Eminent Domain for the People Leaves Wall Street Furious Housing justice advocates hopeful about innovative Richmond plan to use public seizure laws to save underwater homes from foreclosure Sarah Lazare writes at Commondreams.org Using the authority of state government to actually help people has Wall Street bankers in a panic, spurring threats of aggressive legal […]
Archives for August 2013
Top Reasons John McCain and Lindsey Graham have no Credibility for Egypt Talks
Sen. John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham were apparently asked by President Obama to go to Egypt and try to mediate the conflict between the Egyptian military and the Muslim Brotherhood. They are saying some of the right things while in Cairo. The problem is that they have no credibility on the issues involved. 1. […]
The Business of America is Spying on America (Engelhardt)
Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch.com: Hey, let’s talk spying! In Surveillance America, this land of spookery we all now inhabit, what else is there to talk about? Was there anyone growing up like me in the 1950s who didn’t know Revolutionary War hero and spy Nathan Hale’s last words before the British hanged him: “I […]
Top Ten Things that don’t Make Sense about NSA Surveillance, Drones and al-Qaeda
In a Reuters Exclusive, John Shiffman and Kristina Cooke reveal that the National Security Agency shares information it gleans from warrantless surveillance of Americans with the Special Operation Division of the Drug Enforcement Agency, which then uses the metadata to develop cases against US citizens. The DEA then routinely lies to the judge and defense […]
On Eve of “Peace Talks,” Israelis Subsidize their West Bank Colonies, build new Units
On the eve of resumption of peace talks between Israel and Palestine, the far right Israeli nationalist government of Binyamin Netanyahu attempted to torpedo them with a series of provocative announcements. it announced that it would steal 100 acres of land from Palestinian families and build 240 housing units on it. The the same government […]
America’s Drone Tally in Pakistan and Yemen for July (Serle and Ross)
Jack Serle and Alice K Ross write at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism The CIA killed more people in Pakistan per strike than at any point since July 2012. US drones return to Yemen‘s skies and al Qaeda confirms the death of its deputy leader. UN report finds indications of increased US and UK involvement […]
How the GOP Libya Witch Hunt Made us Close our Mideast Embassies and Crippled US Diplomacy
About those US embassy closures in the Middle East: they make the US look like a wimp. The United States is still the world’s primary superpower, for better or worse, and it has the potential to influence the world in both positive and negative ways. At one extreme, its unique geopolitical position allows it to […]
How we lost our Constitution somewhere in Iraq and came back without it to Try Manning (van Buren)
Peter Van Buren writes at Tomdispatch.com On July 30, 1778, the Continental Congress created the first whistleblower protection law, stating “that it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors committed by any […]
The New Neros: The Koch Bros Profit from Burning the World Up (Halperin Infographic)
Courtesy Grist