Common Dreams:
"Paul Krugman is at it again. This time, he’s using his position as the leading progressive columnist in the nation’s 'newspaper of record,' to ballyhoo a letter from four former heads of the Council of Economic Advisors.
Their letter criticizes an economic analysis of Bernie Sanders’ policies performed by University of Massachusetts economist, Gerald Friedman, which found that Sander’s platform would increase growth by 5.3%.
Krugman’s column this past Friday suggests that the former CEA chiefs’ letter puts Bernie in the same camp as the Republicans, who’ve been spouting voodoo economics such as trickle-down and the elixir of tax cuts for decades now, complete with magic asterisks designed to make nearly $6 trillion in deficits disappear.
There’s so much that is wrong with Krugman’s column and with the letter from former CEA chiefs Alan Krueger, Austan Goolbee, Christina Romer, and Laura D'Andrea Tyson that it’s hard to know where to begin."
-->Check out James K. Galbraith's criticism of Krugman. Why is he distorting Sander's plans for a new economy? The possibility of a cabinet spot in the Clinton dynasty?
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The Guardian UK:
"Britain is setting a dangerous precedent by undermining human rights and contributing to a worldwide 'culture of impunity', Amnesty International has said in its annual report on the state of human rights.
Plans to scrap the Human Rights Act, the UK’s absence from EU refugee resettlement schemes, proposed new spying laws and the alleged downgrading of human rights as a Foreign Office priority in favour of commercial deals are all cited by the group as evidence of a trend.
Amnesty’s UK director, Kate Allen, said: 'The UK is setting a dangerous precedent to the world on human rights. There’s no doubt that the downgrading of human rights by this government is a gift to dictators the world over and fatally undermines our ability to call on other countries to uphold rights and laws.' "
-->Britain, America's closest ally, is scrapping human rights and encouraging a worldwide culture of immunity? You didn't read about it in the NYT, busy covering up the national security state that the US is fast becoming.
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Common Dreams:
"Newly released documents show that, in back-room talks, European officials assured ExxonMobil that the pending US-EU trade agreement would force the removal of regulatory 'obstacles' worldwide, thus opening up even more countries to exploitation by the fossil fuel empire.
Heavily redacted documents pertaining to an October 2013 meeting, obtained by the Guardian and reported on Tuesday, reveal that then-trade commissioner Karel de Gucht met with two officials from ExxonMobil's EU and U.S. divisions to address the benefits of the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
As the Guardian notes, the meeting was held at a time when countries in South America and Africa were 'tightening regulations on fossil fuel companies for the first time in a decade, despite ExxonMobil’s ambitions to open up shale gas fracking wells in North Africa, Asia and South America.' "
-->Our newspaper of record is too busy trying to sell the TTIP to its readers to cover this story. Obama's claims that trade deals will be good of the environment are just another proof that he is a perpetual lier.
