Dean Baker | The End of the Assault on Social Security and Medicare
Dean Baker, Truthout: When Sen. Elizabeth Warren came out for increasing Social Security last month, it set in motion a remarkable turn of events. For over a decade the only discussion of Social Security by the Washington power types was over how much to cut it and when.
Betty Dodson’s Feminist Sex Wars
Melissa Gira Grant, Truthout: Betty Dodson takes the side of “dirty” feminists, talks up the vulva and the clitoris, discusses the relationship of sexual pleasure and masturbation to human liberation and excoriates the current “art” market and The Vagina Monologues.
Report Finds Police Intelligence Gathering Tactics Threaten National Security
Candice Bernd, Truthout: A new report from the Brennan Center shows how a lack of oversight in local counterterrorism programs directs resources away from police work, undermines civil liberties, and causes important counterterrorism information to fall through the cracks.
When Happiness Died in America…
The Daily Take, The Thom Hartmann Program: For hundreds of years, we’ve stood by the idea that through hard work and perseverance, and given the right opportunities, anyone can be happy in America and achieve the American Dream. But today, the American Dream is on life support, and happiness is more elusive than ever before.
America’s Child Soldiers: JROTC and the Militarizing of America
Ann Jones, TomDispatch: It should be no secret that the United States has the biggest, most efficiently organized, most effective system for recruiting child soldiers in the world. With uncharacteristic modesty, however, the Pentagon doesn’t call it that. Its term is “youth development program.”
Media: Play Fair With Economic Reporting on Greece
Robert Naiman, Truthout: The Greek government is finally projecting a return to growth in 2014, a forecast supported by the International Monetary Fund, but some mainstream media outlets are reporting one agency’s forecast of a continued downturn rather than the IMF’s positive outlook, which could affect the economy negatively.
Bill Moyers | Richard Slotkin on Guns and Violence
Bill Moyers, Moyers & Company: Before the one-year anniversary of the massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in which Adam Lanza took the lives of 20 school children and six educators, Bill spoke with cultural historian and scholar Richard Slotkin about the role of guns in America’s national psyche.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Beyond the NSA: Other Agencies Spy on You, Too
Shahid Buttar, Truthout: The “Panopticon,” the US surveillance state, siphons billions of dollars from a federal budget in crisis while it watches you and your children. Rep. Rush Holt’s Surveillance State Repeal Act would take intelligence agencies back to the pre-9/11 baseline, where they belong.
Stoking Fire: How News Outlets, Prosecutors Minimize Sexual Violence With Language
Eleanor J. Bader, RH Reality Check: Words, and the way we use them to describe rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and sexual slavery, can evoke sympathy or revulsion toward the perpetrator of a crime or the person who was victimized.
On the News With Thom Hartmann: Japan Not Capable of Decommissioning Fukushima Alone, and More
In today‘s On the News segment: Sixty-five years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed; according to experts, Japan is not capable of decommissioning the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant without outside help; Pope Francis is taking on right-wing American pundits; and more.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Chris Hedges | The Play’s the Thing
Chris Hedges, Truthdig: “I began teaching a class of 28 prisoners at a maximum-security prison in New Jersey during the first week of September. The course revolved around playwrights who examine and give expression to the realities of America’s black underclass as well as the prison culture.”
BuzzFlash
The BuzzFlash commentary for Truthout will return soon.
NSA Phone Program Likely Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules
Read the Article at The Guardian
Seven Ripoffs That Capitalists Would Like to Keep Out of the Media
Paul Ryan Indicates GOP Willing to Hold Debt Limit Hostage Again
Read the Article at Talking Points Memo
Sheriffs Refuse to Enforce Laws on Gun Control
Read the Article at the New York Times
Walmart Wage Theft Settlement Yields Millions
David Sirota | Three Questions About the Motor City
Boston Police Department’s New Assault Rifles Raise Concern Over Militarization of Police
Read the Article at Al Jazeera America
Spirit In Action 