Aug
13
2013
As Americans reel from the extent of the NSA’s domestic surveillance program, a feeling of overwhelming helplessness can accompany the flood of information.
What can we do in the face of so much unchecked power?
Joining us in studio this morning to shine a ray of hope in these dark times is Reverend Rick Hoyt of the First Unitarian …
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Aug
13
2013
“Without a free press to expose and challenge it, surveillance will continue unabated in its many forms.” — Heidi Boghosian …
Aug
12
2013
When the Exxon Mobil Pegasus pipeline ruptured under the small town of Mayflower, Arkansas, it spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of diluted bitumen — crude, tar sands oil that had been diluted with a chemical cocktail to make it flow through the pipe more easily — and exposed nearby residents to toxic chemicals in the air.
Sam Eifling at The Arkansas Times has an excellent report on health problems members of that community are now …
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Aug
12
2013
The results of Bolivia’s most recent census are raising questions due to a dramatic fall in the percentage of Bolivians who self-identify as part of an indigenous group. The growing Andean nation’s 2001 census showed that 62 percent, or 3.14 million, of the population over 15 years old identified as part of an indigenous group, while according to new data that figure has fallen to roughly 40 percent, or 2.8 million.
President Evo Morales said the …
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Aug
12
2013
The White House announced that 2,000 Syrian refugees will be permitted to permanently resettle in America as conditions continue to worsen in the war-torn country.
According to the UN’s latest statistics, the two and a half year conflict has killed over 100,000 and will have displaced about 3.5 million by the end of 2013.
While the new program will only take a very small portion of Syrian refugees, it marks an important shift in policy.
Typically, the United …
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Aug
12
2013
With fracking operations to extract fossil fuels off the California coast stepping up, lawmakers in that state are demanding to know why the federal government is approving such operations without following legally required environmental reviews.
Last week, a group of California lawmakers demanded a federal investigation into the use of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” technology, off the coast of California.
In 2012, Truthout reported that a company called Venoco had quietly used fracking techniques in early 2010 …
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Aug
12
2013
Reverend Rick Hoyt of the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles joins us in studio to discuss why his church is leading a lawsuit against the NSA over government spying. And, Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director of the National Lawyer’s Guild, discusses her new book Spying on Democracy: Government Surveillance, Corporate Power, and Public Resistance. …
Aug
12
2013
One day early in the summer of 2012, two men in crisp business attire were talking about plastic debit cards at the Manhattan office of a financial services company. The men were interested in negotiating a deal to launch a debit card line. They assured the company that they would have a cooperative bank to go along with the cards eventually.
The two men were not, however, financial industry insiders trying to make a buck. Despite …
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Aug
12
2013
Some may be heralding the National Institutes of Health’s agreement with Henrietta Lacks’ family as a historic breakthrough for patient consent regarding scientific research, but troubling questions linger.
Ever since Rebecca Skloot published her critically-acclaimed bestseller The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks in 2010, Lacks’ story has been at the forefront of the medical community, especially as it relates to ethical questions. Oprah Winfrey is even set to make a HBO film out of it.
Lacks, a …
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Aug
12
2013
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A former New York lawyer convicted of helping a jailed Egyptian militant cleric smuggle messages out of prison lost her bid on Friday to be released from prison because she is suffering from terminal cancer.
Lynne Stewart, 73, is three years into a 10-year prison sentence after being convicted of aiding her client, blind cleric Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to attack the United Nations and other …
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