Bear Left! http://www.bear-left.com/ We help you get your leftist bearings. en-us Has America's Chemistry Changed? http://www.bear-left.com/original/2003/0628chemistry.html Has something in America's chemistry changed? Do George W. Bush and his administration represent our wants and aspirations? Do we not care that our president lies, cheats, and steals as long as he bullies the rest of the world and the weakest amongst us at home? I hope not. George W. Bush does not dream my dreams. Bush has chosen to ensure that America's material prosperity, indeed the prosperity of the world, is something to be hoarded, not shared. Bush's tax cut plan is more than a windfall for the rich; it is a cynical strategy to force cuts in the most basic of social services. Faith-Based Political Manipulation http://www.bear-left.com/original/2003/0628faith.html A majority of Americans support President Bush. That support is faith-based, not fact-based. If you believe that there is a supreme being in the heavens who created the universe and is keeping tabs on all of our deeds, I guess belief in Bush is not so far-fetched. For those of us with our feet and minds planted in reality, having faith in Bush is just plain dumb. New York Times Anti-War Op-Ed Ad http://www.bear-left.com/archive/2002/OP-Ed.pdf New York Times op-ed ad signed by 33 international relations scholars (PDF format). Bear Left Link of the Week || Dying for the Government http://www.progressive.org/june03/zinn0603.html The dead in Iraq have died not for our country, but for our government (Howard Zinn, The Progressive). Bear Left Link of the Week || A Philosophical Inquiry into Enron http://books.guardian.co.uk/lrb/articles/0,6109,963775,00.html To understand accounting, you have to understand ethnoaccountancy (Donald MacKenzie, The Guardian). Bear Left Link of the Week || Calendar of Errors http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2003/ja03/ja03rothstein.html The search for weapons of mass destruction has truly been farcical (Linda Rothstein, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists). Bear Left Link of the Week || Downsizing in Disguise http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030623&s=klein The occupation of Iraq resembles the market-based "reconstruction" of economies in the 1980s and 1990s, only much, much worse (Naomi Klein, The Nation). Bear Left Link of the Week || US Finds Evidence of WMD at Last--Buried in a Field in Maryland http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,965319,00.html You might not have heard much about this biological weapons program (Julian Borger, The Guardian). Bear Left Link of the Week || A Road Map to Where? http://www.lrb.co.uk/v25/n12/said01_.html The road map for Palestine is less a map for peace than for pacification (Edward Said, London Review of Books). Bear Left Link of the Week || Missing Weapons of Mass Destruction http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20030606.html Manipulation or misuse of national security intelligence data is an impeachable offense (John Dean, Findlaw). Bear Left Link of the Week || US Looks Away as New Ally Tortures Islamists http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,963497,00.html Apparently, some brutal regimes are more palatable than others (Nick Paton Walsh, The Guardian). Bear Left Link of the Week || Poll Suggests World Hostile to US http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2994924.stm Respondents in 10 countries generally like the United States, but not its leaders, government, or policies (BBC News). Bear Left Link of the Week || The First Casualty http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030630&s=ackermanjudis063003 The Bush adminsitration kept Americans from making an informed choice about going to war (John Judis and Spencer Ackerman, The New Republic). Bear Left Link of the Week || GAO Cites Risks in Missile Defense http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A14853-2003Jun4?language=printer Immature technology and limited testing will probably doom the missile defense version of Star Wars Episode Two (Bradley Graham, Washington Post). Bear Left Link of the Week || United States: an Unfree Press http://mondediplo.com/2003/06/08halimi Deregulation has fostered not just media concentration but media complicity with right-wing politics and policies (Serge Halimi, Le Monde diplomatique).