News Items

  • Affidavit by Daniel Ellsberg for Plowshare Activists Being Allowed a Defense of Necessity

    In 1971 I gave the U.S. Senate, the New York Times and the Washington Post copies of what have come to be known as The Pentagon Papers. I was arrested on twelve felony counts. My trial was dismissed because of government misconduct which figured in the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon…These considerations bear on two other elements of the necessity defense, the “lack of legal alternatives” and the “imminence” of the harms to be averted. Again, I speak from my own experience, but not only mine, in saying that it is the perceived insufficiency of other means, by themselves not…

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  • A Long List of Democratic Candidates Requires a Large Catalog of Their Funders

    By Sam Haut: As the first debates for the Democratic primary begin, and the list of candidates has grown to 24, it can be difficult to contextualize where each candidate has received funding from over the course of their time in office. What follows is a list of the Democratic candidates and the top sources for how much money they’ve made and where those top sources come from.

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  • NATO and US Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead

    RootsAction.org held a news conference Thursday on “NATO and U.S. Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead” hosted by the Institute for Public Accuracy. Speakers include former State Department officials Matthew Hoh, Ann Wright, as well as Martin Fleck. The event was moderated by Norman Solomon.

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  • Media Advisory: “NATO and U.S. Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead”

    At 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at the National Press Club: On the same day that President Trump is scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House, this news conference will focus on the U.S.-NATO relationship. Speakers include former State Department officials Matthew Hoh and Ann Wright.

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  • Statement by Floyd Abrams in response to Attorney General nominee William Barr’s remarks on the First Amendment

    “It’s one thing to say that there could be circumstances in which a journalist’s need to protect her sources could lead to a potential finding of contempt of court if she refused to obey a court order requiring such disclosure. But the notion that a journalist could properly be jailed for publishing material that the government thinks could ‘hurt the country’ is something else entirely and would be deeply threatening to First Amendment norms in general and journalistic freedom in particular.”

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  • Statement on NAFTA’s “Kafkaesque” Turn

    The supposedly concluded renegotiation of NAFTA has reached a Kafkaesque stage. As the United States Trade Representative has stated: “The United States and Mexico have reached a preliminary agreement in principle, subject to finalization and implementation.” Not only the negotiations have not been finalized, and without Canada, but the texts remain hidden from the public.

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  • What’s the Cost of Medicare for All?

    Even a Koch-backed think tank finds Medicare for all would cut health care spending. In a report released by the Mercatus Center, a single-payer health care system would offset costs with even greater savings. The Intercept and other media reporting on this are citing the work of Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler. They are distinguished professors of health policy at the City University of New York at Hunter College and lecturers in medicine at Harvard Medical School. They have written an analysis of the work of the Koch-backed think tank, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which is…

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  • Trump Team Hired Israeli Spy Firm Used by Harvey Weinstein to Attack Obama Officials on Iran Deal

    “Aides to Donald Trump, the U.S. president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a ‘dirty ops’ campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, the Observer can reveal. People in the Trump camp contacted private investigators in May last year to ‘get dirt’ on Ben Rhodes, who had been one of Barack Obama’s top national security advisers, and Colin Kahl, deputy assistant to Obama, as part of an elaborate attempt to discredit the deal.”

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  • From the desk of Noam Chomsky

    From the desk of Noam Chomsky

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  • 15 Years Later: The Whistleblower Who Almost Blocked the Iraq War

    Media Advisory: Press Conference to Mark 15th Anniversary Of Leak by GCHQ Translator Katharine Gun Revealing US “Dirty Tricks” at UN for Iraq War When:  Thursday, 1 March 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Where:  Head office, National Union of Journalists Headland House, 72 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NB Who:  Katharine Gun, Thomas Drake, Matthew Hoh, Jesselyn Radack This press conference will take place the day before the 15th anniversary of the Observer’s publication of the explosive March 2, 2003 story “US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war” — based on a leak by GCHQ translator Katharine Gun — revealing the US National Security Agency’s UN surveillance memo that aimed to grease the way for the…

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  • “Impunity is Fueling Israel’s Spiraling Aggression”

    The New Statesman writes in “Impunity is fueling Israel’s spiraling aggression” that “Israel attacked Iran not out of fear but out of hubris. … This is the overwhelming lesson Israel has drawn from the past 20 months amid its intensifying onslaught on Gaza: there is no limit to what the world will let it get…

  • Is Israel Using Nuclear Blackmail Against the U.S.?

    Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said over the weekend: “If (Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn.”      Steinbach said: “This is clearly a nuclear threat. Israel has a nuclear weapons arsenal of 90-400 nuclear warheads, though discussion of it has been avoided as it has…

  • Trump’s Intensified Militarism

    The U.S. Army estimates the cost of President Trump’s military parade last Saturday at as much as $45 million, including $16 million to repair damage done to city streets by heavy military equipment. The National Priorities Project writes about 10 things the government could have funded instead of the military parade. 

  • As Israel Attacks Iran, U.S. Vets Warn of Past Deceits as they March to Gaza

    Former UN official Craig Mokhiber stated: “The Israeli regime is now attacking Iran, in a blatant act of aggression. The world must unite to isolate and contain the Israeli regime, which, drunk with U.S.-guaranteed impunity, armed to the teeth by the West, and driven by a deeply racist and fundamentally violent ideology, is leaving a blood-soaked…

  • “No Kings Day”

    On June 14, organizers anticipate that 1,800 local demonstrations around the United States will challenge President Trump’s autocratic policies while a military parade in Washington marks his birthday. June 14 is also Flag Day and the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary celebration. The campaign is calling for demonstrators to carry American flags at “No Kings Day”…

  • Gaza: UN Vote Today; Israel Cuts off Internet

    Today the UN General Assembly votes on a Uniting for Peace resolution on Gaza that reportedly: “Demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire. … Strongly condemns any use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. … Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, immediately end the blockade. … Stresses the need for accountability in order…

  • Mental Health Misinformation

    Investigative reporting by The Guardian found that more than half of the top 100 mental health TikTok accounts contain misinformation. Experts established that 52 out of 100 videos about trauma, neurodivergence, anxiety, depression, and severe mental illness contained misinformation. 

  • Israel-Backed Gangs with Ties to ISIS Kill Palestinians Seeking Aid

    “Israeli forces and an Israeli-backed gang fired on Palestinians near an aid distribution point in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Monday, killing 14 people, The Associated Press has reported. The report cited witnesses to the massacre who said gunfire came from a gang led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a criminal who has been…

  • Militarized Police Often Train in Israel

    “Thousands of law enforcement officials have traveled to Israel to learn new repression strategies and surveillance techniques from the Israel National Police, Israel Defense Forces, and the Shin Bet, who inflict violence, crowd control, and surveillance onto Palestinians.”

  • Israel Attacks Gaza Aid Boat, U.N. Action “Long Overdue”

    “The Israeli regime has just attacked and commandeered the humanitarian ship #Madleen, in blatant violation of international law.” Mokhiber lists a litany of other illegal acts by Israel and states: “The UN has a duty to respond to threats to international peace and security and to defend human rights. Expel, isolate, embargo, and sanction the regime now. #UnitingForPeace.”

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