ECONOMY: Little to Cheer on U.S. Independence Day Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, 4 Jul (IPS) - The world's biggest economy marked Independence Day Friday with little cause for economic cheer. Job losses are the worst in nearly six years and a de facto recession appears to have gripped all sectors. more...   POLITICS-US: Vets Mull Wins and Losses in Benefits Fight Aaron Glantz* SAN FRANCISCO, 4 Jul (IPS) - You could hear the joy in Patrick Campbell's voice as he reflected on U.S. President George W. Bush's signing Monday of a new GI Bill of Rights for veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. more...   IRAQ: Journalist Charges Censorship by U.S. Military in Fallujah Dahr Jamail SAN FRANCISCO, 3 Jul (IPS) - U.S. journalist Zoriah Miller says he was censored by the U.S. military in the Iraqi city of Fallujah after photographing Marines who died in a suicide bombing. more...   RIGHTS-US: 'State Secrets' Privilege Derails Rendition Suit William Fisher NEW YORK, 3 Jul (IPS) - Maher Arar, whose 'rendition' to Syria is widely viewed as an egregious example of mistaken identity, has again been denied the right to appear in court, and Congressional efforts to rein in the George W. Bush administration's widespread use of national security as a defence appear to be foundering. more...   ENVIRONMENT-US: Funding Questions Dog Everglades Clean-Up Mark Weisenmiller TAMPA, Florida, 3 Jul (IPS) - Environmentalists in Florida are excited over the state's planned 1.75-billion-dollar buyout of 187,000 acres of land owned by the United States Sugar Corporation as part of a restoration of the vast Everglades wetlands, although many of the details of the deal remain sketchy. more...   /UPDATE*/POLITICS-US: Afghanistan Moves Back into the Limelight Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, 3 Jul (IPS) - Six and a half years after the ouster of the Taliban, U.S. media attention is returning to Afghanistan where more U.S. and NATO troops were killed in June than in any previous month. more...   POLITICS-US: In Search of a Legacy, Bush Looks to the Past Analysis by Bill Berkowitz* OAKLAND, California, 3 Jul (IPS) - Before 9/11, before the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, before the suspension of habeas corpus, before the administration's tardy and shameful response to Hurricane Katrina, before cronies and Republican congressional leaders were dropping like flies, before former administration operatives were writing unflattering tell-all books, before Dick Cheney said 'So?' in response to a question about public opinion being firmly against the administration, before the Valerie Plame affair, before gas prices were nearly five dollars a gallon, before housing foreclosures hit record numbers, and before his approval rating dipped to all-time lows, there was President George W. Bush's faith-based initiative. more...   POLITICS-US: Afghanistan Moves Back into the Limelight Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, 2 Jul (IPS) - Six and a half years since the ouster of the Taliban, U.S. media attention is returning to Afghanistan, where more U.S. and NATO troops were killed in June than in any previous month. more...   ECONOMY: Dismal Picture for U.S. Workers Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, 2 Jul (IPS) - U.S. companies are shedding workers in numbers not seen for nearly six years, and there seems little hope of a turnaround any time soon. more...   RIGHTS-US: Critics See Vendetta in Al-Arian's Legal Limbo Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, 2 Jul (IPS) - Palestinian activist and former university professor Sami Al-Arian was arraigned Monday in U.S. federal court on two counts of criminal contempt for his refusal to testify in a grand jury investigation of a Northern Virginia Muslim think-tank. more...