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Democracy for America personal blog for Gerry L
Friday finds
Friday~
***************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’ ~ November 21th, 2008
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Obama calls on his Internet campaign army to march again
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/56233.html
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take thiis Obama Campaign survey…
let it be a chance to express your views, and hopes for what this Presidency might accomplish
Your hard work built this movement. Now it's up to you to decide how we move forward.
Take this short survey and share your ideas:
http://my.barackobama.com/whatsnext
Thanks to you, this country has an historic opportunity. Electing Barack was the first big step, but there's a lot of challenging and important work ahead.
Together, we can keep making history,
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
http://my.barackobama.com/whatsnext
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A Media Parable for "the Center"
Norman Solomo
http://www.truthout.org/112008A
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Why Obama Can Keep Gates
Joe Conason
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081120_why_obama_can_keep_gates/
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High & Low Finance
Looking to Washington Again, So Far in Vain
By FLOYD NORRIS
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/business/economy/21norris.html?hp
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The Lame-Duck Economy
By Paul Krugman
Everyone’s talking about a new New Deal, for obvious reasons. In 2008, as in 1932, a long era of Republican political dominance came to an end in the face of an economic and financial crisis that, in voters’ minds, both discredited the G.O.P.’s free-market ideology and undermined its claims of competence. And for those on the
There is, however, another and more disturbing parallel between 2008 and 1932 — namely, the emergence of a power vacuum at the height of the crisis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/opinion/21krugman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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Kentucky wants mercury reduction
http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/597975.html
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Okay, it seems far-fetched & off-the-wall…but..don’t you feel
with all the slippery, no accountability going on…some justice
is better than none???
Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales Indicted in Private Prison Case in Texas
A Texas judge has set an arraignment date for Friday for Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. They were indicted this week by a Texas grand jury on state charges accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse in a privately run federal jail. We speak with Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/20/dick_cheney_and_alberto_gonzales_indicted
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Thanks to ‘rashi513’ of Democracy for Cincinnati for this great idea..
Pass it on to your own lists, please…
When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this
address. If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many?
cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get.
When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include
the following:
A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001
If you approve, please pass it on.
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Against the Militarized Academy
http://www.truthout.org/112008J
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We speak with Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest. He took part in a ceremony this summer to ordain a member of the group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests. For the past two decades, he has organized the annual protest against the US Army’s School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/20/vatican_threatens_to_excommunicate_catholic_priest
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Father Roy Bourgeois, The School of the Americas Watch
Father Roy Bourgeois, Founder of the School of the Americas Watch, tells of his background and the history of SOA Watch. He describes the annual vigil at the gates of Ft. Benning and the progress of their Latin American Initiative which ask the leaders of Latin American countries to withdraw their soldiers from the SOA. Speaking at Saint Stephens Church, Minneapolis, MN, 8/27/08. Watch video here. 50 min.
http://www.hearthevoices.com/Roy.html
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2025: the end of US dominance
• US intelligence: 'We can no longer call shots alone'
• European Union will be 'hobbled giant' by 2025
• Triumph of western democracy not certain
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/20/barack-obama-president-intelligence-agency
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Report Sees Nuclear Arms, Scarce Resources as Seeds of Global Instability
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/21/AR2008112100091.html?nav=hcmodule
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from and about ‘over there’
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5 at Guantanamo Ordered Released
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Funny business in Guantanamo
http://www.gulfnews.com/Opinion/Columns/world/10235024.html
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Jesuit Killings in El Salvador Could Reach Trial in Spain
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/world/americas/14salvador.html?ref=americas
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From Russia With Loathing
By CATHY YOUNG
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/opinion/21young.html
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Putin Vows to Fight Economic Collapse in Russia
By Clifford J. Levy
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/world/europe/21putin.html?ref=world
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The US strikes deeper in Pakistan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JK21Df01.html
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Juan Cole: Informed Comment
Dubai: Party on, Dude
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U.S. Troop Pact Protested in Baghdad
By Stephen Farrell
BAGHDAD -- More than 10,000 supporters of the radical anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr gathered in Baghdad’s Firdos Square on Friday to protest the Iraqi government plan to sign a security agreement that would maintain American troops in the country for up to three years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/world/middleeast/22iraq.html?hp
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Contractors in Iraq could face charges in earlier incidents
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/56255.html
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Gaza bakeries 'close to running out of flour'
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gPG2Aj33lszP9gJOw5WI-Yuwa0NQ
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True or False: Lawless, rogue actions…are encouraged if not met with accountability. Maybe? Yes?
C.I.A. Withheld Data in Peru Plane Crash Inquiry
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/world/americas/21inquire.html?hp
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Peace and Solidarity
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In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Attributed to George Orwell
Thursday items
Thursday~
***************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’ ~ November 20th, 2008
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What Must Be Done Now!
America's media asymmetry -- tilted from vacuous mainstream to ideological right -- contributed to today's crises and must be addressed for real change to be possible, writes Robert Parry.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/111908.html
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How Our Gutless Media Helped Trigger the Credit Crisis
By Trudy Lieberman, Columbia Journalism Review
http://www.alternet.org/story/102963/
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Moderation in the Pursuit of Justice Is No Virtue
by Joseph L. Galloway
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/11/19-3
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Ariz. Governor Said to Be Pick For Homeland Security Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112000050.html?hpid=topnews
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What’s So Special About a Team of Rivals?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/opinion/20oakes.html?_r=1
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Professor Cole comments on al-Qaeda’s tape about Obama…
Zawahiri: Obama is the anti-Malcolm X
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Obama brings US in from the cold
In a landmark speech, the next president pledges to revive Kyoto Protocol and end American isolationism over climate change
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Is Robert Scheer right to question the Clinton economists????\
Change We Can Bank On
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081118_change_we_can_bank_on/
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/it_could_be_structured_by_cows.php
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A Clinton Administration
Tom Engelhardt: Given the appointees Barack Obama has decided on so far, you might think Hillary had been elected.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/384908
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Enviromentalists win first round in Waxman-Dingell battle
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/politics/story/56156.html
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Franken Gains in First Day of Counting, Media Plays Fast and Loose with Numbers, GOP Prepares for the Worst...
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A who's who guide to the people poised to shape Obama's foreign policy.
This is Change? 20 Hawks, Clintonites and Neocons to Watch for in Obama's White House
By Jeremy Scahill, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/107666/
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Rewarding War Crimes
Robert Dreyfuss
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/384294
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Arraignment set for Cheney, Gonzales in Texas
Arraignment set for Cheney, Gonzales in Texas indictments alleging prisoner abuse
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Arraignment_set_for_Cheney_Gonzales_in_1120.html
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A reminder of important details: matters structural and procedural
The Impeachinator
Watchdog Fein
By Harvey Silverglate
http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/72384-Impeachinator/
and
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/37783
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Are Pentagon Nerds Developing Packs of Man-Hunting Killer Robots?
By Scott Thill, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/107580/
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Report: US Uses Aid to Promote Non-Humanitarian Goals
http://www.truthout.org/111908S
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from and about ‘over there’
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Sarkozy's fervor for summit meetings raises hackles in Washington
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/19/business/global.php
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Why the U.S. blinked on its troop agreement with Iraq
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/56182.html
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Iraqis want walls torn down
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/theiraqinvasionfiveyearson/2008/09/2008927125547609921.html
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Yesterday's Traitors
by Uri Avnery
"I believe that the Israeli Obama will find fertile ground for peace. I would like to be present at his victory rally at Rabin Square."
http://world.mediamonitors.net/headlines/yesterday_s_traitors
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Peace and Solidarity
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I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief.
Gerry Spence,
'How to Argue and Win Every Time'
Wednesday articles
Wednesday~
***************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’ ~ November 19th, 2008
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Obama Taps Clinton Vet for Attorney General
so, who is he??
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20081118_obama_taps_clinton_vet_for_attorney_general/
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and so, now…
The Trouble With Eric Holder
John Nichols
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/state_of_change/384564
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Zapping the Volt
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/passingthrough/384140
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Getting to Yes
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In an exchange with Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, it quickly became apparent that it was Mr. Paulson who did not understand the intent of Congress as expressed in the bailout bill. ~~~
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinion/19wed1.html?_r=1
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Financial Crisis Tab Already In The Trillions
By CNBC.com |
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21263.htm
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I’ve never done this before. In my entire seven years as the ACLU’s executive director, I have never asked you to sign a presidential petition written in appreciation and support, rather than in outrage and protest.
That’s how dramatically different things can be now.
After eight years of a Bush administration that thumbed its nose at the Constitution and the rule of law, it was incredibly gratifying to see President-elect Obama in his “60 Minutes” interview affirm his intentions to reject torture and put an end to the Guantánamo prison camp and its sham military commission system which have been a stain on America’s name at home and abroad.
Just last week, you helped the ACLU run a full-page ad urging Barack Obama to take the lead on these critical issues. And now, using language strikingly similar to the words we use to describe the horrors of Guantánamo Bay, the President-elect has confirmed his promise.
Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director, ACLU
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Howard Dean offers some hints….
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/19/dean-basks-in-election-re_n_144793.html
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Many Groups Spied Upon In Md. Were Nonviolent
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Plame, Wilson to take CIA leak lawsuit to Supreme Court
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Plame_Wilson_to_take_CIA_leak_1118.html
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Election Protection In Ohio (And America) Isn't Over
http://www.progressohio.org/page/community/post/nationofgandhis/CLmx
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“the motor mouth from Missouri knows precisely the kind of red meat his listeners crave,”
Bill Ayers and the Demons to Come
http://www.truthout.org/111808R
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from and about ‘over there’
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Cancel the Missile Project in Eastern Europe
by Jacob G. Hornberger
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-11-17.asp
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Russia warns Georgia against military build-up
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Russia_warns_Georgia_against_milita_11182008.html
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US Bin-Ladin Hunt Phoney
By Juan Cole
November 17, 2008 "Juan Cole" -- - The USG Open Source Center translates an article from the Persian Afghan press alleging that French troops were at one point close to capturing Usamah Bin Ladin in Afghanistan, but that American forces stopped them from doing so. It says that a forthcoming French documentary containing interviews with the French soldiers provides proof for the allegation. The argument is that the Bush administration needed Bin Ladin to be at large in order to justify its military expansionism.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21256.htm
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Rise in Taliban attacks along a NATO supply line from Pakistan has officials seeking alternatives.
Candace Rondeaux and Walter Pincus
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111803940.html?hpid=topnews
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Juan Cole: Informed Comment
Security Agreement Requires all US Troops Out of Iraq by 2011;
Blocs in Parliament Maneuver to Defeat It
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Under Iraq troop pact, U.S. can't leave any forces behind
By Leila Fadel | McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/56110.html
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Will The US Government And Media Finally Report The Slaughter Of Iraqis By The US Military?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-schwartz/will-the-slaughter-of-ira_b_143503.html
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Why has piracy exploded off the coast of Somalia, and how can it be stopped?
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This article dating back to Aug. 2008 links highjacking to Islamist insurgency…
Piracy ransoms funding Somalia insurgency
http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSLO00572320080824
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While here…a different take…
http://www.truthout.org/111807O
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How Bush Tried to Bring Down Evo Morales
Orchestrating a Civic Coup in Bolivia
By ROGER BURBACH
http://www.counterpunch.org/burbach11182008.html
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The translation is not perfect…but still, worth reading rather than watching..
Because the ‘voice-over’ on the video is unclear and disconcerting in my opinion…
Juan speaks Spanish fluently…they would have ended up better to have had Evo
Speak, then Juan translate…
An Hour with Bolivian President Evo Morales: “Neoliberalism Is No Solution for Humankind”
~~But we also saw in the presence of the ambassador of the US as a constant conspiracy. And I remember that I talked to you, and I actually denounced the ambassador, because he used to call me the Andean bin Laden. And the coca growers, he used to call them Taliban. That’s when I was a leader, and I was a candidate for the presidency. Permamently, from the State Department of the US, I have been accused of being a drug trafficker and a terrorist. And even now that I’m president, that continues on on the part of the embassy. I know it does not come from the American people.
I need ambassadors who are diplomats and that if there’s a possibility to cooperate, that they cooperate. If they have the possibility of doing good business, they should do it, but also that Bolivia would benefit it. But we don’t need aggression, conspiracies. Unfortunately, the financial resources that come from the US—they talk about corporation, that corporation really is financing destabilization. And so, that makes us want to be respected as a country.~~~
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/18/an_hour_with_bolivian_president_evo
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Peace and Solidarity
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In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Attributed to George Orwell
Tuesday picks
Tuesday~
***************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’ ~ November 18th, 2008
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Early Test for Obama on Domestic Spying Views
By James Risen and Eric Lichtblau
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama will face a series of early decisions on domestic spying that will test his administration’s views on presidential power and civil liberties.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/washington/18nsa.html?hp
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Naomi Klein on the Bailout Profiteers and the Multi-Trillion-Dollar Crime Scene
“The more details emerge, the clearer it becomes that Washington’s handling of the Wall Street bailout is not merely incompetent. It is borderline criminal,” says Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/17/naomi_klein_on_the_bailout_profiteers
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Henry Paulson answers his critics…courtesy of The NY Times…
Fighting the Financial Crisis, One Challenge at a Time
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/opinion/18paulson.html
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Yesterday’s editorial which may have sparked Paulson’s reply…
http://www.truthout.org/111708R
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Our Trash for Your Cash"
Bankers Shake Down Congress and the G-20
By MICHAEL HUDSON
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The Crisis Has Hardly Begun
When It's a Clear Day and You Can't See GM
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts11172008.html
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Finding His Inner FDR
Richard Cohen
Enough Lincoln. More FDR. This is my shorthand advice to Barack Obama, who in several interviews has talked about wanting to emulate Abraham Lincoln. He said that along with the Bible, the book he would take with him to a desert island would be Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals." It's a useful book -- but not if that desert island has high unemployment, a housing crisis, a frozen financial system and no consumer confidence. In that case, a book about Franklin D. Roosevelt would do better.
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Priority #1 for Working America -- Make It Easier to Unionize
By Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times
http://www.alternet.org/story/107476/
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Source: Dem Leaders Will Propose Slap On The Wrist For Joe Lieberman
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/source_dem_caucus_wont_vote_to.php
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Administration Moves to Protect Key Appointees
Political Positions Shifted To Career Civil Service Jobs
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/17/AR2008111703537.html?hpid=topnews
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Uproar Over Federal Drilling Leases Next To Parks
by Paul Foy
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/11/17
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Denying Congress Siegelman Docs, DOJ Gets Rumsfeldian
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/denying_congress_siegelman_doc.php
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ACLU denounces Gitmo judge's replacement
ACLU criticizes replacement of retiring judge in Gitmo commission cases
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/11/aclu_denounces_gitmo_judges_re.php
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John Brennan and Jami Miscik, both former intelligence officials under George Tenet, are leading Barack Obama’s review of intelligence agencies and helping make recommendations to the new administration. Brennan has supported warrantless wiretapping and extraordinary rendition, and Miscik was involved with the politicized intelligence alleging weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the war on Iraq. We speak with former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman and Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/17/obama_taps_ex_cia_officials_tied
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Gulf War syndrome a real illness, panel concludes
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/244/story/56042.html
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America’s Wars of Self-Destruction
Chris Hedges
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081117_americas_wars_of_self_destruction/
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from and about ‘over there’
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FBI questions American held without charges in Gulf state
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/200/story/56051.html
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U.S.-Afghan rift builds around Karzai's overture to Taliban
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/56037.html
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Top judge: US and UK acted as 'vigilantes' in Iraq invasion
Former senior law lord condemns 'serious violation of international law'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/18/iraq-us-foreign-policy
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by: Marc Ash, t r u t h o u t | Perspective
http://www.truthout.org/111708J
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Professor Cole today
Iran's Sudden Support for Iraq-US Security Pact
Omid Memarian explains Iran's turnaround on the Iraqi-US security agreement, which it was rejecting only last month:
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The Real Goal of Israel’s Blockade
By Jonathan Cook
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/cook.php?articleid=13780
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Peace and Solidarity
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In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Attributed to George Orwell
Monday items
Monday~
***************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’ ~ November 17th, 2008
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The Bailout’s Next 60 Days
A month into the Bush administration’s $700 billion bank bailout, the effort has become as fractured as the ad hoc rescues that it was supposed to replace. As a result, the modest easing the bailout initially brought about in the credit markets is now being reversed over doubts about the Treasury’s stewardship of the plan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/opinion/17mon1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
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GM Must Re-Make the Mass Transit System it Murdered
by Harvey Wasserman
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/11/16-6
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Barack and Michelle Obama on the Next Four Years
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/20081117_barack_and_michelle_obama_on_the_next_four_years/
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Obama and the Promise of Education
http://www.truthout.org/111608A
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Clinton Vetting Includes Look at Mr. Clinton
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/us/politics/17memo.html?hp
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on same topic…from TPM
HRC as SOS
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
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The Crisis Has Hardly Begun
By Paul Craig Roberts
November 16, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" -- “The prospects of a government rescue for the foundering American automakers dwindled Thursday as Democratic Congressional leaders conceded that they would face potentially insurmountable Republican opposition,” reported the NY Times last Friday.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21243.htm
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Healthcare NOT Warfare--Support H.R. 676
http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/home/
and please sign the petition..
http://pdamerica.org/articles/misc/2008-02-29-14-19-42-misc.php
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This, forwarded with thanks to Pam,
A detailed analysis of the appeals briefs in the Siegelman case reveals four
solid arguments the appeals court panel could stand on to reverse the
conviction, order a mistrial, or reduce the sentence after a hearing
scheduled for Dec. 4 in Atlanta.
Major news feature with many links and photos dead ahead, plus all the other
headlines...
The Locust Fork News-Journal