Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines http://www.truthdig.com/ Truthdig, a Web magazine that provides expert in-depth coverage of current affairs as well as a variety of thoughtful, provocative content assembled from a progressive point of view. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman. en editor@truthdig.com Copyright 2009 2009-12-07T08:47:25+00:00 http://www.truthdig.com/ http://www.truthdig.com/images/rss_feed_promo.gif Truthdig logo Liberals Are Useless http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/liberals_are_useless_20091206/ http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/liberals_are_useless_20091206/ afghanistan, barack obama, bush, chris hedges, congress, corruption, economy, government, health, health care, hedges, iraq, israel, law, liberals, mccain, military, money, obama, politics, ralph nader, republican, socialism, torture, war, white house, Chris Hedges' Columns

The gravest danger we face as a nation is not from the far right, although it may well inherit power, but from a bankrupt liberal class that has lost the will to fight and the moral courage to stand up for what it espouses.

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]]> 2009-12-07T08:47:25+00:00 Corporate Farmer Calls Upon Sen. Feinstein to Influence Environmental Dispute http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/corporate_farmer_calls_upon_sen_feinstein_20091206/ http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/corporate_farmer_calls_upon_sen_feinstein_20091206/ agriculture, california, california watch, cir, corruption, democrats, economy, environment, government, lance williams, money, politics, sen. dianne feinstein, senate, stewart resnick, By Lance Williams, California Watch

Wealthy corporate farmer Stewart Resnick (shown above with wife Lynda) has written check after check to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s campaigns, and when he needed her help, he got quick results.

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]]> 2009-12-07T07:23:27+00:00 Nation Building http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/nation_building_20091206/ http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/nation_building_20091206/ afghanistan, mike keefe, nation building, politics, surge, war,

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]]> 2009-12-07T06:48:19+00:00 Forward March http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/forward_march_20091206/ http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/forward_march_20091206/ afghanistan, military, mr. fish, obama, surge, troops, war, Mr. Fish's Cartoons

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]]> 2009-12-07T06:48:11+00:00 The Health Care Race to Christmas http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_health_care_race_to_christmas_20091206/ http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_health_care_race_to_christmas_20091206/ afghanistan, congress, debate, democracy, democrats, dionne, ej dionne, election, government, health, health care, house, obama, politics, public option, republicans, senate, speech, war,

President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan and his subsequent jobs summit underscored why it’s essential to get a health care bill done quickly.

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]]> 2009-12-07T06:32:55+00:00 ‘Mosaic’: The Real Reason Behind Obama’s Afghan Surge http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/mosaic_the_real_reason_behind_obamas_afghan_surge_20091206/ http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/mosaic_the_real_reason_behind_obamas_afghan_surge_20091206/ afghanistan, barack obama, escalation, hamid karzai, jamal dajani, kabul, mosaic, nukes, obama, pakistan, politics, surge, taliban, war,

Something just doesn’t add up about the stated logic of sending 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, says Jamal Dajani, who has a theory about the president’s real reason for escalating the war.

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]]> 2009-12-07T02:26:47+00:00 These Iranian Troubadours Show How Music Can Corrupt the Soul http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/these_iranian_troubadours_show_how_music_can_corrupt_the_soul_20091206/ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/these_iranian_troubadours_show_how_music_can_corrupt_the_soul_20091206/ afghanistan, culture, fisk, iran, iraq, islam, lebanon, middle east, music, robert fisk, saudi arabia, Music

Music and Islam have a dodgy relationship. I guess it’s really all to do with that most jealously guarded commodity, the human soul, over which music exerts such passion.

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]]> 2009-12-07T01:59:56+00:00 What Can the FCC Do for You? http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/what_can_the_fcc_do_for_you_20091206/ http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/what_can_the_fcc_do_for_you_20091206/ apple, att, cell phones, communications, consumers, fcc, google, history, julius genachowski, media, net neutrality, regulation, tech, verizon,

The Federal Communications Commission has a long and disappointing history of generally failing to regulate ever-larger media and telecommunications companies, except, during fits of prudishness, in the area of so-called indecency. But the latest incarnation of the FCC is proving to be more of a consumer advocate than its predecessors.

Under the leadership of Julius Genachowski, the commission shocked the tech world by prying into the secrecy of Apple, AT&T and Google.

Around the same time, the chairman made a strong push for net neutrality—a principle that interferes with the profit motive of certain Internet service providers while benefiting the average user.

The FCC’s latest salvo on behalf of John and Jane Q. Public comes in the form of a letter to Verizon Wireless asking, in so many words, how the company justifies charging its subscribers $350 to get out of their contracts.

This can get very wonky very fast, but the commission’s aggressive interest in things like fees and app stores is a refreshing change from just a regulatory body that also has to worry about satellites, white space and boobies.

A little background, if you’re interested: In the U.S., most cell phones are sold with a subsidy. In exchange for committing to a two-year contract, the carrier knocks $200 or so off the price of the phone. Subscribers who break that contract are penalized an early-termination fee, which is typically about the same dollar amount as the subsidy, minus a deduction for each month of the contract the customer has fulfilled. If they give you a $200 discount and you stay only a year, you owe them $100. It’s pretty hard to argue with that logic.

Verizon has completely upset that delicate fairness by upping its early-termination fee for “advanced devices”—pretty much any phone of real interest or use—to $350. And its prorate scheme is such that if you stick to your contract for all but one month of the two years, you still owe $120.

As if that weren’t enough, it seems Verizon has been sneaking $1.99 data usage fees into the bills of unsuspecting customers.

Go get ’em, Julius. And could you please do something about rampant media conglomeration and this Adam Lambert nonsense?  —PZS

Read more about it on Engadget / in The Wall Street Journal / in the FCC’s letter to Verizon.

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]]> 2009-12-06T23:53:13+00:00 Gitmo Prisoners’ New Digs? http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/gitmo_detainees_new_home_20091206/ http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/gitmo_detainees_new_home_20091206/ detainees, guantanamo bay, illinois, midwest, prison, security,

A deal is being brokered that would probably make a state prison in rural Illinois the new home of detainees now held at the prison in Guantanamo Bay. Republicans have voiced outrage at the prospect of bringing the detainees Stateside, citing security threats. —JCL

The Washington Post:

Despite opposition from congressional Republicans, the Obama administration is signaling that a state prison in rural Thomson, Ill., will probably become the new home for scores of terrorism suspects now housed at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Officials from the White House, Defense Department and U.S. Bureau of Prisons spent two hours last week briefing more than a dozen members of the Illinois congressional delegation in the office of Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). To reassure skeptical Republicans, they emphasized security.

Although the officials left open the possibility that another site could be chosen, participants emerged from the session convinced that the U.S. government will buy the largely unused $145 million Thomson Correctional Center, which was built in 2008.

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]]> 2009-12-06T18:10:35+00:00 Morales Closes In on 2nd Term http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/morales_slated_for_re-election_20091206/ http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/morales_slated_for_re-election_20091206/ bolivia, evo morales, indigenous, latin america, mas, morales, socialism, Morales

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, opinion polls running heavily in his favor, appeared headed for a second five-year stint as president as voting wrapped up Sunday. The “peasant president” commands wide support among the country’s poor indigenous people—65 percent of the population. —JCL

The BBC:

Bolivians are electing a new president, with opinion polls tipping Evo Morales for a second five-year term.

Bolivia’s first indigenous president wants to expand state control over the economy and redistribute profits from the gas industry, if re-elected.

His support base is chiefly among poor indigenous people who account for some 65% of the population - in contrast to his main conservative challengers.

A referendum earlier backed changes to allow presidents to seek a second term.

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