Government

Obama Continues To Appoint Big Donors To Key Positions

September 28, 2013 Michael Beckel, wwwpublicintegrity.org Educate! Corruption, Foreign Relations, Government

A veteran Goldman Sachs & Co. executive and major fundraiser for President Barack Obama has been nominated as the next ambassador to Canada — the latest in a parade of big-dollar campaign backers slated to represent U.S. interests abroad. Heyman’s nomination is a sort of milestone for the White House: During his second term, Obama has now tapped 20 campaign bundlers for ambassadorships. Together, these moneymen and women raised at least $13.8 million — and likely much more — for Obama’s political committees since 2007, according to the Center for Public Integrity’s research. This has prompted criticism from many career diplomats and good-government groups, even as Obama’s overall rate of appointing non-career ambassadors has remained in-line with those of previous administrations — about one in three, according to the American Foreign Service Association, the labor union and trade association for career diplomats. So far in Obama’s second term, it’s about one in two. When he was running for president in 2008, Obama pledged to be a different kind of politician and stressed his “commitment to changing the way business is done in Washington.”

“Swarmwise” A Tactical Manual For Changing The World

September 28, 2013 Rick Falkvinge, falkvinge.net Strategize! Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Government

After four years of work, the leadership book “Swarmwise” is finally published. It is a book filled to the brim with the experience from leading the Swedish Pirate Party from zero into the European Parliament, spreading the movement to 70 countries, and most importantly, beating the competition on less than one percent of their budget – being over two orders of magnitude more cost-efficient. It is available as a paperback and a PDF, with more formats to come. Yesterday afternoon, I hit the “publish” button, and as of this morning, the book is available on Amazon (US, UK, DE, FR). It is also available as a PDF for free sharing (download). This is the culmination of four years of work, after I decided to write down and share my experiences with forming, leading, and winning with a swarm-style community.

Greek Govt Cracks Down On Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party

September 28, 2013 Staff, www.rt.com Educate! Golden Dawn, Government, Greece, Racism

Greek police have arrested the leader, several MPs and dozens of members of ultra-right Golden Dawn party on charges of leading a “criminal organization.” The party promised to respond with mass rallies of its supporters. Greek police issued arrest warrants for Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos, party spokesman and MP Ilias Kassidiairis, two other prominent members, at least five other party MPs, as well as number of ordinary party members. “The Secretary General and one lawmaker of the Golden Dawn Party were arrested a short while ago after arrest warrants were issued,” Greek police informed journalists. Police have detained about 30 members of the ultra-right party, which won 18 seats in the Greek parliament in the June 2012 elections, having received close to 7 percent of the popular vote.

ACLU Slams DOJ Over Unchecked Drone Program

September 27, 2013 Jacob Chamberlain, www.commondreams.org Educate! Government, Privacy, Surveillance

FBI Director Robert Mueller admitted last June before a Senate judiciary committee hearing that the agency employs domestic drones for surveillance-use over U.S. soil, but the extent of this practice, as well as the extreme lack of regulations in the program, have not been known until now. According to the report, the agency's domestic drones are only subject to rules that apply to manned aircraft. However, “unlike manned aircraft," the report states, "UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] can be used in close proximity to a home and, with longer-lasting power systems, may be capable of flying for several hours or even days at a time, raising unique concerns about privacy and the collection of evidence.” No rules exist for these scenarios.

For Politicians, Millennials Prove Hard To Pin Down

September 27, 2013 Trisha Marczak, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Government, Politics, Youth

The emerging generation of millennials is shifting into a political power unlike those who have gone before, representing a new wave of Americans who no longer fit neatly into either major political party and are instead growing in their distrust for government and their desire for across-the-board accountability. Coming of age in the era of the NSA’s expanded surveillance operations, millennials are emerging as more distrustful of the government, presenting a difficult scenario for political parties aiming to capture the young vote. Americans under 30 have emerged as the most united in the belief in civil liberties protection. According to a Pew Research poll, 60 percent of young respondents claimed their largest government concern stemmed from its anti-terrorism policies that have infringed on civil liberties.

A Corporate Coup Of Different Order: Growing Resistance To Trans-Pacific Partnership

September 27, 2013 Arthur Phillips, www.towardfreedom.com Resist! Corporatism, Finance and the Economy, Government, TPP

Transparency was supposed to be a White House priority from the very start. In his first inaugural address, when the world celebrated an historic and improbable election, Barack Obama made the case for how an open government was necessary to earn the trust of the people.[1] The next day, he issued a memo that asserted his commitment to creating an “unprecedented level of openness.”[2] And in February, more than four years later, President Obama claimed his to be “the most transparent administration in history.”[3] Perhaps the least publicized example of that statement’s dishonesty is the White House’s efforts to negotiate the biggest trade agreement since the mid 1990s in near-total secrecy.

To Reform The NSA, Fire Officials Who Lie

September 27, 2013 James Goodale, www.theguardian.com Educate! Government, NSA, Surveillance

The Director of National Intelligence James R Clapper admitted he lied to Congress about the NSA metadata collection program. He said the NSA had no such program – and then added that that was the least "untruthful" remark he could make. General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, lied in 2012 that the NSA does not hold data on US citizens, and repeated similar misstatements, under oath, to Congress about the program: We're not authorized to do it [data collection on US citizens], nor do we do it. NSA lawyers lied to secret Fisa court Judges John D Bates and Reggie B Walton. In recently released opinions, Bates said he had been lied to on three separate occasions and Walton said he had been lied to several times also. But Clapper and Alexander have not been held in contempt of Congress.

Husband Of Senator Feinstein Selling US Post Offices To Friends, Cheap

September 27, 2013 Peter Byrne, www.m.eastbayexpress.com Educate! Finance and the Economy, Government, Neoliberalism, Post Office

When a post office closes, it is obviously that much harder to buy a stamp, pick up a package, send a registered letter, or purchase a money order. But inconvenience alone did not account for the existential angst being expressed by the mostly over-fifty members of the throng as they questioned the motives of the United States Postal Service for selling post offices all over the country to developers. "Which of our public assets will be privatized next?" speakers asked. "Streets? Schools? The Lincoln Bedroom?" The Berkeley crowd is not acting alone: From the beaches of Santa Monica to the avenues of the Bronx to the orange farms of Nalcrest, Florida, people who like the US Mail are getting mad. "Hey, wait a minute, Mr. Postman! That is our community post office — "

Division Among Dems As Party Is Pulled Away From Obama’s Corporatism

September 25, 2013 Neil King Jr., online.wsj.com Resist! Government

This article, published in the Wall Street Journal, focuses on how the liberal wing of the Democratic Party is pulling the party to the left. It also focuses on how President Obama's popularity is dropping among Democrats. While the Wall Street Journal does not credit the resistance movement as one of the reasons for this division in the power structure, there is no question that the movement is changing the political debate in the country and changing the narrative through our own independent and citizen's media. It begins . . . "A resurgent liberal wing of the Democratic Party is adopting a new assertiveness that threatens to constrict President Barack Obama while shaping the race for his successor. . . ."

Ten Things You Can Do To Democratize the Economy

September 25, 2013 Gar Alperovitz and Keane Bhatt, truth-out.org Strategize! Finance and the Economy, Government, Worker Rights and Jobs

Is there any path toward a more democratic, equal and ecologically sustainable society? What can one person do? In fact, there is a great deal one person working with others can do. Experiments across the country already focus on concrete actions that point toward a larger vision of long-term systemic change - especially the development of alternative economic institutions. Practical problem-solving activities on Main Streets across the country have begun to lay down the elements and principles of what might one day become the direction of a new system - one centered around building egalitarian wealth, nurturing democracy and community life, avoiding climate catastrophe and fostering liberty through greater economic security and free time.

PHOTOESSAY: Banners Dropped On US Trade Office, Stop The TPP

September 25, 2013 Ellen Davidson, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Corporatism, Finance and the Economy, Government, Jobs, TPP, Worker Rights and Jobs

Photographer and editor Ellen Davidson tells the story of the banner drop at the office of the US Trade Representative on Monday, Sept. 23. The banner drop followed the Stop Fast Track Action Camp and was done to protest and expose the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership that is nearing the end of negotiations. The TPP is an agreement that provides a back door to the stalled WTO agenda. Unlike past trade agreements, the text of the TPP has been classified as secret. More than 600 corporate advisers have live time access to the text as it is being negotiated while members of Congress have restricted access, the media has been on a virtual blackout about it and the public only knows what has been leaked and what industry groups are reporting. President Obama has requested Fast Track from Congress which allow him to sign the agreement and later send it to Congress for an up or down vote.

Video: The Anti-TPP Take Over Of The US Trade Representative Building

September 24, 2013 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Energy, Environment, Finance and the Economy, Food and Agriculture, Government, TPP, Video, Worker Rights and Jobs

Below is a video of activists working in the coalition FlushTheTPP.org dropping multiple banners from the US Trade Representatives Building in Washington, DC to protest the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The groups sought to expose the secret negotiations that have been ongoing throughout the five years of the Obama administration and mobilize people concerned about workers, the environment, banking, food, water, Internet freedom and other issues to take action to oppose the TPP. The TPP will give large transnational corporations absolute power over our lives and make them more powerful than governments.

Dems Join GOP to Privatize, Log National Forests and Cut Education Funding

September 22, 2013 Zach Carter and Jason Cherkis, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Education, Environment, Government

The partisan drama surrounding the House GOP's defund-Obamacare bill on Friday obscured the passage of another piece of legislation with modest bipartisan support. Shortly after the Obamacare vote, the House approved a logging bill that would effectively privatize broad swaths of national forest land, mandate the logging of national forests, and cut education funding for some rural schools. The bill, aggressively opposed by environmental groups and President Barack Obama, passed with bipartisan support by a vote of 244-172, with 17 Democrats joining 227 Republicans to approve it.

California College Tells Student He Can’t Hand Out Copies Of Constitution

September 20, 2013 Techdirt.com, www.techdirt.com Educate! Civil Rights, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Government

The latest example of confined and controlled speech comes to us courtesy of Modesto Junior College. As FIRE.org reports, a student found his exercise of free speech shut down on one of the worst days of the year for a college to assert its negative attitude towards the First Amendment. In a stunning illustration of the attitude taken towards free speech by too many colleges across the United States, Modesto Junior College in California told a student that he could not pass out copies of the United States Constitution outside the student center on September 17, 2013—Constitution Day. Captured on video, college police and administrators demanded that Robert Van Tuinen stop passing out Constitution pamphlets and told him that he would only be allowed to pass them out in the college’s tiny free speech zone, and only after scheduling it several days or weeks ahead of time.

EPA Victims Ask: Who Will Protect Us From Our Protectors?

September 18, 2013 Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! Environment, Food and Agriculture, Government, Poverty, Racism, Whistleblowers

The EPA's dismal record of discrimination and intolerance gives the Agency the odious distinction of having had its retaliatory and intimidating policies cited in the first whistleblower protective legislation of the 21st century when Congress and the Executive in 2002 took the first tentative steps toward reigning in this rogue agency that has come to symbolize institutionalized governmental coercion and systematic fear tactics applied by criminal elements within the upper ranks of government against lower level, conscientious workers. The EPA is an Agency that has historically neglected economically-disadvantaged communities and allowed poor children to disproportionately suffer from asthma and other chronic upper-respiratory diseases, sometimes leading to death. The bulk of these children are Black, Hispanic and others who have nowhere else to go, but remain in toxic dumping grounds throughout the United States.

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