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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  • Randall Terry and the Schiavo Case: “Pro-Life”?

    Randall Terry is a spokesperson for the Schindler family. Here are some of his past statements: “When I or people like me are running the country, you’d better flee because we will find you, we will try you and we’ll execute you. I mean every word of it. I will make it part of my…

  • Who Was Right About Iraqi WMDs? Why? What Now?

    IMAD KHADDURI Khadduri worked on the Iraq nuclear weapons program beginning in 1981. In November 2002, Khadduri wrote the article “Iraq’s Nuclear Non-Capability” in which he commented: “Bush and Blair are pulling their public by the nose” with “their hollow patriotic egging on.” He is author of the book Iraq’s Nuclear Mirage: Memoirs and Delusions.…

  • Laura Bush, Women and Realities of Afghanistan

    SAHAR SABA A member of the foreign affairs committee of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, Saba is in Pakistan working with Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan. She said today: “It’s very sad that there is little discussion of Afghanistan except with events like this visit by Laura Bush. The last three…

  • The Future of Copyright in the Internet Era

    Today, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in the case of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v. Grokster. The case raises questions about the nature of copyright in the age of the Internet. The following are available for interviews: DEAN BAKER Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Baker wrote the paper “The Artistic Freedom Voucher:…

  • Analysts Assess Call by Carter to “Save Nonproliferation”

    Today’s Washington Post features a piece by Jimmy Carter entitled “Saving Nonproliferation” about the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference beginning in early May at the United Nations. In the piece, the former president writes: “So far the preparatory committee for the forthcoming NPT talks has failed even to achieve an agenda because of the deep divisions…

  • WTO Rules: Pulling the Plug on Hundreds of Thousands with AIDS?

    The Associated Press reports that “international aid groups slammed India’s passage on Wednesday of a new patent law that ends the decades-old practice of allowing domestic drug companies to make low-cost copies of expensive Western medicines, saying millions of poor people across the world will be affected. “The changes in patent rights stem from India’s…

  • Israel Trying to Gag Nuclear Whistleblower

    MORDECHAI VANUNU Vanunu exposed the Israeli nuclear weapons arsenal in 1986. He was released from prison in April 2004 after serving an 18-year sentence, most of it in solitary confinement. Since then, Israeli authorities have placed numerous restrictions on his activities and attempted to prevent him from speaking to non-Israelis or media. Last week, a…

  • Terri Schiavo Case: “Err on the Side of Life”

    President Bush stated yesterday regarding Terri Schiavo: “This is a complex case with serious issues but, in extraordinary circumstances like this, it is always wise to err on the side of life.” JEAN KILBOURNE The AP recently reported: “The Schiavos’ lawyer said her 1990 collapse was caused by a potassium imbalance brought on by an…

  • Responses to “Sweeping” UN Report

    United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan today unveiled a report that advocates what the AP is calling the “most sweeping changes to the United Nations since it was founded 60 years ago.” The following are available for interviews: DENIS HALLIDAY Former assistant secretary general of the UN, Halliday said today: “The report importantly brings together…

  • Rice Trip: * Afghanistan * Korea * China

    SONALI KOLHATKAR JAMES INGALLS Kolhatkar and Ingalls are co-directors of the Afghan Women’s Mission and have just returned from a trip to Afghanistan. Kolhatkar said today: “Any victories for women’s rights have been tremendously exaggerated. Unfortunately, little has changed since the fall of the Taliban. A recent United Nations Development Program report ranked Afghanistan’s education…

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