Wednesday 11 April 2012
Two Immigrants Killed in Ambush by Arizona Gunmen
Mike Ludwig, Truthout: "Two people were killed on Sunday night when 'an unknown number of subjects in camouflage
clothing armed with rifles' ambushed a truck carrying 20 to 30 undocumented immigrants near the southern Arizona town of
Eloy' ... The attack comes as the Arizona legislature is considering a bill that would create a volunteer,
state-sponsored and fully armed militia to aid the Border Patrol along the United States-Mexico border. Militia members
would be able to pursue, arrest and detain individuals."
Washington Post: George Zimmerman to Be Charged in Trayvon Martin Shooting
Yana Kunichoff, Truthout: "A little over a month and a half after he first gunned down the Florida teenager Trayvon
Martin, Florida vigilante George Zimmerman will be charged, reported The Washington Post. According to an unnamed law
enforcement source, a Florida special prosecutor will announce plans to prosecute Zimmerman at a press conference
Wednesday. The announcement of Zimmerman's prosecution comes the day after his lawyers announced they were stepping away
from the case, saying they were unable to contact Zimmerman and that he had fled the state."
Richard D. Wolff | Deficits, Debts and Demagogues
Richard D. Wolff, Truthout: "Government budget deficits and the national debt are occasions more for demagogues to
preach than for serious analysis. The usual suspects, conservatives and liberals, are gearing up for the election. Each
side uses the large federal budget deficits and fast-accumulating national debt to beat its tired ideological drums....
The two sides have been promoting these positions for decades, long before the current deficits and debts arrived.
However, there are important political lessons to learn by connecting deficits and debts to the demagogues using them
these days."
Oil Speculator Bankrolls Latest Karl Rove Attack Ad
Lee Fang, Republic Report: "The latest anti-Obama ad, which blames Obama for rising gas prices, is being financed in
part by a hedge fund manager who has pumped up the price of oil through excessive speculation. Karl Rove's attack ad
network just launched the first nationwide ad against Obama. The ad, called 'Too Much,' is being aired by Crossroads
GPS, a nonprofit controlled by Rove that does not have to disclose a single donor."
Misgivings Raised as Nebraska Prepares to Speed Keystone XL Review
Lisa Song, InsideClimate News: "Nebraska's legislature is expected to pass a bill [today] that would ease the way for
construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The bill ... would speed Nebraska's pipeline review process and give
TransCanada greater powers of eminent domain along the pipeline's right-of-way. Opponents of the project say the bill
would undercut tougher legislation state lawmakers passed in November and allow TransCanada and other pipeline companies
the option of choosing a murkier, potentially weaker state review process."
Shut Out of US, Lawyer for Pakistani Drone Victims Speaks Out
Tom Barry, Truthout: "Shahzad Akbar can no longer travel to the United States.... Given that Akbar wants to talk about
the CIA's clandestine drone operations and the military's Joint Operations Intelligence Centers (JOIC), keeping him out
of the United States and far away from the US public and the US media might seem to make good sense from the point of
view of the Obama administration."
A Contrarian Optimist View of the Upcoming Iran Nuclear Talks
Robert Naiman, Truthout: "When President Obama nominated global health superhero Dr. Jim Young Kim to lead the World
Bank, Harvard development economist Dani Rodrik remarked, 'It's nice to see that Obama can still surprise us' Is it
possible that Obama could pleasantly surprise us in the upcoming talks with Iran over its nuclear program? Much of the
media coverage would suggest otherwise. Nonetheless, there are actually quite a few positive signs we can point to."
On the News With Thom Hartmann: The Exodus of Corporate Donors From the American Legislative Exchange Council Continues,
and More
In today's On the News segment: The exodus of corporate donors from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
continues, banks are once again preying on the poor with subprime lending, the ghost of Joe McCarthy is alive and well
in Congress, and more.
Teen Pregnancies Highest in States With Abstinence-Only Policies
Amanda Peterson Beadle, ThinkProgress: "Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle found that teenagers who
received some type of comprehensive sex education were 60 percent less likely to get pregnant or get someone else
pregnant. And in 2007, a federal report showed that abstinence-only programs had 'no impacts on rates of sexual
abstinence.' Additionally, research shows that abstinence-only strategies could deter contraceptive use among teenagers,
thus increasing their risk of unintended pregnancy."
For the Great Recession, a Third Jobs Relapse?
Jack Rasmus, Truthout: "For the third time in as many years, jobs growth over winter 2012 once again shows signs of a
major relapse this spring and summer.... If this latest, third major reversal in jobs creation were a one-time
occurrence, it could be attributed, perhaps, to a simple shift in real economic conditions. But three years in a row
every spring? That repetition means there is likely something more fundamental at work."
Liberals Cry Out: Tax the Rich! Fund More Wars!
David Swanson, War Is a Crime: "The big, well-funded liberal/progressive groups that are borrowing the language of
Occupy and organizing 99% Spring nonviolence trainings are talking about taxing the rich, never mind what the taxes are
spent on. I just spoke with someone organizing a bunch of 'patriotic millionaires' to come to Washington, D.C., and talk
about how they'd like to be taxed more. I suggested that they might also comment on what their money should go to, and I
was told that saying more than one simple thing was bad messaging policy."
Into the Streets With Drone Education (Video)
Nick Mottern, Truthout: "Beginning on April 12, 2012, in Brooklyn, New York, the National Know Drones Tour will use
three Reaper drone replicas - 8 feet long with wingspans of 11 feet - to undertake sidewalk education on drone warfare
and drone surveillance. The premise of the tour is simply to take information, in however small a way, directly to
people, where they already are, and to engage them in conversation."
How Does Our Government Surveil Us? Let's Count the Ways
Bill Quigley, Truthout: "Privacy is eroding fast as technology offers government increasing ways to track and spy on
citizens. The Washington Post reported there are 3,984 federal, state and local organizations working on domestic
counterterrorism. Most collect information on people in the US. Here are thirteen examples of how some of the biggest
government agencies and programs are tracking people."
TRUTHOUT'S BUZZFLASH DAILY HEADLINES
Allen West Channels Joe McCarthy: Claims Congress Is Crawling With Commies
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: "So, we arrive in 2012 (the John Birch Society was founded in 1958) and we find that
the crackpot ideology of the Birchers has become the mainstream platform of Republican policy. It is not surprising then
that Sarah Palin's most recent recommendation for a vice presidential candidate for George Romney is Florida Congressman
Allen West, who generally appears to have his political statements transmitted from Mars."
GOP Congressmen Being Inundated With Handmade Vaginas
George W. Bush Decries Raising Taxes on "the So-Called Rich"
Occupy Returns to Roots With "Sleepful Protests"
Newt Gingrich's Utah Ballot Filing Fee Check Bounces
The Republican War on the Girl Scouts
Teacher Fired for Organizing a Fundraiser for Trayvon Martin
Marlins Manager Ozzie Guillen Shouldn't Apologize for Liking Castro
ENDS