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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  • New Bombings and Military Aid * Iraq * Israel * Indonesia

    DAVID MacMICHAEL A former analyst for the CIA, MacMichael said today: “Whether the Iraq insurgency is made up of disparate elements or is controlled or coordinated by some central group, the insurgents have as an important part of their strategy the attacking of those Iraqis they see as cooperating with the U.S. occupying forces or…

  • Haiti: One Year After Aristide Coup

    Late February and early March of last year witnessed the ouster of Jean Bertrand Aristide from Haiti. Several groups are holding events on Monday, Feb. 28. BILL FLETCHER SELENA MENDY SINGLETON President of TransAfrica Forum, Fletcher said today: “One year after the coup in Haiti displaced the democratically-elected government of President Jean Bertrand Aristide, the…

  • Election Reform: Unresolved Issues

    Key issues related to voting rights remain on the front burner for some legislators and activists. The following commentators are available for interviews: BOB KIBRICK Bob Kibrick, a legislative analyst with Verified Voting, said today: “Multiple election reform bills have been submitted to Congress during the past month. The issues addressed in those bills include…

  • Major Developments in 9/11 Whistleblower Case

    There are major developments in the case of Sibel Edmonds, a government whistleblower who has stated that prior to 9/11, in April 2001, the U.S. government had information about plans for airplanes to be used on suicide missions in U.S. cities in the coming months. Her statements contradict what administration officials told the 9/11 Commission…

  • * NATO * Bush with Putin

    Bush is currently meeting with heads of NATO countries and will be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. The following analysts are available for interviews: Sen. TINY KOX Kox is a senator in the Dutch Parliament and a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which met in Brussels shorty before the heads of…

  • Bush in Europe

    DIRK ADRIAENSENS George W. Bush is now in Brussels. Adriaensens is coordinator for SOS Iraq and an organizer for the Brussels Tribunal, a hearing committee composed of academics, intellectuals and artists in the tradition of the Russell Tribunal, set up in 1967 to investigate war crimes committed during the Vietnam War. Adriaensens is participating in…

  • Malcolm X: Double Anniversary This Year

    Malcolm X was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965 — forty years ago this Monday. He was born May 19, 1925 — eighty years ago this year. The following are some of his statements. Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam in early 1964; a chronology is available at BrotherMalcolm.net. “The entire American economy is…

  • Negroponte Appointment: Topping a Career of Human-Rights Violations

    DIANNA ORTIZ Sister Dianna Ortiz is the executive director of Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International. She was abducted and tortured in Guatemala while teaching indigenous children to read. She said today: “For those of us who work in the area of human rights, this is yet another sad day. The Bush administration seems…

  • Syria and Lebanon After Hariri Assassination

    PATRICK SEALE Available for a limited number of interviews, Seale is a British journalist now living in Paris; his books include Asad of Syria and The Struggle for Syria. Seale said today: “If Syria did indeed kill Rafic Hariri, it must be judged an act of political suicide. It exposes Syria to attack from its…

  • As Senate Holds Hearing on Nuclear Arms Today, North Korea and Iran Are Casting Big Shadows

    A Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today on the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons budget features testimony from Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. While the U.S. government has termed North Korea and Iran “outposts of tyranny” and made demands regarding their nuclear programs, the New York Times last week reported that U.S. scientists “have begun designing a…

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