Daily Headlines
By Debra Sweet
Why Obama Can & Should Close Guantanamo NOW
Obama, however, as people rightly point out, has promised to close Guantanamo. For his own reasons, whatever they may be, he repeats what most of the world thinks, that the continued existence of the illegal prison in Guantanamo, set up to avoid U.S. law by the Bush regime, doesn't serve the U.S. public image as the land of freedom and democracy.
Why Obama Can & Should Close Guantanamo NOW
Obama, however, as people rightly point out, has promised to close Guantanamo. For his own reasons, whatever they may be, he repeats what most of the world thinks, that the continued existence of the illegal prison in Guantanamo, set up to avoid U.S. law by the Bush regime, doesn't serve the U.S. public image as the land of freedom and democracy.
Landowners are losing their rights as fracking and Big Energy, in collusion with government, is seizing private property to advance the interests not of the public but of private business.
By Steve Macek
Let's Not Sacrifice Our Privacy on the Altar of Cyber-Security
An op-ed opposing CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act.
Let's Not Sacrifice Our Privacy on the Altar of Cyber-Security
An op-ed opposing CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act.
The epic inside story of long-term criminal fraud at Ranbaxy, the Indian drug company that makes generic Lipitor for millions of Americans. Also, the story demonstrates the critical importance of whistle-blowers and regulation, both under attack.
Obama's "look forward" statement made no sense and it makes even less sense now, coming after he expressed outrage the other day over disclosures about the IRS targeting conservative groups for political reasons.In a news conference,he said he would not "tolerate" such actions."But his inaction toward the DOJ shows that he WILL tolerate targeting of political opponents, and that he will not take steps to fix the problem.
The uptick in delinquencies suggests that Obama's blundering mortgage modification fiasco, dubbed HAMP (The Home Affordable Modification Program), was actually a sop to Wall Street, that is, the program was designed as a holding tank for underwater borrowers so the banks could evict them at a time that was convenient for them and their bottom lines.
"Go big or go home," bellow Bowles and Simpson, and for once they're right. Go home, all of you, and take the sequester with you. Then the grown-ups can start working on real ways to fix the economy, with jobs and growth and other things that really work.
By Andrew Schmookler
Are the Liberal Leanings of Gov't Bureaucrats an Explanation of the IRS Scandal?
David Weigel, conservative-leaning columnist on Slate.com, thinks the answer is yes. I say: Maybe, or maybe not. The ethic of fairness may be dead on the right, but it is alive in liberal circles, even to the point of going to excess in a bogus kind of even-handedness in an America where the pathologies are far from symmetrical.
Are the Liberal Leanings of Gov't Bureaucrats an Explanation of the IRS Scandal?
David Weigel, conservative-leaning columnist on Slate.com, thinks the answer is yes. I say: Maybe, or maybe not. The ethic of fairness may be dead on the right, but it is alive in liberal circles, even to the point of going to excess in a bogus kind of even-handedness in an America where the pathologies are far from symmetrical.
Quantitative Easing has been underway since December 2008. During these 54 months, the Federal Reserve has created several trillion new dollars with which the Fed has monetized the same amount of debt. One result of this policy is that most real US interest rates are negative. Another result is that the supply of dollars has outstripped the world's demand for dollars.
This morning, I found a little green caterpillar crawling on my arm, in bed, as I was waking up. I took it outside so it could become a butterfly or moth. If it had been a mosquito or tick, I would have killed it so it wouldn't hurt me or my family later.
By Suzana Megles
Growing Old With Joy
How do you feel about growing old? I guess I am one of the lucky ones. It doesn't bother me at all.
Growing Old With Joy
How do you feel about growing old? I guess I am one of the lucky ones. It doesn't bother me at all.
The outgoing head of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service angered Republican lawmakers on Friday by resisting their demands that he identify who at the tax-collection agency had inappropriately targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny. But during the first hearing into a growing IRS scandal that could preoccupy Washington for months, Republicans did learn that a top official in President Barack Obama's administration knew that the IRS was looking into targeting by the tax agency nearly a year ago.
Under state doctrine, Israel is the Nation-state of the Jewish people. Under Zionist doctrine, the Jewish people and the Jewish religion are one and the same. Israelis are a nation, and the State of Israel belongs to this nation. Every citizen, male or female, should be able to pray to whoever he or she wants, in any public place, including the Western Wall.
he widespread push against exploitative resource extraction in North America -- such as the Tar Sands Blockade, protests against the Keystone XL Pipeline, and movements to stop fracking -- has forged collaborations unlike anything that had existed before. Everyone needs to speak up and support the movement. Because it's a human issue.
By Michael Bonanno
I Long For A Better World (Music)
I hope that you find this piece as meaningful as I meant it to be.
I Long For A Better World (Music)
I hope that you find this piece as meaningful as I meant it to be.
The world produces enough food to feed everyone according to Hunger Notes -- 17% more calories today than it did 30 years ago. But food is a commodity and its production does not take place if the end product cannot be bought and the value added during the production process realized. The capitalist class would call this lack of demand. But in the world of the market, if you can't pay you can't play. No money for food, then you starve.
By Franklin Lamb
UN General Assembly vote reflects shift in Syrian public opinion
Over the past four months it has become increasingly clear that
UN General Assembly vote reflects shift in Syrian public opinion
Over the past four months it has become increasingly clear that
Cornel West, most outspoken anti-imperialist and defender of Black and minority civil rights since Martin Luther King now says Obama is a war criminal, a black puppet of corporate plutocrats, head of the US killing machine. Will West tell us that King said America, Americans, are responsible for the atrocity wars, being capable of making them unacceptable and inoperable through non-participation and conscientious objection?
Federal investigators on Saturday searched for the cause of a rush-hour train crash in Connecticut that injured dozens of people commuting home from New York City, three of them critically. More than 60 people were hospitalized Friday night after an eastbound commuter train derailed and collided with a westbound passenger train on an adjacent track near the Connecticut suburb of Fairfield. Eight people remained hospitalized on Saturday, three in critical condition, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said.
Canada's right-wing Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in New York on Thursday championing tar sands and the Keystone XL pipeline, saying "global emissions" from the crude are "almost nothing" and that the flow of tar sands from Canada's Mordor into the U.S. is an absolute certainty.
North Korea fired three short-range missiles from its east coast on Saturday, South Korea's Defence Ministry said, prompting Western powers to urge Pyongyang to exercise restraint. Launches by the North of short-range missiles are not uncommon but, after recent warnings from the communist state of impending nuclear war, such actions raise concerns about the region's security.
The governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, on Saturday called for any Inland Revenue Service officials who are found to have unfairly targeted conservative groups to be put in jail. Jindal's comments echo sentiments expressed by the Republican House speaker, John Boehner, who has called for any guilty IRS officials to be sent to prison. The Republican party is seeking to squeeze every inch of political capital from the issue.
Syria's embattled leader Bashar al-Assad has used a rare interview -- carried out amid the sound of artillery fire resounding through his presidential palace in Damascus -- to warn the United States and Russia that their efforts to bring about talks will do little to halt the civil war laying waste to his country, and that he has no intention of stepping down. Asked about the possibility of stepping down, he said: "I don't know whether [US secretary of state] John Kerry or anyone else has received a mandate from the Syrian people to decide whether someone should stay or go. Any decision about reforms in Syria will come from Syria and neither the US nor any other state can intervene. In any case, to resign would be to flee."
"Comparing today's rule governing fracking on public lands with the one proposed a year earlier, it is clear what happened: the Bureau of Land Management caved to the wealthy and powerful oil and gas industry and left the public to fend for itself," said Jessica Ennis, legislative representative at Earthjustice. "Our public lands--and the people who live near them--deserve the highest level of protection. Today's rule could have set the gold standard. Instead the BLM is settling for shoddy protections peddled by the oil and gas industry."
By Richard Spisak
This IRS Story Doesn't Pass the Smell Test.
THE IRS STORY - backstory - and just who benefits - slipping the Right Wing "social service" orgs smoothing the way for more Rovian Citizen United Teflon Roots Orgs - Koch Bros. must be laughing - They were shocked shocked at the reaction!
This IRS Story Doesn't Pass the Smell Test.
THE IRS STORY - backstory - and just who benefits - slipping the Right Wing "social service" orgs smoothing the way for more Rovian Citizen United Teflon Roots Orgs - Koch Bros. must be laughing - They were shocked shocked at the reaction!
Just got a letter informing me that our health insurance premium is going up 25%. We will now be paying $34,934.88 per year . . . more than we pay for our mortgage, two cars and tuition for graduate school. HELP!!
By earl ofari hutchinson
Why the Public Should Yawn Over Alleged Obama Scandals
The mostly media driven scandal talk involving President Obama has so far stirred barely a yawn among the public. There are good reasons
Why the Public Should Yawn Over Alleged Obama Scandals
The mostly media driven scandal talk involving President Obama has so far stirred barely a yawn among the public. There are good reasons
