Thursday 23 February 2012

Dow and Monsanto Join Forces to Poison America's Heartland
Richard Schiffman, Truthout: "In a match that some would say was made in hell, the nation's two leading producers of agrochemicals have joined forces in a partnership to reintroduce the use of the herbicide 2,4-D, one half of the infamous defoliant Agent Orange, which was used by American forces to clear jungle during the Vietnam War. These two biotech giants have developed a weed management program that, if successful, would go a long way toward a predicted doubling of harmful herbicide use in America's corn belt during the next decade."
Read the Article

Mike Lofgren | Iran and the Shape of Things to Come
Mike Lofgren, Truthout: "Prime Minister Netanyahu will be in Washington March 4-6. A potential indicator of future events will be whether he gets an invitation from the speaker to address Congress and push the required emotional buttons. The first new moon thereafter will occur on March 22; even with the existence of radar, combat aircraft still gain tactical advantage by maximum optical concealment. It is worth noting that the invasion of Iraq occurred on March 20, 2003."
Read the Article

Your Presidential Candidates on Drugs, Part One: Mitt Romney
Mike Ludwig, Truthout: "In January, a group of activists with Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) attended campaign events in New Hampshire. Armed with video cameras and some simple questions about drugs and the drug war, the activists attempted to put drug policy on the campaign agenda by confronting each Republican candidate to find out where they truly stand. No candidate was more elusive than former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney."
Read the Article

The Emperor's Messenger Has No Clothes: Belen Fernandez Dresses Down Thomas Friedman
Robert Jensen, Truthout: "What's scary about Thomas Friedman is not his journalism, with its underinflated insights and twisted metaphors. Annoying as his second-rate thinking and third-rate writing may be, he's not the first - or the worst - hack journalist. What should unnerve us about Friedman is the acclaim he receives in political and professional circles."
Read the Article

Paul Krugman | Blaming Decline in Family Values for Soaring Inequality
Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co.: "From an analytical point of view, this would seem to be a very odd time to focus on the alleged moral decline of the lower classes.... But now we have an economy that has left blue-collar workers behind: why invoke social values to explain their plight?"
Read the Article

Immigrant Steel Workers March Against Unjust Firings
David Bacon, Truthout: "Two hundred immigrant workers, their wives, husbands, children and hundreds of supporters marched through downtown Berkeley February 17, protesting their firing from Pacific Steel Castings, one of the city's largest employers. Starting at City Hall, they walked for an hour past stores and homes, as bystanders often applauded. Teachers and students at a Montessori school along the route even came out to the sidewalk to urge them on."
Read the Article

War Is Too Tragic for Weak Balance of Powers
Dina Rasor, Truthout: "As much as I am glad that some of our former presidents fought to keep the generals from pushing them into war decisions through intemperate leaks of misinformation to the media, I can also see presidents and the executive branch have been leaching away the power to declare war from the Congress."
Read the Article

Rights Are for Real People: Where the Infamous Citizens United Decision Came From and How to Overturn It
Jeffrey D. Clements, Yes! Magazine: "How did the folly of Citizens United ever happen? In fact, the case is the result of a well-funded and organized 30-year campaign to establish corporate constitutional rights as a means to trump democratic laws. Indeed, Citizens United is more like a victory parade for this campaign than a stumble or simple mistake of the Court."
Read the Article

Robert Reich | Corporations Don't Need a Tax Cut, So Why Is Obama Proposing One?
Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog: "Why isn't the White House just proposing to close the loopholes without reducing overall corporate tax rates? That would generate more tax revenue that could be used for, say, public schools. It's not as if corporations are hurting. Quite the contrary."
Read the Article

Remotely Piloted War: How Drone War Became the American Way of Life
Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch: "In the American mind, if Apple made weapons, they would undoubtedly be drones, those remotely piloted planes getting such great press here. They have generally been greeted as if they were the sleekest of iPhones armed with missiles."
Read the Article

Romney Says He'll Make the Top 1 Percent Pay More While Proposing Plan Giving Them a Massive New Tax Break
Travis Waldron, ThinkProgress: "Romney revealed his second tax reform plan in Arizona this afternoon, and again he claimed that he wasn't providing cuts to the wealthiest Americans. In fact, he said, his plan would ask the top 1 percent to pay as much and maybe more than they were currently contributing."
Read the Article

Nancy Pelosi: The DISCLOSE Act (Video)
Stephen Cobert speaks with Nancy Pelosi about changing the Citizens United decision.
Watch the Video

Click here for more Truthout articles

Global Corporations Know No National Boundaries, While the Poor of the World Just Face Walls
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: "As more and more of the world's wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small percentage of corporations and people, these firms and individuals wield financial influence that crosses international boundaries with ease. The global elite are now an unofficial worldwide entity of sorts that is grafted on to the notion of individual sovereign states."
Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

UC Davis Students, Alumni Sue University Over Infamous Pepper-Spray Incident
Read the Article at Talking Points Memo

The GOP's Long War Against Women and Sex
Read the Article at The Nation

More States Plan to Divert Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Money Away From Helping Homeowners
Read the Article at ThinkProgress

Former Sen. Alan Simpson Calls Rick Santorum Homophobic and Disgusting. How About Christian Ayatollah?
Read the Article at BuzzFlash

United Citizens vs. Citizens United
Read the Article at In These Times

President Obama as an Alien
Read the Article at The Washington Post

Threatening Letters Claiming to Have "Pathogens" Sent to Senators, Media
Read the Article at NBC New York

Click here for more BuzzFlash headlines

To ensure you receive our messages please add the following address to your email address book: messenger@truthout.org

Click here to Subscribe
Our Privacy Policy
Click here to Unsubscribe