The Truth About “Class War” in America Richard D. Wolff, Truthout: “Republicans and conservatives have done us a service by describing federal policies in terms of ‘class war.’ But by applying the term only to Obama’s latest proposals to raise taxes on the rich, they have it all backward and upside down. The last 50 years have indeed seen continuous class warfare in and over federal economic policies. But it was a war waged chiefly by business and conservatives.” Read the Article
New Study Says US Night Raids Aimed at Afghan Civilians Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: “U.S. Special Operations Forces have been increasingly aiming their night-time raids, which have been the primary cause of Afghan anger at the U.S. military presence, at civilian non- combatants in order to exploit their possible intelligence value, according to a new study published by the Open Society Foundation and The Liaison Office…. The authors of the report conclude that deliberately targeting and rounding up civilians who are not suspected of being insurgents merely to exploit possible intelligence value ‘may constitute an arbitrary deprivation of liberty’ and thus ‘inhumane treatment’ in violation of Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.”Read the Article
House Republicans Regroup After Vote Blocks Spending Bill Jennifer Steinhauer and Robert Pear, The New York Times News Service: “House Republicans struggled on Thursday morning to find a way to pass legislation to fund the government through mid-November and provide assistance to natural disaster victims, following an embarrassing defeat of a bill that would have offset disaster relief with cuts in other programs. The House took emergency steps to clear the way for a quick vote on a new measure. It was unclear whether House leaders would attempt to win over more Republicans, many of whom want even more short-term cuts in spending than those agreed to last summer as part of a deal to lift the debt ceiling, or more Democrats, who want even higher levels of disaster aid without the spending cuts to pay for it.”Read the Article
Job Act’s Pre-Emptive Concessions Show More Pressure Needed Within and Outside Washington Amy Dean, Truthout: “Given the extraordinarily obstructionist track record of the conservatives in Congress, we can expect them to fight anything that Democrats put on the table. Therefore, overtures designed to bring them in are pointless. Putting forward a bold, progressive program at least allows us to set the framework for debate. It forces them to debate on our terms and makes them have to explain to the American people why they are opposing policies that would be substantive solutions to our economic problems.”Read the Article
Marines Hit the Ground Running in Seeking Recruits at Gay Center Elisabeth Bumiller, The New York Times News Service: “The Marines were the service most opposed to ending the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, but they were the only one of five invited branches of the military to turn up with their recruiting table and chin-up bar at the center Tuesday morning. Although Marines pride themselves on being the most testosterone-fueled of the services, they also ferociously promote their view of themselves as the best. With the law now changed, the Marines appear determined to prove that they will be better than the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard in recruiting gay, lesbian and bisexual service members.” Read the Article
John Pilger | War and Shopping: The Extremism That Never Speaks Its Name John Pilger, Truthout: “Walls of glass curved into concentric circles as one ‘store’ merged into another: Armani Exchange with Dinki Di Pies. Exits led to gauntlets of more ‘offers’ and ‘exciting options.’ Seeking a guide, I bought a lousy pair of sunglasses: anything to get out. It was a vision of hell. It was a Westfield mega mall.”Read the Article
E.J. Dionne Jr. | When Socialism Saves Capitalism E.J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post Writers Group: “In a sluggish economy, the auto industry is providing us with good news. And this good news was brought to you in part by the government of the United States of America, paid for by taxpayers just like you and me.”Read the Article
Forbes: Koch Brothers Now Worth $50 Billion Brad Johnson, ThinkProgress: “Forbes estimates that Tea Party petrochemical scions Charles and David Koch have a fortune of $25 billion each, making them the fourth richest Americans, behind only Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Larry Ellison. Their combined wealth of $50 billion is exceeded only by the Microsoft founder’s $59 billion fortune. Buoyed by aggressive speculative trading on volatile energy markets, the Koch brothers accumulated $15 billion in wealth since March 2010, a 43 percent increase.”Read the Article
On the News With Thom Hartmann: Transit Strike in Greece Brings Athens to a Halt, and More In today’s On the News segment: Troy Davis was executed last night and died at 11:08 PM Eastern time, oil oligarchs Charles and David Koch are now worth $50 billion, John Boehner has lost control of his caucus, the Tax Policy Center confirms millionaires and billionaires aren’t paying their share, and more.Watch the Video and Read the Transcript Targeting Immigrants Nancy Murray and Kade Crockford, Truthout and ACLU Massachusetts: “Ashcroft’s vow to ‘use all weapons within the law’ against noncitizens to ‘enhance security for America’ initially targeted Muslims. They have been singled out for discriminatory enforcement of immigration regulations, from the post-9/11 ‘special interest’ arrests to the present. But the search for the ‘terrorists among us’ has had a broad reach.”Read the Article
Dear Big Coal: You’re Not Above the Law Sarah van Gelder, Yes! Magazine: “On Friday, two public interest groups asked the attorney general of Delaware to revoke the charter of Massey Energy, a company they call a criminal enterprise. ‘Massey Energy operates outside the law,’ says Lorelei Scarbro, who lives a few miles from the West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch mine, which is owned and operated by Massey Energy…. ‘The people of Appalachia are collateral damage; they believe it’s okay to wipe out a whole culture.'”Read the Article
Media Justice Activists Launch New Effort to Target Black Web Users Jamilah King, ColorLines: “A group of media justice advocates are determined to move the conversation about Web rights from the beltway into the mainstream. They say the goal is to take what’s usually a wonky back room conversation between politicians and telecommunications companies and engage it with ordinary people in communities of color who they say often feel the brunt of decades of deregulatory policies.”Read the Article
Paul Krugman | In the Virtual World of Bitcoin, Some Real-World Problems Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co.: “My first reaction to Bitcoin was to say, what’s new? We have lots of ways of making payments electronically … But it turns out that there is a difference: Bitcoin, rather than fixing the value of the virtual currency in terms of those green pieces of paper, fixes the total quantity of cybercurrency instead, and lets its dollar value float. In effect, Bitcoin has created its own private gold standard world…. “Read the Article
The Heinz Award and What I Plan to Do With It Sandra Steingraber, Truthout: “Many past and present Heinz Award winners are personal heroes of mine – and Teresa Heinz herself is a champion of women’s environmental health – so, this recognition carries special meaning for me. And it comes with a $100,000 unrestricted cash prize. Which is stunning.”Read the Article
Nearly One Million More Young Americans Have Health Insurance Due to Health Care Reform
Read the Article at USA Today
Social Security Checks Are Earned Benefits, Not “Entitlements”
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
Global Emissions of Carbon Dioxide Increased by 45 Percent Between 1990 and 2010
Read the Article at The Environmental News Network
Drilling Off Keys to Begin by December
Read the Article at The Miami Herald
The Lonesome Death of Compassionate Conservatism; It’s Now “Cutthroat Conservatism”
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
Inside Virginia’s Abortion Crackdown
Read the Article at Mother Jones
Stopgap Spending Bill’s Defeat Shows House GOP Leadership’s Tenuous Grip
Read the Article at The Washington Post
