From what I can gather, and an Iranian friend agreed, what is going on in Iran is a power struggle between khamenei and rafsanjani. Ahmadinejad is khamenei's puppet and his opponent is rafsanjani's. From what I've read, ahmadinejad has a reputation for being somewhat honest, while rafsanjani had greatly enriched himself when he was president. He's one of the richest people in the world; I think he has a piece of alot of the action in Iran. The c.i.a. it seems to me would feel much more comfortable with a corrupt ruler like rafsanjani, seeing as they speak the same language. Yes, I do think they've chosen sides. Paul Craig Roberts also had something to say about the 'color-coded' movement going on in Iran.

Almost all of those arrested during the dem and repub conventions were young. These were the brave folks. At the various anti-war rallies in D.C. and New York, the young were very present, always creative and energetic. Before attending the first rally, I did not expect to see a large youth turn-out, seeing how much hippies and the '60s have been societally villified. But I was wrong. Many travelled long distances to protest.

Before becoming pres. of npr, close was head of Voice of America. He is part of the government propaganda machine. There are informal ties between U.S. intelligence and NPR (ann garrels' husband is 'former' c.i.a.). Since we all know the affiliation of those who tortured, isn't it logical to assume that npr doesn't want to admit that these sadistic bastards actually tortured. Npr is specifically protecting the intel. community. They're not covering gwb's ass, or dick cheney's, their covering the asses of the c.i.a.

Concerning the corporate donors of pbs/npr, I've found it hilarious that many of those donors turn out to have legal troubles: waste management, arthur anderson, archer-daniels-midland, u.b.s., and the new age philanthropy come to mind. The donation policy at Pacifica is NO corporate donations, period. Pacifica is also the oldest public broadcasting network in the U.S. And I love Amy Goodman.

I agree with you. In 1967 I was in Italy for a year and listened to VOA; they had a very good ear for jazz. Maybe kevin close couldn't quite come up to VOA standards, and got demoted to npr.

From the site NPR Check, commenter and writer Gopol provided this link: http://www.counterpunch.org/webb212172004.html

describing how a young alicia shepard was sent on a dirt-digging mission to undermine Gary Webb, the journalist for the San Jose-Mercury News who wrote about c.i.a. related crack cocaine in L.A. She was a paid journo-assassin, probably paid by the same folks for whom she's covering now. But then again, npr is full of them. The article is chillingly complete.

Todd's really full of shit on so many levels. He's so concerned about a 'political' trial, when he's the one deciding what actually gets coverage, and probably how much coverage an item gets. So HE's the politicizing force. And his comment about 'how would it look to the rest of the world if we went back and prosecuted a previous administration'...well, that is just what Argentina and Chile have done, to the relief and applause of the whole world. I for one will now buy Argentine and Chilean wines, whereas before I wouldn't. Todd appears to have no regard whatsoever for the rule of law; for him it's all about the rule of rulers. He's willing to toss everyting to preserve those in power.

I understand that your interview wasn't about individual prisoners, but I still would have liked to have gotten some news about her.

One of the regulations to which broadcasters must abide to have a license concerns public benefit. It's rigth there on the FCC web-site. Aiding in selling a war to the public based on lies, a war which benefits the bottom line of the broadcasters' parent companies should clearly be grounds for license revocation. This action is not only NOT in the public interest, it is in direct conflict with the public interest.

There are volumes of anecdotal eveidence about rape and torture while in U.S. detention. Citing these particular photos as being potentially more inflammatory is a truly red herring. The is plenty of reason for people to be enraged, these fotos will confirm the rage, but they won't create it. That's already been done. Mission accomplished, indeed!

But I do know that lee harvey oswald didn't assassinate JFK, and the American Embassy hostages weren't kept in Iran until Carter was just about to leave office because of some sort of missed cues or other such coincident. Somebody doesn't need to get a Hallmark Threat Card to perceive a threat.

As Dick Gregory said at the time "The C.I.A. didn't elect Ronald Reagan, they elected George Bush".

I attended a lecture by a sociologist who had visited Cuba as a tourist. His PhD dissertation had concerned something about "blue collar workers" in Baltimore. He said that in the interview process for his research, one of his evaluation points was the "rotten-ness of the children's teeth". He stated that he was completely surprised when he went to Cuba, because he couldn't see any rot in the children's teeth. It is well recognized that pediatric dental health is at a far higher level in Cuba than in the U.S.

Cuba recently sent 10,000 doctors to Venezuela. I would not be surprised if the state of healthcare for the general polulation is higher in Venezuela than in the U.S. I'm sure the a.m.a. would vigorously resist any such effort to infringe on the profitability of its members.

Joan, thenks for your writings. I'm sorry you have to put up with the contrived ignorance of some of the negative posters.

is Code Pink.