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TheRealNews on Jan 4, 2012
Col. Larry Wilkerson speaks at Sam Adams Awards ceremony honoring Jesselyn Radack and Thomas Drake [November 21, 2011]
Lawrence Wilkerson: Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism
Day: January 8, 2012
Obama versus civil liberties
Image by sandy_sanders via Flickr
Editorial
SocialistWorker.org
Jan. 4, 2012
Far from being the exception, the undermining of constitutional rights is standard operating procedure under capitalism, regardless of which politicians are in charge.
THE U.S. military can indefinitely detain U.S. citizens without trial–that’s the latest of our supposedly “inalienable rights” sacrificed by the Democratic former constitutional law professor who currently inhabits in the White House.
After promising during his campaign to roll back the abuses of the Bush administration, Barack Obama has spent the last three years pushing through attacks on civil liberties that Republicans could only dream about. Continue reading
The crime of privatized prisons by Lamont Lilly
Image by Wellick via Flickr
By Lamont Lilly
www.workers.org
Jan. 5, 2012
Here in the U.S., our “land of the free,” there are approximately 130,000 inmates now housed in privately owned prisons. It‘s a foul stench within a justice system that leads the world in number of people incarcerated within a state, federal or private institution. The latest tally of 2 million equals 25 percent of the globe’s incarcerated population.
Garbage Warrior (2008)
Earthship Hungary on May 20, 2011
Image via Wikipedia
About Garbage Warrior
What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you’re renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing. For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of “Earthship Biotecture” by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony. However, these experimental structures that defy state standards create conflict between Reynolds and the authorities, who are backed by big business. Frustrated by antiquated legislation, Reynolds lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site. While politicians hum and ha, Mother Nature strikes, leaving communities devastated by tsunamis and hurricanes. Reynolds and his crew seize the opportunity to lend their pioneering skills to those who need it most. Shot over three years and in four countries, Garbage Warrior is a timely portrait of a determined visionary, a hero of the 21st century.
Organized Terror and Ethnic Cleansing in Palestine by Andrew Gavin Marshall
by Andrew Gavin Marshall
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
http://andrewgavinmarshall.com
January 3, 2012
A brief note from The People’s Book Project: Welcome to 2012: The Book Project and the World We Live In
The following is Part 2 of a sample on The Origins of Imperial Israel from an upcoming book supported through The People’s Book Project.
Part 1: The Origins of Imperial Israel: A Buffer Against Arab Nationalism
A Tired Obsession with Military Detention Plagues American Politics by Andy Worthington
by Andy Worthington
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.andyworthington.co.uk
January 7, 2012
Image by Shrieking Tree via Flickr
Before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, there were only two ways of holding prisoners — either they were prisoners of war, protected by the Geneva Conventions, or they were criminal suspects, to be charged and subjected to federal court trials.
That all changed when the Bush administration threw out the Geneva Conventions, equated the Taliban with al-Qaeda, and decided to hold both soldiers and terror suspects as “illegal enemy combatants,” who could be imprisoned indefinitely without charge or trial, and with no rights whatsoever.
Ralph Nader: Ron Paul and I agree on ending the empire
Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
with Ralph Nader
Washington Journal for Sunday
C-SPAN
January 8, 2012
Ralph Nader, Consumer Advocate & Former Presidential Candidate
Topic: Guest will discuss latest book, his thoughts on the current political landscape, the upcoming Presidential campaign, and prospects for a 3rd party candidate.
A Criminal for Peace, An Interview with William T. Hathaway
by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
December 28, 2011
Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
“I used to be a war criminal, now I’m an anti-war criminal. The government awarded me medals for the first crime, now they’re trying to imprison me for the second,” says ex-Green Beret William T. Hathaway. “I’m a war criminal not because I committed atrocities. I didn’t, and most soldiers don’t. But the US government’s invasions of Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq were war crimes. The United Nations Charter clearly forbids aggressive attacks on other countries. That’s exactly what those invasions were. Every GI who participates in that has to share some of the blame.
Meet Vermin Supreme 2012 Presidential Candidate + Meet The Lesser-Known Presidential Candidates Forum + Buddy Roemer: Iced Out of GOP Debate
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Alternative Presidential Candidates Talk
C-SPAN
Manchester, New Hampshire
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Lesser-known candidates of the 2012 presidential election participated last month in a forum hosted by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.
Thirty-five lesser-known candidates who filed with the Secretary of State for the 2012 New Hampshire Presidential Primary made opening statement and respond to questions. They discussed and debated the economy, government regulations, energy and foreign policy.
New Hampshire will hold the nation’s first presidential primaries January 10, 2011 with 30 Republicans and 14 Democrats from 26 states on the ballot.
watch via C-SPAN
Tareq Aziz, Whose Life Hangs in the Balance by Felicity Arbuthnot
by Felicity Arbuthnot
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
London, England
6 January 2012
Image via Wikipedia
“We are all victims of Britain and America. They killed our country.” (Tareq Aziz)
“In the United States today, the Declaration of Independence hangs on schoolroom walls, but foreign policy follows Machiavelli.” (Howard Zinn, 1922-2010.)
On 5th December, the first day of the solemn, predominantly Shi’a Muslim marking of Ashura – the martyrdom of Hussein, the Prophet’s Grand son in 680 AD – in a statement few of the main stream media thought worthy of mention, Saad Al Muttalibi, a Minister, ironically, at the Iraqi Ministry of National Dialogue and Reconciliation, announced another impending murder. Tareq Aziz, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, under Saddam Hussein, would be executed as soon as the Americans left.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Updated: Jan. 17, 2012; added the movie
Image via Wikipedia
FULL audio books for everyone on Jun 15, 2015
A Tale of Two Cities – audiobook
Charles DICKENS (1812 – 1870)
A small group of people become embroiled in the tumultuous events of the French Revolution. – Summary by Brad Filippone
Genre(s): Historical Fiction
Language: English (FULL Audiobook)
US Sabotage of Iran’s Currency: A New Twist of the Screw to War by Finian Cunningham
by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
East Africa
3 January 2012
A new twist of the screw on Iran has emerged following the latest US sanctions aimed at the Islamic Republic’s vital oil economy – specifically destabilising the country’s currency and its ability to conduct normal domestic business.
Iran’s currency, the riyal, was thrown into turmoil – losing 10-12 per cent of its value against foreign currencies – days after US President Barack Obama signed off new sanctions against the Persian Gulf country’s Central Bank. The slide in value is just the latest drop in a prolonged, precipitous fall.
Obama Seeks to Distance U.S. from Israeli Attack by Gareth Porter
by Gareth Porter
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted at IPS
January 3, 2012
WASHINGTON, Jan 3, 2012 (IPS) – President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are engaged in intense maneuvering over Netanyahu’s aim of entangling the United States in an Israeli war against Iran.
Netanyahu is exploiting the extraordinary influence his right-wing Likud Party exercises over the Republican Party and the U.S. Congress on matters related to Israel in order to maximise the likelihood that the United States would participate in an attack on Iran.
It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way! by Philip A. Farruggio
by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
January 3, 2012
The Friday, December 23rd Money Section of USA Today ran a full page article ‘As crisis drags on, Greeks see bleak future ‘. We learn that around 100,000 businesses will shut down in the coming months as 1 in 4 small and medium size business owners say that they will declare bankruptcy in the New Year. This will translate into a further loss of perhaps 320,000 jobs in a country with a population (11 million) less than that of New York City and its suburbs. The unemployment rate for Greeks, ages 18 to 35, is up to nearly 40%! Was it the 99% of Greeks who caused this economic depression? Or was it, as in the US, the work of greedy investment sharks and corrupt or incompetent public officials? Either way, what has happened in Greece can happen here as well. Remember the words of Gordon Gecko in the first Wall Street film: Greed is good‘… .
Is Obama the Trojan Horse, A Psychopath, A Bad Boyfriend or all Three? by Jill Dalton
by Jill Dalton
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
recoveringarmybrat
January 6, 2012
I believe Barack Obama was put into office to do what no Republican could ever have gotten away with. Obama has extend the wars, created new wars, extended the Bush tax cuts for the rich, given additional bail out money to the banks, allowed the health insurance industry to write the healthcare bill, extended the Patriot Act and signed the NDAA.
Dandelion Salad 