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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  • Scrutinizing the “Pickens Plan”

    [NOTE: Correction appended below.] T. Boone Pickens speaks today at the National Press Club. The following analysts are available for interviews on his proposals: ROBERT BRYCE Bryce’s latest book is Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of “Energy Independence.” He is the managing editor of Energy Tribune and is a contributing writer for the Texas…

  • Behind the Bailout

    NOAM CHOMSKY Chomsky, whose recent books include Interventions and The Essential Chomsky, stated: “Markets have inherent and well-known inefficiencies. One factor is failure to calculate the costs to those who do not participate in transactions. These ‘externalities’ can be huge. That is particularly true for financial institutions. Their task is to take risks, calculating potential…

  • “Privatization of Profits and a Socialization of Costs”

    THOMAS FERGUSON Available for a limited number of interviews, Ferguson is professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He is the author or coauthor of many books and articles, including Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political Systems (University of Chicago Press). He said today:…

  • Wall Street: “A Minute Past Midnight on the Clock for Reform”

    NOMI PRINS Prins is a former investment banker turned journalist. She used to run the European analytics group at Bear Stearns and has also worked at Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs. She has written extensively about the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which had regulated the financial industry since the New Deal. A photo…

  • High Voter Turnout and the U.S. Voting Infrastructure

    TOVA WANG Wang is the vice president for research at Common Cause and author of the newly released report, “Voting in 2008: 10 Swing States.” She said today: “While some problems have been fixed since the last (2004) election, some major problems remain and new ones have cropped up. … It’s unfortunate that our voting…

  • Palin and Creationism

    PHILIP MUNGER Available for a limited number of interviews, Munger is editor of the “Progressive Alaska” blog and can address a number of aspects of Gov. Palin’s record. He said today: “One thing that hasn’t gotten much attention is Palin’s apparent belief in creationism. Around June 1997 she told me she thought the Earth was…

  • Voter Registration Efforts Gear Up

    ADELAIDE KIMBALL Kimball is a senior advisor to Vote Smart. She said today: “Time for voter registration is dwindling in most states, except those few which have same-day registration, so it’s important that voters register and arm themselves with information. Voters may contact our hotline, 1-888-VOTE-SMART (1-888-868-3762), or refer to our website for crucial information.…

  • Wall Street and Politics

    JAMES K. GALBRAITH Galbraith is Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. chair in government/business relations at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. His latest book is The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too. Galbraith said today: “Revolutions devour their children. Deregulation…

  • Crisis in Latin America

    Reuters just reported: “Honduras … told a U.S. envoy not to present his credentials as ambassador on Friday in a diplomatic snub in support of Bolivia. Bolivia and … Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are in a fight with Washington over what they see as U.S. support for violent protests against Bolivian President Evo Morales. ……

  • U.S. Raids in Pakistan: Putting out the Fire with Gasoline?

    GARETH PORTER Porter earlier this week wrote the piece “Intel Council Warned Against Raids in Pakistan.” The piece states: “The National Intelligence Council, the U.S. intelligence community’s focal point for estimating future developments, warned the George W. Bush administration last month that a decision to launch commando raids by U.S. troops against al Qaeda-related targets…

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