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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  • Native American March on D.C.

    AP is reporting: “Some 500 American Indians are gathering near the White House to mark the end of a 8,300-mile walk across the nation. The trek from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., aims to bring attention to the impact of global warming on the environment. “Organizer Ricardo Tapia says the Longest Walk 2 also was…

  • Iran: Crucial Facts and Ignored Options

    WILLIAM BEEMAN Author of The “Great Satan” vs. the “Mad Mullahs”: How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other Beeman said today: “You have the U.S. funding groups that are attacking Iran, most recently reported on by Sy Hersh, though we’ve known about it for a while; you have Israel conducting exercises that the…

  • War Powers

    Former Secretaries of State James Baker III and Warren Christopher have formed a commission on war powers and have published a piece in today’s New York Times. They are advocating replacing the 1973 War Powers Resolution. FRANCIS BOYLE Professor of international law at the University of Illinois, Boyle said today: “The President is already required…

  • Colombia: “July Surprise”?

    LARRY BIRNS ERINA UOZUMI Birns is director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Uozumi is a research associate at COHA and a Colombian national specializing in U.S.-Colombian relations. Birns said today: “While it was perfectly appropriate for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to act to free the hostages, we should not lose sight of the fact…

  • Was the Iraq Invasion for Oil After All?

    The New York Times reported Monday: “A group of American advisers led by a small State Department team played an integral part in drawing up contracts between the Iraqi government and five major Western oil companies to develop some of the largest fields in Iraq, American officials say.” Columnist Bob Herbert writes today: “President Bush…

  • U.S.-Funded Attacks on Iran

    Seymour M. Hersh in The New Yorker reports: “Late last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in…

  • Washingtonians on Supreme Court Gun Law Decision

    ANISE JENKINS BILL MOSLEY Jenkins is president of the Stand Up! for Democracy in D.C. Coalition (Free D.C.); Mosley is a member of the group. Jenkins said today: “The Supreme Court has succeeded where members of Congress have failed. There have been several attempts by members of Congress to overturn D.C.’s gun law. That’s because…

  • Obama Bypassing Public Finance * Overview * Obama’s Finance Chair

    MASSIE RITSCH Ritsch is communication director of the Center for Responsive Politics, which operates the OpenSecrets.org web page featuring in-depth information on money in politics. He said today: “When Obama said over a year ago that he would aggressively pursue an agreement to take public financing, he probably didn’t think that he could raise nearly…

  • Big Oil Getting Iraq Oil Deals

    The lead story in the New York Times today is headlined “Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back.” It reports: “Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam…

  • Background of Obama’s Foreign Policy Group

    On Wednesday, Obama met with his newly named “Senior Working Group on National Security.” The following are available for interviews: STEPHEN ZUNES Zunes is professor of politics at the University of San Francisco and a contributor to Foreign Policy in Focus. He said today: “Earlier in his campaign, Obama’s senior advisers included some of the…

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