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Bold and Daring: The Way Progressive News Should Be
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The Democrats are coming out of the
closet as fellow fascists, just like their Republican "friends." Sure,
they throw a few crumbs to women, gays and unions, but for the most part
they have been betraying the middle class, failing to prosecute
bankers, going after whistle blowers at historically high levels.
There's no solution to be found
electorally. Only three Senate Democrats and Bernie Sanders opposed
Obama's trade representative appointee who assured Elizabeth Warren he
would continue to keep the TPP agreement secret and not allow the
American people to see the words. The answer has to be activism.
OPEDNEWS supports activists and protesters like no other progressive
media site.
OEN has evolved to become a further
left leaning site, usually in disagreement with both Republicans and
Democrats. We know that's cost us a lot of liberal readers, to the right
of where we stand. If you value the positions we've taken, please
support us. We know that some of you can't afford to make donations. But
many of you can, and we really need your help. We run on a smaller
donor budget than any of the other sites known for being major
progressive sites-- under $5000 a month. This is a particularly
important month for us. Please take a few moments to make a donation
today.
thanks
rob kall
Support Opednews. Make a tax deductible donation to make OEN Strong.  Daily Headlines
Speaking
with GRITtv host Laura Flanders about the National Security Agency
snooping scandal, Chomsky remarked that "the Obama administration is
dedicated to increasing terrorism; it's doing it all over the world."
The
Trans-Pacific Partnership is a secret Free Trade Agreement under
negotiation. It continues the WTO assault on food sovereignty. Access to
food is a basic human right. Instead, TPP expands the notion that food
is just another commodity subject to economic speculation and
exploitation solely to increase the profits of multinational
corporations.
The
central issue is our dire shortage of democracy. How can we have real
consent of the governed when the government is entrenched with extreme
secrecy, surveillance and contempt for privacy?
The
creation of a secret police state apparatus represents a fork in the
road for the United States. Snowden said his motive was to make it
possible for the American people to decide whether the Surveillance
State is what they want -- and that they couldn't do this unless they
knew what was going on behind their backs.
Perspective
is all. Look at Palestinian freedom from the Israeli perspective and
what do you see? You see a challenge that must be met in Israel's best
interests. But look at Palestinian freedom from the Palestinian
perspective and you see not a challenge for Israel, but a responsibility
placed upon an Israeli government that continues to rely on the
occupation as its way of "controlling" the neighborhood.
I
am not complaining as a disgruntled employee. I am complaining as if a
bystander watching in amazement as all of this goes down. I see a lot of
colleagues struggling daily to make ends meet. I even know of a
colleague who had to live in his office because he couldn't find an
affordable apartment. And then these reports come out about lavish
lifestyles and vacation homes and everything starts to click.
What
does the IRS scandal have to do with the recent disclosures about
National Security Agency surveillance programs that sweep up phone
records and internet communications? The answer doesn't involve
President Barack Obama thuggishly conspiring to spy on political foes
and average Joes. But the two controversies have this in common:
congressional oversight. The NSA leaks underscore the compelling need
for vigorous and extensive monitoring of secret government action by
congressional leaders who are elected to look out for the public's
interest. The trumped-up IRS scandal shows how many of those leaders
cannot be trusted to take their oversight duties seriously.
According
to the Real Clear Politics summary of recent polls, only 14 percent of
Americans approve of how Congress is doing its job. The disapproval rate
is 78 percent. Notably, when voters in states across the country were
polled regarding their congressional representatives, the senator with
the lowest net job approval rating was ... Mitch McConnell.
Everybody's
talking about Snowden, his revelations and their significance. But
government officials and their subservients in the mainstream media
aren't participating in a debate; they are attempting to avoid one. It's
to hide the most important truth: we, the people of the United States,
are the real target of this surveillance.
By Daily kos
German magazine Spiegel says "Obama's Soft Totalitarianism: Europe Must Protect Itself from America" 
Quote from Der Spiegel:
By
century's end, rising sea levels will turn the nation's urban
fantasyland into an American Atlantis. But long before the city is
completely underwater, chaos will begin.
By Yes Magazine
Yes Magazine: From Housing to Health Care, 7 Co-ops That Are Changing Our Economy How manufacturers, retailers, restaurants, and others are doing business the cooperative way.
Scary
stories of kidnappings and explosions lead our news feeds, but it's the
good news that helps break down the myth of our own powerlessness.
here's
a heartwarming example of a corporation doing some good in the world.
OEN usually criticizes corporations for the bad they do. When one does
some good, it deserves recognition.
Allied
NATO Government is hiding millions of infectious NON HIV AIDS cases
(like mine) under the "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)" ICD-code.
Lambda Legal is an organization at the forefront of gay liberty.
My Attempts at Maintaining Friendship Without a Cellphone in The 21st Century
This
summer holds blessings and challenges for all of us. Look at our
world. If we don't stop it now, corporations will continue to control
our politics, our environment and our financial system. So while we
each have a responsibility to stand up for a different kind of world, we
also need to relax and enjoy ourselves. This next month is a good time
to do both.
"I need to get off the radar" - Hastings email
There is a lot of news that our newspapers and TV stations won't cover. But we might hope that the possibility that one of their own was murdered for getting too close to a sensitive story - this is the kind of news that they wouldn't ignore. Perhaps someone will investigate. A Los Angeles TV station has reported that an LA PD officer received an email from Michael Hastings the day before he died under suspicious circumstances, saying:
Why The NWO Hates Syria
(Video from SyriaGirl)
Nelson
Mandela was in critical condition Sunday after a deterioration in his
health, and doctors "are doing everything possible'' for him, South
Africa's government said. The office of President Jacob Zuma said that
on Sunday evening the president had visited Mandela, the former
president of the country who was imprisoned for nearly three decades as
he battled the country's apartheid system of racial separatism. Zuma's
office said he was informed by Mandela's doctors that his condition had
become critical in the past 24 hours.
By Dave Lindorff
Snowden's escape: China, Hong Kong and Russia Foil US Attempt to Silence NSA Whistleblower 
Snowden's
evasion of a US extradition request and indictment for espionage was
the result of Russia, China and Hong Kong standing up to the US, which
has been left sputtering and embarrassed, says TCBH! journalist Dave
Lindorff
James
Madison, so-called "father of the Constitution" and fourth U.S.
president, is at the center of a historical debate over what the
original intent of the Framers was and whether a strong federal
government fits with those principles. The dispute revolves around
Madison's shifting alliances.
s
with all informant systems, especially ones that "profile" for certain
behaviors deemed to be a threat to the state, only the most conformist
will thrive. It's a recipe for disaster if one is looking for any kind
of dynamic, creative thinking. Clearly, that is the last thing these
creepy bureaucrats want.
By Sam Amer
A Sprinkle of Socialism is What We Need We need to add some socialism to improve capitalism
By David McBain
Reckless Bankers and Rotting Fish Heads It seems some bankers are to be jailed for reckless conduct in the UK in future. Calling for a new criminal offence to deal with "reckless conduct in the management of a bank," with automatic prison sentences a Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards wants senior bankers to take more responsibility for their actions. On the other hand, someone was reminding us that fish rot from the head.
After
Mitch McConnell became Senate Minority Leader in 2007, the yearly total
of filibusters doubled . It's now assumed that any legislation over
which there is disagreement requires a super-majority of 60 votes to
pass. Democrats could use the nuclear option to break McConnell's
stranglehold. Yet they lack the will to do so.
High
unemployment and feelings of injustice for the killing of people in
their area by drones and Yemeni air strikes provide a fertile recruiting
ground for al Qaeda in Yemen. Yemen prisons in which young people have
been detained and imprisoned for months and years without trial by the
Government of Yemen is a key place where radicalization for armed
groups, including al Qaeda, occurs.
The
Shiites are pouring into Syria in order to fight against the Sunnis.
In other words, the 9th Century has come 'a calling. But what is it
that has divided them for so long? Read on and learn . . .
Latest Articles Best News Links from the Web
The
impression that the Fed is tired of trying so hard got even stronger
last week, after a news conference in which Mr. Bernanke seemed quite
happy to reinforce the message of an imminent reduction in stimulus. The
trouble is that this is very much the wrong signal to be sending given
the state of the economy. We're still very much living through what
amounts to a low-grade depression -- and the Fed's bad messaging reduces
the chances that we're going to exit that depression any time soon.
The
Western governments and their Arab stooges in the Persian Gulf are
stepping up their criminal acts in Syria due to their obsession with
Iran's growing influence in the region, an analyst says. He added that
Western governments are determined to "isolate and undermine Iran, an
important ally of Syria and a key opponent to Western hegemonic
ambitions in the vital oil- and gas-rich Middle East region."
US
politicians attacked Vladimir Putin on Sunday and called for Russia to
hand over Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (NSA)
contractor who admitted leaking top secret spying documents. As Snowden
landed in Moscow after leaving Hong Kong, where the US had requested his
arrest, leading Democratic senator Chuck Schumer accused the Russian
president of sticking a finger in the eye of the US.
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