 Friday 13 January 2012 William Rivers Pitt | In the Clearing Stands a Boxer: One Man's Fight Against FrackingWilliam Rivers Pitt, Truthout: "All well and good, yes ... but when the moment arrives to actually lay oneself upon the gears and wheels, so many of us become daunted, diminished, or simply too afraid to act. What can the 'little person' do against such might? One man is about to give his answer." Read the Article Wikipedia Users Talk Blackout to Protest Stop Online Piracy Act; Jimmy Wales Gives Thumbs Up Mike Ludwig, Truthout: "Wikipedia is considering joining Reddit.com in participating in a blackout on January 18 to protest the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that is making its way through Congress. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales told users he's 'all in favor' of the blackout and urged users to quickly come to a consensus so the site can move forward." Read the Article On Iran IAEA Reporting Complaints, New York Times Public Editor Rules for the Plaintiffs Robert Naiman, Truthout: "Responding to complaints over a New York Times report that purported to cite 'a recent assessment by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran's nuclear program has a military objective,' The New York Times Public Editor Arthur Brisbane has written that the complaints were just, and that The New York Times should correct the story." Read the Article Super PACs Are Making Their Rich Presence Felt in 2012 Campaigns David Goldstein, McClatchy Newspapers: "Free to flood a campaign with as much money as they can, these souped-up political action committees have already impacted the Republican presidential contest. Their sandbox won't be just the presidential race, either. Since the 2010 election, super PACs have more than tripled in number, and their largesse could shape some pivotal contests for the House and Senate, as well." Read the Article "Sister Citizen": Black Women in a Crooked Room Melissa V. Harris-Perry, Yale University Press: "Sometimes black women can conquer negative myths, sometimes they are defeated, and sometimes they choose not to fight. Having a clear view of the distorted images and painful stereotypes that make America a crooked room for African American women is the first step toward understanding how these stereotypes influence black women as political actors." Read the Article Undocumented Youth Continue to Fight Secure Communities as Program Is Revealed as Mandatory Yana Kunichoff, Truthout: "'One of the major weaknesses is there is no due process,' Maricela Garcia, director of capacity building at the National Council of La Raza, told ColorLines. 'We place in our democracy a lot of value on due process but most don't have access to legal representation because they have to pay for it and the government is not going to provide it.'" Read the Article Calling Out Telecom USA J.A. Myerson, Truthout: "Basically, Telecom USA is the telecommunications equivalent of a payday lender (small services offered to the poor and packed with minutiae to rip them off), except it's owned by Verizon, the telecommunications equivalent of a bailed-out investment firm." Read the Article Coming to Grips With Feminicide Rosa-Linda Fregoso, Truthout: "Women defenders of human rights are especially vulnerable. Women advocating on behalf of gender-related issues, sexual and reproductive rights, the rights of women workers and indigenous women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intergender (LGBTI) defenders in the region are often sexually harassed and abused, raped, threatened and murdered." Read the Article On the News With Thom Hartmann: GOP Leaders Now Trying to Skirt Around the Tea Party, and More In today's On the News segment: Americans' retirement prospects get dimmer, the Transportation Security Administration gropers get richer, online freedoms risk being even further fettered, Stephen Colbert is polling better than Jon Huntsman, and more. Watch the Video and Read the Transcript US Restores Myanmar Ties in Response to Rapid Reforms Steven Lee Myers and Seth Mydans, The New York Times News Service: "The United States restored diplomatic relations with Myanmar on Friday, responding to the new civilian government's rapid campaign of political and economic changes that most recently included a cease-fire with ethnic Karen rebels and the release of prominent political prisoners. The announcement is the latest in a series of cautiously choreographed steps that have eased tensions between the United States and Myanmar and that could remake American diplomacy in Asia." Read the Article Moyers & Co.: How Washington and Big Business Colluded to Make the Rich Richer Moyers & Co., Programming Announcement: "This weekend Bill Moyers returns to television with Moyers & Company. In his first show, Bill explores how Washington made the rich richer at the expense of the middle class. On Friday, the premiere episode of Moyers & Company, Bill's guests - Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, authors of Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer - And Turned Its Back on the Middle Class, argue that America's vast inequality is no accident, but in fact has been politically engineered." Read the Article Bill Moyers: Lessons on Democracy From Woody Guthrie (Video) Bill Moyers, Bill Moyers, Moyers & Co.: "With a center being built in Tulsa devoted to the work of Woody Guthrie, Bill looks back at the singer-songwriter's life and work, finding many points of irony and relevance given the current state of our economy and democracy. Is this land truly made for you and me? In this visual and musical journey, Bill asks the question, and puts forth a sobering answer." Watch the Video Click here for more Truthout articles
If you want to debunk the myth of American corporations - as a group - coming to the salvation of the US economy, you need to go no further than following the daily, financial news. On January 13, The Chicago Tribune reported that Aon Corporation, one of the largest insurance companies in the world, is moving its headquarters from the "Windy City" to London. Significantly, Aon "will change its jurisdiction of incorporation from Delaware to England." What that means is that the Aon giant will no longer be a US-based company (although it will maintain a subsidiary here). According to the Tribune, "the [insurance] brokerage said the move will provide it with increased financial flexibility and improved capital allocation." What that means in reality and symbolically is that Aon is representative of the increasing number of American corporations that see themselves as global companies, not beholden to the American job market. It is ironic that the Republican Party that continues to uphold "big business" as job creators is, in essence, backing corporations that now see themselves as not bound to the United States, even as far as incorporation. These "job creators" are now not necessarily associated with national allegiance; they are boundary-less. That is why companies like Apple contract with exploitative manufacturers such as Foxconn in China, where conditions are so harsh and dire - and the laborers so underpaid - that threatened and actual suicide by workers has been carried out as a last "remedy." Meanwhile, these colossal corporations are, as BuzzFlash at Truthout has noted, crushing small businesses in the US by taking advantage of lower wage production - and service industries - overseas. Aon, according to David Prosperi - the company's vice president of global public relations - is moving its headquarters and reincorporating in the UK as "a decision based on our [its] global growth strategy." Soon the US Chamber of Commerce will need to reincorporate in China as the Global Chamber of Commerce, as the American worker gets left further and further behind. Mark Karlin Selling Military Weapons to Create Jobs: A Momentum of Cynicism The Real Battle for the Soul of America Michelle Obama Takes On Bigoted Stereotypes and Shows Grace Under Pressure GOP War on the IRS Costs US Billions Frustrations Mount as Conservatives Worry the Tea Party's About to Blow It in 2012 GOP Presidential Candidates Would Have a Hard Time Finding Coverage Under Their Health Reform Plans OWS Protesters Charged With Felony for Mike Checking Mayor Click here for more BuzzFlash headlines
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