Truthout 5/10

Since Spill, Feds Have Given 27 Waivers to Oil Companies in Gulf
Marisa Taylor, McClatchy Newspapers: "Since the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded on April 20, the Obama administration has granted oil and gas companies at least 27 exemptions from doing in-depth environmental studies of oil exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico."
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Kagan Will Move Supreme Court to the Right
Marjorie Cohn, Truthout: "President Barack Obama has chosen Elena Kagan to fill the vacancy left by Justice John Paul Stevens' retirement. Sadly, Kagan cannot fill Justice Stevens' mighty shoes. As the Rehnquist court continued to eviscerate the right of the people to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, Associate Justice Stevens filed principled and courageous dissents."
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Greg Palast | Behind the Immigration Law (Video)
Investigative reporter Greg Palast explains why the immigration law in Arizona is intended to prevent Latino voters from reaching the polls.
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Think Tank Advocates Independent Commission on BP Spill, House to Introduce Bill
Allen McDuffee, Truthout: "As attempts to stop the flood of oil in the Gulf of Mexico continues at the rate of 200,000 gallons a day and the full assessment of damage won't be known for some time, a Washington, DC, think tank is proposing an independent commission to investigate the events and make recommendations to prevent similar future catastrophes."
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Derailing the Wall Street Attack on Social Security
Dean Baker, Truthout: "Emboldened by the fact that none of them have gone to jail for their role in the financial crisis, the Wall Street gang is now gunning for Social Security and Medicare, the country's most important safety net programs. Led by investment banker Pete Peterson, this crew is spending more than a billion dollars to convince the public that slashing these programs is the only way to protect our children and grandchildren from poverty."
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Pentagon Doubts Grow on McChrystal War Plan
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: "Although Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's plan for wresting the Afghan provinces of Helmand and Kandahar from the Taliban is still in its early stages of implementation, there are already signs that setbacks and obstacles it has encountered have raised serious doubts among top military officials in Washington about whether the plan is going to work."
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Greek Resistance
Maurice Ulrich, l'Humanite: "In this Europe of free competition it's not the Greek soldier we're saving but profit rates. The Greek people are rising up. They are calling for solidarity. It's a call to which our newspaper has replied, its front page present yesterday in the ranks of the protests. It's the beginning of a great war, said one protestor yesterday, quoted by AFP."
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News in Brief: Another Global Bailout, Video of the Underwater Oil Leak and More ...
Worldwide, central banks join forces to support large rescue package for Greece; government releases first video images of the gushing underwater oil geyser in the Gulf of Mexico; Fannie Mae continues to lose billions of dollars due to continued housing market collapse; UN report finds international community's goal to limit biodiversity loss have been missed.
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Scores Killed in Iraq's Worst Day of Violence This Year
Jonathan Adams, The Christian Science Monitor: "In what turned into Iraq's worst day of violence this year, scores were killed or wounded Monday in two suicide bombings and nine coordinated attacks on security checkpoints across Baghdad and nearby towns, showing how easily the fractious country can teeter back into chaos, particularly amid political uncertainty."
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Assassination of US Muslim Cleric Is Illegal, Immoral and Unwise
Bill Quigley, Truthout: "Agents of the United States are openly trying to assassinate Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen, while he is in hiding in Yemen. Despite what the apologists for assassination argue, this is illegal, immoral and unwise."
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Obama Right and Wrong About Arizona Law
Tom Barry, Truthout: "Obama was right to criticize Arizona for passing the highly controversial Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhood Act (SB 1070). He was right, too, in underscoring the federal government's own irresponsibility in the intensifying immigration policy crisis."
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Israeli Settlers Step Up Attacks on Palestinian Mosques
Mel Frykberg, Inter Press Service: "'There is immense anger as well as a feeling of vulnerability and fear when a place of sanctuary and holiness is subject to indiscriminate violence,' says Issa Hussein. 'Despite living under a brutal military occupation and being subjected to regular attacks by Israeli settlers for decades, normally places of worship were spared,' Hussein, a spokesman from this Palestinian village, near Nablus, in the northern West Bank, told IPS."
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Kagan in Context: Shafting Progressive Values
Norman Solomon, Truthout: "If President Obama has his way, Elena Kagan will replace John Paul Stevens - and the Supreme Court will move rightward. The nomination is very disturbing, especially because it's part of a pattern. The White House is in the grip of conventional centrist wisdom. Grim results stretch from Afghanistan to the Gulf of Mexico to communities across the USA."
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Loose Lips on Iran Can Sink America
Ray McGovern, Truthout: "The omnipresent World War II-era posters with the words 'Loose Lips Sink Ships' served as a warning to members of the U.S. military to take heed lest they divulge information that could tip off the enemy and result in defeat in battle."
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Making a Difference Makes You Happy
Tim Kasser, Yes! Magazine: "A series of studies find that activism brings pleasant emotions, greater life satisfaction, and more experiences of freedom, competence, and connection to others."
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When You Meet the Bogeyman, Offer Him Your Finest Whiskey
Andrew Birnbaum, Truthout: "Why are so many people willing, if not eager, to oppose policy changes that would improve their lives? Why do teabaggers protest President Obama when they did not protest George W. Bush, even after President Obama lowered their taxes?"
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