The US Supreme Court: Vanguard of Friendly American Fascism?
The US Supreme Court has ignominiously promoted economic oppression against the poor, favoring inhuman and soulless corporate entities in a multitude of decisions that benefited their interests instead of what was best for humanity.
by Gary G. Kohls, M.D. | 02.04.10
The New War Against MoneyThe question is: who rules the world—democratically elected governments or corrupt governments in unison with banks and corporations? People who lose their jobs and, in turn, lose their homes and basically their lives, do not experience freedom, they experience the ruthless logic of the system. The financial system.
by Stefan Thiesen, Ph.D. | 02.04.10
David Brooks Goes After Greedy Geezers
"Conservatives" talk about the urgent need to cut Medicare & Social Security benefits and costs because they won’t risk taking on excessive spending for health care and defense industry goods and services, since that would risk losing large corporate campaign donations.
by James Ridgeway | 02.04.10
Howard Zinn and the State of the Union
Barack Obama is possibly the only public speaker capable of telling us that he's going to violate us in the name of saving us and we all choke up with gratitude.
by Tom H. Hastings | 02.04.10
Budgets, War and Blind Ambition: The Limited Minds of the American Elite
Our elites cannot conceive of an end to empire even while knowing that ending imperial wars and dismantling of America's global military empire would save trillions of dollars in coming years, allowing for spending on needed domestic initiatives including deep tax cuts.
by Chris Floyd | 02.02.10
Obama's Budget Ducks Pentagon Cuts
By exempting the Pentagon from a "freeze," President Obama tries to shield Democrats from GOP attacks.
by Ivan Eland | 02.02.10
Remembering Howard Zinn (1922 - 2010)
Zinn was a people's historian. His book pays homage to the ones history forgot and ignore. His life's work was dedicated to inspiring new generations to work for the society he envisioned - moral, righteous, free, just, egalitarian, at peace.
by Stephen Lendman | 02.01.10
Obama's Outreach to Americans: Empty Rhetoric, Business As Usual
Smooth rhetoric belies Obama's failed agenda, one he'll continue without progressive change under new leadership that cares, what neither party offers nor ever will with priorities leaving millions out of luck and on their own.
by Stephen Lendman | 01.29.10
American History 101: We Are Devo
The presidential history of Richard M. Nixon paints a striking, even shocking contrast to the prevailing political weather today. It shows, with stark power, how very far the center of political gravity has shifted in the past 36 years.
by Chris Floyd | 01.29.10
Freeze Frame: Flopsweat and Farce in the Hollow Halls of Power
It has become clear that Obama, like Clinton before him, had no real political program to enact; he was happy to say whatever it took to get enough votes to put him into office, while also assuring the real brokers of national power -- Big Money, Big War -- that he was a "safe pair of hands."
by Chris Floyd | 01.27.10
S.C. Republican’s Plan: Starve the Poor So They’ll Stop “Breeding”
Lt. Governor, Andre Bauer: If you feed, them, they’ll just come back for more–and worse still, they’ll multiply.
by James Ridgeway | 01.25.10
Granny D on Campaign Finance Reform
"Let us say, through the enactment of new laws, that a politician can no longer take any action...if the action...would cause special gain to a major donor of that official’s campaign."
by James Ridgeway | 01.25.10
It's Time for Kucinich, Conyers, Feingold and Other `Progressives' in Congress to Take a Stand
It's time for the Progressive Caucus in Congress to put up or shut up: Quit the party! You ain't doing no good for nobody serving in Congress as a Democrat!
by Dave Lindorff | 01.23.10
Terrorism Defined: Bill Clinton Lights Our Way to Truth
Killing and robbery and coercion by people who do have state authority is, obviously, something else altogether: humanitarian intervention, perhaps, or liberation...
by Chris Floyd | 01.21.10
Massachusetts' Message of Stupid
Whatever Massachusetts thought it was saying with Scott Brown's Senate election, it was a message of stupid.
by Robert Parry | 01.21.10
Political Earthquake Rocks Massachusetts
After one year in office with a Democrat-controlled Congress, voters express disillusion, frustration, and anger over promises made, then broken, and a realization that once again they were betrayed.
by Stephen Lendman | 01.21.10
How Obama Lost His Way
In his first year, President Obama comforted a shaken Establishment but neglected the hard-hit public.
by Robert Parry | 01.21.10
Critical Mass: Dem Agenda Opens Right-Wing Doors
If you want more Scott Browns in power, then by all means, keep pushing that Democratic agenda. You'll soon have Scott Browns and Sarah Palins running out of your ears.
by Chris Floyd | 01.20.10
Obama Cuts Deal that Will Reduce Social Security, Medicare and all Entitlements
Deal with "Democrat leaders" represents a capitulation to conservatives in both parties, and would leave Democratic liberals accepting unconditional surrender not only on health care, but on the most basic of all New Deal programs.
by James Ridgeway | 01.20.10
Outsourcing War: The Rise of Private Military ContractorsIt's a tall order to stop PMCs given how entrenched they are. A coalition of groups opposed to Blackwater called on Congress to investigate why criminal charges against the company were dismissed on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct. They also want to "pull the funding on war profiteers like Blackwater (and) stop them for good."
by Stephen Lendman | 01.19.10
Lessons from America's Lost Decade
For the first time since the Great Depression, a decade -- George W. Bush's -- saw zero job growth.
by Robert Parry | 01.15.10
Haiti and America's Historic Debt
As Haiti suffers another natural disaster, few Americans know their historic debt to the Caribbean nation.
by Robert Parry | 01.13.10
Do Republicans Deserve a Reward?
Republican prospects are surging, even in Massachusetts where a special election could give the GOP a reward.
by Robert Parry | 01.12.10
Hard Lessons from Decades Past
As the world enters a dangerous new decade, I reflect on what the previous three decades have wrought.
by Robert Parry | 01.10.10
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The Silence and the Shield: Depraved Indifference to the Atrocities of Power
A story of three captives – all of them innocent men, cleared for later release – who were almost certainly murdered in a secret site in the American concentration camp in 2006, apparently for protesting prison conditions.
by Chris Floyd | 01.25.10
Dark as a Dungeon: A Brutal System Stripped Bare
I urge you to read Scott Horton's story in full. Hold it in your mind the next time some sanctimonious official begins extolling the exceptional virtues of our shining city on the hill.
by Chris Floyd | 01.19.10
The Crisis is Not OverThe Second Wave The threats to the U.S. economy are extreme. Yet, neither the Obama administration, the Republican opposition, economists, Wall Street, nor the media show any awareness. Instead, the public is provided with spin about recovery and with higher spending on pointless wars that are hastening America’s economic and financial ruin.
by Paul Craig Roberts | 02.04.10
States Face Worsening Recession with Health Care Funds on the Chopping Block
The crimp in funds is forcing cutbacks in basic social services like health care in certain states, reported here.
by James Ridgeway | 02.03.10
Rule by the RichDon't Look to Washington for Help The enormous damage done to the U.S. economy by jobs offshoring, work visas, and financial deregulation cannot be offset by government stimulus plans, which expand the debt burdens that are crushing Americans.
by Paul Craig Roberts | 02.02.10
Thinking About Definitives
My country and my state need major fixing, but I have yet to see any viable/workable plan(s) proposed by any of our apparent statewide candidates.
by Fred Cederholm | 02.01.10
The Battle of the Titans: JPMorgan vs. Goldman SachsOr Why the Market Was Down for 7 Days in a Row Goldman, which has the power to manipulate markets with its high-speed program trades, may be engaging in a Mexican standoff [with Obama and Volker]. The veiled threat is, “Back off on the banking reforms, or stand by and watch us continue to crash your markets.”
by Ellen Hodgson Brown, J.D. | 01.29.10
State of the Union: Obama’s “Automatic IRA” Plan Could Make Bush’s Wildest Dreams Come True
We could see Americans’ Social Security cut by a small percentage (remembering that raising the retirement age is, effectively, a cut), while simultaneously, a small percentage of their pay is deducted and invested in the private sector. And suddenly–presto–George W. Bush’s wildest dreams have come true.
by James Ridgeway | 01.27.10
Obama, Read Your Reagan on Capital Gains Taxation
Tax breaks on Wall Street gains, with two small exceptions, fail three fiscal policy tests. They serve no purpose. They’re a limitless drain on the Treasury. And they’re inequitable: they favor wealth, not work.
by Gerald E. Scorse | 01.26.10
Funding Public Health Care with a Publicly-Owned Bank: How Canada Did It
Along with other progressive countries, Canada funded infrastructure and social programs using interest-free credit issued by its own central bank.
by Ellen Hodgson Brown, J.D. | 01.24.10
Thinking About Accelerants
What will fund the Mexican “War on Drugs” when oil revenues dry up? Will border violence increase? Will Mexican domestic “stability” cease? Will illegal emigration into the US accelerate?
by Fred Cederholm | 01.18.10
The Recession Is Over, the Depression Just Beginning
Looking ahead in 2010, the state of the nation for most people is dire and worsening, and 2011 looks no better. City mayors are on the front lines dealing with it. So are governors at their state levels. But increasingly they're all getting less help from Washington.
by Stephen Lendman | 01.11.10
Thinking About Gadgets
The quality of our lives does not seem to be a function of the love and dedication of our friends, neighbors, families, and pets... that is, if you swallowed the hype of the most recent edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas.
by Fred Cederholm | 01.11.10
Err-America
Air America had come into a market saturated by right-wing talk radio—and then committed suicide by incompetence.
by Walter Brasch | 02.04.10
The Right Gets Itself 'Wired'
For years, the Right's media infrastructure had only one weak spot, the Internet, but now that is changing.
by Robert Parry | 02.03.10
Cuba is Missing...From US Reports on the International Response to Haiti's Earthquake
...left unmentioned is the reality that Cuba already had over 400 doctors posted to Haiti to help with the day-to-day health needs of this poorest nation in the Americas, and that those doctors were the first to respond to the disaster.
by Dave Lindorff | 01.15.10
WaPo Ombud Responds on Fiscal Times
Alexander denies article was 'propaganda' but acknowledges flaws Responding to complaints by FAIR activists and others (FAIR Action Alert, 1/6/10), Washington Post ombud Andy Alexander (1/10/10) denied that a Post article (12/31/09) underwritten by an anti-Social Security crusader constituted "propaganda," but he acknowledged that the piece contained serious flaws.
SOURCE: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) | 01.13.10
Goodbye Moyers, Hello Bush Institute?Tell PBS: Don't abandon hard-hitting journalism With Now and the Moyers Journal going off the air, and at least one new public television offering produced by the Bush Institute, what will PBS offer viewers in the way of new, hard-hitting programming?
SOURCE: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) | 01.12.10
Bob Somerby's Daily Howler
Somerby is undoubtedly America's best mainstream media critic, holding both "conservatives" and "liberals" to account for unprofessional journalism. Usually updated by noon.
by Bob Somerby | TIMELESS
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Human Rights Abuses in Israel and Occupied Palestine
"[A] disturbing (government-sponsored) trend... has (gained) currency in Israel over the past year - both in public discourse and sometimes in practice - to make human rights conditional: on fulfilling some obligation, having financial means, or belonging (or not belonging) to certain groups."
by Stephen Lendman | 02.05.10
Child Slavery in Haiti
Child slavery is now well-planned assembly-line practice. One such operation is the "Haitian Orphan Rescue Mission," formed by Idaho-based groups, planned a Dominican Republic orphanage for up to 200 children, earmarked for US adoptions, conversion to Evangelical Christianity, and apparent extremist indoctrination.
by Stephen Lendman | 02.03.10
Blood is His Argument: Tony Blair's Gentle Cuddling at Iraq "Inquiry"
The Chilcot panel was never going to bring any powerful miscreant to accountability. It was set up -- like the American 9/11 Commission -- to siphon off festering anger and suspicion with a show of official concern.
by Chris Floyd | 01.30.10
Obama Ignores Key Afghan Warning
In agreeing to escalate the Afghan War, President Obama rebuffed dire warnings from the U.S. Ambassador.
by Ray McGovern | 01.28.10
Haiti's Earthquake: Natural or Engineered
"An unconfirmed report by the Russian Northern Fleets says the Haiti earthquake was caused by a flawed US Navy 'earthquake weapons' test...."
by Stephen Lendman | 01.27.10
Focus on Israel: Harvesting Haitian OrgansDisdain for International Law is Breathtaking Israeli organ harvesting is a longstanding practice, well known by "most if not all the Israeli medical establishment...." In Haiti, publicity about their providing humanitarian aid is cover for this illicit operation, another crime against humanity.
by Stephen Lendman | 01.26.10
Helping Haiti’s Elders
Old people tend to suffer disproportionately during disasters, and are less capable of fending for themselves in the aftermath. I suspect they also tend to be disproportionately overlooked by even the most well-meaning relief efforts.
by James Ridgeway | 01.26.10
Focus on Haiti: Washington's Militarized TakeoverTop Priority is Command & Control, Hindering Desperately Needed Humanitarian Aid US troops control Port-au-Prince's airport and port facilities, blocking and slowing aid, including relief flights from NGOs, France, Brazil, Italy and other countries, diverting them to the neighboring Dominican Republic, hours from Port-au-Prince on bad roads.
by Stephen Lendman | 01.25.10
The Lessons of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Just as civil society-led boycotts ended South African apartheid, so can they end decades of Israeli crimes of war and against humanity against Occupied Palestine. The task is to educate and inform to build global outrage to critical mass enough for change.
by Stephen Lendman | 01.22.10
Disaster Capitalism Headed to Haiti
Above all, Haiti needs democratic governance freed from US control, military occupation, and the kind of oppression it's endured for centuries so its people can breathe free.
by Stephen Lendman | 01.18.10
U.S. Policy Helped Keep Haiti in Chaos
For the most part, Europe and the United States have ignored Haiti as it grew poorer and poorer. When I was there you could find the children just outside Cite Soleil, living in the garbage dump, waiting for the U.S. army trucks to dump the scraps left from the meals of American soldiers.
by James Ridgeway | 01.15.10
The Big One Devastates Haiti
The last thing Haitians needed was the calamitous earthquake, devastating the capital, possibly killing hundreds of thousands, injuring many more, and disrupting the lives of millions of people already overwhelmed by other crushing hardships.
by Stephen Lendman | 01.15.10
Israeli Democracy or Hypocrisy
The conclusion is clear. Arabs never had rights in Israel, but increasingly, social benefits, human rights, and essential ones are denied Jews in a society no longer caring. The result is a nation looking more like America, which is more and more like a banana republic.
by Stephen Lendman | 01.14.10
Help Haiti: The Unforgiven Country Cries Out
Yes, there will now be a great outpouring of immediate aid. And of course, this is laudable. But unless there is a sea-change in American policy to end the curse on Haiti then this flurry of caring and attention will soon give way again, as it has always done, to callous disregard, brutal repression and inhumane exploitation.
by Chris Floyd | 01.14.10
Israeli Prohibitions Against Free Expression and "Enemy Alien" Contacts
Wherever peaceful protests occurred, Israeli authorities reacted harshly with violence and arrests to keep nonviolent resistance from spreading.
by Stephen Lendman | 01.13.10
Red Dusk: Vision and Deceit at Empire's End
Imperialists only true goal is self-perpetuation. Alternative visions to the grim self-perpetuations of deeply entrenched massive power systems do exist. We must of course deal with the world as we find it; but reality is not destiny. We do not have to accept that the world remains as we find it, that it cannot change, that no alternative is possible.
by Chris Floyd | 01.13.10
Mondo Hondo: Obama Goes Traditional in Latin America
Whenever "partnerships" exploiting sweetheart deals for U.S. corporate and financial elites are to Washington's liking, the Latin American country in question is considered a "good neighbor" – however heinous it might be to its own people.
by Chris Floyd | 01.10.10
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