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Friday, October 19

19.OCT.2012, PART 2 - The Third-Party Factor, Breaking the Silence on Israel, America's Plutocrats, Onward Mormon Soldiers, CIA to Beef Up Armed Drones, transparency in Judicial Elections, DOMA Ruled Unconstitional, Inside the Mind of a Whistleblower, Occupied Palestine, Is Homosexuality a Choice?


This month, we are giving away a FREE copy of The End of Faith by Sam Harris. Simply go to our Facebook page, and start sharing our posts. The person or organization that shares the most DH posts by Halloween wins the book! 
 
 
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The Third-Party Factor: Will 2012 Look Like 2000?


U.S. soldiers cross a stream during a security patrol in Chabar, Afghanistan (Francisco V. Govea II)Losing their grip in Afghanistan

As another anniversary of the Afghanistan war passed this month amid growing "green-on-blue" attacks, Ashley Smith analyzes the prospects for the occupation.

Breaking the silence on Israel

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine brought together civil rights leaders, authors, actors and others dedicated to revealing Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people. Sherry Wolf, one of the organizers and press officer for the event, describes the weekend of testimony.

Bill Moyers: Matt Taibbi and Chrystia Freeland to Take on America's Plutocrats

On this week’s Moyers & Company Bill is joined by two veteran journalists to discuss how the super-rich have willfully confused their self-interest with America’s interest.

Onward Mormon Soldiers: Ann Romney Compares Mormon Mission to Military Service

Ann Romney told The View that her sons and her husband didn't serve, but they did spend a two-year tour proselytizing, which is pretty much the same thing.

TSA removes X-ray body scanners from major airports

The Transportation Security Administration has been quietly removing its X-ray body scanners from major airports over the last few weeks and replacing them with machines that radiation experts believe are safer.

Why Romney Doesn’t Support Equal Pay For Women, In One Picture

Mitt Romney’s campaign just can’t figure out whether he supports equal pay for women or not. When asked last April about Romney’s view on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which restored equal pay rights the Roberts Court cut back in 2007, Romney’s campaign responded with an awkward six second silence followed by a promise to “get back” with an answer to the question


Disclosure Laws Needed to Ensure Transparency in Judicial Elections

Supreme Court building in WashingtonEarlier this year, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its controversial Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission decision from 2010, following a challenge to a Montana law that prohibited corporate spending in elections. Disclosure laws would enable voters to know who is buying judicial elections in their states.

DOMA Ruled Unconstitutional By Federal Appeals Court In New York
Saying the gay population has "suffered a history of discrimination," a divided federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled Thursday that a federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman was unconstitutional, adding fuel to an issue expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court soon.

Inside The Mind Of A Whistleblower

I love being a whistleblower. I'm proud of it. When I wrote my last article about being a whistleblower, the response I received was overwhelming. Many people backed what I did, and I made a lot of contacts I wouldn't have otherwise. Last night I spent 5 hours on the phone with a fellow whistleblower. We had never met before, but it felt like reconnecting with an old friend. We shared war stories that we never told anyone before, because we connected on a level that nobody outside the whistleblowing community will ever truly get. We've both fought impossible odds and seen amazing things. It was the first time I felt like I was talking to someone who really understood me and what I've gone through.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-penny/inside-the-mind-of-a-whis_b_1982779.html

Shut up and play nice: How the Western world is limiting free speech

Free speech is dying in the Western world. While most people still enjoy considerable freedom of expression, this right, once a near-absolute, has become less defined and less dependable for those espousing controversial social, political or religious views. The decline of free speech has come not from any single blow but rather from thousands of paper cuts of well-intentioned exceptions designed to maintain social harmony.

Occupied Palestine: humiliation and human rights

UN, international, Palestinian, and Israeli human rights organisations do important work in Palestine. But the magic 'national security' argument is always available as a tool for the government of Israel.

5 Things You Need to Know About Mitt Romney's Shady Investments Before Election Day

Reporters continue to buy that old "blind trust" ruse. It's time to hold Romney accountable.
Young children were once expected to outgrow their issues; now they're diagnosed with lifelong psychiatric problems.

6 Ways You Might Be Getting Scammed on Your Monthly Bills

Some companies design their fee structures and agreements in an intentionally confusing manner.

Is Homosexuality a Choice?

Perhaps sexual preference can be changed – and people have the right to engage in gay sex and have homosexual relationships if they choose to do so. (The fourth option, that gay people have no choice but to be gay, but should be punished for it anyway, is morally unthinkable.)

America: Caught in the Throes of an Escalating "UnCivil War"

Watching what's going on in America today is like reliving the years preceding the destructive Civil War of the 1860's in which the seething anger and great dissension between opposing factions finally reached a boiling point and erupted into extreme violence. It's as if that dissension that tore America apart became embedded in this nation's psyche and has now resurfaced in this society.

Privatization Madness: Now Private Companies are Collecting Our Taxes

I went into my local township building Monday to settle up my local income tax bill. I had filed for an extension of my federal and state taxes back in April because of my father's unexpected death a few weeks before the tax filing date and the need to deal with his funeral and with arranging for care for my widowed mother, who has alzheimers, had taken up all my time.

Land of Elites

Few Americans have significant influence on the country or the lives of people in it. The number of Americans with real influence is very small, but their influence is very, very great. Although they are not organized into a formal institution, they nonetheless constitute the "invisible government" Edward Bernays wrote about in his book Propaganda in 1928
The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Land-of-Elites-by-B-Sidney-Smith-121017-963.html

Palestinian Authority to Hold Sham Elections

Longtime Israeli collaborators Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad scheduled West Bank municipal elections on October 20, 2012. Democracy isn't on the ballot. Palestinians are skeptical for good reason. For the first time since January 25, 2006, they'll vote in an election much different from then. Fed up with institutionalized Fatah corruption and subservience to Israel, Hamas candidates swept to victory.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Palestinian-Authority-to-H-by-Stephen-Lendman-121019-128.html

Mitt Romney: International Man of Mystery

The FBI's Fed Follies

The post-American Middle East


Redefining Happiness, Beating Consumerism


Study Shows How Prayer, Meditation Affect Brain Activity


As Sen. McGovern Nears Death, How the Antiwar Candidate Challenged Vietnam and Inspired a Generation
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