Op Ed News Updates

I just learned that my friend Howard Zinn died today. Earlier this morning, I was being interviewed by the Boston Phoenix, in connection with the release in Boston in February of a documentary in which he is featured prominently. The interviewer asked me who my own heroes were, and I had no hesitation in answering, first, "Howard Zinn."

By Margaret Flowers, MD
There is Still Time For Real Reform, Listen to the American People
In the State of the Union Speech, President Obama asked: if anyone . . . has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know." Dr. Margaret Flowers has a plan that will do that and more. In this Open Letter she explains what real reform, Medicare for All, would do.

imagining a coalition aimed at "independence from the military-corporate alliance," with a platform that includes strong planks on climate, jobs, health, ending the present wars, major reductions in the military, transforming campaign finance, and ending the filibuster.

We are nothing to them. It doesn't take much to figure that out. We lose our jobs. The insiders have theirs forever. Our wages are flat while Wall Street fat cats get ever increasing bonuses. We lose our health coverage while Congress, the Judiciary, and the Executive branches enjoy the best insurance around. Commercial credit for most is tight but the big banks have trillions in credit.

By Robert Parry
The Supreme Court's Partisanship
The Right's influence is so wide and so deep that it can front for wealthy special interests under the guise of "populism" and persuade many Americans that their real enemy is not Big Corporations, but Big Government.

By David Swanson
Gone a Week and You Trash the Country
Wow, I was gone less than a week to the Conch Republic, and now return to a nation in which I would heartily recommend to any city, county, or state that it follow the example of the Florida Keys and secede from the so-called union.

Expect Hannity, Beck, the Oxymoron, et al to open their spin-machines full-throttle tomorrow. By week's end the nation will be whipped into a foaming tea-party frenzy over Obama's outrageous new plan to steal from the middle-class, raise taxes, decimate the military, and increase government spending.

This article is an example of how to fight back against a private insurance company when it refuses to cover a medical treatment.

By Harvey Wasserman
How the great Howard Zinn made all our lives better
Howard Zinn was above all a gentleman of unflagging grace, humility and compassion.He was a warm, unfailingly friendly compadre. He shared a beautiful partnership with his wonderful wife Roz, a brilliant, thoroughly committed social worker about whom he once said: "You and I just talk about changing the world. She actually does it."

The U.S. Constituion must be amended to ensure it protects the people against the corporations.

By arn specter
A Tribute to Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn, noted teacher, historian and activist, passed on to Spirit on Wednesday, Jan.27, 2010. This is my tribute to him.

Zinn, author of People's History of the United States, recently behind the History channel's The People Speak, passed away while traveling. An opednews.com interview with Zinn was published two days before his death.

According to Tea Party insiders, the tickets for the Palin banquet aren't selling--and some conservative activists who have already paid to attend are now demanding refunds. With the controversial event shaping up to be a potential flop, some Tea Partiers are urging Palin to cancel her speech to avoid a humiliating public relations disaster.

By Kathleen Wynne (With Contributions by Karen Renick)
How The American People Can Defeat Unlimited Corporate Money and Influence in Elections
Not surprisingly, citizens of all political persuasions are already protesting the Court's decision because they can so clearly see the impending danger to the People's role in elections. In stark contrast, it has been so incredibly difficult for citizens to readily grasp that our right to know for certain that the persons truly chosen by the people have been elected has been stolen from us.

By Steven Saw
Depressing Recovery
Many are scrambling to try and demonstrate their psychic abilities to predict the recovery so they can wear a badge of success. We've heard many times by many people that the economy is in recovery. Recent news demonstrates otherwise.

By Sam Webb
Democratize the Federal Reserve Bank
What seemed a foregone conclusion - the reappointment of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for another four-year term - has turned into a matter of contention. For this we have to thank Massachusetts voters.

South Africa has one of the heaviest carbon footprints in the world...and the World Bank is offering a US $5 billion loan -" the biggest ever to any African entity -" that ensures its footprint becomes even heavier. The World Bank, however, says the loan assists South Africa's electricity parastatal Eskom to "achieve financial stability, increase generation capacity and efficiency, and adopt a low carbon trajectory."

By Dave Lindorff
President Obama's State of the Union Address Whoppers
Obama is a smooth speaker, but he shouldn't be able to smoothly slip lies into his Constitutionally-manded state of the union report to Congress and the American people, as he did last night.

By Ray McGovern
President Put Politics First on Afghanistan
Nothing highlights President Obama's abject surrender to Gen. David Petraeus on the "way forward" in Afghanistan than two cables U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry sent to Washington on Nov. 6 and 9, 2009, the texts of which were released Tuesday by the New York Times.

By John Paul Rossi
ï»¿The State of the Union, 2010: President Obama, the Democratic Party, and Change Betrayed
Voter anger, as most recently expressed in the Massachusetts special election, is the consequence of the failure of President Obama and a Democratic Congress to keep the promises of change they made in the 2008 elections. Instead, it is still politics as usual. Voters still want the change and help promised in 2008 and they feel betrayed.

By Hugh Conrad
Impeach John Roberts for Lying to Congress
Op-Ed piece about John Roberts' lying to Congress, action that should result in his impeachment and removal as Chief Justice of the United States.

Since this campaign launched last week in the wake of the loss of Ted Kennedy's seat, hundreds of thousands of people have joined this effort. Their strong support paved the way for dozens of members of Congress to sign on to a letter to Senate Majority Harry Reid just yesterday urging him to pass a public option via reconciliation.

By Chris Floyd
Class Acts: Farewell to Chroniclers of American Reality
America lost two distinctive and important voices this week, two writers whose works dealt with absolutely vital but virtually ignored elements of the nation's history and character: the 'marginal' classes and the ruling class. Without the histories of Howard Zinn and the fiction of Louis Auchincloss, we would have a poorer understanding of the forces that form and move our society.

By Doug Korthof
State of the Obama: What if He Told the Truth...
We need to tell the truth and understand what our problem is: shipping good jobs overseas, failure to break up Standard Oil, failure to install rooftop solar power, and failure to fix education. Why not tell the truth?

By James Nimmo
RX for a Flagging Democratic Spirit
If this film doesn't dilute the political Novocaine in your brain, then you're too comatose for help.

By Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
Obama's Speech Addressed Several Categories of People and Communities Except Race and Ethnicity
While President Obama's State of the Union address sprinkled references to several categories of people and communities about whom he expressed concern, race was altogether absent from his remarks. "Small towns and rural communities" received early mention. So, too, did "those who had already known poverty," "working families," "small business owners," "first-time homebuyers," gays in the military, women (with respect to equal

"Obama's war in Iraq is a continuation of an unjust war. Obama's war in Afghanistan is a continuation of a just war that is becoming an unjust war. Obama's war in Yemen is mixed. And as long our war policy is unjust, the specter of terrorism will increase."

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev's visit to Turkish last month shows that Turkey and Russia are rapidly developing close economic and political ties, confounding NATOphiles

Aided by a mind boggling decision by the Supreme Court allowing unlimited campaign spending by private interests ~ the Corpocracy, where corporate dollars trump individual votes, has revealed its ominous ruling presence and insatiable appetite for power, profit and control but also has set the stage for a major populist revolt: Allen L Roland

By Marilyn Noyes
Open letter to President Obama & our Dems in DC
We Democrats are longing for our party to return to the principles that FDR embraced. Our party will benefit and it is the shot in the arm our democracy desperately needs.

By Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
Et Tu, ACLU?
Nowhere in the Constitution do the Founders mention the word corporation. There were a small handful of them at the time of ratification, all strictly limited by state charter to where and what kind of business they could do. They bear scant resemblance to the multi-national behemoths we confront today. Those who wrote and ratified the First Amendment would be horrified by their very existence.

By Sven Wiberg
THERE'S NO RUSH?
Reacting to the tone-deaf Democrats' interpretation the "message" to the President and his party sent by the recent Massachusetts election. Seeking the passage of Health Care Reform to avert more deaths.

By Catarina Newman
GETTING PREPARED FOR 2012
What will you do if things go from bad to worse? This article outlines 5 precautionary steps you can take to ensure the safety and well being of friends and loved ones.

By Michael Bonanno
Liberty Tree Releases Appeal for Move to Amend Constitution
They've gone after our tax dollar. Our public services. Our jobs. Our schools. Our military. Our votes. Our future. Our freedoms. And the federal courts have helped them every step of the way.

By John Blumenthal
Do You Know Who's in Your Wallet?
On your currency, Jefferson gets a raw deal by being on a $2 bill, while Alexander Hamilton's face undeservedly graces $10 dollar bills. And why is Salmon P.Chase's kisser on a $10,000 bill?

By Jennifer Hathaway
A Disaster on US Soil: Please Help the Cheyenne River Sioux
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has been without power and water since last Thursday, January 21st. The situation needs some news coverage, with the aim towards getting some help.

By Stephen Dinan
Speak to the Soul of America, Mr. President
Since taking office, I've noticed a decided turn in the president's use of language, shifting from the more aspirational, unifying, and visionary language of the campaign to the more nuts-and-bolts language of policies and interests. I think that shift has been a mistake, for it undermines what I believe is his single most important role for the American people.

By Bernard Weiner
Drifting Toward Catastrophe: A Seven-Headed Beast
The temptation is great to stick to the minor, more gossipy items in the political news. The Larger Issues (here are seven) are damn difficult to deal with. Are there political leaders ready to take them seriously? Or do we continue slouching toward a kind of national suicide?

Our son who was born in 1982 has cystic fibrosis. When he was born, life expectancy was late teens. With medical advances, that has increased to late 30s. As these young adults now have a life to plan for, they needed help with school as CF is a very expensive disease and many families cannot help their children because of the medical costs.

By Martha Rosenberg
Governor Paterson, Shut This Dairy Down
grisly footage that every farm randomly chosen for investigation--MFA has investigated 11--seems to yield, indicates the violence is not isolated, not coincidental, but agribusiness-as-usual.

In an extremely uneven recession, where urban communities of color have been devastated by foreclosures and poverty rates for children of color are nearing 50% in some states, the stimulus has done little to stem an escalating crisis. No data is being collected on the number of jobs made available to hard hit workers of color, while minority business procurement figures are showing very disparate outcomes.

By Richard Albert
Presidential roulette
Imagine the unthinkable happens: later this evening, just as the President approaches the podium to deliver his annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, terrorists unleash the horror of a weapon of mass destruction in the heart of Washington.

By thepen
Five Supreme Court Judges Do Da Corporate Takeover Hustle, And They Must Be Stopped
This the second in a series of action alerts about the fundamental willful and pernicious errors underlying the decision by 5 agenda driven right wing judges on the Supreme Court to gut all restraints on corporate meddling in our elections. Each of these successive alerts will analyze additional derelict aspects of this shameful and truly dangerous decision, to further demonstrate why we the people must reverse it.

By Lynne Glasner
The State of the Union Is Frozen
The Union is divided and the President's enemies aren't going away. In fact, they're getting louder. Obama's freeze could turn out to be a meltdown, or even a bloodletting.

I am here tonight to not only address the distinguished men and women in this great chamber and their corporate financiers but also the very people who I depend on for small donations to make it seem like I am not under the control of corporate and special interests in Washington.

Obama's announcement that he will propose a three-year spending freeze on all federal programs except for "military, veterans affairs, homeland security, and certain international programs" [read CIA] is just more of the slight of hand we are growing accustomed to seeing from the magician.

By Dahr Jamail
Soldiers Are Being Forced to Choose Between Their Children And the Military, And They're Paying the Price In Jailtime
The Army put Hutchinson in the position of having to choose between caring for her infant son or deploying to Afghanistan. She chose to care for her son, and is paying the price. The lower command gets subtle pressure for them to stop [losing personnel], and ultimately people become disposable. And not just the soldier, but their kids, or their mother, father, sister, or infant."

By earl ofari hutchinson
Obama's One Term Obsession
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs presumably spoke on good authority when he said that President Obama was "comfortable" with being a one term president. Obama vis-a-vis Gibbs nobly says this is the sacrificial price he'll pay to make health care and energy reform an American reality. Political martyrdom talk by Obama of one term to get his agenda through is not new.

By Paul Craig Roberts
Rule By The Rich
Democrats have to support war and the police state if they want funding from the military/security complex. They have to make the health care bill into a subsidy for private insurance if they want funding from the insurance companies. They have to abandon the American people for the rich banksters if they want funding from the financial lobby.

I was riding on a series of trains through Bavaria during a light snowstorm today. As I rode--and then ran through--the central terminals in Nurnberg, Wurzburg, and Aschaffenburg on my way back to Wiesbaden this below zero day in history January 2010, I took time to read through Khaled Hosseini's THE KITE RUNNER, set primarily in pre-9-11 Afghanistan.

By Monika Mitchell
In Google We Trust
The obscene money conflicts that have emerged this past year in our largest commercial institutions have put the issue of business ethics front and center again. What is "right or wrong" in the world of profit? GoodB Blogger Monika Mitchell explores the new ethical landscape in the light of one of America's most beloved companies.

By Dave Lindorff
The Supreme Court's Right-Wing Clique has Given Us a Great Opportunity
Sure it stinks that corporations are being said to have the same free speech rights as people, but hey, now we can see who it is that's buying our politicians. No more hiding behind PACs and Astroturf.

By PETA
Change everything for a chained dog
January is "Unchain a Dog" Month. If you know someone with an outside dog, please urge the dog's guardian to bring his or her forgotten companion indoors to be with the rest of the family.

By The Cornucopia Institute
Organic Family Dairies Being Crushed by Rogue Factory Farms
Family farmers from around the country, who produce organic milk, are petitioning president Obama, and the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB), for the swift adoption of new strict rulemaking that will rein in the abuses of a handful of factory farms they claim are violating both the spirit and letter of the federal organic law.

By Dave Lefcourt
The Upcoming State of the Union Address and the Intended Freeze
On Wednesday, the president will give his State of the Union address "to signal his seriousness about cutting the budget deficit." The freeze will cover domestic agencies but "...exempt the budget for the Pentagon". It is the sacrosanct defense budget, that really rankles this observer. The Defense budget is what needs to be drastically reduced, not the domestic programs that serve the people.

By Bob Johnson
Is blind support of Israel worth the cost in blood and money?
Osama bin Laden's message states the blind support the U.S. politicians give to Israel which enables Israel to slaughter Palestinians is a key reason for attacks on the U.S. U.S. media virtually ignores this important information!

By shamus cooke
Torture Never Stopped Under Obama
Yes, Obama outlawed some especially shocking forms of torture -- water boarding, for example -- but other types of torture were not labeled "torture" and thus continue.

By Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed MA DPhil (Sussex)
Bin Laden - Dead or Alive? Threats, Lies and Videotapes
Is bin Laden dead or alive? Are the audio and videotapes of him real or fake? And what could the latest alleged bin Laden tape mean?

By Sally Stride
It's Time to Retire Fluoridation
Research shows that ingesting fluoride does not reduce tooth decay but does increase dental fluorosis (discolored teeth)

By The Cornucopia Institute
Don't Let Lobbyists Weaken New Organic Dairy Standards
The White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is nearing the end of its critical review of proposed new regulations clarifying the requirement that dairy cows and other ruminants consume a meaningful amount of feed from pasture and grazing. Powerful factory farm interests opposed to the rule, who want to continue to principally confine animals in feedlot style operations, have privately met with OMB officials.

The day following the Massachusetts Special Election, Congressman Chaka Fattah spoke about the ramifications the election last Tuesday will have for Democrats and the necessity for Democrats to push forward with the mandate he believes President Obama received from the electorate a year ago.

By Terry Patten
News We can't Ignore
A structural analysis of the SCOTUS decision throwing out limits on corporation spending on elections. A deep look at how the marketplaces for power, political contributions, attention, money, goods and services interact, creating a single meta-marketplace.

By Angola 3 News
Slavery in US Prisons--An interview with Robert Hillary King and Dr. Terry Kupers (video)
In this new video, Robert King and Dr. Terry Kupers, argue that slavery persists today in Angola and other U.S. prisons, citing the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which legalizes slavery in prisons as "a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." As King says: "You can be legally incarcerated but morally innocent."

By michael payne
Neither an agent of change nor a man of peace
So in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I must conclude that the agent of change is not up to the job and the "man of peace" is nowhere to be found; but the War President is actively waging wars. If America wants real change and an end to the war mentality, then it will have to come from the loud, angry voices and positive actions of the people or it will never come.

He is working. We, the American people, are waiting, just as we have been for months and months. For a full year, countless citizens have felt as though they were patient. Yet, the President did not seem to have their interests at heart. The American people are tired of being patient.

By Tolu Olorunda
Do Youth Count on the Left?
Why do "progressive" publications take for granted the plights afflicting young people?

By Monish Chatterjee
Wage War, Fire Missiles, Win a Nobel: the Ultimate Devaluation of Awards
I discuss here the expected, yet deeply regrettable disappointments of the Barack Obama administration on many fronts, and especially in terms of its rejection of the peace and progressive agenda, and its pandering to the same imperial forces that dictate Washington's muscle-flexing worldwide.

By Patrice Greanville
When will the cheering stop?
Obama's brand of demagogy has retarded progress toward a genuine renewal in American politics. The time for fantasies is over. A new movement must now come to the fore, and fresh political strategies must be introduced.

By Eugene Elander
Wells Fargo and Freddie Mac: No Honor Among Lenders!
Wells Fargo and Freddie Mac, two giant mortgage lenders, have abused the Federal loan modification program, as well as the Homeowners Protection Act, per the author's firsthand experience with these lenders.

By Roy Ellis
The Supreme Court Looses Again
Article opines on the recent Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited funding for campaign ads by Corporations and Unions.

By Eric Malone
Prop 8 Trial Week 2: It's Not A Choice, It's A Child
As the historic trial to overturn California's Proposition 8 concluded its second week, the court heard testimony concluding that homosexuality is an ingrained human characteristic...not a choice. Oh, and the Trial of the Decade will be on YouTube after all!

By Ron Jacobs
Just Walk Away From the Democrats
A look at the duplicity of the Democratic Party and a call for progressives and leftists to leave the Democrats behind if they truly want social change

Soldiers in convoy kill Kabul imam sitting in car
US officials said in a statement that soldiers in the convoy "fired on what appeared to be a threatening vehicle." Neighbors said the imam did nothing to provoke the shooting, but was in his car, with three children in the back seat, waiting for a fourth son to get into the vehicle.

"With regard to training and equipping the Afghan security forces, five to 10 years will be enough," Karzai said. "With regard to sustaining them until Afghanistan is financially able to provide for our forces, the time will be extended to 10 to 15 years."

The two freedom fighteres were tried after the post-election unrest.This type of killings are seen as a move to create fear and intimidate the opposition. The executions come ahead of the February 11 anniversary of the 1979 revolution that is expected to lead to fresh antigovernment protests.

UK summit unveils new Afghan policy
Taliban dismissed the London conference as a propaganda ploy, saying the summit would fail to produce results. The statement also dismissed a plan by Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, to woo Taliban moderates with offers of money and jobs.

'Catcher in the Rye' Author J.D. Salinger Dies
J.D. Salinger, the legendary author, youth hero and fugitive from fame whose ''The Catcher in the Rye'' shocked and inspired a world he increasingly shunned, has died. He was 91. He had lived for decades in self-imposed isolation in the small, remote house in Cornish, N.H.

VIDEO: Pelosi cool to Obama's freeze plan
While praising the president, Pelosi took care to distance herself from some of his positions -- arguing that the proposed freeze should be applied "across the board" and not just on the discretionary domestic spending so dear to Democrats' hearts.

Hackers infiltrate House websites
Hackers infiltrated the websites of dozens of House members overnight, replacing their usual pages with attacks on President Barack Obama.

The Radiation Boom - As Technology Surges, Radiation Safeguards Lag
In New Jersey, 36 cancer patients at a veterans hospital in East Orange were overradiated -- and 20 more received substandard treatment -- by a medical team that lacked experience in using a machine that generated high-powered beams of radiation.

Taking Credit for Failure
Claiming credit for failed attacks orchestrated by others and trying to latch on to the fight against Israel are just the latest signs that al Qaeda is trying almost too hard to remain relevant. Al Qaeda is simply trying to keep its name in the press.

Reflections of Fidel: We Are Sending Doctors, Not Soldiers
In my "Reflection" of January 14, two days after the disaster in Haiti that destroyed that neighboring sister nation, I wrote: "In the field of health care and other areas, Cuba â€" despite being a poor and blockaded country â€" has been cooperating with the Haitian people for many years.

RNC chief Steele opposes purity test for Republican candidates
RNC Chairman Michael S. Steele said he opposes a controversial "purity" resolution that would keep party money from candidates deemed to be too moderate. "This is not the business of the RNC," Steele said. "Ronald Reagan would be ashamed if the party moved in that direction."

Alito dissents on Obama critique of court decision
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. responded to President Obama's criticism Wednesday night of a Supreme Court decision last week by appearing to mouth the words "not true."

E.J. Dionne Jr. - Obama shows he's a conciliator--and also willing to fight
Obama challenged Republicans to do more than criticize. "We cannot wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about their opponent -- a belief that if you lose, I win. Neither party should delay or obstruct every single bill just because they can."

Analyzing the Address
Published: January 27, 2010 An annotated video and transcript of President Obama's speech.

State of the Union Speech: Obama Vows to Focus on Jobs
He largely avoided the soaring rhetoric for which he is famous and opted for a more workmanlike approach, setting out proposal after proposal aimed at helping the country out of recession. About two-thirds of the speech was devoted to the economy, a response to criticism that he spent too much of last year on health reform at the expense of the recession.

President Obama addressed the frustration the American people have with Washington DC politics and our lack of trust with the mainstream media. President Obama lashed out against corporate influence in U.S. elections. Domestic corporations and foreign corporations giving massive campaign contributions to members of both parties and how the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision did nothing to reduce or eliminate this problem.

Canada's Alluring Energy Supply Regaining it's Lustre Despite Continued Criticism
As the recession fades from the Canadian oil sands and projects delayed amid months of uncertainty score a second chance, criticism has still not simmered down over how these pockets of crude sully the surrounding land in the country's picturesque province of Alberta.

Howard Zinn, an author, teacher and political activist whose leftist "A People's History of the United States" became a million-selling alternative to mainstream texts and a favorite of such celebrities as Bruce Springsteen and Ben Affleck, died Wednesday. He was 87.

Ex-Honduran leader exiled, vows return
Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya left his refuge in the Brazilian Embassy and flew into exile Wednesday, ending months of turmoil and his thwarted quest to be restored to power after a June 28 coup that drew international condemnation.

The following article was published on November 5, 2009. At the time Ms. Diski was writing a book about animals. Her official website can be accessed by Google Searching "Jenny Diski Website."

Intelligence Report from Capitol Hill
President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address this evening with the hard pivot to the economy, jobs and financial reform on full display with a focus on tax credits for small business ... House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform holds much hyped hearing on federal efforts to bail out AIG with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today.

Glenn Greenwald: The sanctity of military spending
The facts about America's bloated, excessive, always-increasing military spending are now well-known. The U.S. spends almost as much on military spending as the entire rest of the world combined, and spends roughly six times more than the second-largest spender, China.

New York Times fails to disclose Jerusalem bureau chief's conflict of interest
The Times' treatment of Bronner sets an interesting precedent. Would the newspaper's policy be the same if a reporter in its Jerusalem bureau had an immediate family member who faced Bronner's son across the battlefield, as a member of a Palestinian or Lebanese resistance organization?

Dan Froomkin: What Obama Should Say, But Won't
The stimulus was just a first step. We need a massive, concerted burst of government spending on public works, infrastructure and green jobs. This is not the time to decrease entitlements -- you don't cut Social Security just when people's life savings have taken a massive hit.

Movement Tries to Fix Social Security Inequity
In California and 14 other states where teachers do not participate in Social Security, second-career educators who previously held private-sector jobs where they paid into Social Security see some of that money evaporate in retirement because of a decades-old law. They can lose up to $381 a month of their own benefits - Social Security income that their payroll taxes should have guaranteed them.

Bloomberg Wants Terror Trial Moved
Last week, in a joint statement, a list of politicians, including Representative Jerrold L. Nadler, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Senator Daniel L. Squadron and Councilwoman Margaret Chin, urged an alternate site, one less harmful to "our already overburdened Lower Manhattan neighborhoods."

Zoe's Story - A Little Girl Living with Cystic Fibrosis
Zoe Ose is an adorable little girl with a captivating smile and big, beautiful eyes that are bursting with the passion, joy and innocence of a child who is just beginning to discover the wonder of the world around her. Zoe is also a little girl living with cystic fibrosis (CF), a disease that complicates an otherwise carefree childhood and threatens to rob her of the very life that she so passionately enjoys.

Help protect religious freedom in the U.S. military
Over 96% of the complainants are practicing Christians of various denominations who aren't considered "Christian enough" by both their superiors and peers.This gives credence to the many complaints we have heard relative to Christian proselytizing in the military and those who are perpetrating it.Tell the President,Sec of Defense,and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to ensure that one religion is not being elevated over another.

Senate Democrats eye $80B jobs package
With lawmakers eager to pivot to economic legislation, Senate Democratic leaders have drafted an initial version of an $80 billion-plus job-creation bill that will be heavy on tax breaks designed to spur businesses to make new hires.

Don't Give Up Now
Editorial Published: January 26, 2010 Democrats should take another look at what really happened in Massachusetts and then summon the nerve to enact comprehensive health care reform.

Groups ask for federal probe of anti-abortion violence
Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Tiller, who was shot May 31 while ushering in his church. Roeder has admitted to reporters and in a court filing that he killed Tiller, saying it was necessary to save unborn babies, but he has pled not guilty.

Under Fire, Geithner Says A.I.G. Rescue Was Essential
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH and SEWELL CHAN Published: January 28, 2010 In questioning from a House panel that took on the air of a cross-examination, the treasury secretary said the $85 billion bailout helped prevent a depression.

What Wall Street Wants from Obama in State of the Union address / The Christian Science Monitor
If it were up to Wall Street, the president would strike a less confrontational posture toward the finance industry than what they've seen lately. Many would prefer that he unveil only a modest jobs stimulus package in the 2011 budget. And, although many market commentators expect some kind of tax hike on capital gains and dividends, they think any tax hike is a bad idea while the economy is still recovering from recession.

Sanders Op-Ed: Bernanke Must Go
Today, the United States is in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. More than 17% of the American workforce is either unemployed or underemployed. Millions more have lost their homes, their savings, their health care and their pensions. The immediate cause of this economic disaster is the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior of the largest financial institutions in the country

U.S. military teams, intelligence deeply involved in aiding Yemen on strikes
The operations, approved by President Obama and begun six weeks ago, involve several dozen troops from the U.S. military's clandestine Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), whose main mission is tracking and killing suspected terrorists.

President Plans Own Panel on the Debt
Advocates of more aggressive steps to address the national debt failed Tuesday in their effort to create a bipartisan commission to press for tax increases and spending cuts, but President Obama now plans to establish a similar panel by executive order in his State of the Union address.

As we get closer to anniversary of Islamic republic on Feb 10, there is a lot of political jugging to prevent a disaster. There are many reports of a grand compromise behind the scenes. Mrs. Zahra Rahnavard (mousavian's wife and his campaign manger) blasted the idea of recognition of Ahmadinejad's government and answered to those rumors.

Obama to announce high-speed rail plan post-speech
A day after delivering a State of the Union address aimed at showing recession-weary Americans he understands their struggles, President Barack Obama intends to award $8 billion in stimulus funds to develop high-speed rail corridors and sell the program as a jobs creator.

Maureen Dowd: Bringing Sexy Back
Everyone in Washington now wants to touch the hem of President-elect Brown -- known in the British press as "the former nude centrefold" -- who has single-handedly revived the moribund Republican Party. It uncannily recalls the way they once jostled to piggyback on the powerful allure of One-Term Obama.

Drones and the Law
Pakistan - Article 2(4) of the UN charter provides that: "All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations." Based on the article, unless justifications are provided, drone attacks in their current form are in contravention of UN charter

Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo and Monica Villamizar report on the clashes and the deteriorating security situation in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince as residents fight for food at distribution points across the city. The desperation is palpable in Haiti as hundreds of thousands throughout the country still languish from little to no food and water. Many more will likely die without more effective aid fast.

Unemployment Reached Highest Level on Record in 2009
MANILA--The number of jobless worldwide reached nearly 212 million in 2009 following an unprecedented increase of 34 million compared to 2007, on the eve of the global crisis, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said in its annual Global Employment Trends report. Based on International Monetary Fund economic forecasts, the ILO estimates that global unemployment is likely to remain high through 2010.

U.S. lawmakers to Obama: Press Israel to ease Gaza siege
Fifty-four members of the U.S. Congress have signed a letter asking President Barack Obama to put pressure on Israel to ease the siege of the Gaza Strip. In addition to members of Congress, several leftist organizations also signed the letter, including Americans for Peace Now and J Street.

Japan's underused Petroleum Infrastructure Presents Oil Storage Opportunity
As we've discussed, Japan is using a lot less oil these days. In the last year, Japanese consumption dropped 800,000 barrels per day. That's leaving the country's petroleum infrastructure under-used. Nippon Oil plans to idle 20% of its refineries by 2015.

David Frum Loves a Fight, Unless Obama's the Fighter
Frum, you may remember, has some experience with first State of the Union addresses. It was George W. Bush's first State of the Union address on January 29, 2002 when Frum authored fictionalized the term "Axis of Evil," a term that helped normalize the false pretenses for the 2003 Iraq invasion.

The Pentagon continues with its insane Full Spectrum Dominance strategy, provoking Russia again even as our economy falls - on January 20 the Polish Defense Ministry announced that a U.S. Patriot missile battery, and the 100 American soldiers who will operate it, would not be based on the outskirts of the capital of Warsaw as previously announced but in the Baltic Sea city of Morag, 35 miles from Poland's border with Russia.

Bob Herbert: Obama's Credibility Gap
Obama will deliver his State of the Union address Wednesday night. The word is that he will offer some small bore assistance to the middle class. But more important than the content of this speech will be whether the president really means what he says. Americans want to know what he stands for, where his line in the sand is, what he'll really fight for, and where he wants to lead this nation.

RNC To Take Up 'Purity' Resolutions This Week
The Republican National Committee is headed to Hawaii this week for its winter meeting. One of the top issues on the agenda, being put forward in a series of resolutions on Friday by Indiana committee member James Bopp Jr., is whether the party's candidates will be conservative enough -- and what steps the party can take to enforce it.

Ex-Marine Grant Collins emotionally recounts the havoc he helped wreck on innocent civilians during the grotesque 2nd assault on Fallujah in around December, 2004. How many civilians died, often horribly, we will never know, as the American military leveled much of the hapless city. Now Tom is trying to heal, the suffering he caused and expereienced deeply etched in his psyche - another victim of the rotten "War on Terror".

Some remedies for the Supreme Court power grab
The five "conservative" Justices had no problem substituting their opinion for the carefully balanced Congressional legislation to curb the power of money in elections.

Paul Krugman: Obama Liquidates Himself
A spending freeze?Thatâ€™s the response to their 1st serious political setback?Itâ€™s appalling on every level.Itâ€™s a betrayal of everything Oâ€™s supporters thought they were working for.Just like that,Obama has embraced and validated the Republican world-viewâ€”and more specifically,he has embraced the policy ideas of the man he defeated in '08.A correspondent writes,â€œI feel like an idiot for supporting this guy."

ACORN 'Pimp' Arrested Helping Bug US Senator's Phone
"Undercover" videographer James O'Keefe may have gotten famous filming ACORN workers giving advice to a white man in a crazy pimp suit, but now he's been caught with pals impersonating telephone repairmen and arrested for "interfering" with a US Senator's phone line. Gonzo!

Who Controls The Major U.S. Military Contractors?
The point is, control of American companies is rapidly being consolidated into a few foreign hands, and they are also doing so at "frantic" pace. Damn any of the promis

Although it doesn't have the clout of AIPAC, ADC is having more and more impact on the political process, working tirelessly against negative stereotypes, woeful discrimination against Arabs in general, against over 3 million American Arabs in particular, and are even helping congressmen to find their consciences on subjects like Gaza. And ADC is crucial in protecting Arabs from the demonization going on throughout the media.

Examining the Impact of Obama's Plans
Among other things, they would expand the dependent care tax credit for families making up to $115,000 a year, restructure the saver's credit so more people can get it and require employers who don't offer a 401(k) plan to enroll their employees in a direct-deposit Individual Retirement Account.

Hecklers at Nummi Talks Prompt Call to Police
Fremont police were called in to help restore calm at a rowdy United Auto Workers meeting on Sunday as union leaders faced heckling from rank-and-filers as the March 31 shutdown of New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. sends tempers rising and morale sinking among more than 4,700 plant workers who expect to lose their jobs.

As Obama Seeks Freeze, Deficit Seen Shrinking Slightly
By JACKIE CALMES Published: January 27, 2010 The Congressional Budget Office projection comes as lawmakers and President Obama are under conflicting pressures over the size of the budget.

Robert Reich: Obama's Tiny Jobs Ideas for Main Street, A Big Spending Freeze for Wall Street
President Obama today offered a set of proposals for helping America's troubled middle class. All are sensible and worthwhile. But none will bring jobs back. And Americans could be forgiven for wondering how the President plans to enact any of these ideas anyway, when he can no longer muster 60 votes in the Senate.

Energy Legislation in 2010
On 01/14/2010 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in a speech before the Geothermal Energy Association, repeated his intention to move a comprehensive energy and climate bill this spring, presumably after a "jobs" bill and a financial reregulation bill are dealt with. As stated earlier, we view the prospects for such a comprehensive energy and climate bill to be poor.

Obama Administration's Use of Drones Responsible for Increase in Civilian Deaths
The ACLU is asking the government to release basic information about its use of drones to execute targeted killings. The group believes that "the use and proliferation of this tactic must be the subject of public scrutiny and debate." The strikes are reportedly being carried out both by US military forces and the CIA.

Why Progressives Shouldn't Fall For the Deficit Reduction Trap
Shockingly, President Obama has announced his support for a commission whose purpose is to ramrod Social Security and Medicare cuts through Congress. Thinly disguised as a program for "deficit reduction," the proposed commission will meet its first test today, when the Senate may vote to authorize it as part of a bill to raise the national debt ceiling.

Blast Hits Central Baghdad as Attacks Accelerate
For a second day, Baghdad was beset by a bombing, this time at a forensics office of the Interior Ministry. Officials put the toll at 17 dead, although no one really knows how many died. The attack followed a devastating series of bombings Monday that wrecked landmark hotels catering to foreigners.

Eugene Robinson - Obama can't create change with words alone
The point isn't that Obama should be seen slapping opponents and obstructionists around as a way of demonstrating his presidential alpha-maleness. It's that if Obama's agenda is as vital and necessary as he says it is, the White House should make its actions match up with its words.

Obama Would Rather Be Really Good One-Term President
Obama said he would not back off of tackling large issues despite the political jeopardy involved. "You know, there is a tendency in Washington to believe our job description, of elected officials, is to get re-elected. That's not our job description," Obama said. "Our job description is to solve problems and to help people."

Audit hits State on failures to monitor Iraq work
For nearly $4.5 million a year, the State Department in June assigned a 16-person security detail to protect six U.S. contractors in Iraq who already had a team of hired guards they didn't really need.

Western donors 'back Taliban plan'
Karzai's plans, scheduled to be discussed at a conference in London on Thursday, include reintegrating Taliban fighters into society by paying and resettling them if they lay down their weapons.

Mom: Army leans toward suicide ruling
"Amy -- in no way, shape or form -- took her own life," her mother said. "She was too strong a soldier and she had too much life to live no matter what pressures were on her." At the time of her death, she was interrogating enemy combatants and interpreting interviews for Army intelligence at Camp Caldwell.

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