Fearless investigative reporter and author Jeremy Scahill reveals the vast importance of the documents leaked by Pvt. BRADLEY MANNING in informing Americans of the illegal, immoral and duplicitous actions and polices that undermined the character and status of the United States, and which put Americans in harm's way. Why history will see Bradley Manning as pivotal patriot who helped change the course of war and diplomacy. Interview by Amy Goodman.
CHRIS HEDGES: - "... all of these measures to essentially shut down the freedom of information, including the persecution of Assange and Manning, are symptomatic of a reconfiguration of our society into a totalitarian security and surveillance state, one where anyone who challenges the official narrative, who digs out cases of torture, war crimes—which is, of course, what Manning and Assange presented to the American public—is going to be ruthlessly silenced. -- you’ve got to hand it to the Obama administration. They’re far more clever than their predecessors in the Bush administration, but they’re carrying out exactly the same policy of snuffing out our most basic civil liberties and our most important press freedoms." {From Democracy NOW]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Students Deserve Same Interest Rates As Banks. This is her first bill as a U.S. senator, and what a terrific idea: give students the same deal that Wall Street banks get. Needless to say, Warren has her priorities straight when it comes to investing in the future of America. It is our higher education system – now deteriorating due to austerity measures and rapidly escalating tuition – that built the foundation for US skills and innovation in the private and public sectors. -- That is why Warren succinctly stated in her floor speech: Let’s face it: Big banks get a great deal when they borrow money from the Fed. In effect, the American taxpayer is investing in those banks. We should make the same kind of investment in our young people who are trying to get an education. Lend them the money and make them to pay it back, but give our kids a break on the interest they pay. Let’s bank on students."
This Memorial Day (May 28) we must remember those leaders who lied to us and the dead soldiers, enticing them into war to enrich the Military Industrial Congressional comples. It is time for Christians to slay the golden calf of the military. Christians should stop joining the military. They should stop encouraging their young men to enlist. They should stop being military chaplains and medics. American churches must be demilitarized.
Watch This 9-Year-Old Totally Own the Politicians Who Want to Close His School - All we know about this little boy is that his name is Asean Johnson, that he's in third grade, and that Chicago officials are threatening to close down his school. Oh, and he's most likely the next Martin Luther King, Jr. Watch the impassioned speech he gave on Monday at a school closing rally. It's simply jaw-dropping.
A senior Pentagon official told a Senate committee Thursday that the U.S. would be at war with Al Qaeda for 15 to 20 more years and said the military could target terrorists anywhere under a law passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. That expansive view drew sharp criticism from some senators, who questioned how a 2001 law that authorized use of force against the organizers of that year's Sept. 11 attacks is now used to authorize drone strikes against militants in Somalia and Yemen who played no role in those events. -- "This is the most astounding and the most astoundingly disturbing hearing that I've been to since I've been here," said the new Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats. "You guys have essentially rewritten the Constitution here today."
MEMORIAL DAY is every day on a hillside in this northern California town of Lafayette, crowded with a giant field of crosses, one for every American soldier killed in our occupation of Iraq. One of crosses includes the name of Cindy Sheehan's son, Casey, an early fatality. This slide show is set to the passionate song "Memorial Day" written and performed by Laura Zucker of Lafayette (www.laurazucker.com/). The compilation of photos put to music is by Ko Blix of Berkeley, California (http://gallery.me.com/kofotofactory). With photo contributions by Chris Donton, Lynn MacMichaels and others.
Iraq vows action against Kurdistan crude sales -deputy PMIraq on Friday vowed to take legal action against companies to halt Kurdistan's crude oil sales to Turkey. "Any oil that is taken out of the country and payments not made to the Iraqi people through ...
BP to invest $2.85 billion in Iraq's largest oilfieldBy Aref Mohammed BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Oil major BP has allocated $2.85 billion to develop Iraq's Rumaila oilfield in 2013, up from $2.2 billion last year, the head of the joint management committee for the field told Reuters On Wednesday. Boosting output from Rumaila, Iraq's most prolific oilfield is vital for the country to realize its ambition of raising oil exports to 6 million barrels per ...
More attacks across Iraq kill 13 peopleBAGHDAD (AP) — New attacks in Iraq killed 13 people and wounded dozens on Tuesday, officials said, after a bloody day that claimed more than 100 lives across the country.
Are the dark days returning to Iraq?According to the United Nations' mission in Iraq, 712 Iraqis were violently killed in April 2013. This is both normal and extraordinary. It is normal because it pales into comparison beside the monthly death toll in the worst years of the country's civil war. It is extraordinary because it is the highest such figure since that civil war subsided five years ago. Understanding the violence ...
Attacks in Iraq kill over 40, sectarian tensions highBy Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - A series of bomb and gun attacks across Iraq killed more than 40 people on Tuesday, a day after over 70 died in violence targeting majority Shi'ites that has stoked fears of all-out sectarian war with minority Sunnis. Nearly 300 people have been killed in the past week as sectarian tensions, fuelled by the civil war in neighboring Syria, threaten to ...
More attacks across Iraq kill 7 peopleBAGHDAD (AP) — New attacks in Iraq killed seven people and wounded dozens on Tuesday, officials said, after a bloody day that claimed more than 100 lives across the country.
Bombings in Iraq kill at least 12KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - Several bomb blasts killed at least 12 people in Iraq on Tuesday, police said, a day after more than 70 died in attacks on majority Shi'ites, stoking fears of all-out sectarian war with minority Sunnis. More than 200 people have been killed in the past week as Sunni-Shi'ite tensions, fuelled by the civil war in neighboring Syria, threaten to plunge Iraq back into ...
Sectarian strife worsens in IraqA barrage of car bombings and shootings across Iraq left at least 39 people dead, authorities said Monday.
Gunmen kill 7 Iraqi soldiers in central IraqBAGHDAD (AP) — Gunmen killed at least seven soldiers in central Iraq on Thursday, officials said, in the latest episode of violence to hit the country in a particularly bloody month.
Iraq’s Sectarian Violence: Bombings Plunge Country Into Deadly SpiralIn early January 2006, less than a month after I arrived in Iraq as a young U.S. Army lieutenant, I witnessed my first act of violence committed against Iraqi civilians. While on a patrol on a highway 20 km south of Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting my platoon exploded a second too late — or perhaps a second too early — in front of my vehicle and behind my wingman, tearing instead into a tiny ...
Featured Items:
Quarry Creek Project Draws Legal Challenges
Preserve Calavera's first legal challenge to building 656 units at Quarry Creek was submitted the first week in May, with more to come. Unfortunately money drove the decision to approve this project, and more money will be needed to challenge that decision and achieve a compromise that works. Your tax deductible donations will keep the fight going, for as long as it takes! To donate online: http://preservecalavera.org -by Diane Nygaard
Heat-Trapping Gas Hits Milestone, Raising Fears
The amount of the gas in the air has not been this high for at least three million years, and scientists believe the rise portends large changes in the climate and sea level. -- For the entire period of human civilization, roughly 8,000 years, the carbon dioxide level was relatively stable near that upper bound. But the burning of fossil fuels has caused a 41 percent increase in the heat-trapping gas since the Industrial Revolution, a mere geological instant, and scientists say the climate is beginning to react, though they expect far larger changes in the future.
- An independent nuclear regulatory panel on Monday called for a full public hearing on the proposed restart of one of the two damaged San Onofre nuclear reactors, a move that could delay Southern California Edison's effort to operate the plant this summer.
SAN ONOFRE RESTART ODDS DIM SD Union Tribune - A federal panel on nuclear safety has called for a full public hearing on a proposal to restart a damaged reactor at the San Onofre nuclear plant, siding in large part with the environmental group Friends of the Earth in an order published Monday. -- "I won't say this is a death blow to Unit 2, but it does make restart less likely. If approved, the additional downtime makes the Unit 2 restart more complex and costly due to corrosion issues from sitting." (Former systems engineer at San Onofre for 20 years)
Patriotic hero, Bradley Manning finally gets trial After more than three years of imprisonment, including nine months of torture, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bradley Manning’s trial is finally scheduled to begin June 3, 2013, at Fort Meade, Maryland. The outcome of this trial will determine whether a conscience-driven 25-year-old WikiLeaks whistle-blower spends the rest of his life in prison. Bradley believed that the American people have a right to know the truth about what our government does around the world in our name. We the People must send a message to the military prosecuting authority, and President Obama, that Bradley Manning is a patriot and heroic truth-teller.
EDITORIAL - Manning and Obama: Doing what is right EDITORIAL - Private Bradley Manning knows he broke the law, and broke his oath, and has said he is willing to go to prison for life because of the higher, overarching moral law. There is no chance Manning will be found NOT Guilty. This event will the most toxic pill that U.S. military will have to ingest. Conviction of Bradley Manning will bring great dishonor to the Nation, because we will have slain the patriotic messenger, the dutiful whistleblower, and ignored war crimes. For America it is a lose-lose situation. -- Only Pres. Obama can resolve this toxic dilemma. ...
Insider blows lid off San Onofre plant
A Valley Center wife of a San Onofre Nuclear plant operator exposes the shocking truth of the plant's history of highly dangerous and irresponsible operation over the last decades. She wrote directly to Gov. Brown in blowing the lid off this scandal.
Announcements:
CPUC Restricts Public Access at SONGS Hearing Announcement:
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will conduct formal evidentiary hearings next week (May 13-17, 2013) in the investigation into the events surrounding the January 31, 2012 emergency shutdown, subsequent outage, and possible permanent decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. -- The law judge has excluded open media coverage of these hearings, contrary to customary procedure. "One can only imagine how threatening a camera can be if you are used to working behind closed doors and in smoke filled rooms."
We have already passed critical thresholds Announcement:
The rapidly acidifying Arctic Ocean caused by absorbing the world's CO2 emissions have pushed us beyond "critical thresholds," with widespread impacts to be felt for "tens of thousands of years" even if we stopped emissions, say scientists. The three-year assessment from a team of international scientists is being released at the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme's (AMAP) International Conference on Arctic Ocean Acidification.
DEMCCO Meets 05/25/2013
Program: ObamaCare—What Does It Mean For You? There isn’t one of us who doesn’t have questions about this landmark national health law about to go into effect for all Americans. Enlightening us on the nuts and bolts of ObamaCare will be Ms. Kamal Muilenburg, Assoc. Dir. Of San Diegans for Healthcare Coverage.
Protest against Ag monster Monsanto Corp 05/25/2013
Activists Around the World to Protest Monsanto May 25th. All over the world, people who want changes to the way genetically modified foods are grown and used will rally and march to protect our food supply. A full afternoon of activity in Balboa Park beings with meetup at 11:00 AM at the fountain by the Ruben H. Fleet Museum.
Memorial Day: Remember who and why we killed 05/27/2013
On Memorial Day we do well to remember American troops killed in battle, but also those we killed, who they were, and why we killed them. A profound message from Lea Bolger, leader in Veterans for Peace.
Vets invite public to S.D. Memorial 05/27/2013
On Monday, Memorial Day, San Diego Veterans for Peace invite the public to visit the local memorial to honor the 280 local fallen soldiers, sailors and airmen/women from Southern California who have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Next to the USS Midway Museum on Harbor Drive. From 8:00AM until 4:00PM.
Quarry Creek Project Draws Legal Challenges Announcement:
Preserve Calavera's first legal challenge to building 656 units at Quarry Creek was submitted the first week in May, with more to come. Unfortunately money drove the decision to approve this project, and more money will be needed to challenge that decision and achieve a compromise that works. Your tax deductible donations will keep the fight going, for as long as it takes! To donate online: http://preservecalavera.org -by Diane Nygaard
NCFC Screens: The Sessions 06/02/2013
The North County Film Club Screens: The Sessions, on Sunday, June 2, beginning at 3 pm. A man who uses an iron lung hires a sex surrogate (Helen Hunt) to help him lose his virginity. He confesses the sordid details to his priest, who lives vicariously through the confessions.
Military hero, Bradley Manning finally gets trial 06/03/2013 After more than three years of imprisonment, including nine months of torture, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bradley Manning’s trial is finally scheduled to begin June 3, 2013, at Fort Meade, Maryland. The outcome of this trial will determine whether a conscience-driven 25-year-old WikiLeaks whistle-blower spends the rest of his life in prison. Bradley believed that the American people have a right to know the truth about what our government does around the world in our name. We the People must send a message to the military prosecuting authority, and President Obama, that Bradley Manning is a patriot and heroic truth-teller.
Student loan interest to double this summer 06/07/2013
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants student loans to get Fed discount rate -- Students taking out government loans to help pay for college should pay the same rock-bottom interest rate that the Federal Reserve charges big banks, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proposed Wednesday. -- With the interest rate on federal student loans set to double to 6.8% this summer, Warren said it's unfair that big banks can borrow money at 0.75% from the central bank's discount window.Los Angeles Times
'Wet areas will get wetter, dry areas get drier' Announcement:
Climate change may bring drought to temperate areas, study says -- 'Wet areas will get wetter and dry areas will get drier,' says a scientist, describing the findings of a NASA-led study on rainfall trends. Drought-prone places include the Southwestern United States. Climatologist: "These results in many ways are the worst of all possible worlds."
