Truthout Daily Digest | Saturday, 7 February, 2015

“Progressive” Gentrification: One Community’s Struggle Against Affordable Housing

Aaron Cantú, Truthout: Under the mayor’s affordable housing plan, a New York City neighborhood’s rezoning may result in its own kind of gentrification. Some Brooklyn residents were told they must accept rezoning, and likely development near transit lines, if they want to protect other parts of their community.

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Hillary Clinton in Winnipeg: An Exercise in Cognitive Dissonance

Harrison Samphir, Truthout: Hillary Clinton’s embryonic presidential campaign made two stops in Canada on January 21. The former secretary of state spoke about terrorism and human rights, but hid a damaging foreign policy record veiled in the language of populism. It was a textbook case of cognitive dissonance.

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Climate Change Is Violence

Rebecca Solnit, Trinity University Press: If you’re poor, the only way you’re likely to injure someone is the old traditional way: artisanal violence. But if you’re tremendously wealthy, you can practice industrial-scale violence without any manual labor on your own part. Climate change is global-scale violence against places and species.

Read the Excerpt

Bringing Fanon’s Concerning Violence to Film

Alnoor Ladha, Truthout: Activist and author Alnoor Ladha interviews coproducer Joslyn Barnes about Göran Hugo Olsson’s film, Concerning Violence, which explores African liberation struggles of the 1960s and 1970s.

Read the Interview

Friends Like These

Raul A. Reyes, OtherWords: GOP presidential hopefuls are cozying up to anti-immigrant extremists and right-wing billionaires. Letting hardliners dictate immigration policy makes Republicans look long on ugly rhetoric and short on real solutions.

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Fox News: PR Department for ISIS

The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: By airing the gruesome video of Jordanian fighter pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh being burned alive, Fox News gave ISIS some free exposure and became the newest member of its propaganda machine.

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Populist Movement’s “Ground Zero”: The Effort to Reclaim Chicago

Jacob Swenson-Lengyel, Campaign for America’s Future: In the broader struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party, Chicago is ground zero. There, populists, led by Reclaim Chicago, are working to build a lasting independent political movement to upend the corporate rule of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his rubber-stamp city council.

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How to Get Serious About Ending the ISIS War

Sarah Lazare, Foreign Policy in Focus: Now is a critical time to seek to understand and build solidarity with Iraqi and Syrian civil societies and strengthen awareness here at home of the tremendous political and ethical debt the United States owes all people harmed by the now-discredited war on Iraq and the crises it set in motion.

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The Obama Administration and Immigration Policy: The Immigration Enforcement Record in Recent Years

Nikki Hager, The Council on Hemispheric Affairs: The Obama administration has deported more immigrants than most of its predecessors. The president is, however, taking a more progressive approach than in the past, granting the opportunity for temporary deportation relief to more than 5 million undocumented immigrants. Here is an overview of President Obama’s immigration policies.

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The Lone-Wolf Terror Trap

Matthew Harwood, TomDispatch: There’s only one problem with the rising crescendo of alarm about lone wolf terrorists: most of it simply isn’t true. Worst of all, its recent highlighting paves the way for increased abusive and counterproductive police and national security practices, like infiltration of minority and activist communities and elaborate sting operations that ensnare the vulnerable.

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Murder, Mass Incarceration, Militarization and Genocide in Progress

Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo and Kevin Berends, Black Agenda Report: Mass incarceration; state-sponsored murder coast-to-coast; the impoverishment of black wealth through wholesale thievery by corporate and banking foreclosures; and the militarization of police: Had these crimes against African Americans been committed in a theater of war, they would rise to the level of genocide as defined by the United Nations.

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A Theory About European Naval Domination

Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co.: Western Europe had a disproportionately large number of skilled open-sea sailors. Very few of them would have been engaged in warfare in normal times, or even during wars. Can’t we argue that these sailors provided a base of skills that gave the Atlantic fringe a big military advantage at sea?

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Take Roots Action!

Governor Cuomo of New York has declared a statewide ban on fracking. Local citizen-led initiatives in Ohio, Texas, New Mexico and California have likewise led to the banning of the practice.

Let’s ban it everywhere!

BuzzFlash

Religion Should Be What Binds Us Together, Not What Justifies Killing Each Other

Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: We do not need to look to sources outside ourselves for the divine; we need to look to the divine in each other.

Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

How Do We Stop a Temper Tantrum War?

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

Claims Against Saudis Cast Light on Secrets of 9/11 Report

Read the Article at The New York Times

Diane Rehm Examines the Dangers of Monsanto’s Roundup and Dow’s Enlist Duo Herbicides

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

NBC’s Brian Williams Forced to Retract Story About Coming Under Fire in Iraq

Read the Article at The Guardian

Twelve-Year-Olds Are Fair Game: Michelle Malkin and the Right’s Ugly New Smear Strategy

Read the Article at Salon

Air Pollution and Kids: Altered Brain, Memory, IQ

Read the Article at Science Daily

US Judge Appointed to Head UN Gaza War Crimes Inquiry

Read the Article at Jurist

Truthout Daily Digest | Wednesday, 7 January 2015

Deep Questions Arise Over Portland’s Corporate Water Takeover

Victoria Collier, Truthout: A simmering water war is about to come to a boil over the fate of historic, well-loved public reservoirs in Portland, Oregon. At the heart of the controversy is a breakdown in public trust that reflects the dangers of corporate-led water privatization schemes.

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Hope for Jobs, Prepare for Recession in 2015

Salvatore Babones, Truthout: The economy is booming. So where are the jobs? The current expansion won’t last forever, and we need at least 10 million new jobs before the next recession hits.

Read the Article

Exit Interview: Fear, the Sony Hack and the War on Terror

Kay Whitlock and Michael Bronski, Truthout: The use of The Interview and Sony hack drama to push the US Senate’s torture report off mass media’s front pages, promote the war on terror and obscure US involvement in political assassination and destabilization of other governments was a classic example of misdirection.

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Ten Questions for Conservatives

Lawrence S. Wittner, History News Network: Increasingly, modern US conservatism resembles a giant wrecking ball, powered by hate-spewing demagogues to undermine or destroy long-cherished institutions.

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Intervention in the Islamic State Increasingly Messy

Richard Sale, Truthout: Experts say old rivals in areas overrun by the Islamic State use religion as a cover for their territorial ambitions. Hatred between Shiites and Sunnis has thus become a fixed and dominating factor in Iraq’s communal life, and today it produces endless internal chaos in Syria and Iraq.

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Let’s Call All Terrorists “Terrorists”

The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: Would people be as willing to call the Paris attack “terrorism” if the suspects involved were white or members of a right-wing hate group? Probably not.

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With One Small Tax, the US Could Insure the Next Generation a Brighter Future

Ronald M. Glassman and Gerald E. Scorse, Los Angeles Times: Congress could pass a financial transaction tax and dedicate the proceeds to providing equal opportunity for college, in a show of dedication to equal access to education and opportunity.

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Los Angeles Imports Nearly 85 Percent of Its Water – Can It Change That by Gathering Rain?

Madeline Ostrander, YES! Magazine: The urban drainage ways of Los Angeles can never quite look like wild creeks, but restoring some of their capacity to store, slow and filter water fixes many problems at once.

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Lessons on the Struggle for Health Care as a Human Right

Margaret Flowers, Popular Resistance: After years of working toward universal health care using the framework of human rights, the people of Vermont were spurned. This turn of events provides an important lens for examining what happened in the advocacy for health reform and what must be done now.

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Holder and Obama Never Miss an Opportunity to Miss an Opportunity Versus the Banksters

William K. Black, New Economic Perspectives: In finance, because of the deliberate destruction of effective financial regulation, our only means of bringing light to the dark places where the elites “doeth evil” is whistleblowers.

Read the Article

What’s the Bag Deal?

Eugene Cordero, Green Ninja: This first episode of “The Green Ninja,” a fun and educational video series about environmentalism, reviews the question, “What’s the best bag? Paper or plastic?”

Watch the Video

Take Roots Action!

Jeffrey Sterling is set to go on trial for espionage this month. He is accused of blowing the whistle on the CIA, which gave nuclear weapon blueprints to Iran. Blowing the whistle on government recklessness is a public service, not a crime.

Please support this CIA whistleblower!

BuzzFlash

Loss of Food Stamps Looms for Unemployed Adults as Blast of Cruelty Hits US

Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: The possibility of implosion persistently looms over the US economy, but a moral disintegration of the nation has been simmering for decades.

Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

After “Charlie Hebdo” Attack in Paris, Senators Rush to Undermine Defense Reforms in the US

Read the Article at The District Sentinel

US Media Mostly Ignore Bomb That Exploded Outside NAACP Office in Colorado Springs

Read the Article at Firedoglake

Fracking Ban Bill Introduced in Florida

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

More Than 90 Percent of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Campaign Money Comes From the US

Read the Article at BuzzFeed News

Why Are the Police More Valued Than the People?

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

Shell to Pay $84 Million Settlement Over Niger Delta Oil Spill

Read the Article at BBC News

The US Has More Jails Than Colleges – Here’s a Map of Where Those Prisoners Live

Read the Article at The Washington Post

Common Dreams Highlights Wednesday, January 7, 2014

News & Views | 1.7.15 Featured… ‘Hostage-Takers’: Republicans Go After Social Security on Very First Day by Jon Queally Included in a new set of rules passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday was a new measure making it more difficult to move funds between separate accounts maintained by the Social Security Administration. News… ‘Chalk One Up for Main Street’: House Rejects Wall Street Giveaway by Deirdre Fulton Progressives celebrated on Wednesday as the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass yet another Wall Street giveaway, rejecting by a slim margin legislation that would have gutted an important financial regulation embedded in the 2010 Dodd-Frank reform act. Year After Colorado Legalizes, Advocates Say: It’s All Good in Pot-land by Lauren McCauley Marking roughly one year since the first marijuana shop opened its doors in Colorado, advocates are declaring the country’s first experiment in full legalization a success. Paving Path Towards Climate Goal, Denmark Sets World Record for Wind Power by Andrea Germanos Marking what the country said was a global record, in 2014, nearly 40 percent of electricity in Denmark was generated by wind. Costly Border Drone Program Has Failed, Federal Audit Finds by Nadia Prupis After eight years in operation, the drone program has not achieved results, according to the audit, which was quietly released on Christmas Eve. Quarter of Americans and More Than Half of Republicans Still Believe Iraq WMD Myth by Lauren McCauley Overall, of the 964 adults who were sampled in the national phone survey, 42 percent said that it was “definitely” or “probably” true that American forces found an active weapons of mass destruction program in Iraq. Pentagon’s Admission that US Bombs May Have Killed ‘a Few’ Civilians Dismissed as ‘Joke’ by Sarah Lazare While it is difficult to track exactly how many non-combatants are killed and wounded, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that at least 52 non-combatants have been killed in allied airstrikes in Syria alone since September 23rd. more news… Views… Corporate Fiction in the Age of GMOs by Vandana Shiva As the New Year begins, I feel compelled to reflect on how fictions and abstract constructions are ruling us; the nature of being and existence is being redefined in such fundamental ways that life itself is threatened. The New Republican Attack on Social Security Starts Now! by Nancy Altman, Eric Kingson Republican opponents of Social Security have not wasted even a single day in their plan to dismantle Social Security brick by brick. Why the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is a Pending Disaster by Robert Reich If you haven’t heard much about the TPP, that’s part of the problem right there. On Day 1, House GOP Rigs The Rules For The Rich, Against The Disabled by Isaiah Poole The House of Representatives wasted no time Tuesday in setting up schemes that are designed to comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted. Consumer Self-Defense: 12 Ways to Drive GMOs and Roundup off the Market by Ronnie Cummins The anti-GMO and organic Movement has come a long way in the past two decades. But given the dangers posed by GMOs and Roundup, it’s time to move aggressively forward. Will Palestine Bring War Crimes Charges Against Israel? by Salma Karmi-Ayyoub It may seem like an obvious step, after joining the International Criminal Court. But the legal and political barriers are formidable. more views… Newswire… Don’t Shoot Coalition: We need Reformed Police Practices in Jefferson City Vermont Workers’ Center: Healthcare Supporters to Rally Inside Vermont Statehouse and Announce Call from National Advocacy and Faith Groups for Moving Forward with Universal Healthcare US PIRG: Federal Highway Administration Quietly Acknowledges the Driving Boom is Over Council on American-Islamic Relations: U.S. Muslims Condemn Paris Terror Attack, Defend Free Speech National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health: At Fifth Circuit Hearing on HB2, Texas Latinas are Watching Institute for Public Accuracy: Prosecution of CIA Whistleblower Sterling more newswire…

Truthout Daily Digest Sunday, 7 December 2014

The Partitioning of Brazil’s Ocean and Rivers Threatens Small-Scale Fishing Families

Santiago Navarro F. and Renata Bessi: The Blue Revolution, a model for large-scale fish production, is advancing rapidly in Brazil, leading to the parceling of rivers and the ocean. This model requires the use of huge quantities of chemicals and has resulted in the displacement of small-scale fishing families.

Read the Article

Former Halliburton Subsidiary Managing Construction of First US Tar Sands Mine

Rachael Stoeve, Truthout: The United States will soon have its own operating tar sands mine in Utah. The project is being managed by former Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root, a company with a long track record of misconduct.

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Zinn Coeditor: That All “Voices” Make History Is a “Dangerous Idea to Those in Power”

Mark Karlin, Truthout: Since Howard Zinn’s death in 2010, his coeditor, Anthony Arnove, has helped keep Voices of a People’s History alive through readings. He talks to Truthout about his new, expanded 10th anniversary edition, with timely additional content.

Read the Interview

German Economic Policy, Neoliberalism Pose Mortal Threat to Eurozone’s Ordinary People

C.J. Polychroniou, Truthout: The majority of distinguished economists at a recent international conference agrees the austerity policies imposed on Greece and Eurozone periphery countries have been catastrophic for economic growth and ordinary citizens.

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Science Fiction and the Post-Ferguson World: “There Are as Many Ways to Exist as We Can Imagine”

Mary Hansen, YES! Magazine: Walidah Imarisha, a writer and activist, coined the term “visionary fiction” to describe how we can use science fiction, horror and fantasy genres to envision alternatives to unjust and oppressive systems and provide remedy for the belief that there is no alternative to violence and inequality.

Read the Interview

Warren and Sanders: Missing Voices for Iran Diplomacy?

Robert Naiman, Truthout: Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are increasingly seen as leaders of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. But curiously, Warren and Sanders are not yet counted among the Senate Democrats now standing up for diplomacy with Iran.

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Truthout Interviews Maryam Henein on Ending Industrialized Farming

Ted Asregadoo, Truthout: Truthout contributor Maryam Henein talks about a UN report that advocates an end to industrialized farming and the promotion of local and organic farming practices.

Watch the Video

Police “Reforms” You Should Always Oppose

Mariame Kaba, Prison Culture: Ultimately, the only way that we will address oppressive policing is to abolish the police. Therefore all of the “reforms” that focus on strengthening the police or “morphing” policing into something more invisible – but still as deadly – should be opposed.

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State Department Keystone XL Contractor ERM Bribed Chinese Agency to Permit Project

Steve Horn, DeSmogBlog: Environmental Resources Management (ERM), the consultancy selected by TransCanada to conduct the environmental review for Keystone XL’s northern leg, is no stranger to scandal. Exhibit A: ERM once bribed a Chinese official to ram through major pieces of an industrial development project.

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Woman-Made: How Rethinking Pregnancy and Childbirth Could Undermine Sexism and Honor Women’s Reproductive Rights

Jeffrey Nall, Toward Freedom: The time has come to honor the greatness and awe-inspiring character of generating and choosing to birth new life; the time has come to see through a patriarchal haze that warps human relations, and fully honor the rights of pregnant women.

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Native Villagers in Honduras Bet on Food Security – and Win

Thelma Mejia, Inter Press Service: The town’s dynamic mayor, Sandro Martínez, assumed the commitment of turning the Honduran municipality of Victoria into a model of food and nutritional security and environmental protection by means of municipal public policies based on broad social and community participation and international development aid.

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Why Texas Is Shutting Prison Doors

s.e. smith, Care2: Texas isn’t exactly known as a bastion of social progressivism. But Texas is instituting a huge move for prison reform, and one that could pave the way for the rest of the nation. If Texas can do it, so can other states; not only can they, but they should.

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This week in Speakout:

Michael I. Niman adds a twist on an the old saying “there aren’t any atheists in foxholes,” employing his own linguistic device he explains why, instead, “there aren’t any libertarians in a Buffalo Blizzard”; Laura Finley excoriates use of “free speech” to justify social media harassment and abuse; David Krieger reflects on the nature of violence in a poem, writing “we are all Ayotzinapa”; Lawrence Davidson determines recent attacks on academic freedom are a result of Zionist organizations’ aggressive efforts to silence academics; Lee Camp looks at how the mainstream media ignored protests taking place outside the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has been giving the green light to frack pretty much all of the US; Kathy Kelly notes the hypocrisy behind the Pentagon issuing reports which concur that the greatest threat to US national security is posed by climate change; Chris Steele delves into the battle for the media and meteorology; Marilyn Vogt-Downey looks at revolution and counterrevolution in the age of social media; Michele Swenson highlights how an Ebola-like public health crisis shows a need for an improved Medicare-for-all model; Chris Tinson says Black people cannot afford to be numb to the growing instances of police killing unarmed young Black women and men; Afghan Peace Volunteers honor International Human Rights Day December 10 with a global day of listening; Evaggelos Vallianatos reviews Carol van Strum’s just-reissued A Bitter Fog: Herbicides and Human Rights; Jack A. Smith talks about the absence of any major political party in the US that advocates for citizens’ best interests; and more.

Read the Articles

BuzzFlash

The BuzzFlash commentary for Truthout will return soon.

Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General

Read the Article at The New York Times

US Racial Profiling to Remain at Airports, Border Checks

Read the Article at RT

When the Cops Start Filming: What Makes Police Accountability in the Age of Michael Brown?

Read the Article at Salon

Ecuador Indigenous Leader Found Dead Days Before Planned Lima Protest

Read the Article at The Guardian

New Coal Ash Leaks Found at Duke Energy’s Buck Power Plant

Read the Article at EcoWatch

Rubber Bullets, Tear Gas in Berkeley as Police Disperse Eric Garner/Ferguson Solidarity Rally

Read the Article at RT

Hardship on Mexico’s Farms, a Bounty for US Tables

Read the Article at the Los Angeles Times

Common Dreams Highlights December 7, 2014

Why I Want to Burn Everything Down Right Now—And Why I’m Not Going To by James Edwards “America doesn’t have a race problem. America is the problem.” Outrage, Demand to Be Heard, Calls for Change Fuel Protests in Cities Nationwide by Jon Queally “From coast to coast, communities are revolting against a pattern of police abuse and unifying under a demand that underlying racial tensions be placed squarely in the debate over the U.S. justice system” To Counter Rise of Oligarchy, Sanders Pitches Progressive Economic Vision by Jon Queally “Amid speculation over 2016 presidential run, senator from Vermont lays out 12-step plan to combat 40-year decline of middle class and rampant inequality” Reversing Global Warming, Hunger and Poverty: Supercharging the Global Grassroots by Ronnie Cummins “We must all become climate hawks, peace activists, conscious consumers, environmental conservationists, and advocates for renewable energy.” ‘Thirsty’ Global Fracking Industry Puts Water, Environment, Communities at Risk by Deirdre Fulton “The fracking industry needs to be urgently reined in before it’s too late for our planet and people across the globe.” This Country Needs a Truth and Reconciliation Process on Violence Against African Americans—Right Now by Fania Davis “The decision not to indict Eric Garner’s killer is just the latest story in a long history of violence against black men. What response can disrupt patterns set by centuries of racism? “ To Avert Climate Chaos, Meat Consumption Must Drop: Study by Andrea Germanos “If we are serious about avoiding dangerous climate change, this is a problem we cannot afford to ignore any longer.” Out of the Kitchen and On Capitol Hill: Chefs Speak Out for GMO Labeling by Deirdre Fulton “Having honest, clear labeling of the foods we eat is a fundamental right, one that’s worth fighting for.” Locally-Controlled, Renewable Energy Championed as Key to Climate Justice by Jon Queally “Policies that support feed-in tariffs and decentralized power sources should be embraced by both the most- and least-developed nations, say campaigners.” Hands Up, Don’t Choke by Amy Goodman “The protests against impunity are just beginning.”

Truthout Daily Digest | Friday, 7 November 2014

William Rivers Pitt | Reaping the Whirlwind, Again

William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: We are not our brother’s keeper, despite all the strident oratory that would have us believe this nation actually stands for something beyond bedrock greed, lazy coddled indolence, and bluejeans on the cheap. That much, at least, was proven on Tuesday.

Read the Article

Is the State of Alaska Fighting Sex Trafficking or Targeting Women?

Jordan Flaherty, Truthout: An anti-sex-trafficking law recently passed in Alaska demonstrates the failure of the criminal justice system to help victims of trafficking. In fact, it seems to have made things worse for those most in need.

Read the Article

Why Did Fort Lauderdale Police Arrest an Old Man for Feeding Homeless People?

Aaron Cantú, Truthout: On November 2, 90-year-old Arnold Abbott and two pastors were charged by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department with giving food to hungry people. The rationale for Fort Lauderdale’s anti-homeless ordinance has everything to do with land and money.

Read the Article

Germany’s Unpaid Debt to Greece: Economist Albrecht Ritschl on WWII Reparations That Never Were

Michael Nevradakis, Truthout: In this interview, Albrecht Ritschl, professor of economic history at the London School of Economics, discusses Germany’s unpaid war debts and reparations to Greece from World War II, and characterizes Germany as the biggest debt transgressor of the 20th century.

Read the Interview

Rania Khalek | Drone-Strike Feminism

Rania Khalek, Extra!: Rather than challenge the obvious hypocrisy of the narrative that bombing Iraq is a “feminist rescue mission”, US corporate media outlets have acted as cheerleaders and stenographers, allowing the US government to hijack the deterioration of women’s rights as a selling point for perpetual war.

Read the Article

Laura Flanders | More Harm Than Good: Sex Trafficking Law in Anchorage, Alaska

Laura Flanders, GRITtv: Alaskan lawmakers passed a law against sex trafficking, but who does it really affect? A documentary short from GRITtv captures the struggles of many women fighting against poverty and the Alaskan cold by engaging in sex work. Many of these women fear they will now become police targets.

Watch the Video

The Shackles Return: Why Debtors’ Prisons Are Making a Comeback in the US

Devon Douglas-Bowers, Occupy.com: The debtors’ prison is an old, decrepit institution that many thought was abolished in the 19th century, little more than a relic of the past. These prisons are making a serious comeback in the United States, which is deeply problematic for the poor and working class.

Read the Article

What to Make of the Elections – and What We Should Do Next

Harry Targ, The Rag Blog: Midterm election exit poll figures speak to the necessary expansion of electoral and “street heat” strategies that prioritize several issues. Progressives need to continue to combat racism and sexism in all its forms. This translates into reversing voter suppression laws and other tactics to stifle voting.

Read the Article

Global Tax-Evasion Crackdown Sidestepping Poorest Countries

Carey L. Biron, Inter Press Service: While a major global campaign to cut down on tax evasion is picking up momentum, anti-poverty advocates say the initiative overlooks the world’s poorest countries. Global tax evasion has risen to the top of the global agenda in the aftermath of the 2007-08 financial crisis.

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Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder on Knowing Your GMOs: Changing a Label Costs “Essentially Nothing”

Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, Democracy Now!: Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, discusses the company’s campaign for a successful genetically modified food labeling measure in its home state of Vermont, as well as one in Oregon that ultimately failed to pass on Tuesday.

Watch the Video and Read the Transcript

Democrats Lost More Than an Election in 2014

Marisa Franco, #Not1More: The success or failure of the Democrats ought to be measured by the distance or proximity they have to the genuine efforts of the communities they’ve always considered locked-in voters.

Read the Article

BuzzFlash

In Fort Lauderdale, Jesus Would Have Been Arrested for Feeding the Homeless

Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: ​There is a growing trend among cities to make compassion illegal.

Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

Climate Change Denier Inhofe May Head Top Senate Environmental Committee

Read the Article at The Guardian

ALEC Corporate Board Chair Quits Over Climate Change, Renewables and Voting Rights

Read the Article at the Huffington Post

Will Obama Veto an Almost Certain Keystone XL Pipeline Bill?

Read the Article at The Hill

Immigration Activists Hope They Don’t Get Burned by Obama

Read the Article at CNN

Right Wing Election Watchdog Group Fails to Find Voter Fraud

Read the Article at The Brad Blog

Why Do the Democrats Keep Trying to Out-Republican the Republicans?

Read the Editorial at The Charleston Gazette

More Than 600 Troops Reported Chemical Exposure in Iraq

Read the Article at The New York Times

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