(SOMEBODY’S) “WAR GAMES” BEGIN IN SYRIA—BUT WHOSE GAMES AND TO WHAT PURPOSE? These are questions without definitive answsers as devastating air strikes hit targets near Damascus. Syrian officials, noting that only Israeli forces would have the firepower in the area to deliver such blows, accuse Israel of perpetrating them, though Israel officially denies this. [...]
NEW YORK TIMES TAKES ITS LITTLE HATCHET TO A RACIAL DISCRIMINATION SUIT BY BLACK FARMERS. An article in the Times derogates a class action lawsuit against the USDA claiming what is a long-known fact, that this agency has conspired with local white racists to administer farm loans in a way to restrict opportunities for [...]
At least 30 states this year have considered or passed laws that would impose new voting restrictions, as the trend of curbing access to the ballot box that culminated in long lines and breakdowns at polling places during the 2012 election continues unabated. Lawmakers in states across the country, most of them Republicans, appear tone [...]
HANDCUFFING KIDS FOR NO REASON. This is the allegation of two whistle-blowing police officers against the practices of the New York Police Department in a class action suit against the city charging racial profiling. They claim that their supervisors maintained quotas of the number of arrests and summonses they were expected to execute in [...]
PLAN TO GET SICK AFTER 2014? BETTER PLAN TO MOVE TO MASSACHUSETTS IF YOU WANT HEALTH CARE COVERAGE. This is a reasonable interpretation of a finding that the great majority (up to 98%) of health care services will be unavailable to Americans after the “Affordable” (Obamacare) health insurance system kicks in that year. The [...]
IT’S NOT EASY BEING A PELICAN IN COSTA RICA—NOR A PORPOISE NOR AN ALLIGATOR EITHER. These animals, among others, are given protection in a Marine Park in Puntarenas from the hazards of their life styles (like water dives of pelicans) and of the human animals who sometimes harass them. A gated park provides a [...]
THE IMMIGRATION PUSH: “AT THIS MOMENT, IT LOOKS LIKE THERE’S A GENUINE DESIRE TO GET THIS DONE SOON.“ Following the lead of a bipartisan group of senators that introduced legislation earlier in the day, President Obama on Tuesday delivered a public endorsement of the effort to achieve “comprehensive” immigration reform. The president spoke of [...]
THE “BIGGEST CLIMATE FIGHT” OF THE YEAR MAY ALREADY BE HERE, AND IT COULD HAVE BIG CONSEQUENCES FOR THE HEALTH OF OUR PLANET. A tiny Oregon town is at the center of a brewing struggle over big profits for the coal industry and whether simply “offshoring” the dirtiest of fossil fuels will negate any [...]
WHITE HOUSE TO MAKE PUSH FOR “COMPREHENSIVE” IMMIGRATION REFORM. Even while publicly engaged with the rancorous and seemingly endless squabbles over fiscal negotiations that have paralyzed Congress, the New York Times reports that the White House has been privately working on a “comprehensive” plan to deal with the nation’s immigration laws. President Obama will [...]
OBAMA’S DIGESTION: DOES HE “HAVE THE STOMACH TO CARRY ON ANOTHER WAR?” Apparently so, says Jason Hirthler, as he notes the bi-partisan “imperial lockstep” between the two major parties as, for example, Defense Secretary Panetta places cruise missiles in Turkey for its conflict with Syria, and State Secretary Clinton jiggles the nerves by talking of [...]
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