January 20, 2011, New York — Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) issued a written appeal to Fox News president Roger Ailes to help put a stop to the increasing threats against progressive Professor Frances Fox Piven, largely incited by Fox News host Glenn Beck. In the letter, co-written by Legal Director Bill Quigley […]
Geography Archives: United States
A Welcome Prison Victory at Youngstown
Three death-sentenced men went on hunger strike in Ohio State Penitentiary on January 3 to win the same rights as others on death row in the state. On Saturday January 15, the twelfth day of their protest, a crowd of supporters gathered in the parking lot by the tiny evangelical church at the entrance […]
Washington and Paris Ratchet Up Pressure on Haiti, in Godfather Style
As the infamous dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returns to Haiti after 25 years in exile in the south of France, the U.S. State Department and the French Foreign Ministry have been ratcheting up the pressure on the impoverished, earthquake-destroyed, and cholera-stricken country of Haiti. The pressure is not to prosecute the dictator for his […]
Analysis of the OAS Mission’s Draft Final Report on Haiti’s Election
A draft copy of the Organization of American States (OAS) Report on Haiti’s election, “Organization of American States Expert Verification Mission, President Election — First Round 2010 — Final Report,”1 was leaked to the press last week, and the Center for Economic and Policy Research posted a copy on its website after receiving it from […]
The Lesson of the Tunisian Revolution
“Saad Hariri went to the United States and had meetings there. Right after that, the Saudis contacted the Syrians to tell them that they could no longer continue this initiative [of Syria and Saudi Arabia to broker a deal between Hezbollah and Hariri on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon]. . . . The Americans and […]
State of the Dream 2011: Austerity for Whom?
The attack on the public sector through pay freezes, furloughs, layoffs, and proposed cuts is also an attack on Black and Latino workers. Cuts to social safety nets hit Blacks and Latinos hardest. Video by United for a Fair Economy. Read United for a Fair Economy, “State of the Dream 2011: Austerity for Whom?,” […]
Why Take an Ax to the Safety Net?
Comments made at the Brookings Institution Forum titled “Should the Disadvantaged Be Spared From the Budget Axe? A Look at the President’s Budget Commission Findings and How They Could Impact the Poor,” December 16, 2010 I am about to make comments that will likely place me seriously at odds with the other members of this […]
Only New, Fair Voting Can Help Haiti Now
It is bad enough that, by delaying reconstruction aid to Haiti, the United States has failed to give adequate assistance to our neighbor, which was struck by a devastating earthquake one year ago. It is far worse that we have also actively cooperated in its deeply flawed election. Our government helped impose an election […]
Violent Media Rhetoric Beyond Tucson: When Some Calls for Violence Are Acceptable
The discussion of violent and paranoid rhetoric in the media is long overdue, whether or not it is ever determined that accused Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner was somehow influenced or motivated by such rhetoric. Before the shooting, there had been a remarkable surge of politically motivated violence (FAIR Blog, 1/12/11). Despite media efforts to […]
The Political Economy of ‘Democracy Promotion’
14 January 2011 Where are the ‘democracy promoters’ on the Tunisian uprising?, asks Marc Lynch. It’s a fair question: Thus far, a month into the massive demonstrations rocking Tunisia, the Washington Post editorial page has published exactly zero editorials about Tunisia. For that matter, the Weekly Standard, another magazine which frequently claims the mantle of […]
End “Supermax” Isolation in Ohio State Penitentiary
TO: Warden David Bobby, Ohio State Penitentiary Director Gary Mohr, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Chief William A. Eleby, Bureau of Classification Ohio Department of Rehabilitation We the undersigned call for an end to isolated “supermax” imprisonment in Ohio State Penitentiary. We are especially concerned about the cases of Siddique Abdullah Hasan (Carlos Sanders); […]
Paul Krugman on the Euro Crisis
Paul Krugman does a very good job laying out the issues behind the euro zone crisis in his NYT Magazine piece. There are two additional points that would have been worth noting. First, there are powerful forces who are working hard to prevent the partial or full Argentinification (partial default or a departure from the […]
Employer and Worker Experiences with Paid Family Leave in California
Excerpt: As family and work patterns have shifted over recent decades, the demand for time off from work to address family needs has grown rapidly. Women — and increasingly men as well — often find themselves caught between the competing pressures of paid work and family responsibilities, especially when they become parents, or when […]
Hope after Obama
He came out of nowhere offering change you can believe in, and he won. But almost everything he does is an irritating failure to act, a disappointing small measure, or a major giveaway to the rich. After two years it was no surprise that voters turned away from him in the Congressional midterm elections of […]
One Year after Haiti Earthquake, Corporations Profit While People Suffer
One year after an earthquake devastated Haiti, much of the promised relief and reconstruction aid has not reached those most in need. In fact, the nation’s tragedy has served as an opportunity to further enrich corporate interests. The details of a recent lawsuit, as reported by Business Week, highlights the ways in which contractors — […]
OAS Backs Illegitimate Election in Haiti in Which Three-Quarters of Haitians Didn’t Vote
What is it about Haiti that makes the “international community” think they have the right to decide the country’s fate without the consent of the governed? Yes, Haiti is a poor country, but Haitians have fought very hard and lost many lives for the right to vote and elect a government. Yet on November 28, […]
Israel’s View of the Iranian Nuclear “Threat”
Over the last few weeks, some senior figures in Israel’s national security establishment have made — in an Israeli context — relatively moderate statements about their perception of the Iranian “threat” to their country. Last month, Deputy Prime Minister (and former IDF chief of staff) Moshe Yaalon said that, because of technical difficulties and the […]
Haiti’s Fatally Flawed Election
Executive Summary Before Haiti’s November 28 election was held, its legitimacy was called into question because of the exclusion of over a dozen political parties from the election — including Haiti’s most popular political party, Fanmi Lavalas. The ban on Fanmi Lavalas was analogous to excluding the Democratic or Republican Party in the United States. […]
Support Grows for Hunger Strike by Lucasville Uprising Prisoners on Death Row Protesting Their Harsh and Inhumane Treatment
Monday, January 3, three inmates on death row at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) started a hunger strike to protest the conditions of their confinement. Keith LaMar, Siddique Abdullah Hasan (Carlos Sanders), and Jason Robb received death sentences following the rebellion in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, OH. They have been held at […]
Racist Rage: Islamophobia, the Tea Party, and Endless War
We are witnessing an unprecedented surge in racism against Muslims in the US. There is a real fear among US Muslims that if there’s a successful terrorist attack on Americans, particularly on US soil, we will surely face pogroms and detention centers. The growth of the Far Right and, more specifically, the Tea Party over […]
