livin in the us empire

DOJ Releases Completely Blacked-Out Memo on Surveillance of Text Messages

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:05:52 -0400

DOJ Releases Completely Blacked-Out Memo on Surveillance of Text Messages:

The Justice Department has released 15 pages of completely blacked-out material in response to a request for information about how text messages from cellphones are intercepted. The American Civil Liberties Union says the Obama administration is reading emails and other electronic communications without a warrant, despite a court ruling against the practice. In response to a recent Freedom of Information Act request on the issue, the Justice Department released a memo with black rectangles covering every bit of text except the title, sender and recipient. ACLU spokesperson Josh Bell told ABC News: “We got very little information about the policy on text messages. [The document] does not even show the date, let alone what the policy is.”

Hundreds Take Part in Milwaukee Fast-Food, Retail Strike

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:15:24 -0400

Hundreds Take Part in Milwaukee Fast-Food, Retail Strike:

Hundreds of fast-food and retail workers staged a one-day strike in Milwaukee on Wednesday as part of a national effort for a $15-an-hour wage and the right to unionize without intimidation.
Jennifer Epps-Addison: “Fast food and retail, it’s one of the fastest-growing industries. It’s one of the most profitable, with $200 billion in profits. And yet these are the lowest-paid workers in our economy. They’re standing up and saying, ‘Our families can’t survive on $7.25 an hour.’”
Workers gathered in large numbers outside restaurant chains, including McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and Taco Bell, holding signs and chanting slogans. Milwaukee is the fifth city to see a fast-food workers strike in six weeks, following Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago and New York City.

Fast-Food Worker Strikes Spread to Detroit, St. Louis

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:48:14 -0400

Fast-Food Worker Strikes Spread to Detroit, St. Louis:

Hundreds of fast-food workers in Detroit are walking off the job today to demand a $15-an-hour wage and the right to unionize without intimidation, as such demands continue to spread to fast-food restaurants across the country. Employees from at least 60 stores, including McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Subway, are expected to take part in the action. Detroit is the fourth city to see such a strike over the past five weeks after workers in St. Louis walked off the job earlier this week, following similar actions in Chicago and New York.

Minnesota House Passes Bill to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:47:14 -0400

Minnesota House Passes Bill to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage:

Minnesota state House lawmakers have approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. The state Senate is expected to pass the measure, and Gov. Mark Dayton has said he will sign it into law. Eleven other states and Washington, D.C., allow same-sex marriage, including Rhode Island and Delaware, which both passed laws this month.

Philadelphia Mayor Signs Landmark LGBT Rights Bill

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:46:48 -0400

Philadelphia Mayor Signs Landmark LGBT Rights Bill:

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has signed legislation he says is aimed at making the city “the most LGBT-friendly” in the world. The landmark bill includes the first-ever tax incentives for businesses that offer health coverage for life partners and transgender health needs. It extends rights to same-sex partners in medical decision making and requires health insurance for city employees to cover transgender health costs, including sex-change surgeries.

New York City Council Passes Sick-Pay Bill

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:46:12 -0400

New York City Council Passes Sick-Pay Bill:

In a victory for workers, the New York City Council has passed a bill requiring businesses to grant five paid sick days per year. Bill sponsor Gale Brewer hailed the measure as “one of the most progressive pieces of legislation ever in history.” The bill is a compromise that exempts smaller businesses and delays the requirement from coming into effect if the economy is bad. Sick-pay legislation had been blocked for three years by Speaker Christine Quinn, who is running for mayor and had faced increasing pressure to bring the issue to a vote. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vowed to veto the bill, but it appears to have enough support to override his veto; just three council members voted against it Wednesday, with 45 voting in favor. Roughly 1.3 million workers in New York City are docked pay if they stay home sick — that is four in 10 employees. The bill would cover roughly 925,000 of them.

Cooper Union Students Stage Sit-In to Preserve Free Tuition

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:52:49 -0400

Cooper Union Students Stage Sit-In to Preserve Free Tuition:

Around 50 students held a sit-in at New York City’s Cooper Union on Wednesday to protest an end to the school’s longstanding tradition of free tuition for undergraduates. The school recently announced it will begin charging up to $20,000 after more than 100 years of being tuition-free. Student activist Victoria Sobel spoke inside the office of Cooper Union President Jamshed Bharucha.

Victoria Sobel: “The action began as a sit-in in Jamshed Bharucha’s office this morning at 11 a.m. The plan was to intercept the president and read this statement to him. Right now we have more than half of the signatures of the School of Art for students, so that is a majority of the students voicing no confidence in Jamshed Bharucha. So, for us, it began as a sit-in. And his absence has marked it as an occupation. He is no longer welcome in this office space. It is one that’s been reclaimed by the students, for the students, for this school. It’s not about tuition. It’s about repealing tuition. It’s about reclaiming administrative spaces and re-examining the roles of administration within a school context.”

The sit-in marked the latest action in nearly two years of protests from students and faculty to preserve Cooper Union’s tuition-free policy. Watch Democracy Now! video coverage from the protest.

Docs: FBI, Justice Dept. Assert Right to Warrantless Internet Spying

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:52:06 -0400

Docs: FBI, Justice Dept. Assert Right to Warrantless Internet Spying:

The Justice Department appears to be continuing a policy of disregarding search warrants when seeking to monitor activity on the Internet. The American Civil Liberties Union says internal documents show federal prosecutors and the FBI believe they are not compelled to obtain court-approved warrants to review emails and instant messages. The U.S. attorney’s office in New York circulated a memo saying a subpoena signed by a prosecutor, not a judge, is sufficient. By contrast, the IRS has publicly vowed to abandon warrantless spying of Internet use.

Peace Activists Convicted for Protest at Tennessee Nuclear Site

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:51:12 -0400

Peace Activists Convicted for Protest at Tennessee Nuclear Site:

Three peace activists have been convicted for infiltrating the U.S. government’s lone site for handling and processing weapons-grade uranium last July. Calling themselves the “Transform Now Plowshares,” the three cut through fences to paint slogans and throw blood on the wall of the Y12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Y12 facility processes uranium for new hydrogen bombs and makes nuclear warheads. On Wednesday, a jury found the three activists — 83-year-old nun Sister Megan Rice, Vietnam War veteran Michael Walli, and Greg Boertje-Obed — guilty of damaging a so-called “national defense” site. The charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Closing Arguments Held in Genocide Trial of Former Guatemalan Dictator Efraín Ríos Montt

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:50:04 -0400

Closing Arguments Held in Genocide Trial of Former Guatemalan Dictator Efraín Ríos Montt:

Closing arguments are underway in Guatemala’s historic trial of former U.S.-backed dictator Efraín Ríos Montt. The first head of state in the Americas to stand trial for genocide, Ríos Montt is charged with overseeing the slaughter of more than 1,700 people in Guatemala’s Ixil region after he seized power in 1982. On Wednesday, prosecutors asked for Ríos Montt to be sentenced to 75 years in prison. Defense lawyers are expected to give closing arguments today. We’ll have more from Guatemala with journalist Allan Nairn later in the broadcast.

Stephen Hawking Backs Academic Boycott of Israel

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:49:33 -0400

Stephen Hawking Backs Academic Boycott of Israel:

The prize-winning physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking has become one of the most high-profile figures so far to join the academic boycott of Israel. Hawking has dropped out of an international conference scheduled in Israel next month. In a statement, Hawking said he made the decision after consulting with Palestinian academics who asked him to respect the global campaign to boycott Israeli institutions in protest of violations of Palestinian human rights. Hawking said: “Had I attended I would have stated my opinion that the policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster.”

Report: African-American Voter Turnout Topped White Turnout in 2012

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:22:14 -0400

Report: African-American Voter Turnout Topped White Turnout in 2012:

New data indicates African-American voter turnout surpassed white turnout for the first time in history during the 2012 election that brought Obama back into power. African Americans also voted at a higher rate than other people of color.

Georgia Students Attend School's 1st Racially Integrated Prom

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:18:25 -0400

Georgia Students Attend School's 1st Racially Integrated Prom:

In Wilcox County, Georgia, high school students attended the school’s first-ever racially integrated prom on Saturday night. Organized by students fed up with the local history of holding two proms — one for white students and the other for students of color — the integrated prom drew an outpouring of support from around the world.

U.S. Approves $10 Billion Nuclear Weapons Upgrade

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:42:30 -0400

U.S. Approves $10 Billion Nuclear Weapons Upgrade:

The Obama administration has been accused of backtracking on vows to move toward nuclear disarmament following reports it plans to spend more than $10 billion to upgrade its nuclear arsenal. The plan would extend the life of U.S. nuclear B61 gravity bombs stored in Europe and apply new tail fins to make the bombs into guided weapons. Joseph Cirincione, head of the nuclear arms control group the Ploughshares Fund, told The Guardian: “The billions of dollars we are lavishing on the B61 is criminal. This is billions of dollars spent on a weapon whose mission evaporated at the end of the cold war,” he said.

U.S. Drone Strikes Kill 13 in Pakistan

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 12:37:23 -0400

U.S. Drone Strikes Kill 13 in Pakistan:

At least 13 people were killed over the weekend in three separate U.S. drone attacks inside Pakistan. The attacks came as Pakistanis celebrated the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. The United States says its drone strikes target militants, but the Obama administration’s policy is to deem all adult-male victims as militants unless exculpatory evidence emerges after their deaths.

Mexican Activists Kick Off U.S. Caravan Calling for End of Drug War

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:06:27 -0400

Mexican Activists Kick Off U.S. Caravan Calling for End of Drug War:

A peace caravan led by Mexican activists kicked off a month-long, cross-country journey in Los Angeles on Monday to call for an end of the U.S.-backed drug war. The Caravan for Peace is organized by Mexican poet-turned-activist Javier Sicilia, whose son was killed by drug traffickers last year.

Javier Sicilia: “As a poet, I’ve always said that poets are the voice of the tribe. And what I’ve done, what I think is important, is to give voice to many of the forgotten, many of the victims. And through that voice, we’ve been able to put into the center of the consciousness of the country and the political consciousness the people who are victims of this war and the necessity for justice, the need to have justice and to create peace.”

Los Angeles was the first of around 20 stops for the peace caravan in its journey across the United States.

Obama to Announce $170 Million in Drought Support

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:03:32 -0400

Obama to Announce $170 Million in Drought Support:

President Obama is expected to announce today that the Department of Agriculture intends to buy up to $170 million of pork, lamb, chicken and catfish to help support farmers suffering from the nation’s worst drought in more than 50 years. The food purchases will go toward “food nutrition assistance” programs, like food banks.

NYPD Shoot Dead a Man in Times Square After Attempted Marijuana Bust

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:03:15 -0400

NYPD Shoot Dead a Man in Times Square After Attempted Marijuana Bust:

New York City police shot and killed a 51-year-old African-American man in the heart of Times Square on Saturday afternoon. Police fired 12 shots at Darrius Kennedy, who was first confronted by police for smoking marijuana. Police said they fired at him when he refused orders to drop a knife and moved toward them. The shooting occurred in one of the busiest parts of the city and was witnessed by many tourists.

Texas Gunman Kills 2 in the 3rd Major U.S. Shooting in Under a Month

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:59:36 -0400

Texas Gunman Kills 2 in the 3rd Major U.S. Shooting in Under a Month:

A shooting in College Station, Texas, near Texas A&M University on Monday has left three people dead, including the gunman, and wounded four others, at least one of them seriously. The shooter, 35-year-old Thomas Caffall, reportedly attacked a constable who had come to his home to serve him with an eviction notice, killing him as well as a bystander before being shot dead by police. The shooter’s mother, Linda Weaver, has said she had been worried about her son, who was having mental health “difficulties.” The tragedy marks the third major shooting in the United States in less than a month, pushing gun control advocates to demand action. On Monday, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence released a letter urging presidential debate moderator Jim Lehrer to ask President Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney to present plans for addressing gun violence. The letter notes more than 32 people are murdered with guns every day in the United States.

Exxon Mobil Oil Spill Hits Niger Delta

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:59:03 -0400

Exxon Mobil Oil Spill Hits Niger Delta:

The oil giant Exxon Mobil has acknowledged a new oil spill off the coast of southern Nigeria. Residents of Akwa Ibom state have reported seeing oil deposits massing along the coastline. Exxon says the size of the leak remains unclear. Akwa Ibom is a part of the Niger Delta region, which a U.N. report one year ago said will already need 30 years and around $1 billion to at least partially recover from environmental damage caused by major oil companies.