When occupiers took the occasion to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the initial Zuccotti Park/Liberty Plaza occupation yesterday, the NYPD responded in kind with a brutal crackdown and scores of arrests, including of journalists.

Friend of AlterNet Michael Gould-Wartofsky was in the streets of New York City yesterday filming footage of protests, which inevitably turned into footage of what certainly appears to be police brutality, overzealous arrests, aggression and misconduct.

Every politician has a stake in the drug war, but Mitt Romney's just might be personal.  Vicerecently kicked-off a seven-part series about Mexico's drug trafficking and violence. Included are Mormons -- some of whom are related to Romney -- taking up arms to fight against the cartels in one of Mexico's most blood-soaked territories.

Everyone's talking about that secretly-recorded Romney campaign video that has him on record saying all sorts of crazy things about moochers, freeloaders, Obama voters, Latinos and Palestinians (groups he has no interest in helping!). But how did the video from an event just for big donors get released in the first place?

If you want to see a perfect example of how reporters can get so lost in journalistic process that they lose sight of the truth, reality even, read this NY Times public editor column from yesterday on the "he said/she said" convention:

This post has been updated.

Have you ever clicked on a 'plant a tree' button on some website? I have been an environmentalist my whole life. I would strongly urge you to plant your own tree instead of paying for one in a distant plantation.

In the fifty years since the publication of Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring' book – which stimulated the birth of the environmental movement and led the USA to ban the chemical DDT-  public environmental awareness has come a long way.

Occupy San Francisco continued their actions today by protesting against foreclosures, evictions and the criminalization of homelessness. 

Long Island Representative Peter King may not care about fact checking, but I have a different question. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that President Obama did start his presidency with a global Apology Tour. Isn't that standard public relations? After British Petroleum leaked a metric gigaton of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, didn't they change executives and tell everyone that they were sorry? George W.

Over on the West Coast, Occupy San Francisco has planned a day filled with rallies and protests to celebrate Occupy's one year anniversary. Its first action took place at noon today as supporters gathered to hear the stories of elderly veterans whose homes are being foreclosed on. In the video below, Rita Hall speaks for her godfather Alfred Richardson who recently lost his home. 

Mother Jones has obtainedexclusive video of Mitt Romney revealing  what he really thinks of Americans -- or, at least, the half who may vote for Obama. At a fundraiser earlier this year, he uttered the following words: