{"id":15178,"date":"2014-12-13T23:37:35","date_gmt":"2014-12-14T07:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=15178"},"modified":"2014-12-14T08:40:40","modified_gmt":"2014-12-14T16:40:40","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-draft-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-draft-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch Versus Capital and Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Say Fight Back!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations to Eric Chester on the Publication of:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"IWW<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Five thoughts on the Torture Repor<\/strong>t (NYTimes online 12\/14\/14): Incompetence? New? The CIA completely missed the coming collapse\u00a0 of its five-decades-long nemesis: the USSR. Lies? That’s their job but let’s go back to the Shah of Iran, Bay of Pigs, Vietnam , etc. This torture is new? Throwing prisoners out of helicopters in Vietnam, murdering foreign politicians, drugging the unwitting in MKULTRA , The Family Jewels, and far more. Corrupting the press? Operation Wurlitzer; Operation Mockingbird. Last: This is a corporate state—fascism as Professor Chalmers Johnson said eight years back. They aren’t going to stop. And nobody is going to be convicted except the guy who exposed the most recent CIA crimes. Dr Rich Gibson
\nEmeritus Professor, San Diego State University<\/p>\n

Former Operative Revealing CIA’s Torture Program Currently in Prison \u00a0<\/strong>There is only one U.S. government employee who has gone to jail in association with the widespread torture program by the CIA documented in the executive summary of the Senate report that was partially released Tuesday: the gentleman who helped expose it six years ago.<\/p>\n

John Kiriako<\/strong><\/em>u, who worked for the CIA between 1990 and 2004, stepped forward in 2007 and confirmed to issue outlets some of the first details about the agency’s prevalent use of torture. Among Kiriakou’s revelations was an account to ABC News of the repeated water-boarding of Abu Zubaydah\u2014a man currently imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay without charges whose 12 years of torture and abuse at the hands of the U.S. were further exposed in the Senate report.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Kiriakou\u2014a father of five\u2014was prosecuted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act for allegedly revealing classified information to a reporter. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison, which he is still serving. His incarceration came after the Obama administration refused to prosecute any of the higher-up government officials who planned, authorized, or otherwise took part in implementation of the torture program.<\/p>\n

Kiriakou is widely considered a victim of the Obama administration’s war on whistleblowers, in which the president’s administration has charged more people under the Espionage Act than all previous administrations combined.<\/p>\n

The Senate report released Tuesday reveals that, as the Obama administration locked up Kiriakou, the CIA was actively spreading falsehoods and misinformation about the agency’s vast torture program, including deliberate leaks and false narratives to the media.\u00a0 Jesselyn Radack, the lawyer who represented Kiriakou, wrote Tuesday in Salon, “The newly released Executive Summary of Senate Intelligence Committee\u2019s Torture Report lays bare that the CIA makes propaganda its business, and the propagandists and perpetrators of torture are enjoying their freedom. Meanwhile, the Obama administration has made truth-telling a crime, and truth-tellers are in jail.” \u00a0http:\/\/awdnews.com\/top-news\/10370-former-operative-revealing-cia-s-torture-program-currently-in-prison.html<\/p>\n

\"Kirakou<\/a><\/p>\n

Actions Continue in Bhopal on Anniversary of Union Carbide Attack<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Bhopaul<\/a><\/p>\n

The Little Red Schoolhouse<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Capitalist<\/a>Will Detroit Teachers Vote to Sell themselves out, get on their knees, as instruments of their own oppression again?\u00a0<\/strong>A run-off election for leadership of the Detroit teachers union pits a slate of candidates that ran on a campaign of forging alliances versus a slate that vows hardline resistance and strikes.<\/p>\n

The departing president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers called the leader of the dissident slate, a Cass Tech math teacher, “an anarchist.” In response, that candidate said his opponent will continue to allow the “disintegration of the union.”<\/p>\n

The candidates are vying to lead the DFT, which has 4,000 members, when privately run charter schools and academies are siphoning off students and a governor-appointed emergency manager controls Detroit Public Schools.<\/p>\n

The two groups of candidates will face each other in the run-off because neither slate received 50 percent of the votes in the month-long general election that ended Friday.<\/p>\n

The DFT released results Sunday that showed the leader of the more moderate United Teacher Rights slate garnered 390 votes for president. The candidate for that slate is Edna Reaves, executive vice president of the local.<\/p>\n

Steve Conn, the candidate for the Equal Opportunity Now\/By Any Means Necessary slate, received the second-most votes with 300.www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/education\/2014\/12\/07\/run-election-detroit-teachers-union-needed\/20057309\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"capitalist<\/a>WELCOME TO WASHINGTON: <\/strong>New York Education Commissioner John King is leaving his post to serve as senior adviser to Education Secretary Arne Duncan in early 2015. The agency is delegating King the responsibilities handled by outgoing Deputy Secretary Jim Shelton. Shelton has overseen competitive grant programs like the Investing in Innovation Fund and Promise Neighborhoods. President Barack Obama will have to formally nominate King before he can serve as acting deputy secretary. But even if that happens, it’s unclear whether King would ever get the congressional confirmation needed to remove the “acting” from his title as the administration winds down to a close.<\/p>\n

– King’s departure earned predictable praise and criticism.<\/strong> The Education Trust, Council of Chief State School Officers, Center for American Progress and others all released statements lauding King’s work in New York and cheering his new position at the Education Department. King also earned many critics while overseeing the much-maligned implementation of the Common Core and aligned tests in New York<\/strong><\/em>, among other reforms. “Hopefully he will be unable to do as much damage at the U.S. Department of Education,” said Leonie Haimson, a parent activist who has clashed with the commissioner for years. Politico<\/p>\n

FIRST LOOK: DEMS LOSING EDGE ON EDUCATION: Just two years ago, voters gave Democrats the edge as the most trusted party on education by 26 points, according to Pew Research. By this fall, that edge had dwindled to 5 points and Democrats lost nearly all the high-profile races in which they had emphasized education themes. A new poll by the think tank Third Way, shared exclusively with Morning Education, explains the collapse \u2014 and suggests a strategy for regaining voter confidence. Third Way commissioned a national poll of voters and a separate survey of teachers and found that the top two phrases Americans associate with Democrats\u2019 education policy are \u201cpouring money into a broken system\u201d and \u201cblaming poverty for problems with public education.\u201d Those sentiments prevailed even among teachers. Voters also see Democrats as defending the status quo \u2014 and they\u2019re not happy with that status quo. The poll found voters still think highly of teachers, calling them \u201cdedicated,\u201d \u201cunderpaid\u201d and \u201coverworked,\u201d but they\u2019re not confident teachers are rewarded (or fired) based on their performance in the classroom. And they fear that high-achieving college students are shying away from the teaching profession. (One eye-opening factoid: Only 13 percent of teachers would advise a young person to go into the field.<\/strong><\/em>)<\/p>\n

\"Human<\/a>UC, CSU Receive Record Number Of Applications \u00a0<\/strong>More students than ever are applying for undergraduate admission at the University of California and California State University systems.<\/p>\n

The UC system reported Friday more than 183,000 students applied to at least one of its nine undergraduate campuses for this coming fall. The 4.9 percent increase marked the 10th consecutive year of rising applications.<\/p>\n

The increase was driven by a sharp jump in applications from students outside California. UC officials reported a 19 percent jump in domestic out-of-state applicants and 21 percent increase in international applicants.<\/p>\n

The number of California freshman applicants only rose 0.6 percent to nearly 100,000. On average, in-state students applied to four UC campuses.<\/p>\n

The largest number of applications came from Chicano-Latino students, who made up 32.7 percent of California freshman applicants. There was a slight drop in applications from students who identified as white, African American or Pacific Islander.<\/p>\n

About 46 percent of California freshman applicants say they would be the first in their families to graduate from college.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the CSU system reported a record 284,000 students applied to at least one of its 23 campuses for fall 2014. That\u2019s up nearly 10 percent from two years ago.<\/p>\n

CSU officials say the Fullerton, Long Beach, Northridge, San Diego and San Luis Obispo campuses each received more than 50,000 applications. \u00a0http:\/\/sacramento.cbslocal.com\/2014\/01\/18\/uc-csu-receive-record-number-of-applications\/<\/p>\n

DISTRICT VOTES TO SUE ITS EX- CHIEF \u00a0 <\/strong>After Paul\u2019s conviction, San Ysidro wants severance money back<\/p>\n

SAN YSIDRO<\/p>\n

The San Ysidro School District will sue its former superintendent for the return of more than $200,000 paid to him in severance last year before he admitted guilt in the South County schools \u201cpay-toplay\u201dscandal. Trustees voted unanimously in a closed session Thursday night to take legal action against Manuel Paul, 63, who resigned last year amid allegations of corruption. The decision was met with applause when board President Antonio Martinez announced the move.<\/p>\n

The district\u2019s claim is based on a 2012 statute that requires public employees to reimburse cash settlements related to the termination of their employment contracts if they are convicted of a crime involving an abuse of office or position. San Ysidro isbeing represented by Richard Currier, whose firm Currier & Hudson specializes in legal matters pertaining to public education agencies, such as school districts. Currier said the law applies to any public administrator convicted of a crime.<\/p>\n

He said he\u2019s confident the district will prevail.<\/p>\n

Dennis Grady, who\u2019s representing Paul, did not return a call for comment. He said in a Sept. 3 response to a district letter seeking reimbursement from Paul that the law does not apply because the severance pact trustees approved is a retirement contract, not an employment contract. The lawyer said the agreement releases Paul from any future liability.<\/p>\n

San Ysidro has had a complicated relationship with Paul since he was indicted in the \u201cpay-to-play\u201d corruption probe that spread through three South County school districts last year. He was placed on paid leave in January 2013, shortly after the indictment against him was unsealed. SD UT<\/p>\n

The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Helpful Reminder: They Lie (about everything significant)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n