Click here to view this and past newsletters online. Please add "messenger@truthout.org" to your email contacts to ensure delivery.  Saturday 14 April 2012 Murder of a NobodyCarson Vaughan, Truthout: "Diane Clemmons Belton was a nobody…. In 1999, she married her third [husband], an odd and very quiet man named Ray Belton, a sometimes-employed electrician who claimed to love NASCAR as much as she did. She was punctual, organized and loyal to a fault, but for all practical purposes, Diane Belton was a nobody: no money, no fame, no mission. So, on the night of September 3, 2011, when the electrician drank his brandy and pulled the trigger, few seemed to notice." Read the Article Why the Supreme Court Matters Ari Berman, The Nation: "According to a study using Martin-Quinn scores, 'the current court is the most conservative since at least the 1930s,’ wrote Nate Silver of the New York Times recently. That rightward shift of the Roberts Court is especially pronounced today, in the wake of the ghastly 2010 Citizens United decision and the prospect that the Court may invalidate the Obama administration’s healthcare law. These consequential decisions could be a frightening preview of things to come." Read the Article After "Constructive" Talks on Iran Nuclear Program, Hopes Rise for Diplomacy Roy Gutman, McClatchy Newspapers: "Major world powers said their first meeting with Iran in over a year took place in a 'constructive atmosphere,’ boosting hopes for a new round of negotiations to tackle the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program … President Barack Obama has not ruled out the use of U.S. military force if Iran is seen to be acquiring a nuclear weapon, but he has committed himself to seeking a diplomatic solution if possible." Read the Article Romney Assures NRA of Support for Gun Rights Trip Gabriel, The New York Times News Service: "Mitt Romney spoke to the National Rifle Association (NRA) on Friday, seeking the support of a powerful group that has not always warmed up to him. His appearance at the gun lobby’s annual gathering also came at a moment when its powerful grip on gun legislation is under renewed scrutiny because of permissive self-defense laws it has promoted, like the one in Florida that may complicate the prosecution of George Zimmerman, who killed an unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin, six weeks ago." Read the Article Rewriting the Rules of the Global Economy - Creating Economics That Improve People's Lives Tory Field and Beverly Bell, Other Worlds: "Deborah James has been a leader in the global movement for economic justice for decades…. She speaks about how international financial institutions hinder countries' efforts at poverty alleviation, instead prioritizing corporate interests. She also describes citizens' efforts to oppose the power of these institutions, and tells of the countries that have made strides toward freeing themselves from the economic chains, providing inspiration to us all." Read the Article Suicides Outpace Combat Deaths, and Benefits Access a Struggle, for Veterans of Falklands/Malvinas War Tom Clifford, Truthout: "The battle for the British-controlled Falkland Islands off the coast of Argentina continues to kill, even 30 years after Argentine troops landed there on April 2, 1982. The struggle for a group of windblown islands in the South Atlantic has claimed more lives since the fighting ended than when battle raged…. At least 264 veterans of the Falklands have now taken their own lives. This contrasts with the 255 who died in active service." Read the Article Mitt Romney: The Salesman Trapped in the GOP Madhouse Steve King, Truthout: "Mitt Romney is not a flip-flopper. He's a salesman. Romney has been running for president since 2007. He has been running as a pragmatic conservative in a party no longer interested in pragmatism or even conservatism. He is now running as a moderate in an extremist party. The party of his father is no longer a party at all; it's an insane asylum." Read the Article Law Shrouds Details of Congressional Trips Abroad Justin Elliott, ProPublica: "When members of Congress or their staffers travel on a private group's dime, they are subject to a long list of requirements and restrictions … But under a little-known exception, if a trip abroad that originates in the U.S. is paid for by a foreign government, virtually none of those restrictions and disclosure requirements applies." Read the Article What's in a Name? George W. Regrets Dubbing Those "Bush Tax Cuts" Joe Conason, Creators Syndicate: "When George W. Bush made his first public appearance in many months to discuss economic policy in New York on Tuesday, his utterances may have revealed more than he intended. 'I wish they weren't called the "Bush tax cuts,"' he said of the decade-old rate reductions that bear his name…. Is there a deeper Bush somewhere within who would prefer not to be associated with fiscal profligacy and ideological overreach?" Read the Article Green Slime Drives Our Financial Crises William K. Black, New Economic Perspectives: "Pink slime was originally limited to dog food, but it has secretly been fed to Americans for a decade. Major hamburger chains, grocery stores, and school lunch programs added it to make up 15% of our burgers….The key function of regulators in food or finance is to prevent the spread of pink and green slime. If cheaters gain a competitive advantage over honest firms it creates a 'Gresham’s’ dynamic - bad ethics drives good ethics out of the markets. Market forces become perverse." Read the Article Click here for more Truthout articles
The BuzzFlash commentary for Truthout will return soon. Why the Racist Tulsa Killings Are Just as Important As the Death of Trayvon Martin Secret Service Agents Relieved of Duty in Colombia amid Alleged Misconduct Governor Jan Brewer Signs Arizona’s Extreme New Abortion Law After Complaining About Being Silenced, ALEC Is Deleting Critical Comments from Facebook Page Wells Fargo Now a Major Shareholder in For-Profit Prisons WikiLeaks' Julian Assange to Launch TV Talk Show Republicans and the Gun Lobby Click here for more BuzzFlash headlines
---------- Support Truthout with a tax-deductible donation by clicking here.
|
||||
