Click here to view this and past newsletters online. Please add "messenger@truthout.org" to your email contacts to ensure delivery.  Thursday 31 May 2012 William Rivers Pitt | Not With a Bang, but a Derp: It's MittWilliam Rivers Pitt, Truthout: "The last lingering echoes of the most ludicrous GOP field ever to seek the presidency roared over the gunwales of Romney's campaign battleship like a wall of green water, washing away any immediate opportunity the newly-minted nominee might have had to sail out of the storm of nonsense that was the 2012 GOP primary season." Read the Article Head of Catholic Bishops Paid Pedophiles to Disappear Valerie Tarico, Truthout: "Timothy Dolan, cardinal of New York and head of the Catholic Conference of Bishops, had his prime-time career launched by the pedophile priest scandal. Now, despite efforts to distance himself, his role in pedophile protection may come back to bite him. Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Minneapolis admitted that, during Dolan's tenure, pedophiles were paid to simply disappear." Read the Article The Disaster Capitalism Curriculum: The High Price of Education Reform (Episode I) Dan Archer and Adam Bessie, Truthout: "Welcome to other side of the looking glass, and into the Bizarro world of so-called 'education reform' - an upside-down universe in which up is down, left is right and multimillionaire CEOs are civil rights heroes championing social justice, while public school teachers are corrupt fat cats, maintaining a status quo which oppresses students in poverty and racism." Read the Comic Strip Federal Appeals Court Rules Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional David G. Savage, The Los Angeles Times: "The US appeals court in Boston became the first such court to strike down as unconstitutional the federal Defense of Marriage Act, ruling Thursday that it unfairly denies equal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. The ruling is a victory for gay-rights advocates and the Obama administration, which had refused to defend that part of the 1996 law." Read the Article Wisconsin Recall: Walker Rakes in Millions While Koch Brothers Pump Secret Cash Mike Ludwig, Truthout: "The June 5 Wisconsin recall vote is just days away, and Republican Gov. Scott Walker has raised more campaign cash than any candidate in Wisconsin history, with more than $31 million raised since he took office in January 2011. Walker's war chest, which grew by a whopping $5.9 million in the past five weeks, dwarfs that of his Democratic opponent, former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who's fundraising total of $4.2 million in comparison had Wisconsin Democrats scolding their party's national leadership." Read the Article Chicago Factory Occupiers Form Worker Cooperative Yana Kunichoff, Truthout: "First, they occupied the factory to get their wages from the bosses that owned the machinery. Then, they occupied their factory to keep the second bosses from shutting down their machinery. And, now, they are on their way to owning and running the machinery." Read the Article For-Profit Education: Milking Students and the Taxpayers for Corporate Profits Charles M. Smith, Truthout: "If you pay attention to the investment banking industry, the for-profit prisons, the health insurance industry and now for-profit colleges you will see this same pattern; private profits with public risks. When industries are structured in this manner, we also get intense lobbying for favorable legal treatment, the spreading around of campaign money and a revolving door for politicians and regulators. The public often foots the bill with little or no benefit from the process." Read the Article Cartwright Report Calls for Nuclear Reductions and Elimination of US Land-Based Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force David Krieger, Truthout: "Gen. James Cartwright chaired a recently released report by the nuclear disarmament group Global Zero on 'Modernizing US Nuclear Strategy, Force Structure and Posture.' General Cartwright is a retired vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and former commander of the US Strategic Command. In the latter capacity, he was in charge of all US nuclear weapons. The Cartwright report argues for reducing the number of US nuclear weapons, taking deployed weapons off high alert and eliminating all land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)." Read the Article Facing Down the Bankers Annie Lowry, The New York Times News Service: "Sitting in a corner office high above K Street here, Dennis M. Kelleher, one of the most powerful lobbyists on financial regulatory reform, looks every bit the corporate lawyer and high-ranking Senate aide he formerly was: tailored suit, quick smile, assertive tone. But Mr. Kelleher does not work for banks. He works against them." Read the Article A Drone-Eat-Drone World: With Its "Roadmap" in Tatters, the Pentagon Detours to Terminator Planet Nick Turse, TomDispatch.com: "When the first Terminator movie was released in 1984, its HKs seemed as futuristic as its time-traveling cyborg title-character. Nearly three decades later, we're living in an age in which armed robots do regularly surveil, track, and kill people. But instead of a self-aware computer network known as Skynet, it's the American president or his intelligence officials and military officers who determine the human targets to be terminated by unmanned hunter-killer craft." Read the Article Europeans' Economic Future Has Been Hijacked by Dangerous Ideologues Mark Weisbrot, The Guardian UK: "[T]he recurring crisis in the eurozone is not driven by financial markets' demands for austerity in a time of recession, as is commonly asserted. Rather, the primary cause of the crisis ... is the political agenda of the European authorities - led by the European Central Bank (ECB) and European commission. These authorities ... want to force political changes, particularly in the weaker economies, that people in these countries would never vote for." Read the Article Three Years After George Tiller's Murder, Reproductive Rights Face New Legislative Attacks, Hate Crimes Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!: "Three years ago today, abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was shot dead while attending church in Wichita, Kansas. Reproductive healthcare providers remain the target of violence amid a wave of new legislation curtailing access to safe abortions. Last week, two clinics in Georgia and a women's organization in New Orleans were set ablaze. Today, the House of Representatives votes on the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act to ban abortions based on the sex of a fetus." 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The BuzzFlash at Truthout commentary will return shortly. Glenn Greenwald: Obama's Secret Kill List "the Most Radical Power a Government Can Seize" Former Justice John Paul Stevens Predicts Cracks in Citizens United Decision Walmart Drops ALEC Surge in African-American Support for Same-Sex Marriage Ignites Conservatives Return of the Birthers Newly Released FBI "Domestic Terrorism" Training on Anarchists, Environmentalists, Show COINTELPRO Tactics Soaked With Oil Cash, Republicans Block Military's Push to Use Clean Energy Click here for more BuzzFlash headlines
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