Why Are Things As They Are?

We Say Fight Back!

West Coast Fights Back vs Empire’s Wars: Several hundred people demonstrated in Los Angeles and San Diego to protest against a possible U.S.-led attack on Syria.
The LAPD says about 200 people took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles Saturday. They waved signs that read “No More War” and shouted “Hands off Syria.”
Capt. Michael Oreb said more than 40 people were cited for sitting on street intersections and blocking traffic. Two people were arrested when they refused to sign their citations.
Protestors in the Bay Area took to the streets in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Mateo. NBC Bay Area reported that the threatened strike in Syria had some concerned at the possibility of a new war:
“It’s again the U.S. government sending out a political line, saying there’s some country we should be afraid of when in reality, 10 years later, we see the disaster Iraq was,” protester Frank Lara said. “These resources should be used for fair wages, for things like housing, things like health care and education.”
In San Diego, about 150 people gathered in an anti-war rally in Balboa Park. U-T San Diego reported that war-weary demonstrators were similarly concerned:
“It’s a civil war that we have no business in,” said Britta Noack, 42, who said she moved to the U.S. from Germany nearly 12 years ago. “Even with limited strikes, this has the potential to blow up into world war,” she said.
The protests came as President Obama announced that he would ask Congress to vote on whether to strike against Syria to punish it for what the U.S. believes was a deadly chemical attack led by Syrian President Bashar Assad. www.scpr.org/news/2013/09/01/39007/hundreds-rally-in-la-san-diego-against-attack-on-s/

‘New Jim Crow’ Placards Seized by Police & More From the March on Washington The day was symbolized for me on multiple levels by seeing DC Park police seize 200 professionally printed placards from activists that were distributing them for free. The placards read, “Stop Mass Incarceration. Stop the new Jim Crow.” Police said that it was “unlawful solicitation”, even though they were clearly giving them away. When those having their signs seized complained, they were threatened with fines or arrest. I heard one DC police officer say, “Hey, you can get them back at the end of the day. On second thought, given your attitude you cannot. “  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/25-0

Fighting Education Overhaul, Thousands of Teachers Disrupt Mexico City A radical teachers’ group mobilized thousands of members in Mexico City last week, chasing lawmakers from their chambers, occupying the city’s historic central square, blocking access to hotels and the international airport, and threatening to bring an already congested city to a halt in the coming days.
These mobilizations, analysts said, suggest how difficult it may be for President Enrique Peña Nieto to get through this and other changes he has pushed since taking office in December, including an energy and telecommunications overhaul deemed vital to revving up the economy. www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/world/americas/fighting-education-overhaul-thousands-of-teachers-disrupt-mexico-city.html?ref=global-home&_r=2&

Cultural Logic, Works & Days to co-publish special issues on “Education for Revolution”Posted on July 7, 2013 |
The journals Cultural Logic and Works & Days are collaborating to co-publish special issues on “Marxism and Education: International Perspectives on Education for Revolution.”
The issue will be published this fall, in print, by Works & Days. Cultural Logic will then publish an expanded online version—including several additional articles, including pieces on Greece, India, and Turkey—in 2014.
Rich Gibson and E. Wayne Ross, co-editors of the special issue, describe the context and focus of the issue as: blogs.ubc.ca/ross/2013/07/cultural-logic-works-days-to-co-publish-special-issues-on-education-for-revolution/

The Little Red Schoolhouse

A Classic Revisited: Why Have School? to be asked in every classroom: Why have school? Why are we here?
Let’s step back a moment in order to put school in its proper, social, perspective.
Schools are the centripetal organizing point of de-industrialized North American life, and much of life elsewhere. Evidence: School workers, not industrialized workers, are by far the most unionized people in the USA, more than 3.5 million union members. School unions are growing, if slowly, while industrial unions collapse, evaporate, because, in part, industry evaporates, and because industrial union leaders abandoned the heart of unionism—the contradictory interests of workers and employers. Nearly one-half of the youth in high school today will be draft-eligible in the next seven years. www.counterpunch.org/2010/09/07/why-have-school/

Goals of the Emergency Financial Manager Running Failed Detroit Schools Martin told The Detroit News:
■The district will partner with Target Corp. on an exclusive customer service initiative.
■He’s reviewing crime reports to focus resources on hot spots.
■He wants teachers to act and dress professionally.
A certified public accountant by trade and former Marine, Martin must right not only the financial ship at DPS but also improve the academic performance of its 50,000 K-12 students.
In the past four years, DPS students have scored the lowest in the United States on national assessment tests.
From The Detroit News: www.detroitnews.com/article/20130728/SCHOOLS/307280012#ixzz2dh2rgDij

School as BOOTCAMP On Saturday, May 1st the Math, Literacy and Test Prep Boot Camp came to an end. This six weeks program provided the following to 36 students in grades 6-9 from the WLCSD:
Basic Training with refresher math and reading
Readiness Training test preparation for MEAP, Explore, & ACT
Tutoring in current math and reading classes
Positive self image reinforcement   www.wlcsd.org/Geislercfm.cfm?subpage=980304

When Class Trumped Race in Capitalist Schools When Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech a half-century ago, on Aug. 28, 1963, black children lagged behind their white peers in school by more than three years. For poor children, the picture was somewhat more encouraging: Those in the 10th percentile of income fell behind the children in the upper echelon of wealth by about a year or so. Poverty was a major obstacle, but not so large that it couldn’t be scaled by the brightest and most ambitious.
Fifty years later, social class has become the main gateway—and barrier—to opportunity in America.  http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/when-class-became-more-important-to-a-childs-education-than-race/279064/

Liberal Fave Matt Damon Sends His Kids to Private School Choosing a school has already presented a major moral dilemma. “Sending our kids in my family to private school was a big, big, big deal. And it was a giant family discussion. But it was a circular conversation, really, because ultimately we don’t have a choice. I mean, I pay for a private education and I’m trying to get the one that most matches the public education that I had, but that kind of progressive education no longer exists in the public system. It’s unfair.” Damon has campaigned against teachers’ pay being pegged to children’s test results: “So we agitate about those things, and try to change them, and try to change the policy, but you know, it’s a tough one.”   www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/02/matt-damon-activist-star-elysium

Schools as Huge Marketss–LAUSD spends $1 Billion on Ipads L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy has pushed for the technology, which will cost about $1 billion — half of that for the Apple tablets and about half for other expenses, such as installing a wireless network on every campus. The vast majority of the cost will be covered by school construction bonds, a payment method that has sparked some concerns and legal and logistical hurdles. www.latimes.com/local/la-me-lausd-ipads-20130828,0,906926.story

Report on teacher training programs rips local SoCal universities Overall, local results were disappointing. CSU San Marcos received one star for its secondary education graduate program, while its elementary program received zero. San Diego State University and the University of San Diego received the same rankings. Point Loma Nazarene University fared slightly better, receiving one star for its elementary program and 1.5 for secondary education. Read more: www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2013/jun/25/report-on-teacher-training-programs-rips-local-uni/#ixzz2dgrxeOWPRead more: www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2013/jun/25/report-on-teacher-training-programs-rips-local-uni/#ixzz2dgrf5eQO

Free! History 101  http://www.richgibson.com/History101/history-101/

The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor

Bromwich: Stay Out of Syria! The deepening violence of the Syrian civil war is also in some measure a consequence of Libya: Qaddafi’s disbanded army and unguarded weapons moved southward in Africa, but they also moved eastward to Asia. The state terror of the most “surgical” air war leaves in its wake many thousands of stateless terrorists. As Nancy Youssef pointed out in a penetrating survey on March 14 in the McClatchy newspapers (“Middle East in Turmoil 10 Years After Iraq Invasion”): “The most effective anti-Assad rebel military faction [in Syria], the Nusra Front,” is itself “a branch of al Qaida in Iraq, the same radical Islamist group that the US fought in that country and that the current Iraqi government also is battling.” www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/jun/20/stay-out-syria/?pagination=false

PBS Classroom on Lawrence and the Arab Revolt (a new Lawrence won’t be able to do a second doublecross) www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/jun/20/stay-out-syria/?pagination=false

Syrians in Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack The U.S., Britain, and France as well as the Arab League have accused the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for carrying out the chemical weapons attack, which mainly targeted civilians. U.S. warships are stationed in the Mediterranean Sea to launch military strikes against Syria in punishment for carrying out a massive chemical weapons attack. The U.S. and others are not interested in examining any contrary evidence, with U.S Secretary of State John Kerry saying Monday that Assad’s guilt was “a judgment … already clear to the world.”
However, from numerous interviews with doctors, Ghouta residents, rebel fighters and their families, a different picture emerges. Many believe that certain rebels received chemical weapons via the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and were responsible for carrying out the dealing gas attack.  http://original.antiwar.com/Dale-Gavlak/2013/08/30/syrians-in-ghouta-claim-saudi-supplied-rebels-behind-chemical-attack/

Street on the Moral Authority of the USA The official reason given for the looming air assault is that Syria has engaged in the “moral obscenity” (Kerry) of using chemical weapons against its civilians. Kerry accuses the Syrian government of the “indiscriminate slaughter of civilians” and of cynical attempts to cover up this “cowardly crime.”
Leaving aside the question of the veracity of this charge (see below), one key assumption behind the pretext is that Washington cares about ordinary people in the Middle East and the broader Muslim world. This is an assumption that nobody should take seriously in light of Washington’s mass-murderous conduct towards those people across recent decades. That record includes the following moral obscenities:
*The killing of 300 Iranian civilian air passengers (including 90 children) blown out of the sky (on Iranian Air Flight 655) by the U.S. Navy in Iranian air space from Iranian territorial waters by the U.S. warship Vincennes on July 3, 1988. (The commander of the Vincennes William C. Rogers III was subsequently rewarded with a Combat Action ribbon and the prestigious Legion of Merit “for exceptionally meritorious conduct.”)
*Helping Saddam Hussein’s Iraq regime attack Iranian troops with chemical weapons, including sarin, a deadly nerve agent, in 1988.
*The killing of more than 125,000 Iraqis so that the U.S. could punish the renegade behavior of its former client Saddam Hussein in the so-called Persian Gulf War of 1991 – an operation that cost the lives of less than 200 U.S. troops. (The body count included many thousands of surrendered troops slaughtered while in full retreat from Kuwait on the infamous “Highway of Death” in the night of February 26-27, 1991. A reporter described the highway scene as “a blazing Hell” and “a gruesome testament,” noting that “to the east and west across the sand lay the bodies of those fleeing”).
*The killing of more than 1 million Iraqis by a U.S-imposed weapon of mass destruction called “economic sanctions” between 1991 and March 2003 (Secretary of State Madeline Albright said the following to CBS News about the killing of more than half a million Iraqi children by the U.S.-led sanctions: “this is a very hard choice, but the price – we think the price is worth it.” )   www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/30/the-war-train-to-syria/

AQ Jihadists Run Fake Syrian Rebellion (as in Libya, Egypt, et al) A rebranded version of Iraq’s al-Qaeda affiliate is surging onto the front lines of the war in neighboring Syria, expanding into territory seized by other rebel groups and carving out the kind of sanctuaries that the U.S. military spent more than a decade fighting to prevent in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the four months since the Iraqi al-Qaeda group changed its name to reflect its growing ambitions, it has forcefully asserted its presence in some of the towns and villages captured from Syrian government forces. It has been bolstered by an influx of thousands of foreign fighters from the region and beyond. www.washingtonpost.com/world/al-qaeda-expands-in-syria-via-islamic-state/2013/08/12/3ef71a26-036a-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html?hpid=z1

War Drums of the Past (playing loud again) The Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States created to influence U.S. public opinion regarding American participation in World War I. Over just 28 months, from April 13, 1917, to August 21, 1919, it used every medium available to create enthusiasm for the war effort and enlist public support against foreign attempts to undercut America’s war aims.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Public_Information

Thanks For Your Service! Now Get out of the USA As a deported veteran, Tepeyac is one of a little-known cadre of warriors who served in the U.S. military as green-card holders — permanent legal residents but not U.S. citizens — then committed a crime after returning to civilian life, were convicted and punished, then were permanently expelled from the United States.
No one knows how many there are. U.S. officials said they do not keep track, but immigration lawyers and Banished Veterans, a group formed to help the deportees, said that at least hundreds, and perhaps thousands, have been deported in recent years.   www.washingtonpost.com/politics/deported-veterans-banished-for-committing-crimes-after-serving-in-us-military/2013/08/12/44f81098-ffa9-11e2-9a3e-916de805f65d_story.html?hpid=z4

Rouge Forum Keynoter and Iraq War Vet on the Real Reasons to Attack Syria  (video)  http://www.answercoalition.org/march-forward/statements/video-iraq-war-veteran-on.html

The International Economic War of the Rich on the Poor

25 Facts on the Barbarizing of Detroit 7) At this point, there are approximately 78,000 abandoned homes in the city.
8) About one-third of Detroit’s 140 square miles is either vacant or derelict.
9) An astounding 47 percent of the residents of the city of Detroit are functionally illiterate.  http://www.activistpost.com/2013/07/25-facts-about-fall-of-detroit-that.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ActivistPost+%28Activist+Post%29

Obamagogue to the Detroiters who helped Elect him: Go Live in Hell. No help from us. The White House reiterated Friday that no federal bailout for Detroit is in the works, but said the administration wants to be helpful as the Motor City restructures in bankruptcy.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said on the issue of Detroit’s insolvency that is “something local leaders and creditors are going to have resolve, but we will be partners in an effort to assist the city and the state as they move forward.” Asked for specifics on what type of assistance might be available, Carney declined to elaborate.
The issue here of the insolvency and dealing with that is one that Detroit and Detroit’s creditors will have to resolve. We will be of assistance in general, both in terms of policy as well as just being a partner with Detroit as Detroit finds its way and moves forward in the coming weeks, months and years,” Carney said. From The Detroit News: www.detroitnews.com/article/20130719/METRO01/307190105#ixzz2di0cvbsJ

80% of USA Near Poverty Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.  http://bigstory.ap.org/article/exclusive-4-5-us-face-near-poverty-no-work-0

Sequestration slashes Head Start funding Last year about 1 million of the nation’s poorest children got a leg up on school through Head Start, the federal program that helps prepare children up to age five for school. This fall, about 57,000 children will be denied a place in Head Start and Early Head Start as fallout from sequestration.
New estimates about the automatic budget cuts were released Monday by the federal government. The cuts have slashed more than $400 million from the federal program’s $8 billion budget.
Read more here: www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/08/19/199711/sequestration-slashes-head-start.html#emlnl=Daily_News_Update#storylink=cpy

From the right–George Will on Obamagogue President Obama’s increasingly grandiose claims for presidential power are inversely proportional to his shriveling presidency. Desperation fuels arrogance as, barely 200 days into the 1,462 days of his second term, his pantry of excuses for failure is bare, his domestic agenda is nonexistent and his foreign policy of empty rhetorical deadlines and red lines is floundering. And at last week’s news conference he offered inconvenience as a justification for illegality.
Explaining his decision to unilaterally rewrite the Affordable Care Act (ACA), he said: “I didn’t simply choose to” ignore the statutory requirement for beginning in 2014 the employer mandate to provide employees with health care. No, “this was in consultation with businesses.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-obamas-unconstitutional-steps-worse-than-nixons/2013/08/14/e0bd6cb2-044a-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html?hpid=z3

Tar Sands Hell in Detroit A vast pile of toxic waste, 40 feet high, sits by the Detroit River, the symbol and substance of the contempt in which Black urban dwellers are held by the Lords of Capital. The Koch brothers, who own the poison petcoke pile, are far more powerful than the 700,000 people of Detroit, who have been stripped of their basic democratic rights and have no government to defend them.  http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/freedom-rider-tar-sands-hell-detroit

The Emergence of Fascism as a Popular Mass Movement

John Prados is a senior fellow of the National Security Archive in Washington, D.C. His forthcoming book is “The Family Jewels: The CIA, Secrecy, and Presidential Power” (University of Texas Press). Demystifying the NSA: So much has been written and said recently about the National Security Agency (NSA) monitoring of cellphone calls, emails, and other internet communications that a great deal of misinformation has clouded proper understanding. Some of this is chatter from people following the news but a great deal consists of statements by officials desperately defending their intrusive monitoring, either obfuscating the issue or invoking terrorism to rescue themselves from very serious charges of illegality. Officials continue to cloak the true dimensions of their activity behind a wall of secrecy, even as President Obama earnestly says Americans should be having a debate about these eavesdropping programs. It is past time to inject more clarity into this “debate.” Absent the NSA and other authorities declassifying sufficient information on which to have a realistic debate, this piece seeks to deconstruct a number of the claims that have been made regarding the NSA eavesdropping. It is formatted as a series of propositions followed by commentary on each one.  http://hnn.us/articles/demystifying-nsa-surveillance-program

NSA is Watching, Listening, Taping…You The National Security Agency collected the emails of tens of thousands of Americans for three years before acknowledging the problem in 2011 and bringing it to the attention of the secret intelligence court, which ordered the program overhauled.
Officials disclosed the history of that unlawful surveillance Wednesday, releasing three partially redacted opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which detailed the concerns judges had about how the NSA had been siphoning data from the Internet in an effort to collect foreign intelligence. http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-nsa-collected-us-emails-20130821,0,7307668.story

Obamagoge PROMISES he’s going to watch you The Obama administration on Friday asserted a bold and broad power to collect the phone records of millions of Americans in order to search for a nugget of information that might thwart a terrorist attack.
In a 22-page “white paper,” the Justice Department for the first time detailed its legal rationale for a massive National Security Agency data collection program that it claimed is both constitutional and subject to federal oversight.   www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-administration-asserts-broad-surveillance-powers/2013/08/09/ff429504-0134-11e3-96a8-d3b921c0924a_story.html

Solidarity for Never

After Helping in the Dismissal of Every Detroit Teacher in 2012, DFT Declares 2012-13 “A YEAR OF TRIUMPH'” dft231.mi.aft.org/files/july2013.pdf

Cindy Sheehan on the Peace Industrial Complex The Peace Industrial Complex (PIC) resembles its counterpart of the Military (MIC) sort by its very alliance with the Democratic wing of the War Party and must bear a great responsibility for the continuing war tactics of the Empire. Language is important, and just because the Democratic wing of the War Party calls its Imperial transgressions, “humanitarian interventions” does not make it right, or the lives lost any less tragically unnecessary and sad.  …In 2008, for example, for the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, I was even told by United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) that there would be no mass demo in DC because it would “embarrass” the complicit Democrats and told by another organization that we had helped so much Iraq Veterans Against the War, that I was banned from attending its Winter Soldier event in DC in March of that year. Why? Because not all of the vets who would be testifying were “antiwar” and wouldn’t want to be seen associating with me. I was hurt, but not defeated, and vowed to always be in the principled struggle for peace, and not on the side where war is only wrong if a Republican regime is waging it.  http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-peace-industrial-complex-pic-and.html

CPUSA (UFPJ) et al Destroyed Anti-war Movement On the eve of American military intervention in Syria, the once-robust antiwar movement has stayed curiously silent.
Activists who turned out thousands of protesters during the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq say they’ve been unable to effectively organize or raise money since the end of the Bush years, and that newer causes like drones have seized the space on the left once occupied by opposition to conventional warfare. And some acknowledge that the energy has leaked out of the movement because a Democrat is now in office. Though some groups have organized online petitions and some real-life protests, the antiwar crowd that was on fire before the war in Iraq has made hardly a dent in the conversation surrounding Syria.
“Well, the most incredibly depressing thing was that most of the groups that existed before don’t exist anymore,” said Medea Benjamin, the founder of Code Pink. “That’s the number one problem, is that the antiwar movement is a shadow of its former self under the Bush years.”  http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/antiwar-left-stays-quiet-on-syria

Detroit Federation of Teachers Boss Charged with Fraud A former business manager for the Detroit Federation of Teachers has been charged with bank fraud in a federal indictment, accused of writing checks totaling thousands of dollars to herself or others.
According to a document filed Wednesday with the U.S. District Court’s Eastern District, Sherri Patrick devised a scheme between April 2005 and April 2009 in which she caused the DFT to issue 90 checks payable to herself or third parties for her benefit when she wasn’t entitled to those payments. From The Detroit News: www.detroitnews.com/article/20130807/SCHOOLS/308070113#ixzz2dgzQwqwc

Unions, Teacher ‘Voice’ Groups, National Board Among Recent Gates Recipients The National Education Association’s quasi-independent foundation received $3.9 million to support a group of “master teachers” to create exemplar lessons aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The Huffington Post’s tireless Joy Resmovits has all the details for you.
The foundation also re-upped for the American Federation of Teachers’ Innovation Fund and common-core efforts to the tune of $4.4 million. This probably partly explains why AFT President Randi Weingarten generally doesn’t mention Gates in the list of foundations she doesn’t like, such as Walton.
Speaking of AFT, Gates has also given $150,000 to help with one of its affiliates’ bids to become a charter-school authorizer. I outlined that project in this Teacher Beat blog item.   blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2013/07/unions_teacher_voice_groups_na.html

NEA Members: What’s Your Uniserv Boss Being Paid? While leaders of the local teachers union have criticized the Clark County School District for overpaying administrators and underpaying educators, they have a recent history of paying themselves huge salaries.
In 2009, the last year for which a required Internal Revenue Service report is available, more than a third of the union’s $4.1 million budget went to pay just nine leaders. Each earned between $139,785 and $208,683 for a total of $1.5 million, according to the Clark County Education Association’s report to the IRS.
John Jasonek, then executive director, got $208,683 for running the union but also received $423,863 from two affiliated organizations — the union’s Community Foundation and Center for Teaching Excellence — making his total pay $632,546.
In addition, union-created Teachers Health Trust CEO Peter Alpert was paid $546,133.   www.reviewjournal.com/news/education/leaders-clark-county-teachers-union-see-big-jump-pay

Rats Flee Sinking AFL-CIO ship The West Coast longshore union is pulling out of the national AFL-CIO, citing “attacks” in which the umbrella organization’s members blatantly cross picket lines at Northwest grain terminals.
Robert “Big Bob” McEllrath, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, broke the news in a letter obtained by The Oregonian Friday. In the three-page letter sent Thursday, McEllrath told AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka the ILWU would sever its 25-year affiliation with the federation, cutting formal ties because organization members sabotaged dock workers.
The defection exposes a major schism in organized labor as well as the increasingly embattled status of the dockworkers’ union, a financially pressed organization threatened by automation that shrinks its base of almost 60,000 dues-paying members. Northwest conflicts, such as a 2011 challenge by an AFL-CIO affiliate that tried to displace longshoremen at a new grain terminal in Longview, Wash., are central to the historic fallout. www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2013/08/longshore_union_pulls_out_of_n.html

The UAW’s Largest Local (Michigan state employees, not autoworkers) Spends thousands of member dues to clutch forced dues deduction) A union says it will appeal a state Court of Appeals ruling that says Michigan’s right-to-work law applies to state employees.
The UAW notified its members of the planned appeal through an e-mailed newsletter. UAW Local 6000 is the largest union representing state employees, with about 17,000 members.
The state appeals court, in a 2-1 ruling Aug. 15, said state employees are covered by the contentious law passed in December.
The UAW and other state employee unions argue they are not subject to the law because only the Civil Service Commission has responsibility for their work rules. www.freep.com/article/20130827/NEWS06/308270103/right-to-work-state-employees-UAW-court-appeal

Spy versus Spy

CIA Admits It Masterminded Iran’s 1953 Coup! Will US Face Prosecution? On the 60th anniversary of the 1953 military coup in Iran that overthrew the government of radical nationalist Mohammad Mossadegh, the US has declassified documents detailing how the CIA’s secret operation brought the country’s Shah back to power.
“American and British involvement in Mossadegh’s ouster has long been public knowledge [In 1979 CIA officer Kermit Roosevelt published a proud account of the coup he led on President Eisenhower’s order] , but today’s posting includes what is believed to be the CIA’s first formal acknowledgement. that the agency helped to plan and execute the coup,” the US National Security Archive said.  http://www.opednews.com/articles/CIA-Admits-It-Masterminded-by-Jay-Janson-130820-915.html

The Magical Mystery Tour

For immediate release: Friday, August 30, 2013
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com)
Archbishop Robert Carlson, through his public relations team, says today that his employees “pray for the safety and dignity of all children in our archdiocese and around the world.” That’s not enough.
More than two years ago, Carlson should have personally gone to Fr. Vatterott’s parish, urging victims and witnesses to call police. He should do that this weekend. Tangible action like this is what will better safeguard kids.
It’s disingenuous and self-serving for Fr. Vatterott to try to blame alcohol for his heinous child sex crimes.
Everyone knows that the vast majority of alcoholics never even ponder, much less commit, child sex crimes.
Fr. Vatterott is young. (He’s in his mid-30s.) He’ll be out of prison soon. And there’s little reason to think he’ll be “cured.”
So it’s crucial that others who have seen, suspected or suffered his crimes speak out now. We believe he can and should be charged, prosecuted and convicted of other child sex crimes. But that won’t happen unless current and former Catholic church employees and members find it in their hearts to do what’s right and step forward.  http://www.snapnetwork.org/mo_victims_challenge_archbishop_on_child_porn_priest

The Best and Worst Things in the History of the World

Harvard gun study concludes gun bans don’t reduce the murder rate.
In fact, it appears, bans may actually see them increase. Here’s a summary of the study’s findings: prorevnews.blogspot.com/2013/08/harvard-study-finds-gun-bans-dont.html

More Pervo Fun in San Diego A possible Republican candidate for ex-San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s office must first explain why multiple people report seeing him masturbating at urinals in the City Council’s men’s room. According to the San Diego Reader, Republican Carl DeMaio was accused of the lascivious acts in 2009 and never answered the charges, but rather had the matter hushed up.  http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/24/san-diego-republican-accused-of-openly-masturbating-in-mens-restroom/

So Long

Michael Hastings (the Man who Fired a General) This week Elise Jordan, wife of famed journalist Michael Hastings, who recently died under suspicious circumstances, corroborated this reporter’s sources that CIA Director, John Brennan was Hastings next exposé project (CNN clip).
Last month a source provided San Diego 6 News with an alarming email hacked from super secret CIA contractor Stratfor’s President Fred Burton. The email (link here) was posted on WikiLeaks and alleged that then Obama counter-terrorism Czar Brennan, was in charge of the government’s continued crackdown or witch-hunt on investigative journalists.
After providing the Stratfor email to the CIA for comment, the spymaster’s spokesperson responded in lightning speed. Two emails were received; one acknowledging Hastings was working on a CIA story and the other said, “Without commenting on information disseminated by WikiLeaks, any suggestion that Director Brennan has ever attempted to infringe on constitutionally-protected press freedoms is offensive and baseless.” www.examiner.com/article/cia-director-john-brennan-was-hastings-next-expos

And Thank You Boys for your service