News Items

  • Media Advisory: Whistleblowers to Speak About Surveillance and Cyber Issues

    “President Barack Obama is set to sign an executive order on Friday aimed at encouraging companies to share more information about cybersecurity threats with the government and each other, a response to attacks like that on Sony Entertainment. … Obama will sign the order at a day-long conference on cybersecurity at Stanford University in the heart of Silicon Valley.”

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  • Delegation of U.S. and UK Whistleblowers in London: News Conference on “Special Surveillance Relationship” — News Advisory

    Whistleblowers from four American and British “national security” agencies will hold a news conference in London on November 21 in a direct challenge to surveillance policies of the U.S. and UK governments. The whistleblowers — from the NSA, FBI, State Department and GCHQ — will speak about the effects of their governments’ policies on freedom of the press and democracy. They are traveling as a delegation co-sponsored by the U.S.-based organizations RootsAction.org and ExposeFacts, a project of the Institute for Public Accuracy. The news conference is being hosted by the Foreign Press Association.

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  • In Response to the Government’s Lynching of James Risen

    It has been a sharp learning curve for Jim Risen, but by having numerous grand juries and two administrations relentlessly hounding him, he has learned how deeply the government’s malevolence descends. But there was always one steadfast assertion he wound not compromise, Jim Risen assured his sources, from the very start of their first encounter, that he would never divulge their identities nor what information they provided him with.

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  • Militarization of U.S. Police: Ferguson, Mo.

    Community policing reforms came about as a corrective to the 1950-60s professional police model which created a large gulf between police and citizens. Few noticed that underlying all the CP rhetoric was a little noticed yet foretelling trend of para-militarism as found in SWAT teams. What we’re witnessing today, though, with the influence of the Dept. of Homeland Security since 9/11 — along with growing emphasis on military hardware and tactics — is the expansion of police militarization throughout entire police departments — and indeed, the entire police institution.

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  • Unconstitutional acts of war in Iraq

    President Obama ignored the wise direction of President George Washington when he casually told the nation — and Congress — that U.S. military forces will engage in acts of war in Iraq for an extended period of weeks and maybe months. Bombing, he said in a brief statement last week, is needed here and there, but he promised there will be no U.S. boots on the ground. … The announcement seemed almost an afterthought as the president headed for vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. He neglected to seek approval of Congress before authorizing bombardment of the military forces of ISIS, the…

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  • News Conference: Edward Snowden’s Passport, Political Asylum and Related Issues

    Ray McGovern, Coleen Rowley and Norman Solomon spoke at this news conference, sponsored by RootsAction.org and hosted by the Institute for Public Accuracy.

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  • NSA Veterans and Whistleblowers Respond to Obama Speech

    Minutes after President Obama’s major address on NSA surveillance on Friday, Jan. 17, the Institute for Public Accuracy held a news conference with noted NSA veterans and whistleblowers.

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  • The War on Poverty at Fifty

    Fifty years after Lyndon B. Johnson made it the centerpiece of his first State of the Union address on January 8, 1964, the War on Poverty remains one of the most embattled—and least understood—of Great Society initiatives.

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  • Edward Snowden: Profile in Courage

    Edward Snowden may go down in history as one of this nation’s most important whistleblowers. He is certainly one of the bravest.

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  • Obama’s Economic Race Legacy

    From the start, President Barack Obama has shown little interest or loyalty in the issues that affect the poor, working class and people of color in the United States. For almost his entire first term he didn’t utter the words poor or poverty. Early on he reminded African Americans: ‘I’m not the president of black America. I’m the president of the United States of America…’

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  • Blinded by “Russiaphobia”

    Professor of Political Science at University of Arizona, John “Pat” Willerton says, “The Russian economy is stronger than westerners thought and it shows minimal stresses from sanctions…outside of the West, most of the world refuses to apply sanctions.”

  • * After Roe in Alabama * Counterpacking the Court

    “Regarding the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, Francis Boyle, Professor of Law at the University of Illinois said, “The Democratic Party should embrace counterpacking the courts.”

  • Calls for U.S. to Unfreeze Afghan Funds

    Co-founder of Food Not Bombs said today, “how can we cut the school lunch program yet add $45 billion in military spending above President Biden’s already criminal $813 billion request? As the economy crashes millions more children are sure to go hungry. I get calls everyday from desperate families seeking food.”

  • Billions to Military While School Lunch Program Expires

    Co-founder of Food Not Bombs said today, “how can we cut the school lunch program yet add $45 billion in military spending above President Biden’s already criminal $813 billion request? As the economy crashes millions more children are sure to go hungry. I get calls everyday from desperate families seeking food.”

  • Biden’s Saudi Trip: For Cheaper Gas — or for Israel?

    “Biden isn’t just forgiving Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his direct role in the beheading of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in return for a Saudi promise to pump more oil. As Biden admitted last week, this Middle East trip is about regional security — and that of Israel in particular,” says Trita Parsi, executive…

  • Leftist Petro Wins Colombia Presidential Election

    Leftist Gustavo Petro and his running mate Francia Marquez win Colombian elections. Forrest Hylton says, “Now Colombia is largely urban, and Petro’s margin of victory in Bogotá alone was enough to account for his victory over Hernández.”

  • Assange Case: Persecution for Exposing War Crimes

    British Home Secretary has approved extradition of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange to the U.S. where he would face a 175 year sentence after being in prison for over three years in Britain. A news conference is being held with Assange’s lawyers, wife and press freedom groups. JOHN SHIPTON, [email protected] GABRIEL SHIPTON, [email protected] John Shipton and Gabriel Shipton, who…

  • Saudi: The Death of One is a Tragedy; the Death of Millions is a Statistic

    Dr. Aisha Jumaan, regarding the war Saudi Arabia has waged on Yemen, writes in her latest piece, “News outlets in the United States give prime coverage to the war in Ukraine but mostly ignore the devastating war that the U.S. has supported.”

  • 338,000 U.S. Lives Could Have Been Saved from Covid, Study Finds

    A new study has found that between the beginning of the pandemic until mid-March 2022, universal health care could have saved more than 338,000 lives from Covid-19, and demonstrates that a significant share of Covid mortality in the U.S. is “due to our reliance on a system of market-driven health care.” 

  • Does the Supreme Court Administer Justice?

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