Thursday, March 25, 2010

Truthout 3/25

William Rivers Pitt | The New Dumb
William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: "It's pretty much official now. The GOP, in whole and in part, has gone completely over the high side in the aftermath of the House's successful passage of President Obama's health care reform package. Angry, bitter and frustrated has made way for deranged, deluded and dangerous within the minds and souls of that particular crowd. I went into pretty specific detail on Monday about some of the stunts the Right has been pulling since the bill passed - hateful slurs in Congressional hallways, assassination threats against Obama - but if you can believe it, matters got even more severe as the week went on."
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With 2.4 Million Jobs Lost to China, New Trade Battle Begins
Art Levine, Truthout: "Concern about massive jobs losses due to unfair Chinese trade practices is reshaping the American political battle lines over trade, with labor winning new and sometimes unlikely supporters in its fight for stronger policies to protect American workers....'We're picking up new allies, and Senators are signing on to introduce a bill that takes a tougher line on unfair trade than we've seen in the past,' Bill Samuel, the AFL-CIO's legislative director, told Truthout."
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John Pilger | Have a Nice World War, Folks
John Pilger, Truthout: "Here is news of the Third World War. The United States has invaded Africa. US troops have entered Somalia, extending their war front from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen and, now, the Horn of Africa. In preparation for an attack on Iran, American missiles have been placed in four Persian Gulf states, and 'bunker-buster' bombs are said to be arriving at the US base on the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean."
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Republicans Force House to Vote Again on Health Care Bill "Fixes"
Jason Leopold, Truthout: "Parliamentary problems were identified early Thursday morning with two provisions in the package of legislative fixes to the health care bill the House approved last weekend and sent to the Senate Tuesday after President Obama signed the main part of the legislation into law."
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Words, and Now Bricks Thrown at Lawmakers Over Health Care Vote
David Lightman and William Douglas, McClatchy Newspapers: "Law enforcement officials are investigating a series of threats against Democrats in the House of Representatives who backed the recent health care legislation, threats that have lawmakers on edge about potential violence against them both in Washington and back home."
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Camillo "Mac" Bica | On the Duty to Conscientiously Object
Camillo "Mac" Bica, Truthout: "Moral values and norms are the means through which we define ourselves as persons, structure our world and render our relationship to it and to other human beings comprehensible. That is, moral values and norms provide the parameters of our being - what I term our 'moral identity.' I submit that the moral principle of respect for persons is foundational to any reasonable, normative, ethical system. It is clear to me that if we do not respect and value persons, then respect for anything else we may hold 'sacred,' whether it is property, country, the flag etc., loses all meaning. Morality requires, therefore, that we treat all persons as ends in themselves, not as a means to the ends of others, that all persons have intrinsic moral value, not instrumental value only."
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Nuclear Waste Piles Up, and It's Costing Taxpayers Billions
Mark Clayton, The Christian Science Monitor: "The Bush administration agreed to store nuclear waste from 21 new reactors. But the federal government still can't meet its commitment to find permanent storage."
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"Shallow Throat": Obama, the GOP and "Potomac Fever"
Bernard Weiner, The Crisis Papers: "With the Democrats running the show, the Republican mole 'Shallow Throat,' now a high-priced political consultant, is no longer positioned inside the government, but still has a wide network of administration and party contacts, especially in the GOP. So using our usual code, I asked for a meeting to get Shallow Throat's take on what is going on in Washington a little more than a year after the new president was inaugurated."
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Palestinians in at-Tuwani Fight for Their Education
Amanda Mueller, Truthout: "In the rolling, rocky hills of South Hebron, where electricity and water are scarce and Israeli settler violence is plenty, a group of children huddle together, waiting to be escorted to school by the Israeli military."
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When Was the Last Time You Visited Iraq?: Exporting American Democracy to the World
Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch: "First-hand experience is not to be taken lightly. What, after all, do I know about Iraq? Only reporting I've been able to read from thousands of miles away or analysis found on the blogs of experts like Juan Cole. On the other hand, even from thousands of miles away, I was one of many who could see enough, by early 2003, to go into the streets and demonstrate against an onrushing disaster of an invasion that a lot of people, theoretically far more knowledgeable on Iraq than any of us, considered just the cat's meow, the 'cakewalk' of the new century."
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Yemen: Where Men Marry Children
Mira Baz, GlobalPost: "A new white dress, chains of gold jewelry sparkling brightly and more attention than this 13-year-old girl had ever received before: It was like playing dress-up, but better, for Zainab Hussein.... 'I'm a bride and I'm getting married!' she bragged to her friend, showing off her new jewelry. A few days later, Zainab, who'd barely reached full growth, was married off to a 30-year-old groom who also was her cousin. He paid $5,000 to Zainab's father for his child bride."
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Whistleblower Protection Legislation Will Help Some, but Not All
Yana Kunichoff, Truthout: "As the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act works its way through the House and Senate, advocates celebrate the possibility of stronger safeguards against employer retaliation, jury trial rights on retaliation claims by whistleblowers and the lifting of gag rules imposed by some national security agencies."
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