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by Noam Chomsky
In These Times
Jan. 4, 2011
While intensively engaged in illegal settlement expansion, the government of Israel is also seeking to deal with two problems: a global campaign of what it perceives as “delegitimation”—that is, objections to its crimes and withdrawal of participation in them—and a parallel campaign of legitimation of Palestine.
by Ed Ciaccio
Dandelion Salad
Featured Writer
January 4, 2011
“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” – Warren Buffett
As Ralph Nader and others have pointed out, NY State’s $9.3 billion budget deficit, the excuse given for austerity causing service cuts and pressure on unions to freeze wages and cut employees, can be more than made up by using the current NY State Stock Transfer Tax.
That tax, which generated $16 billion in 2010, more than enough to balance the budget, with $7 billion to spare, has been automatically rebated since 1979, instead of being used as revenue to fund necessary state services, including the jobs of NY State and City employees.
by Bruce Gagnon
featured writer
Dandelion Salad
Organizing Notes
January 4, 2011
Just as I had figured would likely happen, the government has dropped the charges against those of us arrested at the White House on December 16 who were planning to go to trial. About 2/3 of the 131 who were arrested that day paid a $100 fine and were facing no further charges. One-third of the group refused to pay the fine and intended to go to trial and it is obvious that Obama did not want a bunch of veterans, and their supporters, to go into the courts and shine more light on the Afghanistan occupation. This way Obama helps to limit the “damage” of the protest. There can be no doubt that the protest got the government’s attention.
By Timothy V. Gatto
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
liberalpro.blogspot.com
January 4, 2011
During a conversation with my wife, she mentioned that her mother was very disenchanted with the Federal government. The government is denying recipients of Social Security their cost of living adjustment for the second year in a row, but still they manage to give the wealthiest Americans a continuation of the Bush tax-cuts. I told my wife that she would probably blame it on Obama seeing that she isn’t very involved politics and she would only see the simple version of what happened, and that it was the Democrats and President Obama that extended the Bush tax-cuts for the wealthiest people and cut COLA for people on Social Security. I also remarked that the Republicans would probably use that to make political capital with, even though the Republicans were the ones pressing the deal.
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Updated: Jan. 12, 2011 added a video.
by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
January 3, 2011
The start of the New Year is a good time to talk about Time. About this, we can all agree—there are only twenty four hours in a day. Zillions of companies and persons want a piece of that time from us in order to make money. But that supply of Time is not expandable. Unlike other supplies in the marketplace, this one has no give beyond twenty four hours a day.
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Updated: added Democracy Now! video
Israeli ROR in mass demo against the separation fence in Bil’in (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
haithmkatib | January 01, 2011
Israeli Forces Kill Female Protester in Bil’in
Jan 01, 2011
Jawaher Abu Rahmah, 36, was evacuated to the Ramallah hospital yesterday after inhaling massive amounts of tear-gas during the weekly protest in Bil’in, and died of poisoning this morning. Abu Rahmah was the sister of Bassem Abu Rahmah who was also killed during a peaceful protest in Bil’in on April 17th, 2010.
Doctors at the Ramallah hospital fought for Jawaher Abu Rahmah’s life all night at the Ramallah Hospital, but were unable to save her life. Abu Rahmah suffered from severe asphyxiation caused by tear-gas inhalation yesterday in Bil’in, and was evacuated to the Ramallah hospital unconscious. She was diagnosed as suffering from poisoning caused by the active ingredient in the tear-gas, and did not respond to treatment.
Jawaher Abu Rahmah was the sister of Bil’in activist, Bassem Abu Rahmah, who was shot dead with a high velocity tear-gas projectile during a demonstration in the village on April 17th, 2009.
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Image by AJ Franklin via Flickr
by Leela Yellesetty
SocialistWorker.org
January 3, 2011
Cartoonist and columnist Ted Rall’s book is a passionate call for struggle and social change–but with deep flaws about how to get there. Leela Yellesetty explains why.
“It shall be unlawful for any person with the intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any government in the U.S., to print, publish, edit, issue, circulate, sell, distribute or publicly display any written or printed matter advocating, advising or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence.”
–U.S. Code, from a 1940 law still in effect
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