Blog

  • Sorry, Census. Poverty Really Did Increase in 2009.

    Between 2008 and 2009, unemployment increased from 5.8 percent to 9.3 percent, the largest one-year increase on record (which goes back to 1948). Over the same period, the number of Americans without health insurance coverage rose by more than four million — from 46.3 million in 2008 to 50.7 million in 2009 — and low-income…

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  • Bruce Reed Appointed Biden Chief of Staff Today

    In light of his prominent role in deficit reduction and the ‘end of welfare’ in the 1990s, Reed’s appointment sends a clear — and troubling — signal about the administration’s domestic policy priorities in the years ahead. Alice O’Connor is author of Poverty Knowledge: Social Science, Social Policy and the Poor in Twentieth Century U.S.…

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  • A Statement from Former Prisoner Omar Deghayes on the 9th Anniversary of the Opening of Guantánamo

    Two years ago, President Barack Obama pledged to bring an end to the anomaly that is Guantánamo within a year, and to thereby restore America’s moral standing in the world. Yet today, on January 11, 2011, we are marking the beginning of the tenth year since the first prisoners were transferred to Camp X Ray…

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  • The Referendum in Sudan

    KHARTOUM, Sudan — Just days before the historic referendum on southern independence Khartoum is experiencing temperate weather and what may turn out to be a deceptive calm. In fact, everybody is either worried or excited, depending on their circumstances. Southerners are resolute that they will not accept second class citizenship in their own country, otherwise,…

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  • The End of New Deal Liberalism

    By William Greider We have reached a pivotal moment in government and politics, and it feels like the last, groaning spasms of New Deal liberalism. When the party of activist government, faced with an epic crisis, will not use government’s extensive powers to reverse the economic disorders and heal deepening social deterioration, then it must…

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  • Chomsky’s initial reaction to WikiLeaks’ latest

    I took a quick look at [“U.S. embassy cables: Hillary Clinton woos prickly Egyptians“].  It’s interesting that Israel does not appear, only Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon.  I found only one entry of any interest, in US Embassy to Clinton: “Soliman brokered a half-year-long truce last year, which Hamas broke in December, leading to the Israeli…

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  • The Katharine Gun Case

    Katharine Gun, a British former government employee, faced two years imprisonment in England for the “crime” of telling the truth. She was charged with leaking an embarrassing U.S. intelligence memo indicating that the U.S. had mounted a spying “surge” against U.N. delegations in early 2003 in an effort to win approval of the Iraq war…

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  • Bush and Blair: A Partnership of Deception

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair is back in Britain now facing an ever-widening scandal involving the distortion of evidence on Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction, but his recent trip to meet with President Bush underscores the partnership the two leaders have shared as both face growing evidence that they knowingly used faulty intelligence to…

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  • Bush in Africa: “A Cruel Hoax”?

    President Bush’s recent tour of Africa to tout his $15 billion pledge to fight the continent’s AIDS epidemic and promote trade was met with skepticism by critics who charged that his administration is attempting to mask regressive policies with staged public relations events. Bush’s trip to Africa appears to represent, more than anything else, an…

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  • Responses to Bush’s 2003 State of the Union Address

    Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished citizens and fellow citizens, every year, by law and by custom, we meet here to consider the state of the union. This year, we gather in this chamber deeply aware of decisive days that lie ahead. You and I serve our country in a time of…

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  • The Economic Impacts of Science Funding Cuts

    According to the Science and Community Impacts Mapping Project (SCIMaP), the White House FY 2026 budget proposal cuts NIH research funding by $18 billion compared to FY 2024. The budget cuts are projected to lead to widespread economic and job losses in counties across the country. Upwards of 200,000 high-quality jobs in medical research are…

  • Europe’s “Snapback” Gamble Risks Killing Diplomacy with Iran

    The move would restore “pre-2015 sanctions on Iran unless concessions are made within 30 days. Designed under the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] as a last-resort remedy, snapback flips Security Council rules: sanctions return automatically unless affirmatively blocked — meaning any veto secures reimposition. With the October 18, 2025 sunset clause approaching, the move…

  • How the UN Could Act Today to Stop the Genocide in Palestine

    “Genocide continues to rage in Gaza and is spreading as well in the West Bank. Famine has been declared in Gaza. Israel is expanding its military presence in Gaza and is rampaging across the West Bank. And September 18 will mark the end of a one-year deadline set by the UN General Assembly for Israel to comply…

  • Blank Check for D.C. Occupation

    Republican governors from six states––Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, South Carolina, and West Virginia––are all voluntarily sending National Guardsmen to the nation’s capital. President Trump mobilized the National Guard “under the guise of restoring security” in D.C., “getting rid of the slums,” and forcibly removing unhoused people from the city. As of August 21, more than…

  • Israel’s “Double-Tap” Kills Journalists and First Responders at Hospital

    “According to Khoudary’s report, ‘Israeli forces launched an explosive suicidal drone, where it hit the rooftop of Nasser Hospital.’ At least one journalist and another civilian were killed. ‘Civil defense teams went up to try to retrieve the body, tried to rescue whoever was wounded. And also journalists went to document what’s happened and then the…

  • Palestinian Groups on Famine, Call for International Protection

    “The systematic destruction of food systems, restrictions on the entry of aid, chaos perpetuated through continuous displacement orders, widespread bombardment, cooperation with and arming of gangs that loot aid and prevent its reach to affected populations, and the militarization of humanitarian aid (by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) are all explicit manifestations of genocidal intent.”

  • DNC Will Vote on Resolutions About Gaza and Israel This Week

    Three national activist organizations — Progressive Democrats of America, RootsAction and Our Revolution — have announced their support for a resolution for “an immediate ceasefire, an arms embargo and suspension of military aid to Israel” that is set for consideration by the Democratic National Committee this week.

  • Famine Declared in Gaza, Stepping up Calls for Peacekeepers

    He states: “They have the majority of votes, and most importantly, millions of people are demanding this. Ordinary people are trying to break through an illegal blockade to deliver humanitarian aid, to implement international law their governments are failing to do. Why else do we have peacekeepers if not to end genocide and prevent starvation?”

  • Unpacking the Narrative of AI Job Loss

    Writing for FAIR, Conor Smyth argues that corporate media––including The Atlantic, ABC, PBS, CBS, the New York Times and Axios––has spun an exaggerated narrative that artificial intelligence is tanking the job market for new college graduates. AI, he writes, is stealing far fewer jobs than the public might believe, and this narrative serves as a…

  • HHS Reinstates Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines

    Under pressure from anti-vaccine activists, the Department of Health and Human Services has reinstated the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, claiming that the committee will “improve the safety, quality, and oversight of vaccines administered to American children.” The Task Force was disbanded in 1998. 

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