• Administration Spying on Journalists

    MARCY WHEELER, emptywheel at gmail.com, @emptywheel A noted blogger on legal issues, Wheeler writes at EmptyWheel.net. She has written a series of stories on the scandal, including “‘A Full Two Month Period’ that Covers John Brennan’s Entire Drone Propaganda Campaign.” TREVOR TIMM, trevor at pressfreedomfoundation.org, @TrevorTimm Timm is co-founder and executive director of the Freedom…

  • As Global Warming Threshold Passes, Fossil Subsidies Continue

    “We passed the 400 ppm milestone as a result of the strong growth of global CO2 emissions from the human-driven burning of coal, oil, and natural gas. The President and the White House are in part to blame. The President has spectacularly failed to forge bold policies to avert climate catastrophe. It’s not surprising that…

  • Following Hawking’s Israel Boycott: TIAA-CREF and Other Companies

    “In fact, the decision to withdraw from a conference is a reasonable way to express one’s political views. Observers need not agree with Hawking’s position in order to understand and even respect his choice. The movement that Hawking has signed on to aims to place pressure on Israel through peaceful means. In the context of…

  • Guatemala: Will Today’s Genocide Verdict Lead to U.S.?

    “So, if Ríos Montt is found guilty of genocide, then the question becomes: Well, what about the man who was the field commander for the massacres that got Ríos Montt convicted of genocide? That man is now the president of Guatemala. Pérez Molina did everything he could to see to it that his name did…

  • Bangladesh Dead Approaches 1,000; Renewed Calls for “Real Reform”

    “In 2007, together with the United Steelworkers union, we helped write the Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act which, when passed, will for the first time afford human beings with the same legal rights that corporations have demanded and won to protect their trademarks and products. Mickey Mouse and Microsoft are protected but not…

  • Transcribing Bradley Manning’s Trial: Group Tries to Ensure Transparency

    “This campaign aims to fully fund a court stenographer, who will be credentialed with a media organization and attend the trial in the court’s media room. The court stenographer will produce a transcript of the trial, and as soon as the transcripts are available, the Freedom of the Press Foundation will post them online for…

  • Pakistan Election

    “If this system of civilian democracy is to be sustained, there needs to be a dramatic reconfiguration of mainstream politics and political parties in the country. Imran Khan’s political party is a positive sign in that direction. Otherwise, the mainstream political parties’ corruption and absence of any vision for independence and self-respect for the country,…

  • “Concrete Suspicions” Syrian REBELS — Not Government — Used Sarin Gas Says UN Investigator

    The BBC reports in “UN’s Del Ponte Says Evidence Syria Rebels ‘Used Sarin'” that Carla Del Ponte, a member of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, stated that the investigation has so far found that nerve gas appeared to be “used by the opponents, by the rebels. And we have no indication at…

  • FCC Chairman Nominee “Bizarre Choice”

    Johnson was a commissioner of the FCC and now teaches at the University of Iowa College of Law. He said today: “President Obama’s choice of Tom Wheeler as FCC chair is bizarre. Sure, he was a major campaign contributor — even a bundler of others’ large checks. But being appointed FCC chair is not like…

  • Commerce Secretary Nominee Tied to Bank Scandal

    “Penny Pritzker played fast and loose with the American Dream. Her pioneering sub-prime operations, out of Superior Bank in Chicago, specifically targeted poor and working class people of color across the country. She ended up crashing Superior for a billion dollar cost to tax payers, and creating a personal tragedy for the 1,400 people who…

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