William Rivers Pitt | The Missing Piece Meets the Big O
William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: "I've been trying to wrap my mind around the dispiriting sense of failure that seems to have enveloped the Obama administration on the eve of the November midterms. The right hates him because he won, because he's Black, and because he won.... The left is up in arms because he hasn't met the lofty goals set after his election, and because he's allowed himself to get rolled by the right and their corporate paymasters."
Read the Article
Despite Anger Over BP Spill, Washington Might Not Act on It
Shashank Bengali and William Douglas, McClatchy Newspapers: "Congress is considering stricter regulation of oil exploration, and the Obama administration has pledged to overhaul the disgraced federal agency that oversees oil drilling. Already, however, some of the toughest proposals are facing stiff opposition from Republicans and some Gulf Coast Democrats whose constituents rely on the oil industry for jobs."
Read the Article
Michael Winship | The Right Manipulates Muslims - and Boy Scouts
Michael Winship, Truthout: "The right wing of this country, with the aid of Fox News and other media outlets, has opted to ignore many of the qualities one usually associates with a good scout - trustworthiness, honesty and especially cleanliness - to sling mud at the president for not making a personal appearance at the Jamboree. Instead, he videotaped a message for the lads. Not exactly a sin on the order of massive oil spills or ethnic purification."
Read the Article
Arizona Injunction a Victory, but Not End of the Fight, Activists Say
Yana Kunichoff, Truthout: "A federal judge's ruling has prevented the most contested parts of SB1070, Arizona's contested immigration law, from taking effect, but protests and recrimination have shown that feelings in the state remain far from friendly."
Read the Article
A Second Slave Rebellion in Haiti: What's the Worth of a Haitian Child?
Beverly Bell and Tory Field, Truthout: "One of the many effects of poverty in Haiti is that desperate parents regularly give away their children in the hope that the new family will feed and educate the children better than they themselves can. Instead, the children usually end up as child slaves, or restavek. In a country which overthrew slavery in 1804, today anywhere from 225,000 to 300,000 children live in forced servitude."
Read the Article
SEC Lets Citi Executives Go Free After $40 Billion Subprime Lie
Zach Carter, AlterNet: "The SEC just hit two Citigroup executives with fines for concealing $40 billion in subprime mortgage debt from investors back in 2007. The biggest fine is going to Citi CFO Gary Crittenden, who will pay $100,000 to settle allegations that he screwed over his own investors. The year of the alleged wrongdoing, Crittenden took home $19.4 million. That's right. Crittenden will lose one-half of one percent of his income from the year he hid a quagmire of bailout-inducing insanity from his own investors. That's it. No indictment. No prison time. Crittenden doesn't even have to formally acknowledge any wrongdoing."
Read the Article
Right-Wing Pundit Phyllis Schlafly Decries Government Assistance for "Unmarried Moms"
Charlie Eisenhood, Think Progress: "Over the past two months, many Republican pundits and members of Congress have been calling for the end of unemployment benefit extensions for the millions of Americans who can't find work.... Last week at a fundraiser for Michigan GOP congressional candidate Rocky Raczowski, conservative pundit Phyllis Schlafly added her voice to the chorus crying out against government assistance for the poor or unemployed."
Read the Article
Stolen Land, Stolen Trees, Stolen Livelihoods
Laura Finley, Truthout: "Imagine your livelihood is farming. You grow a variety of products that have sustained you and your family for generations. Then, imagine that the Army decides to erect a long fence that blocks you from accessing your farm. They say you will be able to get a permit to enter your own land, but when you apply, you are denied. The only person they will give the permit to is your elderly father, who cannot possible tend the land as needed and support the family. Already poor, your future is grim."
Read the Article
Militants plant al Qaeda flag after deadly attack in Baghdad
Top news: In a brazen challenge to Iraqi authorities, militants killed 23 members of the country's security forces in coordinated attacks on Thursday, then planted an al Qaeda flag in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad.
In the worst incident, gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in the Azamiyah neighborhood, then set it on fire, burning the bodies inside and planting the flag of al Qaeda in Iraq. Minutes later, three roadside bombs detonated nearby. Thursday also saw attacks elsewhere in Baghdad as well as in Fallujah and Mosul.
It was the boldest move by Iraq's Sunni militants since the commando-style raid on the Central Bank in June, which killed 26. Militants seem to be increasingly targeting Iraqi security forces as the United States plans to remove all but 50,000 American troops by the end of August.
Milestone: With at least 63 killed, July is the deadliest month yet for U.S. troops in the nine-year war in Afghanistan.
In the worst incident, gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in the Azamiyah neighborhood, then set it on fire, burning the bodies inside and planting the flag of al Qaeda in Iraq. Minutes later, three roadside bombs detonated nearby. Thursday also saw attacks elsewhere in Baghdad as well as in Fallujah and Mosul.
It was the boldest move by Iraq's Sunni militants since the commando-style raid on the Central Bank in June, which killed 26. Militants seem to be increasingly targeting Iraqi security forces as the United States plans to remove all but 50,000 American troops by the end of August.
Milestone: With at least 63 killed, July is the deadliest month yet for U.S. troops in the nine-year war in Afghanistan.
| Americas
Asia
Middle East
Africa
Europe
-By Joshua Keating |  |
ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images
