Making Airport Screening Saner

August 23, 2011

In the decade since 9/11, airports have invested a fortune in heightened security against terrorism while alienating millions of passengers with procedures that demean and delay. Retired prosecutor William John Cox suggests some improvements to the system.

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Why Ron Paul Gets No Respect

August 23, 2011

Rep. Ron Paul came in one percentage point behind Rep. Michelle Bachmann in the Iowa Republican straw poll, but – as Jon Stewart has noted – was still excluded from the Big Media’s list of who’s to be taken seriously in the GOP race. The Independent Institute’s Ivan Eland traces the media’s disdain for Paul to his criticism…

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TV Networks ‘Monetize’ Politics

August 22, 2011

More than a year before the traditional start of the U.S. campaign season – Labor Day 2012 – the political horse race is already heating up with an early measure of the field determined by how much money each contender can raise. As Danny Schechter notes, the TV networks end up as both handicappers and…

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In Case You Missed…

August 21, 2011

Some of our special stories in July explored the double standards regarding “freedom” in the Middle East, exposed new evidence on the 1980 October Surprise mystery, examined the spread of right-wing extremism, and more.

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Real Plans for Putting People to Work

August 20, 2011

Ironically, just as government-spurred technology opened up prospects of greater wealth for all, an anti-government movement took hold, making sure most benefits went to the rich while leaving millions unemployed and the economy a wreck. Michael Winship lists ideas for putting some jobless back to work.

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The Myopic Madness of the GOP

August 20, 2011

Pretty much the entire field of Republican presidential candidates embraces hostility toward the federal government, driven either by religious fervor or a belief in unregulated capitalism. The GOP hopefuls are appealing to a large subset of the U.S. population that resents the modern world and the lessons of history, as Lawrence Davidson notes.

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Lemmingly, We Roll Along

August 19, 2011

Exclusive: When soldiers die, the politicians who sent them to their deaths typically use euphemisms, words like “fallen” or “ultimate sacrifice.” On one level, the avoidance of blunt language may be seen as a sign of respect, but on another, it is just one more evasion of responsibility, as Ray McGovern notes.

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The World at a Tipping Point

August 19, 2011

America and the world seem precariously balanced between those who wish to deny the many problems facing mankind and those who insist that the human race address the multiple crises confronting the planet. Winslow Myers sees reason to hope that the world will tip in a positive direction.

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Truth Still a Casualty at Dieppe

August 18, 2011
Truth Still a Casualty at Dieppe

Special Report: Sixty-nine years ago, British commanders dispatched mostly Canadian troops on a raid against German coastal defenses at the French city of Dieppe. The attack was a fiasco, losing more than half the landing force, but well-connected British officers spun the defeat into a P.R. victory, writes Don North.

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Pakistan Demands Veto on Drone Strikes

August 17, 2011

The U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2 aroused anger in Pakistan over unilateral American military actions. But bilateral tensions have been growing for years over U.S. drone strikes against Pakistani targets – and have now reached a crisis stage, reports Gareth Porter for Inter Press Service.

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Did Tenet Hide Key 9/11 Info?

August 16, 2011

Exclusive: With few exceptions – like some salacious rumor about the Kennedy family – the mainstream U.S. news media has little interest in historical stories. Such was the case when an ex-White House terrorism official accused a former CIA director of withholding information that might have prevented a 9/11 attack, Ray McGovern reports. 

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The Dangerous Reagan Cult

August 16, 2011

Exclusive: Ronald Reagan’s anti-government philosophy inspires Tea Party extremists to oppose any revenue increase, even from closing loopholes on corporate jets. Democrats try the spin that “even Reagan” showed flexibility on debt and taxes. But Robert Parry says it is the “Reagan cult” that is at the heart of America’s crisis.

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Common Ground in Anti-War Appeal

August 16, 2011
Common Ground in Anti-War Appeal

The major U.S. news media is again focusing Campaign 2012 on personalities, gaffes and poll-measured momentum, a superficiality that has contributed to America’s dysfunctional politics for several decades. But ex- FBI agent Coleen Rowley describes her work with an anti-war group seeking to change that dynamic.

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Back to Big Media’s Political Circus

August 16, 2011

As the United States careens toward another economic crisis, the big-time U.S. news media is back to trivializing politics as some inconsequential sporting event where the competing sides score points measured by daily tracking polls. Danny Schechter dissects the madness.

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What’s Worse? Looting or Invading?

August 15, 2011

Politicians take great umbrage when poor people violate property laws (as in the British riots) but the same leaders readily absolve themselves of guilt over much more serious crimes (like aggressive war in Iraq that killed hundreds of thousands). Such was the hypocrisy of British parliamentarian Jack Straw, writes Robin Beste.

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