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.”

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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…

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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…’

    Read more »


  • The Christian Right, the Election and “40 Days to Save America”: “This Nation Belongs to Jesus!”

    Frederick Clarkson, senior fellow at Political Research Associates, has been writing about politics and religion for more than 30 years. He said today: “This past weekend, Christian Right leaders including Pat Robertson, and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, staged a mediagenic rally in Philadelphia for more theocratic governance. Against the backdrop of Independence…

  • “A Guide to the Presidential Debates You Won’t Hear”

    Mattea Kramer is senior research analyst at the National Priorities Project and lead author of the new book A People’s Guide to the Federal Budget. She just wrote the piece “Tough Talk for America, A Guide to the Presidential Debates You Won’t Hear,” which states: “Five big things will decide what this country looks like…

  • Three Sponsors Drop Presidential Debate Commission; Reform Groups Call for Openness

    Just days before the first the first debates organized by the Presidential Debate Commission, scheduled for Wednesday, Politico reports: “Philips Electronics has dropped its sponsorship of the 2012 presidential debates, citing a desire not to associate itself with ‘partisan politics,’ POLITICO has learned. “Philips is the third and by far the largest of the original…

  • * Netanyahu “Distracting Attention” with Iran * Does Abbas Really Want Full U.N. Membership?

    Executive director of the Palestine Center, Yousef Munayyer said today: “Netanyahu focused on Iran to distract attention from Israel’s occupation of Palestine. He put forward, as usual, a Manichean worldview which is not conducive to solving problems. Further, and perhaps most perplexingly, he urged for ‘red lines’ to be drawn to alter Iran’s decision calculus…

  • Decline in New SAT Scores “Shows Failure of Test-Driven Schools”

    BOB SCHAEFFER, [email] Schaeffer is communications director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest). He said today: “SAT results released this week show that No Child Left Behind and state high-stakes testing programs have dramatically undercut college readiness. According to the College Board’s exam, many students are even less ready for college…

  • Major Protests in Greece and Spain

    Costas Panayotakis is an associate professor of sociology at New York City College of Technology at the City University of New York and author of Remaking Scarcity: From Capitalist Inefficiency to Economic Democracy. He said today: “Today’s general strike in Greece forms part of the large wave of anti-austerity resistance currently sweeping the countries of…

  • Exposed: Secret Cold War Inhalation Experiments on Poor, Minority Communities in St. Louis; Possible Radiological Testing

    Lisa Martino-Taylor is a sociology professor at St. Louis Community College in St. Louis, Missouri. KDSK-TV, St. Louis’ NBC affiliate, has just aired a series of reports on revelations she has made public, noting her “life’s work has been to uncover details of the Army’s ultra-secret military experiments carried out in St. Louis and other…

  • State of the UN

    James Paul is the executive director of the Global Policy Forum. He said today: “Leaders from around the world have gathered in New York for the annual high-level meetings of the UN General Assembly, which begin today. For a week, motorcades wind along the avenues, police barricades tie up Midtown, security people in dark glasses…

  • U.S. Backs Terrorist Group, Making War with Iran “Far More Likely” After Big-Money Campaign

    Jamal Abdi is policy director for the National Iranian American Council and said today that the group “deplores the decision to remove the Mujahedin-e Khalq from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations. The decision opens the door to Congressional funding of the MEK to conduct terrorist attacks in Iran, makes war with Iran far…

  • “In What Ways Did Standardized Tests Prepare You for the Job You do Today?”

    Isabel Nunez is associate professor at the Center for Policy Studies and Social Justice at Concordia University Chicago. She recently wrote the piece “Standardized Test Scores are Worst Way to Evaluate Teachers,” which states: “The way that CPS [Chicago Public Schools] plans to use test scores in teacher evaluation, referred to as value-added, is so…

Mastodon