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Unconventional launch for unconventional candidate: Sanders 2016
Apr 30
There were no “Bernie 2016!” placards, no cheering masses, no carefully curated Americana-themed campaign song selections here at the Capitol Thursday when Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2016.

Colombian Journalist Wins Courage Award After Kidnapping, Torture and Rape While Covering Arms Trade

Colombian Journalist Wins Courage Award After Kidnapping, Torture a...
Democracy Now!
http://democracynow.org - As we broadcast from the World Forum in The Hague at the Women Stop War conference, Amy Goodman interviews Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima, who has covered her country’s armed conflict for more than 18 years. She received the International Women of Courage Award in 2012 after she came forward about being kidnapped, tortured and raped by a paramilitary group while she reported on the arms trade, and notes, "I refused to go into exile after this, and I continued to work as a journalist." Bedoya Lima went on to found the group Survivors United for Action. 

Open the Borders—to Trade and to People!
Open the Borders—to Trade and to People!
ReasonTV
Open minds, open source, open bars—openness is usually seen as a great virtue.

But when it comes to open borders for immigrants and open markets for free trade, Democrats and Republicans sound more like the "they took our jobs!" rednecks on South Park than the wise statesmen they claim to be.

President Obama supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would lower trade barriers among a dozen countries. But leading Democrats—including Harry Reid, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, and progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren are opposed. And Hillary Clinton, who supported the deal while she served as secretary of state, is now hedging as she seeks her party’s presidential nomination.

There are intellectual property provisions that are troubling but that’s not what most opponents are bothered by. Democrats have long insisted on “fair trade” rather than free trade, which makes it harder for poorer countries to compete with the U.S. by creating rules and regulations that raise their co

Prying Open Government: The Sunlight Foundation's Fight for Transparency
Prying Open Government: The Sunlight Foundation's Fight for Transpa...
ReasonTV
"We live in a world of big data," says Chris Gates, director of the Sunlight Foundation. "And people talk about big data all the time. But until data is actually sorted in a way that makes sense – and truly open, so that people can have access to it – the fact that we're surrounded by data doesn't change much."

Before the digital age, accessing public records on goverment officials was often a tedious and impractical chore, even for skilled investigators. The Sunlight Foundation was started nine years ago to leverage web sotfware and public disclosure requirements to turn vast amounts of raw data into user-friendly, searchable databases. The non-partisan, non-profit organization's powerful tools like OpenCongress and Foreign Lobbying Influence Tracker allow the public to track the flow of political money and map the nexus of influence in Washington like never before.

"History Is Finally Moving On": Tom Hayden on Thawing of U.S.-Cuba Relations Despite GOP Opposition
"History Is Finally Moving On": Tom Hayden on Thawing of U.S.-Cuba ...
Democracy Now!
http://democracynow.org - In a wide-ranging discussion, Tom Hayden, author of the new book, "Listen, Yankee!: Why Cuba Matters," argues the United States and Cuba have much more in common than a 55-year disagreement. This comes as Republicans have launched an attempt to block President Obama’s efforts to restore U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations for the first time in half a century with proposed legislation to stop new travel to Cuba from the United States. The bill would block the licensing of new flights and cruise ship routes to Cuba if the landing strip or dock is located on land confiscated by the Cuban government. Despite such efforts, Hayden says, "Travel is being expanded. You will be able to use your credit cards. The beaches will be open to tourists instead of tanks. History is finally moving on." He recalls his interviews with former senior U.S. officials on why the Obama administration is trying to end the embargo and remove Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terr... 

U.S. Economy Ekes Out 0.2 Percent Growth Rate in First Quarter
U.S. Economy Ekes Out 0.2 Percent Growth Rate in First Quarter
wochit Business
Growth in U.S. Gross Domestic Product slowed to 0.2 percent during the first quarter of 2015, the Commerce Department reported this morning, reflecting a decline in exports, nonresidential fixed investment, and spending by state and local governments.
The weak numbers also reflected a slowdown in the growth of personal consumer spending and in residential fixed investment, the Commerce Department said. The 0.2 percent growth rate was considerably lower than the 1 percent median forecast from a team of economists surveyed by Bloomberg yesterday.

History Repeats? Activist Tom Hayden on Police Brutality Protests from the 1960s to Baltimore
History Repeats? Activist Tom Hayden on Police Brutality Protests f...
Democracy Now!
http://democracynow.org - As protests continue in Baltimore and around the country over the death of Freddie Gray in police custody, we are joined by one of the leading longtime activists in the country, Tom Hayden, who is no stranger to police and protest. In 1968, Hayden was a major organizer of demonstrations against the Vietnam War during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He became one of the Chicago 8 and was convicted of crossing state lines to start a riot. The judge ordered Bobby Seale, one of his fellow defendants and the only African American, to be bound and gagged and chained to his chair. Later Hayden would organize in Newark, New Jersey, and go on to write the book, "Rebellion in Newark: Official Violence and Ghetto Response." "The country came to near collapse. Baltimore today was everywhere in 1967-’68," Hayden says. "So we have to remember that these issues of going abroad to fight enemies leaves our internal problems festering, and they can blow at any... 

Iraqi Activist Describes "Massacres Left and Right" as Civil Society Resists Takeover by ISIS
Iraqi Activist Describes "Massacres Left and Right" as Civil Societ...
Democracy Now!
http://democracynow.org - As Yanar Mohammed, co-founder and the director of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, attends the Women Stop War conference in The Hague, she describes the current situation in Iraq. "The country is under a prevailing culture of militias, which have the upper hand. … They say, ’It’s either us or ISIS.’" Mohammed says civil society is sandwiched between Shia and Sunni extremists, and argues a secular approach is the only way to resolve the conflict in her country.

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