Clippings for 17 March 2010

The Green They Steal, The Greed They Wear
Michael Moore, MichaelMoore.com: "It was amazing. Every story on the front page of Monday's New York Times told the story of the Age of Greed during which a system known as capitalism is slowly, but surely, killing us: Insurance company greed: 'Millions Spent to Sway Democrats on Health Care.'"

Lame Bill from a Lame Duck

Robert Scheer writes for Truthdig.com: "If you think health care reform has been an unsatisfying test of the government’s ability to deal with our pressing problems, brace yourself for bigger disappointment in its attempt to bridle Wall Street. This is when the true heavies go to work, and, as opposed to the medical industry lobby, the moneychangers fear not the wrath of their clients or, as Scripture tells, any higher power."

Dodd’s Bill on Financial Regulation Doesn’t Go Far Enough
Matthew Rothschild writes for the Progressive: "It’s been more than a year and a half since Lehman Brothers went bust and the entire edifice of Wall Street came tumbling down, only to be put back together by trillions of taxpayer dollars. And still, to this day, Congress hasn’t passed any financial reform."

New Data Shows Loan Modification Logjam Continues

Paul Kiel reports for ProPublica: "New data released Friday shows that the story for the government's foreclosure prevention program remains the same: Mortgage servicers have delivered relatively few permanent modifications, and hundreds of thousands of borrowers in trial modifications have yet to receive a final answer after many months of waiting."

When the US Becomes Greece: Drivel From the Deficit Hawks
Dean Baker writes for Truthout: "The headlines about Greece's financial problems have provided a great backdrop to renewed attacks from the deficit hawks on Social Security and Medicare. Never mind that none of it really makes any sense. Not making sense is virtually a prerequisite for being taken seriously in Washington policy debates. This is the reason that the characters who could not see an $8 trillion housing bubble dominated debate in the years leading up to the crisis, and still do today."

Torture and the Imperial Presidency

Cary Fraser, Truthout: "In an ABC television interview on February 14, 2010, former Vice President Dick Cheney mounted a vigorous attack on the Obama administration's departure from its predecessor's embrace of torture as an instrument in the arsenal of the 'war on terror.'" (Image: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: U.S. Military, Hendricks Photos)

Yoo Besmirches Legacy of Jefferson
Ray McGovern writes for Common Dreams: "Initially I was shocked at the thought of the University of Virginia welcoming former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo to the "Academical Village" founded by Thomas Jefferson. There was something very wrong about that picture. Was it not Mr. Jefferson who condemned tyrannical acts-including ones that fell far short of waterboarding-in the Declaration of Independence?"

Military Sexual Assault Reports Rose 11 Percent in 2009
Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers: "The number of sexual assaults reported in the US military rose 11 percent last year, the Defense Department said Tuesday, but Pentagon officials conceded that they still don't know how common sexual assaults are because many troops fear retribution if the attacks come to the attention of their commanders."

The Lies of Karl Rove
Melvin A. Goodman writes for Truthout: "Joseph Goebbels, the leading propagandist of the Third Reich, believed in the power of the lie; the greater the lie, the greater the power. Goebbels would have loved Karl Rove's 'Courage and Consequences: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight,' a pastiche of lies, fabrications and distortions designed to rehabilitate the record of the Bush-Cheney years. There are too many lies to treat in this one column, but his greatest lie is that the Bush administration would not have invaded Iraq if it had known there were no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) there."

Sweatshops Won't Save Haiti
Tope Folarin writes for Foreign Policy in Focus: "The United Nations will host a Haiti donors' conference at the end of March. This conference will be quite different from last year's event, of course, coming as it does on the heels of the worst earthquake to strike Haiti in two centuries. An agenda has already begun to take shape: It's already clear that a future Haiti must be populated with environmentally sustainable, earthquake-resistant buildings, for example, and it's also clear that the international community must do something to ease Haiti's massive debt burden."

One Cent Will Save Public Education

Christopher Renner writes for the Kansas Free Press: "On March 16, a crowd estimated to be 1,000 parents, teachers and students rallied at the east steps of Capitol in Topeka to protest potential future cuts in education funding. Demanding that schools get "what's right, not what's left," and "SOS - save our schools," the crowd's chants echoed in down the halls of the Capitol."

Recommended Audio: Why Health Reform Must Protect Private Insurance Coverage of Abortion Care: A Mother Speaks Out

Jodi Jacobson writes for RH Reality Check: "Today, Planned Parenthood Federation of America released a video featuring Tiffany Campbell, a mother of three from South Dakota, who tells the story of her personal experience with a complicated pregnancy and abortion, an experience that was both emotionally and financially challenging for Tiffany and her family. (You can read Tiffany's first person account of her story published last year on RH Reality Check.)"



Acceptance Is Crucial for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youths
David Ellison reports for the Oakland Tribune: "MY FAVORITE professor in college once remarked that, for many students, education was like 'so much grain stored against a winter they never expect to come.' The same could be said for the research I will share in this column.Many parents, for example, especially those of young children, may believe, "This has nothing to do with me and my kids." The truth is, this research just might save one of your children's lives. A study called "Family Rejection as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes in White and Latino Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Young Adults" appeared in the January 2009 issue of the prestigious journal Pediatrics."

Your Boss Can Secretly Film You in the Bathroom -- The Countless Ways You Are Losing Privacy at Work
Lewis Maltby writes for the AFL-CIO (via AlterNet): "Privacy is dead. Get over it. So says Scott McNealy, former president of Sun Microsystems. He's right. Workplace privacy is dead and buried. Employers can and do read e-mail, eavesdrop on telephone calls, monitor Internet access and watch workers with hidden cameras (even in bathrooms and locker rooms). Virtually all of this is legal. Technically, employers aren’t supposed to listen to personal telephone calls, but it happens all the time and you have no way of knowing. Some judges have found bathroom cameras to be an invasion of privacy, but other judges allow it."

How the FCC's Exciting New Broadband Plan Is a Fraud
Bruce Kushnick comments for Nieman Watchdog: "The FCC today sent Congress a new plan that pretends to solve the nation’s broadband problem, but is in fact a testament to how corrupt America has gotten. The new national broadband policy is tailored to reward telcom behemoths AT&T and Verizon, the very same corporate interests that got us into this mess in the first place. Meanwhile, the hard questions that need to be asked are being ignored."

Spinning for Bush, Then Spinning the Spin
David Corn writes for Mother Jones: "Spinners gotta spin. And Brad Blakeman, a Republican strategist and commentator, is an expert at keeping his own gyrations turning. On Tuesday, he and I appeared on MSNBC to discuss Karl Rove's new book. The main issue at hand was Rove's assertion that George W. Bush did not 'lie us' into the Iraq war. I went first and explained how the Bush administration had overstated iffy intelligence regarding Iraq's WMD capabilities to grease the way to the invasion. Defending Bush's war, Blakeman, who had worked in the Bush White House's scheduling office, noted that Saddam Hussein had used WMDs against the Kurds—without mentioning that this had happened 15 years before the Iraq war and that UN inspectors had subsequently reported destroying Iraq's WMD facilities. He then asserted that another reason for the war was that Saddam 'was preventing inspectors from coming in and inspecting the [suspected WMD] sites that the UN demanded be inspected.'"

Control of Public Media as a Social Justice Issue
Scott Sanders and James Owens, Truthout: "Media justice organizers at the Center for Media Justice (CMJ) and MAG-Net have recently produced a brilliant campaign plan ('The Campaign for universal broadband') to win three policies crucial for just and democratic communication: network neutrality, universal broadband and universal service fund reform."

Beck's War Against Social Justice

Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Zaid Jilani, Brad Johnson, and Alex Seitz-Wald write the Progress Report for Think Progress: "Fox News' radical host Glenn Beck recently told his listeners to 'run as fast as you can' if they find their church preaching 'social justice,' claiming it is a 'perversion of the Gospel.' "Social justice was the rallying cry," he argued, 'on both the communist front and the fascist front. This is not an American idea.' Beck even told his listeners to report preachers of social justice to the authorities: 'If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish. Go alert your bishop.' Christian leaders of all denominations -- from progressive Jim Wallis to arch-conservative Southern Baptist theologian Albert Mohler -- have challenged Beck's attack on social justice. Religious scholars of Beck's adopted faith, the Church of Latter-Day Saints, have explained that social justice is essential to Mormonism. Bread for the World is asking Beck to '[q]uit using [his] bully pulpit to spread misinformation and fear.' Wallis has initiated a petition at Sojourners, his social justice organization, for people to let Glenn Beck know they are social justice Christians. In response, Beck has announced that the 'hammer is coming' down on Sojourners and Wallis, whom he claims is a "Marxist." Despite Beck's threats, Wallis has repeated his invitation to sit down and have 'an open and public discussion on what social justice really means.'"

Erick Erickson Is the New CNN Go-to Bigot, Misogynist and Homophobe
Devona Walker writes for AlterNet: "In this quote, unquote 'post racial' age, CNN has hired a guy who is not just an apparent bigot, but a misogynist and avid homophobe. Erick Erickson, the editor of redstate.com. will begin working at CNN as a political commentaor opposite John King on John King USA.  Guess the brass at CNN haven’t entirely recovered from their rabid racist withdrawals since Glenn Beck left went to Fox News. Those withdrawals probably worsened when Lou Dobbs quit a few months back."

Adequate Yearly Funding Rally

On March 16, hundreds of parents, teachers and students rallied at the Capitol in Topeka to protest potential future cuts in education funding. Recent education funding levels have substantially improved educational results. Reducing funding to 1992 levels will destroy the progress Kansas schools have made to the detriment of our most innocent Kansans and our most valuable asset…the Kansas child. Speakers in order of appearance are: Noah Slay, Sen. Anthony Hensley, Gov. Mark Parkinson, Alec Weaver, 2009 Kansas Teacher of the year Cindy Coachman, Rep, Ann Mah, Rep. Paul Davis, Sen. Tom Holland, Alec Elkison, KNEA President Dr. Blake West and Christie Slay.

MP3 File

Clippings for 14 March 2010

The Senate's Lesson About Democracy
David Sirota writes: "When you look past the craziness, chaos and confusion of politics these days, you still find roughly two major schools of thought that aim to explain What's Fundamentally Wrong. The first says America is paralyzed by a political system that is too democratic — too responsive to citizens' whims. This is the religion of almost everyone in the permanent Washington elite, regardless of party. Its canon mixing paeans to noblesse oblige with shrill authoritarianism is most clearly articulated by high priests like The Washington Post's David Broder and The New York Times' Tom Friedman. The former has said democracy threatens to make "official Washington altogether too responsive to public opinion"; the latter dreams of Chinese-style dictatorship."

War in a Box
Norman Solomon, Truthout: "The event on the House floor Wednesday afternoon was monumental - the first major Congressional debate about US military operations in Afghanistan since lawmakers authorized the invasion of that country in autumn 2001. But, as Rep. Patrick Kennedy noted with disgust on Wednesday, the House press gallery was nearly empty. He aptly concluded, 'It's despicable, the national press corps right now.'"

What Torture Is and Why It's Illegal and Not "Poor Judgment"
Andy Worthington provides the following analysis for Truthout: "It's now over two weeks since veteran Justice Department (DOJ) lawyer David Margolis dashed the hopes of those seeking accountability for the Bush administration's torturers, but this is a story of such profound importance that it must not be allowed to slip away."

Rachel Corrie Case Stirs Fresh Pain and Hope

Ashley Bates, GlobalPost: "Shortly before Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer on March 16, 2003, she said in a video interview that she marveled at Palestinians' ability to 'hold onto their humanity as much as they have.' Seven years later, Corrie’s friends in the Gaza Strip are planning a remembrance ceremony in her honor. They are also following news of the civil court trial under way in Israel."

Congress Votes for Treason: 356-65 to levy more unlawful war against US soldiers in Afghanistan
Carl Herman writes for the LS County Nonpartisan Examiner: "My headline is legally accurate, and the side of history you want to be on when America finally recognizes our government and corporate media’s fascism. The definitions of political terms, relevant laws, and facts are simple; the problem is American’s cognitive dissonance to recognize the “Big Lie” at home rather than in a history book of some other place in some past time. This article, after the following four paragraphs of context, will explain these simple high school-level definitions of political terms of treason and fascism, relevant laws of war, and relevant facts of war with Afghanistan. I’ll conclude with ~5-minute video clips of Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul’s House floor statements on the Resolution to end the war in Afghanistan, and a 5-minute clip of news coverage."

Why Are We Afraid to Tax the Super Rich?

Les Leopold writes for AlterNet.org: "Our nation is already deeply in debt. How can we possibly afford to invest in our infrastructure, renewable energy, health care, our schools — and create the millions of jobs that our unemployed desperately need? We are told that we’re already living well beyond our means — that entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security will bankrupt us. Forget the solar panels, the smaller classes and the new jobs — we’ve got to cut back on government programs at all levels."

Recommended Audio: Global Pulse - Chimerica: U.S., China and the Global Economy

This week Global Pulse revisits China and its relationship with the US and the world.  This overview of China's changing role in the turbulent global economy includes an interview with Wayne Shilby, chair of the board of Calvert Social Investment Foundation, and an unusually deep look at how China is portrayed by CCTV, Chinese state television.


Ask the Chamber of Commerce: Why Is Too Much Not Enough?
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship comment for Truthout: "Living in these United States, there comes a point at which you throw your hands up in exasperation and despair and ask a fundamental question or two: how much excess profit does corporate America really need? How much bigger do executive salaries and bonuses have to be? How many houses or jets or artworks can be crammed into a life?"

Ponzi Nation: How Get-Rich-Quick Crime Came to Define an Era
Andy Kroll writes for TomDispatch.com: "Every great American boom and bust makes and breaks its share of crooks. The past decade - call it the Ponzi Era - has been no different, except for the gargantuan scale of white-collar crime. A vast wave of financial fraud swelled in the first years of the new century. Then, in 2008, with the subprime mortgage collapse, it crashed on the shore as a full-scale global economic meltdown. As that wave receded, it left hundreds of Ponzi and pyramid schemes, as well as other get-rich-quick rackets that helped fuel our recent economic frenzy, flopping on the beach."

The Sham Recovery
Robert Reich writes on RobertReich.com: "Are we finally in a recovery? Who's 'we,' kemosabe? Big global companies, Wall Street, and high-income Americans who hold their savings in financial instruments are clearly doing better. As to the rest of us – small businesses along Main Streets, and middle and lower-income Americans – forget it."

Recommended Audio: The Video that Will Put Geithner Behind Bars

Mike Whitney writes for the Smirking Chimp: “You gotta see this! If this doesn't convince you that the Timothy Geithner knew about the securities shenanigans that were going on at Lehman, than I don't know what will. Keep in mind, that Geithner ran Lehman through 3 'stress tests' prior to bankruptcy; all of which Lehman failed, and yet, nothing was done. Anton R. Valukas--the examiner who wrote the 2,200 page investigative-report which was released on Thursday-- has provided plenty of information detailing Lehman's 'materially misleading' accounting and 'actionable balance sheet manipulation.'”



Six Democratic Senators Poised to Kill Student Loan Reform
Chris Kromm reports for Facing South: "Reforming the for-profit student loan system, which allows finance giants like Virginia-based Sallie Mae to make virtually risk-free returns thanks to government subsidies, was a top priority of President Obama. His idea, supported by most Democrats, was to take out the middle man: Instead of subsidizing private lenders, the feds would completely take over origination of student loans."

Health Care Reform: Politics and Prejudice
Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III, Truthout: "In the wake of last week's summit on health care insurance reform, President Obama demonstrated his willingness to compromise by making some incremental concessions to Republicans in a speech from the White House. President Obama proposed strengthening efforts to limit waste and abuse, extending dependent coverage to age 26, allowing automatic enrollment in health insurance and an exchange for small businesses to pool and purchase affordable insurance. He may also consider a plan to rework the way malpractice claims are adjudicated."

Moving Toward the Limelight
Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Andrea Nill, Zaid Jilani, and Alex Seitz-Wald write the Progress Report for Think Progress: "Yesterday, the White House hosted three separate meetings on immigration with President Obama, one with grassroots immigration advocates, another with Latino lawmakers, and a meeting with the two senators who have been crafting an immigration bill for the past year: Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Following the meeting, Schumer indicated that everyone agreed that 'passing comprehensive immigration reform this year is very important to our nation' and announced that Obama would be reviewing the agreed-upon framework in the coming days. Roll Call reports that 'while [Obama] couldn't commit to making it happen, he vowed to work with Senate leaders to bring a bill to the floor in April.' Graham, however, made a 'political squeeze play' when he released a statement indicating 'in no uncertain terms' that "immigration reform could come to a halt for the year if health care reconciliation goes forward." Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal's Jerry Seib predicted that immigration reform could be the 'sleeper issue' that moves "toward the limelight." Given the fact that both the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and grassroots advocates maintain an undiminished commitment to pushing for immigration reform in 2010, it's certainly an issue fighting its way up to center stage. However, Graham's remarks added to the growing unlikelihood that the immigration reform saga will play out on the Senate floor, but it has already captured the attention of the White House and two senior Senators and it certainly won't go down without a fight."

Recommended Audio: Democracy Now! - Judge Instructs Fed Agencies to Resume ACORN Funding

A federal judge has reaffirmed her earlier ruling blocking the congressional effort to defund the anti-poverty group ACORN. On Wednesday, Judge Nina Gershon cemented a decision from last year that such action amounted to an unconstitutional “bill of attainder.” Judge Gershon has asked all federal agencies to allow ACORN funding without delay. Democracy Now speaks with National Housing Institute president John Atlas, author of Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN, America’s Most Controversial Anti-Poverty Community Group

The New McCarthyism
Joe Conason writes for Truthdig.com: "The national madness known as McCarthyism began 60 years ago in Wheeling, W.Va., when Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy held up a scrap of paper that supposedly listed the names of 57 State Department officials he said were actually Communists and traitors. Eventually, America learned that the Wisconsin Republican’s famous list was a fabrication, that he was a liar and a demagogue as well as an alcoholic—and that his authoritarian appeals to fear were worse than useless in defending our security. But by then, McCarthyism’s self-serving and fundamentally unpatriotic promoters had inflicted grave damage on the body politic and international prestige of the United States. "

Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change
James C. McKinley Jr. reports for the New York Times: "After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light."

The People's Nuclear Posture Review

Peter G. Cohen writes for Truthout: "Who decides our national and nuclear policy? (a) REQUIREMENT FOR COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW. 'In order to clarify United States nuclear deterrence policy and strategy for the near term, the Secretary of Defense shall conduct a comprehensive review of the nuclear policy of the United States for the next 5 to 10 years.' So says Section 1070 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008. This clarification of our policy is to be prepared primarily by the Defense Department, in spite of its vested interest in the outcome.'" (Image: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: Pierre J., Vermin Inc)

International Women's Day
Peter Rothberg and Chantal Flores writes for The Nation: "The world has been celebrating International Women's Day since 1911 when it was established largely thanks to the efforts of activist Clara Zetkin. The idea was to create a global forum for celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future."



Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Office of Legal Counsel Nominee Johnsen for Second Time
National Partnership for Women and Familues writes: "The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted 12-7 along party lines to approve the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to be assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, CQ Today reports. The committee had already approved Johnsen nearly one year ago, but her nomination was never brought to the full Senate. President Obama re-nominated Johnsen in January after the first nomination expired at the end of 2009."

Gay Rights Tops the Bloggers’ News Agenda

The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism reports: "Last week, bloggers returned to the hot-button subject of gay rights, a topic that has repeatedly proven to be of more interest to commentators online than to the mainstream press. From March 1-5, 16% of the week's links in the blogosphere were about gay rights issues in the news, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. This is the second time in a month when the topic has been among the most discussed subjects. During the first week of February, gay issues including the military's policy of "don't ask, don't tell" were a major subject of discussion. It is also the sixth time the subject finished in the top five since PEJ began its New Media Index in January 2009."

Second Mistrial for Shock Jock Hal Turner
Roy O'Connor writes for The Media Channel: "Internet shock jock and F.B.I. confidential informant Hal Turner beat the rap again when his second federal “Death-Threat Trial,” ended in yet another mistrial. Turner, charged with threatening the life of three federal judges who issued rulings supporting gun control, claims federal agents encouraged his seemingly dangerous rants over the years, and told him to “ratchet up the rhetoric” while asking for help in identifying a white supremacist killer. Government officials admit using him as an informant (beginning in 2004 and culminating in 2007) for intelligence on members of white supremacist groups, among whom he had a devoted following. Turner’s background as a paid F.B.I. informant has now become the main issue in the thus far unsuccessful prosecution."

Turn of Your TV
M.S. comments for The Economist: "KEVIN DRUM reminds us that the outsized influence of cable TV news is bizarre, since its ratings are abysmal. Average Americans simply don't watch it. They watch 'American Idol'. As Matthew Yglesias points out, the only people who do watch cable TV news all the time are political professionals. But what's truly absurd is that those political professionals don't watch it because they think they'll learn something substantive. (It is physically impossible to learn anything substantive by watching cable TV news. It's like trying to grow muscles by drinking Coke.) Rather, they watch it because they think it will keep them in touch with what average Americans are watching."

Mainstream Press Ignores Monumental House Debate on Afghan War
Norman Solomon writes for the Media Channel: The event on the House floor Wednesday afternoon was monumental — the first major congressional debate about U.S. military operations in Afghanistan since lawmakers authorized the invasion of that country in autumn 2001. But, as Rep. Patrick Kennedy noted with disgust on Wednesday, the House press gallery was nearly empty. He aptly concluded: 'It’s despicable, the national press corps right now.' Sure enough, the Thursday edition of the New York Times had no room for the historic debate on its front page, which did have room for a large Starbucks ad across the bottom."

U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy has a withering assessment of news media coverage: ‘despicable.’ The Democrat says reporters are focusing ‘24/7′ on sexual harassment allegations against a New York lawmaker while ignoring the war in Afghanistan.

Action Alert - Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting: NYT and the ACORN Hoax - Why can't paper admit its mistakes?

Ignoring calls from numerous critics, the New York Times refuses to own up to mistakes in the paper's coverage of the now-famous right-wing videotapes attacking the community organizing group ACORN. Instead, the paper's public editor, Clark Hoyt, is relying on an absurd semantic justification in order to claim the paper does not need to print any corrections.

As conventionally reported in the Times and elsewhere, right-wing activists James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles dressed up as a pimp and a prostitute and visited several local ACORN offices, where office workers gave the duo advice on setting up a brothel, concealing a child prostitution ring and so forth. But many of the key "facts" surrounding the videos are either in dispute or are demonstrable fabrications.

Though O'Keefe appears in various scenes in the videos wearing a garish and absurd "pimp" costume, he in fact did not wear the outfit when he appeared in the ACORN offices (Washington Independent, 2/19/10); he was dressed in a button-down shirt and slacks. This fact undermines one of the key contentions of the ACORN smear--that the group is so hopelessly corrupt that they would dispense advice to an obvious criminal.

What's more, the "advice" that they received, according to the transcripts released by O'Keefe and Giles, does not appear to be as incriminating as it was portrayed in the videos--and echoed in outlets like the New York Times.

A review of the Times coverage:

--In an early piece (9/16/09), readers were told of the "amateur actors, posing as a prostitute and a pimp and recorded on hidden cameras in visits to ACORN offices.... Conservative advocates and broadcasters were gleeful about the success of the tactics in exposing ACORN workers, who appeared to blithely encourage prostitution and tax evasion." The Times explained:

The undercover videos showed a scantily dressed young woman, Hannah Giles, posing as a prostitute, while a young man, James O'Keefe, played her pimp. They visited ACORN offices in Baltimore, Washington, Brooklyn and San Bernardino, Calif., candidly describing their illicit business and asking the advice of ACORN workers. Among other questions, they asked how to buy a house to use as a brothel employing underage girls from El Salvador.

The paper also reported that O'Keefe "was dressed so outlandishly that he might have been playing in a risque high school play. But in the footage made public--initially by a new website, BigGovernment.com--ACORN employees raised no objections to the criminal plans. Instead, they eagerly counseled the couple on how to hide their activities from the authorities, avoid taxes and make the brothel scheme work."

--Three days later (9/19/09): "Their travels in the gaudy guise of pimp and prostitute through various offices of ACORN, the national community organizing group, caught its low-level employees in five cities sounding eager to assist with tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution."

--New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt weighed in (9/27/09), chiding the paper for not being more aggressive in promoting the ACORN videos--lamenting that Times readers weren't as up-to-speed on the story as "followers of Fox News," who already knew "that a video sting had caught ACORN workers counseling a bogus prostitute and pimp on how to set up a brothel staffed by under-age girls, avoid detection and cheat on taxes."

--The following week (10/4/09), Hoyt was on the ACORN case again: "To recap: Two conservative activists with a concealed video camera, posing as a prostitute and her pimp, visited offices of ACORN, the community organizing group, and lured employees into bizarre conversations about how to establish a bordello, cheat on taxes and smuggle in underage girls from Central America."

--After O'Keefe was charged in January with attempting to tamper with the phone system in Sen. Mary Landrieu's office, the Times reported under the headline, "After Arrest, Provocateur's Tactics Are Questioned" (1/28/10): "Mr. O'Keefe is a conservative activist who gained fame last year by posing as a pimp and secretly recording members of the community group ACORN giving him advice on how to set up a brothel."

---On January 31, 2010: "Mr. O'Keefe made his biggest national splash last year when he dressed up as a pimp and trained his secret camera on counselors with the liberal community group ACORN--eliciting advice on financing a brothel on videos that would threaten to become ACORN's undoing.

--On March 2, 2010, under the headline, "ACORN's Advice to Fake Pimp Was No Crime, Prosecutor Says, "the Times reported: "The ACORN employees in Brooklyn who were captured on a hidden camera seeming to offer conservative activists posing as a pimp and a prostitute creative advice on how to get a mortgage have been cleared of wrongdoing by the Brooklyn district attorney's office."

But the story the Times continues to tell is wildly misleading, as a review of the publicly available transcripts of his visit (BigGovernment.com) makes clear. O'Keefe never dressed as a pimp during his visits to ACORN offices, seems to never actually represent himself as a "pimp," and the advice he solicits is usually about how to file income taxes (which is not "tax evasion"). In at least one encounter (at a Baltimore ACORN office), the pair seemed to first insist that Giles was a dancer, not a prostitute.

In the case recounted in the March 2 Times story, the transcripts show that O'Keefe did not portray himself as a pimp to the ACORN workers in Brooklyn, but told them that he was trying to help his prostitute girlfriend. In part of the exchange, O'Keefe and his accomplice seem to be telling ACORN staffers that they are attempting to buy a house to protect child prostitutes from an abusive pimp.

Throughout the months the Times covered the story, it made a major mistake: believing that Internet videos produced by right-wing activists were to be trusted uncritically, rather than approached with the skepticism due to anything you'd come across on the Web. O'Keefe and the Web publisher Andrew Breitbart refused to make unedited copies of the videotape public, and with good reason: A more complete viewing, as the transcripts show, would produce a much different impression.

While the Times decide to skip the standard rules of journalism, ACORN commissioned an independent investigation led by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger (12/7/09), which noted that the

unedited videos have never been made public. The videos that have been released appear to have been edited, in some cases substantially, including the insertion of a substitute voiceover for significant portions of Mr. O'Keefe's and Ms.Giles' comments, which makes it difficult to determine the questions to which ACORN employees are responding. A comparison of the publicly available transcripts to the released videos confirms that large portions of the original video have been omitted from the released versions.

So what has the Times done in response? As reported extensively by blogger Brad Friedman (Brad Blog), several Times staffers have been asked to justify the paper's lack of accountability. In the most remarkable exchange, public editor Clark Hoyt--who had criticized the paper for not doing enough reporting on the tapes--wrote that the paper had made no errors that merited a correction (Brad Blog, 2/23/10). He explained that the January 31 story "says O'Keefe dressed up as a pimp and trained his hidden camera on ACORN counselors. It does not say he did those two things at the same time."

It is hard to believe that Hoyt actually believes what he's saying here. The obvious implication from the language of the article (and the others documented above) is that ACORN was dispensing advice to someone dressed up in an absurd pimp outfit. The Times chose to believe that O'Keefe's work was journalism that didn't need to be treated skeptically. The videos were in fact a hoax, and the Times was duped. Its readers deserve to know as much--and ACORN, which suffered serious political damage as a result of the false stories, deserves an apology.

In his September column criticizing the paper for being slow to report the ACORN videos, Hoyt wrote: "Some stories, lacking facts, never catch fire. But others do, and a newspaper like the Times needs to be alert to them or wind up looking clueless or, worse, partisan itself." Worse than looking partisan, though, is being wrong.

ACTION: Encourage New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt to recommend that the paper investigate the ACORN videos and produce a report that clarifies the record.

CONTACT:
New York Times
Clark Hoyt, Public Editor
public@nytimes.com
Phone: (212) 556-7652

What You Need to Know About the 2010 Census.

Every Kansan will shortly receive a form to complete for the 2010 Census. On this week's Community Bridge, Rich Gerdes of the US Census Bureau discusses key points every citizen needs to know about the 2010 Census.

Next we hear a short commentary from Frank Schaeffer on the racist undertones to many of the Rights complaints about Obama. Then we welcome Elizabeth Renteria and Kristen Garcia from the Hispanic American Leadership Organization to discuss Cesar Chavez Week to discuss the activities they have planned for Cesar Chavez Day on March 31.

We close with Christina Nolte of Homecare and Hospice discussing the Flint Hills Festival of Wines that takes place March 26 and 27th. The announced interview with Nolte and Judine Mecseri of Homecare and Hospice had to be rescheduled for April 1 due to the KSU basketball gave that started at 6:00 pm.

MP3 File

Matt Alber & Tom Goss - Who We Are

Check out this powerful song featuring Tom Goss singing his anti-don't ask, don't tell anthem.

To date, 13,389 men and women have been fired from their jobs in the military because they are gay or lesbian. We hope this song moves you to do something about it. Please make a donation to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network right now.

Tom Goss will perform live on April 24th in Manhattan!

Matt Alber & Tom Goss - Who We Are

Clippings for 11 March 2010

Recommended Audio: GRITtv - International Women's Day
Monday, March 8 is International Women's Day, a holiday (in some countries--but not the U.S.) honoring the contributions of women around the world. While we pause to celebrate achievements, we also have to talk about how far we have yet to go to achieve true equality.

Joining Laura Flanders to talk about women around the world are Kavita Ramdas, president and CEO of the Global Fund for Women, and Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls of femLINKpacific: Media Initiatives for Women in Fiji. They discuss war and peace, media use, and women's rights as human rights.



Who Runs America?
Don Monkerud writes for CoutnerPunch: "Although some Americans worry about the growing power of the government, few understand the real power that controls their everyday lives. Private monopolies determine the brand of breakfast cereal we eat, the type of car we drive, where we bank, the medical treatment we receive, the fashion of our clothes, and the kind of toothbrush we use, in addition to the beer we drink, the health insurance we buy, and what we feed our pets."

Robert Rubin: Why Won't He Go Away?
Dean Baker comments for Truthout: "As Treasury secretary, Robert Rubin put in place all the pieces that set up the economy for the disaster that we are now living through. He pushed legislation that weakened regulation of the financial sector; he cheered on a stock bubble that eventually grew to $10 trillion and he established an overvalued dollar as a matter of official policy."

Want the Good Life? Your Neighbors Need It, Too

New research shows that, among developed countries, the healthiest and happiest aren't those with the highest incomes but those with the most equality. Epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson discusses why.
Brooke Jarvis writes for Yes! magazine: "We live in a world of deep inequality, and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. We in the rich world generally agree that this is a problem we ought to help fix—but that the real beneficiaries will be the billions of people living in poverty. After all, inequality has little impact on the lives of those who find themselves on top of the pile. Right?"

Fiction of Marjah as City Was US Information War
Gareth Porter reports for Inter Press Service: "For weeks, the US public followed the biggest offensive of the Afghanistan War against what it was told was a 'city of 80,000 people' as well as the logistical hub of the Taliban in that part of Helmand. That idea was a central element in the overall impression built up in February that Marjah was a major strategic objective, more important than other district centers in Helmand."

What "Government Takeover"? The bogus Republican claim that Obamacare is a government takeover of one-sixth of the economy.
Daviel Gross writes for Slate.com: "There have been lots of absurdities in the debate—such as it is—about health care reform. There's the hypocrisy of people dependent on government-run health care complaining about government-run health care. And now comes the Republican canard that the current health care reform proposal constitutes a government takeover of one-sixth of the economy. Here are Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana, Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana, and Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina making precisely that argument."

We're All in this Together
Will Shonburn writes for The Daily Censored: "Maybe it comes down to something as simple as those that care and those that don’t: those who care what happens to their fellow man/woman and those who basically don’t give a damn. It sure looks that way in these political/social/cultural times, and perhaps it was always thus. Given this (granted) over-broad premise, the following over simplified proposition is proposed: Democrats care (what happens to people) and Republicans don’t. This is an observation not a statistical study, but nevertheless I maintain that it’s the truth. I’ll lay out my arguments as to why, or more accurately how, it’s manifested, played out, on the political stage, and the reader can take it or leave it."

Recommended Audio: Truthdig podcast - Kucinich: ‘Heads They Win, Tails We Lose’

Rep. Dennis Kucinich tells us why he isn’t buckling under pressure to vote for the president’s health care reform bill (“Every plan that’s put forth by our government ends up benefiting the health insurance industry”).
LISTEN NOW

Surviving Without a Safety Net
Bill Boyarsky writes for Truthdig.com: "When I met Irv Feldman, he was hunched over a computer monitor at a state employment center, searching for a job. I soon learned he lives in a homeless shelter and his medical care, which doesn’t include hospitalization, comes from a limited county program."

I Am Angry

John Cory, Truthout: "I am angry. I'm tired of pundits and know-nothing, media gasbags. I'm tired of snarky 'inside politics' programming. I am sick of the bigotry and hatred of 'birthers' and faux patriotic cranks and their GOP puppet masters. And I'm really pissed at the Democratic Party that confuses having a plate of limp noodles with having a spine." (Image: Jared Rodriguez / truthout; Adapted: HeyThereSpaceman., unforth, D Sharon Pruitt)

Rove Protects the Rear
David Corn writes for Mother Jones: "With his soon-to-be-released book, Karl Rove is trying to mount something of a rear-guard action in the war over George W. Bush's legacy. According to the AP, which has obtained a copy of the book, Rove blames himself for not pushing back against claims that President George W. Bush had taken the country to war under false pretenses, calling it one of the worst mistakes he made during the Bush presidency. The president, he adds, did not knowingly mislead the American public about the existence of [weapons of mass destruction]."

Glenn Beck Mocks Rural Americans

Ellen at New Hounds writes: "Glenn Beck claims to love his country so much he starts crying just thinking about it. But apparently, that love does not extend to rural Americans who, because they live in areas underserved by telecommunications companies, have the nerve to be eligible for federal stimulus funds for high-speed internet they would not otherwise be able to get. Instead of offering the “we report, you decide” network’s viewers the reasons why the Obama administration feels this is necessary for rural communities and beneficial to the American economy as a whole, Beck smeared rural Americans by painting them – with his special brand of malicious humor – as inconsequential rubes sucking at the government teat (read: undeservedly spending HIS money) for better Facebook access. With video."

The Right Wing Witch Hurt Against ACORN
Katerina vanden Heuvel comments for The Nation: "After 18 months of screaming headlines and attacks vilifying the anti-poverty group ACORN--attacks reminiscent of a New McCarthyism that threatened the group's very existence--it's clear now that this was a right-wing witch-hunt which, sadly, too many Democrats and the mainstream media failed to fact-check."

The New Jim Crow: How the War on Drugs Gave Birth to a Permanent American Undercaste
Michelle Alexander writes for TomDispatch.com: "Ever since Barack Obama lifted his right hand and took his oath of office, pledging to serve the United States as its 44th president, ordinary people and their leaders around the globe have been celebrating our nation's 'triumph over race.' Obama's election has been touted as the final nail in the coffin of Jim Crow, the bookend placed on the history of racial caste in America."

Hate 2.0: Islamaphobia and the Internet
Barnabe F. Geisweiller comments for Truthout: "In July of last year, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group, organized a mass wedding celebration for hundreds of couples in the Gaza Strip. The happy adult grooms, immaculately dressed in black suits and colorful ties, received $500 each from Hamas, no small sum in the besieged territory."

Author Sasha Abramsky to Speak in Manhattan March 27

Christopher Renner writes for the Kansas Free Press: "The Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice (MAPJ) will hold their Annual Meeting and dinner on Saturday 27 March beginning with at 6:00 pm at the Holiday Inn at the Campus, 1641 Anderson Avenue in Manhattan. The MAPJ Annual Meetings are a time for the membership and progressives from the area to come together and recharge for another year. This year's keynote speaker, Sasha Abramsky, promises to challenge as well as inform those in attendance."

Our Bodies under Attack
Sheila Velazquez writes for Dissident Voice: "A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that in the United States, 70 percent of antibiotics are used to feed healthy livestock, with 14 percent more used to treat sick livestock. Only about 16 percent are used to treat humans and their pets."

Safe Meat Requires Humane Slaughter
Greg Kaufmann writes for The Nation: "That's what Dr. Dean Wyatt, whistleblower and supervisory public health veterinarian for the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), told the Subcommittee on Domestic Policy chaired by Congressman Dennis Kucinich on Thursday. The hearing was held in conjunction with the release of a Government Accountability Office report on enforcement of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA), which prohibits the inhumane treatment of livestock in slaughter plants."

Growing Low-Oxygen Zones in Oceans Worry Scientists
Les Blumenthal, McClatchy Newspapers: "Lower levels of oxygen in the Earth's oceans, particularly off the United States' Pacific Northwest coast, could be another sign of fundamental changes linked to global climate change, scientists say. They warn that the oceans' complex undersea ecosystems and fragile food chains could be disrupted."

Conservative Hall of Shame: 8 Anti-Gay Politicians and Demagogues Who Got Caught Having Gay Sex
G. L. Morrison writes for AlterNet: “'I'm gay. Those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long,' said Republican Roy Ashburn, breaking the week of silence following his arrest in an interview Monday with conservative KERN (AM1180) talk radio host Inga Barks. Ashburn had hosted a talk radio show at the same station. KERN deleted his DJ page and his show's description page from their radio station's website immediately following Ashburn's arrest.”

The Moyers Legacy

The Nation editorializes: "Even in an age of old-media uncertainty, much is still made of the transfer of network anchor and host positions. Too often the discussion is purely about personality, but there's more to it than a celebrity shuffle: the character and content of programs with rich histories and the potential for crucial contributions to civic discourse are at stake. So oceans of ink are spilled when CBS shifts the news anchor chair from Dan Rather to Bob Schieffer to Katie Couric; or when Tim Russert's Meet the Press post goes to David Gregory. Unfortunately, scant attention has been paid to the coming shift of what over the past decade has become the most significant seat in broadcast journalism--the Friday night position occupied by Bill Moyers."

Four in Five Believe Web Access a Fundamental Right
Kate Holton reports for Reuters UK: "Four in five adults believe access to the Internet is a fundamental right -- with those feelings particularly strong in South Korea and China -- and half believe it should never be regulated, according to a global survey."

What You Need To Know About the National Broadband Plan

Stacey Higginbotham writes for GigaOM: "The FCC will deliver its National Broadband Plan to Congress a day earlier than originally scheduled — on March 16. Also on that day, the five FCC commissioners will vote on a “mission statement” intended to represent the spirit of the submitted documents. The plan, which Congress called for as part of the stimulus package passed last year, will recommend ways to provide universal broadband access as well as encourage Congress and industry to use broadband in health care, education and energy efficiency programs."

Rebuilding Media
Michael Corcoran writes for CampusProgress.org: "There can be no denying that the state of the news media today is a full-blown crisis. Newspapers, now working with a broken economic model, are clearing out newsrooms with layoffs at a rapid rate, closing foreign and Washington bureaus, and spending less on investigative reporting. Cable news is dominated by Fox News Channel whose viewers are shown to be grossly misinformed while most TV channels focus on horserace political coverage (often with the help of corporate lobbyists serving as analysts) and trivial entertainment issues. Freelancers are paid less than ever—if at all—and prospective young journalists attending college and graduate school, while not abandoning the craft, are facing a frightening landscape to carve out careers in the field."

Capturing Media Behaving Badly

Nancy Scola writes for Personal Democracy Forum: "If, somehow, you're of the opinion that that's not actual news, and that the constant loopy of such content is strangling our democracy, then do we have the site for you. Free Press, the Massachusetts-based media reform organization, has launched MediaFail.com, an experiment in online participatory advocacy. Think of it as a 2.0-ing of Atrios' Wanker of the Day, at least in the early going, when Duncan Black hit again and again on bad political reporting in the media. Free Press has added an architecture to what Black did and made it a group project. No one man can identify all the dumb things in the news, it seems."

Why Internet Content Needs the World Wide Web to Be Open
Ramon Nuez writes for The Huffington Post: "The most fundamental principles of the World Wide Web are rooted in its openness. It was built on a foundation of mutual distribution of information, on a global scale. The credit for inventing the World Wide Web falls to Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee. Today Lee is Director of the W3C and Professor at MIT. During an interview with Jon Stokes of ARS Technica, Lee was quoted as saying:

When I invented the Web, I didn't have to ask anyone's permission. Now, hundreds of millions of people are using it freely. I am worried that this is going end in the USA. "

Clippings for 7 March 2010

Winter in America: Democracy Gone Rogue
Henry A. Giroux, Truthout: "Democracy in the United States is experiencing both a crisis of meaning and a legitimation crisis. As the promise of an aspiring democracy is sacrificed more and more to corporate and military interests, democratic spheres have largely been commercialized and democratic practices have been reduced to market relations, stripped of their worth and subject to the narrow logics of commodification and profit making. Empowerment has little to do with providing people with the knowledge, skills and power to shape the forces and institutions that bear down on their lives and is now largely defined as under the rubric of being a savvy consumer. When not equated with the free market capitalism, democracy is reduced to the empty rituals of elections largely shaped by corporate money and indifferent to relations of power that make a mockery out of equality, democratic participation and collective deliberation."

Setting the Record Straight on Chile
Naomi Klein writes for OpEdNews: "Just two days after Chile was struck by a devastating earthquake, Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens informed his readers that Milton Friedman's 'spirit was surely hovering protectively over Chile' because, 'thanks largely to him, the country has endured a tragedy that elsewhere would have been an apocalypse'. It's not by chance that Chileans were living in houses of brick - and Haitians in houses of straw - when the wolf arrived to try to blow them down."

Afghanistan and the "Balance of Armaments"
Dallas Darling comments for Truthout: "Before discussing what Afghanistan has to do with the 'balance of armaments' idea, it is obvious that US and NATO forces, with regards to superior weapons and advanced armament industries, have had tremendous advantages over insurgents in the Middle East and Asia. Unfortunately, the production, maintenance and use of these advanced weapons systems and war technologies have routinely been accepted in the West. How modern war technologies, including their manufacturing and support systems, collectively shaped and changed those involved have rarely, if at all, received any type of criticism, too."

New Research on State Crimes Against Democracy
Peter Phillips reports for The Daily Censored: "New research in the journal American Behavioral Scientist (Sage publications, February 2010) addresses the concept of “State Crimes Against Democracy” (SCAD). Professor Lance deHaven-Smith from Florida State University writes that SCADs involve highlevel government officials, often in combination with private interests, that engage in covert activities for political advantages and power. Proven SCADs since World War II include McCarthyism (fabrication of evidence of a communist infiltration), Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (President Johnson and Robert McNamara falsely claimed North Vietnam attacked a US ship), burglary of the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist in effort to discredit Ellsberg, the Watergate break-in, Iran-Contra, Florida’s 2000 Election (felon disenfranchisement program), and fixed intelligence on WMDs to justify the Iraq War."

The Other Victims of Battlefield Stress; Defense Contractors' Mental Health Neglected
T. Christian Miller reports for ProPublica: "While suicide among soldiers has been a focus of Congress and the public, relatively little attention has been paid to the mental health of tens of thousands of civilian contractors returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. When they make the news at all, contractors are usually in the middle of scandal, depicted as cowboys, wastrels or worse."

Turning Point: When Soldiers Have Had Enough

Nadya Williams writes for Truthout: "Josh Stieber and Conor Curran spoke to a gathering of Veterans For Peace and civilian peace activists in San Francisco, as part of their six months of walking and biking from the East Coast to the West to engage in dialogue about war and to become involved in community service along the way ... They spoke of their motivations for joining the Marines, their experiences in Iraq and the turning points that made them reject violence."  Stieber and Curran were interviewed on Community Bridge last fall.  To hear their interview go to: http://communitybridge.blogspot.com/2009/10/turning-form-war-to-peace-contagious.html

The Torture Memo John Yoo Should Have Written
Stephen Rohde writes for The Daily Journal (via Turthout.org): "On February 19, the Department of Justice released the long-awaited 261-page Report of the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which concluded, among other things, that in his legal memos on torture and presidential power, John Yoo had 'committed intentional professional misconduct when he violated his duty to exercise independent legal judgment and render thorough, objective, and candid legal advice.' A senior Justice Department official, acknowledging that he had not reviewed all the documents available to the OPR, found that Yoo exercised 'poor judgment' and that Yoo's memos were 'flawed,' 'one-sided and conclusory' and 'wrong,' in various respects, but nevertheless declined to accept the report or refer Yoo for disciplinary action, leaving this decision to the state bars. Given what we now know, here is the memo John Yoo should have submitted to President George W. Bush."

Blackwater's Gunrunners

Daniel Schulman writes for Mother Jones: "Blackwater improperly obtained hundreds of weapons intended for use by Afghanistan's already underequipped police force—and then falsely claimed to a Senate committee that the firearms had been returned when many remained unaccounted for. According to a months-long investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee that unearthed a range of misconduct by the company's personnel, contractors working for a Blackwater subsidiary named Paravant operated recklessly and routinely violated military regulations. The inquiry also identified a series of major vetting lapses by the company, which employed at least one contractor it had previously fired for improper behavior in Iraq and others who abused alcohol and drugs, including steroids. The investigation paints a grim picture of the state of contracting oversight in Afghanistan, where, according to committee staffers, military officials missed multiple red flags calling Paravant's conduct into question—and were even confused about who was ultimately responsible for overseeing the company's work in the first place."

America's Public Debt: The Least of Our Worries
Mark Weisbrot writes for The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR): "Various political demagogues and Wall Street interests have mounted a campaign to convince Americans that despite persistent massive unemployment for the foreseeable future, more than 15 million people underwater on their home mortgages, and two unnecessary wars, what we really should be worried about is America's national debt."

Dear America: Welcome to the Third World

Janice Leber writes for The Daily Censored: "According to Wikipedia, the term “third world” originally described countries that did not align themselves with either the capitalist USA or the communist USSR. As time has marched on and the Soviet Union has disappeared, the definition has changed.  This is a definition that seems to describe the modern definition of third-world countries:

… nations which struggle to compete because of a lack of one or more of the following: health, education, employment, resources, money, and other various factors. Many are also hampered by corrupt governments who have long ago given up on looking after their own people and use funds to fatten their own wallets while their citizens are starving in the streets. Some are hampered by war or out of control epidemics such as AIDS. These factors make it next to impossible for them to compete in any real way with the industrialized nations."

State by State, Unions Matter
Dick Meister comments for Truthout: "Union members invariably have better pay and benefits than nonunion workers. But, as a new study shows, the number of workers who've joined unions varies widely from state to state. Even in some states with a relatively high number of union members, the number is only a small percentage of the state's overall workforce, according to the study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research."

FBI Confirms Investigations Into Post-Katrina Violence Widening
A. C. Thompson reports for ProPublica: "If you’ve been following our Law & Disorder series, there are a couple of fresh developments. Our partners at the Times-Picayune have some new information about the expanding federal probe of the New Orleans Police Department, confirming that the FBI is investigating two more shootings described in stories we published in December."

Broken ICE
Jackie Stevens writes for The Nation: "In January, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that by February 26 it would be transferring roughly 250 detainees from the privately run Varick Detention Center in Manhattan to the Hudson correctional center in Kearny, New Jersey. About 12,000 people annually, mostly New Yorkers who would be held at the Varick center, will now be distributed to facilities outside the city. ICE claims it is making the transfer to provide "outdoor recreation space and visitation services," but civil rights advocates paint a darker picture."

Like Crist-Rubio for GOP, Lincoln-Halter Race Could Define Dems
John Nichols writes for The Nation: "Most major media in the United States has given up on covering politics as if it mattered. From talk radio to talk television to the Washington bureaus of too many of our dying newspapers, the coverage of the 2010 election cycle is framed in one of two ways:

A. A fight between conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats. B. A fight between conservative Republicans and Tea Party Republicans to decide who will get to vanquish the liberal Democrats in November."

Prayer Warriors and Palin Organizing Spiritual Warfare to Take Over America
Bill Berkowitz reports for AlterNet: "It's a movement whose followers played a significant role in the battle over Proposition 8, California's anti-same-sex marriage initiative, and Uganda's infamous proposed Anti-Homosexuality Law, more commonly associated with the Family, a religious network of elites drawn from the ranks of business and government throughout the world."

The Dirty Truth Behind Clean Coal

Joshua Frank provides the following news analysis for Truthout: "If you've tuned in to the Winter Olympics this past week, you likely sat through repeated showings of a multimillion-dollar public relations campaign paid for by Big Coal regarding the potential laurels of 'clean-coal' technology. The premise of the 30-second spot is simple: Coal can be clean and America needs to wean itself off of foreign crude and create jobs back home by tapping our nation's vast coal reserves."

Domestic Violence: A Pre-Existing Condition?
Amy Goodman writes for Truthdig.com: "March is Women’s History Month, recognizing women’s central role in society. Unfortunately, violence against women is epidemic in the United States and around the world. Domestic violence is on the minds of many now, as reports published by The New York Times implicate New York Gov. David Paterson in an alleged attempt to influence a domestic violence case against one of his top aides. The Times reports, based in part on unnamed sources, say that the Paterson aide, David W. Johnson, attacked his girlfriend on Halloween night, Oct. 31, 2009, 'choking her, smashing her into a mirrored dresser and preventing her from calling for help.' New York state police from the governor’s personal protection detail contacted the victim, despite having no jurisdiction. Then the governor himself intervened, the Times alleges, asking two aides to contact the victim and to arrange a phone call between him and the victim. The call occurred on Feb. 7 of this year, the night before the victim was to appear in court to request an order of protection from Johnson. She did not appear in court, and the case was dismissed. After the exposé, the governor ended his bid for election and suspended Johnson without pay."

EFF Demands FCC Close Copyright "Loophole" in Net Neutrality
Nate Anderson writes for Ars Tecnica: "The Electronic Frontier Foundation might be expected to love the FCC's 'Open Internet' push, but the group has one big concern with the rulemaking: the presence of 'a loophole for copyright enforcement in its proposed regulations for network neutrality.'"

A discussion with Brian McLaren on his new book

Brian McLaren, author of "A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that Are Transforming the Faith," discusses the book, postmodernism, Biblical studies, evangelism, inter-religious dialogue, ecology, and social justice.

McLaren is a proponent of the emerging church movement, which rejects what emerging Christians perceive to be the influence of modernism in the Evangelical church in favor of a postmodern theology which guides their faith and praxis.

McLaren believes this theology enables him to approach faith from what he considers a more Jewish perspective which allows faith to exist without objective, propositional truth to believe.

MP3 File

Why Net Neutrality is Important to Protect

Community Bridge opens this week with a phone interview featuring Tim Karr of Free Press discussing Net Neutrality.

Network Neutrality, or Net Neutrality for short, is the fundamental principle that preserves the free and open Internet. Net Neutrality means that Internet service providers may not discriminate between different kinds of content and applications online. It guarantees a level playing field for all Web sites and Internet technologies.

Timothy Karr oversees all Free Press campaigns and online outreach efforts, including SavetheInternet.com and their work on public broadcasting, propaganda, and journalism. Before joining Free Press, Tim served as executive director of MediaChannel.org and vice president of Globalvision New Media and the Globalvision News Network. He has also worked extensively as an editor, reporter and photojournalist for the Associated Press, Time Inc., New York Times and Australia Consolidated Press. Tim critiques, analyzes and reports on media and media policy for the Huffington Post and on his personal blog, MediaCitizen

Following this week's Media Minutes at 5:40, we will have a short interview with noted sociologist Gay Seidman. Seidman will be visiting Kansas State University to deliver the 10th Annual Donald J. Adamchak Distinguished Lecture on Monday, March 8th (International Women's Day) at 7 pm in Forum Hall of K-State Union. The lecture is free and open to the public.

MP3 File