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New Evidence of Scott Walker Lying to Congress

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

The Nation - By John Nichols - May. 27 (News Report) - there is new evidence to suggest that Walker’s testimony to Congress about when he began preparing his anti-labor legislation—which sparked mass demonstrations and a recall movement that will culminate with a June 5 vote on whether to recall the governor—was not truthful.

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George Zimmerman's 'Cozy' Relationship With Sanford Police Questioned

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Trymaine Lee - May. 24 (Investigative Report) - Neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman had a relationship with members of the police department in Sanford, Fla., long before he shot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin to death in February, newly released information suggests. During a community forum on J

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CAUGHT RED HANDED

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

bbvforums.org - By Bev Harris - May. 23 (Investigative Report) - Four hundred and eighty-eight voters, every one of them in the Tennessee district of US Rep Steve Cohen (D-09), all but four lifelong Democrats, and nearly all Black, had their voting history erased by Shelby County election workers, setting them up for purge from the voter list.

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'Naked Short Selling'

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Matt Taibbi - May. 16 (Investigative Report) - “Fuck the compliance area – procedures, schmecedures,” chirps Peter Melz, former president of Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp. (a.k.a. Merrill Pro), when a subordinate worries about the company failing to comply with the rules governing short sales. We also find out here how Wall Street professionals manipulated public opinion by buying off and/or intimidating experts in their respective fields.

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Gulf Oil Spill: BP Execs Escape Punishment as Fallout From Disaster Continues To Impact Sea life

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Apr. 23 (Special Report) - Two years since the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, we look at its impact on the Gulf of Mexico's residents and wildlife even as no BP officials have faced criminal prosecution for the disaster. Eleven workers died when the Deepwater Horizon well exploded and almost five million barrels of crude oil leaked into the ocean before the well was plugged after 51 days. BP maintains the Gulf is rapidly recovering thanks to the company's efforts, but Al Jazeera reporter Dahr Jamail describes how scientists say shrimp, fish and crabs in the Gulf of Mexico have been deformed by oil and chemicals released during the spill clean-up effort. Meanwhile, ProPublica’s environmental reporter Abrahm Lustgarten says the company failed to learn from past mistakes that could have helped avoid the explosion. He is the author of the new book, “Run to Failure: BP and the Making of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster.” [Transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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Corrupt Wal-Mart: Bribery Goes Unchecked While Corporate HQ Focuses on PR, Breaks International Laws

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd - Apr. 23 (Investigative Report) - More gross insider info about corrupt mega-corporation Wal-Mart: the New York Times has run an extended expose about how, faced with charges that Wal-Mart de Mexico used bribery and other tactics to force its own "market dominance," the company spent more time fixing its public image than actually fixing the problem. Which is to say: they likely broke the law in both the United States and Mexico, but neglected to stop it:

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SHELBY COUNTY PERFORMED UNAUTHORIZED ALTERATIONS IN ITS (NOW UNCERTIFIED!) VOTING SYSTEM -

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

bbvforums.org - By Bev Harris - Apr. 19 (Investigative Report) - They inserted a completely different program (not from Diebold at all) which alters the way the system works. Documents show that fully half of White suburbs are now processing information in a different way than the rest of the county, and that this selective and unusual processing has been taking place for at least four years. The alterations made to the system are illegal almost everywhere in the USA and automatically render their $600,000 voting system decertified, although they will claim that they don't need to use a certified system.

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Trayvon Murder Eyewitness Says Police Refused to See Crime Scene

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd - Apr. 08 (News Report) - .when the cops brought her in for questioning, she offered to show them the scene of the crime and explain exactly what happened—she saw the "larger man" attacking "the boy"—the police declined her offer. Not only that, but they suggested that she was wrong: that Zimmerman was the one calling for help, not Martin.

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"Merchant of Death" Viktor Bout Sentenced to 25 Years; Trial Ignored His Ties to U.S., Dick Cheney

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Apr. 06 (News Report) - Notorious arms smuggler Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death," has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for conspiracy to commit terrorism. Our guest, former United Nations arms trafficking investigator Kathi Lynn Austin, says the case allowed American companies to avoid exposure of their collusion with with the U.S. government and private companies linked to Dick Cheney during the Iraq war, even after United Nations sanctions against him in 2004. Authorities say Viktor Bout was involved in trafficking arms to dictators and stoking conflicts in Africa, South America and the Middle East. He has also been accused of furnishing weapons to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and achieved particular notoriety for selling arms in Rwanda in 1998, just four years after the Rwandan genocide. [includes rush transcript]

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Rupert Murdoch's American Media Immunity

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Michael Wolff - Apr. 04 (News Analysis) - Here's the thing: Murdoch's empire may be under siege in one of the most riveting business tales of our time – featuring wounded celebrities, a dynastic family drama, and toadying at the highest levels of government – but American journalism has been mostly absent from the story. At best, it has been a sidelined presence, late to the game, and generally confused about how to get ahead of events happening in another country. This is, arguably, the best thing Murdoch has going for him: in the US, the seat of his company and the main motor of his fortunes, he has been able to hide in plain sight.

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It's Not Just Trayvon: 9 Other Cases That Prove People of Color Can't Safely Walk the Streets of America

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Nicholas Pell - Apr. 02 (Special Report) - It's worth noting that despite nearly 200 attempts, a federal anti-lynching law was never passed in the United States. Further, Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law, and others like it, have led to what is essentially legalized murder in several areas of the country.

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Zimmerman Was Fired from Security Job After He

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Vyan - Mar. 31 (News Analysis) - Why is this person still free?

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ALEC, Walmart and Trayvon Martin?

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Lauren Feeney - Mar. 29 (News Analysis) - What does Walmart have to do with the tragic death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin? The answer starts with Florida’s 2005 Stand Your Ground law, promoted across the country as "model legislation" by the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC — "a corporate-backed organization that has managed to keep a low profile even as it exerts vast influence," as Paul Krugman of The New York Times explains:

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Racism in America: President Obama's Double-Bind on Trayvon Martin

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - Mar. 24 (News Analysis) - Gingrich's comments are particularly egregious and opportunistic. People are murdered all the time. What makes the Trayvon Martin case noteworthy is that the police know who the murderer is and have so far simply refused to arrest him. It is highly unlikely that a white boy, even one wearing a hoodie, would have been followed, harassed and shot to death, but it is completely unthinkable that a white boy's death would not have resulted in an arrest.

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Gangster Banks Keep Winning Public Business. Why?

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Matt Taibbi - Mar. 22 (News Report) - Because both banks, Chase and Bank of America, have been repeatedly inveigled in scandals involving the issuance of public debt. Bank of America paid a $137 million settlement for rigging the bids of bond issues in numerous communities (including places as far away as Guam), while Chase also paid a big settlement of $211 million last year for more or less exactly similar offenses involving localities in 25 different states. Chase also entered into a $722 million settlement with the government over its behavior in Jefferson County, Alabama, where the bank essentially bribed local officials to stake on onerous swap deals that left the county in debt until the next millenium.

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Greg Smith Leaves Goldman Sachs, But It's Not Just A Goldman Problem

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Mark Gongloff - Mar. 14 (News Analysis) - To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money. There is really nothing else you should be reading right now, if you haven't read it already, than

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Paul Volcker: Goldman Sachs Changed For The Worse

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Bonnie Kavoussi - Mar. 14 (News Report) - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said on Wednesday that Greg Smith, the former Goldman Sachs executive director who dramatically announced his resignation in a New York Times op-ed, is right that Goldman Sachs has changed for the worse over the past decade.

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Banks Repaid Fed Bailout With Other Fed Money: Government Report

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Mark Gongloff - Mar. 09 (News Report) - Though lots of people grumble about the government bailing out banks in the financial crisis, we have at least taken some comfort in the idea that the government has turned a profit on that bailout. Only problem is, that profit comes from taxpayer money -- money that was meant to spur banks to develop communities and help small businesses. Instead they've used it to develop and help themselves.

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Attorney General Eric Holder Defends Legality of Targeted Killings of U.S. Citizens Overseas

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Mar. 06 (News Analysis) - Using armed drones, President Obama has overseen the targeted killing of at least three U.S. civilians overseas — more than President Bush did in office. Are the killings legal? Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, says Attorney General Eric Holder’s defense on Monday of the Obama administration’s policy authorizing the assassination of U.S. citizens abroad “left open more questions than it answered.” She says Holder’s speech amounted to a broad defense of the administration’s claimed expansive authority to kill its own citizens, far from any battlefield and without judicial review or oversight of legal standards.

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BP to Pay $7.8B to Settle Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Lawsuit. Is it a Bad Deal For Gulf Residents?

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Mar. 05 (News Analysis) - Investigative journalists Greg Palast and Antonia Juhasz examine who wins and who loses in BP’s settlement. "[BP is] basically being told, if you’re like a bank robber, you put the money back in the vault, and everything’s forgiven," says Palast, who also investigated the Exxon Valdez settlement. Meanwhile, state and federal governments are still pursuing separate civil claims against BP for environmental damage. "That’s when we’re going to hopefully uncover those 72 million pages of investigation that will include wrongdoing not just by BP, not just by Transocean, not just by Halliburton, but every major oil company involved the offshore—and, very likely, at least based on my research, wrongdoing by the Obama administration," says Juhasz

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Outed GOP Sheriff Reportedly Had Relationship With Male Student While Running Abusive Private Boarding School

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - Feb. 27 (News Report) - Disgraced Arizona congressional candidate and GOP sheriff Paul Babeu is facing yet another round of unseemly charges. The Pinal County sheriff, who stepped down as Arizona's co-chair for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign amidst allegations he threatened a gay ex-lover with deportation, reportedly served as headmaster for the now-defunct DeSisto School in Stockbridge, Mass. from 1999 to 2001.

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"Price Tag" Escalation Timeline: Jan 1 - present -

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

peacenow.org - By Lara Friedman - Feb. 14 (News Report) - The following is a timeline of major "Price Tag" attacks (as reported by Israeli sources). It documents a clear escalation in attacks, and the increasing spread of attacks inside the Green Line. Italics indicate so-called "triggers" - events or developments that appear to be linked to subsequent attacks. A recent Haaretz report noted: "According to the Shin Bet, the right-wing extremists no longer appear to need a 'trigger' to take action, while the targets of the violence are also widening..."

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Van Jones: Bank Settlement: $25B Down, $675B to Go

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

readersupportednews.org - By Van Jones - Feb. 12 (News Analysis) - 'We must not forget the more than 14 million homeowners (one in five) whose homes are underwater, beneath a crushing total $700 billion in negative equity. We must not forget the more than 4 million families who have lost their homes.' Van Jones, Reader Supported News

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Western Oil Firms Remain as US Exits Iraq

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

readersupportednews.org - By Dahr Jamail - Jan. 09 (News Report) - hile the US military has formally ended its occupation of Iraq, some of the largest western oil companies, ExxonMobil, BP and Shell, remain. On November 27, 38 months after Royal Dutch Shell announced its pursuit of a massive gas deal in southern Iraq, the oil giant had its contract signed for a $17bn flared gas deal. Three days later, the US-based energy firm Emerson submitted a bid for a contract to operate at Iraq's giant Zubair oil field, which reportedly holds some eight million barrels of oil.

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New Walkergate Charges - the short version

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Daily Kos - By Giles Goat Boy - Jan. 06 (News Report) - Here's the really short version: A Walker appointee, a Walker campaign aide, and a child molester embezzled money that was intended for disabled veterans.

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