Anonymous vows to ‘destroy’ Westboro Baptist Church over Sandy Hook picket plans
“Your impact and cause is hazardous to the lives of millions and you fail to see the wrong in promoting the deaths of innocent people,” an “Anonymous” video featuring a computerized voice says over ominous music. “You are self-appointed servants of God who rewrite the words of his sacred scripture to adhere to your prejudice. Your hatred supersedes your faith, and you use faith to promote your hatred.”
Three Progressive Ways to Reduce Medicare Costs orporate lobbyists and their allies on Capitol Hill have a terrible new idea: hiking the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. This would save the federal government about $5.7 billion a year, butcost seniors $11.4 billion over the same period.
Freedom Of The Press Foundation Launches To Support WikiLeaks, Increase Transparency
Increased government scrutiny and criticism from lawmakers prompted several companies, including MasterCard, Visa and PayPal, to stop processing donations to the non-profit organization. WikiLeaks eventually suspended publication due to the “bank blockade.”
Michigan Right-to-Work: All Money and Influence Can Buy
The Right to Know
In December 2010, WikiLeaks started publishing a selection of leaked U.S. State Department cables through the New York Times, the Guardian, and other traditional media, opening a deep crack in the thickening wall of secrecy that has been forming worldwide around the internal processes of democracy since 9/11. They helped catalyze the "Arab Spring." They struck a blow for the right of citizens everywhere to know what is being done in our names. And they thoroughly freaked out the U.S. Government, sending it into a security spasm of Cold War proportions.
The December 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. that left 28 people dead — including 20 children — has sent shock waves through our society. It penetrated the elaborate defenses that we as individuals and as a culture have erected to live with the internal contradictions of the bargain we have made to both oppose and embrace violence. Occasionally reality exposes and trumps the cognitive dissonance of this uneasy but deeply embedded arrangement.
How the US Intelligence Community Came Out of the Shadows
Weren’t those the greatest of days if you were in the American spy game? Governments went down in Guatemala and Iran thanks to you. In distant Indonesia, Laos, and Vietnam, what a role you played! And even that botch-up of an invasion in Cuba was nothing to sneeze at. In those days, unfortunately, you -- particularly those of you in the CIA -- didn’t get the credit you deserved.
Regulations recently signed into effect by Attorney General Eric Holder allow the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) to monitor records of citizens for any potential criminal activity, without a warrant and without suspicion.
As he aggressively seeks the sources of news media leaks of government secrets, President Obama might want to pay close attention to an important and overdue new report that he ordered on classified information from the Public Interest Declassification Board.
re we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?" -- Barack Obama, Newtown Address, December 16, 2012. That sentence, uttered by President Obama in his Newtown Address, may turn out to be a turning point in American history. http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/416-gun-control-/15076-focus-the-price-of-our-freedom
The Woes of an American Drone Operator A soldier sets out to graduate at the top of his class. He succeeds, and he becomes a drone pilot working with a special unit of the United States Air Force in New Mexico. He kills dozens of people. But then, one day, he realizes that he can't do it anymore. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33337.htm
"We Can’t Tolerate This Anymore": Obama Vows Action After Worst Grade School Massacre in U.S. History
New Twitter ACCOUNT! http://www.twitter.com/dustcirclenewsDon't forget to go to dustcircle.com and VOTE for which book we'll be giving away in December. There's also a Donation button, if you're inclined to give toward this site. Also, have you written a book? We'd like to read and review it.
10 Reasons the GOP Is Really Messed Up -- According to Republicans
It's too right-wing. Or not conservative enough. It could be the contempt for voters, or being the Party of Stupid. One thing's for sure: Everybody hates Karl Rove.
Lobbyists pay UK authorities to buy support for Israeli regime
Pro-Israeli lobbyists inside the UK have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds since the last general election taking lawmakers on propaganda tours to the Israeli occupied Palestinian territories.
Prosecution of Anonymous Activists Highlights War for Internet Control
hatever one thinks of WikiLeaks, it is an indisputable fact that the group has never been charged by any government with any crime, let alone convicted of one. Despite that crucial fact, WikiLeaks has been crippled by a staggering array of extra-judicial punishment imposed either directly by the US and allied governments or with their clear acquiescence.
s Black Friday approached, the honchos at Walmart, the largest employer in the United States, found themselves at a loss to respond to a nationwide rebellion within the ranks of their near-captive workers - people who work for an average wage of $8.81 per hour, according to The National Memo, often in areas where Walmart is the only game in town for a job if you don't have a college degree (or even if you do). And so it seems they started making stuff up, and pulling strings - in at least two locations - to get local police to do their bidding.
Occupy Strategy: Global Strike and Consumer Boycott Should Be on the Agenda
The Occupy movement is becoming viral, but its very own merit, which is to be a true grassroots movement without hierarchy or a defined leadership could be its Achilles heel. The global capitalist system, run by the very few people in control of mega corporate entities, will not cave in or even yield an inch just at the sight of camps, banners, and meaningful slogans. If the 99 percent want to have a real impact and effective results, without resorting to violence, they must focus on strategy and tactics. A new discourse must be defined, and this is far from the case at the moment.
Occupied Palestine is the longest unresolved conflict of our time. After 64 years, Palestinians remain largely isolated on their own. Their suffering continues. Their rights don't matter. Western nations scorn them. Rhetorical support only is provided. It's insulting, demeaning and meaningless.
The insufferable drought of 2012 continues to wreak havoc as food banks across the country feel the pinch. As the season of feasting gets underway, soaring food prices have cut government donations to the banks and soup kitchens that provide an essential safety net to over 50 million Americans who struggle to eat.
“The Palestinian people want to be free of the occupation,” award-winning Israeli journalist Gideon Levy summed up this week. It is that simple. This latest Israeli military assault on the people of Gaza is not an isolated event, but part of a 45-year occupation of the sliver of land wedged between Israel and the Mediterranean Sea, where 1.6 million people live under a brutal Israeli blockade that denies them most of the basic necessities of life. Without the unwavering bipartisan support of the United States for the Israeli military, the occupation of Palestine could not exist.
I hang out with Creationists occasionally and have seen many of the arguments they make. I’d like to tell you what I've found. This isn't a rebuttal against Creationist arguments (perhaps in a future post). Rather, I’d like to sensitize you to general errors that they make. Consider this a list of cautions when evaluating a Creationist presentation. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/crossexamined/2012/11/tips-for-dealing-with-creationists/
Fracking in America
Man Heckles Black Friday 'Zombies' In California
As Bus Bomb Hits Tel Aviv, Sharif Abdel Kouddous on Egypt’s Mediator Role and Gaza’s Ongoing Torment
December, we will be giving away another book! There is no catch besides getting involved. We listed 4 books on the website, so VOTE which book we should give away - One of them can be yours!
Stay informed. Immerse yourself. Everything affects you and your loved ones.
To donate to The Dissenting Heretic, use the WE PAY button on our website: http://www.Dustcircle.com
How Hurricane Sandy Will Impact the Election
Thanks to a wave of new voting restrictions passed by Republicans, the 2012 election was already shaping up to be pretty chaotic before the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, which left 8.2 million households without power in 15 states and the District of Columbia.
Avoiding Post-Sandy Disaster Capitalism: On Rebuilding the Right Way
All around America, we've watched the devastation of Hurricane Sandy with a sense of shock and heartbreak. For millions of people who suffered from the storm, some of the hardest questions seem to be about the simplest things. When will the power be back? How do I get to work? When will I be able to send my kids to school?
About a week before election day, a young girl, maybe 10 years old, confronted Colorado House candidate Sal Pace in a pew at his Pueblo church. "She said, 'Is it true that you want to cut my grandmother's Medicare?'" Pace remembers.
The Southeast Asian country of Laos in the late 1950s and early 60s was a complex and confusing patchwork of civil conflicts, changes of government and switching loyalties. The CIA and the State Department alone could take credit for engineering coups at least once in each of the years 1958, 1959 and 1960.
Defense attorneys ask Panetta to televise 9/11 trial from Guantánamo
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/01/3078362/guantanamo-defense-attorneys-ask.html#storylink=cpy
Lawyers for the five alleged Sept. 11 conspirators wrote Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Thursday, asking him to order the Pentagon to offer national TV broadcasts of their death-penalty tribunals at Guantánamo.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/01/3078362/guantanamo-defense-attorneys-ask.html#storylink=cpy
Lawyers for the five alleged Sept. 11 conspirators wrote Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Thursday, asking him to order the Pentagon to offer national TV broadcasts of their death-penalty tribunals at Guantánamo.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/01/3078362/guantanamo-defense-attorneys-ask.html#storylink=cpy
Your Right to Own, Under Threat The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments today in a case called Kirtsaeng v. Wiley, and their final decision could help shape the future of "first sale," a legal doctrine that underpins the right to sell, lend, or give away the things you buy, even if those things contain copyrighted elements.
NSA claims 'privilege' 62 times in 1 court document to EFF!
As the old adage goes, trust is earned. It’s not a privilege freely given. The EFF has been battling Jewel v. NSA since 2008 over the mass-slurping up of emails, calls and other electronic communications. When “trust” is used in same sentence as the NSA regarding its Terrorist Surveillance Program, especially when applied to warrantless ‘dragnet’ surveillance of innocent Americans, some brains might not compute and stumble over such a combination. Sadly, it’s no surprise the agency once again claimed that supplying evidence would compromise national security and wanted the case dismissed.
This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: There’s an election Tuesday, and we invite the two main alternative candidates to make a case for why we should take a chance on them in an election that is already too close to call. Also: Mo Rocca and Robert Scheer.
Three Reasons Progressives Should Care About the Courts
Like Hamlet on the battlements, the progressive left is haunted by a question: to vote for Barack Obama with all his faults or, by boycotting the elections or casting ballots for a third party, risk the inauguration of Mitt Romney? To some on the left, disaffected by Obama’s statist posture on national security, his kowtowing to Wall Street and timidity on climate change, there is no appreciable difference between the two major candidates. So why not stay true to genuine progressive values and turn away from Obama, even in the swing states?
UAW Files Charges Against Romney for Auto Bail-Out Profiteering
At a press conference in Toledo, Bob King, President of the United Automobile Workers, will announce that his union and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) have filed a formal complaint with the US Office of Government Ethics in Washington stating that Gov. Romney improperly hid a profit of $15.3 million to $115.0 million in Ann Romney's so-called "blind" trust.
Debt Collectors Will be Policed by the Feds The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a new rule that will allow the federal agency to oversee and regulate the largest debt collection agencies. Now those who hound you over unpaid debts will be hounded themselves by the feds.
At The Ohio Supreme Court, A Teacher Claims An "Academic Freedom" Right to Push Creationism in Public School
The investigation revealed that Freshwater had put religious posters in his classroom, asked students questions about their religious beliefs and the depth of their commitment and even offered “healing” services at meetings of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He had also distributed “work sheets” to students that undermined evolution (but, interestingly, hadn’t let students take the materials home where parents might see them).
Why are Mormons Vague or Elusive About Controversial Mormon Teachings?
Why don't Mormons talk more about some of their more controversial beliefs? Why aren't Mormons more up-front about some of the more controversial doctrines of the LDS Church? The answer is simple: they are taught to be circumspect about many Mormon teachings and to avoid getting into too much detail with outsiders — especially prospective converts
Those of you who read my posts on a regular basis are familiar with a recurring theme: Politics is the American religion. To be honest I had been using it as a semi-derogatory short hand, a way to encapsulate the inability of most people to even contemplate alternatives to the corrupt system we currently have. My consistent stance has been that the never ending debate about which candidate or party is superior does nothing to address the larger question of the system itself, which is only perpetuated every four years, with minor differences in action and policy.
Homeland repression is policy. Police state laws target resisters. Elections are farcical, rigged, and illegitimate. People have no say. Corporate controlled electronic voting machines decide for them.
new poll conducted by the University of Southern California and the LA Times has found that Proposition 37, the GMO labeling initiative has slipped a whopping 17 points since the last poll in September. The proposition continues to lead but only by 2 percentage points with less than a week before the election. Thirteen percent of likely voters are still undecided on whether to require mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms in foods.
Flooded subways. Over eight million people without power. Around 80 dead in North America – plus another 70 or so in the Caribbean. Fifteen thousand flights cancelled. Atlantic City’s famed Boardwalk washed away. Grand Central Station echoing empty.
Washington Seeks New Syrian Puppets In War For Regime-Change
Speaking in Zagreb, Croatia on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that Washington is reorganizing the front representing the so-called “rebels” in Syria. The shakeup, which includes the withdrawal of US support from the Syrian National Council, is evidently part of the preparations for a more direct US intervention once next Tuesday’s presidential election is over.
Growing popular anger as Hurricane Sandy death toll rises to 90
There is growing popular anger in New York, New Jersey and throughout the US Northeast, amidst widespread power outages and gasoline shortages in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The US death toll rose Thursday to at least 90 people in the US and two in Canada. The storm earlier claimed at least 67 lives in the Caribbean.
