Click here to view this and past newsletters online. Please add "messenger@truthout.org" to your email contacts to ensure delivery.

Wednesday 30 May 2012

US Policies Separate Families, Kill the Sick and Create Havoc on the Mexican Border
Murphy Woodhouse and Sam McNeil, Truthout: "Alberto Laborin Villa got to Mexico with what he had on: a pair of slacks and a gray dress shirt. His pockets were empty: no money and no identification. He had no phone numbers either because his phone was back home in Pasco, Washington. Alberto was in Nogales, Sonora, now, and home was about as far away as a place could be for Alberto that night, his first after being deported."
Read the Article and Watch the Video

The Coming Mega-Drought: Tightening the Screws of Want and Thirst in the American Southwest
Evaggelos Vallianatos, Truthout: "William deBuys took it upon himself to explain the tragedy of global warming in his beloved Southwest. His new book, 'A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest,' is a mirror to public illiteracy, casualness and deep corruption in the face of danger. DeBuys says, 'In apocalyptic visions of global climate change, the North American Southwest is an easy protagonist, the geographic equivalent of a stalled car on railroad tracks with a speeding train approaching.'"
Read the Article

Is This What Democracy Looks Like? Reflections on Chicago
Molly Knefel, Truthout: "But while we may not be a totalitarian regime, the numerous incidents of police repression surrounding the NATO protests highlighted specific, tangible and important ways in which we do not resemble a truly free country.... It is the nonviolent protest that is condemned as violent; people leave the crowd covered in blood as the ones holding the batons are credited with keeping things peaceful. The question is not necessarily, 'Is this what a police state looks like?' but rather, 'Is this what a democracy looks like?'"
Read the Article

ACLU Report Shows Abuses in Georgia Private Immigration Facility; CCA Alleges No Knowledge of Bad Conditions
Yana Kunichoff, Truthout: "When Pedro Guzman walked out the door of the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, he wasn't only leaving behind the four walls he had been detained in for nearly 19 months. He was also leaving behind inadequate food portions, overcrowding, extreme temperatures and unclean clothing. These are some of the conditions at Stewart and three other centers that house immigrant detainees across Georgia, found in 'Prisoners of Profit,' a report recently released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia."
Read the Article

Protesting Killings, Western Nations Expel Syrian Envoys
Neil MacFarquhar, The New York Times News Service: "The United States joined with 10 nations to expel top Syrian diplomats on Tuesday, increasing international pressure on President Bashar al-Assad. In Damascus, the United Nations envoy said the uprising had reached 'a tipping point' after a massacre of more than 100 villagers, nearly half of them children.... The United Nations Security Council condemned Syria at an emergency meeting on Sunday, saying it shelled civilian neighborhoods with heavy artillery."
Read the Article

Virtual Blackout From National Media on Voter Suppression in Florida
Adam Peck, ThinkProgress: "The story of a sitting governor of a state with a history of presidential election shenanigans knowingly purging his own, eligible constituents from the voter rolls is the definition of major news, and yet remarkably, in the first five months of the year, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today have published a total of zero articles about Scott's actions. The New York Times did slightly better, printing one story."
Read the Article

Fracking in California Raises New and Old Concerns
Christine Shearer, Truthout: "On May 15, 2012, Food & Water Watch joined with 'Gasland's' Josh Fox, Environment California, Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community and residents of surrounding neighborhoods to call for a ban on hydraulic fracturing in California, presenting the signatures of 50,000 Californians who have signed petitions supporting a ban.... The issue is stirring debate over whether and how fracking should be regulated in California - or outright prohibited."
Read the Article

Is JPMorgan Paying for John Boehner's Personal Polling Operation? Questions Surround Shadowy Front "New Models USA"
Lee Fang, Republic Report: "We'd like to call your attention to a secretive nonprofit, 'New Models U.S.A.' The media has linked the group to a number of shady electioneering efforts in the past. In this day and age, not only can corporations spend unlimited amounts on elections, they can fully hide their identities using nonprofit groups that can operate as Super PACs or quasi-lobbying firms. New Models appears to exist for the express purpose of hiding political money."
Read the Article

Boulder Votes to Free Its Electric Company
Valerie Schloredt, Yes! Magazine: "The city of Boulder, Colorado, has won the right to take its power supply - and carbon emissions - away from corporate control. The change for Boulder came in November when voters passed two ballot measures that allow the city to begin the process of forming its own municipal power utility. Thus began a closely fought battle between corporate money and grassroots activism. Xcel financed a 'vote no' campaign to the tune of nearly $1 million, buying extensive (and some said, misleading) advertising and hiring door-to-door canvassers."
Read the Article

The Washington Post, PBS and the Koch-Funded American Enterprise Institute Attack Community Colleges
Danny Weil, Truthout: "Like a beast that smells blood, for-profit colleges such as Kaplan, Corinthian, Educational Management Corporation, the Apollo Group (University of Phoenix), to name just a few, see a hemorrhaging public sector as a business opportunity - a grand crisis just waiting to be exploited. Like private pike in a public lake, the for-profits are poised to take over even more of the $40 billion higher educational 'industry.'"
Read the Article

On the News With Thom Hartmann: The New American Job Killer Is Bank of America, and More
In today's On the News segment: The new American job killer is Bank of America, 23 percent of all American children live in poverty, ten thousand wealthy households paid zero taxes in 2009 according to the IRS, and more.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript

John Pilger: Why the Assange Case Is Important
Dagens Nyheter, Truthout: "On 30 May, Britain's Supreme Court turned down the final appeal of Julian Assange against his extradition to Sweden. In an unprecedented move, the court gave the defense team of the WikiLeaks editor permission to 're-apply' to the court in two weeks' time. On the eve of the judgment, Sweden's leading morning newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, known as DN, interviewed investigative journalist John Pilger, who has closely followed the Assange case."
Read the Article

Counter-Revolution Disguised as Democracy in Egypt
Shamus Cooke, CounterCurrents: "In a country where the embers of revolution are still glowing, you would assume that a presidential election would produce a revolutionary-appearing government. Not so in Egypt. The revolutionaries who toppled the hated dictator Mubarak will have zero representation in the upcoming runoff election for president. Those who opposed the revolution, however, are well represented. The runoff election features Ahmed Shafiq, the dictator's former Prime Minister who remains a military strongman."
Read the Article

Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Quebec's Student Movement
Andrew Gavin Marshall, Occupy.com: "The student strikes in Quebec, which began in February and have lasted for three months, involving roughly 175,000 students in the mostly French-speaking Canadian province, have been subjected to a massive provincial and national media propaganda campaign to demonize and dismiss the students and their struggle. [This] is a list of ten points that everyone should know about the student movement in Quebec to help place their struggle in its proper global context."
Read the Article

Stigmatize the Money
Ken Gordon, Truthout: "Candidates want to get elected. Right now, they think that the way to get elected is to raise as much money as they can - from whatever source - and put mindless name-recognition ads on television. If acceptance of special-interest money became stigmatized, and voters supported candidates who did not take the money, candidates would change their behavior. Voters care about this issue. They would rather support candidates who do not take PAC contributions, but they don't know they have the choice."
Read the Article

Click here for more Truthout articles

Eating Monsanto GMO Corn Can "Turn Your Gut Into a Living Pesticide Factory," Article Contends
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: "Monsanto, of course, denies that any GMO seed or pesticide results in toxic harm to consumers. But when eating an ear of Monsanto GMO corn, it is worth asking, 'Am I consuming carcinogens and other genetically inserted chemicals that can seriously harm my health?'"
Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

Bush and His Republican Lackeys Are Responsible for the Current Deficit: Case Closed
Read the Article at BuzzFlash

Who Will the President Kill Next? It's a Secret
Read the Article at Truthdig

"Why Don't We Try Peace?": An Interview With Dennis Kucinich
Read the Interview at the Nation

Marijuana Legalization Supporter Beats Rep. Silvestre Reyes in Texas Primary
Read the Article at The Huffington Post

Killings, Cancer, Corruption, BP and Azerbaijan
Read the Article at GregPalast.com

Four Senate Seats Also on Recall Ballot in Wisconsin
Read the Article on JSOnline

Romney Is Now the Official Nominee of the Gray Old (Tea) Party (GOP)
Read the Article at CNN

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