Brick TeeVee and new report: United States commits torture

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United States commits torture We begin with Matthew O'Brien writing for The Atlantic The Great Debt Delusion: How Math Keeps Proving Austerity Wrong The austerians' foundational text lost a battle with Excel -- and reality: Well, it turns out history does repeat itself as farce. Especially when it comes to selling austerity. Back in 2010, policymakers decided the economic crisis was over. Fiscal and monetary stimulus had prevented the Great Recession from turning into a great depression, and that was enough for them to pretty much declare mission accomplished. It was time for policy to go back to "normal", even though the economy had not. In other words, it was time for austerity and higher interest rates, low growth and high unemployment be damned. There was just one small problem. It was impossible to justify tighter budgets and tighter money when the economy was still depressed. Contractionary policy is, well, contractionary, and the U.S. and Europe certainly didn't need more of that with unemployment still in the double digits. Unless austerity isn't contractionary. Maybe cutting spending and raising taxes is good for growth! That was the conclusion of a paper by Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna that quickly became the Holy Grail of austerians everywhere. ....... Okay, so austerity isn't expansionary in the short-run, but maybe it's expansionary in the long-run. That was the conclusion of a paper by Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff that quickly became the new Holy Grail of austerians everywhere. Reinhart and Rogoff looked at times when advanced countries have had debt of at least 90 percent of GDP going back to 1946, and found that growth tends to be much lower during these periods. Reinhart and Rogoff argued this shows that higher debt causes lower growth -- which would mean austerity causes higher growth, at least in the long run. There are lots of problems here. Most obviously, this correlation between high debt and low growth doesn't prove much. ....... It turns out Reinhart and Rogoff might have gotten some of their data wrong. As Mike Konczal reports -- and you really need to read the link -- a new paper by Thomas Herndon, Michael Ash, and Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, identifies two big issues. First, and most amusingly, Reinhart and Rogoff seem to have made an Excel formula error. (Yes, really). As you can see below, they apparently only averaged the first 14 countries in their sample, and forgot to drag down for the last five. Oops..... OOPS indeed! Will policymakers change course and stop the austerity madness now? Do you think Congress and The Fed will reverse course now? We doubt it.
In a related matter Bill Black wrote at HuffPoAOL back in February Pervasive' Fraud by Our 'Most Reputable' Banks A recent study confirmed that control fraud was endemic among our most elite financial institutions: Asset Quality Misrepresentation by Financial Intermediaries: Evidence from RMBS Market. Tomasz Piskorski, Amit Seru & James Witkin (February 2013) ("PSW 2013"). The key conclusion of the study is that control fraud was "pervasive." [A]lthough there is substantial heterogeneity across underwriters, a significant degree of misrepresentation exists across all underwriters, which includes the most reputable financial institutions. ...... The PSW 2013 study confirmed one form of control fraud and provided suggestive evidence of two other forms that I will discuss in a future column. The definitive evidence of control fraud that PSW2013 identifies is by mortgage lenders who made, or purchased, mortgages and then resold them to "private label" (non-Fannie and Freddie) financial firms who were creating mortgage backed securities (MBS). The deceit they documented by the firms selling the mortgage loans consisted of claiming that the loans did not have second liens. The lenders knowingly sold mortgages they knew had second liens under the false representations (reps) and warranties that they did not have second liens. .... Much more! Here are three long reads you should review:

• How the Gold Market was Crashed by Bill Downey at goldtrends.net
  
• How Empires Fall Guest Post by submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog at ZeroHedge.com
  
• Tomgram: Engelhardt, The Cathedral of the Enemy - The Enemy-Industrial Complex: How to Turn a World Lacking in Enemies into the Most Threatening Place in the Universe by Tom Engelhardt at TomDispatch.com

Andy Borowitz @BorowitzReport 34s tweeted "BREAKING: NATION CHEERS END OF CNN'S COVERAGE" and follows up with CNN Quits Breaking News, Becomes “CNN Classic” In a sweeping format change that marks the end of an era for the nation’s first cable news outlet, CNN announced today that it would no longer air breaking news and would instead re-run news stories of the past “that we know we got right.” The rebranded network, to début nationwide on Monday, will be called “CNN Classic.” “Breaking news is hard,” said the newly installed CNN chief, Jeff Zucker. “You have to talk to sources, make sure their stories check out O.K., and then get on the air and not say anything stupid. I, for one, am thrilled to be getting out of that horrible business.” CNN Classic will begin its broadcast day on Monday, Mr. Zucker said, “with round-the-clock coverage of Operation Desert Storm.” Mr. Zucker did not indicate what impact the new format would have on such CNN stars as Wolf Blitzer, saying only, “I can’t promise that Wolf will be a part of CNN’s future, but he will continue to be a big part of our past.” The CNN chief scoffed at reports that other cable news outlets had eclipsed his network once and for all, throwing down this gauntlet: “We are going to win May sweeps with Hurricane Katrina.” Stephen Lendman writes at the Daily Censored Boston Black Ops: Manufacturing Terror .....What’s ongoing resembles post-9/11 events. Media scoundrels misreport. They do so round-the-clock. Readers and viewers are willfully misinformed. Fear-mongering, lies and damn lies replace truth and full disclosure. Muslims became public enemy number one. Who’ll suffer most with them this time? Vital information is suppressed. Fingers point the wrong way. Innocent victims are blamed for state-sponsored terror. More on that below. ...... Early Friday, newly released FBI photos showed alleged bombing suspects. They’re brothers. They were called “armed and extremely dangerous.” Allegedly they had “explosives and guns.” Official reports lack credibility. One suspect was arrested. The other fled. Officials later said the one taken into custody died. Allegedly he was killed in a “violent standoff.” Cold-blooded murder is more likely. A “massive manhunt” continues. Officials said suspects came from Chechnya or nearby. Doing so implies Islamofascists. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews alleged they’re Arabs. Perhaps from Yemen, he said. Media scoundrels feature this type misreporting ad nauseam. Mossad-connected DEBKAfile called them “Chechen Wahhabi cell” members. Saudi Arabia funds it, it said. Older brother Tamerlan was 26. Police likely killed him in cold blood. He was a boxer and Bunker Hill Community College engineering student. Younger brother Dzhokhar fled. He’s 19 years old. He’s a Cambridge Rindge and Latin School graduate. His father calls him a “true angel.” He’s a Greater Boston League all-star wrestler. He won a city of Cambridge $2,500 scholarship. He’s a second year medical student. His father said both brothers were “set up.” They “killed my older son Tamerlan,” he added. Over 10 years ago, both brothers came to America with their family. They’re not terrorists....... ZeroHedge posts Chechen President Statement On Boston Bombers: "Seek The Roots Of Their Evil Inside America" His translated statement, as released earlier by Instragram.

Tragic events have taken place in Boston. As a result of the blast people were killed. Previously, we expressed out condolences to the people of the city, and the people of America. Today, as reported by the media, during his arrest attempt, a Tsarnaev was killed. It would be logical, for him to be detained and investigated, and all the circumstances and degrees of his guilt uncovered. Apparently, the special services needed a result at any cost to calm down society. Any attempts to make a connection between Chechnya and Tsarnaevs, even if they are guilty, are in vain. They grew up in the United States, their attitudes and beliefs were formed there. It is necessary to seek the roots of their evil inside America. The whole world should fight terrorism. We know thisd better than anyone else. We wish a recovery to all the victims and share the Americans' sense of sorrow.

The original here (via Instagram) [VIDEO] VENEZUELA ELECTION UPDATE: Al Jazeera reports Maduro sworn in as Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in as Venezuela's president at a ceremony attended by several Latin American leaders, after a decision to widen an electronic audit of the vote took some of the heat out of a dispute over his election. Heads of state who attended Maduro's swearing-in on Friday included Brazil's Dilma Rousseff and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with leaders such as Bolivia, Uruguay and Nicaragua. The ceremony was briefly interrupted after a spectator rushed the stage, while Maduro was giving his inaugural speech. The man in a red, long-sleeved jacket ran toward Maduro and grabbed the microphone, pushing him aside. "Nicolas, my name is Jenry," the man said, before security guards converged from all sides. The broadcast on state television cut away, then returned within minutes to the lectern. "The security has failed totally. They could have shot me easily," Maduro said after resuming his speech. Maduro, a former bus driver-turned-foreign minister who became the late Hugo Chavez's chosen successor, narrowly beat opposition challenger Henrique Capriles in Sunday's vote. He accused Capriles of triggering post-election violence that killed eight people, though the opposition says Maduro allies staged some incidents to distract from the vote dispute. "We have stopped a coup in its first stage. They are beaten, but they are coming back with a new attack," Maduro said on Thursday before flying to Peru for a last-minute meeting of South American leaders to discuss the situation. While he was in Lima, Venezuela's electoral authority said it would widen to 100 percent an audit of electronic votes from a previous audit that reviewed 54 percent. "We do this in order to preserve a climate of harmony ... and isolate violent sectors that are seeking to injure democracy," Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), said in a televised speech to the nation. Maduro, 50, received a show of support at the late-night meeting of a group of South American nations called Unasur, which welcomed the CNE's move, congratulated him on his victory, and called on both sides to reject violence. Capriles, who insists the opposition's figures show he won, said he accepted the CNE's decision although it fell short of the manual recount he had wanted. He said he was sure the truth would come out. The date for the start of the wider audit is to be announced by next week. ..... And then there's this: US won't accept Venezuela election result, says full recount still needed but TheRealNews.com reports Jimmy Carter says: "Election Process in Venezuela is the Best in the World" BRADLEY MANNING TRIAL UPDATE: RT.com reports Judge orders prosecution to prove that Bradley Manning intended to ‘aid the enemy’ A US military judge says the government must prove that Army Private Bradley Manning intended to aid the enemy when he released hundreds of thousands of sensitive files to WikiLeaks. The official tribunal against the 25-year-old private first class is not slated to start until June, but during pretrial hearings on Wednesday morning, Col. Denise Lind ruled that the government has a burden to prove that the soldier aimed to inflect harm on the United States when he sent materials to the whistleblower site. Reporting from the media center at Ft. Meade, Maryland, independent journalist Alexa O’Brien writes that the United States government must now prove that Pfc. Manning acted “with reason to believe such info could be used to the injury of the US or to advantage of any foreign nation.” By doing so, Lind is making it much harder for the government to convict Manning on the most serious of the charges: aiding the enemy. If convicted on this count, Manning could theoretically be sentenced to die. Prosecutors, however, have said they would settle for life in prison. Although Manning admitted his role and pleaded guilty to a number of the specifications presented by the military this year, Army prosecutors were not satisfied with his plea. During that February hearing, the military said they would continue to go after Manning in hopes of prosecuting him under the Espionage Act of 1917 and UCMJ 104 — the Uniform Code of Military Justice statute of “aiding the enemy.” With Wednesday’s decision, the prosecution will now be tasked with convincing Lind that Manning went to WikiLeaks with the intent of causing harm. The Army has already requested that a US NAVY Seal present during the execution of Osama bin Laden take the stand during the court-martial in order to attest that the slain al-Qaeda leader had WikiLeaks documents attributed to Manning in his possession at the time of his death. ...... In a related matter last Monday's New York Times posted "Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel, a prisoner at Guantánamo Bay since 2002, told this story, through an Arabic interpreter, to his lawyers at the legal charity Reprieve in an unclassified telephone call." Gitmo Is Killing Me. U.S. DOES TORTURE: Lost in the media melee coverage in Boston The Constitution Task Force released a new study The Constitution Project - Task Force on Detainee Treatment & Torture. Too much to snip so go over there and read! Also they have posted their Press Conference: Release of the Report of The Constitution Project’s Task Force on Detainee Treatment including more videos! The full report is HERE at DetaineeTaskForce.org. Then read all of this in the NYT Indisputable Torture, PLUS HuffPoAOL's U.S. Tortured Detainees And Top Officials Are Responsible: Report and SEE DN! WEDNESDAY After Obama Shuns Probe, Bipartisan Panel Finds "Indisputable" Evidence U.S. Tortured Under Bush with Laura Pitter, counterterrorism adviser at Human Rights Watch. For the most comprehensive bu$h crime family war crimes see Bush Officials Charged with War Crimes. Last month Elizabeth Holzman explained in The Nation Statutes of Limitations Are Expiring on Some Bush Crimes writing, "Since no prosecutions can be brought after the statutes run out, unless investigations are started soon, any crimes that did occur will go unprosecuted and unpunished, deeply entrenching the principle of impunity for top officials. This would be shameful for our country and strike at the heart of the rule of law." Also read Gren Greenwald US torture 'indisputable', CNN's humiliation, and Iran sanctions and for even more background see the ACLU's TheTortureReport.org from 2012 "an initiative of the ACLU’s National Security Project, aims to give the full account of the Bush administration’s torture program. It will bring together everything we know from government documents, investigations, press reports, witness statements and other publications into a single narrative – one that is updated regularly and subject to critical review and improvement as it unfolds." Greenpeace v. SHELL: Phil Radford uncovers Shell’s Plot to Take Away Your First Amendment Rights Corporations want to work in secret. It’s what they do, and why they have lawyers. In secret, they can spill, clearcut, burn, and otherwise destroy the environment and local communities while telling the world they’re doing just the opposite. Shell Oil’s legal team is currently working overtime to keep the company’s Arctic work secret from advocacy groups like Greenpeace. It’s a battle that will have implications well beyond the Far North. If Shell ultimately wins the legal battle with us this month, corporate secrecy will have the blessing of a federal court — and America’s First Amendment rights will take a devastating hit. The thought is chilling. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California is currently weighing whether Shell has the right to preemptively stop Greenpeace from protesting Shell’s drilling in the Alaskan Arctic. If the court ultimately rules in Shell’s favor, nothing would stop other corporations from taking the same preemptive action against anyone they saw as likely protesters — from neighborhood groups to Amnesty International. The worst of these suits would eventually be overturned on appeal, but with the precedent set by Shell, anyone who wanted to silence protest outside a convention or a disaster site could do so for the duration of whatever activity they wanted to keep secret. Advocacy groups like Greenpeace adamantly oppose this type of corporate secrecy. We work to bring attention to corporate destruction so people understand the stakes in fights from the Arctic to the Amazon. Our ability to go wherever the planet and its people are in danger is why Greenpeace strikes fear into corporations like Shell, so much so that they will go to extraordinary lengths to stop us from exposing the work it wants to keep secret. ......... If we have no plans to engage in civil disobedience, why would we appeal Shell’s preemptive legal maneuver? Why not just proceed with legal protests and other advocacy work while the case worked its way through the system? Because allowing a corporation to use its massive financial and legal resources to tie us up in court while it attempts to drill in secret would establish a terrible precedent for American democracy. Greenpeace fully embraces our First Amendment right to raise our voices. We oppose any effort to take this right away through extraordinary legal means. Our power as citizens lies in our ability to shine a light on actions detrimental to public good. This freedom — this right — is the only thing that puts people power on any kind of scale relative to the power of multibillion-dollar corporations like Shell. Even though it’s enshrined in the Constitution and upheld through hundreds of court cases, Shell through extraordinary legal means is trying to take our right to protest away. If they succeed, it will have a devastating effect on protest rights in the United States. Sorry for the late post - so much going on around here! Please check out more stories and interviews below! See you next Sunday! BRICK TEEVEE ALERTS!_©

Democracy Now's Iraq interactive timeline

Headlines Monday, April 15, 2013

• Rory Carroll, correspondent for The Guardian newspaper & Mark Weisbrot, economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research Will Chávez Revolution Continue in Venezuela? A Debate After Maduro’s Close Election Victory
  
• Ed Hedemann, a conscientious war tax resister Tax Day: While Millions Rush to Meet Deadline, Resisters Continue Longstanding Refusal to Fund War
  

Headlines Tuesday, April 16, 2013

• Monday’s bombing of the Boston Marathon Boston Marathon a "Horrifying Scene" After Twin Blasts Kill 3 and Leave Scores Maimed, Wounded
  
• Carlos Arredondo Peace Activist Carlos Arredondo Hailed as Hero for Aid to Boston Marathon Bombing Victims
  
• Dr. Michael Gibson, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School & Charles P. Pierce, lead writer for Esquire.com’s politics blog "Like a War Scene": From the Streets to Hospitals, Witnesses & Medics Rushed to Help Bombing Victims
  
• Dave Zirin Sportswriter Dave Zirin: Prayers For the People in Boston, Baghdad and Mogadishu
  
• Hawa Abdi and Daughter Deqo Mohamed "Mother Teresa of Somalia" Hawa Abdi and Daughter Deqo Mohamed on Healing Decades of War, Tragedy
  

Headlines Wednesday, April 17

• Alex Main, senior associate for international policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research Venezuela Accuses U.S. of Plotting Coup After Deadly Post-Election Protests
  
• Laura Pitter, counterterrorism adviser at Human Rights Watch After Obama Shuns Probe, Bipartisan Panel Finds "Indisputable" Evidence U.S. Tortured Under Bush
  
• Steve Brown, an anchor and reporter at WBUR in Boston Boston Turns to Recovery as Victims Identified, Bombing Details Emerge
  

Headlines Thursday, April 18, 2013

• Jay Hicks, director of new media for KWTX-TV in Waco, Texas & Tony Dudik, farmer who lives near West, Texas. "Devastation Beyond Description": Dozens Feared Dead in Texas Fertilizer Plant Blast, 100+ Wounded AND No OSHA Inspections at Texas Plant in 5 Years: Are We Doing Enough to Protect Workplace Safety?
  
• Nihad Awad & Peter Hart A Rush to Misjudgment: CNN Faulted for Racially Charged, Erroneous Reports on Boston Marathon Case
  
• Robert Greenwald Filmmaker Robert Greenwald on "War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State"
  

Headlines Friday, April 19, 2013

• Allan Nairn, investigative journalist Genocide Trial of Former Dictator Ríos Montt Suspended After Intervention by Guatemalan President
  
• Allan Nairn, investigative journalist Exclusive: Allan Nairn Exposes Role of U.S. and New Guatemalan President in Indigenous Massacres
  

GRITtv @ www.grittv.org with Laura Flanders

»»» FEATURED SHOW Tax Havens for the 99 Percent! Art & Activism by Paolo Cirio Tax day is here, and artist Paolo Cirio invites you to a protest tax evasion by availing yourself of an "offshore tax haven" -- just as the biggest businesses do. more

BRICK TEEVEE SPORT!_©

»»» NBA Playoffs on ABC SUNDAY First Round Coverage! Lakers @ Spurs 3:30 pm et

»»» NBA Playoffs on TNT SUNDAY Tripleheader! Hawks @ Pacers 1 pm et THEN Bucks @ Heat 7 pm et AND Rockets @ Thunder

»»» SUNDAY BASEBALL on TBS Dodgers @ Orioles 1:35 pm et

»»» SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL on ESPN Cardinals @ Phillies 8 pm et

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. ACTION! Meet the New CISPA. Same as the Old CISPA. Last year, thanks to a public outcry, the effort to pass overreaching cybersecurity legislation stalled in the Senate. Now supporters have reintroduced the House version of that legislation — the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). The “new” version is in fact identical to the original CISPA — and poses the same threat to our digital civil liberties. If CISPA becomes law, it will be a major blow to our online privacy. But more than that, CISPA’s passage would have a chilling effect on our freedom to connect online. We won’t feel as free to state unpopular opinions, or to speak truth to power, if we know that Big Brother could get a feed of everything we say and do. This is not what the free and open Internet is about. We must tell Congress: Vote NO on CISPA and bury this bill for good.

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 for more! 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

REPRESENT.US IT’S TIME TO GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS SO THE GOVERNMENT CAN REPRESENT US. Represent.Us is a fresh campaign to pass the American Anti-Corruption Act: a law that would overhaul campaign finance, impose strict lobbying and conflict of interest laws, and end secret political money. We are mobilizing millions of Americans — conservatives and progressives, young and old, every issue group fighting K Street, online and offline — to join this campaign. Represent.Us is not just building a movement to pass the Act. The campaign will use hard-hitting accountability tactics to unseat politicians who fail to endorse the Act. If passed, the Act will completely reshape American politics and policy-making and give people a voice. See this Guest Blog at Greenpeace by Executive Director Josh Silver The $6 Billion Auction: Finally, A Plan to Get Money Out of Politics for more information!

SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT See CourageToResist.org and Bradley Manning Support Network UPDATE! From the Bradley Manning Support Network Press and public denied access to documents in Bradley Manning case April 17, 2013. By the Center for Constitutional Rights. In a press release, the CCR announces that the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has dealt yet another blow to press and public access to basic documents in Bradley Manning's case. The rejection comes mere days after a military spokesperson warned that the media center at Ft. Meade, which streams live video to reporters of Manning's proceedings, is a "privilege, not a right.".... AND Greg Palast for Vice Magazine Bradley Manning & The Deepwater Horizon Bradley Manning tried to save the eleven men who died, burnt alive, on the Deepwater Horizon. But Barack Obama and the New York Times made sure that wouldn't happen.

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: 2,200 US Military Dead as of April 20, 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
  • Boston Mayor Thomas Menino
  • ABC's Senior Justice Department Correspondent, Pierre Thomas
  • ROUNDTABLE: Legal analyst, Dan Abrams, former FBI Special Agent Brad Garrett, and Dick Clarke, Counterterrorism Chief of two presidents, President's Bush, and Clinton.
  • ROUNDTABLE II: Senator Dan Coats, Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Congressman Benny Thompson, the Ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, Chief Global Affairs Correspondence for ABC Martha Raddatz, Richard Haass Chairman of the Council, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, also author of the new book, "Foreign Policy Begins at Home." And the editor of "The New Yorker" Dave Remnick.
  

• Face The Nation (CBS) Host Bob Schiefer
  • ROUNDTABLE: A conversation on gun control with Newtown family members Neil Heslin, Carlee Soto and Erica Lafferty and Stephen Schwarzman on the Scharzman Scholars program.
  • ROUNDTABLE: The latest on the Boston bombings: Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., Boston Police Commissioner John Miller, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, CBS News' John Miller and Bob Orr, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge.
  

• 60 Minutes (CBS)
  • Sniffing Out Bombs - Working dogs like those used domestically for anti-terror operations are also saving the lives of American soldiers on the battlefield. Lara Logan gets a rare look into the secretive world of these special dogs, some of whose capabilities are classified. Max McClellan is the producer.
  • The 9/11 Museum - Lesley Stahl gets the first in-depth look at the National September 11 Memorial Museum currently under construction seven stories below ground at ground zero, touring the massive space, getting a preview of its planned exhibits, and speaking to its director, president, and family members of victims who sit on its board. Shari Finkelstein is the producer.
  

• 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.
  • Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick
  • Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin
  • ROUNDTABLE: NBC Correspondent Pete Williams and a roundtable of national security experts discusses the potential for foreign influences in the Boston marathon bombing and the FBI’s previous investigations of the suspect.
  • ROUNDTABLE: A Meet the Press panel of experts discusses the political response to the Boston marathon tragedy and how such an incident tends to alter the national political dialogue.
  

• 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.
  • Sen. Mo Cowan (D-MA)
  • House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX)
  • Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
  • Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
  • ROUNDTABLE: Former Congressman & 9/11 Commission member Tim Roemer, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and former FBI profiler Candice DeLong on the national security implications after the Boston tragedy.
  

• 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!
  • FRONT PORCH FRIDAY!!!!! Pull up a chair and a cold one! Listen NOW HERE - Friday, April 19th, 2013 ! Keep Bob on the air HERE ya hear? Amen to the White Rose Society! Bob's show archives at the White Rose HERE! 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' - April 18, 2013 As we slam into Earth Day weekend... Deadly fertilizer explosion slams Central Texas town; Flooding, sinkholes, extreme weather slam Chicago; PLUS: Nebraskans unite to slam the Keystone 'Export' pipeline ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
  • IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see link): Report: alarming levels of of resistant bacteria on grocery meat & poultry; Chevron defies CA on emissions, undercuts biofuels; Chevron ignored regulators warnings in refinery explosion; Scientists question NOAA report on climate, drought; New study shows once again how "Climategate" emails were distorted; Utility industry can survive - and lead - clean energy transition; Obama inks Arctic international fishing accord, GOP complains; Innovating 'dumb' LEDs; Why can't we quit fossil fuels? ... PLUS: Think those chemicals have been tested? Think again ... and much, MUCH more! ...
  • BRADBLOG UPDATE! CNN, Other Corporate Media Outlets Falsely Report Boston Marathon Bomber 'Arrest' This...is CNN. And their '90 Minutes of Awesome'...
  • BRADBLOG UPDATE! NC Repubs Propose 'Poll Tax' For Parents of Student Voters Despite likely-unconstitutionality of proposed measures, GOP law makers are still attempting to curb the youth vote...
  • BRADBLOG UPDATE! Steven Hayward and the Anniv. of the BP Gulf Disaster Just days before the worst offshore oil spill in history, this Rightwing fossil fuel tool told you it wouldn't happen. And he's still proud of it..
  

• 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
  • Peter B Collins, Truthout | Op-Ed An Insider's View of the Progressive Talk Radio Devolution
  • PBC Standard Podcast April 18, 2013 BLOCKBUSTER!! Part 1 on The NSA 4 with Whistleblower Bill Binney and Journalist Tim Shorrock
  • PBC Standard Podcast April 19, 2013 BLOCKBUSTER, Part 2: Tom Drake Got Unprecedented Retaliation From NSA, for Disclosures to Media That He Did Not Make
  

• 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 Weekend on Ring of Fire Radio! Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts Sunday nights at 8 pm Eastern.
  • Progressive TV and radio host Thom Hartmann will join us to discuss the corrupting influence that corporate money has had on our elected officials.
  • Author Bill Black will tell us why Obama’s new Treasury Secretary is pushing austerity measures.
  • Author Cliff Schecter will give us the latest on the gun control debate.
  • And Riverkeepers Chris Wilke and Brett Vandeheuvel will be here to discuss the dangers of coal trains operating in America.
  • NEW! This Week on Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV! Sundays at NOON!
  • Drug companies have always depended on our court system to deliver for them, but now they’re trying to get approval from the Supreme Court to raise drug prices even higher. Journalist David Dayen will bring you the details.
    
  • The income disparities in America are reaching an all time high, and we’ll talk with attorneys Howard Nations and Joe Cotchett about the terrifying reality of the new, American plutocracy.
    
  • Attorney Mike Burg will tell us about the threat that derivatives and other Wall Street “garbage” poses to our savings accounts.
    
  • And independent media outlets are picking up steam in America, and we’ll talk with Free Speech TV host David Pakman about why more and more people are turning their backs on the mainstream media.
  • 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.” • Papantonio: Trade Deal Gives Corporations Unbridled Power (VIDEO) The following interview is from the April 14th, 2013 episode of Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV (freespeech.org/ringoffire). Corporations are pushing the Obama Administration to approve a trade deal that THEY claim would help boost the economy. But what would really happen is that corporations would be given a free pass to ignore federal rules. Ring of Fire host Mike Papantonio talks about this disaster of a trade pact with attorney Joe Cotchett. • Ring of Fire’s Weekly Rewind featuring the top stories from Ring of Fire from the past week. • 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 12 NOON et @ Majority.fm!
  
  • MONDAY 4/15/13 John Knefel: The GITMO Hunger Strike
  • TUESDAY 4/16/13 The Boston Marathon Attack
  • WEDNESDAY 4/17/13 Mike Konczal: How An Excel Error Killed The Economy
  • THURSDAY 4/18/13 Jonathan Cohn: The Hell That Is American Childcare
  • FRIDAY 4/19/13 Casual Friday: Cliff Schecter & Jen Kirkman
  • MORE Podcast Interviews at majorityfm.libsyn.com!
  

• KEISER REPORT 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!
  • MaxKeiserTV on YouTube! MaxKeiserTV
  • 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
    
  • Stacey Herbert
  
  • The Federal Reserve 100th Anniversary Road Show Spectacular! by alexschaefer - Paint Provocateur Alex Schaefer wants to say “Happy Birthday, Federal Reserve!’ You made it to 100 years of conducting the nation’s monetary policy! Since mainstream media didn’t send a card, a painter, a protestor, a filmmaker, a freedom fighter and a mad crew are going on a road trip across the USA to visit all twelve of your branches to help you celebrate! Come rain or monkey shines, they are on a mission to throw the birthday party nightmares are made of. A party to highlight the historic END of the original 100 year charter the Federal Reserve Bank has with the U.S. Government December 23rd, 2013! CLICK HERE FOR THE CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN & HELP GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD! Lots of great donation perks, all original works of art by Alex Schaefer and Cain Motter! This is a great way to collect some art AND help fund this amazing journey and film. It’s a win-win situation! Let’s some history and shake things up around here!
  •High speed front-running and market manipulation have killed capitalism by maxkeiser - READ Expert: HFT Has Gamed the System – There’s No Room for Traders Anymore (financialsense.com)
  • 1981 Article: 7,000 Tons of Gold Bullion Removed from Fort Knox From 1973-74! by The Doc - SD has discovered the manuscript of a 1981 article by The Globe which reported that 7,000 tons of gold bullion were removed from Fort Knox from $1973-74, and the only bullion that remained was from melted down gold coins & was of such poor quality (at least 10% copper) that it would not be accepted on the open market by any nation. “300 truckloads of bullion were simply driven away.” Click here for Full 1981 report by The Globe on gold bullion removed from Fort Knox.
  • Gold down $100?; Gold Now Trading at Most Oversold Levels on Record by stacyherbert - Stacy Summary: Gold has been slaughtered today; or, perhaps more accurately, many leveraged paper gold holders were slaughtered in the forced selling to meet margin calls. Marc Faber is LOVING it. And USD index hardly budged. Update: Now the Dow is getting hit, not as much percentage terms, but could fit Faber’s suggestion that commodities and bonds are signalling major deflationary event. UPDATE: READ CME JUST HIKED MARGIN REQUIREMENTS (cmegroup.com)
  • NEW! The Roman Emperors of today by stacyherbert - Stacy Summary: In the first of our features from The Real Asset Report, we bring you our look at Roman Currency debasement and how it compares to currency debasement today.
  • KEISER REPORT [KR432] Keiser Report: Magic of Bitcoin Gathering We discuss the role of market making in the orderly functioning of markets which explains the disorderly functioning of Mt.Gox, an exchange missing the vital market making function. They also discuss the virtual specialist technology, payments systems and DDoS attacks. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Tony Gallippi of Bitpay.com about money in the cloud and bitcoin in transactions.
  • KEISER REPORT [KR433] Keiser Report: Gold Theft in America We discuss innuendo and paper causing a virtual theft of paper gold in America and a stampede into physical gold in India. They also discuss the five wise guys of Angela Merkel who plan on ‘bailing in’ some property owners in Spain should Spain require a sovereign bailout. In the second half of the show, they talk to Ed Harrison of CreditWritedowns.com about confiscation and German opinion on Europe.
  • KEISER REPORT [KR434] Keiser Report: Correlation & Causation of Gold Price We discuss Reinhart and Rogoff, Excel errors, correlation and causation and the gold selloff being a bonus for ‘activist central bankers’ who can now claim ‘hyperinflation no longer a threat.’ In the second half of the show, they talk to Dr. Paul Craig Roberts about the smack down in gold and the failure of ‘laissez-faire capitalism’.
  • ON THE EDGE On the Edge with Greg Hunter An interview with Greg Hunter of USA Watchdog.
  • THE TRUTH ABOUT MARKETS [TaM-1274] The Truth About Markets – 20 April 2013 Stacy Summary: I’ll call this episode of the show: The Truth About Raj Economics Download show here For more download & listening options, visit Archive dot org Download show HERE (mp3) • Donate to ResonanceFM here!

• The Scott Horton Radio Show
  
  Scott Horton is host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles and KUCR 88.3 in Riverside, and the Scott Horton Show on No Agenda Radio. (You can listen live Monday through Friday, excluding Thursday, from 12-2 PM Eastern HERE.) Plenty of archives too!
  • Scott Horton Radio Show 4/19/13 Philip Giraldi: Philip Giraldi, Executive Director of The Council for the National Interest, discusses the Boston Marathon bombing; the “surgical strikes” legal justification for drone attacks; the war in Syria; and the US empire’s messy and ugly decline.
  • 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!
  • Older interviews at Antiwar Radio!
  

  
  

• fauxnews
  • Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
  • Representative Pete King (R-NY)
  • Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard; Jane Harman. President of Woodrow Wilson Center & Fmr Congresswoman (D-CA); General Michael Hayden, Fmr CIA Director & Principal at The Chertoff Group; Juan Williams, Fox News Contributor.
  
  
  

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