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Greetings from The Dissenting Heretic! This is a free service, and done in free time. If you'd like to donate to us, even $1.00 helps maintain the site. Click the WePay link on the website to donate any amount. Thank you!
Greetings from The Dissenting Heretic!This is a free service, and done in free time. If you'd like to donate to us, even $1.00 helps maintain the site. Click the WePay link on the website to donate any amount. Thank you!
500,000 Iraqi children killed
The Clinton-Obama camp is fine with that
Criminalizing Pregnancy: As Roe v. Wade Turns 40, Study Finds Forced Interventions on Pregnant Women
Freedom to Connect: Aaron Swartz (1986-2013) on Victory to Save Open Internet, Fight Online Censors
Dr. Cornel West: Poverty in America
Scientology’s “Child Labour Camp” In Australia
ISRAEL SOLDIERS ARREST PALESTINIAN MOTHER AND 18 MONTH OLD FOR TRYING TO VISIT THEIR OWN PROPERTY
Cambodian Walmart Workers Expose Abuse at Factory
Surveillance Strategy Is ‘Privileged and Confidential,’ FBI Says
Video appears to show Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiites fighting in Syria
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The director of the Transportation Security Administration, John S. Pistole, had declined to testify before this particular subcommittee on two previous occasions, despite angry criticism from some members who are longtime agency critics.
The best response to disaster: Go on the offensive
We’re usually inclined to fight power when it is being carried out, but that’s often too late to stop it. Similarly, we’re inclined to fight power where it is most felt — in our communities, in the poor neighborhoods and communities of color around the city, in the ghettos that separate the many from the few who profit from their exploitation. That, too, is a mistake, because the powerful make decisions far, far away from there.
The issue was revealed in a report by Jeffery Goldberg of The Atlantic, who also reported that Jordan has, so far, rejected any Israeli request to strike Syria.
State and local law enforcement groups want wireless providers to store detailed information about your SMS messages for at least two years -- in case they're needed for future criminal investigations.
UN Resolution Calls for Israel to Disclose Nuclear Arsenal
The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Monday to approve a resolution calling on Israel to open up its nuclear weapons program to international inspectors and to end its refusal to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treary, or NPT.
Street Artist Charged with 56 Counts for Punking NYPD with Drone Poster
How racism lives on in a "color-blind" society
How does racism operate in a supposedly "post-racial" society? Where does institutionalized discrimination against African Americans and other people of color fit into the other structures of capitalism? Brian Jones, a teacher, actor and activist in New York City, provided answers in a talk given at a conference for socialists and activists held in early November. http://socialistworker.org/2012/12/04/racism-in-a-color-blind-society
Terrorist Attacks More Than Quadrupled In Decade Since Sept. 11, 2001, Study Finds
The number of terrorist attacks each year has more than quadrupled in the decade since September 11, 2001, a study released on Tuesday said, with Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan the most affected.
Spirits were high in Gaza City’s Shalehat resort the Saturday afternoon after a ceasefire ended eight days of escalated Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. Eighty activists had gathered to discuss their use of social media during the aggression and plan their next steps.
Could Citizen Reporting Be the Sweet Spot for Local Engagement?
Mainstream news organizations have had mixed results with citizen news reporting. While crowd-sourcing efforts such as CNN's iReportand Help Me Investigate have yielded valuable information, many other efforts have foundered, often on journalists' expectation that citizen-created news must look like what the professionals produce to have value.
FASCIST THEOCRACY:
FRANK ZAPPA ON CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM, THE GOP AND TEE-VEE EVANGELISTS, 1988
NASA Voyager 1 Hits New Region At Solar System’s End
We knew this day would come: NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched in 1977, today still traveling away from Earth at a rate of 35,700 miles-per-hour, has entered into a new region of space at the end of the solar system, NASA announced on Monday.
What the American Media Won't Tell You About Israel
n old man in Gaza held a placard that read: "You take my water, burn my olive trees, destroy my house, take my job, steal my land, imprison my father, kill my mother, bombard my country, starve us all, humiliate us all, but I am to blame: I shot a rocket back."
Don't forget to go to dustcircle.com and sign up for our Newsletter - There's 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.
Don't forget to go to dustcircle.com and sign up for our Newsletter - There's 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.
What our great-grandfathers understood
and we better rediscover
Watch: Teacher Infiltrates ALEC Education Meeting, Confronts Members
Education activist Sabrina Joy Stevens, a former teacher in the Denver school system, tells right-wing, would-be policymakers how their agenda is destructive to education.
NSA Whistleblower: Everyone in US under virtual surveillance, all info stored, no matter the post
Hundreds of workers at dozens of restaurants went on strike and rallied in a bid for fair pay and union recognition.
Is Fracking Contaminating US Livestock?
ike canaries sent into coal mines to warn of breathing hazards, livestock in areas where hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") is occurring are getting sick and dropping dead in alarming numbers, according to the only peer-reviewed scientific study of the impact of fracking on animals. And if cattle are getting sick because of fracking, what about the health of people who later drink their milk or eat their flesh?
ow that student loans are undeniably in bubble territory, the officialdom is starting to wake up and take notice. Evidence that students were taking on so much debt as a group that it was undermining their ability to be Good American Consumers wasn't enough. A recent New York Fed study found that 94% of recent graduates had borrowed to help pay for their education, and average debt levels among student borrowers is $23,000. Remember, that average includes seasoned borrowers, who presumably borrowed less and also in many cases reduced the principal amount of their loans, so the average amount borrowed by recent grads is certain to be higher. Student debt is senior to all other consumer debt; unlike, say, credit card balances, Social Security payments can be garnished to pay delinquencies. As a result, it has contributed to the fall in the homeownership rate, since many young people who want to buy a house can't because their level of student debt prevents them from getting a mortgage.
obert Greenwald, head of the progressive internet video and documentary film company, Brave New Films, recently traveled to Pakistan, supported financially by hundreds of BNF donors, to witness first hand the stories of families who have had innocent loved ones killed by U.S. drone attacks. Greenwald is challenging both the morality and the factual effectiveness of the U.S drone program as we learn more about the failures and questionable policies. The U.S. claims that drone missiles are aimed at potential terrorists but because the ground rules of who can be targeted is both vague and has been loosened, the number of innocents being killed has risen sharply. Furthermore, the information that is used to target people, appears to be the result of a system of bribery at the local level, which is of questionable reliability.
Peter Rugh reports from New York City on a day of walkouts at fast-food restaurants--another step in what organizers call the largest union drive in fast-food history. http://socialistworker.org/2012/12/03/striking-the-fast-food-giants Jeremy Hammond: the ‘other Bradley Manning’?
While Jeremy Hammond’s case and Bradley Manning’s are in many ways different (Manning has never been accused of hacking, for example), both are facing draconian sentences (Manning, possibly life; a similar maximum for Hammond) and deserve solidarity because of what was exposed. Jeremy Hammond, 27, is allegedly the main hacker behind December 2011 LulzSec hack of Stratfor, a quasi-private, corporate intelligence and strategic analysis firm with close ties to US Intelligence. http://darkernet.in/jeremy-hammond-the-other-bradley-manning/
New Yorker Magazine editor David Remnick dropped a political bombshell after attending a three-day conference at which the Secretary of State was the keynote speaker, categorically stating, “Hillary Clinton is running for President.”
On November 25th President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum entitled “National Insider Threat Policy and Minimum Standards for Executive Branch Insider Threat Programs” that outlines the provision “and guidance to promote the development of effective insider threat programs within departments and agencies to deter, detect, and mitigate actions by employees who may represent a threat to national security.”
Israel's Latest Plan to Punish Palestinians Gets Worldwide Rebuke UK, Sweden, France --even the US-- call latest settlement announcement in West Bank an assault on peace process
8 Principles for Understanding the Fiscal Cliff in Two Minutes and Thirty Seconds
The Untold Story of the Great Recession
Has Israel's settlement expansion crossed a 'red line'? Both Britain and France have summoned Israel's ambassadors to protest plans to expand construction in East Jerusalem, while some say more serious action like economic reprisals are possible.
On Saturday, a fire swept through a garment factory near Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing some 120 workers trapped behind locked doors. WalMart, one of the factory’s clothes buyers, quickly distanced itself from the tragedy, but WalMart’s profiting from sweatshops is a long-term pattern, writes Barbara Koeppel.
Science literacy and the polarized politics of climate change
One of the major goals of science education is for all citizens to have some basic level of science literacy. The rationale is that a basic understanding of science is necessary in order to participate in a modern democratic society, where we must often grapple with policy decisions that deal with socioscientific issues, and where scientific evidence can be a major deciding factor in policy.
The Republican Austerity Bomb is the Real Threat to America Hidden in the tedious language of “sequestration,” which is guaranteed to lull Americans into disinterest, is an epic battle between the interests of the rich and the poor. Since the rich tend to chronically have the upper hand, having the fiscal cliff conflict come out favorably for the poor seems improbable, though there’s always hope. When the poor come to the government for welfare, they are stigmatized and degraded. When the rich come to the government for welfare, they convince everyone they earned it. http://www.politicususa.com/austerity-bomb-real-threat-america.html
Citizens Are Winning the Battle Over Cops and Cameras
Last week, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a case that had been overturned by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The original case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in an Illinois federal district court and focused on an Illinois law that says it's a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison for an ordinary, tax-paying citizen to videotape a police officer doing his or her public duty. The law fell back on wiretapping laws that make it illegal to tape record a person without his or her consent. Thus, the audio element of videotaping has become a popular ruse for cops to intimidate video recording of their activities. http://www.opednews.com/articles/Citizens-Are-Winning-the-B-by-John-Grant-121202-711.html
Walmart Ends Insurance For New Employees, Conservatives Blame Obamacare
First and foremost, let’s put blame for their decision where it should really be — on them. Walmart certainly has the resources to pay for health insurance for all their workers, even if they worked 10 hours a week. They pay extremely low (average yearly wages are just a touch over the federal poverty line) and purposely limit the number of full-time employees, further limiting costs while being able to report high numbers of employees.
The Government Can Still Black Bag Any American The Senate passed the much ballyhooed Feinstein-Lee amendment last night, which supposedly partially nullifies the provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) allowing for Americans to be kidnapped by the government and disappeared without any charge or due process. Senator Rand Paul put out a press release declaring victory. But as Congressman Justin Amash points out, the wording of the amendment effectively codifies tyranny http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33203.htm
Drones may violate international law
