Bold and Daring: The Way Progressive News Should Be
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Neither the Federal Reserve nor the White House will permit a default on public debt. Either the Fed will extend a loan to the Treasury or Obama will implement one of the presidential directives put on the books by George W. Bush. Nevertheless, the government's shutdown and the specter of a Washington default has made a deep impression on the world. Washington's power has been diminished permanently.
President Obama says he welcomes the debate on post-9/11 surveillance of Americans and the world, but that debate was only made meaningful by the disclosures of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, who was then indicted and sought asylum in Russia, where he just met with some ex-U.S. intelligence officials, including Ray McGovern.
Coleen Rowley just got back from meeting with Edward Snowden, in Moscow. She shares what she learned
By John Whitehead
Red Light Cameras, Drones and Surveillance: Fleecing the Taxpayer in the Age of Petty Tyrannies It's the endless, petty tyrannies inflicted on an overtaxed, overregulated, and underrepresented populace that occasionally nudge a weary public out of their numb indifference and into a state of outrage.
Arizona and Kansas--which passed a similar proof-of-citizenship law in 2011--are arguing that the Supreme Court's decision applies only to federal elections and that those who register using the federal form cannot vote in state and local elections. The two states have sued the Election Assistance Commission and are setting up a two-tiered system of voter registration, which could disenfranchise thousands of voters.
Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald, who was one of the first journalists to break the NSA surveillance story, is leaving the British newspaper for a "once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity." He pointed out that his plans were leaked prematurely, so he is unable to reveal any more information at this time.
Beijing has listened to Dylan (with Mandarin subtitles?) and concluded yes, the times they-are-a-changing. With no foreseeable social, economic and political progress -- the shutdown is just another graphic illustration, if any was needed -- the US slide is as inexorable as China, bit by bit, spreading its wings to master 21st century post-modernity.
By Richard Clark
Who's most responsible for the mess our economy and society is in? Repugs or Dems? The Republicans have been making a lot of charges about how the Obama administration is responsible for many bad things. But when you look deeper, there's much more to the explanation than Repugs suggest.
The incompetence and fraud committed by Congress on the shutdown and debt ceiling is all ... at our expense. They will do just fine. It is we, the people who will suffer.
By David Corn
Economist Mark Zandi on Default: "We Will Be Dooming Our Economy and the Entire Global Economy" for Years 
The government's debt is not created by the extension of borrowing authority; it is created when Congress establishes entitlements or passes spending bills that require government borrowing. Put another way, raising the debt ceiling does not change the amount of money the US government owes.
By Steve Bhaerman
Signs of Evolutionary Upwising - The Upside of Apocalypse These challenging times have been described as "apocalyptic" and I say ... that's perfect because the original meaning of the word apocalypse is "lifting of the veils". It is now time to bring down the "irony curtain" and end the most toxic "don't ask, don't tell" policy of all - where we promise not to ask our government about its dark shadow, and it promises not to tell us.
Mass murders by severely mentally ill (psychotic) killers are horrific tragedies that gain intense media coverage; they are not rare. This provocative and controversial article addresses efforts at prevention of future rampages and challenges the long-established medical concept that functional or primary psychosis means the diagnosis of schizophrenia rather than a psychotic bipolar disorder.
This is the sixth part of the serialization of All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (Berrett-Koehler, 2006). The ideas in this book are further developed in my recent novel The Rowan Tree.
The rewarding outcome of a real world experiment in which the author gives up her cell phone.
Nobel Peace Prize created a furore in Pakistan. Since Malala was an aspirant.Why did she not get it?
This article discusses the concept of the crisis and analyzes contemporary crises in light of its historical meaning.
Lunar Eclipses mark the culmination of something started 19 years ago. 1994--NAFTA,LA earthquake, Rwanda genocide, Mandela elected,Republicans take both houses. What was happening in your life? Doubt astrology all you want--we live in cycles and what goes around comes around! First work on your relationships, then we'll work on transformation at the Scorpio Solar Eclipse in 2 weeks.
This is a statement in support of a Resolution to end corporate personhood and end money as being protected free speech. A group of us put the statement together to bring the issue before our municipal governments in our state of NM.
Seven Democratic House Members supported the GOP effort to empower House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor extraordinary power to block all legislation to end the shutdown.
By Rev. Dan Vojir
Wacky Is As Wacky Does: Ten Crazy Christofascist Quotes From The Values Voter Summit. 
The ten craziest quotes from the annnual Christofascist hate-fest, the Values Voter Summit.
Iran, sitting as the "accused" in Geneva, does not put its nuclear facilities behind an "ambiguity" wall. The BBC offers a close look at Iran's various nuclear production sites. This report relies on Iran's open stance regarding its program, in contrast to Israel's lack of transparency.
Syria remains the odd number in the Arab peace-making belt around Israel; no comprehensive peace is possible without Syria; Damascus holds the key even to the survival of the Palestinian, Jordanian, and Egyptian peace accords with Israel. Syria will not hand over this key without the withdrawal of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) from Syrian lands.
A good, simple description about the NSA. They summarily dismiss the protections to privacy set forth in The Constitution, and expect nobody to be upset about it. This is for anyone who is unclear about exactly how their private world has been invaded.
Republicans should fund the government and promise not to ever, ever do this again. To prove they mean it they should repeal the law requiring a vote to raise the debt ceiling. We the People have taken away all of the power of the Republicans except one -- the power to destroy. We have to take that power away from them, not just kick it down the road.
The Pinochet-style coup in Egypt in July 2013, 40 years after the Chilean coup, gives pause to reconsider Islamic political strategy. It took 27 years before Chilean socialists retook power, but their party was a pale ghost of Allende's revolutionary one. Is this the fate of the Arab Spring?
By Neil Wollman
Facing Gridlock, A Bold Proposal for Democracy In the face of government gridlock over the federal budget, let us consider a new way to make some policy decisions. What if citizens voted not only for candidates in presidential elections, but for policies that directly affect their own welfare--including budget priorities? A strong, definitive public voice on contentious issues could reduce government gridlock and perhaps even avert a government shutdown!
By E. T. SIMON
As Madeleine Albright might say,Who has the biggest cojones? That is what it is all about. 
Economy Improbing? I don't think so. Government Shutdown? Principled or is it about Who has the biggest cojones? I think it is abut the latter.
By Tom Engelhardt
Tomgram: Michael Klare, The Latest News in Fossil Fuel Addiction The news couldn't be better -- and it couldn't be worse. Or ask yourself this: What do these two headlines have in common: "U.S. expected to be largest producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in 2013," "Shift to a new climate likely by middle of the century, study finds"? Latest Articles
Living Wage or Wage Slavery: de Blasio vs. Lhota on the Dignity of Labor
An article about the difference between a living wage and a minimum wage.
Chapter 12 explores how contradictory ideas are shaped, which eventually leads to contradictory policies and unexpected and undesirable consequences. For a system to work, we need to agree on what is good and bad. How do we understand virtue? This chapter suggests a way forward.
The GOP has gone from hoping to create a Permanent (electoral) Majority by mobilizing the religious determinists and cheating-the-vote to establishing a Permanent Minority Government by the above plus gerrymandering and voter supression. It's a neat trick. You can thank Karl Rove and his allies first, and then the Koch brothers and theirs.
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Glenn Greenwald, the lawyer and blogger who brought The Guardian the biggest scoop of the decade, is departing the London-based news organization, for a brand-new, large-scale, broadly focused media outlet, he told BuzzFeed Tuesday. He said he is departing for a new, "once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity" with major financial backing, the details of which will be public soon. Greenwald said that because the news had leaked "before we were prepared to announce it, I'm not yet able to provide any details of this momentous new venture." It will, he said, "be unveiled very shortly."
The Republican-controlled House canceled a vote Tuesday night on a plan to reopen the federal government and raise the debt ceiling after support from conservatives for the deal crumbled, leaving Washington without a clear path forward for avoiding a first-ever default on the nation's debt. Later Tuesday night, Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell moved to pick up the pieces of the shattered House effort, with aides to both senators expressing optimism a deal could be soon at hand.
Borrowing by all levels of the Chinese government has soared to unprecedented levels and is now one of the highest in the world, vastly complicating efforts by Beijing's new leadership to keep growth on track. Data from the International Monetary Fund shows that China's budget deficit reached 9.7pc of GDP last year if regional spending is included and one-off land sales are stripped out. This is higher than previously thought and above levels in the US, India, or Southern Europe's debt-stricken crisis states.
China has become shrill in its criticism of the fiscal train wreck in the United States, arguing that the answer to a potential government default is to begin creating a "de-Americanized world." Beijing's alarm is understandable, given that it is the world's largest investor in American public debt, with at least $1.3 trillion in holdings. But economists who follow China's monetary policy say that while Beijing has somewhat diversified its foreign exchange reserves, it continues to rely heavily on Treasury bills and other American government-backed debt.
Democrats gave a presser in response to Speaker John Boehner's presser over the House Republicans' fake deal full of poison pills. As I explained earlier, the House's proposal is meant to derail the Senate deal, whilst avoiding taking any responsibility for their destruction of the country.
Ordinary Americans, and especially the small minority active in Democrat and Republican primaries, must learn more of what people across the globe are thinking and saying about the US. For if you follow that, you realize that the erosion of American power is happening faster than most of us predicted -- while the politicians in Washington behave like rutting stags with locked antlers.
A fragile deal to end the US budget crisis collapsed on Tuesday when Democrats accused conservative Republicans of sabotaging the bipartisan proposals less than two days before the country's borrowing authority expires. A proposal by a group of Democrats and moderate Republicans in the Senate fizzled when GOP leaders in the House of Representatives failed to get their rank-and-file members to back a revised version.
Former San Diego mayor Bob Filner (D) pleaded guilty Tuesday to false imprisonment and battery charges involving three women, according to an official with the San Diego Superior Court. Under his plea agreement, Filner will avoid jail time. But he will have to serve three months of home confinement and three years of probation, give up part of his mayoral pension, and agree not to run for office again, the California Attorney General's office said.
The news of the morning was that Speaker Boehner's Republican conference in the House would put forward a series of changes -- including delaying by two years Obamacare's medical device tax and removing the employer contribution for members of Congress and Cabinet officials -- to the deal being brewed in the Senate to end the government shutdown and avoid the debt ceiling deadline. It seemed an obvious attempt to pre-but worries among House conservatives that the Senate compromise simply wouldn't go far enough and, in particular, wouldn't address any of their concerns on President Obama's health-care law.
The Sun Sets on Fossil Fuels: Norwegian Pension Fund Divests from Financially Worthless Assets | Alternet
Investment in fossil fuels is increasingly being seeing as a liability, not an asset.
NSA Collecting Hundreds of Millions of Email Contact Lists | Common Dreams
NSA Collecting Hundreds of Millions of Email Contact Lists | Common Dreams
Greenwald: 'Most Shocking' NSA Stories Yet to Come
Greenwald: 'Most Shocking' NSA Stories Yet to Come | Common Dreams
Romney's right: Obamacare cuts Medicare (?)
"Romney's right: Obamacare cuts Medicare by $716 billion. Here's how." So saith this article. I've read similar figures elsewhere, and I'd love to see comments on this one. DG |
