Corporate interests and their proxies are looking to exploit the September 11 tragedy to advance a self-serving agenda that has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with corporate profits and dangerous ideologies. Fast track and the Free Trade Area of the Americas. A corporate tax cut. Oil drilling in Alaska. Star Wars. These are some of the preposterous "solutions" and responses to the terror attack offered by corporate mouthpieces.

Following the first confirmed case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease in Japan last month, Japan's meat industry has launched a campaign to reassure Japanese consumers of the safety of Japanese beef. Over 100 politicians were invited to a "beef party" to eat Japanese produced beef.

Daily newspapers face being booted from Starbucks coffeehouses unless they meet new demands, including one for advertising space. Starbucks, with more than 3,000 stores in North America, wants each regional newspaper to swap ad space for the privilege of being the exclusive local paper sold at its outlets in the area. The effort is a variation of Starbucks' year-old pact with The New York Times, which made the Times the only national newspaper sold at Starbucks.