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Tuesday, September 11

11.Sept.2012: 9/11, Payday Loans, Student Loans, Chicago Teachers Strike, Wells Fargo, Zionism and War, Farm Bill, Anonymous FBI Hack, S17 #OWS Anniversary, Surveillance, Iraq War, Human Trafficking, Police Brutality, Whistleblower Rights, FBI Facial Recognition System, Secularists and Atheists, 2012 Elections, Repeal NCLB, Prison Cost vs. College Cost, Bin Laden Raid, Green Day September Ends


No matter what you believe, know, or feel about 9/11 NYC, please know that we at the Dissenting Heretic put our arm around the grieving people of America as we remember September 2001. 
May you be comforted, even when there's no answers. 
- Steve

Why Are Payday Loan Companies Free to Shaft the Poor?

f you asked to borrow my car for the day and I said sure, but then moved into your house, helped myself to the food in your fridge and pleasured your wife, you'd probably think I was a bit of a douche. But, with annual repayment rates of 4,214%, payday loan companies are about as pleasant.

Obama's Biggest Economic Challenge

he question at the core of America's upcoming election isn't merely whose story most voting Americans believe to be true - Mitt Romney's claim that the economy is in a stall and Obama's policies haven't worked, or Barack Obama's that it's slowly mending and his approach is working.

Miracle-Gro Poisons Bird Feed, Violates Pesticide Laws

awn and garden products company Scotts Miracle-Gro will pay $12.5 million in fines for poisoning bird feed and violating pesticide laws, officials said Friday.

Debt Collectors Cashing In on Student Loans

ost US college students hope to land a good job with a high salary after graduation. But for some the reality is very different. Many find themselves faced with insurmountable debt - and a loan industry that's happy to cash in on their misfortune.

Is Organic Food a Waste of Money?

A new study challenges the conventional wisdom on organic food.


Showdown in Chicago

Elizabeth Schulte reports from Chicago as the 26,000 proud members of the Chicago Teachers Union take to the picket line to send a message to Rahm Emanuel.

Wells Fargo Forecloses on Wrong Home, Destroys Homeowners' Possessions

Wells Fargo subcontractors wrongfully foreclosed on Alvin and Pat Tjosaas' home near Twentynine Palms, California, removing and destroying nearly all of the couple’s belongings.

$700 Million 9/11 Memorial Requires $1 Million Per Week to Operate

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center brought in 4.5 million visitors in its first year, but the cost of running the attraction is $1 million a week, and that is after its $700 million construction cost.

The Myth Of The US-Israel Special Bond
Nazareth: It is possibly the greatest of American political myths, repeated ad nauseam by presidential candidates in their election campaigns. President Barack Obama has claimed that the United States enjoys a special bond with Israel unlike its relations with any other country. He has called the friendship "unshakeable", "enduring" and "unique", "anchored by our common interests and deeply held values".

Pro-Zionist, Pro-war, Pro-Opium, War Criminal  Canadian Government Defames Iran & Cuts Diplomatic Links
On 7 September 2012 the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird, announced severance of diplomatic relations with Iran , stating in part: “ Canada has closed its embassy in Iran , effective immediately, and declared personae non gratae all remaining Iranian diplomats in Canada . Canada 's position on the regime in Iran is well known. Canada views the Government of Iran as the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world today. 

The farm bill, explained

The US farm bill is a multi-billion dollar piece of legislation that controls the federal government’s spending on farm subsidies, food for the domestic poor, agriculture conservation programmes, and overseas food aid, among other things. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the first farm bill into law in 1933, and subsequent versions have been enacted at roughly five-year intervals ever since.

Anonymous’ Big FBI Hack Was a Big Lie

Anonymous leaked 1 million Apple device IDs last week, claiming they were found on an FBI laptop. This had the unexpected result of me wearing a tutu and putting a shoe on my head in order to elicit more information from the hacktivist group. But an NBC report has revealed the leak actually came from a boring app developer.

Surveillance System Set Up for RNC May Be Permanent
The two million dollar "crowd monitoring" surveillance system put in place in Tampa for the RNC may be there to stay.

S17: Occupy Wall Street Plans Anniversary Protest of Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street, one of the largest grassroots mass movements in U.S. history, celebrates its one year anniversary next week on September 17, and the group has planned not only a day of protest and direct action, but also weekend workshops in which protesters will bring awareness to ongoing projects, and lay out Occupy's vision for what will happen Sept 18 and beyond.

Confessions of a Former Republican: On Joining the Reality-Based Community
I used to be a serious Republican, moderate and business-oriented, who planned for a public-service career in Republican politics.  But I am a Republican no longer.

Why 9/11 still casts a shadow over America

As relatives gather at Ground Zero, wrangles drag on over a memorial museum – and the death toll among emergency workers continues to rise

“The Feeble Strength of One”: Restoring Belief in Collective Power
Fifty years ago, “power in the hands of a worker” still meant working people joining forces to improve their lives, to build a bigger middle class and to curb the excesses of Wall Street and the corporate bosses. But here in 2012, Billy Bragg’s lyrics (to a song released in 1986) sound, well, quaint. 
http://dissentmagazine.org/online.php?id=626

CIA Lies About Lies -
The Iraq War and the Persistent Myth of ‘Intelligence Failure’
The George Washington University National Security Archive recently published a newly released CIA document from January 2006 titled “Misreading Intentions: Iraq’s Reaction to Inspection Created Picture of Deception”. The document, the Archive notes, “blames ‘analyst liabilities’ such as neglecting to examine Iraq’s deceptive behavior ‘through an Iraqi prism,’ for the failure to correctly assess the country’s virtually non-existent WMD capabilities.” Foreign Policy magazine describes it as a “remarkable CIA mea culpa”. But nothing could be further from the truth. 

We Are at War
The War on Terror exploits the tragedy of September 11 for the benefit of a very few.

Human trafficking: a misunderstood global scourge

Sex trafficking has become an American cause célèbre. But does it divert attention from the broader human trafficking issue of modern-day slavery?

How do you contribute to modern day slavery of human trafficking?

You may contribute to human trafficking in ways you're unaware of, suggests the US State Department in a run-down of how what Americans wear, use and consume in daily life can be affected by "modern day slavery."

From Occupy The DNC: National Statement On Increasing Police Brutality.

In reaction to the massive police presence at the Democratic National Convention, DNC, and in protest of the many unwarranted arrests of non-violent protesters, Occupy The DNC, issued a formal statement on Friday, Sept 7, 2012.

It's unsettling when big food industry groups work to affiliate their brand with the term "food integrity" to attract consumers, instead of taking meaningful action to assure it (at least in our definition of food integrity). The Center for Food Integrity (not to be confused with GAP's Food Integrity Campaign, or FIC) is an organization that helps big agribusinesses "build consumer trust and confidence" in today's industrial food system … a system quite familiar in instituting practices that compromise food integrity. 

WHISTLEBLOWER RIGHTS: MOMENT OF TRUTH FOR THE POLITICIANS

In 2011, On the Media and the Government Accountability Projectteamed up for a project called "Blow the Whistle," meant to ferret out a Senator that had used a particularly undemocratic device called a "secret hold" to kill an bill that would have protected government whistleblowers. The response was overwhelming, and hundreds of listeners helped us narrow down the Senators that worked together to kill the bill. Since the project ended, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act has been reintroduced in congress, but is now in danger once again of being gutted to remove key provisions.

FBI launches $1 billion nationwide facial recognition system

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun rolling out its new $1 billion biometric Next Generation Identification (NGI) system. In essence, NGI is a nationwide database of mugshots, iris scans, DNA records, voice samples, and other biometrics, that will help the FBI identify and catch criminals — but it is how this biometric data is captured, through a nationwide network of cameras and photo databases, that is raising the eyebrows of privacy advocates.

A Rebuke to the American-Israeli Economic War on Iran
In his acceptance speech in Charlotte, N.C., President Barack Obama said, “The Iranian government must face a world that stays united against its nuclear ambitions.” It wasn’t much noted in the Western press, but in fact the recent Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Tehran last month delivered a slap in the face to the Israeli-American financial and commercial war on Iran over its nuclear enrichment program.

Secularists are not atheists

Secularism is about separating church and state, not disbelief. Mixing it up with atheism serves only the right


Cuts in US jobless pay, government layoffs throw 1.5 million more people into poverty
One day after the conclusion of the Democratic Party convention, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a nonprofit think tank, released a report showing that cuts in jobless pay and mass layoffs of public-sector workers threw over 1.5 million more people into poverty last year.

After the conventions: The political issues in the 2012 elections
The Democratic and Republican Party national conventions have concluded and the principal parties of American capitalism have officially selected their candidates for the elections to be held November 6. In the course of two weeks of stage-managed spectacles and media hype, the conventions managed to evade any serious discussion of the fundamental issues facing the American people.

Symptoms of crisis? Religion and women’s rights in Israel

Women are being increasingly targeted as the accommodation between religious and secular Israelis crumbles, heralding a profound systemic crisis in Israeli society

Are Hackers Heroes?

On the last day of June of this year, a tech website called Redmond Pie posted two articles in quick succession that, on their face, had nothing to do with each other. The first, with the headline “Root Nexus 7 on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Unlock Bootloader, And Flash ClockworkMod Recovery,” was a tutorial on how to modify the software—mainly in order to gain control of the operating system—in Google’s brand-new tablet computer, the Nexus 7, a device so fresh that it hadn’t yet shipped to consumers.

10 Questions to Help Determine if Your Religious Liberty Is Being Threatened

This simple quiz will let you know if you're being oppressed.

What's the Real Driver of High Food Prices and Hunger?

Yes, the global community is facing a food crisis but here are the real reasons why -- and the solutions are relatively straightforward.

Three states and several other groups file amicus briefs in DOMA challenge
The states of New York, Connecticut and Vermont filed an amicus brief [text, PDF] along with several other groups in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit[official website] on Friday in support of the lower court ruling that found the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional [text, PDF; JURIST report].

The Media's Reporting On Justice Is Criminal

There is a canned, formulaic newspaper story about any criminal case. It can be repeated in every prosecution, no matter what the crime, no matter who the defendant.

Is Privacy Dead? 4 Government and Private Entities Conspiring to Track Everything You Do Online and Off

The police-corporate surveillance “complex” is being consolidated, drawing ever-closer corporate tracking and government surveillance.

Why the Chicago Teachers Strike Is Really About Better Schools

The Chicago Teachers Union has pushed for smaller classes, enriched curriculum, better supplies and facilities, and more counselors and support staff.

It's Time to Repeal No Child Left Behind




9/11 was a controlled demolition
And it was covered up




Military grade nano-thermite



Spending More On Prisons Than Colleges - Report




Mark Owen '60 Minutes' Interview: Former Navy SEAL Who Participated In Bin Laden Raid Offers Details About Operation (VIDEO)


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Steve Dustcircle can be found at:

http://www.dustcircle.com

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