News Items

  • Affidavit by Daniel Ellsberg for Plowshare Activists Being Allowed a Defense of Necessity

    In 1971 I gave the U.S. Senate, the New York Times and the Washington Post copies of what have come to be known as The Pentagon Papers. I was arrested on twelve felony counts. My trial was dismissed because of government misconduct which figured in the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon…These considerations bear on two other elements of the necessity defense, the “lack of legal alternatives” and the “imminence” of the harms to be averted. Again, I speak from my own experience, but not only mine, in saying that it is the perceived insufficiency of other means, by themselves not…

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  • A Long List of Democratic Candidates Requires a Large Catalog of Their Funders

    By Sam Haut: As the first debates for the Democratic primary begin, and the list of candidates has grown to 24, it can be difficult to contextualize where each candidate has received funding from over the course of their time in office. What follows is a list of the Democratic candidates and the top sources for how much money they’ve made and where those top sources come from.

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  • NATO and US Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead

    RootsAction.org held a news conference Thursday on “NATO and U.S. Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead” hosted by the Institute for Public Accuracy. Speakers include former State Department officials Matthew Hoh, Ann Wright, as well as Martin Fleck. The event was moderated by Norman Solomon.

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  • Media Advisory: “NATO and U.S. Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead”

    At 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at the National Press Club: On the same day that President Trump is scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House, this news conference will focus on the U.S.-NATO relationship. Speakers include former State Department officials Matthew Hoh and Ann Wright.

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  • Statement by Floyd Abrams in response to Attorney General nominee William Barr’s remarks on the First Amendment

    “It’s one thing to say that there could be circumstances in which a journalist’s need to protect her sources could lead to a potential finding of contempt of court if she refused to obey a court order requiring such disclosure. But the notion that a journalist could properly be jailed for publishing material that the government thinks could ‘hurt the country’ is something else entirely and would be deeply threatening to First Amendment norms in general and journalistic freedom in particular.”

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  • Statement on NAFTA’s “Kafkaesque” Turn

    The supposedly concluded renegotiation of NAFTA has reached a Kafkaesque stage. As the United States Trade Representative has stated: “The United States and Mexico have reached a preliminary agreement in principle, subject to finalization and implementation.” Not only the negotiations have not been finalized, and without Canada, but the texts remain hidden from the public.

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  • What’s the Cost of Medicare for All?

    Even a Koch-backed think tank finds Medicare for all would cut health care spending. In a report released by the Mercatus Center, a single-payer health care system would offset costs with even greater savings. The Intercept and other media reporting on this are citing the work of Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler. They are distinguished professors of health policy at the City University of New York at Hunter College and lecturers in medicine at Harvard Medical School. They have written an analysis of the work of the Koch-backed think tank, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which is…

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  • Trump Team Hired Israeli Spy Firm Used by Harvey Weinstein to Attack Obama Officials on Iran Deal

    “Aides to Donald Trump, the U.S. president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a ‘dirty ops’ campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, the Observer can reveal. People in the Trump camp contacted private investigators in May last year to ‘get dirt’ on Ben Rhodes, who had been one of Barack Obama’s top national security advisers, and Colin Kahl, deputy assistant to Obama, as part of an elaborate attempt to discredit the deal.”

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  • From the desk of Noam Chomsky

    From the desk of Noam Chomsky

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  • 15 Years Later: The Whistleblower Who Almost Blocked the Iraq War

    Media Advisory: Press Conference to Mark 15th Anniversary Of Leak by GCHQ Translator Katharine Gun Revealing US “Dirty Tricks” at UN for Iraq War When:  Thursday, 1 March 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Where:  Head office, National Union of Journalists Headland House, 72 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NB Who:  Katharine Gun, Thomas Drake, Matthew Hoh, Jesselyn Radack This press conference will take place the day before the 15th anniversary of the Observer’s publication of the explosive March 2, 2003 story “US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war” — based on a leak by GCHQ translator Katharine Gun — revealing the US National Security Agency’s UN surveillance memo that aimed to grease the way for the…

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  • State “Defend the Guard” Movement Gains Momentum Nationwide

    “In recent years, Defend the Guard bills have been introduced in a majority of states, and the bill has passed the New Hampshire House, Arizona Senate, Virginia House of Delegates, and Idaho Senate. The proposal has drawn support from an unusual coalition of veterans, families of National Guard members, constitutional scholars, peace advocates, and civil…

  • Gulf Countries Crackdown

    “Since the beginning of the war on Iran, GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries have launched a sweeping crackdown on freedom of expression. The most concerning escalation is happening in Bahrain, where DAWN has confirmed that authorities have arrested at least 148 people for peaceful protest and online expression. They have charged activists with treason and…

  • Campaign Launches for Jeffries and Schumer to Step Aside

    A coalition of antiwar groups launched a national campaign on Wednesday calling for Representative Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Chuck Schumer to step aside from their positions as minority leaders.  Jeff Cohen, cofounder of RootsAction, said: “Schumer and Jeffries have failed their party and country through wobbly leadership when firmness and clarity are needed in opposing…

  • UN Security Council Again “Bows to U.S. Empire”

    UN whistleblower Craig Mokhiber just posted: “For the second time in four months (see res. 2803), the UN Security Council has today bowed to the US empire (and its vassals) and ignored international law on its behalf, and neither Russia nor China have acted to stop it through their veto rights. In the middle of the…

  • Preparations for Military Draft Called Out

    “A diverse coalition is mobilizing opposition to a recently-passed federal law that seeks to step up preparations for and readiness to activate a military draft. The new law authorizes the federal Selective Service System (SSS) to begin using automated involuntary registration to increase the number of individuals currently listed in the agency’s database of potential…

  • Are Trump and Netanyahu Trying to Fuel an Arab-Iranian War?

    “Israel and the U.S. are desperate to draw Arab countries into a direct confrontation with Iran to deplete those same countries and get Muslims to destroy each other (especially Gulf countries that have been competing with the West in attracting capital, talent and investments). This way Israel would emerge on top as the region’s uncontested…

  • The War with Iran is Already Costing Billions

    In a new fact sheet, the Institute for Policy Studies explains that the war with Iran is already costing U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars. “Daily operations in and around Iran for these major military systems are costing… an estimated $59.3 million per day. That [money] could instead cover the daily costs of Medicaid for more…

  • Israel Expands War, Executes Mass Expulsion in Lebanon

    “Nearly 60,000 people have been displaced over the previous 24 hours alone, according to Lebanon’s state-run media outlet, the National News Agency, adding to the tens of thousands who have already fled their homes since Monday.”

  • Will the International Community Stand up to Aggression?

    “The UN Security Council is paralyzed because the United States will veto any resolution condemning its own actions. …. The Hague Group [which has announced an emergency meeting], or any member state, should introduce a UN General Assembly resolution declaring the U.S.-Israel assault on Iran a violation of the UN Charter and a war of…

  • The U.S. and Israel Have Killed in How Many Countries in the Last Year?

    The United States has bombed seven countries in the past 12 months: Venezuela, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen and Iran. Asad Abukhalil notes: “Israel bombed eight countries: Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Egypt ‘by mistake’ and Iran.” Drop Site News reports: “Black smoke was seen rising from inside the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City following…

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