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Bearing the Pain of Affirmative Action: The Shame of Clarence Thomas
By John Grant
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied ...
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows
- Leonard Cohen
In honor of our Supreme Court I’ve decided to start this piece with a prayer.
For First Time, TransCanada Says Tar Sands Flowing to Gulf in Keystone XL South
Cross-Posted from DeSmogBlog
TransCanada admitted for the first time that tar sands oil is now flowing through Keystone XL's southern leg, now rebranded the Gulf Coast Pipeline Project. The company confirmed the pipeline activity in its 2014 quarter one earnings call.
Cover-up in progress?: The Case of the Dead Brazilian Torturer Gets Murkier
By Michael Uhl
They haven't killed him yet.
Paulo Malhaes, the confessed Brazilian torturer whose death I recently reported on this site may not have been murdered after all. At least that’s what police investigating the case have been loudly proclaiming for the past week.
Killing of leaders was being planned: Exposing the Federal Government’s Plan to Crush the Occupy Movement (Part I)
By Dave Lindorff
Listen to Dave Lindorff explain on Santa Barbara radio KCSB's Radio Occupy program how the federal government, in collusion with state and local police, and possibly with private bank and oil company security firms, planned to use "suppressed sniper fire" to assassinate the leaders of Occupy Houston, and perhaps also the leaders of other Occupy Movement actions around the country.
Turkey News - May 2, 2014
Protests turn violent in Turkey on May Day after labor rallies banned - fsrn.org
VIDEO: Best footage: Major May Day violence in Turkey - YouTube
VIDEO: Protester gets shot in the leg while throwing a molotov cocktail at police - YouTube
The Turkish way of controlling protests: Just shut down the city! - GlobalPost
May 1 tension erupts at Ankara’s Kızılay Square - CİHAN
May Day activist attempted to hijack airplane - hurriyetdailynews.com
Turkish government scared of workers: Main opposition leader - hurriyetdailynews.com
Dispatches: Why Banning May Day in Taksim Doesn’t Work - Human Rights Watch
Turkey: Riot police in reprehensible crackdown on peaceful May Day protest - Amnesty International
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Turkish prosecutors investigate into Erdogan rival Gulen: minister - NBC News
Gülen faces a second investigation as an espionage probe launched at TİB - hurriyetdailynews.com
US avoids commenting on Gülen's extradition - Today's Zaman
Turkish Extradition Request Could Strain Relations With US - VOA
US says Erdoğan’s remarks on protests are ‘ridiculous’ - Today's Zaman
Dialogue advocacy group 'disturbed' by Erdoğan's harassment of Hizmet - CİHAN
Courts order corrections to gov't media stories on Hizmet - CİHAN
Websites conducting a large-scale black propaganda war against the Hizmet movement - Today's Zaman
Turkish opposition: Enquiry against Gülen politically motivated - CİHAN
German President Gauck: I even restrained myself - CİHAN
Alevi groups slam Erdoğan remarks on ‘atheist Alevis' - CİHAN
Unregistered investigations carried out in İstanbul Courthouse - CİHAN
PM's son behind investigation ‘by mistake' into CHP leader - CİHAN
Venice Commission concerned about attacks against top court - CİHAN
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New intelligence law serious threat to basic rights and freedoms - CİHAN
Turkey falls into ‘Not Free' countries in Freedom House report - CİHAN
News portal draft law may lead to control of Internet media - CİHAN
Minister says Twitter has obeyed 16 Turkish court rules, is evaluating 10 others - Daily Sabah
University student to pay damages to mayor over insult on Twitter - Today's Zaman
Tweeting the Letter 'K' Can Get You 10 Months in a Turkish Prison - VICE News
VIDEO: Shakira and Rihanna’s music video 'Can't Remember to Forget You' (Official Video) - YouTube
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Explosive Virginia Train Carried Fracked Bakken Oil, Headed to Potential Export Facility
Cross-Posted from DeSmogBlog
Platts confirmed CSX Corporation's train that exploded in Lynchburg, Virginia was carrying sweet crude obtained via hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") in North Dakota's Bakken Shale basin. CSX CEO Michael Ward has also confirmed this to Bloomberg.
‘Karma’s a bitch’: Supreme Court Upholds Disbarment of Former Kansas Attorney General and Anti-Abortion Fanatic Phill Kline
By Dave Lindorff
Disgraced former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, who while in office as AG and later as a county prosecutor conducted a draconian inquisition against abortion doctors and the state’s Planned Parenthood organization, may still be a visiting assistant professor of law at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty “University” in Lynchburg, Virginia, but he isn’t allowed to practice law anymore.
Israeli Hypocrisy: Business as Usual
On Sunday, April 27, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on U.S. television, denouncing progress made in reconciliation talks between Fatah, which ostensibly controls the West Bank, and Hamas, the democratically-elected government in the Gaza Strip.
According to CNN: “Netanyahu said he and Secretary of State John Kerry recently applauded that some progress was being made toward a peace agreement. ‘And then the next day, we were both shocked, there's no other word, we were absolutely stupefied that President Abbas embraced the terrorist organization Hamas that seeks Israel's destruction,’ he said on ‘Face the Nation.’”
Mayflower: 1st ExxonMobil Tar Sands Pipeline Spill, Now Deadly Tornado Destroys Arkansas Town
Cross-Posted from DeSmogBlog
On March 29, 2013, ExxonMobil's Pegasus tar sands pipeline ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas, sending hundreds of thousands of gallons of diluted bitumen ("dilbit") pouring down the town's streets.
A new proposal mocks Net Neutrality: FCC Wants to Give Corporations Their Own Internet
By Alfredo Lopez
When a federal court trashed its "net neutrality" compromise policy in January, the Federal Communications Commission assured us that the Internet we knew and depended on was safe. Most activists didn't believe federal officials and this past week the FCC demonstrated how realistic our cynicism was.
Punishment or Witness Elimination?: Confessed Brazilian Torturer Found Murdered
By Michael Uhl
At approximately four o’clock this past Thursday afternoon, Paulo Malhaes, a retired officer who served in the ‘70s during the years of Brazil’s military dictatorship, was murdered at his small farm outside of Rio de Janeiro.
The Night of the Generals: When Brazilians were Tortured and Disappeared
By Michael Uhl
“The Face of Evil,” flashed the eye catching headline in Brazil’s major daily on a morning late this March, and the accompanying photo of Army lieutenant-colonel Paulo Malhaes, retired, could not have portrayed a more convincing ogre had it been photo shopped by central casting. Malhaes, a self-described torturer and murderer operated in the early 1970′s, the most repressive period in Brazil’s harsh era of prolonged military rule,
End the Drug War: Happy Pot Legalization Day!
A Special Report today on the issue of ending Marijuana Prohibition and the massively destructive War on Drugs, by TCBH! collective journalist Linn Washington, Jr. and three students in his Temple University journalism class:
Marijuana: Facts and Falacies, by Linn Washington
‘Heading towards a police state’: Conversation with a Police Chief
By Dave Lindorff
Brazil's 1964 Coup: What 'Communist Conspiracy'?
By Michael Uhl
ANR Pipeline: Introducing TransCanada's Keystone XL for Fracking
Cross-Posted from DeSmogBlog
When most environmentalists and folks who follow pipeline markets think of TransCanada, they think of the proposed northern half of its Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
Flying beneath the public radar, though, is another TransCanada-proposed pipeline with a similar function as Keystone XL. But rather than for carrying tar sands bitumen to the Gulf Coast, this pipeline would bring to market shale gas obtained via hydraulic fracturing ("fracking").
Egypt News - Apr 5, 2014
Egypt pro-democracy supporters stage anti-Sisi demos in several provinces - turkishpress.com
Security clash with protesters in Cairo's Alf Maskan - Ahram Online
VIDEO: Egypt: Cairo clashes brought to the doorstep of Interior Ministers - YouTube
'Freedom for the brave' holds protest, calls for release of detainees (PHOTOS) - Ahram Online
POLL: What is the Egyptian anti-coup movement protesting for? - washingtonpost.com
Forces react to Cairo Univ blasts, pro-Morsi students brush off allegations - Ahram Online
Egyptian journalists strike, demanding protection, a week after a young journalist was killed - AP
Police to enter universities during exam time, if necessary: Minister - Ahram Online
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Human Rights Watch calls on U.S. to delay military aid to Egypt - Reuters
Statement: Egypt: Failure to Meet US Aid Conditions - Human Rights Watch
Egypt deports man lobbying against mass death sentences - Reuters
Suez Canal: Egyptian Military Takes Charge Of Economic Development - ibtimes.com
Mubarak supports Sisi, slams Sabbahi in phone interview - Cairo Post
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Humanity Versus a Corrupt State: Coups and Cash Machines in Rio de Janeiro
Humanity Versus a Corrupt State:
Coups and Cash Machines in Rio de Janeiro
By John Grant
USAID used fake Twitter to try and oust a government!: The Hummingbird Tweet: An Espionage Tale
By Alfredo Lopez
For two years, starting in 2010, the United States Agency for International Development ran a social networking service -- similar to Twitter -- for the Cuban people. Its long-term objective was to forment popular revolt against the government and de-stabilize the country.
A program to take over human communications?: The Drones of Facebook (and the NSA)
By Alfredo Lopez
"Connectivity," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a CNN interview last year, "is a human right."
A program to take over human communications?: The Drones of Facebook (and the NSA)
By Alfredo Lopez
"Connectivity," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a CNN interview last year, "is a human right."
Egypt News - Apr 2, 2014
VIDEO: Egypt: Clashes between students and police in four cities - euronews
VIDEO: Clashes in Egypt between protestors and police left 1 student dead on Sunday - YouTube
Riot police storm al-Azhar University in Cairo - Islamic News Daily
Al-Azhar university expels 25 student 'rioters' - Ahram Online
Ain Shams University students dispersed outside Egypt Defense Ministry - turkishpress.com
Egypt group calls for joint protest to release detainees - Ahram Online
Egypt prosecution says Islamist protesters killed journalist - Al Arabiya News
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VIDEO: Egypt denies bail to Al Jazeera journalists - YouTube
3 Jailed Al Jazeera Journalists Deny Ties to Brotherhood in Egypt - NYTimes.com
Journalists 'systematically targeted' in Egypt: Reporters Without Borders - Ahram Online
Defence for Badie, 50 Brotherhood leaders withdraw from 'Plan Rabaa' trial - Ahram Online
Farmer who used donkey to depict Egypt's Sisi gets six-month sentence - latimes.com
PHOTO: Donkey depicting Egypt's Sisi - 4.bp.blogspot.com
Two Islamist Protesters Sentenced to Death for Throwing Teens off a Rooftop - Egyptian Streets
VIDEO ARCHIVE: Teens Pushed Off Roof in Egypt by Islamist Protesters - YouTube
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Egypt News - Mar 29
Journalist shot dead covering clashes in Egypt - Committee to Protect Journalists
VIDEO: The moment of journalist Mayada Ashraf died caught on camera - YouTube
VIDEO: Protests in Cairo after Sissi announces candidacy - One News Page
VIDEO: Brotherhood supporters clash with police in Cairo - YouTube
El-Sisi's supporters plan last-minute demos in his support - Ahram Online
VIDEO: A Show of Support for El-Sissi in Tahrir Square - YouTube
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Egypt detainees 'routinely tortured’ (VIDEOS) - BBC News
VIDEO: 'Beatings and abuse' claims in Egypt custody - BBC News
VIDEO: Egypt: Activists claim mistreatment of young men and women in custody - YouTube
April 6 launch campaign to revoke protest law - Ahram Online
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Egypt's political forces react to El-Sisi's candidacy - Ahram Online
Who opposes Sisi for president? - Cairo Post
POLL: 51% of Egyptians said they will vote for el-Sissi while 45% didn’t decide yet - baseera.com.eg
Sisi's Egypt presidency bid ignites war on Twitter - turkishpress.com
VIDEO: Egypt: al-Sisi presidential bid prompts joy and concern - YouTube
VIDEO: Will the Upcoming Egypt Elections Be Fair? - WSJ.com
Egypt’s Christians Place Their Faith in Al-Sisi’s Presidential Bid - TIME.com
The Copts Choice: Where Do Coptic Christians Stand On Egyptian Politics? - Persecution News
Egypt's Workers Pose Challenge to President-to-Be Sisi - WSJ.com
Washington not backing any Egyptian candidate - Arab News
Egypt: Al-Sisi's run for President: Bonapartism and Gulf Oil Money - Informed Comment
Will UAE Aid Empower Egypt's Military?
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Al Jazeera Journalists Are On Trial in Egypt for Doing Their Jobs - The Daily Beast
Al Jazeera Journo Abdullah El-Shamy Goes On Hunger Strike In Egyptian Jail - The Daily Beast
Media crackdown more severe for Egyptian journalists - Al-Monitor
Egypt has no evidence against us, says detained al-Jazeera journalist - The Guardian
VIDEO: Jazeera Journalists detained in Egypt - CNN
VIDEO: Jazeera journalist Greste remains behind bars in Egypt - YouTube
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Clueless or Callous?: Philly's DA Professes Dubious Expertise on Prejudice
By Linn Washington Jr.
Philadelphia’s District Attorney, Rufus Seth Williams, the first African-American in Pennsylvania to hold a powerful top prosecutor post, persistently projects himself as an expert on racism.
Commendably Williams has acknowledged the corrosive impact of racism within the criminal justice system.
What are they hiding?: Some Serious Problems with the FBI’s Killing of a Witness in Florida
By Dave Lindorff
In the voluminous report issued by Florida State’s Attorney Jeff Ashton’s Office on the killing in Orlando last May 22 of a witness/suspect under interrogation by the FBI -- an investigation that concluded that the shooting was “justified” -- there is not a single mention of the bruise and contusion on the left side of Todashev’s head.
Admiral Dennis Blair: "We Sent Troops to Middle East...Because of Oil-Based Importance of Region"
Cross-Posted from DeSmogBlog
At the just-completed U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing titled, "The Geopolitical Potential of the U.S. Energy Boom," Admiral Dennis Blair — former Director of National Intelligence, President and CEO of Institute for Defense Analyses and Commander in Chief of U.S. Pacific Command — admitted what's still considered conspiratorial to some.
Put tersely: the U.S. and allied forces launched the ongoing occupation in Iraq and occupy large swaths of the Middle East to secure the flow of oil to the U.S. and its global allies, explained Blair.
Follow the Money: Three Energy Export Congressional Hearings, Climate Undiscussed
Cross-Posted from DeSmogBlog
In light of ongoing geopolitical tensions in Russia, Ukraine and hotly contested Crimea, three (yes, three!) U.S. Congressional Committees held hearings this week on the U.S. using its newfangled oil and gas bounty as a blunt tool to fend off Russian dominance of the global gas market.
U.S. Sen Mary Landrieu at the U.S. Sen. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; Photo Credit: U.S. Sen. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Though 14 combined witnesses testified in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Energy and Power and U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, not a single environmental voice received an invitation. Climate change and environmental concerns were only voiced by two witnesses.
Using the ongoing regional tumult as a rationale to discuss exports of U.S. oil and gas obtained mainly via hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), the lack of discussion on climate change doesn't mean the issue isn't important to national security types.
Indeed, the Pentagon's recently published Quadrennial Defense Review coins climate change a "threat force multiplier" that could lead to resource scarcity and resource wars. Though directly related to rampant resource extraction and global oil and gas marketing, with fracking's accompanying climate change and ecological impacts, "threat force multiplication" impacts of climate change went undiscussed.
With another LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal approved by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in Coos Bay, Ore., to non-Free Trade Agreement countries on March 24 (the seventh so far, with two dozen still pending), the heat is on to export U.S. fracked oil and gas to the global market.
So, why wasn't the LNG climate trump card discussed in a loud and clear way? Well, just consider the source: ten of the witnesses had ties in one way or another to the oil and gas industry.
Florida State’s Attorney takes a dive on FBI slaying probe Two Law Enforcement Officers, Two Stories of a Witness Killing: Who’
By Dave Lindorff
The Florida State’s Attorney for the Orlando region, Jeffrey Ashton, today released his conclusion at the end of a 10-month investigation into the FBI slaying of Ibragim Todashev, a suspected witness in the Boston bombing case, saying that he will not be prosecuting the agent. Ashton ruled that the killing, in which the agent, at the end of a nearly 5-hour May 21 interrogation in Todashev’s Orlando apartment, fired seven bullets into Todashev, killing him justifiably, after being attacked.
Did the FBI Snuff a Boston Marathon Bombing Witness? Dark Questions About a Deadly FBI Interrogation in Orlando
By Dave Lindorff
(This article was written as an exclusive for Counterpunch magazine, where the full story can be read, along with photos of the crime scene)
What Do Children Need?
Apart from having its physical needs met, the primary needs of children are for stimulus and attention.
