William Rivers Pitt | John Pilger | Perry Drops Out

Thursday 19 January 2012

William Rivers Pitt | Lynching the Dream
William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: "It is what it is, as someone once said. You look for a toehold, a place to grab on to, a front - no matter how meager - from which to wage your own siege, against all that has gone so catastrophically wrong with this old experiment, in trying to do right."
Read the Article

Guantanamo Military Commission "Really About Secrecy," Alleged Bomber's Defense Attorney Says
Kari Panaccione, Truthout: "The second day of proceedings here in the war crimes tribunal for Abd Al-Rahim Husayn al-Nashiri, the alleged mastermind behind the USS Cole bombing, concerned two major issues: the extent to which protected attorney-client privileged information sent to Guantanamo detainees can be viewed by the government, and the ability of the defense to challenge the prosecutions' redacting of classified information before disclosure to the defense."
Read the Article

John Pilger | The World War on Democracy
John Pilger, Truthout: "While popular culture in Britain and America immerses the Second World War in an ethical bath for the victors, the holocausts arising from Anglo-American dominance of resource-rich regions are consigned to oblivion."
Read the Article

Perry Drops Out of the Race and Endorses Gingrich
Jeff Zeleny, The New York Times News Service: "Gov. Rick Perry of Texas dropped out of the Republican presidential race here on Thursday and announced his endorsement for the candidacy of Newt Gingrich, a man he called a 'conservative visionary.'"
Read the Article

For-Profit Kaplan University Pays Executives a Quarter Billion Dollars, Courtesy of Students and Taxpayers
Danny Weil, Truthout: "For-profit colleges have been paying lavish and grotesquely huge compensation to executives, both former and current, using money from student loans and government grants for decades. For-profit college executive compensation is currently under scrutiny by Congress because nearly all revenues that constitute the exorbitant and scurrilous executive pay packages come from federal grants, such as Pell Grants and loans, and such as Stafford Loans under the Title IV program."
Read the Article

Accusing WikiLeaks of Murder
Chase Madar, TomDispatch: "Who in their right mind wants to talk about, think about, or read a short essay about civilian war casualties?... Washington officials may bemoan the nightmare of civilian casualties - but only if they can be pinned on a 24-year-old Army private first class named Bradley Manning."
Read the Article

Defense Budget Flip: Dick Armey - Cut the Budget, Obama - Slow the Increase
Dina Rasor, Truthout: "Every once in a while, the normal assumptions and labeling of politicians gets shook up when one of them steps out of their assigned box and suggests a breakthrough from the politics as usual. Last week, Dick Armey wrote an eye-opening editorial on Newsmax chiding the Obama administration for not really cutting defense, but instead, just planning to cut the increase."
Read the Article

Rising Controversy Over Marijuana Cultivation in California's Emerald Triangle
s.e. smith, Truthout: "The debate over marijuana legalization is heating up across the United States with numerous legalization or decriminalization attempts in recent years and growing numbers turning out in support of reforms to America's drug policies."
Read the Article

Paul Krugman | Be Careful With Debt History
Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co.: "One thing that apparently comes as a surprise to many people who love to intone about what history tells us about the dangers of debt is the fact that Britain has had remarkably high public debt relative to gross domestic product for most of its modern history. But here's a question: How relevant are these historical debt levels to current concerns?"
Read the Article

Dean Baker | Alan Greenspan's Ship of Fools
Dean Baker, The Center for Economic and Policy Research: "In keeping with its policy of releasing transcripts with a five-year lag, the Federal Reserve Board recently released the transcripts from its 2006 Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings. There is much there to cause pain and amusement."
Read the Article

On the News With Thom Hartmann: Florida Wants to Sell Off Their State to the Highest Bidder, and More
In today's On the News segment: Anti-piracy bills SOPA and PIPA are rapidly shedding supporters in Congress, President Obama stepped up yesterday to keep oil barons from screwing over our environment, Republicans in Florida want to sell off their state to the highest bidder - and they don't want you to know about it, President Obama wants to close Guantanamo despite opposition in Congress - and the French might help him do just that, and more.
Watch the Video and Read the Article

Self-Determination for All Is the Path to a War-Free Future
Dr. Joseph Gerson, Truthout: "Since last year's Lisbon summit, a number of us have organized the Network for a NATO Free Future, which demands the complete withdrawal of all US and NATO forces from Afghanistan; the withdrawal of all foreign deployed US troops, bases, nuclear weapons and missile defenses; substantial reductions in US and NATO military spending; and NATO's retirement."
Read the Article

Robert Reich | Amend 2012: Overturn Citizens United (Video)
Robert Reich, CommonCauseEthics: "Thanks to the Supreme Court and Citizens United, the same big corporations and billionaires that destroyed our economy and caused millions of us to lose our jobs and homes, are spending obscene amounts to drown out our voices in elections and take over our government."
Watch the Video
Click here for more Truthout articles
TRUTHOUT'S BUZZFLASH DAILY HEADLINES

A lot of politicians went through the motions of honoring Martin Luther King this week, but then trampled on his commitment to nonviolent protest and civil disobedience.
As BuzzFlash at Truthout wrote just a couple of days ago, "the United States may have become the authoritarian state - in legally assumed powers - that it regularly condemns in nations around the world." We went on to reference ten curtailments of civil liberties detailed by Law Professor Jonathan Turley in a Washington Post commentary.
Turley was talking about actions on the federal level, but as we saw with the police military-style suppression of Occupy camps throughout the nation, First Amendment protest is being crushed, at times, around the nation.
For example, some of Martin Luther King's most notable northern protests took place in the Chicago area. So, how does Mayor Rahm Emanuel "honor" King? By getting the Chicago City Council to pass, on Wednesday, a heavy-handed ordinance that allows free speech at the discretion of elected officials and the police.
According to a Truthout report by Yana Kunichoff:
Critics say the "sit down and shut up" ordinance, as it has been called, seeks to chill protest and civil liberties in Chicago through measures including mandatory $1 million liability insurance for protests, a heightened police presence and more difficulty getting a permit....
When the ordinance was first introduced, it was said to be only a measure for the NATO/G8 conference to be held in Chicago in May, but it was later revealed that the ordinance change is expected to be permanent.
The irony is not lost on those who advocate for the 99 percent:
Evelyn Dehais, of Occupy Chicago, said it's "shameful" that Emanuel is seeking to "codify the suppression of peaceful protest" during the same week that the nation celebrates the champion of peaceful dissent, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
"The 99 percent have been disproportionately affected by Rahm's cuts to education, public health care and public sector jobs. And now, the mayor wants them to sit down and shut up," Dehais said.
BuzzFlash noted yesterday that a bill targeting the Internet would give the executive branch authority that could stifle political opposition and the free flow of information. Simultaneously, in many cities, protest is becoming so restricted that it will be, for all practical purposes, squashed as freedom of expression, fenced in and moved off to distant designated areas and only allowed at certain hours.
Street protests against a draconian anti-immigration bill (H.R. 4437) began in Chicago in the spring of 2006 and then spread around the nation. In Chicago and Los Angeles, spontaneous marches (sparked by Spanish-language media and social networking) reached estimates of up to 500,000 or more in each city. The protests were largely credited with derailing the legislation and preventing any other large-scale punitive bill against undocumented workers from passing.
Under the just-passed Emanuel ordinance, such an expression of the right to assemble would in all likelihood be impossible to undertake legally.
This is just another example of how our political elite champion the exercise of free speech in Cairo and elsewhere, while increasingly stifling it in the United States.
Mark Karlin,
Editor BuzzFlash at Truthout
Education Will Get You a Job! But We're Cutting Education
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
SOPA and PIPA: The Wrong Tools to Combat Online Piracy
Read the Article at The Washington Post
Group Sues Over Denial of Permit to Protest Citizens United at Courthouse
Read the Article at The New York Times
Keystone XL Is Dead - Again
Read the Article at The Nation
Murdoch Company to Pay Hacking Damages in 36 Cases
Read the Article at The Associated Press
GOP Field Leaves South Carolina's Religious Right Uninspired
Read the Article at The Associated Press
Marianne Gingrich Reportedly Claims Newt Wanted "Open Marriage"
Read the Article at Politico
Click here for more BuzzFlash headlines

Support Truthout with a tax-deductible donation by clicking here.

Truthout is a proud member of the Newspaper Guild/CWA, Local 36047

ENDS

© Scoop Media