Inauguration 2017 Special Coverage w/ Angela Davis, Naomi Klein, Ralph Nader & More
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Special coverage in the Trump Era
From Public Citizen's Corporate Presidency site: "44 Trump administration officials have close ties to the Koch brothers and their network of political groups, particularly Vice President Mike Pence, White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and White House budget director Mick Mulvaney."
Dark Money author Jane Mayer on The Dangers of President Pence, New Yorker, Oct. 23 issue on-line
Can Time Inc. Survive the Kochs? November 28, 2017 By Jane Mayer
..."This year, among the Kochs’ aims is to spend a projected four hundred million dollars in contributions from themselves and a small group of allied conservative donors they have assembled, to insure Republican victories in the 2018 midterm elections. Ordinarily, political reporters for Time magazine would chronicle this blatant attempt by the Kochs and their allies to buy political influence in the coming election cycle. Will they feel as free to do so now?"...
"Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America" see: our site, and George Monbiot's essay on this key book by historian Nancy MacLean.
Full interview with The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer March 29, 2017, Democracy Now! about her article, "The Reclusive Hedge-Fund Tycoon Behind the Trump Presidency: How Robert Mercer Exploited America’s Populist Insurgency."
Democracy Now! Special Broadcast from the Women's March on Washington
The Economics of Happiness -- shorter version
Local Futures offers a free 19-minute abridged version of its award-winning documentary film The Economics of Happiness. It "brings us voices of hope of in a time of crisis." www.localfutures.org.
What's New?
June 04, 2013
Phyllis Bennis: "Syrian War Moving Outward, Obama Looks Inward"
In her most recent newsletter (May 30, 2013), she provides useful analysis, background and links to better understand the dire situation in Syria. She writes that: "The civil war in Syria is already expanding beyond the borders, with regional and potentially global consequences." And calls for a diplomatic solution as the only alternative to the downward spiral of violence and death.
The report opens:
"Even as the U.S. and Russia continue collaborating on plans for a Syrian peace conference to be held some time in late June, arms shipments on all sides continue to threaten even greater escalation. Arms flows to Syrian rebel forces from Qatar and Saudi Arabia via Turkey and Jordan continue, Britain and France forced the European Union to end its prohibition on sending arms to the opposition, the United States cheered the EU decision, Russia announced in response it intends to send Damascus advanced anti-aircraft missiles, and Israel made clear it would bomb those missiles if they arrive in Syria. And the Obama administration has reportedly requested the Pentagon to prepare plans for imposing a “no-fly” zone in Syria in support of rebel fighters and even for direct multilateral military engagement inside Syria.
Senator John McCain’s highly-publicized visit to rebel-held territory inside Syria, accompanied by top leaders of the fractious rebel alliance, also appears timed directly to scuttle any potential for Washington’s and Moscow’s efforts to establish the new peace conference for Syria. I talked about McCain’s visit, the necessity for a diplomatic rather than military solution, and the futility of trying for a military victory on The Real News a couple of days ago.
Syria – and the region in which it sits – are in serious trouble. Pressures on the Obama administration to engage even more directly in Syria, establishing a “no-fly” zone, creating “safe corridors” for the rebel forces, sending heavy weapons to the U.S.-identified “good guys” among the rebels, training even more than the 200 CIA agents in Jordan are training now… all are on the wish list of the We-Want-To-Attack-Syria-And-We-Want-You-To-Do-It-Now caucus."...