill
Thousands of Peruvians defied a state of emergency to take to the streets last week in strikes and protests that have spread like wildfire across the country.

COLUMNS

WHAT DO SOCIALISTS SAY?
Is Bush as popular as the media say?
How is Bush getting away with carrying out unpopular policies that benefit the elite at the expense of the majority, yet maintaining high popularity ratings compared to previous presidents?

READING BETWEEN THE LINES
The liars of the New York Times
The New York Times took the extraordinary step May 11 of exposing a pattern of fraud by star reporter Jayson Blair. Because Blair is African American, right-wingers and even many mainstream media analysts are blaming affirmative action.

Inside the System
He's ready for his close-up; Heard it through the grapevine

ON THE PICKET LINE

Reform leaders of Chicago teachers in contract fight
CTU needs a battle plan
Some 35,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union face a fight for a new contract as their current deal expires June 30. For CTU President Debbie Lynch and the new reform union leadership, the contract represents a crucial test.

On the picket line
Oakland, Calif., teachers; Berkeley, Calif., teachers; Equity Office Properties Trust

REPORTS FROM THE STRUGGLE

"The antiwar movement was right"
As many as 2,000 people packed into National City Christian Church in Washington D.C. for a daylong teach-in against the occupation of Iraq.

News and reports
Stop the Klan; Justice for Palestine

SW READERS SPEAK OUT

The Bush gang tries to swindle Native Americans
Hypocrisy from the outset
In a sickening move, Interior Secretary Gale Norton has tried to put a provision in her department's 2003 appropriations bill that would limit the pay of a court-appointed official investigating Norton's own obstruction of justice.

Supporting Cuba's right to self-determination
You cannot claim to be fighting for democracy while giving away one of the most fundamental democratic rights, the right to self-determination.

REVIEW

Loaded with gimmicks but short on plot
Matrix II doesn't measure up
Ever feel as though you are just a cog in the machine, controlled by a system as unfeeling as it is brutal? According to The Matrix and its recent sequel, The Matrix: Reloaded, you are.

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