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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  • Bush’s Space Program: A Future Armada?

    President Bush is expected to make a statement Wednesday regarding U.S. government plans for space. The following analysts are available for interviews: BRUCE GAGNON Director of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space and author of the recent article “Bush Plays with Fire: Launching a Dangerous Space Policy,” Gagnon said today: “The…

  • * Perspectives on a “Southern Strategy” * The First Primary: D.C. * Reparations Lawsuit Filed

    KEVIN GRAY A contributing editor to Black News in Columbia, S.C., Gray is author of the forthcoming book The Death of Black Politics. He said today: “The Democratic Party needs to consider a different ‘Southern strategy.’ In South Carolina, there are 800,000 eligible black voters and 575,175 registered black voters; only 282,000 voted in 2002.…

  • What’s Behind Bush’s Immigration Move?

    With a meeting scheduled next week between President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox in Mexico, the following analysts are available for interviews about Bush’s new proposal on immigration: RAUL YZAGUIRRE, [via Lisa Navarrete] Yzaguirre is president of the National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest Latino civil rights organization. He said: “The president’s…

  • Mideast Nukes: Interviews Available

    Syrian President Bashar Assad told the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph this week that elimination of weapons of mass destruction in the Mideast should include Israel’s nuclear arsenal. [Information on Israel’s arsenal is available at: www.msnbc.com/news/wld/graphics/strategic_israel_dw.htm.] The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, has recently urged Israel to follow the example of…

  • Mad Cow Disease: Who’s Being Protected?

    JOHN STAUBER Coauthor of the book Mad Cow USA (now available in PDF at http://www.prwatch.org/books/madcow.html), Stauber is executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy. He said today: “The USDA’s latest steps on mad cow disease are pathetic. The U.S. government is repeating the mistakes Britain made 15 years ago. The British have since…

  • A Bipartisan Lie — Rewriting History

    “This nation is very reluctant to use military force…. Military action is the very last resort for us.” — George W. Bush, October 28, 2003 “[Richard] Gephardt approved a Bush-Cheney policy where, for the first time in American history, we commit to war before exhausting our efforts to commit to peace.” — Howard Dean Campaign…

  • Christmas and Chanukah: Interviews Available

    JULIET SCHOR Professor of sociology at Boston College, Schor is author of the books The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need and Do Americans Shop Too Much? She is available for a limited number of interviews until Thursday. STAV ADIVI Adivi is a major in the Israeli Defense Forces. He said today:…

  • Analysis on the Tenth Anniversary of NAFTA

    New Year’s Day 2004 will mark the tenth anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The following critics of NAFTA are available for interviews: ALEJANDRO NADAL FRANCISCO AGUAYO Nadal is the director of the Science and Technology program (PROCIENTEC) at El Colegio de Mexico and co-author of the article “Seven Myths About NAFTA and…

  • * Venezuela * ‘Public Diplomacy’ * ‘Missile Defense’

    GREGORY WILPERT Wilpert is a journalist living in Venezuela and the author of an upcoming book on the Chavez presidency. More Information MARK WEISBROT Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Weisbrot is currently in Venezuela. He said today: “Six months ago, when the opposition forces overthrew the democratically elected government of Venezuela…

  • Interviews Available on Hollywood and Baghdad

    NORMAN SOLOMON Solomon is executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, which organized Sean Penn’s recent trip to Baghdad. Solomon will be returning from Baghdad late Tuesday afternoon. NORMA BARZMAN Author of the forthcoming The Red and the Blacklist: A Memoir of a Hollywood Insider, Barzman was blacklisted in 1949. She said today: “Since…

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