THE HEADLINES

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Turkish PM Recep Erdogan at the "Free Syria" conference

“ALL THEY CARE ABOUT, IN THE END, IS THE WAR ITSELF—OR RATHER, WAR ITSELF.”

(Chris Floyd)

The April 1 annnouncement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the U.S. government will be help arm the “Free Syrian Army” opposition comes as no surprise to Chris Floyd, although the real “fools” being played by these and similar military interventions around the world are the American people themselves. The support of an opposition not guaranteed to be any better than that which is being opposed is old ground plowed in Iraq and elsewhere. The “American Empire” about which Floyd so frequently writes is not an Empire in the sense that the citizens of an Empire derive benefits from “extracting resources” from colonial dependencies. Rather, the real extraction is the wealth of the citizens themselves into the hands and the cash registers of the military/industrial rulers of the country.

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THEY GIVE A MERCEDES BENZ TO THE WINNER OF THE CHICAGO MARATHON; WHAT SHOULD A CHICAGO SCHOOL KID GET FOR THE BEST VIDEO WELCOMING NATO TO THE CITY?

(Black Agenda Report)

What the public relations department of the CPS is offering is a free iPad to the winner and $400 in school supplies for his/her teacher. Bruce Dixon is appalled at this “cheapskate” insult to Chicago school children, and suggests that the Movement in Chicago take up a collection for a more generous prize for the student who will produce a video that will, as will he as one who grew up in the city, protest the meeting of the murderous NATO organization in Chicago.

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FEWER UNEMPLOYED IN THE UNITED STATES? MAYBE, BUT THOSE WHO ARE UNEMPLOYED ARE RECEIVING FEWER BENEFITS.

(World Socialist)

Georgia, Florida and other states are enacting sharp limits on eligibility for benefits and the length of time that they may be paid, measures that effectively shut out most of the unemployed from benefits, and maintain a level of same that scarcely is adequate to survival in an inflationary economy.

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SERVING  THE “PRIESTS OF UNMITIGATED ARROGANCE.”

(Common Dreams)

This is Jim Hightower’s view of the JOBS act just passed by Congress and headed for presidential signature.  Under the guise of providing incentive for “start up businesses” that will spawn new jobs, the bill is actually a huge victory for all those financial institutions whose fraudulent manipulation of investment funds led to the current monetary crisis.  It is in effect a “de-regulation” of any public restraints on “start ups” that may defraud investers without producing many or any jobs.

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THAT 35% INCOME TAX BRACKET FOR HIGHEST INCOME EARNERS?  IN SEA-WORLD’S CASE, FORGET THAT!

(Orlando Sentinel)

The Orlando Sentinel reports that, despite record earnings ($380 million) of Shamu and his watery cohorts, SeaWorld will pay NO federal income taxes—and no state of Florida corporate income tax this year.  In the hands of creative tax accountants who know how to “write off” expenses, SeaWorld (and other “too big to tax” entities) are getting free tax rides.

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Quote of the day…

There has been a shift from the belief that we as a nation benefit from higher education, to a belief that it’s the people receiving the education who primarily benefit and so they should foot the bill.

Ronald G. Ehrenberg, a trustee of the State University system of New York, in an article by Noam Chomsky describing the assault on public education in the U.S. and around the world.

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