Did You Know
Did You Know
The Vice President's Men
Seymour M. Hersh When George H.W. Bush arrived in Washington as vice president in January 1981 he seemed little more than a sideshow to Ronald Reagan ... There was another view of Bush: the one held by the military men and civilian professionals who worked for him on national security issues. Unlike the president, he knew what was going on and how to get things done. For them, Reagan was ‘a dimwit’ who didn’t get it, or even try to get it. ... Bush was different: he got it. At his direction, a team of military operatives was set up that bypassed the national security establishment – including the CIA – and wasn’t answerable to congressional oversight. It was led by Vice-Admiral Arthur Moreau, a brilliant navy officer who would be known to those on the inside as ‘M’. ... he oversaw a secret team – operating in part out of the office of Daniel Murphy, Bush’s chief of staff – which quietly conducted at least 35 covert operations against drug trafficking, terrorism and, most important, perceived Soviet expansionism in more than twenty countries...
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Jan 18, 2019, 3:06pm
Did You Know
Portland Now Generates Electricity From Turbines Installed In City Water Pipes
Rafi Schwartz: Portland has replaced a section of its existing water supply network with Lucid Energy pipes containing four forty-two inch turbines. As water flows through the pipes, the turbines spin and power attached generators, which then feed energy back into the city’s electrical grid. Known as the “Conduit 3 Hydroelectric Project” ... Lucid Energy’s system isn’t affected by the sort of external conditions (namely: the weather) upon which other renewable energy sources–like solar and wind power– are reliant ... the system does more than simply provide electricity: It can monitor both the overall condition of a city’s water supply network as well as assess the drinking quality of the water flowing through it. ...
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Jan 4, 2019, 3:23pm
Did You Know
Bergen County Ended Chronic Homelessness, So Can Every Other Community
James Abro: Bergan County is located directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan, it is the most populous county in New Jersey (948,406); and its population is as diverse economically and racially as any similar American urban center. ... Here are Ms. Orlando’s main ingredients for her winning recipe for ending homelessness: ... 1) Provide one-stop housing health and employment services in a welcoming environment ... 2) Adopt the Housing First Model; Change the focus from fixing people to finding them housing. ... 3) Create a government, faith-based and non-profit collaborative model where everyone is bought into the same philosophy and goal ... 4) Provide low—to no—barrier housing focused sheltering. (For example, no intake process that involves extensive questioning or identification requirements.) ... 5) Adopt a County Homeless Trust Fund...
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Dec 29, 2018, 3:36pm
Did You Know
Ignored and Infuriated, Pawnee Stop Illegal Fracking Plans on Tribal Lands
Jessica A. Knoblauch, Earthjustice: The government admits it failed to follow its own rules when approving new oil and gas leases on Pawnee land, part of a broader pattern of agency misconduct. ... In addition to water contamination, geologists have linked fracking to a surge in earthquakes, both in Oklahoma and across the country. ... Despite this threat, government regulators didn’t bother to address the earthquake risk when approving the leases. Nor did they address the impacts of drilling near the Cimarron River, a 698-mile cinnamon- and paprika-colored ribbon of water that supports a native fishery protected under Pawnee tribal law. The government authorized the oil and gas company to suck millions of gallons of water from the Cimarron for fracking. ... the Pawnee situation illustrates a larger pattern where the federal government violates the law by approving oil and gas projects on tribal lands without telling the affected tribes...
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Dec 18, 2018, 4:12pm
Did You Know
Just in Time for Supreme Court, Kavanaugh’s Cancer Powder Keg Blows Up
Doug Vaughan: Recent reporting in other media confirms our story below that, for decades, Johnson & Johnson Co. covered up tests that revealed cancer-causing asbestos in one of its iconic products, Baby Powder, and refused to disclose those test-results to women who contracted ovarian and lung cancers after using the product on themselves and their children. ... the industry’s longtime chief lawyer-lobbyist, Edward Kavanaugh, now retired as president of the CFTA, is the father of Brett Kavanaugh, now an associate justice of the Supreme Court. ... Now that Justice Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed by the Senate, sooner or later he may be asked to weigh some damning evidence — that his own father advocated for a product that he knew was carcinogenic to both mothers and fetuses....
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Dec 17, 2018, 5:48pm
Did You Know
Why Hondurans See Migration as an Act of Civil Disobedience
Crystal Vance Guerra: The typical Honduran sees the caravan movement for what is: an outright act of civil disobedience. People are walking out of their own countries, the subconscious protest of a frustrated people. It is a bold protest by Hondurans against their president and corruption within their government and a challenge to the U.S. to reckon with the regional crisis its foreign policies have created. ... The caravans emerged only after months of bloody protest to the 2017 elections in Honduras, both as a last recourse and as a continuation of the decadeslong human-rights movement. ... Honduras is reported to be the deadliest country per capita for environmental activists, and lawyers. ... Recent history has shown Hondurans that democracy is not respected in their country. Presidents are imposed, peaceful protest is violently stifled, and extreme corruption has seeped into daily life...
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Dec 14, 2018, 12:56pm
Did You Know
The Ignored Legacy of George H.W. Bush: War Crimes, Racism, and Obstruction of Justice
Mehdi Hasan: Consider: He ran a racist election campaign. ... The name of Willie Horton should forever be associated with Bush’s 1988 presidential bid. ... He made a dishonest case for war. ... “That [Iraqi buildup] was the whole justification for Bush sending troops in there, and it just didn’t exist.” ... He committed war crimes. ... the U.S. dropped a whopping 88,500 tons of bombs on Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait, many of which resulted in horrific civilian casualties ... He refused to cooperate with a special counsel. ... The Iran-Contra affair, in which the United States traded missiles for Americans hostages in Iran, and used the proceeds of those arms sales to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua ... He escalated the racist war on drugs. ... “Millions of Americans were incarcerated, hundreds of billions of dollars wasted, and hundreds of thousands of human beings allowed to die of AIDS – all in the name of a ‘war on drugs’ that did nothing to reduce drug abuse” ... He groped women....
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Dec 1, 2018, 11:54am
Did You Know
The United States Is Becoming a Two-Tiered Country With Separate and Unequal Voting Laws
Ari Berman: In Georgia, more than 750,000 voters were purged from the rolls over the past two years by Secretary of State Brian Kemp ... In Florida, more than 20,000 absentee ballots were rejected, disproportionately from voters of color. ... In June, North Carolina’s Republican Legislature passed a law that contributed to a 20 percent decrease in early voting locations. Under Texas’ voter ID law, people could vote with a gun permit but not a student ID. .... In North Dakota, 5,000 Native Americans living on reservations were initially barred from voting because a new law wouldn’t accept their P.O. boxes as valid addresses ... ... In Kansas, the lone polling place in Dodge City, which is 59 percent Hispanic, was moved outside town, a mile from the nearest public transportation...
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Nov 19, 2018, 4:31pm
Did You Know
How to Be a Reliable “Mainstream” Journalist
Media Lens: There are certain rules you need to follow as a journalist if you are going to demonstrate to your editors, and the media owners who employ you, that you can be trusted. ... For example, if you write about US-Iran relations, you need to ensure that your history book starts in 1979. That was the year Iranian students started a 444-day occupation of the US embassy in Tehran. This was the event that ‘led to four decades of mutual hostility’, according to BBC News. On no account should you dwell on the CIA-led coup in 1953 that overthrew the democratically-elected Iranian leader, Mohammad Mossadegh. Even better if you just omit any mention of this...
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Nov 9, 2018, 1:45pm
Did You Know
The World Would Be a Better Place Without the Rich
Sam Pizzigati: They coarsen our culture, erode our economic future, and diminish our democracy. The ultra-rich have no redeeming social value. ... Great fortunes both rest on environmental degradation and blind the wealthy to it. ... Working- and middle-class people have a vested interest in infrastructure investment. They depend on good public roads, schools, and parks. Wealthy people don’t. If public services frazzle, they can opt out to private alternatives. ... The wealthy do not like paying for public services they don’t use. Political leaders don’t make them. They cut taxes and deny public services the funds they need to thrive...
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Oct 17, 2018, 2:35pm
Did You Know
Trump Is Just One Player in a Much, Much Larger Tax Story
Matt Taibbi: That big ‘New York Times’ expose should most of all remind us that upper-class tax evasion has been the norm for a generation ... The parts I found most interesting were less about the rapaciousness of the Trump family per se than the myriad opportunities for gaming the system one presumes is available to everyone of this income level. ... There is a lot in the piece that testifies to Trump’s keen understanding of the media and how he knew he and his father could exploit it ... Many of the biggest tax evaders are major media advertisers and sponsors of both parties — like Apple, for instance — which pioneered techniques like the “Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich,” in which profits are sent overseas to tax havens... The relentless focus on Trump as the center of our media universe has left huge segments of the population with the impression he’s a cause, not a symptom, of our problems...
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Oct 12, 2018, 11:24am
Did You Know
“Free” Tablets Are Costing Prison Inmates a Fortune
Tonya Riley: Would you send that email if it cost 30 cents? These prisoners don’t have another choice. ... For $140, prisoners would be able to purchase a clear, 7-inch Android device from JPay. The tablets wouldn’t be connected to the internet, but for a fee, Snitzky and his fellow inmates at Marion can access emails, games, and music from their prison cells. ... The access comes with a hefty price tag. At Marion, each email Snitzky sends costs 30 cents, and video visits cost nearly $10 for 30 minutes ... Prisons have always been divided by the assistance of families—who can afford commissary food, or who can purchase non-state-issued clothing and necessities. Now, that divide has gone digital, and it’s private contractors and state governments that have benefited from this arrangement. In Ohio, for example, the state makes $1.3 million annually in commissions from JPay services, according to its budget....
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Oct 5, 2018, 12:40pm
Did You Know
Georgia ‘Stands Out’ in Voter Discrimination, Experts Say
Timothy Pratt: Minorities face greater discrimination in Georgia than in most other states when it comes to casting a vote ... The report tabulates voting-rights lawsuits since the Supreme Court ended the requirement in 2013 for certain states and other jurisdictions to clear any proposed changes in voting with the federal government. It also accounts for “potentially discriminatory measures,” like closing or changing polling locations, in each state. ... The commission’s report also includes data on what it calls “potentially discriminatory measures that have been put in place” in the nine states formerly covered by Section 5, as well as in all other states. The measures: requiring voter ID; requiring documentary proof of citizenship; purging voters from the rolls; cutting early voting; and moving or eliminating polling locations. Georgia is the only state with all five ticked off...
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Oct 2, 2018, 3:49pm
Did You Know
America’s industrial slaughterhouse
Jerry White: One of the rarely examined consequences of the restructuring of class relations in the United States in the decade since the global financial crash of 2008 is the increase in workplace fatalities and injuries. The boom in corporate profits and the record stock market rise have been achieved over the broken bones and corpses of workers. ... According to the most current government data available, 5,190 workers were killed on the job in 2016, up 7 percent from the 4,836 killed in 2015. In addition, another 50,000 to 60,000 workers die from occupational diseases, including Black Lung, silicosis and various cancers caused by exposure to workplace toxins. At least 150 workers die each day in the United States from preventable, hazardous workplace conditions...
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Sep 25, 2018, 2:43pm
Did You Know
Obstructing Justice
Chip Gibbons: Recently released FBI documents detailing the bureau's actions against George Crockett Jr show how the bureau acts as the nation’s political police, relentlessly hounding radicals. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s record of surveillance of domestic dissidents has long been known to be detrimental to democracy. But to actively obstruct an elected official’s governance shows a contempt for democratic decision-making that is incredibly brazen even for America’s bulwark of domestic authoritarianism. ... When FBI foe George Crockett Jr was elected in 1968 as a criminal court judge in Detroit, Michigan, the FBI didn’t see fit to respect his election as the will of the people...
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Sep 20, 2018, 3:46pm
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