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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  • U.S. in Najaf: Putting Out the Fire with Gasoline?

    Hussain Ibrahimi Ibrahimi is the director of Iraqi Human Rights Watch in Karbala. He is with a delegation of religious leaders traveling from Karbala to Najaf. Ibrahimi said: “We want to ask for a peaceful solution to this problem, and for the fighting to stop.” Maxine Nash Currently in Baghdad, Nash is a member of…

  • Venezuela Referendum: Interviews Available

    MARK WEISBROT Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Weisbrot testified recently before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about Venezuela. He said today: “Polls show [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chavez ahead in the referendum [set for Aug. 15], and according to most press accounts it is because of the government’s success in…

  • Millions of Americans Not Allowed to Vote

    CHRIS UGGEN Uggen is a professor and McKnight Presidential Fellow at the University of Minnesota and co-author of the forthcoming book Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy. He said today: “Our survey of 1,000 Americans showed that 80 percent favor returning voting rights to former felons once they complete their sentences, 60 percent favor…

  • Presidential Debates: Who Controls Them?

    “The general election presidential debates are the ‘Superbowl of Politics,’” said George Farah, founder and executive director of Open Debates. “And if history is any guide, Senator John Kerry and President George W. Bush will participate in debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which claims to have ‘no relationship with any political…

  • Porter Goss — Cheney Cat’s Paw?

    MEL GOODMAN Goodman, a former CIA analyst, is a senior fellow for intelligence reform at the Center for International Policy. He said today: “Goss has all the wrong credentials. He’s former CIA, a senior operations officer. An over-reliance on operations has been a big part of the problem. He’s from the Hill, so he’s a…

  • Iraqi Government Crackdown on Al-Jazeera

    Over the weekend Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who was selected by the U.S.-appointed Governing Council, ordered Al-Jazeera’s office in Baghdad closed for one month. According to AP, Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said the closure was intended to give the station “a chance to re-adjust their policy against Iraq.” “They have been showing a lot…

  • Job Growth Plummets

    HEATHER BOUSHEY Boushey is an economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research. In a statement issued today, the center said: “The economy added just 32,000 jobs in July, far below the expectations of most analysts. The weak July job growth follows an increase in June that was revised down to 78,000, bringing the…

  • Former Nader Supporters Offer Critiques of His 2004 Campaign

    Pollster John Zogby, who is tracking the presidential race weekly in 16 key states, was quoted by Knight Ridder news service this week as saying that Ralph Nader “is the difference in virtually every battleground state.” Few prominent supporters of Ralph Nader’s 2000 presidential campaign are backing him this year. The following former members of…

  • 9/11 Omission Commission

    SIBEL EDMONDS A former FBI translator and whistleblower, Edmonds has written a “Public Letter to 9/11 Commission Chairman from FBI Whistleblower.” In it, she states: “Unfortunately, I find your report seriously flawed in its failure to address serious intelligence issues that I am aware of, which have been confirmed, and which as a witness to…

  • Florida GOP Urging Its Voters to Bypass Touch-Screen Machines as Unreliable

    The St. Petersburg Times reported July 29 that the Republican Party of Florida has urged its supporters to use absentee ballots because “new electronic voting machines do not have a paper ballot to verify your vote.” The glossy GOP mailing read: “Make sure your vote counts. Order your absentee ballot today.” The mailing included a…

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