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Kevin Gosztola is a writer and curator of Firedoglake's blog The Dissenter, a blog covering civil liberties in the age of technology. He is an editor for OpEdNews.com and a former intern and videographer for The Nation Magazine.And, he's the producer of a weekly podcast "This Week in WikiLeaks" that has been tweeted by WikiLeaks to their more than 900, 000 followers (which he continues to post at The Dissenter each weekend).
Saturday, July 9, 2011 Judge on Suspicionless Laptop Searches & Seizures: Better Off Leaving Devices at Home (2 comments)
District Judge Edward Korman weakly defended a person's right to not be subjected to unreasonable searches or seizures, suggesting, according to Reuters, "Travelers who want to keep U.S. border agents from seeing sensitive documents on their laptops and cell phones may be better off leaving those devices at home."
Thursday, June 30, 2011 5 Outrageous Examples of FBI Intimidation and Entrapment
In the 10 years since the Sept. 11th attacks, the FBI has expanded its powers, transforming into a massive domestic spying agency.
The FBI is claiming the authority to exercise more surveillance powers, which include undocumented database searches, lie detector tests, trash searches, surveillance squads, investigations of public officials, scholars and journalists and rules that would provide more freedom for agents and informants to not disclose participation in organizations that are targets of FBI surveillance.
Here are five cases of FBI abuse that show the FBI deserves more scrutiny, not a free pass to continue fighting the so-called "war on terror."
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 Students Lead Struggles for Freedom in Middle East and North Africa
Students have put themselves on the front lines of the struggle in countries in the Middle East and North Africa to rid the region of monarchies and strongmen who have ruled, in some cases, for decades. Inspired by uprisings for freedom in Tunisia and Egypt, young people are taking on repressive regimes in hopes that their countries can be free from tyranny.
Sunday, January 30, 2011 ROTC's Response to WikiLeaks Threatens Academic Freedom
A US Army Cadet Command (USACC) memo prohibiting cadets from using classified information found in WikiLeaks cables for course assignments is creating a struggle over academic freedom at colleges and universities. For students at Stanford University, the memo is adding a new dimension to the campus' deliberations over whether to allow ROTC to return to campus.
At an undergraduate senate meeting on January 25, Samuel Windley, president of the student organization Stanford Says No to War [1], handed a recent op-ed [2] written by University of San Francisco professor Stephen Zunes to Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on the ROTC Ewart Thomas. The op-ed, which referenced the ROTC memo, made Thomas "very concerned."
Friday, January 28, 2011 Al Jazeera's Live Stream of Egypt Uprising
Tune in to see protests unfolding in Egypt. Al Jazeera is broadcasting from Cairo. It is currently night in Egypt at 11 am ET.
Friday, January 28, 2011 Georgia Tech Dorm Room Raided in Connection with WikiLeaks Sympathizer Investigation (1 comments)
Early Thursday morning, agents raided dozens of targets from the UK to the US. Five young men in Britain were arrested as part of the investigation into cyber attacks designed to bring down websites that have cut off funding for WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.
In the US, the FBI executed search warrants on 40 different locations, including a dorm room at Georgia Tech. The FBI isn't saying anything, but the startled Tech students spoke with 11Alive's Center for Investigative Action.
Sunday, January 23, 2011 Military Detains Bloggers Trying to Visit Bradley Manning at Quantico Brig
Jane Hamsher and David House, both with Firedoglake, were trying to visit Bradley Manning at Quantico Brig when the military detained them for nearly two hours. They had the car they drove to the brig impounded by a tow truck. The tow truck driver said not only do they have to pay for cost of towing but also for time they had to wait for Quantico marines to release them from detention.
44 minutes ago · reply
Sunday, January 16, 2011 Remembering Judy Bonds | The Topless America Project
With Video Celebrating the Activism and Life of Judy Bonds |
Julia "Judy" Bonds inspired thousands as a community organizer and activist who dedicated her life to protecting the mountains of Appalachia from the devastating practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. She was the director of Coal River Mountain Watch and winner of the prestigious Goldman
Featuring a Video in Celebration of the Activism and Life of Judy Bonds
Julia "Judy" Bonds inspired thousands as a community organizer and activist who dedicated her life to protecting the mountains of Appalachia from the devastating practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. She was the director of Coal River Mountain Watch and winner of the prestigious Goldman Prize for Excellence in Protecting the Environment. Judy was a mother, a grandmother, and is considered the "Godmother" of the national movement to end MTR.
Friday, January 14, 2011 The Search for BP's Oil
Naomi Klein reports for The Nation on scientists who continue to find BP's oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Her report illuminates BP's attempts to hide the oil while also highlighting how we as a society deal with environmental destruction.
From the report:
"For the scientists aboard the WeatherBird II, the recasting of the Deepwater Horizon spill as a good-news story about a disaster averted has not been easy to watch. Over the past seven months, they, along with a small group of similarly focused oceanographers from other universities, have logged dozens of weeks at sea in cramped research vessels, carefully measuring and monitoring the spill's impact on the delicate and little-understood ecology of the deep ocean."
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 Israel blacklists 163 foreign charities suspected of supporting terrorism
The Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority has located 163 organizations contaminated with funds related to terrorism over the past three years, and issued specific orders prohibiting receiving money from them, Defense Ministry data shows.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 A Recent History of Hate in Arizona
A detailed timeline of the growing violence and hate in Arizona put together by Alto Arizona!.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011 Tears and gas: a call to mobilise
Faced with the reality that they are talking to a government that uses blunt repression to avoid its responsibilities, Israel's Palestinian solidarity activists are now abandoning the failed attempts to be marginally heard in Israel's national discussion and choosing to push for global direct action. (From Al Jazeera English)
Wednesday, December 29, 2010 My Parents Were Executed Under the Unconstitutional Espionage Act
Robert Meeropol explains why people must protect Julian Assange. He explains that the "Espionage Act is a huge danger to our open society; it's been used to send hundreds of dissenters to jail just for voicing their opinions, transforming dissent into treason." Read the article on AlterNet.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010 US refuses cooperation with Poland's CIA "black site' probe
The U.S. Department of Justice has rejected a request from prosecutors in Warsaw for assistance in the investigation into the alleged CIA prisons in Poland, where captives claim they were tortured.
Sunday, December 26, 2010 WikiLeaks: How U.S. tried to stop Spain's torture probe
The case is still open, on the desk of a Spanish magistrate, awaiting a reply from the Obama administration on whether it will pursue a probe of its own.
But the episode, revealed in a raft of WikiLeaks cables, was part of a secret concerted U.S. effort to stop a crusading Spanish judge from investigating a torture complaint against former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and five other senior Bush lawyers.
Thursday, December 23, 2010 A Holiday Message from Ricky Gervais: Why I'm An Atheist
Wow. No God. If mum had lied to me about God, had she also lied to me about Santa? Yes, of course, but who cares? The gifts kept coming. And so did the gifts of my new found atheism. The gifts of truth, science, nature. The real beauty of this world. I learned of evolution - " a theory so simple that only England's greatest genius could have come up with it.
Thursday, December 23, 2010 FBI Expands Probe into Antiwar Activists
From Democracy Now! -- "The FBI's probe into antiwar activists is growing. In September, FBI agents raided the homes and offices of activists in Chicago and Minneapolis. Subpoenas that were withdrawn have been reactivated, and a new subpoena was served to a Palestinian solidarity activist in Chicago. We speak with two of the people targeted and two former FBI agents."
Monday, December 20, 2010 The Government's one-way mirror
One of the hallmarks of an authoritarian government is its fixation on hiding everything it does behind a wall of secrecy while simultaneously monitoring, invading and collecting files on everything its citizenry does. Based on the Francis Bacon aphorism that "knowledge is power," this is the extreme imbalance that renders the ruling class omnipotent and citizens powerless.
Saturday, December 18, 2010 Assange begins mansion arrest, but his 'source' feels the heat
The Independent reports -- "Bradley Manning spent yesterday, his birthday, alone in a tiny, bare prison cell, without a pillow or sheets on his bed, in weak health and wracked with anxiety at the prospect of a prison sentence of 52 years."
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning's detention (1 comments)
From Glenn Greenwald - Details on Private Bradley Manning, who is thought to have leaked the WikiLeaks war logs, cables and "Collateral Murder" video. He has been held for months and experienced solitary confinement usually 23 out of 24 hours of the day. What he has experienced, Greenwald explains, amounts to torture.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 We Support WikiLeaks
FAIR unites journalists, activists, artists, scholars and citizens in support of WikiLeaks. Sign the petition.
Friday, December 10, 2010 WikiLeaks cables: Pfizer 'used dirty tricks to avoid clinical trial payout'
The world's biggest pharmaceutical company hired investigators to unearth evidence of corruption against the Nigerian attorney general in order to persuade him to drop legal action over a controversial drug trial involving children with meningitis, according to a leaked US embassy cable.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010 Ex-Intelligence Officers, Others See Plusses in WikiLeaks Disclosures (5 comments)
Daniel Ellsberg, Frank Grevil, Katharine Gun, David MacMichael, Ray McGovern, Craig Murray, Coleen Rowley and Larry Wilkerson deliver a statement that points out the value of the disclosures that have come as a result of WikiLeaks. Referencing writing from Pravda, these individuals show Americans are faced with a government they should be more willing to challenge.
Thursday, December 2, 2010 Julian Assange: wanted by the Empire, dead or alive
A tougher question is how he will fare at the hands of the US government, which is hopping mad. The US attorney general, Eric Holder, announced on Monday that the Justice Department and Pentagon are conducting "an active, ongoing criminal investigation" into the latest Assange-facilitated leak under Washington's Espionage Act.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010 Interpol Issues "Red Notice' for Arrest of WikiLeaks' Julian Assange (2 comments)
The international police organization Interpol has issued a Red Notice for the arrest of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, in connection with a sex crime investigation in Sweden. A Red Notice is kind of international wanted poster seeking the provisional arrest of a fugitive, with an eye towards extradition to the nation that issued the underlying arrest warrant.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010 Senate Approves Food Safety Bill, S. 510: Will It Really Eliminate Farmers? (2 comments)
Are any of these widespread myths really not myths but in fact truths? Will organic farmers or local farming take a hit because of this legislation, which will likely be signed into law by the Obama Administration?
Thursday, November 25, 2010 Roger Ebert on TSA: Where I draw the line
And now we come around again to the TSA. We have created a new federal agency with uniforms, badges, a hierarchy, and a justification for its existence. We are stuck with it. Americans will put up with almost anything in the name of anti-terrorism. But it turns out we draw the line at having our genitals groped in a public place by strangers. And keep your goddamn hands off our kids.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 Opt Out Day at Airports Will Make Airport Travel More Hectic and Slow?
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the day with the most people traveling to destinations where they will be celebrating the holiday. This year, however, with new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) procedures in place that have angered or frustrated many Americans, airports are warning people travel could be slower and even more hectic than normal because there is a chance people will be protesting the new procedur
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 Body Scanner Producing L-3 Communications Increases Political Gifts, Targets Power Brokers
The political action committee of L-3 Communications -- one of the two contractors behind the full-body scanning machines now used in more than 60 U.S. airports -- has doled out more political cash this election cycle than at any other time, the Center for Responsive Politics has found.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 Report: Body scanner makers doubled lobbying cash over 5 years | Raw Story
Multimillion dollar government contracts don't just happen. Ask the companies with the big government contracts to supply Body-scanning machines to U.S. airports how much more they had to spend on lobbying on the Hill. Not only have they increased their lobbying efforts over the last 5 years, they're doing it with some very familiar names.
Saturday, November 20, 2010 BREAKING: International Arrest Warrant for Wikileaks' Assange
An international arrest warrant via Interpol stemming from an allegation of failing to perform coitus interruptus is extraordinary under any circumstances. The countercharge that the Swedish prosecutors have been influenced by US Government pressure to detain WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in light of WikiLeaks release of thousands of documents detailing US war crimes is, on it's face, more plausible. (RSN)
Thursday, November 18, 2010 Conservatives Delighted as House Democrats Re-Elect Nancy Pelosi as Their Leader
House Democrats held a leadership election today and, in a 150 to 43 internal party vote, re-elected Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to lead their party as the House Minority Leader in the 112th Congress. Pelosi defeated Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), a Blue Dog Democrat, who announced he would be officially challenging Pelosi when he appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" with Joe Scarborough on Monday.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010 Study: Most Workers Have To Wait Longer For Health Insurance Than Congress (4 comments)
Rep.-elect (and physician) Andy Harris (R-MD) stood up at an orientation of newly elected members, flabbergasted that he'd have to wait a month for his government-provided private health insurance to kick in.
Monday, November 15, 2010 TSA Violates Civil Liberties, Poses Health Risks to Passengers With Body Scanners
Terrorism is slowly becoming an unacceptable excuse for violating one's civil liberties and putting people's health at risk. Americans are beginning to understand security can happen without invasive procedures. And, so long as incidents (like the one depicted in the video below) continue to happen, Americans will continue to rise up against TSA.
Thursday, November 11, 2010 Republican Plan for Climate Change: "God Will Save Us" (1 comments)
Republican members of the House of Representatives will be taking a larger role in setting priorities for environmental legislation that might address the growing impact of global warming. The troubling aspect of this increase in power is the members set to take on larger leadership roles do not believe in the science of global warming.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 What is Waterboarding? It's a War Crime, Former President Bush
Bush's answer of "damn right" to Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, when he asked if he had permission to use waterboarding on Mohammed, is just another bitter indication that Bush did not think his Administration needed to adhere to international law.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 GOP Agenda to Include Commitment to Defeating Obama in 2012
A tidal wave midterm election that saw Republicans win sixty House seats, six Senate seats and seven governorships has produced a level of uncertainty for both parties. While the Americans wait to see what the Democratic Party's move to regroup and regain respect from the public, the GOP is not wasting any time in developing plans for its agenda.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 Will There Be Austerity or More Stimulus for US Economy After 2010 Election?
As the final week of the 2010 Midterm election unfolds, jobs and the economy continue to be the top issue for political candidates to talk about with potential supporters or voters. What to do to ensure economic stability and continue economic growth and recovery after the election will likely be a cause for increased polarization after the election over whether to pass a second stimulus or not.
Sunday, October 24, 2010 U.S. Seeks Wider CIA Role - WSJ.com
The U.S. is pushing to expand a secret CIA effort to help Pakistan target militants in their havens near the Afghan border, according to senior officials, as the White House seeks new ways to prod Islamabad into more aggressive action against groups allied with al Qaeda,
Saturday, October 16, 2010 US backs Afghan reconciliation bid
Defence secretary says US will do "whatever it takes" to support Hamid Karzai's attempt to win over Taliban elements.
Saturday, October 16, 2010 'US leaders destroying the dollar'
The leaders of the United States are destroying the dollar but hypocritically accusing China of currency manipulation, a US accounting expert says.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 Dark days ahead for accountability, freedom
COMMENTARY: The U.S. Supreme Court is deciding whether a venomously anti-gay pastor can be made to pay $5 million for leading a rally denouncing homosexuality outside the funeral of a Marine killed in Iraq. CNN anchor Rick Sanchez is summarily fired after offering some bitter... (Edward Wasserman/The Miami Herald)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 They hate us for our occupations (1 comments)
In 2004, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld commissioned a task force to study what causes Terrorism, and it concluded that "Muslims do not 'hate our freedom,' but rather, they hate our policies": specifically, "American direct intervention in the Muslim world" through our "one sided support in favor of Israel"; support for Islamic tyrannies in places like Egypt and Saudi Arabia; and, most of all... (Glenn Greenwald on Salon)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 Security Council gets new members
India, South Africa and Germany have all won two-year terms that will put them on the UN's Security Council at the same time as Brazil and Nigeria, important players in Latin America and Africa.
The three nations from Asia, Africa and Europe will give next year's council a unique membership of global powers and important emerging countries that have been campaigning for a revamp of the UN's most powerful body.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 US accused of Yemen proxy detention (1 comments)
Lawyers for US citizen held in Yemen say that American agents arranged his arrest and interrogated him for weeks. (Al Jazeera English)
Monday, October 11, 2010 A Long History of America's Dark Side (2 comments)
In the following article " cobbled together from previous stories published at Consortiumnews.com " Peter Dale Scott and Robert Parry examine the long history of these acts of brutality, a record that suggests they are neither a "mistake" nor an "aberration" but rather conscious counterinsurgency doctrine on the "dark side."
Monday, October 11, 2010 Solomon Burke: a life in clips (1 comments)
From a 1962 recording of Cry To Me, via a Mick Jagger duet, to a 2003 version of Everybody Needs Somebody to Love
Monday, October 11, 2010 US economy sheds more jobs
The US economy shed 95,000 jobs in September despite predictions that overall payrolls would remain unchanged, the labour department has said.
Government payrolls fell by a larger than expected 159,000 while private-sector employment, a better gauge of the labour market health, increased by 64,000, the department reported on Friday.
Monday, October 11, 2010 In Sept., 58,000 US teachers lost jobs (8 comments)
The US government has laid off nearly 58,000 teachers and education workers in September despite a USD 26 billion federal aid package passed by Congress.
Monday, October 11, 2010 Contract security 'funding Taliban'
A US senate inquiry has blasted the Pentagon's use of private security companies in Afghanistan, concluding that the contractors hire local recruits linked to "warlords and thugs", who in turn, funnel that money back to the Taliban.
Monday, October 11, 2010 Gitmo Judge report altered after release
Controversy surrounds the case of Guantanamo detainee Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman, after an original judicial opinion for his release changed upon the publication of the decision.
Thursday, September 30, 2010 A Call to All Sectors of Our Movements for Justice and Peace to Mobilize for October 2
Majority Agenda Project | Our country is at a crossroads. Big oil, big banks, big pharmaceuticals, the military-industrial complex and big money of all types have a stranglehold on our government and our society. Their corporate agenda has led us into an unparalleled social crisis marked by economic distress, environmental danger, unsustainable military spending and endless war.
Thursday, September 30, 2010 UN: Israel Executed Flotilla Activists (1 comments)
Gareth Porter talks to the Real News | The report of the fact-finding mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla released last week shows conclusively, for the first time, that US citizen Furkan Dogan and five Turkish citizens were murdered execution-style by Israeli commandos.
Saturday, September 25, 2010 YouTube - Minneapolis Peace Activists Condemn FBI Raids (1 comments)
UpTake Video | Minneapolis Peace Activists including Jessica Sundin, Meredith Aby and Mick Kelly held a press conference at 4 p.m. yesterday outside Sundin's Park Avenue home in Minneapolis, which was raided at 7 a.m. by the FBI. The activists, who likely drew the FBI's attention for their solidarity work in Palestine and Columbia, were surrounded by dozens of supporters and fellow peace demonstrators...
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 State Secrecy and Official Criminality
--By Scott Horton (Harper's Magazine)
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals split down the middle in finding (PDF) that the Justice Department was entitled to halt a civil lawsuit between private parties because of the threat that the suit would expose state secrets. By the margin of a single vote, it reversed the decision of a panel of the same court (PDF) holding that the doctrine...
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 Inside Iraq's torture dungeons
Feature - Al Jazeera English | Nine months later, Ramze is still languishing in legal limbo in a Baghdad prison. His story lays bare the horrific abuses and lack of legal process that characterise post-Saddam Iraq's detention system, which human rights groups say has scarcely improved since the darkest days of the dictator's rule.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 Hey Breitbart, look to your left (1 comments)
From Media Matters for America: During a speech at FreedomWorks' September 12 rally on the National Mall, Andrew Breitbart berated the media for portraying tea party ralliers as "racist, sexist, homophobe," and "Islamophobe," but the crowd he addressed was full of inflammatory signs.
Friday, September 3, 2010 Islam is Not the Problem. Try Hopelessness, Fundamentalism (2 comments)
Open Salon Diary by Steve Klingaman -
... no religion is inherently fundamentalist. Yet nearly all religions support fundamentalist sects. Thus, to say Islam is inherently radical is nonsense.
Thursday, September 2, 2010 CEO pay: their profit, your loss
Pratap Chatterjee | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk | A new report shows the most highly paid executives are those who've laid off most workers: a bitter irony before Labour Day
Thursday, September 2, 2010 Put up or shut up (2 comments)
Roger Ebert's Journal - The time is here for responsible Americans to put up or shut up. I refer specifically to those who have credibility among the guileless and credulous citizens who have been infected with notions so carefully nurtured. We cannot afford to allow the next election to proceed under a cloud of falsehood and delusion.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Global markets fall as investors are braced for poor US economic results
(The Guardian) Financial markets around the globe fell today as investors faced a crucial week of data on the US economy.
The prospect of poor employment figures on Friday and a snapshot of the state of manufacturing on Wednesday has unnerved markets which fear the world's biggest economy could be heading for a double-dip recession.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 In the face of Islamophobia
(Al Jazeera English) Last Monday, August 23rd, artist Glen E Friedman fueled by frustration hung 9 banners out of an apartment window in downtown Manhattan's Liberty Street. The message being relayed was one of unequivocal religious tolerance. Further still, the apartment currently owned by hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, gazes directly down onto the 'Ground Zero' site.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010 'Bushehr plant nullified US threats'
An Iranian lawmaker says the Bushehr power plant's imminent start-up proved the "shallowness" of the United States and Israel's military threats.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010 Third World children, 'lab rats' for US (1 comments)
Children of third world countries and nations in transition have become 'laboratory rats' for the US' clinical tests for new drugs, an Indian newspaper says.
Sunday, August 22, 2010 Looking for an American standard
Does the American standard consist of freedom of religion, that fundamental right to which we thought ourselves entitled in this nation? Or has the new American standard become the method by which to deny American Muslims their rights?
Saturday, August 21, 2010 Obama Admin Claims End to Combat Operations in Iraq, But Iraqis See Same War Under a Different Name (6 comments)
The Obama administration says the last combat brigades have left Iraq. Is this the end of the Iraq war or just a rebranding of the US occupation? More than 50,000 troops remain in Iraq as well as 4,500 special operations forces and tens of thousands of private contractors. The US embassy in Baghdad is the largest in the world--the size of eighty football fields... (Democracy Now!)
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 The Mosque and the Democrats
Think the GOP was shameless on the "Ground Zero" mosque? The Democrats, beginning with Obama, have been utter cowards. Peter Beinart on The Daily Beast
Saturday, August 7, 2010 Should Videotaping the Police Really Be a Crime? - TIME (7 comments)
Anthony Graber, a Maryland Air National Guard staff sergeant, faces up to 16 years in prison. His crime? He videotaped his March encounter with a state trooper who pulled him over for speeding on a motorcycle. Then Graber put the video -- which could put the officer in a bad light -- up on YouTube. (TIME Magazine)
Friday, August 6, 2010 Google-Verizon Deal: The End of The Internet as We Know It-- : ICH - Information Clearing House
For years, Internet advocates have warned of the doomsday scenario that will play out on Monday: Google and Verizon will announce a deal that the New York Times reports "could allow Verizon to speed some online content to Internet users more quickly if the content's creators are willing to pay for the privilege." The deal marks the beginning of the end of the Internet as you know it. Since its beginnings, the Net was...
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 Oil spill damages legislation thwarted in Senate by Democrats (1 comments)
Hopes that the worst oil spill in history would bring sweeping reform to America's offshore oil industry were thwarted after Democrats in Senate had to put proposed legislation on hold.
Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, said he could not find support for the oil spill measures, which would have got rid of a $75m (£47m) cap on damages companies like BP would have to pay in the event of a spill.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 Mosque near Ground Zero site gets go-ahead
Plans to build an Islamic cultural centre in lower Manhattan, near the site of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre, today received approval for the first step in its construction process.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission of New York City voted unanimously to allow demolition of the derelict building currently standing on the site in Park Place.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 Crazy Muslim conspiracy theories
Politico's Laura Rozen points to this Times of India article, recounting how Rashad Hussain, the Obama administration's envoy to the Muslim world, was angered and "shocked" yesterday when -- as part of a tour of India to promote better relations with Muslims -- "the head of a city-based Muslim institution [Akhtar Hasan Rizvi] slammed the US' policies, not just in the Middle East, but towards Muslims...(Glenn Greenwald)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 For-Profit Colleges Encouraged Fraud And Used Deceptive Marketing, Watchdog Says
We've been following allegations of enrollment abuses [1] and bogus marketing schemes [2] at for-profit schools for some time now, and a report released by the Government Accountability Office this week further highlights [3] some of the questionable recruiting tactics of several for-profit colleges across the country.(ProPublica)
Sunday, August 1, 2010 Public Letter to The Washington Post Editorial Board* - Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the U.S. (1 comments)
One more time, the Post's editorial page dogmatically editorializes against the Venezuelan government, asserting that a collection of Google maps and a bunch of outdated pictures taken out of context " presented by the Álvaro Uribe's government in a media show -- are the most recent "proof" about Venezuela's support for "terrorist" groups.
Sunday, August 1, 2010 The sound of bubbles bursting: Student gains on state test vanished into thin air
Every year for the past four years, the New York State Education Department has announced dramatic test score gains. And every year, it turns out they were misrepresenting reality. This year, New Yorkers got an accurate accounting of student performance, and it was sobering.
Sunday, August 1, 2010 Cluster bomb ban comes into force
A worldwide treaty banning the use of cluster bombs has come into force to become binding international law in countries that have signed and ratified it.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions bans the production, use, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster weapons after it was adopted at a conference in Ireland in 2008.
Saturday, July 31, 2010 The "Liberal" Media Strikes Back? Spotlighting the Right's Incompetence Behind the "JournoList" Non-Scandal
By Anthony DiMaggio | Tucker Carlson has gotten his panties in a bunch over the non-existent "JournoList scandal," which allegedly proves the media's liberal bias once and for all. The story has been making its way through right wing radio, television, and Internet this week, as conspiracy theories abound regarding the "liberal media's" plot to destroy the Republican Party and conservative America...
Saturday, July 31, 2010 Curbing Your Enthusiasm by Paul Krugman
Why does the Obama administration keep looking for love in all the wrong places? Why does it go out of its way to alienate its friends, while wooing people who will never waver in their hatred?
Saturday, July 31, 2010 Wikileaks interview: 'We are changing the game' - The Local
This week, the shadowy organisation Wikileaks caused a sensation " and a scandal " by publishing 92,000 classified US documents on the Afghanistan war. Berliner Daniel Schmitt is one of just two public faces to this mysterious group of hackers. He spoke to The Local.
Saturday, July 31, 2010 From globalisation to migration by Mark Levine
Of the innumerable tragedies caused by the ongoing leak in the Gulf of Mexico, few are as poignant as the plight of Vietnamese fishermen who plied the waters off Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The fishermen, who today make upwards of half the commercial fishermen in these states, first emigrated to the US as a result of the Vietnam War in the mid-1970s, and today - along with fellow Southeast Asians...
Saturday, July 31, 2010 Iraqis to sue US firm at Abu Ghraib
A US court has given the green light to 72 Iraqis to proceed with a lawsuit against a private contractor accused of complicity in the alleged abuse of detainees at the US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Saturday, July 31, 2010 Daniel Ellsberg's WikiLeaks Wish List
...Outlook asked Ellsberg for his wish list of documents to be leaked, declassified or otherwise made public, documents that could fundamentally alter public understanding of key national security issues and foreign policy debates. Below, he outlines his selections and calls for congressional investigations (Washington Post)...
Monday, July 26, 2010 WikiLeaks May Have Just Changed the Media, Too - Science and Tech - The Atlantic (1 comments)
While the impact of the documents and newspaper reportage on the war in Afghanistan will take a while to suss out, the publication of these documents will be seen as a milestone in the new news ecosystem. Unlike the Pentagon Papers situation, we're "watching the traces of a major story unfold in real time," said C.W. Anderson, who studies media culture at CUNY.
Monday, July 26, 2010 The WikiLeaks Afghanistan leak by Glenn Greenwald (1 comments)
The White House has swiftly vowed to continue the war and predictably condemned WikiLeaks rather harshly. It will be most interesting to see how many Democrats -- who claim to find Daniel Ellsberg heroic and the Pentagon Papers leak to be unambiguously justified -- follow the White House's lead in that regard...
Monday, July 26, 2010 Wikileaks plans to make the Web a leakier place - Computerworld (1 comments)
Wikileaks.org, the online clearinghouse for leaked documents, is working on a plan to make the Web leakier by enabling newspapers, human rights organizations, criminal investigators and others to embed an "upload a disclosure to me via Wikileaks" form onto their Web sites.
Monday, July 26, 2010 Saturday News Hangover Radio Show - July 24th
A weekly radio show featuring host Chris Novembrino, senior news analyst Sean Freeder and OpEdNews' own Kevin Gosztola. This week we discuss Shirley Sherrod, Andrew Breitbart, the conservative media echo chamber, Democratic Party's and the Obama Administration's response to the Tea Party, the New Black Panther Party story, Elizabeth Warren and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, the Ground Zero Mosque and more.
Thursday, July 22, 2010 State Dept. planning to field a small army in Iraq (3 comments)
Can diplomats field their own army? The State Department is laying plans to do precisely that in Iraq, in an unprecedented experiment that U.S. officials and some nervous lawmakers say could be risky. (McClatchyDc)
Thursday, July 22, 2010 Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks
(TED Video) - The controversial website WikiLeaks collects and posts highly classified documents and video. Founder Julian Assange, who's reportedly being sought for questioning by US authorities, talks to TED's Chris Anderson about how the site operates, what it has accomplished -- and what drives him. The interview includes graphic footage of a recent US airstrike in Baghdad.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 How Obama and the Dems Can Get Us Out of the Huge Economic Hole We're in by Robert L. Borosage (1 comments)
Voters are in a surly temper. The economy stinks. Jobs are scarce. Wages are under pressure. One in 4 homes with mortgages is underwater. Retirement savings have been butchered; pensions are at risk. Bailed out bankers are paying themselves record bonuses. The oil keeps fouling the Gulf. And the jobs aren't coming back. It is ugly out here.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 Oil spill coverage shifting into new phase
The cap that has stopped oil from gushing uncontrollably into the Gulf of Mexico inevitably means that news cameras will begin drifting away from the disaster scene -- a relief to some, a fear to others.
The story has dominated broadcast evening newscasts, with CBS' Katie Couric, ABC's Diane Sawyer and NBC's Brian Williams making nine separate trips to the stricken scene since Williams' first visit... (Associated Press)
