Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Saturday 28 June 2014

Bold and Daring: The Way Progressive News Should Be
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 Daily Headlines


Three former State Department officials -- Ann Wright, Matthew Hoh and Peter Van Buren -- are among those who continue to speak out against ongoing U.S. policies in Iraq. All three are on the advisory board of a new organization for whistleblowing and independent journalism, ExposeFacts.org, part of the Institute for Public Accuracy.

By Robert Reich
Break The Koch Machine
The Koch political machine would be troubling in any circumstance. But it's especially dangerous in present-day America, where wealth is more concentrated than it's been in over a century and the Supreme Court has opened the floodgates to big money.
Anti-Russian demagoguery over Ukraine is again heating up with Secretary of State John Kerry issuing an ultimatum to Putin for more sanctions if he doesn't disarm freedom fighters in the East. More ominous though are comments by NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen that Putin and the Russians have now infiltrated the anti-fracking movement. Could US based activists soon be officially branded as "terrorists" for their protesting?

New Mayday PAC needs support, aims to take down wealthy elite
There is a bold movement afoot with a clear time frame and a well-defined objective of restoring sovereignty to the people of this country. Deciding to fight fire with fire, Lawrence Lessig (Harvard law professor and widely recognized anti-corruption activist) conceived a plan to beat the wealthy elite at their own game. On May 1, he launched the Mayday SuperPAC, a unique citizen-funded nonprofit that will be used to swing targeted congressional races in 2014 and 2016 to dedicated reformers. Up to now, this has been an arena where only the super wealthy have been privileged to play.
Another devastating report about the destruction of our environment and planet. Despite warnings from a consensus of leading scientists that we are approaching the point of no return, the public remains indifferent while placing immediate personal concerns first. Rather than new studies and more bad news we need behavioral scientists to study and discover how to get the public to make saving the planet our number one priority

"I took advantage of an opportunity to confront Phelps in person - in public..."
By conducting a "war on intolerance" in the same arrogant manner in which we wage our endless "war on terrorism," we are reaping a whirlwind of resentment--and whipping up the very hatred we claim to be fighting. The crazy idea that we can go around the world uprooting the traditions of thousands of years is a constant. It's not only crazy, it represents a threat to our liberty, our prosperity, and the peace of the world.
Paul, who is mulling a 2016 presidential bid, has not hesitated to challenge the hawks of the GOP, he has softened his language. He no longer accuses Cheney of pushing the Iraq war to reap corporate profits. (He even recently claimed that was not what he had meant to say.)
A deconstruction of a personal account of the Ukraine crisis by an aspiring literary figure - instead of an investigative reporter.
"Don't Do Stupid sh*t," applied to Syria and Iraq, means that the Obama administration has gone (almost) no holds barred in its "Assad must go" policy, by the way a Ba'ath government; what's implied is that Washington is an ally of ISIS in Syria, while a (determined?) foe of ISIS in Iraq.
a review of the exhibit "Starting Out: 9 Abstract Painters 1958-1971" examines the second-generation New York School of painters.

By Citizen News Service - CNS
Tackle hepatitis C to save people living with HIV
The WHO recognizes that the 'silent epidemic' of viral hepatitis affects a large part of the world's population causing over 1.4 million deaths every year, yet remains largely unknown or ignored. It is estimated that 240 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and more than 185 million people are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV).
The devastation of our planet is a mirror to the devastation of the human mind. We are out of touch with Nature and thus have no sense of ourselves. This is why we are alienated. We are out of touch with our Mother Nature, the Essence of the Self that has taken form as us.

Lesbian police chief fired by mayor, rehired by council
The police chief hired by Latta Mayor Earl Bullard was fired Friday evening by Latta Town Council. The council then immediately rehired former Chief Crystal Moore.
A journalist's commentary on the future of independent US media programs and networks. Technology is making it much easier and cheaper to produce media content.

Political opponents accuse each other of lying all the time, but one Oklahoma congressional candidate took his accusation to a new level this week when he claimed his opponent was actually dead and being represented by a body double. KFOR in Oklahoma reports that Timothy Ray Murray believes Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), his opponent in the congressional Republican primary, was executed three years ago and is being represented by a look-alike.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, excessive drinking accounted for 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults in the United States between 2006 and 2010. Alcohol associated death rates vary across states, but excessive drinking remains a leading cause of premature mortality nationwide. In addition, excessive drinking is associated with an estimated 2.5 million years of potential life lost each year in the US alone.
By Michael Byron
The Battle of Evermore
Call to action on accelerating arctic methane releases. These releases will bring about the near term extinction of life on Earth unless drastic action is taken now.

The oil rich country of Iraq is facing a possible collapse.
Memo: From Nick HanauerTo: My Fellow ZillionairesYou probably don't know me, but like you I am one of those .01%ers, a proud and unapologetic capitalist. I have founded, co-founded and funded more than 30 companies across a range of industries--from itsy-bitsy ones like the night club I started in my 20s to giant ones like Amazon.com, for...
Article sent to me by a friend, and my reply here:
Just how badly does the American Red Cross want to keep secret how it raised and spent over $300 million after Hurricane Sandy? The charity has hired a fancy law firm to fight a public request we filed with New York state, arguing that information about its Sandy activities is a "trade secret." The Red Cross' "trade secret" argument has persuaded the state to redact some material, though it's not clear yet how much since the documents haven't yet been released. As we've reported, the Red Cross releases few details about how it spends money after big disasters. That makes it difficult to figure out whether donor dollars are well spent.
On June 15, without the permission of administration officials or the Virginia State Police, House Speaker William J. Howell (R) enlisted the Capitol Police and clerks from the office of the House of Delegates to break into Gov. Terry McAuliffe's (D) secure office suite to deliver the state budget when the governor was not around. The break-in was part of an ongoing effort by Virginia Republicans to block McAuliffe's promise to expand Medicaid in the state.
By Uri Avnery
An Armed Ghetto
The best way to prevent hostage-taking is to release prisoners voluntarily. Even the Security Service cannot seriously maintain that all the many thousands of political prisoners now in our prisons constitute a mortal danger to our existence. An even better way forward is to end the occupation by making peace.
By Kathy Malloy
Mother Mary
Apparently, constitutional protection favors one group over another, as far as the Supreme Court is concerned. Free speech (as they interpret it) trumps privacy rights. Some animals are more equal than others -- to borrow from Orwell, once again.
By David Glenn Cox
Adventures in Job Hunting
Equity = again, you don't get paid or you get paid in Monopoly money. We're a well-funded start-up. You now own 10,000 shares of Fingerupmynose.com and if we all work very, very hard, we could be as big as the Huffington Post someday.


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