July 2009

7/31

Why Obama’s Peace Process is Still Going Nowhere
by Ali Abunimah

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/31-11

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Top Ten Ways To Tell Your President & His Party Aren’t Fighting For
Health Care For Everybody
With the corporate media relentlessly distorting the public discussion
around health care reform, it time for some clear, bright lines to help
us tell who is doing what to whom, and whether any of it leads to health
care for all of us. Here are ten of them.
by Bruce Dixon

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/31

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
EXCLUSIVE: John Walker Lindh’s Parents Discuss Their Son’s Story, from
Joining the US-Backed Taliban Army to Surviving a Northern Alliance
Massacre, to His Abuse at the Hands of US Forces

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/31/exclusive_john_walker_lindhs_parents_discuss

7/30

FAIR Blog
Real Journalism: A Prerequisite for Real Debate on Healthcare

*Comments left at link

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/30/real-journalism-a-prerequisite-for-real-debate-on-healthcare/

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In Afghanistan, Child Rapist Police Return Behind US, UK Troops
by Gareth Porter
Inter Press Service

*Such a shame.

The Yanks and Brits want to do the right thing, but those damnable
locals just make things so complicated for them.

Maybe they should just up and leave.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/30

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
EXCLUSIVE: Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Speaks from
Nicaraguan Border on Who’s Behind the Coup, His Attempts to Return Home,
the Role of the United States and More

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/30/exclusive_ousted_honduran_president_manuel_zelaya

The Hell of War Comes Home: Newspaper Series Documents Murder, Suicide,
Kidnappings by Iraq Vets

*So these persons are war criminals abroad, and murderers and rapists at
home.

They’re also victims of a bloodthirsty system that hides behind a facade
of “honor and duty”, but doesn’t give a shit about them, much less the
innocents they killed “defending the homeland.”

How do you reconcile those two facts?

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/29/the_hell_of_war_comes_home

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Institute for Public Accuracy
Obama’s Doctor, Others: Not Doing Single Payer a “Terrible Mistake”

*Public option:

Devil, or deep blue sea

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2046

7/29

FAIR Blog
LA Times Acknowledges Gaping Hole in Media’s Healthcare Debate

*Comment left at link

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/29/la-times-acknowledges-gaping-hole-in-medias-healthcare-debate/

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
Obama Admin Expands Law Enforcement Program 287(g), Criticized for
Targeting Immigrants and Increasing Racial Profiling

US Revokes Visas for Honduran Coup Officials; Human Rights Abuses
Escalate

*”Crimmigration” won’t end over a couple of beers

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/29/obama_admin_expands_law_enforcement_program

Christopher Pyle, Whistleblower Who Sparked Church Hearings of 1970s, on
Military Spying of Olympia Peace Activists

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/29/pyle

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Institute for Public Accuracy
Medicare Annivesary

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2045

7/28

Empire’s Paranoia About the Pashtuns
A Century of Frenzy over the North-West Frontier
by Juan Cole

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/28

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Denialogues and Politically Transmitted Diseases
US conservatives can add teenage pregnancies and STDs to climate change
and all the other things they love to disavow
by George Monbiot

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/28-10

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Greenpeace Study Finds Oil Companies May Be Doomed
Environmental activist network argues that the oil industry might be
approaching a tipping point from fall in the price, advances in
technology and policies on climate change
by David Teather
The Guardian/UK

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/28-4

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Afghan War Questioned as More Bodies Flown Home
by Agence France Presse

*Not a goddamn thing to do with the morality of the war, of course

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/28-8

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Human Activity Is Driving Earth’s ‘Sixth Great Extinction Event’
Population growth, pollution and invasive species are having a
disastrous effect on species in the southern hemisphere, a major review
by conservationists warns
by Ian Sample
The Guardian/UK

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/28-11

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
Democracy Now! Broadcast Exclusive: Declassified Docs Reveal Military
Operative Spied on WA Peace Groups, Activist Friends Stunned

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/28/broadcast_exclusive_declassified_docs_reveal_military

7/27

Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
Costs of Renting Still Considerably Cheaper Than Ownership
Right to Rent legislation would slow the soaring rate of foreclosures.

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/07/27-0

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Obama and Clinton Nix Change in Honduras
by Roger Burbach

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/27-2

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Guess Who’s Controlling Our Food Supply?
by Rob Smart

*I’m posting this for the intel on corporate control of GM crop
research. Just roll your eyes and move on past the blatantly
contradictory blather about how well “America’s version of capitalism”
works.

Jesus …

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/27-10

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Happiness Consultants Won’t Stop a Depression
by Chris Hedges

*Excellent piece – please read.

Of course, if you’re unlucky enough to be a corporate drone, you’re
already painfully aware of this, aren’t you?

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/27-1

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Climate Change to Force 75 Million Pacific Islanders From Their Homes
More than 75 million people living on Pacific islands will have to
relocate by 2050 because of the effects of climate change, Oxfam has
warned.
by Bonnie Malkin in Sydney
The Telegraph/UK

*”Paradise” losing

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/27-1

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World Will Warm Faster Than Predicted in Next Five Years, Study Warns
New estimate based on the forthcoming upturn in solar activity and El
Niño southern oscillation cycles is expected to silence global warming
sceptics
by Duncan Clark
The Guardian/UK

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/27-9

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FAIR Blog
Mitch Albom’s Faulty Tax Math

*Comment left at link

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/27/mitch-alboms-faulty-tax-math/

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
National Exclusive…Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, Wife of Ousted Honduran
President, Calls on US to Aid Her Husband’s Return Home: “We Want
Justice, We Want Peace, We Demand the Return to Democracy”

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/27/national_exclusive_xiomara_castro_de_zelaya

Tensions Rise in Latin America over US Military Plan to Use Three Bases
in Colombia

*Gonna take a damn sight more than “urging” to stop this neocolonial
déjà vu from the Hope Doper, innit?

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/27/tensions_rise_in_latin_americas_over

Parole Hearing to Be Held Tuesday for Imprisoned Native American
Activist Leonard Peltier

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/27/parole_hearing_to_be_held_tuesday

7/26

Health Care Hyprocrisy
by Ralph Nader

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/25-0

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Capitalism, Sarah Palin-Style
by Naomi Klein

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/25-3

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The Transition Initiative: The Head, Heart, & Hands of Energy Descent
by Jay Griffiths

*Forming social nuclei to counter our atomized existence

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/25-5

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End an Irrelevant Era: Lift the Cuba Travel Ban
by JoJo Farrell

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/26-4

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Politics-As-Usual While Planet Burns: ACESA Can’t Solve Climate Crisis
by Brian Tokar

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/26-5

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The Big Lie of Afghanistan
by Malalai Joya

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/26

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Global Trend for Sit-Ins and Occupations as Mass Redundancies Continue
by Terry Macalister
The Guardian/UK

*Standing up by sitting down

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/25-2

7/25

FAIR Blog
Textbooks as Weapons in Texas’ ‘Education War’

*Santayana said, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to
repeat it.”

That’s just what those who control history are banking on, isn’t it?

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/25/textbooks-as-weapons-in-texas-education-war/

7/24

Corporate Accountability International
Maine Community Rebuffs Nestlé, Demonstrates Power of the Grassroots
Statement by Leslie Samuelrich, Deputy Director

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/07/24-3

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The Attack of the 1-Percenters
by David Sirota

*Those last few sentences fly in the face of the rest of the piece,
don’t they? No surprise from Sirota and many other “progressives”, is
it?

Still, the bulk’s worth posting, and so I am.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/24-0

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A Force of Nature: Us
The Anthropocene Period: What humanity does has important consequences,
so we must manage our global life-support system
by Simon Lewis

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/24-9

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Zelaya Just One of Millions
Honduran Coup Plotters’ Fear Isn’t Losing Power to Zelaya or Chavez,
It’s Losing Power to Hondurans
by The Real News Network

http://www.commondreams.org/video/2009/07/24

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FAIR Blog
Sands of Healthcare Truth Beneath ‘Oceans of Media’

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/24/sands-of-healthcare-truth-below-oceans-of-media/

Healthcare One of ‘Two Human Rights We Lack’

*Comment left at link

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/24/healthcare-one-of-two-human-rights-we-lack/

Walter Cronkite’s Other War

*Comment left at link

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/24/walter-cronkites-other-war/

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
Defying Coup Regime, Zelaya Attempts Return to Honduras

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/24/defying_coup_regime_zelaya_attempts_return

US-India Nuke Deals Raise Fears of Escalated Indo-Pakistan Arms Race

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/24/with_lucrative_nuke_deals_with_india

Former Iranian Political Prisoners, Relatives of Iran’s Jailed
Protesters Lead Three-Day Hunger Strike Outside UN

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/24/fmr_iranian_political_prisoners_relatives_of

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Institute for Public Accuracy
Will Ousted Honduras President Return?

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2043

7/23

Blackwater Seeks Gag Order
by Jeremy Scahill

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/23-2

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Bank of America’s Guerrilla Collection Tactics
by Laura Flanders
Grit TV

*Warm and fuzzy fantasy ads – down and dirty reality

http://www.commondreams.org/video/2009/07/23-0

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Chemical Makers Go on the Offensive in Agriculture
by Ernest Scheyder
the Associated Press

*A different kind of chemical warfare – deadly weapons of mass
production

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/23-4

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Byzantine World of Immigration Detention
by William Fisher
Inter Press Service

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/23

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Hawaii Waves Goodbye to Environmental Protection Law
by Sunny P. Lewis
Environment News Service

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/23-5

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Christian Right Aims to Change History Lessons in Texas Schools
State’s education board to consider adding Christianity’s role in
American history to curriculum
by Chris McGreal in Washington
The Guardian/UK

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/23-2

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FAIR Blog
Venerating — but Not Emulating — Journos of Yore

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/23/venerating-but-not-emulating-journos-of-yore/

‘Strength in Bargaining’ Still, When Deals ‘Done Fairly’

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/23/strength-in-bargaining-still-when-deals-done-fairly/

NYT’s David Brooks Scares Up More False Figures

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/23/nyts-david-brooks-scares-up-more-false-figures/

Time: Israeli Settlers vs. the Palestinians

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/23/time-israeli-settlers-versus-the-palestinians/

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
Promoting Healthcare Reform, Obama Admits US Can’t Insure All Americans
Without Single Payer

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/23/obama_us_cant_insure_all_americans

Watchdog Group Sues for Disclosure of White House Meetings with
Healthcare Execs

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/23/watchdog_group_sues_for_disclosure_of

Court Rules New York Fire Department Discriminates Against Black, Latino
Applicants

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/23/court_rules_new_york_fire_department

“The Yes Men Fix the World”: In New Film, Anti-Corporate Pranksters the
Yes Men Continue to Jolt Polluters and Profiteers

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/23/yes_men

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Institute for Public Accuracy
Minimum Wage Raise

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2042

7/22

Institute for Public Accuracy
Iraq: Myth and Reality

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2041

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US Continues Down Perilous Biofuels Path
by George Monbiot

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/22-13

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Lessons from Hard Times Past
by Tim Costello, Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/22-2

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Why Obama’s Public Option Is Defective, and Why We Need Single-Payer
by Drs. Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/22-9

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What’s ‘Organic’ About Organic?
by whatsorganicmovie.org

http://www.commondreams.org/video/2009/07/22-0

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Ex-Envoy Warns Against US Plan for Guam
by Jude Lizama
Marianas Variety

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/22-9

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Did US Forces Watch Afghan Massacre?
Afghan detainees allege that Americans witnessed a mass killing — a
charge the New York Times chose not to report
by Mark Benjamin
Salon.com

*All the news that’s printed to fit

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/22-7

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*I heard a song today that gives me some hope that popular culture isn’t
a total wasteland. See what you think, especially the last verse:

http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/flatlanders/homeland-refugee-27014.html

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
President Obama’s Longtime Physician Opposes White House Health Plan,
Advocates Single Payer

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/22/president_obamas_longtime_physician_opposes_white

Uninsured Travel from Across US for Free Healthcare from Relief Group
Remote Area Medical

*”Remote” is an apt term, isn’t it? What are the chances that this
group will be unnecessary in the US in the foreseeable future?

On second thought, I guess “remote” isn’t really very accurate, is it?

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/22/uninsured_travel_from_across_us_for

Cornel West and Carl Dix on Race and Politics in the Age of Obama

*Well, now that they’ve had a revolutionary communist on, DN! can go
back to the Howard Deans and Julian Bonds for the next, what, six
months?

That’s overbroad – but not unfair, is it?

Why aren’t truly radical critiques aired every goddamn day?

Ask yourself that question – please.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/22/cornel_west_and_carl_dix_on

7/21

Seance on Wall Street
by Dean Baker

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/21-6

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The Great Tax Con Job
by Thom Hartmann

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/21

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Institute for Public Accuracy
Congress Copying Massachusetts’ Failing Healthcare?

*On the menu:

Deformed reform – A DC speciality

(No substitutions)

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2040

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
Despite Pledge to Cut Military Ties to Coup Regime, US Continues to
Train Honduran Soldiers at School of Americas

“From Arbenz to Zelaya: Chiquita in Latin America”

*Red, blue – in DC there’s only one color that counts …

Green

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/21/despite_pledge_to_cut_military_ties

As Obama Continues Push for Healthcare Reform, House Committee Approves
Kucinich-Sponsored Measure to Keep Single-Payer Option Alive

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/21/as_obama_continues_push_for_healthcare

7/20

Schools Foster Climate Illiteracy
In ultra-green Portland, textbooks offer superficial take on global
warming
by Bill Bigelow

*Leaving out the warming climate by leaving in the hot air

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/20-12

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Pentagon Enlists Feminists for War Aims
by Tom Hayden

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/20-5

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Canadian Health Care: A Reality Check on a Reality Check
For years, Canadians have feared the American health care system; now
Americans are being told to fear ours
by Julie Mason

*One other thing to fear …

Obama’s vision of “a public option”

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/20-11

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The High Cost of Cheap Food
by Megan Nix

*Food as a part of life, not an agent of death

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/20-13

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War Without Purpose
by Chris Hedges

*A thoughtful piece as usual by Hedges, but a few things:

Why no mention of energy resources and pipeline routes? Aren’t those
the underlying imperial rationale for this hell?

As for Al-Qaida (spelling of the day) – would it have any reason to be
an “enemy” if the US behaved morally and legally?

Being fanatics, they may hate “Western ways”, but that’s not the reason
for terrorism, is it? It’s what the West, and in particular the US, has
done to their homelands, isn’t it?

Now I’m not saying that if terrorism against the West were to stop,
everything would be fine. Again, being fanatics, they cause great harm
to local folks – women most tragically, of course.

So there’s ample reason to oppose their control of any land – but the
US, as it currently acts in the world (and will do so until the rapidly
approaching end of time – let’s be honest) has no role in that
opposition. As you know, it has murdered more innocents by uncounted
orders of magnitude.

It’s an international problem, that can only be resolved by honest
international efforts at creating true equality and human dignity. When
folks possess those, these groups won’t be able to point to legitimate
wrongs to legitimate their own evil acts.

Of course, it flies in the face of history to believe that there will
ever be a just world. But trying to make it so is what gives our lives
meaning, isn’t it?

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/20

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Afghanistan Exit Could Bring Escalated Air War
by Paul Weinberg
Inter Press Service

*Typical corpress (Is IPS corpress – or just aping same?) attitude
toward war:

Civilian deaths are “a political nightmare” … not war crimes.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/20-9

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FAIR Blog
Honduras Coup Talks ‘Presented as Progress’ in NYT

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/20/honduras-coup-talks-presented-as-progress-in-nyt/

On Cronkite as (Belatedly) ‘Courageous Truth-Teller’

*Comment left at link

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/20/on-cronkite-as-belatedly-courageous-truth-teller/

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
NAACP Turns 100: The History and Future of the Nation’s Oldest and
Largest Civil Rights Organization

*Would it be fair to rename this organization the National Association
for the Advancement of Compromised Principles?

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/20/naacp_turns_100_the_history_and

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Institute for Public Accuracy
Afghanistan Policy: Assessing the Latest

*There’s a big difference between the war going bad, and the war being
bad, isn’t there?

A “winnable” war is no less evil than a “unwinnable” one, is it?

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2039

7/18

FAIR Blog
Fox Race Rant ‘More Than Silly’–’Ignorant and Bigoted’

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/17/fox-race-rant-more-than-silly-ignorant-and-bigoted/

Time Marriage ‘Concern’ Really Just ‘Attack on Liberals’

*Obama and Clinton “turned out all right”?

I guess mass murder can be overlooked if you’re a Democrat.

Jesus.

Sorry – nothing half-witty to say here.

Just … Jesus …

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/17/time-marriage-concern-really-just-attack-on-liberals/

7/17

Gaza and the Language of Power
by Ramzy Baroud

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/17-3

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Israeli Soldiers’ Revelations from Gaza
by Alex Thomson
Channel 4 News/UK

http://www.commondreams.org/video/2009/07/17

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US Income Inequality Continues to Grow
by Don Monkerud

*The poor will always be with us …

Because the rich will be, too

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/17-8

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FAIR Blog
Newsweek’s ‘Selective Zeal for Democracy’

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/17/newsweeks-selective-zeal-for-democracy/

On Google, HuffPo and the Business of Conveying Information

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/17/on-google-huffpo-and-the-business-of-conveying-information/

NYT Sotomayor ‘Analysis’ = What Republicans Are Thinking

*Comments left at link

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/17/nyt-sotomayor-analysis-what-republicans-are-thinking/

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Institute for Public Accuracy
Congress Protecting Insurance Companies from States?

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2038

7/16

Time to Pay Our Climate Debt
by Nick Dearden

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/16-0

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Obama’s Prizes for Israel Are Not ‘Pressure’
by Ali Abunimah

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/16-8

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Blood and Oil in Central Asia
by Conn Hallinan

*The Great Game that will have no winner

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/16

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Everything That Happens in Afghanistan Is Based on Lies or Illusions
A Film That Captures Some Edgy, Fearful Truths
by Ann Jones

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/16-5

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Into the Inferno: Hollow Language and Hollow Democracies
What can we do, now that democracy and the free market are one?
by Arundhati Roy

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/16-10

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Dairy Farming Crisis
by Howard Weiss-Tisman
the Brattleboro Reformer (Vermont)

*Sour times for small milkers

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/16-9

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Leaked: More Than Fifty House Progressives Privately Commit to Oppose
Weak Health Care Bill
by Ryan Grim
The Huffington Post

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/16-3

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
They Dump the Sick to Satisfy Investors”: Insurance Exec Turned
Whistleblower Wendell Potter Speaks Out Against Healthcare Industry

*I’d encourage folks to write and ask that Goodman bring up the fact
with Howard Dean that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights already
establishes universal healthcare as a right for all peoples, including
right here in the US and A.

Take a look – Article 25:

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

It’s the law of the land. The US is obligated under international law
and the Constitution to abide by its tenets.

We don’t need no stinking halfassed “public option”. We need this
gummint to obey the law and give us what every developed nation in the
world has had for donkey’s years, don’t we?

Okay then.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/16/former_insurance_exec_wendell_porter

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FAIR Blog
Swine Flu ‘a Case Study in Reckless Journalism’

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/16/swine-flu-a-case-study-in-reckless-journalism/

When Reporters Are Present, Yet ‘Fail to Bear Witness’

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/16/when-reporters-are-present-yet-fail-to-bear-witness/

Telecoms Rally Against ‘Transformative’ Internet Bill

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/16/telecoms-rally-against-transformative-internet-bill/

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Institute for Public Accuracy
Will Holder Uphold the Law on Torture?

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2037

7/15

Four Voices in the Senate for Healthcare Justice
by Donna Smith

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/15-0

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Will Iraq Be a Global Gas Pump?
by Michael T. Klare

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/15

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The Democrats’ Selective Amnesia on Assassination: Clinton Did It and
Obama Does It Too
While the focus is on Dick Cheney’s role, the U.S. has long had a
bi-partisan assassination program.
by Jeremy Scahill

*(Both) Parties to murder

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/15-11

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Los Angeles Accused of Criminalizing Homelessness
by Steve Gorman
Reuters

*The City of Angels and devils

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/15-2

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FAIR Blog
NYT and the Pro-Withdrawal Majority (of 2004)

*And now the Times has moved from lying about why the US shouldn’t
withdraw to lying about how it is withdrawing.

Who says you can’t teach an old dog?

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/15/ny-times-and-the-pro-withdrawal-majority-of-2004/

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor Answers GOP Critics on Prior Remarks

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/15/supreme_court_nominee_sotomayor_answers_gop

Review of Sotomayor’s Record Belies GOP Charges of Biased Judicial
Practice

*She’s “in the mainstream” …

Big surprise.

Heaven forfend Obama would nominate someone who bucks the system’s
definition of “justice”.

That might lead to some change we can believe in.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/15/review_of_sotomayors_judicial_record_contradicts

As Goldman Sachs Posts Record Profits, Matt Taibbi Probes Role of
Investment Giant in US Financial Meltdown

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/15/goldman_sachs_posts_record_profits

US Lobbyists with Clinton Ties Hired to Defend Honduran Coup Regime

*Liars for hire, and the Democrats who love them

http;//www.democracynow.org/2009/7/15/honduras

7/14

The Rich Can Relax. We Just Need the Poor World to Cut Emissions. By
125%
British and G8 climate strategy just doesn’t add up. As soon as serious
curbs are needed it turns into impossible nonsense
by George Monbiot

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/14-1

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Is Obama Continuing the Bush/Cheney Assassination Program?
Congress is outraged that Cheney concealed a CIA program to assassinate
al Qaeda leaders, but they should also be investigating why Obama is
continuing – and expanding – U.S. assassinations.
by Jeremy Scahill

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/14-6

.

Rich Cause the Crisis, Workers Get the Blame
by LInda McQuaig

*You get what you pay for … if you’re rich.

The rest of us pay for what they get.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/14-4

.

Obama Drinks Friedman’s Kool-Aid
by Thom Hartmann

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/14-0

.

The Hidden Scandal of American Hunger
by GRITtv

http://www.commondreams.org/video/2009/07/14-0

.

Iraq Suffers as the Euphrates River Dwindles
by Campbell Robertson
The New York Times

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/14-2

.

On Tiny Plots, a New Generation of Farmers Emerges
by Elizabeth Weise
USA Today

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/14-4

.

DEMOCRACY NOW!
Confirmation Hearings Open for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, First Latina
Nominated to Supreme Court

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/14/confirmation_hearings_begin_for_judge_sonia

Two Decades After His Rejection from Federal Bench for Racial Bias, Sen.
Jeff Sessions Leads GOP Opposition to Sotomayor

*That’s what we need on the Supreme Court – a “moderate” judge.

Jesus Christ …

I didn’t post the previous segment, as it was pretty much cheerleading
for Sotomayor, as was the case for much of the coverage of her
nomination.

Color and gender don’t matter, do they? You want someone on the court
who intrerprets the law for persons of color, women and all people
fairly, don’t you?

I’d rather have a blindingly white male with a true sense of justice on
the bench than a Latina who doesn’t possess that quality, wouldn’t you?

Let’s just hope she turns out to be whole helluva lot better than her
record would indicate.

Given the case described below, I won’t hold my breath.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/14/sessions

Story of Wrongfully Convicted Prisoner Denied Appeal by Sotomayor
Excluded from Confirmation Hearings

*What would a “wise Latina” do?

No point asking Sotomayor, is it?

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/14/story_of_wrongfully_convicted_prisoner_jailed

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FAIR Blog
‘No Worries’ in Fox Coverage of Murdoch Crimes

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/13/no-worries-in-fox-coverage-of-murdoch-crimes/

NYT’s ‘Egregious and Absurd’ Editorial Policies

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/13/nyts-egregious-and-absurd-editorial-priorities/

7/13

Amnesty International – USA
Native Advocates Come to DC to Change Policies, Obtain Funds to Combat
Sexual Violence

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/07/13-1

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Center for Biological Diversity
Dow Pitching New Pesticide That Doubles As an Extraordinarily Potent
Greenhouse Gas:
Scientists and Advocates Organize to Block Sulfuryl Fluoride, a
Pesticide 4,780 Times More Potent Than Carbon Dioxide

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/07/13-5

.

The Mystery of the Missing Unemployed Man
On Jobs and Banks
by Barbara Garson

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/13-5

.

The Man in the Mirror
by Chris Hedges

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/13-1

.

Wall Street Journal Loves Obama’s Drone War Vs. Pakistan: ‘Unmanned
Bombs Away’
The paper’s editors attack unembedded journalists who report the
Pakistani deaths. Instead, they say, we should all just shut up and
listen to U.S. intelligence agencies.
by Jeremy Scahill

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/13-9

.

‘The Killing of Women Is Like Killing a Bird Today in Afghanistan’
Stephen de Tarczynski interviews Afghan women’s rights activist MALALAI
JOYA
by Stephen de Tarczynski
Inter Press Service

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/13-6

.

Game on for Christian Protest
by Barney Zwartz
The Age/Australia

*WWJD?

Go climb a fence.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/13-3

.

Crops, Ponds Destroyed in Quest for Food Safety
by Carolyn Lochhead
The San Francisco Chronicle

*You can’t fool Mother Nature, but you sure as hell can fuck with her

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/13

.

DEMOCRACY NOW!
Obama Calls for Probe into 2001 Massacre of at Least 2,000 Suspected
Taliban POWs by US-Backed Afghan Warlord

*Okay, so what’s happening here?

Is this an attempt to dump Karzai for someone even more pliant? Will
this be another Abu Ghraib, with a few low-level personnel taking the
fall, and the US claiming their prosecution shows our commitment to
human rights?

I’m not sure on the first, but an empirical view certainly leads to the
second, doesn’t it?

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/13/obama_calls_for_probe_into_2001

7/12

FAIR Blog
Big Media Push Escalation in Afghanistan and at Home

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/12/big-media-push-escalation-in-afghanistan-and-at-home/

.

New Evidence Surfaces in Post-Katrina Crimes
by A.C. Thompson
ProPublica

*Old times there are not forgotten

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/11-4

7/10

Niger Delta Standoff
by Kia Mistilis

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/10-2

.

The Ultimate Irony: Health Care Industry Adopts Big Tobacco’s PR Tactics
by Wendell Potter

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/10

.

Yes We Camp
by Stephanie Westbrook

*Katrina, meet Katarina (aka L’Aquila)

Class war, Italian style

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/10-1

.

Big Bankers Mounting Sneak Attack on Consumers
by Jim Hightower

*Submitted strictly for the fee intel – just ignore this foolish faith
in the Hope Doper’s good intentions.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/10-7

.

Law Will Let Afghan Husbands Starve Wives Who Withhold Sex
by Jerome Starkey
The Independent/UK

*What Obama really considers “abhorrent” is having to do damage control
for Karzai and the rest of the US puppets in Kabul, don’t you think?

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/10-4

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
President Obama Heads to Ghana On First Official Trip to Sub-Saharan
Africa

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/10/president_obama_heads_to_ghana_on

“China Safari: On The Trail of Beijing’s Expansion in Africa”

*The transcription has been godawful for the last week or so – hope you
can make this out better than I can.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/10/china_safari_on_the_trail_of

Costa Rica Hosts Talks Over Honduras Coup

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/10/costa_rica_hosts_talk_over_honduras

27 Arrested For Erecting Anti-Logging Blockade in Oregon

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/10/27_arrested_for_erecting_anti_logging

.

FAIR Blog
U.S. Press Misses Honduran Official’s Racist Assault on U.S. Prez

*Comparing Chavez’s and Ortez’s remarks doesn’t make a lick of sense.
Chavez was calling a mass murderer what he is.

Ortez was calling a mass murderer what he isn’t.

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/10/us-press-miss-honduran-officials-racist-assault-on-us-prez/

Sports Media Sexism ‘Infuriating’ and Just Plain ‘Tired’

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/10/sports-media-sexism-infuriating-and-just-plain-tired/

News on Female Pols ‘Insulting, Irrelevant… Drivel’

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/10/news-on-female-pols-insulting-irrelevant-drivel/

Institute for Public Accuracy
Insider on Health Insurance PR

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2036

7/9

Colonizing Iraq
The Obama Doctrine?
by Michael Schwartz

*A kinder, gentler foot on the throat

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/09-10

.

Are Our Markets Being Manipulated by ‘Rogues’ or Firms?
There’s New Evidence to Suggest That Crime in the Financial Markets Is
Rife
by Danny Schechter

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/09-3

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Mourn on the 4th of July
Liberals say that the United States is once again a “nation of moral
ideals”, but behind the facade little has changed. With his government
of warmongers, Wall Street cronies and polluters from the Bush and
Clinton eras, Barack Obama is merely upholding the myths of a divine
America
by John Pilger

*Pilger may be right about Americans’ progressive inclinations – but I
think that they may largely exist in a vacuum, easily evaporated by the
fears propagated by the government and corporate propaganda so
scientifically refined to such deadly effectiveness.

What do you think?

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/09-7

.

The Organic Monopoly and the Myth of ‘Natural’ Foods: How Industry
Giants Are Undermining the Organic Movement
by Ronnie Cummins

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/09

.

Poorest Countries to Bear Brunt of Growth
by Ben Case
Inter Press Service

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/09-2

.

Where in the World Are the Federal Trade Commissioners?
by Stephanie Mencimer
Mother Jones

*This job’s no day at the beach.

Wait a minute …

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/09-0

.

DEMOCRACY NOW!
In Rare U.S. Broadcast, Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya
Discusses Coup, Costa Rica Talks, U.S. Role and More

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/9/in_rare_us_broadcast_ousted_honduran

Report From Urumqi: Thousands of Chinese Troops Enter City Torn by
Ethnic Clashes

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/9/report_from_urumqi_thousands_of_chinese

Stella D’Oro Workers End 11-Month Strike After NLRB Victory, But Owner
Threatens to Close Factory

*The cookie monsters

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/9/stella_doro_workers_end_11_month

Obama’s War: Thousands of Marines Battle in Helmand in Major U.S.
Offensive

*You’d think “The exception to the rulers”, as DN! likes to label
itself, wouldn’t frame Afghans’ opposition to US occupation as an
obstacle to overcome, wouldn’t you?

Am I misreading here? The overarching theme seems to be mismanagement,
rather than immorality.

Not much of an “exception”, is it?

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/9/obamas_war_thousands_of_marines_battle

.

FAIR Blog
For the WaPo, McNamara Is the Real Victim of the Vietnam War

*Comment left at link

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/09/for-the-wapo-mcnamara-is-the-real-victim-of-the-vietnam-war/

When Corporate Media Report on Corporate Medicine

*And the corpress profit handsomely from the ad revenue from these
medical corps, don’t they?

One hand whitewashes the other.

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/09/when-corporate-media-reports-on-corporate-medicine/

Time: Single Parents, Not Poverty, Bad for Kids

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/09/time-single-parents-not-poverty-bad-for-kids/

WaPo Puts War-Justifying Words in Saddam’s Mouth

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/09/wapo-puts-war-justifying-words-in-saddams-mouth/

On ‘Disingenuous’ Reports of Anti-Semitic Chavismo

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/09/on-disingenuous-reports-of-anti-semitic-chavismo/

7/8

What Will the G8 Summit Accomplish: Feed the Hungry or Fuel Hunger?
by Anuradha Mittal

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/08-1

.

The Honduras Coup: Is Obama Innocent?
by Michael Parenti

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/08-3

.

Seeing Obama as Norwegians See Him
by George Lakey

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/08-2

.

Forget Shorter Showers: Why Personal Change Does Not Equal Political
Change
by Derrick Jensen

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/08

.

Rethink Afghanistan (Part 5): Women of Afghanistan

http://www.commondreams.org/video/2009/07/08-0

.

Energy Industry Sways Congress With Misleading Data
by Abrahm Lustgarten
ProPublica

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/08-9

.

DEMOCRACY NOW!
World Leaders, Protesters Gather in Italy for G-8; Global Financial
Crisis & Climate Change Top Agenda

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/8/world_leaders_protesters_gather_in_italy

Declassified Docs Implicate Indonesian President Yudhoyono in Coverup of
2002 Murders of American Teachers in West Papua

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/8/declassified_docs_implicate_indonesian_president_yudhoyono

Former Congressmember Cynthia McKinney Back in U.S. After Being Detained
and Deported from Israel

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/8/fmr_congressmember_cynthia_mckinney_back_in

.

Institute for Public Accuracy
“The Obama Justice System”

*Real men don’t do justice

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2033

.

FAIR Blog
Time’s Trend Story in Search of a Trend

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/08/times-trend-story-in-search-of-a-trend/

7/7

Waxman-Markey Will Not Do: A ‘Fell-Swoop’ Moment Missed
by Karyn Strickler

*Think of all the “environmental” orgs who backed Waxman-Markey, while
trying to cover their asses by saying “It’s not perfect, but it’s the
best we can do at the moment.”

Ain’t that always the way with liberals?

Sometimes a compromise is the best that can be accomplished – but if
that compromise doesn’t create the conditions for vast improvement in
the future, if it in effect strangles that hope in the crib, it’s
nothing but political game-playing with other folks’ lives, isn’t it?

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/07-1

.

Are Afghan Lives Worth Anything?
Mourning Michael Jackson, Ignoring the Afghan Dead
by Tom Engelhardt

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/07-15

.

The US Withdrawal: Rebranding the Occupation or Changing the Game?
by GRITtv

http://www.commondreams.org/video/2009/07/07-0

.

Study: Lenders Avoid Aiding Distressed Due to Lack of Profit
by Jenifer B. McKim
The Boston Globe

*Helping the greedy instead of the needy

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/07-0

.

New Charges Added to Blackwater Lawsuit
by William Fisher
Inter Press Service

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/07-8

.

DEMOCRACY NOW!
Uyghur Protests Widen as Xinjiang Unrest Flares

*This is no joke, Barack

http://www.democracynow.org2009/7/7/uyghur_protests_widen_as_xinjiang_unrest

Vietnam War Architect Robert McNamara Dies at 93: A Look at His Legacy
With Howard Zinn, Marilyn Young & Jonathan Schell

*What can you say about McNamara’s “anguish”?

Only that I wish there were indeed a hell, where he’d be eternally
forced to look into the eyes of a child whose parents were murdered by
his “values and intentions”.

Maybe then he’d finally understand the difference between soul-searing
remorse and self-indulgent “regret”.

And if he did, I’d wish his soul peace.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/7/vietnam_war_architect_robert_mcnamara_dies

.

FAIR Blog
Geraldo Rivera as Voice of Journalistic Conscience?

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/07/geraldo-rivera-as-voice-of-journalistic-conscience/

The ‘Endemic Practices’ of ‘Revenue-Hungry News Orgs’

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/07/the-endemic-practices-of-revenue-hungry-news-orgs/

Big Media Love Health Industry Loopholes, Deceptions

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/07/big-media-love-health-industry-loopholes-deceptions/

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Institute for Public Accuracy
Obama, Africa and Priorities

http://accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2032

7/6

FAIR Extra!
Building a Better Journalism
Media activists and scholars share their ideas

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3830

Fearing the Future
The corporate press makes the case for being saved
by Peter Hart

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3826

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DEMOCRACY NOW!
Honduran Coup Regime Blocks Ousted President Zelaya’s Return; Troops
Open Fire on Supporters at Airport Killing Two

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/6/honduran_military_blocks_ousted_president_zelayas

John Pilger on Honduras, Iran, Gaza, the Corporate Media, Obama’s Wars
and Resisting the American Empire

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/6/filmmaker_journalist_john_pilger_on_honduras

.

FAIR Blog
NPR Ombud Dodges ‘Torture’ Reporting Critic

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/06/npr-ombud-dodges-torture-reporting-critic/

‘Net in Your Pocket’ Yields to AT&T’s ‘Digital Impasse’

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/06/net-in-your-pocket-yields-to-atts-digital-impasse/

More Pro-Coup Free-Speech Martyrs in Latin America?

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/06/more-pro-coup-free-speech-martyrs-in-latin-america/

Iraq: ‘Supreme’ War Crime, or Simply ‘Unnecessary’?

*Comments left at link

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/06/iraq-supreme-war-crime-or-simply-unnecessary/

7/3

Loss of World’s Seagrass Beds Seen Accelerating
by Jim Loney
Reuters

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/03-4

.

Countries ‘Wasting Money and Blood’ in Afghanistan
by Sophia Gardner
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

*There goes her White House photo op, don’t you think?

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/03-3

.

DEMOCRACY NOW!
Noam Chomsky on “Crisis and Hope: Theirs and Ours”

*I don’t have to ask you to read this, do I?

How would you describe it – lifting the fog of class war?

www.democracynow.org/2009/7/3/noam_chomsky_on_crisis_and_hope

7/2

How to Deal with America’s Empire of Bases
A Modest Proposal for Garrisoned Lands
by Chalmers Johnson

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/02-13

.

ExxonMobil Continuing to Fund Climate Sceptic Groups, Records Show
Records show ExxonMobil gave hundreds of thousands of pounds to lobby
groups that have published ‘misleading and inaccurate information’ about
climate change
by David Adam

*Giving green instead of going green

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/02-0

.

UN to Study Potential Threats to Canada-U.S. World Heritage Site
Conservation photographers set for expedition to British Columbia’s
Flathead Valley near Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park
by Cindy Chan
Epoch Times

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/02-9

.

EPA Allows TVA to Dump Spilled Coal Ash in Ala.
by Jay Reeves
The Associated Press

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/02-10

.

US Uses False Taliban Aid Charge to Pressure Iran
by Gareth Porter
Inter Press Service

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/02-12

.

DEMOCRACY NOW!
Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire Speaks from Israeli Jail Cell After
Arrest on Boat Delivering Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

http://www.democracynow.org’2009/7/2/nobel_peace_laureate_mairead_maguire_speaks

Zelaya Vows to Return to Honduras Despite Threats of Arrest by Coup
Leaders

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/zelaya_vows_to_return_to_honduras

“Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City”

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/fordlandia_the_rise_and_fall_of

Up in Smoke: How the Tobacco Industry Shaped the New Smoking Bill

*The killing goes on behind the smokescreen

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/up_in_smoke_how_the_tobacco

John Pilger Calls UK National Health Service a Treasure, Blasts US
Lawmakers for Being “in Bed with Powerful Interests” and Neglecting
“Their Own People’s Basic Human Rights”

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/john_pilger_blasts_us_lawmakers_on

.

FAIR Blog
Too Much Truth in Advertising at the WaPo?

*Dining and dancing to the DC tune – the only “green” with any gravitas
in town

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/02/too-much-truth-in-advertising-at-the-wapo/

NPR’s Single-Payer-Free Healthcare Reportage

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/02/nprs-single-payer-less-healthcare-reportage/

Fox: New 9/11 Needed for U.S. to Become Violent Enough

*Comment left at link

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/07/02/fox-new-911-needed-for-us-to-become-violent-enough/

7/1

For Once, the Yes Men Say No
by Andy Bichlbaum & Mike Bonanno

*No funny business with fascists

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/01-13

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