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“Little Humanitarianism” in Obama Immigration Plan
“There is little humanitarianism in that $3.7 billion. According the White House $1.8 billion of that will go to Health and Human Services to provide care for the children. It seems that a portion of that is dedicated to free up more money from Border Patrol. … The rest of the $3.7 billion is specifically for deterrence, enforcement and ‘foreign cooperation’.”
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Ellsberg Billboards Urge Whistleblowing in DC: “Tell the Truth with Documents”
In an unprecedented push for whistleblowing in the nation’s capital, the new organization ExposeFacts announced today that 13 billboards have gone up near Capitol Hill, the Justice Department, the White House, the Government Accountability Office, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the State Department, a popular bookstore at Dupont Circle and other prominent locations.
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“Netanyahu Government Knew Teens Were Dead as it Whipped up Racist Frenzy”
“From the moment three Israeli teens were reported missing last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s military-intelligence apparatus suppressed the flow of information to the general public. Through a toxic blend of propaganda, subterfuge and incitement, they inflamed a precarious situation, manipulating Israelis into supporting their agenda until they made an utterly avoidable nightmare inevitable.”
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On the Ground in Gaza and Israel
“It is essential that U.S. citizens understand that this conflict should not continue to be viewed as a symmetrical one any more. When they do not hear about it, there are vicious violations of international law against Palestinians every day; including closures/blockades, settlement activities (population transfer on our land), displacement, killings, detention and torture.”
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Key Author of War Powers Resolution: “Attack on Iraq Would Violate Constitution”
“Just as with threats to attack Syria last year, an attack on Iraq and/or Syria today would violate the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution. As with any president, he [President Obama] commits an impeachable offense if he does not follow the Constitution. Some observers misread a section of the War Powers Resolution as giving the president 60 days to make war without a declaration from Congress. The section cited actually limits even war making in the event of an attack upon the United States, its territories, or armed forces, which is not the case in either Iraq or Syria.…
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In Iraq and Syria: U.S. Backing “Both Sides of Same Conflict”
“Mainstream news coverage has overlooked the contradiction that U.S. aid is destined for opposing sides of the same conflict. In Syria, the Obama administration is arming opposition groups who support its anti-regime position — and in Iraq, the administration is taking a pro-regime position, funding and training the Iraqi government and its forces.”
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* Israel Bombs Gaza * Japan Nixing Pacifism * Chile Fingers U.S.
“More than three times the number of the Israeli youths murdered near Hebron were murdered by the Israeli military in its terrorist rampage across the West Bank since the three [Israeli youths] went missing. But we will never see the handsome photos and bios of the dead Palestinians because they are ‘human animals’ according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, unworthy of our grief. … Israel has been dying to arrest many of those it freed in deals over the last year or so, especially those connected to the Gilad Shalit case. … Clashes in an East Jerusalem neighborhood are growing…
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Why Should a Woman’s Health Care Depend on Her Employer?
“The Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case reminds us why a single payer system with universal rules for coverage is much better than employer-based insurance. Why should the religion of one’s boss determine what birth control products a woman has to choose from? It should be none of their business — birth control is a basic preventive service that would naturally be covered under a single payer plan.”
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Will Former CEO Push to Privatize VA?
“Because the VA is a public entity, its facilities actually display greater accountability — and more transparency to patients and their families — than private health care systems. When veterans have a VA-related beef — or in-house whistle-blowers a tale to tell — they are quick to notify their elected representatives. Such complaints regularly trigger individual constituent service queries from members of Congress or, as is the case today, oversight hearings by House and Senate committees. (Good luck triggering a similar rapid response to patient or staff complaints in the private sector.)”
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Iraq: ISIS Eclipsing Crucial Kurdish Issues
“The taking of Kirkuk is a critical event that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves because of ISIS’s advance. Kirkuk is especially significant for both economic reasons (oil) and cultural ones. Rival Kurdish, Turkuman and Arab claims to Kirkuk add to the complexity and volatility of the situation. Some Turkuman leaders who have in recent history looked to Turkey for protection have warned that if Kirkuk is not returned to the central government they are willing to fight for it. For the Kurds, control of Kirkuk and its oil would make the Kurdish region financially independent from Baghdad which has…
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“With a tiny staff, it has managed to place on the air and in newspapers, points of view otherwise excluded from the national debate.”
Howard Zinn