Berkeley, CA, USA - The record of President George W. Bush's first term, and the agenda for his second term alarms many Americans. Many people are fearful of Bush Jr's open proclivity for selecting federal judicial candidates who are openly hostile to civil rights, equal opportunity and environmental concerns. If Bush Jr. has his way with federal judicial appointments, it may be that all the heroic decisions of the Burger and Warren Courts may be erased.

Beginning with Ronald Reagan, the United States has endured a series of Attorneys General who have viciously attacked civil rights, constitutionally protected freedoms and statutory environmental protections. Indeed, Alberto Gonzales generates greater alarm than his like-minded predecessors; William French Smith, Edwin Meese and John Ashcroft. Can any thoughtful person deny that the Patriot Act(s) are not only a threat to our cherished liberties but also present a disingenuously racist agenda?

The United States seems to have forgotten many important lessons of the Civil Rights movement. If we are indeed doomed to repeat past failures, it may be because we never gave a thorough read to these lessons the first time around. That's not entirely our fault. Journalists and historians have been selective in remembering whom they choose to. Many important players in the Civil Rights movement have been diminished to a footnote.

To some, the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike of 1968 represents a turning point for the Civil Rights movement, the American Labor movement, and the dynamics of municipal government everywhere. That the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., occurred as a consequence of this strike, forever burnishes the memory of that event in the minds of many Americans. ... READ MORE

---

BRAD BALFOUR WITH SIGOURNEY WEAVER:

NEW YORK, NY, USA - Actress Sigourney Weaver has been an action film hero since the days when she first appeared as the avenging survivor in the film "Alien." But besides her blockbusters, such as "Ghostbusters," she's performed in a string of critically acclaimed films of emotional depth such as "The Ice Storm," "Gorillas In The Mist" and "The Year of Living Dangerously." Now the 50-something former Oscar nominee may not be tackling blockbusters but she is wrestling with smaller indies with difficult subjects as she does in her latest, "Imaginary Heroes." This film is the story of a family falling apart after the oldest son commits suicide.

G21: You've done small movies before -- "A Map of the World," "The Guys" -- and have been heart-broken because they weren't widely seen. Do you worry as a film such as "Imaginary Heroes" goes into the marketplace?

SIGOURNEY WEAVER: I always worry. I've managed to be in these films that open for a week right at the end of the year [for Oscar consideration] and then have them reopen once you've lost some of the momentum. So I'm very aware of trying to get the word out, especially in this case, to the younger generation, because I think this is a young person's film. It would be great if it could play long enough for a lot of college kids to see this, because it's really worth seeing.

It was hard on "Death and the Maiden." It got harder on "A Map of the World." It was weird on "The Guys." By this time, I try to keep my expectations very minimal. The work is there. If it doesn't reach its audience it will be on DVD. I'm confident that this film is so good that eventually it's going to find its audience and be acknowledged. But the rest of it, it's just a total crapshoot, which is too bad. But I'd rather do the work and suffer all that than not get those films. ... READ MORE


SILVIA CATTORI ACTS AS OUR CONSCIENCE:

Paris, FRANCE - 11th February 2005 - The world says nothing. There are hundreds of Palestinian children imprisoned in the gaols of the State of Israel (1). They are in extrajudicial detention. Considered as "administrative detainees" by Israel, they are crammed into cells infested by insects.

There are thousands of children on the "wanted" lists who will tomorrow suffer the same fate. To this day, no State in the world has had the courage to force Israel to stop this violation of these young lives.

Arresting a child, mutilating a child and killing children, are an integral part of the military strategy of Israel : it comes back to getting rid of resistants in the cradle.

Who are the statesmen who are moved by this ? These children, deprived of schooling, deprived of affection, deprived of freedom and subjected to traumatising torture, are the victims of a denial by public opinion. It is as if these Palestinian children had no right to a normal life and upbringing! ... READ MORE