216 QuickLinks

Saturday, July 19, 2008
Protecting against Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID data attacks
(2 comments) Most people are at risk and don't even know it. Using a laptop, cell phone headset, building access badge, credit cards, or even a passport can make you a walking target for data thieves and other criminals, a security expert warned at the Last HOPE hacker conference in NYC late Friday. Liberal application of a hammer to your passport can negate a lot of the possible problems.

Friday, July 18, 2008
Burmese Opposition Ready to Escalate Pro-Democracy Fight
Members of Burma's battered and disparate opposition are growing disillusioned with the old methods of the pro-democracy movement and are seeking ways to escalate their armed struggle with the help of covert western support. "There is a very real debate among us about how to begin a more sustained armed struggle," an organiser of last September's failed uprising said. "We are ready for that kind of action."

Friday, July 18, 2008
Spain Parliamentary Committee Votes for Rights for Apes
Yesterday DawnWatch sent an alert that the Spanish Parliament's environment committee passed a resolution granting limited rights to great apes. The Great Apes include orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans. We share 98.7% of our DNA with chimpanzees and bonobos. I truly hope the Spanish resolution will pass and spread globally. It's time the US and other countries stop exploiting all great apes, including us.

Thursday, July 17, 2008
White House in climate change "cover up" -Sen Boxer
(2 comments) A leading U.S. Senate Democrat accused the Bush administration on Tuesday of a "cover-up" aimed at stopping the Environmental Protection Agency from tackling greenhouse emissions. "This cover-up is being directed from the White House and the office of the vice president," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, the CA Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which may have to SUBPOENA EPA records.

Thursday, July 17, 2008
Embracing Alternative Care: Top hospitals put unorthodox therapies into practice
Touch therapy, gentle and benign, is intended to rebalance the energy field that its practitioners believe surrounds the body and flows through it along defined pathways, affecting health when disrupted. And it works. Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital is using it.

Thursday, July 17, 2008
GOP whistle-blower names Karl Rove in Ohio's 04 election theft
(1 comments) Major lawsuit will expose Bush/Cheney's long conspiracy to steal their "victories" through election fraud. Repub Stephen Spoonamore, who worked for McCain's campaign until recently, is a respected expert on computer fraud, and has detailed high-tech sabotage over the past 8 years, and is naming names. Ohio attorney Cliff Arnebeck announced in a press conference today.

Thursday, July 17, 2008
Conyers Plans Impeachment Substitute
(9 comments) Rebuffing Dennis Kucinich's calls for impeachment hearings on George W. Bush, the House Judiciary Committee instead will hear testimony about Bush's "imperial presidency" and several of his administration's scandals.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Massachusetts to Allow Out-of-State Same Sex Marriages
MA may have been the first state to legalize same-sex marriage for its residents, but when California last month invited out-of-state gay and lesbian couples to get married, the potential economic benefits did not go unnoticed. Now MA wants to extend the same invitation. On Tuesday, the State Senate voted to repeal a 1913 law preventing MA from marrying out-of-state couples if their marriages are illegal in their home states.

Monday, July 14, 2008
Philippine UN envoy accused of slavery
The former Philippine ambassador to the United Nations has been accused of enslaving and abusing a housemaid. She filed a US Federal civil law suit last month, seeking unpaid wages and an apology from Baja and his family, charging that Baja and his family did not let her leave their apartment, forcing her work up to 18 hours a day, from January to April 2006. US Dept of Justice investigated but filed no charges.

Monday, July 14, 2008
Leftists abandon Indian coalition
A bloc of communist-led parties will end support for India's coalition government in protest against a nuclear energy deal with the US. The leftists announced their withdrawal after Singh said the government would be meeting with the UN's Int'l Atomic Energy Agency soon. India needs to win a waiver from the IAEA before the US congress can approve a pact that would bring India into the fold of global nuclear commerce.

Monday, July 14, 2008
"Amazing Race" lesbian contestants wed
Pat Hendrickson and Kate Lewis tied the knot Wednesday in Ventura, Calif., the Ventura County Star reported. The women, who have been together for 11 years and blessed in an Episcopal ceremony for three, took a political stance on their latest but first legal marriage. The women lasted two episodes on the CBS reality show.

Sunday, July 13, 2008
Europe Set to Block African Refugees
(3 comments) Mediterranean nations meet in Paris to discuss, among other items, criminalizing the African exodus as tens of thousands migrate to escape poverty and resource wars. The UN has approved the European Pact. For the economies of many African countries, including Senegal, money sent home by immigrants in Europe and elsewhere is more import than development aid.

Saturday, July 12, 2008
Law School Dean Calls Conference to Plan Bush War Crimes Prosecution
(9 comments) The dean of Massachusetts School of Law at Andover is planning a September conference to map out war crimes prosecutions, targeting President [sic] Bush and other administration officials. The dean, Lawrence Velvel, says in a statement that "plans will be laid and necessary organizational structures set up, to pursue the guilty as long as necessary and, if need be, to the ends of the Earth."

Thursday, July 10, 2008
"Spiritual" effects of mushrooms last a year
(2 comments) The "spiritual" effects of psilocybin from so-called sacred mushrooms last for more than a year and may offer a way to help patients with fatal diseases or addictions, U.S. researchers reported.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Ellen D's 88 yr-old drinking fan
(2 comments) VIDEO: Time out to laugh, and celebrate the common sense of our revered Austin, Texas octogenarians. "I love Jesus but I drink a little."

Friday, June 27, 2008
It's all a matter of a shapely brain
Brain scans reveal that gay men and straight women have symmetrical brains, while the right brain of lesbians and straight men is larger than the left. Dr. Ivanka Savic expands prior research that identified differences in spatial and verbal abilities related to sexual orientation.

Friday, June 27, 2008
Opening Statement to the House Judiciary Committee Regarding the Articles of Impeachment
Part III by Elizabeth de la Vega: When I first sat down to write this statement, I planned to discuss the evidence and the law that relates to some of those violations, just as I would do if I were presenting a case to a jury at the beginning of a trial. But I've decided not to do that. Instead, I am going to follow the wise counsel Abigail Adams gave to her husband, John, and just speak plainly.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Memphis Cops Caught on Tape Beating Transsexual Prisoner
(2 comments) The video, recorded February 12th, shows Duanna Johnson in the booking area at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center after an arrest for prostitution. The tape clearly shows a Memphis police officer walk over to Johnson - a transsexual - and hit her in the face several times.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
'Bash'd' deftly champions gay civil rights - in rap
Rap and opera - an unlikely combination. Then add "gay" to the mix. What you get is "Bash'd," a furious, fast-moving, hip-hop entertainment that expertly expands the boundaries of musical theater while championing a defiant call for gay civil rights and an end to prejudice and violence.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Return to paper ballots? Not so fast.
(13 comments) History shows that the US gave up paper ballots for good reason, but expert condemnation of electronic voting is bringing them back. Returning to HCPB might work well in areas with lots of oversight, but throughout the US, election systems are inadequately supervised, insufficiently professionalized, and all too often staffed with openly partisan officials.

Sunday, June 22, 2008
How Federal Policies Leveled New Orleans
(5 comments) Flooding is the most destructive and costly natural disaster in the US, accounting for about 75% of all disasters declared by the President annually. Nearly 160 million acres, or 7% of the US, are estimated to be floodplains, and urban expansion into floodplains continues at an increasing rate, per the Public Entity Risk Institute. Look no further than New Orleans for proof of Bush's and Congress' fiscal irresponsibility.

Saturday, June 21, 2008
Global war deaths triple
Wars around the globe killed three times more people during the second half of the 20th century than previously estimated, per a British Medical Journal study released on Thursday. Some 5.4 million died during armed conflicts from 1955-2003; 3.8 million in Vietnam. Figures only include violent deaths; not war-related deaths caused by infectious diseases.

Saturday, June 21, 2008
Women Left for Dead - And the Man Who's Saving Them
(3 comments) Author of Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler, uses her name and website to publicize and generate funds to impede violence against women in conflict zones. This report details what she found when she visited DR Congo and spent time with a doctor who treats many of the tens of thousands of rape victims. She finds hope amid horror. Note petition link and further info in comments below.

Sunday, June 15, 2008
Mexicans protest in Oaxaca
Tens of thousands of protesters have converged on the southern city of Oaxaca in Mexico to protest against the regional government, and to mark the 2nd anniversary of a violent crackdown on a teachers' protest, that left more than two dozens dead. Governor U.R. Ortiz is accused of stealing his election and murdering dozens of opposition members.

Sunday, June 15, 2008
Argentina arrests leader in 3-month farmers & truckers strike
Argentine police in riot gear broke up a farmers' highway blockade Saturday, briefly arresting 19 demonstrators including a prominent leader of a three-month protest against an increase in grain export taxes. The arrests inflamed a tense standoff between farmers and President Cristina Fernandez who passed a 10% export tax.

Sunday, June 15, 2008
Al Jazeera wins prestigious award
(4 comments) Al Jazeera's English language channel, launched in Nov. 2006, won the The Golden Nymph award in the category of "Best 24 Hour News Programme" at the Monte Carlo Television Festival. Jurors at the award ceremony on Thursday singled out Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera's Gaza correspondent, for particular praise for her bravery in reporting from the occupied territory.

Sunday, June 15, 2008
W. regrets almost nothing
(8 comments) Maureen Dowd in Paris: Even as the Supreme Court slapped him back for the third time on the suffocation of civil liberties at Guantánamo, President Bush gave the keynote speech of his European farewell tour extolling the virtues of liberty. He celebrated European unity at the very instant it was falling apart, thanks to an Irish donnybrook. Paris responded with a yawn. (Freedom's just another word for nothing left to say.)

Saturday, June 14, 2008
Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment: A Three-Part Guide
(4 comments) [Former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega presents her 3-part series on impeachment. Two colorful charts use plain English to catalog Kucinich's 35 Articles, and to enumerate US and international laws implicated. Part III is her opening statement.] I decided to offer some help in the one area I know best: the presentation of charges. There is nothing fancy here - no sarcasm, no vitriol and no cynicism.

Saturday, June 14, 2008
Talk show host calls for murder of peace activists (audio)
(14 comments) 9/11 Truthers who sent info and videos to soldiers should be shot dead according to fascist radio talk show host Michael Reagan. In this 3-minute audio, he also calls for peace activist Mark Dice to be executed.

Saturday, June 14, 2008
Pakistan rally backs sacked judges
Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's former prime minister, told supporters of the country's deposed chief justice that president Pervez Musharraf will be forced to "pay for his crimes." He spoke during a protest march where tens of thousands of lawyers demanded the reinstatement of judges sacked by Musharraf last year. Video report included.

Saturday, June 14, 2008
Shooting the messenger
Al Jazeera's documentary on the deliberate killing and intimidation of journalists in conflict zones, investigates how international reporters became targets.

Thursday, June 12, 2008
Gadafy denounces Barack Obama as 'black man with inferiority complex'
(3 comments) Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy suggested that Barack Obama is a black man with an "inferiority complex" and might behave "worse than whites" if he becomes president of the United States. Gadafy's striking non-endorsement of the Democratic candidate focused in part on Obama's pledge of "unshakeable" support for Israel, which caused dismay, if not surprise, across the Arab and Muslim worlds last week.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Financial Times: The truth is out there
(11 comments) 9 pg OpEd: When Cynthia McKinney speaks the words of Martin Luther King Jr, they resound through the church with some of King's cadence. "A time comes," she declares, "when silence is betrayal." Before the packed pews, McKinney is speaking of the American government's war on its own people. The shock and awe phase of this conflict began on 9/11, when the Bush Administration attacked NY and DC, or at least allowed it.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Pakistan at the mercy of marching lawyers
Pak's duplicitous dealings with the US and al Qaeda adds to the growing political unrest, as 1000s of lawyers march against Musharraf (and the US) who sacked 40 judges last year. Taliban power growing in Pakistan, as thousands re-enter the Afghan war.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Huge protest in Seoul threatens to topple Government
(1 comments) South Korea's entire cabinet offered to resign Tuesday as tens of thousands of people filled boulevards in central Seoul in the largest demonstration yet against President Lee Myung Bak and his young but already unpopular government. Protesters don't want US beef or mad cow disease, and don't like Lee's handling of education, the economy, health care and rising prices.

Monday, June 9, 2008
Rock the Empire: Flobots' "Handlebars"
(1 comments) Video tune by Flobots takes you unexpectedly into anti-empire rhetoric and visuals. Enjoy!

Thursday, June 5, 2008
Liberia: Market Women Raise Funds in New York
Market women responsible for getting Ellen Johnson Sirleaf elected President of Liberia (1st female president of any African nation) are rewarded with improved market conditions – going from open air mud patches to modern enclosed buildings. Fundraiser in NY hopes to earn enough to build 50 more modern markets in Liberia.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Artist Trevor Paglen has his eye on satellites
For 40 yrs, the US has been filling the outer reaches of our atmosphere with 189 reconnaissance satellites. For several years, artist-geographer Trevor Paglen has been keeping his eye on them. "The Other Night Sky," at the Berkeley Art Museum, is the result. He stumbled on classified military sites 6 years ago and realized people were being disappeared, long before extraordinary rendition made news. Hat tip to Lori Price, CLG.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008
ICC war crimes charges filed on Australian ex-PM
(2 comments) On May 30, formal war crimes charges were filed at the International Criminal Court against Australian former Prime Minister John Howard. View article for links to related documents. But, for a detailed background on this case, see http://snipurl.com/2dw7z.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
John Bolton charge sheet: George Monbiot's list of accusations
Altho Monbiot was blocked from making a citizen's arrest (see http://snipurl.com/2b591), his list of war crime charges includes the depleted uranium procurement lie.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
38 whales die after stranding on Senegal coast
Sonar-deafening may be the cause of whale beaching that occurred today. Over 60 whales swam in close to the shore after 3 dozen whales beached themselves. Pregnant calf gave birth on beach and both were safely towed back into the water. Also see http://snipurl.com/2a00y

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Portland elects its first openly gay mayor
Sam Adams easily won Portland's mayoral race yesterday, becoming the first openly gay mayor of any major US city. With a population of more than 500K, Portland is the largest city in a state that in 2004 voted to amend its constitution to declare that marriage is only legal when it's between a man and a woman. Asked if it was odd that he can be mayor -- but not married -- in Oregon, Adams said it was "surreal."

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Portland elects its first openly gay mayor
Sam Adams easily won Portland's mayoral race yesterday, becoming the first openly gay mayor of any major US city. With a population of more than 500K, Portland is the largest city in a state that in 2004 voted to amend its constitution to declare that marriage is only legal when it's between a man and a woman. Asked if it was odd that he can be mayor -- but not married -- in Oregon, Adams said it was "surreal."

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Portland elects its first openly gay mayor
Sam Adams easily won Portland's mayoral race yesterday, becoming the first openly gay mayor of any major US city. With a population of more than 500K, Portland is the largest city in a state that in 2004 voted to amend its constitution to declare that marriage is only legal when it's between a man and a woman. Asked if it was odd that he can be mayor -- but not married -- in Oregon, Adams said it was "surreal."

Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Cuba fights homophobia
(1 comments) On Saturday May 17, Cuba celebrated International Day Against Homophobia by holding a conference featuring shows, lectures, discussions and books. Mariela Castro, Director of Center for Sexual Education, defended "equal rights for all Cubans, of all sexual orientations... The freedom of sexual choice and gender identity are exercises in equality and social justice." Related article on proposed Bill in comments below.

Monday, May 19, 2008
Dutch government bans electronic voting
Risk of electronic eavesdropping cited as the reason. Nation returns to paper and pencil. Rop Gonggrijp who spearheaded the move away from e-voting, cites other nations that are demanding verifiable election results.

Thursday, May 15, 2008
360 post-9/11 workers have died, including 80 of cancer
More than 360 workers who dealt with the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster have died, state health officials said Wednesday. Officials have determined the cause of death of 154 of the responders and volunteers who toiled at Ground Zero, the blocks nearby and at the Fresh Kills landfill, where debris from the site was taken. Of those, 80 died of cancer, which is an undercount per those who track this.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008
SA: Apartheid Victims to Sue Multinationals
CAPE TOWN: SCOTUS allows Alien Torts case against 23 transnational corps for aiding and abetting gross violations of human rights by financing and equipping the apartheid regime. Four Justices recuse themselves, three for having ties to defendants. Banks, car makers and oil companies named.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Blunt Federal Letters Tell Students They're Security Threats
(2 comments) 'I have determined that you pose a security threat.' 5,000 applicants, including graduate students, were turned down for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential, an ID card meant to guard against acts of terrorism. Rejected British student at MIT, Sophie Clayton, said at first she was amused then realized "Security Threat" is in a file next to her name, photo, and fingerprints. DHS refuses to retract the term.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Iran says to sue Britain & US over mosque blast
(2 comments) TEHRAN: Iran's judiciary said on Monday it would file international lawsuits against the US and Britain, accusing them of providing financial support to those behind a blast in a mosque that killed 14 and wounded 200 people. Iran's intelligence minister last week said Iran had arrested five or six members of a terrorist group with links to Britain and the United States whom he said were involved in that explosion in Shiraz.

Thursday, May 8, 2008
9/11 theorist not curtailing his research
(8 comments) Sixteen months ago, Brigham Young University and Steven Jones parted ways, but he said this week he isn't bitter about the academic divorce. He certainly hasn't curtailed his volatile research on the collapse of the three World Trade Center towers after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In fact, Jones is the lead author of a paper on the collapses published April 18 in a civil engineering journal.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008
NC: The fix is in already!!
(3 comments) Purging voters from the rolls, election officials find only 3 registered votes on the rolls in one North Carolina precinct, of the first 15 people who showed up at 6:30 AM.

Monday, May 5, 2008
County Clerk with Bogus Degree Clashes with Judge over Web Site
Texas County Clerk who has exposed tens of thousands of local citizens to possible identity theft via her Web site while obscuring her own identity behind a bogus degree faces a challenge to her authority. Ft Bend Clerk Dianne Wilson admitted to selling 'about 20 million documents' to Florida-based data miner Red Vision for $2,000. Several thousand documents with SS and DL numbers still remain on the website.

Saturday, May 3, 2008
BILL: One-Third of Parliament Reserved for Women in India
(1 comments) The Women's Reservation Bill, which aims to set aside one-third of seats in Parliament and state assemblies for women, has been hanging fire for a long time due to opposition from certain parties who want special quota-in-quota for women from backward and minority communities. CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan told reporters "the government plans to bring the bill in this session, the Prime Minister told us."

Thursday, May 1, 2008
White House Undermines EPA On Cancer Risks, GAO Says
The Bush administration is undermining the EPA's ability to determine health dangers of toxic chemicals by letting nonscientists have a bigger, often secret, say, congressional investigators say in a GAO report. extensive involvement by EPA managers, White House budget officials and other agencies has eroded the independence of EPA scientists charged with determining the health risks posed by chemicals.

Thursday, May 1, 2008
FDA Faulted for Approving Studies of Artificial Blood
A new analysis concludes that the FDA approved experiments with artificial blood substitutes even after studies showed that the controversial products posed a clear risk of causing heart attacks and death. the products nearly tripled the risk of heart attacks and boosted the chances of dying by 30%, but the FDA is considering letting yet another study proceed.

Thursday, May 1, 2008
Poll: Only 2.9 percent of Americans are LGB
(2 comments) Hunter College released the results of a groundbreaking poll Wednesday that found only 2.9% of Americans over 18 identify as LGB, lower than the 4-5% often cited in voter exit polls. The survey also found that LGBs are more politically active than their straight counterparts, women and men vary in the ways they categorize themselves on the LGB continuum, and LGB youth have different priorities for the movement than older LGBs.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The Human Cost of Energy: Chevron's Continuing Role in Financing Oppression and Profiting From Human Rights Abuses in Mi
A 77-page report released by EarthRights Int'l documents ongoing human rights abuses, including forced labor, in the Yadana pipeline in Burma. The first in-depth look at conditions in the pipeline region since Chevron Corp. joined the Yadana Project in 2005, the report details Chevron's role in financing the military regime and highlights Chevron's continuing legal liability for abuses associated with the pipeline.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Greeks from island of Lesbos take gay group to court over use of "lesbian"
Three homphobes from Lesbos, home of the ancient poet Sappho who praised love between women, have taken a human rights group to court for using the word lesbian in its name. One of the plaintiffs said Wednesday that the name of the association, Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, ''insults the identity'' of the people of Lesbos, who are also known as Lesbians. Most people from Lesbos prefer to identify as Mytilene.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
U.S. Importing 6,700 Tons of Radioactive Sand From Kuwait
Longshoremen are unloading 6,700 tons of sand contaminated with depleted uranium and lead today, said Chad Hyslop, spokesman for the disposal company American Ecology. The BBC Alabama arrived at the Port of Longview (WA) Saturday afternoon with the 306 containers carrying the contaminated sand from Camp Doha, a US Army base in Kuwait.

Monday, April 28, 2008
REAL ID side effects
SC Governor Mark Sanford rejects REAL ID, which overturns the Founding Fathers' vision of a limited federal government. Our greatest homeland security is liberty, and the greatest threat to liberty is a central government grown too powerful. The First Amendment guarantees Americans the right to assemble and petition their government, with no qualification that says, "Only if you have a REAL ID card."

Friday, April 25, 2008
Western excess is the Earth killer
Taking a single jumbo jet off service provides the equivalent footprint of generating electricity using coal for an entire Indian village. This is the new math of the world, and one that needs to be considered in environmental decisions.

Friday, April 25, 2008
Latin American food fund started
Leaders from four Latin American nations have set up a $100m food security fund for staples such as rice, beans and corn to offset rising food prices that have sparked global protests. Global food prices, affected by rising fuel prices, environmental changes and increased demand from India and China, have sparked violent protests this year in more than 35 countries in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
CBI boss blasts bonus culture for fuelling banking crisis
Richard Lambert, director general of the CBI (UK business lobby) has singled out the bonus culture that turned thousands of bankers into millionaires as one of the central factors in creating the huge financial problems now engulfing the banking sector worldwide.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Feminist Judy Chicago's over for 'Dinner'
(2 comments) INTERVIEW: The Dinner Party, created by feminist art icon Judy Chicago and worked on by countless other individuals between 1974-1979 as a symbol of women's history, was born during a time of optimism and fed by an underlying rage. After 30 years, 3 books and a million viewers, the Dinner Party found its permanent home at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art (Brooklyn). Virtual tour at http://snipurl.com/25iop.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
ITF Joins SATAWA's Call to Block Arms to Zimbabwe
(2 comments) WHEN GOVERNMENT FAILS: London-based International Transport Workers' Federation (with 4.5 mn members) joins the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union and the Congress of South African Trade Unions in mobilizing China and Africa to stop transporting weapons headed for Zimbabwe, where Mugabe's military regime refuses to concede to election results, and reportedly has been killing opposition victors.

Monday, April 21, 2008
Rupert Murdoch Firm Goes on Trial for Alleged Tech Sabotage
(4 comments) Lawsuit claims a Rupert Murdoch company hired hackers to sabotage rivals and gain the top spot in the global pay-TV war. A colorful cast of characters includes former intelligence agents, Canadian TV pirates, Bulgarian and German hackers, stolen e-mails and the mysterious suicide of a Berlin hacker courted by the Murdoch company - NDS Group, a UK-Israeli firm that makes smartcards for pay TV systems.

Monday, April 21, 2008
Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World
Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New York, parts of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. The curbs and shortages are being tracked by survivalists who view the phenomenon as a harbinger of more serious trouble ahead.

Monday, April 21, 2008
GOP blocks tribute to labor legend Chavez
Senators Robt. Menendez and Joe Baca: If you ask Latinos, young and old, what national figure has most inspired them, chances are they will say Cesar Chavez who led the first successful farmworkers union in US history. Senate Republicans, in another act against the Latino community, recently blocked a resolution recognizing Chavez's life and work. Let's come together: "Si Se Puede!"

Saturday, April 19, 2008
With Guns and Fines, Brazil Takes On Loggers
Brazil knows that deforestation of its tropical forests contributes to global warming, but scoflaws who value biocidal greed over scientific realities hold the upper hand. Spending $118 mn to crack down on illegal loggers may not stem illegal logging. One eco-agent said, "The game is 12 to 1 against us and there are two minutes to turn it around. But I just try to do my part here." Keep trying, dude; we support you.

Friday, April 18, 2008
South African union refuses to unload Chinese arms destined for Zimbabwe
(1 comments) PEOPLE POWER: The 300,000-strong South African Transport and Allied Workers Union, SATAWU, said it would not unload Chinese weapons headed for land-locked Zimbabwe, fearing Mugabe might use them to crack down on opponents in the disputed election. SATAWA refuses to support Mugabe's military regime, while the South African government condemned the action.

Friday, April 18, 2008
Study: Allowing same-sex marriage would help Iowa budget
Another UCLA study shows that states can boost their economies by allowing same sex marriage. The Williams Institute, a national research center on sexual orientation law and public policy at UCLA School of Law, estimates that same-sex weddings and related tourism would lead to $160 million in spending over the next three years in Iowa. Prior state studies can be found at http://snipurl.com/24xxt.

Friday, April 18, 2008
Citi's $5.1bn loss highlights depth of crisis
(2 comments) Citigroup underlined the plight of financial firms squeezed by the credit crunch and the slowing US economy on Friday by announcing a $5.1bn quarterly loss, nearly $16bn in writedowns and 9,000 job cuts. The financial giant sounded a bearish note on the US consumer business, saying that further losses were likely as consumers fell behind on credit card and loan repayments. Info on other banks at http://snipurl.com/24y0a.

Thursday, April 17, 2008
Acts of Hope: Challenging Empire on the World Stage
(2 comments) R.Solnit's evergreen essay: Activism is not a journey to the corner store; it is a plunge into the dark. You scatter your seeds. Rats may eat them, or they may simply rot. We have achieved a global movement without leaders – progressive activism that is one of initiation, not reaction, in which people of good will everywhere set the agenda. It is always too soon to go home, and it's always too soon to calculate our effect.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Men Explain Things to Me: Facts don't get in their way
(4 comments) Rebecca Solnit humorously and sometimes soberly asseses the annoyances and dangers of a men-on-top world. Being told that, categorically, he knows what he's talking about and she doesn't, however minor a part of any given conversation, perpetuates the ugliness of this world and holds back its light.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sexism in the primaries
(6 comments) The media's misogynistic treatment of Hillary Clinton tells our little girls, our sisters, our wives, our mothers, "Don't bother to run for president; they will just chew you up and spit you out." The media's reaction is a reflection of widespread sexism that simmers within our society. And even though Americans want to think of themselves as enlightened, I believe we are not.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Big Tax Breaks for Businesses in Housing Bill
Consumer groups and labor leaders say the tax provisions in the latest version of the Foreclosure Prevention Act amount to corporate welfare. Senator Chris Dodd, D-CT, main author of the Senate bill, said the measure did not live up to its name. Instead of staving off home foreclosures, it's really an economic stimulus package bent on serving industry.

Friday, April 11, 2008
Mixed Muslim message in 'war on terror'
Most of the 57 member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference aid the US "war on terror" with rendition, torture, airbases, and spying. The deals that governments of Muslim countries have struck with Washington since 2001 are practical regime survival stratagems that lack popular consent from their societies. But regime change for unpopular policy is impossible in these Muslim nations.

Friday, April 11, 2008
U.N. Official Calls for Study Of Neocons' Role in 9/11
(16 comments) A new UN Human Rights Council official assigned to monitor Israel is calling for an official commission to study the role neoconservatives may have played in the attack on 9/11. Richard Falk's specialty is human rights and international law, and he believes the evidence is strong that 911 was a "false flag" operation - espionage or covert actions taken by one government made to seem like the work of another.

Thursday, April 10, 2008
Algae: 'The ultimate in renewable energy'
Algae are among the fastest growing plants in the world, and about 50 percent of their weight is oil. That lipid oil can be used to make biodiesel for cars, trucks, and airplanes. This Texas firm produces 100,000 gallons of algae oil a year per acre (gpa), compared to about 30 gpa from corn; 50 gpa from soybeans.

Thursday, April 10, 2008
Obama talks all things LGBT with The Advocate
On Monday, Sen. Obama discussed "don't ask, don't tell," Rev. Wright, passing ENDA, repealing DOMA and McKlurkin's phobic rant in SC. Homophobia "is used to divide the country and distract us" from pressing issues; whites and blacks are equally phobic. Transgenders are cut out; full benefits for spouses of LGB federal employees.

Thursday, April 10, 2008
U.Va. Scholar Traces Voting Technology Controversy to the 1890s
"Mechanical voting machines score higher than electronic voting machines in just about every parameter" per Dr. Brian Pfaffenberger of the U.Va. School of Engineering and Applied Science. Thomas Jefferson, who founded U.Va., "strongly believed that engineers need to be good citizens; today, the need is greater than ever, so it's important for science and engineering students to reflect on how technologies shape our democracy."

Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Banks Take Blame for Credit Crisis
Will US media report this? The world's leading banks on Wednesday publicly accepted much of the blame for the credit crisis, as the IMF slashed its estimates for global growth and warned that the US downturn will last longer than most expect. The Institute of International Finance, representing more than 375 of the world's largest financial companies, acknowledged poor business practices: bankers' pay and risk management.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
In Wake of Jamaican Anti-Gay Violence, Corporate Shunning, Controversy
Using machetes, Jamaicans attack gays in their homes, but become indignant at economic boycott. Local corporate sponsor withdraws support from Jamaican music events. Red Stripe, a popular export beer, issued an Apr. 4 news release that read, "Some performers continue to propagate, through their live performances, violent and antisocial lyrics." J-FLAG urges government action.

Monday, April 7, 2008
Planet Earth: The Big Picture
(4 comments) Researcher Fred Burks lays out his 4,800-word worldview on everything from ETs, 9/11, the Taliban, the CIA drug trade, media control, mind control, energy technology and global elites. "It is the collective fear, secrecy, polarization, and loss of purpose within all of us that has allowed leaders to take power...subvert democracy and... take away our freedoms and liberties." His 4-step plan for a brighter future is detailed.

Monday, April 7, 2008
Blackwater contract renewal not approved by Iraq
(12 comments) Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said the US State Dept renewed the contract of private security company Blackwater USA without the approval of the Baghdad government. Blackwater "committed a massacre against Iraqis and until now this matter has not been resolved," said Maliki.

Sunday, April 6, 2008
VIDEO: Friend Remembers Martin Luther King
3 minutes: Rev. Samuel Kyles was King's close friend and was there with King on 04 Apr 1968. These are his memories of the slain civil rights leader. "You can kill the dreamer, but no, you absolutely cannot kill the dream. And so the dream remains alive, alive and well within us."

Sunday, April 6, 2008
U of North Texas Students to Walk Out Against War
(4 comments) In Denton, TX, students at UNT will demonstrate their solidarity in support of peace by walking out of their classes at 9:11 AM on Monday, and holding a rally in front of the Union building. The walkout is part of the overall strategy to protest the continued military occupation of Iraq, and to organize counter military recruitment efforts. Nearly 40 organizations in and outside Texas support the effort.

Sunday, April 6, 2008
Protecting Democracy Isn't Nutty
(2 comments) On two separate occasions, Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione has referred to Secretary of State Debra Bowen as "nuts" or "nutty" for having the audacity to test and conditionally recertify voting systems found to be vulnerable to tampering. Babies will cry when you take away a favorite toy after you discover it's dangerously coated with lead paint. Voting machines have the potential to poison the well of democracy.

Saturday, April 5, 2008
Jail terms over Dirty War adoption
Pregnant women arrested when Argentina's military government cracked down on left-wing activists and dissenters gave birth in detention and were never seen again. 500 "stolen babies" were given to families close to the ruling party. Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a human rights group, helped Maria Barragan learn the truth of her birth. She sued her adoptive parents, who were recently sentenced to 7 years in prison.

Saturday, April 5, 2008
Kansas City passes transgender protections
The Kansas City, MO city council voted to extend antidiscrimination laws to protect expressions of gender identity. Council member Beth Gottstein, the measure's primary sponsor, said, "If our city code doesn't protect everyone, it protects no one." Kansas City joins more than 90 municipalities, 12 states, and Washington, D.C., in providing such protection.

Saturday, April 5, 2008
The Cost of E-Voting
SaveOurVotes cost analysis shows Diebold DRE price tag to Maryland of $67mn reaches $98 mn, which won't be paid off till 2014. Meanwhile, MD is dumping the DREs to return to the equally hackable optical scan systems.

Saturday, April 5, 2008
It's official, Alabama is the Soviet Union
Although the US appears to be collapsing into this type of model, Alabama appears to be leaping in that direction at a faster pace. When I first blogged about the subpoenas that were served en mass to Democrats in the Alabama state legislature last month, it was crickets from across the blogs of both isles, the corporate press, and the general public. Now corpstream media is beginning to report on political prosecution here.

Friday, April 4, 2008
Labor of Love: Is society ready for this pregnant husband?
(1 comments) Thomas Beatie: I am transgender, legally male, and legally married to Nancy. Unlike those in same-sex marriages, domestic partnerships, or civil unions, Nancy and I are afforded the more than 1,100 federal rights of marriage. I kept my reproductive rights and am pregnant. Our situation sparks legal, political, and social unknowns.

Thursday, April 3, 2008
Chase mortgage memo pushes 'Cheats & Tricks'
(3 comments) The Oregonian uncovers a memo from banking giant JPMorgan Chase, providing a rare glimpse into the mentality that fueled the mortgage crisis. The memo's title says it all: "Zippy Cheats & Tricks." It's a primer on how to get risky mortgage loans approved - by inflating borrowers' income or falsifying their loan application. One broker said it's "a perfect example of a Big Bank telling its brokers to commit fraud."

Thursday, April 3, 2008
Rapists in the Ranks
By Jane Harman (D-Venice). Numbers reported by the Department of Defense show a sickening pattern. In 2006, 2,947 sexual assaults were reported -- 73% more than in 2004. The DOD's newest report, released this month, indicates that 2,688 reports were made in 2007, but a recent shift from calendar-year reporting to fiscal-year reporting makes comparisons with data from previous years much more difficult.

Thursday, April 3, 2008
Rove caught in his own worst nightmare...
Apparently Karl Rove's interest in going after whistle-blower, Dana Jill Simpson, has gotten him so unhinged that he has stepped straight into a trap that he himself would have laid not too long ago - when he had the power to do so - against a political "enemy." Rove - who has an astounding memory for facts and particulars - suddenly confuses the phone records she referred to with his just-in time lie (which documents refute).

Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Intelligence Centers Tap Into Personal Databases
(1 comments) Fusion Groups run by states across the country, and funded by the Dept. of Homeland Surveillance, access personal info about millions of Americans, including unlisted cellphone numbers, insurance claims, driver's license photographs and credit reports, and info from CIA databases. These state-run Fusion Centers use sophisticated data-mining programs developed by NSA, etc. to develop dossiers on US citizens.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Pentagon balked on gay partner travel
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intervened with Def,Sec. Bob Gates to allow Rep. (D-WI) Tammy Baldwin's domestic partner on a military flight for an Energy & Commerce fact-finding trip to Europe. Under House guidelines, Congress members may take their spouses under certain conditions. Enviro-attorney Lauren Azar has deep background in public policy and heads a state board overseeing local utilities and economic development in WI.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Border fence to go up despite federal law
More elite land-grabbing: Bi-partisan Congress authorized Bush's border fence, despite violations of over 30 laws and regulations, including eco-protection. Hidalgo loses to the Fed-Gov idea it is exempt from the Rule of Law. Trashhead Chertoff thinks this is good for the environment.

Monday, March 31, 2008
HUD Chief Quitting
The Bush administration's top housing official is resigning at a time when the housing industry is embroiled in crisis. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson announced Monday he is quitting. His resignation will take effect on April 18. Jackson is under criminal investigation and has been fending off allegations of cronyism and favoritism involving HUD contractors for the past two years.

Monday, March 31, 2008
Can You Say "PIN-O-CHET"?
(3 comments) Three recent developments, largely ignored by news media pundits and political power brokers, offer fragile but encouraging signs of renewal and progress toward the restoration of the Rule of Law in the USA. Furthermore, those involved in alternative media and the progressive blogosphere should derive a great degree of personal satisfaction from these fragile and encouraging signs.

Sunday, March 30, 2008
New Hampshire Joins Montana in Real ID Victory
(3 comments) Legislators in the Live Free or Die state, like those in Montana, banned the state from complying with the Real ID mandates, citing state's rights, the inequity of unfunded federal mandates, and privacy issues. Citizens of states that opt out can't use their licenses for federal purposes, such as airport screening or going to a Social Security office. Maine and South Carolina have also refused to comply with Real ID.

Sunday, March 30, 2008
Introducing Iarpa! It's Like Darpa, But for Spies
Q is a tall blond American named Lisa Porter, the first head of America's new Q branch, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, charged with outfitting US spooks with the highest-tech info-gathering gadgetry. IARPA will do for the intelligence community what DARPA (Defense Advanced ResearchProjects Agency) has done for the Pentagon. DARPA developed the Internet and Global Positioning System.

Sunday, March 30, 2008
Companies Try To Cover-Up Move To Watch Consumers Via TV's
Microsoft and TiVo have already filed similar patents and ComCast is developing its own technology to monitor the rooms where its cable box is located. Tho ComCast denies this, prior interviews reveal the deception. Orwell thought that cameras in the living room would be imposed on us by a fascist government. Fascism these days is dominated by corporate power, and enabled by willful consumption of goods.

Sunday, March 30, 2008
Police arrest anti-war protester, 80, at mall
(10 comments) An 80-year-old church deacon was removed from the Smith Haven Mall yesterday in a wheelchair and arrested by police for refusing to remove a T-shirt protesting the Iraq War. Don Zirkel said he was sitting in the food court drinking coffee with his wife Marie, 77, and several others when police and mall security officers approached and demanded they remove their anti-war T-shirts.

Sunday, March 30, 2008
CA: Taser Use Soars as Concerns Mount Over Safety
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has doubled its use of Taser stun guns since 2005, according to an investigation by CBC and the Canadian Press. There have been 19 Taser-related deaths in Canada since 2001, and of 563 incidents analysed by the Canadian Press, 75 percent of suspects were unarmed.

Sunday, March 30, 2008
Day of Infamy: The 3-20-08 US Declaration of War on Iran
On this date the US officially declared war on Iran in an unexpected way. A unit within the US Treasury Department, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, made the war official when it issued a March 20 advisory to the world's financial institutions, charging that all of Iran's banks –including the central bank– represent a risk to the international financial system, no exceptions. Money laundering for terrorism is alleged.

Sunday, March 30, 2008
VIDEO: Reverend Wright Sermon
Two videos show Reverend Wright's sermons in context: discussing 9/11 and discussing US racism.

Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Creekside Declaration
Our Mission is to encourage citizen ownership of transparent, participatory democracy.

Saturday, March 29, 2008
Siegelman Released From Jail
VIDEO: Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman speaks upon release from prison, after a growing body of allies, activists and 52 attorneys general petition Congress for an investigation. Congressman Arthur Davis and investigator Scott Horton provide background info on the questionable prosecution which seems to be politically motivated.

Friday, March 28, 2008
Whistleblower Sues Hart InterCivic; eVoting Poll
CBS Online Poll: Do you feel comfortable with electronic voting machines? VOTE!

Thursday, March 27, 2008
About Face: The Roberts Court Sets the Stage for Shrinking Voting Rights, Putting Poor and Minority Voters Especially In
Recent US Supreme Court decision could lay the groundwork for upholding a host of draconian laws making it harder for some people to vote. Double standard applied to State's rights ahead of voter's rights. This kind of rule is going to make it much harder for those who seek to protect voting rights to succeed in court. And that may precisely be the point of the new decision.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008
What can and cannot be spoken on television
To see how scripted and narrow the American media's discussion of Iraq continues to be (as Americans are told that it is a matter of mandated orthodoxy that they believe that the Surge is Working), watch the video interview and consider how these views are never heard. (Charlie Rose's 5th Anniversary Iraq Show) Excerpts from the Peter Jennings interview of Iraqis in 2003 also provided.

Monday, March 24, 2008
Venezuelans burn Exxon 'Judas' in Easter ritual
In a political take on a popular Easter ritual, hundreds of Venezuelans cheered at the burning of a "Judas" effigy symbolizing oil giant Exxon Mobil, which last week lost a battle with the South American nation. A British judge last Tuesday lifted a $12 billion freeze on Venezuelan assets awarded to Exxon, dealing a blow to the oil giant in its fight with the OPEC nation over President Hugo Chavez's nationalization plan.

Monday, March 24, 2008
Montana Governor: DHS 'Blinks' on Real ID
(3 comments) Montana gov Brian Schweitzer declared victory Friday after the Dept. of Homeland Security (sic) gave an extension to the Real ID act. He insists MT will never comply with the mandate since their driver licenses already contain holograms, secure digital photographs and a magnetic stripe on the back. He says he has no intention of sharing Montanta residents' data with the federal government, citing the recent passport breaches.

Sunday, March 23, 2008
Spitzer Miami Tryst Alleged
(1 comments) Republican political operative Roger Stone sent a letter last November to the FBI alleging that Spitzer 'used the services of high-priced call girls' while in Florida. Stone is known for shutting down the 2000 presidential election recount effort in Miami-Dade County. Research thanks to Lori Price of www.legitgov.org.

Saturday, March 22, 2008
Put Florida primary in prime time and text in your vote
HUMOR: Dave Barry asks, "How come they can count my vote for Donald Trump vs. Viagra on the Lewis Black Show, but they can't count my vote in the Democratic primary?" The obvious answer is one is mindless comic entertainment and the other is a TV program.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
2008 State of the Universe Address
HUMOR: If we are to have an awakening instead of a wake, I predict heart times ahead. Trickle down economics has left a growing class of pee-ons. Now voting machines with secret software count the votes in secret. Global warring and global warming, last rites for the Bill of Rites, and Orwellian Newspeak all fixable: we need to amplify the love and light.

Friday, March 14, 2008
YouTube - Inauguration Surprise
Elections: The truth is best told thru humor.

Thursday, March 13, 2008
Assignment America: Keep juries dumb
(1 comments) In America we like our juries dumb and predictable. God forbid they should know anything about the case they're judging, much less the law they're judging it by. But juries were created to trump unjust law. It IS your place. Some guy got shackled in leg irons by King John so that it WOULD be your place. Don't send us back to the Dark Ages acting like a wimp.

Sunday, March 9, 2008
Sort-n-Stack Method of Hand Counting Ballots
(13 comments) In one page find complete and concise instructions on how to use the Sort and Stack method of hand counting ballots. It is to be used with the Reconciliation Audit Slip posted at http://snipurl.com/21d39

Sunday, March 9, 2008
Reconciliation Audit Slip for Hand Counts
This Reconciliation Audit Slip is to be used with the Sort and Stack Method of hand counting ballots, described at http://snipurl.com/21d36

Saturday, March 8, 2008
Ballot Booth Woes
Can New Mexico Run a Successful Election? Questions remain about New Mexico's election process-both about the private company that maintains its voting machines and databases, as well as the ability of election officials to anticipate glitches and troubleshoot unexpected problems. A study is underway.

Friday, March 7, 2008
Bamboozling the American Electorate Again
Is Obama the Frankenstein of Karl Rove? Bush-Cheney strategy involves G.O.P. crossover voting to take out Hillary, marketing newcomer Obama, a possible "independent" ticket, and maybe even martial law...

Friday, March 7, 2008
Fired U.S. attorney says colleague told him politics was behind his ouster
A longtime protege of President [sic] Bush told former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias that he was fired for political reasons and that he shouldn't fight his ouster, Iglesias says in a new book. "This is political," Iglesias recalls Texas U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton telling him shortly after he was ousted. "If I were you, I'd just go quietly."

Thursday, March 6, 2008
Guess What? Obama Is Winning Texas
(2 comments) Tuesday night, the media proclaimed Hillary Clinton the winner in Texas. But in the caucuses, with 48 percent of the caucus results reported as of early Thursday morning, per the Texas Democratic Party's Web site, Obama has won approximately 56 percent of the caucus votes, leaving Clinton with just under 44 percent. Delegates, not voters, have chosen a winner.

Friday, February 29, 2008
Granting Immunity Rewards Lawlessness
There was and is no U.S. law, and there is nothing in the Constitution, that authorizes warrantless wiretaps on Americans in the United States, no matter with whom they speak or e-mail. In fact, both the law and the Constitution prohibit such surveillance without a search warrant.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Afghan journalist for CTV labelled 'unlawful enemy combatant'
The U.S. military has designated a journalist employed by CTV in Afghanistan as an unlawful enemy combatant. A military spokesman said a review board has determined Jawed Ahmad, an Afghan national, is a danger to foreign troops and the Afghan government. It is common for journalists in Afghanistan to have contact information on Taliban fighters so that they can seek comments for news stories.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Onion Exclusive! Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early
(1 comments) Political Satire: Video news report on Diebold's Leak of November's elections results.

Saturday, February 23, 2008
The Three Trillion Dollar War
(4 comments) Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes: The cost of direct US military operations -not including long-term medical costs for veterans- already exceeds the cost of the 12-year war in Vietnam and is more than double the cost of the Korean War. Best case, these costs are 10 times the first Gulf War, 1/3 more than the the Vietnam War, and twice that of the First World War.

Monday, February 18, 2008
No Cow Left Behind
Yet another beef recall that may sicken you by the gut-wrenching undercover video depicting Westland employees abusing "downer" cows - i.e. those too ill or injured to stand (and perhaps not fit to eat). The footage, brought to you courtesy of the Humane Society, shows workers "kicking cows, jabbing them near their eyes, ramming them with a forklift and water boarding them. Video at http://snipurl.com/1zvzk

Sunday, February 17, 2008
Obama's Dubious Praise for Reagan
(2 comments) Sen. Barack Obama prides himself in transcending the old ideological chasms that have divided the American electorate for decades, so much so that he recently cited Republican icon Ronald Reagan as a leader who "changed the trajectory of America." On Reagan's approach to the world, the documentary record reveals a foreign policy that was one of the most brutal, most corrupt and least accountable in American history.

Sunday, February 17, 2008
Jennifer Brunner: Election Changes Will Protect Interests of Voters
Open Letter by Ohio Secretary of State in defense of her election reform strategy. Instead of decertifying touch screen voting systems, paper ballots - in sufficient quantity - will be available.

Sunday, February 17, 2008
'I lost my career, my life and my dignity'
Last week, the Court of Appeal ruled that Lotfi Raissi could claim compensation for his arrest and imprisonment after being wrongly accused of training 9/11 pilots. Here, in his first interview since the landmark decision, he tells of his prison hell, nervous collapse and the terrible toll his ordeal has had on his personal and professional life.

Sunday, February 17, 2008
Congress' Betrayal of the American Worker
(2 comments) While claiming to be trying to increase the number of well-paying jobs in the US, Congress has really been doing just the opposite. The public's inability or unwillingness to face up these betrayals will result in the destruction of the working class in the U.S. If the public does not protest, they will continue to get a government that no one deserves.

Friday, February 15, 2008
Redwood ACLU Calls for Hand-Counting Paper Ballots
(1 comments) Press Release: At the regular monthly meeting of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU Board of Directors, local civil rights leaders adopted a comprehensive policy on local election reform after months of deliberation and consultation with other election reform advocates. The new policy includes replacing electronic systems with precinct-based hand-counting of paper ballots.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
This is what a police state looks like VIDEO
(6 comments) 2002 unauthorized release of police video: Portland (OR) and Beaverton Police Departments brutalized peaceful protesters in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Babies, seniors and others hit by pepper spray, sticks and pepper bullets.

Friday, February 8, 2008
The Story of Stuff
20-minute film (in 7 clips) that takes viewers on a provocative and eye-opening tour of the real costs of our consumer driven culture-from resource extraction to iPod incineration.

Friday, February 8, 2008
Toxic Gov't Report Uncovered
One World: A much-delayed U.S. government report has been obtained by journalists, raising allegations that officials may be suppressing politically inconvenient data that, if released, could help protect the health of millions living in the Great Lakes region of the country. The Center for Public Integrity has obtained copies of the report and is raising questions about the firing of its lead author.

Thursday, February 7, 2008
A Dangerous Fix for Election Security
John Birch Society: Rush Holt's H.R. 5036, Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008, would supposedly reverse some of the damage caused by the disastrous Help America Vote Act of 2002. Instead, it expands the federal power grab over elections and ignores that optical scanners can also be hacked. "Targeted" audits directed at where there is a suspicion of election fraud are banned. Take action link.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Stimulus Plan a Scam to Benefit the Rich: Higher loan limits will lead to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac bailout
(2 comments) Corporate-sponsored Congress is at it again. Increasing Fannie's limit is like going on a spending spree with your credit cards because you know you're going to file for bankruptcy. Only here the taxpayer is left holding the bag. Fannie and Freddie will buy up mortgages based on fraudulent appraisals. With zero new regulation, the same bad actors that caused this crisis can once again begin a new cycle of fraud.

Monday, February 4, 2008
Benefits ban qualifies for Florida ballot
A measure to deny family benefits to unmarried couples in Florida now has enough signatures to be placed on the November ballot, according to state election officials. The amendment also threatens basic employment and health care benefits of municipal employees such as police officers and firefighters, as well as domestic partner benefits relied upon by many Florida senior citizens.

Sunday, February 3, 2008
Wall Street donates millions to top presidential candidates
Employees of Wall Street investment banks, whose role in the unregulated sub-prime mortgage market helped stall the U.S. economy, have donated more than $5 million to the top four Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. See graphic.

Friday, February 1, 2008
Border fence lawsuits hit Hidalgo, Starr, Cameron counties
Texans resist border fence as US Dept. of Justice files suit. The border fence remains a hot issue in South Texas, where objection has been loud and from all directions. Business people bemoan that it will hurt relationships with their counterparts in Mexico; environmentalists say it will curb the movements of local wildlife, potentially causing irrevocable harm. Also see http://tinyurl.com/38rv9t.

Thursday, January 31, 2008
Vote machine transparency elusive as ever
Miami Herald gets it: secret vote counting will not be made transparent by optical scan systems, which are just as hackable as touch screens.

Monday, January 28, 2008
Waving Goodbye to Hegemony
The rise of China in the East and of the European Union in the West has fundamentally altered a globe that seemed to have only an American gravity-pro or anti. Why should China or other Asian countries become "responsible stakeholders" in an American-led international order when they had no seat at the table when the rules were drafted? Even as the US stumbles back toward multilateralism, others are playing by their own rules.

Monday, January 28, 2008
Tip-off thwarted nuclear spy ring probe
An investigation into the illicit sale of American nuclear secrets was compromised by a senior official in the State Department, former FBI analyst, Sibel Edmonds, has claimed. The official is said to have tipped off a foreign contact about a bogus CIA company used to investigate the sale of nuclear secrets. Edmonds further claims that Pakistan's intelligence agency (ISI) was among the buyers, who was then selling to Lybia.

Monday, January 28, 2008
Found in Translation: FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds spills her secrets
After 5 years of thwarted legal challenges and fruitless attempts to launch an investigation, Sibel Edmonds is talking. On Jan. 6, the Sunday Times of London, a Murdoch-owned paper that does not normally encourage exposés damaging to the Bush administration, featured a long article. The news quickly spread around the world, with follow-ups appearing in Israel, Europe, India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Japan-but not in the U.S.

Saturday, January 26, 2008
US slides into dangerous 1930s 'liquidity trap'
(6 comments) The US is sliding towards a dangerous 1930s-style "liquidity trap" that cannot easily be stopped by drastic cuts in interest rates, Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz has warned. The best strategy for immediate stimulus is unemployment assistance and tax rebates for the poor. That will feed through quickly, but set against the magnitude of the problem, even a fiscal stimulus package of $150bn is not going to be enough.

Friday, January 18, 2008
Canada puts U.S., Israel on torture watchlist -CTV
(3 comments) An official Canadian government document has put both the United States and Israel on a watch list of countries where prisoners run the risk of being tortured, CTV television reported on Thursday. Other countries on the watch list include Syria, China, Iran and Afghanistan. The revelation is likely to embarrass the minority Conservative government, which is a staunch U.S. ally. See 3 videos at http://tinyurl.com/293xy4

Monday, January 7, 2008
Nukes, Spooks, And The Specter of 9/11
(3 comments) We're in big trouble if even half of what Sibel Edmonds says is true.

Monday, January 7, 2008
The Bilderberg Group - Rulers of the World
"The war is not against Bin Laden. We are the enemy." 60-minute audio interview with investigator and author, Daniel Estulin, on his book, "The True Story of the Bilderberg Group", which describes an annual gathering where the European and American political elite, and the wealthiest CEOs of the world, all come together to discuss the economic and political future of humanity.

Monday, January 7, 2008
BrasscheckTV on Homegrown Terrorism Act HR 1955
(6 comments) 10-min video "Home grown terrorism is a term meaning the use, planned use, or threatened use of intellectual power or vigor..." when the Act's definition of force is substituted.

Sunday, January 6, 2008
For sale: West's deadly nuclear secrets
(7 comments) Disgusted with inaction by US authorities, whistleblower Sibel Edmonds reveals how high-ranking US officials enabled nuclear secrets to be sold on the black market. Also revealed are drug deals, and US connections to al Qaeda, thru Pakistan's spy agency, ISI, before and after the 9/11 attacks. FBI & CIA agents corrobate overlapping areas of Edmonds' claims.

Saturday, January 5, 2008
Bhutto's Deadly Legacy
(4 comments) Benazir Bhutto's death is a tragedy, but she was no Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar. Bhutto was a natural autocrat who did little for human rights, and a calculating politician who was complicit in Pakistan becoming the region's principal jihadi paymaster while she also ramped up an insurgency in Kashmir that has brought two nuclear powers to the brink of war.

Thursday, January 3, 2008
Iowa Caucuses: The Good Guys Are Winning on Trade
The economic outlook is certainly a vital concern, and that's especially true in places like Iowa, that have been hit hard by the vaunted New Economy. Jonathan Tasini of the Labor Research Center takes an in-depth look at the various Democratic candidates' positions on trade. This is highly recommended for those who want a deeper understanding of the differences that separate the field.

Thursday, January 3, 2008
Bhutto Succession Will Split the Party, Says Tribe Leader
The head of the Bhutto tribe, a founder of the Pakistan People's Party, rejected the appointment of Benazir Bhutto's husband and son to lead the group, since neither are members of the 700,000-member tribe. Mumtaz Bhutto said the leadership of the party should have gone to a "real" Bhutto. Benazir's husband is unrelated to the Bhuttos, while her son adopted Bhutto as his middle name only after his mother was assassinated.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008
The Kings of England
The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg ruled that "to initiate a war of aggression ... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime." The tribunal's charter placed "planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression" at the top of the list of war crimes. A recent BBC discussion exposed the terrifying privileges of unaccountable power.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008
The Shock Doctrine in Action in New Orleans
The final showdown over New Orleans public housing is playing out in dramatic fashion right now. The conflict is a classic example of the "triple shock" formula at the core of the doctrine.

Friday, December 28, 2007
And The "Show" Goes On...
When the state disintegrates or is willfully destroyed, people fall back on religion and their sect, their neighborhood, their tribes. In other words, they hang on to the points of reference, the anchors they know best and they can trust.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007
As Cuba's Economy Withers, Its Ecology Thrives
Cuba is a priceless ecological resource; its beaches, mangroves, reefs, seagrass beds and other habitats relatively well preserved. That is why many scientists are so worried about what will become of it after Fidel Castro and his associates leave power and, as is widely anticipated, the American government relaxes or ends its trade embargo.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007
FBI Prepares Vast Database of Biometrics: working link
The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad. Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement.

Monday, December 24, 2007
Michigan Attorney General accused of 'grandstanding'
Mirroring the nation, Detroit's minority population is looking at a catastrophe in the ongoing mortgage meltdown. Michigan's AG held a mortgage forum that was attended by 4,000 people. Housing activists accused him of grandstanding because the forum didn't go far enough in addressing the issues that caused the crises in the first place.

Thursday, December 20, 2007
Election Software Lost in Transit
More than a hundred computer chips containing voting machine software were lost or stolen during transit in California this week, shipped via FedEx.

Thursday, December 20, 2007
Updated CBO Data Reveal Unprecedented Increase in Inequality
New high-quality data from the Congressional Budget Office reveal an historical sharp increase in household income inequality over the past few years. The increase in income concentration among the rich in the 2003-05 period has been the largest on record, and has resulted in a transfer of $400 billion from households in the bottom 95% of the income scale to those in the top 5%.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Democracy Now: Harvey Wasserman on New Ohio Voting Report: "The 2004 Election Was Stolen... Finally We Have Irrefutable
(2 comments) Wasserman discusses the meaning of Project EVEREST which found all five of Ohio's voting machines subject to easy manipulation, adding more evidence to the charge that 2004's election was stolen. Noted are those counties which destroyed the 2004 ballots in violation of a court order and federal law. No one's being prosecuted. Harvey asks, "What kind of country do we live in?"

Thursday, November 29, 2007
iPolitics Is Everywhere -- Feel Empowered Yet?
Opening political discussion thru digital tools is worthwhile, but virtual democracy needs broader reforms to address basic inequities in the political system: suppressive registration laws, questionable electronic machines, and the Electoral College. If voting systems were opened up as much as our media system, real change could happen. It's one thing to engage voters; it's another to enfranchise them.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007
US withdraws subpoena seeking identity of 24,000 Amazon customers
U.S. prosecutors have withdrawn a subpoena seeking the identities of thousands of people who bought used books through online retailer Amazon.com Inc., newly unsealed court records show. The withdrawal came after a judge ruled the customers have a right to keep their reading habits from the government.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Kucinich Slamdunks All Dems in DFA Poll
(1 comments) In the first real test of grassroots support for the eight Democratic Presidential candidates, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich scored a stunning first place finish nationally and topped every other candidate in 41 of 50 states, according to results released on November 6th by Democracy for America (DFA).

Sunday, November 25, 2007
2-Pg Summary of CA's Voting Technology Review
Cleveland State University's Candice Hoke prepared a nice two-page summary of CA's Red Team Studies of Diebold, Sequoia and Hart Inter-Civic voting systems. All fail to meet basic security protections; all system audit logs can be overwritten or erased; passwords are easily bypassed, and more: software, documentation and accessibility issues are also detailed.

Thursday, November 22, 2007
The End of America? Naomi Wolf Thinks It Could Happen
(9 comments) Interview with Naomi Wolf on her book, End of America. "We would be naive given the historical patterns to have hope that there's going to be a transparent, accountable election in 2008." She discusses the "legalized" shift toward fascism authorizing military use on citizens, loss of habeas corpus, and more.

Sunday, November 18, 2007
Crisis in the U.S.: "Plan B"?
Retired fed analyst Richard Cook analyzes the upcoming 2008 "elections," discussing the real players behind the dog-and-pony candidates. Plan B is a kinder, gentler fuck by the military establishment, placing Hillary at the head. Ron Paul's sudden surge in donations portends a third-party run that elites will use to siphon votes from Republicans. Pragmatic advice for ordinary citizens is offered.

Saturday, November 17, 2007
Climate At the Tipping Point
(7 comments) UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon uses lay terms to discuss this epochal threat, giving brief glimpses of his global observations. He concludes that much of the certain catastrophe can be averted if we convert to renewable energies. Now.

Thursday, November 15, 2007
Toy Safety Video & Action Call
With the holidays just ahead, this action is timely and vital. Real safety means an era of corporate self-regulation, lax enforcement and minimal penalties must end. Lawmakers are now considering reforms, but it won't be easy to pass strong measures before the holidays. NotInMyCart.org wants you to contact your representatives at the link.

Thursday, August 30, 2007
A Rigged Report on U.S. Voting
Whistleblower comes forward: Findings from her research team, commissioned by the Election Assistance Commission, are rewritten in the EACs public release of the report. Voter impersonation exaggerated, voter suppression minimized, and all criticism of the Justice Department's handling of voter complaints is removed.

Saturday, August 25, 2007
Let Your Soul Light Shine Bright
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. The light of the soul throws sparks, sends up flares, and builds signal fires. ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves

Saturday, August 25, 2007
Subprime Loans = Primetime for Vampire Lenders
(2 comments) This is one of those economic stories, like the savings-and-loan scam of the 1980s, that are usually buried back in the business section of newspapers. But, just as with the S&L collapse, this debacle is growing too big to contain, and all of us need to be paying attention. How "reputable" financial firms are using an arsenal of tricks to extract high payments from homeowners, drain their equity and steal their homes.

Thursday, August 23, 2007
Home Foreclosures Leap 93% in a Year
The number of default notices and bank repossessions totaled 179,599. Across the US, there is now a foreclosure of one in every 693 homes.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007
"Inshallah"
Cindy Sheehan reports from Amman, Jordan, where her visits to hospitals continue to support the peace effort.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Natasha Mayers: Art for the Movement
Common Dreams is featuring over 300 paintings by this artist, capturing images of war, rendition, spying on citizens, and more.

Monday, August 13, 2007
A Policy of Genocide
The demon of greed never seems to get enough. Over 1 million dead Iraqis - with Dick Cheney's old company KBR/Halliburton being the prime benefactor of theft, Mr. Cheney now has his eyes on Iran. More bodies, dead ones, are needed for the task. Once again, his old company, KBR/Halliburton, not only comes to the rescue, but benefits from the deal.

Saturday, August 11, 2007
Polls find increased support for Iraq war: New survey results surprise pollsters
The results from a poll conducted last month by the New York Times so surprised top editors that they ordered a new survey, but the results were the same: 42% of Americans now think that President Bush was right to send troops into Iraq. Positive spin on the war is assumed to be the cause for increasing confidence in Bush's surge. Repub pollster Frank Lutz thinks this merely reflects general summertime optimism.

Saturday, July 7, 2007
What Side You're On
Rhyme of the Times (fully sourced for high school history students): They 1st seized control of White House grounds When U.S. Supremes stopped the recount They weren't re-elected in two thousand-four By then elections were sold to the techno-whores. Next they wanna tag us with RFIDs Remember your Bible and the Sign of the Beast? If not your body, your passport will do Driver's licenses? Implanted, too.

Saturday, July 7, 2007
A Postcard from Iraq
Writer Layla Anwar describes life in Iraq, including the kidnap and torture of her relatives: Raouf heard a knock on the door. He opened. Familiar faces from the district. Three armed men. "Salam aleikom" he said. "Wa aleikom" they replied. Then, they blindfolded him, handcuffed him and shoved him in a car. His ordeal had started. His torture odyssey was about to unfold ...

Wednesday, July 4, 2007
A Sudden Change of State
(1 comments) The IPCC predicts that sea levels could rise by as much as two feet this century. A new scientific paper argues that the geological record suggests that ice at the poles does not melt in a gradual and linear fashion, but flips suddenly. With 2-3 ¢ªC rise in global temperature 3.5 million years ago, seas rose 82 feet. Monbiot¡¯s book "Heat: How To Stop the Planet Burning" is now in paperback.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007
The Future of Citizen Journalism
An international gathering met last week under the motto "Every Citizen is a Reporter." Can citizen journalism really change the world? Many skeptics still doubt it can even change the news industry, and still question, despite much evidence, whether ordinary citizens can function as journalists. But why not? I've been a professional journalist for decades, yet never took a course. If you don't like the news, report your own!

Tuesday, July 3, 2007
ANGLER The Cheney Vice-Presidency
Dick Cheney is the most influential and powerful man ever to hold the office of vice president. This series examines Cheney's largely hidden and little-understood role in crafting policies for the War on Terror, the economy and the environment. Four-part investigative series from Washington Post.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007
US Social Forum Forges Common Ground
The US Social Forum wrapped up Sunday in the southern city of Atlanta with a People's Assembly, where civil society and native leaders read declarations on the meeting's main issues: Gulf Coast reconstruction in the post-Katrina era; militarism and the prison industrial complex; indigenous, sexual and immigrant rights; and labor struggles in the global economy.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007
The Cry of the Invisible
The War on Democracy examines the false democracy that comes with western corporations and a war waged, materially and as propaganda, against popular democracy. It is a film of South Americans who are no longer invisible. They have become a mighty political movement, reclaiming noble concepts distorted by corporatism, and they are defending the most basic human rights in a war being waged against all of us.

Monday, July 2, 2007
Declaration of Independence from Israel
(2 comments) The growing belligerence in the Middle East, the calls for an attack against Iran, the collapse of the imperial project in Iraq have all given an opening, where there was none before, to US rivals. It is not in Israel's interests to ignite a regional conflict. It is not in ours. But those who have their hands on the wheel seem determined to keep the American ship of state headed at breakneck speed into the cliffs before us.

Monday, July 2, 2007
How War Was Turned into a Brand
Political chaos means Israel is booming like it's 1999 - and the boom is in defence exports field-tested on Palestinians. The key products and services are hi-tech fences, unmanned drones, biometric IDs, video and audio surveillance gear, air passenger profiling and prisoner interrogation systems. Israel has learned to turn endless war into a brand asset, with half-century head start in the 'global war on terror.'

Sunday, July 1, 2007
Vote-By-Mail Doesn't Deliver
(8 comments) Vote by mail is only as reliable as the mail delivery and administrative integrity. First class mail does not treat everyone equally: it discriminates against low-income communities and dense urban areas where residents move more frequently. Also, election officials can distinguish between "active" and "inactive" voters and then mail ballots only to active voters, as they do in Oregon, Washington, California, and Colorado.

Saturday, June 30, 2007
Don't Misunderestimate Dick Cheney
(1 comments) It has long been apparent that Cheney's genius is that he lets George W. Bush get out of bed every morning actually believing he is the President. Acting above the law, Cheney claims he is not an "entity within the executive branch." Also: video of Colin Powell on Cheney's secret meetings with Bush.

Friday, June 29, 2007
The Scourge of Nationalism
(2 comments) I cannot get out of my mind the recent photos of ordinary Americans sitting on chairs, guns on laps, as unofficial guards on the Arizona border, to make sure no Mexicans cross into the US. There's something horrifying in the realization that, in the 21st century, we've carved up what we claim is one world into 200 artificially created entities we call "nations" armed to apprehend or kill anyone who crosses a boundary.

Thursday, June 28, 2007
Candidate Hillary Does Iraq
Hillary categorizes the situation in Iraq as "extraordinarily difficult". Maybe, but there is a solution although she wouldn't like it: As a nation, we confess to the crime of aggression, apologize, arrest and punish the perpetrators, and pay reparations. This will be costly but is partially offset by the savings owing to unneeded secret service protection for some of our incarcerated high officials.

Thursday, June 28, 2007
Munich to US: "Don't Send Your CIA Thugs into Europe's Streets"
Arrest warrants against 13 suspected CIA agents are worth more than the paper they're written on. They are a clear sign that a state based on the rule of law will not tolerate lawlessness, even in the war on terror. And they are a signal -- if a somewhat late one -- that Germany will not allow its most important ally in the war on terror to do just anything, even if it causes diplomatic tension.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Responsibility for Torture and Abu Ghraib: It Goes at Least as Far as the VP
(2 comments) Since the Abu Ghraib scandal broke in 2004, widespread speculation insists that the abuses were more than the work of a few "bad apples." Historian Alfred McCoy noted that the practices at Abu Ghraib, including sensory deprivation and stress positions, came right out of the CIA handbook. The Washington Post presents strong evidence that culpability for authorizing torture goes straight to Cheney, and possibly to Bush.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Counter-Terror Events and Alerts from Around the World
Social justice activists can find a one-stop website reporting who is doing what, when and where, in the name of peace, immigration, global warming, animal rights, and even the U.S. Social Forum to be held in Atlanta this weekend. In Homeland Security, in its analysis, considers these events a threat to security. Now, this was funny when I thought it was the US Dept of Homeland Security.)

Monday, June 25, 2007
Prison Poets of Guantanamo Find a Publisher
(4 comments) Inmates at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay used pebbles to scratch messages into foam cups they got with their meals. When the guards weren't looking, they passed the cups from cell to cell. It was a crude but effective way of communicating. The prisoners weren't passing along escape plans or info about future terrorist attacks; they were sending poems. In August, 22 of those poems will be published by the U. of Iowa.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007