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Blocking War Funding Just Got Easier Blocking War Funding Just Got Easier |
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Written by David Swanson
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Tuesday, 02 February 2010 13:58 |
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 Last June we were handed an opportunity to block the funding of our illegal, murderous, counterproductive, catastrophic, and hated wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The president insisted on an off-the-books "emergency supplemental" bill, and the Senate added an IMF bailout to the bill, leading all the Republicans in the House to commit what for years they'd called treason: they all voted No on war money.
So, we only needed 39 Democrats to vote No, and we could have stopped the thing, at least temporarily. We had a week-long knock-down drag-out fight, with the White House telling freshmen Democrats they would be "dead to us" if they didn't vote Yes. And we still persuaded 32 Democrats to vote No.
Then we continued building opposition to the wars, and awareness of the need to choose between wars and jobs. But we had to hope that we would again be handed a "supplemental" vote and that again some crazy scheme would be found to get all the Republicans to vote No. If these wishes could be
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 February 2010 14:11 |
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Lawyers Appeal Guantánamo Trial Convictions |
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Written by Andy Worthington
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Tuesday, 02 February 2010 12:32 |
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 Last Tuesday, a little known court — the Court of Military Commissions Review — convened to hear appeals in the cases of the only two men sentenced in the Military Commission trial system established by Congress in 2006, after the first version, conceived by Vice President Dick Cheney and his close advisors in November 2001, was ruled illegal by the US Supreme Court.
The two men in question — Salim Hamdan and Ali Hamza al-Bahlul — were tried and convicted in 2008, but whereas Hamdan, a driver for Osama bin Laden, had the major charge against him (conspiracy) dismissed by a military jury in August 2008, and was sentenced to serve just six months for providing material support to terrorism, al-Bahlul, who made a video promoting al-Qaeda and is regularly described as al-Qaeda’s “media secretary,” was convicted of conspiracy, solicitation of murder, and providing material support to terrorism, and received a life sentence in November 2008.
Under consideration are two specific questions: firstly, whether providing material support to terrorism is a valid basis for conviction in a war crimes court; and,
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The People's State of the Union |
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Written by Kevin Gosztola
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Monday, 01 February 2010 10:21 |
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 In honor of the people's teacher, Howard Zinn.
Activists, advocates for social justice, defenders of freedom, and people of the United States:
Every now and then it is appropriate for the people to take a look at themselves and assess their situation; to note the suffering and injustice in their communities and to consider the power they hold as individuals to speak out and act in a struggle for a world more conducive to humanity.
The people of this country have examples they can look at to see that it is times when people stood up and struggled with power that change was effected. Like when John Woolman refused to pay taxes to support the British and spoke up against slavery years before the Revolutionary War, like when Dalton Trumbo wrote "Johnny Got His Gun" and presented a stirring representation of the brutal
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Must-read journalism: Cell Phones and You |
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Written by Russ Baker
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Tuesday, 02 February 2010 13:44 |
 This article originally appeared in whowhatwhy.com and is reprinted by permission.
My experience is that the biggest potential stories are simply too big for the major organs of daily journalism. That’s the lesson I learned writing my book, Family of Secrets. That’s also why I started www.WhoWhatWhy.com. Where we do find the really explosive material, it often pops up in the seemingly least-likely places. So it is that we must turn to the Men’s fashion magazine, GQ, for a bracing look by freelancer Chris Ketcham at the field of radiation that is now everywhere, thanks to those nifty and now essential cell phones and handheld devices that dominate our lives. Read this and quake.
Here are a few snippets:
It’s hard to talk about the dangers of cell-phone radiation without sounding like a conspiracy theorist. This is especially true in the United States, where
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Monday, 01 February 2010 10:33 |
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"You can't be neutral on a moving train," Howard Zinn famously said. He didn't believe in staying closeted in the academy, though he was a brilliant historian whose book, A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present changed the way many people view history. Recently, a documentary based on his work, The People Speak, brought to life the many Americans whose lives and activism would otherwise have been forgotten. Zinn died on January 27th at age 87. He lived a long, full life and was an inspiration to all of us at GRITtv. He spoke to Laura in 2008. We wrote at the time: With the financial crisis and the election |
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Last Updated on Monday, 01 February 2010 10:45 |
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There is Still Time For Real Reform, Listen to the American People |
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Written by Dr. Margaret Flowers
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Monday, 01 February 2010 09:47 |
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 I was overjoyed to hear you say in your State of the Union address last week:
"But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know."
My colleagues, fellow health advocates and I have been trying to meet with you for over a year now because we have an approach which will meet all of your goals and more.
I am a pediatrician who, like many of my primary care colleagues, left practice because it is nearly impossible to deliver high quality health care in this environment. I have been volunteering for Physicians for a National Health Program ever since. For over a year now, I have been working with the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care/ National Single Payer Alliance. This alliance represents over 20 million people nationwide from doctors to nurses to labor, faith and community groups who advocate on behalf of the majority of Americans, including doctors, who favor
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