RSN: Jeff Cohen | Let's Not Restore or Mythologize Obama

23 March 19

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DECLINING FUNDING IS CAUSING BIG PROBLEMS - Six straight months of declining donations have really stressed out our process. Yes at this point we are making a major effort to reverse that trend. We must. Stop. Donate. Please. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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RSN: Jeff Cohen | Let's Not Restore or Mythologize Obama 

Jeff Cohen, Reader Supported News 

 

Cohen writes: "With former vice president Joe Biden seemingly ready to join the presidential race, a Washington Post reporter wrote: 'Biden and his allies picture an election that poses a choice between four more years of Trump disruption and a chance to restore the Obama administration.'"
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RSN: How the High Cost of Justice Pushes the Poor Into Prison, 25 Palestinian Children Killed in 3 Months, UNICEF Reports

Reader Supported News | 15 May 16

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The Progress Bar Is the Source of the Concern

If that were moving a bit more quickly towards completion we would be quite a bit calmer. It would also allow us to focus on what we actually do, which is not fundraising.

Small miracles can go a long way.

Marc Ash 
Curator, Reader Supported News

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John Kiriakou | Exposing the Injustice of Vengeance Against the Convicted

John Kiriakou, Reader Supported News
Kiriakou writes: "We live in a system that seeks vengeance against those convicted of crimes, a society that doesn't just want people to repay their debts to society, but wants them to continue to suffer, both during and after release. That's why there's no public outcry against the human and civil rights violations that current and former prisoners face every day."
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Court Blocks Release of Full CIA Torture Report
teleSUR
Excerpt: "The second most powerful court in the United States on Friday blocked an effort to release the full text of a Senate report detailing the CIA's torture of suspected terrorists after the 9/11 attacks."
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How the High Cost of Justice Pushes the Poor Into Prison
Alice Speri, The Intercept
Speri writes: "In the American justice system, there's often an assumption that if you can't afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you. But thousands of Americans arriving in court each year over family disputes, domestic violence, eviction, foreclosure, denied wages, discrimination on the job, and an array of other civil issues have no right to counsel."
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State-Mandated Mourning for Aborted Fetuses
Lily Myers, Bust
Myers writes: "The bill would require women to pay for either cremation or burial for the aborted fetus. Yes, you read that right. Women would be legally required to fund a funeral for the aborted fetus. If that isn't just the perfect blend of emotional shaming and economic manipulation, I don't know what is."
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Rahm Emanuel to Disband Chicago Police Oversight Agency
Mary Ann Ahern, NBC Chicago
Ahern writes: "Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to disband the Independent Police Review Authority, the Chicago agency responsible for investigating allegations of police misconduct."
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25 Palestinian Children Killed in 3 Months, UNICEF Reports
Middle East Eye
Excerpt: "Twenty-five Palestinian children were killed in the last three months of 2015 during a wave of anti-Israeli attacks and the number detained was the highest in seven years, the UN children's agency said on Saturday."
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Even With the Arctic Out, Offshore Drilling Isn't Slowing Down
Melissa Cronin, Grist
Cronin writes: "That doesn't mean offshore drilling is slowing down. The Gulf of Mexico, long an epicenter of offshore drilling, is still wide open - and its oil and gas production is growing."
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RSN: Bill Moyers and Michael Winship | Time for These Two Democrats to Go, Michigan Government 'Fundamentally Accountable' for Flint's Water Crisis Says Snyder's Appointed Task Force

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Bill Moyers and Michael Winship | Time for These Two Democrats to Go 
 
Bill Moyers and Michael Kinship, Moyers & Company 
Excerpt: "Rahm Emanuel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz must go. To millions, they are enablers of the one percent, perpetuators of the Washington mentality that the rest of the country has grown to hate." 
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Michigan Government 'Fundamentally Accountable' for Flint's Water Crisis Says Snyder's Appointed Task Force
Breanna Edwards, The Root 
Edwards writes: "The task force, which was appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, blasted the crisis as 'a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice.'" 
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Demonstrators demand action from the Republican presidential candidates about the water crisis 

in Flint, Mich., outside the historic Fox Theater before the GOP presidential debate March 3, 2016, 

in Detroit. (photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

The task force, which was appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, blasted the crisis as “a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice.”

n investigatory task force has found the state of Michigan "fundamentally accountable" for Flint's water-contamination crisis, pointing to the decisions made by the state's environmental regulators and state-appointed emergency managers who controlled the city, the Associated Press reports.

The Flint Water Advisory Task Force, which was appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to look into the lead contamination, condemned what happened in Flint as "a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice."

"One of the biggest lessons we hope to impart in our report is the need for government leaders to listen to their constituents; in Flint that didn't happen," Chris Kolb, task force co-chairman, said, according to AP.

According to the report, investigators primarily blamed the state Department of Environmental Quality for the disaster but also blamed other government agencies and officials for directly contributing to the crisis or delaying action to fix it. These include the Michigan Department of Helath and Human Services, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Genesee County Health Department, the city of Flint and financial managers whom Snyder put in charge of the city.

AP notes that the task force, consisting of five members, interviewed some 66 people during its investigation.

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/35921-michigan-government-fundamentally-accountable-for-flints-water-crisis-says-snyders-appointed-task-force

Western Voters Faced Chaos at the Polls Last Night 
Alice Ollstein, Think Progress 
Ollstein writes: "With reports of three hour wait times, online glitches, and legal restrictions, the contests highlighted serious voting rights problems." 
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NYPD Spokesman Slams Cruz Over Muslim Patrol Proposal 
Rebecca Savransky, The Hill 
Savransky writes: "New York Police Department spokesman Peter Donald shot back at Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Tuesday regarding comments he made earlier about patrolling Muslim neighborhoods." 
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Issue of Contraceptive Coverage Returns to Supreme Court 
Robert Barnes, The Washington Post 
Barnes writes: "The Supreme Court accepted seven contraceptive coverage cases from throughout the country, including one challenge involving the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and another from an order called the Little Sisters of the Poor, which runs homes for the elderly."
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40 Killed in Yemen by Massive US Drone Strike on 'Al Qaeda Camp' 
Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press 
Al-Haj writes: "The U.S. military conducted an airstrike Tuesday against an al-Qaeda training camp in Yemen, causing dozens of casualties, a Pentagon spokesman said." 
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Oil Companies Want to Get in on the Action in Cuba 
Katie Herzog, Grist 
Herzog writes: "Obama isn't the only one interested in Cuba. Big Business, including the oil industry, is eyeing the island nation as well." 
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RSN: Barack Obama | Guns Are Our Shared Responsibility, Trump Rally Draws Hundreds of Protesters in Bernie Sanders' Home State of Vermont, Report: Nebraska Lets Juveniles Be Locked in Solitary Confinement for 90 Days, Though GOP Blames Obama, North Korea Developed Its Nuclear Program Under Republicans

The Struggle for Funding Did Not End in December

December was the first month in the past eight months that we met our fundraising goal. It was great, but the struggle absolutely continues.

The problems aren't going away and neither are we.

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Marc Ash 
Founder, Reader Supported News

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Barack Obama | Guns Are Our Shared Responsibility

Barack Obama, The New York Times
Obama writes: "All of us need to demand leaders brave enough to stand up to the gun lobby's lies. All of us need to stand up and protect our fellow citizens. All of us need to demand that governors, mayors and our representatives in Congress do their part."
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Trump Rally Draws Hundreds of Protesters in Bernie Sanders' Home State of Vermont
John Santucci and Brad Mielke, ABC News
Excerpt: "Donald Trump's campaign made every effort Thursday night to prevent protesters and those undecided from entering his rally in Burlington, Vermont - Bernie Sanders' home turf - but to no avail."
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Brennan Bedard of Barre, Vermont, holds a Bernie Sanders campaign sign as she pickets with 

Johann Kulsic, left, and Rosie Contompasis, center, of Burlington, Vermont, outside the Flynn 

Center of the Performing Arts prior to an address by Republican presidential candidate Donald 

Trump in Burlington, Thursday, January 7, 2016. (photo: Charles Krupa/AP)

onald Trump’s campaign made every effort Thursday night to prevent protesters and those undecided from entering his rally in Burlington, Vermont -- Bernie Sanders' home turf -- but to no avail.

Protesters who were able to enter Trump's rally chanted slogans like “racist” or “dump Trump,” but the real estate mogul and GOP frontrunner was unfazed, vowing to "take...down" Hillary Clinton.

“I knew I was gonna have some in Vermont in all fairness," Trump said. "If we didn’t have that it wouldn’t be Vermont. Why do you think the other Republicans our not coming up here folks. I am the only one."

Justin Griffith, 20, a college student, said that he was turned away from the rally despite having a ticket.

"I told them I was open-minded, and he tells me I have to leave,” Griffth told ABC News. “They say it’s a private event, and only Trump supporters are welcome.”

Those who were not wanted were told by police they'd be trespassing if they stayed. No arrests were made.

Even Trump supporters expressed surprise at the tactic.

“I think they should be let in,” said Lynn Doney of Northfield, Vt. “Turning people away? That’s not right. If they were undecided, maybe he could sway them here.” Doney said he still planned to vote for Trump.

Many of those denied entry joined more than 500 raucous demonstrators across the street from the Flynn Performing Arts Center, where they chanted, danced to music from a brass band and held banners bearing slogans like “Vermont Trumps hate.” As more protesters were booted throughout the event, they received a hero’s welcome from the assembly outside.

Despite the frequent interruptions, Trump stuck to his hit list, attacking all three Democratic candidates. "Time for O'Malley to get out,” Trump said before quickly hitting the guy who started his career in Burlington.

"At least Bernie is getting some action," he said. "He gets much smaller crowds than me, but at least Bernie gets some action. Oh would I love to run against Bernie. I would love.”

In a statement, Sanders said he wants to take on Trump as well. "Donald Trump and I finally agree on something...It would be an extraordinary campaign and I am confident I would win," he said.

But once again Trump's real target was clear: "I have my mind set on Hillary….We’ll take her down.”

In the last several weeks, Trump has shied away from attacking his Republican rivals -- but not tonight. "We started off with 17. One by one they disappear," he said.

While President Obama held a town hall on gun violence in Virginia this evening, Trump doubled down on his pledge to remove gun-free zones.

Trump will be campaigning throughout the weekend, making a stop in South Carolina tomorrow evening, a double stop in Iowa Saturday and for the first time campaigning on a Sunday -- in Reno, NV.

VIDEO ON LINK:

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/34494-trump-rally-draws-hundreds-of-protesters-in-bernie-sanders-home-state-of-vermont

Report: Nebraska Lets Juveniles Be Locked in Solitary Confinement for 90 Days
Zaid Jilani, The Intercept
Jilani writes: "The ACLU has found that some juvenile correctional facilities in Nebraska are willing to lock up minors in solitary confinement for months at a time."
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Rahm Orders Third Party to Examine Chicago Law Department
John Byrne, Chicago Tribune
Byrne writes: "Two days after saying it was 'not possible' his Law Department is part of the cover-up culture that has tainted his Police Department, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he will bring in a 'third party' to review the city's legal practices after a federal judge found that city attorneys have withheld evidence in police cases."
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Though GOP Blames Obama, North Korea Developed Its Nuclear Program Under Republicans
Justin Salhani, ThinkProgress
Salhani writes: "Despite claims to the contrary, strong stances have not always worked in the past against North Korea. Ronald Reagan was in office in 1986 when plutonium was first produced in a North Korean reactor. They continued their program under President George H.W. Bush, producing enough plutonium to make 1-2 bombs."
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Syrian Regime Allows Aid to Besieged Villages After Outcry Over Starvations
Camila Domonoske, NPR
Domonoske writes: "Three besieged towns in Syria will soon be receiving humanitarian assistance: The Syrian government said Thursday it will allow aid to enter the villages, after multiple organizations reported deaths from starvation."
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2015 Wildfire Season Shatters National Record With 10 Million Acres Burned
Cole Mellino, EcoWatch
Mellino writes: "More than 10 million acres burned across the U.S in 2015, the National Interagency Fire Center reported on Monday. That's roughly the size of Connecticut and Massachusetts combined."
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Bernie Sander HEROIC STAND IN CHICAGO! RSN: Bernie Sanders Tells Chicago 'Rahm Should Resign'

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | My Very Muslim Christmas

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, TIME
Abdul-Jabbar writes: "Although I am Muslim, I have a deep affection and respect for Christmas. Affection because I was raised Catholic and the holiday season is a nostalgic hug as comforting as a warm crackling fire and hot apple cider."
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Black Lives Matter Holds 'Black Xmas' Protests in Minnesota, California
David Bailey, Reuters
Bailey writes: "Black Lives Matter held demonstrations in Minnesota and California on Wednesday to protest police killings of unarmed blacks, dubbing the day 'Black Xmas' to show it could affect the economy on one of the busiest shopping days of the year."
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Bernie Sanders Tells Chicago 'Rahm Should Resign'
Gideon Resnick, The Daily Beast
Resnick writes: "During a quick visit to the Windy City on Wednesday, the candidate hit all the crowd-pleasing marks in a speech about criminal justice reform. Addressing a crowd of less than a hundred, Sanders spoke the language of a city filled with targeted rage."
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Bernie Sanders. (photo: Joshua Lott)

During a brief stop in Chicago, the presidential hopeful railed against police militarization and said he wouldn’t want the mayor’s endorsement even if it were offered.

ernie Sanders doesn’t whisper.

He yells and he yells effusively, gripping any nearby podium like a vise almost as if to keep him from toppling over from the fire in his belly.

During a quick visit to the Windy City on Wednesday, the candidate hit all the crowd-pleasing marks in a speech about criminal justice reform. Addressing a crowd of less than a hundred, Sanders spoke the language of a city filled with targeted rage.

He took the unassuming stage at the Village Leadership Academy, a K-8 school near the University of Illinois, around 20 minutes later than his scheduled start time.

For this reason, and the fact that the senator was eager to get back to Vermont for the holidays, he blustered through a 20-minute riff on the inequities of the criminal justice system in the United States. Flanked by members of the Communications Workers for America, a union that has already endorsed him; academic Cornel West; and rapper Killer Mike, Sanders sped through a list of criminal justice reform proposals that have become synonymous with his by-the-people, for-the-people campaign. This was a speech especially catered to Chicago but evocative of the national movement of justice crusaders he hopes to lead.

Sanders wants to eliminate for-profit prisons, end mandatory minimum sentencing, and remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances.

“Too many lives have been destroyed because people have police records,” Sanders said to raucous applause in the tiny auditorium, which looked like a place where elementary school talent shows would take place.

This is all within Sanders’s typical target range: the sweeping talk of economic change and social justice, a kind of antithetical populist response to the equally effusive chest-thumping of Donald Trump.

It is significant, though, that the speech was delivered in a city where 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot and killed by police.

A young man standing behind Sanders on the right wore a shirt that read “Rahm failed us,” echoing the calls of many for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign after intentionally withholding the release of the graphic video depicting the shooting death of the teenager. Sanders, who met earlier in the day with Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, the man who narrowly lost to Emanuel in this year’s election, has had no qualms about sharing his position on the mayor’s apparent indiscretions.

“Any elected official with knowledge that the tape was being suppressed or improperly withheld should resign. No one should be shielded by power or position,” Sanders said in a statement about Emanuel earlier in the month.

On Wednesday evening, the candidate further solidified his disinterest in making nice with the public enemy mayor.

“If the question is do I want or need Rahm Emanuel’s support for president,” Sanders said when asked, “with all due respect to the mayor, no, I don’t.”

Emanuel, of course, is a Democratic establishment fixture who formerly served in the Obama administration and was a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton. And despite the mayor’s critical mishandling of one of the most graphic police shootings in recent years, he thinks he will still have Hillary Clinton’s support.

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask her,” Emanuel said last week when asked if the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination would still support him given the circumstances. “The question of whether I continue to have her support is up to her, but I feel pretty confident that I do.”

Clinton, who like many others called for a Department of Justice investigation into Chicago’s policing practices, balked at the opportunity to formally denounce the mayor and his involvement.

“He loves Chicago, and I’m confident that he’s going to do everything he can to get to the bottom of these issues and take whatever measures are necessary to remedy them,” Clinton told The New York Times.

The rift—albeit minor—between Sanders and Clinton has only been exacerbated by a lawsuit between the Sanders campaign and the Democratic National Committee over a data breach in which Sanders staffers accessed confidential voter data belonging to Clinton’s campaign. And while Sanders apologized for this mishap, he is willing to strike a much more defiant tone against the Clinton-Emanuel establishment ties.

A spokesperson for his campaign did not respond when asked if Sanders would consider an independent run if his tiffs with the DNC continue.

As he departed the stage to catch a flight back to Vermont, leaving a slew of gold streamers emblazoned on the curtain behind him, Sanders did make it clear that Emanuel did not represent his particular interests or goals.

“People can draw their own conclusions,” press secretary Symone Sanders told me when I asked if the scruffy presidential candidate would formally call for the Chicago mayor’s resignation. She pointed to the candidate’s previous statement about the circumstances surrounding the release of the video of McDonald’s death. But she assured The Daily Beast that Sanders didn’t come to Chicago just to pick a fight.

“We didn’t come to Chicago to call for Rahm’s head,” she said.

While there was no blood on the stage, it kind of seemed like they did.

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/34232-bernie-sanders-tells-chicago-rahm-should-resign

NBA Lends Its Name and Its Stars to Campaign Against Gun Violence
Zach Schonbrun and Michael Barbaro, The New York Times
Excerpt: "The National Basketball Association, alarmed by the death toll from shootings across the country, is stepping into the polarizing debate over guns, their regulation and the Second Amendment with an advertising campaign in partnership with one of the nation's most aggressive advocates of stricter limits on firearm sales."
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1950s Nuclear Target List Overs Chilling Insight
Scott Shane, The New York Times
Shane writes: "For the first time, the National Archives and Records Administration has released a detailed list of the United States' potential targets for atomic bombers in the event of war with the Soviet Union, showing the number and the variety of targets on its territory, as well as in Eastern Europe and China."
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US Pursued Secret Contacts With Assad Regime for Years
Nour Malas and Carol E. Lee, The Wall Street Journal
Excerpt: "The Obama administration pursued secret communications with elements of Syria's regime over several years in a failed attempt to limit violence and get President Bashar al-Assad to relinquish power, according to U.S. and Arab officials."
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Santa's Home Is Melting. Will We Ever Bring It Back?
Tim Folger, National Geographic
Folger writes: "Vast and white, easily visible from space, Earth's Arctic ice cap seems such a permanent fixture - a frozen country at the top of the world - that the idea that it could ever vanish almost defies comprehension. But by the middle of the century most of it will in fact vanish, thanks to our burning of fossil fuels. The North Pole and most of the ocean around it will be free of sea ice in summer for the first time in thousands of years."
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RSN: [Republican] Congress Moves to Sabotage the Paris Climate Summit, US First Shields Its Torturers and War Criminals From Prosecution, Now Officially Honors Them, Media Storms Apartment of San Bernardino Shooting Suspects, an 'Active Crime Scene'

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Glenn Greenwald | US First Shields Its Torturers and War Criminals From Prosecution, Now Officially Honors Them 
 
Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept 
Greenwald writes: "The Obama administration has moved from legally protecting Bush-era war criminals to honoring and gushing over them in public." 
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Media Storms Apartment of San Bernardino Shooting Suspects, an 'Active Crime Scene' 
Judd Legum, ThinkProgress 
Legum writes: "Multiple news organizations stormed into the apartment of the San Bernardino shooting suspects on Friday afternoon, and footage of the apartment - showing reporters rummaging through personal effects - was broadcast on live TV." 
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Paul Street | Rahm Emmanuel, Laquan McDonald and Black Rebellion in Chicago 
Paul Street, CounterPunch 
Street writes: "Beneath a carefully constructed pretense of concern for racial justice, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has long been a dedicated corporatist 'law and order' enemy of Black America." 
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Muslim Civil Rights Group Struggles to Fight Islamophobia After Recent Shootings 
Abigail Abrams, International Business Times 
Abrams writes: "CAIR was founded in 1994, and it has worked over the past two decades to advocate for Muslims' civil rights, respond to bias incidents and do outreach and education work to increase Americans' awareness of Islam." 
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The Cult of Countering Violent Extremism 
Belén Fernández, teleSUR 
Fernandez writes: "Here's an acronym you may start hearing more of: CVE. It stands for 'Countering Violent Extremism,' and it's all the rage these days in U.S. establishment circles." 
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Latin America: The Storms That Are Coming 
Raúl Zibechi, Upside Down World 
Zibechi writes: "The recent election of Mauricio Macri as president of Argentina is a turn to the right that calls to light the flame of social conflict." 
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Congress Moves to Sabotage the Paris Climate Summit 
Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker 
Kolbert writes: "Don't trust the United States: as the international climate summit in Paris grinds along, this is the message Republicans in Congress are trying to send the delegates." 
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RSN: First Florida, Now Wisconsin, Bans the Words 'Climate Change', Netanyahu Slips, Reveals Reason for Opposition to Iran Deal

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PROUDLY SEEKING YOUR DONATION: Fund-raising is the hardest thing we do. With a budget, this Reader Supported News agency prospers. It's worth it no matter how difficult. Public donations are capable of building a news agency, of the readers, by the readers and for the readers. Nothing makes the corporate news cartel pay attention faster than a Reader Supported challenger. Get us a budget, we know you can do it. Thanks to all. / Marc Ash - Founder, Reader Supported News

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Juan Cole | Netanyahu Slips, Reveals Reason for Opposition to Iran Deal

Juan Cole, Informed Comment
Cole writes: "US television news isn't very good and it has clearly gotten worse over the past 20 years."
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Bernie Sanders: Rahm Emanuel's Re-Election Is Proof Citizens United Decision Stinks
Joseph Erbentraut, Reader Supported News
Excerpt: "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) lamented the result of Chicago's mayoral election following the tense, expensive runoff between Rahm Emanuel and challenger Jesus 'Chuy' Garcia."
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Cop Refuses to Testify in Trial of Fellow Officer Michael Brelo Who Killed Two
Harriet McLeod, Reuters
McLeod writes: "A white South Carolina police officer has been fired after being charged with murder for shooting a black man in the back as he fled, but questions remained on Wednesday about some details of the killing that was filmed by a witness."
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Obama Hints at Cuba Breakthrough as He Flies South for Raul Castro Meeting
Jonathan Watts, Guardian UK
Watts writes: "Barack Obama is poised to remove Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, marking another important step toward rapprochement between the former cold war enemies."
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Undocumented Man Warned He Could Be Killed if He Was Deported. Then He Was.
Esther Yu-Hsi Lee, ThinkProgress
Yu-Hsi Lee writes: "Six months after he was deported back to Mexico from the United States, Constantino Morales was shot and killed Sunday night."
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Jail Doesn't Work: Pilot Program Shows Rehab Better at Preventing Repeat Offenses
Carimah Townes, ThinkProgress
Townes writes: "Low-level drug and prostitution offenders are significantly less likely to reoffend if they are sent to rehabilitation rather than to jail, according to the results of a pilot program in Seattle and King County in Washington."
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First Florida, Now Wisconsin, Bans the Words 'Climate Change'
Anastasia Pantsios, EcoWatch
Pantsios writes: "The idea that you can make climate change go away by not talking about it is spreading."
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RSN: New Fracking Rules on Federal Lands Are 'A Giveaway to Oil and Gas Industry,' Advocates Say,

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DONATIONS TRICKLING IN – WORK WITH US: You are here. We love that you are. Stop and Donate. This site is news funded by the Readers, it’s what we do. With you. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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Robert Parry | A Family Business of Perpetual War

Robert Parry, Consortium News
Parry writes: "Neoconservative pundit Robert Kagan and his wife, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, run a remarkable family business: she has sparked a hot war in Ukraine and helped launch Cold War II with Russia."
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Paul Krugman | Trillion Dollar Fraudsters
Paul Krugman, The New York Times
Krugman writes: "No, outrageous fiscal mendacity is neither historically normal nor bipartisan. It's a modern Republican thing."
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Obama Admin. Considers Supporting UN Palestine Statehood Resolution
Jack Moore, Newsweek
Moore writes: "A senior official, in comments made to the New York Times, suggested that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments this week - in which he ruled out a two-state solution under his rule ahead of his election win - could force U.S. president Barack Obama's administration to change course."
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Obnoxious Chicago Mayor Faces Threat
John R. MacArthur, Providence Journal
MacArthur writes: "Detested by the black voters of Chicago and unloved by the Democratic machine to which he owes his political career, Rahm Emanuel might conceivably lose - a previously unthinkable notion - in his bid for a second term as mayor of America's third-largest city."
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Greece Adopts Anti-Poverty Law despite EU Opposition
teleSUR
Excerpt: "The government of left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras moved to provide housing allowances and emergency food aid to people in need."
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Why Record Low Arctic Sea Ice Only Tells Half the Story
Henry Gass, The Christian Science Monitor
Gass writes: "A series of new studies from scientists around the world have revealed just how threatened the Earth's polar regions are to warming ocean waters."
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New Fracking Rules on Federal Lands Are 'A Giveaway to Oil and Gas Industry,' Advocates Say
Anastasia Pantsios, EcoWatch
Pantsios writes: "Drilling has been occurring on federal lands for years with more than 100,000 wells in existence. However, following the fracking boom of the last two decades, more than 90 percent of new drilling operations involve that process, evading the regulations of 30 years ago."
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RSN: Fukushima's Anniversary Should Remind Us Nuclear Power Poses Threat to Human Survival, End Israel's Violations of International Law in Gaza

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YOUR HELP: WE GOTTA HAVE IT: Everything is corrupted, right? Not exactly. Is RSN Corrupted? Honestly? If the answer is no then ask why? We are a pain, but you know you can trust us. Is an occasional contribution to the cause too much? Think about it. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson | End Israel's Violations of International Law in Gaza

Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "The UN should mandate an end to the siege of Gaza as a first step towards a settlement in Gaza."
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US Companies Are Stashing $2.1 Trillion Overseas to Avoid Taxes
Richard Rubin, Bloomberg
Rubin writes: "Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., Google Inc. and five other tech firms now account for more than a fifth of the $2.10 trillion in profits that U.S. companies are holding overseas."
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The Case to Release The Eric Garner Grand-Jury Records
Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker
Blitzer writes: "Grand-jury records should be released in cases where transparency could serve the public interest. In the Garner case, the public stakes are high: last year saw a significant uptick in police killings nationwide, and widespread protests of police violence against African-Americans."
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Chicago Teacher Pension Money Invested With Rahm Emanuel's Friends and Donors
Matthew Cunningham-Cook and David Sirota, International Business Times
Excerpt: "Chicago teachers' pension money flowed to financial companies connected to some of the mayor's friends and top donors. Emanuel received campaign cash from those same financial firms despite his own 2011 executive order purportedly preventing donors from receiving city business."
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Israel Elections: Rising Panic in Likud Ranks as Opposition Gains Momentum
Peter Beaumont, Guardian UK
Beaumont writes: "Israel's opposition leader, Yitzhak Herzog, appears to be gaining momentum in the runup to next week's general election, triggering a rising sense of panic in Likud, the party of the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu."
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Cory Doctorow | Technology Should be Used To Create Social Mobility - Not To Spy on Citizens
Cory Doctorow, Guardian UK
Doctorow writes: "Why spy? Because it's cheaper than playing fair. Our networks have given the edge to the elites, and unless we seize the means of information, we are headed for a long age of IT-powered feudalism, where property is the exclusive domain of the super-rich."
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Harvey Wasserman |Fukushima's Anniversary Should Remind Us Nuclear Power Poses Threat to Human Survival
Harvey Wasserman, Reader Supported News
Wasserman writes: "The catastrophe that began at Fukushima four years ago today is worse than ever. But the good news can ultimately transcend the bad-if we make it so."
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