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Calling All CounterPunchers!
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Calling All CounterPunchers!
Annual Fundraising AppealWe interrupt your regular reading habits to bring you the following important announcement: CounterPunch needs your financial support!
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Barack Obama came into office preaching hope and promising change. Nine months later, hope is diminishing and change has yet to arrive. From the cratering economy to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, from warrantless wiretaps to a fatally compromised health care plan, from banker bailouts to ongoing rendition flights, this new administration governs a lot like the old. In spite of this, many progressive outlets have gone soft on Obama. We haven't. That's why so many of you have found a refuge at CounterPunch and made us your homepage. You tell us that you love CounterPunch because the quality of writing you find here every day and because we never flinch under fire. We appreciate the support and are prepared for the fierce battles to come.
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CounterPunch
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Today's Stories October 30 - Nov. 1, 2009 Jeffrey St. Clair / October 29, 2009 Michael Neumann Mike Whitney Gary Leupp Conn Hallinan Marshall Auerback Laura Flanders Eamonn McCann David Macaray Mark Weisbrot Stephen Soldz Christopher Brauchli Website of the Day October 28, 2009 Moshe Adler Dave Lindorff Frank Joseph Smecker Alexandra Early M. Shahid Alam Vijay Prashad John Ross Franklin Lamb Gregory Travis Susan Galleymore Website of the Day October 27, 2009 Mike Whitney Patrick Cockburn Stewart J. Lawrence Alan Farago Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Bouthaina Shaaban Brian M. Downing Elections in Afghanistan, the Second Time Around Iain Boal Carl Finamore Jayne Lyn Stahl Website of the Day October 26, 2009 Bill Quigley / Paul Craig Roberts Uri Avnery Mike Whitney Michael Snedeker Shamus Cooke David Michael Green Martha Rosenberg Patrick Bond Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day October 23-25, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Christopher Ketcham Jeff Gore Gareth Porter Jayne Lyn Stahl Saul Landau Mike Whitney Nikolas Kozloff Ron Jacobs Russell Mokhiber Missy Beattie Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Stephen Lendman David Ker Thomson Rannie Amiri Ronnie Cummins Norm Kent Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Ben Sonnenberg Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 22, 2009 Dan Pearson / Jonathan Cook Paul Craig Roberts The US as Failed State Mark Engler Johann Hari Brian M. Downing Eric Toussaint Tom Mountain Israel Shamir Charles Thomson Website of the Day October 21, 2009 Pam Martens Linn Washington, Jr. Liaquat Ali Khan D. K. Wilson Franklin Lamb Norman Solomon Stephen Fleischman Patrice Higonnet Binoy Kampmark Kevin Coval / Website of the Day October 20, 2009 Sharon Smith Tariq Ali Mark Brenner Bouthaina Shaaban Michael D. Yates Dean Baker Dave Lindorff John Ross Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Kevin Zeese Gilad Atzmon Website of the Day October 19, 2009 Mike Whitney Greg Moses John Ross Michael Donnelly Jayne Lyn Stahl Eric Walberg Russell Mokhiber Barbara Rose Johnston John V. Whitbeck Christopher Ketcham Website of the Day October 16-18, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Saul Landau Paul Craig Roberts Carl Ginsburg Ralph Nader Nikolas Kozloff Carlo Galli Dave Lindorff Catherine Rottenberg
/ Neve Gordon Marshall Auerback Nicola Nasser Windy Cooler James L. Secor Ron Jacobs Wes Jackson Jesse Lerner-Kinglake David Ker Thomson Against Leaders Missy Beattie Emily Ratner Stephen Martin Michael Snedeker Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Peter Stone Brown Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 15, 2009 Andrew Cockburn Brian M. Downing Ramzy Baroud Danny Weil M. Idrees Ahmad Margaret Kimberley Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Harvey Wasserman Nirmal Ghosh Charles R. Larson Website of the Day October 14, 2009 Michael Neumann M. Reza Pirbhai Gareth Porter Paul Craig Roberts John Strausbaugh Fortress Moon Ralph Nader Dean Baker Charles Modiano Nadia Hijab Walter Brasch Website of the Day October 13, 2009 Peter Linebaugh Shamus Cooke John Ross Brendan Cooney Frida Berrigan Yves Engler David Macaray Dave Lindorff Mark Weisbrot Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day October 12, 2009 Pam Martens Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg Jessica Arents Eamonn McCann Bill Hatch Sen. Russell Feingold Niranjan Ramakrishnan Gideon Levy Iyad Burnat Alan Cabal Dan Bacher Website of the Day October 9-11, 2009 Alexander Cockburn James Bovard Kathleen and Bill Christison Andy Worthington Marc Levy Tariq Ali Mike Whitney Paul Craig Roberts Alan Nasser Jack Z. Bratich Steve Breyman David Michael Green Dave Lindorff Paul Buchheit Jim Goodman Missy Beattie Michael Leonardi Nadia Hijab Mel Packer David Macaray James T. Phillips Charles R. Larson Michael Donnelly David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 8, 2009 Saul Landau Paul Fitzgerald / Linn Washington, Jr. Marshall Auerback Dave Lindorff David Rosen Chris Darimont / Misty MacDuffee John V. Walsh Stewart Lawrence Charles R. Larson Website of the Day October 7, 2009 Brendan Cooney Paul Craig Roberts Dean Baker Jonathan Cook John Stanton Joanne Mariner Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Stephen Lendman Sen. Russell Feingold Mary Lynn Cramer Website of the Day October 6, 2009 Mike Whitney Gareth Porter Jonathan Cook Boris Kagarlitsky Iain Boal Ron Jacobs John Ross Michael Dickinson Stephen Fleischman Ira Glunts Missy Beattie Website of the Day October 5, 2009 Pam Martens Mike Whitney Paul Craig Roberts Harry Browne Sara Mann Omar Barghouti Shamus Cooke Brenda Norrell Fred Gardner Binoy Kampmark Copenhagen Blues: McChrystal and the Afghan Trap Website of the Day October 2-4, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Saul Landau Diana Johnstone Greg Moses William Blum Brian Cloughley Russell Mokhiber John Ross Ellen Brown David Ker Thomson David Macaray Gary Engler Robert Fantina Lisa Stolarski / Naomi Archer Anthony Papa Joe Allen Harry Browne Ron Jacobs Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
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Weekend Edition Why CNN Should Drop Lou DobbsThe Abominable Mr. DobbsBy ALVARO HUERTA It’s time for CNN to drop Lou Dobbs, the extremist cable host, from its network for his constant assaults on immigrants and Latinos in this country. In contrast to CNN’s balanced news anchors, Campbell Brown and Anderson Cooper, whose mantra is “Keeping Them Honest,” Dobbs constantly spews his xenophobic views on a regular basis. Maybe the charismatic Cooper can do us all a favor by keeping Dobbs honest? It’s amazing to me how Dobbs blames immigrants, particularly Mexican immigrants, for everything that’s wrong with this country. From crime to disease, from the recession to the so-called erosion of American values, according to Dobbs, immigrants or what he calls “illegal aliens” appear to be the source of this country’s problems. While everyone has the right to his or her own opinions, not everyone has a right to their own facts. Dobbs claims, for example, that undocumented immigrants account for one third of the total U.S. prison population. When journalist Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! questioned this figure, countering that only 6 percent of the total prison population consists of non-citizens (which includes undocumented immigrants and others), Dobbs appeared unfazed about reporting false information to support his views toward immigrants. In addition to crime, Dobbs constantly fabricates and exaggerates the extent that undocumented immigrants play in the spread of disease in this country. Dobbs claims that immigrants pose a danger to this country by spreading diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and leprosy without providing scientific research to support his claims. For example, according to Dobbs, undocumented immigrants cause 7,000 cases of leprosy every 3 years in this country. Contradicting this claim, television journalist Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes found that only 7,000 cases of leprosy have been reported during past 30 years in the U.S., without any direct link to immigrants. When questioned by Stahl on 60 Minutes, Dobbs seemed unconcerned about the gross discrepancies between his statements and the facts. When it comes to the economy, undocumented immigrants, according to Dobbs, have wreaked havoc on this country’s financial stability. While it’s one thing to blame corporate America for outsourcing jobs to foreign countries and to hold the federal government accountable for free-trade policies that endanger the middle-class in this country, it’s quite another thing to hold undocumented immigrants responsible for America’s economic ills. How in the world can an undocumented immigrant who works in a service-oriented job that most Americans avoid due to the low wages and social stigma associated with so-called immigrant jobs, present a threat to America’s economic prosperity? Instead of attacking Lehman Brothers and the Republicans’ reckless deregulation policies for hurting the American economy, Dobbs and fellow conservatives act like it’s the Garcia brothers and their willingness to work in this country’s most dangerous and lowest-paying jobs that best explains the current economic meltdown. Apart from linking undocumented immigrants to the United States’ current problems related to crime, disease and the recession, Dobbs and other conservatives assert that recent immigrants threaten the social fabric of this country. For example, the late political scientist Samuel Huntington of Harvard University famously wrote an essay titled “The Hispanic Challenge,” where the distinguished professor unabashedly portrayed Mexican immigration in particular as one of the biggest threats to the “Anglo-Protestant values that built the American dream.” It’s maddening to see that, in a time where many people claim that we live in a so-called post-racial society, especially with the election of Barack Obama to the presidency and successful appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to Supreme Court justice, that powerful public figures like Huntington and Dobbs can spew their anti-immigrant views without internal pressures from reputable institutions like Harvard and CNN, respectively. Shame on them all. Just like the Civil Rights Movement for the black community, it’s incumbent upon the growing Latino community, especially those of Mexican descent, along with individuals who value a society free of discrimination and exploitation, to help remove Dobbs from his privileged position at CNN. CNN is not a public or democratically elected institution, where we have a constitutional right to vote for who speaks on behalf of this organization. We can, however, put pressure by boycotting the corporations who underwrite Dobbs’ anti-immigrant views through advertisement dollars. Those corporations whose advertisement dollars keep Dobbs on the air are guilty by association and don’t deserve the tremendous purchasing power of the Latino community. Fortunately, an ongoing effort led by community leaders and a coalition of pro-immigrant advocacy groups, such as bastadobbs.com, are currently engaged in a campaign to stop Dobbs from spreading more hate and fear against honest, hardworking people in this country. In short, the time has come for those who believe in a more just and humane society to work together toward sending Lou Dobbs to where he belongs: Fox News. Alvaro Huerta is a doctoral student at UC Berkeley. He can be reached at: ahuerta@berkeley.edu
Inside the New Print Edition of Our Subscriber-Only Newsletter! Obama and Black America Ten months into Obama-time, the plight of black Americans is terrible. Yet overwhelmingly they rally behind the president. In a powerful report from the Deep South Kevin Alexander Gray asks the question: what should the black political agenda be? Mark Rudd counterposes “organizing” with “activism” and describes what it will take to build a movement. H. Bruce Franklin gives a chronology of the march into Afghanistan. Get your new edition today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and t-shirts make great presents.Order CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year !
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Now Available from CounterPunch Books! Yellowstone Drift:
"Powerful and shocking ..
Waiting for
Lightning
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