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Kosovo, the Wrong War

Maybe you can help me. I have a problem that puzzles me.

These nights, with trees in full bloom (April 1999), NATO bombers come and bomb down to earth a factory, a power plant, a refinery, a village. But, then, they come and bomb the same place the second, third, fourth, and fifth night. How to understand this repetition. Do your tax-payers have so much extra money that they have to spend it on repetitive bombing of something already turned to ruins? Or, maybe they are not too sure they have done well the first night? Or, maybe they confirm the saying: "The criminal comes back to the place of crime." Or is this just a repetition -- a bombing exercise. I am asking the question in all seriousness, despite the accidental irony. Maybe it has something to do with American military mentality.

Prof. Dusan Pajin (Belgrade)

I always appreciate datelines with articles, but particularly so for dynamic situations like Kosovo. It would be very nice to know on which dates articles were written.

Thanks for being a great source of news, analyses, and opinions.

Name Witheld by Request

[Editor's note: The publication date of all articles appear in two places: At the bottom of the article and in the web page header (the latter, unfortunately, is often concealed until the article is saved or printed). Articles are edited to reflect that date with references to "last week," "next month," and so on.]


The Suicide -- or Murder -- of Steve Kangas

I visited the Liberalism Resurgent site about 6 months ago and sent email to Steve regarding the site. [Editor's note: That site is now deleted] We exchanged a couple emails. He seemed like a nice enough person. I was shocked upon learning the details of his death. There is plenty of evidence that he was committing suicide, but it sure seems out of character. So while I appreciate your Vince Foster comparison, I also do honestly wonder what happened the day he died and find it amazing that no real investigation occurred. Thanks for the article on this,

Ed Scott


Cancer Link to rBGH Milk, Study Says

The article on Cancer Link to rBGH Milk Study only mentioned the study and did not describe the info in the study. Who did the study? Where can I find it? What is the validity? I want more info.

Patti Ann Rose (Humboldt, CA)

[Editor's note: That 1996 story came from the IPS wire service, so further info is not available. However, you can find more information from the Chicago-based Cancer Prevention Coalition (CPC), a coalition of independent health scientists and consumer advocacy groups at the CPC website. More background about this particular study is at their Cancer Literature section.]


The Fight For Headwaters Forest

I cannot believe that, that logger was not convicted. The logger did not create an accident, it was on purpose. I am totally outraged by his actions and he will pay. He may not pay here on earth with this screwed up justice system, but he will pay by the hand of God. I wish the loggers will stop worrying about the money and start thinking about the future on this earth.

Michelle


Demonstators Protest KPFA Firings

Thanks for the excellent article on the situation at KPFA. The issues involved are quite broad, and of course involve all of Pacifica and in fact all of non-commercial broadcasting. The most comprehensive website covering the Pacifica situation was unfortunately not mentioned in the article. The URL for that site is http://www.radio4all.org/freepacifica.

While the savepacifica site focuses predominantly on the present situation at KPFA, the freepacifica site covers the whole thing in depth. A link to the latter would, I think, be a good addition.

Thanks again for the coverage of this important issue.

David Adelson (Los Angeles)

[Editor's note: That website was prominently mentioned in the related Alexander Cockburn article, but we've now added it to the links on the KPFA protest page.]


Kevin Mitnick

I enjoyed your thorough coverage of the Bear Lincoln case and would like you to continue covering "political" criminal prosecutions. Since the Monitor is an Internet publication, perhaps it could cover the case of accused cybercriminal Kevin Mitnick with the same insight as the Bear case.

"barbarella"

[Editor's note: Last November, a supporter of Mumia Abu-Jamal asked a similar question. As with the Mumia case, we've wanted to do a story on Mitnick for years. To rephrase our answer to that reader:

Like all mainstream or alternative media, Monitor draws material from three basic sources.

  • Original articles written by staff or commissioned
    A point of pride is that we probably have more stringers in more countries than any but the largest American newspapers -- but at the same time, we can only cover a fraction of the stories that merit attention. We simply don't have staff or army of freelance reporters to commission any article we'd like. We also depend on independent journalists to bring us their ideas for original articles, or stories to reprint. In the case of Mitnick, not one reporter has approached us, sadly.

  • Articles purchased from syndicates or wire services
    Monitor is unique in its membership in both the alternative and mainstream press; a typical issue draws from about a dozen different syndicates or wire services. None of them have had recent news articles on Mitnick. Write to IPS, Pacific News Service, ALTERNET, or your favorite alternative news columnist asking for an story on Mitnick that Monitor (and scores of other newsprint publications) could use.

  • Informed op/ed submitted by readers
    Visitors to the Mitnick web pages find plenty of news about the case. But why aren't his supporters writing letters or op/ed pieces about these developments? In the four+ years he has been imprisoned, this was the first letter received by the Monitor. I politely suggest the supporters of Mitnick -- or any worthy cause-- work harder on media outreach if they want their story known.

Postscript to the Mumia story: Shortly after we published our response in November, two freelancers offered to write original stories, and another provided a concise summary of the background issues. Adding an op/ed from a reader, we were able to offer a three-part news feature on the case in our following issue.]


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Albion Monitor May 15, 1999 (http://www.monitor.net/monitor)

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