Veterans denounce Obama's claimed authority to kill anybody he wants to, as long as they are overseas

As of September 29, 2011, we are only one step away from a government where the top official can kill anybody, anywhere, any time he feels it necessary – and do it in complete secret.

With last week’s lawless killings of two U.S. citizens living in Yemen, Anwar Al-Awlaqi and Samir Khan, among others, President Obama took another step closer to that frightful day by assuming the roles of judge, jury and executioner. The two citizens were reportedly executed by a combined drone strike and the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden earlier this year.

Will a failed solar loan guarantee kill new nukes?

Republicans up in arms about the infamous failed federal $535 million loan guarantee for the Solyndra solar panel producer are finally tasked to apply the same standards to nuclear power.

If that happens, there will be no more commercial reactors built in the United States.

Unlike solar power, atomic energy cannot attract private capital.  So if the GOP succeeds in dragging down the entire federal energy loan program, the "Nuclear Renaissance" could be definitively done.  

The Solyndra story is complex, and full of opportunity---for the Chinese.  The Bush-era loan didn't add up from the start.  Though it was for a solar company involved in cutting-edge technology, there was much reason to question the corporate numbers.

Numerous other loans for Solartopian technologies have succeeded admirably.  No matter what Tea Party Republicans may wish, the future of the world's energy is with the sun, wind, tides, waves, sustainable bio-fuels, geothermal, ocean thermal, increased efficiency, conservation, and the like.

Israel’s Window to Bomb Iran

There are mounting signs that the right-wing Israeli government may think the timing is right for an attack on Iran, with growing alarms inside Israel about alleged Iranian progress on building a nuclear bomb – and with President Barack Obama fearing loss of key Jewish political support in 2012 if he doesn’t go along.

On Sept. 26, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Iran’s alleged progress, telling interviewer Charlie Rose that “time is short” before Iran obtains nuclear weapons and poses a direct threat to Israel and the rest of the world.

Yet, the key factor in any Israeli decision to send its aircraft and missiles to Iran is the degree to which Netanyahu and other hard-line Likud leaders believe that President Obama is locked into giving blanket support to Israel — particularly as Election 2012 draws near.

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

Posted on September 30, 2011 by NYCGA. This document was accepted by the NYC General Assembly on september 29, 2011
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

Hypocrisy of war and religion: How an unlikely group could unravel their evil connections

It’s almost unimaginable but it may be near the end for the U.S. military and quite possibly, the end of war. It is the result of the President’s recent decision to allow gays to openly serve in the military. Two million men and women in the U.S. military are now being forced to undergo training on how to cope with the new rules. If gays find a welcoming atmosphere in the military hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of straight men and women might drop out of the service; reserve units could be especially hit hard because this is where a large part if the older segment of the military is found and they are probably far less tolerant of tampering with God’s plan.

The Progressive Humanifesto

To whom it may concern - and by that I mean all of us and all those yet to come:
I am, or more precisely "we are," writing an essay called The Progressive Humanifesto to articulate and advance the progressive vision for America and the world.

I humbly ask each of you who identify with the progressive political spirit - the Left, the Green, the Liberal - to provide input as I work to put this treatise together. What do you think our Progressive Movement should stand for, rail against, change?

I want to hear from any and all of you who declare yourselves progressive! You who are disdainful of - and discouraged by - the democratic-republican duopoly in America!

You, you, and especially YOU!

How do the majority of us feel about the role and size of our armed forces? Sustainable consumption? The national debt? Renewable energy? Social services? Taxation? Private property? Public land? Public education? Capitalism? Socialism? The electoral process? Guns, butter, apple pie?

The Dispatch empire strikes back: Vader-like forces of darkness suck The Other Paper into a black hole

The late Herbert Marcuse, author of One Dimensional Man, and Noam Chomsky, America's most cited scholar, both have pointed out the advantage of controlling news through private corporate conglomerates. In 1947, in his seminal book Inside USA, John Gunther called the Wolfe family of Columbus perhaps America's most ruthless media monopoly.

Last week, the Wolfe family's closely held private corporation, the Dispatch Printing Company, was at it again. The Dispatch bought up the last independent weekly newspapers in Columbus, owned by American Community Newspapers. They picked up the Suburban News Publication (SNP) chain of 22 local community weeklies; The Other Paper, a weekly entertainment and commentary newspaper; Columbus Monthly, the only serious magazine in the capital; and a dozen other specialty magazines including Columbus CEO and Columbus Bride. John F. Wolfe, the CEO of the Dispatch Printing Company, told Business First that, "Putting all of these titles under one roof opens up enormous and exciting possibilities for local readers."

Really?

Troy Davis

A judge grants dubious probation

In 2001, Miami Federal Judge Joan Lenard sentenced five Cuban agents to long prison terms for conspiracy to commit espionage (although no evidence of espionage appeared during the trial). Rene Gonzalez, 55, like the other four, denied he ever engaged in or conspired to commit espionage.

Rene will be released on October 7. Lenard’s conditions demand that Rene remain in Miami for three years and be monitored by parole officers, and that he not have any contact with terrorists.

Neither condition makes sense. An admitted Cuban agent living in Miami; a man who infiltrated the anti-Castro Brothers to the Rescue and could not find an insurance company to write a policy on his life. Bookies would be taking bets on when – not if – he gets assassinated. Hit men abound in the area.

BLACKBOXVOTING: RACIAL DILUTION OF VOTING RECORDS

In June 2007, a steady voter in Memphis named Effie Washington was a Black woman. But before the 2008 presidential election, Effie's voting record was changed to read "gender: man; race: other". In June 2009 her voting record was changed, to "gender: woman; race: other".

At one time Sharonda Williams* was listed as a Black woman. She was purged from Shelby County (TN) voter rolls with a code indicating she had moved out of the county, even though she lived in Millington, a Memphis suburb in Shelby County. Sharonda was issued a different voter ID number and then listed as "race: other". Sharonda voted at her polling place in the May 2010 primary, selecting a Democratic ballot, which is marked as "cast" in the electronic poll book. But that poll book log never was made public, and the official voter history records report that Sharonda Williams did not vote. In August 2010, Williams is reported as voting Republican.

*There are only two persons on the Shelby County voter list named Sharonda Williams. One has a birthdate in 1978, one in 1981. The information above pertains to the one born in 1981.

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