Clippings for 8 November 2009

Market Driven Hysteria and the Politics of Death
Henry A. Giroux writes for Truthout: "If we listen to the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and an increasing number of their ilk, free-market fundamentalism is not only sexy, it is an argument against the very notion of politics itself and the power of the government to intervene and protect its citizens from the ravages of nature, corrupt institutions and an unregulated market. In this discourse, largely buttressed through an appeal to fear and the use of outright lies, free-market capitalism assumes an almost biblical status as an argument against the power of government to protect its citizens from misfortune and the random blows of fate by providing the most basic rights and levels of collective security and protection."

Obama, One Year On
Katrina Vanden Heuvel writes for The Nation: "Barack Obama was elected president at a time defined by hope and fear in equal measure. It was a remarkable moment in our country's history--a milestone in America's scarred racial landscape and a victory for the forces of decency, diversity and tolerance. For the first time in decades, electoral politics became a vehicle for raising expectations and spreading hope while it mobilized millions of new voters. Obama's was a campaign built on the power and promise of change from below. At the same time, he was elected as the nation was rapidly sinking into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression."

Obama One Year Later: The Audacity of Winning vs. The Timidity of Governing
I had arranged to meet David Plouffe on Saturday afternoon at a Starbucks on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington. The night before, a copy of his new book, The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory, was waiting for me when I checked into my hotel at midnight. I flipped it open, read a few lines and was hooked. I spent the rest of the night reading it. Plouffe has written the most important political book of the year (for reasons I'll get to in a moment). It's also completely gripping. It reads like a thriller. Even though you know how it ends, you quickly get caught up in every twist and turn of perhaps the most remarkable campaign in American history.

Too Big to Fail?:Why All the President's Afghan Options Are Bad Ones
Tom Engelhardt writes for TomDispatch.com: "In the worst of times, my father always used to say, "A good gambler cuts his losses." It's a formulation imprinted on my brain forever. That no-nonsense piece of advice still seems reasonable to me, but it doesn't apply to American war policy. Our leaders evidently never saw a war to which the word "more" didn't apply. Hence the Afghan War, where impending disaster is just an invitation to fuel the flames of an already roaring fire."

Recommended Audio: Turthdig podcast - Scott Ritter on Afghanistan: Don't Believe the Hype
Is the war in Afghanistan worth the sacrifice of even one American life? Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter says, “No! ... We are allowing the battle in Afghanistan to be defined by a domestic American political imperative. There is no urgency in Afghanistan, there is urgency in Washington, D.C.”

Unlearning the CIA
Christopher Ketchman writes for CounterPunch: "When I first met ex-CIA officer Bob Baer in Washington DC, I thought, The guy looks nothing like George Clooney. But Clooney, who won an Academy Award playing Baer in the film Syriana, had in fact captured something about the posture, the pathos, the weariness of a CIA man who spends too many years getting filthy in the field – in the peculiar mire of the Middle East, no less – risking his life and being ignored for it. Clooney in the film cycles among the suits at Langley, the cubicled bureaucracy, looking somewhat like the only sane man in a mental ward."

Claim: CIA Sent Prisoners Abroad to Be Boiled Alive and 'Raped with Broken Bottles'
Daniel Tencer writes for the Raw Story (via ALterNet.org): "The CIA relied on intelligence based on torture in prisons in Uzbekistan, a place where widespread torture practices include raping suspects with broken bottles and boiling them alive, says a former British ambassador to the central Asian country. Craig Murray, the rector of the University of Dundee in Scotland and until 2004 the UK's ambassador to Uzbekistan, said the CIA not only relied on confessions gleaned through extreme torture, it sent terror war suspects to Uzbekistan as part of its extraordinary rendition program."

Italian Court Finds CIA Agents Guilty of Kidnapping Terrorism Suspect
John Hooper reports for The Guardian (UK): "Twenty-three Americans were tonight convicted of kidnapping by an Italian court at the end of the first trial anywhere in the world involving the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" programme for abducting terrorist suspects. The former head of the CIA in Milan Robert Lady was given an eight-year jail sentence for his part in the seizure of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, known as Abu Omar, who claimed that he was subsequently tortured in Egypt. Lady's superior, Jeff Castelli, the then head of the CIA in Italy, and two other Americans were acquitted on the grounds that they enjoyed diplomatic immunity."

Bank Failure Friday Fells Another ‘Healthy Bank’ Bailout Recipient
Jake Bernsteing reports for ProPublica: "San Francisco-based United Commercial Bank has become the first recipient of TARP bailout money to be shut down by the FDIC. Last year, regulators approved a $299 million taxpayer funded injection into the bank. That money, which was supposed to go to only “healthy banks,” is now gone. The FDIC estimates United Commercial’s failure will cost the agency’s deposit fund about $1.4 billion. Our resident TARPologist, Paul Kiel, reported a few weeks ago that United Commercial Bank and three other supposedly “healthy banks” were in deep trouble. On November 1, CIT, another of the four, filed for bankruptcy protection. The collapse taxpayers lost $2.33 billion in TARP money invested in CIT."

Shifting the Burden From Main Street to Wall Street: Why We Need a "Tobin Tax"
Ellen Hodgson Brown comments for Truthout: "Wall Street bankers have been called today's 'welfare queens,' feeding at the public trough to the tune of trillions of dollars. They are taking from the taxpayers and not giving back. These banks were rescued so they could make loans, take deposits and keep our money safe. But while that is what banks used to do, today the big Wall Street money comes from short-term speculation in currency transactions, commodities, stocks and derivatives for the banks' own accounts."

We Are What We Trade and How We Trade It
David Sirota writes for Truthdig.com: "Trade and globalization: When not referencing blockbuster sports transactions or raucous street protests, debates over these abstract terms can give Ambien and Jack Daniels a run for their money as a cure for insomnia. Of course, that’s the problem—the rules governing what we buy and sell are now playing such a decisive role in almost every major policy that we’re falling asleep at our peril."

‘Brutal Milestone’ for Unemployment
Christopher Flavelle reports for ProPublica: "The big news: Unemployment hit 10.2 percent in October. The New York Times’ Paul Krugman called the 10 percent mark a 'brutal milestone,' and the news prompted more criticism of the stimulus. The AFP reports that President Obama will give a speech this afternoon to address the latest jobless numbers. Meanwhile, questions keep coming about the jobs 'saved' by the stimulus. The Sacramento Bee concludes that of the 110,000 jobs reportedly saved by stimulus money in California, as many as one-quarter 'probably were never in danger.' California State University officials first reported saving 26,156 jobs with the $268.5 million in stimulus dollars received by the university system—then backtracked. The money quote comes from CSU spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow, who told the Bee, 'This is not really a real number of people … It’s like a budget number.'"

House Passes Health Care Reform Bill
Alex Koppleman writes for Salon.com: "The House of Representatives took a historic step on Saturday night, passing the Democrats' healthcare reform bill and bringing supporters closer to passing the first major overhaul of the U.S. health in almost half a decade. As the time allotted for the vote expired, cheers and applause broke out on the floor of the House. In order to pass the bill, Democrats needed a majority, or 218 votes. They got 220 -- 219 Democrats, and a single Republican, Louisiana Rep. Joseph Cao. Voting against were 39 Democrats and 176 Republicans.

How Does a Religious Cult Have the Clout to Delay Health Care Vote?
Adele Stan writes for AlterNet: "Just when it seemed the stars were aligning for an historic vote tomorrow on health-care reform legislation in the House of Representatives, anti-choice Democrats are balking, saying that the plan would permit the indirect flow of federal dollars to fund abortion. Led by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., a member of the Capitol Hill religious cult known as The Family, and spurred on by the Catholic bishops, anti-abortion Dems are contesting the fact that some small number of private insurance plans offered via the bill's insurance exchange scheme may offer coverage for abortion -- even therapeutic abortion. Where the federal dollars come in is via the subsidies for which lower-income people would be eligible for buying insurance through the exchange."

Global Privatization of Education Policy
George Thompson writes for The Daily Censored: "The recent conflict of interest case of Lorna Earl in Ontario is merely the symptom of a growing trend in Canada and the rest of the world: the privatization of educational policy itself.  Earl’s complete bafflement as to why her case was sent to the conflict of interest commissioner in Ontario is itself a strong indication of the extent to which working as both a key influencer of policies and running a consultancy which stands to benefit from such policies has come to be seen as normal.  Taking a closer look at a few of only the most visible conflicts of interest in Ontario will provide an opportunity to learn how the privatization of policy is taking place there and elsewhere."

The Inflated Promise of Natural Gas
Stan Cox writes for CounterPunch: "Holding out the prospect of vast new domestic reserves, the natural gas industry is promising to make the United States an energy-rich nation once again. But we should be careful what we wish for. Spending those riches could endanger water supplies for millions of Americans while still failing to solve the climate crisis. Electric utilities have expanded their use of gas because gas-fired plants can be 'turned up' to meet high peak power demand more quickly than can coal-fired plants. Natural gas is also more climate-friendly than coal and less menacing than nuclear energy."

Gays, Lesbians Elected in Record Numbers on Tuesday
Gaypolitics.com writes: "Openly gay and lesbian candidates swept to victory in local and state races across the country last night, according to results released today by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.  The group, which endorses openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) candidates, endorsed a slate of 79 contenders for 2009 races, a new record for a non-federal election year.  Of those, 49 won their races outright and six are still unfinished.  Thirteen additional openly gay candidates also won Tuesday."

Stonewall 2.0
Christopher Lisotta writes for The Nation: "Before November 2008, Tanner Efinger was just another 24-year-old working at a bar in the city of West Hollywood, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) center of Los Angeles. "I was really not a political person, even a little bit," he says. 'I didn't even know who Nancy Pelosi was and didn't really understand what a senator was.'"

How the Media Enables Government Lies
James Bovard writes for CoutnerPunch: "Why do politicians so easily get away with telling lies? In large part, because the news media are more interested in bonding with politicians than in exposing them. Americans are encouraged to believe that the media will serve as a check and a balance on the government. Instead, the press too often volunteer as unpaid pimps, helping politicians deceive the public."

Low-Power FM and What the Media Won't Tell You about the Media
Amber Sands comments for Truthout: "There's a classic problem for progressives who want to change the media: the media doesn't like to cover itself. Especially not when it comes to issues that challenge the status quo of corporate control. It's like turning to the military for news about the peace movement, or asking Big Oil to report on climate change legislation."

FCC Fine Print Could Undermine Open Internet
Tim Karr writes for Save the Internet: "Buried in the fine print of the FCC’s proposed Net Neutrality rules is a potential loophole that if left open would undermine the future of Internet freedom. So says a group of prominent law professors who on Monday told the FCC that its proposed rules don't sufficiently define what the agency means by its use of the terms 'non-discrimination' and 'reasonable network management.'"

Net Neutrality Required to Spur Innovation
Nicholas Economides writes for the Financial Times (UK): "For the first time in history, the majority of the Earth’s population is connected by a global communications network. Unlike traditional information networks, such as newspapers, radio and TV, however, the internet is based on interactive communication. It has allowed for a revolutionary real-time participation of users."

Copps: Maybe Bradcasters Deserve to Loss their Spectrum
John Eggerton reports for Broadcast and Cable: "FCC Commissioner Michael Copps took it to broadcasters again Tuesday, saying that if the FCC can't rejuvenate shuttered newsrooms, put the brakes on 'mind-numbing 'monoprogramming'' and otherwise turn the tide (he calls it a "tsunami"), of consolidation, then 'maybe those who want the spectrum back have the better of the argument after all.' He was referring to calls from wireless and computer companies, and an FCC outreach to broadcasters, to reclaim some, or even all, of their spectrum for wireless broadband."

Pentagon Pursuing New Investigation into Bush Propaganda Program
Brad Jacobson writes for The Raw Story: "The Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General is conducting a new investigation into a covert Bush administration Defense Department program that used retired military analysts to produce positive wartime news coverage. Last May, the Inspector General’s office rescinded and repudiated a prior internal investigation’s report on the retired military analyst program, which had been issued by the Bush administration, because it “did not meet accepted quality standards for an Inspector General work product.” Yet in recent interviews with Raw Story, Pentagon officials who took part in the program were still defending it by referencing this invalidated report."

The 2008 Election One Year Later

One year after the historical 2008 elections Community Bridge looks at what is different at both the local and national level. Community Bridge's Thursday show opens with County Commissioner Karen McCulloh who discusses what is happening in country government. Then in the second half of the show we welcome Brian Cox, Tom Oldfather and Janie Simpson from the K-State Young Democrats to discuss the Obama administration, how young people are changing political discourse, and their out look for the 2010 elections.

MP3 File

Sunday 1 Nov. 09 - Honduras, Cornel West, & Net Neutrality

On this edition of After the Sunday Morning Talk Shows we first hear Sandip Roy interview Marcelo Ballve about the situation in Honduras for New America Media; then Tavis Smiley interviews Dr. Cornel West about Obama and his new memoir; finally Laura Flanders of GRIT TV interviews Timothy Karr of Free Press, Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge, and Karlos Schmieder of the Center for Media Justice about Net Neutrality.


MP3 File

Clippings for 1 November 2009

Recommended Audio: Bill Moyers Journal for 30 October - An Interview with Economist James K. Galbraith
Economic recovery in review. The Dow's up, but why are Main Street Americans still reeling from last year's economic collapse? With Americans still facing rising unemployment, foreclosures, and declining property values, renowned economist James K. Galbraith on whether we've averted another crisis and how to get help for the middle class.
Read the Transcript here.

Former Wall Street Player Reveals the Inside World Behind Shady Bailouts to Bankers
Joshua Holland and Nomi Prins write for ALterNet: "A former managing director at Goldman Sachs and now a razor-sharp financial muckraker (and regular AlterNet contributor), Nomi Prins understands the labyrinthine world of Wall Street finance, with all its warts, as well as anyone.  In her new book, It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bailouts, Bonuses and Backroom Deals From Washington to Wall Street, Prins lays bare the whole fetid corpse of the burst mortgage bubble."

Cash for Clunkers Drives 3rd Quarter GNP Growth
Dean Baker reports for The Center for Economic and Policy Research: "GDP grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, driven by a 22.4 percent jump in car sales, the result of the Cash for Clunkers (C4C) program. This increase in car sales accounted for 42.0 percent of the growth in the quarter. Consumption as a whole, which grew at a 3.4 percent annual rate, added 2.36 percentage points to growth. Other components making large contributions to growth were inventories, which added 0.94 percentage points; national defense, which added 0.45 percentage points; and residential construction, which added 0.53 percentage points, its first positive number since the fourth quarter of 2005. The surge in car buying will be reversed in the current quarter, as the main effect of the C4C was to pull car purchases forward. As a result, the auto sector will be a substantial drag on growth in the current quarter. Apart from the auto sector, consumption grew at a 1.0 percent annual rate." 

Ecuador, Bolivia Show That Even Small Developing Countries Can Pursue Independent Economic Policies, Stand Up for Their Rights, and Win
Mark Weisbrot, The Center for Economic and Policy Research: "Among the conventional wisdom that we hear every day in the business press is that developing countries should bend over backwards to create a friendly climate for foreign corporations, follow orthodox (neo-liberal) macro-economic policy advice, strive to achieve an investment-grade sovereign credit rating so as to attract more foreign capital... Guess what country is expected to have the fastest economic growth in the Americas this year? Bolivia.

McChrystal Doesn't Get It -- Does Obama?
Scott Ritter writes for Truthdig.com: "There is a curious phenomenon taking place in the American media at the moment: the lionization of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the American military commander in Afghanistan. Although he has taken a few lumps for playing politics with the White House, McChrystal has generally been sold to the American public as a “Zen warrior,” a counterinsurgency genius who, if simply left to his own devices, will be able to radically transform the ongoing debacle that is Afghanistan into a noble victory that will rank as one of the greatest political and military triumphs of modern history. McChrystal’s resume and persona (a former commander of America’s special operations forces, a tireless athlete and a scholar) have been breathlessly celebrated in several interviews and articles. Reporters depict him as an ascetic soldier who spouts words of wisdom to rival Confucius, Jesus and Muhammad."

Recommended Audio: Vets to Congress - Rethink Afghanistan

Next week, four Afghanistan and Iraq War vets will travel to DC to meet with members of Congress and tell them that this war has to end -- but they need your help to get there. This is how we will stop the war in Afghanistan: by giving voices like these a mouthpiece on Capitol Hill. By bringing them face-to-face with the decision makers and telling them exactly what they need to hear. Brave New Film needs your help to make this happen. They must raise just $5,000 to make this trip possible. Please give what you can to ensure that Congress hears their message.



Obama's Latest Use of "Secrecy" to Shield Presidential Lawbreaking
Glenn Greewald writes for Salon.com: "The Obama administration has, yet again, asserted the broadest and most radical version of the "state secrets" privilege -- which previously caused so much controversy and turmoil among loyal Democrats (when used by Bush/Cheney) -- to attempt to block courts from ruling on the legality of the government's domestic surveillance activities.  Obama did so again this past Friday -- just six weeks after the DOJ announced voluntary new internal guidelines which, it insisted, would prevent abuses of the state secrets privilege.  Instead -- as predicted -- the DOJ continues to embrace the very same "state secrets" theories of the Bush administration -- which Democrats generally and Barack Obama specifically once vehemently condemned -- and is doing so in order literally to shield the President from judicial review or accountability when he is accused of breaking the law.

Lawsuit Accuses Psychologist of Ignoring Guantanamo Torture
Willian Fisher writes for Truthout.org: "The state board responsible for licensing - and disciplining - psychologists in Louisiana is 'fighting awfully hard to turn a blind eye to serious allegations of abuse' brought against one of its members, who is being accused of complicity in beatings, religious and sexual humiliation, rape threats and painful body positions during his service as a senior adviser on interrogations for the US military in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib."

UN Can't Account for Millions Sent to Afghan Election Board
T. Christian Miller and Dafna Linzer report for ProPublica: "The United Nations cannot account for tens of millions of dollars provided to the troubled Afghan election commission, according to two confidential UN audits and interviews with current and former senior diplomats. As Afghanistan prepares for a second round of national voting, the documents and interviews paint the fullest picture to date of the finances of the election commission, which has been accused of facilitating election fraud and operating ghost polling places. The new disclosures also deepen the questions about the UN's oversight of money provided by the United States and other nations to ensure a fair election in Afghanistan." 

The Second Wave: Evidence Grows of Far-Right Militia Resurgence
Larry Keller reports for The Intelligence Report at the Southern Poverty Law Center: "In Pensacola, Fla., retired FBI agent Ted Gunderson tells a gathering of antigovernment "Patriots" that the federal government has set up 1,000 internment camps across the country and is storing 30,000 guillotines and a half-million caskets in Atlanta. They're there for the day the government finally declares martial law and moves in to round up or kill American dissenters, he says. "They're going to keep track of all of us, folks," Gunderson warns."

The Right Isn't Only Trying to Take Down ACORN, It's Got a 25-year Project to 'Defund" the Left
Muriel Kane writes for The Raw Story (via AlterNet): "When Michele Bachman crowed in September that the exposure of alleged illegal activity by the anti-poverty group ACORN was just the start of a campaign to "defund the left," she may have revealed more about current Republican strategy than she intended. 'Defunding the left is going to be so easy,' Bachmann told the audience at a conservative conference, 'and it’s going to solve so many of our problems.' The Senate and House had just voted to cut off ACORN's federal funding in what CBS/AP called 'a GOP-led strike against the scandal-tainted community organizing group' that followed the release of video showing ACORN employees apparently endorsing illegal activities, The bills passed by lopsided majorities, with many Democrats joining Republicans, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told a news conference, 'We have to have our own scrutiny of an organization with an allegation of this kind against it.'"

The Obstacles to Real Health-Care Reform
Mark Schmitt writes for The American Prospect: "American presidents have tried seven times to bring us into the community of nations that provide health care to all citizens. Seven times the effort failed. More accurately, it was blocked. In the 1940s, the anti-reform movement was led by doctors, through the American Medical Association. In the 1990s, it was led by the insurance and small-business lobbies."

Centrist Democrats = Corporate Sellouts
Ari Berman writes for The Nation: "Every time I hear about Joe Lieberman's latest apostasy, I think, Oy vey! There he goes again. More Joementum. Remind me why we still call this guy a Democrat? Sure, Lieberman caucuses with Democrats in the Senate--Joe is nothing if not opportunistic and who wants to be part of a lowly Republican minority?--but I think he forfeited his right to call himself one when he almost became John McCain's VP and campaigned stridently against an Obama presidency. Yet somehow he managed to keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Gotta love those Senate Democrats--they always find a way to reward someone for stabbing them in the back. See Baucus, Max."

Medical Insurance Fat Cats Working to Fleece Regular Citizens
Bill at The Daily Censored writes: "Glenn Ford of the “Black Agenda Report” says that President Obama is waging a phony fight for public relations purposes in the media verse the insurance agencies. Ford says it’s really a sham battle and the issue has in actuality already been decided. The insurance companies gained the biggest prize in 50 years, forcing even poor people to buy private medical insurance and if they don’t purchase medical insurance they will face terrible fines. Obama is only pretending to put up a fight to deceive the American people that he has good intentions."

Lack of Health Care Lead to 17,000 US Child Deaths
Agence France-Presse reports: "Lack of adequate health care may have contributed to the deaths of some 17,000 US children over the past two decades, according to a study released by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. The research, to be published Friday in the Journal of Public Health, was compiled from more than 23 million hospital records from 37 states between 1988 and 2005. The study concluded that children without health insurance are far more likely to succumb to their illnesses than those with medical coverage."

It's Liberty at Stake in a Warming World

William H. Luers and Amy L. Luers comment in apecial to GlobalPost: "President Barack Obama opened a new chapter in America’s role in solving global problems in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly. By calling for the U.S. to re-engage in the global community, he has set us on a new course to preserve American liberty. The preservation of liberty has been the most powerful unifying political commitment for generations of Americans. With global warming, the threats to our liberty are now tied more than ever before to the actions of all nations. The climate change negotiations in Copenhagen this December and in D.C. provide a critical opportunity for the U.S. to start down this new path."

Working Women: Strength in Numbers
Katha Pollitt writes for The Nation: "What a difference a recession makes. It seems like only yesterday the media were heralding the mass exit from the workplace of highly educated mothers, the mommy blogosphere was raging at veteran reporter Leslie Bennetts for stressing the risks of wifely dependency in The Feminine Mistake and faux stay-home mom Caitlin Flanagan was warning women their kids wouldn't love them quite so much if they had jobs. Now it turns out that what New York Times reporter Lisa Belkin christened "the opt-out revolution" in 2003 was never the mighty trend she claimed. According to the 2007 census, stay-home moms are disproportionately younger, less educated, low-income, Latina and foreign-born. Well, that makes sense, doesn't it? That mothers who have a hard time getting stable jobs with decent pay and conditions would stay home if they could, while those who can get better jobs at higher pay would have more incentive to keep working?"

Preserving an Open Internet
Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, and Zaid Jilani write for Progress rEport on Think Progress: "With the way the Internet is structured right now, it is just as easy for Americans to visit a tiny website about knitting run by a young mother in Ohio as it is to visit a site run by the federal government or a major corporation. This feature is part of the reason that in 1999, John Chambers, president and CEO of networking giant Cisco, called the Internet the great 'equalizer between people, companies, and countries.' But powerful interests in the telecom and cable industries, along with their conservative allies on Capitol Hill and in the media, are trying to create a pay-for-play system where companies able to shell out large amounts of money would have the power to make their sites run faster. If they succeed, they will change the lives of 40 million Americans who use the Internet as their primary source of news and information. (Here's what that could look like.) Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, has explained what would happen if U.S. communications served the interests of broadband providers, rather than the public: 'Imagine if you tried to order a pizza and the phone company said AT&T's preferred pizza vendor is Domino's. Press one to connect to Domino's now. If you would still like to order from your neighborhood pizzeria, please hold for three minutes while Domino's guaranteed orders are placed.' The solution to preserving the openness of the Internet is net neutrality, supported by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), prominent federal lawmakers, consumer groups, and the 'geeks' who helped build the Internet. The coalition has even attracted unlikely allies such as the Christian Coalition and Gun Owners of America. But Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is trying to help telecoms and the cable industry make their destructive dream a reality. He recently introduced the inaptly-named 'Internet Freedom Act,' arguing that rules preserving net neutrality would be a "government takeover of the Internet." Join the tens of thousands of people who have spoken out in favor of a free and open Internet by taking action here."

Fox News Viewed as Most Ideological Network
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reports: "The Fox News Channel is viewed by Americans in more ideological terms than other television news networks. And while the public is evenly divided in its view of hosts of cable news programs having strong political opinions, more Fox News viewers see this as a good thing than as a bad thing."

Oct. 28 Dr. Vandana Shiva/Pt 2 - "It's Up to Us Alone"

Community Bridge opens with an edited version (30 min) of Dr. Vandana Shiva's lecture "Soil, Not Oil: Food Security in an Age of Climate Change" given on Oct 16th at K-State. Dr. Vandana Shiva is internationally recognized as an environmental activist, ecofeminist, and champion of sustainable and organic agriculture, biodiversity, and economic justice. The complete version of the speech (62 minutes) is available on the Community Bridge website as a podcast. It is located under the "Fall 2009 Podcasts" in the right hand column of the webpage.

Following this week's Media Minutes, we air the second half of "It's Up to Us Alone" - a two-act radio drama set in the echoes of recent Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli military incursions, which had its worldwide broadcast debut on Friday, Oct. 16 on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles. Starring Ed Asner as Ari Shalom, the radio play features a full cast of actors taking on a script that looks at both the broader, international implications of war as well as the personal costs of conflict. The play's objective is to stimulate discussion on the Middle East and war in general by rolling ahead, based on the projected continued escalation of the conflict, to a point where militarism brings the entire world to the brink of destruction - to the point that the people on BOTH sides lose.

MP3 File

Soil, Not Oil: Food Security in an Age of Climate Change

Trained as a physicist, Dr. Vandana Shiva is internationally recognized as an environmental activist, ecofeminist, and champion of sustainable and organic agriculture, biodiversity, and economic justice. She has mobilized against GATT, genetic engineering, and Monsanto. She is the author of over 300 papers in leading scientific and technical journals, and more than a dozen books, including Ecofeminism; Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Survival in India; Biopiracy: The Plunder of Earth and Knowledge; and Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply. Dr. Shiva spoke on the campus of Kansas State University on October 16, 2009.

MP3 File

Clippings for 29 October 2009

War is a Hate Crime
Chris Hedges writes for Turthdig.com: "Violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people is wrong. So is violence against people in Afghanistan and Iraq. But in the bizarre culture of identity politics, there are no alliances among the oppressed. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the first major federal civil rights law protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, passed last week, was attached to a $680-billion measure outlining the Pentagon’s budget, which includes $130 billion for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Democratic majority in Congress, under the cover of protecting some innocents, authorized massive acts of violence against other innocents."

The War Condolences Obama Hasn't Sent
Amy Goodman writes for Truthdig.com: "U.S. Army Reserve Spc. Chancellor Keesling died in Iraq on June 19, 2009, from “a non-combat related incident,” according to the Pentagon. Keesling had killed himself. He was just one in what is turning out to be a record year for suicides in the U.S. military. In August, President Barack Obama addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, saying, “[T]here is nothing more sobering than signing a letter of condolence to the family of [a] serviceman or -woman who has given their life for our country.” To their surprise, Jannett and Gregg Keesling, Chance’s parents, won’t be getting such a letter. Obama does not write condolence letters to loved ones of those who commit suicide in the theater of combat. [After making inquiries, the Keeslings discovered that this was not because of an oversight. Instead, it’s because of a longstanding U.S. policy to deny presidential condolence letters to the families of soldiers who take their own lives.]

Why Obama's Iran Policy will Fail
Dilip Hiro writes for TomDispatch: "While the tone of the Obama administration is different from that of its predecessor, and some of its foreign policies diverge from those of George W. Bush, at their core both administrations subscribe to the same doctrine: Whatever the White House perceives as a threat -- whether it be Iran, North Korea, or the proliferation of long-range missiles -- must be viewed as such by Moscow and Beijing."

Democrats: CIA Lied to or Misled Congress at Least Five Times Since 2001
Jason Leopold reports for Truthout: "Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday that the CIA misled and/or lied to Congress at least five times since 2001 about it's intelligence programs, including one previously alleged instance in which the agency failed to disclose to top members of the House and Senate intelligence committees that the CIA tortured war on terror detainees."

Depleted Uranium Causes Cancer
HenryW reports for Project Censored: "Depleted Uranium is nuclear waste…quite literally…and it causes cancer and birth defects. Depleted uranium is extracted from spent nuclear fuel.  It is a waste byproduct of 'enriching' uranium. It is a substance with some remarkable properties.  It is denser than lead, harder than steel.   Munitions tipped with DU are extremely effective, especially when engaging enemies using armored vehicles.  These shells cut right through tank armor and then the uranium itself burns…at 500 degrees Celsius, (932 Fahrenheit).  The only tanks or fixed fortifications that can repel depleted uranium munitions are those which themselves have armor made from depleted uranium.  The use of DU on the battlefield is increasing, and it is used in “bunker buster” bombs, a variety of missiles and now in 30mm ammunition as well.  Since the early 90’s it has been associated mostly with the M1A1 'Abrams' tank."

Too Big to Fail: Why The Big Banks Should Be Broken Up, But Why The White House and Congress Don't Want To
Robert Reich writes on Robert Reich's Blog: "And now there are five - five Wall Street behemoths, bigger than they were before the Great Meltdown, paying fatter salaries and bonuses to retain their so-called 'talent,' and raking in huge profits. The biggest difference between now and last October is these biggies didn't know then that they were too big to fail and the government would bail them out if they got into trouble. Now they do. And like a giant, gawking adolescent who's just discovered he can crash the Lexus convertible his rich dad gave him and the next morning have a new one waiting in his driveway courtesy of a dad who can't say no, the biggies will drive even faster now, taking even bigger risks."

Did Hank Paulson Break the Law?
Nick Baumann writes for Mother Jones: "Did Henry Paulson, George W. Bush's Treasury secretary, break the law? According to a new book on the financial meltdown by New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin, in June 2008, Paulson, who was the chairman of Goldman Sachs before joining the Bush administration, held a secret meeting in Moscow with the board of directors of his former employer. The problem for Paulson—then and possibly now—was that after he had been nominated in 2006 to the Treasury post he had signed an ethics letter vowing to stay clear of potential conflicts of interest with Goldman Sachs and promising not to take any action that might affect the firm's ability to cover his multimillion-dollar pension."

Chamber Rejects Use of Term "3 Million Members"
Josh Harkinson writes for Mother Jones: "For the first time, the US Chamber of Commerce has admitted that its membership should be reported at one tenth the size that many major media outlets have listed it for more than a decade.  In an interview on Friday, Greg Marx of the Columbia Journalism Review asked Chamber spokesman Eric Wohlschlegel to comment on two competing newspaper accounts. Presented with a Wall Street Journal article that said the Chamber claims '300,000 members,' Wohlschlegel said, 'That's accurate.' Read an Associated Press article that said the Chamber claims 'a membership of 3 million,' he responded, 'That's not exactly reported correctly.'"

Health Care Hypocrites
Jim Hightower comments for Truthout: "How do you spell 'hypocrisy'? Try this: 'H-Y-P-O-C-O-N-G-R-E-S-S.' The hypocongress consists of those Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats who have risen up on their hind legs in recent weeks to snarl and howl at any mention of a government role in meeting America's health care needs. 'Socialism,' they bark -- we won't allow Barack Obama and the liberals to create a Washington-run, big-government intrusion into the hallowed private market. Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican, even pledged to fight so ferociously that the health care battle would be Obama's 'Waterloo.'"

The Tide Is Turning on Health Care Reform
Peter Dreier writes for The Nation: "Social movements are messy, so it is often difficult to know, in the midst of the battle, which side is winning. But in the past month, momentum on healthcare reform has unmistakably shifted as liberals and progressives have taken to the streets, the Internet, the airwaves and the halls of Congress to push for a bold public option, strong regulations on insurance abuses and a progressive tax plan to finance reform.  The Obama administration and its allies in Congress now understand that permitting the unholy alliance of insurance industry muscle, conservative Democratic obfuscation and right-wing mob tactics to defeat the president's healthcare proposal would write the conservative playbook for blocking other key components of his agenda--including action on climate change, immigration reform and labor laws. So in just the past few weeks, we've seen a change in strategy, a strong grassroots movement and markedly firmer resolve by the White House and liberal Democrats in Congress."

What's So Scary About Michael Pollan? Why Corporate Agriculture Tried to Censor His University Speech
Martha Rosenberg writes for AlterNet: "Even if agribusiness could shut Michael Pollan up, the outspoken author of Omnivore's Dilemma and a journalism professor at University of California, Berkeley, it still has the Los Angeles Times to contend with. Last week, the Times blasted California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo for downgrading a scheduled Pollan lecture because it received pressure from David E. Wood, a university donor who happens to be chairman of the Harris Ranch Beef Co."

Events In 181 Countries Urge International Action On Climate Change
Alec Sprague reports for Project Censored: "A total of 5,200 actions were held around the world to urge action on climate change, according to 350.org who sponsered an International Day of Climate Action this past Saturday. The number, 350, refers to the goal of three hundred fifty parts per million of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, which is claimed by scientists to be the safe upper limit. The current level is about 387 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere. A recent report in the Journal of Science shows that the last time levels were this high was fifteen million years ago."

Future of Abstinence-Only Programs Unclear Without Federal Funding, Newsweek Reports
Women's Health Policy Report writes: "Abstinence-only sex education programs that received substantial federal grants under the Bush administration are turning to private donors as an attempt to keep their programs running, Newsweek reports. Since 1997, the abstinence-only industry has received a total of $1.9 billion in government funding, including $1.5 billion from the federal government. However, the "next decade may well be its bust," as President Obama's 2010 budget cut federal funding for abstinence-only programs in favor of programs that have been proven effective, Newsweek reports."

A History of Failed Press Coverage of Afghanistan
Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould comment for Nieman Watchdog: "For almost 30 years – ever since we got a close-in view of it – American press coverage of Afghanistan has been simplistic, misleading, unexamining, accepting and echoing government propaganda, and just plain wrong. There have been exceptions…but not many."

Recommended Audio: Democracy Now! - House Advances Measure to Create Hundreds of New Low Power FM Radio Stations
The Local Community Radio Act of 2009 is on its way to a full House vote after sailing through the Energy and Commerce Committee with little opposition. The measure would repeal legislation which requires the FCC to protect full-power broadcasters from interference from Low Power FM stations being placed on third-adjacent channels. We speak to Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle, a co-sponsor of the bill; and Cory Fischer-Hoffman, campaign director of the Prometheus Radio Project.

Kids Watch more than a Day of TV Each Week
Matea Gold reports for the LA Times: "Reporting from New York - More than an entire day -- that's how long children sit in front of the television in an average week, according to new findings released Monday by Nielsen.  The amount of television usage by children reached an eight-year high, with kids ages 2 to 5 watching the screen for more than 32 hours a week on average and those ages 6 to 11 watching more than 28 hours. The analysis, based on the fourth quarter of 2008, measured children's consumption of live and recorded TV, as well as VCR and game console usage."

CNN's Lou Dobbs Problem
Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Pat Garofalo, and Zaid Jilani write for the Progress Report at Think Progress: "Last week, CNN aired the four-hour documentary, 'Latino in America,' which explored 'how Latinos are reshaping our communities and culture and forcing a nation of immigrants to rediscover what it means to be an American.' The documentary has become a 'rallying cry for activist groups' that are attempting to get CNN to take action against nightly news anchor Lou Dobbs. As one of CNN's leading TV personalities, Dobbs has used his stature to infuse hate and vitriol into the immigration debate. Latino and immigrants' rights activists have launched several campaign -- including Drop Dobbs, Tell CNN Enough is Enough, and Basta Dobbs (Basta is Spanish and Italian for 'stop' or 'enough') -- that are aimed at pressuring CNN to hold Dobbs to journalistic standards or drop him altogether and raising awareness about Dobbs to his show's advertisers. 'Lou Dobbs is the gigantic anti-immigration elephant in the room at CNN,' said Roberto Lovato, one of the organizers of Basta Dobbs. "If CNN won't drop Dobbs, it's time that his advertisers did. It's time to do more than simply highlight the damage Dobbs does and the threat he poses," wrote John Santore of Media Matters for America, one of the organizations behind the Drop Dobbs campaign. Dobbs has responded to the efforts against him by claiming that liberals think Hispanics 'are so stupid that they'll believe that I am some sort of racist.'"