Mike & Friends Blog from 'April 2010'

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Derrick Crowe is a 5-year veteran of Capitol Hill who left D.C. over his objections to Democrats’ choice in the 2008 presidential campaign to urge escalation in Afghanistan.

April 30th, 2010

Don’t Tell Me the Afghanistan War Makes Me Safer

There used to be a man who lived in a town called Khataba in Afghanistan who was a good dancer. His name was Mohammed Dawood. If you are an American, Mohammed was your friend. He trained with International Security Assistance Force’s (ISAF) Taskforce Gunsmoke in Gardez District and completed a ...

6 Comments

Fr. Dick Preston

Father Dick Preston is the priest who married Michael Moore and his wife and is featured in 'Capitalism: A Love Story.'

April 30th, 2010

Roman Catholic Bishops Ignoring Injustice in Grand Blanc, Michigan

As a married, Roman Catholic priest, I have been steeped in the social teaching of the Catholic Church and have spent years with the poor and workers of Flint and Lansing, MI., Washington D.C. and Central America. So, the recent troubles at a Flint-area hospital caught my attention.A recent political ...

2 Comments

Michael Moore

Author and Filmmaker

April 30th, 2010

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

When Brazilians first elected Luiz Inácio 'Lula' da Silva President in 2002, the country's robber barons nervously checked the fuel gauges on their private jets. They had turned Brazil into one of the most inequitable places on earth, and now it looked like payback time. Lula, 64, was a genuine ...

10 Comments

Dylan Ratigan

Host, Dylan Ratigan Show

April 29th, 2010

Judd Gregg and Ben Nelson: More Socialism Please

As we find our economy subsisting on massive government spending and no-strings-attached bailouts, borrowed, of course, from future generations, what solutions do the same leaders who got us into this mess offer? You already know the answer -- more government handouts.The latest gambit?Politicians like Judd Gregg and Ben Nelson are ...

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Joan Wile

Founder, Grandmothers Against the War

April 29th, 2010

Brooklyn High School Seniors Energize the Grandmothers Against the War Vigil at Rockefeller Center

Don't despair, folks. All our young people are not indifferent to the fact that the United States is still engaged in reprehensible occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. We anti-war grandmothers had heartening proof of this yesterday, April 27, when 20 African-American and Latino Brooklyn high school seniors joined our Grandmothers ...

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Dean Baker

Co-Director, CEPR

April 29th, 2010

Being Rude To The Deficit Hawks

I worked at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) for 6 ½ years. During this time, the credibility of my work and that of my colleagues was often impugned by describing EPI as "labor backed." This was partially true, we got 20-25 percent of our funding from unions. However, the clear ...

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Aaron Bartley

Aaron Bartley is Executive Director of People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH).

April 28th, 2010

PUSH Buffalo Joins the Showdown on Wall Street

In the nearly two years since the biggest banks precipitated a devastating economic meltdown and then exploited the moment to win billions in taxpayer bailouts and billions more in free money from the Federal Reserve, not a single public demonstration of significance has darkened the doors of the Wall Street ...

19 Comments

Paul Harwood

Paul Harwood lives outside Portland, Oregon

April 27th, 2010

The Hundred Dollar Car Wash

If there are two things I enjoy doing, they’re watching Countdown and catching interviews with Michael Moore, so I got a two-fer last Friday when I watched the podcast of Thursday night’s edition of Countdown. (Please: Don’t tell Keith Olbermann that I watch the podcast rather than the broadcast. Let ...

2 Comments

Wanda Hernandez

Wanda Hernandez is an outspoken advocate for social justice in New York.

April 27th, 2010

Why I’ll Be At the Showdown on Wall Street this Thursday

The big banks on Wall Street got a bailout but the rest of New York is sinking. The financial crisis created a painful catch-22: the recession means there’s more need for public services, but it also created historic city and state budget deficits that make it harder to provide them.Mayor ...

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Other Worlds

Economic Justice

April 26th, 2010

Broadcasting Women's Voices in Haiti's Reconstruction: Women's Community Radio

Haitian women have been increasingly vocal and active in social, political, and economic issues since the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986. Though it has not come easily, their progress in changing gender relations of power within the home, within social movements, and within the nation has been steady. ...

3 Comments

J.J. Selmon

JJ Selmon is Executive Director of Sunflower Community Action

April 25th, 2010

Blame it on the Banks

Showdown in the Heartland: Tuesday, April 27, 2010, 1:00pm at Barney Allis Plaza downtown Kansas City at the corner of 12th and Wyandotte On Tuesday April 27th National People’s Action affiliates in the Heartland will be joining the Showdown in Kansas City. Sunflower Community Action, GRO Grass Roots Organizing and ...

1 Comments

Conner Gorry

Conner Gorry is Senior Editor of 'MEDICC Review: The International Journal of Cuban Health & Medicine'

April 23rd, 2010

Interview with Dr. Patrick Dely: Part II

“My future is to see my country transformed, a different country, where Haitians feel happy and proud to be in their country. Where they don’t need to emigrate, where Haitian children have access to education… I see myself working to make this Haiti a reality. My future is to work ...

30 Comments

Donna Smith

Single-Payer Advocate

April 23rd, 2010

April 23, 2010 – Happy 56th Birthday Michael Moore

Happy 56, Michael. Thank you for doing all the courageous things and the fun things you have done in your 56 years. Our nation would be far less just than it is right now without your films, your humor, your courage, your talent and your unwillingness to just throw in ...

1 Comments

Other Worlds

Economic Justice

April 23rd, 2010

Addressing the Social Causes of Poor Health: Alternative Health and Healing in Haiti (Part III)

For most Haitians, when health care is available at all, it all too often treats the immediate problem only. Given the conditions under which the vast majority of Haitians live – dire poverty, malnourishment, and lack of access to water or sanitation – the next illness or physical challenge is ...

5 Comments

Derrick Crowe

Derrick Crowe is a 5-year veteran of Capitol Hill who left D.C. over his objections to Democrats’ choice in the 2008 presidential campaign to urge escalation in Afghanistan.

April 23rd, 2010

Nothing to See Here, Folks: Covering Up a Massacre in Afghanistan

“I want to ask: What does apology mean? We apologize for our mistakes and repeat our mistakes again? What meaning does this have?” –Sayid Mohammed Mal, Vice Chancellor, Gardez UniversityPlease sign Rethink Afghanistan’s petition calling for an independent, U.N.-led investigation into what happened at Gardez and who tried to cover ...

1 Comments

Dylan Ratigan

Host, Dylan Ratigan Show

April 22nd, 2010

The Speech: The Good, The Bad and The Missing

The Good: The president had strong language for backing real derivative reforms. The Bad: Vague language about the "Volcker rule" will not stop Too Big To Fail; but a plan like this (or even one like this) for breaking up the current mega-banks and limiting their liabilities will. The Missing: ...

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Donna Smith

Single-Payer Advocate

April 22nd, 2010

Everybody In, Nobody Out: At Temple and Beyond an Injury to One is an Injury to All

When you see the faces of the members of PASNAP (Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals) on strike at Temple University Hospital and perhaps most especially when you see the faces of their children walking on the picket line with them, you embrace the reality of why these ...

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Joan Wile

Founder, Grandmothers Against the War

April 21st, 2010

The Greening of the Gray Panthers

One had always thought of the Gray Panthers as an admirable organization advocating for the dignity and rights of older people, as so brilliantly represented by its founder, the magnetic Maggie Kuhn.But, one would have been not fully informed. On Saturday, April 17, the Panthers celebrated their 40 years of existence, ...

2 Comments

William Black

Former financial regulator

April 21st, 2010

A Tale of Two Paulsons

The Senate Banking Committee released the findings from its investigation of Washington Mutual – the largest S&L and largest bank failure. My research specialty is “control fraud.” These are frauds led by those that control seemingly legitimate entities and use them as a “weapon” to defraud. Financial control frauds’ “weapon ...

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Yoko Ono

Artist, Musician and Peace Activist

April 19th, 2010

Bless Josh in Your Mind

Dear Family of Peace,This open letter from a soldier, Josh Stieber, is very, very important for the world.It is also important to us, the Family of Peace.Bless Josh in your mind or write a letter or comment below expressing your gratitude, and continue our daily visualization of World Peace.Ask our ...

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Dylan Ratigan

Host, Dylan Ratigan Show

April 19th, 2010

A Patriot's Day Call to Arms

This letter is a call to (electronic) arms on Patriots' Day. Mr. President, please show the American people the AIG emails. In the wake of the disclosures associated with Friday's government fraud accusations against Goldman, Sachs & Co., one of our nation's wealthiest, largest and most politically well-connected banks, it ...

5 Comments

Emma Kaplan

World Can't Wait

April 19th, 2010

Crimes Are Crimes – No Matter Who Does Them

Join Cindy Sheehan, Cornel West, Chris Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg, Noam Chomsky, Ray McGovern, Carl Dix, Bill Quigley, William Blum, Joyce Kozloff, Ann Messner, David Swanson, Sunsara Taylor, Stephen Rohde, Fr. Bob Bossie, Peter Phillips, Jed Stone, Tomás Olmos, Peter McLaren, Jodie Evans, Margaret Lawrence, Matthis Chiroux, Larry Everest, Andy Worthington, ...

0 Comments

Other Worlds

Economic Justice

April 19th, 2010

The Shock Doctrine in Haiti: An Interview with Patrick Elie

Patrick Elie has long been a democracy activist. Moreover, during President Aristide’s administration-in-exile during the 91-94 coup d’etat, Patrick was coordinator of the anti-drug unit of the National Intelligence Service, where he was key to exposing the collusion between the U.S. government and the military coup leaders. He subsequently served ...

4 Comments

Donna Smith

Single-Payer Advocate

April 18th, 2010

Is the Shaw’s and Star Market’s Mission in Massachusetts to Harm Expectant Mothers?

BOSTON – With cut-out smiling figures of Barack and Michelle Obama in the background, two striking warehouse workers told a crowd gathered in Boston on Saturday the horrifying reality they face at the hands of Shaw’s Supermarket management. One young man’s wife is six months pregnant and on April 1, ...

34 Comments

Josh Stieber

Iraq Vet & Peace Activist

April 17th, 2010

An Open Letter of Reconciliation and Responsibility to the Iraqi People

(Written with Ethan McCord, who pulled injured children from van in Wikileaks 'Collateral Murder' video)Peace be with you. To all of those who were injured or lost loved ones during the July 2007 Baghdad shootings depicted in the "Collateral Murder" Wikileaks video: We write to you, your family, and your ...

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