-
Somalia Famine: Politics and Global Warming Causing Disasters
AP reports: “‘Somalia is facing its worst food security crisis in the last 20 years,’ said Mark Bowden, the U.N.’s top official in charge of humanitarian aid in Somalia. ‘This desperate situation requires urgent action to save lives … it’s likely that conditions will deteriorate further in six months.'” JAMES JENNINGS, jimjennings at earthlink.net Available for a limited number of interviews, Jennings is president of Conscience International. Now in Ethiopia, he is scheduled to be in Kenya tomorrow organizing a medical response devoted to saving the most vulnerable children affected by the famine in Somalia and those two countries. He…
-
Murdoch “Can’t Have it Both Ways”
NICHOLAS JOHNSON, mailbox at nicholasjohnson.org Johnson is currently in the D.C. area and is available for a limited number of interviews. Now teaching at the University of Iowa College of Law, Johnson is a former FCC commissioner who helped block the attempted takeover of ABC by ITT in the 1960s. He said today: “Murdoch is taking the classic position of big media owners: No responsibility. It’s a typical corporate tactic that tries to place the blame on underlings who actually have very little responsibility or power. And when finally faced with the illegal actions of his companies, Murdoch pleads that…
-
Public on Budget: Tax the Rich, Cut Military Spending
STEVEN KULL, skull at pipa.org Kull is director of the Program for Public Consultation, a joint program of the Center on Policy Attitudes and the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, which released the study “Public Proposes Federal Budget Dramatically Different Than House or White House.” The study found: “When a representative sample of the American public was presented the federal budget, they proposed changes far different from those the Obama administration or the Republican-led House have proposed. The biggest difference in spending is that the public favored deep cuts in defense spending, while the administration and…
-
California Prisoners on Hunger Strike to Protest “Torture”
The Los Angeles Times reports today: “More than 400 inmates at four California prisons are in the third week of a hunger strike to protest long, punitive stays in isolation cells. … “Inmate advocates say thousands of inmates have joined the strike, which began July 1. Many are beginning to show dramatic weight loss and collapse with the early signs of starvation, they say.” The paper reports that prison officials refuse to allow reporters into the institutions to interview the strikers.
-
Major Trade Legislation Expected
Dow Jones reports: “The Senate Finance committee plans Thursday to make another attempt to start informal debate on proposed trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, after Republicans on the panel boycotted last week’s meeting.” ARTHUR STAMOULIS, arthur at citizenstrade.org Executive director of the Citizens Trade Campaign, Stamoulis said today: “Nobody outside Washington is being fooled by this debate over Trade Adjustment Assistance. Poll after poll shows that Americans of all political persuasions oppose more NAFTA-style trade agreements. Job retraining programs for displaced workers should be extended, but not in exchange for more job-killing pacts. Supporting these deals is…
-
Nader Blasts Obama Bypassing Warren for Consumer Post
AP reports: “Reigniting a partisan fight over banking regulations, President Barack Obama intends to nominate former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to lead a consumer protection bureau that was a central feature of a law overhauling the rules that govern the financial sector. “Obama plans to announce the nomination formally on Monday, the White House said Sunday. Republicans immediately threatened to block Cordray’s Senate confirmation. In choosing Cordray, Obama bypassed Elizabeth Warren, a favorite of consumer groups… “But consumer advocate and one-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader called bypassing Warren ‘an act of political cowardliness by President Obama.’ “‘Elizabeth Warren apparently…
-
Is U.S. “Counter-Terrorism” Pushing Pakistan to Brink?
AP reports “Gen. David Petraeus, the out…
-
Murdoch’s Scandals
CBS News reports: “A U.S. senator has urged an investigation into whether Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. newspapers, in the spotlight of a phone hacking and bribery scandal, had violated U.S. law. “Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., called for the investigation after a report surfaced Monday that 9/11 victims may have been targeted by one of Murdoch’s papers, The Sun tabloid. The Mirror, a British competitor of The Sun, first reported the story.” In the U.S., Murdoch properties include Fox television networks, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.
-
Senators Push to Tighten Tax Loopholes
The New York Times reports: “Saying that…
-
Is Debt Ceiling Being Used as “Opportunity” to Cut Social Security?
In a letter to the president sent this Saturday, nine Senators wrote: “The inclusion of Social Security in the debt renegotiations is extremely troubling. Social Security has contributed nothing to the debt and yet seniors face potential cuts to their earned benefits. … Our bedrock social safety net programs should not be adjusted as part of some deal — any changes to improve the solvency of these programs should stand on their own merits and be considered separately.” JANE HAMSHER, firedoglake at gmail.com Hamsher, founder of the blog FireDogLake, noted that Obama said there was an “opportunity” to deal with…
Blog
“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