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Cheryl Biren is a Philadelphia-based researcher, writer, editor and photographer with a focus on social justice. From 2007-2011, she served on the editorial board of Opednews.com.
Cheryl has also consulted for the Rob Kall Radio Show with guests such as Noam Chomsky, whistleblower Jesselyn Raddack and former FBI agent and Time Person of the Year, Coleen Rowley. She co-hosted the program with guests Daniel Ellsberg, Rep. Robert Wexler and author Naomi Wolf.
She has covered numerous protests with a focus on First Amendment rights and getting stories out that are ignored, underreported or misrepresented by the corporate media.
Cheryl's photographs have appeared in various publications including Truthout, The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, LA Progressive, The Philadelphia Jewish Voice, The Nuclear Resister, France 24, along with print magazines, The Humanist and The Progressive. Her protest photography is seen in the film, Democracy and Human Rights. A collection of her photographs can be found here:
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 Anthrax report casts doubt on scientific evidence in FBI case against Bruce Ivins (1 comments)
Washington Post Reports: A panel of prominent scientists is casting new doubt on scientific evidence that was a key part of the FBI's case against Bruce E. Ivins, the deceased Army scientist accused of carrying out the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 CBS News' Lara Logan Sexually Assaulted While Covering Protest in Egypt (2 comments)
On Friday, Feb. 11, the day Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for a "60 Minutes" story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into frenzy.
In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers.
Saturday, February 5, 2011 NYT: 2 Detained Reporters Saw Secret Police's Methods Firsthand (1 comments)
NYT report by two reporters detained by Egyptian authorities: "But our discomfort paled in comparison to the dull whacks and the screams of pain by Egyptian people that broke the stillness of the night. In one instance, between the cries of suffering, an officer said in Arabic, "You are talking to journalists? You are talking badly about your country?"
Friday, January 21, 2011 Va. teen detained in Kuwait returns to U.S.
A Virginia teenager who was placed on the no-fly list and barred from returning home to the United States from Kuwait arrived at Dulles International Airport on Friday morning, a lawyer for his family said.
Gulet Mohamed, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen from Alexandria, was detained in Kuwait last month at the behest of the United States, according to his attorneys. They allege that Mohamed was beaten by Kuwaiti officials who questioned him about his travels in Yemen and Somalia after he left the United States in March 2009.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 Jared Loughner, Mental Illness and How Budget Cuts Have Slashed Behavioral Health Services in Arizona
While federal investigators and the news media try to uncover the motivation behind Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson, the picture emerging of the accused gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, is of a severely disturbed 22-year-old. Loughner's apparent mental health problems have shone a spotlight on issues surrounding mental health treatment in Arizona, which made drastic budget cuts to behavioral health services in 2010. We speak with H. Clarke Romans of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Southern Arizona.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 Jared Loughner's family issues statement: 'We wish we could change the heinous events'
The family of Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner handed out a written statement to reporters standing in front of their home late Tuesday afternoon. A man, who appeared to be a representative of the family, walked out of the home and provided this statement, which reads:
This is a very difficult time for us. We ask the media to respect our privacy. There are no words that can possibly express how we feel. We wish that there were, so we could make you feel better. We don't understand why this happened. It may not make any difference, but we wish that we could change the heinous events Saturday. We care very deeply about the victims and their families. We are so very sorry for their loss.
Thank you, the Loughner Family
Monday, December 20, 2010 U.S. Seeks to Expand Ground Raids in Pakistan
NYT: Senior American military commanders in Afghanistan are pushing for an expanded campaign of Special Operations ground raids across the border into Pakistan's tribal areas.
Monday, November 22, 2010 Press arrested at Fort Benning protest
RT News reporter and cameraman arrested and detained following coverage of Fort Benning protest
Sunday, August 22, 2010 US Soldier Killed in Rocket Attack in Iraq
An American solider was killed in a rocket attack in southern Iraq on Sunday, the U.S. military said, marking the first American fatality since the last combat unit in Iraq pulled out of the country.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010 Peace Activist Challenges Gibbs To A "Pee-Off"
While White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’ recent comments decrying “the professional left” have ruffled progressive feathers, perhaps the most interesting response thus far has come from peace activist Cindy Sheehan.
Sunday, February 14, 2010 US Military Censors Haitian Press (3 comments)
Three weeks after the earthquake, the Haitian press has just had its first serious run-in with the US military. Homère Cardichon, a photographer working for the daily Le Nouvelliste, had his camera confiscated by US marines yesterday while covering a demonstration by disgruntled residents outside the US embassy in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Tabarre.
Thursday, January 21, 2010 Media Operations Centre gets backing from Haitian government (1 comments)
Haiti's culture and communications minister, Marie-Laurence Jocelyn-Lassègue, has given her support for the Media Operations Centre installed in Port-au-Prince by Reporters Without Borders and Quebecor. Their representatives are to meet with her in the capital this morning (at 9 a.m. local time) to discuss the way the centre will function and the choice of journalists to run it.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 New York Times to Charge Frequent Readers of Web Site (1 comments)
The New York Times announced Wednesday that it intended to charge frequent readers for access to its Web site, a step being debated across the industry that nearly every major newspaper has so far feared to take.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 U.S. Air Force drops 55,000 pounds of food, water into Haiti - CNN.com
Finally.
Bypassing the gridlock of Haiti's main airport and congestion of roadways in the earthquake-ravaged country, the U.S. military delivered badly needed food and water on Monday by parachute.
Monday, January 18, 2010 U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes - ABC News (2 comments)
Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.
Sunday, January 17, 2010 Obama confidant's spine-chilling proposal: Glenn Greenwald
While at Harvard Law School, Cass Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-"independent" advocates to "cognitively infiltrate" online groups and websites - as well as other activist groups - which advocate views that Sunstein deems "false conspiracy theories" about the Government.
Monday, January 11, 2010 NJ Assembly Approves Medical Marijuana
The New Jersey Legislature approved a measure on Monday that would make the state the first in the region and the 14th in the nation to legalize the use of marijuana for medical reasons.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009 Judge affirms ruling to name undercover officers | Philadelphia Inquirer
Philly judge affirms order requiring prosecutors to disclose to defense attorneys names of police undercover officers involved in a 2007 altercation with protesters of a purported KKK rally.
Note: Attorney, Paul Hetznecker, also represents 6 protesters and an OEN reporter arrested in September outside the Army Experience Center in Philadelphia. Trial date is pending.
Thursday, October 29, 2009 Single-payer health-care advocates are arrested in Newark protesting insurance companies | Bob Braun - NJ.com (1 comments)
Seven people were arrested yesterday after they blocked entrances to the headquarters of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield in Newark, NJ. They were protesting, among other things, the compensation paid to the president of the health insurance company and the failure of Congress to pass health insurance reform.
Thursday, October 29, 2009 Divided House Committee Passes Iran Sanctions (1 comments)
A divided House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (IRPSA) today by voice vote.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Breaking: High Court to Consider Uighurs' Plea for Freedom
The Supreme Court is taking up a new case about the rights of Guantanamo detainees, this time involving prisoners who remain in custody even after the Pentagon determines they're not a threat to the United States.
Thursday, July 16, 2009 Franken Raises Issue of Net Neutrality at Sotomayor Hearing
The new senator from Minnesota, Al Franken, asked a decidedly unfunny question this afternoon when it was his turn to quiz Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor. Franken turned to the contentious issue of net neutrality, or rules that would require cable and phone companies to treat legal Internet traffic equally and would prevent the creation of a two-tiered system that would allow speedier deliver of premium services.
Saturday, June 20, 2009 Jeremy Scahill: "The Responsible Left:" Funding Obama's Expanding Wars $100 Billion a Vote (1 comments)
Jeremy Scahill: Over the past few days, we reported on how the White House and Democratic Congressional Leadership waged a dirty campaign to scare up votes to support another $106 billion in funds for their wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Now, several of the so-called anti-war Democrats who left their principles at the House coat check on their way in to vote Tuesday are trying to explain away their hypocritical votes.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 Down and Out in Shah Mansoor
In Pakistan's Swabi district, a bumpy road leads to Shah Mansoor, a small village surrounded by farmland. Just outside the village, uniform size tents are set up in hundreds of rows. The sun bore down on the Shah Mansoor camp, which has become a temporary home to thousands of displaced Pakistanis from the Swat area.
Monday, June 15, 2009 Why is Dennis Ross being ousted as Obama envoy to Iran?
Haaretz: Dennis Ross, who most recently served as a special State Department envoy to Iran, will abruptly be relieved of his duties, sources in Washington told Haaretz. An official announcement is expected in the coming days.
Monday, June 15, 2009 Amnesty International: Obama must prosecute Bush-era torture enablers (4 comments)
Larry Cox is the executive director of Amnesty International USA: With Dick Cheney and the infamous torture memos making headlines, President Obama and our nation face a choice. Should they prosecute or protect those responsible for the torture of detainees in secret CIA detention centers? If our leaders wish to steer our country back to the right side of the law, they must act immediately and unequivocally to prosecute.
Saturday, June 13, 2009 Riots Break Out as Ahmadinejad Is Declared Victor in Iran (11 comments)
The Iranian government declared an outright election victory for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday morning, and riot police officers clamped down on a growing demonstration by supporters of the opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, who insisted that the election had been stolen.
Monday, June 8, 2009 Obama promises more than 600,000 stimulus jobs (1 comments)
President Barack Obama promised Monday to deliver more than 600,000 jobs through his $787 billion stimulus plan this summer, with federal agencies pumping billions into public works projects, schools and summer youth programs.
Monday, June 8, 2009 Alfred McCoy, Back to the Future in Torture Policy (1 comments)
Alfred W. McCoy, Tom Dispatch: "If, like me, you've been following America's torture policies not just for the last few years, but for decades, you can't help but experience that eerie feeling of deja vu these days.
Monday, June 8, 2009 Haaretz: PM to give major speech in response to Obama address
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss the future of settlement construction and the establishment of a Palestinian state during a major policy address at Bar-Ilan University on Sunday. In the speech, Netanyahu will lay out his plans for Israel's relations with the Palestinian Authority and Arab countries, a source close to the premier said yesterday.
Sunday, June 7, 2009 Two U.S. Journalists Sentenced to 12 Years in North Korea (10 comments)
North Korea found two U.S. journalists it has held since March guilty of illegal entry and sentenced them to 12 years hard labour, its official KCNA news agency said on Monday. The journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, of U.S. media outlet Current TV, were arrested while working on a story near the border between North Korea and China. Their trial opened on Thursday.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009 Breaking: Obama to Tap Republican Congressman for Army Post (8 comments)
President Barack Obama plans to nominate Republican congressman John McHugh as secretary of the Army, an administration official said on Tuesday.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Maine governor signs gay-marriage bill (1 comments)
Maine's governor signed a bill on Wednesday legalizing same-sex marriage, paving the way for the northeastern most U.S. state to become the fifth in the nation to allow same-sex marriage.
Friday, February 27, 2009 Rocky Mountain News Publishes Final Edition
Questions about the future of the Rocky Mountain News had become so common, the newspaper's staff put up a handwritten paper sign on the news desk that said, "We don't know."
On Thursday, someone wrote over it in heavy black marker: "Now we know."
Colorado's oldest newspaper, which launched in Denver in 1859, printed its last edition Friday, leaving The Denver Post as the only daily newspaper in town.
Friday, February 27, 2009 Chicago Man Arrested for Sending HIV Infected Blood to Obama
A Chicago man has been arrested for allegedly sending President Barack Obama and his staff envelopes containing HIV-infected blood in the hopes of killing or causing harm to them. A spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said that this is only the second time that HIV-infected blood has been sent with malicious intent through the U.S. mail system.
Monday, December 8, 2008 Liberals voice concerns about Obama
Liberals are growing increasingly nervous - and some just flat-out angry - that President-elect Barack Obama seems to be stiffing them on Cabinet jobs and policy choices. Obama has reversed pledges to immediately repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and take on Big Oil. He's hedged his call for a quick drawdown in Iraq. And he's stocking his White House with anything but stalwarts of the left.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 Afghan Police Say Bomb Explodes Near U.S. Embassy, 1 Dead, 6 Wounded
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghan police say a suicide car bomb has exploded about 200 yards (meters) outside the main entrance to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul in an attack against an American convoy.
Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayub Salangi says one person was killed and six wounded in the attack.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 Obama Not Likely to Seek Criminal Charges Against Officials who Authorized Torture (3 comments)
Barack Obama's incoming administration is unlikely to bring criminal charges against government officials who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the George W. Bush presidency. Obama, who has criticized the use of torture, is being urged by some constitutional scholars and human rights groups to investigate possible war crimes by the Bush administration.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Eight RNC protesters accused of 'furthering terrorism' thanks to statute (1 comments)
The RNC 8 face more than the standard felony charges. For the first time, authorities are wielding an obscure state anti-terrorism statute passed in the nervous aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Second-degree "conspiracy to commit riot" ordinarily carries a maximum two-and-a-half-year prison sentence, but because the alleged crime was intended to "further terrorism," the sentence can be doubled to a maximum of five years.
Monday, September 29, 2008 Special Prosecutor Named in Attorney Firings Case (1 comments)
Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey appointed a special prosecutor on Monday to investigate whether criminal charges should be brought against former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and other officials in connection with the firings of nine of United States attorneys in 2006.
Thursday, September 18, 2008 Boehner criticizes Bush on AIG bailout
House Minority Leader John Boehner joined a growing chorus of Republican leaders criticizing the Bush administration for failing to tell Congress about the bailout of American International Group.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 New Jersey mistakenly tells voters they aren't registered
The state department mailed out about 300,000 letters to residents in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Camden and Essex counties telling them they were not eligible to vote. The letters prompted the recipients, majority of whom were registered to vote and did not need to re-register - to deluge election and elected officials with phone calls Monday.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Chuck Samuelson ACLU: The Right to Assembly (video)
Chuck Samuelson of the ACLU says much of the police repression during the RNC was based on law coming out of the Patriot Act. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing dozens of protestors arrested at the RNC
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Naomi Klein on Obama [video]
Klein speaks about Obama and the intellectual and political integrity of the progressive movement. "What will the people who helped win his historic victory ask of Obama now? I hope that we, that you, will demand that he earn the incredible trust that he has been given, because the hard truth is this: Obama may have the energy and the anger and the networks of the antiwar vote, but he does not have a plan to get us out of Iraq
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 Gerald Seib of WSJ: McCain, Obama Duel on Russia
In the wake of Russia's march into Georgia, much ink has been spilled analyzing the differences between the ways Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama responded to Moscow's brash move. That's all fine - and all misses the more important point.
Saturday, August 9, 2008 Bush says attacks on Georgia "dangerous escalation" (8 comments)
"We call for an end to the Russian bombings," a grim-faced Bush told reporters before heading to the Olympics women's basketball game between the United States and the Czech Republic.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Kucinich wins hearings but not on impeaching Bush (3 comments)
The House on Tuesday voted 238-180 to send his article of impeachment for Bush's reasoning for taking the country to war in Iraq to the Judiciary Committee. This time the panel will open hearings. But House Democratic leaders emphatically said they would not be about Bush's impeachment.
Saturday, June 28, 2008 Report: Iran to Hit Israel if Attacked (7 comments)
The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that Tehran would respond to an attack against it by barraging Israel with missiles, and controlling a key oil passageway in the Persian Gulf.
Sunday, May 25, 2008 Scott Horton Interviews Ray McGovern (audio) (1 comments)
Former CIA analyst and antiwar activist Ray McGovern discusses his open letter to Adm. Fallon and the probability of a U.S. attack on Iran, the history of Robert Gates and his weak influence on Bush, the corporate media's corrupt relationship with the state, the Pentagon's bogus Iranian arms expose and the near total indifference of the press, Adm. Fallon's firing for speaking out against attacking Iran, etc.
Friday, May 9, 2008 Prolonging The Inevitable
Once again the U.S. military is conducting major combat operations in Baghdad's Sadr City slum. The targets are Shiite extremists who have been killing our troops and obstructing the so-called progress of a freely elected Iraqi government. For the foreseeable future the violence rages on, US troops will continue to die, Iraqis will die, and according to President Bush it is all for the cause of our freedom here at home.
Saturday, March 29, 2008 Time Is Not On Our Side (2 comments)
John Bruhns, Iraq war veteran and legislative coordinator for UFPJ, discusses the recent rise in violence in Iraq, Bush's agenda, and the urgent need to lobby Congress to not give Bush another "blank check" - this one to the tune of 105 billion.
Saturday, March 29, 2008 Lawyer: Gitmo Trials Pegged to '08 Campaign
The Navy lawyer for Osama bin Laden's driver argues in a Guantnamo military commissions motion that senior Pentagon officials are orchestrating war crimes prosecutions for the 2008 campaign.
Friday, March 14, 2008 US/IRAQ: "We Reacted Out of Fear, and With Total Destruction"
SILVER SPRING, Maryland, Mar 14 (IPS) - Hart Viges joined the U.S. Army the day after Sep. 11, 2001, in the belief that he could help make the world a safer place.
Saturday, March 8, 2008 Advocates Say Ruling Chills Reporters
A judge is trying to bankrupt an ex-reporter with daily fines as much as $5,000 for refusing to disclose her sources for stories about the 2001 anthrax attacks, press advocates said Saturday.
Thursday, March 6, 2008 Pull the Plug on the War (1 comments)
By John Bruhns, Iraq war veteran and anti-war activist.
The continued presence of the U.S. military in Iraq is fanning the flames of global anti-Americanism while stretching our military to a breaking point. To change course for the better, we have to truly understand the enemy we face and make the needed adjustments to our military strategy.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 A Wave of the Watch List, and Speech Disappears (4 comments)
Steve Marshall is an English travel agent. He lives in Spain, and he sells trips to Europeans who want to go to sunny places, including Cuba. In October, about 80 of his Web sites stopped working, thanks to the United States government.
Monday, March 3, 2008 Patriot missiles: Iraq Veterans Against the War
Once again media from overseas covers critical news our media won't. From the Sunday Times: After Vietnam, American veterans testified to the atrocities they witnessed. Now soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan are about to do the same.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 Ramadan Giving Presents Dilemma for American Muslims (2 comments)
As the mid-September Ramadan fast approaches, many American Muslims are in a quandary about how to fulfill their Quranic obligation to contribute to charity - since the US government has closed down and frozen the assets of many of the leading philanthropies that have traditionally championed Muslim causes, for providing "material support" to terrorist organizations.
