American Politics, Progressive News, Human Rights, Civil Disobedience, Foreign Policy, Current Events, Cultural Activism, and Social Justice.
http://www.dustcircle.com | http://www.facebook.com/dissentingheretic | http://www.twitter.com/dustcirclenews
Showing posts with label TSA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TSA. Show all posts

Thursday, November 29

29.Nov.2012 - Demanding a People's Recovery, President Signs Whistle-blower Protection Bill, Brutal Face of Global Capitalism, EPA Bans BP from New Fed Contracts, Privacy Groups Challenge Facebook, Military Boycott of Israel, Third World America, more


New Twitter Account
http://www.twitter.com/dustcirclenews 
 
Don'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.

A police officer uses a shield to protect himself from milk being projected by dairy farmers, during a protest by dairy farmers against European Union agricultural policies, in Brussels, on Nov. 26, 2012. (John Thys/AFP/Getty Images)Protesting Farmers Spray EU Parliament With Milk 


European farmers protesting in Brussels sprayed the European Parliament building and riot police with fresh milk, demanding that parliamentarians do something to increase milk prices and prevent dairies from going out of business.
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/protesting-farmers-spray-eu-parliament-with-milk-photos-319320.html

Demanding a people's recovery
Peter Rugh reports that grassroots relief efforts after Sandy want bigger changes.
http://socialistworker.org/2012/11/28/demanding-a-peoples-recovery

The Real Threat to Internet Freedom Isn't the United Nations

Governments are cooperating on surveillance in other, less obvious ways.


WalMart earns record profits while supporting Republicans who want to slash their employees’ food stamps
Businesses succeed or fail based on providing a quality product consumers demand, but they also depend on delivering good service and it is why courteous and proficient employees are as important an asset as product line. In the service industry, employees are a company’s greatest asset and it is why business owners are wise to take care of their workers and provide incentives for them to give customers an experience that encourages return business. 

Obama's Second Term: The Chance to Unleash the Audacity
Appearing on CNN, retiring Senator Joe Lieberman gave voice to the conventional wisdom: "In my opinion the last two years, 2011-12, have been the least productive and most partisan and uncompromising in my 24 years here." For Lieberman, like much of establishment D.C. -- both political and media -- being a "moderate" or a "centrist" or a "pragmatist" is synonymous with the ability to "get things done." Yet, according to the AP, this year's election resulted in "a thinning of pragmatic, centrist veterans in both parties," and that "among those leaving are some of the Senate's most pragmatic lawmakers, nearly half the House's centrist Blue Dog Democrats and several moderate House Republicans."

President signs whistle-blower bill to protect federal workers who expose fraud, waste

Capping a 13-year effort by supporters of whistle-blower rights, the new law closes loopholes created by court rulings, which removed protections for federal whistle-blowers. One loophole specified that whistle-blowers were only protected when they were the first to report misconduct.

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal Over Law Banning Recording The Police


You may recall that we've been following the ongoing saga of a poorly-written piece of state legislation in Illinois, which would strip citizens of their First Amendment rights if they were to film law enforcement performing their duties. One gentleman was facing a possible75 years in jail for five counts at up to 15 years each, until the 7th Circuit appeals court ruled that the law could not be enforced, because it very likely violated the First Amendment.


The brutal face of global capitalism

The worst factory fire in Bangladesh’s history, which broke out on Saturday night in the Ashulia industrial zone, has exposed the ugly workings of global capitalism.

Doha Climate Talks: USA Makes False Claims Of GHG Emission Reduction
Anticipating an onslaught of criticism from poor nations, the US claimed "enormous" strides in reducing GHG emissions at the opening of UN climate talks, despite failing to join other industrialized nations in committing to binding cuts*.
http://www.countercurrents.org/CC281112.htm

Pillar Of Superstition
During this interlude in Israel’s second unprovoked incursion of Gaza, we might pause to reflect on what is, arguably, the real reasons for Netanyahu and Lieberman to execute their victims corralled in the walled prison of Gaza.
http://www.countercurrents.org/cook271112.htm

Cyrus cylinder

Babylonian relic to visit US with historic message of tolerance
The 539BC Cyrus cylinder, owned by the British Museum, is seen by some as the first declaration of human rights
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/nov/27/babylonian-relic-visit-us-message


5 Ways the GOP (And Obama) Have Undermined Our Democracy

The institutions designed to make campaign finances more transparent and to ensure that election technology is evolving are paralyzed by empty leadership positions.
EPA Bans BP From New Federal Contracts
he Environmental Protection Agency has suspended BP from bidding on any new federal contracts as a result of the company's conduct during the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster that led to 11 deaths and the largest U.S. offshore spill.
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/320-80/14773-epa-bans-bp-from-new-federal-contracts

Privacy groups challenge Facebook data policy changes 
Two privacy advocacy groups wrote a letter [text, PDF] on Monday to Facebook[corporate website] CEO Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to withdraw recently announcedproposed changes [press release] to the the site's governance documents. The letter, signed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) [advocacy websites], noted that some of the changes directly affected the company's privacy policy, and that the changes "raise privacy risks for users, may be contrary to law, and violate your previous commitments to users about site governance."
Shutterstock_34195252http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/11/privacy-groups-challenge-facebook-data-policy-changes.php

Taxation in Theory and Reality
The debate over the fiscal cliff has spawned a multitude of suggestions for reforming the tax system, including my own. One possible reason for the wide range of proposals, even from mainstream economists, is that the recommendations of standard economic theory may be very different from what the American economy actually needs today.
http://bigthink.com/econ201/taxation-in-theory-and-reality

Tax the Rich, Take Your Hands Off Medicare: Overwhelming US Majority

A large majority of US citizens would like to see higher taxes on the rich and oppose cuts to Medicare as an answer to the US deficit, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Washington Post and ABC News.

Nobel Peace Laureates Call For Military Boycott Of Israel

Fifty-two Nobel peace prize-winners, activists and others today called for an international military boycott of Israel after its latest deadly assault against Palestine earlier this month.

Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age
Across the world, the battle for free speech is pitting governments and corporations against activists and average citizens.

TSA employees get whistleblower protections

President Obama on Tuesday signed into law a bill that expands safeguards for federal employees who report waste, fraud or abuse. The bill (S. 743), which cleared its last congressional hurdle earlier this month, grants whistleblower protections for employees who lacked them before, including Transportation Security Administration officers. It also establishes ombudsmen to educate employees about their rights to expose mismanagement and strengthens the Office of Special Counsel’s authority to pursue punishment for supervisors who retaliate against whistleblowers, among other provisions.
http://www.govexec.com/management/2012/11/tsa-employees-get-whistleblower-protections/59757/

NPR affiliate launches drone program
Missouri NPR affiliate KBIA has launched a "Drone Program" in the hopes of building drones to collect media, the station tells POLITICO.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/11/npr-affiliate-launches-drone-program-150409.html

Third World America: Drowning in Debt and Choking on Lies 
If a drunk driver crashed his speeding rental car into your house and killed your spouse, you would be outraged if law enforcers took bribes and refused to give the driver a blood test. If the judge then gave the killer a small fine and ordered you to pay the fine and pay for all the damages, you'd be outraged. If the government then handed the drunk-driver keys to a bigger faster rental car, handed the drunk driver an even bigger bottle of whiskey, and then gave you the rental bill; you'd storm Washington, blizzard elected officials with protests and organize friends and associates to vote these malefactors, the elected officials that betrayed your trust, out of office.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33162.htm

UK Shielding Israel From War Crimes Prosecutions
The Guardian newspaper reported on 27 November that Britain is prepared to back a key vote recognizing Palestinian statehood at the United nations but only if the Palestinian Authority chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, pledges not to pursue Israel for war crimes and to resume peace talks.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33159.htm

Simple proof the government helps the drug trade`

Pat Robertson Finally Says Something Rational

Robertson Admits he Blew Election Prediction he Received from God


robertson

Does the Universe Have a Purpose?



What Really Happened in Gaza

John Pilger : Media And War Conference

Kucinich: Push the Middle Class Off the Cliff? No WAY!


The Government is Profiling You


Naked Protesters Storm Boehner's Office

Fossil of the Day - Worst Climate Offender Award

Thousands Homeless After Panama Flooding

The electric ride: A roadmap for middle class families



Climate talks: More hot air about hot air?

Let Your Life Be a Friction to Stop the Machine


“Central Park Five”: New Film On How Police Abuse, Media Frenzy Led to Jailing of Innocent Teens



Former GOP Strategist Kevin Phillips on the Roots of American Revolution and Future of U.S. Politics




Tuesday, November 20

20.Nov.2012 - Ceasefire Between Israel and Hamas, Climate Change Catastrophe, Increase the Minimum Wage, Look Out Monsanto, Biblical Death Sentence, FBI and Your Email, Anonymous Leaks Israeli Officials' Info, New Obamacare Rules, Overhaul the TSA



Turkey Announces Ceasefire Between Israel and Hamas 

As dark fell on Tuesday night, reports from inside the Gaza Strip painted a grim picture, despite the fact that a ceasefire appeared to be imminent. Multiple foreign journalists have been reporting via real-time updates on Twitter that Israel dropped hundreds of leaflets throughout Gaza earlier today, warning residents to move toward the center and to Gaza City for their safety.Gaza City is in the north part of Gaza Strip.

World Bank Warns of Climate Change Catastrophe

If the Earth warms by more than 7-Fahrenheit degrees on average by the end of this century, never-seen-before floods, droughts, heat waves, and other climatic disasters will follow, with the world’s poorest countries at the most risk, said a new report commissioned by the World Bank. But it stressed that all nations on earth will suffer.

Studies On Both Sides Say To Increase The Minimum Wage
 
It is a red-letter day when think tanks and pundits from both sides of the debate agree on something. Today is that day, when groups as diverse as the American Conservative magazine and the progressive think tank Demos stand in agreement on one very important topic – raising the minimum wage.

Look Out Monsanto: Campaigns to Label Genetically Engineered Foods Are Heating Up
Organizers in more than 30 states have begun building labeling campaigns, under the banner of the Coalition of States for Mandatory GMO labeling.
http://www.alternet.org/food/look-out-monsanto-campaigns-label-genetically-engineered-foods-are-heating


Gaza’s ‘Long-Range Rockets’ Just Regular Rockets Without Explosives
Take Off the Warhead and the Empty Barrel Flies Further, Officials Note

Israel, Palestine: Who Truly Suffers?
I would like to talk about the current conflict that is going on between Israel and militant Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip. We need to end the mindless chanting and fights on social media and realize that neither group is a monolith, that there are innocent people who are being killed.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/11/19/israel-palestine-who-truly-suffers/


Death Sentence Should Not Be Based On Biblical Precepts, Says Americans United

In a friend-of-the-court brief filed today before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Americans United and other groups assert that Anthony J. Farina’s sentencing was prejudiced because prosecutor John Tanner pursued a “biblical strategy” during Farina’s penalty phase. Farina had been found guilty of murder, and Tanner argued that the Bible – specifically the Book of Romans – called for the death penalty.

Legal for the FBI to Read Your Email?
Can the FBI read your email? If you are former CIA Director David Petraeus, the answer is apparently "yes." But critics are asking whether the FBI's actions in Petraeus' case were legal.

A system of disasters
THE TRUE story of Sandy is as much about real estate as global warming. Since the 1960s, everyone on the Atlantic seaboard who could afford it has wanted to live in a beach town or own a second home along the shore. This endless building boom, unrestrained by serious regional or national planning, has put several trillion dollars of prime real estate in harm's way.
http://socialistworker.org/2012/11/20/a-system-of-disasters

Anonymous leaks personal information of 5000 Israeli officials
Anonymous+leaks+personal+information+of+5000+Israeli+officials
Internet hacktivist group Anonymous has declared cyberwar on Israel, posting personal data of five thousand Israeli officials online.


Top Three Things You Need To Know About The New Obamacare Rules
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a slew of important new Obamacare rules and regulations today, continuing a widely expected post-election effort to successfully implement President Obama’s landmark health care reform law by 2014.

Stop the massacre in Gaza!

The Israeli onslaught against Gaza, now entering its second week, has killed and maimed hundreds of Palestinian civilians—men, women and children. A largely defenseless and severely deprived population has been subjected to unrelenting bombardment from air, land and sea. Much of the territory’s already dilapidated infrastructure is being reduced to rubble.

It’s Time to Overhaul the Transportation Security Administration
If there is any absolute maxim by which the federal government seems to operate, it is that the American taxpayer always gets ripped off. Indeed, one of the greatest culprits when it comes to swindling taxpayers is the Transportation Security Administration, one of the most corrupt, ineffective, and downright abusive of the government’s many agencies (which is saying a lot) and a massive waste of taxpayer money.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Smash Records Again: UN


Israel-Palestine: What is the US National Interest?

Israeli elections are coming up in January so it is Palestinian hunting season again. Israeli cynics call it a time “for mowing the grass.”


Report on torture must be made public to Americans
After 9/11, the phrase "United We Stand" was everywhere. Bumper stickers, T-shirts and other memorabilia prominently displayed the slogan. We demonstrated our unity in acts big and small. Interfaith efforts focused on responding to attacks on Islam. Members of Congress sang together on the steps of the Capitol in a show of bipartisan unity. Local religious leaders of diverse faiths together held a prayer service in the church where I serve, First Congregational Church of Long Beach, to remember the victims of 9/11.
http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_22017972/jerry-stinson-report-torture-must-be-made-public

5 Christian Right Delusions Busted by Romney and GOP Losses

Like other right-wingers in denial, many in the religious right thought the election was in the bag.

The Fall of the American Empire (Writ Small)

History, farce, and David Petraeus.
What does Israel want?
A man and three children wounded by Israeli air strikes in GazaDays of intensive Israeli bombing of Gaza and the threat of an invasion by ground troops have pushed the Middle East to the brink. Toufic Haddad, a Palestinian-American writer and researcher and author of Between the Lines: Israel, the Palestinians, and the U.S. "War on Terror," answered questions from Sherry Wolf about the factors and motivations behind Israel's onslaught and the impact of the Arab Spring upheavals on this first major confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians of Gaza.
http://socialistworker.org/2012/11/19/what-does-israel-want
JFK: Killed for pursuing peace


Giving the assassins a clear shot


Solving America's health care crisis


Why weren't there any witnesses?
There were ...dozens of them. Here's one they killed


Why the CIA cooperated in the killing of JFK
He was at war with them and they killed him before he could kill them
Stealing JFK's Body

‘Israel knowingly targeted the media’ – RT reporter in Gaza

Netanyahu Caught On Video Admitting He Manipulates America 

Pat Robertson Issues Dire Warning About Atheists Stealing Christmas

If Israel Is A Terrorist State, What Does That Make The U.S.?

David Pakman Destroys Extreme Right-Wing Christian Bryan Fischer 

Massive Israeli Strike-back on Gaza Strip 


Dancing Israeli students chant “Death to the Arabs” at rally backing Gaza slaughter

Anarchy in the USA

Brilliant Anti-BP Action

Israeli airstrikes against Hamas are 'actually raising Hamas' stature'

White House rhetoric 'contributing' to the crisis

The Roots of Israeli Attack on Gaza

Gaza War is Cover for Israeli Occupation

Momentum builds for historic Black Friday strike at Walmart


"No Place is Safe": After Assault’s Worst Day, Gaza Doctor Says Israel Terrorizing Civilians



Gaza Ceasefire to Be Decided in Cairo, But Will Washington Rein In Israeli Occupation, Blockade?



Killer Robots: HRW and Nobel Laureate Jody Williams Urge Ban on Modern Warfare’s Next Frontier



"Where Should the Birds Fly?": Gaza Filmmaker Documents Civilian Toll of 2008-09 Israeli Assault

Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams on Gaza: "We Can’t Support Punishing an Entire Population"

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...