Hawaii’s GMO War Headed to Honolulu and Federal Court
Mike Ludwig, Truthout: The question facing Hawaiians in their grassroots opposition to GMO development: Do county governments – and the local communities they represent – have the power to regulate global chemical companies and the pesticide-laden process of developing genetically engineered seeds?
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Pete Seeger Dies at 94; Balladeer Was America’s Conscience
Claudia Luther, Los Angeles Times: Pete Seeger, the iconoclastic American singer, songwriter and social activist who did battle with injustice in America armed with a banjo, a guitar and the transformative power of song, has died. He was 94.
Costs of Privatization Hidden in Plain Sight
Ellen Dannin, Truthout: Privatization often is sold as providing higher-quality services and infrastructure at lower cost. In fact, important costs regularly are overlooked and services and infrastructure privatized even though keeping them public is the better and less expensive choice.
Veterans in the SOTU: Ending the Mindset That Got Us Into War
Robert Naiman, Truthout: In his State of the Union address, President Obama has an opportunity to talk about providing the funding to care for the veterans from a decade of war. And Sen. Bernie Sanders’ veterans’ benefits bill is poised to grab national headlines.
Why the Olympics Are a Lot Like The Hunger Games
Samantha Retrosi, The Nation: “As a former Olympic athlete, I can tell you from experience that the Olympic Games have much more in common with The Hunger Games than anyone would want to admit.”
Michoacan and the Economics of Crime
Santiago Navarro F., Truthout: In southwest Mexico, Michoacan residents have taken up arms and formed a self-defense militia to protect themselves from violent drug cartels, succeeding where state and federal authorities have failed.
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1969: The Year the Black Panther Party Was To Be Annihilated
Gabriel San Roman, Truthout: Former member Elaine Brown talks about the savage attacks on the Black Panther Party in 1969, from the January murders of Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter and John Huggins through the LAPD SWAT team siege to the COINTELPRO murder of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark.
A Declaration of the End of the Reagan Era
The Daily Take, The Thom Hartmann Program: It’s time to roll back the Reagan tax cuts, declare an end to 33 years of failed Reaganomics and start practicing sensible economics that will improve the lives of all Americans, not just the wealthy elite.
Senators Should Read Before Signing the Menendez-Kirk Iran Sanctions Bill
Dr. Edward Levine, Truthout: Fifty-nine US senators have signed up to sponsor the Menendez-Kirk Iran sanctions bill, the “Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act.” Yet it is hard to believe many have actually read the 53-page bill.
The Pacific Pivot: Why America’s Strategic Rebalance Is Really Just Retreat
John Feffer, TomDispatch: In reality the “strategic rebalancing” the Obama administration has been promoting as a midcourse correction to its foreign policy remains strong on rhetoric and remarkably weak on content. Think of it as a clever fiction for whose promotion many audiences are willing to suspend their disbelief.
On the News With Thom Hartmann: The NSA Is Spying on Angry Birds, and More
In today‘s On the News segment: The NSA is spying on Angry Birds; more crude oil was spilled from train cars in 2013 than in the entire four previous decades combined; President Obama will deliver the 2014 State of the Union speech, and the AFL-CIO has a few suggestions; and more.
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“We Shall Overcome”: Remembering Folk Icon, Activist Pete Seeger in His Own Words and Songs
Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!: The legendary folk singer and activist died Monday at the age of 94. For nearly seven decades, he was a musical and political icon who helped create the modern American folk music movement.
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BuzzFlash
Income Redistribution to Wealthy Continued Upward at Accelerating Pace in 2013
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: Ronald Reagan would have made a bad plumber. He got his infamous “trickle down” economic meme confused with the financial reality in the United States of a “trickle up” redistribution of income.
Eugene Robinson | Science Is Telling Us Something
The Return of the Firing Squad? US States Reconsider Execution Methods
Read the Article at The Guardian
Corporate Chemical Spills
Read the Article at The Progressive Populist
You Have a “Fundamental Right” To Make End-of-Life Decisions … Unless You’re Pregnant
Read the Article at RH Reality Check
Charles P. Pierce | Congress Agrees That People Should Go Hungry
Obama Justice Department Intervenes in Gun Case – on Behalf of Notorious Gun Dealer
Read the Article at Mother Jones
New GOP Plan Makes Everything They Hate About Obamacare Even Worse