THE HEADLINES

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IS THE WORLD READY FOR ANOTHER EXTENDED EXTRADITION PROCEEDING AS OCCURRED FOR TRIAL OF CHILEAN DICTATOR AUGUSTO PINOCHET?

(Truthdig)

Amy Goodman notes how world governments are falling over themselves to assist in a prosecution of former WikiLeaks operator Julian Assange, a whistleblower against abuses in the “war on terror.”  In the Pinochet case, a Spanish judge fought an extended and ultimately failed effort to secure his extradition from Britain to Spain.  Now, as then, the world waits for international judicial processes to play out as both Assange, under house arrest, and Bradly Manning, under coercive incarceration, are likely to learn what happens  to whistle-blowers who stand up to the exposure of war crimes.

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PROGRESSIVE GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY GROUPS ARE DEALING HEAVY BLOWS TO A SMART-ALEC CONSERVATIVE LOBBY.  

(Alternet)

ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council ) exists to persuade state legislatures to enact conservatve laws: for example, the “stand your ground” gun possession rights law that has come under national scrunity after the Florida shooting of Trayvon Martin.  Much of its support derives from “blue dog Democrats” whose political agenda is essentially that of Republicans.  With grassroots protests against these Democrats, ALEC is beginning to lose its political teeth.  This process is highlighted with a “huge” victory in which Wal-Mart, one of the biggest supporters of ALEC, withdraws that support from the organization.

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SOUTH CAROLINA CONGRESSMAN CRITICIZES THE “VAMPIRE” BEHAVIOR OF BAIN CAPITAL—AND GETS “SMACKED DOWN” BY  OBAMA 2012.

(Black Agenda Report)

For decades, former FBI head J. Edgar Hoover operated with the ironclad injunction to his agents: “don’t embarrass the Bureau.”  The Obama re-election committee apparently operates with the same rule for black “leaders” like James Clyburn: “don’t embarrass Barack.”  When he goes beyond the Obama-approved denunciation of Newark Mayor Corey Brewer in defending the Bain Capital firm with which Mitt Romney is involved, Obama 2012 lost no time in denouncing his blanket condemnation of an industry which is a major campaign funder for themselves.

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WHAT’S THE WORST PLACE IN AMERICA TO BE AN INDIAN?  TRY RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA.

(Indian Country Today)

Lise Balk King so describes the situation in western South Dakota, an area in which she lived and experienced anti-Indian prejudice and discrimination for many years.  This local racism assumed prominence in the nation-wide native American community when an Indian man was assaulted by KKK people at a local hospital and created a YouTube depiction of his story that went viral in that community.

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FLORIDA’S CONCERN ABOUT “INELIGIBLE” VOTERS: TALE OF TWO FEDERAL INTERVENTIONS.

(Daytona Beach News Journal)

As election supervisors deal with Governor Scott’s call to cull registration rolls to purge any non-citizens contained thereon, the Justice Department intervenes to demand that the state desist from this on grounds of civil rights violations.  Meantime, the state’s Secretary of State, Florida’s chief elections officer, asks the Department of Homeland Security to assist the purge by furnishing information from its database to help them identify illegal immigrants who might be on the rolls.  DHS has so far declined.

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Quote of the day…

You don’t send commandos onto a civilian ship, armed with lethal ammunition, unless you intend to use it. Yet if Israel’s intention in attacking the Mavi Marmara and killing passengers was to intimidate solidarity activists, and prevent future acts of solidarity with Palestinians, it very badly failed.

Sarah Colbome, one of the activists aboard a ship stopped by Israel on its way with humanitarian supplies to Gaza, on news that the Turkish government has indicted 4 Israeli commandos who participated in that operation.

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