I have 11 fans: Become a Fan. You'll get emails whenever I post articles on OpEdNews
on Twitter
Josh Mitteldorf, a senior editor at OpEdNews, was educated to be an astrophysicist, and has branched out from there to mathematical modeling in a variety of areas. He has taught mathematics, statistics, and physics at several universities. He is an avid amateur pianist, and father of two adopted Chinese girls. This year, his affiliation is with the University of Arizona, where he studies the evolution of aging.
Saturday, December 17, 2011 Occupy Economics Departments
Economics as an intellectual field has been practiced in a way that is dishonest and biased toward "freedom" of the rich to exploit everyone else. The economics profession has provided the intellectual framework and justification for the inequality and centralization of corporate power the Occupiers are challenging. Under the guise of "objective analysis", they have for generations justified policies that enable bankers and CEOs to operate in secret. They have rationalized the denial collective bargaining rights and shareholder rights to information. The economics establishment provides the intellectual rationalization for an unfair and exploitive system.
On November 2nd nearly 70 students walked out of an introductory economics class at Harvard in solidarity with the Occupy movement. The mainstream media largely ignored the protest.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 Police Oust OWS from Zuccotti Park; Court Rules Protesters may Return, then Bars Overnight Camping (11 comments)
Police arrested more than 150 OWS protestors and cleared the park early this morning (Tuesday). Among those arrested was City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez. Meanwhile, protesters are regrouping a few blocks away, planning their next move. Hours later, attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild obtained an order from the State Supreme Court affirming the protesters' right to return to the Park, and enjoining the police from taking further action.
http://tinyurl.com/6ugtj6m
Late in the day, a judge ruled that the First Amendment rights to the protesters did not extend to camping overnight.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 Assange Faces Extradition - (For What?) (2 comments)
Julian Assange has lost his appeal in London, clearing the way for extradition to Sweden. His case has been handled in a way unique in international law and setting dangerous new precedents. The charge against him is "having sex without a condom." Assange's lawyers say they will appeal the ruling to the British Supreme Court. Clearly the interest is not in protecting women's autonomy. The significance of the case is this: When the Bush Admin first put forth their dangerous twist on the Constitution, they argued that terrorists posed threats so great that the govt must be empowered to imprison and torture them without a public indictment or show of evidence. Now this doctrine will be extended not to a terrorist, but to a man who has been a conduit for embarrassing revelations about US military and govt corruption. The long arm of the CIA is reaching thru Sweden and Britain to nab him.
Friday, October 7, 2011 Reuters: Secret Death Panel informs Obama White House (1 comments)
Anyone, anywhere in the world, including Americans, can be targeted for assassination by a White House panel operating in secret and without judicial oversight. Reuters reports that they have heard from the panel members themselves, who did not want their names printed. There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House's National Security Council. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate. Obama, who ran for president denouncing predecessor GW Bush's expansive use of executive power in his "war on terror," is now using similar tactics, including secret legal justifications and undisclosed intelligence assessments. Reuters calls this Ironic. You, Dear Reader, might choose a stronger word.
Saturday, September 24, 2011 Pro-Palestine Demonstration by Jews in Tel Aviv
Dozens of Israeli artists and academics on Thursday proclaimed their support for the Palestinian United Nations statehood bid, outside Independence Hall on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv. They publicly signed a statement in support of Palestinian independence, that reads, in part: “We call on all persons seeking peace and freedom, and upon all nations to join us in welcoming the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, to support it and to work and act together in order to encourage the citizens of both countries to live together in peace..." Signers included Israeli diplomats, cabinet members, film celebrities, and two Israel Prize winners. Following up on Friday, Peace Now held a series of pro-independence demonstrations in cities throughout Israel.
Thursday, July 28, 2011 First-hand account of Torture at Guantanamo (1 comments)
Explicit accounts of torture by one of its innocent victims, released without charge after 5 years of torture. Murat Kurnaz was a German on a humanitarian volunteer mission in Afghanistan in 2001. He was turned in in exchange for a bounty, offered indiscriminately to informants and thugs...
Waterboarding. Hanging by chains from the ceiling for days at a time. Chained in foetal position to a stone floor. Electric shocks. Who will come forward to say that this has no place in America?
Monday, July 25, 2011 It must have been those Muslims!
Yesterday, the featured NYT headline strongly suggested that Muslims were responsible for the attacks on Oslo; that led to definitive statements on the BBC and elsewhere that Muslims were the culprits. WaPo featured a column based on the assertion that Muslims were responsible. Obama strongly implied but did not state overtly that "international terrorists" were to blame. But now it turns out that the alleged perpetrator wasn't from an international Muslim extremist group at all, but was a right-wing Norwegian nationalist with a history of anti-Muslim commentary and an affection for Muslim-hating blogs such as Pam Geller's Atlas Shrugged, Daniel Pipes, and Robert Spencer's Jihad Watch. Woops. Watch the story slip into the back pages, with nary a correction or apology.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011 Creating the Illusion of a "Domestic Terror Threat" (1 comments)
An upcoming documentary tells a story of entrapment, used to create the illusion of success for the anti-terror police, and to justify the same curtailment of civil liberties that makes these FBI operations possible. FBI agents are gaining the trust of young activists, then inciting them to violence with inflammatory rhetoric. All that you have to do to be went to prison is to echo back the ideas and plans that the FBI informant is spouting so profusely. The legal defense of entrapment has been effectively been eliminated.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011 British Phone Hacking Whistleblower Found Dead
Sean Hoare, the former News of the World reporter who broke the Murdoch phone hacking scandal back in 2007, has been found dead in his home. "The death is currently being treated as unexplained but not thought to be suspicious. Police investigations into this incident are ongoing." There was an unexplained delay in the arrival of forensics officers at the scene.
Friday, July 8, 2011 What does Obama Want?
It’s getting harder and harder to trust Mr. Obama’s motives in the budget fight, given the way his economic rhetoric has veered to the right. In fact, if all you did was listen to his speeches, you might conclude that he basically shares the G.O.P.’s diagnosis of what ails our economy and what should be done to fix it. And maybe that’s not a false impression; maybe it’s the simple truth. “Government has to start living within its means, just like families do. We have to cut the spending we can’t afford so we can put the economy on sounder footing, and give our businesses the confidence they need to grow and create jobs.” That’s three of the right’s favorite economic fallacies in just two sentences.
Monday, June 27, 2011 Democracy vs Mythology in Greece (1 comments)
What is going on in Athens at the moment is resistance against an invasion; an invasion as brutal as that against Poland in 1939. The invading army wears suits instead of uniforms and holds laptops instead of guns, but make no mistake - the attack on our sovereignty is as violent and thorough. Economic manipulation is being used to subvert democracy in the land where democracy was born, and to appropriate for foreign financiers the oil beneath the Aegean sea.
Saturday, June 25, 2011 WI Judge Prosser Assaults a Female Colleague in her Chambers (1 comments)
David Prosser is the WI Supreme Court Justice who was needed by Gov Walker to uphold his apparently unconstitutional maneuverings to ban collective bargaining for state employees. In April, Prosser won re-election in a recounted election full of anomalies and irregularities. As the collective bargaining case was discussed within the WI Supreme Court, Prosser physically attacked his fellow justice, Ann Walsh Bradley. After their argument about the case became heated and she asked him to leave her office, he grabbed her by the throat with both hands. This incident was not reported by the mainstream press, nor did the police or the DA bring charges against Prosser, nor has Justice Brady come forward seeking justice. (Perhaps she knows better than we do that there is no justice to be had in this system.)
Saturday, June 25, 2011 In Secret Session, US Senate Promotes New Assault on Habeas Corpus (1 comments)
Ten years ago, as the Bush Administration launched its first initiative to cloak justice in secrecy, the text of the "Patriot Act" was in the Congressional Record for all of us to see. Times have changed. Laws that advance secret government are proposed in secret, voted on in secret, and the text of the law is not disclosed. The NYTimes reports that on Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to promote a bill that calls for more secret trials and less Constitutional protection. More Presidential discretion in deciding who is entitled to a jury of his peers and who is consigned to a kangaroo court. More work for the Military Tribunals, less review by legitimate judges. The exact features of this new travesty have not been released. We can only speculate.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 Senators sound Alarm over Patriot Act implementation
Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado say that the Patriot Act's surveillance powers are being used far more expansively than most Americans realize. But they can't disclose what they know because the documents that detail how the Obama administration implements the act are classified. As members of the Intelligence Committee, Wyden and Udall are privy to secret briefings. They have hinted that there is massive eavesdropping and record-collection from the daily lives of millions of ordinary citizens. The government sends undercover agents to infiltrate groups that promote peace and democracy, even though there are no indications of links to terrorism or foreign powers.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 Wachovia Launders Drug Money, Fires Whistleblower (1 comments)
Wachovia Bank laundered almost $400 Billion dollars in Mexican drug money over a 3-year period 2004-2007. For comparison, this is about 1/10 of the national GDP of Mexico for this time period. The bank officer who discovered the money laundering was scolded, disciplined and taken off the case. Eventually, Wachovia paid a minuscule fine - millions, not billions of dollars.
Other articles at The Guardian: http://tinyurl.com/4yh7kxb and Gretchen Morgenson's column in the NYTimes: http://tinyurl.com/3d6tu9x
Here's a Max Keiser video charging that drug lords triggered the 2007 "liquidity crunch" on Wall St by withdrawing their cash: http://tinyurl.com/44hfzem
Monday, June 13, 2011 Who writes Legislation? ALEC does! (1 comments)
It is a well-orchestrated, well-financed, corporate conspiracy that has successfully infiltrated every state legislature in the United States. The legislation that you see repeated daily in states across the country is actually from a playbook brought to America by way of ALEC, a group that seeks to influence legislation that benefits corporations and seeks to rob consumers and the electorate. ALEC is short for the American Legislative Exchange Council.
They specialize in
* voter disenfranchisement
* tax cuts for the rich
* privatization of public assets
* cuts in public education
* relaxing health and safety regs
Sunday, June 5, 2011 The Fed is for Bankers Only
After Pres Obama appointed Peter Diamond for a seat on the Federal Reserve, he was blocked by Republicans in the Senate. (Democrats refused to push his nomination.) Last year, he won the Nobel Prize in Economics. Still, the Republicans contend he is unqualified to sit on the Fed. Prof Diamond's research has been in the area of employment and labor economics.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011 How is Censorship Accomplished
So much news is not covered. We know that there is censorship of the MSM, but it is below the surface, out of sight. Every once in a while we catch a glimpse of how censorship works. The San Francisco Chronicle generally plays by the rules, but last week there was a transgression: they posted on their web site a video of a protest song at an Obama fundraising event. The White House promptly threatened that they would be denied their press pass to future Obama events if they persisted in this way.
Monday, May 2, 2011 Time Magazine asked: Where is the Evidence Against bin Laden? (3 comments)
Here is a Time capsule from the journalism of a previous age, less than ten years ago. In the wake of 9/11, Time Magazine was openly skeptical of the Bush Admin and its case against Osama bin Laden. "Since the first demands for evidence, the US government has prepared a laundry list of suitable accusations and diplomatically correct labels to hurl at bin Laden and his terrorist cells. The mysterious 'proof' of his guilt has been shared, we're told with Allied leaders in Europe, as well as with various Pakistani and Afghan (rebel) authorities...One thing's for sure, says [Prof Jordan] Paust: 'This is not a time for the US to clench a secretive fist around "proprietary" information. It will benefit the US to disclose more evidence about the accused than we have in the past.'" Try to imagine any mainstream journalist expressing such sentiments today. "Conspiracy theorist!"
Saturday, April 30, 2011 The Guardian: Facebook Censors UK Activists
Facebook has removed profiles of dozens of UK activists, including the student group UK Uncut, which is protesting budget proposals that shred the social safety net. Facebook claims that their protocols had not been properly respected, and denies any political motivation.
Thursday, April 7, 2011 Budget Deadlock: It's NOT About Frugality
Republicans have consistently used budget surpluses as an excuse to cut taxes for the wealthy and increase defense spending, while using budget shortfalls as an excuse to cut social services, health care, regulation and enforcement. Now Congress is supposed to be deadlocked between "frugal" Republicans and Democrats who want to maintain vital government programs. But the compromise that is emerging: Let's all agree to increase Defense spending!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 Stiglitz: Of the 1%, By the 1% and For the 1% (2 comments)
Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few. Yet in our own democracy, 1 percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation's income--an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret. An economy in which most citizens are doing worse year after year--an economy like America's--is not likely to do well over the long haul. First, growing inequality is the flip side of shrinking opportunity. Second, many of the distortions that lead to inequality - such as those associated with monopoly power and preferential tax treatment for special interests -undermine the efficiency of the economy. Third, a modern economy requires "collective action"--it needs government to invest in infrastructure, education, and technology. Why is this happening? One big reason is that the rich have seized political control.
Friday, March 25, 2011 Japanese Expert speaks on Nuclear Cover-up
Details of what is happening at four Japanese nuclear facilities are being suppressed and the Japanese people are being fed reassuring lies. Radiation exposure is already at dangerous levels. There is substantial risk that one or more of the reactors will explode. One of the cores may already have melted down. The official response has been criminally inadequate.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 Greenwald: FISA Challenge moves Forward in Court
The Federal government is tapping our phones and intercepting our emails on an enormous scale. This practice was first revealed in 2003, and the news suppressed by the NYTimes until just after the 2004 election. It upsets everyone from ACLU to the Tea Party, and incidentally it violates the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches. The FISA law of 2008 authorizes this practice, and immunizes the telecom companies that cooperated with the government to provide open access to the communication network used by their customers. Candidate Obama denounced this law, but Senator Obama voted for it and President Obama is defending it in court, using the same technical reasoning as the Bush DoJ. This week, an Appellate Court in New York has ruled that constitutional challenges to the FISA law are entitled to a hearing in court.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 Lew Rockwell on the Bombing of Libya
The Arab League is a "collection of dictators, kings and presidents, all of them puppets of the US, but they are backing down because of the unbelievable hatred and outrage on the part of their own people for the fact that they went along with aggression against yet another Muslim Arab country," argues Lew Rockwell, chairman of the Research and Educational Center at the US-based Ludwig von Mises Institute.
If the coalition succeeds in killing Muammar Gaddafi, it will inevitably mean more ethnic and tribal conflict, which could lead to civil war, Rockwell said -- which is exactly what the US needs to control the oil-rich parts of Libya. This is a video interview of Rockwell by Russia Today.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 White House wants to Bring Democracy to Libya - following on successes in Iraq and Afghanistan (3 comments)
White House: 'Installing a democratic system' is goal in Libya (Perhaps we might think about installing one here at home?) The White House suggested Tuesday the mission in Libya is one of regime change, despite emphatic statements from President Obama and military brass that the goal is not to remove Moammar Gadhafi from power. According to a White House readout of a Monday night call between Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the two leaders "underscored their shared commitment to the goal of helping provide the Libyan people an opportunity to transform their country, by installing a democratic system that respects the people’s will." The term "installing" suggests the goal of regime change.
Saturday, March 12, 2011 CNN: Meltdown at Japanese Nuclear Plant (10 comments)
A meltdown may be under way at one of Fukushima Daiichi's nuclear power reactors in northern Japan, an official with Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told CNN Sunday. Radioactive steam has already been released in an attempt to keep control of the nuclear reaction. People have been evacuated from the region. A meltdown will result in a much larger, uncontrolled release of radioactive toxins that can continue to cause cancer decades into the future.
This is a disaster for America's nuclear power industry. Just as last year's Gulf oil spill meant that BP got their wrists slapped and had to wait 6 months for new licenses, the nuclear power industry in America may have to endure months of costly delays while the American public forgets this event. That's why it's so important that you don't tell anyone what is happening.
Monday, March 7, 2011 Wikileaks shows American Muscle Subverting International Law
These cables released by Wikileaks are making a stir in Europe, but reporting in the US is scattered. American undercover agents are abducting foreigners, torturing innocents, "disappearing" people without due process. When foreign governments seek to prosecute this behavior, our government is using pressure through diplomatic channels to protect their agents and subvert the law.
Friday, March 4, 2011 NYTimes: Fox News Felony Captured on Tape
In a court filing last month, Roger Ailes, chairman of Fox News, is caught on tape ordering an employee to lie under oath in a Federal hearing. We all know this stuff is happening, but we are surprised when powerful people are careless enough to be caught on tape, and also surprised when the NYTimes chooses to give it prominence.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 Charges against Manning
The Army released a list of charges against Bradley Manning Wednesday evening, after he has been held in solitary confinement for 9 months. Because Manning is in the US Army, he may be tried without benefit of Constitutional protections, jury of his peers, open testimony, or protection from self-incrimination.
Friday, February 25, 2011 Krugman Quotes Naomi Klein 'Shock Doctrine' (1 comments)
Naomi Klein offers us an eye-popping warning about a world in crisis, manipulated by conspiracies of the rich and powerful, whose goal is to suppress democracy. Krugman is a reliable progressive voice, highly knowledgable, circumspect and conscious of his place in the liberal establishment. Today Krugman cites Klein's most disturbing vision, and his column is headlined with the words "Shock Doctrine". It seems he is more afraid of what is happening to America, or perhaps more courageous in telling us what he has long known.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 Going for the Jugular in Wisconsin
Gov Walker talks about the state's fiscal crisis, but his real agenda is quite different. After all he has already received the draconian concessions he asked for in wages and benefits for state workers, and he has slashed taxes for the wealthy, deepening the 'fiscal crisis'. Walker is a puppet of the Koch empire. He is pursuing the Koch family's long-term agenda: destroying what is left of organized labor in America. In the private sector, union membership has already passed into oblivion. The Walker/Koch agenda is to remove the last remaining large-scale political organization that represents ordinary working Americans.
Saturday, February 19, 2011 Drugs and Herbs that can Impair your Memory
"Anticholinergic" drugs interfere with the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, and can interfere with memory. A long list of antidepressants, antihistamines, even antacids have milder anticholinergic properties, and could be responsible for mild cognitive impairment. If any of the drugs or herbs on this list are important to you for one reason or another, you may have to experiment on yourself by discontinuing and re-continuing the drug in order to decide whether it is causing cognitive loss for you in particular.
Thursday, February 10, 2011 Amnesty: Torture Continues in Iraq (1 comments)
Iraq operates secret prisons and routinely tortures prisoners to extract confessions that are used to convict them, Amnesty International said in a report released on Tuesday.
An estimated 30,000 men and women remain in custody in Iraq, some in secret facilities operated by the ministries of defence and interior, the London-based rights watchdog said in the report, titled "Broken Bodies, Broken Minds." http://bit.ly/baEDWs
Thursday, February 10, 2011 Egyptian Secret Police, guilty of Torture, Were Trained by Our FBI (1 comments)
According to Wiki-leaked diplomatic cables, the head of the Egyptian state security and investigative service (SSIS) thanked the US for "training opportunities" at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia. The SSIS has been repeatedly accused of using violence and brutality to help prop up the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. In April, 2009, the US ambassador in Cairo stated that "Egypt's police and domestic security services continue to be dogged by persistent, credible allegations of abuse of detainees.
"The Interior Ministry uses SSIS to monitor and sometimes infiltrate the political opposition and civil society. SSIS suppresses political opposition through arrests, harassment and intimidation."
In October, 2009, "credible" human rights lawyers representing alleged Hizbollah detainees provided details of the techniques employed by the SSIS.
Saturday, January 29, 2011 2008 "Voter Intimidation" by Black Panthers was Staged by Republican (1 comments)
Election Day 2008: While bloggers and web reports told of Republican thugs intimidating black voters, the only story that made the mainstream press was the video of "Black Panthers" in Philadelphia menacing Republican voters. The Bush Justice Dept went after it with a vengeance. But the tape on which they relied was deceptively edited by a Republican PR firm. Now evidence comes out that the entire incident was staged, and a professional videographer was sent in to film it for public consumption. Stephen Robert Morse, a freelance journalist who happened to be there poll-watching at the time, tells the story to Talking Points Memo.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011 UN Human Rights Inspector's Job in Jeopardy after Voicing Doubts about 9/11 (2 comments)
A UN human rights official has been roundly condemned for suggesting that the US government may have orchestrated the September 11 terrorist attacks. Richard Falk, a retired Princeton professor, wrote on his blog that there had been an "apparent cover up" by American authorities, and that most media were "unwilling to acknowledge the well-evidenced doubts about the official version of the events". Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary-General, described the comments as "preposterous".
Friday, January 21, 2011 Olbermann leaving MSNBC (7 comments)
Keith Olbermann, top rated news commentator on MSNBC, is leaving. He won't say if he was forced out.
Friday, January 7, 2011 CRY OUT! Bestseller by 93-y-o veteran of Nazi Resistance
Stephane Hessel, a 93-year-old veteran of the French Resistance, has written a surprise bestseller calling for non-violent insurrection. He decries the excesses of capitalism, and the absurdity of government's claim that they have no money for social programs. In France, the book has sold 600,000 copies just since October, and its popularity is still mushrooming.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010 US sabotaged Copenhagen Talks on Global Warming a Year Ago (1 comments)
A year ago the Copenhagen Global Warming summit ended with no agreement. We were told that there was a good compromise on the table, but that China inscrutably blocked its passage. Wikileaks cables tell a different story. The US worked through diplomatic channels to sabotage any agreement that would require emissions cuts in the developed world. We threatened trade sanctions and cut aid to pressure 3d world nations.(Scroll dn)
Monday, November 15, 2010 NYTimes: Our CIA protected Nazis from Prosecution, Helped them Resettle after WWII
The NYTimes has obtained a classified DoJ report describing cooperation between elements within the US government and Nazis. War criminals and holocaust architects were shielded from international tribunals and given help emigrating and finding new identities. There's also a new book on the topic by John Loftus: http://tinyurl.com/2e82b8x
Tuesday, October 19, 2010 B of A: the New Tax Man
Your city has the right to take your house if you fall behind in your property taxes, but they move slowly, and procedural safeguards are strong. Now BofA and Morgan-Chase have purchased the rights to collect delinquent local taxes. Their plan is to move quickly, tack on big fees, and grab your house when you can't come up with the cash.
Monday, October 18, 2010 Taking Care of Our Own in Iraq, with Ira Glass
Abu Abed is an Iraqi, a former member of Saddam Hussein's elite guard, who allied himself with the Americans and became a hero in the war against Al Qaeda. After the US was through with him, he and his family were chased into exile. Death threats continued as he fled to Jordan, then to Sweden. Please, please, can he have a US visa? Gen Petraeus intervenes on his behalf. (Listen to podcast from This American Life)
Thursday, September 30, 2010 Obama's DoJ is Protecting BP (1 comments)
Misleading, optimistic announcements about the success of the cleanup. Coast Guard forbids toxicity tests for oil and dispersants. Reporters barred from beaches and ordered not to photograph dead birds. The dispersant "Coexit" is causing more damage than the oil it was supposed to disperse, and the President's Commission to investigate the disaster has been stripped of subpoena power.
Friday, September 24, 2010 Oil Subsidies dwarf Subsidies to Renewables (4 comments)
How many times have you heard it repeated: Solar energy just can't compete with fossil fuels without incentives and subsidies from the government? Well, the truth is just the opposite. Subsidies to oil, gas and coal are more than TWELVE TIMES as great as subsidies to renwables. And that's just direct subsidies - it doesn't count health costs, environmental degradation, ecosystem damage - all social costs of fossil energy.
Sunday, September 19, 2010 "Round up the Usual Suspects!" - bank regulation the wrong way, by Ellen Brown
The bank crisis two years ago was caused by wanton speculation among the nation's largest banks. New regulations this week, called "Basel III" will do nothing to solve this problem, but they WILL put some small banks out of business, reducing competition, rewarding the large banks for their misdeeds.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 WaPo: Update on the $3 Trillion War
Stiglitz and Bilmes follow up on their 2008 estimate that the Iraq War had already cost $3 Trillion. Double whammy: The War is a direct cause of the depressed state of the US economy, and the War is tying the Fed's hands, preventing a response that could bring us out. When you consider the good that could have come from investing in our future, the true cost of the War is many, many trillions.
Friday, September 3, 2010 Robt Reich: How to Cure our Labor Day Blues (1 comments)
Middle class workers are working for a lower wage than 30 years ago. Their income has been shifted upward, to the super-rich. This is not just bad for the middle class, it's bad for the economy, because the super-rich are much less likely to spend their income, or even to invest it within the US. The middle class has been borrowing, not just to pay bills but to keep the American economy afloat. Now we need new measures.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 Who wants Never-ending War, and Why? by Joshua Holland (5 comments)
It is a mistake to take the Right-wingers at their word when they say they want to protect America from Islamic terrorists. Their behavior makes sense when we recognize that they seek not victory but never-ending war. Their true aim is to bolsters military spending, to support secrecy that veils govt corruption, to justify the suspension of democratic freedoms. They can only maintain their power when democracy is squelched.
Friday, July 16, 2010 What Is Obama Protecting at the CIA? (3 comments)
by Melvin A. Goodman, Truthout.
The CIA has been implicated in government malfeasance from the first warnings of President Truman in 1952. Since the Iran Contra affair, there has been one independent overseer, responsible to Congress, to audit the entire organization. Since President Obama took office, that number has dropped from 1 to 0.
Friday, June 25, 2010 Was Swine Flu "Pandemic" a Fraud?
This article in the London Daily Mail reports the conclusion of a study by the Council of Europe: WHO cried wolf over the swine flu last year, possibly to create a market for vaccine manufacturers. The larger danger of such corruption is that the next time there's a REAL pandemic, the credibility of the WHO will be shot
Friday, June 25, 2010 Obama Quietly Expands Covert Military Ops Overseas (1 comments)
American troops now operating in 75 countries. President Obama has secretly sanctioned a huge increase in the number of US special forces carrying out search-and-destroy missions against al-Qaeda around the world. The dramatic expansion goes far beyond the abuses when Bush was in the White House - despite Obama's posture of polite diplomacy. (fr Project Censored)
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 SCOTUS Strikes Down Matching Funds Law (10 comments)
In a burst of judicial activism, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upended the gubernatorial race in Arizona, cutting off matching funds from the state's public campaign finance system. The court's reckless order muscling into the race was terse. The Roberts court will use this case to continue its campaign assuring that big money continues to dominate American politics.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010 What will Kagan do about the "Unitary Executive"? (1 comments)
What do you make of this NYTimes OpEd? John Yu is the White House Counsel who gave Bush the answer he wanted to hear when asked to write a memo on torture. Now he argues that Kagan (on the Supreme Court) might try to roll back some of the dictatorial powers arrogated to the President. This is the opposite of what Greenwald has written: http://tinyurl.com/y7pmvcd
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 Trashing the Environment is a Rich Peoples' Game by George Monbiot
Those who defend economic growth often argue that only rich countries can afford to protect the environment. Statistics tell a different story. As countries get richer, they exploit resources more recklessly. The US leads the world in wealth and in deforestation. Our record in preserving the natural environment is appalling, compared to countries that have much less wealth.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 Wasn't one of those guys supposed to be a terrorist? (2 comments)
It's good to know that in every aspect of our daily life we're being watched over by Federal agents who protect us from a worldwide network of evil terrorists.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 US Soldier tortured into Giving up Veterans' Benefits (6 comments)
Sergeant Chuck Luther claims that after he was injured in combat in Iraq, he was imprisoned, isolated and tortured into signing away his right to disability benefits after he left the service.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 Court says FCC Lacks Authority to Require Net Neutrality
Newspapers and broadcast media are not telling us the whole truth. Increasingly, we rely on the internet, where citizens and volunteers offer a broader range of information. Meanwhile, the media companies are bleeding cash, and would like to channel us to their own web sites. Some of them are the self-same companies that provide us with internet access. Can they legally hamper our access to smaller web sites?
Monday, April 5, 2010 Method to Republican Madness, by Robert Parry (3 comments)
The Republicans believe they can reclaim the lucrative levers of national authority by sabotaging government, making the country as ungovernable as possible while a Democrat is in the White House, essentially holding governance hostage until they are restored to power. Then Democrats can be relied on to play politely as the loyal opposition.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Christopher Hitchens: Pope bars Punishment of Rapists in Robes
While still an Archbishop, Pope Benedict (Joseph Ratzinger) issued a confidential letter to every bishop. In it, he reminded them of the extreme gravity of a certain crime. That crime was not the rape and torture of children by priests, but the REPORTING of these events to anyone outside the Church hierarchy. Accusations were only treatable within the Church's exclusive jurisdiction. It gets worse...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Greenwald: Obama Fights for Bush-style Executive Secrecy
Bush changed the constitutional meaning of Congressional "advice and consent". Concerning torture and domestic spying, he briefed 8 Congressional leaders off-the-record and sworn to secrecy. He then claimed a "bipartisan consensus" for his abuses. Congress wants to end this practice and reassert meaningful oversight. Obama is threatening a veto.
Sunday, February 28, 2010 Frank Rich on Terrorists and Teabaggers (6 comments)
The Tea-Baggers are supported and funded by the Republicans. The Tea-Baggers hate the Republicans. The Tea-Baggers hate government and come damn close to supporting armed insurrection. The Tea-Baggers are not terrorists. Flying a plane into a building because you hate the IRS is fundamentally different from Flying a plane into a building because you hate imperialism. Are you with us or against us?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 German Capitalism by Tom Geoghegan (Harpers)
In America, corporate management is responsible only to sharehoder capitalists. In Germany, workers participate as "stakeholders" in the Board Room. Is this why America has lost its manufacturing sector and has huge trade deficits, while Germany has an innovative and profitable manufacturing sector and a trade surplus?
Thursday, February 4, 2010 Secret, Domestic Assassinations: It's Official by Glenn Greenwald (4 comments)
Now we are debating the circumstances under which government-run assassination squads are acceptable. WashPo reveals this practice, and the pundits yawn. Presidents may spy. Presidents may make secret wars. Presidents may torture and order assassinations, including US citizens. Anyone may be jailed without a hearing, and held indefinitely. What have we come to? Does the Constitution mean anything at all?
Saturday, January 9, 2010 NYTimes reports Obama's new approach to "Signing Statements" (2 comments)
GW Bush vastly expand the practice of attaching "signing statements" to legislation he was signing, even eliminating provisions entirely. Obama has shamefully continued the practice, and caught flack for it. Now the Times announces that Obama has decided to continue the policy of selective enforcement, but forgo the public announcement of a signing statement. What the public doesn't know...
Friday, January 8, 2010 Surveillance makes us safer? Think again - by Glenn Greenwald (2 comments)
Every debate over expanded government surveillance power is invariably framed as one of "security v. privacy and civil liberties" -- as though it's a given that increasing the Government's surveillance authorities will "make us safer." But it has long been clear that the opposite is true.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 Losing the Plot, by Maniza Naqvi
Fictional account of family life in Islamabad, with references to covert American control of Pakistan's internal affairs. "Mama! Please -- there no such thing as Al Qaeda! There's no such thing as the Taliban! This is all the same old, same old, overt-covert good old CIA--now breaking up Pakistan."
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 Financial "Reform" Bill is a Trojan Horse by Wm Greider (2 comments)
The sale pitch for financial-reform legislation pending in the House claims it would put a stop to bailouts for banks "too big to fail". The reality is the opposite. The Fed would instead be granted unlimited authority to create money and spend whatever it takes to prop up the big boys when they get in trouble. In the next crisis, Congress won't have to be asked for the money - it will come straight from the Fed.
Monday, December 7, 2009 Dept of Justice to the Rescue! (of John Yoo) by Scott Horton
Obama continues to shield the Bush Administration's criminal behavior from exposure, let alone punishment. The Holder Justice Department has filed a sweeping amicus brief in the Padilla v. Yoo case before the Ninth Circuit, seeking to make absolute the immunity granted Justice Department lawyers who counsel torture, disappearings, and other crimes against humanity.
Saturday, November 14, 2009 Obamacare in the Context of a Captive Democratic Party by Luke Mitchell
The debate ought to have been about why we pay more money for worse health care than other developed countries. Instead it has been a power struggle among insurance giants, drug giants, and hospitals. All will benefit from huge Federal subsidies with any of the proposals currently under consideration.
Friday, November 13, 2009 A Federal Employment Policy: What a radical idea! (4 comments)
Paul Krugman, writing his column in the NYTimes, seems almost apologetic about suggesting that the country might have an employment policy and not just an economic stimulus program. When the government subsidizes people, that's socialism - bad. When the government subsidizes corporations, that's capitalism - good.
Monday, November 2, 2009 Glenn Greenwald: Obama and the State Secrets Loophole he Once Decried (2 comments)
EFF is a civil rights group suing officials of the Bush Administration. The Obama Justice Dept is not just defending Bush - they are seeking to dismiss the suit on the grounds that in order to defend it they would have to reveal state secrets. In other words, any time we invoke "state secrets", we don't have to defend our actions or even tell you what they were. The administration has absolute immunity any time it needs it.
Monday, October 26, 2009 Julian Sanchez on Obama's War on Terror
The Obama administration makes vague, reassuring noises about constraining executive power and protecting civil liberties, but then merrily adopts whatever appalling policy George W. Bush put in place. A lopsided and depressingly bipartisan majority approved legislation that would reauthorize the worst features of the Patriot Act
Friday, October 23, 2009 London Review: Obama's Delusion (3 comments)
The conceit of accommodating one's enemies inch by inch to attain bipartisan consensus seems with Obama almost a delusion in the literal sense: a fixed false belief. That the central lesson about his domestic enemies has not yet been learned by Obama is the mystery of the first eight months of his presidency.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Wall Street's Naked Swindle by Matt Taibbi (2 comments)
Financial markets have become so corrupt that the prices don't really reflect any reality. Wall St insiders can make the prices anything they want because they can create shares out of thin air. Wouldn't you like to be able to create US T-Bills and sell them, borrowing as much money as you want at AAA rates? There are privileged players that essentially have a license to print money.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 Robert Fisk on Demise of the Dollar
Since 1980, the ability of the US to spend more than we produce has been supported by printing more money. The US has been able to do this without causing hyperinflation because expanding international trade soaks up more and more dollars each year. Now the hegemony of the dollar is threatened by China, Brazil, Russia and OPEC, who have come together secretly, planning to replace the dollar as the world's medium of exchange.
Monday, October 5, 2009 Frank Rich: The Will to Reform Washington?
Obama promised a change from shady, revolving-door collaboration between special interests and government. He vowed to “do our business in the light of day” — with health care negotiations broadcast on C-Span. "I intend to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over."
His promise to make Americans trust government again is the core of his platform, essential to his agenda.
Friday, September 25, 2009 Court Holds Ashcroft Personally Liable for Preventive Detention (1 comments)
A Calif Federal Appeals Court has found former AG John Ashcroft personally liable for casting a broad, illegal net of preventive detention after 9/11. The plaintiff was Abdullah al-Kidd, a young American born of Arabic descent who was twice jailed without charges or probable cause, let alone a conviction.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 9/11 Commission Now Rejects its Own Report (7 comments)
John Farmer, who drafted the 9/11 Commission report, has just come out with a book in which he says it was a pack of lies. Arab strongmen with boxcutters? A fairy tale. (Please don't tell the New York Times.) Farmer claims the support of the other Commissioners as well. Curiouser and curiouser. But the book doesn't tell us what actually DID happen on 9/11; only that it was so very different from the story we were told.
Sunday, September 20, 2009 Charge that Blackwater killed Benazir Bhutto (2 comments)
A highly-placed retired Pakistani military officer has charged that the US engineered the assassination of Benazir Bhutto 2 years ago, and blackmailed local news outlets that wanted to tell the story. Bhutto was a former Prime Minister and the daughter of another assassinated Prime Minister, an enormously popular center-left leader who had bravely returned from exile and was widely expected to seek leadership again.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 HuffPo: 9/12 Tea Party - A Lot Smaller than Reported (1 comments)
It is curious that antiwar demonstrations, including the massive march of 15Feb03 preceding the Iraq War, are downplayed in the news, or unreported. It is more curious when a small band of racist kooks demonstrating against Obama gets major national coverage. Now it is revealed that a photo of the crowd at that event was faked. (Note actual attendance even lower than the 70,000 quoted at HuffPo - eyewitnesses say < 20,000.)
Friday, August 21, 2009 Krugman: Obama 'Shocked and Surprised'
The Obama administration - which seems to be backing away from the "public option" for health insurance - is shocked and surprised at the furious reaction from progressives. Well, I'm shocked and surprised at their shock and surprise. A backlash in the progressive base — which pushed President Obama over the top in the Democratic primary and played a major role in his general election - has been building for months.
Friday, June 26, 2009 Wash Post: Obama Drafting Orders to Defy Habeas Corpus (7 comments)
GW Bush broke with a 900-year tradition to claim that people could be imprisoned indefinitely without a hearing on the President's say-so. Now Obama is drafting an executive order to continue this practice, in defiance of the Constitution and international law.
Thursday, June 25, 2009 Bob Herbert Disillusioned with Obama (1 comments)
Policies that were wrong under Bush are no less wrong because Obama is in the White House. We thought that a President Obama would stop the madness, end the nightmarish approach to national security. But Mr. Obama has shown no inclination to bring even the worst offenders of the Bush years to account, and seems willing to move ahead in lockstep with the secrecy and the most egregious activities of the Bush era.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 Progressive (?) Caucus vs Single Payer
These are the good guys, 71 of the most liberal Democrats. They're supposed to be struggling to represent us while being outvoted most of the time by more conservative members. So why are they refusing to even LISTEN to the case for single-payer health care? Report from Nick Skala about his experience testifying before "our representatives".
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 NYT: Second World Economic Summit in Yekaterinburg
The NYTimes reports that leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China are frustrated with America and eager to move world trade out of US$, into some neutral currency. They say mainstream economists don't think there's much BRIC can do in the short run because they're holding so many $$ in reserve. We'll know soon enough.
Monday, June 15, 2009 The American Empire is Bankrupt, by Chris Hedges (2 comments)
Asian heads of state are meeting this week in Yekaterinburg, Russia to discuss economics. The US has been uninvited. Will they create a new world currency to replace the dollar? Our way of life hangs in the balance, because for 30 years we have been able to sustain ourselves only by heavy foreign borrowing, based on trust in the dollar.
We've heard dire warnings before, b
Thursday, March 26, 2009 China Proposes a New International Medium of Exchange
The world needs a stable, universal currency, there is powerful inertia keeping the US Dollar in that role. But years of Federal irresponsibility have forced the world to consider a painful and confusing transition to an alternative. The US has a lot to lose if this movement comes to fruition.
Sunday, March 22, 2009 War on Iraq: Year 7
Frank James, Chicago Tribune
It is the first time in which there was so much suspicion at the war's start that a President's personal vendetta were being conflated with national security concerns. Saddam had been implicated in a bomb plot targeting Bush's father. It was a conflict so self-evident that in any other scenario, the president would have had to recuse himself.
Thursday, March 19, 2009 Galbraith on the Economy: No Return to Normal (2 comments)
The oddest thing about the Geithner program is its failure to act as though the financial crisis is a true crisis. If banks are recapitalized without changing their management, why should we expect them to change the behavior that caused the insolvency in the first place?
Sunday, March 15, 2009 NYTimes Publishes First-hand Accounts of Torture
Disseminating the truth is both necessary and sufficient for the transformation of society. We bear witness to the horrors perpetrated in our names so that this practice may be widely known: Torture cannot stand to the light of day. Here the NYTimes has published accounts written by Red Cross inspectors at Guantanamo.
Saturday, March 14, 2009 Obama Continues Bush Policy on Habeas Corpus
The Obama Administration today changed the rationale for indefinite detention without trial, but supported the same policy by a different name. A Justice Dept filing signaled that the new administration would aggressively defend the right to keep prisoners locked up at Guantanamo without access to a court hearing, on the President's word alone.
Thursday, March 12, 2009 Ehrenreich: Reimagining Socialism (2 comments)
There was supposed to be a revolution, remember? Capitalism would fall when people got tired of living on the crumbs that fall from the rich, and rose up in some fashion--preferably inclusively, democratically and nonviolently--and seized the wealth for themselves. What we weren't prepared for was that capitalism would fall when resources were exhausted and the Earth was under siege.
Thursday, March 12, 2009 Bloomburg News comes out for Single Payer
Obama has said he would keep an open mind on health solutions. But not single-payer: "The president doesn't believe that's the best way to achieve the goal of cutting costs and increasing access." Independent analyses show single-payer would offer $400 billion in annual savings and provide "effective cost containment provisions such as bulk purchasing and global budgeting."
Friday, March 6, 2009 Essential Error of Obamanomics (2 comments)
In today's column, Paul Krugman argues that Bernanke and Geithner have yet to acknowledge the depth of the economic crisis. Their 'rescue plans' are based on the idea that mortgage-backed securities are 'worth more than anyone is willing to pay for them', and that propping up their price will put the economy back on track. The truth is that losses are real and permanent.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 Cockburn: The Parable of the Shopping Mall
From the aftermath of wars spring the opportunities for change. Capitalism is war. For the left it should be a time of unrivaled opportunity. For example: the shopping mall. Today's failed or failing malls can be converted to mixed-use, with residential housing, public spaces and constructive social functions. For the left, this is a chance richer than the 1970's. We should not be shy.
Thursday, February 19, 2009 Euro Central Banks in Trouble
The Telegraph of London reported last week a huge liability in bank assets, only to pull the article a few hours later. If true, the size of the deficit amounts to 2 years of the GDP of all of Europe.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 NYTimes: Obama's War on Terror Resembles Bush's
Even as it pulls back from harsh interrogations and other sharply debated aspects of George W. Bush's "war on terrorism," the Obama administration is quietly signaling continued support for other major elements of its predecessor's approach to fighting Al Qaeda, including "Extraordinary Rendition".
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Scott Horton: Insider report from Gitmo
Former Gitmo guard describes the arrival of detainees in full sensory-deprivation garb, sexual abuse by medical personnel, torture by other medical personnel, brutal beatings out of frustration, fear, and retribution, the first hunger strike and its causes, torturous shackling, positional torture, interference with religious practices and beliefs, verbal abuse...fascinating reading.
