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By Dave Lindorff
Republicans and Many Democrats are on the attack: If We're Going to Defend Social Security We Need to Understand It 
Republicans and some treacherous Democrats are attacking Social Security again, this time in a last-gasp effort to wreck the New Deal Program, writes TCBH! journalist Dave Lindorff, who notes that even its defenders and users don't really understand it -- but must.
By Michael Collins
Feds Threats to DC Over Legal Pot -- Why Do Alaska, Colorado, and Washington State Get Free Pass? 
Why are Republicans in Congress threatening to jail DC's Mayor Bowser for implementing legalized marijuana? Whhy DC's legalized marijuana law offers hope for Congress.
It is now blatantly obvious that GMOs are nothing more than patented Pesticide Delivery Systems (PDS) designed to increase sales of poisonous agrochemicals such as Roundup, glufosinate, Bt, 2,4 D and neonicotinoids. To claim that GMOs are perfectly safe is equivalent to saying that pesticides, herbicides and fungicides--systemically laced at ever-higher levels into GMO-tainted human food and animal feed--are perfectly safe.
By Glenn Greenwald
Why Does The FBI Have To Manufacture Its Own Plots If Terrorism And ISIS Are Such Grave Threats? 
The agency's latest counter-terrorism triumph: the arrest of three Brooklyn men, ages 19 to 30, on charges of conspiring to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS. We should all pause for a moment to thank the brave men and women of the FBI for saving us from their own terror plots.
A "Cow Palace" in Washington State threatens public health with its acres of untreated animal waste. A city in Iowa spends nearly $1 million a year to keep illness-causing nitrates, generated by farm runoff, out of public drinking water. And who can forget the plight of Toledo, Ohio, residents whose water last summer was so contaminated by farm runoff that they couldn't even bathe in it, much less drink it?
By Kevin Gosztola
Pentagon Inspector General Ignored & Rejected NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake's Claims of Retaliation 
NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake has learned that the Pentagon Inspector General's Office has rejected his whistleblower retaliation complaint, which he
By Daily Kos
What happens when you tax the rich and raise the minimum wage? Meet one of USA's best economies 
When Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton took office in 2011, Minnesota had more than a $6 billion dollar deficit and an unemployment rate of 7%. Today, Minnesota's unemployment rate isnow below 4% and they have a budget surplus of over $1.2 billion dollars. How did Mark Dayton do this?
A leaked report has undermined Binyamin Netanyahu's claims on Iran's nuclear capability. If the Israeli prime minister keeps going, he will destroy more than his own credibility, says Jonathan Cook.
We must identify and expose the reckless lies of warmongers and never to collude with them. It is to re-awaken the great popular movements that brought a fragile civilization to modern imperial states. Most important, it is to prevent the conquest of ourselves: our minds, our humanity, our self respect. If we remain silent, victory over us is assured, and a holocaust beckons.
By Paul Craig Roberts
Washington Has Destroyed Trust Between Nuclear Powers, Thus Raising The Specter Of War 
The neoconservative dominance of US foreign policy makes impossible any restoration of trust. Washington's propaganda is driving the situation toward war. As neither Washington nor the Russian/Chinese alliance can afford to lose the war, the war will be nuclear. Any survivors will be doomed by nuclear winter.
The mysterious function of eyelashes has been revealed at last -- thanks to science. After measuring the dimensions of nearly two dozen mammal eyes, performing a series of wind tunnel experiments and engaging in some complex fluid dynamic modeling, researchers determined that most mammal eyelashes are one-third the length of their eyes -- just the right length to minimize the flow of air over the eyeball. This reduction of airflow is important because less moving air across the eye keeps evaporation at bay and stops irritating dust from getting deposited on the eye surface, the scientists report in a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. "All mammals have wet eyes, and airflow is the enemy of that," said Guillermo Amador, a doctoral student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the first author on the paper.
President Obama's trade agenda is dominated by a list of measures that are likely to increase inequality. And if his trade deals are defeated because they refuse to take any steps to redress the trade deficit and the loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs to trade, it will not be bad news for the country.
Palestine's request that the ICC take up Israeli behavior during its summer 2014 invasion of Gaza is a seminal cry for justice. It is also a seminal challenge to the Court and all its member states to see that international law applies to the strong and influential. As goes the judgment on Israel, so goes international law in our time.
As the Obama administration is rushing to complete a nuclear agreement with Iran and reduce regional tensions, the Israeli media is reporting on a deal with Saudi Arabia to let Israeli warplanes transit Saudi airspace en route to bombing Iran, reports Robert Parry.
If a deal hadn't been struck on Friday, the ECB would have pulled the plug on its liquidity assistance program and blown the whole system to kingdom come. That's how the Eurocrats planned to say goodbye to their long-struggling member, Greece, by giving them a sharp jolt to the groin before razing their economy to the ground. That tells you everything you need to know about the Eurogroup.
There's a really good reason that conservatives are freaking out about what kind of history curriculum is going to be taught in our classrooms. And that's the simple fact that the history of the United States is the history of the continuous progressive transformation of this country. All the great accomplishments of US democracy, from the revolution itself to health-care reform, have been progressive accomplishments.
Elizabeth Warren said, "As our economy recovers from the recession, big corporations and wealthy Americans are doing great, while middle class families are working harder than ever and getting squeezed to the breaking point -- in part because of deliberate choices in Washington to run this country for the rich and the powerful instead of hardworking families."
a marvelous piece of satire by John V. Walsh, but if insouciant Americans elect Hillary Clinton, Walsh's satire could become our reality. Hail, Hillary!
By Tom Engelhardt
Michael Schwartz: Israel, Gaza, and Energy Wars in the Middle East Guess what? Almost all the current wars, uprisings, and other conflicts in the Middle East are connected by a single thread, which is also a threatGuess what? Almost all the current wars, uprisings, and other conflicts in the Middle East are connected by a single thread, which is also a threat: these conflicts are part of an increasingly frenzied competition to find, extract, and market fossil fuels
By David Swanson
Not a Bug Splat, Not Chattel A drone killer must know that children have eyes and noses and mouths, hair and fingers. But this artwork presents it to the troubled brain of the humanization dependent observer. Latest Articles
TPP will be pushed through Congress using "fast track" trade promotion authority that allows Congress only 90 days to debate and conduct an up-or-down vote after it and the public first see the agreement. This does not give Congress and the public enough time to read and fully understand this enormous, complex agreement and especially not enough time to consider the ramifications on our economy and our working people.
The "Fed" Independence Scam - The Latest Excuse
It has become a mantra, a mindless pledge of allegiance to the oligarchy, to the filthy rich and powerful banking families that own our country, our world, and our lives.
Greece, known as the birthplace of democracy, has seen the popular will thwarted often since World War II, from a brutal rightist coup to today's austerity-driven depression touched off by financial manipulators, as William Blum describes.
How to Avoid/Prevent World War III?
Avoiding, preventing WWIII is offered up as the prime concern for this century. WWI followed by the League of Nations, WWII followed by the United Nations, does humanity have to go through WWIII in order to take the next step in global legal development?
In times past the common belief, especially in the minds of many Americans, was that China was a kind of primitive, backward country, one ruled with an iron fist by stodgy old leaders; that it was a country that found it very difficult to adjust to the modern-day world. At the same time the U.S. was viewed as the leader of the world, creative, innovative, and visionary.
Immigrants, especially Hispanic and Asian, represent the most formidable critical mass against an entrenched right, whether blue collar or blue stockings gung ho to erase the very opportunity that spurred the world's greatest migration. For a reality check, FDR captures our truest legacy, "Remember always, that all of us, you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."
A review of the recent 'take downs' of noted Scientist/Climate Denier Dr. Willie Soon.
Even a moron knows that if Russia is going to put tanks and troops into Ukraine, Russia will put in enough to do the job. The war would be over in a few days if not in a few hours. As Putin himself said some months ago, if the Russian military enters Ukraine, the news will not be the fate of Donetsk or Mauriupol, but the fall of Kiev and Lviv.
 Best News Links from the Web
The internet is everywhere. In another, more concrete way, it's inside massive, anonymous buildings and beneath city streets, marked by special manhole covers and cryptic, colorful symbols. Ingrid Burrington introduces us to this latter face in Networks of New York: An Internet Infrastructure Field Guide. The artist/writer/map-maker's book and accompanying website (or, website and accompanying book) document the many physical manifestations of modern telecommunications in the Big Apple. As infrastructure, it's massive, messy, and constantly under construction. But as Burrington points out, "the city's tendency toward flux is a strange blessing for the infrastructure sightseer: markings and remnants of the network are almost everywhere, once you know how to look for them."
The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to approve strong net neutrality rules in a stunning decision, defying vocal, months-long opposition by telecom and cable companies and Republicans on Capitol Hill. The FCC intends to use this new authority to ban "paid prioritization," a practice whereby Internet service providers can charge content producers a premium for giving users more reliable access to that content, as well as to ban blocking and throttling of lawful content and services. These rules also apply to mobile access.
Following the Agreement Reached Between the Greek Government and Its Creditors: Questions and Answers | Socialist Organizer [reprinted from Issue No. 340 -- February 25, 2015 -- of Informations Ouvrieres [Labor News], the weekly newspaper of the Independent Workers Party (POI) of France] What did the Greek government agree to with the European institutions? The Greek government agreed on February 20 to come up with a "program of reforms" that it will implement in exchange for a four-month extension on funding and "financial support." Late in the night of February 23, the Greek government sent its program of reforms to Brussels. This program must now be reviewed and approved by the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- that is, the three institutions that make up the Troika.
There's a new Public Policy Polling poll out identifying Scott Walker as the top Republican pick among their presidential maybe-candidates. But some of the other poll results among self-identified Republicans are doozies. For example: " 49 percent of Republicans say they do not believe in evolution. Only 37 percent say they do. " 66 percent of Republicans say they do not believe in global warming. Mind you, even the most science-denying Republicans in Congress have said they "believe" in global warming, they just don't think we should do anything about it. Their base has not yet reached this enlightened state.
Updated (11:55 AM EST): The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday, in a 3-2 vote, approved the reclassification of the Internet under Title II of the Communications Act. "Fast lanes will not divide the internet into haves and have-nots," announced FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler during remarks that followed the approval which passed along party with Democrats voting for the change and the two Republican-appointed members dissenting.
Scientists have observed an increase in carbon dioxide's greenhouse effect at Earth's surface for the first time. They measured atmospheric carbon dioxide's increasing capacity to absorb thermal radiation emitted from Earth's surface over an 11-year period at two locations in North America. They attributed this upward trend to rising carbon dioxide levels from fossil fuel emissions.
Michigan: An Eye-Opening Charter Scam; by Diane Ravitch & Dr. Mitchell Robinson.
Ravitch offers you a glimpse of what she has uncovered, the scam of the Charter schools, as she documents on her site, the corruption that has enriched charlatans and ended our INSTITUTION f public education. Ravitch notes: "Over the past few years, we have seen countless charter scams and frauds. This should not be surprising. When you deregulate a public service and give public money to non-educators to run schools without supervision or accountability, this is what you get. Here is a prime example, This post" was written and sent to me by Dr. Mitchell Robinson, an optometrist in Michigan decided he had a new method of learning, which he called "Integrative Visual Learning." "What's missing here is any description of how children learn. How does this "test" help teachers adapt instruction? What happens when a child's eyes don't zig zag? Are they taught differently, or just not admitted to the school? "Um, not so much"according to another teacher: "There was NO room in the school specifically for IVL testing. There may have been equipment, but kids were never observed for vision. The IVL methods were taught to all kids, because Ingersoll made the staff do it; middle school and high school as well. Even the Special Education teachers had to teach it. which meant critical standards were not met." Another Magic elixir as I write at my series here " no Evidence required," for a charter school to spend taxpayer money to enrich private interests. Don't Miss this one!
Young plaintiffs in partnership with Kids vs. Global Warming, WildEarth Guardians and Our Children's Trust are suing state and federal governments for their futures. Many young people feel they have too much at stake to wait for our leaders to get their act together and take meaningful action on climate change. In the words of one young climate activist, Alec Loorz, we need to demand our political leaders "govern as if our future matters." With their future at stake, many youth have taken their case to the courts in the hopes that the judiciary will require the legislature to take action. And yes, there's precedent.
When he took office in January of 2011, Minnesota governor Mark Dayton inherited a $6.2 billion budget deficit and a 7 percent unemployment rate from his predecessor. During his first four years in office, Gov. Dayton raised the state income tax from 7.85 to 9.85 percent on individuals earning over $150,000, and on couples earning over $250,000 when filing jointly -- a tax increase of $2.1 billion. He's also agreed to raise Minnesota's minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2018, and passed a state law guaranteeing equal pay for women. By late 2013, Minnesota's private sector job growth exceeded pre-recession levels, and the state's economy was the 5th fastest-growing in the United States. Forbes ranked Minnesota the 9th-best state for business.
Solutions journalism: Around the country, special courts are set up for former military members who have been charged with crimes after returning to civilian life, and who may be struggling with PTSD. Judges, lawyers, probation officers and others work together to treat or punish each defendant. Special correspondent Spencer Michels reports on how the new approach can offer troubled veterans a path forward.
Liberal hero Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Tuesday that she's waiting to see how progressive a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign would be. Asked by the Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC's "Politics Nation" whether Clinton would be a "progressive warrior," Warren didn't exactly give a ringing endorsement. "You know, I think that's what we gotta see," Warren said. "I want to hear what she wants to run on and what she says she wants to do. That's what campaigns are supposed to be about." Warren's comments follow her private meeting with Clinton in December when Clinton asked Warren for policy recommendations.
This time, Donald J. Trump says, he really means it. The billionaire real-estate mogul -- long amounting to a one-man sideshow in GOP presidential politics -- said in an interview Wednesday that he is "more serious" than ever about pursuing a run for the White House in 2016. In recent days, Trump said, he has hired staffers in key primary states, retained an election attorney and delayed signing on for another season as host of NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice" because of his political projects.
As Bill O'Reilly continues on the warpath against those reporting on whether he embellished his combat experience, new allegations have emerged that the Fox News anchor lied about being present at a suicide in Florida. Tracy Rowlett, a former colleague of O'Reilly's at Dallas station WFAA, told liberal watchdog Media Matters. "Bill O'Reilly's a phony -- there's no other way to put it." O'Reilly's claim to have been in Florida is also contradicted by conversations the Fox host had with Gaeton Fonzi, an investigative journalist who wrote extensively about the Kennedy assassination. Fozi, who is now deceased, writes in his biography that he received a call from O'Reilly shortly after the suicide, asking for confirmation it had happened.
The White House threatened Wednesday to veto a Republican bill to overhaul the widely criticized No Child Left Behind law, calling the effort "a significant step backwards." The veto threat came as lawmakers were set to debate the measure in the House. Republicans say the bill would restore local control in schools and stop top-down education mandates. Democrats say it would allow billions in federal dollars to flow out without ensuring they will improve student learning.
Three men were charged on Wednesday with conspiring to support Islamic State, including two who planned to travel to Syria to fight on behalf of the radical group, U.S. authorities said. One of the men, Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, of Kazakhstan was arrested early on Wednesday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, where authorities said he was attempting to board a flight to Turkey on his way to Syria. Another defendant, Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, of Uzbekistan, had previously purchased a ticket for a March flight to Istanbul, said Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn. Abror Habibov, 30, of Uzbekistan, was accused of helping to fund Saidakhmetov's efforts, prosecutors said. All three men live in Brooklyn.
The strain between the U.S. and Israel deepened Wednesday, as top advisers to President Barack Obama sharply rebuked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming speech to Congress as "destructive" and challenged his judgment on the Iran nuclear negotiations. Netanyahu countered by accusing the U.S. and its negotiating partners of having "given up" on stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. "They might accept this, but I am not willing to accept this," Netanyahu said Wednesday night at a meeting of his Likud Party outside Jerusalem.
Gas shut off: 69-year-old Vietnam vet with throat cancer freezes to death
The state of Michigan has ordered Consumers Energy to issue a report after a 69-year-old Vietnam veteran died of hypothermia when his gas was shutoff during one of the coldest months of the year. The Detroit Free Press reported that Consumers Energy shut off the gas at the home where John Skelley was living on Jan. 19. He was found frozen to death on Feb. 1.
Niagra Falls has frozen over. Is hell next? In order to keep their precious purgatory intact for their enemies, climate deniers may have to face the freezing facts! Ice has suddenly blossomed across the Great Lakes, with the ice pack nearly doubling in just a little more than a week. The lakes are now more than 85% iced over, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, with Lake Erie leading the way at more than 98%. Here's a group of stunningly gorgeous photos of Niagra Falls in a frozen wonderland...
On the verge of retirement, noted environmentalist and celebrated systems analyst Lester Brown has a dire warning for the world he has spent more than half a century advising on issues of food and energy policy: there is no end in sight for the interrelated scourge of climate change, global poverty and hunger. In fact, according to Brown, in several vulnerable areas around the world, the situation may be about to go from very bad to much worse.
One in five Germans believe revolution and not reform is the best way to preserve living standards, according to a new study warning that Germany's political centre is under attack from a "new irrationalism". Some 60 per cent of Germans quizzed by researchers at Berlin's Free University described their homeland as an imperfect democracy where business has a greater say on daily life than voters. More than a third agreed that capitalism leads "inevitably to poverty and hunger". In total, about one sixth of Germans hold left-radical views, with some four per cent having a closed hard-left world view. Some 14 per cent back violence against "the system" while nearly half spoke in favour of abolishing the state's monopoly on the use of force. Researchers noted in the results a growing suspicion of central government and of mainstream media, as well as an openness to conspiracy theories.
North Korea's nuclear stockpile could expand to as many as 100 weapons by 2020. The chief analyst running the website 38 North at Johns Hopkins University, announced the projections during a seminar, saying Pyongyang is currently believed to have 10-16 nuclear weapons, six to eight of them based on plutonium and four to eight based on weapons-grade uranium. He also said the North is believed to have miniaturized the plutonium-based weapons enough to be mounted on medium-range Nodong missiles, which can strike South Korea and Japan, and on Taepodong-2 missiles that can achieve intercontinental ranges. He also stressed the North can significantly expand its arsenal without additional nuclear tests. North Korea has also carried out a series of long-range missile or rocket launches in an effort to develop nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the U.S.
With the Iowa caucuses less than a year away, the Presidential hopefuls are busy scrubbing their brains of basic facts of math, science, and geography. But while some G.O.P. candidates are pulling all-nighters to rid themselves of knowledge acquired when they were eight, the campaign of Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas, is exuding a quiet confidence. "I don't want to sound too cocky about Rick," said one Perry aide. "But what little he knows, he's shown he can forget."
With his company Afforestt, eco-entrepreneur Shubhendu Sharma is creating mini-forest ecosystems using an accelerated method. It's based on the practices of Japanese forester Akira Miyawaki, as well as on Sharma's own experiences gleaned from his former career in car manufacturing. Trees are planted close to each other to simulate natural conditions of growth and competitions. For the same reason, Afforestt plants trees randomly. This method has been developed by Dr. Akira Miyawaki after extensive and exhaustive research and has been proved to work in over 3000 locations, including Gobi Desert and Central Africa.
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