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Make sure you check out my
interview with Heidi Boghosian. If you think NSA is the only problem
with our surveilance/police state, you're woefully underestimating how
bad things are.
rob kall
Support Opednews. Make a tax deductible donation to make OEN Strong.  Daily Headlines
Heidi
Boghosian has written a brilliant, powerful expose, spelling out how
the surveillance and police state has metastasized throughout far too
much of our culture. We cover a lot of ground in this interview just
over 30 minutes.
In
the coming weeks, the Republican Party and its Tea Party extremists vow
to create budgetary and fiscal crises if the Democrats don't gut
health-care reform and submit to a host of other right-wing demands. But
a driving force in this craziness is an anti-historical view of the
Constitution.
Eating
simpler, healthier, more local food is one way you can fight back
against corporatization and globalization, and against the insane,
unsustainable, planet destroying consumer culture.
The
fact that Iran claims it does not want nuclear weapons is not proof
that it will not seek them at some point in the future. What is true is
that US intelligence agencies have repeatedly, though secretly,
concluded that they do not believe that Iran is building a nuclear
weapon, and even top Israeli military officials have expressed serious
doubts that Iran is building, or will build, a nuclear weapon.
The
corpocracy, the collusion between corporations and government, is a
tyranny that daily degrades the ruled at home and extends its rapacious
and deadly grasp throughout the rest of the world. Yet there has been no
rebellion against it at home and no serious retaliation from away. A
major reason why is tyranny's hush money. This essay journeys through
the land of hush money.
Two
billionaire brothers, David and Charles Koch, are spending millions of
dollars to try to persuade young Americans not to buy health
insurance.If Obamacare succeeds, the generations-long conservative war
against activist government would have lost another major battle, and
more voters would be persuaded to vote for progressives. That's the
reason conservatives went all-out to defeat President Clinton's similar
health care proposal during his first term. They don't dare allow
Obamacare to proceed unimpeded because Americans might come to like it
and depend on it, as the elderly like and depend on Medicare.
Banks pushing for repeal of credit unions' federal tax exemption
Credit unions are non-profit and enjoy a tax exemption that the big banks are trying to end.
The
world's top experts have spent years weighing all the evidence --
here's what you [and every human} should know about their findings.
We
know that Monsanto has a lot of allies in Congress, and that it's
revolving-door job security at the taxpayer's expense - and the expense
of our health. Monsanto lobbyist, lawyer, consultant or some other
influential position ---> "elected" to Congress; serve term(s),
change laws ---> back to Monsanto with a great retirement plan from
Congress. This graphic from Cornucopia Institute, a staunch defender of
organics and food sovereignty, lists some of the players through the
last 3 U.S. regimes; both their positions in Congress and in Monsanto.
What's a secretion from a beaver's scent-marking sac doing in my favorite dessert? Plus other food stuff I didn't want to know.
Liberation
theology is Christianity's most important theological development in
the last 1500 years, and the West's most important social movement of
the last 150 years.
Review of Kornbluth and Reich's new documentary "Inequality for All."
I am Annoying, Cloying, Overdone and Basically Piss People Off - Zoomer
Originally written in June 2011, and after I saw the YouTube comment on my video (at the end) I just had to post this. He was right..:) Note: Linda S. is one of my few heroines, in large measure because she is well grounded, as we all should be. Great food for thought, not to mention the future of humanity... DG
Saving the Earth from Ourselves
Saving the Earth from Ourselves. A long video, well worth skimming at least. If nothing else, check in at 44.30 minutes and follow as you may.
As a boy I wanted to master martial arts & writing, & the art of loving and living with another human being.
Another
hilarious scoop from the Borowitz Report: In a blockbuster documentary
to be broadcast tonight, the Fox News Channel alleges that Obamacare is
"little more than a thinly veiled scheme to force Americans to live
longer."
Dental
problems can cause bad breath, but so can eating too much protein,
especially protein from animals. Animal protein is particularly rich in
the sulfur-containing amino acids that give rise to stinky compounds
such as methyl mercaptan.
The
compleat guide to transferring money from people who have worked for
the public to people who work to exploit the public and make political
points while doing so....
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night flew out for a four-day
visit to the United States, vowing to expose "the truth" in the wake of
Iran's recent overtures to the United States. "I am going there to
represent the interests of the people of Israel, our readiness to defend
ourselves and our hope for peace," Netanyahu told reporters on the
plane before taking off for the US. "I will say the truth. In the face
of the sweet talk and the smiles one needs to tell the truth. Only the
truth, today, is vital to the security of the world, and of course
essential to the security of our country."
A
Maryland Ku Klux Klan group has been granted a permit to hold a rally
at a renowned Civil War battlefield, US authorities say. The white
supremacist group will hold the event on 5 October at the site of the
July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. Park officials said US
freedom of speech rules required them to make the site available to the
group.
Tens
of thousands of commuters scrambled Thursday for alternative
transportation between the Connecticut suburbs and the city as a power
failure disabled one of the nation's busiest commuter rail lines for a
second day. In New York's Grand Central, dozens of commuters made their
way through a maze of people in the hopes of getting to packed trains
heading to Connecticut. Several screens flashed "service advisory"
explaining that there would be train issues "until further notice."
Echoing through most people's mind: Get there early or stand and wait.
Why Rouhani Is a Nightmare for Israel's Mossad
Why Rouhani Is a Nightmare for Israel's Mossad | Common Dreams
By Larry Pinkney
Show Love for LYNNE STEWART & All Political Prisoners - Act NOW! This article is about U.S. political prisoner LYNNE STEWART - the 'people's lawyer,' who is dying in prison of terminal cancer.
By Franklin Lamb
Passing the Torch to a New Generation of Syrians For this ten millennium civilization and its thousands of priceless treasures, many partially destroyed, emergency efforts are needed today to preserve and protect the structures from thieves and war damage. Not many here would disagree with this priority of the Syrian government.
By James Jatras
FATCA: a Tool of the Electronic Surveillance State The "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act" (FATCA) is touted as a tax enforcement tool. In fact, FATCA would require indiscriminate gathering of information from innocent people worldwide, which then would be turned over to NSA and other U.S. intellige
Meat
contaminants are not likely to go away because they stem from Big
Meat's desire to maximize profits by growing animals faster, squeezing
them into small living spaces and keeping meat looking "fresh" on store
shelves longer
A
Pakistani girl who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban has
been honored as Harvard University's humanitarian of the year. Malala
Yousafzai, an outspoken proponent for girls' education, was at Harvard
on Friday to accept the 2013 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award. Harvard
President Drew Gilpin Faust said she was pleased to welcome Malala
because of their shared interest in education.
By Dave Lefcourt
The Latest Poster Boy for Congressional Grandstanding and the Threat to Shut Down the Government Again 
In
the U.S. almost complete gov't dysfunction is the norm, lately
evidenced by Senator Ted Cruz R. TX 23 hr. grandstand act on the Senate
floor threatening to shut down the gov't over Obama's new health care
law about to take effect on Tuesday. This shutdown only hurts people
directly, furlough innocent gov't workers, shut fed'l offices, nat'l
parks & hurt nearby businesses. The people's representatives in
action.
Latest Articles
The
prime minister of Pakistan met with his Indian counterpart at the
United Nations gathering in New York. He wants to normalize relations
between the two states and have Pakistan and India live together like
two friendly neighbors. However, relations between the two states can
only be normalized when India gives up its pursuit of regional
dominance.
This
is the official White House OMB response to a petition to save the Post
Office: "Official Office of Management and Budget Response to Save the
Postal Service A Balanced Approach to Reforming the Postal Service By
Dana Hyde..." The official White House response to this is total B.S.
It is the prefunding requirement that is responsible for over 80% of the
budget shortfall.
The
truth is, most people are hanging on by the skin of their teeth. They
can't make ends meet on their crappy wages and they're too broke to
quit. There's no way out. It's obvious in all the data. And it's hurting
the economy, too, because spending drives growth, but you can't spend
when you're busted.
This
Sunday, Anishinaabe horseback riders will ride across 1855 treaty lands
to draw attention to a proposed expansion of a tar sands pipeline by
Enbridge.
You'd
think Ted Cruz would have used his time to talk specifically about the
suffering that uninsured people and their children are going through,
especially in the Lone Star State. Or about what could replace Obamacare
other than his repeated "free market" solution, which is to say the
"pay or die" profiteering, tax-subsidized corporate system.
Vladimir
Putin is "on top of his game." Russia helped avert a war by cutting a
deal over Syrian's use of chemical weapons. And post-Soviet youth are
striving for economic and political power. Those topics and more came up
during a week-long conference in Russia attended by University of Rhode
Island Political Science Professor Nicolai N. Petro, as well as Putin
and other world leaders.
Interest
on money causes financial instability and contributes to economic
cycles. Banning interest on money causes problems because interest on
money also reflects the return on capital. The increased economic
efficiency of such an arrangement ensures that there will be no interest
on money in the future.
James
Clapper lied to the faces of the Senate Intelligence Committee about
core NSA matters, and not only was he not prosecuted for that felony,
but he did not even lose his job, and continues to be treated with great
reverence by the very Committee which he deliberately deceived. That
one fact tells you all you need to know about how official Washington
functions.
Our Kamikaze Congress!
The Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is clearly willing to shut down the federal government unless its ridiculous demands to end Obamacare and take other improper actions are met. Like all forms of blackmail, those demands must be resisted, fought, and defeated.
We Need a Dandelion Insurrection
It's a novel about overcoming abuses that now exist or easily might in the next few years.
Why
try to provide the facts to support an argument? Why spend countless
hours scanning the Internet for information that will expose the truths
underlying the artifice we call reality?
The
bottom line is the "unfunded liability" crisis is, if not exactly
fictional, certainly exaggerated to an outrageous degree. Yes, we live
in a new economy and, yes, it may be time to have a discussion about
whether certain kinds of public employees should be receiving sizable
benefit checks until death. But the idea that these benefit packages are
causing the fiscal crises in our states is almost entirely a
fabrication.
With
Vermont's highest elected officials still deep in Defense Dept. denial
over the disaster that is the Air Force's F-35 strike fighter, a local
city council threatens to bring some military sanity to Vermont (but
nowhere else) by exercising its landlord right to reject as a tenant a
weapon of mass destruction that will wreak havoc on the local
neighborhood.
 Best News Links from the Web
Washington
marched relentlessly toward its first federal shutdown in 17 years
Sunday after House Speaker John A. Boehner agreed to conservative
demands to use a government-funding bill to press an attack on President
Obama's 2010 health-care law. esponse came quickly. Even before the
House had a chance to vote on its proposal, Senate Majority Leader Harry
M. Reid (D-Nev.) blasted it as "pointless." Democratic aides said the
Senate would set aside the House amendments, probably first thing
Monday, leaving GOP leaders with a stark choice: approve the simple
funding bill the Senate has already passed or permit federal agencies to
close.
With
Congress deadlocked over fiscal policy and a government shutdown
looming, personal disputes have clouded the usually collegial Senate,
straining relationships between lawmakers who otherwise work well
together. With Republican efforts to defund President Barack Obama's
signature accomplishment -- the overhaul of health care -- and threats
to shutter much of the government or cause the country to default on its
debt, some of the House's heat has spilled over into the Senate. And
some worry that it's poisoned the atmosphere.
House
Republicans attach a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act to
legislation that would keep the government operating past midnight
Monday. A vote is expected later Saturday. The Republican package would
repeal a tax on medical devices that helps pay for the health care act.
Separately, the House will vote to ensure military forces continue to be
paid in the event of a government shutdown, an admission that the
outcome of the fiscal showdown is all but sealed.
Exclusive:
The leading Syrian rebel groups have declared their intent to transform
Syria into a Taliban-style state that would collaborate with
al-Qaeda-af...
When
competitive runner Heath White and his wife received the news that
their daughter would be born with Down Syndrome, Heath wanted an
abortion. But after baby Paisley was born in 2007, he knew he'd never be
the same again.
A
New Jersey judge ruled on Friday that the state must allow same-sex
couples to marry, finding that failing to do so deprives them of rights
that are now guaranteed by the federal government following a ruling by
the Supreme Court in June. It is the first time a court has struck down a
state ban on same-sex marriage as a direct result of the Supreme
Court's ruling, and it comes as Gov. Chris Christie continues to oppose
allowing gay marriage in the state.
The
fate of a possible government shutdown now rests with the House of
Representatives after the Senate voted Friday to send the GOP-dominated
chamber a simple extension of government spending through mid-November.
The Senate's vote now returns the spending debate to the House, where
Boehner faces quite the bind. With the clock winding down to a
government shutdown, Boehner must figure out a path forward to fund the
government, or risk a shutdown that could backfire politically against
Republicans. And he has until midnight on Monday to do so.
Seymour
Hersh has got some extreme ideas on how to fix journalism -- close down
the news bureaus of NBC and ABC, sack 90% of editors in publishing and
get back to the fundamental job of journalists which, he says, is to be
an outsider. He is angry about the timidity of journalists in America,
their failure to challenge the White House and be an unpopular messenger
of truth.
Bolivian
President Evo Morales and other high-level Government and United
Nations officials met today on the football field to support the UN
campaign "UNiTE to End Violence Against Women,' globally and in Latin
America and the Caribbean, which has some of the highest rates of
gender-related crime.
It
wasn't that long ago that pundits were calling California a failed
state and saying it was ungovernable. But in 2010, when other states
were busy electing whatever Tea Partier claimed to hate government the
most, we elected a guy who actually liked it, Jerry Brown. Since then,
everything Republicans say can't or won't work -- gun control,
immigration reform, high-speed rail -- California is making work. And
everything conservatives claim will unravel the fabric of our society --
universal healthcare, higher taxes on the rich, gay marriage, medical
marijuana -- has only made California stronger. Everything Republicans
say can't or won't work, California is making work. And everything
conservatives claim will unravel the fabric of our society has only made
California stronger. And all we had to do to accomplish that was vote
out every single Republican.
President
Barack Obama, at a rally in Largo, Maryland, promoting Obamacare,
looked ahead on Thursday morning to the next showdown and issued a
hard-and-fast proclamation: "I won't negotiate on anything when it comes
to the full faith and credit of the United States of America." Obama
has stated clearly he will not negotiate with political extremists who
would hold the US government and economy hostage. Boehner, who leads a
Republican caucus craving confrontation, has proclaimed he expects the
president to deal. Something--or someone--has to give. Or not.
by
and large, the wealthy have gotten their wish. Wall Street was bailed
out, while workers and homeowners weren't. Our so-called recovery has
done nothing much for ordinary workers, but incomes at the top have
soared, with almost all the gains from 2009 to 2012 going to the top 1
percent, and almost a third going to the top 0.01 percent -- that is,
people with incomes over $10 million.
A
panel of the world's leading climate scientists strongly asserted
Friday that "it is extremely likely that human influence has been the
dominant cause" of global warming since 1950 and warned of more rapid
ice melt and rising seas if governments do not aggressively act to
reduce the pace of greenhouse gas emissions.
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