| If you have a problem reading this email, please click here to see the web page version
You received this email because you signed up for it at OpEdNews. Unsubscribe instructions are at the bottom of this email.
Special Mailing For Daily Subscribers and Regular Weekly Newsletter
This newsletter is going out to daily subscribers who already received one email today and to weekly subscribers. Our top headlined article, OCCUPY DC : 5:35AM. Cops attack McPherson Park! w/Livestream video Embed Includes many updates, photos from live feeds and the actually embeds from two incredible live feeds showing the police actually tearing down and removing tents, Occupy DC occupiers holding mike checks, cursing at police, doing actions in the streets. Amazing footage!! Rob Kall Support Opednews. Make a tax deductible donation to make OEN Strong. 
 Weekly Headlines
By Brett Redmayne-Titley
OCCUPY DC : 5:35AM. Cops attack McPherson Park! w/Livestream video Embed  Forty cops on horseback and another forty on motor cycles roared into McPherson Park this morning at 5:35 AM Saturday Feb.4, 2012. By David Swanson
27 of 35 Bush Articles of Impeachment Apply to Obama
When Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush on June 9, 2008, the 35 had been selected from drafts of nearly twice that many articles. By Rob Kall
Thomas Frank on Mimesis, Capitalist Fundamentalism and Stealing Liberal Ideas  I interview Thomas Frank on his new book, Pity the Billionaire. By Gustav Wynn
Schneiderman: Outcry and OWS Caused Obama to "Retool"  Eric Schneiderman has offered interesting statements while making the media rounds, addressing tough questions about his role as co-chair of Obama's working group seeking to prosecute crimes that led to the economic crisis. While many mistrust Obama, Schneiderman opines that major changes in politics and the economy have led Obama to get more aggressive in seeking accountability, including #OWS. By Paul Craig Roberts
Economics Lesson 1  The consequences of a dead economy when the government is wasting trillions of dollars in wars of naked aggression and in bailouts of fraudulent financial institutions is a government budget that can only be financed by printing money. The emperor has no clothes, and sooner or later this will be recognized. By Danny Schechter
Will Obama go after Wall Street criminals?  A word to the wise, watch what the administration does, not just what it says. Remember, as Obama hits the political hustings reborn as a "populist," in a political environment energised by Occupy Wall Street, his "bundlers" are still pressing the flesh on Wall Street, seeking a new round of political donations. By Dave Ewoldt
Coalition Support for the Occupy Movement
Clarifying the goals of Occupy with a pragmatic response for systemic change is going to require getting a good bit of the 99% actually involved. We all know things aren't working, so what can we actually do? Here's one path. By Joan Brunwasser
YouTube and MTV Try to Shut Down New Cheney Indictment Film  The film is about indicting Cheney for ordering torture, waterboarding in particular.And he has been so arrogant about his self-perceived immunity from prosecution that he has admitted publicly that he was "a big supporter of waterboarding". So, one of the key scenes is our waterboarding scene,and that's the first preview clip we posted on YouTube.Next thing you know we got a notice from YouTube that they had blocked the video Police fire tear gas at Oakland, 200 arrested  OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - Riot police fought running skirmishes with anti-Wall Street protesters on Saturday, firing tear gas and bean bag projectiles and arresting more than 200 people in clashes that injured three officers and at least one demonstrator. By Gareth Porter
Obama to Israel: No US War on Iran  President Obama is caught in a dilemma, how to dissuade Israel from going to war with Iran without alienating pro-Israeli voters in November. So, the Obama administration has told Israel that the U.S. won't support an attack on Iran but has done so quietly. By Danny Schechter
Iran Critiques Hollywood  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta sees a growing chance that Israel will attack Iran's nuclear sites this spring -- despite resistance from the Obama administration. By William Pastille
Acting like a politician
American conservatism is dissolving because its adherents have become so desensitized to its antisocial convictions. For a generation, conservatives have spoken in code about beliefs that run contrary to the values of decent people. Now, however, even attempts to establish such codes are breaking down, because it take too much energy to retain a hypocritical stage act every minute of every day. By Dennis Loo
Aggressive War: The Supreme War Crime  According to international law, attacking a country that has not attacked you is the supreme war crime. This is what the US did to Iraq and what it and Israel are now doing to Iran. By Adnan Al-Daini
The Arab Spring - Fears and Hopes  The optimism generated by the Arab spring is now giving way to anxieties about where these changes are taking Arab societies. The idealism of the young in their millions for a dignified life where human rights are respected, where the rulers serve the people instead of enslaving them, is being sorely tested by the emergence of destructive sectarianism and ethnic tensions. I am not as pessimistic as many commentators are... Bait And Switch: GOP Leaders Renege On Debt Limit Deal Defense Cuts
GOP bails on promise to activate cross-the-board spending cuts required when Super Committee failed to strike a deal. Boehner is pressuring the White House to let Republicans off the hook for the piece of the deficit enforcement mechanism that was designed to make them negotiate in good faith. And Democrats are furious. U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Plunges To 40 Year Low Of 12.1%
n recent decades, corporate tax revenue has plunged, falling from about 6 percent of gross domestic product in the 1950 � �s to less than 2 percent today, due to a proliferation of corporate tax breaks and the use of offshore tax havens. According to the Congressional Budget Office, in fact, corporate tax receipts as a share of corporate profits have hit their lowest point in 40 years: By Bob Burnett
Is Obama a Failed President?
The outcome of the 2012 Presidential election will depend upon voters' perception of the US economy and the jobs market. Republicans have labeled Obama a "failed president" claiming he could have done more to create jobs. By Brent Budowsky
A tale of two Romneys  If George Romney were here today, Mitt Romney would probably be calling him a European socialist, while George Romney would probably be supporting the auto policies of Obama and possibly endorsing Obama for reelection. Israel sets up assassination and sabotage unit in Iran  Israel has set up an undercover commando unit to carry out deep inside Iran assassination and sabotage missions against the Islamic Republic. Israeli Defense Ministry officials say the unit has been organized to coordinate deep penetration operations in other countries as well. Joe Conason: What Happened in Florida Won't Stay in Florida  Triumph could cost Romney much more than the million dollars or so that bought each point of his 46-32 margin over Newt Gingrich. Already the former speaker has shaped the plutocratic image of Romney now visible in national polls. A furious, wounded Gingrich could go still further--demanding, for instance, that Romney release many more years of tax returns. By Walter Brasch
GROUNDHOG DAY: We Have Our 'Phil' of the Winter  America loves Punxsutawney Phil. And, Pennsylvania loves Gus, the second most famous groundhog. BUT the Pennsylvania Game Commission considers the species to be a nusiance. Hunters shoot groundhogs in "open season." But, there's a better way than killing them. By Rob Kall
Komen Crap-- Right Wing CEO Sets New Rules That Cut Out Planned Parenthood, Then BSs  right wing CEO of Komen hires VP hit woman to knock off funding of Planned Parenthood, then makes video that insults anyone with a brain By Thomas Frank
Pity The Billionaire-- Excerpt from the book  This book is a chronicle of a confused time, a period when Americans rose up against imaginary threats and rallied to economic theories they understood only in the gauziest terms. It is about a country where fears of a radical takeover became epidemic even though radicals themselves had long since ceased to play any role in the national life; a land where ideological nightmares conjured by TV entertainers came to seem... By Brett Redmayne-Titley
Huge Victory for OCCUPY DC: Judge Halts Eviction!
In a rare victory for both America's civil liberties and Occupy DC, a federal judge issued a Preliminary Order of the Court stopping the evictions of the two Occupy camps at our nation's capital on Tues., Jan. 31. David Corn: Now Newt May Get Even Nastier  Despite Romney's 15-point comeback victory, it seems that the GOP will still be burdened and discombobulated by the Wrath of Gingrich. During his concession speech Tuesday night--which was light on the concession--Gingrich vowed to contest every primary and caucus, as his supporters held up signs that said, "46 STATES TO GO." By David Swanson
A Crazy Republican Attack That Obama Himself Agrees With
Imagine if a bunch of the craziest war-hungry Republicans in the House filmed themselves in a nutty bat-guano video packed with lies addressed to the President of the United States. And then imagine President Barack Obama almost immediately agreeing with them. I can think of two ways in which such a series of events could go unnoticed, as it just has. By Bernie Sanders
Can't Stop Now  These are tough times for our country. We must continue to push forward. This struggle is not just about you or me or our generation. It is about the future of the country and our children and grandchildren. By Dave Zirin
Occupy the Super Bowl: Now more than just a slogan.
Republicans plan to pass a law making Indiana a "right to work" state. Like "Operation Iraqi Freedom," "Fair & Balanced," "Tort Reform" & the endless dreck we hear from Republicans it's more double-speak & really means they are attacking unions...again. Fair Play Amendment to Anti-Abortion Bill: Rectal Exam Required Erection Drug RX  To protest a bill that would require women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion, Virginia State Sen. Janet Howell (D-Fairfax) on Monday attached an amendment that would require men to have a rectal exam and a cardiac stress test before obtaining a prescription for erectile dysfunction medication. By Marjorie Cohn
No Justice for Haditha Massacre  In 2003, President George W. Bush launched a "preemptive" war against Iraq, citing imaginary threats to the United States. The invasion inflicted massive loss of life, including massacres like the one at Haditha, but with very little accountability in the field or in Washington. By Mike Whitney
POP QUIZ: Why did gun sales in the US surge during the Christmas season?  We're basically the same people we were in 2000 when all the rules started changing, making it easier for Wall Street to fleece the little people. That's when folks started to realize how crooked the system really is. So, now most people have taken their chips off the table and are hunkering down. By Robert S. Becker
Soft Power, Hard Power, Election Power  Unless something goes awry, this nation will have four relatively soft-spoken candidates for our top office this year. I propose that means more soft power will displace older hard power models. Who knows for sure, but the trends are there. By Kathy Malloy
Dead Men Talking  It's getting crazier out there every day -- and we still have roughly 285 days to go... By Chris Hedges
Corporations Have No Use for Borders  The Occupy movement reminds us that until the corporate superstructure is dismantled it does not matter which member of the native elite is elected or anointed to rule. The Canadian prime minister is as much a servant of corporate power as the American president. And replacing either will not alter corporate domination. By Paul Craig Roberts
Big Brother Internet  Attention has been focused on the inadequacies of Internet security. If organizations as large, powerful and security-conscious as these are vulnerable, who then is safe? Not only have the targets been breached and embarrassed, consumer trust in the Internet has also been shaken. By Natural News
ACTA is worse than SOPA, here's what you need to know  After the motion picture industry, its subsidiaries and all "interested parties" have spent nearly $150 million lobbying for some sort of Internet-centric "anti-piracy" bill, you should have known the powers that be would return. And they have. Only this time they are pushing something far more onerous: ACTA, or the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. By Marcy Winograd
From Blue to Green: Power to the Cities!
After the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act , with its codification of imprisonment without charge or trial, I could no longer register voters for the Democratic Party -- even with the hope of involving new registrants in the CA Democratic Party's popular Progressive Caucus . If I could not ask someone to join the Democratic Party, I could not in good conscience stay in the party, even as an insurgent By Marsha Coleman-Adebayo
The Death of the American Dream  The dream is corrupted: In 2010, the Institute for Policy Studies noted "The gap between chief executive compensation and average U.S. worker pay rose from a ratio of 263-to-1 in 2009 to 325-to-1 in 2010. " By Martha "Marti" Wilkinson
Poverty and Perception
The article delves into the personal experiences of the author and how life events impacted her perspective on poverty. This touches on why politicians may well be 'out of touch' with what is going on with people today. By Pepe Escobar
The Iranian oil embargo blowback  All across Eurasia trade is fast moving away from the US dollar. The Asian Dollar Exclusion Zone, crucially, also means that Asia is slowly disengaging itself from Western banks. The movement may be led by China -- but it's irreversibly transnational. Once again, follow the money. By Danny Schechter
Sundering the Social Contract  In political philosophy, the idea of a social contract is that the individual surrenders some rights for the benefits of living in a civilized society that has reasonable rules for all. However, in recent decades, the greedy rich have torn up that contract. By Rob Kall
Torchwood America  I left the BBC America channel on last night. When I put the TV on today, the Torchwood series was playing. By Robert Weiner
Why Do Conservatives Vote Against Their Own Interest?
Robert Weiner, a former Clinton White House spokesman, and Jaime Ravenet, Senior Analyst at Robert Weiner Associates, respond to Michigan Congressman/Congressional Black Caucus Dean John Conyers' "compelling question to us in a conversation, "Why do conservatives vote against their own interests?' "If we can answer this," Weiner and Ravenet say, "we might reach the common ground to solve the country's economic, debt and grow. By Steven Jonas
What the Gunners Want: What's in Rick Perry's Pocket, Unlimited
One way to answer is to look at the current list of "gun rights legal actions" being supported by an organization called the "Second Amendment Foundation," an "educational- and legal-defense organization which describes its mission as "promoting a better understanding about our constitutional heritage to privately own and possess firearms.' " This column briefly examines some of them. The list is revealing. UK police arrest four more Murdoch staffers in police bribery investigation linked to phone hacking scandal  Police have arrested four current and former staff of Rupert Murdoch's best-selling Sun tabloid as well as a policeman as part of a probe into whether journalists paid police for information. 18-Mile Crack Seen by NASA in Antarctic Glacier  Antarctica is so vast that the pictures give you no sense of scale. The pencil-thin line across the satellite image of Pine Island Glacier (above) is actually more than 18 miles long, 800 feet across in places, and 180 feet deep. Lasers shine light on galactic magnetic fields  By reproducing conditions found in developing galaxies, physicists have shown that shock waves can generate tiny "seed" magnetic fields, which might eventually grow into the large-scale magnetic fields we observe today. The research is described in this Nature today. "Observations indicate that magnetic fields are ubiquitous in galaxy clusters, galaxies, and even in voids," said Gianluca Gregori, lead author of the study from the University of Oxford in England. "To explain this large-scale magnetization, magnetic fields must have existed for a long time. But where have these magnetic seeds come from?...One of the proposed methods for creating seeds is via shock waves generated by collapsing matter in developing 'protogalaxies.'" Science decodes 'internal voices'  Researchers have demonstrated a striking method to reconstruct words, based on the brain waves of patients thinking of those words. The technique reported in PLoS Biology relies on gathering electrical signals directly from patients' brains. Lizzie Phelan: New York Times video interview with Lizzie Phelan  New York Times journalist Robert Mackey interviews independent journalist Lizzie Phelan on the question of why her reporting on the "uprisings" in Libya and Syria differs so much from the mainstream media. Ms. Phelan also writes her answers to the questions she was supposed to be asked by Mackey, and reveals that both the Libyan and Syrian uprisings were not popular, but were grounded in the activities of western intelligence agencies. By Martha Rosenberg
Are You Eating Antibiotics Without Knowing It? Probably!  In 2008, the FDA had announced that there was "evidence that extralabel use of these drugs [cephalosporins] in food-producing animals will likely cause an adverse event in humans and, as such, presents a risk to the public health," and called for their prohibition. But by the time hearings were held two months later and lobbyists had worked their magic, the "Cephalosporin Order of Prohibition," had somehow become a "Hearing to By Tom Engelhardt
Robert Lipsyte: On Super Sunday, Occupy Your Mind
Are you on tenterhooks? Will Mitt make it out of the Cayman Islands and into the White House? Will Newt take the full "wild and woolly" ride on the primary roller coaster to the Republican convention? Will the two of them and their PACs eat each other alive by next week? Will Rick and his single Wyoming funder hang in there until his "man on dog" sex comment finally fades from Google? By Rob Kall
Sexy Liberal, Dirty LIberal? Stephanie Miller!  Comedian, Talk Show host Stephanie Miller talks about sexy liberals and her mission to turn the phrase, "dirty liberal" into a fun idea instead of what the conpublicans have done with it. By David Glenn Cox
Under the Hammer  Sometimes you just don't know whether to laugh or cry, they don't even try to hide it anymore. It is like the US Army changing their name to Killco, the death and dying folks! House Republicans Have 'Gasland' Journalists Arrested At Hearing  In a stunning break with First Amendment policy, House Republicans directed Capitol Hill police to detain a highly regarded documentary crew that was attempting to film a Wednesday hearing on a controversial natural gas procurement practice. Initial reports from sources suggested that an ABC News camera was also prevented from taping the hearing; ABC has since denied that they sent a crew to the hearing. By Chris Floyd
Air America: Under the Eye of the Imperial Panopticon  Iraqis were outraged this week to find they are being spied upon by a fleet of American drones hovering constantly in their supposedly sovereign skies, long after the supposed withdrawal of American forces. "Alien" Particles Found Invading Our Solar System -- A First  "It's exciting to be able to have these first observations of alien matter -- stuff that didn't come from our sun or the planets, but came from the outside of our solar system, from other parts of the galaxy," David McComas, team leader for the IBEX program, said during a NASA news conference Tuesday. "We think these are really important measurements, because these elements are the fundamental building blocks of stars, planets, and people." By James Hunter
The Madness That We Inhabit  This essay explores the collective nature of the madness of our civilization -- a madness that has caused untold suffering to countless people, and now threatens the very existence of our species. After exploring the psycho/social/economic causes of the illness, it is suggested that the cure must be political in nature. We must radically alter the manner in which we relate to each other and the world we share. Who's Afraid of Saul Alinsky?
Newt Gingrich has defined his campaign as a "choice between American exceptionalism versus the radicalism of Saul Alinsky". Gingrich casts himself as upholding the beliefs and values of the "founding fathers" under assault by President Obama, an agent of the radical left that wants to turn the U.S. into a "European style socialist state". It's relatively easy to point out the factual and historical absurdity of this statement, particularly coming from someone who considers himself a great historian, what's more interesting to me is to examine why the use of the name of this obscure Chicago organizer strikes such a responsive cord among the conservative Republican base. Few have heard of Alinsky or know much about his life and legacy, yet he works as a boogeyman for conservatives in much the same way Bill Ayers played that role in 2008. Peter Dreier: Is Capitalism on Trial? Or Just Big Business? Or Just Mitt Romney?  "I'm so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I'm frightened to death," Frank Luntz, an influential GOP pollster and strategist, warned the Republican Governors Association at a meeting in Florida last month, referring to the Occupy movement. "They're having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism." By Robert Parry
The Ugly Words of Newt Gingrich  Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has built his political career on demonizing those who disagree with him. Off-handedly, he will accuse fellow Americans of possessing the most heinous motives for their actions, now even taking aim at medical researchers. By People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
The military abuse video you haven't heard about
In 2008, a scandalous video emerged of a U.S. marine throwing a puppy off a cliff. Now there is a video of a soldier repeatedly beating a sheep with a baseball bat. Whether the abuser is a military service member or a regular Joe, cruelty to animals must be taken seriously, for everyone's safety. Tennessee Restaurant Throws Out Anti-Gay Lawmaker
A restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee refused to serve state Sen. Stacey Campfield, the man who sponsored the state's "don't say gay" bill, compared homosexuality to bestiality, and most recently told Michelangelo Signorile that it's virtually impossible to spread HIV/AIDS through heterosexual sex. "I hope that Stacy Campfield now knows what if feels like to be unfairly discriminated against," the Bistro at the Bijou wrote on its Facebook wall on Sunday. The restaurant has received an overwhelmingly positive response. By Josh Mitteldorf
Charles Eisenstein's Vision: Money Working for Community
Eisenstein's book, Sacred Economics, is a guide for living and loving, combined with a handbook for economic revolution. By Peter Michaelson
Four Favorite Ways to Suffer  We have, among many choices, four favorite ways to suffer. We can engorge ourselves at the trough of human misery through feelings of deprivation, helplessness, rejection, and criticism. Chances are good that when we're miserable, we're entangled in one or more of these negative emotions. By Anne Nordhaus-Bike
Planetary Politics: Astrological Analysis of GOP Presidential Race  An astrological analysis of the four major contenders for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, based on their Sun signs. This article offers a nonpartisan astrological look at Newt Gingrich (Gemini), Ron Paul (Leo), Mitt Romney (Pisces), and Rick Santorum (Taurus). By Tom Engelhardt
Tom Engelhardt: Iran Through the Looking Glass
(Tehran, FNA) The Fars News Agency has confirmed with the Republican Guard's North American Operations Command that a new elite Iranian commando team is operating in the U.S.-Mexican border region. The primary day-to-day mission of the team, known as the Joint Special Operations Gulf of Mexico Task Force, or JSOG-MTF, is to mentor Mexican military units in the border areas in their war with the deadly drug cartels. Gingrich won't win, and Bibi will be in a lose-lose situation  Newt Gingrich won in South Carolina and that's good, very good. What's so good about the victory of an egomaniac who has compared himself to Churchill, de Gaulle and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? It's good because it's bad for the Republican Party, which is drunk not on wine but on tea. That's how the wild party will continue until the summer, and they'll all swallow each other alive. By Brian McConnell
Saving the City's Soul - Occupy (South East) Roanoke
Originally published at "the integral economist", this article examines how an 'inverted totalitarianism' has already begun to inroad local communities. Citing recent findings from ecologically based studies in economics, it proposes adapting alternative currencies and forms of ownership as a holistic approach to fostering healthy, sustainable communities. The earth is alive, asserts a revolutionary scientific theory of life  The trans-disciplinary theory demonstrates that purportedly inanimate, non-living objects--for example, planets, water, proteins, and DNA--are animate, that is, alive. With its broad explanatory power, applicable to all areas of science and medicine, this novel paradigm aims to catalyze a veritable renaissance. By Media Matters
STUDY: The Press And The Pipeline  The editorial boards of the Washington Post, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal have come out in favor of the Keystone XL pipeline. Those three newspapers published 16 op-eds or editorials supporting the pipeline and only one opposed. By Burl Hall
Taking it Off: Reclaiming our Sacredness  For real change to occur, we are going to need to move beyond what we are now. We cannot continue going around in circles from revolutions (such as the French) which produces more of the same. For fundamental change to occur, WE must change. Life in ocean 'blue holes' studied  Submerged caves -- found both on land and in the sea -- are among the least studied and most threatened habitats on Earth. These systems, which hold the drinking water for many of the world's inhabitants and influence the health of nearby marine ecosystems, also boast a unique biodiversity of microbial and multicellular life. In addition they provide a window into the distant past, as the cave's geological formations can be analyzed to reconstruct past climate and the unique water chemistry of the blue holes has preserved skeletal remains of Paleo-Indian as well as extinct and still living species. Soaking the Poor, State by State  The Corporation for Enterprise Development recently released a scorecard for all 50 states. That includes overall tax rates, where data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows that in the median state (Mississippi, as it turns out) the poorest 20 percent pay twice the tax rate of the top 1 percent. In the worst states, the poorest 20 percent pay five to six times the rate of the richest 1 percent. By Robert Bullard
Black History Month: Wrong Complexion for Protection When Disasters Strike
The new book, "Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African Americans," places the government response to natural and man-made disasters in historical context over the past eight decades, from the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Making disaster response equitable is a human rights issue. Ranking Member Waxman Requests Information on Indiana Lobbying Efforts on Keystone XL Pipeline Project
Today Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman sent a letter to Mrs. Deborah Hohlt, who, according to lobbying disclosure documents filed with the U.S. Senate, was retained by the State of Indiana to lobby regarding the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Komen Foundation reverses funding decision of Planned Parenthood  Faced with a deluge of opposition that included pressure from lawmakers and internal dissent, one of America's leading breast cancer advocacy groups on Friday reversed itself on a decision that would have cut off funding to some Planned Parenthood projects. Petitions Delivered to AG Target O'Keefe, Voter Fraud
A coalition of organizations is urging the state Attorney General to investigate right-wing activist James O'Keefe, saying his undercover footage shot during the January Primary at various polling sites violates state and federal election law. Swiss Bank Charged By U.S. For Helping Americans Hide $1.2B
The U.S. Justice Department says it has indicted Switzerland's oldest private bank, claiming it conspired with Americans and others to hide more than $1.2 billion in client assets from the Internal Revenue Service. Goldman Sachs Faces Mortgage Debt Class-Action Lawsuit Over Misleading Investors  Goldman Sachs Group Inc was ordered by a federal judge to face a securities class-action lawsuit accusing it of misleading investors about a 2006 offering of securities backed by risky mortgage loans from a now-defunct lender. Susan G. Komen Top Officials Resign As Backlash Gains Steam  Dr. Kathy Plesser, a Manhattan radiologist on the medical advisory board of Susan G. Komen for the Cure's New York chapter, said she plans to resign from her position unless Komen reverses its decision to pull grant money from Planned Parenthood. Plesser joins Komen's top public health official, Mollie Williams, and the executive director of Komen's Los Angeles County chapter, Deb Anthony, both of whom also resigned in protest. Mossad chief holds secret U.S. meetings on Iran nuclear threat, Senate panel reveals  Mossad chief Tamir Pardo held secret talks with top U.S. officials in recent days, cursory comments made during a public Senate hearing indicated on Tuesday. The clandestine Washington visit was exposed during a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which was participated by CIA Director David Petraeus, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate panel. The Invisible War: New Film Exposes Rape, Sexual Assault Epidemic in U.S. Military  On the heels of a new military survey that the number of reported violent sex crimes jumped 30 percent in 2011, with active-duty female soldiers ages 18 to 21 accounting for more than half of the of the victims, we speak with Trina McDonald and Kori Cioca, two subjects of "The Invisible War," a new documentary that examines the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the U.S. military By Daily kos
The Cancerous Politics and Ideology of the Susan G. Komen Foundation  This week it became clear there are things more important to the Susan G. Komen Foundation--the fundraising giant that each year during breast cancer awareness month virtually swathes the United States in pink, a la Christo--than ensuring women are able to access exams for early detection of breast cancer. In a word: Politics. By Daily kos
Anonymous Finds Ron Paul under Supremacist Rock
Twitter is a atwitter this evening with the news that the hacker group Anonymous mounted an attack against a series of White Supremacist groups, generally smashing, exposing, and defacing the sites. That in itself is at a minimum, worthy of note, but the kicker is what they found at one of the sites. By Stephen Lendman
New York Times-Style Journalism
Like other major media scoundrels, New York Times writers, op-ed commentators and editorials fail the test. They're biased, shameless and irresponsible, especially on issues of war and peace. By Naomi Wolf
What the Occupy movement must learn from Sundance  Media exposure, a clear message, smart soundbites, clearly stated demands, and, most importantly, tasked, empowered negotiators working on the inside in concert with mass disrupters applying pressure from without -- this equals political life. By Dean Baker
A Competitive Dollar: The Missing Link in President Obama's Manufacturing Agenda  President Obama failed to commit himself to restoring the competitiveness of dollar as part of his agenda for bringing back manufacturing jobs. The value of the dollar really has to be front and central in any effort to restore U.S. competitiveness since it is by far the most important factor determining the relative cost of U.S. goods compared with goods produced elsewhere. By Stephen Lendman
Israel Lawlessly Indicts MK Sa'id Naffa
Israel reveals its rogue credentials daily. In mid-July 2010, its Knesset stripped MK Hanin Zoabi of key parliamentary rights and privileges for participating in the May 2010 Freedom Flotilla bringing vital aid to Gaza. Murdoch's WSJ Publishes Op-Ed From 16 Climate Deniers, Refused Letter From 255 Top Scientists  The evil Mr. Murdoch: In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, sixteen prominent global warming deniers with scientific backgrounds -- such as tobacco apologist Richard Lindzen of MIT and ExxonMobil executive Roger Cohen -- concede that manmade carbon dioxide emissions have a warming effect on the planet, but argue that the effect is "small" and nothing to "panic" about. All the other scientists in the world who believe the science are part of a conspiracy to intimidate people like themselves, they write, just as Soviet biologists who believed in genes were "sent to the gulag and some were condemned to death." By Steven Lesh
Wealth and Debt
The same Western banking and financial practices that facilitated the rapid implementation of scientific and technological advances of the Industrial Revolution are now threatening to submerge much of the world, to paraphrase Dr. Michael Hudson, in a new Dark Ages of debt peonage. By John Stanton
Afghanistan War: A Quick Last Buck, Iranian in Refugee Camp
Stay the hell away from Afghanistan. We're at the tail end of this war, and it's become mostly about making a quick last buck for contractors...Hekmati was working at a refugee camp West of Bagram, Afghanistan. The camp was described as better than most with two school buildings. "The people were well-taken care of," said a source, "the camp was private and not United Nations. By Bill Quigley
Social Justice Quiz 2012: Thirteen Questions
Test your social justice knowledge with these 13 questions. Freddie Mac Bets Against American Homeowners  Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage giant, has placed multibillion-dollar bets that pay off if homeowners stay trapped in expensive mortgages with interest rates well above current rates. By Stephen Lendman
Targeting AIPAC
On January 23, Occupy AIPAC announced plans to confront the powerful Israeli Lobby in Washington from March 2 - 6. More on what's planned below. Journalists--Myself Included--Swept Up in Mass Arrest at Occupy Oakland  On Saturday, Occupy Oakland re-entered the national spotlight during a day-long effort to take over an empty building and transform it into a social center. Oakland police thwarted the efforts, arresting more than 400 people in the process, primarily during a mass nighttime arrest outside a downtown YMCA. That number included at least six journalists, myself included, in direct violation of OPD media relations policy that states "media shall never be targeted for dispersal or enforcement action because of their status." By Ellen Kadransky
Social Security-A Good Form of Social Insurance
Social Security is a shining star among government programs. Rather than privatizing Social Security, and ruining a good program, the federal government should make a few common sense adjustments now to save the program. Florida Man Arrested On Wiretapping Charges For Recording Traffic Stop
The police are out of control arresting people for filming them. The North Port, Florida man who took the video was too far away to even record any audio! This has got to stop. By Justin Raimondo
The Greatest Threat  a new Threat is rising, not from without but from within -- an economic cancer eating away at the very heart of our society. We had a taste of it in '08, and in spite of the Obama-bots' Pollyannaish predictions of "recovery," ordinary people see nothing but trouble on the horizon. This is a real threat, unlike the others, one that cannot be fought by our matchless military, or even negotiated with -- and it is coming. By Uri Avnery
Hurrah for Egypt!  A revolution reflects the character of its people. I always had a special liking for the Egyptian people, because they are -- by and large -- devoid of aggressiveness and violence. They are a singularly patient and humorous lot. You can see this in thousands of years of recorded history and you can see it in daily life in the street. By WILLIAM FISHER
What We Left Behind in Iraq
We pulled out of Iraq not because we wanted to but because the Iraqi government wanted us to. Today, it is arguable whether what we left there is better or worse than what we found there. So Who's a Lobbyist?
The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 has three tests: 1) Do you make more than $3,000 over three months from lobbying? 2) Have you had more than one lobbying contact? 3) Have you spent more than 20 percent of your time lobbying for a single client over three months? Latest Articles
 Best News Links from the Web
Copyright © OpEdNews 2012
To subscribe to OpEdNews, please click here.
Or you can change to a weekly digest, if you like. |
