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February 20, 2012
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WarmSleepy (CC-BY)

 * NEW! * OWS Calls for May Day Strike

Occupy Wall Street has boldly called for a general strike of the 99 percent on May Day—May 1. “*No Work *No School *No Housework *No Shopping,” read the text approved by the OWS General Assembly. The action is scheduled to overlap with a day intended to call attention to the plight of immigrants.

Posted on Feb 19, 2012 11 COMMENTS



Youtube / MOXNEWSd0tCOM

When Iran Talks Back

Amid warnings by a British official of a Middle Eastern cold war and CNN commentator Erin Burnett’s anti-Iranian scaremongering, author Matt Taibbi hears the drums of war beating in the airwaves. But a global standoff isn’t the only thing to be feared; a public that unquestioningly acquiesces to the prejudices of conventional wisdom is just as dangerous.

Posted on Feb 19, 2012 26 COMMENTS



The Rachel Maddow Show (CC-BY)

Krugman to Playboy: Economic Crisis ‘Doesn’t Have to Be Happening’

Playboy magazine sent economics writer Jonathan Tasini to speak to Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman about the economic crisis and the possibilities for the future. What resulted was a neat picture of Krugman’s views on the state of the U.S. economy, the plight of common Americans and the failure of the political class to do anything about it.

Posted on Feb 18, 2012 21 COMMENTS



Foreign and Commonwealth Office (CC-BY)

Iran Could Cause Mideast Cold War, U.K. Official Warns

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has warned that a nuclear-capable Iran could push countries in the Middle East into a cold war in which the world would see the greatest nuclear proliferation since the invention of the atom bomb. Iran has ignored economic sanctions that Western nations hoped would deter it from pursuing nuclear development.

Posted on Feb 18, 2012 25 COMMENTS



FreedomHouse (CC-BY)

Syrian Troops Kill Mourner at Damascus Funeral

Fear and bloodshed remain a constant in the Syrian capital of Damascus, where at least one person was killed and several were injured Saturday when security forces opened fire at the funeral of three youths killed Friday during a protest against President Bashar al-Assad.

Posted on Feb 18, 2012 7 COMMENTS



state.nj.us

Gov. Christie Nixes New Jersey Gay Marriage Bill

Talk about a killjoy: After a long slog and Thursday’s sweet victory in the New Jersey Assembly, the same-sex marriage bill that had managed to make it through all the legislative steps except one was vetoed Friday by Gov. Chris Christie.

Posted on Feb 17, 2012 8 COMMENTS


Robert Reineke of Venezuela stands by the Google booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Saturday, Jan. 7.
AP / Jae C. Hong

Google Caught Tracking Apple Users

Sneaky, sneaky Google. The online search giant did an end run around Apple’s proprietary Web browser by jacking Safari’s privacy settings so that the Internet travels of iPhone and computer users could be followed for marketing purposes without their knowledge.

Posted on Feb 17, 2012 4 COMMENTS



Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore (CC-BY-SA)

Santorum’s Super PAC Backer Makes a Sexist Gaffe, Walks It Back

Entirely missing from Foster Friess’ old-timey zinger about how the ladies did the contraception back when he was a lad, other than class, was any sense of male accountability in the procreation process.

Posted on Feb 17, 2012 3 COMMENTS



AP / Rich Schultz

Gay Marriage Bill Awaits Governor’s Call in N.J.

The news that a bill legalizing gay marriage in New Jersey made it through the state Assembly on Thursday would be cause for immediate celebration if Gov. Chris Christie wasn’t poised to veto the measure.

Posted on Feb 16, 2012 3 COMMENTS



Mr. T in DC (CC-BY)

Target Knows Your Secrets

Decades of neuropsychology research have given Target the ability to predict customers’ shopping habits with increasing precision. The company’s statistical team can even tell when shoppers are likely to be in their second trimester of pregnancy. Combined with aggressive marketing tactics, such powers promise to add millions to its already swollen revenues.

Posted on Feb 16, 2012 4 COMMENTS



666isMONEY (CC-BY)

OWS Might Get a Super PAC

How’s this for diversity of tactics? To the dismay of many of his cohorts, Occupier John Paul Thornton in Alabama is attempting to fight fire with fire by petitioning the Federal Election Commission for approval to form an Occupy Wall Street political action committee. If he succeeds, he’ll be eligible to raise as much dirty money as his corporate-backed opponents.

Posted on Feb 16, 2012 18 COMMENTS



AP / Alexander Natruskin

Russian Authorities Aren’t Toying Around

After a protest against the Russian government composed entirely of plush toys and figurines captured the attention of the press and local authorities in Barnaul, Russia, last month, government officials have gone so far as to specify that inanimate playthings can’t assemble for public political gatherings.

Posted on Feb 16, 2012 2 COMMENTS



Flickr / Veronica V (CC-BY-SA)

Consumer Agency Puts Debt, Credit Companies on Notice

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may not be popular with some conservatives, but the CFPB and its stealthily appointed Director Richard Cordray are here to stay, and the watchdog agency is kicking into action by making debt collectors and credit rating companies accountable for their actions.

Posted on Feb 16, 2012 2 COMMENTS



simone.brunozzi (CC-BY)

Gore: End Quarterly Reporting, Save the World

Al Gore has yet another good idea that’s likely to be ignored by the business and political community: In the interest of economic and environmental sustainability, companies should be encouraged to focus on long-term rather than short-term investment goals by dropping the requirement to post quarterly earnings.

Posted on Feb 16, 2012 4 COMMENTS



violet.blue (CC-BY)

Mormon Economics and the GOP

Mormonism is not the quintessential “American religion,” to use Tolstoy’s words, just because it got its start in upstate New York. The church has long embodied notions and practices that drive contemporary American capitalism. And those ideas, as author Chris Lehmann demonstrated last October in Harper’s Magazine, remain central to the shaping of national economic policy.

Posted on Feb 15, 2012 34 COMMENTS


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A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
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