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100 Academics Call for New Mideast Foreign Policy
Dear President Obama: “As political scientists, historians, and researchers in related fields who have studied the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, we the undersigned believe you have a chance to move beyond rhetoric to support the democratic movement sweeping over Egypt. As citizens, we expect our president to uphold those values.
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From Cairo and U.S.: Interviews on Egypt
Philip Rizk is an independent blogger and filmmaker based in Cairo. Rizk is editing video of some of the most critical parts of the protests. He is reporting on the Egyptian government apparently releasing criminals against protesters, looting, lack of police protection and other critical events. He can also address economic inequality, the lack of meaningful political opposition and other aspects. For brief audio of Saturday interview with him: part 1, part 2 and part 3. Rizk was “disappeared” by the Egyptian government in 2009.
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Egypt: Resources and Interviews
Professor of political science and international studies at Richmond University and currently visiting at the American University in Cairo, Sheila Carapico told the Institute for Public Accuracy shortly before phone lines were cut: “Earlier this week Hillary Clinton said that Egypt is ‘stable’ — but Egyptians are not interested in stability. They’re interested in change. Then, she urged ‘restraint’ by ‘both sides.’ This is an absurd statement. … There’s a reason why public opinion in the Arab world isn’t pro-American. And that’s because American foreign policy isn’t pro-public opinion in the Arab world.
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Anti-Drone War Protesters Given Time Served
AP is reporting: “A judge says protester…
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Obama Economic Policy: Change or More of the Same?
Rick Wolff is author of the book Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It. He said today: “Some 20-30 million unemployed, underemployed, and no-longer-even-looking workers were not worth addressing nor offering any new governmental program … . The past program of Bush and Obama to rely on the private sector and stimulating it in the hopes that benefits will trickle down to reduce unemployment has not worked now for years. Yet that is all the State of the Union address offers, more of the same old, same old that has failed.
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The Mideast * “A New Era” * From Cairo
Seif Da’Na is an associate professor of sociology and international studies at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside specializing in Mideast and North Africa. He said today: “Repercussions of the Tunisia example will be deep and significant and will be felt throughout the region. The uprising signifies not only the failure of the neo-liberal economic model that Arab regimes pursued, but also the futility of political oppression to enforce this model in the long run. The event signifies the beginning of a new era that must be seen as a process of change and might lead to the creation of a new…
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Social Security Cuts Hurt Future Recipients
Vice president for income security policy for the National Academy of Social Insurance, Virginia Reno said today: “There’s much talk about cutting Social Security to reduce the deficit. Deficit commission co-chairs, Bowles and Simpson, said cuts are needed to ensure the future of our children and grandchildren. Yet, their benefit cuts fall directly on those children and grandchildren. …
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Is Manning, Alleged WikiLeaks Source, Being Held Illegally?
David MacMichael, who commanded the facility where Manning is being held, last week wrote a letter to General James F. Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps. The letter reads in part: “I wonder, in the first place, why an Army enlisted man is being held in a Marine Corps installation. Second, I question the length of confinement prior to conduct of court-martial. The sixth amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing to the accused in all criminal prosecutions the right to a speedy and public trial, extends to those being prosecuted in the military justice system. …
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The Real Context of the GE Appointment
Thomas Ferguson said today: “Volcker out and Immelt in, because the administration now wants to emphasize ‘recovery’ and ‘jobs’ instead of ‘crisis stabilization’? Since when did any stabilization not include jobs as a top priority? What we actually have here is the disappearance from the scene of the best known and most visible critic of the excesses of the financial sector and his replacement by the sitting CEO of a company that is heavily dependent on government aid of all sorts, including diplomatic assistance to invest more in China. This is not about jobs, but political money — the White…
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Interviews Available with Tunisians: “A Third Way”
In Tunisia, activist Houeida Anouar said today: “Ben Ali has left, but we still have his party. People are in the streets every day now calling for officials from this party to step down from the interim unity government and for that party to be dismantled. This party is very powerful, with offices in every neighborhood. Many people feel that this party infrastructure is still doing the dirty work. People in this party and other Ben Ali loyalists still control lots of institutions and media outlets.
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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