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Good Morning!
Longwood Gardens. July, 2012. By joanneleon
We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship.
~ E. M. Forster
News
Study: NYPD Abused Basic Human Rights at Occupy Protests
US police show epidemic suppression of protests
The NYPD 'consistently violated basic rights' during the Occupy Wall Street protests and showed a 'shocking level of impunity', when dealing with protesters, according to a new study (pdf), published on Wednesday.
The report, by the Global Justice Clinic at New York University's School of Law and the Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic at Fordham Law School, conducted over an eight month period, examined hours of video footage, documents, press reports, and conducted extensive interviews with protestors and witnesses from the Occupy protests and encampments. The findings paint a disturbing portrait: authorities across the US will now suppress protest at all cost, even if protests are lawful, peaceful, and of no threat to the general public.
Cory Booker Hints At Christie Challenge, Senate Run
"I came [to Newark] and said I was going to do a mission," said Booker, responding to an audience question about his future political aspirations. "But I'll tell you this, I'm strongly considering the options at the end of my term."
Booker said he has his eyes set on either the governor's seat or the U.S. Senate seat currently held by 88-year-old Frank Lautenberg.
If Booker intends to challenge Chris Christie in next year's New Jersey governor's race, he'll need to start ramping up his campaign very soon. A run at Lautenberg's seat, which opens up in 2014, appears more logistically plausible.
In June, the Star-Ledger reported that sources close to the Booker camp said he was considering a U.S. Senate run.
US food aid programme criticised as 'corporate welfare' for grain giants
Three huge agribusinesses dominate $1bn US food aid policy, Guardian study reveals, with lobby groups ensuring agricultural surpluses are exported despite cost to developing countries
Two-thirds of food for the billion-dollar US food aid programme last year was bought from just three US-based multinationals.
The main beneficiaries of the programme, billed as aid to the world's poorest countries, were the highly profitable and politically powerful companies that dominate the global grain trade: ADM, Cargill and Bunge.
Don't Expand NAFTA
The United States recently announced that Canada and Mexico will join negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—a secretive U.S.-led multinational trade and investment agreement currently being negotiated with eight other countries in the Pacific Rim region.
House overwhelmingly approves Ron Paul’s Fed audit despite ‘nightmare’ prediction
The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday for a piece of legislation Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) has been pushing for more than a decade, calling for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit the nation’s central bank, despite the Federal Reserve chairman’s warning that such action could produce a “nightmare scenario.”
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“The Fed creates trillions of dollars out of nothing and gives it to banks, Congress is in the dark,” he yelled in support of the bill. “The Fed sets the stage for the subprime meltdown, Congress is in the dark. The Fed takes a dive on Libor, Congress is in the dark. The Fed doesn’t tell regulators what is going on, Congress is in the dark.”
Standard & Poor's Investigation: DOJ, SEC Probe Ratings Agency
NEW YORK -- Regulators are investigating Standard & Poor's over some of its ratings, according to a regulatory filing by the S&P's parent company.
The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., which owns the S&P ratings agency, says the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether the S&P broke federal laws when rating certain investments.
Hackers Linked To China’s Army Seen From EU To D.C.
The hackers clocked in at precisely 9:23 a.m. Brussels time on July 18 last year, and set to their task. In just 14 minutes of quick keyboard work, they scooped up the e-mails of the president of the European Union Council, Herman Van Rompuy, Europe’s point man for shepherding the delicate politics of the bailout for Greece, according to a computer record of the hackers’ activity.
Over 10 days last July, the hackers returned to the council’s computers four times, accessing the internal communications of 11 of the EU’s economic, security and foreign affairs officials. The breach, unreported until now, potentially gave the intruders an unvarnished view of the financial crisis gripping Europe.
Texas Judge Rules 'The Sky Belongs To Everyone'
Is this a "shot heard round the world" for fight against climate change?
And as we continue to suffer from one of the most extended heat waves in US history, as major crops have withered and fires raged in a dozen states, we need all the tiny breakthroughs we can get.
The “public trust” doctrine is a legal principle derived from English Common Law. Traditionally it has applied to water resources. The waters of the state are deemed a public resource owned by and available to all citizens equally for the purposes of navigation, fishing, recreation, and other uses. The owner cannot use that resource in a way that interferes with the public’s use and interest. The public trustee, usually the state, must act to maintain and enhance the trust’s resources for the benefit of future generations.
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On behalf of the youth of America, Our Children’s Trust, Kids Versus Global Warming and others began filing suits around the country, arguing the atmosphere is a public trust. So far cases have been filed in 13 states.
In the Land of Never Was: The Last, Desperate Hours of Climate Chaos Deniers and Capitalist Rah-Rahs
Circumstances change, people change, yet the people of the US cling to an outmoded and ossified view of themselves, their nation, and the world at large… but events keep moving right along. For example, given the degree of danger, and by danger, I mean, global wide, species (including our own) devastation, begot by Industrial Age-engendered Climate Chaos -- we cannot afford to go about business as usual.
On consideration of the path we are heading down, at exponentially increasing speed, uprising (engendered by mortification and propelled by outrage) would appear to be an appropriate course of action. If you were embarked on a journey across the high seas and discovered the captain and his officers were all suicidal madmen -- then mutiny would be a viable option.
Facebook, Google, eBay and Amazon join US lobby group
Google, Facebook, Amazon and eBay are joining forces to create a powerful pro-internet lobbying group in the US.
The Internet Association, as the group will be known, will launch in September and operate out of Washington, handling political and regulatory issues.
UN chief makes 11th hour plea on arms treaty
Ban issued a statement saying he was concerned at the “very limited progress” made during month-long negotiations in New York, where the world’s biggest arms producers have been haggling over the scope of the treaty.
Since the start, the United States has opposed the inclusion of ammunition, China does not want small arms and both Russia and China have sought restrictions on references to humanitarian law.
Afghanistan Hospital Abuse Probe: 'Auschwitz-Like Conditions' Ignored By U.S. General
WASHINGTON — An active duty Army colonel testified Tuesday that the three-star general who headed the training mission in Afghanistan made him retract a request for an inspector general's investigation into corruption and horrible conditions at a U.S.-funded Afghan military hospital.
Col. Mark Fassl, who was inspector general for the training command, said he was shocked when Lt. Gen. William Caldwell cited the then-upcoming 2010 congressional elections and asked, "How could we ... make this request with elections coming? He calls me Bill."
Fassl said he believed this was a reference to President Barack Obama.
Two retired colonels who worked with the training command also told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that Caldwell did not want an inspector general's investigation of the Dawood National Military Hospital. One said in his statement that the hospital had "Auschwitz-like conditions."
Minister hints at earlier exit from Afghanistan
The withdrawal of British forces from Afghanistan, due by the end of 2014, could be accelerated if the US judged it was safe, the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, said.
As well as removing troops from harm's way, an early departure would have a financial benefit, as the UK's presence in the country costs about £3bn a year. But the move would alarm commanders who fear leaving too early would jeopardise gains made at the cost of British lives, and retained by "boots on the ground".
‘Hot War’ Erupting With Iran, Top Terror-Watchers Warn
ASPEN, Colorado — There have been acts of sabotage, assassinations, explosions, and cyberattack. But the increasingly violent shadow war between the U.S., Israel, Iran, and its allies haven’t hit targets on American soil — yet. That could change before too long, the administration’s current and former top analysts of terror threats warned.
“We’re seeing a general uptick in the level of activity around the world. Both Hezbollah and the [Iranian] Quods Force have demonstrated an ability to operate essentially globally,” Matt Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told an audience of more than a hundred security professionals gathered here on Thursday.
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The signs of escalating tension with Iran are everywhere: the sizable American armada building off of Iran’s shores; the American accusation that Iran tried to kill the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.; the deaths of Iranian nuclear scientists, widely blamed on the Israelis; and, of course, last week’s bombing in Bulgaria, which U.S. and Israeli officials have pinned on Hezbollah, the Shi’ite militant group backed by Iran.
“This is a hot war that has gotten hotter,” Michael Leiter, Olsen’s predecessor at the NCTC, told the Aspen Security Forum. “The Iranians have considered this a shooting war for some time.”
Air Force’s Mega-Bunker-Buster Bomb Is Finally Ready
Just as the U.S. returns its attention to concealed weapons of mass destruction programs in Syria and (possibly) Iran, the Air Force is saying its mega-weapon for blowing up hidden factories of death is finally ready.
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The military has been at work super-sizing its bunker-busters for years, and the Massive Ordnance Penetrator is the premier upgraded weapon. Supposedly, it can penetrate 60 feet of reinforced concrete, although it depends just how hard that concrete is. Although the Pentagon has spent over $200 million developing 30 of the bombs, there are doubts over how well equipped it is to destroy the hardened facilities believed to house Iran’s nuclear program.
The secretary of the Air Force does not share those doubts. “If it needed to go today, we would be ready to do that,” Secretary Michael Donley told Danger Room pal Jeff Schogol of Air Force Times. “We continue to do testing on the bomb to refine its capabilities, and that is ongoing. We also have the capability to go with existing configuration today.”
Meanwhile, some bears are fishing salmon out of a river in Alaska
#Bearcam may just be the best thing ever. Explore.org has two hi-def webcams turned on in Alaska's Brooks River in Katmai National Park.
Blog Posts of Interest
Severe Storms Damage Ozone Layer Over US - Study Suggests Link to Climate Change by Steven D on DailyKos
On Bailouts and Wall Street, Treasury and Deceit on FDL News by David Dayen
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