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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  • Stagflation

    DOUG HENWOOD Henwood is author of the book Wall Street and editor of Left Business Observer. He said today: “Stagflation, that vexing combination of stagnant economy and rising inflation, is back in the news for the first time since the 1970s. And it is a problem. But, unlike the stagflation of the 1970s, this time…

  • Confronting Health Insurance Companies

    The America’s Health Insurance Plans convention will take place later this week at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. The program features former U.S. senators John Breaux and Bill Frist, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, President Bush’s former counselor Dan Bartlett and the Democratic National Committee’s former chairman Terry McAuliffe. A host of…

  • The Ruse Over Bases in Iraq

    RAED JARRAR Earlier this month, Jarrar accompanied two Iraqi parliamentarians in their meetings in Washington, D.C. and New York City; the parliamentarians testified before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee about U.S. bases in Iraq. Jarrar said today: “The leaks we’ve seen lately that the U.S. government is seeking 58 permanent bases seem dubious. For one…

  • Tomato Recall — Is Irradiation the Solution?

    WENONAH HAUTER Executive director of Food & Water Watch and author of the new book Zapped! Irradiation and the Death of Food, Hauter said today: “As stores and restaurants around the country pull tomatoes from shelves and menus in response to the recent salmonella outbreak, American tomato farmers are poised to lose their livelihoods and…

  • Gitmo Decision

    MICHAEL RATNER President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Ratner said today: “Finally after almost seven years of litigation the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision has upheld the rights of the Guantánamo detainees to challenge their detention in federal court by writs of habeas corpus. The Court finally said enough is enough and that…

  • U.S. Bases in Iraq

    McClatchy reports in a piece headlined “U.S. security talks with Iraq in trouble in Baghdad and D.C.” that “Iraqi lawmakers say the Bush administration is demanding concessions that are unacceptable, among them: dozens of semi-permanent bases from which U.S. forces can launch missions with no prior consent from Iraq’s government; complete immunity for U.S. troops…

  • A Move to Impeach Bush

    The Politico reports: “Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush on Monday night, reading the resolution into the Congressional Record. … Kucinich has introduced a similar impeachment resolution against Vice President Cheney. That resolution was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, which has taken no action on the measure. Speaker…

  • Rome Food Conference

    As government leaders from around the world meet at the U.N. food conference in Rome, nonprofit organizations have also been meeting there. The following analysts are available for a limited number of interviews and are in contact with others in Rome from around the world: FLAVIO VALENTE Secretary general of FIAN [Food First Information and…

  • Major Presidential Candidates at AIPAC

    John McCain spoke at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Monday. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton spoke there this morning. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is meeting with President Bush this afternoon. EDWARD L. PECK Peck, a former ambassador who was chief of mission in Iraq and Mauritania, also served as deputy director of…

  • Unions in Crisis

    The Wall Street Journal is reporting: “Andy Stern, the president of the Service Employees International Union, is moving to further consolidate bargaining and organizing efforts across industry lines, a move that could limit the power of local unions but give the union greater leverage with big employers.” SEIU is currently holding its convention in Puerto…

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