Special Coverage: Rights and Liberties

From the blogs

A Look at the Shady Morals of NY State Senator Hiram Monserrate Who Opposed Marriage Equality

by Jill Filipovic, Feministe

It's worth pointing out that those morals include slashing his girlfriend's face with a broken beer bottle.

NY Senate Votes Down Same-Sex Marriage, Anti-Gay Group Declares Victory For God (And Asks For Money)

by Liliana Segura, AlterNet

The National Organization for Marriage wasted no time in turning its big homophobic win into a fundraising appeal.

NY Set to Legalize Gay Marriage

by Kos , Daily Kos

The best part? There are no citizen initiatives able to overturn this in New York.

DC Council Passes Marriage Equality, 11-2

by Adam Bink, Open Left

The two against were former Mayor Marion Barry and Yvette Alexander.

Why Do Mainstream Media Suck Up to Pastor Rick Warren?

by Adele Stan, AlterNet

On Meet the Press, David Gregory never asked about Warren's tacit support for Uganda's gay-execution law, or challenged Warren's description of abortion as a "holocaust."

GA Jail Goes Pink to Deter Repeat Offenders

by Tara Lohan, AlterNet

Everything is pink. Pink shower shoes, pink wash clothes, pink towels, pink sheets, even pink handcuffs.

Someone Is Finally Taking Our Busty Bikini-Clad Barista Crisis Seriously

by Joshua Holland, AlterNet

Apparently someone is thinking about the children.

Naomi Klein: Why Rich Countries Should Pay Reparations To Poor Countries For The Climate Crisis

by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!

A grassroots movement says that the countries that created the climate crisis should pay for the costs of adapting to a more hostile ecology.

Dubai May Finally Be Broke, But It's Been Morally Bankrupt All Along

by Johann Hari, AlterNet

Yes, it has Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts and the Gucci styles, but beneath these accouterments, there is a dictatorship built by slaves.

George Will: Get Off My Lawn You Hippie Dope Fiends!

by Joshua Holland, AlterNet

OK, grandpa crazy-pants, whatever you say.

What the FBI's Murder of a Black Panther Can Teach Us 40 Years Later

Jeffrey Haas, The Nation. December 2, 2009.
The legacy of Fred Hampton, who was assassinated under COINTELPRO in 1969, should be our demand that U.S. officials be held accountable when they break the law.

Why Is the Department of Homeland Security Incarcerating Refugees Across the U.S.?

Emily Creighton, Immigration Impact. December 1, 2009.
The DHS should re-consider its policy of jailing "unadjusted" refugees.

Why Fanaticism Can Be a Good Thing

Rebecca Solnit, Comment Is Free. December 1, 2009.
It's popular to think the world gets changed by delightful people, but agents of change are often obsessive, intransigent, unreasonable, and demanding.

Amy Goodman Detained at Canadian Border; Guards Demand Notes For Speaking Event

Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, Democracy Now!. November 30, 2009.
Border guards held Goodman and her colleagues for an hour and a half, searching their belongings and telling them they could only stay in the country for two days.

Why Is the Media So Obsessed With Horrifying Images of African-American Mothers?

Melissa Harris-Lacewell, The Nation. November 30, 2009.
With Michelle Obama in the White House, I expected a resurgence of the Claire Huxtable stereotype. Instead, hideous depictions of abusive, irresponsible black moms are everywhere.

How One Journalist Learned About Modern Union-Busting the Hard Way

Seth Sandronsky, AlterNet. November 28, 2009.
Sara Steffens thought that labor negotiations were civilized affairs ... until her newsroom became a battlefield.

Republican Playbook on Immigration Debate Long on Emotions, Short on Facts

Mary Giovagnoli, Immigration Impact. November 27, 2009.
Senate Republicans have “thoughtfully’ provided immigration advocates with their strategy for opposing immigration reform in 2010.

Whatever Happened to the CIA Black Sites?

David Corn, Mother Jones. November 26, 2009.
The CIA ordered its secret prisons closed, but lawyers for terrorism suspects want them preserved as possible evidence -- and the CIA won't say what's going on.

Sex, Beer, Heroin and Cocaine: How Prosecutors Pay Off Criminal Snitches

Ryan Blitstein, Miller-McCune.com. November 26, 2009.
All too often, prosecutors aid and abet the crimes of their informants. And that's just one disheartening outcome of American law enforcement's bungled dealings with snitches.

Citing "National Defense Needs," Obama Administration Says it Won't Sign Ban on Land Mines

Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!. November 26, 2009.
Stephen Goose, director of Human Rights Watch's arms division, called the decision to keep the Bush-era policy "an appalling decision."

Murder at Guantanamo? The Mysterious, Unsolved Death of Mohammad Saleh al Hanashi

Jeffrey S. Kaye, TruthOut.org. November 25, 2009.
Mohammad Saleh al Hanashi was found dead inside a psych ward at Guantanamo. It was ruled a suicide. But disturbing evidence suggest the truth may be far uglier.

What Nidal Hasan, Timothy McVeigh, and the Beltway Sniper Have in Common: All Were Scarred by Pointless U.S. Wars

Nora Eisenberg, AlterNet. November 25, 2009.
Some of the most notorious massacres of the past 15 years have been committed by veterans whose brains have been severely damaged from trauma or exposure to toxic chemicals.

Black Teacher May Get 15 Years in Prison for Cutting in Line at Wal-Mart

Devona Walker, The Loop. November 25, 2009.
This is not how our criminal justice system is supposed to operate.

Hate Group, FAIR, Is Looking for "Ethnically Ambiguous" Actors to Amplify Its Racism

Adam Luna, America's Voice. November 24, 2009.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform is holding auditions to promote hate. Here's how you can get the part!

Obama Quietly Backs Renewing Patriot Act Surveillance Provisions

Willam Fisher, IPS News. November 24, 2009.
Three contentious provisions are scheduled to expire next month; opponents of these sections have been pushing to roll them back. But Obama seems ready to renew them.

Feeling Nervous? 3,000 Behavior Detection Officers Will Be Watching You at the Airport This Thanksgiving

Liliana Segura, AlterNet. November 24, 2009.
Nearly 100,000 passengers were pulled aside by TSA behavior watchers last year, and it remains to be proven whether you can spot terrorists by the looks on their faces.

The Memory Scrub About Why Ft. Hood Happened Is Almost Complete ... If It Weren't for Archives

Mark Ames, AlterNet. November 23, 2009.
That Maj. Hasan tried to get a military discharge before the massacre is largely being erased -- we're supposed to keep focusing on the Muslim part.

Army Sends Mom to Afghanistan, Infant to Protective Services

Dahr Jamail, AlterNet. November 21, 2009.
"This would do irreparable harm to her child. I think they are doing this to punish her."

Dobbs' Resignation Was Long Overdue

Janet Murguía, AlterNet. November 21, 2009.
My problems with Dobbs surfaced more than two years ago, during the debate over the last version of immigration reform.

New Right-Wing Craze: Using Bible Quote to Pray That Obama’s 'Days Be Few'

Amanda Terkel, Think Progress. November 20, 2009.
A new slogan is making its way onto t-shirts and even teddy bears: 'Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8,' which reads, 'Let his days be few; and let another take his office.”

Maddow: Anti-Muslim 'McCarthyism' Making Us Less Safe

David Edwards, Raw Story. November 20, 2009.
Wave of prejudice among Republican politicians may actually be frustrating anti-terrorism efforts Maddow says.

Economic Crisis Is Getting Bloody -- Violent Deaths Are Now Following Evictions, Foreclosures and Job Losses

Nick Turse, AlterNet. November 20, 2009.
Despite ever rosier economic predictions and a surging stock market, the body count from the economic crisis is destined only to grow in the weeks and months ahead.

Why Is Congress Demonizing an Investigation of Israel's War Crimes in Gaza?

Bill Moyers, Bill Moyers Journal. November 20, 2009.
Recognition of human rights expert Richard Goldston's investigation is essential to the peace process in Israel and Palestine -- and the Congress is trying to demonize it.

Organizers Fire up Grassroots for Immigration Reform Fight Ahead

Marcelo Ballve, AlterNet. November 19, 2009.
Organizers are putting together a series of “house parties” after the White House said it was preparing to push Congress on immigration reform early in 2010.

Rachel Maddow Interview with Former Evangelist Frank Schaeffer: Christian Right Is 'Trolling for Assassins'

AlterNet. November 19, 2009.
Schaeffer: "There is a crazy fringe [receiving] messages that have been pouring out of FOX News ... talking about doing away with Obama, asking God to kill him."

Is House Health Care Bill a Threat to Our Constitution?

Barry W. Lynn, Americans United for Separation of Church and State. November 18, 2009.
The House health-care bill isn't just a threat to women's rights; with the Stupak amendment, it's a breach of the Constitution.

U.S. Christian Right Activists Pushing Death Penalty for Homosexuals in Poor African State

Christi van der Westhuizen, IPS News. November 18, 2009.
Some believe a slew of new, homophobic laws are an attempt to preserve Uganda's shaky patriarchy.

Anti-Abortion Group to Protest Palin

Stephanie Mencimer, Mother Jones Online. November 18, 2009.
To liberals, she epitomizes the anti-choice far right of the GOP. But to American Right to Life, Sarah Palin is not pure enough.

Still No Justice for Priests in Notorious El Salvador Massacre 20 Years Later

Norman Stockwell, AlterNet. November 18, 2009.
In 1989, six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter, were brutally murdered in El Salvador. Two decades later, the extent of U.S. complicity remains largely unspoken.

NYC 9/11 Trial Will Shine the Lights on the Roots of Terrorism

Ray McGovern, Consortium News. November 17, 2009.
As Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other alleged 9/11 conspirators go to trial, the corporate media's embargo on the truth about the Bush years will be under great strain.

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