Truthout Daily Digest Friday, 25 July 2014

Wine, Not Gas! New York Residents Fight Gas Storage at Lake Seneca

Ellen Cantarow, Truthout: A company’s five-year-long drive to store massive quantities of fracked gas in abandoned salt caverns, prone to collapse, under scenic Seneca Lake – home to New York state’s premier vineyards – is nearing conclusion, with the final decision up to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

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Next Step for Net Neutrality: Join Call for Regional Hearings

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, Popular Resistance: Our next step on net neutrality is to demand that the FCC commissioners come out of their federal building, which is infected with corporate lobbyists, and actually listen to the people. How do they do that? They hold hearings around the country where people have an opportunity to fully talk to the commissioners.

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“Mad Men” and the Triumph of the Insubstantial

Ben Agger, Truthout: The TV show “Mad Men” captures a moment when we began, slowly, to shift from substance to image, anticipating a laptop capitalism of the 21st century in which community is a message board and friends are the people one follows on Facebook and Twitter.

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How Public Pressure Got Two Mothers Out of Jail

Victoria Law, Waging Nonviolence: Crowdfunding and social media campaigns were important in gaining the temporary freedom of Jessica De Samito and Shanesha Taylor. But we must remember that their release is not – and should never be seen as – a substitute for abolishing a system that locks people up because they lack options.

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Secretary Kerry’s Gaffe May Reveal Hope for Compromise for Israel and Gaza

Danielle Higgins, Truthout: John Kerry inadvertently revealed the administration’s possible doubts about Israel. The Israeli narrative may lose traction as the public sees the reality on the ground in Gaza. If that happens, there may be hope for compromise.

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Amy Goodman | Sharif Abdel Kouddous: Bombed in Their Homes and in the Streets, Where Can Gazans Flee?

Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!: Sharif Abdel Kouddous describes the scene just after he visited the southern town of Khan Younis, which has faced heavy shelling since Tuesday. Israeli forces there killed an estimated 73 people in the last two days. Kouddous says residents tried to evacuate starting Tuesday, but “found Israeli tanks blocking the main streets.”

Watch the Video and Read the Transcript

Running for Their Lives: The Child Migrant Crisis

Mitchell Zimmerman, OtherWords: “Given the major role the United States played in creating the child refugee crisis, we can’t tell those mothers and fathers their kids aren’t our problem. Most of us in this nation of 318 million people are the descendants of immigrants. We have room for child refugees who fear for their lives.”

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Workers Speak Out Against Work Schedule Abuse and Retaliation

Emily DiVito, Campaign For America’s Future: New data released by the Employment Instability, Family Well-Being, and Social Policy Network found that 46 percent of women say their employer determines their work schedule without any of their input. When American women have no control over their own work schedules, they have no control over their own lives.

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Not Much Better Than Bush

Amanda Ufheil-Somers, OtherWords: President Obama got it right when he declared: “There’s no military solution inside of Iraq, certainly not one that is led by the United States.” But his Iraq track record doesn’t mark much of an improvement over the mess his predecessor made.

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India’s Great Invisible Workforce

Neeta Lal, Inter Press Service: According to census data released this month, a whopping 160 million women in India, 88 percent of whom are of working age, are confined to their homes performing “household duties” rather than gainfully employed in the formal job sector.

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BuzzFlash

Obama Finally Reads the Riot Act to Corporations Who Abandon the US to Save Taxes

Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: Was President Obama channeling Elizabeth Warren’s populist message against companies that don’t pay their fair share of taxes? Well, for at least one day, it sounded like it.

Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

Palestinians Killed in West Bank Gaza Solidarity March; 200 Wounded

Read the Article at the BBC

Fast-Food Workers Advocate for Higher Wages at Chicago Convention

Read the Article at The Chicago Tribune

Michigan GOP Mayor Compares Atheists to Nazis, KKK

Read the Article at Talking Points Memo

Lawyers Call for Outside Probe of Torturous Arizona Execution

Read the Article at Reuters

We Are Arresting Poor Mothers for Our Failures as a Society

Read the Article at The Nation

Gaza Ceasefire Talks Deadlocked as Death Toll Tops 800

Read the Article at Newsweek

Growing Number of Cities Are Refusing to Cooperate With Immigrant Detentions

Read the Article at MSNBC

War on All Fronts: McDonalds May Be Booted out of Russia; Latvia Bans Russian Superstars; Why did Yatsenyuk Resign; Repatriation of Russian Capital

I’ve been hoping that the mess underhanded meddling made in Ukraine would result in toppling the oligarchs and outsiders, and returning the people to power over their country. I know unfortunately this process is rarely rapid even if successful but the rotten-brained money worshipers who have for so long maintained control of Earth’s people and resources through exactly this sort of destabilization of nations are losing power and influence daily now. Their model can only work when they can keep their actions hidden-and even then destabilising may simply hand power to different individuals and groups-not necessarily the ones who agree with the instigators. Sadly, their work at home in the U.S. has been too well done. Unless a great many of my countrymen awaken to the manipulation and stop the divisiveness and insane push for a new civil war, we are likely to face a worse time than Ukraine in the not too distant future.
I so regret not studying Russian now! I’m looking forward to exploring the music and movies you have shared/recommended.
I think localized economy and culture is preferable and much more sustainable long term than the generic globalisation that erases culture and makes every locality dependent on international networks of finance and shipping for everything.
Sharing our unique cultures and local differences through trade and travel bring more joy and creative pollination to all. McDonald’s, Walmart, Coca Cola, and Hollywood for ALL (like it or not!) is a recipe for stagnation and extinction.

Futurist Trendcast

McDonald’s to be Booted out of Russia?

The announcement I just saw says that Russia may ban some of the McDonald’s burgers sold in Russia due to the fact that nutritional values of the burger ingredients advertised do not correspond with actual nutritional value in the final product. The Public Health Control of the Novgorod Region initiated a lawsuit against McDonald’s in the Moscow court. Cheeseburger, the most popular burger sold by McDonald’s, may be the subject of this ban. There is a strong anti-McDonald’s movements in Russia. As profit margins plunge as a result of the network’s inability to sell its flagship burger, the Russian court sanctions may result in McDonald’s being squeezed entirely out of the Russian market.

Some of the McDonald’s drinks also fall into this category.

I say, about time! Get rid of this #GMO infested, full of plasticisers and artificial colors/flavors poison!

Link to report in…

View original post 1,480 more words

Paul Stamets and David Orr: So how DO we “save the planet” — and ourselves?

Thank you for sharing this! I’m so glad to see so many people pointing out this need to return to being functional parts of our ecosystems. Whatever else we do, if we don’t do that I doubt we have much chance of long term survival. If we can both return to being functional parts of our ecosystems, and recreate our societies and communities based on love, respect and caring instead of money; I think we will not only survive as a species but thrive.

Truthout Daily Digest Thursday, 24 July 2014

Henry A. Giroux | Killing Machines and the Madness of Militarism: From Gaza to Afghanistan

Henry A. Giroux, Truthout: While neoliberal governments invoke phrases like “collateral damage” or “military necessity” to absolve themselves of the horrors inflicted by their drones, jets and missiles, we need to develop a new political language and a new understanding of democratic governance.

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A Letter From Doctor Mads Gilbert in Gaza

Ellen Cantarow, Le Monde Diplomatique: The email Mads Gilbert, professor of medicine, sent to a friend on July 19 was a cry from the heart. He had spent two weeks in Gaza during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead attack, tending to the wounded in Al-Shifa hospital. There is no doubt that Gilbert will again be attacked for speaking out against Israel.

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Morocco: Crossroads in the Conflict Between Future Paths

Chris Williams, Truthout: A cradle of cultural intermixing, Morocco sits at the crossroads of empires, past and present, and despite efforts to economically colonize the ancient cultures, a strong resistance movement is fighting back.

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In Gaza-Israel Coverage, The New York Times Purveys Pro-War Propaganda on Page One

James Marc Leas, Truthout: Facts provided by an Israeli think tank with close ties to the Israeli military contradict a July 23 front-page story in The New York Times about the origins of Israel’s assault on Gaza.

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Military Commissions: Deferring the Inevitable at Guántanamo

Aisha Maniar, Truthout: A court vacated support for terrorism charges but upheld a conspiracy conviction for a Guántanamo prisoner, providing a modicum of hope for some former prisoners appealing convictions while also illustrating the persistent injustices of an irreparable system.

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The Rise of the American Taliban

The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: Americans are rightly horrified by the religious extremism of groups like ISIS and the Taliban in the Middle East, but the fact is, religious extremism is also a very real threat right here and right now in the US.

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Professor William I. Robinson: Global Capitalism Is in the Midst of its Most Severe Crisis

Kourosh Ziabari, FARS News: Prominent American sociology Professor William I. Robinson believes that the United States government is the biggest perpetrator of terror in the world and its military adventures across the globe have claimed the lives of millions of innocent citizens.

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Dead Is Dead: Drone-Killing the Fifth Amendment

Peter Van Buren, TomDispatch: Given the Fifth Amendment, how exactly was the drone-killing of American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki justified? Thanks to a recently released, significantly redacted Justice Department white paper providing the basis for that extrajudicial killing, we finally know: The president is now officially judge, jury and executioner.

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Paul Krugman | Were Homes Really Built Better in the Past?

Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co.: “Henry Petroski, an engineer who’s also a fine writer, lamented the decline of good construction in the United States in a recent New York Times op-ed. It’s a great read; I’m trying to figure out whether I believe his premise.”

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Is This US Coal Giant Funding Violent Union Intimidation in Colombia?

Rosalind Adams, The Center for Public Integrity: While its Colombian operations quickly became a significant revenue stream for the Drummond company, security issues and labor disputes have always been substantial obstacles for its business. And, according to its workers, intimidation has become routine.

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Detroit Water Shut-Offs Are on Hold, but for How Long?

Robin Marty, Care2: Most of us take it for granted that if we turn on the faucet, water is just going to come out. For at least 17,000 residents of Detroit, Michigan, that isn’t the case, and hasn’t been so for quite some time, as the city chose to turn off their water in retaliation for unpaid water bills.

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White House OKs Underwater Torture Chamber

Karen Garcia, Sardonicky: The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved the use of seismic airguns to explore the seabed from Cape May to Cape Canaveral for oil and gas. But even BOEM estimates that this practice will disrupt, injure or kill millions of marine animals, including the most endangered whale species on the planet.

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Economic Update: Private Profit vs. Social Benefit

Richard D. Wolff, Economic Update / Truthout: Updates on my Bill Maher appearance, the Arizona execution, direct actions in Seattle and in New England, Derek Jeter tickets and the Chinese meat scandal. Major discussions of Obama’s low polls, the changing meaning of socialism and differences between private profit and social well-being.

Listen to the Audio Segment

BuzzFlash

Hi-Tech Communication Brings Us the World Instantaneously, but It Hasn’t Stopped War and Killing

Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout:Technology cannot achieve change in the human condition: It is only a tool. The responsibility is ours.

Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

Israel’s Attack on UN School in Gaza Kills at Least 15

Read the Article at The Guardian

Blacklisted: The Secret Government Rulebook for Labeling You a Terrorist

Read the Article at The Intercept

Survey Shows Americans Lead the World in Climate Denial

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

Rachel Maddow: Witnesses Describe the Latest Botched Execution in Which Prisoner Gasped for Breath for Two Hours

Watch the Video at MSNBC

European Court Says CIA Ran a Secret Jail in a Polish Forest

Read the Article at Reuters

Halliburton Fracking Spill Mystery: What Chemicals Polluted an Ohio Waterway?

Read the Article at Mother Jones

Jim Hightower | Can a $7 Billion Penalty Be a Good Deal?

Read the Article at BuzzFlash