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Truthout Daily Digest | Thursday, 16 April 2015

Doing the Unthinkable: Giant Gas Pipeline to Flank a New York Nuclear Power Plant

Ellen Cantarow, Truthout: The federally approved Algonquin Pipeline expansion will come so close to the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester, New York, that experts say a rupture could cause a Fukushima-like catastrophe, making the entire region uninhabitable for generations.

Read the Article

Drug Reform Is About Animal Rights, Too

Andrew Gargano, Truthout: While drug raids have become known for the human casualties they claim and their infringement on the Fourth Amendment, they also contribute to an inordinate number of animals killed.

Read the Article

Tom Hayden: Cuba Has Stood Up to US Hegemony for 55 Years

Mark Karlin, Truthout: In this interview, activist and author Tom Hayden discusses his new book, Listen, Yankee! Why Cuba Matters, and explains the changing nature of Cuban-US relations and the legacy of the Cuban Revolution.

Read the Interview

Tax (Break) Day

Jasmine Tucker, Truthout: Each year, the US loses out on billions of dollars in revenue due to corporate tax breaks. Every dollar the government spends on a tax break is a dollar it can’t spend elsewhere, yet few Americans are aware of how much corporate tax breaks cost the government.

Read the Article

Transnational Companies Driving Deadly Conflict in Guatemalan Indigenous Territory

Jeff Abbott, Truthout: As privatized hydroelectric projects – part of “Plan Mesoamerica” – have rapidly expanded in Guatemala, so too have conflicts with indigenous populations. The plan would interconnect the infrastructures of all Central American countries.

Read the Article and View the Photos

Hotel Industry Spins Wage Hikes as Extreme While CEOs Rake in Millions

Mary Bottari and Jody Knauss, PR Watch: The little-known trade association representing the $163 billion hotel industry is a major force fighting behind the scenes on Capitol Hill and in statehouses and courtrooms across the country to keep workers’ wages low.

Read the Article

The Chevron Tapes: Secret Videos Reveal Company Hid Pollution in Ecuador

Kevin Koenig, Amazon Watch: Recently released videos are a true treasure trove of Chevron’s misdeeds and corporate malfeasance. Chevron is seen finding its own extensive contamination – in areas the company claimed to have cleaned up in 1998 – then pre-gaming the judicial inspections to defraud the court.

Read the Article and Watch the Videos

Physical Murder and Political Asphyxiation: The Story of Danielle Hicks-Best

Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Black Agenda Report: An 11-year-old Black girl is raped twice by men and winds up jailed and institutionalized for years by a callous and predatory system. Danielle Hicks-Best was simply used to justify the salaries and maintenance of a system based on the decapitation of Black bodies.

Read the Article

US Chamber of Commerce Doubling Down on Political Juggernaut

Carrie Levine, The Center for Public Integrity: The Chamber of Commerce’s new election season strategy will include a greater emphasis on recruiting the right sort of business-friendly GOP candidates and intervening in primaries as it attempts to sculpt a compliant Congress that mirrors its priorities.

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Bill O’Reilly’s Latest “White” Dream

The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: When Bill O’Reilly says that it’s “open season” on white men in this country, he’s either mind-numbingly ignorant or just not taking a good hard look at our society today. White privilege and male privilege are very real.

Read the Article

Obama to Remove Cuba From Terror List After Latin American Outcry; Will the Embargo Follow?

Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!: While Cuba is being removed from the US terrorism list, the trade embargo remains in place. Former Cuban diplomat Carlos Alzugaray Treto discusses the dire effects US sanctions have had on the Cuban population.

Watch the Video and Read the Transcript

Four Election Stories That Show the GOP Is Moving Even Further Right

Robin Marty, Care2: From primaries to party leaders, Tea Partiers are becoming the predominate face of the GOP. That could mean a party ready to crumble if it becomes too extreme or, even more frightening, if today‘s Congress ends up being more “moderate” than the Congress that convenes in 2017.

Read the Article

BuzzFlash

Hillary Clinton’s Likely Planned Chipotle Moment Represents Tawdry Mass Media and Politics

Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: This is the level that politics has sunk to: a likely pre-strategized nonevent – probably leaked by the Clinton campaign to The New York Times – creating an international media sensation.

Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

Gay Marriage Still Under Attack by Religious Right Zealots

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

Fracking and Big Ag Are Polluting 80 Percent of the Depleted Groundwater in California

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

Alzheimer’s Breakthrough: Scientists May Have Found Potential Cause of the Disease

Read the Article at The Independent

How Hillary Clinton’s State Department Sold Fracking to the World

Read the Article at Mother Jones

Boston Marks Two Years Since Marathon Bombings

Read the Article at The Boston Globe

“Fight for 15” Movement: Low-Wage Workers Plan Walkouts, Protests

Read the Article at the Tribune News Service

New Bill Would Help Domestic Violence Survivors Find Shelter for Their Pets, Too

Read the Article at RH Reality Check


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Common Dreams Highlights | Thursday, 2 April 2015

Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

Featured…

New Report Debunks ‘Myth’ That GMOs are Key to Feeding the World
by Lauren McCauley
Over the past 20 years, the report notes, global crop yields have only grown by 20 percent—despite the massive investment in biotechnology. On the other hand, it continues, in recent decades “the dominant source of yield improvements has been traditional crossbreeding, and that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.”

News…

Despite Dire Scientific Warnings, GOP Leaders Vow to Bury Global Climate Deal
by Lauren McCauley
“Even if the job-killing and likely illegal Clean Power Plan were fully implemented, the United States could not meet the targets laid out in this proposed new plan,” McConnell said.
In Reversal, Arkansas Governor Says He Won’t Sign Pro-Discrimination Bill
by Jon Queally
The bill passed by Arkansas legislators on Wednesday mirrors enacted in Indiana last week that created a national backlash and a wave of criticism against similar laws in other states.
Astroturf on Steroids: Did Right-Wing Group Fake Anti-Net Neutrality Emails?
by Deirdre Fulton
For Free Press, which is leading the fight for an open Internet and net neutrality protections, the revelations are unsurprising. “There’s a relatively small community of organizations fighting against net neutrality,” Free Press senior director of strategy Tim Karr said in a statement to Common Dreams.
Chorus of Outrage as Obama Administration Approves Arctic Drilling for Shell Oil
by Nadia Prupis
The decision opens up 30 million acres in the Chuchki Sea to fossil fuel exploration and drilling, a move which state and national green groups called “unconscionable.”
Disregarding Human Rights Concerns, US Resumes Arm Shipments to Egypt
by Jon Queally
The move comes as Egypt has joined with Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations to launch airstrikes, and possibly a ground invasion, of Yemen.
Oregon Seeks to Become First State to Limit Antibiotic Use at Factory Farms
by Deirdre Fulton
bacteria commonly present on farms are mutating into stronger, antibiotic-resistant strains, which in turn find their way to the human population through numerous pathways, including contaminated food, airborne dust blowing off farms, and water and soil polluted with contaminated feces.
Closer to Justice as Palestine Joins International Criminal Court
by Lauren McCauley
“As Palestine formally becomes a State Party to the Rome Statute today,” Al-Malki said, “the world is also a step closer to ending a long era of impunity and injustice. Indeed, today brings us closer to our shared goals of justice and peace.”
more news…

Views…

Feeding the World – Without GMOs
by Emily Cassidy
GE crops have done nothing to improve global food securityand there’s little reason to think that they will any time soon.
Burning Our Bridges: Failing Infrastructure in the Age of Corporate Tax-Dodging
by Sarah Anderson & Scott Klinger
To generate funds to shore up our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, the U.S. Congress is considering giving corporations large tax cuts on their offshore profits….The last time we tried this, in 2004, it failed miserably.
Iran Demands Lifting of Sanctions for ‘Irreversible’ Moves, Says Insider
by Gareth Porter
Iran has already made some significant concessions on the sanctions issue, the source revealed.
Guilty of Being Poor
by Karen Dolan
When a community issues arrest warrants for more offenses than it has residents, something’s deeply wrong. A democratic society that purports “freedom and justice for all” can’t coexist with one that profiles and criminalizes poor people and communities of color.
How Ohio’s Energy Economy Became a Radioactive 19th Century Relic
by Harvey Wasserman
After being at the cusp of major solar and wind power advances, the state has all but killed the prospects for any large new green energy projects. The state may now miss one of history’s biggest and most profitable technological transformations.
The Backlash Against Discrimination And GOP’s “Indiana” Problem
by Terrance Heath
In 2016 and beyond, Republicans will find it hard to strike a balance between “religious freedom” and discrimination. They will find it even harder to choose between either “caving” and alienating their base, or alienating the growing majority of voters and facing a grassroots onslaught.
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Newswire…

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Truthout Daily Digest | Thursday, 2 April 2015

Ring of Snitches: How Detroit Police Slapped False Murder Convictions on Young Black Men

Aaron Cantú, Truthout: One jailhouse informant for the Detroit Police Department sent Lacino Hamilton to prison. Now, Hamilton’s fight to be released has revealed systemic corruption allegedly perpetrated by police, prosecutors and prisoner informants hoping for more lenient sentences.

Read the Article

Laura Flanders | The Fight Against High-Stakes Testing: A Civil Rights Movement

Laura Flanders, Truthout: Jesse Hagopian, history teacher and editor of More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing, talks about the fight against high-stakes testing, the roots of that testing in eugenics movement and its insidious anti-democratic and anti-labor social goals.

Watch the Video and Read the Transcript

Rounding Us Up, and Exposing Us All to Cancer

Brian Moench, Truthout: The World Health Organization has just declared the most widely used herbicide in the world, glyphosate, a “probable human carcinogen,” a designation long overdue. Cancer is only one of many health consequences of the growing scourge of herbicides, pesticides and GMOs.

Read the Article

It’s Time to Talk About the Next System

Cecilia Gingerich, Truthout: For systemic crises, relief will come only through systemic solutions. The Next System Project, which launches today, offers such solutions to the systemic climate, political, economic, social and cultural crises the United States is experiencing.

Read the Article and Watch the Video

Fatal Construction Accident Shows Higher Risks Faced by Latino Workers

Danica Jorden, Truthout: Three men were killed and one left in serious condition after a construction accident in Raleigh, North Carolina. The incident illustrates the differential risks still facing Latino workers, often employed by a tangled web of contractors and subcontractors.

Read the Article

When Is the Next Ice Age?

The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: If we want to prevent a new ice age for much of the planet, then we need to put a price on carbon now to fight back against climate change – the greatest threat our human species has ever faced.

Read the Article

Impunity Fuels Abuse in Immigrant Detention Centers in Spain

Inés Benítez, Inter Press Service: In Spain, immigrants are frequent victims of abuse and mistreatment by the national police, who are in charge of guarding them. Human rights organizations also complain about hurdles thrown in the way of investigations of reports of abuse and the prevailing impunity.

Read the Article

What the Atlantic Coast Should Brace for if Offshore Drilling Gets Approved

Wilma Subra, Facing South: Offshore energy exploration, drilling and production on the Atlantic coast will leave permanent environmental damage and destruction. The physical environment will be severely negatively impacted in the name of “progress,” with no consideration of the devastation.

Read the Article

Grabbing Africa’s Seeds: USAID, EU and Gates Foundation Back Agribusiness Seed Takeover

Stephen Greenberg and Oliver Tickell, The Ecologist: The latest salvo in the battle over Africa’s seed systems has been fired with the Gates Foundation and USAID playing puppet-masters to Africa’s governments as they drive forward corporation-friendly seed regulations that exclude and marginalize the small farmers whose seeds and labor feed the continent.

Read the Article

Court Steps in to #SaveH2B, but Is the US Guestworker Program Worth Saving?

Rachel Luban, In These Times: While many H-2B guestworkers are unhappy with the abuse and exploitation they suffer on the job, that doesn’t necessarily mean they want the program to go away, as the program often offers the only means of employment available for some workers.

Read the Article

Climate Change: When It’s All in the Family

Felix Kramer, The Houston Chronicle: Could heartfelt pleas from family members move the people who run the world to an urgent response to our climate crisis? The families and friends of movers and shakers have a unique opportunity: They can spur what may have already begun.

Read the Article

BuzzFlash

The BuzzFlash commentary will return soon.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence Either Confused or Misleading Everyone About His Controversial Law

Read the Article at the Huffington Post

Midnight Deadline Looms Over Iran Nuclear Deal

Read the Article at The Middle East Eye

Pharmacy Groups Balk at Supplying Lethal Injection Drugs

Read the Article at NBC News

Turns Out the World’s First “Clean Coal” Plant Is a Backdoor Subsidy to Oil Producers

Read the Article at Grist

A Court Case So Secret, the US Government Says It Can’t Go On

Read the Article at Bloomberg View

US Pledges Emissions Cuts of Up to 28 Percent Ahead of Global Climate Treaty

Read the Article at The Guardian

Honoring Cesar Chavez’s Birthday by Supporting the Farm Workers for Whom He Gave His Life

Read the Article at the Huffington Post


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Common Dreams Highlights Thursday, 12 March, 2015

Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

Featured…

With TPP at ‘Make-or-Break Point,’ Fast Track Foes Prepare for Battle
by Deirdre Fulton
Stakeholders in the U.S. who have lined up against the agreement also see the next few weeks as a critical turning point in the fight over Fast Track and the so-called “free trade” deals that authority is designed to promote.

News…

Sanders: Iran Letter Shows GOP Senators Just ‘Itching for War’
by Jon Queally
Despite the rhetoric of the letter, there is no evidence showing Iran has an active nuclear weapons program and the nation’s leadership has repeatedly stated that it has no current ambitions for such a program.
On Ukraine, Will Obama Heed Call for Caution?
by Lauren McCauley
Obama’s reluctance contrasts the opinions of other lawmakers and officials, who in recent days have continued to push for sending armaments.
Ferguson Police Chief, City Manager Resign
by Nadia Prupis
Both men were named in the U.S. Justice Department’s scathing report on the racist and unconstitutional policing and municipal court system in the city.
Scientist Who Exposed Health Impacts of Burn Pits in Iraq Awarded Rachel Carson Prize
by Lauren McCauley
The team’s findings matched samples of titanium and magnesium found in the lungs of U.S. veterans who had been exposed to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq. Savabieasfahani says she is hoping to expand her research in Iraq, now that people “are more aware of the situation.”
In Turnaround, Swedish Supreme Court to Hear Assange Appeal
by Nadia Prupis
Assange has repeatedly argued that extradition to Sweden will allow him to be sent to the U.S., where he faces espionage and conspiracy charges for his role in publishing a cache of military and State Department documents in 2010.
Unjust Public Policies Drive the Massive Racial Wealth Gap in America: Study
by Sarah Lazare
It is vital “to find new opportunities to address the way that we’re constantly perpetuating this disparity between black, white and Latino families,” Ruetschlin continued.
The Women are Coming, and They Mean Peace: Historic March Across Korean DMZ Announced
by Andrea Germanos
The walk is spearheaded by Women De-Militarize the Zone, an effort founded by writer and peace activist Christine Ahn, who wrote that “the DMZ continues to divide the Korean peninsula with recurring tensions that serve as a sobering reminder of the possibility of renewed war.”
more news…

Views…

Fukushima: Amidst Radioactive Ruins, Renewable Energy Revolution Soars
by Harvey Wasserman
It’s a fight we can’t afford to lose. It’s a victory we must soon embrace … with the utmost relief and joy.
The Student Debt Time Bomb
by Chuck Collins
This debt keeps young people from starting families, buying houses, and taking risks on new businesses. It also exacerbates the growing problem of wealth inequality and declining social mobility, since it gives debt-free graduates from wealthier families an enormous head start over their peers.
Official Washington’s Delusions on Delusions
by Robert Parry
The chasm between reality and the U.S. political/media elite continues to widen with Official Washington’s actions toward Iran and Russia making “the world’s sole remaining superpower” look either like a Banana Republic (on Iran) or an Orwellian Dystopia (regarding Russia).
After Ringling’s Announcement, What’s the Next Elephant in the Room?
by Paul Shapiro
For too long, we’ve ignored the consequences of our actions against the animals with whom we share our planet, and the results have been profoundly regrettable for both them and us.
A Lesson from Fukushima: A Safe, Clean Energy Future Will Be Nuclear-Free
by Kendra Ulrich
Relying on nuclear to fulfill Japan’s climate obligations is betting the future of the planet and generations of people to come on a politician’s fantasy.
The Risks of Mishandling the Tikrit Offensive
by Sharif Nashashibi
It requires inclusivity and respect for human rights. Otherwise, ISIL will either make a comeback, or will be eclipsed further down the line by another jihadist successor.
Will Podemos Rescue Spain’s Unemployed Youths?
by Mark Weisbrot
Unemployment is what matters most; there is substantial evidence that long-term unemployment has numerous social costs besides loss of income, including on mental and physical health, suicide rates, life expectancy, and the well-being of the children of the unemployed.
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The Oracle Report | Thursday, February 12, 2015

FROM WISE OWL J in ARiZONA

FROM WISE OWL J IN ARIZONA

The Oracle Report – Thursday, February 12, 2015

“Outposts” – Aquarius Lunar Cycle: January 20 – February 17, 2015

OracleReport.com

“The Black Moon Transit of Virgo: November 27, 2014 – August 25, 2015”

OracleReport.com

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Third Quarter Moon Phase: revise, reassess

Moon in Scorpio/Sagittarius (11:45 am ET/4:45 pm UT)

Ruling Wisdom Goddess: Matangi (The Goddess Who Takes Care of Details)

Skill: bring balance

Positive Imprints: confidence, endurance, completion, applied creativity, following intuition, gaining awareness of something, satisfied desires, basic interpretations, simplicity

Catalysts for Change: class systems, servitude, neglect, rocky roads, running on empty, ignoring the physical body, dissatisfied

Sabian Symbol for the Lunar Month: “an old adobe mission” (projecting plans into the future, inner spiritual retreat)

Ironically, as the last three days of this year’s hyper-dominant, aggressive energy of “the ruler of a nation” is completing, today’s energy favors pure intentions and innocent motives.

Balance tries to be restored today to places that are out of balance or are overcompensating. Is something out of balance for you? Does something need to be adjusted? If a breath of purity and innocence blew through, what would change? What would it cause you to do?

Balance within romantic relationships is particularly highlighted with this energy. A transformation is trying to occur within hearts. The energy aims to restore and rekindle dimmer flames. It also aims to redistribute the “fuel” of heart fires, so that both people share in giving and receiving. If the relationship heavily tilts toward one person doing most of the giving and one person doing most of the receiving, this issue will surface for revision (though it may mask as another issue).

Balance within the body is also highlighted today, so if you have been neglecting your body, make up for it today. Your body will thank you because today’s energetics amplify any effort to strengthen the health of the body. All bodies are connected, so when we work on the physical body, we are simultaneously working on the emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies.

Balance within our work comes today when we bring a creative element into the logical realm. Projects or tasks that have been mired in detail and need a little creative boost receive it today if we draw down the mental chatter and draw open space for something new to enter – to change it up. Mercury has stationed direct and things are beginning to untangle, bringing air and area for movement.

The Moon will conjunct Saturn at 7:30 pm ET/00:30 am UT at the degree of “an old owl up in a tree.” As the day progresses, wisdom seeks us, though we may be too weary to receive it. It’s best to not overthink things after the Sun goes down wherever you are tonight. Be the wise owl in the tree, observing and taking it all in, then turn it over to a higher power when you go to sleep. Let go and let the field transform.

The field of consciousness is shifting as we energetically close out the past year and prepare for a new (and exciting!) year. We continue to hold the line as the year abates, vigilantly watching the patterns change, and remaining firmly connected to nature and the beauty it brings to help us live in the full, present moment.

Thank you for supporting The Oracle Report!

Copyright Oracle Report 2009 – 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Permission to repost is granted provided credit is given towww.oraclereport.com.

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Truthout Daily Digest | Thursday, February 5, 2015

Dahr Jamail | Species Extinctions, Human Chronic Disease on the Rise, as Climate Disruption Mounts

Dahr Jamail, Truthout: As we continue to learn of terrifying developments resulting from human-caused climate disruption, scientists are now predicting mass die-offs and species extinctions, and rising rates of chronic disease in humans related to air pollution.

Read the Article

With Progressive Syriza’s Victory, Is a European Spring Coming?

Lorenzo Del Savio and Matteo Mameli, Truthout: In the wake of the victory of progressive party Syriza in the January Greek general election, some talk about a coming European Spring – a democratic uprising against the political status quo that has imposed brutal austerity policies in Europe. Yet, given the ease with which elites capture government, not all proposed solutions lead to a democratic outcome.

Read the Article

Ten Tall Tales on Trade: Fact-Checking Obama’s Top Trade Official

Ben Beachy, Eyes on Trade: Here’s a rundown of the top 10 fibs and half-truths that US Trade Representative Michael Froman uttered before the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee in his sales pitch for the Obama administration’s bid to fast-track through Congress the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

Read the Article

My Journey With Securus: Prison Phone Monopoly Punishes Loved Ones

Jennifer Long, Truthout: Securus is an exploitative monopoly, and an unfortunate part of both prisoners’ and their families’ lives. The for-profit prison phone services company charges exorbitant fees, putting financial hardships on prisoners’ loved ones, many of whom already face economic pressures.

Read the Article

Dean Baker | Is Hillary Clinton in the Bottom 3 Percent? Turning the Corner on CEO Pay

Dean Baker, Truthout: One of the provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill required that CEO pay packages be submitted to a non-binding “Say on Pay” vote of shareholders on a regular basis. Suppose corporate directors forfeited their pay whenever a CEO pay package was voted down, a bit less than 3 percent of the time.

Read the Article

The Real NFL Scandal

The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: Seattle’s decision to throw the ball at the goal line with 20 seconds to go in last night’s Super Bowl was a costly one. But in the long run, it won’t be nearly as costly to the rest of the United States as the National Football League itself.

Read the Article

Arguments Before the Michigan Supreme Court on Right-to-Work Law Beside the Point

Cedric de Leon, Truthout: The lawsuit now before the Michigan Supreme Court is technically about whether the state’s 2012 right-to-work law applies to public employees, but it is really about the place of workers in US democracy.

Read the Article

Amy Goodman | CODEPINK Attempts to “Arrest” Henry Kissinger for War Crimes in Vietnam, Laos, Chile and East Timor

Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!: Activists from the antiwar group CODEPINK attempted to perform a citizen’s arrest on former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger when he testified on global security challenges at a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting. CODEPINK cited Kissinger’s involvement in foreign policies that led to mass slaughter.

Watch the Video and Read the Transcript

Holder’s Final Betraying Kiss to the People of Ferguson: The Wholesale Abandonment of Decency

Marsha Coleman-Adebayo and Kevin Berends, Black Agenda Report: There is no “very high bar,” as Eric Holder cynically asserted during his recent diatribe at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, that needs to be met to establish the case that Darren Wilson intentionally violated Michael Brown’s civil rights.

Read the Article

Teenage Girls in Argentina – Invisible Victims of Femicide

Fabiana Frayssinet, Inter Press Service: The murder of a young Argentine girl on a beach in neighboring Uruguay shook both countries and drew attention to a kind of violence that goes almost unnoticed as a cause of death among Argentine adolescents: femicide.

Read the Article

In South Korea, Preaching Peace Is Now a Deportable Offense

Hyun Lee, Foreign Policy in Focus: On January 10, after detaining her for questioning on charges of violating the National Security Law, South Korea deported US citizen Shin Eun-mi and barred her from returning to the country for the next five years. In this interview, she reflects on the South Korean government’s decision.

Read the Interview

On the News With Thom Hartmann: The Middle Class Can’t Be Saved Unless Wall Street Is Tamed, and More

In today‘s On the News segment: Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been talking a lot about the middle class, but that talk is cheap; legal cannabis is the fastest growing industry in the United States; Greece has had enough of austerity; and more.

Watch the Video and Read the Transcript

BuzzFlash

NYPD Commissioner Backs Off Idea of Police Patrolling Protests With Machine Guns

Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: The idea of police employing machine guns and sniper rifles to surround groups exercising their right to protest conjures memories of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

President Obama Sends Congress Record $4 Trillion Budget Plan

Read the Article at the Associated Press

California State Regulators Let Oil Companies Taint Drinkable Water in Central Valley

Read the Article at the San Francisco Chronicle

Democrat Rahm Emanuel Puts Chicago Up for Sale

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

Suppressed EU Report Could Have Banned Pesticides Worth Billions

Read the Article at The Guardian

The Pipeline Fight Pitting Native Americans Against Big Oil

Read the Article at The Daily Beast

Rev. Billy Talen on His Arrest That Illustrates the Criminalizing of Dissent

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

B Is for Billion: What Military Cuts?

Read the Article at Common Dreams


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Truthout Daily Digest | Thursday, 29 January 2015

From the Concorde to Sci-Fi Climate Solutions

Almuth Ernsting, Truthout: Touting “sci-fi climate solutions” – untested technologies not really scalable to the dimensions of our climate change crisis – dangerously delays the day when we actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Read the Article

Remembering the Paris Commune: When Workers and Women Rose Up Against the Oligarchy

John Merriman, Basic Books: Many historians regard the Paris Commune as the precedent for subsequent uprisings against the plutocracy and ruling elite. Who were the Parisians who revolted against the ruling class ensconced in Versailles and suffered deadly retribution as a result?

Read the Excerpt

First Anti-Islam March by Pegida Movement Fizzles in Denmark

Linda Pershing, Truthout: On January 19, 2015, supporters of the Pegida movement participated in their first Copenhagen rally, following earlier anti-Islam events in Dresden. In response, four times as many people showed up for an anti-Pegida rally to oppose their efforts.

Read the Article and View the Photos

Seeking Accountability: Palestine’s Recourse to the ICC

L. Michael Hager, Truthout: Impunity for Israeli war crimes encourages more gross violations of international law. Palestine’s application to the International Criminal Court is a welcome step toward accountability.

Read the Article

The Attack on Human Rights in Haiti: An Interview With Jackson Doliscar, Part II

Beverly Bell, Other Worlds: Community organizer and rights defender Jackson Doliscar speaks of the efforts of the Haitian government to silence advocates of human rights, land rights and housing rights. The Haitian government is becoming increasingly autocratic, ruling by decree.

Read the Interview

Billionaires Won’t Be Happy Until the US Becomes Austerity-Ravaged Greece

The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: Billionaires don’t need a social safety net, and they don’t care if working-class people are thrown onto the streets to starve. If anything, doing that provides them with cheaper and more desperate labor. The rich don’t want their not-so-hard earned money going to help others.

Read the Article

The Hunting Ground: Film Exposes How Colleges Cover Up Sexual Assault and Fail to Protect Students

Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!: Two recent court cases mark a rare example where students accused of sexual assault have actually faced punishment. The Hunting Groundshows how colleges and universities across the nation are covering up sexual assaults and failing to protect students from repeat offenders.

Watch the Video and Read the Transcript

After Four Decades With Roe, US Women Still Need Abortion Access and So Much More

Andrea Flynn and Shulie Eisen, Next New Deal: As economic inequality takes center stage in politics, it’s important to remember that reproductive justice and bodily autonomy are just as essential for secure lives.

Read the Article

Cuba and US Skirt Obstacles to Normalization of Ties

Patricia Grogg and Ivet González, Inter Press Service: The biggest discrepancies in the first meeting to normalize relations between Cuba and the United States, after more than half a century, were over the issue of human rights. What stood out in the talks, however, was a keen interest in forging ahead, in a process led by two women.

Read the Article

Jim Hightower | Not Lovin’ It

Jim Hightower, OtherWords: McDonald’s is in the hot seat and now faces upward of 100 federal charges of labor law violations for retaliating against workers seeking higher wages and the freedom to unionize without corporate retaliation.

Read the Article

Learning From American Sniper

Rory Fanning, Jacobin: As Vietnam taught us, if we want to build a successful antiwar movement, we have to engage the soldiers fighting the wars. American Sniper, if we take it seriously, might help us do just that.

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Save Us From Washington’s Visionaries: In (Modest) Praise of a Comforting Mediocrity

Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch: As Obama and his team muddle toward their finish line, their achievements negligible, we might even express a modicum of gratitude. At least they managed to steer clear of truly epic disasters on the foreign policy front.

Read the Article

BuzzFlash

Disproportionate Emphasis on European and US Victimhood Is Racist

Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: It is an injustice to confine the outpouring of public mourning for victims of violence to those of white European identity.

Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

US Incarceration System Facilitates Breakdown of Society

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

Will the Obama Administration Finally Bring the CIA Torturers to Justice?

Read the Article at The Guardian

French Government Creates Bizarre Checklist That Is Islamophobic

Read the Article at The Washington Post

Something Really Really Terrible Is About to Happen to Our Coral

Read the Article at Mother Jones

Enbridge Gets Another Federal Tar Sands Crude Pipeline Permit as Senate Debates Keystone XL

Read the Article at DeSmogBlog

The Strange Case of Darren Wilson’s Mysterious Disappearing Duty Belt

Read the Article at Vice

Why This Baby’s Mom Is So Angry at the Anti-Vaxxers

Read the Article at The Washington Post

(I haven’t read this last article yet but I am disappointed in Truthout for joining the mainstream media in this latest crusade against the anti-vaccine movement. The problem with vaccines in my opinion is not the germs but the poisonous additives and preservatives like mercury-a well known cumulative neurotoxin. I like the idea of vaccinations but I do not appreciate the corporations making public health a cash cow at the expense of innocent children. This should not be a partisan issue with liberals joining the corporations side in mocking the anti-vaccine movement. That shows a disgusting lack of awareness and Orwellian mind programming.

ohnwentsya)


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Truthout Daily Digest | Thursday, 22 January 2015

Supreme Court Upholds Auto Stop With No Traffic Violation

Marjorie Cohn, Truthout: The latest in 15 years of continuous Supreme Court decisions effectively enlarging police powers and restricting Forth Amendment protections against illegal searches and seizures, Heien v. North Carolina upheld a traffic stop where there was no traffic violation.

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Economist Leonidas Vatikiotis: Syriza’s Proposals Don’t Go Far Enough for Greece

Michael Nevradakis, Truthout: Economist Leonidas Vatikiotis, previously a European Parliament candidate with Greece’s Antarsya political party, shares his take on the upcoming elections in Greece, the economic proposals put forth by main opposition party Syriza, and the need, in his view, for Greece to depart from the eurozone.

Read the Interview

Interim Settlement Reached in Lac Mégantic Oil Train Disaster, but Culprits Say “It Wasn’t Us”

Roger Annis, Truthout: Amid continuing official support for oil trains in Canada, an initial financial compensation agreement for some victims of the 2013 Lac Mégantic, Quebec oil train disaster has been reached with some of the oil and transportation companies responsible for the tragedy.

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New Year, Same as the Old Year? 2015 Reproductive Rights Preview

Katie Klabusich, Truthout: The GOP-led 114th Congress declared its legislative priority by opening with assaults on reproductive healthcare access from all angles, choosing the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade as the day to vote on new abortion restrictions.

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State of the Black Union: The Shadow of Crisis Has Not Passed

Staff, Black Lives Matter: We the people, committed to the declaration that Black lives matter, will fight to end the structural oppression that prevents so many from realizing their dreams. We cannot, and will not stop until the United States recognizes the value of Black life.

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Supreme Court’s Latest Race Case: Housing Discrimination

Nikole Hannah-Jones, ProPublica: This week, the Supreme Court will take up one of the most important civil rights cases of the last decade – Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project. Many fear the case could gut the landmark Fair Housing Act.

Read the Article

Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition

Staff, Brave New Films: This documentary delves even deeper into where the Koch brothers’ money is going, who their money is hurting and how much they made during the whole process leading up to the 2014 elections.

Watch the Video

Is John Boehner a Traitor?

The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: By inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress, Speaker of the House John Boehner may have broken any number of laws, and the Department of Justice needs to investigate.

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In SOTU, President Punts on Income Inequality

Michael Winship, Truthout: Much of the buildup to President Obama’s State of the Union address made it sound as if he was going to have a “Piketty moment.” Yet, with a president too often bold in words but timid in action, facing a Congress more Republican and obstructionist than ever, little will get done to fix inequality.

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The 1% Dine in Davos as Latin America Pulls People Out of Poverty

Cyril Mychalejko, teleSUR: Billionaires and political elites have swooped into Davos this week for the annual World Economic Forum. The biggest risk the world faces may be the Forum’s continued neoliberal economic policies its members advocate that have created the crises it supposedly seeks to redress.

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Inequality Is Costing Us Big-Time

Sam Pizzigati, OtherWords: If the United States had been as equal in 2007 as it was in 1979, that average income would have been $94,310. In other words, inequality is costing the average American family about $18,000 a year.

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More and War: The Tao of Washington

Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch: The visibly Orwellian nature of US intelligence is now widely accepted, at least in Washington, as a necessity of our age, of our need for (you guessed it) safety and security. As a result, its bureaucratic expansion, secret wars, global kill lists and other activities are largely beyond challenge.

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Why the CIA Is So Eager to Demolish Whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling

Norman Solomon, Expose Facts: The CIA is on a quest for more respect from anyone willing to defer to its authority, no matter how legally hypocritical or morally absent. Demolishing the life of Jeffrey Sterling is just another means to that end.

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BuzzFlash

The BuzzFlash commentary for Truthout will return soon.

New Jersey Officers Shoot and Kill Unarmed Black Man With Hands Up

Read the Article at The Chicago Tribune

Inequality in the Air We Breathe?

Read the Article at The New York Times

Maureen Dowd’s Clueless White Gaze: The “Selma” Backlash

Read the Article at Salon

US Senate Again Fails to Admit Human Role in Global Warming

Read the Article at The Guardian

The Narcissistic Fantasy of Mitt Romney

Read the Article at The Week

Pelosi Slams Netanyahu Invite

Read the Article at The Hill

Toxic Tanneries Poisoning Workers in Bangladesh

Read the Article at Vice News


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Truthout Daily Digest | Thursday, 15 January 2015

How “Hate Crimes Against Police” Expose the Fatal Flaw Within Hate Crime Statutes

Aaron Cantú, Truthout: Hate crime legislation lent legitimacy to a 40-year carceral program that has wrought immense damage on communities of color. In an ironic twist, the police – who’ve been the main enforcers of this program – now want to invoke these laws for their protection.

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Richard Wolff on the Greek Crisis, Austerity and a Post-Capitalist Future

Michael Nevradakis, Truthout: New School professor and economist Richard Wolff analyzes the causes of the economic crises in Greece and the eurozone, debunks claims that the Greek economy is recovering and proposes a post-capitalist future for Greece and the world.

Read the Interview

Pipeline to Nowhere

Emily Schwartz Greco, OtherWords: Researchers of a new study predict that virtually all Canadian tar sands oil production will stop by 2020. If Keystone XL is built by then, there would be nothing for the pipeline to transport, and it would become a monument to wasting colossal sums of money on dirty-energy infrastructure.

Read the Article

The Robots Are Coming! Let’s Make Them Work for the Workers

Thomas Matt, Truthout: In a capitalist economy with privately owned means of production, technological advancements often result in unemployment and inequality. In a cooperative political economic system, however, these advancements would mean less work and higher living standards.

Read the Article

Four Places Conservatives Believe Women Don’t Belong

Robin Marty, Care2: Conservatives assert that there are no roadblocks for being female, that a woman can have access to any opportunity a man can have and that there are no opportunity differences between the sexes. But it appears that men and women aren’t that equal at all.

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Lobbyists Lobby on Behalf of… Lobbyists

The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: It’s bad enough that corporations are spending billions to buy off our lawmakers and corrupt our democracy. Now they’re trying to convince us that we should support or ignore their bad behavior, and strip our own government of the power to protect us from these predators.

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In the Wake of Charlie Hebdo, Assaults on Mosques Escalate

s.e. smith, Care2: The Charlie Hebdo attacks provided a convenient smokescreen for those looking to launch retaliatory attacks, despite the fact that the vast majority of Muslims were equally horrified by the attacks and were dismayed by the actions of the killers, who claimed to be acting in the name of Islam.

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The United States Is Open for Business in Iraq

Peter Van Buren, TomDispatch: While the collapse of the Iraqi army and the abandonment of piles of its US weaponry helped create a new business opportunity for weapons makers like General Dynamics, the plan to cash in on Iraq can be traced back to the United States’ occupation of the country.

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Hold Your Breath: Fracking and Clean Air Don’t Mix

Staff, Earthworks: Using a FLIR (infrared) camera designed to detect normally invisible, sometimes toxic, volatile organic compounds, mother, activist and FLIR-certified technician Sharon Wilson went on a road trip to document pollution at oil and gas operations – and its human cost.

Watch the Video

The Enchanted Land Where Community College Is Free? Welcome to Tennessee in 2015

Yessenia Funes, YES! Magazine: A new bill provides two years of tuition at a community college for participating high school grads who might otherwise face a 7.5 percent unemployment rate – and other states are already following suit.

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The Distorted Exaggeration of Black-on-Black Crime Ignores Much of the United States’ Criminality

Adam Hudson, AlterNet: This myth relies on shaky evidence and a selective definition of crime that ignores crimes committed by powerful institutions and the people who run them, many of whom are white men. Here are five examples of the kinds of crimes that slip under the radar.

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Three Ideas for Inclusive Cities: How Raleigh, Seattle and Others Are Bringing Everyone Into the Fold

Shannan Stoll, YES! Magazine: From city-issued ID cards to open-source data anyone can access, simple urban innovations are creating more transparent and equitable cities.

Read the Article

Women on Waves: Meet the Dutch Physician Who Defied Abortion Bans by Bringing Her Clinic to the Sea

Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, Democracy Now!: As Republicans in the new Congress and in state legislatures across the United States seek new restrictions on abortion, we look at the story of a Dutch doctor who has brought safe abortion to countries around the world where it is illegal.

Watch the Video and Read the Transcript

BuzzFlash

Maybe the Two-Party System in the US Should Be in the Creation Museum With the Dinosaurs

Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: The jury is out on whether a two-party system can seriously address the pressing issues of our time.

Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

Partners in Terror: This Is Bigger Than Satire

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

The Rate of Sea-Level Rise Is “Far Worse Than Previously Thought,” Study Says

Read the Article at The Washington Post

Paris Is a Warning: There Is No Insulation From Our Wars

Read the Article at The Guardian

Cop Rock: The NYPD Turn on Spokesman Patrick Lynch

Read the Article at Esquire

ISIS Gaining Ground in Syria, Despite US Strikes

Read the Article at The Daily Beast

GOP House Passes Bill Setting Up New Shutdown War Over Immigration

Read the Article at Talking Points Memo

“Not the Way We Do Democracy!” Why Is a Ferguson Grand Juror Being Silenced?

Read the Article at Salon


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The Oracle Report | Thursday, January 15, 2015

FROM WISE OWL RAVEN

FROM WISE OWL RAVEN

The Oracle Report – Thursday, January 15, 2015

“The Mass Turn” – Capricorn 2014 Lunar Cycle: December 21, 2014 – January 19, 2015

OracleReport.com

“The Black Moon Transit of Virgo: November 27, 2014 – August 25, 2015”

OracleReport.com

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Oracle Report’s Andrew Foss will join Janet Hickox on her new internet TV show on Conscious Consumer Network to discuss the Sacred Masculine TODAY at 4:00 pm ET/1:00 pm PT/9:00 pm UT. Stream the show live under “CCN Live” on the right side of the page:

http://www.consciousconsumernetwork.tv/

Third Quarter Moon Phase: reassess, revise, realign

Moon in Scorpio

Ruling Wisdom Goddess: Kali

Skill: lighten up

Negative Imprint: dissociated, bossing people around, avoidance, pressure, cut off from reality, division, addressing only the surface issues not the core issue

Positive Imprint: faith, signs and signals, organization, enjoying life, creating/appreciating art and music, love, love of life, conviction, mentoring, the fairy realm, access to higher consciousness

Sabian Symbol for the Lunar Month: “an Indian chief claims power from the assembled tribe” (self-empowerment, personal sovereignty)

A general lightening of the Capricorn energy comes today with the Sun moving to the degree in the sky of the symbol “a nature spirit dancing in the mist of a waterfall.” A certain effervescence pervades the day, and along with it an offering of wisdom that we need about ourselves and our lives.

At any point today, if things start to become heavy, cumbersome, or stuck, shift the energy by lightening up the situation in some way. Humor, creativity, playfulness, and fun are good ways to do this. Balance will return and progress can be made. But first we have to recognize that things are becoming mired and weighed down before we can shift out of it. It’s an excellent opportunity to practice “merging the two worlds” in a real way.

In many ways, there are two worlds in play today. One “world” asks that we be ultra-responsible, decisive, and efficient. The other “world” wants us to share, express, deliberate, and then create. Conflicts and push/pull dynamics can result from the collision of the two worlds. Today’s misty waterfall could become an outright deluge. Maintaining respect for others and their beliefs and opinions will alleviate the potential flood.

But it’s really not a good day to have to make big decisions or moves. There is a lot of fence sitting and mending of fences with things up in the air. But if you must make a decision or move, call for reinforcements – for back-up. Talk it over with someone first to make sure you are seeing things as clearly as possible.

Clarity about external, worldly things is hard to reach today. Clarity about internal, spiritual things abounds because key information that we need is floating in the air like bubbles.

Mercury and Venus remain in conjunction until Mercury stations retrograde next week on Wednesday, January 21, 2015. When Venus and Mercury are conjunct (in the same place in the sky), we re-evaluate our relationships. Thoughts, feelings, and projections about our relationships are in focus. The ways we balance and nurture our relationships undergo revision. Power and control dynamics within relationships try to equalize. This will continue while Mercury is retrograde through February 11, 2015, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

What will effervesce for you today? Lighten up and see what happens.

(A side note to today’s energy is that the banksters historically use an energetic signature that is in effect today to manipulate markets.)

Thank you for supporting the Oracle Report. Blessings to all!

Copyright Oracle Report 2009 – 2014. All Rights Reserved.

Permission to repost is granted provided credit is given towww.oraclereport.com.

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