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From the blogs

Commander Changes Tune, Says He Won't Court-Martial, Jail Pregnant Soldiers

by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress

But he also has no plans to expand soldiers' access to emergency contraception (Plan B).

Cop Pulls Gun During Snowball Fight ... Could it Have Been 'Roid Rage'?

by Joshua Holland, AlterNet

Wigged out cops on steroids is as frightening as one could imagine.

Ridiculous "Study" Supposedly Finds Widespread Anti-Semitism on Progressive Websites

by Joshua Holland, AlterNet

As intellectually dishonest as one could get.

Revealed: Bush White House Raised Terror Alert Based On Con Man's Wild Al Jazeera "Decoding" Claims

by Liliana Segura, AlterNet

A new article reports how a Nevada-based software firm employee duped the CIA into believing he held the key to decoding secret terrorist messages.

Jailtime For Pregnant Soldiers? The Army Has Made Getting Pregnant a Punishable Offense

by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress

Under a new policy enacted by Major Gen. Anthony Cucolo, troops expecting a baby face court martial and possible prison -- and so do the men who made them pregnant.

What Houston's Election of a Gay Mayor Tells Us About "Red State" Texas

by Amanda Marcotte, Comment Is Free

The election inadvertently revealed the dirty little secret that native (and liberal) Texans like myself have known for a long time: Texas is not a conservative monolith.

It's Time For Americans to Get Comfortable With Black Santa

by Melissa Harris-Lacewell, TheNation.com

Just as white Americans are learning to live in a world with a black president, it is time for white children to wait with anticipation for a black man to bring benevolent gifts.

Are Hewlett Packard Computers Racist?

by Staff, AlterNet

There's something wrong with HP's webcam face recognition software. Specifically, it doesn't see black people.

Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss Has No Idea What Roe v. Wade Actually Says

by Jill Filipovic, Feministe

But that's not keeping him from making absurd claims about it.

The Violent Repression of Peaceful Palestinian Protests Continues

by Jonathan Pollak, AlterNet

8,000 Palestinians currently inhabit Israeli jails on purely political grounds.

The Torture of Two Innocent Men Who Just Left Guantanamo

Andy Worthington, AlterNet. December 23, 2009.
The release of Mohammed Sulaymon Barre and Ismail Mahmoud Muhammad is another example of the hysterical and false claims that Guantanamo is full of hardcore terrorists.

Obama's Af-Pak War is Not Just Deadly and Counterproductive: It's Illegal

Marjorie Cohn, AlterNet. December 23, 2009.
Some 30 percent of all U.S. deaths in Afghanistan have occurred during Obama's presidency. His escalation of that war is not what the Nobel committee envisioned.

Touchdowns and Lockdowns: Transcending Racial Politics in Prison Through Sports

Bruce Reilly, AlterNet. December 22, 2009.
I spent a decade organizing sports leagues amongst those who failed in their struggle against violence and oppression: in prison.

Guantanamo Was "Hell On Earth": Former Gitmo Detainee

Agence France Presse. December 22, 2009.
"Some of my colleagues in the prison lost their sight, some lost their limbs and others ended up mentally disturbed," recalls Mohamed Saleban Bare. "I'm OK compared to them."

A Rogue Sheriff in One Arizona County Is a National Problem

Eric Ward, Imagine 2050. December 21, 2009.
What happens when one county in a nation of thousands is crippled by hatred?

"We Can Make Him Disappear": Immigration Officials Are Holding People In Secret, Unmarked Jails

Jacqueline Stevens, The Nation. December 19, 2009.
In addition to publicly listed field offices and detention sites, ICE is holding prisoners in 186 unlisted, unmarked locations, many in suburban office parks or commercial spaces.

Pockets of White America Are in the Throes of an Existential Crisis

Rich Benjamin, AlterNet. December 19, 2009.
As the Census "time bomb" ticks, fear mounts over a perceived loss of whites' raw power - demographic, social, economic, and political.

Immigration Police Are Keeping Secret Jails on U.S. Soil

Jacqueline Stevens, The Nation. December 19, 2009.
Immigration agents are holding US residents in unlisted and unmarked subfield offices, turning our legal system upside down.

Immigration and the Salvation Army's War on Christmas

Refugio, Project Economic Refugee. December 18, 2009.
Did you hear about how the Salvation Army is denying toys to children if their parents are not “legal”?

Always Controversial Cornel West Disses Obama, Survives Cancer and Almost Spent His Life in Prison

Terrence McNally, AlterNet. December 18, 2009.
Cornel West dishes on his new memoirs and Obama's clique of 'recycled neo-liberals and recycled neo-Clintonites.'

Politicians Are Portraying 'Gitmo North' as a Terrific Local Jobs Program -- Don't Count On It

Liliana Segura, AlterNet. December 17, 2009.
Politicians' claim that moving detainees to Illinois will create 3,000 jobs is a distraction from an ugly reality; Gitmo is not being closed, it is being moved onto U.S. soil.

Game On for Immigration Reform

Seth Hoy, Immigration Impact. December 16, 2009.
A new comprehensive immigration reform bill hit the House this week.

The Brutal Dark Side of Obama's "Softer" Immigration Enforcement

David Bacon, The Progressive. December 16, 2009.
'Sanctions pretend to punish employers but in reality, they punish workers.'

Meet the FBI Operative Who Threatened My Life, and the Gov.-Elect Who May Have Helped Him

Max Blumenthal, AlterNet. December 16, 2009.
Did NJ Republican Chris Christie grant legal protection to neo-nazi radio host Hal Turner for his undercover role in a federal program to "flush out" violent far-right plots?

Why Serious Immigration Reform Is Inevitable

Mary Giovagnoli, Immigration Impact. December 15, 2009.
Hot-button issues like health reform and economic recovery will come and go. That U.S. immigration policy is fundamentally broken guarantees its eventual place in the conversation.

Former Police Chief Norm Stamper: 'Let's Not Stop at Marijuana Legalization'

Norm Stamper, AlterNet. December 14, 2009.
A new poll shows that most Americans are ready to legalize marijuana, but not drugs like cocaine or heroin. A 34-year police vet says it's time to legalize them all.

Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman's Invictus Film Release Kicks Off New Campaign For Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Linda Milazzo, AlterNet. December 14, 2009.
The launch of Invictus will hopefully set of a wave of renewed interest in a proposal to recognize and protect the rights of humanity.

"How Does Somebody Have a Baby in Jail Without Anybody Noticing?" The Awful Plight of Pregnant Prisoners

Rachel Roth, The Nation. December 14, 2009.
The lack of common sense and compassion with which imprisoned pregnant women are treated is chilling.

Fighting a Community's Fear with Hard Information

Valeria Fernandez, New America Media. December 14, 2009.
A new Arizona law is causing fear and confusion among immigrant communities.

25 Days In Federal Prison For Littering? Border Patrol Cracking Down on Human Rights Activists

Jessica Weisberg, AlterNet. December 14, 2009.
Walt Staton was dropping off water jugs for people who attempt the often deadly trek into Arizona from Mexico when the Feds ticketed him for "knowingly littering."

Medical Marijuana Apartheid: Different Rules Apply for Rich and Poor Pot Smokers

Joshua Holland, AlterNet. December 13, 2009.
A California hipster can hit the vaporizer without fear of harassment, but a lower-class person smoking a blunt may not be so lucky.

The Religious Right's Potty Paranoia

Stephanie Mencimer, Mother Jones Online. December 12, 2009.
Public restrooms: The final frontier of the right's war on queer folk?

Zinn's 'People's History' Masterwork Hits the History Channel

Dave Zirin, AlterNet. December 11, 2009.
Don't miss Howard Zinn's 'Voices of a People's History' debut on the History Channel on December 13th.

Supreme Court's Ruling Would Allow Bin Laden to Donate to Sarah Palin's Presidential Campaign

Greg Palast, AlterNet. December 11, 2009.
I'm biting my nails waiting for the Supreme Court's ruling in 'Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission' -- here's why you should be too.

Rachel Maddow Demolishes Therapist Who Claims He Can Make Her Straight

AlterNet. December 10, 2009.
Richard Cohen claims his therapy can turn gay people straight -- an absurd theory debunked by all national psychological associations.

The Swiss Minaret Ban: What Are They Really Trying to Outlaw?

Laila Lalami, The Nation. December 9, 2009.
A voter referendum prohibiting the construction of minarets in Switzerland is part of a disturbing, anti-Muslim trend that's been working its way through Europe for years.

Homeland Security Embarks on Big Brother Programs to Read Our Minds and Emotions

Liliana Segura, AlterNet. December 9, 2009.
Half-baked Homeland Security is spending millions to develop sensors capable of detecting a person's level of 'malintent' as a counterterrorism tool.

Iraq-WMD Claim Came from ... a Cab Driver?

John Byrne, Raw Story. December 9, 2009.
News in the UK: Iraqi cab driver was source of an infamous claim made by Prime Minister Tony Blair that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

Studies Show Latinos Are Climbing the Socio-Economic Ladder of Success

Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact. December 8, 2009.
Understanding poverty as a racial issue, as some anti-immigration advocates do, is to ignore a host of other problems (and successes).

Four Men Leave Guantanamo; Two Face Ill-Defined Trials in Italy

Andy Worthington, AlterNet. December 7, 2009.
Last week, the Obama administration announced that it had transferred four prisoners from Gitmo: one to France, one to Hungary, and two to Italy.

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