Brick TeeVee and "The Untouchables"!

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Brick TeeVee and "The Untouchables"! We begin with the BTV WEATHER UPDATE! Now that The Weather Channel is naming winter storm systems they have come up with their own list of names for the 2012-13 season including "Gandolf", "Nemo", "Q" and the current storm "Khan". Comments include

• I'm more afraid of winter storm "Q" than winter storm "Khan". However, if there's a winter storm "Borg" that pops up, I'm out.
  
• At least there's no Winter Storm McCoy -- "I'm a doctor, Jim, not a damned blizzard!"
  
• Oh, come on...you *know* that anyone who has a storm named "Khan" isn't thinking of the Broadway subway line for Q -- it's got to be from ST:TNG..
  
• Beware...Khan is coming!
  
• forever fear the wrath of Ricardo Montalban and his fine corinthian leather ...
  

BWAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAA! Speaking of the weather, pResident OBomber talked about the weather in his 2nd Inauguration speech Monday: "We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries; we must claim its promise." Oh really? Seems Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune heard it too. From Common Dreams Climate Crisis Pushes Sierra Club to End Civil Disobedience Ban by staff wrtier Jon Queally After 120 years of advocating on behalf of nature, one of the the nation's largest and oldest environmental organizations—The Sierra Club—has at last decided to end its refusal to participate in acts of civil disobedience. In a letter to the group's membership, which numbers over one million, executive director of Sierra Club, Michael Brune, announced: "For 120 years, we have remained committed to using every 'lawful means' to achieve our objectives. Now, for the first time in our history, we are prepared to go further." What spawned the decision? As Brune explained—and recognizing that many will comment "what took you so long?"—the change in direction was spurred by recognizing "the possibility that the United States might surrender any hope of stabilizing our planet's climate." Specifically, Brune said, "the Sierra Club will officially participate in an act of peaceful civil resistance" at the White House next month on President's Day weekend. Brune continued: We are watching a global crisis unfold before our eyes, and to stand aside and let it happen -- even though we know how to stop it -- would be unconscionable. As the president said on Monday, "to do so would betray our children and future generations." It couldn't be simpler: Either we leave at least two-thirds of the known fossil fuel reserves in the ground, or we destroy our planet as we know it. That's our choice, if you can call it that. ..... That protest, organized by Sierra Club and the climate justice organization 350.org, hopes to see thousands of Americans heading to Washington to create "the largest climate rally in history." The aim will to be to urge President Obama and other political leaders to cancel plans for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and spawn meaningful climate action. ...... The decision to rescind the long-held ban on civil disobedience was made at the highest levels of the organization. Allison Chin, board president of Sierra Club, added: “The recent decision made by the Board of Directors is not one we take lightly. As a nation, we are beginning to achieve significant success in the fight against climate disruption. But allowing the production, transport, export and burning of the dirtiest oil on Earth now would be a giant leap backwards in that progress. The Board is answering the urgency of this threat with our decision to engage, for one time, in civil disobedience.” ...... For more reaction see Joe Romm's Climate Progress WashPost And AP: Obama Is ‘Liberal’ Because He Agrees With Most Americans We Need More Climate Action. And here's Climate Guest Blogger Michael Conathan on another weather problem As The Music Stops For Superstorm Sandy Funding, NOAA Left Without A Chair. UNTOUCHABLE BANKSTERS: Here's a real shocker from Tyler Durdan at ZeroHedge Assistant Attorney General Admits On TV That In The US Justice Does Not Apply To The Banks Those who watched Frontline's special on why nobody has been prosecuted on Wall Street titled appropriately "The Untouchables" didn't learn much new. The rehash of ideas presented is what has been well known for years - namely that when it comes to prosecuting Wall Street criminals nothing will ever happen, because as Bill Gross tweeted "Its not Republican in politics. Its not Dem in politics. Its money in politics" and all the money in politics comes from Wall Street, which happens to be the ultimate ruler of the United States of America, pushing levers here and pulling stringer there to give the impression the constitutional republic is still alive. It isn't - this country has become an unchecked despotism of those in charge of money creation and who control capital - just the thing Andrew Jackson warned against. (Reminds us of Senator Dick Durbin D-IL who famously said "They frankly own the place." -Ed.) One thing we did learn, was courtesy of Assistant Attorney General Lenny Breuer who made it very clear that when it comes to the concept of justice the banks are and always have been "more equal" than others. He does so in such shocking clarity and enthusiasm that it is a miracle that this person is still employed by the US Department of Justice. To wit from the transcript:

• MARTIN SMITH: You gave a speech before the New York Bar Association. And in that speech, you made a reference to losing sleep at night, worrying about what a lawsuit might result in at a large financial institution.
  
• LANNY BREUER: Right.
  
• MARTIN SMITH: Is that really the job of a prosecutor, to worry about anything other than simply pursuing justice?
  
• LANNY BREUER: Well, I think I am pursuing justice. And I think the entire responsibility of the department is to pursue justice. But in any given case, I think I and prosecutors around the country, being responsible, should speak to regulators, should speak to experts, because if I bring a case against institution A, and as a result of bringing that case, there’s some huge economic effect — if it creates a ripple effect so that suddenly, counterparties and other financial institutions or other companies that had nothing to do with this are affected badly — it’s a factor we need to know and understand.

In other words, no criminal charges can be levied against anyone who engaged in the crimes leading to the great financial crisis of 2008 because, get this, the implications of pursuing justice may have destabilizing implications! In other words, the banker threat of Mutual Assured Destruction has metastasized from the legislative, where in 2008 Hank Paulson demanded a blank check from Congress to spend it on whatever he wishes, "or else...", and has fully taken over the Judicial, where there is Justice for all... and no "Justice" for those who are systemically important. Ted Kaufman summarizes:

TED KAUFMAN: That was very disturbing to me, very disturbing. That was never raised at any time during any of our discussions. That is not the job of a prosecutor, to worry about the health of the banks, in my opinion. Job of the prosecutors is to prosecute criminal behavior. It’s not to lie awake at night and kind of decide the future of the banks.

Alas Ted, it appears it is. Frontline's conclusion was perfectly expected: "to date, not one senior Wall Street executive has been held criminally liable by the Department of Justice for activities related to the financial crisis." ..... If you haven't seen the new Frontline show yet visit The Untouchables: Why No One On Wall Street has Been Prosecuted at zerohedge posted by 4closureFraud.org who has it divided into 4 shorter clips: Part One The Untouchables - “Fund ‘Em”; Part Two The Untouchables - Due Diligence?; Part Three The Untouchables – Frustration in Washington; Part Four The Untouchables – Why No Criminal Indictments. You can also check out the extra web-exclusive content here. For more WATCH Mike Papantonio co-host of Ring of Fire Radio on Thom Hartmann The Big Picture Meet the "The Untouchables" And guess who now wants to "spend more time with his family"? We go to FireDogLake.com for Department of Justice Attacks Frontline As Lanny Breuer Resigns Well that didn’t take long. Less than 24 hours after PBS aired Frontline’s The Untouchables, a program focused on the failures of the Department of Justice to make cases against Wall Street bankers despite ample evidence of fraud, the head of DOJ’s criminal division resigns. It’s hard to dismiss as a coincidence given that Lanny Breuer was rather clearly identified in the program – which he participated in – as the person unwilling to go forward with Wall Street prosecutions out of both a fear of losing the cases and some strange fixation on the possibility the firms engaging in criminal fraud might go out of business. I am not sure anyone regrets Enron and Arthur Andersen going out of business. But more to the point, that concern is totally outside a prosecutor’s purview. Breuer was supposed to enforce the law not play systemic risk analyst – a job he is in no way qualified for. While establishment media like the Washington Post want to focus on Breuer’s role in the “Fast and Furious” gun running fiasco as a possible reason for his departure it seems those in the know had a different understanding. The Department Of Justice spent the day attacking Frontline claiming their program was a “hit piece” and threatening to “never co-operate” with news stories in the future. It’s so good to see someone will pay for Wall Street’s crimes – not the bankers or the politicians who committed the crimes and profited from them but journalists asking questions about what happened. Sweet justice. It is also worth noting that Lanny Breuer was interviewed extensively for the program. He had his say repeatedly as did others whom he worked with, a good deal of the program involved him offering the best arguments he could muster to defend his actions/inactions. For DOJ to now punish the journalists for a program that provided their officials with a forum is truly ridiculous. It’s time to face the facts, DOJ failed on one of the most important legal issues of our time. They have no one to blame for their bad reputation but themselves. At Truthdig.com Tracy Bloom posts this incredible stunning hypocrisy by the Catholic Church Catholic Hospital Chain Wins Lawsuit by Arguing Fetus Is Not a Person A Catholic health provider has abandoned its beliefs by arguing that a dead fetus and a dead person are not the same thing in order to win a malpractice lawsuit. The case stems from the death of 31-year-old Lori Stodghill, who was pregnant with twins when she died of a heart attack in 2006. The woman’s husband, Jeremy, filed a wrongful death suit against the faith-based, nonprofit hospital chain Catholic Health Initiatives, alleging its decision not to perform a perimortem cesarean section led to the deaths of the twins. The health provider was able to win that lawsuit by arguing—against its own religious doctrine—that a fetus is not a person. The hospital chain’s strategy demonstrates that, in the end, greed and money ultimately triumph over principles and beliefs. More at Gawker Catholic Hospital Chain Kills Wrongful Death Lawsuit by Arguing that a Fetus is Not a Person which notes "CHI's lawyer, Jason Langley, successfully convinced both the Fremont County District Court and the Colorado Court of Appeals to throw out Jeremy's lawsuit on the basis that CHI can not be sued for the wrongful death of a fetus, because it is not a person." Sheesh! In a related story The Nation's John Nichols asks Why Do 'Pro-Life' Pols Like Paul Ryan Protect Weapons of Mass Murder? ....But leading American Catholics are telling Ryan and other politicians that they can’t get away with claiming to be “pro-life” and “pro-NRA.” Theologians, priests and nuns are challenging the House Budget Committee chairman and 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee—who often suggests that his ideas and positions are influenced by Catholic teaching on social and economic issues—and other elected Catholics who trumpet their “pro-life” positions to think more seriously about the meaning of the term. Specifically, the prominent Catholics thinkers and activists are urging members of Congress such as Ryan to reconcile their use of the term “pro-life” with a seemingly unthinking and steadily unapologetic alliance with “powerful special interests” that seek to block even the most minimal gun-safety legislation. ....... The specific naming of Ryan, among others, was coupled with perspective on the term “pro-life.” “Our faith and our Church call us to remember, as we reflect on our most recent massacres, that the defense of human dignity extends beyond protecting life in the womb. Gun violence demeans human life and tears communities apart.....” .... But what these Catholic leaders have done is about more than just language. They are challenging Paul Ryan and his congressional compatriots to think more deeply—not just about the positions and policies they espouse but “to show greater moral leadership and political courage when it comes to confronting threats to the sanctity of life posed by easy access to military-style assault weapons and high capacity magazines.” But wait! There's more! From the ThinkProgress Health Desk Aviva Shen reports New Mexico Bill Would Imprison Rape Victims Who Receive Abortions Should a recently introduced bill in New Mexico become law, rape victims will be required to carry their pregnancies to term during their sexual assault trials or face charges of “tampering with evidence.” Under HB 206, if a woman ended her pregnancy after being raped, both she and her doctor would be charged with a felony punishable by up to 3 years in state prison: Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion, of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime. ........ In addition to burdening victims of sexual assault, Brown’s bill also reveals some hypocrisy in the anti-abortion community. While anti-choice advocates maintain that a fetus should be afforded the full rights of personhood, charging abortion as “tampering with evidence” effectively turns the fetus into an object. This isn’t the first time so-called pro-life supporters have dropped the fetal personhood crusade when it was convenient — last year, a Catholic hospital in Colorado reversed its stance on fetal personhood in a malpractice suit, arguing in court that the term “person” should only apply to individuals who have already been born. Ah the hypocrisy comes full circle! But beware! The Right Wing NEVER STOPS! Right Wing Watch's Brian Tashman writing in Alternet reports Texas Public School Teaching Kids That Jews Practice "Flawed Religion" and that Blacks Are "Descended from Ham" A new report put out by the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund reveals that in several public school classes on the impact of the Bible on history have found classes teaching from a right-wing, fundamentalist Christian standpoint. A Southern Methodist University religious studies professor Mark Chancey found instances of students learning a literal interpretation of the Bible, that the earth is approximately 6,000 years old and that Judaism is a “flawed and incomplete religion” with materials “designed to evangelize rather than provide an objective study of the Bible’s influence.” TFN also found a lesson explaining “racial origins traced from Noah.” ..... It's things like this that make liberals want to home school their kids too. Ugh. And don't get us started on Arne Duncan and his school privitization schemes! Grrrrrrrr. Next Henry Chu reports on the new European "Robinhood Tax" at the LA Times 11 EU nations to plan tax on financial transactions LONDON – Pressing ahead where others have balked, 11 European countries received the green light Tuesday to plan a financial transaction tax that could generate billions of dollars in revenue for cash-strapped governments. Led by Germany and France, the European Union’s two heavyweights, the nations will now work out how to introduce a levy on the buying and selling of stocks and bonds and on the use of complex financial instruments known as derivatives. Advocates say such a tax is not only necessary to help discourage risky transactions like those that precipitated the 2008 global financial meltdown but also a fair way to make financial institutions pay to help clean up the leftover mess. The move is a controversial one. The U.S., at the urging of Wall Street, has opposed a financial transaction tax; so has Britain, which is home to Europe’s largest financial trading hub. ...... Just how much money a financial transaction tax would produce for the 11 participating nations is unclear. EU-wide, officials had estimated that a levy of just 0.1% on trades of stocks and bonds and 0.01% on derivatives could bring in $75 billion a year. Funds from the tax could help shore up struggling banks, which have been hit hard by the ongoing euro debt crisis. The money could also ease the pressure on European governments that have had to rescue some of those banks at taxpayer expense while at the same time drastically slashing public spending to bring down their budget deficits. Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German finance minister, said it was only fair for financial institutions to take on some of the burden of resolving a global crisis brought on by their own risky practices. “The financial sector must appropriately participate in bearing the cost of the financial crisis,” Schaeuble said in a statement. Besides France and Germany, the countries participating in the proposed financial transaction tax are Belgium, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia. Two of those nations, Greece and Portugal, have had to seek international bailouts....... DRONE UPDATE: Natasha Lennard reporting at Salon UN launches investigation into drone strikes The U.N. announced Thursday the launch of its investigation into targeted killings carried out by the U.S. and its allies. U.N. special rapporteur Ben Emmerson, who monitors counter-terrorism programs, will lead the Geneva-based investigation, which will look at civilian deaths in drone strikes and the legality of extradjudicial executions. ..... According to the U.K.-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, not only will the U.N. team examine drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, but also “drone strikes by U.S. and U.K. forces in Afghanistan, and by Israel in the Occupied Territories. In total some 25 strikes are expected to be examined in detail.” “The plain fact is that this technology is here to stay,” Emmerson told reporters. “It is therefore imperative that appropriate legal and operational structures are urgently put in place to regulate its use in a manner that complies with the requirement of international law.” The ACLU welcomed the investigation in a statement released Thursday. “Virtually no other country agrees with the U.S.’s claimed authority to secretly declare people enemies of the state and kill them and civilian bystanders far from any recognized battlefield. To date, there has been an abysmal lack of transparency and no accountability for the U.S. government’s ever-expanding targeted killing program,” said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project. The civil liberties group also expressed hope that U.S. officials would cooperate with Emmerson and his team. “We hope the U.S. cooperates with the inquiry, and whether it does or not will show whether it holds itself to the same obligation to cooperate with U.N. human rights investigations that it urges on other countries,” said Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program..... Read the ACLU's Press Release U.N. Human Rights Expert Launches Targeted Killing Inquiry where Dakwar goes on to say “The U.S. targeted killing program is setting a dangerous precedent for other countries, which will soon have similar drone capabilities but also have less traditional respect for human rights and international law” and see the list of "Who’s who on the UN’s team" at AntiWar.com UN launches major investigation into civilian drone deaths. SURVEILLANCE UPDATE: Watch Thom Hartmann's Wednesday Daily Take Are "We the People" Now the Real Terrorists? Hebshi Shoshana is an American citizen and the mother of 7-year-old twins. She's also one of the latest casualties of the hysteria built into our national war on terror. In our post-9/11 fear-frenzy whipped up by George W. Bush, the simple act of using the bathroom while "Arab looking" is enough to get you dragged off a plane at gunpoint. And, under the PATRIOT Act, it's completely justifiable for federal agents armed to the teeth to spring into action and drag you, because of whoever is sitting next to you, off the plane, strip you naked, and put you in a jail cell indefinitely without a phone call, without a right to a lawyer, and without any information whatsoever about why you're being detained. In a related matter Anonymous hacks USSC website while blaming Swartz' suicide on U.S. government Scott Paulson at The Examiner In response to the suicidal death of Aaron Swartz, the man who helped create web sites including Reddit.com and who was facing federal charges, Anonymous – the politically-motivated activists’ Internet web site hacking group – took over the United States Sentencing Commission’s governmental web site (www.ussc.gov) on Saturday according to numerous sources including CNN. In the process, Anonymous has threatened to release classified information about the United State Department of Justice. According to Anonymous, Saturday’s hijacking of the United States governmental site is to result in the release of information obtained from servers associated with the web site if the United States does not reform its justice system. The threat came to the government in the form of an online posting simply signed “Anonymous.” ....... The hacking occurred at approximately 1:40 a.m. EST on Saturday morning, leaving the web site open for anyone to take part in the vandalizing or hacking of the site. Hours later, the web site has been inaccessible. And last week Senator Harry "Milquetoast" Reid true to form crapped out of any meaningful filibuster rule changes. Sen. Harry Reid's filibuster deal infuriates liberal Democrats reports LA Times' David Horsey Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shocked and infuriated many of his fellow Democrats on Thursday when he backed away from his pledge to put an end to the curse of the filibuster. ....... He said at the time, and again after the election, that he was going to force a change at the start of the new Congress. Well, that moment came and Reid opted for a deal with McConnell that tweaked filibuster guidelines but left the rules largely unchanged. It will be slightly easier for the president’s nominees for judgeships and positions in his administration to get approved and it will speed up a few procedural steps, but the necessity of having a supermajority to get a bill passed remains. Liberals are furious. They feel Reid has betrayed them and the president by throwing away an opportunity to end Republican obstructionism. Hopping mad as they are now, though, a day may come when they'll give thanks that he made a deal with the GOP devil. In the 2014 congressional elections, Republicans will be defending 13 Senate seats. Only one is in a state that is not solidly in the Republican column, Susan Collins’ seat in Maine. Democrats will be trying to hang on to 20 seats. Several of those are in swing states and, because Democrats have yet to figure out how to drag their voters to the polls in non-presidential election years, they could easily see their 53-seat majority slip away. Democrats may be frustrated for the next two years, but, in the two years that follow, when Republicans could easily be in charge of both the House and the Senate, the Ds may find the filibuster is a very useful weapon. Maybe Harry Reid was just planning ahead. Or not. Common Cause isn't stopping with their Fix the Filibuster going full steam! The Senate’s filibuster rule (Rule XXII) was designed to encourage full and careful debate, preventing the majority from steamrolling bills into law. In practice, the rule allows a minority – just 41 of the 100 senators -- to stifle debate, not just slowing down the majority but blocking it altogether. Once a rarely used maneuver to allow extended debate, the filibuster is now routinely used to block debate on hundreds of critical issues and nominations. Federal action on the major issues of the day – from tackling the student loan debt crisis, to revitalizing the economy, to requiring disclosure of campaign spending and filling court vacancies – is being held up in the U.S. Senate by a filibuster rule that is unconstitutional and was never contemplated by the nation’s founders. Common Cause believes filibuster abuse is a big reason why most Americans are frustrated with Congress and believe that the “government no longer works” for average citizens. Common Cause is pursuing a lawsuit charging that the Senate’s filibuster rule violates the core American principle of majority rule that lies at the heart of the U.S. Constitution. TAKE ACTION and sign HERE! MARY JO WHITE to head S.E.C.? On Friday the BTV Crew woke up groggily to NPR reporting Ex-Prosecutor Mary Jo White Nominated To Head SEC telling us "President Obama named the former prosecutor to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. The president says he wants to keep, quote, going after what he calls irresponsible behavior in the financial industry." We hadn't even gotten out mainline of coffee yet but our "spidey sense" was tingling. Seems David Sirota had the same reaction. Writing for Salon SEC’s new Wall Street enabler he writes If your first reaction to this morning’s news about President Obama nominating Mary Jo White to head the Securities and Exchange Commission is positive, that’s understandable. She’s a former prosecutor and, as such, much of the elite media has simply concluded that must mean the Obama administration is going to get tough on Wall Street crime. Case in point is the framing from the New York Times’ Dealbook — a publication that has literally been financially sponsored by Goldman Sachs. Not surprisingly, the Wall Street stenographers at Dealbook insist that since White is a prosecutor, it means the White House is “send(ing) a signal about the importance of holding Wall Street accountable for wrongdoing.” It is designed to sound reassuring: A day after the airing of PBS Frontline’s damning indictment of the Obama administration’s refusal to prosecute Wall Street crime, we are all expected to breathe a sigh of relief and believe that the Too Big to Jail paradigm is finally going to change because now a prosecutor is in charge. However, Mary Jo White isn’t just any prosecutor. Her name should ring a bell, or really, sound a frightening alarm. I knew I had heard of her before, and not in a good way. So I fired up Google this morning and sure enough, I discovered why my superficially good feeling was quickly turning into a deeply ominous nausea. I suddenly remembered that this is the same Mary Jo White who has built the latter part of her career leveraging her position in governmental law enforcement positions to land lucrative private-sector jobs defending Wall Streeters. In moving through that revolving door, she has been a part of a corrupt culture that has weakened the power of the very law enforcement agency President Obama is now nominating her to run. As journalist Matt Taibbi has reported, the revolving door White has passed through “isn’t just a footnote in financial law enforcement.” “When you look at the revolving door situation with all these — the Mary Jo Whites and the Gary Lynches and the Linda Thompsons, these former high-ranking financial cops who leave government service and they go to work in these millionaire partnerships on Wall Street, it creates this collegial atmosphere where it’s just a small group of lawyers who all know each other, and they’re in this constant merry-go-round, from government, back to private service, back to government again,” he told “Democracy Now.” With this revolving door spinning so fast, Taibbi shows how it has created a culture whereby prosecutors and SEC officials have an incentive not to enforce the law. ........ So to review: The president’s nominee not only made her name preventing the agency she’s going to run from investigating Wall Street CEOs, she was involved (whether directly or indirectly, it’s not clear) in the firing of an SEC enforcement official for daring to try to do his job. Her work in compromising the SEC was so shady, in fact, that it became the subject of an official U.S. Senate investigation. Oh, and on top of all that, Naked Capitalism’s Yves Smith notes that “her husband, John White, who headed the SEC’s corporate finance section under Chris Cox [but] is back at (a white shoe lawfirm) Cravath, has been lobbying against regulation.” And yet, for all that, she hasn’t just been rewarded with a fat salary at a white shoe law firm, she is now being nominated to head the SEC. Now, sure, I guess there’s a chance that after constructing a career like she has, White will suddenly become a tough-on-Wall-Street law enforcer. Anything’s possible, right? But clearly, after reviewing her record, Obama’s SEC nomination looks a lot different than how it is being portrayed...... Ugh. From our Southern Desk msqeaux quips "a bit more of this despicable charade...Crooks and liars" from TAIBBIBLOG at Rolling Stone Editor's Note: Some people I trust have written in to complain that the Mack incident doesn't encompass White's whole career, and that the mere fact that Obama chose an ex-prosecutor with a record of high-level convictions is a good sign. That may be, and the choice of White may very well represent a departure from the last four years. But White's more recent record -- dating back quite a few years now -- has been as a lawyer earning a huge paycheck representing big banks. Earlier today, I was talking to a former hedge fund manager, a guy who’s been around on Wall Street but is out of the game now. His point about White is simple and it makes a lot of sense. She may very well at one time have been a tough prosecutor. But she dropped out and made the move a lot of regulators make – leaving government to make bucketloads of money working for the people she used to police. “That move, being a tough prosecutor, then going to work defending scumbags, you can only make that move once,” was his point. “You can’t go back again, you know what I mean?” Think about it: how do you go back and sit in S.E.C.’s top spot after all of those years earning millions as a partner for a firm that represented Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Goldman, Sachs, Deutsche, Chase, and AIG, among others? Think that fact that his firm has retained her firm has anything to do with Jamie Dimon coming out and saying that White is the "perfect choice" to run the S.E.C.? Think of all the things she knows but can’t act upon. Could she really turn around and target Morgan Stanley after being their lawyer for all those years? Irrespective of the Mack incident, which incidentally really was about as bad as it gets in terms of "regulatory capture," America’s top financial cop should be someone who doesn’t owe his or her nest egg to the world’s biggest banks. Our Spidey Sense has been confirmed!!! If you are a regular of Democracy NOW! you'd know they are in FUND RAISING mode all week from The Sundance Film Festival covering many of the documentaries being shown this week there so watch some great interviews linked below in the BTV Alerts section. In between the regular FSTV shows and fund-raising segments they run several documentaries too. We happened to catch Genetic Roulette: the Gamble a film that came out last September. Fantastic! From their site:

Jeffrey M. Smith, author of the world’s bestselling books on GMOs, Seeds of Deception, is a leading consumer advocate promoting healthier non-GMO choices. Never-Before-Seen-Evidence points to genetically engineered foods as a major contributor to rising disease rates in the US population, especially among children. Gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, inflammatory diseases, and infertility are just some of the problems implicated in humans, pets, livestock, and lab animals that eat genetically modified soybeans and corn. Monsanto’s strong arm tactics, the FDA’s fraudulent policies, and how the USDA ignores a growing health emergency are also laid bare. This sometimes shocking film may change your diet, help you protect your family, and accelerate the consumer tipping point against genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Don’t miss this film! A production of the Institute for Responsible Technology.

Basically it is showing how the genes in GMO crops are working their way UPSTREAM in the food supply wreaking havoc on animals and HUMANS TOO! We strongly recommend you BUY OR RENT THIS VIDEO NOW! And SHARE IT with yer family, yer lists and neighbors and community at-large including yer local coucilpeeps! TELL THE PEOPLE! Organize a showing in YOUR COMMUNITY! Then GET INVOLVED in creating and sustaining LOCAL COMMUNITY GARDENS. Eat well and prosper! YOU CAN make the difference "on the ground" literally! For more background see The Future of Food and Bitter Seeds. AND NOW THIS from BTV correspondent bluemoon Regulators Discover a Hidden Viral Gene in Commercial GMO Crops January 21, 2013 by Jonathan Latham and Allison Wilson How should a regulatory agency announce they have discovered something potentially very important about the safety of products they have been approving for over twenty years? In the course of analysis to identify potential allergens in GMO crops, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has belatedly discovered that the most common genetic regulatory sequence in commercial GMOs also encodes a significant fragment of a viral gene (Podevin and du Jardin 2012). This finding has serious ramifications for crop biotechnology and its regulation, but possibly even greater ones for consumers and farmers. This is because there are clear indications that this viral gene (called Gene VI) might not be safe for human consumption. It also may disturb the normal functioning of crops, including their natural pest resistance.......... At some point we FOOD EATERS must stop GMOs in the world's food supply before it gets worse! Seems there's a closed loop of BigAG-BigPharma-health-industrial-complex where BigAg makes products that makes us sick and BigPharma tries to come up with potions to make us better and the health-industrial-complex implements BigPharma's potions, all of them making record profits while we suffer and die from their "amazing scientific discoveries" all done without ONE IOTA of democratic oversight. Arm yourself with information at Non-GMO Project "In 2012, the Non-GMO Project experienced exponential growth. We reached over $2.4 billion in annual sales of verified products and the number of requests from companies seeking Non-GMO Project Verification hit record numbers." Great info! Go there now! And then check yer cupboards for who-knows-what GMOs that snuck into your pantry and throw it all away! Be sure to read, listen and watch more news and opinion at all our regulars listed below. Good stuff! Click anything and be instantly smarter! BRICK TEEVEE ALERTS!_©

Monday, January 21, 2013

• MLK Day and Obama Inauguration discussions featuring NCAAP's Ben Jealous, author Angel Davis, Civil rights leader Benjamin Chavis, poet and activist Sonia Sanchez, CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin, Liz Bartolomeo of the Sunlight Foundation, Civil Rights Leader Julian Bond and an excerpt from Dr. King’s "Beyond Vietnam" address, given at New York City’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, a year to the day before he was assassinated.
  

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

• Obama Inaugural Address Inaugurating 2nd Term, Obama Hints at a More Progressive Domestic Agenda Than in His First 4 Years
  
• Jeremy Scahill, producer and writer & Rick Rowley, director Dirty Wars: Jeremy Scahill and Rick Rowley’s New Film Exposes Hidden Truths of Covert U.S. Warfare
  

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

• Alex Gibney, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker "We Steal Secrets": Alex Gibney’s New Documentary Explores the Story of WikiLeaks
  
• Jennifer Robinson, London-based legal adviser for Julian Assange WikiLeaks Legal Adviser: "We Steal Secrets" Overlooks Key Facets of Julian Assange’s Persecution
  
• Dylan Mohan Gray, director & Dr. Peter Mugyenyi "Fire in the Blood": Millions Die in Africa After Big Pharma Blocks Imports of Generic AIDS Drugs
  

Thursday, January 24, 2013

• Martha Shane & Lana Wilson, co-directors After Tiller: 40 Years Since Roe v. Wade, Abortion Providers Continue Work of Slain Kansas Doctor
  
• Dawn Porter, directer & Public Defender Travis Williams "Gideon’s Army": Young Public Defenders Brave Staggering Caseloads, Low Pay to Represent the Poor
  
• Cara Mertes, director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and the Sundance Documentary Fund At Sundance Film Festival, Documentaries Shine Light on Overlooked Stories of Global Injustice
  

Friday, January 25, 2013

• Sharif Abdel Kouddous Sharif Abdel Kouddous: On Egyptian Revolution’s 2nd Anniversary, Protesters’ Demands Mostly the Same
  
• Jehane Noujaim, director "The Square": Jehane Noujaim’s New Film Captures Egypt’s Ongoing Revolution After Mubarak’s Falln
  
• Ryan Coogler, director Fruitvale: Ryan Coogler’s Debut Film on Bay Area Police Slaying of Oscar Grant the Buzz of Sundance
  
• Marc Silver, director Who Is Dayani Cristal?: Gael García Bernal Traces Path of Migrant Worker Who Died in Arizona Desert
  

GRITtv @ www.grittv.org with Laura Flanders

»»» FEATURED SHOW Sarah Schulman & Vijay Prashad on International Solidarity with the Palestinian People author, activist, Sarah Schulman in her latest book, Israel/Palestine and the Queer International & Trinity College Prof. Vijay Prashad, author of Uncle Swami and The Darker Nations: The politics of fear, the Israel lobby, and the way some marginalized Americans are enticed to accept immoral policies in an effort to gain acceptance. What is the true meaning and expression of solidarity" they ask?

BRICK TEEVEE SPORT!_©

»»» NFL Playoffs Super Bowl XLVII next week!

»»» NBA on ABC SUNDAY Doubleheader! Heat @ Celtics 1 pm et then Thunder @ Lakers 3:30 pm

»»» NBA on TNT THURSDAY Doubleheader! Grizzlies @ Thunder 8 pm et then Mavericks @ Warriors 10:30 pm

BRICK TEEVEE ACTION!_©

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.

StrikeDebt.org & RollingJubilee.org! A bailout of the people by the people Rolling Jubilee is a Strike Debt project that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it. Together we can liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will, and collective refusal. Debt resistance is just the beginning. Join us as we imagine and create a new world based on the common good, not Wall Street profits. ADDENDUM: Naked Capitalism reports Top Tax Expert Confirms Our Doubts About Occupy Wall Street’s Debt Buying/Forgiveness Scheme

STOP the ACHE NEW WEBSITE! AcheAct.org and Appalachian Community HEALTH EMERGENCY Advocating for government action and protection of the public from the health crisis in mountain top removal communi ties

Lawmakers concerned about the health effects on humans from mountaintop removal coal mining set forth legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives today. Representatives Dennis Kucinich (OH), Louise Slaughter (NY), Maurice Hinchey (NY), Earl Blumenauer (OR), Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA), John Yarmuth (KY), Lynn Woolsey (CA), Judy Chu (CA), Raúl Grijalva (AZ), James Moran (VA), Michael Honda (CA), John Conyers (MI), and Keith Ellison (MN) introduced the Appalachian Communities Health Emergency (ACHE) Act H.R. 5959 which would place a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop removal coal mining until health studies are conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. The ACHE coalition presently consists of participants from Coal River Mountain Watch, Mountain Health and Heritage Association, and Christians for the Mountains. “We encourage you, if you’re concerned about mountaintop removal’s effect on your community’s health, to join us in making your voice heard,” said Allen Johnson, executive director of Christians for the Mountains. “Please contact us, learn about the issue, and take action to protect your community.”

Community-Wealth.org community-wealth.org a project of the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland Community-Wealth.org brings together, for the first time, information about the broad range of community wealth building activity. Featuring Community Wealth Building in Action: The Cleveland Model Something important is happening in Cleveland. The Democracy Collaborative—the host of C-W.org—in partnership with the Cleveland Foundation, the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, Shorebank Enterprise Cleveland, the City of Cleveland, and the city's major hospitals and universities—is helping to implement a new model of large-scale worker-owned and community-benefiting businesses. The Evergreen Cooperative Initiative is beginning to build serious momentum in one of the cities most dramatically impacted by the nation's decaying economy. Increasingly, this model is being referred to nationally as The Cleveland Model. Initial planning is now underway to assist other cities in Ohio and nationwide to replicate and adapt this innovative approach to economic development, green job creation, and neighborhood stabilization. Find more many resources at Community-Wealth.org!

NET NEUTRALITY! SaveTheInternet.com Declaration of Internet Freedom Tired of fighting bad bills like SOPA, PIPA and CISPA? Want to stand up against those who are trying to control what we do and say online? It's time for something different. A group of more than 1,500 organizations, academics, startup founders and tech innovators has come together to produce a Declaration of Internet Freedom, a set of five principles that put forward a positive vision of the open Internet. Our goal: Get millions of Internet users to sign on to this Declaration. Build political power for Internet users to make sure that we get a seat at the table whenever, and wherever, the future of the Internet is being decided. It's time to stop playing defense and start going on the offensive. The open Internet is central to people’s freedom to communicate, share, advocate and innovate in the 21st century. But powerful interests want to censor free speech, block the sharing of information, hinder innovation and control how Internet users get online. And all too often, people in power are making political decisions behind closed doors about how the Internet should operate — and they're doing this without the involvement of actual Internet users. The result: policies that could close down the open Internet and destroy our freedom to connect. It’s time for us to reclaim the Internet for its users. Take action now and sign the Declaration of Internet Freedom.

NEW!!! Stop Media Consolidation! Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is trying to change the agency’s ownership rules to pave the way for Murdoch to get exactly what he wants. Worse, Genachowski and Murdoch are keeping this all very hush-hush, hoping you won't notice.3 These changes wouldn’t just benefit Murdoch. If the FCC proposal passes, one company could own the major daily newspaper, two TV stations and up to eight radio stations in your town. And that one company could be your Internet provider, too. What is the FCC thinking?!? We can still stop the agency from taking this perilous step — but we have less than a month to do it. By taking action, you’re joining a movement of millions who are working to stop big media from getting even bigger. Please take action today. Click HERE to view our infographic and send a message to the FCC! More info at Another FCC Cave-In: Julius Genachowski’s Media Consolidation Christmas Gift to Murdoch at StopTheCap.com! And Sign Senator Bernie Sanders petition to the FCC Protect Media Diversity: Stop Media Consolidation!

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! And check out more actions on the Move to Amend Calendar featuring David Cobb's Barnstorming Tour! Also visit Rep Alan Grayson's site www.savedemocracy.net GET INVOLVED! And Alan Grayson is BACK in the 113th Congress! Help out at CongressmanWithGuts.com

SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT See CourageToResist.org and Bradley Manning Support Network UPDATE! Common Dreams staff writer Beth Brogan posts Exposing US War Crimes or Not, Judge Denies Manning's Whistleblower Defense In a significant—but not unexpected— blow to his defense, a military judge has ruled that Bradley Manning's attorney [David Coombs] may not argue that Manning's motive in releasing documents and the damning video "Collateral Murder" to WikiLeaks was to call attention to US war crimes. ....... The Guardian reports that Colonel Denise Lind "ruled that general issues of motive were not relevant to the trial stage of the court martial, and must be held back until Manning either entered a plea or was found guilty, at which point it could be used in mitigation to lessen the sentence." Lind also ruled that Coombs may not present evidence that the documents released to WikiLeaks caused little or no damage to US national security. Coombs will be able to raise that evidence when addressing the specific charge of aiding the enemy, as FiredogLake's Kevin Gosztola points out, "in order to prove he did not know passing information to WikiLeaks would result in 'dealing with the enemy.'" ....... Last week, prosecutors said that if Manning had released documents to The New York Times instead of WikiLeaks, they would still charge him with aiding the enemy. Never before has a soldier been jailed for releasing information to the media. The Los Angeles Times subsequently published an editorial criticizing "the federal government's unprecedented targeting, in recent years, of whistleblowers and those who leak to the press," and calling the charge of aiding the enemy "excessive."

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 CELLULAR PHONE TASK FORCE EDUCATION, ADVOCACY, SUPPORT at CellPhoneTaskForce.org The Cellular Phone Task Force is dedicated to halting the expansion of wireless technology because it cannot be made safe. We provide: education to the public concerning electromagnetic pollution (electrosmog); advocacy for an electromagnetically cleaner environment; support for individuals disabled by radiation from wireless technology and other sources.

B R I C K T E E V E E

_{image ©2006 arkysue}

The essential guide for watching government propaganda!

THEY report. YOU throw bricks.© Get your Foam Bricks at ThrowThings.com HERE!

IRAQ: 4,486 US Military Dead as of April 21, 2012

AFGHANISTAN: 2,177 US Military Dead as of Jan 25, 2013

The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises

Who Owns The Media? The 6 Monolithic Corporations That Control Almost Everything We Watch, Hear And Read

• This Week (ABC) Host George Stephanopoulos
  • Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
  • Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.
  • ROUNDTABLE: George Will; Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz.; Democratic strategist and ABC News contributor Donna Brazile; NPR "Morning Edition" host Steve Inskeep; and New Republic owner and publisher Chris Hughes
  • "Zero Dark Thirty" screenwriter and producer Mark Boal and Atlantic national correspondent Mark Bowden, best-selling author of "Blackhawk Down," discuss the controversy over the Oscar-nominated film's depiction of so-called enhanced interrogation in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
  

  
  

• Face The Nation (CBS) Host Bob Schiefer
  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif
  • New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
  • Newt Gingrich
  • Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
  • former Romney Senior Adviser Kevin Madden
  • Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter
  • ROUNDTABLE: New York Times' David Sanger and the Washington Post's David Ignatius.
  
  

  
  

• 60 Minutes (CBS)
  • The President and the Secretary of State - President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appear in their first joint interview when they speak together to Steve Kroft. Michael Radutzky, Maria Gavrilovic and L. Franklin Devine are the producers.
  

  
  

• Meet the Press (NBC) Host David Gregory
  • Microsoft, NBC News Dissolve MSNBC.com Joint Venture NBC is buying Microsoft's 50 percent interest in the MSNBC website for an undisclosed amount. MSNBC.com will be rebranded as NBCNews.com, and readers who logged into MSNBC.com late Sunday were automatically redirected to NBCNews.com. Microsoft is preparing to launch its own news service this fall. Although he declined to provide many details about the operation general manager of MSN.com Bob Visse said the news staff will be about the same size as the roughly 100 people who created original content for the MSNBC.com. "There is no question that we are going to have more flexibility to make our own decisions," said Vivian Schiller, NBC News' chief digital officer. "This is really an amicable breakup. We think competition will make us better." Okay then.
  • former Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
  • ROUNDTABLE: Incoming President of the Heritage Foundation, former Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC); President and CEO of the NAACP Ben Jealous; Washington Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward; NBC’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell; and NBC News Special Correspondent Ted Koppel.
  

  
  

• 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.
  • retired Gens. Stanley McChrystal and Michael Hayden.
  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California)
  • Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell
  • Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
  • Saratoga Springs, Utah Mayor Mia Love
  • Former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.
  

  
  

• 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 Conversation Radio 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 during the show!
  • THORN IN THE SIDE THURSDAY!!!!! Listen HERE NOW! Keep Bob on the air HERE ya hear? 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 24, 2013 IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Will John Kerry, or won't John Kerry?; Sierra Club vows to break the law for climate change and to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline; Dangerous air pollution in Salt Lake City; PLUS: The Mafia wants a piece of the clean energy action ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
  • IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see link): Somebody is paying cash to anti-wind protesters (Trump?); World's biggest renewable energy storage farm opens in TX; Charting a New Course for the U.S. and the Environment; Google's Driverless Car Is Worth Trillions; Airlines 'made billions in windfall profits' from EU carbon tax; Colorado: January red flag fire warning; Rising Sea Level: How High Could the Tide Go?; Medical Experts Warn The Rise Of Resistant Bacteria Will Cause ‘Antibiotic Apocalypse’; CNN's Brain Freeze On Climate Change --- again... PLUS: What holds energy tech back? The infernal battery ... and much, MUCH more! ...
  • BRADBLOG UPDATE! Powell Calls Out GOP for Attempts to 'Reduce Turnout' With Photo ID Laws Dubya's Republican SoS says GOP should 'make it easier to vote...not find ways to keep them from voting at all'....
  • BRADBLOG UPDATE! Colbert on Virginia GOP's Shameless MLK Day Redistricting Coup VIDEO! In the words of Martin Luther King: 'I have been to the mountain top, and while I was there, they heavily redistricted the promise land'...
  • BRADBLOG UPDATE! WARNING: Internet Voting Virus Spreads to California The problem is not whether it's secure (it's not), but whether you can ever know it's secure (you never can)...
  • BRADCAST UPDATE! KPFK 'BradCast': Did Obama Really Mean It? Climate Progress' Joe Romm joins us to discuss Obama's stunning climate remarks in his 2nd Inaugural and what it may portend for the Keystone XL Pipeline (and you)...
  

  
  

• 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 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 Standard Podcast January 15, 2013 Truthout’s Jason Leopold on His Upcoming Trip to Guantanamo, His Update on the Gitmo “Suicide” of Adnan Latif, and the Case of ex-CIA Spy John Kiriakou
  • PBC Standard Podcast January 22, 2013 Palestinian Iyad Burnat from the West Bank, on His Brother’s Oscar-Nominated Documentary, “5 Broken Cameras”
  • PBC Standard Podcast January 25, 2013 Portland’s Progressive Host, Carl Wolfson, is Back; Chicago Defense Attorney Flint Taylor Fights Torture by Chicago Police
  • PBC News & Comment January 25, 2013PBC News & Comment: Alarming New Case of Torture and Rendition
  

  
  

• 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 Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts Sunday nights at 8 pm Eastern
  • Dr. Tracy Weitz will discuss the 40th Anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, and the fight that continues to this day for women’s’ reproductive rights.
  • David Hawkins, Director of Climate Programs at the NRDC will be here to tell us about the MACT standards put forward by the EPA, and what that will mean for coal-fired power plants in America.
  • Truthout investigative journalist William Rivers Pitt will tell us how the gun industry is able to cash in from mass shootings.
  • Politico senior reporter Maggie Haberman will join us to discuss the looming Democratic divide in Washington.
  • Economist Dean Baker will tell us why the 3% cut to Social Security will be disastrous for senior citizens – and why the Democrats seem willing to go along with it.
  • And Alternet’s Washington correspondent Adele Stan will be here to tell us if the Tea Party has finally outlived its usefulness for the GOP.
  • VIDEO! THE HISTORY OF CORPORATE CORRUPTION & FRAUD with Robert Kennedy Jr & Mike Papantonio “Call us if you have a personal story about Fraud on Taxpayers or False Claims for Payment made by Corportations at 1-866-389-FIRE (3473)or contact us by email at info@ringoffireradio.com if you have evidence of fraud that robbed taxpayer dollars. If our government is paying too much due to fraud by a corporation, Ring of Fire wants to do a story on it.”
  • RFK, Jr. and Sam Seder: Drone Strikes, Torture Unequivocally Un-American The following is a transcript of an upcoming discussion between Sam Seder and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on the un-American use of torture and drone strikes by American forces. The full discussion will be aired this weekend on Ring of Fire.
  • VIDEO! Papantonio: PBS Documentary Uncovers Obama Complacency In Banking Crimes (VIDEO) Mike Papantonio appears on The Ed Show on MSNBC to discuss the PBS documentary “The Untouchables,” which exposed the failures of the Obama administration in going after Wall Street criminals.
  • VIDEO! Papantonio: Frontline – Obama’s Pals Go Unpunished (VIDEO) Mike Papantonio appears on The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann to talk about the lack of prosecutions for the crimes perpetrated by Wall Street, and why, ultimately, President Obama bears the blame for that failure.
  • 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!
  
  • January 21, 2102 Happy Martin Luther King JR Day Today’s show is a compilation of clips including excerpts from “The Frank McGee Sunday Report: Martin Luther King Profile,” NBC News, May 7, 1967, followed by a brief excerpt from a speech at Cleveland, Ohio, on April 28, 1967. Then extended excerpts of a MLK sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church on April 30, 1967, then the CBS evening news with Walter Cronkite reporting on the assassination on 4-4-68 and finally, Nina Simone singing “Why?” recorded live three days after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • January 22, 2013 Tracy Weitz Roe V Wade At 40
  • January 23, 2013 Brian Beutler On The Coming Budget Wars
  • January 24, 2013 Eliot Spitzer: Justice Departments Lanny Breuer Steps Down
  • January 25, 2013 Casual Friday: Cliff Schecter & Matthew Film Guy Weiss
  • MORE Podcast Interviews at Majority.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 official Facebook pages for Max Keiser & Keiser Report STACY SUMMARY: For once and for all, here are our real Facebook pages, the other ones are fake. But if you feel like chatting to the fake ones, by all means, go ahead. Max Keiser & Keiser Report PLUS Stacey Herbert
  • The rich are different from you and me . . . they renounce their citizenship. by stacyherbert - Stacy summary: Notice the trend globally is for the rich to renounce their citizenship, whether French or American; just as the working class and the middle class embrace ever more fervent nationalism. Yes, the rich are different from you and me . . .READ Tina Turner to give up U.S. passport (france24.com)
  • US Federal Reserve is reporting a major deposit withdrawal from the nation’s bank accounts. The financial system hasn’t seen such a massive fund outflow since 9/11 attacks. by maxkeiser - According to the US Fed. Financial analysts suggest it could be down to the Transaction Account Guarantee insurance program coming to an end on December 31 last year and clients moving their money that is no longer insured by the government. READ The first week of January 2013 has seen $114 billion withdrawn from 25 of the US’ biggest banks, pushing deposits down to $5.37 trillion (rt.com)
  • This ‘Third War’ Will Be the Most Destructive in History, Warns Pentagon Adviser by maxkeiser - READ Businessweek: World ‘Plunges Into Currency War’ (moneynews.com)
  • Anonymous called the launch of it new campaign a “warhead.” by maxkeiser - The political assassination of activist Aaron Swartz by Chris Dodd’s minions has started another war: the copyright war. Copyright law has changed from giving creators a limited period of monopoly right for their works (28 years) to giving corporations lifetime plus 70 year monopoly rights on ideas that come originally from the public domain. Ideas that; if fail to return to the public domain in 28 years (or less), constitute a form of sanctioned theft by the state of our birthright: our ideas. READ Anonymous called the launch of it new campaign a “warhead.” (zdnet.com)
  • KEISER REPORT [KR396] Keiser Report: Threshold of Tyranny Passed (ft. Alex Jones) We discuss the closing of the American mind as intellectual troublemakers like Aaron Swartz are locked up for decades rather than set free to innovate. They look at the two tier justice system in which these intellectual troublemakers are persecuted while political benefactors on Wall Street are allowed to commit an endless array of financial crimes without any fear of prosecution. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Alex Jones about his appearance on Piers Morgan’s show on CNN. They also discuss the targeting of activists and the role of new media taking on the dinosaurs of media.
  • KEISER REPORT [KR397] Keiser Report: Burgers, Banksters & Blackholes
  • KEISER REPORT [KR398] Plunderers Pumping Pelf We discuss the American legal system that authorizes plunder, a moral code that glorifies it and a financial system that profits from it. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Professor Steven A. Ramirez, a former Enforcement Attorney at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, about the broken social contract, when that contract got broken and how to mend it.
  • ON THE EDGE On the Edge with Greg Hunter An interview with Greg Hunter of USA Watchdog.
  • THE TRUTH ABOUT MARKETS [TaM-1264] The Truth About Shiny Clothes and a Cellphone Stacy Summary: We discuss how it is that the worst economic crisis since 1830 looks so different from previous depressions because the people have shiny clothes and a cellphone. We also discuss Max’s Daily Politics appearance, the triple dip recession, and the Germans encouraging the UK to exit the EU (hint: it has to do with market share of financial trading). 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
  • Pepe Escobar June 30, 2012: Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his article “Syria and Turkey’s Phantom War;” Turkey’s violation of Syrian airspace in a purposeful, measured provocation and test of Syria’s defenses; the near-invocation of NATO Article 5 and a wider war (an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all); looking for ways to bypass the UN on Syria, since China and Russia won’t let an interventionist resolution pass the Security Council; grand plans for NATO expansion in the official “Assured Security, Dynamic Engagement” plan; counterrevolutions in the Middle East and South America, as the US looks to rebuild its portfolio of client states; and how Qatar has become the new superpower in the Middle East, surpassing even Saudi Arabia.
  • SCOTT HORTON July 5, 2012: Scott says goodbye to Antiwar.com. Scott Horton is the former host of Antiwar Radio. Visit his blog Stress. Due to budget cuts Scott lost his gig at AntiWarRadio.com! Whoa! See ScottHortonShow.com for archives! Send emails to Scott at scotthorton.org to help Scott keep his podcast going!
  • Many more interviews at Antiwar Radio!
  

  
  

• fauxnews
  • Col. (Ret.) Martha McSally, U.S. Air Force
  • Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, U.S Army
  • Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)
  • Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
  

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Brick TeeVee's MLK Day Inauguration Special!

Your Guest List for Sunday's Talking Head News Shows beamed across America by Corporate Media PLUS reports from the best lib/prog media! If you have related STORIES share below! DEBUNK HERE! Throw Bricks! First brick is on us! Get your Foam Bricks at ThrowThings.com

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ALL LINKS OPEN A NEW WINDOW!!! Click on anything below and be INSTANTLY SMARTER!
MLK Day Inauguration Special! We begin with the outpouring from the internets on the death of Aaron Swartz, too many to list but here's a few.

• Jon Mitchell - ReadWrite.com The Persecution of Aaron Swartz
  
• Glenn Greenwald - The Guardian The inspiring heroism of Aaron Swartz
  
• Diane Sweet - CrooksandLiars Anonymous Takes Down DOJ & MIT in Tribute to Aaron Swartz
  
• williambanzai7 ZeroHedge AARON SWARTZ: WHaT KiND oF a WoRLD?
  
• Matt Pearce - LA Times Aaron Swartz's father on U.S. attorneys: 'They destroyed my son'
  
• Noam Cohen - NY Times A Data Crusader, a Defendant and Now, a Cause
  
• Caleb Garling - SFGate 'Open access' tributes to Aaron Swartz

Grant Gross writes at ITWorld Lessig, Demand Progress support investigation of Swartz prosecutor Demand Progress, the tech activist group founded by the late Aaron Swartz, and Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig have called on supporters to press the U.S. Congress to investigate Swartz's prosecuting attorney and to pass a law to decriminalize the type of hacking he was charged with. ........ Lessig, a long-time tech activist and commentator, and Demand Progress, a group founded by Swartz to fight the Stop Online Piracy Act, asked supporters to back an investigation by U.S. Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican, into U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Carmen Ortiz's prosecution of Swartz. Lessig and Demand Progress also asked supporters to contact their lawmakers in support of Aaron's Law, proposed legislation from Representative Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, that would amend the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to decriminalize violations of terms of service agreements. "We spent Tuesday burying and mourning our friend Aaron," Lessig and Demand Progress said in a letter released Thursday. "We're sad, we're tired, we're frustrated -- and we're angry at a system that let this happen to Aaron. Now we want to set upon honoring his life's work and helping to make sure that such a travesty is never repeated." .......... Demand Progress is concerned that prosecutors could go after many TOS violations, said David Moon, program director for the group. "If a TOS violation is considered 'felony hacking,' simply breaking a website's rules (such as lying on a social network) could land you in court facing decades in prison," he said in an email. "A growing number of ordinary Americans are becoming less concerned about the effect of criminal hacking on their lives, and more concerned by our government's now persistent attempts to control the Internet and undermine its core principles." Read all of Lawrence Lessig's letter and watch DN! "An Incredible Soul": Larry Lessig Remembers Aaron Swartz After Cyberactivist’s Suicide Before Trial; Parents Blame Prosecutor AND Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, Aaron Swartz’s partner; founder and executive director of SumOfUs.org & Alex Stamos, chief technology officer of Artemis Internet Exclusive: Aaron Swartz’s Partner, Expert Witness Say Prosecutors Unfairly Targeted Dead Activist. CLIMATE CHANGE UPDATE: National Climate Assessment details at The Guardian UK Climate change set to make America hotter, drier and more disaster-prone Future generations of Americans can expect to spend 25 days a year sweltering in temperatures above 100F (38C), with climate change on course to turn the country into a hotter, drier, and more disaster-prone place. The National Climate Assessment, released in draft form on Friday , provided the fullest picture to date of the real-time effects of climate change on US life, and the most likely consequences for the future. The 1,000-page report, the work of the more than 300 government scientists and outside experts, was unequivocal on the human causes of climate change, and on the links between climate change and extreme weather. "Climate change is already affecting the American people," the draft report said. "Certain types of weather events have become more frequent and/or intense including heat waves, heavy downpours and in some regions floods and drought. Sea level is rising, oceans are becoming more acidic, and glaciers and Arctic sea ice are melting." ....... The report states clearly that the steps taken by Obama so far to reduce emissions are "not close to sufficient" to prevent the most severe consequences of climate change. "As climate change and its impacts are becoming more prevalent, Americans face choices," the report said. "Beyond the next few decades, the amount of climate change will still largely be determined by the choices society makes about emissions. Lower emissions mean less future warming and less severe impacts. Higher emissions would mean more warming and more severe impacts." As the report made clear: no place in America had gone untouched by climate change. Nowhere would be entirely immune from the effects of future climate change. ..... The rise will be even steeper in future, with the next few decades projected for temperatures 2 to 4 degrees warmer in most areas. By 2100, if climate change continues on its present course, the country can expect to see 25 days a year with temperatures above 100F. Night-time temperatures will also stay high, providing little respite from the heat. ..... Much more at link so read all of it! Then in Canada Study provides damning evidence that tar sands development causing carcinogenic pollution in Alberta reporting for the NRDC at Elizabeth Shope’s Blog A study published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) provides damning evidence that tar sands development has been causing carcinogenic pollution in Alberta – not just in the immediate development region but even as far as 50 miles away. Today’s print edition of the New York Times features an article on the study entitled Oil Sands Industry in Canada Tied to Higher Carcinogen Level. As lead study author and Queen’s University Professor John Smol said to the New York Times, “Now we have the smoking gun.” The study published yesterday takes it a step farther than previous studies, showing a rise in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) deposits after the industrial development of the tar sands. Put another way, [from the Tyee]:

The study conclusively shows that bitumen pollution "is not natural, is increasing over time and the footprint of the industry is much bigger than anyone thought," says John Smol, one of Canada's leading freshwater ecologists, a Queen's University professor and a contributor to the study.

..... In Andrew Nikiforuk's The Tyee article on the study, Dr. David Schindler – not one of the authors of this study but the lead author of several other major studies about tar sands pollution – says that the findings of this study should “deep six once and for all the bullshit that all pollution from the tar sands is natural.” Dr. Schindler goes on to say about the study:

It shows that as production rises, so does the pollution fallout from the project. It also implies that we need some means of controlling these stack emissions. It also reinforces the now well-documented fact that past monitoring has been substandard. This sort of contamination should have been easily detected a decade or more ago.

.... With the results of this study out, it’s more important than ever for the governments of Alberta and Canada to get to the root of the cancer issue in Fort Chipewyan. .... Tar sands production is creating a mess in Alberta, but it’s not just Albertans who should be concerned. If President Obama approves the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, the U.S. will be further aiding this pollution. The draft environmental review for the “northern segment” of the Keystone XL pipeline is expected any day, and should include information about the upstream impacts of tar sands extraction – not just the greenhouse gas emissions but also these carcinogenic and other disease-causing pollutants being caused by the rapid expansion of this extra dirty fuel. Then Steve Horn of DeSmogBlog reports Breaking: Obama EPA Shut Down Weatherford, TX Shale Gas Water Contamination Study The Associated Press has a breaking investigative story out today revealing that the Obama Administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) censored a smoking gun scientific report in March 2012 that it had contracted out to a scientist who conducted field data on 32 water samples in Weatherford, TX. That report, according to the AP, would have explicitly linked methane migration to hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") in Weatherford, a city with 25,000+ citizens located in the heart of the Barnett Shale geologic formation 30 minutes from Dallas. ........ Despite this smoking gun, everything was soon shut down, with the Obama EPA reversing its emergency order, terminating the court battle and censoring Thyne's report. The AP explained that the Obama EPA has "refused to answer questions about the decision." "I just can't believe that an agency that knows the truth about something like that, or has evidence like this, wouldn't use it," Lipsky, who now pays $1,000 a month to have water hauled to his family's house, told the AP..... Lots more details to read there as well. Robert Parry at Consortiumnews explains America’s War for Reality The real struggle confronting the United States is not between the Right and the Left in any traditional sense, but between those who believe in reality and those who are entranced by unreality. It is a battle that is testing whether fact-based people have the same determination to fight for their real-world view as those who operate in a fact-free space do in defending their illusions. These battle lines do relate somewhat to the Right/Left divide because today’s right-wing has embraced ideological propaganda as truth more aggressively and completely than those on the Left, though the Left (and the Center, too) are surely not immune from the practice of ignoring facts in pursuit of some useful agit-prop. But key elements of the American Right have set up permanent residence in the world of make-believe, making any commonsense approach to the real-world challenges nearly politically impossible. The Right’s fantasists also have the passions of true-believers, like a cult that gets angrier the more its views are questioned. So, it doesn’t matter that scientific evidence proves global warming is real; the deniers will insist the facts are simply a government ploy to impose “tyranny.” It doesn’t matter how many schoolchildren are slaughtered by semi-automatic assault rifles – or what the real history of the Second Amendment was. To the gun fanatics, the Framers wanted armed rebellion against the non-violent political process they worked so hard to create. ..... The American Right’s collective departure from reality can be traced back decades, but clearly accelerated with the emergence of former actor Ronald Reagan on the national stage. Even his admirers acknowledge that Reagan had a strained relationship with facts, preferring to illustrate his points with distorted or apocryphal anecdotes. ........... This combination of dysfunction contributed to the rise of the Tea Party and the Republican congressional victories in 2010. But Election 2012, with Obama’s reelection and a general rejection of Tea Party fanaticism, has created the chance of a do-over for American rationalists. After all, the United States continues to see the consequences of three decades of right-wing delusions, including high unemployment; massive deficits; self-inflicted financial crises; a degraded middle class; poor health care for millions; a crumbling infrastructure; an overheating planet; costly foreign wars; a bloated Pentagon budget; and children massacred by troubled young men with ridiculously easy access to semi-automatic assault rifles. Yet, if rational and pragmatic solutions are ever going to be applied to these problems, it is not just going to require that President Obama display more spine. The country is going to need its conscious inhabitants of the real world to stand up with at least the same determination as the deluded denizens of the made-up world. Of course, this fight will be nasty and unpleasant. It will require resources, patience and toughness. But there is no other answer. Reality must be recovered and protected – if the planet and the children are to be saved. Over at HuffPoAOL/Media catch this VIDEO! Rachel Maddow Mocks The NRA For Response To Obama's Gun Control Press Conference (VIDEO) You all remember Whole Foods CEO John Mackey's tirade against "Obamacare" in 2009. Last week on NPR he stuck his Libertarian foot in his mouth AGAIN! Go to ThinkProgress for all the details Whole Foods CEO: Obamacare Is ‘Like Fascism’. Then watch Thom Hartmann's Thursday Daily Take "The CEO of Whole Foods recently attacked Obamacare - calling it a prime example of facism. Well - he's a little wrong about that. Thom Hartmann will explain why." Watch Whole Foods - Now Serving Food & Fascism. Very important lesson on the concept of Fascsim! Go watch now! Senator Bernie Sanders urges us to sign this Letter to President at sanders.senate.gov Shared Sacrifice which says in part Mr. President, please listen to the overwhelming majority of the American people who believe that deficit reduction must be about shared sacrifice. The wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations in this country must pay their fair share. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction package must come from revenue raised by ending tax breaks for the wealthy and eliminating tax loopholes that benefit large, profitable corporations and Wall Street financial institutions. A sensible deficit reduction package must also include significant cuts to unnecessary and wasteful Pentagon spending. IN a related matter Chris Cillizza explains Why Republicans caved on the debt ceiling Days after President Obama held a press conference re-asserting his refusal to negotiate with Republicans on raising the debt ceiling, House GOP leaders announced Friday they would move to extend the country’s credit limit for another three months. ..... It’s an interesting — and smart — gambit by House Republicans who have done very little interesting or smart in terms of political strategy of late. The simple fact is that trying to go toe to toe with President Obama is a loser for the GOP at the moment. In a Washington Post-ABC News national poll released earlier this week, 55 percent of those tested approved of the job Obama was doing while just 24 percent said the same of House Republicans. Add those numbers to the fact that Republicans have no obvious foil for Obama — House Speaker John Boehner, who had been playing that role, was knee-capped by his own conference during the fiscal cliff negotiations — and it’s clear that Republicans are simply in no position at the moment to win a political fight with the president. By postponing a potential debt ceiling showdown and instead making their stand on the sequester (and, to a lesser extent the continuing resolution that must be passed to fund the federal government) the Republican-controlled House pits itself against a less popular political entity: the Senate. “We would like to open a fight against the Senate as opposed to Obama,” said one senior GOPer. “[Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid has gotten off scot-free in terms of being held responsible for this out-of-control deficit and the breakdown of the budgeting process.” This strategic move by House Republicans is not without short-term and longer-term risks, of course. ..... Over at ProPublica.com Justin Elliot reports Revealed: America’s Arms Sales To Bahrain Amid Bloody Crackdown Despite Bahrain’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, the U.S. has continued to provide weapons and maintenance to the small Mideast nation. Defense Department documents released to ProPublica give the fullest picture yet of the arms sales: The list includes ammunition, combat vehicle parts, communications equipment, Blackhawk helicopters, and an unidentified missile system. (Read the documents.) The documents, which were provided in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and cover a yearlong period ending in February 2012, still leave many questions unanswered. It’s not clear whether in each case the arms listed have been delivered. And some entries that only cite the names of weapons may in fact refer to maintenance or spare parts. Defense Department spokesman Paul Ebner declined to offer any more detail. “We won’t get into specifics in any of these because of the security of Bahrain,” said Ebner. While the U.S. has maintained it is selling Bahrain arms only for external defense, human rights advocates say the documents raise questions about items that could be used against civilian protesters. “The U.S. government should not be providing additional military equipment that could make matters worse,” said Sunjeev Bery, Middle East advocacy director for Amnesty International USA. There have been reports that Bahrain used American-made helicopters to fire on protesters in the most intense period of the crackdown. Time magazine reported in mid-March 2011 that Cobra helicopters had conducted "live ammunition air strikes" on protesters....... The Obama administration has stood by Bahrain’s ruling family, who are Sunni, during nearly two years of protests by the country’s majority Shia population. Bahrain is a longtime ally and the home to a large American naval base, which is considered particularly important amid the current tensions with nearby Iran. .... State Department spokesman Noel Clay told ProPublica, “We continue to withhold the export of lethal and crowd-control items intended predominately for internal security purposes, and have resumed on a case-by-case basis items related exclusively to external defense, counter-terrorism, and the protection of U.S. forces.” The U.S. has also sold Bahrain a helicopter fit for the royal family. ...... For updates on the attack on BP's natural gas plant see Chris Irvine's Algeria BP attack: latest at the Telegraph while the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald explains the blowback in The bombing of Mali highlights all the lessons of western intervention As French war planes bomb Mali, there is one simple statistic that provides the key context: this west African nation of 15 million people is the eighth country in which western powers - over the last four years alone - have bombed and killed Muslims - after Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and the Philippines (that does not count the numerous lethal tyrannies propped up by the west in that region). For obvious reasons, the rhetoric that the west is not at war with the Islamic world grows increasingly hollow with each new expansion of this militarism. But within this new massive bombing campaign, one finds most of the vital lessons about western intervention that, typically, are steadfastly ignored. ....... As Owen Jones wrote in an excellent column this morning in the Independent:

"This intervention is itself the consequence of another. The Libyan war is frequently touted as a success story for liberal interventionism. Yet the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi's dictatorship had consequences that Western intelligence services probably never even bothered to imagine. Tuaregs – who traditionally hailed from northern Mali – made up a large portion of his army. When Gaddafi was ejected from power, they returned to their homeland: sometimes forcibly so as black Africans came under attack in post-Gaddafi Libya, an uncomfortable fact largely ignored by the Western media. . . . [T]he Libyan war was seen as a success . . . and here we are now engaging with its catastrophic blowback."

...... As always, western governments are well aware of this consequence and yet proceed anyway. The NYT notes that the French bombing campaign was launched "in the face of longstanding American warnings that a Western assault on the Islamist stronghold could rally jihadists around the world and prompt terrorist attacks as far away as Europe." Indeed, at the same time that the French are now killing civilians in Mali, a joint French-US raid in Somalia caused the deaths of "at least eight civilians, including two women and two children". To believe that the US and its allies can just continue to go around the world, in country after country, and bomb and kill innocent people - Muslims - and not be targeted with "terrorist" attacks is, for obvious reasons, lunacy. As Bradford University professor Paul Rogers told Jones, the bombing of Mali "will be portrayed as 'one more example of an assault on Islam'". Whatever hopes that may exist for an end to the "war on terror" are systematically destroyed by ongoing aggression. ..... As usual much more in Greenwald's column! And also read Owen Jones at the Independent The war in Libya was seen as a success, now here we are engaging with the blowback in Mali. Reporting for The Black Agenda Report Radio we go to Glenn Ford The Master as “Guest”: The U.S. Military Swarms Over Africa ...... So, although there is no doubt that the U.S. will be deeply involved in the impending military operation in Mali, the 2nd Brigade’s deployment is a much larger assignment, aimed at making all of Africa a theater of U.S. military operations. The situation in Mali is simply a convenient, after-the-fact rationale for a long-planned expansion of the U.S. military footprint in Africa. The Pentagon’s larger purpose in placing an army brigade on roving duty all across the continent is to acclimate African commanders to hosting a permanent, large scale U.S. presence. This is a very different kind of invasion – more like an infiltration-in-force. The Pentagon’s strategy is designed to reinforce relationships that the U.S. Africa Command has been cultivating with African militaries since the establishment of AFRICOM during George Bush’s last year in office. As an infiltrating force, AFRICOM has been a phenomenal success. Militarily speaking, the African Union has become an annex of the Pentagon. The AU’s biggest operation, in Somalia, is armed, financed and directed by the U.S. military and CIA. The 17,000 African troops on so-called peace-keeping duty in Somalia are, for all practical purposes, mercenaries for the Americans – although poorly paid ones. Ethiopian and Kenyan forces act as extensions of U.S. power in the East Africa. U.S. Special Forces roam the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic – ostensibly looking for the fugitive warlord Joseph Kony but, in reality, establishing a web of U.S. military infrastructures throughout center of the continent. Uganda and Rwanda keep the eastern Congo’s mineral riches safe for U.S. and European corporations – at the cost of 6 million Congolese lives. Their militaries are on the Pentagon’s payroll. ......... The creeping, continental U.S. expeditionary force, soon to be spearheaded by the 1st Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade, will bunk down in African military bases throughout the continent, not as invaders, but as guests. Guests who pay the bills and provide the weapons for African armies whose mission has nothing to do with national independence and self-determination. Three generations after the beginnings of decolonization, the African soldier is once again bowing to the foreign master. For MLK Day be sure to watch TAVIS SMILEY at George Washington University: Tavis Smiley To Host A Future Without Poverty Event from looktothestars.org "The World of Celebrity Giving". Be sure to check these REBROADCASTS! The conversation broadcasts annually LIVE on C-SPAN, and rebroadcasts three consecutive nights on Tavis Smiley on PBS beginning Tuesday, January 22 through Thursday, January 24, 2013. Additionally, the first half of “Vision for a New America” can be heard on The Tavis Smiley Show followed by the conclusion on Smiley & West, both distributed through Public Radio International (PRI), the weekend of January 18. Fellow citizens can also join the conversation streaming LIVE online at USTREAM.com and by using the Twitter hashtag #PovertyMustEnd. For additional information, visit www.afuturewithoutpoverty.com. Good Item! We don't really have anything on the inauguration festivities but may have some coverage next week. And the Beltway Bubalas will surely cover every Shiny Object under the sun about it anyway. We do have a few words about Aaron Swartz. The world lost a great innovator in Aaron. With his successes of the now-common RSS and REDDIT the government sapped nearly all his money he made from these inventions and he was looking at having his parents put up their house to help pay for the costly defense he would have needed had the prosecutors went forward with their crazed obsession to "get him". This is just THE LATEST example of Obama's War on Whistleblowers. From continuing and expanding bu$h's illegal wiretapping of U.S. citizens, the prosecution of Bradley Manning and the ongoing financial blockade of wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange to the government's infiltration of Occupy and the ongoing weaponization of U.S. police forces we are witnessing an unparalleled unbridled power of government over its citizens. Just as the U.S.'s willingness to attack any nation it deems "harboring terrorists" and its "Kill List" sets a precedent for any other nation to attack another (despite international law saying otherwise) we are now seeing how this policy is being turned inward. If it weren't for Aaron's successful fight against SOPA/PIPA we would be living in a very different on-line world, one where copyright holders would have free reign over what content gets posted where. And BE SURE those forces that want to restrict the Free and Open Internet will be back again. Who will be there to alert us stop them next time? At only 26, Aaron did more in his time in this world that many activists haven't even done in a long full lifetime. To say Aaron was a genius is an understatement. In the I.T. world we have the FaceBuuk phenom Mark Zuckerberg with his ominous and scary moving target of "Terms of Service", Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google who proclaim "Do no harm" but assist the government in their spying and Bill Gates who wholly supports GMOs around the world and even the late much-lauded Steve Jobs whose Apple brand has been exploiting workers for years. Aaron was equally or more brilliant than these men but was motivated by a completely different set of principles that can be boiled down to "Knowledge is Power" and that our collective knowledge must be shared and spread. From the MIT Technology Review Why Aaron Swartz’s Ideas Matter ... Swartz clearly touched the lives of those who knew him well in unique and wonderful ways, and the tributes posted online are testament to a special human being. But those who never knew him were affected as well—through the technologies he developed, his contributions to projects such as Wikipedia and the Internet Archive, and his untiring efforts to create a new understanding of digital rights and ownership, most prominently by helping create the Creative Commons. In February of last year we interviewed him about his philosophy, and about his involvement in the campaign opposing SOPA, a bill that would’ve imposed more stringent rules on the sharing of digital information online (see “Aaron Swartz Hacks the Attention Economy”). You can read more about ideas in his 2008 “Guerilla Open Access Manifesto,” and you’ll find more of his writings in a collection gathered by the Internet Archive. ..... But it was in his role as a digital provocateur that his brilliance shone most brightly. By working on the technical standards for the Creative Commons, he helped extend the legal framework behind the free software movement to other creative endeavors. The impact is felt across the Internet and has helped reshape the public’s understanding of digital property rights more generally...... Please watch Freedom to Connect: Aaron Swartz (1986-2013) on Victory to Save Open Internet, Fight Online Censors. A brilliant powerful voice for our open internet and open society at-large has been lost, silenced. Who knows how many more groundbreaking inventions and ideas he would have come up with, imagined, engineered then put into practice had he survived? We'll never know. So now we can only hope another brilliant activist will come up through the ranks, barnstorm the internet/copyright barricades and show us the way. Rest in Peace Aaron. We miss you terribly already.

The world lost a brilliant activist and a leading proponent of information freedom last week.

Aaron H. Swartz - November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013

BRICK TEEVEE ALERTS!_©

Monday, January 14, 2013

• Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School "An Incredible Soul": Larry Lessig Remembers Aaron Swartz After Cyberactivist’s Suicide Before Trial; Parents Blame Prosecutor
  
• Aaron Swartz Freedom to Connect: Aaron Swartz (1986-2013) on Victory to Save Open Internet, Fight Online Censors
  

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

• May Ying Welsh, correspondent for Al Jazeera English & Hannah Armstrong, Bamako-based research fellow with the Institute of Current World Affairs Admin Aids French Bombing of Mali After U.S.-Trained Forces Join Rebels in Uranium-Rich Region
  
• Nick Turse, author, journalist, and managing editor of TomDispatch.com "Kill Anything That Moves": New Book Exposes Hidden Crimes of the War Kerry, Hagel Fought in Vietnam His new book is "Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam".
  

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

• Colin Goddard, a survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre Va. Tech Shooting Survivor: Obama’s Gun Plan a 1st Step, But "We Need a Movement" to Overcome NRA
  
• Sean Burke, president of the School Safety Advocacy Council & Damon Hewitt, director of the Education Practice Group at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Debate on Armed Police in Schools: Needed for Kid Safety or Part of the Student-to-Prison Pipeline?
  
• Peter Stone, a longtime investigative reporter for the National Journal Behind the NRA’s Money: Gun Lobby Deepens Financial Ties to $12 Billion Firearms Industry
  

Thursday, January 17, 2013

• Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, Aaron Swartz’s partner; founder and executive director of SumOfUs.org & Alex Stamos, chief technology officer of Artemis Internet Exclusive: Aaron Swartz’s Partner, Expert Witness Say Prosecutors Unfairly Targeted Dead Activist
  
• Tavis Smiley As Obama Prepares for 2nd Term, Tavis Smiley Urges Him to Take Up MLK’s Fight Against Poverty
  

Friday, January 18, 2013

• Emira Woods, co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies "Unintended Consequences of Military Intervention": Roots of Mali, Algeria Crisis Tied to Libya War
  
• Dave Zirin, sports columnist for The Nation magazine "The Tony Soprano of the Cycling World": Dave Zirin on Lance Armstrong’s Doping Confession AND Notre Dame Football Faulted for Covering Up Manti Te’o Hoax While Refusing to Probe Rape Scandal
  
• Lynn Paltrow, founder and executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women Criminalizing Pregnancy: As Roe v. Wade Turns 40, Study Finds Forced Interventions on Pregnant Women
  

GRITtv @ www.grittv.org with Laura Flanders

»»» FEATURED SHOW Sarah Schulman & Vijay Prashad on International Solidarity with the Palestinian People author, activist, Sarah Schulman in her latest book, Israel/Palestine and the Queer International & Trinity College Prof. Vijay Prashad, author of Uncle Swami and The Darker Nations: The politics of fear, the Israel lobby, and the way some marginalized Americans are enticed to accept immoral policies in an effort to gain acceptance. What is the true meaning and expression of solidarity" they ask?

BRICK TEEVEE SPORT!_©

»»» NFL Playoffs Conference Round! 49ers @ Falcons FOX 3 pm et then Ravens @ Patriots CBS 6:30 pm

»»» NBA on TNT THURSDAY Doubleheader! Knicks @ Celtics 8 pm et then Clippers @ Suns 10:30 pm

BRICK TEEVEE ACTION!_©

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.

StrikeDebt.org & RollingJubilee.org! A bailout of the people by the people Rolling Jubilee is a Strike Debt project that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it. Together we can liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will, and collective refusal. Debt resistance is just the beginning. Join us as we imagine and create a new world based on the common good, not Wall Street profits. ADDENDUM: Naked Capitalism reports Top Tax Expert Confirms Our Doubts About Occupy Wall Street’s Debt Buying/Forgiveness Scheme

STOP the ACHE NEW WEBSITE! AcheAct.org and Appalachian Community HEALTH EMERGENCY Advocating for government action and protection of the public from the health crisis in mountain top removal communi ties

Lawmakers concerned about the health effects on humans from mountaintop removal coal mining set forth legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives today. Representatives Dennis Kucinich (OH), Louise Slaughter (NY), Maurice Hinchey (NY), Earl Blumenauer (OR), Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA), John Yarmuth (KY), Lynn Woolsey (CA), Judy Chu (CA), Raúl Grijalva (AZ), James Moran (VA), Michael Honda (CA), John Conyers (MI), and Keith Ellison (MN) introduced the Appalachian Communities Health Emergency (ACHE) Act H.R. 5959 which would place a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop removal coal mining until health studies are conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. The ACHE coalition presently consists of participants from Coal River Mountain Watch, Mountain Health and Heritage Association, and Christians for the Mountains. “We encourage you, if you’re concerned about mountaintop removal’s effect on your community’s health, to join us in making your voice heard,” said Allen Johnson, executive director of Christians for the Mountains. “Please contact us, learn about the issue, and take action to protect your community.”

Community-Wealth.org community-wealth.org a project of the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland Community-Wealth.org brings together, for the first time, information about the broad range of community wealth building activity. Featuring Community Wealth Building in Action: The Cleveland Model Something important is happening in Cleveland. The Democracy Collaborative—the host of C-W.org—in partnership with the Cleveland Foundation, the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, Shorebank Enterprise Cleveland, the City of Cleveland, and the city's major hospitals and universities—is helping to implement a new model of large-scale worker-owned and community-benefiting businesses. The Evergreen Cooperative Initiative is beginning to build serious momentum in one of the cities most dramatically impacted by the nation's decaying economy. Increasingly, this model is being referred to nationally as The Cleveland Model. Initial planning is now underway to assist other cities in Ohio and nationwide to replicate and adapt this innovative approach to economic development, green job creation, and neighborhood stabilization. Find more many resources at Community-Wealth.org!

NET NEUTRALITY! SaveTheInternet.com Declaration of Internet Freedom Tired of fighting bad bills like SOPA, PIPA and CISPA? Want to stand up against those who are trying to control what we do and say online? It's time for something different. A group of more than 1,500 organizations, academics, startup founders and tech innovators has come together to produce a Declaration of Internet Freedom, a set of five principles that put forward a positive vision of the open Internet. Our goal: Get millions of Internet users to sign on to this Declaration. Build political power for Internet users to make sure that we get a seat at the table whenever, and wherever, the future of the Internet is being decided. It's time to stop playing defense and start going on the offensive. The open Internet is central to people’s freedom to communicate, share, advocate and innovate in the 21st century. But powerful interests want to censor free speech, block the sharing of information, hinder innovation and control how Internet users get online. And all too often, people in power are making political decisions behind closed doors about how the Internet should operate — and they're doing this without the involvement of actual Internet users. The result: policies that could close down the open Internet and destroy our freedom to connect. It’s time for us to reclaim the Internet for its users. Take action now and sign the Declaration of Internet Freedom.

NEW!!! Stop Media Consolidation! Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is trying to change the agency’s ownership rules to pave the way for Murdoch to get exactly what he wants. Worse, Genachowski and Murdoch are keeping this all very hush-hush, hoping you won't notice.3 These changes wouldn’t just benefit Murdoch. If the FCC proposal passes, one company could own the major daily newspaper, two TV stations and up to eight radio stations in your town. And that one company could be your Internet provider, too. What is the FCC thinking?!? We can still stop the agency from taking this perilous step — but we have less than a month to do it. By taking action, you’re joining a movement of millions who are working to stop big media from getting even bigger. Please take action today. Click HERE to view our infographic and send a message to the FCC! More info at Another FCC Cave-In: Julius Genachowski’s Media Consolidation Christmas Gift to Murdoch at StopTheCap.com! And Sign Senator Bernie Sanders petition to the FCC Protect Media Diversity: Stop Media Consolidation!

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! And check out more actions on the Move to Amend Calendar featuring David Cobb's Barnstorming Tour! Also visit Rep Alan Grayson's site www.savedemocracy.net GET INVOLVED! And Alan Grayson is BACK in the 113th Congress! Help out at CongressmanWithGuts.com

SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT See CourageToResist.org and Bradley Manning Support Network UPDATE! Natasha Lennard, assistant news editor at Salon Nobel Peace Laureates condemn prosecution of Bradley Manning Nov 15, 2012: Nobel Peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace Prize, 1984), Mairead Maguire (Nobel Peace Prize, 1977) and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (Nobel Peace Prize, 1980) have published a letter in support of Pfc. Bradley Manning in The Nation, following news that the soldier is willing to take responsibility for leaking information to WikiLeaks. The Peace Prize winners wrote against the government’s treatment of the soldier, who has been in prison for over 900 days.......more.....

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 CELLULAR PHONE TASK FORCE EDUCATION, ADVOCACY, SUPPORT at CellPhoneTaskForce.org The Cellular Phone Task Force is dedicated to halting the expansion of wireless technology because it cannot be made safe. We provide: education to the public concerning electromagnetic pollution (electrosmog); advocacy for an electromagnetically cleaner environment; support for individuals disabled by radiation from wireless technology and other sources.

B R I C K T E E V E E

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The essential guide for watching government propaganda!

THEY report. YOU throw bricks.© Get your Foam Bricks at ThrowThings.com HERE!

IRAQ: 4,486 US Military Dead as of April 21, 2012

AFGHANISTAN: 2,175 US Military Dead as of Jan 9, 2013

The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises

Who Owns The Media? The 6 Monolithic Corporations That Control Almost Everything We Watch, Hear And Read

• This Week (ABC) Host George Stephanopoulos
  • White House Senior Adviser David Plouffe
  • Presidential Inauguration Committee co-chair Eva Longoria
  • ROUNDTABLE: George Will and Cokie Roberts; political strategist and ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd; former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, host of Current TV's "The War Room"; and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum
  

  
  

• Face The Nation (CBS) Host Bob Schiefer
  • DAVID PLOUFFE White House Senior Adviser
  • CONDOLEEZZA RICE Former Secretary of State
  • DEE DEE MYERS Former Bill Clinton Press Secretary and Vanity Fair Contributing Editor
  • BOB WOODWARD The Washington Post
  • PEGGY NOONAN The Wall Street Journal
  • ROUNDTABLE: DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'S LEGACY - TAYLOR BRANCH Author, The King Years; JOE CALIFANO Former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare; DR. JAMES PETERSON LeHigh University
  • REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO D-TX
  • MAYOR JULIAN CASTRO San Antonio, Texas
  

  
  

• 60 Minutes (CBS)
  • "60 Minutes" will be preempted this Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 by CBS Sports coverage of the American Football Conference Championship game between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots.
  

  
  

• Meet the Press (NBC) Host David Gregory
  • Microsoft, NBC News Dissolve MSNBC.com Joint Venture NBC is buying Microsoft's 50 percent interest in the MSNBC website for an undisclosed amount. MSNBC.com will be rebranded as NBCNews.com, and readers who logged into MSNBC.com late Sunday were automatically redirected to NBCNews.com. Microsoft is preparing to launch its own news service this fall. Although he declined to provide many details about the operation general manager of MSN.com Bob Visse said the news staff will be about the same size as the roughly 100 people who created original content for the MSNBC.com. "There is no question that we are going to have more flexibility to make our own decisions," said Vivian Schiller, NBC News' chief digital officer. "This is really an amicable breakup. We think competition will make us better." Okay then.
  • Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York
  • Republican Ted Cruz of Texas.
  • ROUNDTABLE: David Axelrod; MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough; Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin; and three of NBC’s finest: Special Correspondent Tom Brokaw; Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and Chief White House Correspondent and 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.
  • White House Senior Adviser David Plouffe
  • Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming)
  • Former Clinton Speechwriter Don Baer
  • Former George W. Bush Speechwriter Michael Gerson.
  • ROUNDTABLE: Former Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, USA Today’s Susan Page and CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein.
  

  
  

• 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 Conversation Radio 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 during the show!
  • THORN IN THE SIDE THURSDAY!!!! Bob's last show until later next week ! Listen HERE NOW! Keep Bob on the air HERE ya hear? 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 17, 2013 IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar steps down; Crop Killer: freeze hits CA citrus; 2012 tenth hottest year globally; EPA squashes fracking drinking water study; TX sues for OK's water; PLUS: No, it's not your imagination --- Spring is springing earlier than ever ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
  • IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see link): Coal exports to Asia: new battle against global warming; Court finds Bush EPA weakened soot regulations; Exploring environmental links to autism; Coal-ash dump leaking into WV neighborhood; Killer bat disease spreads to KY ... PLUS: Why the 'Idle No More' Movement Is Our Best Chance for Clean Land and Water ... and much, MUCH more! ...
  • BRADBLOG UPDATE! If at Twice You Don't Succeed, Rig, Rig Again Chairman of the RNC, Reince Priebus, signs off on plan to game the electoral college system in 'blue' states across the country...
  • BRADBLOG UPDATE! Daily Show: 'Confusing Tyranny With Losing Democratic Elections' Jon Stewart rips the RW yutzes in a panic over 'King Obama's' newly issued -- and rather tepid -- executive actions on gun safety...
  • BRADCAST UPDATE! KPFK 'BradCast': Obama's Gun Grabbing Tyranny! We're not the only ones who find Obama's proposals for so-called 'gun laws' to be an outrageous attack on our freedom and liberty. So do some of Brad's KPFK callers!...
  

  
  

• 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 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 Standard Podcast January 15, 2013 Truthout’s Jason Leopold on His Upcoming Trip to Guantanamo, His Update on the Gitmo “Suicide” of Adnan Latif, and the Case of ex-CIA Spy John Kiriakou
  • PBC Standard Podcast January 16, 2013 Minstrel Roy Zimmerman Returns to Share New Songs, Report on 49-state US Tour
  • PBC Standard Podcast January 17, 2013 Two Progressives Review Obama’s First Term, Preview the Second: Prof. David Coates and Norman Solomon
  

  
  

• 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 Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts Sunday nights at 8 pm Eastern
  • Rolling Stone contributing editor Jeff Goodell will tell us about the options that President Obama has to address climate change.
  • Author and historian Rick Perlstein will tell us how the NRA evolved into one of the most deceptive, and politically inept, organizations in America.
  • Truth-Out reporter Darwin Graham will join us to discuss the greedy Wall Street banks that made billions in the housing bubble, and how they’re hoping to make billions more by snatching up foreclosed homes.
  • And America Blog’s Gaius Publius will tell us how we can build a powerful, sustainable Progressive movement in America.
  • VIDEO! THE HISTORY OF CORPORATE CORRUPTION & FRAUD with Robert Kennedy Jr & Mike Papantonio “Call us if you have a personal story about Fraud on Taxpayers or False Claims for Payment made by Corportations at 1-866-389-FIRE (3473)or contact us by email at info@ringoffireradio.com if you have evidence of fraud that robbed taxpayer dollars. If our government is paying too much due to fraud by a corporation, Ring of Fire wants to do a story on it.”
  • RFK, Jr. and Sam Seder: Drone Strikes, Torture Unequivocally Un-American The following is a transcript of an upcoming discussion between Sam Seder and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on the un-American use of torture and drone strikes by American forces. The full discussion will be aired this weekend on Ring of Fire.
  • VIDEO! Papantonio: Deadly Chemicals Hiding in Our Waters (VIDEO) More than 30 years ago, the government banned the production and use of chemicals known as PCBs because they were causing serious illnesses in both humans and our environment. And even though PCBs have been off the market for 3 decades, they are still hanging out in waterways, in the air we breathe, and in our soil — causing cancers and other illnesses in people all over America. But recently, state governments decided that it was time to finally take action on the issue, and Mike Papantonio recently spoke with Spokane Riverkeeper Bart Mihailovich about what is being done to remove these toxic chemicals from our environments.
  • VIDEO! Papantonio: Gun Industry Exporting Death All Over The Globe (VIDEO) Mike Papantonio appears on The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann to discuss the exporting activities of American gun manufacturers, as well as the ridiculous uproar from the Republicans over President Obama’s executive orders on gun control.
  • 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!
  
  • January 14, 2102 Matt Taibbi & Remembering Aaron Swartz
  • January 15, 2013 Michael Hastings, “The Inside Story of Obama’s Final Campaign”
  • January 16, 2013 Tech Day & Fran Lebowitz For Members No show today. Its a tech day. But, for Members Only we have a great interview from the MR, archives with Fran Lebowitz.
  • January 17, 2013 Obama Goes Big on Guns
  • January 18, 2013 Cliff Schecter & Isabel Gillies
  • MORE Podcast Interviews at Majority.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 official Facebook pages for Max Keiser & Keiser Report STACY SUMMARY: For once and for all, here are our real Facebook pages, the other ones are fake. But if you feel like chatting to the fake ones, by all means, go ahead. Max Keiser & Keiser Report PLUS Stacey Herbert
  • Taibbi: “The federal rescue of Wall Street didn’t fix the economy – it created a permanent bailout state based on a Ponzi-like confidence scheme. And the worst may be yet to come.” by maxkeiser - READ Secret and Lies of the Bailout (rollingstone.com)
  • The Untouchables by stacyherbert - PBS Frontline will air a documentary called The Untouchables on 22 January. Here is the trailer. "FRONTLINE investigates why Wall Street’s leaders have escaped prosecution for any fraud related to the sale of bad mortgages."
  Both Nick Verbitsky and Teri Buhl were interviewed for the programme; and, while they don’t know yet whether they made it past the cutting room floor, their work certainly has been some of the most important in pursuing mortgage fraud as perpetrated by the big banks rather than by the individual homeowner as most of the MSM in the US relentlessly covers.
  Here is Teri Buhl’s story for The Atlantic: E-mails Suggest Bear Stearns Cheated Clients Out of Billions As you know, Keiser Report is the only financial news tv programme that has been covering this story for the past two years. You can search YouTube for all the interviews we’ve done with both Teri Buhl and Nick Verbitsky regarding mortgage fraud at the JPM/Bear Stearns unit. .... MORE! VIDEOS!
  • And don’t forget Warren Buffett… And the tale of two men plugging servers into walls extracting stuff: one makes billions, the other one’s dead. by Max Keiser - Aaron Swartz was caught when he tried to retrieve the server from the site of building where he was downloading documents (documents subsidized with public money to begin with) to place them into the public domain – an action later repeated by the same institution when they released these documents into the public domain. He faced 35 yrs. hard time and killed himself; an act now widely understood to be a state sanctioned kill. Lloyd Blankfein (CEO of Goldman Sachs) plugs a server into a wall adjoining the NYSE and – using HFT – siphons off billions of free cash (as he admitted on Charlie Rose and other media outlets). Lloyd gets more free government money and a the cover of MSM magazines portrayed as a hero. READ Fed official alleges Geithner may have alerted banks to rate cut (reuters.com)
  • “The United States is ripe for a revolution. People are pissed, and rightfully so.” by maxkeiser - I created PirateMyfilm (using Bitcoin only) anticipating the copyright revolution that would engulf the MPAA and America in controversy. The fact that Chris Dodd, the CEO of the MPAA, is now being fingered as the guy who effectively killed Aaron Swartz doesn’t surprise me. The MPAA/RIAA, the ‘copyright cartel’ aka Hollywood demean and destabilize Americans by using copyright to lock up our intellectual property on corporate balance sheets behind escalating pricey firewalls – reversing the freedom of the printing press and mass communication we’ve enjoyed post-Enlightenment – and returning to information priests who rule as dictators over a new, gigantic digital knowledge slum. Copyright started out problematically giving a limited monopoly right to creators for 28 years before, by law, all intellectual property was mandated to return to the public domain from where ALL IDEAS AND CREATIVITY COMES. Thomas Jefferson argued against any form of intellectual property law. Disney, and their copyright extension laws (every time Mickey Mouse was due to enter the public domain) extended copyright to lifetime plus 75 years; creating what Lawrence Lessig calls ‘perpetual copyright.’ This is devastating to the public domain; our birthright. READ Aaron Swartz, America’s Mohamed Bouazizi: We’re in the midst of a revolution, which side are you on? (disinfo.com) with VIDEO!
  • KEISER REPORT [KR393] Keiser Report: Whore-der of JP Morgan We discuss the fact that markets don’t kill economies, banksters kill economies. They also discuss JP Morgan’s copper ETF in London and Blythe Masters, the well known hoar-der of commodities. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to David Hales about the economics of bit torrent and the future of peer to peer banking.
  • KEISER REPORT [KR394] Keiser Report: Devil’s Deadly Derivatives
  • KEISER REPORT [KR395] Keiser Report: Welcome Home German Gold We discuss the currency war masquerading as a ‘storage plan,’ the Bond Kings threatening the gold repatriating Germany with having a Libya done to them and the Mexican taco stand in Florida advising customers to invest in silver. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Doug Casey of CaseyResearch.com about German gold, Glenn’s Gulch and future war.
  • ON THE EDGE On the Edge with Greg Hunter An interview with Greg Hunter of USA Watchdog.
  • THE TRUTH ABOUT MARKETS [TaM-1263] The Truth About Aaron Swartz, Kim Dot God and HMV Gift Cards 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
  • Pepe Escobar June 30, 2012: Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his article “Syria and Turkey’s Phantom War;” Turkey’s violation of Syrian airspace in a purposeful, measured provocation and test of Syria’s defenses; the near-invocation of NATO Article 5 and a wider war (an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all); looking for ways to bypass the UN on Syria, since China and Russia won’t let an interventionist resolution pass the Security Council; grand plans for NATO expansion in the official “Assured Security, Dynamic Engagement” plan; counterrevolutions in the Middle East and South America, as the US looks to rebuild its portfolio of client states; and how Qatar has become the new superpower in the Middle East, surpassing even Saudi Arabia.
  • SCOTT HORTON July 5, 2012: Scott says goodbye to Antiwar.com. Scott Horton is the former host of Antiwar Radio. Visit his blog Stress. Due to budget cuts Scott lost his gig at AntiWarRadio.com! Whoa! See ScottHortonShow.com for archives! Send emails to Scott at scotthorton.org to help Scott keep his podcast going!
  • Many more interviews at Antiwar Radio!
  

  
  

• fauxnews
  • David Plouffe, Senior Adviser to the President
  • Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO)
  

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