Today Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced solar panels will be put on the White House. HARVEY WASSERMAN Author of Solartopia! Our Green-Powered Earth, AD 2030 (which includes an introduction by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), Wasserman said today: “We have been fighting for three decades to get the solar features restored to the White House roof.…

RICK REYES, JACOB GEORGE, via Maggie Martin ETHAN McCORD ZACK CHOAT Reyes, George, McCord and Choat are veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and are members of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Martin is media coordinator for the group, which just put out a statement: “October 7 marks the nine-year anniversary of the…

LEIGH DINGERSON Dingerson said today: “While [Washington, D.C. Schools Chancellor] Michelle Rhee enjoys the media spotlight as ‘Waiting for Superman’ opens across the country, voters in the District of Columbia had a different message on her education reform agenda. On September 14, Rhee’s boss, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, was sent packing, after staking his re-election…

AFP is reporting: “Ecuador was plunged into political crisis Thursday as troops seized the country’s main airport and stormed the Congress building in what President Rafael Correa denounced as an attempted coup.” The Organization of American States is in an emergency meeting in Washington, D.C. MARK WEISBROT, via Dan Beeton Weisbrot is co-director of the…

RICK AYERS Ayers recently wrote a piece for the Washington Post titled “What ‘Superman’ got wrong, point by point,” which states: “While the education film ‘Waiting For Superman’ has moving profiles of students struggling to succeed under difficult circumstances, it puts forward a sometimes misleading and other times dishonest account of the roots of the…

Henry Kissinger spoke at a conference at the State Department today. See: State.gov FRED BRANFMAN Branfman recently wrote the piece “Hillary Clinton and State Dept. to Celebrate War Criminal Henry Kissinger, While the White House Repeats His Deadly Mistakes,” which states: “Nothing more symbolizes how the temptations of power can corrupt youthful values and idealism…

AFP reports: “Angry workers mounted mass street protests against spending cuts across Europe Wednesday, bringing cities to a halt, clashing with police and even ramming the gates of Ireland’s parliament.” For more information and pictures, see: “Workers swarm Europe’s streets in anti-cuts protests.” RICHARD WOLFF Recently back from Europe, Wolff is author of the book…

REUVEN MOSKOVITZ, RAMI ELHANAN, LILIAN ROSENGARTEN, YONATAN SHAPIRA via Yosh Kosminsky The group Jewish Boat to Gaza released a statement several hours ago: “The Irene, a boat carrying nine passengers and aid for Gaza’s population, has been taken over by the Israeli navy and denied access to Gaza. The boat is flying a British flag…

JAMES HANSEN, MATTHEW SHERMAN Sherman is with Appalachia Rising — a group that has been protesting against mountaintop removal and this weekend held educational events in Washington, D.C. The group states it expects thousands to march on the White House today, including climatologist James Hansen, formerly of NASA. Numerous arrests are also expected. See news…

DIANA BUTTU, [currently in NYC] A Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and former Palestinian negotiator, Buttu said today: “Obama ‘urges’ an extension on the settlement moratorium rather than ‘demand’ a complete settlement reversal. The message to Israel is clear: continue violating international law. No one will stop you.” Buttu on Twitter PHYLLIS BENNIS Bennis is director of the…