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Sunday 10 June 2012

The School of the Americas, the CIA and the US-Condoned Cancer of Torture Continue to Spread in Latin America, Including Mexico
Mark Karlin, Truthout: "The US has done little to stop what appears to be 'social cleansing' (limpieza social) carried out by the Mexican military, police and government-sanctioned death squads at times.... Given that the CIA and countless US intelligence agencies, not to mention the Drug Enforcement Agency, are entrenched in Mexico, it might be appropriate to reflect that our real government/corporate interest in the nation is as a marketplace and a non-populist pro-US government."
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Spain to Accept Rescue From Europe for Its Ailing Banks
Nicholas Kulish, Paul Geitner and Raphael Minder, The New York Times News Service: "Responding to increasingly urgent calls from across Europe and the United States, Spain on Saturday agreed to accept a bailout for its cash-starved banks as European finance ministers offered an aid package of up to $125 billion. European leaders hope the promise of such a large package, made in an emergency conference call with Spain, will quell rising financial turmoil ahead of elections in Greece that they fear could further shake world markets."
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Greening the Knowledge Economy: A Critique of Neoliberalism
Michael A. Peters, Truthout: "What this age demands more than ever is an understanding not simply of systems in natural, social and geopolitical environments and their interrelations, but also the logic of large-scale system-events, their emergence and collapse, and their impacts for humanity. In the economic and political realm, as social scientists, we need to know more about the logic of large-scale events governing system failures, such as ... the collapse of the neoliberal global financial system in 2008."
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Colin Powell: Another War Criminal Cashes In
Medea Benjamin and Charles Davis, Code Pink: "One could be forgiven for thinking there's anything honorable or honest about Colin Powell. For more than two decades now the Washington media has portrayed the former Secretary of State as something of a real life action hero.... What you might have missed is that Powell is a war criminal in his own right.... But don't just take some anti-war activists' word for it: Powell will proudly tell you as much, so long as he can make a buck from doing it in a book."
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US Commission on Civil Rights to Investigate "Stand Your Ground" Laws for Racial Bias
Judd Legum, ThinkProgress: "The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights announced it will launch an inquiry into so-called 'Stand Your Ground' legislation for racial bias. The laws, which gained notoriety after the shooting of Trayvon Martin, eliminated the duty to retreat from a confrontation that has existed as part of the common law for hundreds of years. According to the Commission, there are 'some indicators of racial bias' in how the laws have been implemented."
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Bias in Campaign Spending Makes Business Influence Look Smaller Than It Really Is
Lee Fang, Republic Report: "Reporting campaign finance can be difficult because much of the action is obscured. Journalists have to rely on fairly unreliable government disclosure websites, many of which only report certain types of spending on an almost arbitrary schedule.... A vast portion of election spending, including big business-related efforts to encourage executives, employees, and others to vote for a particular candidate, is simply left off disclosures altogether."
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Same-Sex Marriage Brings Healing to Me - and My Tribe
Madeline Ostrander, YES! Magazine: "For four years, Heather Purser fought quietly but persistently for the right to get married. Then last summer, she captured the attention of state politicians and national media when she persuaded her small tribal community in western Washington to write gay marriage into its constitution. Months later, Purser was awestruck to find herself in Washington Governor Christine Gregoire's office on a rainy afternoon, minutes after the governor announced that she would push the state legislature to recognize gay marriage."
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In Illinois, There is No Budget Crisis: There is a Regressive Taxation Crisis
Curtis Black, Newstips: "Sad to say, nothing they're doing or talking about in the General Assembly will have a significant impact on the state's chronic budget crisis. Not draconian Medicaid cuts, not possible pension cuts or casino expansions. The legislature is barking up the wrong trees, and doing it over and over. That's because the state doesn't have a spending problem.... The problem is a regressive tax system that doesn't tax where the money is."
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With Energy Efficiency, We All Win
Dan Becker, Rutland Herald: "Just as hybrid cars are using advanced engineering to cut gasoline bills, technology can cut the cost of heating, cooling and lighting America's buildings. A hybrid car's better mileage helps drivers pay for its gas-saving technology. Similarly, a money-saving financing device can pay for energy improvements in schools and offices, and slash their costs. Consider what Naugatuck, Conn., has accomplished."
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The BuzzFlash commentary for Truthout will return Monday, June 11th, 2012.

CIA Gets Nod to Step Up Pakistan Drone Strikes
Read the Article at Tribune Washington Bureau

Plutocrats That Bankrolled the GOP Primary - and What They Want in Return
Read the Article at AlterNet

Why We're Losing: the Corporations Have Unionized
Read the Article at DailyKos

Unraveling a Tangled Tale of German Corruption in Greece
Read the Article at CorpWatch

Mexico, Agriculture, Wave: Words the Government Uses to Spy on You
Read the Article at Salon

Health Care Exchange in Many States Held Up by Pending Supreme Court Ruling
Read the Article at The Washington Post

Romney Moves Fast to Exploit Super PAC Loopholes
Read the Article at Boston Globe

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