by Geoffrey Redick for the Bob Edwards Show, an interview with Izzeldin Abuelaish,

When three of Abuelaish’s daughters were killed in the Gaza War, he looked deep within himself, and found no hatred, only a desire for peace and understanding. That reaction is what makes Abuelaish a unique voice, and one that must be heard.

Please hear his voice.

From Democracy Now!:

As many as half-a-million protesters marched in London Saturday to protest Britain’s deepest cuts to public spending since World War II. The protests come after officials estimated corporate taxes would be reduced, even as the government tackles a $235 billion deficit and plans to cut more than 300,000 public sector jobs.

But it’s happening here, too–with U.S. Uncut.

[P]rotesters in more than 40 U.S. cities also gathered Saturday to oppose tax cuts for the wealthy amidst budget cuts to public services. There was a demonstration in Washington, D.C., which targeted Bank of America, which protesters say has not paid federal income taxes for the past two years. Many of the protests were organized by activists with US Uncut, a sister organization to UK Uncut, whichs helped organize Saturday’s protest in London.

“Bank of America is a huge corporate tax dodger. You know, interestingly enough, they received $45 billion in taxpayer dollars during the bailout, yet they haven’t paid a cent in federal income taxes in the past two years. Now, if you or I did that, we would go to jail. But because Bank of America is a huge corporation, they get to play by a different set of rules. And it’s not just Bank of America, actually. Two-thirds of corporations within the United States don’t pay a nickel in federal income taxes….

“[The] whole tax haven scheme costs the United States $100 billion every year. Imagine what we could do with $100 billion, how many police, firefighters, teachers’ jobs we could save with that money. You know, in all of these states, we hear that we have to suffer under these austerity measures because there just isn’t enough revenue. But there isn’t a revenue problem, according to US Uncut; these corporations are just stealing from the country….”

The movement appeals to both the left and the right. Here is from Allison Kilkenny, co-host of the political radio show Citizen Radio. She’s a freelance journalist who’s blogging at The Nation magazine about the U.S. Uncut movement:

[T]his is probably the least controversial story I’ve ever covered. I’ve had very positive feedback from Republicans, from Tea Party members, because, you know, they really see it as a form of theft. You know, we always hear about the free market. But if the market was actually free, Bank of America would have failed, because they made really bad, shady mortgage deals. But instead, they got $45 billion in taxpayer money. So that’s done. But now that they’ve been bailed out, it’s time to contribute back to the society that facilitated their lavish wealth, and they’re just not willing to do that. It’s a form of economic treason. And, you know, Republicans, Democrats, independents, thus far, in my opinion, all see it that way.

by T. Christian Miller and Daniel Zwerdling for ProPublica:

More than 2 million troops have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. Tens of thousands have returned with a bedeviling mix of psychological and cognitive problems. For decades, doctors have recognized that soldiers can suffer lasting wounds from the sheer terror of combat, a condition referred to today as post-traumatic stress disorder. They also have come to know that blows to the head from roadside bombs — the signature weapon in Iraq and Afghanistan — can result in mild traumatic injuries to the brain, or concussions, that can leave soldiers unable to remember, to follow orders, to think normally.

Some startling case studies–well worth reading.

by Glenn Greenwald for Salon:

“In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, [current Obama administration official Cass] Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-“independent” advocates to “cognitively infiltrate” online groups and websites — as well as other activist groups — which advocate views that Sunstein deems “false conspiracy theories” about the Government. This would be designed to increase citizens’ faith in government officials and undermine the credibility of conspiracists. The paper’s abstract can be read, and the full paper downloaded, here.”

Initially, note how similar Sunstein’s proposal is to multiple, controversial stealth efforts by the Bush administration to secretly influence and shape our political debates. The Bush Pentagon employed teams of former Generals to pose as “independent analysts” in the media while secretly coordinating their talking points and messaging about wars and detention policies with the Pentagon (see this). Bush officials secretly paid supposedly “independent” voices, such as Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher, to advocate pro-Bush policies while failing to disclose their contracts. In Iraq, the Bush Pentagon hired a company, Lincoln Park, which paid newspapers to plant pro-U.S. articles while pretending it came from Iraqi citizens (see this). In response to all of this, Democrats typically accused the Bush administration of engaging in government-sponsored propaganda — and when it was done domestically, suggested this was illegal propaganda (see this). Indeed, there is a very strong case to make that what Sunstein is advocating is itself illegal under long-standing statutes prohibiting government “propaganda” within the U.S., aimed at American citizens (see this):

As explained in a March 21, 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service, “publicity or propaganda” is defined by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to mean either (1) self-aggrandizement by public officials, (2) purely partisan activity, or (3) “covert propaganda.” By covert propaganda, GAO means information which originates from the government but is unattributed and made to appear as though it came from a third party.

Covert government propaganda is exactly what Sunstein craves. His mentality is indistinguishable from the Bush mindset that led to these abuses, and he hardly tries to claim otherwise.

Sunstein apparently believes, according to Greenwald, that “such powers are warranted only when wielded by truly well-intentioned government officials who want to spread The Truth and Do Good — i.e., when used by people like Cass Sunstein and Barack Obama. In Sunstein’s words:

Throughout, we assume a well-motivated government that aims to eliminate conspiracy theories, or draw their poison, if and only if social welfare is improved by doing so.

“But it’s precisely because the Government is so often not ‘well-motivated’ that such powers are so dangerous. Advocating them on the ground that “we will use them well” is every authoritarian’s claim. More than anything else, this is the toxic mentality that consumes our political culture: when our side does X, X is Good, because we’re Good and are working for Good outcomes. That was what led hordes of Bush followers to endorse the same large-government surveillance programs they long claimed to oppose, and what leads so many Obama supporters now to justify actions that they spent the last eight years opposing.”

The entire article is chilling.

from Reuters:

Trace amounts of radioactive iodine linked to Japan’s crippled nuclear power station have turned up in rainwater samples as far away as Massachusetts during the past week, state officials said on Sunday.

The low level of radioiodine-131 detected in precipitation at a sample location in Massachusetts is comparable to findings in California, Washington state and Pennsylvania and poses no impact to drinking supplies, public health officials said.

How reassuring!

by David Kocieniewski in The New York Times.

“The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States. Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.”