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 Latest Headlines
By Harvey Wasserman
Is Fukushima now ten Chernobyls into the sea?
Fukushima is much closer to the ocean than Chernobyl,so more intense contamination might be expected.The high radiation levels being measured indicate Fukushima's most important impacts may be on marine life.The US has ceased measuring contamination in Pacific seafood.But for centuries to come,at least some radioactive materials dumped into the sea will find their way into the creatures of the sea & humans who depend on them. By Ricardo Levins Morales
Let's Not Take America Back!  "Let's Take America Back" the rallying cry of white populists and democratic office holders in the new wave of labor protest, is a nostalgic appeal to one segment of white workers. There are better premises on which to base an emerging struggle at a crucial moment. By Susan Strong
Say Credit Rating, not Debt Limit!
This article suggests some language for countering the Tea Party/Republican hostage game re raising the debt limit. I propose that the word "debt" is causing a lot of trouble with the public; the real issue is America's "credit rating." Let's say that instead! By Mike Whitney
Replacing Strauss-Kahn; "Pro-bank bailout" Lagarde is a shoo in  Lagarde supports weaker regulations so that banks and other financial institutions can continue to rake in windfall profits while increasing the risks to the broader economy. She just announced her candidacy this morning (May 25), but already she's won the approval of Washington, Wall Street, the big banks, and the EU heads of state. She's a shoo in. By Uri Avnery
Bibi and the Yo-Yos  There is a good chance that Obama will pretend that the spittle on his cheek is rainwater. His promise to prevent a UN General Assembly recognition of the State of Palestine deprived him of his main leverage over Netanyahu. By Robert Parry
Cheering Netanyahu's Intransigence
Republicans and Democrats in Congress leapt to their feet again and again to applaud Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even as he was challenging the policies of President Barack Obama. Yet, this pro-Israeli solidarity could have harmful consequences for Israel, the Palestinians and the United States. By Robert Scheer
Access Journalism: The Movie  The economy remains in deep trouble thanks in considerable measure to the "bankers-first" priorities that Geithner and Summers brought with them to the Barack Obama presidency. By Michael Dewey
There is a Time For All  There is a time for every event under heaven. Even the stone throwing which I hate. It all has a way in this boiling melting pot called mother earth, of making us stronger for better times to come. The cream will rise to the top, with the peaceful solution it has to offer. Abolish the Police
Can we really survive without government police? When we consider how much they do to disrupt civil society, it would seem obvious that we can. The police, on balance, are a force for decivilization and disorder. They commit massive violations of person and property. They enforce gun and drug laws that basically create organized crime and breed gang activity. Most of what they do encourages, rather than diminishes, violence. Despite all this, America remains a fairly civilized place. If we survived this long with the police, just imagine how much better off we'd be without them. By Mark Crispin Miller
House committee votes to kill funding for the arts in US public schools
Today, a bill that would deliver a devastating blow to arts in schools was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Education and the Workforce. By Davidson Loehr
When God Demands An Abortion
For the past four decades, liberals have argued that abortion is a woman's right to choose, while conservatives argued that God forbids abortions. The conservatives have won: a majority of Americans now see abortion as a bad thing, the option of last resort. Liberals seldom offer theological arguments for abortions, and it has been a mistake. We need to revisit the discussion of abortion as a religious option. You Are Made of Perfect Spheres--quite a few of them!  There are an estimated 1.80x10^28 electrons in the human body [1.80 with 28 zeroes]; strong evidents indicates they are perfect spheres. "The experiment, which spanned more than a decade, suggests that the electron differs from being perfectly round by less than 0.000000000000000000000000001 cm. This means that if the electron were magnified to the size of the solar system, it would still appear spherical to within the width of a human hair." Zen question for the day: Can you hear the music of the spheres? Cosmic Explosion Most Distant Object in Universe?  It takes a genuine thought exercise to even contemplate this one. "At an estimated distance of 13.14 billion light years, the burst lies far beyond any known quasar and could be more distant than any previously known galaxy or gamma-ray burst." A light year is how far light travels in a second, 186,000 miles. By Arianna Huffington
On Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Shakespeare, and the Enemy in the Mirror
Others, looking for scapegoats, want to lay the blame for our troubles on Muslims. Or government workers. Or teachers. Or gay people. Or rappers. Or, or, or, or... In short, anyone but ourselves. As my compatriot Socrates told us all those centuries ago: "The unexamined life is not worth living." By Dante DeNavarre
Hot Air Blocks Jet Stream  In a stunning development, large masses of hot air, not coming from Washington are blocking the jet stream, forcing it south, creating both ultra-cold and snowy winters and ultra-wet and tornado prone (tornadic) springs and summers. By David Glenn Cox
Part of the Plan  Wages for the average American worker rose forty three cents an hour year to date or $17.20 per week before taxes. Those working in the retail trade saw their wages increase by miserly fourteen cents per hour, a paltry $5.60 cents per week. By Joan Brunwasser
Catskill Mountainkeeper Protects and Preserves Area's Long-Term Health  We can't undo the damage that's been done. We can,though,learn from our mistakes so we don't continue to roll the dice on the futures of our waters and health. Our environment is too precious for that kind of gamble. We must stop relying on this industry to police itself and embrace our responsibility to put in place the safeguards we need and the enforcement authority that's required to keep essential protections effective. By Allan Goldstein
The Poisoned Chalice  Where do these strange Republican candidates come from? What got them here? And where did they go? By Robert Bullard
Black Leaders Need to Weigh in on Theft of Black Health and Black Wealth from Pollution
Toxic racism has not only destroyed hard-working African American families' health but has also robbed them of their transformative wealth--wealth which resides largely in their homes and landholdings that could be past down to future generations. Toxic racism also adds to the widening wealth gap between blacks and whites. Currently, black wealth is less than 10 percent of white wealth. By Tasbeeh Herwees
Muammar Gaddafi and Cynthia McKinney: BBFs 4 eva  With a white scarf around her shoulders, and the familiar green banner scrolling across the screen, Cynthia Mckinney appeared on Libyan State TV on Saturday. What a triumph for the sinking ship that is the Gaddafi regime. By Robert Reich
Paul Ryan Still Doesn't Get It  The Ryan plan has put Republicans in a corner. Some, like Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown and, briefly, presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, are rejecting the plan altogether. Most, though, are holding on and holding their breath. After all, House Republicans approved it -- and voters don't especially like flip-floppers. Suspect in Ariz. shooting rampage found incompetent for trial  Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of wounding U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killing six is mentally incompetent to stand trial, a judge ruled Wednesday after U.S. Marshals dragged the man out of the courtroom because of an angry outburst. By Robert Greenwald
1,500 Broken Promises from Afghanistan War Backers
This weekend, many Americans will mark Memorial Day at barbecues or other patriotic events, but thousands of families will spend the day dealing with the heartbreaking absence of a loved one. Others will spend the day like they spent every day for the last decade: hoping there's not a phone call or a knock at the door to tell them their deployed family member won't be coming home. By Tom Engelhardt
Tomgram: Ira Chernus, Ass-Backwards in the Middle East
'Let's cut the BS and talk about honest truth.' It seems like a particularly apt expression after a week watching the shadow-boxing between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that brought no tangible progress toward an Israeli-Palestinian peace." By Sherwood Ross
California's Overcrowded Prisons Typical, Not Exceptional
The Supreme Court's ruling ordering California to end prison overcrowding exposes conditions typical of other states as well. Latest Articles
As U.S. Troops Prepare to Withdraw, Let Us Not Abandon Afghans Once Again
To miss the opportunity to bring stability to the country, at such little cost relative to what we are already spending, will not and should not be forgiven by future generations seeking a more peaceful world. Instable Pakistan Is A Serious Threat To Whole World
Pakistan is under attack from all sides. It seems that this land of the pure may not survive for a long. Actually the whole system has collapsed and the reason is rampant corruption. The Crusades Continue Insidiously In America
This article explores the continued exploitation of Reservation lands for uranium and the unstoppable poisoning of our original people, without any unified response from the people in this country toward a crooked and corrupt Government that continues to back it. Russian politics: Nostalgia or a new political direction?  As Russia gears up for its election season this winter, Putin's Popular Front and Rogozin's nationalist front are playing an old Soviet melody and even borrowing a tune from revolutionaries in Cairo Medicare and Ryan's Poison Pill
Theres a new congresswoman in town and the republicans are in a state of shock. A few months ago, no one even knew here name. But now, in a district that has elected very few liberals in the last hunfred years, they have elected a democrat. Why you ask? One reason and one reason only. Rep. Paul Ryan's bill that will dismamtle Medicare and supposely give everyone a voucher. Democrats and conservatives both are up in arms. Netanyahu Spurns Peace
Netanyahu denies Palestinians liberation and peace Soren: A 'Living Exaltation' Gone, but not Easily Forgotten  The author, grief-stricken at the sudden death of his family's young cat, wonders at the power of the absence of such a small little creature in his home. Obama's Covert Clash with Pakistan
U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that American success in the Afghan War requires Pakistani help in rooting out Taliban safe havens along the border but that Pakistan is unwilling to turn against its longtime Taliban allies -- a conundrum that continues to bedevil the Obama administration and U.S. military commanders. The Democrat's Anti-Union Strategy
Major crimes are often committed with multiple accomplices. In a sophisticated bank robbery there stand, behind the vault busters, layers of criminals who act as lookouts, getaway drivers, planners, etc. So, too, in the colossal crime being committed against organized labor across the U.S., where the Republicans act as the vault busters while the Democrats have a less direct -- but equally guilty -- role in this historic atta Ten Rules On How to Fire An Employee--And Not Get Sued  How do employers often screw up when they fire workers? Let us count the ways. Review: PBS FRONTLINE's 'WikiSecrets' Wants to Be Objective and Fair and That's Why It is Weak  Anyone familiar with the stories of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, the organization's founder and Pfc. Bradley Manning, the alleged whistleblower to WikiLeaks, would be forgiven for wondering whether PBS Frontline's documentary "WikiSecrets" presents anything new or not. The documentary attempts to make a sensational connection between Manning and Assange and suggest that Assange might know Manning is the source of the information A link between climate change and Joplin tornadoes? Never!
It's very important to stay calm. If you got upset about any of this, you might forget how important it is not to disrupt the record profits of our fossil fuel companies. If worst ever did come to worst, it's reassuring to remember what the US Chamber of Commerce told the EPA in a recent filing: that there's no need to worry because "populations can acclimatize to warmer climates via a range of behavioral... adaptations." "BAMBOOZLE THEM" where teacher evaluation is the key to reform
Bogus education reformers are intent on framing the national conversation by constantly conjuring ways to remove teachers. More tests = reform, is their latest mantra. This FALLACY -- that the quantitative data from student tests can accurately evaluate teacher performance -- is a terrible hoax, which is being perpetrated on a public which wants real reform, but is in the dark about what needs to be done. Obama's Internet Brownshirts to carry out "aggressive engagement" of bloggers critical of the President
Facing a new election with little to run on and unable to inspire many independent bloggers to voluntarily defend the President's record of war mongering and record deficit, Obama's campaign team has created a position within its communications shop designed to provide "rapid response" to unfavorable stories on the net for "more aggressive engagement in the online world". In Saakashvili's Georgia, the Bloom Is Off the Rose
Protests for change in Georgia Too Big to Jail  Most of the bigger banks have emerged from the financial crisis stronger than ever, with executives cashing in with higher salaries and bigger bonuses. That old saying about criminals who "laughed all the way to the bank" has to be revised because in this case they never left the bank. Veterans Court Hits the Beach in Philadelphia  Veterans Court is a growing phenomenon across the nation. It is part of prison reform that can be slipped in under the right-wing radar. As restorative justice, it's a good model for future reform. Herman Cain and GOP Presidential Nomination is an Oxymoron
The name Herman Cain and the words GOP presidential nominee is a pitiable oxymoron. But the irrepressible talk show host and former Godfather Pizza CEO still thinks that he can stand the GOP on its head and get it to nominate him, an African-American, as its 2012 presidential standard bearer. By Press Release
Syria Civilian Death Toll Surpasses 1,000 at the Hands of the Assad Regime  Amar Qurabi, head of the Egypt-based National Organisation for Human Rights, said on Tuesday that his group has documented the names of 1,062 people killed since mid-March, along with the locations of where they died. He also said more than 10,000 people have been arrested by authorities during the protests. Hobi, Service Dog In Training  When we got him,he showed a special sensitivity to my pain.He would lie on the part of my body that hurt - without my input.He is always by my side, watching me.When I'm at physical therapy, if he sees my balance fail,he jumps to get under me.If I stop swimming and float in the middle for a time because of pain or a cramp,he will stand up and bark and not stop until I am out of the water and next to him or start to swim again. The True Tests
Testing is not the key to improving education in America. Creating an environment where competent teachers can make a meaningful connections with ALL students will facilitate increased achievement. This doesn't cost money and cannot be measured by a standardized test. Dispatch From Tripoli--NATO's Feast of Blood
The real foreign policy behind the US's mad rush for Empire in Africa! Campaign for Peace and Democracy: Oppose US Support for Bahrain Government
The Campaign for Peace and Democracy has released a statement signed by over 1,200, including hundreds of Bahrainis, opposing US support for the Bahrain government. Netanyahu and the One-State Solution  Israel's unwillingness to compromise on key issues might annul a two-state solution, making only power-sharing viable. Patriot Act Extension Scheme Sells Out the Constitution  US House and Senate leaders have reached a bipartisan backroom deal to push for approval of a four-year extension of the the most controversial components of the USA Patriot Act, in a move that rejects calls for responsible reform of the law by civil libertarians on the right and the left. Texas may criminalize TSA pat-downs as molestation  In Texas, at least, TSA agents may soon find themselves thrown in jail for violating what should be recognized as a principle of basic human decency: That no government agent can pat down your breasts, fondle your crotch, touch your junk or otherwise play with your private parts as part of a search procedure -- even with the backs of their hands. In Case You Missed this...
In case you missed this, a researcher @ Johns Hopkins U. did a study involving college deans who were req'd to swab their hands in sanitizer before and after graduations. He was consumed that "scary pathogens stuck to the dean's hands & was all he could think about" after seeing them shake hands w/ graduates. Result of study: only one pathogen per every 5,209 on someone's hand. Exactly why such an inane study to begin with? Israel harms Palestinians, but also itself
The dangerous political leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his oppressive domination of the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank must be opposed. He does not want peace. Instead, Israel continues to build on the ethnic cleansing it perpetrated in 1948. The colonization effort in occupied Palestinian territory is thriving under Netanyahu. OWES
Has Ron Paul Gone CO?
Without saying the Bush-Obama regimes' wars are illegal, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas does say he wouldn't serve in them as he did in Viet Nam.  Best News Links from the Web
Rand Paul Would Mask Reforming the Patriot Act to Pander to the NRA  Rand Paul suggests he's holding up the Patriot act to protect constitutional rights. But it's really about making the nation less safe by removing tracking of weapon ownership-- a clear case of the NRA putting fanatical resistance to gun tracking and accountability over national security. At first glance, Rand Paul might seem like he's a good guy, but no, he's deep in the slime like the rest of the NRA congressional pawns. Blackwater serves corrupt states  "Blackwater is the modern version of mercenaries that have been used by corrupt governments and regimes throughout history," American investigative journalist Alex Jones said during an interview with Press TV's US Desk, on Tuesday. According to Jones, Blackwater, which represents the "21st century death squad," carries out any mission it is paid to do. "It's come out in federal court hearings, and in criminal investigations that what the Iraqis had discussed turned out to be true, and that Blackwater personnel had been reportedly shooting and killing people for entertainment in Iraq," he added. Bill O'Reilly Converted to Socialism!
By definition. "Lawrence O'Donnell took Bill O'Reilly to task for his attack on Bill Maher's definition of socialism, explaining, 'socialism doesn't mean that we're against making a profit; it just means that government takes over certain things like hospitals, the prisons and the military and schools that shouldn't be run for profit.'" (And who but an imbecile isn't?) There's a Secret Patriot Act, Senator Says  Sen. Ron Wyden says that what Congress will renew is a mere fig leaf for a far broader legal interpretation of the Patriot Act that the government keeps to itself -- entirely in secret. Worse, there are hints that the government uses this secret interpretation to gather what one Patriot-watcher calls a "dragnet" for massive amounts of information on private citizens; the government portrays its data-collection efforts much differently. Assange: We Target Government Conspiracies
"What we mean about conspiracy is simply people getting together in private to make plans to do something that the public would be outraged against," Assange said. "They keep it in private because the public would oppose it. And if the public finds out about it and opposes it before it's implemented, then chances are it won't be implemented." Bin Laden's Gone. Can My Son Come Home?  In post-9/11 America, John became a symbol of "the other." He was called the American Taliban. A traitor. Detainee No. 1 in the war on terrorism. John's case was never about evidence. It was based purely on emotion -- shock and anger over 9/11, compounded with a deep frustration that Bin Laden was able to escape from American forces. Out of the Belly of AIPAC and Why I am too RED to be Pink!  [Washington, D.C.] AIPAC/American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual conference brought together over 11,000 sisters, brothers and cousins in the Family of Father Abraham-including 1,500 youth representing 400 schools and 215 universities, 500 journalists from 2 dozen countries and representatives of over 100 endorsing organizations to Move AIPAC Over.... Gingrich takes few questions, avoids press at N.H. town hall  Newt Gingrich seems to have developed a new strategy in his second week of campaigning for the White House: take as few questions as possible and ignore the press. "Mr. Speaker, do you not want to answer questions from the press?" a reporter asked. "I'm doing what he tells me," he said, gesturing to R.C. Hammond, an aide. "You have to talk to him." Perry signs sonogram before abortion bill into Texas law
As Gov. Rick Perry touted Texas' new law that requires women seeking abortions to have a sonogram, a national abortion-rights group worked to prepare a legal challenge to what they call one of the most restrictive laws in the country. The Iran-9/11 Connection, by Philip Shenon  A new lawsuit raises the possibility of Tehran's complicity in al Qaeda's infamous attacks. Philip Shenon reports fresh details on who will testify--and the mysteries they could unlock. With the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks looming, a federal lawsuit in Manhattan offers the possibility of resolving a central mystery about the attacks: Was Iran involved? Gaza: Egypt 'to open Rafah crossing to Palestinians'  Egypt is to open the Rafah border crossing into Gaza permanently to most Palestinians from Saturday, Egyptian state news agency Mena has said. Gaza has been under blockade since 2007, when the Islamist Hamas movement took control of the territory. The Emperor's clothes are still on, for now (while his heckler is roughed up, hospitalized)
Netanyahu may well feel smug from his reception in the last bastion of such uncritical support for Israel's apartheid policies toward Palestinians. While the rest of the world has long since discovered that the emperor has no clothes, his sycophants and enablers in Congress pretend that it is business as usual. They will then be surprised to wake up one day in the near future to see their beloved apartheid state sanctioned. Rob Woodall Won't Give Up Government Health Care 'Because It's Free' (VIDEO)  Moments after preaching extreme self-reliance to one of his constituents, a Georgia Republican told a gathering in his district that he will continue to rely on government-subsidized health care "because it's free." Chilling Echoes From Sept. 11 - NYTimes.com
says The NY Times editorial "As the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania draws near, one of the main recommendations of the 9/11 Commission remains unfulfilled: the creation of a common communications system that lets emergency responders talk to one another across jurisdictions. How many warnings does Congress need? How many more people will be endangered because of bureaucratic wrangling or political inertia? "Further delay is intolerable," the commission's leaders, Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, declared earlier this year. They are right." Editorial: Breaking Faith
Goodwin Liu, a Berkeley law professor nominated by the president for a seat on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lost on a Senate vote of 52-43, short of the 60-vote requirement demanded by Republicans. "He became the first Obama nominee to be successfully filibustered, and the only nominee since 2005. That year, a Senate "Gang of 14" agreed that such nominees should be allowed an up-or-down majority vote except in extraordinary circumstances. "What, specifically, made him so extraordinary that he was not worthy of an up-or-down vote? The Republican argument against him is laughably thin. "He believes the Constitution is a fluid, evolving document," said Jeff Sessions of Alabama. John Cornyn of Texas falsely accused Mr. Liu of holding the "ridiculous view that our Constitution somehow guarantees a European-style welfare state." Genocide-ignoring lies in Obama's Mideast speech, By Dr Gideon Polya  Obama's falsehoods in his 19 May 2011 Middle East speech are so numerous that one must confine analysis to the biggest lies as set out below. The Wake-Up Call: House GOP Seeks Big Cuts To FDA, Food Safety Inspectors
Proponents claim the reduced funding level will not prevent "critical meat, poultry and egg product inspection and testing activities, and supports an expansion of a poultry inspection pilot project that will lead to improving food safety."The commission set up by Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett (R) to generate proposals for the responsible development of the Marcellus Shale, the giant underground rock formation that contains untapped natural gas reserves, is made up of many industry representatives and campaign donors, according to this interactive Pittsburgh Post-Gazette graphic. The Environmental Protection Agency is one of the most-lobbied agencies, a striking fact considering its small size relative to behemoths like the Pentagon (via Sunlight Foundation). New World Record Data Transmission Set  Scientists encoded data at a rate of 26 terabits per second on a laser beam, transmitting the data over 50 kilometers, then decoding the information successfully. This is the largest data volume ever transported on a laser beam. The is the equivalent of 700 DVDs' of content in just one second. 'US puts Israel before its own people'  Who in America feels that it's in our interests, the interests of American citizens, to be sending all this money over to Israel when they're saying they can't meet their pension obligations and they're going to have to cut back on Medicare and Medicaid and they're even threatening to cut back on social security? This is political suicide from that perspective. Africans in Libya say Tricked into Fighting for Gaddafi  African migrants, captured and jailed by the rebels they were fighting in Libya's Western Mountains, say they were tricked or coerced into the army of Muammar Gaddafi in the belief they faced an al Qaeda invasion. In rare first-hand accounts from a group branded "mercenaries" by the rebels, five men from Sudan's western Darfur region and Chad told Reuters how they were working in Libya as builders and decorators when they became embroiled in the conflict unleashed by an uprising to end Gaddafi's four-decade rule. Democrat Wins Upstate New York Congressional Race  Democrats scored an upset in one of New York's most conservative congressional districts on Tuesday, dealing a blow to the national Republican Party in a race that largely turned on the party's plan to overhaul Medicare. Kathy Hochul seized on her Republican rival's embrace of the proposal from Representative Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, to overhaul Medicare, and she never let up. Cantor Says Congress Won't Pay For Missouri Disaster Relief Unless Spending Is Cut Elsewhere
The deadly tornado in Joplin, MO, left a "barren, smoky wasteland" in its path. President Obama pledged full support to the state Monday, telling survivors, "We're here with you. We're going to stay by you." House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), however, said that before Congress approved federal funds for disaster relief, it had to offset the spending with cuts to other programs. Why such a warm reception for Benjamin Netanyahu at US Congress?  The moment many US lawmakers were waiting for came toward the end of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech Tuesday to a joint session of Congress. "Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967," he said, to a vigorous burst of cheers and applause. With that, Mr. Netanyahu may have demonstrated that the American Congress stands with Israel, and not with President Obama, on the matter of a starting point for resuming peace talks with the Palestinians. David Sep: Reclaiming the Liberal Badge of Honor
Being liberal means to allow diversity, to be open to new ideas and to avoid rigid [strict] definitions. So, nobody really defended that poor word when Conservatives started to abuse the word in every possible way" we let them pick it up and gang-rape it in public. We liberals are guilty of leaving the word alone, without help in the Wild West of contemporary politics. White House Beefs Up Online Rapid Response by Sam Stein  The White House ramps up a new more aggressive defense of the president and his policies as his re-election campaign gears up. According to MediaBistro ( http://bit.ly/iLMJ01): "If you're going to post something online about Obama that isn't true, Lee is going to be the one to handle you. Considering that Lee's first tweet about his new position included a picture of The Terminator, we suggest you watch what you say OR BE DESTROYED." Sam Stein: "An equally telling requirement of Lee's new job, however, is that of crafting strategy for outreach to the progressive community." A new executive power added to Obama's arsenal. Should the taxpayers be paying for Obama's presidential campaigning strategies? Disclosure and Deceit: Secrecy as the Manipulation of History, not its Concealment, by Dr. T. P. Wilkinson  The professional journalist, freed from any social movement or popular ideology, had already become a mercenary for corporate mass media. The profession eased access to secure employment and to the rich and powerful. The journalists' job was to produce ideas for mass distribution -- either for the state or for the business corporation. Supporting private enterprise was at the very least a recognition that one's job depended on the media owner. Editorial independence meant writers and editors could write whatever they pleased as long as it sold and did not challenge the economic or political foundation of the media enterprise itself. In sum the notion of the independent, truth-finding, investigative journalist is naïve at best. We must be careful to distinguish between journalists and what John Pilger has called "corporate stenographers'. Are Your Children Safe at Church by Chris Rice
Many pedophiles don't have criminal records, either because they haven't been caught or haven't been prosecuted. The majority of churches and religious groups do not conduct background checks or take any steps to protect children against mistreatment. Children's advocate groups say not all background checks are equal and warn that religious groups are often targets for abusers. There is a $10 basic-level background check option that includes a national criminal and sex offender search. In a sampling of 900 churches and religious groups 11,277 background checks were conducted, 40% returned a hit, 21% or 2,320 returned records with felony offenses...Ten Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse remain in parish ministry: Msgr. Richard A. Loomis, head of clergy who oversaw misconduct allegations against Msgr. Patrick Reilly of Burbank, Father Michael J. Carroll, Father Sean Cronin of... Report: Stimulus Recipients Owe Hundreds Of Millions In Taxes
In a report released today, the Government Accountability Office says at least 3,700 Recovery Act contract and grant recipients -- including prime recipients, subrecipients, and vendors -- are estimated to owe more than $750 million in known unpaid federal taxes as of September 30, 2009, and received over $24 billion in Recovery Act funds. NATO launches largest airstrike against Gaddafi regime
Libya's capital shook with at least 15 massive explosions Tuesday morning, as NATO launched its largest airstrike to date on the heart of Moammar Gaddafi's regime. The strike came hours after French officials said Monday that France and Britain planned to deploy attack helicopters to Libya. Such a move would allow greater accuracy in military action within cities but would probably put their troops at higher risk. Dana Milbank: Republican presidential candidate Pawlenty bends his truth-telling - The Washington Post  For Pawlenty, truth-telling is an attractive theme, particularly now that he hopes to earn the support of conservative intellectuals who had been hoping for a Mitch Daniels candidacy. But in the Republican primary race, the real risk comes from speaking truth to party orthodoxy, as when Newt Gingrich took issue with House Republicans' plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program.
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