Here is an important NYTimes editorial on Arizona’s campaign finance system, which has been ludicrously–and perilously–challenged by the right; and the Roberts Court has (of course) played along, suspending the key law within that system. Will they restore it? That case is before them now (with the Brennan Center arguing for reinstatement of the law).
Even if the Court does do the right (and therefore unexpected) thing, however, Arizona still has many miles to go before it has elections fit for a democracy. Beyond all questions of campaign finance, there’s also the essential matter of the state’s notoriously shady voting system. That too must be overhauled (like all our voting systems nationwide), or else the campaign finance laws won’t make much difference even if they’re absolutely perfect. (The group doing most to right the voting system in that state is AUDITAZ, at
http://audit-az.blogspot.com/.)
But it’s still necessary to resist the right’s attempt(s) to push the campaign finance system back to those dark days when Richard Nixon could take heaps of secret cash from interested millionaires, including mobsters, former (?) fascists and the generals who ran Brazil and Greece.
MCM
Keep Arizona Elections Clean
Until not long ago, Arizona politics were an open sewer of corruption. But the state adopted a system of public campaign financing in 1998, and, since then, more than half of all candidates for office in Arizona have opted for this money.
Not anymore. Last June, in the middle of a political campaign, the Supreme Court – which seems at times to be on a crusade to remake the American electoral landscape – thrust itself into an ongoing lawsuit and froze the crucial element of the financing system.
Media Contact, Ilene Proctor 310-858-6643
Washington, DC: Justice Through Music, www.jtmp.org, partners again with the band Op-Critical, www.myspace.com/opcritical, in a new music video rendition of Roger Waters’ “The Wall,” to focus attention on the heartbreak of endless wars. ”We made a few changes
The chorus hook is sung by the fabulous Harmonic Angels Children’s Choir whose members are featured in the video. Roger Waters said that he encourages artists to use the song to resist all forms of oppression and that he sees artists as playing a vital role in resistance to repression and brutality. “I applauded and supported the resistance of schoolchildren in South Africa to that repressive and brutal regime,” he said, “and also applaud and support the resistance of Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank to the repressive and brutal occupation they endure.”
The music video was animated and directed by world renowned Scottish film director Matt Brown.
Justice Through Music is a non profit charity that works with famous bands to inspire young people to get involved with social causes. The organization has worked with Op-Critical on a number of music videos focusing on Darfur, Torture, Nuclear Weapons, Fracking, Propaganda, and Arlington Cemetery.
Watch “Another Name On The Wall” on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oYpWTrYsDs.Source: Justice Through Music
Tomgram: Max Blumenthal, The Great Fear
By Max Blumenthal
Posted on December 19, 2010, Printed on December 21, 2010
Moments of imperial and economic decline — according to a recent poll, 65% of Americans now believe this country to be “in a state of decline” — can also be periods of cultishness, even of madness incarnate. Such a mood now seems to be spreading through the United States. It’s not so surprising, really. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, fear has been injected into this “homeland” like a drug and a penumbra of official secrecy has settled over the land in a way that makes the secrecy of the Cold War years (when this country faced a superpower, not a ragtag set of jihadis, guerrillas, and terrorists) seem like an era of sunshine.
If you saw my op-ed in the Huffington Post yesterday, you know how concerned I was about today’s FCC meeting on net neutrality (and, by the way, would you mind sharing it on Twitter and Facebook?).
Chairman Genachowski’s draft Order was worse than nothing–and we needed to make sure the FCC didn’t approve it today.
Well, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that, thanks to Commissioners Copps and Clyburn–not to mention a nationwide network of net neutrality activists like you–the proposal approved today is better than the original. For instance, the FCC has now stated that it does not condone discriminatory behavior by wireless companies like Verizon and AT&T–an important piece that was missing from the first draft. We made a difference.
The bad news is that, while it’s no longer worse than nothing, the Order approved today is not nearly strong enough to protect consumers or preserve the free and open Internet. And with so much at stake, I cannot support it.
I’m still very concerned that it includes almost nothing to protect net neutrality for mobile broadband service–often the only choice for broadband if you live in rural or otherwise underserved areas. And I’m particularly disappointed that the FCC isn’t specifically banning paid prioritization–the creation of an Internet “fast lane” for corporations that can afford to pay for it.
But here’s the important thing to remember: This fight’s not over. The FCC must vigorously enforce these new regulations–and it must follow through on addressing wireless discrimination going forward.
So what now? First, we need to work together to make sure the FCC keeps the promises it made today–just as our movement was instrumental in improving these regulations from the first draft, we’ll be critical in ensuring that the regulations are enforced vigorously.
And I’m going to keep working with net neutrality advocates to see if there are legislative or administrative steps that can be taken to strengthen these protections.
But, for today, know that the work we’re doing to save the Internet is making a difference. Today, the FCC took a small step forward–too small by my estimation, but forward nonetheless.Thanks for your support,
AlPaid for and authorized by Al Franken for Senate 2014
WikiLeaks: US Ambassador Planned “Retaliation” Against France Over Ban on Monsanto Corn
by: Mike Ludwig, t r u t h o u t | Report
The former United States ambassador to France suggested “moving to retaliation” against France and the European Union (EU) in late 2007 to fight a French ban on Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) corn and changes in European policy toward biotech crops, according to a cable released by WikiLeaks on Sunday.
Former Ambassador Craig Stapleton was concerned about France’s decision to suspend cultivation of Monsanto’s MON-810 corn and warned that a new French environmental review standard could spread anti-biotech policy across the EU.
Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government
21 Dec 2010
http://www.legitgov.org
All links are here:
http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
US government builds vast domestic spying network: report 20 Dec 2010 The US government is building a vast domestic spying network to collect information on Americans as part of expanding counter-terrorism efforts, the Washington Post reported Monday. The unprecedented network involves local police, state and military authorities feeding a growing database on thousands of US citizens and residents, even though many have never been charged with breaking the law, the Post reported, citing numerous interviews and 1,000 documents.
Monitoring America –The government’s goal is to have every state and local law enforcement agency in the country feed information to Washington to buttress the work of the FBI, which is in charge of terrorism investigations in the United States. By Dana Priest and William M. Arkin 20 Dec 2010 Nine years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, the United States is assembling a vast domestic intelligence apparatus to collect information about Americans, using the FBI, local police, state homeland security offices and military criminal investigators. The system, by far the largest and most technologically sophisticated in the nation’s history, collects, stores and analyzes information about thousands of U.S. citizens and residents, many of whom have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
US Government builds vast domestic spying network
(AFP)
WASHINGTON – The US government is building a vast domestic spying network to collect information on Americans as part of expanding counter-terrorism efforts, the Washington Post reported Monday.
The unprecedented network involves local police, state and military authorities feeding a growing database
on thousands of US citizens and residents, even though many have never been charged with breaking the
law, the Post reported, citing numerous interviews and 1,000 documents.
The apparatus breaks new ground in the United States — where domestic security measures traditionally have faced legal limits — and raises questions about safeguards for privacy and civil liberties.
It doesn’t give me any pleasure to point out that I predicted this would happen, back when it was (quietly) reported that Obama’s closest friends include a couple of high rollers at AT&T.
Needless to add, the shrieks from such Republicans as FCC commisioner Robert McDowell—that Obama’s trying to “control” the Internet, and snatch it from Big Business–are either (more) outrageous lies, or symptoms of insanity.
And what’s with Michael Copps? He’s been heroic until now…
MCM
FCC Net Neutrality Rules Slammed From All Sides
By Ryan Singel
The federal government’s new internet fairness policy – designed to prevent the nation’s cable and DSL internet service providers from meddling with the open, free-wheeling nature of the internet – was met with boisterous criticism Monday night from all sides of the political spectrum.
Republicans, including FCC commissioner Robert McDowell, blasted the new rules as an interventionist over-reach by an activist federal regulator intent on asserting control over the internet.
Democrats, including Sen. Al Franken from Minnesota, along with public interest and free speech groups, slammed the rules as woefully inadequate to protect the public from the predations of an industry keen on turning the internet into a cyber-version of cable TV, with tiers and premium packages affordable by the wealthy.
Saving Social Security: Stopping Obama’s Next Bad Deal
Dean Baker
President Obama insists that he is a really bad negotiator, therefore the deal he got on the 2-year extension of the Bush tax cuts and the 1-year extension of unemployment benefits was the best that he could do. This package also came with a 1-year cut in the Social Security tax.
From Allen Feldman:
I wrote the following letter of protest to the BBC in response to this sexist and stupid BBC interview with Assange.
There should be more protests to the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/contact_today/default.stm
“John Humphreys’ interview with Julian Assange reached a new low for BBC when he repeatedly asked Assange how many “women” he has “slept with.” The question was sexist and irrelevant and I wonder if BBC reporters are required to reveal their private sex lives on air as part of their bona fides. Despite declaiming that “we can’t try the case here, (on-air)” that was precisely what he was doing in asking Assange to disclose his private sex life.
Further Humphreys proved his journalistic incompetence when he conflated the Swedish prosecutor leaking details of an investigation prior to charge or trial that compromises Assange’s presumption of innocence and wikileaks’ reporting of leaked state documents on undeclared wars that have caused mass violations of human rights paid for by taxpayers who have little or no knowledge of the damage being done in their names.”
Allen
Transcript: The Assange interview
He is under strict bail conditions while he fights extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning about claims of sexual assault.
Today programme presenter John Humphrys went to meet him for what is Mr Assange’s first face-to-face broadcast interview since his release.
Q: Why won’t you go back to Sweden?
JA: I have been back. I was there for some five weeks after these initial allegations were made. They were dropped within 24 hours of them first being made. The most senior prosecutor in Stockholm reviewed them and they were dropped. Then politician Claes Borgstrom became involved, other forces became involved and the case, the investigative part of the case, was taken up again. We waited some four/five weeks to be interviewed, so I could put my side of this case forward, and that did not happen.
Orwell Rolls In His Grave, featuring MCM – Buy the DVD
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