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Yell
Michael Munk PDX Historian
|
GOP’s Strategy
of Deception
Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, two veteran centrists who
disdain partisan labels, finally said what nearly everyone knows to
be true. In April, they penned a Washington Post article
entitled, “Let’s just say it, the Republicans are the problem.”
Yet, the GOP “problem” goes even deeper, says Beverly Bandler. By Beverly Bandler (News Bytes: http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/newsbytes
U.S. Military ‘Power Grab’
by Jed Morey on May 14, 2013
Pentagon Unilaterally Grants Itself
Authority Over ‘Civil Disturbances’
"Eric Freedman, a constitutional law professor from Hofstra University,
also calls the ruling “an unauthorized power grab.” According to
Freedman, “The Department of Defense does not have the authority to
grant itself by regulation any more authority than Congress has granted
it by statute.” Yet that’s precisely what it did."
details: http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/militaryindustrialcomplex
Federal lawsuit demands Portland Officer
Dane Reister be terminated for a 2011 shooting! ... Portland
Police Officer Dane Reister should lose his job for suddenly firing a
beanbag shotgun that he mistakenly loaded with lethal rounds at a man
obviously suffering from a mental illness, a federal lawsuit filed
Thursday says.
The attorney for William Kyle Monroe, wounded by Reister on June 30,
2011, accuses the officer, Police Chief Mike Reese and the city of
Portland of violating Monroe's civil rights through false arrest,
assault and negligence.
The suit seeks more than $11 million in damages.
Monroe, who was 20 at the time and diagnosed with bipolar disorder,
narrowly escaped bleeding to death only because OHSU Hospital was near
the shooting scene, but he's permanently disabled, his lawyer said.
The suit alleges that the police chief could have prevented such a
mistake by prohibiting officers from mixing lethal ammunition with
less-lethal munitions in their duty bags, as Reister did. Further, the
suit contends, the bureau has failed to adequately discipline officers
who are "pre-disposed'' to using excessive force.
"Defendant Reister's conduct was so extreme that it goes beyond all
possible bounds of decency, and it constituted conduct that a reasonable
person would regard as intolerable in a civilized community," Monroe's
attorney Thane Tienson wrote in the suit.
...
Monroe assured police he hadn't done anything wrong as he backed away
and then began running and yelled for help. Without warning, the suit
says, Reister fired five times, emptying his clip. The fifth round
jammed because of Reister's "excessively rapid firing," the suit says.
The shots fractured Monroe's pelvis, punctured his bladder, abdomen
and colon. The fourth shot, fired from less than 15 feet away, left a
"softball-size hole in his left leg," and severed the sciatic nerve, the
suit says.
The next day, then-Mayor Sam Adams and Reese called the shooting a
"tragic mistake." The president of the Portland Police Association said
the union would "stand by" Reister through the judicial process.
--By Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian
Oregon News Service: A statewide news service for Oregon
Producer: Chris Thomas, 818 SW 3rd St., Portland, OR, 97204-2405 Ph: 888-692-8368 Fax: 208-247-1830 E-mail: ons@newsservice.org
Podcast and Web Content Version Online: www.newsservice.org April 11, 2012
Union Membership Swells in Oregon: SALEM, Ore. - Union membership is growing in Oregon. At nearly 17 percent of the workforce,
it's bucking a national trend, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. In the past five years, the number of union workers in the
state has increased from
211,000 to 270,000. (contd.) Podcast and entire story available: http://www.newsservice.org/index.php
Photos from Sunday, Feb. 12 Anti-War march in Portland! Anti-War March PDX F12 - a set on Flickr
www.flickr.com
Breaking News and Commentary Here is Joe Anybody's first video in a five part servies.
“No War with Iran”
By Alliance Reporter Rod Such
-
A preemptive protest in opposition to a possible war with Iran
took place in downtown Portland on Feb. 12
when a crowd estimated by
organizers at between 400 to 500 people took part in a rally and
march under the slogans,
“No War with Iran” and “Stop the War
of the 1%.”
Several committees of the Occupy Portland movement were
among the chief organizers of the event,
along with the American
Iranian Friendship Council, Bikeswarm, Jewish Voice for Peace, Peace
and Justice Works,
and Veterans for Peace. The Rally & March were endorsed and promoted by The Portland Alliance and other progressive
media resources.
- Nefi Bravo, one of the organizers and a student at Portland State
University, told the Alliance, “We heard all of the war
talk and
decided we had to act. It reminded us of Iraq ten years ago.” A sizable group of Iranian Americans attended the
march and rally,
carrying signs that read “No War, No Sanctions, No Dictatorship in
Iran” and “Peace, Justice, Democracy
for Iran.”
In an
interview, Iranian-American Morteza (Mort) Anoushiravani, who has
lived in the United States for 39 years and
has family in Iran, told
the Alliance that he was participating because he wanted “to
prevent another tragedy.” He said
a military assault on Iran would
be “counterproductive” and would worsen the human rights
situation in Iran. He said
he feared not just for his family but for
anyone in Iran who would be harmed by a military attack.
-
The Obama administration says it is keeping all options on the
table, including the military option, to prevent Iran from
obtaining
nuclear weapons. Speakers at the rally pointed out that Iranian
leaders have stated they are not seeking nuclear
weapons and are
pursuing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Moreover, Iran is a
signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT), which bans
nonnuclear states from developing nuclear weapons while allowing
them under Article 4 to produce
nuclear energy for peaceful
purposes.
Iran is under an inspection regime by the International
Atomic Energy Agency, which has not concluded that Iran has a
nuclear weapons program. Meanwhile, right-wing partisans in the government of
Israel are beating the war drums for a
preemptive attack on
Iran, and refuse to sign the NPT. Israel is widely believed to have an
arsenal of some 200 to 400
nuclear weapons.
-
Ned Rosch of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) told the crowd that JVP
and “Jews all over the world” oppose a war with Iran.
“Make no
mistake about it,” he said, “an attack on Iran’s nuclear
facilities would be a war crime,” not only because it would
violate Iran’s sovereignty but also because an attack would likely
lead to the widespread dispersal of radioactive materials.
One
of the most militant and impassioned speeches of the day came from
Iraq war veteran and Occupy Portland
activist Micaiah
Dutt, a former Marine staff sergeant . “We cannot allow the U.S.
government to repeat what happened
in Iraq,” Dutt told the rally.
“War is terror. Do not be fooled. All war is class war.”
-
During a spirited march through downtown Portland streets,
Anoushiravani was asked if he thought the U.S. government was
pursuing regime change in Iran as it did in Iraq. “Where does it
say in our Constitution,” Anoushiravani replied, “that it is our
business to do regime change in another country?” The solution to
human rights violations in Iran, he added, “has to be homemade.”
Here is an Iran TV Video of the same event!
Here are the other five clips by Joe Anybody:
No War on Iran Rally and Protest part5 2.12.12.
-
-
-
-
TOP NEWS
Time4:00pm until 6:00pm
Description
Yanelli Herenandez is set to be DEPORTED ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 31ST.
Please join the Northwest Immigrant Youth Alliance on Monday, January 30th at Portland City Hall as
we hold a vigil calling for a stop to Yanelli Hernandez' deportation
and bring local immigrant youth together to raise awareness about the
mental anguish they face.
PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TO READ THIS:
Yanelli Hernandez crossed the border to the United States alone at the
age of 13. She worked hard to sustain herself. In order to help put food
on her families table Yanelli was forced to drop out of school at a
young age, from the age from the age of 15 she worked in an aircraft
manufacturing plant; she is currently 22. Suffering from severe
depression Yanelli attempted to commit suicide in October of 2009. She
survived, however her depression went untreated.
In the spring of 2011 Yanelli began to self-medicate with alcohol.
That same spring she was arrested for driving under the influence and,
unable to present valid identification, charged with forgery: yielding
her a 9 month jail sentence. While detained Yanelli’s depression has
continued to worsen, “She attempted suicide after she begged to just be
deported. When her request was rejected, out of desperation, she
attempted to take her own life.” States Marco Saavedra, an organizer,
and close friend of Yanelli.
Yanelli has not returned to Mexico in almost 10 years. Her entire
immediate family lives in Ohio. "The worst thing you could probably do
to someone who is suicidal is to leave them alone in their moments of
crisis. Deporting someone where they have no support system is doing
just that, which will most likely increase their risk of suicide”
Jacqueline Luna, MSW.
The situation is dire for Yanelli; in November Joaquin Luna, an
undocumented student from Texas took his own life due to his immigration
status. “We are so worried for Yanelli, she is a part of our community
and as undocumented youth we are going to do everything we can to make
sure she gets all of the help she needs” said Jonathan Perez, organizer
with the Immigrant Youth Coalition in California.
On Wednesday January 25th Yanelli was given an order of deportation
from an immigration judge. She is currently scheduled to be deported on
Tuesday, January 31st. A national effort has been launched to bring
attention to Yanelli’s plight (http://bit.ly/dreamsuicide); over 4,000
supporters have signed onto a national petition demanding she be
reunited with her family.
On Monday solidarity actions will be taking place from
coast-to-coast – Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Seattle,
Portland, San Francisco, Raleigh, NC, Tallahassee, FL, Birmingham, AL,
Harrisonburg, VA, and Cincinnati, OH, and many more – in an effort to
end the deportation of Yanelli.
Portland City Hall
Portland, OR
View Map · Get Directions
Gingrich Wins South Carolina Primary, Upending G.O.P. Race
By JIM RUTENBERG
Newt Gingrich's showing
brought to the fore questions about whether Mitt Romney, presumed the
front-runner, could win over conservatives, Tea Party supporters and
evangelical Christians.
Air transport company Aero has role in extraordinary rendition, report says
By Jay Price | McClatchy Newspapers
SMITHFIELD, N.C. — With fresh ammunition from a
University of North Carolina law school report, activists renewed their
call Thursday for state officials to take legal action against Aero
Contractors Ltd.
For years the Johnston County, N.C., air
transport company, which has links to the CIA, has been accused of being
a taxi service for paramilitary teams that pick up terrorism suspects
in one country and fly them to another where it's easier to interrogate
and, perhaps, torture them. The process is known as extraordinary
rendition.
~~http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/01/19/136410/air-transport-company-has-role.html
The article targets only Aero in its report on the "torture taxi""
business. But one of its links was to Portland-based Bayard Foreign
Marketing, a CIA front managed by the late attorney Scott Kaplan. In 2004,
it bought a Gulfstream V permitted to use U.S. military bases with the tail
number N44982 (formerly N379P and N8068V) from another CIA front, Premier
Executive Transport Services. The plane was used by the CIA to kidnapp suspected
terrorists and deliver them to its secret torture chambers around the
world.
The Oregon Bar declined to discipline Kaplan in 2007, presumably for
the same reason the article says another torture taxi company was let off the
hook by the courts in 2008: the federal government pleaded a "state secrets"
defense. That company, although not named in the article, was Jeppesen
Travel Services, a Boeing subsidiary.
Read
more here:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/01/19/136410/air-transport-company-has-role.html?story_link=email_msg#storylink=cpy
Thursday 15 December 2011
How Have We Become the United States of Fear?
Mark Karlin, Truthout: "Tom Engelhardt: Americans ... are now remarkably
detached and insulated from the wars fought in our name and,
increasingly, even those wars are fought with an eerie detachment, at
least the drone part of them. In essence 1% of Americans who run things
send 1% of Americans (those in the armed services) out to fight their
wars and the other 98% are left out of things. It's not exactly the
definition of a democratic republic, is it?"
Read the Article
Secret Accounts of Iraq Massacre Found in Junk Yard
Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times News Service: "The Marines sat
down, swore to tell the truth and gave secret interviews discussing one
of the most horrific episodes of America's time in Iraq: the 2005
massacre by Marines of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha ...
Four-hundred pages of interrogations, once guarded as secrets of war,
were supposed to have been destroyed as the last American troops prepare
to leave Iraq. Instead, they were discovered ... at a junkyard outside
Baghdad."
Read the Article
Obama's "Twisted Version of American Exceptionalism" Laid Bare
Jason Leopold, Truthout: "Obama declared the week of December 10th as
Human Rights Week, the same week Congress is set to pass the National
Defense Authorization Act ... legislation that would grant the president
the power to indefinitely imprison without charge ... anyone suspected
of terrorist activity in the US. When the US voted in favor of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it promised to uphold several
ideals, including one that said, 'no one shall be subjected to arbitrary
arrest, detention, or exile.'"
Read the Article
US Officially Ends Its Mission in Iraq
Thom Shanker and Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times News Service:
"The United States military officially declared an end to its mission in
Iraq on Thursday even as violence continues to plague the country ...
Even after the last two bases are closed and the final American combat
troops withdraw from Iraq ... a few hundred military personnel and
Pentagon civilians will remain, working within the American Embassy as
part of an Office of Security Cooperation to assist in arms sales and
training."
Read the Article
The Making of the American 99 Percent and the Collapse of the Middle Class
Barbara Ehrenreich and John Ehrenreich, TomDispatch/The Nation: "Despite
all the official warnings about health and safety threats [in Occupy
encampments], there was no 'Altamont moment': no major fires and hardly
any violence. In fact, the encampments engendered almost unthinkable
convergences: people from comfortable backgrounds learning about street
survival from the homeless, a distinguished professor of political
science discussing horizontal versus vertical decision-making with a
postal worker, military men in dress uniforms showing up to defend the
occupiers from the police."
Read the Article
On the News With Thom Hartmann: The Iraq War Is Officially Over, and More
In today's On the News segment: Democrats may cave on the payroll tax
cut, 2.5 million young Americans now have health insurance thanks to
Obamacare, Russian scientists have discovered methane gas plumes in the
Arctic Ocean, and more.
Read the Article
How Credit Collectors Have Reinvented the Debtors' Prison
Mike Konczal, New Deal 2.0: "Debtors' prisons are illegal, and some
point out that this is really jail for a summons problem, not a payment
... Requirements to appear in court are being overused and abused as a
way of confusing debtors and forcing a strong hand on payments. This
ultimately threatens the integrity of the entire debt collection system
and the crucial protection of freedom and liberty."
Read the Article
F-35 Fighter is Latest in Long Line of Wasteful Weapon Failures
Dina Rasor, Truthout: Dina Rasor, Truthout: "There has been a flurry of
articles in the defense press Tuesday about an internal Department of
Defense (DoD) report on how the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the
Pentagon's newest attempt to buy a fighter jet, is skating toward
potential mechanical and monetary disaster ... Is the system, which has
given us generation after generation of overpriced and technically
dubious fighters, tanks, and other weapons finally succumbing to its own
folly?"
Read the Article
Bodies in Alliance: Gender Theorist Judith Butler on the Occupy and SlutWalk Movements
Kyle Bella, Truthout: "The demand is for a radical economic and
political restructuring of the world. And most people would say that's
impossible. And it may or may not be achieved, but I think that's less
important than articulating what a just and fair world can be. This
can't be the kind of movement where you have your six demands ... There
is no one individual who runs it. It is a structure, a system."
Read the Article
Occupy Supporters Should Reach Out to Local Economic Justice Campaigns
Annette Bernhardt and Anastasia Christman, Truthout: "The promise of the
99 percent banner is that it can forge common cause among
constituencies that often remain balkanized from one another - by class,
race, gender, immigration status, sexual identity and politics. But in
order for that collective learning to happen, people have to get
involved - all kinds of people, in all kinds of struggles. And the good
news is, there's a wide and rich menu of campaigns to choose from."
Read the Article
Paul Krugman | In the US, Decidedly Warped Standards for "Mission Accomplished"
Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co.: "What's unforgivable is the way policy
makers ... basically declared Mission Accomplished as soon as the panic
in financial markets subsided and stocks were up again. When spring
rolls around ... there will still be 4 million Americans who have been
out of work for more than a year. Yet there has been no sense of urgency
about dealing with unemployment; indeed, most of the elites'
conversation has been about stuff like cutting Social Security
payments."
Read the Article
Marines Promoted Inflated Story for Medal of Honor Recipient
Jonathan S. Landay, McClatchy Newspapers: "With Dakota Meyer standing at
attention, President Barack Obama extolled the former Marine corporal
for the 'extraordinary actions' that had earned him the Medal of Honor,
the nation's highest award for valor. Obama told the audience in the
White House that Meyer had driven into the heart of a savage ambush in
eastern Afghanistan against orders ... But there's a problem with this
account: Crucial parts that the Marine Corps publicized and Obama
described are untrue."
Read the Article
E.J. Dionne Jr. | A Huntsman Moment?
E.J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post Writers Group: "Since all things
seem possible in the Republican presidential contest, is there another
turn coming that could benefit Jon Huntsman? That would be the former
Utah governor polling nationally at 3.2 percent, according to
Wednesday's Real Clear Politics average of national polls ... Here's the
underlying secret of the campaign: Jon Huntsman is far more
conservative than either moderates or conservatives realize."
Read the Article
North Dakota's Economic "Miracle" - It's Not Oil
Friday 2 September 2011
by: Ellen Brown, YES! Magazine | News Analysis
more articles like this can be found in http://www.theportlandalliance.org/schwebkenotes
The state-owned Bank of North Dakota is credited with the state's relatively healthy economy. (Photo: banknd.nd.gov)
In an article in The New York Times on August 19th titled “The North Dakota Miracle,” Catherine Rampell writes:
Forget
the Texas Miracle. Let’s instead take a look at North Dakota, which has
the lowest unemployment rate and the fastest job growth rate in the
country.
According to new data
released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today, North Dakota had an
unemployment rate of just 3.3 percent in July—that’s just over a third
of the national rate (9.1 percent), and about a quarter of the rate of
the state with the highest joblessness (Nevada, at 12.9 percent).
North
Dakota has had the lowest unemployment in the country (or was tied for
the lowest unemployment rate in the country) every single month since
July 2008.
Its healthy job market
is also reflected in its payroll growth numbers. . . . [Y]ear over
year, its payrolls grew by 5.2 percent. Texas came in second, with an
increase of 2.6 percent.
Why is North Dakota doing so well? For one of the same reasons that Texas has been doing well: oil.
Oil is certainly a factor, but it is not what has put North Dakota over the top. Alaska has roughly the same population as North Dakota and produces nearly twice as much oil,
yet unemployment in Alaska is running at 7.7 percent. Montana, South
Dakota, and Wyoming have all benefited from a boom in energy prices,
with Montana and Wyoming extracting much more gas than North Dakota has.
The Bakken oil field stretches across Montana as well as North Dakota,
with the greatest Bakken oil production coming from Elm Coulee Oil Field in Montana. Yet Montana’s unemployment rate, like Alaska’s, is 7.7 percent.
A
number of other mineral-rich states were initially not affected by the
economic downturn, but they lost revenues with the later decline in oil
prices. North Dakota is the only state to be in continuous budget
surplus since the banking crisis of 2008. Its balance sheet is so strong
that it recently reduced individual income taxes and property taxes by a
combined $400 million, and is debating further cuts. It also has the
lowest foreclosure rate and lowest credit card default rate in the country, and it has had NO bank failures in at least the last decade.
If
its secret isn’t oil, what is so unique about the state? North Dakota
has one thing that no other state has: its own state-owned bank.
Access
to credit is the enabling factor that has fostered both a boom in oil
and record profits from agriculture in North Dakota. The Bank of North
Dakota (BND) does not compete with local banks but partners with them,
helping with capital and liquidity requirements. It participates in
loans, provides guarantees, and acts as a sort of mini-Fed for the
state. In 2010, according to the BND’s annual report:
The
Bank provided Secured and Unsecured Federal Fund Lines to 95 financial
institutions with combined lines of over $318 million for 2010. Federal
Fund sales averaged over $13 million per day, peaking at $36 million in
June.
The BND also has a loan
program called Flex PACE, which allows a local community to provide
assistance to borrowers in areas of jobs retention, technology creation,
retail, small business, and essential community services. In 2010,
according to the BND annual report:
The
need for Flex PACE funding was substantial, growing by 62 percent to
help finance essential community services as energy development spiked
in western North Dakota. Commercial bank participation loans grew to 64
percent of the entire $1.022 billion portfolio.
The
BND’s revenues have also been a major boost to the state budget. It has
contributed over $300 million in revenues over the last decade to state
coffers, a substantial sum for a state with a population less than
one-tenth the size of Los Angeles County. According to a study by the
Center for State Innovation, from 2007 to 2009 the BND added nearly as
much money to the state’s general fund as oil and gas tax revenues did
(oil and gas revenues added $71 million while the Bank of North Dakota
returned $60 million). Over a 15-year period, according to other data,
the BND has contributed more to the state budget than oil taxes have.
North
Dakota’s money and banking reserves are being kept within the state and
invested there. The BND’s loan portfolio shows a steady uninterrupted
increase in North Dakota lending programs since 2006.
According to the annual BND report:
Financially,
2010 was our strongest year ever. Profits increased by nearly $4
million to $61.9 million during our seventh consecutive year of record
profits. Earnings were fueled by a strong and growing deposit base,
brought about by a surging energy and agricultural economy. We ended the
year with the highest capital level in our history at just over $325
million. The Bank returned a healthy 19 percent ROE, which represents
the state’s return on its investment.
A 19 percent return on equity! How many states are getting that sort of return on their Wall Street investments?
Timothy
Canova is Professor of International Economic Law at Chapman University
School of Law in Orange, California. In a June 2011 paper called “The
Public Option: The Case for Parallel Public Banking Institutions,” he
compares North Dakota’s financial situation to California’s. He writes
of North Dakota and its state-owned bank:
The
state deposits its tax revenues in the Bank, which in turn ensures that
a high portion of state funds are invested in the state economy. In
addition, the Bank is able to remit a portion of its earnings back to
the state treasury . . . . Thanks in part to these institutional
arrangements, North Dakota is the only state that has been in continuous
budget surplus since before the financial crisis and it has the lowest
unemployment rate in the country.
He then compares the dire situation in California:
In
contrast, California is the largest state economy in the nation, yet
without a state-owned bank, is unable to steer hundreds of billions of
dollars in state revenues into productive investment within the state.
Instead, California deposits its many billions in tax revenues in large
private banks which often lend the funds out-of-state, invest them in
speculative trading strategies (including derivative bets against the
state’s own bonds), and do not remit any of their earnings back to the
state treasury. Meanwhile, California suffers from constrained private
credit conditions, high unemployment levels well above the national
average, and the stagnation of state and local tax receipts. The state’s
only response has been to stumble from one budget crisis to another for
the past three years, with each round of spending cuts further
weakening its economy, tax base, and credit rating.
Not
all states have oil, of course (and it’s hardly a sustainable basis for
an economy), but all could learn from the state-owned bank that allows
North Dakota to capitalize on its resources to full advantage. States
that deposit their revenues and invest their capital in large Wall
Street banks are giving this economic opportunity away.
Mark Schwebke
News Updates: MEDIA ALERTS
and NEWS BYTES
Portland
The occupation was removed by police
on 13 November, but demonstrations in Portland have regularly attracted
thousands of people. During demonstrations on 17 November, a protester
was pepper-sprayed by police at point-blank range. The moment was
captured on camera, and until events at UC Davis and Seattle – where
84-year-old Dorli Rainey was pepper-sprayed by police – was set to
become one of the most striking images from the protests so far.
Protesters are continuing to hold general assemblies in Portland, and
gather each Sunday to plan new actions. Portland police have promised to
limit their presence at rallies held by the group, in part due to a
lack of manpower. AG
CNN)
-- Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber blocked the execution of a death row
inmate on Tuesday and said no more executions will take place in the
state as long as he is governor.
http://www.theportlandalliance.org/deathpenalty
http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2011/12/video-action-nasrin-sotoudeh/
Launch of Free Sotoudeh Project
(5 December 2011) Today, the International Campaign for Human Rights
in Iran launched a project to help build support for the release of
imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and highlight the tragic
situation of Iranian prisoners of conscience. The launch coincides with
the occasion of Human Rights Day, which is celebrated worldwide on 10
December.
...
"Most people around the world understand that Iranian citizens are often
imprisoned for speaking out or joining protests, but they usually can’t
name these prisoners,” said Ghaemi. “Hopefully, by putting a name and
face on the plight of prisoners of conscience in Iran, we will build
momentum towards not only Sotoudeh’s release, but the release of
hundreds of others unjustly behind bars in Iran."
Nasrin
Sotoudeh, a mother of two young children, gained prominence in Iran and
internationally for her work to abolish the juvenile death penalty,
improve the rights of women, and defend prisoners of conscience. She
received the 2008 HRI-Prize for Human Rights form the Italian based
Human Rights International Committee. In 2011, Sotoudeh was awarded the
prestigious Pen International Freedom to Write Award.
Sotoudeh’s case has been consistently cited as a violation of human
rights by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN
Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, numerous governments and the
European Union, as well as international rights NGOs.
For interviews or more information:
Hadi Ghaemi, in New York: +1 917-669-5996
ThePortlandAlliance.org
The 'School to Prison Pipeline': Education Under Arrest
by Kanya D'Almeida
WASHINGTON - Metal detectors. Teams of drug-sniffing dogs. Armed
guards and riot police. Forbiddingly high walls topped with barbed wire.
Such descriptions befit a prison or perhaps a high-security
checkpoint in a war zone. But in the U.S., these scenes of surveillance
and control are most visible in public schools, where in some areas,
education is becoming increasingly synonymous with incarceration. more
information: http://www.theportlandalliance.org/education
War Propaganda Mounting on Iran
By Seymour Hersh, Democracy Now!
22 November 11+
Seymour Hersh: Propaganda used ahead of Iraq War is now being reused over Iran's nuke program.
http://readersupportednews.org/images/stories/alphabet/rsn-W.jpghile
the United States, Britain and Canada are planning to announce a
coordinated set of sanctions against Iran's oil and petrochemical
industry today, longtime investigative journalist Seymour Hersh
questions the growing consensus on Iran's alleged nuclear weapons
program. International pressure has been mounting on Iran since the U.N.
International Atomic Energy Agency revealed in a report the "possible
military dimensions" to Iran's nuclear activities, citing "credible"
evidence that "indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant
to the development of a nuclear explosive device." In his latest article
for The New Yorker blog, titled "Iran and the IAEA," Hersh argues the
recent report is a "political document," not a scientific study. "They
[JSOC] found nothing. Nothing. No evidence of any weaponization," Hersh
says. "In other words, no evidence of a facility to build the bomb. They
have facilities to enrich, but not separate facilities to build the
bomb. This is simply a fact."
See Interview on this page: http://www.theportlandalliance.org/peace
November 19, 2011
Proposal
for a Coordinated West Coast Port Shutdown, Passed With Unanimous Consensus by
vote of the Occupy Oakland General Assembly 11/18/2012: In response to coordinated attacks on the occupations and attacks on
workers across the nation:Occupy Oakland calls for the blockade and disruption of the economic
apparatus of the 1% with a coordinated shutdown of ports on the entire
West
Coast on December 12th.
...We call on each West Coast occupation to organize a mass mobilization to
shut down its
local port. Our eyes are on the continued
union-busting and attacks on organized labor, in particular the rupture of
Longshoremen jurisdiction in Longview Washington by the EGT.
Already, Occupy Los Angeles has passed a resolution to carry out a port action
on the Port Of Los Angeles on December 12th, to shut down SSA
terminals, which are owned by Goldman Sachs.
Occupy Oakland expands this call to the entire West Coast, and calls for
continuing solidarity with the Longshoremen in Longview Washington in their
ongoing struggle against the EGT. The EGT is an international grain
exporter led by Bunge LTD, a company constituted of 1% bankers whose practices
have ruined the lives of the working class all over the
world, from Argentina to the West Coast of the US. During the November
2nd General Strike, tens of thousands shutdown the Port Of Oakland as a
warning shot to EGT to stop its attacks on Longview. Since the EGT has
disregarded this message, and continues to attack the Longshoremen at
Longview, we will now shut down ports along the entire West Coast.
FBI Sanctioned for Lying About Existence of Surveillance Records
by Jennifer Lynch
An
order from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of
California has revealed the FBI lied to the court about the existence
of records requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA),
taking the position that FOIA allows it to withhold information from
the court whenever it thinks this is in the interest of national
security. Using the strongest possible language, the court disagreed:
“The Government cannot, under any circumstance, affirmatively mislead
the Court.” Islamic Shura Council of S. Cal. v. FBI (“Shura Council I”), No. 07-1088, 3 (C.D. Cal. April 27, 2011) (emphasis added).
http://www.theportlandalliance.org/occupyportland
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& Education (NAAME) is a 501C3 Oregon non-profit. Support local
progressive news. We support the Global Occupation, Occupy Portland,
JWJ, KBOO, and grassroots movements for progressive reform. Please
stand with us!
ThePortlandAlliance.org
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Portland, Oregon 97217-2210
Portland Alliance Online
News Bytes: http://www.theportlandalliance.org/bytes
Our Community Calendar is where thousands of organizers in the
Pacific Northwest discover opportunities for action or submit their own
events!
http://www.theportlandalliance.org/communitycalendar
If you want to learn more about the Alliance, please examine the seven issues we have published in 2011 at this address:
http://www.theportlandalliance.org/issues.html
Or visit our Blog and carry on a conversation with our staff.
http://portlandalliancenews.blogspot.com/
We provide news about Occupy Portland, the Portland Alliance is on
site. Check with Andrea Townsend, Max Linden Levi, & others from
the Northwest Alliance http://www.theportlandalliance.org/occupyportland send stories, articles pictures for online or print issues!
From Labornotes.org
Aug 29, 2011
At Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, workers supported a
new initiative to improve working conditions. They joined with others
from around the country to put their fear aside to stand up for better
treatment on the job despite bullying by managers and threats of
termination.
http://labornotes.org/2011/08/store-workers-say-whose-walmart-our-walmart
From the Asian Reporter
China vows crackdown on sex-selective abortions.
Chinese authorities will increase efforts against the non-medical use of
ultrasound tests and abortion of fetuses based on gender. Spurred by
the one-child policy and a traditional preference for boys,
sex-selective abortion has created a male-female ratio at birth in China
of about 119 males to 100 females, with the gap as high as 130 males
for every 100 females in some provinces.
http://www.asianreporter.com/intl.htm
From El Hispanic News
Panel Warns Against Colombia Free Trade Agreement
August 11, 2011
This controversial free trade agreement will be debated this summer.
Latin American Working Group claims that the Central American Free Trade
Agreement track record shows, it could reduce small farmers’ income 50
percent. A delegate for Witness for Peace Colombia alleged that poor
Colombian workers will have no guarantees or job security and get fired
at the whim of their bosses.
http://www.elhispanicnews.com/2011/08/11/panel-warns-against-colombia-free-trade-agreement/
From El Hispanic News
August 11, 2011
At CAUSA’s new Portland office on the 2nd floor of the Left Bank
Project, José Artiga made a case for the need for observers in “a
country with a long history of electoral fraud.” Artiga is executive
director of SHARE, a group wanting to strengthen “solidarity with and
among the Salvadoran people in El Salvador and the United States in the
struggle for economic sustainability, justice, and human and civil
rights.”
http://www.elhispanicnews.com/2011/08/11/observers-sought-for-el-salvador%e2%80%99s-2012-elections/
From the Skanner
‘Kids Count Data Book’ Shows More Oregon Families in Poverty
Aug. 30, 2011
Oregon is losing ground in three key measures of child welfare,
according to the above book. In Oregon, there was a rise in the
percentage of babies born with low birth weight; a rise in infant
mortality and an increase in the proportion of children living in
poverty. Although Oregon has done amazing things in making health
insurance available to kids, the state can’t provide care for their
parents.
http://www.theskanner.com/article/Kids-Count-Data-Book-Shows-More-Oregon-Families-in-Poverty-2011-08-25
OR Groups Speak Out About E-Verify
PORTLAND,
Ore. - From immigrants' rights groups to religious, labor and business
organizations, more than a dozen groups in Oregon joined in a national
day of action on Wednesday to voice their united opposition to the
Electronic Employment Verification System (EEVS), commonly known as
E-Verify. It is a government database that some employers use to check
the immigration status of workers or job applicants. In a few states,
its use is mandatory, but not in Oregon. (contd.) Podcast and entire
story available: http://www.newsservice.org/index.php
ALERTUS: Man Robs Bank to Get Healthcare
By Ed Pilkington, Guardian UK 22 June 11
Unemployed and without health insurance,
man in North Carolina has himself arrested in order to receive treatment.
It
was not perhaps the most obvious way of getting a bad back, arthritis
and a dodgy foot seen to. But if you're unemployed in North Carolina
with no health insurance, there is no obvious way.
So on 9 June James Verone left his Gastonia home, took a ride to a bank and carried out a robbery. Well, sort of.
What he did was hand the clerk a note that said: "This is a bank robbery, please only give me one dollar." Then, as he later told the local NBC news station,
he calmly sat in the corner of the bank having told the clerk: "I'll be
sitting right over there in the chair waiting for the police."
Before his peculiarly modest robbery, Verone, 59, sent a letter to the Gaston Gazette.
"When you receive this a bank robbery will have been committed by me
for one dollar. I am of sound mind but not so much sound body."
He
invited the paper to send a reporter to interview him in Gaston county
jail, where he is now in custody facing charges of stealing from a
person (for just $1 the prosecutors didn't think they could hold up a
bank robbery charge).
He
told the paper he had lost his job after 17 years as a Coca-Cola
delivery man, and with it his health insurance. He was in increasing
pain from slipped discs, arthritic joints, a gammy foot and a growth on
his chest.
Since being in the jail he has attained his goal: he has been seen by nurses and an appointment with a doctor is booked.
OCPP CenterPoint: June 2011 / Balanced Budget Amendment: Still Flawed, More Dangerous
http://www.theportlandalliance.org/ocpp
Published on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 by TomDispatch.com
Sacrifice-Lite: The American Way
Post-9/11, doesn’t it seem as though all American experience is blending into a single experience
whose label is “your safety?” Which means, in practical terms, you get poked, prodded, searched,
and surveilled wherever you go. |
“End the war, not just the surge” by Brian J. Trautman
see page www.theportlandalliance.org/peace Submitted by Tom Hastings... Whitefeather |
Obama Says He'll Really Fight for the People ... Next Time by Jim Hightower http://www.theportlandalliance.org/hightower Truthout | Op-Ed Aug 3, 2011
http://www.truth-out.org/obama-says-hell-really-fight-people-next-time/1312377490
By gollies, America's workaday majority of middle-class and poor
people have a fighter on our side in Washington. Unfortunately, that
fighter is Barack Obama.
On Sunday, he waved his white hankie of surrender in the debt ceiling
battle, agreeing to a disastrous deal ruthlessly pushed by the loopiest
of the tea party extremists in the Republican House. It slashes some
nearly $1 trillion from national programs that ordinary Americans count
on, puts Social Security and Medicare at risk, and promises to make our
depressed economy, and even the deficit, worse.
Saturday 15 October 2011
After the Storm: The Instability of Inequality
Nouriel Roubini, Project Syndicate: "This year has witnessed a global
wave of social and political turmoil and instability, with masses of
people pouring into the real and virtual streets.... While these
protests have no unified theme, they express in different ways the
serious concerns of the world’s working and middle classes about their
prospects in the face of the growing concentration of power among
economic, financial, and political elites."
Read the Article
Anatomy of a Victory: Occupy Wall Street Wins a Big One
J.A. Myerson, Truthout: "Mayor Bloomberg’s Wednesday night visit to
Liberty Plaza Park, during which he delivered news (on behalf of his
girlfriend’s corporation) that the park would be cleaned Friday morning,
made me very nervous.... Over the next 20-or-so hours, there
precipitated one of the most impressive single days of organizing I can
recall or even imagine, and by 6 AM the next day, when the cleaning was
set to begin, the Wall Street occupiers and our allies around the world
had won. It’s worth looking into what made that happen, if for no other
reason than to derive best practices for like operations in the future."
Read the Article
Eugene Robinson | Raising Cain
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post Writers Group: "Just be patient and
you, too, can lead the polls for the Republican presidential nomination.
Witness the ascent of Herman Cain.... Cain's contribution to American
political discourse thus far is a novel debating technique: When
confronted with inconvenient facts, say they're wrong."
Read the Article
12 Most Absurd Laws Used to Stifle the Occupy Wall Street Movement
Rania Khalek, AlterNet: "As Occupy Wall Street protests spring up in
cities across the country, authorities are thinking up creative ways to
contain this peaceful and inspiring uprising. Although laws and
municipal ordinances vary from city to city, there is a consistency in
the tactics being used to stifle the movement.... Here are 12 desperate
and unsuccessful measures the authorities are using to discourage, deter
and crack down on peaceful protests."
Read the Article
Egypt’s Military Expands Power, Raising Alarms
David D. Kirkpatrick, The New York Times News Service: "Egypt’s military
rulers are moving to assert and extend their own power so broadly that a
growing number of lawyers and activists are questioning their
willingness to ultimately submit to civilian authority. Two members of
the military council that took power after the ouster of former
President Hosni Mubarak said for the first time in interviews this week
that they planned to retain full control of the Egyptian government even
after the election of a new Parliament begins in November."
Read the Article
"Convenient" Base Is Unexamined Excuse for US Silence on Bahrain Crackdown
Robert Naiman, Truthout: "Pressure is building on the Obama
administration to delay a proposed arms sale to Bahrain, which brutally
suppressed its pro-democracy movement and continues to squash
dissent.... In noting that the US has been quiet on the crackdown in
Bahrain, press reports usually mention the fact that the US has a naval
base there.... But the way this fact is often cited gives the impression
that it's a foregone conclusion that the administration can't speak up
about human rights in Bahrain because of the naval base."
Read the Article
House Bill Would Block EPA Oversight of Coal Ash, Leave it to States
Renee Schoof, McClatchy Newspapers: "Next up for Republicans in the
House of Representatives who are seeking to curb the role of the
Environmental Protection Agency is a vote Friday on a bill that would
give states the power to monitor the disposal of coal ash from power
plants.... If the bill became law, it would block the EPA from imposing a
federal rule to regulate the coal ash in disposal sites as a hazardous
substance. The EPA has proposed that, but it hasn't yet decided whether
to follow through with it or opt for a state-based plan instead."
Read the Article
"Cambodian Grrrl" Brings the Zine to Phnom Penh
Alissa Bohling, Truthout: "Women and girls in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia
have more than a history of poverty and genocide to contend with....
Theoretically, Moore's goal to help her students channel their voices in
a self-made medium is the perfect answer to the corruption, poverty and
bereft educational system.... But on her first day in the country,
engulfed by disorder and without the 'Khmenglish' she and her students
will later use to communicate, she has her doubts: 'I evaluated the last
24 hours and thought to myself: You came here to make zines?'"
Read the Article
"Grim Milestone as 300th CIA Drone Strike Hits Pakistan
Chris Woods, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: "The United States
‘covert’ drone war in Pakistan reached a new milestone today with the
300th attack on alleged militants in the country’s tribal areas,
according to research by the Bureau.... The Bureau has now identified
300 drone strikes since June 17 2004. Of these, 248 have occurred during
President Obama’s three years in office, rising to a frequency of one
strike every four days."
Read the Article
Arrested for Peace
Robert Corsini, Truthout: "For over a decade now, we have only heard
deafening silence when it comes to an honest assessment of what has
transpired throughout the Middle East, but in particular in Afghanistan
and Iraq. Raised Catholic, I learned that the only path toward atonement
is through honesty, truth and action - all conspicuously missing from
American society and sadly missing especially from many American
Christians.... The right-wing Jesus continues to dominate the airwaves,
Congress and the White House, further enabling the American war machine
to consume our nation's wealth."
Read the Article Friday 09 September 2011 Noam Chomsky | After 9/11, Was War the Only Option?
Noam Chomsky, The New York Times Syndicate: "This is the 10th
anniversary of the horrendous atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001, which, it is
commonly held, changed the world. The impact of the attacks is not in
doubt. Just keeping to western and central Asia: Afghanistan is barely
surviving, Iraq has been devastated and Pakistan is edging closer to a
disaster that could be catastrophic ... Even the most obvious and
elementary facts about the decade lead to bleak reflections when we
consider 9/11 and its consequences, and what they portend for the
future."
Read the Article
New Documents Suggest DoD Watchdog Covered Up Intelligence Unit's Work Tracking 9/11 Terrorists
Jeffrey Kaye and Jason Leopold, Truthout: "Senior Pentagon officials
scrubbed key details about a top-secret military intelligence unit's
efforts in tracking Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda from official reports
they prepared for a Congressional committee probing the 9/11 terrorist
attacks, new documents obtained by Truthout reveal."
Read the Article
An Unending Crisis - America in the 21st Century
Cary Fraser, Truthout: "For more than four decades, the American
political system has been defined by a growing gap between the
electorate and the presidency as a symbol of good governance and
political legitimacy. It would appear that the serial crises affecting
presidents since 1968 have served to entrench a 'credibility' gap within
American politics. That gap is now a bellwether of the American
political system and it is an indicator of the political polarization
that has overtaken the American political system. The fissures in
American politics have been provoked by and contributed to, the
escalating conflicts among the three branches of government - the
legislature, the judiciary and the executive - and internecine war
within the two major political parties."
Read the Article
Obama to Congress: Pass My $447 Billion Jobs Plan Now
Lesley Clark, McClatchy Newspapers: "With the nation verging on renewed
recession, President Barack Obama urged a divided Congress Thursday
night to back his new $447 billion jobs package ... The plan includes
tax breaks for employees and companies that hire the unemployed,
programs to help cities and towns retain teachers, firefighters and
police officers, and money to rehab vacant and foreclosed homes. It also
calls for $50 billion to improve transportation and $10 billion toward a
public-private 'infrastructure bank.'"
Read the Article
September 11 Lessons: Combating Ignorance, Avoiding Arrogance
Robert Jensen, Truthout: "On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, it is
tempting to want to linger on the part about 'being right,' but it's
more important to focus on why ''it didn't matter' because we are still
right, and it still doesn't matter. Understanding this is necessary to
shape a realistic political program for the next decade - as bad as the
past ten years have been, the next ten are likely to be worse, and we
need to speak bluntly about these political/economic/social realities in
the United States."
Read the Article
On the News With Thom Hartmann: DC and New York City on High Alert After Officials Confirm Terrorist Attack Threat, and More
In today's On the News segment: Obama calling Congress to immediately
pass "The American Jobs Act" - a $447 billion proposal; FEMA estimates
that states have been hit with over $36 billion in disaster damages; DC
and New York City on high alert after officials confirmed a terrorist
attack threat; after first meeting of Gang of 12 Super Congress, John
Kyl threatens to quit; Department of Justice warns that Mexican drug
cartels have opened up for business in over 1,000 US cities; and more.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Is the Corporate Media Still Censoring Stories?
Mark Karlin, Truthout: "Project Censored has an illustrious history of
drawing attention to stories that the mainstream press overtly censors
or ignores through a corporate media culture that dismisses the
existence of topics that threaten the status quo ... With the
forthcoming publication of the newest edition of Project Censored,
Truthout interviewed long-time project Director Peter Phillips and
current Director Mickey Huff to gain a sense how this project began, and
how it intends to continue making an impact in a constantly
transforming media landscape."
Read the Article
California Health Insurers Hire Tobacco Lobbyists, Pay Top Lawmaker Tens of Thousands in Direct Payments
Lee Fang, ThinkProgress: "Health insurance companies have concealed
their lobbying efforts by funding many of the so-called 'pro-business'
trade groups in California, which have in turn lobbied or released
letters opposed to AB 52. But a closer look at the health insurance
lobby's disclosure reports paints an even broader picture of their
influence."
Read the Article
Ten Years Later: Will We Ever Hold Torturers Accountable?
Stephen F. Rohde, Truthout: "The tenth anniversary of 9/11 is a fitting
opportunity to ask the urgent question: What has the US government done
to human rights, civil liberties and the rule of law in the name of
fighting terrorism?... In a revealing new book, 'The United States and
Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration and Abuse,' Marjorie Cohn, law
professor and president of the National Lawyers Guild, has collected 14
incisive and comprehensive essays which, taken together, serve as a
detailed indictment of the Bush administration for its acts of
commission and the Obama administration for its acts of omission."
Read the Article
Hunger Rate Spikes in Rick Perry's Texas, Even as National Rate Holds Steady
Marie Diamond, ThinkProgress: "A new report by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture shows that household hunger remained steady from 2009 to
2010, even though almost 49 million people - a near record number - were
affected by food insecurity. Some states even saw their hunger rates
decline. But one glaring exception was the state of Texas, which has
been hailed by Gov. Rick Perry (R) as a model for the rest of the nation
during these tough economic times."
Read the Article
House Conservatives Charter Ideology Over Educational Reality
Isaiah J. Poole, Campaign for America's Future: "The House is poised to
vote on legislation that would increase federal support for charter
schools and would encourage states to authorize new charter schools. The
'Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act' represents the
latest triumph of ideology over reality in public education."
Read the Article
The Die-Hard Recession Heads Off the Charts
Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, New Geography: "The unusual slump has provoked
a stream of commentary that attempts to define the problem, but it
hardly matters whether the downturn is identified as the second dip of a
'double-dip' recession, a continuation of the 'Great Recession,' a
fast-moving slowdown, a slow nosedive, a long-term stall-out, or a
confirmation that the economy has entered a Japanese-style 'lost
decade'. Growth during the 21st century is following a different trend
line than it did in the 20th, and employment is also responding in new,
different ways from earlier post-World War II recessions."
Read the Article
Howard Zinn | No Human Being Is Illegal
In a July 2006 article for The Progressive, the late Howard Zinn
provides a context for today's immigration reform debate by tracing the
history of how we've treated foreign-born people in this country since
the Revolutionary War.
Read the Article
Noam Chomsky | Cuba in the Crosshairs: A Near Half-Century of Terror
Noam Chomsky, TomDispatch: "The Batista dictatorship was overthrown in
January 1959 by Castro's guerrilla forces. In March, the National
Security Council (NSC) considered means to institute regime change. In
May, the CIA began to arm guerrillas inside Cuba. 'During the Winter of
1959-1960, there was a significant increase in CIA-supervised bombing
and incendiary raids piloted by exiled Cubans' based in the US. We need
not tarry on what the US or its clients would do under such
circumstances."
Read the Article
New WikiLeaks Cables Show US Diplomats Promote Genetically Engineered Crops Worldwide
Mike Ludwig, Truthout: "Dozens of United States diplomatic cables
released in the latest WikiLeaks dump on Wednesday reveal new details of
the US effort to push foreign governments to approve genetically
engineered (GE) crops and promote the worldwide interests of
agribusiness giants like Monsanto and DuPont. The cables further confirm
previous Truthout reports on the diplomatic pressure the US has put on
Spain and France, two countries with powerful anti-GE crop movements, to
speed up their biotech approval process and quell anti-GE sentiment
within the European Union (EU)."
Read the Article
Fifty-Four Protesters Arrested as Environmental Report on Tar Sands Pipeline Is Released
Mike Ludwig, Truthout: "As environmental activists were handcuffed in
front of the White House on Friday, the State Department released the
final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the massive Keystone XL
pipeline that would pump crude oil from the Alberta tar sands in Canada
across six western states to stations in Oklahoma and Texas. Climate
change and environmental groups have staged protests against the
proposed pipeline across the country in recent months, including a
two-week sit-in currently underway in front of the White House."
Read the Article
Three Things That Must Happen for Us to Rise Up and Defeat the Corporatocracy
Bruce E. Levine, AlterNet: "Transforming the United States into
something closer to a democracy requires: 1) knowledge of how we are
getting screwed; 2) pragmatic tactics, strategies, and solutions; and 3)
the 'energy to do battle.' The majority of Americans oppose the
corporatocracy (rule by giant corporations, the extremely wealthy elite,
and corporate-collaborator government officials); however, many of us
have given up hope that this tyranny can be defeated. Among those of us
who continue to be politically engaged, many focus on only one of the
requirements - knowledge of how we are getting screwed. And this
singular focus can result in helplessness. It is the two other
requirements that can empower, energize, and activate Team Democracy - a
team that is currently at the bottom of the standings in the American
Political League."
Read the Article
Larry Cohen | Verizon Strike Has Big Lessons for US Economy
Larry Cohen, Truthout: "The 45,000 CWA and IBEW members are hopeful that
Monday night's return to work at Verizon after a two-week strike will
bring meaningful collective bargaining and a good result for all
concerned. For us, the strike was about real collective bargaining
rights as much as about preserving the standard of living for our
families. The unity of our members and the widespread public support for
workers really speak to the general state of working families in the
US. This includes stagnating real wages in recent years, the collapse of
employer based health care, declining retirement security and the
export of good jobs to low-wage contractors and offshore."
Read the Article
On the News With Thom Hartmann: Republican Lawmakers Literally Up for Sale in Minnesota, and More
In today's On the News segment: Dick Cheney has a new book coming out,
earthquake rattles Eric Cantor's Congressional district, Republican
lawmakers are literally up for sale in Minnesota, new study shows that
over half of the US population will be obese by the year 2030, and
more.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Bernanke Offers No Plan for New Stimulus
Binyamin Appelbaum, The New York Times: "The Federal Reserve chairman,
Ben S. Bernanke, said Friday that the economy was recovering and the
nation's long-term prospects remained strong, an upbeat assessment that
offered little indication of any plans for additional measures to
bolster short-term growth. Mr. Bernanke's much-anticipated remarks
follow the Fed's announcement earlier this month that it intended to
hold short-term interest rates near zero until at least the middle of
2013, a reflection of its view that growth will not be fast enough
during that period to drive up wages and prices."
Read the Article
Bernie Sanders Introduces Bill to Lift the Payroll Tax Cap
Zaid Jilani, ThinkProgress: "Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was a
featured speaker at the United Steel Workers 2011 conference in Las
Vegas. Sanders focused much of his speech on the Social Security system,
blasting suggestions by Democrats and Republicans alike that, for
example, we should adjust the cost of living adjustment to cut Social
Security payments to working class Americans or raise the retirement
age. 'When [Social Security] was developed, 50 percent of seniors lived
in poverty. Today, poverty among seniors is too high, but that number is
ten percent. Social Security has done exactly what it was designed to
do!' he thundered, defending the program."
Read the Article
Residents of Tourist Haven Fight Plans to Build Naval Base
Nicole Erwin, Truthout: "Home to orange groves and skin divers, this
Northeast Asian vacation spot sometimes known as the 'Island of Peace'
may soon have new inhabitants: a South Korean naval base, believed by
opponents to be US motivated, and a fleet of warships equipped with
technology that could affect the security landscape of the entire
region. Local residents and international groups alike have joined to
protest the base's ongoing construction in standoffs with police and
Navy officers that continue to escalate. It's this sense of inevitable
violence that has since moved the South Korean government to some
dialogue."
Read the Article
The One Billion-Dollar Question: Who Are the Libyan Rebels? (Video)
Amy Goodman, Democracy NOW!: "Libyan rebels have consolidated their grip
on the capital of Tripoli by capturing Col. Muammar Gaddafi's main
compound, but the whereabouts of the Libyan leader remain unknown, and
he has vowed his forces would resist 'the aggression with all strength'
until either victory or death. Reporters in Tripoli say heavy gunfire
could still be heard nearby the area of the Rixos Hotel, where dozens of
international journalists guarded by heavily armed Gaddafi loyalists
are unable to leave."
Watch the Video
A Global Rush to Grab Land
Terry J. Allen, In These Times: "A 21st-century land rush is on. Driven
by fear and lured by promises of high profits, foreign investors are
scooping up vast tracts of farmland in some of the world's hungriest
countries to grow crops for export. As the climate changes and
populations shift and grow, billions of people around the globe face
shortages of land and water, rising food prices and increasing hunger.
Alarm over a future without affordable food and water is sparking unrest
in a world already tinder-dried by repression and recession, corruption
and mismanagement, boundary disputes and ancient feuds, ethnic tension
and religious fundamentalism."
Read the Article
Rights Commission Rebukes US on Domestic Violence
Amanda Wilson, Inter Press Service: "In a groundbreaking decision that
affirms domestic violence as an international human rights issue, the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has ruled that the US
should do more to protect victims of domestic violence. The ruling,
officially made in July, was detailed in a report officially released to
the public here on Wednesday. The decision marks the first time that an
international tribunal has found that the US violated the rights of a
domestic violence survivor. It also specifically articulates that
failure to respond to domestic violence can constitute a human rights
violation by the US government."
Read the Article
FEMA During Hurricane Katrina and Beyond
Leo Bosner, Truthout: "Friday afternoon, August 26, 2005, was a
pleasantly warm summer day in Washington. It was my day off from duty as
a Watch Officer at FEMA's National Response Coordination Center (NRCC)
and my wife and I had gone to see a show of Japanese prints at an art
gallery near Dupont Circle. We had just left the gallery and were
discussing possible restaurants for a Friday night dinner when my FEMA
pager buzzed. These were still my pre-cell phone days, so I borrowed my
wife's phone to call in to the NRCC and see what was up. My co-worker
Matt picked up on the first ring. It seemed that an Atlantic storm had
crossed south Florida and entered the Gulf of Mexico, where it could
endanger Louisiana, Mississippi, and other states along the Gulf. The
NRCC was being activated and I was to report in for night shift at 7 PM.
The storm had been given a name: 'Hurricane Katrina.'"
Read the Article
Dying for a Glass of Clean Water in California's San Joaquin Valley
David Bacon, New America Media: "Today Lanare is one of the many
unincorporated communities in rural California that lack the most basic
services, like drinking water, sewers, sidewalks and streetlights.
According to Policy Link, a foundation promoting economic and social
equity, 'Throughout the United States, millions of people live outside
of central cities on pockets of unincorporated land. Predominantly
African-American and Latino, and frequently low-income, these
communities ... have been excluded from city borders.'"
Read the Article
Symptoms of the Bush-Obama Presidency
David Bromwich, TomDispatch: "Is it too soon to speak of the Bush-Obama
presidency? The record shows impressive continuities between the two
administrations, and nowhere more than in the policy of 'force
projection' in the Arab world. With one war half-ended in Iraq, but
another doubled in size and stretching across borders in Afghanistan;
with an expanded program of drone killings and black-ops assassinations,
the latter glorified in special ceremonies of thanksgiving (as they
never were under Bush); with the number of prisoners at Guantanamo
having decreased, but some now slated for permanent detention; with the
repeated invocation of 'state secrets' to protect the government from
charges of war crimes; with the Patriot Act renewed and its most dubious
provisions left intact - the Bush-Obama presidency has sufficient
self-coherence to be considered a historical entity with a life of its
own."
Read the Article
On the News With Thom Hartmann: SEC Accused of Covering Up High Crimes on Wall Street, and More
In today's On the News segment: Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley is
alleging that the SEC destroyed more than 9,000 documents related to
investigations into some of America's top banks during the height of the
financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, rate of child poverty grew 18
percent in America over the past ten years, House Oversight Committee
Chairman Darryl Issa hired vice president of Goldman Sachs to spearhead
efforts to block government regulations on big banks like Goldman Sachs,
gold may be the next bubble to burst, and more.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Let's Learn the Right Lessons From Wisconsin
Dave Poklinkoski, Labor Notes: "Two Democratic state senators in
Wisconsin beat back recalls yesterday, by 58 and 54 percent. That means
that in the nine recall elections held this month and last, two
incumbents were defeated, both of them Republicans. It was enough for
unions to claim a victory, in the sense that the Republicans' margin in
the senate is now down to one, and that one senator, moderate Dale
Schultz, voted against the union-busting legislation. It is now unlikely
that Right to Work and other elements of the corporate right's agenda
will pass."
Read the Article
Paul Krugman | A Success Story as Big as Texas? Actually, That's a Myth
Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co.: "Texas has been adding jobs faster than
the rest of the nation, a fact that has become especially notable in
the past couple of years - I recently saw it referred to as the Texas
'jobs juggernaut' - as overall job growth has been so poor. But what's
the story here? Oddly, it's rare to see anyone in this debate talking in
terms of models - that is, the kind of stylized, simplified, but
internally consistent stories (not necessarily mathematical) that are
what economic analysis is all about. So let me try to fill that gap by
offering three informal models of what might be going on in Texas."
Read the Article
Biological Weapons: Bargaining With the Devil (Part Four)
H. Patricia Hynes, Truthout: "The earliest recorded use of biological
warfare was that of Romans putting dead horses into an enemy's water
supply. Other documented examples include combatants hurling
plague-ridden human corpses into enemy garrisons; giving blankets
contaminated with smallpox to hostile forces; infecting enemy livestock
with anthrax and the equine disease, glanders; and poisoning an
adversary's water supply with intestinal typhoid bacteria. These heinous
war practices may seem pre-modern; yet, readiness for biological
warfare continues, aggressively and in extreme secrecy, today. Up to a
dozen countries are suspected of offensive, or 'first use,' biological
weapons programs, chief among them the United States."
Read the Article
Rick Perry's Deeply Flawed Brand of Texas Justice
Shani O. Hilton, Colorlines.com: "To the surprise of no one, Texas
Governor Rick Perry announced he'd be running for the Republican
presidential nomination last weekend. As we've covered before, Perry has
been getting his ideological ducks in a row for some time now, even
becoming more draconian on immigration issues. Back in 2001, Perry
signed the Texas DREAM act - the country's first law of that kind - and
while he still supports it, he's now putting money toward more border
security and pushing laws that would force towns to monitor undocumented
immigrants."
Read the Article
Human Rights Watch: Abuses by All Sides Fueling Crisis in Somalia (Video)
Amy Goodman, Democracy NOW!: "A new report by Human Rights Watch accuses
all sides in the Somali conflict of committing war crimes. The report,
'"You Don't Know Who to Blame:" War Crimes in Somalia,' calls on all
sides to immediately end abuses against civilians, hold those
responsible to account, and ensure access to aid and free movement of
people fleeing conflict and drought."
Watch the Video
Jim Hightower | America's Illegal Foreclosure Epidemic
Jim Hightower, Other Words: "To foreclose on someone's home, an
authorized bank employee must sign the foreclosure document, swearing
that the facts in it are true. But that requires hiring people to review
each case. To avoid that cost, they take an illegal shortcut by signing
the name of someone who has not read the document and might not even
exist."
Read the Article
On the News With Thom Hartmann: Warren Buffett Asks a Billionaire-Friendly Congress to Stop Coddling the Rich, and More
In today's On the News segment: Warren Buffett asks a
billionaire-friendly Congress to stop coddling the rich, only one-third
of Americans have $1,000 or more in savings, Obama approval rating at 39
percent, fear of a deeper recession are growing, Michele Bachmann wins
Ames Straw poll, and more.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Somali Women Bear Superhuman Burden
Inaki Borda, Inter Press Service: "While the exit of the Al-Qaeda-backed
rebel group Al Shabaab has led to the first U.N. relief airlift in five
years in the capital of famine-wracked Somalia, the situation for women
and children remains precarious, humanitarian workers warn."
Read the Article
The Problem With Affirmative Action
Lewis R. Gordon, Truthout: "Affirmative action, which brought people of
color to the table to learn first-hand about the level of performance of
their white predecessors and contemporaries, stimulated a reflection on
standards in many institutions. As more people of color began to meet
inflated standards, what were being concealed were the low standards
available to the whites who preceded them (and no doubt many who
continue to join them as presumed agents of excellence)."
Read the Article
E.J. Dionne Jr. | The New Old Obama
E.J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post Writers Group: "Obama's aides say
he understood liberal anger over the Republicans' irresponsibility in
using the default threat to strengthen their own bargaining position.
But while progressives wanted the White House to call the right wing's
bluff, Obama insisted that this was not a risk a president could take.
He preferred to escape this box with the best flawed deal he could get,
provided he could take the lethal debt-ceiling weapon out of Republican
hands."
Read the Article
Dean Baker | The S&P Downgrade Market Plunge Myth
Dean Baker, Truthout: "Yes, the markets completely laughed off the
S&P downgrade. Let's say that a third time just so that even a
Washington Post editor can understand it: the markets laughed off the
S&P downgrade. The S&P downgrade was supposed to mean that it is
now more likely that the US government will not be able to pay its debt
than previously believed."
Read the Article
How to Deal With Iran's Influence in Iraq
T.J. Buonomo, Truthout: "It would be reckless of Iran to attempt to
accomplish through overt military force what it has the potential to
achieve through political and economic influence. The US should,
therefore, be primarily focused on how to limit or neutralize this
influence through its own political and economic measures in Iraq."
Read the Article
Why Do The Koch Brothers Want to End Public Education? (Video)
The latest Brave New Foundation video reveals chilling new details about
the Koch brothers' plan to privatize American education.
Watch the Video
Cholera Outbreaks Spread Across Somalia, UN Says
Jeffrey Gettleman, The New York Times News Service: "A cholera epidemic
is sweeping across Somalia, the United Nations said on Friday, as
thousands of starving people flee famine zones and pack into crowded
camps in the capital, Mogadishu. According to the United Nations World
Health Organization, 181 people have died from suspected cholera cases
in a single hospital in Mogadishu, and there have been several other
confirmed cholera outbreaks across the country."
Read the Article
Click here for more Truthout articles
Saturday 06 August 2011 31 US Troops Killed in Afghanistan Helicopter Shootdown
Hashim Shukoor and Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers: "Thirty-one
U.S. troops, including more than 20 Navy SEALs, and seven Afghan
soldiers died when their helicopter was shot down during an overnight
operation against Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, according
to statement issued Saturday by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.... It was
the worst single-day toll for American forces in Afghanistan since U.S.
troops entered that country nearly 10 years ago, and one of the largest
tolls in a single incident of either the Afghan war or the fighting in
Iraq."
Read the Article
Michael Moore | 30 Years Ago Today: The Middle Class Died
Michael Moore, MichaelMoore.com: "Beginning on this date, 30 years ago,
Big Business and the Right Wing decided to 'go for it' - to see if they
could actually destroy the middle class so that they could become richer
themselves. And they've succeeded. On August 5, 1981, President Ronald
Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union (PATCO)
who'd defied his order to return to work and declared their union
illegal. They had been on strike for just two days."
Read the Article
S.& P. Downgrades Debt Rating of U.S. For the First Time
Binyamin Appelbaum and Eric Dash, The New York Times News Service:
"Standard & Poor’s removed the United States government from its
list of risk-free borrowers... a downgrade that is freighted with
symbolic significance but carries few clear financial implications. The
company, one of three major agencies that offer advice to investors in
debt securities, said it was cutting its rating of long-term federal
debt to AA+, one notch below the top grade of AAA. It described the
decision as a judgment about the nation’s leaders."
Read the Article
A Historic Opportunity to Cut Military Spending
Robert Naiman, Truthout: "The agreement in Washington to raise the debt
ceiling in exchange for spending cuts has made a lot of people very
unhappy. But the agreement had one important positive aspect: it created
a historic opportunity for significant cuts in projected military
spending... Significant cuts in projected military spending are on the
table. Indeed, if the joint committee doesn't agree on a plan or
Congress doesn't enact it, $1.2 trillion in cuts in projected spending
over ten years will be triggered, of which half must come from the
military."
Read the Article
UN Challenges Slavery Conditions for Domestic Workers
Dick Meister, Truthout: "The hope for improving the domestics
'slavery-like conditions has arisen from action taken in Geneva this
month at the annual meeting of the United Nation's International Labor
Organization - the ILO... With a lot of luck, we may finally take
decisive action to guarantee decent treatment for the world's highly
exploited housekeepers, maids, nannies, and other domestic workers.
There are an estimated 100 million of them, working in more than 180
countries. Their pay is generally at the poverty level... Almost half of
them are not entitled to even one day off per week."
Read the Article
Mainstream Media Ignores S.& P. Attack On Republicans
Thom Hartmann, ThomHartmann.com: "Could it be that many reporters - and
virtually all of the television talking heads - are themselves
relatively high income-earners who don’t relish the idea of higher
taxes? Or could it be that reporters are afraid that if they report the
actual language of the S.& P. Research Report, then Republicans will
punish them by denying them 'access' – i.e. refusing to show up on
their programs – which is the career and show kiss-of-death for radio
and TV programs that rely on big-name politicians to work?"
Read the Article
The People's Rogue: FDR vs. the Nine Old Men
Robert Wilbur, Truthout: "Throughout American history, Supreme Court
justices have enjoyed undeserved reverence, which has allowed them, by
and large, to be water boys (and girls) for the forces of money and
power. The vaunted system of checks and balances is skewed in favor of
the Supremes, and, inexplicably, ordinary men and women do not seem to
realize that they're being rolled. The present political gridlock as a
proximate result of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision recalls
the situation FDR confronted In Jeff Sheshol's new book, 'Supreme
Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court.'"
Read the Article
Spain's "Indignados" at the Vanguard of a Global Nonviolent Revolt
Pablo Ouziel, Political Thoughts: "In a truly Gandhian manner, a group
of Spanish ‘indignados’ is currently walking from Madrid to Brussels in
order to make their voices heard by the bureaucrats of the European
Union. They aim to get there before the global protest they have called
for to be staged on October 15th. Perhaps by the time they get to
Brussels, their indignation will have rubbed-off on those in other
European nations who have understood the farce of our imperialist
representative democracies, and the Spanish ‘indignados’ will not find
themselves camping alone in front of the buildings of the European
Union."
Read the Article
Obama on the Backs of the Poor
Ray McGovern, Consortium News: "A huge majority of economists concede
that America has been sliding into a land of haves and have-nots for the
past several decades and that the “deal” Obama signed into law on
Tuesday will do little, if anything, to improve the lives of our fellow
citizens deprived of work, shelter, medical care and other necessities.
In sum, Obama - again put in a corner by Republicans who appeared ready
to force the United States into default if they didn’t get their way -
reneged on a promise not to let the burden for coping with the
economic/fiscal mess fall primarily on the backs of the poor."
Read the Article
Shiny Happy Corporate People
Richard (RJ) Eskow, Campaign for America's Future: "Mitt Romney got a
lot of press for telling a heckler at the Iowa State Fair that
'corporations are people'... Here's the paradox in this whole concept of
'corporate personhood.' When it comes to rights, Republicans say
corporations are people. But when it comes to the responsibilities of
personhood - like paying taxes, being sued for negligence or criminal
manslaughter, that sort of thing - their response is 'Are you crazy?
We're talking about corporations here, not people.'"
Read the Article
Twelve Unions Tell Democrats They'll Boycott Convention in N. Carolina
Tim Funk and Kirsten Valle Pittman, McClatchy Newspapers: "Casting North
Carolina as an anti-union bastion with 'regressive policies aimed at
diluting the power of workers,' more than a dozen trade unions
affiliated with the national AFL-CIO have told the Democratic National
Committee that they will sit out the 2012 convention in Charlotte, N.C.
Coming on the heels of some liberals' complaints that President Barack
Obama is giving in to Republicans, the unions' decision is another sign
that key Democratic allies are unhappy with Obama and other party
leaders as they gear up for a difficult election season."
Read the Article
Israeli Tent Protests Ignore Link Between Neoliberalism, Occupation
Max Ajl, Truthout: "Complaints started in response to rapid increases in
the price of cottage cheese, moved on to the housing crisis and have
spread to the general crisis: a country... which is the
second-most-unequal industrialized democracy on the planet. It is yet
early, but two things seem clear. One, this movement will not break the
Israeli structure of power. Two, this is an early fracture - a foretaste
of later ruptures - within Zionism."
Read the Article
Torture in the US Prison System: The Endless Punishment of Leonard Peltier
Preston Randolph and Dan Battaglia, Truthout: "News reports from
California's Pelican Bay Prison amplified the need for change, but after
the three-week inmate hunger strike ended, the torture of solitary
confinement continues nationwide... In 1977, American Indian activist
Leonard Peltier was convicted of murdering two FBI agents during a
shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Peltier has now
served more than 35 years in federal prison. His trial remains one of
the most controversial in the history of the American judicial system."
Read the Article
Could Unspent Stimulus Money Be Used to Fend Off a New Recession?
Michael Grabell, ProPublica: "The nation's top economists are already
giving odds on a double-dip recession... So, it seems all the more
surprising that the federal government still has $100 billion to $150
billion in stimulus money left to spend. That's about as much as the
Making Work Pay tax credit that gave $800 apiece to middle-class
families in 2009 and 2010. And it's twice as much as Congress gave to
states to stabilize budgets and save education jobs."
Read the Article
Quick Retribution in London Threatens Due Process for Thousands
Bryan Gerhart, Colorlines: "As some Londoners exhale during a lull in
the riots that have raged throughout the United Kingdom since Saturday
night, others, particularly young Britons of color, face the hasty,
heavy hand of the law. Whether the seemingly impulsive punishments
continually doled out by British magistrates represent justice remains
open for debate. Amidst intense public pressure, over 16,000 police
officers are now on the streets of London. They've made more than 1,700
arrests... A majority of those arrested are minors, many of whom are
being identified with footage from Britain's extensive network of CCTV
cameras."
Read the Article
The Verizon Strike as the Next Wisconsin
Mark Engler, Dissent: "The picket lines are up. This past weekend 45,000
Verizon workers on the East Coast, represented by the Communications
Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers (IBEW), went on strike.... Without a doubt, this is a conflict
of national significance... The parallel to Wisconsin is apt for several
reasons. First, like the Republican elected officials in their attacks
on unionized schoolteachers and other public employees, Verizon is
taking aim at one of the last bastions of the American middle class."
Read the Article
Will Tax Breaks for the Wealthy Trump the Common Good?: Choices Still to Be Made in the New Debt Deal
Donna Cooper and Seth Hanlon, Center for America Progress: "The
compromise reached between Congress and President Obama last week
requires $1 trillion in cuts from federal budget discretionary programs
and an agreement to identify another $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction
by Thanksgiving. But there is no agreement yet on closing tax breaks for
the highest income Americans or ending tax subsidies that pad the
bottom line of the most profitable companies - special tax breaks that
were declared off the table by Republicans in the recent round of
negotiations. Our chart details the choices still to be made."
Read the Article
Media is Growing More White. What's the FCC Doing About It?
Jason Smith, Colorlines: "The increasing lack of racial diversity in the
U.S. media landscape is becoming a hot topic and putting pressure on
policy makers to (finally) pay attention. s the American Society of
Newspaper Editors has reported, racial and ethnic minorities make up
less than 13 percent of newsroom employees. Minority ownership of
television stations hovers around 3 percent, while radio station
ownership is at 7 percent, despite the fact that the minority population
of the U.S. is roughly 28 percent."
Read the Article
Click here for more Truthout articles
BUZZFLASH DAILY HEADLINES |
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The BuzzFlash commentary for Truthout will return Monday.
Krugman: Hard to Think of Anyone Less Qualified Than Rating Agencies to Pass Judgement
Read the Article at The New York Times
China Demands US "Live Within its Means"
Read the Article at the LA Times
The White House Gives Credibility to the Psychotic Radicals of the Tea Party
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
Current, Ex-Cops Convicted in Katrina Shooting
Read the Article at Yahoo! News
EU Slams Israel's Decision to Build New Housing in East Jerusalem
Read the Article at Haaretz
Hannity Blasts Insurance Coverage for Birth Control, Defends Viagra: "That is a Medical Problem!"
Read the Article at ThinkProgress
If it Walks like a W and Talks Like a W, it may be Texas Gov. Perry
Read the Article at Salon
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