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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  • Norway: Behind the Terrorism

    ALI GHARIB, agharib at americanprogress.org Gharib is a national security reporter for Think Progress. He wrote “Suspect in Custody for Norwegian Terror Attacks Allegedly an Anti-Islam Right-wing Extremist” and co-wrote “Right-wing Pundits Jumped to Blame Muslims and ‘Jihadists’ for Norway Attacks.” He cites Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post, Michelle Malkin, Andrew Breitbart, the Wall…

  • Norway Terror Suspect Described as Far-Right Nationalist Islamophobe

    DEVIN BURGHART, dburghart at gmail.com Burghart is vice president of the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights and just wrote the piece “Norway Terror Suspect Described as Far-Right Nationalist Islamophobe.” Burghart tweeted: “UPDATE: Looks like the Norway terror suspect is a fan of the Tea Party’s favorite Islamophobe, Pam Geller.” Burghart has toured…

  • Cutting Social Security Is Not Strengthening It

    President Obama recently stated: “We have a Democratic president and administration that is prepared to sign a tough package that includes both spending cuts, modifications to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare that would strengthen those systems and allow them to move forward, and would include a revenue component.” NANCY ALTMAN, njalt at aol.com Altman is…

  • Somalia Famine: Politics and Global Warming Causing Disasters

    AP reports: “‘Somalia is facing its worst food security crisis in the last 20 years,’ said Mark Bowden, the U.N.’s top official in charge of humanitarian aid in Somalia. ‘This desperate situation requires urgent action to save lives … it’s likely that conditions will deteriorate further in six months.'” JAMES JENNINGS, jimjennings at earthlink.net Available…

  • Murdoch “Can’t Have it Both Ways”

    NICHOLAS JOHNSON, mailbox at nicholasjohnson.org Johnson is currently in the D.C. area and is available for a limited number of interviews. Now teaching at the University of Iowa College of Law, Johnson is a former FCC commissioner who helped block the attempted takeover of ABC by ITT in the 1960s. He said today: “Murdoch is…

  • Public on Budget: Tax the Rich, Cut Military Spending

    STEVEN KULL, skull at pipa.org Kull is director of the Program for Public Consultation, a joint program of the Center on Policy Attitudes and the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, which released the study “Public Proposes Federal Budget Dramatically Different Than House or White House.” The study found: “When a representative…

  • California Prisoners on Hunger Strike to Protest “Torture”

    The Los Angeles Times reports today: “More than 400 inmates at four California prisons are in the third week of a hunger strike to protest long, punitive stays in isolation cells. … “Inmate advocates say thousands of inmates have joined the strike, which began July 1. Many are beginning to show dramatic weight loss and…

  • Major Trade Legislation Expected

    Dow Jones reports: “The Senate Finance committee plans Thursday to make another attempt to start informal debate on proposed trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, after Republicans on the panel boycotted last week’s meeting.” ARTHUR STAMOULIS, arthur at citizenstrade.org Executive director of the Citizens Trade Campaign, Stamoulis said today: “Nobody outside Washington is…

  • Nader Blasts Obama Bypassing Warren for Consumer Post

    AP reports: “Reigniting a partisan fight over banking regulations, President Barack Obama intends to nominate former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to lead a consumer protection bureau that was a central feature of a law overhauling the rules that govern the financial sector. “Obama plans to announce the nomination formally on Monday, the White House…

  • Is U.S. “Counter-Terrorism” Pushing Pakistan to Brink?

    AP reports “Gen. David Petraeus, the outgoing U.S. commander in Afghanistan [and incoming CIA director], and his soon-to-be successor met with top military leaders in Pakistan on Thursday.” Meanwhile, the head of Pakistani intelligence, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, is in Washington, D.C. meeting with top U.S. officials. FRED BRANFMAN, fredbranfman at aol.com Branfman just wrote…

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