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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: Best footage: Molotovs, stun grenades explode on Istanbul streets as violence erupts at May Day rally - YouTube


VIDEO: Protester gets shot in the leg while throwing a molotov cocktail at police - YouTube


VIDEO: Police crack down on May Day demonstrators on main Istanbul road amid traffic - hurriyetdailynews.com


The Turkish way of controlling protests: Just shut down the city! - GlobalPost

 

CHRONOLOGY: As it happened: Police keep Taksim Square shut by means of tear gas and water cannon on tense May Day in Istanbul (PHOTOS, VIDEOS) - hurriyetdailynews.com

 

May 1 tension erupts at Ankara’s Kızılay Square - CİHAN

 

Turkish police innovate with state-of-the-art ‘castle wall’ at Ankara’s Kızılay Square (PHOTOS) - hurriyetdailynews.com

 

May Day activist attempted to hijack airplane - hurriyetdailynews.com

 

Turkish unions speak out on the Labour Day, Unemployment reaching three million and a lack of job security are most serious problems - Euro Asia News

 

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

 

Erdoğan's ‘venomous discourse' about German President Joachim Gauck destroying Turkey's ties with EU - 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

 

MASAK chief reassigned in Finance Ministry purge, he came to public attention in a investigation launched against Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab - CİHAN

 

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Prosecutors demand five years in prison for ‘girl with red foulard’ and other four Gezi protesters - hurriyetdailynews.com


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

 

Shakira and Rihanna’s music video ‘evokes homosexuality,’ Turkey’s TV watchdog says - hurriyetdailynews.com

 

VIDEO: Shakira and Rihanna’s music video 'Can't Remember to Forget You' (Official Video) - YouTube

 

To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com

‘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


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").

Meet TransCanada's ANR Pipeline System.

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


Amnesty International: Egypt must release three activists jailed under repressive new protest law - Amnesty International


POLL: What is the Egyptian anti-coup movement protesting for? - washingtonpost.com


Al Qaida’s Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt) claims responsibility for Cairo University bombing - World Tribune

 

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood condemns Cairo University bombing, calls for probe - middleeastmonitor.com

 

Forces react to Cairo Univ blasts, pro-Morsi students brush off allegations - Ahram Online

 

Muslims Drag Christian Woman From Car in Egypt, Stab and Brutally Beat Her for Having Cross on Display - christianpost.com

 

VIDEO (Arabic): Eyewitness: Muslims Drag Christian Woman From Car in Egypt, Stab and Brutally Beat Her for Having Cross on Display - YouTube

 

Egyptian journalists strike, demanding protection, a week after a young journalist was killed - AP

 

Egypt cabinet approves new terror law in the wake of a terrorist attack outside Cairo University on Wednesday - AFP

 

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

 

Mubarak’s lawyer says that the recording in which his client is heard supporting Sisi was fabricated - Israel National News

 

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

 

Clashes continue at several Egyptian universities between police and students protesting ex-army chief al-Sisi's presidency bid - Ahram Online


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

 

VIDEO (and transcript): Egyptian Activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah on Prison and Regime's "War on a Whole Generation” - truth-out.org

 

Egypt prosecution says Islamist protesters killed journalist - Al Arabiya News

 

Who killed Mary Sameh George? Some in the Coptic Christian community have told the press they believe George was targeted by Islamists because she was Christian - Cairo Post

 

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VIDEO: Egypt denies bail to Al Jazeera journalists - YouTube


Al Jazeera journalists accused of terrorism by Egyptian authorities in court cages (PHOTOS) - Mail Online


3 Jailed Al Jazeera Journalists Deny Ties to Brotherhood in Egypt - NYTimes.com


Journalists 'systematically targeted' in Egypt: Reporters Without Borders - Ahram Online


Jailed Brotherhood leader scoffs at Egypt courts, demands judges not to be politicized - abcnews.go.com


Defence for Badie, 50 Brotherhood leaders withdraw from 'Plan Rabaa' trial - Ahram Online


Was Mohammed Morsi Really an Autocrat? To answer this question, we scored Morsi’s year in office according to the Polity IV index - The Atlantic

 

27 military and 339 criminal trials since Egypt's coup, more than 10,000 political opponents have faced charges - middleeastmonitor.com

 

Egyptian detainee 'tortured and raped’, Activists say numerous political prisoners have been severely abused in custody - Al Jazeera English

 

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

 

33 Islamists jailed for 6 years over Egypt protests, found guilty of violent acts during clashes between Islamist demonstrators and opponents of Morsi - thedailystar.net

 

To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com

Egypt News - Mar 29

 

Protests After El-Sissi Announces Candidacy: Five killed as Egypt police, Islamists clash - Yahoo News


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


Arab Organization for Human rights (AOHR): Systematic torture and arbitrary arrests of children in Egypt since the July 3 military coup - Muslim Mirror

 

VIDEO: Egypt: Activists claim mistreatment of young men and women in custody - YouTube

 

"Freedom for The Brave": 25 Jan detainees to report torture to Egypt's prosecutor-general - Ahram Online

 

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?

 

Egypt’s Gen. El-Sisi runs for president, sets up 10,000-strong crack force to defend his regime - DEBKAfile

 

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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.

Speaking Events

2017

 

August 2-6: Peace and Democracy Conference at Democracy Convention in Minneapolis, Minn.

 

September 22-24: No War 2017 at American University in Washington, D.C.

 

October 28: Peace and Justice Studies Association Conference



Find more events here.

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