Month: May 2005

In the hours following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC), firefighters, police, and emergency medical technicians performed acts of enormous courage. Many of them died or were exposed to health-damaging substances while performing these heroic deeds. Unfortunately, while many bureaucrats were unctuously praising these heroes, irresponsible and deceptive post-attack actions by some officials paved the way for many more illnesses and deaths among workers and residents in lower Manhattan. "What happened here is at the level of Watergate," charges Dr. Marjorie Clarke, scientist-in-residence at Lehman College in New York and an expert on toxic emissions. read more

If you think the price of lifesaving drugs is outrageous, imagine what it must feel like for the poor in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The lack of affordable drugs is a life and death issue, and many people die every day as a result. Actually, poor countries could have ready access to cheap and affordable drugs to treat diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis and Malaria, which kill millions each year. But thanks to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Bush administration, and the powerful transnational pharmaceutical lobby, it is being severely restricted. At the bottom line, trade interests are considered more important than human health and welfare. read more

The year 2001 was the second warmest on record, the ten warmest years having occurred since the late 1980s. The first six months of 2002 indicate that it may be hotter than 2001. In the face of this evidence of global warming, leaders of many developed countries have either argued against any reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions — the chief cause of human-induced warming, or for reductions that are relatively small and not very useful. Although the US is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, President Bush rejected intervention to reduce emissions because it would "harm the US economy." read more

One of the great accomplishments during the second half of the 20th century was the effort that culminated in the eradication of smallpox, the killer that claimed more lives than all of the century’s wars combined. Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, and William Broad, the authors of Germs: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War(Simon & Schuster), are concerned with smallpox and a plethora of other virulent diseases. But the story they tell is anything but inspirational. read more

Henry Drew worked at an East Fishkill, New York, semiconductor plant for 15 years. He remembers how four women workers had miscarriages and that several others complained about a variety of illnesses. One of them was his wife Debbie, who had to undergo two operations to remove brain tumors and remains partially paralyzed from the experiences. Debbie left the computer chip industry in 1989; Henry in 1992.

Drew adamantly believes that the US government should have played a stronger role in monitoring the semiconductor industry in the 1980s to protect worker health and prevent safety problems. "I wrote a letter to OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health and Administration] and never got a reply," Drew said. "I can recall officials from that agency coming to inspect the plant only once or twice. Given the number of people getting sick, you would think that OSHA would have taken a closer look." read more

For peace organizations working in the Balkans, NATO’s bombing wasn’t the conflict resolution they had in mind. Rather, it was the perfect example of why nonviolent conflict resolution efforts need to be more strongly supported by the international community.

As the bombing began, Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive, said, "The thing about Kosovo that people don’t understand is that in the last ten years there was a nonviolent resistance movement … that was one of the most active since the days of Gandhi. And only in part because US and Western governments didn’t support that nonviolent resistance movement did the people of Kosovo … join the Kosovo Liberation Army." read more