The Child Care Crisis by Ruth Rosen
"What kind of society have we become? Before members of Congress departed for recess, they gave President George W. Bush—hardly known for his wisdom or compassion—the right to define what constitutes torture and to suspend the constitutional right of habeas corpus. But our elected representatives couldn’t find time to pass the Labor, Health and Human Service appropriations bill which, among things, funds child care."
The Care Crisis by Ruth Rosen
"A baby is born. A child develops a high fever. A spouse breaks a leg. A parent suffers a stroke. These are the events that throw a working woman's delicate balance between work and family into chaos."
What The Daycare Crisis and the Housing Meltdown Have in Common
"Many would argue that figuring out the logistics and cost of child care is up to individual families; if that burden falls harder on women and people lower down the income pyramid, so be it. This notion—that American individualism is incompatible with shared responsibility—is a shopworn talking point of the Chamber of Commerce set. We confront a related fallacy when it comes to the economic crisis. It has been presented as if the problem were one of homeowners too stupid to live within their means, when in fact, in the absence of sensible regulation, financial institutions chose not to live within theirs. Yes, maybe we were all kidding ourselves when we fell for the home-equity sales pitches; surely we were anxious for economic security at a time of vaporizing pensions and disappearing jobs. But let's not forget that the financiers who sold us this fantasy were taking out the equivalent of gargantuan home-equity loans—only without even an overleveraged house to back them up. Talk about irresponsible borrowing."
31 July 2008
Unequal America
Elizabeth Gudrais reports for Harvard Magazine: "When Majid Ezzati thinks about declining life expectancy, he says, 'I think of an epidemic like HIV, or I think of the collapse of a social system, like in the former Soviet Union.' But such a decline is happening right now in some parts of the United States. Between 1983 and 1999, men's life expectancy decreased in more than 50 U.S. counties, according to a recent study by Ezzati, associate professor of international health at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), and colleagues.... The United States no longer boasts anywhere near the world's longest life expectancy. It doesn't even make the top 40. In this and many other ways, the richest nation on earth is not the healthiest. Ezzati's finding is unsettling on its face, but scholars find further cause for concern in the pattern of health disparities. Poor health is not distributed evenly across the population, but concentrated among the disadvantaged."
For the complete story, click here.
US Headed for "Heightened Alert" Stage
Pierre Thomas reports for ABC News: "Government officials have been quietly stepping up counterterror efforts out of a growing concern that al Qaeda or similar organizations might try to capitalize on the spate of extremely high-profile events in the coming months, sources tell ABC News. Security experts point to next month's Olympics as evidence that high-profile events attract threats of terrorism, like the one issued this past weekend by a Chinese Muslim minority group that warned of its intent to attack the Games. Anti-terror officials in the U.S. cite this summer and fall's lineup of two major political parties' conventions, November's general election and months of transition into a new presidential administration as cause for heightened awareness and action. This is what the Department of Homeland Security is quietly declaring a Period of Heightened Alert, or POHA, a time frame when terrorists may have more incentive to attack."
For complete story, click here.
The Military-Industrial Complex: It's Much Later Than You Think
For TomDispatch.com, Chalmers Johnson writes: "Most Americans have a rough idea what the term 'military-industrial complex' means when they come across it in a newspaper or hear a politician mention it. President Dwight D. Eisenhower introduced the idea to the public in his farewell address of January 17, 1961. 'Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime,' he said, 'or indeed by the fighting men of World War II and Korea ... We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions ... We must not fail to comprehend its grave implications ... We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.' Although Eisenhower's reference to the military-industrial complex is, by now, well-known, his warning against its 'unwarranted influence' has, I believe, largely been ignored."
For complete commentary, click here.
W-Fi Internet Radios will Bring World into Your Home.
Peter Svensson of the Associated Press writes: "What are you going to listen to? Norway's 24-hour folk music channel? The public hearings of the California Integrated Waste Management Board? Radio Banadir from Somalia? It's a big world out there, and Internet radios can bring it home."
For complete story, click here.
A Vote for Net Neutrality
Chellie Pingree writes for the Huffington Post: "It's easy for those of us intimately familiar with Net Neutrality to forget that this isn't even on the radar screen for much of the public. But it should be. Even with the FCC vote to sanction Comcast, we still need to make Net Neutrality the law."Digital-Music Legislation Would Take Away Consumer Rights
Public Knowledge writes: "Legislation considered today by the Senate Judiciary Committee would nullify rights consumers already have to record digital music, Public Knowledge said in written testimony submitted to the Committee."
For the complete press release, click here.
Darwin on the Right: Why Christians and Conservative should Accept Evolution.
Michael Shermer writes in a 2006 column for Scientific American: "According to a 2005 Pew Research Center poll, 70 percent of evangelical Christians believe that living beings have always existed in their present form, compared with 32 percent of Protestants and 31 percent of Catholics. Politically, 60 percent of Republicans are creationists, whereas only 11 percent accept evolution, compared with 29 percent of Democrats who are creationists and 44 percent who accept evolution. A 2005 Harris Poll found that 63 percent of liberals but only 37 percent of conservatives believe that humans and apes have a common ancestry. What these figures confirm for us is that there are religious and political reasons for rejecting evolution. Can one be a conservative Christian and a Darwinian? Yes. Here’s how."
For complete column, click here.
The Systematic Destruction of Voting Rights in America (Part 1)
Heidi Stevenson writes in Natural News: "You might think you have the right to vote. You might think your vote counts. You might think that there's a problem here or there, but that they're the exceptions. You might think that the 2000 presidential election was an aberration, in which the US Supreme Court violated ethical and court precedents to crown the election loser, countering the will of the people. You might think it can't possibly be an ongoing problem. You might be very sadly mistaken."
For complete story, click here.
Elizabeth Gudrais reports for Harvard Magazine: "When Majid Ezzati thinks about declining life expectancy, he says, 'I think of an epidemic like HIV, or I think of the collapse of a social system, like in the former Soviet Union.' But such a decline is happening right now in some parts of the United States. Between 1983 and 1999, men's life expectancy decreased in more than 50 U.S. counties, according to a recent study by Ezzati, associate professor of international health at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), and colleagues.... The United States no longer boasts anywhere near the world's longest life expectancy. It doesn't even make the top 40. In this and many other ways, the richest nation on earth is not the healthiest. Ezzati's finding is unsettling on its face, but scholars find further cause for concern in the pattern of health disparities. Poor health is not distributed evenly across the population, but concentrated among the disadvantaged."
For the complete story, click here.
US Headed for "Heightened Alert" Stage
Pierre Thomas reports for ABC News: "Government officials have been quietly stepping up counterterror efforts out of a growing concern that al Qaeda or similar organizations might try to capitalize on the spate of extremely high-profile events in the coming months, sources tell ABC News. Security experts point to next month's Olympics as evidence that high-profile events attract threats of terrorism, like the one issued this past weekend by a Chinese Muslim minority group that warned of its intent to attack the Games. Anti-terror officials in the U.S. cite this summer and fall's lineup of two major political parties' conventions, November's general election and months of transition into a new presidential administration as cause for heightened awareness and action. This is what the Department of Homeland Security is quietly declaring a Period of Heightened Alert, or POHA, a time frame when terrorists may have more incentive to attack."
For complete story, click here.
The Military-Industrial Complex: It's Much Later Than You Think
For TomDispatch.com, Chalmers Johnson writes: "Most Americans have a rough idea what the term 'military-industrial complex' means when they come across it in a newspaper or hear a politician mention it. President Dwight D. Eisenhower introduced the idea to the public in his farewell address of January 17, 1961. 'Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime,' he said, 'or indeed by the fighting men of World War II and Korea ... We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions ... We must not fail to comprehend its grave implications ... We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.' Although Eisenhower's reference to the military-industrial complex is, by now, well-known, his warning against its 'unwarranted influence' has, I believe, largely been ignored."
For complete commentary, click here.
W-Fi Internet Radios will Bring World into Your Home.
Peter Svensson of the Associated Press writes: "What are you going to listen to? Norway's 24-hour folk music channel? The public hearings of the California Integrated Waste Management Board? Radio Banadir from Somalia? It's a big world out there, and Internet radios can bring it home."
For complete story, click here.
A Vote for Net Neutrality
Chellie Pingree writes for the Huffington Post: "It's easy for those of us intimately familiar with Net Neutrality to forget that this isn't even on the radar screen for much of the public. But it should be. Even with the FCC vote to sanction Comcast, we still need to make Net Neutrality the law."
For the complete story, click here.
Public Knowledge writes: "Legislation considered today by the Senate Judiciary Committee would nullify rights consumers already have to record digital music, Public Knowledge said in written testimony submitted to the Committee."
For the complete press release, click here.
Darwin on the Right: Why Christians and Conservative should Accept Evolution.
Michael Shermer writes in a 2006 column for Scientific American: "According to a 2005 Pew Research Center poll, 70 percent of evangelical Christians believe that living beings have always existed in their present form, compared with 32 percent of Protestants and 31 percent of Catholics. Politically, 60 percent of Republicans are creationists, whereas only 11 percent accept evolution, compared with 29 percent of Democrats who are creationists and 44 percent who accept evolution. A 2005 Harris Poll found that 63 percent of liberals but only 37 percent of conservatives believe that humans and apes have a common ancestry. What these figures confirm for us is that there are religious and political reasons for rejecting evolution. Can one be a conservative Christian and a Darwinian? Yes. Here’s how."
For complete column, click here.
The Systematic Destruction of Voting Rights in America (Part 1)
Heidi Stevenson writes in Natural News: "You might think you have the right to vote. You might think your vote counts. You might think that there's a problem here or there, but that they're the exceptions. You might think that the 2000 presidential election was an aberration, in which the US Supreme Court violated ethical and court precedents to crown the election loser, countering the will of the people. You might think it can't possibly be an ongoing problem. You might be very sadly mistaken."
For complete story, click here.
29 July 2008
A Step Backward for Voting System Transparency
Pamela Smith writes for The Verified Voting Foundation: "On June 26, 2008, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Senator Robert Bennett (R-Utah) introduced the Bipartisan Electronic Voting Reform Act (S. 3212). The press release accompanying the introduction of S. 3212 observes, 'the ability to ensure there is an accurate, reliable and transparent method for Americans to cast and count votes is fundamental to our democratic process.' Unfortunately, S.3212 falls far short of ensuring accuracy, reliability, and transparency in our elections and is likely to do more harm than good."
To read the complete commentary, click here.
Special-Interest Lobbies Pour Cash Into Judicial Races
Tim Jones writes for The Chicago Tribune: "Sixty-six percent of Americans can name at least one judge on the popular TV show 'American Idol,' while only 15 percent can identify John Roberts as chief justice of the Supreme Court. That's according to a poll showing Americans are largely clueless when it comes to knowledge of the nation's judicial system."
For the complete article, click here.
Hate for Liberals and Gays Drove Gunman
Shalia Dewan writes for the New York Times: "A man who the police say entered a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday and shot eight people, killing two, was motivated by a hatred for liberals and gay people, Chief Sterling P. Owen IV of the Knoxville Police Department said Monday."
For the complete story, click here.
Audit Finds Millions Wasted in Iraq Reconstruction Contract
Agence France-Presse writes: "Millions of dollars were likely wasted on a $900 million army contract to build courthouses, prisons, police and other security facilities in Iraq, an audit released Monday has found."
For the complete article, click here.
Offshore Drilling: We Have a Choice of Simple Confusion of Outright Lying
Adam Siegel, writes for AlterNet: "Every day it seems gas prices are edging higher. For almost a year, oil prices have increased by 1 percent per week. A year ago, $100 per barrel seemed a nightmare fantasy to many. Today, oil at that price is viewed almost nostalgically -- as the good old days. In the face of growing price pressures during an election year, the Democratic and Republican parties have radically different answers, radically different approaches to the challenge. At the end of the day, neither is dealing with the fundamental challenges facing humanity with full honesty. One party seems caught in confusion and disarray; the other is providing direct answers to the challenge based on fundamental dishonesty -- answers that will aggravate, rather than solve, our problems."
For the complete column, click here.
Department of Justice Illegally Discriminated Against Non-Republicans
Lara Jakes Jordan, writes for The Associated Press: "Top aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales broke the law by letting politics influence the hiring of career prosecutors and immigration judges at the Justice Department, says an internal report released Monday."
To the complete story, click here.
The Battle for a Country's Soul
Jane Mayer, The New York Review of Books: "Seven years after al-Qaeda's attacks on America, as the Bush administration slips into history, it is clear that what began on September 11, 2001, as a battle for America's security became, and continues to be, a battle for the country's soul."
For the complete essay, click here.
How Ignorant Are We? Voters Choose... But Basis on What?
Rick Shenkman writing for TomDispatch.com asks: Is American ignorance of the outside world so great that it constitutes a threat to national security? Shenkman, the author of the recently published book Just How Stupid Are We? (Basic Books, June 2008) breaks down the results of the 2003 study on knowledge of world affairs to amusing, yet sobering effect. Alternet reposted the article as its lead story; it received 140,000 page views. The article also appeared on Truthout, Pacific Free Press, a blog of the History News Network; he was also interviewed about his book on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, by U.S. News and World Report and on BuzzFlash.
For the whole story, click here.
How Should We Respond to the Imploding Economy?
Pamela Smith writes for The Verified Voting Foundation: "On June 26, 2008, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Senator Robert Bennett (R-Utah) introduced the Bipartisan Electronic Voting Reform Act (S. 3212). The press release accompanying the introduction of S. 3212 observes, 'the ability to ensure there is an accurate, reliable and transparent method for Americans to cast and count votes is fundamental to our democratic process.' Unfortunately, S.3212 falls far short of ensuring accuracy, reliability, and transparency in our elections and is likely to do more harm than good."
To read the complete commentary, click here.
Special-Interest Lobbies Pour Cash Into Judicial Races
Tim Jones writes for The Chicago Tribune: "Sixty-six percent of Americans can name at least one judge on the popular TV show 'American Idol,' while only 15 percent can identify John Roberts as chief justice of the Supreme Court. That's according to a poll showing Americans are largely clueless when it comes to knowledge of the nation's judicial system."
For the complete article, click here.
Hate for Liberals and Gays Drove Gunman
Shalia Dewan writes for the New York Times: "A man who the police say entered a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday and shot eight people, killing two, was motivated by a hatred for liberals and gay people, Chief Sterling P. Owen IV of the Knoxville Police Department said Monday."
For the complete story, click here.
Audit Finds Millions Wasted in Iraq Reconstruction Contract
Agence France-Presse writes: "Millions of dollars were likely wasted on a $900 million army contract to build courthouses, prisons, police and other security facilities in Iraq, an audit released Monday has found."
For the complete article, click here.
Offshore Drilling: We Have a Choice of Simple Confusion of Outright Lying
Adam Siegel, writes for AlterNet: "Every day it seems gas prices are edging higher. For almost a year, oil prices have increased by 1 percent per week. A year ago, $100 per barrel seemed a nightmare fantasy to many. Today, oil at that price is viewed almost nostalgically -- as the good old days. In the face of growing price pressures during an election year, the Democratic and Republican parties have radically different answers, radically different approaches to the challenge. At the end of the day, neither is dealing with the fundamental challenges facing humanity with full honesty. One party seems caught in confusion and disarray; the other is providing direct answers to the challenge based on fundamental dishonesty -- answers that will aggravate, rather than solve, our problems."
For the complete column, click here.
Department of Justice Illegally Discriminated Against Non-Republicans
Lara Jakes Jordan, writes for The Associated Press: "Top aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales broke the law by letting politics influence the hiring of career prosecutors and immigration judges at the Justice Department, says an internal report released Monday."
To the complete story, click here.
The Battle for a Country's Soul
Jane Mayer, The New York Review of Books: "Seven years after al-Qaeda's attacks on America, as the Bush administration slips into history, it is clear that what began on September 11, 2001, as a battle for America's security became, and continues to be, a battle for the country's soul."
For the complete essay, click here.
How Ignorant Are We? Voters Choose... But Basis on What?
Rick Shenkman writing for TomDispatch.com asks: Is American ignorance of the outside world so great that it constitutes a threat to national security? Shenkman, the author of the recently published book Just How Stupid Are We? (Basic Books, June 2008) breaks down the results of the 2003 study on knowledge of world affairs to amusing, yet sobering effect. Alternet reposted the article as its lead story; it received 140,000 page views. The article also appeared on Truthout, Pacific Free Press, a blog of the History News Network; he was also interviewed about his book on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, by U.S. News and World Report and on BuzzFlash.
For the whole story, click here.
How Should We Respond to the Imploding Economy?
Danny Schechter on The Media Channel writes: "The question we face in late July, as regulators seize two more banks, is: Will we be engulfed by a further collapse in our economy or can the damage be contained, or, even turned around?"
For the complete blog entry, click here.
For the complete blog entry, click here.
In Study, Evidence of Liberal-Bias Bias
James Rainey of the Los Angles Times reports that while the pundits on Cable accuse the broadcast networks of liberal bias, a think tank finds that ABC, NBC, and CBS were ** surprise! ** tougher on Barack Obama than on John McCain in recent weeks.
For the complete story, click here.
James Rainey of the Los Angles Times reports that while the pundits on Cable accuse the broadcast networks of liberal bias, a think tank finds that ABC, NBC, and CBS were ** surprise! ** tougher on Barack Obama than on John McCain in recent weeks.
For the complete story, click here.
26 July 2008
New Torture Memo Shields Interrogators
Spencer Ackerman reports for The Washington Independent: "One of the most important building blocks in the Bush administration's apparatus of torture became public today. An Aug. 1, 2002 memorandum from the Justice Dept.'s Office of Legal Counsel to the Central Intelligence Agency instructed the agency's interrogators on specific interrogation techniques for use on Al Qaeda detainees in its custody. Most of the 17-page memo is blacked out and unreadable. But at least one of those techniques is waterboarding, the process of pouring water into the mouth and nostrils of a detainee under restraint until drowning occurs."
For the complete story, click here.
The Company We Keep
Michael Winship, writes for Truthout: "You will know us by the company we keep. The burners of witches and the medieval masters of thumbscrews and Iron Maidens, the interrogators of the Spanish Inquisition, the North Vietnamese soldiers who beat John McCain and his fellow American prisoners of war into false confessions. We have joined their ranks."
To read the complete commentary, click here.
Impeachment Hearings are the Appropriate and Necessary Next Step
John Nichols writes in The Nation about Friday's House Judiciary Committee hearing, "As it happened, impeachment was mentioned dozens of times during the hearing, often in significant detail and frequently as a necessary response to lawless actions of the president and vice president."
To read Nichols complete blog entry, click here.
Three States Accused of Illegally Purging Voter Lists
Steven Rosenfeld, writes for AlterNet: "Election officials in a handful of states appear to be ignoring the federal law dictating the way registered voters may be purged from voter rolls, civil rights attorneys say."
For the whole story, click here.
The Shock Jock Racket
Rory O'Connor writes about Shock Jock Michael Savage: "Angry citizen reaction to the latest cynical, cyclical outpouring of hateful speech over the public radio airwaves – top-rated talk show host Michael Savage’s despicable attack on autistic children as “brats, morons and idiots” – has once again injected America’s talk radio problem back into the mainstream news cycle."
To the complete commentary, click here.
The Media and McCain
Jamison Foser writes in the weekly Media Matters newsletter: "Even while carrying McCain's water, media worry they aren't doing enough for him. John McCain complaining about media coverage is a little like an oil company complaining about profit margins: hard to believe, and even harder to feel much sympathy. This is, after all, a politician who has referred to the press as his "base," and a politician about whom MSNBC's Joe Scarborough has said 'every last one of them [reporters] would move to Massachusetts and marry John McCain if they could.' As Eric Alterman and George Zornick recently explained in The Nation, 'no candidate since John F. Kennedy, and perhaps none since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, has enjoyed such cozy relations with the press.'"
For Foser's complete commentary, click here.
Broadcasters Dole Out Political Access
Bill Mann of the San Jose Mercury News writes in his opinion column that broadcasters -- which are handed their licenses to control the public airwaves for free -- hold our electoral process captive, doling out airtime while sucking up most of the political money spent in each election cycle. But you won't see stories about it on their newscasts.
For the complete column, click here.
Spencer Ackerman reports for The Washington Independent: "One of the most important building blocks in the Bush administration's apparatus of torture became public today. An Aug. 1, 2002 memorandum from the Justice Dept.'s Office of Legal Counsel to the Central Intelligence Agency instructed the agency's interrogators on specific interrogation techniques for use on Al Qaeda detainees in its custody. Most of the 17-page memo is blacked out and unreadable. But at least one of those techniques is waterboarding, the process of pouring water into the mouth and nostrils of a detainee under restraint until drowning occurs."
For the complete story, click here.
The Company We Keep
Michael Winship, writes for Truthout: "You will know us by the company we keep. The burners of witches and the medieval masters of thumbscrews and Iron Maidens, the interrogators of the Spanish Inquisition, the North Vietnamese soldiers who beat John McCain and his fellow American prisoners of war into false confessions. We have joined their ranks."
To read the complete commentary, click here.
Impeachment Hearings are the Appropriate and Necessary Next Step
John Nichols writes in The Nation about Friday's House Judiciary Committee hearing, "As it happened, impeachment was mentioned dozens of times during the hearing, often in significant detail and frequently as a necessary response to lawless actions of the president and vice president."
To read Nichols complete blog entry, click here.
Three States Accused of Illegally Purging Voter Lists
Steven Rosenfeld, writes for AlterNet: "Election officials in a handful of states appear to be ignoring the federal law dictating the way registered voters may be purged from voter rolls, civil rights attorneys say."
For the whole story, click here.
The Shock Jock Racket
Rory O'Connor writes about Shock Jock Michael Savage: "Angry citizen reaction to the latest cynical, cyclical outpouring of hateful speech over the public radio airwaves – top-rated talk show host Michael Savage’s despicable attack on autistic children as “brats, morons and idiots” – has once again injected America’s talk radio problem back into the mainstream news cycle."
To the complete commentary, click here.
The Media and McCain
Jamison Foser writes in the weekly Media Matters newsletter: "Even while carrying McCain's water, media worry they aren't doing enough for him. John McCain complaining about media coverage is a little like an oil company complaining about profit margins: hard to believe, and even harder to feel much sympathy. This is, after all, a politician who has referred to the press as his "base," and a politician about whom MSNBC's Joe Scarborough has said 'every last one of them [reporters] would move to Massachusetts and marry John McCain if they could.' As Eric Alterman and George Zornick recently explained in The Nation, 'no candidate since John F. Kennedy, and perhaps none since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, has enjoyed such cozy relations with the press.'"
For Foser's complete commentary, click here.
Broadcasters Dole Out Political Access
Bill Mann of the San Jose Mercury News writes in his opinion column that broadcasters -- which are handed their licenses to control the public airwaves for free -- hold our electoral process captive, doling out airtime while sucking up most of the political money spent in each election cycle. But you won't see stories about it on their newscasts.
For the complete column, click here.
24 July 2008
The Minimum Wage: A Disgrace and a Scandal
Jonathan Tasini writes on Working Life: "There will be a lot of chatter about today's hike in the minimum wage. We should be happy for the people who will get another seventy cents an hour in their gross pay. But, we should keep in mind that, at the grand new sum of $6.55 an hour, the minimum wage is a disgrace and a sad commentary about the state of our social safety net, the economy and our political system. If you do the math, it's pretty stark. If you worked 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, you would earn $13,624. Not a single day off. No sick days. No health care. No pension."
The the complete blog entry, click here.
Witnesses: Bush Labor Department Wage & Hour Enforcement Drops, Workers Cheated
Mark Gruenberg for Press Associates, Inc.: "Enforcement of wage-and-hour laws, to ensure workers get at least the minimum wage and the overtime pay they deserve, has dropped drastically under the GOP Bush government, impartial investigators and a low-income workers' advocate told Congress. As a result, low-wage workers are routinely cheated."
For the complete story, click here.
Close Wage Gap That Hurts Women
Representative Louise Slaughter, in a Rochester Democrat and Chronicle column: "As we celebrate the 160th anniversary of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention, we must remember that we are still struggling to achieve equality. Among the most distressing disparities between men and women is the significant pay gap for the same work."
For the complete commentary, click here.
New Reports Show Impact of School Funding; Student Achievement
The Kansas Association of School Boards is releasing new information about the impact of additional school funding provided in response to the Montoy school finance lawsuit. School boards and administrators should find these reports helpful as they prepare to adopt budgets for the upcoming school year, and explain finance and achievement issues to their public.
For Truthout, Michael Reagan writes: "In May of 2002, the United States Army invaded E3, the annual video game convention held in Los Angeles. At the city's Convention Center, young game enthusiasts mixed with camouflaged soldiers, Humvees and a small tank parked near the entrance. Thundering helicopter sound effects drew the curious to the Army's interactive display, where a giant video screen flashed the words 'Empower yourself. Defend America ... You will be a soldier.' The Army was unveiling its latest recruitment tool, the 'America's Army' game, free to download online or pick up at a recruiting station, and now available for purchase on the Xbox, PlayStation, cell phones and Gameboy game consoles."
For the complete story, click here.
Better Ballots
Lawrence Norden, David Kimball, Whitney Quesenbery and Margaret Chen of The Brennan Center: "The notorious butterfly ballot that Palm Beach County, Florida, election officials used in the 2000 election is probably the most infamous of all election design snafus. It was one of many political, legal, and election administration missteps that plunged a presidential election into turmoil and set off a series of events that led to, among other things, a vast overhaul of the country's election administration, including the greatest change in voting technology in United States history."
For the complete report, click here.
Jonathan Tasini writes on Working Life: "There will be a lot of chatter about today's hike in the minimum wage. We should be happy for the people who will get another seventy cents an hour in their gross pay. But, we should keep in mind that, at the grand new sum of $6.55 an hour, the minimum wage is a disgrace and a sad commentary about the state of our social safety net, the economy and our political system. If you do the math, it's pretty stark. If you worked 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, you would earn $13,624. Not a single day off. No sick days. No health care. No pension."
The the complete blog entry, click here.
Witnesses: Bush Labor Department Wage & Hour Enforcement Drops, Workers Cheated
Mark Gruenberg for Press Associates, Inc.: "Enforcement of wage-and-hour laws, to ensure workers get at least the minimum wage and the overtime pay they deserve, has dropped drastically under the GOP Bush government, impartial investigators and a low-income workers' advocate told Congress. As a result, low-wage workers are routinely cheated."
For the complete story, click here.
Close Wage Gap That Hurts Women
Representative Louise Slaughter, in a Rochester Democrat and Chronicle column: "As we celebrate the 160th anniversary of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention, we must remember that we are still struggling to achieve equality. Among the most distressing disparities between men and women is the significant pay gap for the same work."
For the complete commentary, click here.
New Reports Show Impact of School Funding; Student Achievement
The Kansas Association of School Boards is releasing new information about the impact of additional school funding provided in response to the Montoy school finance lawsuit. School boards and administrators should find these reports helpful as they prepare to adopt budgets for the upcoming school year, and explain finance and achievement issues to their public.
It is also important to remember this additional funding for school districts was only narrowly approved by the Legislature. Many legislators who supported the increases are facing election challengers. School leaders can use this information to help candidates and voters understand the positive impact increased funding has had on schools, student achievement and local economies.
KASB is providing the following documents, in PDF format, on the KASB Web site (click here), or click on each document title to be taken to that document. For additional information on these reports, contact the KASB Advocacy or Research Departments.
This report uses a recently released study by the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit plus additional research by KASB to focus on three issues: how school districts spent the additional funding provided by the Legislature, how Kansas students have performed on state and national measures of educational programs, both before and after the additional funding, and why student achievement matters to Kansas.
This report lists each school district by county within each of KASB's 10 regions, and provides the following information from the Kansas State Department of Education about changes between 2004-05 and 2006-07: (1) change in full-time equivalent enrollment;
(2) percentage change in FTE enrollment;
(3) change in general fund and local option fund expenditures;
(4) increase in per pupil spending;
(5) percentage increase in per pupil spending;
(6) change in number of all employees;
(7) percent change in number of all employees;
(8) change in average teacher salary; and
(9) percent change in average teacher salary (if available).
(2) percentage change in FTE enrollment;
(3) change in general fund and local option fund expenditures;
(4) increase in per pupil spending;
(5) percentage increase in per pupil spending;
(6) change in number of all employees;
(7) percent change in number of all employees;
(8) change in average teacher salary; and
(9) percent change in average teacher salary (if available).
This information allows comparisons of individual district funding, enrollment, employees and teacher salaries with other districts in the county and region, as well as with statewide changes.
This report shows the economic impact of school districts in Kansas counties, grouped by KASB region, and provides the following information:
(1) estimated population of each county;
(2) total number of jobs in the county and percent of jobs held by school district employees;
(3) total per capita wages paid in each county; percent of those wages paid by school districts; total per capita income in the county and percentage of income from wages paid by school districts;
(4) average wage paid in the county; average teacher salary; teacher salary as a percent of average wages; and benefits paid by the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System for school retirees in that county; and
(5) percentage of the total general fund budget paid by state aid (the remainder is raised by local property tax).
(2) total number of jobs in the county and percent of jobs held by school district employees;
(3) total per capita wages paid in each county; percent of those wages paid by school districts; total per capita income in the county and percentage of income from wages paid by school districts;
(4) average wage paid in the county; average teacher salary; teacher salary as a percent of average wages; and benefits paid by the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System for school retirees in that county; and
(5) percentage of the total general fund budget paid by state aid (the remainder is raised by local property tax).
To calculate this information, districts are assigned to the county where the district is headquartered.
This information demonstrates the economic significance of school district spending, especially after most of the increased school funding was used to increase jobs, salaries or both.
US Military Recruits ChildrenFor Truthout, Michael Reagan writes: "In May of 2002, the United States Army invaded E3, the annual video game convention held in Los Angeles. At the city's Convention Center, young game enthusiasts mixed with camouflaged soldiers, Humvees and a small tank parked near the entrance. Thundering helicopter sound effects drew the curious to the Army's interactive display, where a giant video screen flashed the words 'Empower yourself. Defend America ... You will be a soldier.' The Army was unveiling its latest recruitment tool, the 'America's Army' game, free to download online or pick up at a recruiting station, and now available for purchase on the Xbox, PlayStation, cell phones and Gameboy game consoles."
For the complete story, click here.
Better Ballots
Lawrence Norden, David Kimball, Whitney Quesenbery and Margaret Chen of The Brennan Center: "The notorious butterfly ballot that Palm Beach County, Florida, election officials used in the 2000 election is probably the most infamous of all election design snafus. It was one of many political, legal, and election administration missteps that plunged a presidential election into turmoil and set off a series of events that led to, among other things, a vast overhaul of the country's election administration, including the greatest change in voting technology in United States history."
For the complete report, click here.
23 July 2008
ACLU Launches Web Ad Campaign
Tech Daily Dose reprots that the American Civil Liberties Union has unveiled an online advertising campaign aimed at raising awareness about the lawsuit the watchdog group filed last week in New York federal court, which seeks a permanent injunction that would bar the U.S. government from conducting surveillance operations under a major revision of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
To read the whole story, click here.
Bad Days for Newsrooms - and Democracy
Chris Hedges writes that the decline of newspapers is not about the replacement of the antiquated technology of news print with the lightning speed of the Internet. It does not signal an inevitable and salutary change. It is not a form of progress.
To read the whole commentary, click here.
As Papers Struggle, News Is Cut and the Focus Turns Local
Richard Perez-Pena of the New York Times writes that almost two-thirds of American newspapers publish less foreign news than they did just three years ago, nearly as many print less national news, and most of them have smaller news staffs, according to a new study.
To read the whole story, click here.
A Test of Justice for Rape Victims
Sarah Tofte reports for The Washington Post: "Every two minutes, someone is raped in the United States. Every year, more than 200,000 rape victims, mostly women, report their rapes to police. Most consent to the creation of a rape kit, an invasive process for collecting physical evidence (including DNA material) of the assault that can take up to six hours. What most victims don't know is that in thousands of cases, that evidence sits untested in police evidence lockers."
To read the whole story, click here.
Bush Administration Plans End Run for Abstinence-Only Funds
Scott Swenson reports for RH Reality Check: "The Bush Administration Department of Health and Human Services isn't getting much rest these days, using every moment of its final few months to leave an indelible ideological mark on government."
To read the blog, click here.
Election Fraud and Tyranny: Part 1 & 2
Michael Collins, in a Scoop News column: "Mark Crispin Miller's new book, 'Loser Take All,' identifies and analyzes election fraud, the foundation of extremist power in the United States since 2000. Manipulated elections have enabled everything we've experienced from the Iraq war to the current economic meltdown. None of that would have been possible without the ongoing series of 'surprise' wins for extremists and their enablers following the outright theft of the 2000 presidential election."
To read the commentaries, click here.
McSexist: McCain's War on Women
Kate Sheppard, for In These Times: "McCain's campaign has been making a clear play for women voters in recent weeks, hosting conference calls with Republican women and touting that his policies on national security, the economy and healthcare appeal to women voters. But the suggestion that women - and feminist women, at that - will be lining up behind him is a fairytale. At least, it should be. McCain's record and policies on issues of importance to women are neither moderate nor maverick."
To read the whole commentary, click here.
Tech Daily Dose reprots that the American Civil Liberties Union has unveiled an online advertising campaign aimed at raising awareness about the lawsuit the watchdog group filed last week in New York federal court, which seeks a permanent injunction that would bar the U.S. government from conducting surveillance operations under a major revision of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
To read the whole story, click here.
Bad Days for Newsrooms - and Democracy
Chris Hedges writes that the decline of newspapers is not about the replacement of the antiquated technology of news print with the lightning speed of the Internet. It does not signal an inevitable and salutary change. It is not a form of progress.
To read the whole commentary, click here.
As Papers Struggle, News Is Cut and the Focus Turns Local
Richard Perez-Pena of the New York Times writes that almost two-thirds of American newspapers publish less foreign news than they did just three years ago, nearly as many print less national news, and most of them have smaller news staffs, according to a new study.
To read the whole story, click here.
A Test of Justice for Rape Victims
Sarah Tofte reports for The Washington Post: "Every two minutes, someone is raped in the United States. Every year, more than 200,000 rape victims, mostly women, report their rapes to police. Most consent to the creation of a rape kit, an invasive process for collecting physical evidence (including DNA material) of the assault that can take up to six hours. What most victims don't know is that in thousands of cases, that evidence sits untested in police evidence lockers."
To read the whole story, click here.
Bush Administration Plans End Run for Abstinence-Only Funds
Scott Swenson reports for RH Reality Check: "The Bush Administration Department of Health and Human Services isn't getting much rest these days, using every moment of its final few months to leave an indelible ideological mark on government."
To read the blog, click here.
Election Fraud and Tyranny: Part 1 & 2
Michael Collins, in a Scoop News column: "Mark Crispin Miller's new book, 'Loser Take All,' identifies and analyzes election fraud, the foundation of extremist power in the United States since 2000. Manipulated elections have enabled everything we've experienced from the Iraq war to the current economic meltdown. None of that would have been possible without the ongoing series of 'surprise' wins for extremists and their enablers following the outright theft of the 2000 presidential election."
To read the commentaries, click here.
McSexist: McCain's War on Women
Kate Sheppard, for In These Times: "McCain's campaign has been making a clear play for women voters in recent weeks, hosting conference calls with Republican women and touting that his policies on national security, the economy and healthcare appeal to women voters. But the suggestion that women - and feminist women, at that - will be lining up behind him is a fairytale. At least, it should be. McCain's record and policies on issues of importance to women are neither moderate nor maverick."
To read the whole commentary, click here.
21 July 2008
Mother's Milk of Politics Turns Sour
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship write for Truthout: "We just don't seem able to see or accept the fact that money drives policy. It's no wonder that Congress and the White House have been looking the other way as the predators picked the pockets of unsuspecting debtors. Mega banking and investment firms have been some of the biggest providers of the cash vital to keeping incumbents in office. There isn't much appetite for biting - or regulating - the manicured hand that feeds them."
For the complete commentary, click here.
House Passes CIA Contractor Ban Over Veto Vow
Randall Mikkelsen of Reuters reports: "US lawmakers defied a White House veto threat on Wednesday and voted to bar CIA contractors from interrogating suspected terrorists, in the latest clash over detainee treatment in the US-declared war on terrorism. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved the provision in adopting a broad measure to authorize funding of US intelligence agencies for the 2009 fiscal year. A related bill awaits action in the Senate."
For complete story, click here.
Gore Says US Must Abandon Fossil Fuels by 2018
David Stout reports for The New York Times, "Former Vice President Al Gore said on Thursday that Americans must abandon fossil fuels within a decade and rely on the sun, the winds and other environmentally friendly sources of electric power, or risk losing their national security as well as their creature comforts."
To view the complete story, click here.
Women Hardest Hit by Food Crisis
Kevin Sullivan, of The Washington Post: "Rubbing her red-rimmed eyes, chewing lightly on a twig she picked off the ground, Lingani gave the last of her food to the children. 'I'm not hungry,' she said. In poor nations, such as Burkina Faso in the heart of West Africa, mealtime conspires against women. They grow the food, fetch the water, shop at the market and cook the meals. But when it comes time to eat, men and children eat first, and women eat last and least."
For the complete article, click here.
The Dark Side of the Toyota Prius
Paul Abowd writes for In These Times on a new report from The National Labor Committee: "The report alleges that Toyota exploits guest workers, mostly shipped in from China and Vietnam. According to the NLC, these workers are 'stripped of their passports and often forced to work - including at subcontract plants supplying Toyota - 16 hours a day, seven days a week, while being paid less than half the legal minimum wage.'"
Check out the whole story at In These Times.
Don't Drink the Nuclear Kool-Aid
Any Goiodman writes that while the presidential candidates trade barbs and accuse each other of flip-flopping, they agree with President Bush on their enthusiastic support for nuclear power. What does that mean for our future?
Read the whole commentary on Truthdig. com.
Summers Hotter as Climate Changes
David A. Fahrenthold and Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post: "Climate change will have a 'substantial' impact on human health in the coming decades, making wildfires and hurricanes more likely, cooking up more smog, and making summer heat waves longer, hotter and deadlier, according to a new report today from the Environmental Protection Agency. The report details how rising temperatures could slowly but significantly shift the rhythms of nature that Americans are used to - with disruptive, sometimes even deadly, consequences. In the West, it found, changing weather patterns could thin the snowpacks that feed rivers, with repercussions for both hydroelectric dams and water supplies."
To read the whole story, click here.
Stigma Gone with likely end to HIV-travel ban
For blogger Andrew Sullivan, the likely signing into law of an AIDS bill that would lift the ban on people with HIV entering the U.S. without special permission is a political -- and personal -- milestone. "I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's one of the happiest days of my whole life," Sullivan writes. Read more at The Daily Dish.
Cheney and ExxonMobil Linked to Global Warming Policy Shift
James Gerstenzang, of The Los Angeles Times: "A congressional investigation has produced new details on the degree to which senior Bush administration officials favored using the Clean Air Act to limit greenhouse gas emissions - until pressure from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, ExxonMobil and others in the oil industry led the Bush administration to change course."
For the complete story, click here.
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship write for Truthout: "We just don't seem able to see or accept the fact that money drives policy. It's no wonder that Congress and the White House have been looking the other way as the predators picked the pockets of unsuspecting debtors. Mega banking and investment firms have been some of the biggest providers of the cash vital to keeping incumbents in office. There isn't much appetite for biting - or regulating - the manicured hand that feeds them."
For the complete commentary, click here.
House Passes CIA Contractor Ban Over Veto Vow
Randall Mikkelsen of Reuters reports: "US lawmakers defied a White House veto threat on Wednesday and voted to bar CIA contractors from interrogating suspected terrorists, in the latest clash over detainee treatment in the US-declared war on terrorism. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved the provision in adopting a broad measure to authorize funding of US intelligence agencies for the 2009 fiscal year. A related bill awaits action in the Senate."
For complete story, click here.
Gore Says US Must Abandon Fossil Fuels by 2018
David Stout reports for The New York Times, "Former Vice President Al Gore said on Thursday that Americans must abandon fossil fuels within a decade and rely on the sun, the winds and other environmentally friendly sources of electric power, or risk losing their national security as well as their creature comforts."
To view the complete story, click here.
Women Hardest Hit by Food Crisis
Kevin Sullivan, of The Washington Post: "Rubbing her red-rimmed eyes, chewing lightly on a twig she picked off the ground, Lingani gave the last of her food to the children. 'I'm not hungry,' she said. In poor nations, such as Burkina Faso in the heart of West Africa, mealtime conspires against women. They grow the food, fetch the water, shop at the market and cook the meals. But when it comes time to eat, men and children eat first, and women eat last and least."
For the complete article, click here.
The Dark Side of the Toyota Prius
Paul Abowd writes for In These Times on a new report from The National Labor Committee: "The report alleges that Toyota exploits guest workers, mostly shipped in from China and Vietnam. According to the NLC, these workers are 'stripped of their passports and often forced to work - including at subcontract plants supplying Toyota - 16 hours a day, seven days a week, while being paid less than half the legal minimum wage.'"
Check out the whole story at In These Times.
Don't Drink the Nuclear Kool-Aid
Any Goiodman writes that while the presidential candidates trade barbs and accuse each other of flip-flopping, they agree with President Bush on their enthusiastic support for nuclear power. What does that mean for our future?
Read the whole commentary on Truthdig. com.
Summers Hotter as Climate Changes
David A. Fahrenthold and Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post: "Climate change will have a 'substantial' impact on human health in the coming decades, making wildfires and hurricanes more likely, cooking up more smog, and making summer heat waves longer, hotter and deadlier, according to a new report today from the Environmental Protection Agency. The report details how rising temperatures could slowly but significantly shift the rhythms of nature that Americans are used to - with disruptive, sometimes even deadly, consequences. In the West, it found, changing weather patterns could thin the snowpacks that feed rivers, with repercussions for both hydroelectric dams and water supplies."
To read the whole story, click here.
Stigma Gone with likely end to HIV-travel ban
For blogger Andrew Sullivan, the likely signing into law of an AIDS bill that would lift the ban on people with HIV entering the U.S. without special permission is a political -- and personal -- milestone. "I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's one of the happiest days of my whole life," Sullivan writes. Read more at The Daily Dish.
Cheney and ExxonMobil Linked to Global Warming Policy Shift
James Gerstenzang, of The Los Angeles Times: "A congressional investigation has produced new details on the degree to which senior Bush administration officials favored using the Clean Air Act to limit greenhouse gas emissions - until pressure from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, ExxonMobil and others in the oil industry led the Bush administration to change course."
For the complete story, click here.
16 July 2008
The Real Legacy of the "Reagan Revolution."
Robert Scheer, editor of Truthdig.com writes a compelling column in which he states: McCain campaign co-chair Phil Gramm is right: We have “become a nation of whiners.” But who is whining more than the bankers that former Sen. Gramm’s financial deregulation legislation benefited? The very bankers who now expect a government bailout, such as those at UBS Investment Bank, where Gramm found lucrative employment.
To read the whole commentary, click here.
The House that Gramm Built
Marie Cocco, contributor on Truthdig.com also looks at Phil Gramm and his dismissal of America’s economic suffering that has forced him to the political sidelines, but as one of the congressional architects of Republican economics, the mess he made will haunt Americans no matter who the next president is.
To read her commentary, click here.
Drilling Without Oil, Tax Cuts Without Growth
Dean Baker, writing for Truthout, says: "Senator McCain is in the unenviable position of running on the track record of a president with the worst economic performance since Herbert Hoover. He has adopted the strategy of ignoring the record while embracing his predecessor's policies. McCain is betting the media will be so incompetent that they will not notice. He might be right."
For the complete article, click here.
New York: 50 Percent of Sequoia Voting Machines Flawed
Kim Zetter writes for Wired: "New York state is in the process of replacing its lever voting machines with new voting equipment, but the state revealed recently that it has found problems with 50 percent of the roughly 1,500 ImageCast optical-scan machines that Sequoia Voting Systems has delivered to the state so far - machines that are slated to be used by dozens of counties in the state's September 9 primary and November 4 presidential election."
To read the complete article, click here.
Birth-Control Denial the Height of Arrogance
Dan K. Thomasson, for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, says: "So when is a pharmacy not a pharmacy? Better yet, when can a licensed pharmacist not fill a legitimate prescription because of political or religious reasons? Should a state licensing authority permit the dispensing of male-enhancement drugs but not those that permit a female to guard her own health? Those are health, ethical and legal questions that most state authorities now find themselves facing with a growing number of pharmacists who refuse to honor prescribed contraceptives or sell those available over the counter on grounds it violates their consciences."
Read the complete column by clicking here.
Is the Fourth Estate a Fifth Column? Corporate media colludes with democracy’s demise
Bill Moyers rewrites his National Media Reform Conference presentation (video of which is available above) as a column in In These Times, opening with: "I heard this story a long time ago, growing up in Choctaw County in Oklahoma before my family moved to Texas. A tribal elder was telling his grandson about the battle the old man was waging within himself. He said, 'It is between two wolves, my son. One is an evil wolf: anger, envy, sorrow, greed, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is the good wolf: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.'”
For the complete article, click here.
Price of Admission for Migrant Women
Tim Vanderpool, for The Tucson Weekly, reports, "According to experts, rape is now considered 'the price of admission' for women crossing the border illegally. But this scourge goes largely ignored, and is suspected to be vastly underreported. Not surprisingly, few women care to describe their ordeals to authorities in stark government detention facilities. And if they do, it's often as they're already being deported back across the border - sometimes back into the very situations where the assaults occurred."
For the complete article, click here.
FCC Chief Says Comcast Violated Internet Rules
John Dunbar, of The Associated Press, reports: "The head of the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday he will recommend that the nation's largest cable company be punished for violating agency principles that guarantee customers open access to the Internet. The potentially precedent-setting move stems from a complaint against Comcast Corp. that the company had blocked Internet traffic among users of a certain type of 'file sharing' software that allows them to exchange large amounts of data."
To read the complete story, click here.
Robert Scheer, editor of Truthdig.com writes a compelling column in which he states: McCain campaign co-chair Phil Gramm is right: We have “become a nation of whiners.” But who is whining more than the bankers that former Sen. Gramm’s financial deregulation legislation benefited? The very bankers who now expect a government bailout, such as those at UBS Investment Bank, where Gramm found lucrative employment.
To read the whole commentary, click here.
The House that Gramm Built
Marie Cocco, contributor on Truthdig.com also looks at Phil Gramm and his dismissal of America’s economic suffering that has forced him to the political sidelines, but as one of the congressional architects of Republican economics, the mess he made will haunt Americans no matter who the next president is.
To read her commentary, click here.
Drilling Without Oil, Tax Cuts Without Growth
Dean Baker, writing for Truthout, says: "Senator McCain is in the unenviable position of running on the track record of a president with the worst economic performance since Herbert Hoover. He has adopted the strategy of ignoring the record while embracing his predecessor's policies. McCain is betting the media will be so incompetent that they will not notice. He might be right."
For the complete article, click here.
New York: 50 Percent of Sequoia Voting Machines Flawed
Kim Zetter writes for Wired: "New York state is in the process of replacing its lever voting machines with new voting equipment, but the state revealed recently that it has found problems with 50 percent of the roughly 1,500 ImageCast optical-scan machines that Sequoia Voting Systems has delivered to the state so far - machines that are slated to be used by dozens of counties in the state's September 9 primary and November 4 presidential election."
To read the complete article, click here.
Birth-Control Denial the Height of Arrogance
Dan K. Thomasson, for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, says: "So when is a pharmacy not a pharmacy? Better yet, when can a licensed pharmacist not fill a legitimate prescription because of political or religious reasons? Should a state licensing authority permit the dispensing of male-enhancement drugs but not those that permit a female to guard her own health? Those are health, ethical and legal questions that most state authorities now find themselves facing with a growing number of pharmacists who refuse to honor prescribed contraceptives or sell those available over the counter on grounds it violates their consciences."
Read the complete column by clicking here.
Is the Fourth Estate a Fifth Column? Corporate media colludes with democracy’s demise
Bill Moyers rewrites his National Media Reform Conference presentation (video of which is available above) as a column in In These Times, opening with: "I heard this story a long time ago, growing up in Choctaw County in Oklahoma before my family moved to Texas. A tribal elder was telling his grandson about the battle the old man was waging within himself. He said, 'It is between two wolves, my son. One is an evil wolf: anger, envy, sorrow, greed, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is the good wolf: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.'”
For the complete article, click here.
Price of Admission for Migrant Women
Tim Vanderpool, for The Tucson Weekly, reports, "According to experts, rape is now considered 'the price of admission' for women crossing the border illegally. But this scourge goes largely ignored, and is suspected to be vastly underreported. Not surprisingly, few women care to describe their ordeals to authorities in stark government detention facilities. And if they do, it's often as they're already being deported back across the border - sometimes back into the very situations where the assaults occurred."
For the complete article, click here.
FCC Chief Says Comcast Violated Internet Rules
John Dunbar, of The Associated Press, reports: "The head of the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday he will recommend that the nation's largest cable company be punished for violating agency principles that guarantee customers open access to the Internet. The potentially precedent-setting move stems from a complaint against Comcast Corp. that the company had blocked Internet traffic among users of a certain type of 'file sharing' software that allows them to exchange large amounts of data."
To read the complete story, click here.
13 July 2008
Top Senator And 10 States Attack VA for Banning Voter Registration Drives
Steven Rosenfeld writes for AlterNet: "The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), has called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to reverse its new policy barring voting rights groups, "partisan or otherwise," from holding voter registration drives on campuses where injured veterans are living or receiving medical care. "Veterans receiving care at VA facilities risked life and limb to defend the freedoms we enjoy, including the right to vote," Akaka said in a July 10 letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary James B. Peake. "Current VA policy makes it unnecessarily difficult for some veterans to participate in the electoral process." Akaka said the VA's most recent explanation for barring registration drives -- that they would violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from engaging in political activities on official time or federal property -- made no sense."
For complete article, click here.
John McCain Hates Social Security
Bill Scher writes for The Campaign for America's Future: "Sen. John McCain, I'm one of your friends, right? The kind of friend who can handle some of your special brand of Straight Talk. So why won't you just tell me you hate Social Security?"
For complete commentary, click here.
Obama and the Progressive Base
Norman Solomon, writing for Truthout, questions the "progressive" image Senator Barack Obama has cultivated: "These days, an appreciable number of Obama supporters are starting to use words like 'disillusionment.' But that's a consequence of projecting their political outlooks onto the candidate in the first place."
For the complete commentary, click here.
US Environmental Agency Lowers Value of a Human Life
The Guardian UK reports: "It sounds like a spot of gallows humour, but the numbers are no joke: the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has lowered the value of a human life by nearly $1 million under George Bush's administration. The EPA's estimate of the 'value of a statistical life' was $6.9 million as of this May - down from $7.8 million five years ago - according to an Associated Press study released today."
To read the complete report, click here.
U.S. Seeks Data Exchange Including Sexual Orientation of Foreign Visitors
Ellen Nakashima writes in the Washington Post that under agreements being negotiated with European countries, the U.S. would be able to swap fingerprint and DNA information -- and in some instances data on race, ethnic origin, political and religious beliefs, and sexual orientation -- in exchange for EU member states to gain or maintain the right to visit the U.S. without a visa. Some privacy advocates question whether appropriate safeguards for the sharing of the data are being included in the agreements.
For complete article, click here.
The Death of Reaganomics
E.J. Dionne write on Truthdig.com: "The biggest political story of 2008 is getting little coverage. It involves the collapse of assumptions that have dominated our economic debate for three decades. Since the Reagan years, free-market clichés have passed for sophisticated economic analysis. But in the current crisis, these ideas are falling, one by one, as even conservatives recognize that capitalism is ailing."
For complete report, click here.
Why big business no longer pays any mind to AFA, similar groups
Noting the complete flop of the American Family Association's recent boycott of McDonald's over its joining a gay business group, columnist Mark Morford believes the AFA's failure to generate any outrage is a sign that its days of influence are over.
Cor complete article, click here.
Steven Rosenfeld writes for AlterNet: "The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), has called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to reverse its new policy barring voting rights groups, "partisan or otherwise," from holding voter registration drives on campuses where injured veterans are living or receiving medical care. "Veterans receiving care at VA facilities risked life and limb to defend the freedoms we enjoy, including the right to vote," Akaka said in a July 10 letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary James B. Peake. "Current VA policy makes it unnecessarily difficult for some veterans to participate in the electoral process." Akaka said the VA's most recent explanation for barring registration drives -- that they would violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from engaging in political activities on official time or federal property -- made no sense."
For complete article, click here.
John McCain Hates Social Security
Bill Scher writes for The Campaign for America's Future: "Sen. John McCain, I'm one of your friends, right? The kind of friend who can handle some of your special brand of Straight Talk. So why won't you just tell me you hate Social Security?"
For complete commentary, click here.
Obama and the Progressive Base
Norman Solomon, writing for Truthout, questions the "progressive" image Senator Barack Obama has cultivated: "These days, an appreciable number of Obama supporters are starting to use words like 'disillusionment.' But that's a consequence of projecting their political outlooks onto the candidate in the first place."
For the complete commentary, click here.
US Environmental Agency Lowers Value of a Human Life
The Guardian UK reports: "It sounds like a spot of gallows humour, but the numbers are no joke: the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has lowered the value of a human life by nearly $1 million under George Bush's administration. The EPA's estimate of the 'value of a statistical life' was $6.9 million as of this May - down from $7.8 million five years ago - according to an Associated Press study released today."
To read the complete report, click here.
U.S. Seeks Data Exchange Including Sexual Orientation of Foreign Visitors
Ellen Nakashima writes in the Washington Post that under agreements being negotiated with European countries, the U.S. would be able to swap fingerprint and DNA information -- and in some instances data on race, ethnic origin, political and religious beliefs, and sexual orientation -- in exchange for EU member states to gain or maintain the right to visit the U.S. without a visa. Some privacy advocates question whether appropriate safeguards for the sharing of the data are being included in the agreements.
For complete article, click here.
The Death of Reaganomics
E.J. Dionne write on Truthdig.com: "The biggest political story of 2008 is getting little coverage. It involves the collapse of assumptions that have dominated our economic debate for three decades. Since the Reagan years, free-market clichés have passed for sophisticated economic analysis. But in the current crisis, these ideas are falling, one by one, as even conservatives recognize that capitalism is ailing."
For complete report, click here.
Why big business no longer pays any mind to AFA, similar groups
Noting the complete flop of the American Family Association's recent boycott of McDonald's over its joining a gay business group, columnist Mark Morford believes the AFA's failure to generate any outrage is a sign that its days of influence are over.
Cor complete article, click here.
Betrayed by Obama
The Democrat's FISA sellout is unforgivable, but he's counting on supporters having no place else to go. And McCain's nutty neocon Iran talk helps him make his case.
Joan Walsh, published on 10 July on Salon.com
To view original, click here. What an interesting week: I came back from vacation to find the two presumptive presidential nominees running away from their bases. Suddenly John McCain is evading, not embracing, the media, limiting access and getting testy with the very people whose formerly friendly coverage made him a popular "maverick." Meanwhile, Barack Obama is complaining that his "friends on the left" just don't understand him -- he's not moving to the center, he is "no doubt" a progressive, just one who now supports the scandalous FISA "compromise" and Antonin Scalia's views on gun rights and the death penalty, no longer plans to accept public campaign funding, and wants to make sure women aren't feigning mental distress to get a "partial-birth" abortion (the right's despicable term of choice; the correct phrase is either late-term or third-trimester abortion). I actually have some sympathy for Obama. He was never the great progressive savior that his fans either thought he was, or peddled to their readers. While Arianna Huffington and Markos Moulitsas and Tom Hayden were hyping him as the progressive alternative to Hillary Clinton, Obama was getting away with backing a healthcare bill less progressive than Clinton's, adopting GOP talking points on the Social Security "crisis" and double-talking on NAFTA. So why shouldn't he think his "friends on the left" will put up with his abandoning other progressive causes? I've admired Obama, but I never confused him with a genuine progressive leader. Today I don't admire him at all. His collapse on FISA is unforgivable. The only thing Obama has going for him this week is that McCain is matching him misstep for misstep. While we're railing about Obama's craven vote on FISA -- rightfully; Glenn Greenwald is a hero for his work on this topic -- McCain was outdoing Dick Cheney with neocon crazy talk, warning that Iran's test of nine old missiles we already knew they had increases the chances of a "second Holocaust." Every time I wonder whether I can ultimately vote for Obama in November, given all of his political cave-ins, McCain does something new to make sure I have to. But Obama needs to watch himself. Telling voters they have no place else to go, before he officially has the nomination, is not a winning strategy. That's what his people told Clinton voters. That's what they're saying about opponents of the FISA sellout. That's the line on those concerned about his "partial-birth" abortion remarks. It's arrogant -- up against the backdrop of Obama's big plans for an Invesco Field acceptance speech in Denver and a Brandenberg Gate extravaganza in Berlin, I'm starting to worry about grandiosity -- and it could backfire. Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, voted against the FISA bill, but I think "what ifs" are unproductive. Matthew Yglesias' self-justifying fiction that, if she was the nominee, she'd have done what Obama did, is silly. But none of us can really know she'd have done the right thing in Obama's shoes. Since I believe Clinton's craven vote to authorize the Iraq war in 2002 cost her the Democratic nomination, I do find myself wondering whether she learned her lesson about caving in to GOP threats. It's funny how so many defeated Democrats -- Al Gore, John Kerry, John Edwards and now Clinton -- seem to become more progressive after they learn that pandering can't protect them from the attacks of the GOP and its friends in the media. Let's hope Obama doesn't have to learn that lesson the same way. Of course, the only thing more offensive than Obama's yes vote on FISA was McCain's decision to skip the vote entirely -- and then trash Obama for "flip-flopping" on FISA. Unfortunately, Obama did flip-flop on FISA, but McCain didn't bother to show up. So far, this has been a really dispiriting campaign. Part of the problem, I think, is that the two finalists are guys beloved by the media, who've had a fairly free ride to here. With their rivals out of the way, they're getting more scrutiny, and it's not all adoring. Having won impressive underdog victories, neither campaign seems ready for prime time. I know one thing, I'd really like to vote for the guy who said this: Too bad Obama doesn't believe that anymore. "This Administration has put forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand. When I am president, there will be no more illegal wire-tapping of American citizens; no more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime; no more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war. Our Constitution works, and so does the FISA court."
09 July 2008
Free Trade, Why "Free" Matters
For Truthout, Dean Baker writes: "Senator McCain was in Colombia last week touting his support for the trade agreement that the Bush administration had negotiated with the country. He also touted his support for NAFTA, contrasting both positions with Senator Obama's opposition to the two pacts. McCain had an important ally in his campaign. The media decided to embellish McCain's case by touting his support for 'free trade,' as opposed to the specific deals in question. This is a very important difference and it reflects deeply held biases in the media."
For complete article, click here.
Implementer of "don't ask, don't tell" Says Policy Doesn't Work
A new study by four retired military officers has concluded that Congress should repeal the military gay ban because out gay and lesbian soldiers pose little or no threat to the nation's preparedness for war. The report from the Michael D. Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was co-authored by retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Minter Alexander, a Republican who in 1993 took part in a Defense Department panel that helped implement the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
For the complete AP Story, click here.
Justice Department Right not to Play Politics with Ruling.
The Washington Post, in an editorial, commends the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel for "keeping politics out of the analysis" when it ruled that the child of two women was entitled to Social Security benefits from his nonbiological parent. "In short, [the OLC] relied on a straightforward -- some might say 'conservative' -- approach to produce a result that even 'liberals' should applaud," the Post writes.
For complete editorial, click here.
"We Have Seven Years Left to Reverse the CO2 Emissions Curve"
Rajendra Pachauri, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change president and Nobel Laureate, says in an interview with Le Monde's Laurence Caramel and Stephane Foucart that humanity has only seven years to reverse the present greenhouse gas emissions trend before we cross a threshold of "serious danger."
For the complete Truthout translation of the Le Monde article, click here.
For Truthout, Dean Baker writes: "Senator McCain was in Colombia last week touting his support for the trade agreement that the Bush administration had negotiated with the country. He also touted his support for NAFTA, contrasting both positions with Senator Obama's opposition to the two pacts. McCain had an important ally in his campaign. The media decided to embellish McCain's case by touting his support for 'free trade,' as opposed to the specific deals in question. This is a very important difference and it reflects deeply held biases in the media."
For complete article, click here.
Implementer of "don't ask, don't tell" Says Policy Doesn't Work
A new study by four retired military officers has concluded that Congress should repeal the military gay ban because out gay and lesbian soldiers pose little or no threat to the nation's preparedness for war. The report from the Michael D. Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was co-authored by retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Minter Alexander, a Republican who in 1993 took part in a Defense Department panel that helped implement the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
For the complete AP Story, click here.
Is Water the Next Crisis: Analyzing the flow of water news
Media Tenor looks at many recent reports on water problems that are surfacing and raising concern as South African society struggles to put faith in the "no crisis" sentiment.
For complete analysis, click here.
How to Really Help Pregnant Teens
Jeannette Pai-Espinosa writes for The Christian Science Monitor: "It was common for pregnant single women in the 1800s to be called 'lost, fallen, wayward, and depraved women.' Fast forward to 2008 and spend a bit of time online and you'll read statements that refer to the 17 young pregnant high school women in Gloucester, Massachusetts, as 'sluts, idiots, harlots, and immoral.' This is not progress. We need to move beyond name calling. Let's ask ourselves not only about how we look at vulnerable young women in our society, but let's use those answers to help make a positive difference for them."
For complete article, click here.
For complete analysis, click here.
How to Really Help Pregnant Teens
Jeannette Pai-Espinosa writes for The Christian Science Monitor: "It was common for pregnant single women in the 1800s to be called 'lost, fallen, wayward, and depraved women.' Fast forward to 2008 and spend a bit of time online and you'll read statements that refer to the 17 young pregnant high school women in Gloucester, Massachusetts, as 'sluts, idiots, harlots, and immoral.' This is not progress. We need to move beyond name calling. Let's ask ourselves not only about how we look at vulnerable young women in our society, but let's use those answers to help make a positive difference for them."
For complete article, click here.
Justice Department Right not to Play Politics with Ruling.
The Washington Post, in an editorial, commends the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel for "keeping politics out of the analysis" when it ruled that the child of two women was entitled to Social Security benefits from his nonbiological parent. "In short, [the OLC] relied on a straightforward -- some might say 'conservative' -- approach to produce a result that even 'liberals' should applaud," the Post writes.
For complete editorial, click here.
"We Have Seven Years Left to Reverse the CO2 Emissions Curve"
Rajendra Pachauri, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change president and Nobel Laureate, says in an interview with Le Monde's Laurence Caramel and Stephane Foucart that humanity has only seven years to reverse the present greenhouse gas emissions trend before we cross a threshold of "serious danger."
For the complete Truthout translation of the Le Monde article, click here.
05 July 2008
Big Brother is Watching Your Every Move
Better not be planning that addition to the house when the cable guy comes.
Bruce Finley writes for The Denver Post: "Hundreds of police, firefighters, paramedics and even utility workers have been trained and recently dispatched as "Terrorism Liaison Officers" in Colorado and a handful of other states to hunt for "suspicious activity" — and are reporting their findings into secret government databases. It's a tactic intended to feed better data into terrorism early-warning systems and uncover intelligence that could help fight anti-U.S. forces. But the vague nature of the TLOs' mission, and their focus on reporting both legal and illegal activity, has generated objections from privacy advocates and civil libertarians. "Suspicious activity" is broadly defined in TLO training as behavior that could lead to terrorism: taking photos of no apparent aesthetic value, making measurements or notes, espousing extremist beliefs or conversing in code, according to a draft Department of Justice/Major Cities Chiefs Association document."
For complete story, click here.
Better not be planning that addition to the house when the cable guy comes.
Bruce Finley writes for The Denver Post: "Hundreds of police, firefighters, paramedics and even utility workers have been trained and recently dispatched as "Terrorism Liaison Officers" in Colorado and a handful of other states to hunt for "suspicious activity" — and are reporting their findings into secret government databases. It's a tactic intended to feed better data into terrorism early-warning systems and uncover intelligence that could help fight anti-U.S. forces. But the vague nature of the TLOs' mission, and their focus on reporting both legal and illegal activity, has generated objections from privacy advocates and civil libertarians. "Suspicious activity" is broadly defined in TLO training as behavior that could lead to terrorism: taking photos of no apparent aesthetic value, making measurements or notes, espousing extremist beliefs or conversing in code, according to a draft Department of Justice/Major Cities Chiefs Association document."
For complete story, click here.
04 July 2008
Republican Campaign Against Likely Democratic Voters Begins
Steven Rosenfeld writes for Alternet: "Across the country and on the Republican National Committee website, a handful of GOP office holders and party officers are trying to discredit recent voter registration drives and record-setting turnout by Democrats in 2008 primaries, saying efforts seen as benefiting Democrats are rife with "voter fraud.""
For complete story, click here.
What Patriotism Is, and Is Not
Michael Winship, for Truthout, writes about false accusations against Obama's patriotism, "Chances are, many of the perpetrators of this nonsense think they're being patriots, saving us from Obama and ourselves. And goodness knows, there's a long history of this kind of guttersnipery in American politics. As Obama pointed out in his Monday speech on the nature of patriotism, 'Thomas Jefferson was accused by the Federalists of selling out to the French. The anti-Federalists were just as convinced that John Adams was in cahoots with the British and intent on restoring monarchal rule ... the use of patriotism as a political sword or a political shield is as old as the Republic.'"
For his complete commentary, click here.
On Black Patriotism
Eugene Robison writes for Truthdig.com: " Anyone who took U.S. history in high school ought to know that one of the five men killed in the Boston Massacre, the atrocity that helped ignite the American Revolution, was a runaway slave named Crispus Attucks. The question the history books rarely consider is: Why? Think about it for a moment. For well over a century, British colonists in North America had practiced a particularly cruel brand of slavery, a system of bondage intended not just to exploit the labor of Africans but to crush their spirit as well. Backs were whipped and broken, families systematically separated, traditions erased, ancient languages silenced. Yet a black man—to many, nothing more than a piece of property—chose to stand and die with the patriots of Boston.
For the complete commentary, click here.
Single Moms' Poverty Spikes After Welfare Overhaul
Allison Stevens of Women's eNews reports, "Some 15 million US women live in poverty, according to 2006 Census data collated by the Washington-based National Women's Law Center. Poverty rates are especially high among women of color, older women and single mothers. Black and Hispanic women are about twice as likely to be poor than white women. Roughly one in five elderly women are poor, as are one in three single mothers."
For the complete story, click here.
Vendor Misinformation in the E-Voting World
Dan Wallach, for VoteTrustUSA, writes: "At this point, the scientific evidence is in, it's overwhelming, and it's indisputable. The current generation of DRE voting systems has a wide variety of dangerous security flaws. There's simply no justification for the vendors to be making excuses or otherwise downplaying the clear scientific consensus on the quality of their products."
To read the complete article, click here.
Playing the Fear Card
Dan Kennedy for the Guardian writes: "Be afraid. It's not just a warning - it's a campaign slogan. For Republicans, fear is a cudgel with which they've bludgeoned their way to victory since the Reagan era, and it's acquired an extra emotional wallop since 9/11. Will it work again? Even though Barack Obama has a lead of as much as 15 points in the national polls, don't be too sure that it won't. After all, Michael Dukakis led the first George Bush by 17 points in the summer of 1988. That fall, Dukakis collapsed under a vicious assault on his patriotism, his toughness, even his mental stability."
FOr his complete commentary, click here.
Steven Rosenfeld writes for Alternet: "Across the country and on the Republican National Committee website, a handful of GOP office holders and party officers are trying to discredit recent voter registration drives and record-setting turnout by Democrats in 2008 primaries, saying efforts seen as benefiting Democrats are rife with "voter fraud.""
For complete story, click here.
What Patriotism Is, and Is Not
Michael Winship, for Truthout, writes about false accusations against Obama's patriotism, "Chances are, many of the perpetrators of this nonsense think they're being patriots, saving us from Obama and ourselves. And goodness knows, there's a long history of this kind of guttersnipery in American politics. As Obama pointed out in his Monday speech on the nature of patriotism, 'Thomas Jefferson was accused by the Federalists of selling out to the French. The anti-Federalists were just as convinced that John Adams was in cahoots with the British and intent on restoring monarchal rule ... the use of patriotism as a political sword or a political shield is as old as the Republic.'"
For his complete commentary, click here.
On Black Patriotism
Eugene Robison writes for Truthdig.com: " Anyone who took U.S. history in high school ought to know that one of the five men killed in the Boston Massacre, the atrocity that helped ignite the American Revolution, was a runaway slave named Crispus Attucks. The question the history books rarely consider is: Why? Think about it for a moment. For well over a century, British colonists in North America had practiced a particularly cruel brand of slavery, a system of bondage intended not just to exploit the labor of Africans but to crush their spirit as well. Backs were whipped and broken, families systematically separated, traditions erased, ancient languages silenced. Yet a black man—to many, nothing more than a piece of property—chose to stand and die with the patriots of Boston.
For the complete commentary, click here.
Single Moms' Poverty Spikes After Welfare Overhaul
Allison Stevens of Women's eNews reports, "Some 15 million US women live in poverty, according to 2006 Census data collated by the Washington-based National Women's Law Center. Poverty rates are especially high among women of color, older women and single mothers. Black and Hispanic women are about twice as likely to be poor than white women. Roughly one in five elderly women are poor, as are one in three single mothers."
For the complete story, click here.
Vendor Misinformation in the E-Voting World
Dan Wallach, for VoteTrustUSA, writes: "At this point, the scientific evidence is in, it's overwhelming, and it's indisputable. The current generation of DRE voting systems has a wide variety of dangerous security flaws. There's simply no justification for the vendors to be making excuses or otherwise downplaying the clear scientific consensus on the quality of their products."
To read the complete article, click here.
Playing the Fear Card
Dan Kennedy for the Guardian writes: "Be afraid. It's not just a warning - it's a campaign slogan. For Republicans, fear is a cudgel with which they've bludgeoned their way to victory since the Reagan era, and it's acquired an extra emotional wallop since 9/11. Will it work again? Even though Barack Obama has a lead of as much as 15 points in the national polls, don't be too sure that it won't. After all, Michael Dukakis led the first George Bush by 17 points in the summer of 1988. That fall, Dukakis collapsed under a vicious assault on his patriotism, his toughness, even his mental stability."
FOr his complete commentary, click here.
02 July 2008
The Truth Is Out on CIA and Torture
Milt Bearden, for The Washington Independent, writes: "But whatever the solution for getting US intelligence collection abroad back on track, it should begin with the formal denunciation by the next administration of the use of torture by any US agency -- including the CIA. It might also encompass a balanced investigation into past abuses, but this time with a top-down targeting rather than just throwing a few low-level suspects to the wolves."
For the complete story, click here.
Obama's FISA Opportunity
Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's "Countdown": "The Democratic leadership in the Senate, Republican knuckle-dragging in the same chamber, and the mediocre skills of whoever wrote the final version of the FISA bill, have combined to give Senator Barack Obama a second chance to make a first impression. And he damned well better take it."
For complete commentary, click here.
People-funded Journalism Budding
J. D. Lascia reports for MediaShift, that efforts like Spot.us, where citizens fund stories at the community level, are important experiments that bear watching -- and, more importantly, sustained support.
For complete commentary, click here.
US Leads World in Substance Abuse
According to Reuters, "The United States leads the world in rates of experimenting with marijuana and cocaine despite strict drug laws, World Health Organization researchers said on Tuesday."
For complete story, click here.
For First Time, Congress Addresses Transgender Workers
Rob Hotakainen, McClatchy Newspapers, reports: "After getting hired as a national security analyst with the Library of Congress, David Schroer took his new boss out to lunch to share some news: On his first day of work, he planned to show up as Diane. The next day the job offer was withdrawn, and Schroer says it was a clear case of discrimination."
For complete story, click here.
It Was Oil, All Along
For Truthout, Bill Moyers and Michael Winship write: "Oh, no, they told us, Iraq isn't a war about oil. That's cynical and simplistic, they said. It's about terror and al-Qaeda and toppling a dictator and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves from weapons of mass destruction. But one by one, these concocted rationales went up in smoke, fire and ashes. And now the bottom line turns out to be ... the bottom line. It is about oil."
For complete article, click here.
Milt Bearden, for The Washington Independent, writes: "But whatever the solution for getting US intelligence collection abroad back on track, it should begin with the formal denunciation by the next administration of the use of torture by any US agency -- including the CIA. It might also encompass a balanced investigation into past abuses, but this time with a top-down targeting rather than just throwing a few low-level suspects to the wolves."
For the complete story, click here.
Obama's FISA Opportunity
Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's "Countdown": "The Democratic leadership in the Senate, Republican knuckle-dragging in the same chamber, and the mediocre skills of whoever wrote the final version of the FISA bill, have combined to give Senator Barack Obama a second chance to make a first impression. And he damned well better take it."
For complete commentary, click here.
People-funded Journalism Budding
J. D. Lascia reports for MediaShift, that efforts like Spot.us, where citizens fund stories at the community level, are important experiments that bear watching -- and, more importantly, sustained support.
For complete commentary, click here.
US Leads World in Substance Abuse
According to Reuters, "The United States leads the world in rates of experimenting with marijuana and cocaine despite strict drug laws, World Health Organization researchers said on Tuesday."
For complete story, click here.
For First Time, Congress Addresses Transgender Workers
Rob Hotakainen, McClatchy Newspapers, reports: "After getting hired as a national security analyst with the Library of Congress, David Schroer took his new boss out to lunch to share some news: On his first day of work, he planned to show up as Diane. The next day the job offer was withdrawn, and Schroer says it was a clear case of discrimination."
For complete story, click here.
It Was Oil, All Along
For Truthout, Bill Moyers and Michael Winship write: "Oh, no, they told us, Iraq isn't a war about oil. That's cynical and simplistic, they said. It's about terror and al-Qaeda and toppling a dictator and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves from weapons of mass destruction. But one by one, these concocted rationales went up in smoke, fire and ashes. And now the bottom line turns out to be ... the bottom line. It is about oil."
For complete article, click here.
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