{"id":13043,"date":"2014-04-05T23:05:10","date_gmt":"2014-04-06T07:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=13043"},"modified":"2014-04-06T20:08:38","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T04:08:38","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-to-resist-is-to-win-well-almost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-to-resist-is-to-win-well-almost\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: To Resist is to Win! Well&#8211;almost."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Below is the classic Rouge Forum Mayday Flyer. Remember to march!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/mayday.htm\" height=\"650\" width=\"600\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>We Say Fight Back!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/UC-Santa-Cruz.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13086\" alt=\"UC Santa Cruz\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/UC-Santa-Cruz.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/UC-Santa-Cruz.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/UC-Santa-Cruz-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><strong>Twenty arrested at UC Santa Cruz as teaching assistants strike<br \/>\n<\/strong>Twenty picketers were arrested Wednesday morning for blocking traffic at UC Santa Cruz as unionized teaching assistants and tutors began a strike at two UC campuses.<br \/>\nThe arrests came around 8 a.m. as the picketers, mainly graduate students, tried to block auto entrances into the Santa Cruz campus, according to university spokesman Jim Burns. The 20 \u2014 cited on charges such as failing to disperse and being a pedestrian in a roadway \u2014 were taken to the Santa Cruz County jail and were expected to be released soon. One of the 20 also faces a charge of resisting arrest, Burns said.<br \/>\nStudent academic workers walked off the job at Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley on Wednesday. Union officials said the strike would extend to all nine UC undergraduate campuses on Thursday. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/lanow\/la-me-ln-uc-arrests-20140402,0,4374812.story#ixzz2xtJD0tJg\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.latimes.com\/local\/lanow\/la-me-ln-uc-arrests-20140402,0,4374812.story#ixzz2xtJD0tJg<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Two more arrests as UC teaching assistants&#8217; strike spreads<br \/>\n<\/strong>Two picketers were arrested at UC Santa Cruz Thursday as a strike by unionized teaching assistants and tutors widened to all nine UC undergraduate campuses.<br \/>\nThe walkout began at the Santa Cruz and Berkeley campuses on Wednesday and expanded Thursday across the UC system for what organizers said will be a final day. Rallies were held and picketers<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/lanow\/la-me-ln-uc-strike-20140403,0,7695265.story#ixzz2xtJnuLWe\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.latimes.com\/local\/lanow\/la-me-ln-uc-strike-20140403,0,7695265.story#ixzz2xtJnuLWe<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/School-Shootings.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13053\" alt=\"School Shootings\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/School-Shootings.jpg\" width=\"502\" height=\"455\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/School-Shootings.jpg 502w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/School-Shootings-300x271.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 502px) 100vw, 502px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Homeless professor protests conditions of adjuncts<\/strong> \u00a0Mary-Faith Cerasoli is an adjunct professor of Spanish and Italian. She has a master\u2019s degree from Middlebury College. She\u2019s also homeless.<br \/>\nThe 53-year-old staged a one-woman protest Friday afternoon in front of the New York State Department of Education to bring attention to what she calls the \u201cabusive job\u201d of being an adjunct professor. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/making-sense\/homeless-professor-protests-conditions-adjuncts\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.pbs.org\/newshour\/making-sense\/homeless-professor-protests-conditions-adjuncts\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Homeless-Adjunct.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-13057\" alt=\"Homeless Adjunct\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Homeless-Adjunct.jpg\" width=\"717\" height=\"477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Homeless-Adjunct.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Homeless-Adjunct-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 717px) 100vw, 717px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>New York Times Wonders&#8212;Was Marx Right? (mostly yes) \u00a0<\/strong>In the golden, post-war years of Western economic growth, the comfortable living standard of the working class and the economy\u2019s overall stability made the best case for the value of capitalism and the fraudulence of Marx\u2019s critical view of it. But in more recent years many of the forces that Marx said would lead to capitalism\u2019s demise \u2013 the concentration and globalization of wealth, the permanence of unemployment, the lowering of wages \u2013 have become real, and troubling, once again.<br \/>\nThe fall of communism discredited Marx\u2019s political vision. But, as observers have wondered before, is his view of our economic future being validated? \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/roomfordebate\/2014\/03\/30\/was-marx-right\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com\/roomfordebate\/2014\/03\/30\/was-marx-right<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Marx-told-you-so.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13068\" alt=\"Marx told you so\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Marx-told-you-so.jpeg\" width=\"400\" height=\"356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Marx-told-you-so.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Marx-told-you-so-300x267.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><strong>Doug Henwood answers the NYY question&#8212;<\/strong>I don\u2019t see how you can understand our current unhappy economic state without some sort of Marx-inspired analysis.<br \/>\nHere we are, almost five years into an officially designated recovery from the worst downturn in 80 years, and average household incomes are more than 8 percent below where they were when the Great Recession began, and employment still 650,000 short of its pre-recession high. \u00a0Though elites are prospering, for millions of Americans, it\u2019s as if the recession never ended.<br \/>\nHow can this all be explained? The best way to start is by going back to the 1970s. Corporate profitability \u2014 which, as every Marxist schoolchild knows, is the motor of the system \u2014 had fallen sharply off its mid-1960s highs. Stock and bond markets were performing miserably. Inflation seemed to be rising without limit. After three decades of seemingly endless prosperity, workers had developed a terrible attitude problem, slacking off and, quaintly, even going out on strike. It\u2019s no accident that Johnny Paycheck scored a No. 1 country hit with \u201cTake This Job and Shove It\u201d in 1977 \u2014 utterly impossible to imagine today.<br \/>\nThis is where Marx begins to come in. At the root of these problems was a breakdown in class relations: workers no longer feared the boss. A crackdown was in order.<br \/>\nAnd it came, hard. In October 1979, the Federal Reserve began driving interest rates toward 20 percent, to kill inflation and restrict borrowing, creating the deepest recession since the 1930s. (It was a record we only broke in 2008\/2009). A little over a year later, Ronald Reagan came into office, fired the striking air-traffic controllers, setting the stage for decades of union busting to follow. Five years after Johnny Paycheck\u2019s hit, workers were desperate to hold and\/or get jobs. No more attitude problem.<br \/>\nThe \u201ccure\u201d worked for about 30 years. Corporate profits skyrocketed and financial markets thrived. The underlying mechanism, as Marx would explain it, is simple: workers produce more in value than they are paid, and the difference is the root of profit. If worker productivity rises while pay remains stagnant or declines, profits increase. This is precisely what has happened over the last 30 years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, productivity rose 93 percent between 1980 and 2013, while pay rose 38 percent (all inflation-adjusted). \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/roomfordebate\/2014\/03\/30\/was-marx-right\/a-return-to-a-world-marx-would-have-known\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com\/roomfordebate\/2014\/03\/30\/was-marx-right\/a-return-to-a-world-marx-would-have-known<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Albaquerque-Riot.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13064\" alt=\"Albaquerque Riot\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Albaquerque-Riot.jpg\" width=\"634\" height=\"475\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Albaquerque-Riot.jpg 634w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Albaquerque-Riot-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Albaquerque Rebels against Cop Murder of Homeless Man\u00a0<\/strong>Protesters storm Albuquerque police HQ as Anonymous targets department over killing of homeless man by &#8216;cold blooded&#8217; officers that was caught on video<br \/>\nHactivist group Anonymous called on locals to protest homeless man James Boyd&#8217;s killing<br \/>\nBoy was killed March 16 after having a run-in with police in the Albuquerque foothills where he was camped outAt least 500 gathered at Albuquerque Police headquarters around noon before moving on to Civic Plaza and the University of New Mexico Campus<br \/>\nPolice showed up in riot gear to contain the protest, and released tear gas on the demonstration around 9:30pm when the participants became violent<br \/>\nPolice made several arrests as they attempted to quell the crowd<br \/>\nUNM students were told to shelter in their dorms while locals were advised to avoid the area&#8230;<em>Boyd&#8217;s death is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to police killings in the New Mexico capital.<br \/>\nThe U.S. Justice Department has been investigating the Albuquerque police for a year, following reports of more than three dozen police shootings since 2010.<br \/>\n\u2018We need to look at some changes within the department, but I think more importantly we need to restore confidence in the Albuquerque police department,\u2019 said City Council President Ken Sanchez.<br \/>\nState Senator Michael Padilla said he was responding to worried constituents.<br \/>\nHe says he was disturbed not only by the video, but by APD Police Chief Gorden Eden\u2019s comments that the shooting was justified.Read more: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-2593008\/Albuquerque-police-website-hacked-hundreds-gather-headquarters-protest-cold-blooded-killing-homeless-man-officers.html#ixzz2xaky8T3t\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-2593008\/Albuquerque-police-website-hacked-hundreds-gather-headquarters-protest-cold-blooded-killing-homeless-man-officers.html#ixzz2xaky8T3t<\/a><br \/>\nFollow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook<\/em><a href=\"\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JwytoxMuk4U\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JwytoxMuk4U<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>PSU Faculty to Strike to Defend Quality Higher Education \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Today, the Faculty, Educators, and Academic Professionals with PSU-AAUP issued the formal notice for strike to the Administration of Portland State. The Strike is expected to begin on April 16th \u00a0Show your support for the faculty and academic professionals now:<br \/>\nSign the Petition. Send an organizational support letter. Attend the Worker Rights\u2019 Board\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/wearepsu.org\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">wearepsu.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Little Red Schoolhouse<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Felon School Boss Gets Wrist Slapped<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gandara pleads guilty\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QOMkypQ8hm4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ohanian on Common Core State [sic] Standards \u00a0<\/strong>Common Core tests are to teaching as the Total Ship Computing Environment is to sailing. Both posit drones as the ideal, to eliminate the need for human participation, which involves variability, even quirkiness. The USS Zumwalt Total Ship Computing Environment costs $5 billion, which is in the ballpark for what states are spending on Common Core tests which are promise to be designed to eliminate teacher decision-making.<br \/>\nThe USS Zumwalt isn&#8217;t just a destroyer; it&#8217;s a 21st century ship, &#8220;a ship with a brain of its own.&#8221; That claim is eerily similar to what promoters say about the SmarterBalanced Common Core test:<br \/>\nAssessment information can offer specific information about areas of performance so that teachers can follow up with targeted instruction.<br \/>\nEntities formerly known as professionals &#8220;following up&#8221; on instructions from a test with a brain of its own.<br \/>\nThe BusinessWeek writer notes<br \/>\nIn an age of rampant hacking and password pilfering, you don&#8217;t have to be clinically paranoid to find something worrying in the prospect of a highly automated warship that can be controlled by anyone who has the right login information.<br \/>\nBut no media seems perturbed by computer dictating what a kid will study next.<br \/>\nTeachers, your unions again prove themselves incapable of standing up to the task of resisting:<br \/>\nThe Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced today grants to Smarter Balanced and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) totaling more than $1.6 million. These grants will fund a partnership between the two multi-state assessment consortia and the nation&#8217;s largest teachers&#8217; unions, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), to further engage educators in the development of next-generation assessment systems. . . .<br \/>\nThese aren&#8217;t just tests; they are next-generation assessment systems.<br \/>\nAnd here&#8217;s more about this new partnership:<br \/>\nThese grants fund the first formal partnerships between the two common assessment consortia and the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which together represent the majority of the U.S. teaching workforce. (emphasis added)<br \/>\nNote the terminology: US teaching workforce.<br \/>\nThe unions already received Common Core millions from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Now they have their hands out to Helmsley. Note: For good reason, Leona Helmsley was known as the Queen of Mean.<br \/>\nBut to the unions, money is money and now we will watch for local &#8220;teacher ambassadors&#8221; pushing the tests in turnekey training<br \/>\nTeacher Ambassadors will provide turnkey training related to the new assessments to 1250 teachers across the Smarter Balanced states and assist in the development of exemplar lessons and professional learning modules that will meet the Quality Criteria for the Smarter Balanced Digital Library.<br \/>\nSmarter Balanced gets $785,000 to send out these drones (whoops! teacher workforce ambassadors to spread the message.<br \/>\nRandi Weingarten declares this &#8220;an important opportunity to bring teacher voice and expertise to the development and rollout of the assessments, which should serve to inform teachers and families and enhance instruction.&#8221;<br \/>\nSimilarly, Dennis Van Roekel applauds the Helmsley Charitable Trust for &#8220;recognizing the importance of engaging educators and their unions in the development of the next-generation assessments.&#8221; \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/susanohanian.org\/core.php?id=692\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">susanohanian.org\/core.php?id=692<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Human-Munition-Factory.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-13131\" alt=\"Human Munition Factory\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Human-Munition-Factory.jpg\" width=\"506\" height=\"504\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Human-Munition-Factory.jpg 1053w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Human-Munition-Factory-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Human-Munition-Factory-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Human-Munition-Factory-1024x1021.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 506px) 100vw, 506px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Atlanta School Boss Wants to Dodge Trial\u00a0<\/strong>Hall, 67, has been charged in a racketeering conspiracy in the Atlanta Public Schools test cheating scandal. She has maintained her innocence.<br \/>\nShe\u2019s one of 13 former Atlanta Public Schools employees facing trial for their alleged involvement in falsifying students\u2019 standardized test scores in 2009. Another 21 defendants have taken plea deals. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ajc.com\/news\/news\/local-education\/halls-lawyer-says-her-trial-should-be-delayed\/nfP9p\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.ajc.com\/news\/news\/local-education\/halls-lawyer-says-her-trial-should-be-delayed\/nfP9p\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Hidden Hand Of Capital Strangling U Maine<\/strong> \u00a0At a special meeting of the University of Southern Maine (USM) faculty senate on March 14th, USM President Theodora Kalikow announced her plan to eliminate four academic programs and lay off 20 to 30 faculty\u2014including tenured and tenure-track professors\u2014along with 10 to 20 staff. What was the ostensible purposes of these unilateral decisions? To \u201cre-brand\u201d USM from a liberal arts institution into a \u201cmetropolitan university\u201d and to make up $7M of a $14M shortfall. Martin Kich reported on these austerity cuts on this blog a week ago.<br \/>\nTo this point, neither USM nor the University of Maine (UM) System has declared financial exigency. The supposed severity of the budget shortfall was quickly shown by Susan Feiner, a professor of economics and women\u2019s and gender studies at USM, to be a flimsy justification for firing faculty and closing programs. As Paul Krugman put it in his New York Times blog last week, USM\u2019s administration \u201cseems eager to downsize liberal arts and social sciences for reasons that go beyond money.\u201d<br \/>\nDismissing faculty, negating tenure, and slashing academic programs amounts to robbing USM\u2019s students of their educational experience and their tuition money, especially in light of widespread administrative bloat throughout the UM System. To their great credit, the students at USM understand that they are being robbed. They understand that their professors are being robbed too, not only of their tenure and academic freedom but, in the case of those whose jobs are on the chopping block, of their livelihoods. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/academeblog.org\/2014\/03\/31\/cops-and-robbers-at-the-university-of-southern-maine\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">academeblog.org\/2014\/03\/31\/cops-and-robbers-at-the-university-of-southern-maine\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>And the Hidden Hand Gags Untenured COE Faculty at Eastern Mich\u00a0<\/strong>Nearly all of the full-time lecturers in Eastern Michigan University\u2019s College of Education will be laid off later this year, union officials said Tuesday.<br \/>\nTen of the 11 full-time lecturers will be out of work as of August and won\u2019t be working during the next school year, said Robert Vodicka, staff organizer of the EMU Federation of Teachers Local 9102.<br \/>\nOf those who received layoff notices, seven are student teaching supervisors who have placed thousands of students in classroom assignments. The other three are in the teacher education department, Vodicka said.<br \/>\nThe incident adds to turmoil that has erupted in EMU\u2019s education school over the past year. Last fall, program instructors asked the Board of Regents to sever EMU\u2019s relationship with the state Education Achievement Authority. \u00a0From The Detroit News: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20140211\/SCHOOLS\/302110120#ixzz2xtrFhGUK\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20140211\/SCHOOLS\/302110120#ixzz2xtrFhGUK<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Boss of Small Capitalist School System does well \u00a0<\/strong>The superintendent of the small Centinela Valley Union High School District, Jose Fernandez, made $674,559 last year, far more than the New York and Los Angeles school district heads. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/la-me-centinela-supt-20140401,0,7384769.story#ixzz2xg4cbYlU\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.latimes.com\/local\/la-me-centinela-supt-20140401,0,7384769.story#ixzz2xg4cbYlU<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>CA cutbacks brought San Diego State 11% less Students, so the Prezzie decides to dun the remaining students $400 each&#8230;.<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/voiceofsandiego.org\/2014\/03\/31\/at-sdsu-fewer-students-will-pay-more-money-for-more-professors\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">voiceofsandiego.org\/2014\/03\/31\/at-sdsu-fewer-students-will-pay-more-money-for-more-professors\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Tests-NCLB.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-13109\" alt=\"Tests NCLB\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Tests-NCLB.jpeg\" width=\"551\" height=\"421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Tests-NCLB.jpeg 1312w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Tests-NCLB-300x229.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Tests-NCLB-1024x782.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 551px) 100vw, 551px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Obamagogue is SO Proud of the RaTT \u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/docs\/settingthepacerttreport_3-2414_b.pdf\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.whitehouse.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/docs\/settingthepacerttreport_3-2414_b.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Record number of homeless children enrolled in public schools, new data show \u00a0<\/strong>U.S. public schools are now enrolling a record number of homeless children and youth \u2014 over 1.1 million \u2014 with the largest populations in California, New York, Texas and Florida, new data from by the U.S. Department of Education show.<br \/>\nThe news comes on the heels of a new study showing that a majority of students in public schools throughout the American South and West are poor for the first time in at least four decades.<br \/>\nThe new homeless statistics, for the 2011-12 school year, are 10 percent higher than the year before and 72 percent higher than before the recession. Still, the reported figure \u2014 1,168,354 homeless students \u2014 is known to actually underestimate the number of homeless children across the United States.<br \/>\nTen states showed increases over the previous year of 20 percent or more; the states that showed the largest jumps in the numbers of homeless students were: \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/answer-sheet\/wp\/2013\/10\/24\/record-number-of-homeless-children-enrolled-in-public-schools-new-data-show\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/answer-sheet\/wp\/2013\/10\/24\/record-number-of-homeless-children-enrolled-in-public-schools-new-data-show\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/NoWar1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13111\" alt=\"NoWar1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/NoWar1.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/NoWar1.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/NoWar1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><em><strong>There are many beautiful Leslie Dwyer Posters here <a href=\"http:\/\/www.design4peace.com\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.design4peace.com\/<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>There goes that Fake Afghan Election (and here come the Taliban\/AQ) \u00a0<\/strong>Usually, an Afghan election \u2014 a $100 million, Western-funded exercise \u2014 draws foreigners to Kabul like flies to honey, with incoming flights full of consultants, international monitors, diplomats and journalists.<br \/>\nNot this time. Now, it is the flights out that are full, and the incoming planes are half empty. With the possible exception of journalists, foreigners have been leaving Afghanistan like never before during an election period after a series of attacks on foreign targets and the commission running the vote.<br \/>\nAn attack on the offices of the Independent Election Commission went on all Saturday afternoon, with staff members hiding in armored bunkers and safe rooms while five insurgents fired rockets and small arms at the commission\u2019s compound, having sneaked into a building nearby disguised in burqas.<br \/>\nThere were no reported casualties among the election staff, but flights to Kabul were diverted because the airport was shut down for most of the afternoon, said the airport\u2019s director, Mohammad Yaqoub Rasooli. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/03\/30\/world\/asia\/credibility-of-afghan-vote-in-doubt-as-observers-flee-violence.html?hp\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com\/2014\/03\/30\/world\/asia\/credibility-of-afghan-vote-in-doubt-as-observers-flee-violence.html?hp<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/veteran-job.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-13050\" alt=\"Veterans speak about their post war life\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/veteran-job.jpg\" width=\"529\" height=\"298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/veteran-job.jpg 2100w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/veteran-job-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/veteran-job-1024x575.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 529px) 100vw, 529px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI was proud of what I did, and I come home, and I can\u2019t even get a decent job.\u201d Nicholas Johnson<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hi There, Big Soldier! New Back in Town? <\/strong>\u00a0For many vets, their times in Iraq and Afghanistan were searing experiences. One in three think about their deployments daily. Among them is Nicholas Johnson, a former specialist in the Arkansas Army National Guard, who spent a year in Iraq starting in 2006. His platoon was ordered to fill roadside bomb craters, which required him to jackhammer asphalt while wearing 50 pounds of body armor and gear. He returned home with a fractured vertebra, three fused disks in his back, ringing ears and debilitating post-traumatic stress because of the frequent carnage he witnessed on Baghdad\u2019s roads<strong>. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI can\u2019t get a good job now because .\u2009.\u2009. I have to be upfront and say I have this disability, I have a tore-up back,\u201d he said. \u201cSo now, the factories here in Topeka, where I live now, they\u2019re like: \u2018Oh, wow, he has military experience. Great. He has managerial experience. Oh, that\u2019s good. Some college \u2014 all right. Oh, he tore his back up. Can\u2019t do that, you know.\u2019\u2009\u201d<br \/>\nJohnson, who is 32 \u201cbut going on 60,\u201d confronts the toll of his service on his drive to a just-over-minimum-wage job at Lowe\u2019s, when he has to avoid Interstate 70 because it reminds him of Baghdad\u2019s insurgent-riddled airport road, when he panics at the sight of trash on the street because that\u2019s what Iraqi guerrillas employed to conceal explosives, when he pops painkillers and anti-anxiety pills, when he has to use a cane to walk or ask his fellow clerks for help moving boxes.<br \/>\n&#8220;I left the war zone,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but the war zone never left me.&#8221; \u00a0 <em>Although the military is fielding the most gender-integrated force in U.S. history, almost half of female vets say it is not doing enough to prevent sexual assault among service members. Among men, four in 10 share that view.<br \/>\nIn a recent VA survey of 1,500 women who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, one in four said they experienced sexual assault \u2014 defined as any unwanted contact from groping to rape \u2014 during their deployments.<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/sf\/national\/2014\/03\/29\/a-legacy-of-pride-and-pain\/?hpid=z2\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.washingtonpost.com\/sf\/national\/2014\/03\/29\/a-legacy-of-pride-and-pain\/?hpid=z2<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>That Cakewalk in Syria&#8211;Qaeda Militants Seek Syria Base, U.S. Officials Say \u00a0<\/strong>Dozens of seasoned militant fighters, including some midlevel planners, have traveled to Syria from Pakistan in recent months in what American intelligence and counterterrorism officials fear is an effort to lay the foundation for future strikes against Europe and the United States.<br \/>\n\u201cWe are concerned about the use of Syrian territory by the Al Qaeda organization to recruit individuals and develop the capability to be able not just to carry out attacks inside of Syria, but also to use Syria as a launching pad,\u201d John O. Brennan, the C.I.A. director, told a House panel recently. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/03\/26\/world\/middleeast\/qaeda-militants-seek-syria-base-us-officials-say.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140326&#038;nlid=2254121&#038;tntemail0=y\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com\/2014\/03\/26\/world\/middleeast\/qaeda-militants-seek-syria-base-us-officials-say.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140326&#038;nlid=2254121&#038;tntemail0=y<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Unknown Known Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Donald Rumsfeld Documentary HD\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J-NSyMTpkYI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Rummy&#8211;Still A Barbarian after all these years: \u00a0<\/strong>Rumsfeld still hasn&#8217;t learned anything from Vietnam.<br \/>\n&#8220;Vietnam was one of the worst episodes in American history. What&#8217;s [Rumsfeld&#8217;s] lesson? Some things work out, some things don&#8217;t \u2014 and that one didn&#8217;t. He&#8217;s untouched by history. In his reflection on what history means and what the effect of his policies have been on people around the world, he&#8217;s learned little or nothing.&#8221;Read more: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/movies\/news\/hes-untouched-by-history-errol-morris-on-donald-rumsfeld-20140401#ixzz2xt8miSGI\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.rollingstone.com\/movies\/news\/hes-untouched-by-history-errol-morris-on-donald-rumsfeld-20140401#ixzz2xt8miSGI<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Archduke-Franz-Ferdinand.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13089\" alt=\"Archduke Franz Ferdinand\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Archduke-Franz-Ferdinand.jpg\" width=\"460\" height=\"345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Archduke-Franz-Ferdinand.jpg 460w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Archduke-Franz-Ferdinand-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px\" \/><\/a>Final moments: The Archduke of Austria Franz Ferdinand with his wife Sophie in Sarajevo minutes before his shooting (AP)<\/p>\n<p><strong>A history of The Great War in 100 moments: Our unique series that captures sense of WWI, and starts in Sarajevo, on 28 June 1914 \u00a0<\/strong>How do you remember a war that destroyed four empires, killed 18 million people and left tens of millions of other lives irreparably broken? Today, as the world prepares to mark the centenary of a conflict that left no corner of the planet untouched, we begin a unique daily series that attempts to make sense of an incomprehensibly huge chapter in human history by distilling it to a mere 100 &#8216;moments&#8217;: episodes, big or small, that in one way or another capture a sense of what it was like to be caught up in the catastrophe of the First World War. Boyd Tonkin introduces our first moment \u00a0&#8230;.Focus on selected moments, as The Independent&#8217;s new series does, and that \u201cagency\u201d returns to centre stage. Each choice and chance genuinely mattered, although none made a decisive difference in itself. Its agents, like its millions of victims, lived the First World War not as a vast span or grand plan but day by day, crisis by crisis, shock by shock. Spotlight key events and we may, just for a while, glimpse that lost world before hindsight. By 24 July, after Austria had drawn up an ultimatum to Serbia, the British Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, could indeed tell his confidante Venetia Stanley in one of his intimate letters that \u201cWe are within measurable or imaginable distance of a real Armageddon\u201d. Then he consoles himself, and her. \u201cHappily, there seems to be no reason why we should be anything more than spectators.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/world-history\/a-history-of-the-first-world-war-in-100-moments-our-unique-series-captures-sense-of-what-it-was-like-to-be-in-the-great-war-9236694.html\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/world-history\/a-history-of-the-first-world-war-in-100-moments-our-unique-series-captures-sense-of-what-it-was-like-to-be-in-the-great-war-9236694.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Over Drone Killings of US Citizens&#8211;Insists Courts Can&#8217;t Examine &#8216;Operational&#8217; Decisions<\/strong> \u00a0US District Judge Rosemary Collyer has dismissed Nasser al-Awlaki\u2019s lawsuit against Obama Administration officials over the assassination of his son and grandson in US drone strikes in Yemen. \u00a0Collyer argued that it was \u201cimpermissible\u201d for the courts to get involved in \u201coperational combat decisions regarding the designation of targets,\u201d though the US is not involved in combat in Yemen, where the killings took place, and the assassinations were rather planned months in advance, and publicized before they took place.<br \/>\nCollyer went on to insist that the Constitution grants sole decision-making on who lives and dies to the president, and that allowing lawsuits would \u201chinder their ability in the future to act decisively and without hesitation.\u201d<br \/>\nCollyer\u2019s ruling was materially identical to the Justice Department\u2019s own demand for dismissal, which insisted courts have no say over the president\u2019s ability to kill people abroad, citizen or not, and that it was essentially impossible for anyone to challenge the killings before they happen or after. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/news.antiwar.com\/2014\/04\/04\/judge-dismisses-lawsuit-over-drone-killings-of-us-citizens\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">news.antiwar.com\/2014\/04\/04\/judge-dismisses-lawsuit-over-drone-killings-of-us-citizens\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The International Economic War of the Rich on the Poor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Detroit-ruined.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-13072\" alt=\"One of the science labs.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Detroit-ruined.jpg\" width=\"776\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Detroit-ruined.jpg 970w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Detroit-ruined-300x146.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 776px) 100vw, 776px\" \/><\/a><strong><br \/>\nRemarkable Streaming Art on the Ruins of Detroit\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/detroiturbex.com\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">detroiturbex.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stiglitz: Why Inequality Matters<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0While there is no single number that can depict all aspects of society\u2019s inequality, matters have become worse in every dimension: more money goes to the top (more than a fifth of all income goes to the top 1%), more people are in poverty at the bottom, and the middle class\u2014long the core strength of our society\u2014has seen its income stagnate. Median household income, adjusted for inflation, today is lower than it was in 1989, a quarter century ago.[1] An economy in which most citizens see no progress, year after year, is an economy that is failing to perform in the way it should. Indeed, there is a vicious circle: our high inequality is one of the major contributing factors to our weak economy and our low growth.<br \/>\nAs disturbing as the data on the growing inequality in income are, those that describe the other dimensions of America\u2019s inequality are even worse: inequalities in wealth are even greater than income, and there are marked inequalities in health, reflected in differences, for instance, in life expectancy. But perhaps the most invidious aspect of US inequality is the inequality of opportunity. America has become the advanced country not only with the highest level of inequality, but is among those with the least equality of opportunity\u2014the statistics show that the American dream is a myth; that the life prospects of a young American are more dependent on the income and education of his parents than in other developed countries. We have betrayed one of our most fundamental values. And the result is that we are wasting our most valuable resource, our human resources: millions of those at the bottom are not able to live up to their potential. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nextnewdeal.net\/stiglitz-why-inequality-matters-and-what-can-be-done-about-it\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nextnewdeal.net\/stiglitz-why-inequality-matters-and-what-can-be-done-about-it<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Inequality-Chart-Piketty-Capital.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13134\" alt=\"Inequality Chart Piketty Capital\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Inequality-Chart-Piketty-Capital.jpg\" width=\"580\" height=\"387\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Inequality-Chart-Piketty-Capital.jpg 580w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Inequality-Chart-Piketty-Capital-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/a><em>above, one of six charts NYer uses to describe Capital, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/online\/blogs\/johncassidy\/2014\/03\/piketty-looks-at-inequality-in-six-charts.html\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.newyorker.com\/online\/blogs\/johncassidy\/2014\/03\/piketty-looks-at-inequality-in-six-charts.html<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>The New Yorker explaining the &#8220;hot new&#8221; <\/strong><strong><em>CAPITAL for the 21st Century<\/em> (which reaches the silly conclusion that the rich should give up their money) \u00a0<\/strong>In the United States, for example, the share of income going to wages and other forms of labor compensation dropped from sixty-eight per cent in 1970 to sixty-two per cent in 2010\u2014a decline of close to a trillion dollars. \u00a0&#8230;In the nineteen-fifties, the average American chief executive was paid about twenty times as much as the typical employee of his firm. These days, at Fortune 500 companies, the pay ratio between the corner office and the shop floor is more than two hundred to one, and many C.E.O.s do even better. In 2011, Apple\u2019s Tim Cook received three hundred and seventy-eight million dollars in salary, stock, and other benefits, which was sixty-two hundred and fifty-eight times the wage of an average Apple employee. A typical worker at Walmart earns less than twenty-five thousand dollars a year; Michael Duke, the retailer\u2019s former chief executive, was paid more than twenty-three million dollars in 2012. The trend is evident everywhere. According to a recent report by Oxfam, the richest eighty-five people in the world\u2014the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Carlos Slim\u2014own more wealth than the roughly 3.5 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world\u2019s population. \u00a0Eventually, Piketty says, we could see the re\u00ebmergence of a world familiar to nineteenth-century Europeans; he cites the novels of Austen and Balzac. In this \u201cpatrimonial society,\u201d a small group of wealthy rentiers lives lavishly on the fruits of its inherited wealth, and the rest struggle to keep up. For the United States, in particular, this would be a cruel and ironic fate. \u201cThe egalitarian pioneer ideal has faded into oblivion,\u201d Piketty writes, \u201cand the New World may be on the verge of becoming the Old Europe of the twenty-first century\u2019s globalized economy.\u201d&#8230;The main factor, he insists, is that major companies are giving their top executives outlandish pay packages. His research shows that \u201csupermanagers,\u201d rather than \u201csuperstars,\u201d account for up to seventy per cent of the top 0.1 per cent of the income distribution. (In 2010, you needed to earn at least $1.5 million to qualify for this \u00e9lite group.) Rising income inequality is largely a corporate phenomenon. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/arts\/critics\/books\/2014\/03\/31\/140331crbo_books_cassidy?currentPage=2\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.newyorker.com\/arts\/critics\/books\/2014\/03\/31\/140331crbo_books_cassidy?currentPage=2<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Will Government Motors Use Its Bailout Shield to Defend its murderous cars?<\/strong>\u00a0 General Motors Co. is shielded from legal liability for nearly all accidents that occurred before its July 2009 exit from bankruptcy. That protection has emerged as one of the most controversial aspects of the automaker&#8217;s ignition switch recall.<br \/>\nChallenges to that product liability shield could unravel a key protection from hundreds of lawsuits. The Detroit automaker won that protection in the bankruptcy restructuring funded by its bailout by the federal government.<br \/>\nThe company\u2019s immunity led U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., last week to call on GM to create a $3 billion to $8 billion trust that would pay claims connected to the massive recall for defective ignition switches in older Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other similar cars.<br \/>\nFrom The Detroit News: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20140331\/BIZ\/303310041#ixzz2xgMVEUW7\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20140331\/BIZ\/303310041#ixzz2xgMVEUW7<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Emergence of Fascism as a Popular Mass Movement<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Christopher Hitchens Get Waterboarded | Vanity Fair\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4LPubUCJv58?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Senate CIA torture report could throw Gitmo hearings into chaos \u00a0<\/strong>The possible declassification and release of a Senate report into the CIA\u2019s detention and interrogation program \u2014 begun in the wake of the 9\/11 terrorist attacks \u2014 could have a huge impact on the controversial military tribunals happening at Guant\u00e1namo Bay, experts and lawyers believe.<br \/>\nThe proceedings have been moving at a snail\u2019s pace at the U.S.-held military base on the island of Cuba, amid widespread condemnation that they are being held in a legal limbo and outside the U.S. criminal justice system.<br \/>\nDetails surrounding the CIA\u2019s activities have been one of the most contentious issues concerning the commissions at Guant\u00e1namo, where the alleged mastermind of the 9\/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and his co-defendants are on trial. Their alleged treatment while in CIA custody has been a key stumbling block in the hearings\u2019 progress. The same goes for the man alleged to be behind the USS Cole bombing, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, another former CIA captive.<br \/>\nIn both cases, there have been dozens of delays \u2014 mainly due to the fact that the attorneys have been battling military prosecutors over access to classified information about the CIA interrogation program that the attorneys want to use as evidence. Both cases have been dragging on for two years and are still in the pretrial evidentiary phase.<br \/>\nBut now that the Senate Intelligence Committee appears set to vote on releasing its long-awaited 6,300-page, $50 million study \u2014 or at least some portion of it \u2014 the defense attorneys will finally get the opportunity to talk openly at the military commissions about torture. That could prove disastrous for military prosecutors. According to defense attorneys and human rights observers who have been monitoring the proceedings, it might also derail the government\u2019s attempts to convince a jury that the detainees, if convicted, deserve to be executed.<br \/>\n\u201cThe U.S. government has gone to great lengths to classify evidence of crimes \u2014 crimes committed by U.S. actors,\u201d said Army Maj. Jason Wright, one of Mohammed\u2019s military defense attorneys. \u201cWere this information in this Senate report to be revealed \u2026 it would completely gut the classification architecture currently in place before the commissions.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/america.aljazeera.com\/articles\/2014\/4\/1\/senate-cia-guantanamo.html\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">america.aljazeera.com\/articles\/2014\/4\/1\/senate-cia-guantanamo.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heidegger-master180.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13062\" alt=\"heidegger-master180\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/heidegger-master180.jpg\" width=\"180\" height=\"227\" \/><\/a>Heidigger 1933<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fans of Heidigger&#8217;s Girlfriend, the CIA Asset Arrendt, might think twice: Heidegger\u2019s Notebooks Renew Focus on Anti-Semitism \u00a0<\/strong>It has long been one of the most contentious questions in 20th-century intellectual history: Just how much, and what kind, of a Nazi was the German philosopher Martin Heidegger?<br \/>\nTo his strongest detractors, Heidegger was a committed National Socialist whose hugely influential ideas about the nature of being and the dehumanizing effects of modern technology and much of the modern philosophical tradition itself were fatally compromised by his membership in Hitler\u2019s party from 1933 to 1945. To his staunchest defenders, however, he was a Nazi of convenience \u2014 a sometime personal anti-Semite, perhaps, but a philosopher whose towering intellectual achievements are undiminished by temporary political dalliances or everyday bias.<br \/>\nNow, the recent publication in Germany of the first three volumes of Heidegger\u2019s private philosophical notebooks has brought the controversy roaring back, revealing what some say is an unmistakable smoking gun: overtly anti-Semitic statements, written in Heidegger\u2019s own hand, in the context of his philosophical thinking. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/03\/31\/books\/heideggers-notebooks-renew-focus-on-anti-semitism.html?ref=martinheidegger\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com\/2014\/03\/31\/books\/heideggers-notebooks-renew-focus-on-anti-semitism.html?ref=martinheidegger<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/arendt-hannah.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13136\" alt=\"arendt hannah\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/arendt-hannah.jpeg\" width=\"260\" height=\"194\" \/><\/a><em>above, CIA asset Hannah Arrendt<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Barbarism Rising&#8211;Three Marines stabbed during fight between Dodgers, Angels fans \u00a0<\/strong>Three Marines who were attacked and stabbed during a downtown Huntington Beach street fight between Dodgers and Angels baseball fans were recovering Monday as police tried to piece together what triggered the violence.<br \/>\nSix people were arrested Sunday after officers were summoned to a dispute between people fighting over the two baseball teams. Police said the 1:45 a.m. incident took place near the intersection of Main and Walnut streets, a crowded intersection just blocks from the beach. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/lanow\/la-me-ln-three-marines-stabbed-dodger-angel-fans-20140331,0,6917785.story#ixzz2xaeOVFRZ\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.latimes.com\/local\/lanow\/la-me-ln-three-marines-stabbed-dodger-angel-fans-20140331,0,6917785.story#ixzz2xaeOVFRZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stabbings? Shootings? Detroit police stop reporting violent crimes to media, public<\/strong> \u00a0You might think so by picking up the newspaper or watching TV news because police have stopped reporting most murders, shootings and other violent crimes to the media and public. \u00a0Instead, the police department is releasing information on successful arrests.<br \/>\n\u201cIt lets our citizens know that we are in fact making arrests and solving crime,\u201d police spokesman Sgt. Michael Woody told me.<br \/>\nIn the meantime, the public is left in the dark about violent crime and wanted suspects.<br \/>\nThe police department quietly stopped issuing the \u201cMajor Crime Summary Report\u201d following the death of radio personality and activist, Angelo Henderson, who spoke daily about the crime report and the wanted suspects on his radio show. \u00a0Police Chief James Craig, who has been criticized for changing how response times are recorded, wouldn\u2019t comment for this story.<br \/>\nDetroit Police Commission Chairwoman Jessica Taylor, who is elected by the public to address these kinds of issues, said she doesn\u2019t see the problem.<br \/>\n\u201cI don\u2019t think he is trying to hide anything,\u201d Taylor told me, asking me to wait while she urged the police commissioner to call me back. \u00a0Chief Craig never called. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/motorcitymuckraker.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/03\/stabbings-shootings-detroit-police-stop-reporting-violent-crimes-to-media-public\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">motorcitymuckraker.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/03\/stabbings-shootings-detroit-police-stop-reporting-violent-crimes-to-media-public\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Secret military device lets Oakland deputies track cellphones \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/strong>Oakland County commissioners asked no questions last March before unanimously approving a cellphone tracking device so powerful it was used by the military to fight terrorists.<br \/>\nNow, though, some privacy advocates question why one of the safest counties in Michigan needs the super-secretive Hailstorm device that is believed to be able to collect large amounts of cellphone data, including the locations of users, by masquerading as a cell tower.<br \/>\n\u201cI don\u2019t like not knowing what it\u2019s capable of,\u201d said county Commissioner Jim Runestad, R-White Lake Township, who has met in recent weeks with sheriff\u2019s officials about his concerns.<br \/>\nThe Oakland County Sheriff\u2019s Office is one of about two dozen forces nationwide \u2014 and the only one in Michigan \u2014 with the $170,000 machine. So little is known about Hailstorm that even national experts will only speculate about its capabilities. The technology from Florida-based defense contractor Harris Corp. is believed to be an upgrade of Stingray, a suitcase-sized contraption that is installed in cars and used to trick nearby phones into connecting with it and providing data to police.<br \/>\nThe technology can track fugitives and find missing children, but privacy advocates said they worry because similar machines can collect data from innocent smartphone users.<br \/>\n\u201cIt\u2019s all very secretive and information about (Stingray and Hailstorm) is tightly controlled, which makes it (difficult) to have a broad discussion about these tools,\u201d said Alan Butler, a lawyer for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group. \u00a0From The Detroit News: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20140404\/SPECIAL\/304040043#ixzz2xzUz6vcX\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20140404\/SPECIAL\/304040043#ixzz2xzUz6vcX<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/US-troops-oxy.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13138\" alt=\"US troops oxy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/US-troops-oxy.jpeg\" width=\"240\" height=\"173\" \/><\/a><strong>&#8216;We&#8217;re all paying:&#8217; Heroin spreads misery in US \u00a0(think Afghan poppy fields protected by US Troops) \u00a0<\/strong>In Butler County, Ohio, heroin overdose calls are so common that the longtime EMS coordinator likens the situation to &#8220;coming in and eating breakfast &#8211; you just kind of expect it to occur.&#8221; A local rehab facility has a six-month wait. One school recently referred an 11-year-old boy who was shooting up intravenously.<br \/>\nSheriff Richard Jones has seen crack, methamphetamine and pills plague his southwestern Ohio community but calls heroin a bigger scourge. Children have been forced into foster care because of addicted parents; shoplifting rings have formed to raise money to buy fixes.<br \/>\n&#8220;There are so many residual effects,&#8221; he says. &#8220;And we&#8217;re all paying for it.&#8221; \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/m.apnews.com\/ap\/db_289563\/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=CqL84aPP\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">m.apnews.com\/ap\/db_289563\/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=CqL84aPP<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Solidarity for Never<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Duncan-Van-Roekel-USA.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13055\" alt=\"Duncan Van Roekel USA\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Duncan-Van-Roekel-USA.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Duncan-Van-Roekel-USA.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Duncan-Van-Roekel-USA-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a>NEA boss Dennis Van Roekel ($465,000\/year) and Arne Duncan Share a laugh about the US education grift<\/p>\n<p><strong>AFT Boss and EI-CIA Asset Gives an In-person Hug to Ukrainian fascists <\/strong>WASHINGTON\u2014A delegation of teacher union leaders from five nations, including Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, will be visiting Ukraine on Thursday and meeting with Ukraine trade union leaders and government officials. They will be available to the media on Thursday afternoon in Maidan Square.<br \/>\nThe Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine (STESU) invited Weingarten and education labor leaders of the United Kingdom, Poland, Denmark and Bulgaria\u2014members of Educational International\u2014to meet and discuss how it can continue its work in support of democracy and the rule of law.<br \/>\n&#8220;It is a great honor to be asked by Ukraine&#8217;s teacher unions to work with them to strengthen their democratic institutions and support their efforts to build a brighter future for all Ukrainians through education, democracy and the rule of law,&#8221; Weingarten said.<br \/>\nSTESU&#8217;s central office building at the Maidan Square, which sheltered protesters during the uprising, was demolished by police forces. The union has asked Education International for assistance in relocating its offices and re-establishing communication with its members. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aft.org\/newspubs\/press\/2014\/031214.cfm\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.aft.org\/newspubs\/press\/2014\/031214.cfm<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>below, police asset Weingarten and the vacillating reactionary Ravitch: dear pals<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Weingarten-Ravitch.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13094\" alt=\"Weingarten Ravitch\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Weingarten-Ravitch.jpeg\" width=\"259\" height=\"194\" \/><\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Against Ravitch \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/richgibson.com\/againstravitch.htm\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">richgibson.com\/againstravitch.htm<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Unionites Poured Member Money on CA Criminal Pol Yee&#8211;and got?<\/strong>Mike A: I don\u2019t know if the FBI got back the envelope of cash it used to bribe California state senator Leland Yee, but hundreds of people and organizations won\u2019t get back the money they donated to Yee\u2019s campaign for Secretary of State. The law allows such contributions to be used for a legal defense fund. This is bad news for a whole lot of California unions, such as:<br \/>\nCalifornia Federation of Teachers<br \/>\nCalifornia School Employees Association<br \/>\nCalifornia Faculty Association<br \/>\nUnited Domestic Workers of America<br \/>\nCalifornia Nurses Association<br \/>\nAFSCME Local 3299<br \/>\nInternational Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 16<br \/>\nTeamsters Local 665<br \/>\nPlumbers &amp; Steamfitters Local 467<br \/>\nDistrict Council of Iron Workers<br \/>\nInternational Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 6<br \/>\nSonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties Building Construction Trades Council<br \/>\nSan Francisco Fire Fighters<br \/>\nInternational Union of Painters and Allied Trades<br \/>\nOperating Engineers Local 3<br \/>\nAmalgamated Transit Union<br \/>\nBut unions aren\u2019t the only ones who will see their money paying for Yee\u2019s lawyers. He also received contributions from Facebook and the Hustler Casino. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eiaonline.com\/intercepts\/2014\/04\/01\/union-campaign-contributions-may-help-fund-yees-defense\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.eiaonline.com\/intercepts\/2014\/04\/01\/union-campaign-contributions-may-help-fund-yees-defense<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"California Teachers Support Leland Yee\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3ee-_vF3Zi4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>UAW Bosses, Having Lost the Southern VW vote (that had VW boss&#8217; support) want a 25% dues increase? \u00a0 <\/strong>A top United Auto Workers official says the union will make a final decision on whether to pursue a 25-percent dues hike \u201cwithin weeks.\u201d<br \/>\nThe UAW has recently hosted a series of town hall meetings at local shops to discuss the dues hike, which would be the first increase since the late 1960s. Jimmy Settles, UAW-Ford Department vice president, told The Detroit News that the union is \u201cjust having conversations with our members to see how they feel about it.\u201d \u00a0From The Detroit News: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20140401\/AUTO01\/304010025#ixzz2xgJhizvW\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20140401\/AUTO01\/304010025#ixzz2xgJhizvW<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Rightists Easily Join Liberals in their Fake Opposition to Common Core and Big Tests (it&#8217;s capitalism and empire, stupids) <\/strong>Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino says he will pull his children from New York\u2019s Common Core tests this week, claiming the new academic standards are turning children into guinea pigs.<br \/>\nThe Westchester County executive on Monday released a video on his campaign website saying he and his wife are protesting Common Core by opting out of the exams this week for their children in third and fifth grade.<br \/>\nAstorino calls the standards \u201cCuomo\u2019s Common Core\u201d and says New York\u2019s parents and teachers will lose local control over classrooms.<br \/>\nCuomo has been a critic of the Common Core rollout. The budget being debated by the Legislature Monday will keep Common Core test scores off the transcripts of students in third through eighth grades through 2018. Read more: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2014\/mar\/31\/ny-gop-governor-hopeful-blasts-states-common-core\/#ixzz2xzQo3fww\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2014\/mar\/31\/ny-gop-governor-hopeful-blasts-states-common-core\/#ixzz2xzQo3fww<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bankrupt Detroit Fed of Teachers (which allowed every teacher to be fired, then sued to keep the forced collection of dues) claims things are going well, then this: \u00a0<\/strong>Now that the Detroit Federation of Teachers has sold its office building and moved to more affordable rented space, one would think our financial troubles are over. Unfortunately, we are not out of the woods. We owed about $2.8 million on our mortgage, and were only able to get $1.3 million for the building. This means we had to pay $1.5 million to get out of the building. Given that we will save over $3 \u00a0million over the next five years, this is<br \/>\nstill a very good move. However, we did not have the $1.5 million to pay off the mortgage. We used<br \/>\nall our cash, borrowed $350,000 from the bank, and got behind on our payments of per capita dues to AFT and AFT Michigan. This allowed us to pay off the mortgage, but we now have to repay the new bank loan, and about \u00a0$560,000 in delinquent per capita dues from this year. This is over and above the $1.4 million we still owe AFT from 2006-08. The bank loan must be repaid by June 30. This will not leave us enough cash to<br \/>\nrepay the per capita dues until late in the next school year. One short-term consequence of our cash flow problem is that <em>our delegates to the state and national conventions will not be seated this year.<\/em> As reported at the March membership meeting, the national and state federations\u2019 constitutions preclude seating of delegates from a local that is in arrears. Given that our delegates will not be seated, one might wonder why we are holding an election. Our constitution requires it. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/dft231.mi.aft.org\/files\/april2014_1.pdf\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">dft231.mi.aft.org\/files\/april2014_1.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Spy versus Spy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Pollard.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13140\" alt=\"Pollard\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Pollard.jpeg\" width=\"270\" height=\"187\" \/><\/a><em>above, poster for Pollard, the venal for profit spy Israel wants to reward, again<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>CIA Lied (lies) about Torture\/Kidnap Failures \u00a0<\/strong>A report by the Senate Intelligence Committee concludes that the CIA misled the government and the public about aspects of its brutal interrogation program for years \u2014 concealing details about the severity of its methods, overstating the significance of plots and prisoners, and taking credit for critical pieces of intelligence that detainees had in fact surrendered before they were subjected to harsh techniques.<br \/>\nThe report, built around detailed chronologies of dozens of CIA detainees, documents a long-standing pattern of unsubstantiated claims as agency officials sought permission to use \u2014 and later tried to defend \u2014 excruciating interrogation methods that yielded little, if any, significant intelligence, according to U.S. officials who have reviewed the document. \u00a0\u201cThe CIA described [its program] repeatedly both to the Department of Justice and eventually to Congress as getting unique, otherwise unobtainable intelligence that helped disrupt terrorist plots and save thousands of lives,\u201d said one U.S. official briefed on the report. \u201cWas that actually true? The answer is no.\u201d<br \/>\nCurrent and former U.S. officials who described the report spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue and because the document remains classified. The 6,300-page report includes what officials described as damning new disclosures about a sprawling network of secret detention facilities, or \u201cblack sites,\u201d \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/cia-misled-on-interrogation-program-senate-report-says\/2014\/03\/31\/eb75a82a-b8dd-11e3-96ae-f2c36d2b1245_story.html?hpid=z5\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/cia-misled-on-interrogation-program-senate-report-says\/2014\/03\/31\/eb75a82a-b8dd-11e3-96ae-f2c36d2b1245_story.html?hpid=z5<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>More on CIA Torture from BBC \u00a0<\/strong>A long-awaited US Senate report said that the CIA used secret &#8220;black sites&#8221; to interrogate prisoners using techniques not previously acknowledged.<br \/>\nThese included dunking suspects in icy water and smashing a prisoner&#8217;s head against a wall.<br \/>\nThe findings stem from the time of former President George W Bush.<br \/>\nOfficials familiar with the secret document said that the CIA&#8217;s interrogation programme yielded little useful intelligence.<br \/>\nThey also said that this intelligence had then been exaggerated so that the interrogation programme looked more effective than it actually was. \u00a0http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-26831756<\/p>\n<p><strong>USAID &#8211;CIA \u2018proud of\u2019 Cuba Twitter plan \u00a0<\/strong>A spokesman for USAID is defending the agency\u2019s work in Cuba following a report Thursday by The Associated Press that the agency backed a \u201cCuban Twitter\u201d in the country aimed at undermining its communist regime.<br \/>\n\u201cThe purpose of the Zunzuneo project was to create a platform for Cubans to speak freely among themselves, period,\u201d USAID\u2019s Matt Herrick said in a statement on Thursday. \u00a0He noted that in initial stages tech news, sports scores, weather and trivia were sent to \u201cbuild interest and engage Cubans.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cAfter that, Cubans were able to talk among themselves, and we are proud of that,\u201d Herrick said.<br \/>\nThe original AP story reported that its users in Cuba however, were not aware it was created by a U.S. agency or that their personal information was being gathered. The story also questioned whether the project was legal under U.S. law.<br \/>\nHowever, Herrick in his statement said the project was reviewed in detail in 2013 by the Government Accountability Office, which found it consistent with U.S. law. Herrick said USAID was working with resources provided by Congress \u201cfor exactly this purpose.\u201d<br \/>\nThe AP also noted the details it uncovered regarding the project \u201cappear to muddy\u201d USAID\u2019s claims that it does not conduct covert actions.<br \/>\nRead more:\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2014\/04\/usaid-cuba-twitter-plan-105355.html#ixzz2xtqP5E63\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.politico.com\/story\/2014\/04\/usaid-cuba-twitter-plan-105355.html#ixzz2xtqP5E63<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Magical Mystery Tour<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Abuse Documentary: The Shame of the Catholic Church | Retro Report | The New York Times\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jW-S9Ddws4w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Fight to Reveal Abuses by Catholic Priests \u00a0<\/strong>In 2002, with the scandal in crescendo and the American Catholic Church knocked back on its heels, Cardinal Egan reacted with obvious ambivalence to accounts of priestly abuses that occurred in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., which he had led before moving to New York. \u201cIf in hindsight we also discover that mistakes may have been made as regards prompt removal of priests and assistance to victims, I am deeply sorry,\u201d he said in a letter to parishioners.<\/p>\n<p>The conditional nature of the apology, a style favored by innumerable politicians caught with hands in the till, was not lost on many listeners. Nor was the cardinal\u2019s use of \u201cmistakes\u201d to describe a pattern routinely described by district attorneys as a cover-up. As if that were not enough, the reluctant penitent turned thoroughly unrepentant a decade later. By then retired, he withdrew his apology. \u201cI never should have said that,\u201d the cardinal told Connecticut magazine in 2012. \u201cI did say if we did anything wrong, I\u2019m sorry, but I don\u2019t think we did anything wrong.\u201d<br \/>\nThat sort of unyielding stance amid institutional promises of change continues to bedevil the American church, the Holy See in Rome and, no doubt, many among the faithful. This issue shapes the latest installment of Retro Report, a weekly series of documentary videos, with this one reaching back to the mid-1980s to explore clergymen who prey.<br \/>\nBy now, the story is amply familiar. Thousands of wayward clerics have been found to have sexually abused and emotionally scarred many more thousands of boys and girls. It is, too, a story of the church hierarchy as enabler: bishops who ignored the criminality, or evaded public exposure by shuffling abusers from parish to parish. The scandals have cost the church dearly, both in lost moral suasion and in its coffers. According to a monitoring group called <a href=\"http:\/\/BishopAccountability.org\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">BishopAccountability.org<\/a>, United States dioceses and their insurers have had to pay out more than $3 billion, most of that money going to victims. \u00a0http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/03\/31\/us\/the-fight-to-reveal-abuses-by-catholic-priests.html?_r=0<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Elmer Gantry.\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/amznbi0lFaU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Saudi Arabia declares all atheists are terrorists in new law to crack down on political dissidents \u00a0<\/strong>In a string of royal decrees and an overarching new piece of legislation to deal with terrorism generally, the Saudi King Abdullah has clamped down on all forms of political dissent and protests that could &#8220;harm public order&#8221;.<br \/>\nThe new laws have largely been brought in to combat the growing number of Saudis travelling to take part in the civil war in Syria, who have previously returned with newfound training and ideas about overthrowing the monarchy.<br \/>\nTo that end, King Abdullah issued Royal Decree 44, which criminalises &#8220;participating in hostilities outside the kingdom&#8221; with prison sentences of between three and 20 years, Human Rights Watch said.<br \/>\nYet last month further regulations were issued by the Saudi interior ministry, identifying a broad list of groups which the government considers to be terrorist organisations &#8211; including the Muslim Brotherhood.<br \/>\nArticle one of the new provisions defines terrorism as &#8220;calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based&#8221;. \u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/middle-east\/saudi-arabia-declares-all-atheists-are-terrorists-in-new-law-to-crack-down-on-political-dissidents-9228389.html\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/middle-east\/saudi-arabia-declares-all-atheists-are-terrorists-in-new-law-to-crack-down-on-political-dissidents-9228389.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0Can A Television Network Be A Church? The IRS Says Yes<\/strong> \u00a0Several former employees also don&#8217;t call Daystar a church.<br \/>\n&#8220;When the lights are on and the cameras are on, we&#8217;re a ministry. When those lights are off, cameras are off, it doesn&#8217;t feel like a ministry,&#8221; says Lisa Anderson, former executive assistant to Marcus Lamb and his wife, Joni. &#8220;It is a business making money.&#8221;<br \/>\nDaystar&#8217;s former IT manager Bill Hornback agrees. &#8220;I mean, there&#8217;s no Sunday sermon, no Wednesday night meeting. It&#8217;s all business. It&#8217;s not a church. It&#8217;s a television broadcasting company, that&#8217;s what they are,&#8221; says Hornback. \u00a0&#8230;The committee looked at Atlanta mega-church pastor Bishop Eddie Long, and noted that he made trips in a church-leased jet to Las Vegas and Caribbean resort islands, and had a Rolls Royce and a Bentley.<br \/>\nThe investigation examined Georgia-based televangelist Creflo Dollar and his wife, Taffi, who also drove Rolls Royces and had numerous subsidiaries connected to their church.<br \/>\nThe inquiry also looked at the $3.5 million dollar Trump Tower condo and the Bentley convertible purchased by televangelists Paula and Randy White.<br \/>\nInvestigators concluded the lack of accountability among these six ministries was &#8220;troubling considering that churches can reach the size of large taxable corporatio ns, control numerous&#8230; subsidiaries, and bestow Wall Street-size benefits on their ministers.&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2014\/04\/01\/282496855\/can-a-television-network-be-a-church-the-irs-says-yes\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.npr.org\/2014\/04\/01\/282496855\/can-a-television-network-be-a-church-the-irs-says-yes<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Best and Worst Things in the History of the World<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/apartment-fire.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13080\" alt=\"apartment fire\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/apartment-fire.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"414\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/apartment-fire.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/apartment-fire-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Woman sued for $2 million after boyfriend torches squirrel on apartment deck, starts massive fire<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 A woman who signed an apartment lease with her boyfriend and allegedly agreed to be liable for any smoke or water damage, faces a $2 million lawsuit after he attempted to cook a squirrel and started a massive fire with a torch.<br \/>\nTwo lawsuits have been filed in Ottawa County Circuit Court by insurance companies that covered damages after the Oct. 10, 2012 fire at ClearView Apartments. The complex is located at 120th Avenue and Riley Street in Holland Township.<br \/>\nKhek Chanthalavong told investigators the blaze started after he had been using a torch on the deck of a unit he shared with Barbara Pellow, to burn the fur off a squirrel he&#8217;d captured. Once the fur was removed, he placed the torch in the corner of their deck, next to a plastic plant holder. He then went inside to cook the rodent. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mlive.com\/news\/grand-rapids\/index.ssf\/2014\/04\/woman_sued_for_2_million_after.html#incart_2box\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.mlive.com\/news\/grand-rapids\/index.ssf\/2014\/04\/woman_sued_for_2_million_after.html#incart_2box<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Messianic Chris Hedges Suing His Way out of Fascism<\/strong> \u00a0The Barack Obama administration, determined to thwart the attempt by other plaintiffs and myself to have the courts void a law that permits the military to arrest U.S. citizens, strip them of due process and indefinitely detain them, has filed a detailed brief with the Supreme Court asking the justices to refuse to accept our petition to hear our appeal. We will respond within 10 days.<br \/>\n\u201cThe administration\u2019s unstated goal appears to be to get court to agree that [the administration] has the authority to use the military to detain U.S. citizens,\u201d Bruce Afran, one of two attorneys handling the case \u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/truth-out.org\/opinion\/item\/22784-chris-hedges-fighting-the-militarized-state#13963897189561&#038;action=collapse_widget&#038;id=130135\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">truth-out.org\/opinion\/item\/22784-chris-hedges-fighting-the-militarized-state#13963897189561&#038;action=collapse_widget&#038;id=130135<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>No tacos for you: NY restaurant chain &#8216;bans&#8217; Putin \u00a0<\/strong>Hey Putin, don&#8217;t even think about ordering a Super Mighty in Buffalo.<br \/>\nMighty Taco, a Buffalo-based chain of Mexican fast-foot restaurants, has banned Russian President Vladimir Putin from all of the company&#8217;s 23 locations in western New York. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/m.apnews.com\/ap\/db_268744\/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=JjEIipcJ\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">m.apnews.com\/ap\/db_268744\/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=JjEIipcJ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Below is the classic Rouge Forum Mayday Flyer. Remember to march! We Say Fight Back! Twenty arrested at UC Santa Cruz as teaching assistants strike Twenty picketers were arrested Wednesday morning for blocking traffic at UC Santa Cruz as unionized teaching assistants and tutors began a strike at two UC campuses. The arrests came around [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13043"}],"version-history":[{"count":79,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13146,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13043\/revisions\/13146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}