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SOPA PIPA INTERNET BLACKOUT
Picking up on our post from two weeks ago Jonathan Turley codifies 10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free ... While each new national security power Washington has embraced was controversial when enacted, they are often discussed in isolation. But they don’t operate in isolation. They form a mosaic of powers under which our country could be considered, at least in part, authoritarian. Americans often proclaim our nation as a symbol of freedom to the world while dismissing nations such as Cuba and China as categorically unfree. Yet, objectively, we may be only half right. Those countries do lack basic individual rights such as due process, placing them outside any reasonable definition of “free,” but the United States now has much more in common with such regimes than anyone may like to admit. These countries also have constitutions that purport to guarantee freedoms and rights. But their governments have broad discretion in denying those rights and few real avenues for challenges by citizens — precisely the problem with the new laws in this country. The list of powers acquired by the U.S. government since 9/11 puts us in rather troubling company. ... If you haven't yet committed all ten to memory already then click over! There will be a test later! Next Senator Carl Levin thought he was pulling a fast one and sent out a letter saying Turley was all wrong about indefinite detention of U.S. citizens in the NDAA! Turley quickly calls "Bullshit!" on Levin Indefinite Detention of Citizens: A Response To Senator Carl Levin

Yesterday, my column “10 Reasons The United States Is No Longer The Land Of The Free” ran in the Sunday Washington Post. I have been heartened by response to the column. However, a few commenters continue to suggest that the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) does not allow for the indefinite detention of citizens. This claim is being advanced by Senator Carl Levin (D., Mich.) in emails and fax messages to voters. I wanted to respond to Senator Levin’s points which are detached from language of the law and the clear intent of the majority of Senators. I would also like to address those who have stated that our liberties are not at risk when such powers will not affect most Americans. I have previously explained why the claim by Sen. Levin is unfounded, as have others like the ACLU and commentators like Glenn Greenwald. The White House itself offered the spin to supporters in Congress, explaining why the President reneged on his pledge to veto the law. The White House is saying that changes to the law made it unnecessary to veto the legislation. That spin is facially ridiculous. The changes were the inclusion of some meaningless rhetoric after key amendments protecting citizens were defeated. The provision merely states that nothing in the provisions could be construed to alter Americans’ legal rights. Since the Senate clearly views citizens are not just subject to indefinite detention but even execution without a trial, the change offers nothing but rhetoric to hide the harsh reality. The exemption for American citizens from the mandatory detention requirement (section 1032) is the screening language for the real section, 1031, which offers no exemption for American citizens from the authorization to use the military to indefinitely detain people without charge or trial. Section 1031 only contains a meaningless provision stating “Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect existing law or authorities relating to the detention of United States citizens, lawful resident aliens of the United States, or any other persons who are captured or arrested in the United States.” First, this provision was added after an amendment to exempt citizens was defeated by the Senate — legislative history that any court is likely to note in the interpretation of its meaning. Second, the fact that the Senate put a clear exemption in the mandatory detention provision for citizens but opted not to simply include the same provision in the discretionary detention provision reinforces this meaning. Third, after the exemption for citizens was defeated overwhelmingly, the same Senators who voted to deny any exemption proceeded to vote for this language — clearly indicating that it did not offer such protection for citizens. Fourth, Levin and others are seeking to deny the authority that the President just acknowledged in his signing statement. Obama stated “I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens.” He does not deny that he has such authority . . . only that he does not intend to use it. Fifth, Levin admitted on the floor that it was the White House that insisted on eliminating the exemption for citizens — affirming that without such an exemption, citizens would be subject to such detention. In an exchange with Senator Udall, Levin stated:
Is the Senator familiar with the fact that it was the administration which asked us to remove the very language which we had in the bill which passed the committee, and that we removed it at the request of the administration that this determination would not apply to U.S. citizens and lawful residents? Is the Senator familiar with the fact that it was the administration which asked us to remove the very language, the absence of which is now objected to by the Senator from Illinois?
Sixth, many of the members at the time of passage voiced their understanding that the provision authorized the indefinite detention of citizens – including those who wanted such a power codified and those who opposed the power. For example, At least Senator Lindsey Graham was honest when he said on the Senate floor that “1031, the statement of authority to detain, does apply to American citizens and it designates the world as the battlefield, including the homeland.” Seventh, the language that was ultimately put into the bill was standard cover language for Senators who knew that they would be criticized for voting for the law. Indeed, when Levin referred to the language, he insisted that it would merely permit what is already permitted by law “whatever it may be.” Of course, the White House has claimed the right to kill citizens on the president’s sole authority. The indefinite detention of citizens would seem the lesser included in such a greater. Moreover, the Senators refused to change the existing law by putting in an exemption for citizens. It is also worth noting that the White House has successfully opposed the right of citizens to present national security powers to federal courts for independent review. What is the “law” is often only the assertion of power by the President – unchecked by judicial review. Levin has been hammered by civil libertarians and liberals over his role in passing this harmful law. His official Senate site now features a statement at the top. One of his financial supporters (who told me that he had declared that he will not to support Levin in the future due to the bill) sent me the following email from Levin’s office:
“The provisions on detention of terror suspects in the bill got more attention than all these other important priorities. The criticism of these provisions has usually been wildly inaccurate; if the bill did what some of its critics claim, I would have led the opposition. . . . It does not prohibit civilian trials for terror suspects. It does not strip the FBI and other civilian law enforcement agencies of their authority. It does not allow the military to make arrests on U.S. soil. It does not enact new authority to hold U.S. citizens without trial or charge. It does not provide for indefinite detention of citizens without access to civilian courts.”
Note the use of new authority. This is authority that has been claimed as being part of the President’s inherent authority — just as he claims the right to kill citizens. However, this law codifies new detention powers and the Senate expressly chose not to exempt citizens — and the President himself acknowledged the ability to indefinitely detain citizens in his pledge not to use it. Moreover, it was the duty of Levin and others to fight the passage of this law in the absence of an exemption, including fighting to use every power available from a filibuster to demanding a president veto. Instead, they took the political convenient approach and sought to excuse their act of constitutional nonfeasance behind this meaningless language. I am hardly shocked that senators are not answering the criticism over this provision by being open about their failure to protect citizens. However, I continue to be amazed by comments on the Washington Post and this blog from citizens that we are not really losing any rights because most citizens are unlikely to be subject to these powers. It is disgraceful argument that only “those” people will be denied rights so I must remain free. Of course, since these are secret powers, you are not likely to know if you have been subject to surveillance or some other measures. More importantly, something is not a right if it is discretionary with your government to allow or to take away. By the time you find yourself denied of the right, it is too late to do anything about it. It is the same amoral logic described by pastor Martin Niemöller:
First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak out because I was Protestant. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Thankfully are we not facing the type of horror faced by Niemöller, but the logic is the same: I do not need to object unless the government denies me a right. The government always embraces abusive power by targeting the least popular among us. The test of patriotism is to fight for the values that define us. While people appear ready to protest over taxes against “big government,” some of the people often seem to remain silent in the face of the very abuses that the Framers sought to combat from indefinite detention to warrantless searches to assassination. The play on security as a rationale to limit freedom is nothing new. As Benjamin Franklin observed, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Now author, journalist and activist Chris Hedges has sued Obama over the NDAA Why I’m Suing Barack Obama Attorneys Carl J. Mayer and Bruce I. Afran filed a complaint Friday in the Southern U.S. District Court in New York City on my behalf as a plaintiff against Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to challenge the legality of the Authorization for Use of Military Force as embedded in the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed by the president Dec. 31. ... I have had dinner more times than I can count with people whom this country brands as terrorists. But that does not make me one.
Once a group is deemed to be a terrorist organization, whether it is a Palestinian charity or an element of the Uighur independence movement, the military can under this bill pick up a U.S. citizen who supported charities associated with the group or unwittingly sent money or medical supplies to front groups. We have already seen the persecution and closure of Islamic charity organizations in the United States that supported the Palestinians. Now the members of these organizations can be treated like card-carrying “terrorists” and sent to Guantanamo.
But I suspect the real purpose of this bill is to thwart internal, domestic movements that threaten the corporate state. The definition of a terrorist is already so amorphous under the Patriot Act that there are probably a few million Americans who qualify to be investigated if not locked up. Consider the arcane criteria that can make you a suspect in our new military-corporate state. The Department of Justice considers you worth investigating if you are missing a few fingers, if you have weatherproof ammunition, if you own guns or if you have hoarded more than seven days of food in your house. Adding a few of the obstructionist tactics of the Occupy movement to this list would be a seamless process. On the whim of the military, a suspected “terrorist” who also happens to be a U.S. citizen can suffer extraordinary rendition—being kidnapped and then left to rot in one of our black sites “until the end of hostilities.” Since this is an endless war that will be a very long stay.
This demented “war on terror” is as undefined and vague as such a conflict is in any totalitarian state. Dissent is increasingly equated in this country with treason. Enemies supposedly lurk in every organization that does not chant the patriotic mantras provided to it by the state. And this bill feeds a mounting state paranoia. It expands our permanent war to every spot on the globe. It erases fundamental constitutional liberties. It means we can no longer use the word “democracy” to describe our political system.
The supine and gutless Democratic Party, which would have feigned outrage if George W. Bush had put this into law, appears willing, once again, to grant Obama a pass. But I won’t. ... Please go to TruthDig.com to read the rest for yourself plus the entire Text of Hedges’ Legal Complaint (Updated) & the NDAA Official Text that Professor Turley has dissected. Listen to Peter B Collins interview Attorney Carl Mayer Talks About Chris Hedges’ Suit Against Obama; Journalist Jason Leopold Exposes FBI “Blackballing” of FOIA Requests for more background and analysis. In a related story Yves Smith at nakedcapitalism explains how the Ron Paul Debate Flushes Out Gender-Baiting Right Wing Opportunists Masquerading as Progressives ... The gender card is similarly played shamelessly and with remarkable hypocrisy by Megan Carpentier in the Guardian on the Greenwald post: [...] Greenwald’s position on Paul is so blatantly distorted by Carpentier as to render her article worthy of retraction (see Greenwald’s objection for details) but her dissimulation is more important than her hatchet job. ... Who is Megan Carpentier? She’s currently the executive editor at Raw Story. And reading her salvo at Greenwald, most readers would assume she’s a progressive. She’s hectoring Greenwald from a presumed leftist position. In fact, Carpentier is no such thing. She is a conservative opportunist using her feminist fundamentalism as a cover. She was a lobbyist for seven year and wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post which is noteworthy for trying to improve the public image of lobbyists by stating that they weren’t obscenely well paid, that they really were interested in politics, and that they provide helpful research to Congressional staffers. But Carpentier is less than forthcoming about her history and her ideological leanings. Her last gig as a lobbyist was for the Tax Foundation, which was an early anti-New Deal outfit founded in 1937 by reactionary oligarchs like GM Chairman Alfred Sloan. It was “financially troubled” when the Koch brothers purchased its name and other assets and made it a unit of their’ “Citizens for a Sound Economy” (CSE in 2004 split into Americans For Prosperity and FreedomWorks). The Tax Foundation newsletter that announced she had joined touts her “extensive experience in promoting sound economic and tax policies to Congress and state legislatures.” In other words, she is a loyal and effective foot soldier for the right. ... It’s disingenuous for Carpentier to cavil about white male privilege and the need for women to have rights to abortions, when those rights are less meaningful if you can’t afford to exercise them. Soi disant feminists like Carpentier are missing in action when it comes to defending their supposed sisters on economic issues, most importantly, labor rights.
Now your might claim I’m being unfair, that Carpentier had a Pauline (pun intended) conversion from her former faith. Why is there no mention of her Koch connection?. Why hasn’t she done a David Brock mea culpa? Rather than proudly put forward why she had changed her views (which is what you’d expect if they really had changed) has she instead tried to downplay the power of lobbyists? Why, when the influence of the Koch brothers were one of the biggest progressive story of the past 3 years, has she had NOTHING to say about her time working for one of their key outfits? .... So here we have it: Carpentier, a closet libertarian, falsely depicting “progressive” support of Ron Paul as a symbol of white male bigotry and distorting Greenwald’s nuanced discussion of Ron Paul as an endorsement to create a brouhaha, apparently to cover her own tracks. With Quislings like this, the progressives don’t need enemies. So keep THAT in mind when going to Raw Story.
Wednesday's internet blackout in response to SOPA/PIPA was widespread. Here is wikipedia's explanation on their English Wikipedia anti-SOPA blackout TechDirt.com has A Gallery Of The SOPA Blackout Protest Screens by Dennis Yang from the mr-smith-takes-over-the-internet dept.
TechDirt's Mike Masnick lays out some facts in
An Updated Analysis: Why SOPA & PIPA Are A Bad Idea, Dangerous & Unnecessary from the enough-of-the-bull dept. ... So, let's look at the facts. PIPA & SOPA are (now) very similar bills, both with significant problems. In fact, the remaining "differences" in the bills each have serious problems , which is why neither bill is a "better" bill, since both are terrible. The claimed purpose behind these bills is to give both law enforcement and private individuals/companies tools to go after "foreign" websites that are offering infringing (either copyright or trademark) content. The bills offer two ways to do this: via the Attorney General taking action against the sites, or via a "private right of action," in which copyright or trademark holders take direct action themselves against a site they believe is dedicated to infringement. ... ... The "only impacts foreign sites" claim is also a red herring. It's a favorite of the pro-PIPA/SOPA folks, but it's a lie. While the current bill targets foreign sites, all of the remedies and enforcement require compliance by domestic sites. That's costly. I recognize that policy analysts, lawyers, lobbyists and politicians who have never actually run a business think this stuff is simple, but for those of us who actually run companies, this is terrifying. We now have to worry about staying in compliance with a broad law that's almost impossible to comply with in any realistic manner. In our debate yesterday, the US Chamber of Commerce's Steve Tepp insisted that there was "no liability" for any domestic site. This is ridiculous. What he meant was no direct monetary liability. Leave it to an out of touch policy guy to think that it's only a liability if there's the potential to cost you money in court. The liability is in the possibility of being dragged to court over this. It's in the possibility of facing additional punishment/sanctions for failing to obey an impossible-to-obey court order to cut off certain users. That is a tremendous liability. There are additional provisions that are troubling, including SOPA's inclusion of "felony streaming" provisions, that could lead to jail time for those who lip synch over songs and put that up in a YouTube video, or those who embed infringing YouTube videos on their own site. PIPA does not have that directly, but there is a companion bill in the Senate that has similar things. So why, specifically, are these two bills so bad: Read the rest and BE INFORMED! Tell yer friends and pass it on! Great stuff at TechDirt! Troll around there and find more great stories! Of course "anonymous" could not stand by idly as TechDirt's Mike Masnick also reports
The Internet Strikes Back: Anonymous Takes Down DOJ.gov, RIAA, MPAA Sites To Protest Megaupload Seizure from the doj-does-not-understand-what-has-been-unleashed dept I'll have a more detailed look at the Megaupload indictment tomorrow (there are some really ridiculous claims in there, but also some evidence of bad actions on the part of Mega, which isn't too surprising). However, even if you're 100% positive that Megaupload was a bad player in the space, you have to question both the timing and the process of completely taking down the site/company the day after practically the entire internet rose up to protest the threat of similar takedowns under SOPA/PIPA. For them not to think the reaction would be fast and furious shows (yet again) just how incredibly, ridiculously, out of touch with the internet the DC establishment is. Within minutes of the site being shut down, and DOJ releasing its statement, Anonymous sprang into action and started taking down a ton of sites -- including websites for the DOJ, the US Copyright Office, Universal Music, the RIAA, the MPAA and a bunch of other sites. They're apparently still targeting more.... But Wait! There's more! From RT Anonymous downs government, music industry sites in largest attack ever ... Only hours before the DoJ and Universal sites went down, news broke that Megaupload, a massive file sharing site with a reported 50 million daily users, was taken down by federal agents . Four people linked to Megaupload were arrested in New Zealand and an international crackdown led agents to serving at least 20 search warrants across the globe. The latest of sites to fall is FBI.gov, which finally broke at around 7:40 pm EST Thursday evening. Less than an hour after the DoJ and Universal sites came down, the website for the RIAA, or Recording Industry Association of America, went offline as well. Shortly before 6 p.m EST, the government's Copyright.gov site went down as well. Thirty minutes later came the site for BMI, or Broadcast Music, Inc, the licensing organization that represents some of the biggest names in music. Also on Thursday, MPAA.org returned an error as Anonymous hacktivists managed to bring down the website for the Motion Picture Association of America. The group, headed by former senator Chris Dodd, is an adamant supporter of both PIPA and SOPA legislation. ... [Anonymous operative Barrett Brown tells RT on Thursday afternoon and] adds that “more is coming” and Anonymous-aligned hacktivists are pursuing a joint effort with others to “damage campaign raising abilities of remaining Democrats who support SOPA.” As a side note the main sponsor of SOPA had an image on his OWN WEBSITE that he copped from Creative Commons but NEVER gave credit to the photographer! And just to show how much these politicians are only water boys for big industry and have no clue what's in the lobbiest-written legislation they try to pass The Author of SOPA Is a Copyright Violator sez Vice.com's Jamie Lee Curtis Taete US Congressman and poor-toupee-color-chooser Lamar Smith is the guy who authored the Stop Online Piracy Act. ....So I took a look back at an archived, pre-SOPA version of his site. This is a screenshot of his site as it appeared on the 24th of July, 2011. [pic] And this is the background image Lamar was using. I managed to track that picture back to DJ Schulte, the photographer who took it. [pic] I contacted DJ, to find out if Lamar had asked permission to use the image and he told me that he had no record of Lamar, or anyone from his organization, requesting permission to use it: "I switched my images from traditional copyright protection to be protected under the Creative Commons license a few years ago, which simply states that they can use my images as long as they attribute the image to me and do not use it for commercial purposes. "I do not see anywhere on the screen capture that you have provided that the image was attributed to the source (me). So my conclusion would be that Lamar Smith's organization did improperly use my image. So according to the SOPA bill, should it pass, maybe I could petition the court to take action against www.texansforlamarsmith.com." ... We need your help! Join our "Shop a SOPA" Copyright Hypocrite Hunt and help us find copyright violations on the other 31 SOPA co-sponsors' websites. Much more SOPA coverage with Max Keiser on [TaM-1231] The Truth About Markets!, Sam Seder Garlin Gilchrist of MoveOn on the SOPA / PIPA Internet Blackout [01•18•12] and Jon Fox on HeadOnRadio (mp3). In a related issue General Dynamics has been hired to "monitor" websites. We go to Washingtonsblog for details
Homeland Security Shreds Constitutional Right to Anonymous Political Speech – Not to Protect Our Security – But to Monitor Dissent ... Gene Howington provides details in a must-read essay: Do you have a right to anonymous political free speech?
According to the Supreme Court, you do. According to the Department of Homeland Security, you don’t. They’ve hired General Dynamics to track U.S. citizens exercising this critical civil right. The history of anonymous political free speech in America dates back to our founding. The seminal essays found in “The Federalist Papers” were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay under the nom de plume of “Publius” although this was not confirmed until a list of authorship complied by Hamilton was posthumously released to the public. As previously discussed on this blog, the right to anonymous political free speech has been addressed by the Supreme Court. Most notably in the cases of Talley v. California, 362 U.S. 60 (1960) and McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 514 U.S. 334 (1995). In Talley, Justice Hugo Black writing for the majority said that, “Anonymous pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and even books have played an important role in the progress of mankind. Persecuted groups and sects from time to time throughout history have been able to criticize oppressive practices and laws either anonymously or not at all.” In McIntyre, Justice John Paul Stevens writing for the majority said that, “Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. [… ] an author’s decision to remain anonymous, like other decisions concerning omissions or additions to the content of a publication, is an aspect of the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment.” That seems clear enough in defining that citizens do have a Constitutionally protected right to anonymous political free speech. .... This question about the right to anonymous political free speech is also asked over the background of the Electronic Privacy Information Center filing a FOIA request against the DHS to find out the details of the agency’s social network monitoring program. ... As part of recent disclosures related to the EPIC suit, it is revealed that the DHS has hired and instructed General Dynamics to monitor political dissent and the dissenters. The range of websites listed as being monitored is quite impressive. Notably, jonathanturley.org is not on this list [Howington's essay is a guest blog on constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley's website], but equally of note is that this list is by the DHS’ own admission “representative” and not “comprehensive”. ... Some of the more high profile and highly trafficked sites being monitored include the comments sections of The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, the Huffington Post, the Drudge Report, Wired, and ABC News. In addition, social networking sites Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are being monitored. For the first time, the public not only has an idea who the DHS is pursuing with their surveillance and where, but what they are looking for as well. General Dynamics contract requires them to “[identify] media reports that reflect adversely on the U.S. Government, DHS, or prevent, protect, respond government activities.” The DHS also instructed General Dynamics to generate “reports on DHS, Components, and other Federal Agencies: positive and negative reports on FEMA, CIA, CBP, ICE, etc. as well as organizations outside the DHS.” In other words, the DHS wants to know who you are if you say anything critical about the government. Anybody thinking of the name “Goebbels” at this point is not out of line. This has nothing at all to do with keeping us safe:

• Remember, widespread spying on Americans began BEFORE 9/11. • The Federal Reserve is also apparently going to start monitoring all criticism against it. • In modern America, the government has been using anti-terror laws to crush dissent. • Protest is considered low-level terrorism, as is questioning war, asking questions about pollution or about Wall Street shenanigans, supporting Ron Paul, being a libertarian, holding gold, stocking up on more than 7 days of food, or investigating factory farming. • Even pointing out that the government is exercising tyrannical powers can get your harassed. • We’ve gone from a nation of laws to a nation of powerful men arbitrarily making laws in secret in order to protect their power.

Calling the GOP's bluff to decide on the Keystone XL Pipeline's fate by February 21 Obama puts Keystone pipeline on hold, decries 'rushed and arbitrary' deadline Mark Gaurino at csmonitor.com President Obama announced Wednesday he is putting the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline expansion project on hold, saying a decision can’t be made by the February deadline imposed by Congress. While environmental groups cheered the news, the setback is temporary and the pipeline operator says it will resubmit plans to have the pipeline running in 2014. ... Republicans in Congress, in return for their support for an extension of the payroll tax holiday, forced the new Feb. 21 deadline, a date that Mr. Obama on Wednesday called “rushed and arbitrary.” His statement stressed the decision was not a ruling on the merits of the pipeline, but on the action of Congress, which he said, “prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people.” “I’m disappointed that Republicans in Congress forced this decision, but it does not change my administration’s commitment to American-made energy that creates jobs and reduces our dependence on oil,” he said. .... The Keystone XL project is far from resolved, as TransCanada is allowed to resubmit its permitting application, which the company says it will have ready by September or October.
Following Obama’s decision, the company announced it will work with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to determine a possible new route to avoid running the pipeline over portions of the Ogallala Aquifer, a major source of fresh water for drinking and agriculture that runs under several states in the US heartland. ... Bill McGibbon of 350.org then sent this email to 350.org supporters in the United States and Canada
Big News: Obama rejects Keystone XL - but we can't stop here. We wanted to share with you the news: this afternoon the Obama Administration announced that they are denying the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. You did good work, against some of the longest possible odds. ... For years, the knock on the President Obama was that he backed down too easily in the face of opposition. Not here. When Republicans in Congress forced the issue again by passing a 60-day time limit on the President's final decision, he stood strong and denied the permit. And that was despite the most explicit threats from Big Oil: that they would exact ‘huge political consequences’ if he did the right thing on Keystone. Make no mistake—this is a brave decision.
And make no mistake about this either—Big Oil will do everything it can to overturn that decision, because they are not used to losing. They have one weapon—money. They’ve used it to buy the allegiance of many Representatives and Senators and now they’ll use Congress to try and get their dirty work done. That’s what happened when the President delayed the permit last November, and we should expect them to try again now.
That’s why we’re going to Congress and Big Oil, beginning next Tuesday the 24th. If you can join us, we’re meeting at noon on the West Lawn, and you should wear a referee’s shirt. We’re going to ‘blow the whistle’ on the corruption that passes for business as usual on Capitol Hill, where people take money from companies whose interests they vote on. Check your email for the rest and check our BTV ACTION for more details. Of course the right wing and the corporate extraction industries' "spokespeople" are HOWLING, calling Obama a "job killer" and worse. However it's all kabuki theater!
David Sirota at Salon explains The real beneficiaries of energy subsidies Don't buy the GOP's claims. Oil companies, not green alternatives, are making a killing from the government Listen to the typical conservative rhetoric about energy being thrown around on talk radio or in Republican presidential debates, and you’re likely to hear that our government primarily uses its regulatory and financial power to create a destructive green energy boondoggle — one that enriches a few politically connected Solyndra executives, appeases a bunch of wild-eyed tree huggers, but hides the fact that renewables supposedly can’t stand on their own in the private sector.
In the face of catastrophic climate change and dwindling fossil fuel resources, this cartoonish narrative has gained traction because it invokes the moment’s most powerful political metonyms, from implicit allegations of crony capitalism to hippie-themed epithets about environmentalists to “free market” fundamentalism. The underlying idea — which will only be more amplified in the wake of the Obama administration’s pipeline decision Wednesday — is that fossil fuels are being persecuted by the American government.
But the reality, of course, is something wholly different. Indeed, this mythology is a perfect example of Orwellian Newspeak in which the reverse of the rhetoric is true. As recent news highlights, the government is doing exactly the opposite of what conservatives say: It is aggressively favoring the fossil fuel industry in ways that give that industry a special economic advantage over clean energy. .... According to data compiled by the Environmental Law Institute, the United States is a big contributor to this global subsidy imbalance, “provid(ing) substantially larger subsidies to fossil fuels than to renewables.” In practice, some of the biggest of those U.S. subsidies come in the form of special tax breaks for oil and gas development , and in direct taxpayer funding of multinational corporations’ foreign mining projects (yes, you read that right — your tax dollars go to fund fossil fuel development overseas). Notably, the latter subsidies champion some of the most environmentally hazardous practices in operation such as “fracking” — a practice that our own Environmental Protection Agency has found in two separate reports to be a major potential threat to groundwater....... it all adds up to a government that is far more committed to toxic and finite sources of energy than to clean and renewable sources of energy. You may not hear that from either party’s presidential candidates or media defenders — but the facts are quite clear, even if they are inconvenient. Does it have to be this way? We go to Scotland and Brian Merchant Scotland Guns for 100% Renewable Energy by 2020 treehugger.com In 2010, Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland, announced that his government was aiming to power all of Scotland with 100% renewable energy by 2025. Just a few months later, they kicked it up a notch or five: Scotland would seek to run entirely on renewable power by 2020. Most of that would come from ambitious onshore and offshore wind farms, as well as some smaller wave and tidal power projects—and there are 7 GW of such clean energy projects already completed or underway. By the end of 2011, it looked as if all was going to plan, despite the requisite naysaying from skeptics. Here's Triple Pundit on Scotland's progress thus far: [...] "The costs of offshore wind will have to be reduced by 20% to be competitive," [Alex Salmond] said at a press conference today. Efforts to analyze and improve the supply chain will be a top priority, as will examining transmission challenges inherent in efficiently transporting electricity over long distances. Salmond repeatedly emphasized the need to commercialize offshore wind to make the technology available for wider deployment (and granting Scotland a foothold in one of the next generation's most promising industries).... So where is the U.S. and its "can-do" attitude? Stuck in the morass of "drill baby drill" anywhere and everywhere (Shell’s Arctic Drilling Plan Clears Hurdle nyt), fracking (Confirmed: Fracking caused Ohio earthquakes rt.com), blowing up more Appalachian mountains (Alpha fights to block health studies from permit lawsuit wvgazette) and fighting more wars for natural resources. Global climate change is a non-starter in the "conventional wisdom" of the DC Bubalas. How many more oil spills, earthquakes and wars will it take? Grrrrr. On a happier note Our Man in Wisconsin John Nichols of The Nation reports A Million Wisconsinites Petition to Recall Scott Walker Petitions with the names of 1 million Wisconsinites were submitted to state elections officials today, in a move that will jump-start the process of removing the nation’s most notorious antilabor governor from office. A total of 540,208 valid signatures are required to recall Scott Walker, the Republican governor, who was elected in 2010. On Tuesday afternoon, the United Wisconsin movement that was organized to recall and remove the governor submitted almost twice that number. The people have spoken loud and clear and we are ready to put an early end to Governor Walker’s reign," announced Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt. In addition to the 1 million signatures seeking Walker's recall, petitions with 845,000 signatures were submitted to force the recall of Republican Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. Petitions were also filed to recall four Republican state senators: erry Moulton in northwest Wisconsin, Pam Galloway in north-central Wisconsin, Van Wangaard in southeast Wisconsin and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, Walker's legislative point man in the struggle last year over the governor's move last year to strip collective bargaining rights from state, county and municipal employees and teachers. If just one of the four senators is recalled and removed, control of the chamber will shift from the Republicans to the Democrats—who picked up two seats in recall elections last summer. In all, close to 2 million signatures were submitted Tuesday, building the historic in-the-streets popular uprising that rocked Wisconsin in 2012 into a electoral uprising that has the potential to rock the politics not just of the state but of the nation in 2012. The movement to oust Walker will have secured the support of a higher percentage of eligible voters than has ever before sought to recall an American governor. No other gubernatorial recall drive in American history has gathered the signatures of so large a proportion of the electorate. .... But most indications are that the challenges raised by Walker and his agents will be acts of political theater and strategy, rather a serious threat to the recall process. That is because these petitions were not be casually submitted; they have been meticulously collected, reviewed and prepared for submission by 25,000 volunteers with the United Wisconsin movement . While some signatures will undoubtedly be disqualified in the review process, and by the Walker team’s challenges, even Republican election observers quietly acknowledge that the petitions are likely to pass muster. .... The Wisconsin democracy movement is real. And Scott Walker should be afraid, very afraid, of the opposition he has unleashed in a state where it is now clear that the people are prepared to defend their rights, and their future. ON WISCONSIN! Listen to John Nichols on Ring of Fire Radio for more info.

We end today saying good-bye to blues singer Etta James. She will be missed by many.

R.I.P. Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins)

January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012







BRICK TEEVEE ALERTS!_©




»»» William Hartung @ Democracy NOW! Drones, Asia and Cyber War: Pentagon Shifts Priorities in New Review; Budget Still Exceeds Bush Era Jan 9, 2012

»»» Colin Goddard, a survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre @ Democracy NOW! As Arizona Remembers Tucson Shooting, Virginia Tech Massacre Survivor Calls for New Gun Control Jan 9, 2012

»»» Guantánamo Bay Prison’s 10th Anniversary @ Democracy NOW! Guantánamo Detainees Launch Hunger Strike to Protest Prison’s 10th Anniversary AND Guantánamo Exclusive: Former Chief Prosecutor, Ex-Prisoner Call on Obama to Close Prison PLUS NDAA: Obama Signs Law Restricting Transfer of Guantánamo Prisoners and Expands Indefinite Detention Jan 10, 2012

»»» Dale Kuehne, Arnie Arnesen, Arnie Alpert @ Democracy NOW! Rivals’ Attacks on Romney’s Corporate Record Display Occupy Wall Street’s Wide Reach RELATED: How New Hampshire Became Last U.S. State to Recognize MLK Day Holiday Jan 11, 2012

»»» Michael Copps WATCH NOW Ex-FCC Commissioner Michael Copps on Media Consolidation, Broadband Expansion, Threats to Journalism Jan 12, 2012

»»» Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council @ Democracy NOW! A Path to War? Assassination of Iran Nuclear Scientist, New Sanctions Strain U.S.-Iran Relations Jan 12, 2012

»»» Randall Robinson, founder and past president of TransAfrica @ Democracy NOW! 2 Years After Devastating Earthquake, Haiti’s Rebuilding Weighed Down by Legacy of Foreign Meddling Jan 13, 2012

»»» Michelle Alexander & Randall Robinson @ Democracy NOW! WATCH NOW On Eve of MLK Day, Michelle Alexander & Randall Robinson on the Mass Incarceration of Black America Jan 13, 2012




»»» GRITtv @ www.grittv.org with Laura Flanders

»»» FEATURED SHOW This Video is Absurd as Corporate Personhood What will it take to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United? Perhaps a viral video! Here is “It’s Viral,” with The Nation’s own Katrina vanden Heuvel, Jim Hightower and more. Exec produced by the We the People Campaign. Think it’ll work? And while you're thinking, repost! For more on citizens' opposition to Citizen's United, read the full post at TheNation.com .


BRICK TEEVEE SPORT!_©

»»» NFL Conference Championship Ravens @ Patriots 3 pm et & Giants @ 49ers 6:30 pm et on Sunday!

»»» NBA on TNT! Double-header Thursday! Celtics @ Magic 8 pm et then Grizzlies @ Clippers 10:30 pm et


BRICK TEEVEE ACTION!_©

360.org January 24 2012 in Washington D.C. Blow the Whistle on Big Oil Corruption On Tuesday January 24th, we going to Washington DC to blow the whistle on Big Oil corruption in Congress. We'll be gathering at the Capitol dressed in referee uniforms (yep, stripes and all), and then heading to the American Petroleum Institute - Big Oil's top lobby - to do the same. It will be unavoidable, very visible, and just disruptive enough to absolutely get the attention of the oil industry's representatives in Congress and put them on notice that the era of big oil corruption will soon be coming to an end.
UPDATE: We're still working out the exact meeting place and a few other details, but here are the key things you need to know:
What: Blowing the Whistle on Big Oil Corruption in Congress
When: Tuesday January 24th, 12 Noon
Where: West Lawn, US Capitol Building, Washington DC


The 1st Amendment is Our Permit Our permit to occupy is The First Amendment. Quickly sign the following statement which will be delivered to mayors, police chiefs and major media across the country:

Our permit to occupy public squares and parks is in The First Amendment, which affirms “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” When people across the Middle East occupied public squares, leaders in Washington mostly cheered those protesters and warned Middle Eastern governments not to use force to clear them. Those other societies don’t have a First Amendment. Yet Washington affirmed the universal right to assembly and protest. We do have a First Amendment. The force being used to clear nonviolent protesters from public squares in our country is unacceptable. It must stop.

October2011.org Sign the Petition to Get the 99% Deficit Proposal Heard in Congress

Please SIGN THE PETITION in support of the "99%'s Deficit Proposal" and plan direct actions to tell the Super Committee that the 99% have better solutions to our nation's crises. You can plan your own action at your Congressmember's office or join us in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC for marches to Capitol Hill. Check our calendar for announcements.

NET NEUTRALITY! SaveTheInternet.org SOPA If you've been living under an Internet-free rock the past couple of weeks, you might have managed to miss the steady drumbeat of opposition to HR 3261, the so-called Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Then again, if you've been living under an Internet-free rock, you've already had a preview of what we're facing if SOPA goes into effect. AmericanCensorship.org has pulled together an infographic that explains in very basic terms the services and sites that are at greatest risk from SOPA here: Infographic: Effects of the Internet Blacklist Bill (SOPA). More info at American Censorship Day READ Internet Censorship: Not Today, Not Tomorrow SIGN NOW! Internet censorship is coming to America. It’s in the form of a bill in Congress that gives corporations unprecedented power to blacklist websites at will. If passed, the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” or SOPA (HR 3261), could rip apart the open fabric of the Internet. People could see their websites disappear from the Internet for a “crime” as innocent as posting a video of themselves singing along to a favorite song. Sign this petition NOW! Keep BTV and YOUR blog alive! Listen to Sam Seder with Tim Karr of Free Press on Net Neutrality [11•10•11] UPDATE: Bypass SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) DNS Blocking with DeSopa 1.1 A new anti-SOPA add-on for Firefox, titled “DeSopa” is such a counter measure.When installed, users can click a single button to resolve a blocked domain via foreign DNS servers, bypassing all domestic DNS blockades and allowing the user to browse the site though the bare IP-address (if supported).“I feel that the general public is not aware of the gravity of SOPA and Congress seems like they are about to cater to the special interests involved, to the detriment of Internet, for which I and many others live and breathe,” DeSopa developer T Rizk told....


CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE American Majority Rejects Washington Austerity Consensus – And We Demand Media Coverage by Roger Hickey, President, Campaign for America's Future: No more silent majority. The Campaign for America’s Future is joining with the Center for Economic and Policy Research (whose Co-Director, Dean Baker blogs regularly about economic bias in the media) and with FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) to monitor the media’s coverage and representation of the American Majority views as they go into covering the big deficit fight. But we want to enlist YOU too. Send us accounts of unbalanced coverage in the national media and in your local newspapers and television. Call up reporters, editors, assignment people and tell them when they are under-representing the views of the American Majority. We should have at least half the experts, pundits, quotes and real people represented in their coverage. In a debate as important as the one we are going into, we can’t allow the media to ignore the American Majority. Much more at www.ourfuture.org


MOVE TO AMEND! www.movetoamend.org SIGN HERE NOW! Also visit Rep Alan Grayson's site www.savedemocracy.net And Alan Grayson is running again in FL-8! Help out at CongressmanWithGuts.com


SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT See CourageToResist.org UPDATE! Manning-Lamo Chat Logs Revealed at wired.com plus The Deeply Personal Details in New Bradley Manning Chat Logs and Bradley Manning Support Network Much more at link.

UPDATE! BRADLEY MANNING UPDATE: Robert Parry Exclusive America’s Debt to Bradley Manning So, it was useful to examine the WikiLeaks documents regarding the election of the new IAEA leader in 2009 to understand why this flip may have occurred. What those classified State Department cables show is that the IAEA’s new director general, Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano, credited his victory largely to U.S. government support and promptly stuck his hand out for U.S. money. Further, Amano left little doubt that he would side with the United States in its confrontation with Iran and that he would even meet secretly with Israeli officials regarding their purported evidence on Iran’s nuclear program, despite the fact that Israel is arguably the world’s preeminent rogue nuclear state and rejects IAEA inspections of its own nuclear sites. According to U.S. embassy cables from Vienna, Austria, the site of IAEA’s headquarters, American diplomats in 2009 were cheering the prospect that Amano would advance U.S. interests in ways that outgoing IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei wouldn’t. ..... In private, Amano agreed to “consultations” with the head of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, Pyatt reported. (It is ironic indeed that Amano would have secret contacts with Israeli officials about Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program, which has yet to yield a single bomb, when Israel possesses a large and undeclared nuclear arsenal.) In a subsequent cable dated Oct. 16, 2009, the U.S. mission in Vienna said Amano “took pains to emphasize his support for U.S. strategic objectives for the Agency. Amano reminded ambassador [Glyn Davies] on several occasions that … he was solidly in the U.S. court on every key strategic decision, from high-level personnel appointments to the handling of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program. “More candidly, Amano noted the importance of maintaining a certain ‘constructive ambiguity’ about his plans, at least until he took over for DG ElBaradei in December” 2009. In other words, the emerging picture of Amano is of a bureaucrat eager to bend in directions favored by the United States and Israel, especially regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Amano’s behavior surely contrasts with how the more independent-minded ElBaradei resisted some of Bush’s key claims about Iraq’s supposed nuclear weapons program, denouncing some documents as forgeries. Today, with some Republican presidential contenders falling over themselves to bond with Israel over its desire to attack Iran, this sort of detail puts the IAEA report into a fuller context that can help American voters judge whether another war is necessary or whether they’re being misled again by hyped allegations. More at link...


DONATE YOUR OLD CELL PHONES TO T.J. MARTELL FOUNDATION Help save lives. Donate your old & used iPhone, Blackberries, Droid and other phones to help the T.J. Martell Foundations fund life-saving cancer & AIDS research. For more information, go to www.tjmartellfoundation.org

B R I C K T E E V E E

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THEY report. YOU throw bricks. ©
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The essential guide for watching government propaganda

IRAQ: 4,484 US Military Dead as of Dec 31, 2011

AFGHANISTAN: 1,886 US Military Dead as of Jan 20, 2012

The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises

Considering Democracy: 8 Things to ask your Representative

• This Week (ABC) anchor George Stephanopoulos
  
  UPDATE: CNN reported today that renowned international correspondent Christiane Amanpour will be returning to CNN with a weekday program on its International network, while continuing at ABC News as a global affairs anchor. Former “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos will return to the program on 8 January, while continuing his role as an anchor for “Good Morning America”. FULL STORY
  
  • Fact Checking ABC's "This Week" at NPR "On the Media" - Jake Tapper, interim host of ABC's "This Week," liked the idea of fact-checking his guests' comments, so he set up a partnership with Politifact, a non-partisan fact-checking organization. See Politifact Statements ABC News 'This Week'
  
  • former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum
  
  • ROUNDTABLE: GeoGeorge Will, political strategist and ABC News analyst Matthew Dowd, National Journal's Ron Brownstein, and The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel
  
  
  

• Face The Nation (CBS) Host Bob Schiefer
  
  • Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.)
  
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham (D-S.C.)
  
  • ROUNDTABLE: CBS News political director John Dickerson, TIME Magazine's Joe Klein and The Wall Street Journal's Kelly Evans.
  
  
  

• 60 Minutes (CBS) "60 Minutes Presents: Into the Wild," a special hour devoted to the natural world
  
  • The Great Migration - Scott Pelley visits Kenya, the site of the great wildebeest migration, and looks at the threats to this natural spectacle comprised of over a million animals. Henry Schuster and Rebecca Peterson are the producers.
  
  • Qatar -The tiny and prosperous Middle Eastern country with no income taxes and free health care is an island of calm in a sea of unrest as neighbors like Syria, Egypt and Bahrain experience social upheaval. Bob Simon reports. Harry Radliffe is the producer.
  
  • The Secret Language of Elephants -Researchers listening to elephant sounds and observing their behavior are compiling an elephant dictionary. Bob Simon goes to Central Africa to listen to the language of the forest elephants first hand. Harry Radliffe is the producer.
  
  • Jane Goodall -Jane Goodall brings Lara Logan and 60 MINUTES cameras back to the forests of Tanzania, where she began her love affair with chimpanzees 50 years ago, to remind the public that chimps are endangered. Max McClellan is the producer.
  
  

• Meet the Press (NBC) Host David Gregory
  
  • Meet the Facts at NPR "On the Media" - Last December, NYU professor Jay Rosen proposed something simple yet revolutionary: why don't the Sunday morning chat shows fact check their guests? After "Meet the Press" host David Gregory declined, two college students launched a website to do it for him. One of them, Chas Danner, explains what they're trying to accomplish. See their website MeetTheFacts.com updating soon!
  
  • Romney Supporter Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ)
  
  • GOP Hopeful Newt Gingrich
  
  • ROUNDTABLE: Joe Scarborough, Republican strategist Mike Murphy, the BBC’s Katty Kay, and NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd.
  
  
  

• State of the Union With Candy Crowley (CNN)
  
  At 9 AM ET, Candy talks to the power players: politicians, business leaders and international newsmakers who will make Monday morning's headlines. At NOON ET, Candy wraps it all up with fresh interviews and the best of the earlier hours.
  
  • Rick Santorum
  
  • Newt Gingrich
  
  • Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
  
  • House Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-SC)
  
  • Reverend Brad Atkins, president South Carolina Baptist Convention
  
  
  

• HEAD ON RADIO with Bob Kincaid
  
  
  
  Headon Radio with Bob Kincaid 6 PM Eastern, 3 PM Pacific, 2300 GMT. Duration: 3 hrs. To be part of the conversation on Head-on Radio, call toll-free (877) 443-2366, or use our Liberal community line at 304-658-3333. Email: bob [at] headonradio [dot] com.
  
  • PRAYER MEETIN' WEDNESDAY!!!!! Jon Fox Hosting! TOPIC: The SOPA/PIPA Internet Blackout. Great show! Listen HERE (mp3) NOW
  
  Amen to the White Rose Society! Donate to Head On HERE! And join Coal River Mountain Watch at www.crmw.net!
  
  
  

• YOUR GREEN NEWS REPORT
  
  
  
  The Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen: 6 minutes of green news, politics, analysis & snarky comment!
  
  BOOKMARK greennews.bradblog.com NOW!
  
  • 'Green News Report' - January 19, 2012 IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: White House wins GOP Keystone XL pipeline game - for now; Perry's Texas tough-guy talk on EPA fails; Snowmageddon in Seattle; Snow No-show in California; PLUS: Climate change, now with slightly less apocalypse! ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
  
  IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see link): TX to unlock secrets of fracking; 'No evidence' that Wind Turbine Syndrome exists; Bush speechwriter slams 'culture war' over climate change; Should we only have rules coal lobbyists agree to?; Bat deaths a catastrophe in the making; New mileage standards save money immediately; Coral reef disease hits Hawaii; Breakthrough material 'eats' CO2 in the air ... PLUS: 5 myths about the Keystone XL pipeline ... and much, MUCH more! ...
  
  Visit BradBlog.com to see who counts yer votes! Reference yer background/research at Who's Counting? too.
  
  

• The Peter B. Collins Show PODCAST!
  
  
  
  Listen at PeterBCollins.com!
  
  The Peter B. Collins Show covers American news and politics from the Left Coast. Veteran talk radio personality Peter B. Collins, based in San Francisco, delivers fresh interviews, commentary and analysis on a range of important topics, with views and voices you don’t often find in the corporate media.
  
  • Holiday Break and Website Changes
  
  To my valued listeners: We are on a holiday break until the first week of January. You have my warm holiday wishes and best for the New Year. If you are in the Bay Area, I will be on KGO 810 AM 12/24 from 8-11am and 1/7 from 11am to 2pm. Others can catch the stream at kgoradio.com. We are making some changes to the website and our terms, effective in January. We will continue to offer free podcasts–my new daily news and commentary. Our in-depth interviews will be available for $1 per episode, or to subscribers who pay $5 per month or more. Loyal listeners who simply can’t afford it should send an email to peter@peterbcollins.com, as we will be offering a limited number of scholarships to our friends who are hurting during these tough times. More information will be posted as we complete the revisions. I’m grateful to each of you for listening and supporting this work, and hope that the new model will enable us to keep it going well into the future. All the best, -pbc
  • PBC Podcast 359 PBC News & Comment Friday, January 20
  • PBC Podcast 357 FREE PODCAST! Thomas Frank on His New Book, “Pity the Billionaire”; Prof. Gar Alperovitz on “America Beyond Capitalism” This interview podcast is free to all, courtesy of a generous subscriber who wants to be anonymous. Tom Frank recaps the amazing double-down GOP strategy since 2008; Gar Alperovitz has some great ideas for a more democratic economy.
  • PBC Podcast 355 Boiling Frogs: Fitzgerald and Gould on New World Order Journalists Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald return to discuss their views of the New World Order in this Boiling Frogs interview, co-hosted with Sibel Edmonds.
  • Attorney Carl Mayer Talks About Chris Hedges’ Suit Against Obama; Journalist Jason Leopold Exposes FBI “Blackballing” of FOIA Requests
  
  

• Ring of Fire Radio
  
  
  
  Find us at http://ringoffireradio.com and http://goleft.tv/ hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder
  
  Ring of Fire Radio - GoLeft TV - Robert F. Kennedy, Mike Papantonio, Sam Seder - Politics, Commentary, and News.
  
  This Week on Ring of Fire! January 20, 2012
  
  • Award-winning investigative journalist Robert Parry will tell us how the Republicans are trying to turn America into a giant shanty town.
  
  • John Nichols from The Nation will be here to talk about the continuing anti-union attacks coming from right wing state governors.
  
  • And we’ll have a collection of interviews from this week’s Families USA‘s Health Action 2012 conference.
  
  • VIDEO! Papantonio: Public Says Romney Only Cares for the Wealthy One of the biggest questions that voters will have to ask themselves this coming November is “who will take of my interests better.” The latest polls tell us that voters have already asked themselves that question, and the answer for most of the 99% is Obama. But for those in the top 1%, they overwhelmingly support Republicans like Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Mike Papantonio talks about how voters’ perceptions of who is the friendliest to Wall Street will play out this year with John Sides, political science professor and contributor to The American Prospect.
  
  • VIDEO! Papantonio: How Republicans Packed Our Courts While all the putrid Republican conduct was playing itself out during the Bush years, the Democrats and most Americans appeared to be virtually unaware of how the Grand Ol’ Party was doing its most serious damage. The GOP and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce knew where they could do the most harm to democracy and, at the same time, improve the balance sheets for their corporate pals.
  They could accomplish both of those goals in the Court system – the civil justice system where judges are often the last line in the sand when it comes to protecting Americans from the type of reckless criminal conduct that the Bush Republicans carried out for 8 dark years. While Americans were distracted trying to figure out where the Hell the WMDs were, the Republicans were packing the federal trial courts and appellate courts from the bottom up. Not with talented experienced jurists, but with political hacks who had proven their commitment to right wing ideology completely enough that they were rewarded with a black robe and a federal courtroom gavel.
  
  • Support Those Who Support Progressive Media! 2011 has certainly been a great year for Ring of Fire, and we’ve had some great sponsors that have helped support the show throughout the year. We wanted to take the time to personally thank each and every one of them, and we encourage all of our listeners to take the time to support those who have support us.
  
  • Join our blog at www.ringoffireradio.com. You can now SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST by clicking on the “Podcast” tab at the top of the Ring of Fire blog. Please help support progressive radio by signing up!
  
  Ring of Fire Radio Ring of Fire, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts 8-11 et Sunday evenings on Chicago's Progressive Talk WCPT AM & FM and 4 pm et on Sirius/XM 167 featuring The PAP Attack! "We’ll bring you the stories that the mainstream media didn’t feel like reporting this week."
  
  

• Majority Report with Sam Seder Streaming LIVE weekdays 11:30 am et @ Majority.fm!
  
  • Rocky Anderson on his Presidential Run, Ron Paul & Occupy Wall Street [01•10•12]
  
  
  
  • Corey Robin on his book The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin [01•17•12]
  
  • Jeff Smith of the OWS Press Team with a Live in DC J17 Occupy Congress Report [01•17•12]
  
  • Garlin Gilchrist of MoveOn on the SOPA / PIPA Internet Blackout [01•18•12]
  
  • Tina Dupuy of Crooks and Liars Live in DC on Occupy Congress [01•18•12]
  
  MORE Podcast Interviews at majorityreport.official.fm!
  
  

• On the Edge with Max Keiser Podcasts and more @ MaxKeiser.com!
  
  
  
  "HI Y'ALL! Tell the people! Tell the people!"
  
  WHO IS MAX KEISER? Max Keiser is a financial expert, Prediction Markets analyst, inventor and filmmaker. He is the creator of the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) the first Prediction Market. Max Keiser co-hosts “The Truth About Markets” on ResonanceFM 104.4 in London. He also produces and presents documentary films covering markets and finance for Al Jazeera’s “People & Power” series. Max Keiser started his career on Wall Street in 1983. He is the creator of KarmaBanque a site that enables activists to challenge corporate power.
  
  • VISIT PirateMyFilm.com!!! Crowd Funding for Pirates!
  
  • NEW! MaxKeiserTV on YouTube! MaxKeiserTV PLUS here is Max Keiser’s official Facebook page And here is the official Keiser Report page
  
  • The [Max Keiser's] information is so powerful they wish to keep it secret by maxkeiser. READ Voting with your dollar: More than just SOPA and PIPA (examiner): “You’re taking a traditional boycott and applying economic metrics and in this process it gives the activist more leverage,” says financial activist Max Keiser, “Think strictly in strategic results. If you have enough boycotters and activists applying the boycott you will attract attention from the global hedge fund community, which is always looking for stocks to sell short or prices to attack.”
  This information is a powerful tool for activists of all spectrums be it left-wing Occupy or further to the right Tea Party. The information is so powerful they wish to keep it secret, such as the SOPA [Stop Online Piracy Act] iPhone app or Firefox extension. Critics claim that SOPA will destroy free speech on the internet. The app works by scanning a barcode and if the company supported ‘SOPA’ through campaign donations or lobbying a ‘stop’ sign appears encouraging you to not buy this product. Receiving a ‘clear’ status results from the company’s hands being clean of the debate.
  Boycotting so such a powerful tool that already numerous Senators and Representatives have switched to the oppose column concerning PIPA and SOPA despite the Hollywood lobbyist money flowing into their individual PACs and Committees. Now you’ve got a multi-trillion dollar industry blindly working with activist to attack the stock. The result is a lower stock price,” Max Keiser continues that the only way to see if your boycott is effective is by measuring the stock price. “The only thing that an activist should look for, in terms of whether they’re successful or not—it’s not what the company says, it’s not what the company writes in its annual report, it’s not what some politician says the company says—they should only look at one thing, and that’s the stock price. The stock price goes up, they’re failing; the stock price goes down, they’re winning.”
  
  • KEISER REPORT [KR238] Keiser Report: Scam On Epic Scale We discuss 419 scams and Tim Geithner’s gimp. In the second half of the show, Max talks to financial blogger and semi-retired Wall Street executive Warren E. Pollock about MF Global, wealth confiscation and bank holidays.
  
  • KEISER REPORT [KR239] Keiser Report: Sinking Ship In Credit Sea In this episode, we discuss captains of the financial industry abandoning ship while tripping into TARP. In the second half of the show, Max talks to former oil market regulator, Chris Cook, about the imminent collapse of the oil market …
  
  • ON THE EDGE [OTE141] On the Edge with Gonzalo Lira Great interview with Gonzalo Lira. The UK government did NOT want you to see this.
  
  • THE TRUTH ABOUT MARKETS [TaM-1231] The Truth About Markets! Download show HERE (mp3)
  
  • Donate to ResonanceFM here!
  
  
  

• ANTIWAR RADIO with Scott Horton
  
  LIVE (9-11am Pacific, 12pm - 2pm Eastern) Plenty of archives too!
  
  Listen at antiwar.com/radio
  
  • Roy Gutman January 12, 2012: Roy Gutman, Baghdad Bureau Chief for McClatchy Newspapers, discusses the bureaucratic hindrances to the MEK’s move out of Camp Ashraf in Iraq; how individual asylum cases will essentially force the MEK to disband (as no country is willing to accept the whole group); Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s efforts to consolidate power in the splintered and unworkable Iraqi government system; the many Iraqi politicians with huge security forces that also function as hit squads against rivals; why Iraq’s political outcome is critical to the region, world oil market and Western world; how Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are jockeying for position in the “up for grabs” countries of Syria and Iraq; why US intervention in the Middle East is necessary to protect oil resources and fill the security vacuum; and the merits of US interventionism in general, from Iraq to Afghanistan.
  
  • Gareth Porter January 19, 2012: Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses the Israeli Mossad’s false flag operation that made the CIA appear responsible for terrorist attacks inside Iran; using Jundullah to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists to provoke a military response – not set back their nuclear program; how terrorist attacks marginalize Iranian political moderates and make diplomatic negotiations with the US impossible; and the predictable nationalistic “blowback” response of Iranian students, who are defiantly switching majors to nuclear science .
  
  • Philip Giraldi January 21, 2012: Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi discusses his article ”What War With Iran Might Look Like;” the many layers of obfuscation (like peeling an onion) in the Jundallah/CIA/Mossad frame-up; President Bush’s “absolutely ballistic” response to Israeli operatives, posing as CIA officers, recruiting Jundullah agents to commit terrorist acts in Iran; and why the Obama administration is powerless to stop Israel from starting a war with Iran (and dragging the US along with it).
  
  Many more interviews at Antiwar Radio!
  
  
  

• fauxnews
  
  • Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney
  
  • Speaker of the House John Boehner
  

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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