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Glenn Greenwald of Salon looks at how foreign acts of terrorism raise media questions about the terrorist’s culture, religion or nation, but when the same kinds of attrocities are committed by an an American, we look at them as the actions of deranged individuals.
To read, click here.

THIRD COAST ACTIVIST CENTER PRESENTS:

Seymour Hersh on “U.S. Policy and the Crises in the Middle East”
Journalist Seymour Hersh will offer reflections on the multiple crises in the Middle East and the role of the United States in the region. In an onstage conversation with University of Texas journalism professor Robert Jensen, Hersh will talk about his most recent reporting on Iraq, Iran, and Israel, as well as discussing career as an investigative reporter.

Since winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for his reporting on the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, Hersh has been one of the America’s most relentless critics of abuses of power. His 1983 book The Price of Power remains the most incisive study of the former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the consequences of his failed policies. As a reporter for The New Yorker, Hersh has over the past decade broken a series of important stories about U.S. abuses in Iraq, including the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. His most recent reporting has focused on the dangers posed by U.S. policy toward Iran.

In recent years, Hersh has been a frequent guest on Democracy Now! http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/21/seymour_hersh_propaganda_used_ahead_of His reporting regularly rankles the powerful; Richard Perle, a lobbyist and policy adviser to politicians, has called Hersh “the closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist.”

This event is sponsored by the Third Coast Activist Resource Center to benefit 5604 Manor http://www.5604manor.org/. Seating is limited on a first-come, first-seated basis.

For more information, contact Robert Jensen, rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu.

Location: 5604 Manor, 5604 Manor Road, Austin, 78723 – 5604manor.org

I’m having trouble typing this story because I keep tearing up. Some time back, a group of Israeli’s who had helplessly listened to the fear and hatred spewed by their leaders toward Iran, used facebook to express a simple message: “Israel loves Iran! We the people of Israel do not want to bomb you.” Now a message has come from the heart of Iran, “Israel, we love you too!”

And this kind of unity will be humanity’s future if we ever learn to love humanity over our own nation, and truth over our own religion. Individual differences should be a sauce that enriches our life together not a wound that severs the members of the one human body.

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“Ladies in White” seems like the Cuban version of “Code Pink” in the US. They are a group of women who come together to protest human rights abuses in Cuba. The Cuban government has detained seventy of the women in preparation for the Pope’s visit. The Cuban government is claiming that the group is being paid by the US to make Cuba look bad.

For decades now, the US has looked like an elephant frightened by a mouse, but the truth is known all over South and Central America. The US is not afraid of Cuba as military power, we are terrified of a government that places the good of it’s people over personal profit. We can call it “socialism” or “communism” but the truth is we punishing Cuba for not opening its markets to us. As a result the Cuban leaders are understandibly paranoid. As much as we may deplore its lack of freedom, the first step to improving life in Cuba would be for the US to lift its embargo, and promise to end covert action against that nation.

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I always turn to the Tom Tomorrow cartoon because it takes a savage look at Democrats and Republicans alike. Today’s cartoon takes a look at the sad state of the Republican candidates. My personal guess is that the Republicans built a huge audience on the angry talk show circuit and ended up with candidates who sound smart for thirty seconds, but once they are lured out of their talking points it gets sad very quickly. Romney is clearly their best candidate, but he doesn’t scratch the itch from the rash one gets when listening to angry white men rant.
To see cartoon, click here

Brazil is an exciting young leader in world events. In refusing to let the US control its economy it kept control of its own government. In holding corporate excutives responsible for the crimes of their companies, Brazil is showing the U.S. what it is looks like when a government is not for sale, and actually protects its people.
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In this article, Noam Chomsky discusses the possibility of the US jumping or falling into a war with Iran.
to read, click here.

It has been shown that those who follow only Fox News are less informed than those who watch no news at all. That is because propaganda is worse than ignorance. Media Matters does a break down on a recent Fox story on gas prices.
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Could get interesting. With Romney unable to put away his challengers, the Republicans would end up with an open convention.
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