Link: http://www.commondreams.org/further/2012/11/15-3

Savita Halappanavar, a Hindu dentist, died after she arrived at an Irish hospital miscarrying at 17 weeks of a wanted pregnancy, spent three days in agony repeatedly asking for an abortion of her non-viable fetus, and was just as repeatedly denied because, "This is a Catholic country." A woman left to suffer and die, her life sacrificed to that of a fetus that would not live, in the name of an ideology that deems a non-viable fetus more important than a living, breathing, 31-year-old woman

Link: http://www.aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/aclu-files-class-action-lawsuit-challenging-mandatory-immigration-lock

Garfield Gayle, a 59-year-old green card holder from Jamaica, has lived in the United States for 30 years. He raised two U.S. citizen daughters, and has long worked as a union carpenter in Brooklyn, New York.

Link: http://www.infowars.com/transcript-alex-jones-secede-from-the-new-world-order/

The following is a transcript of Alex Jones’ emergency broadcast from the first hour of his November 15th, 2012 broadcast explaining the secession movement, its Constitutional basis, its potential traps and follies, and why Americans must withdraw from the corrupt, hijacked Federal government and rejoin through the several states under the wisdom and guidance of the United States’ key founding documents – the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-bp-criminal-penalty-gulf-oil-spill-20121115,0,6778555.story

Oil company BP has agreed to plead guilty to misconduct and negligence charges and pay a record $4.5-billion fine in connection with the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, one of the nation’s worst environmental disasters.

Link: http://www.henrymakow.com/lament-of-an-imperfect-10.html

Men are so fixated on female beauty, they miss out on a lot of great women. Here is a letter from one. "I was not able to live totally as a woman because I was denied [sexually] when I was young and now denied as I am getting old."

Link: http://naturalsociety.com/gmo-labeling-shot-down-citizens-labeling/

After GMO Labeling Shot Down, Citizens Start Labeling ThemselvesActivists and concerned citizens around the world have had enough with corrupt corporations censoring their right to know what’s in their food, and frankly they’re beyond upset. And if the government will not side with the 90 plus percentage of consumers who are in favor of GMO labeling, then they’re going to do it themselves.

Link: http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/2296-gaza-the-gates-of-wrath-and-sorrow-swing-open-once-again.html

From Dr. Mona Al-Farra in Gaza City, an urgent message on Facebook: Dear Friends, Gaza is under extensive Israeli military attack ,in less than 2 hours , 14 military attacks against different targets in different parts of Gaza Strip , 6 were killed including 2 young girls age 4 and 7, 11 were injured, the hospitals are already lacking essential emergency medications, and citizens were called for blood donation, we do not have power , iam using UBS ,the first stage of this operation has been accomplished , we expect more escalation. your solidarity means a lot at this difficult times, pass the word, this aggression, should stop now.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-petraeus-affair-vs-the-cias-long-criminal-history/5311818

The Petraeus Affair has demonstrated yet again how a sex scandal story can be fed into the U.S. media to serve both as a trigger for “political assassination” and as “the tree hiding the forest.” Even though what lies behind the salacious smoke screen is still the object of speculation, most of those speculations are more credible than a simple extramarital affair.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-suspension-of-habeas-corpus-in-america/5311701

Far from having broken with his Republican predecessor, Democratic President Barack Obama has now reinforced the law of exception that he criticised when he was a senator. It is now possible to deprive United States citizens of their fundamental rights because they have taken part in armed action against their own country, but also when they take a political position favourable to those who use military action to resist the Empire. Worse – Barack Obama has added to the law John Yoo’s “Unitary Executive theory,” which puts an end to the principles of the separation of powers as defined by Montesquieu. The security policy of the United States President now escapes all control.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/nov2012/obam-n14.shtml

Trade union leaders met Tuesday with President Barack Obama to give their support to his plans for massive cuts in social programs upon which tens of millions of workers depend. The hour-long, closed-door meeting at the White House was the first act in a carefully orchestrated campaign to convince the public that unprecedented cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps and other welfare programs are the only alternative to economic disaster in the form of the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/nov2012/fisc-n14.shtml

The term “fiscal cliff,” first used by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last February, refers to the simultaneous expiration of tax cuts and imposition of spending cuts on January 1, 2013. The American media has seized on the term “fiscal cliff” and promoted it, in part, to suggest that measures which would otherwise be enormously popular—ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy or cutting military spending—are threatening, even dangerous.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/fighting-terrorism-or-repressing-democracy-britains-system-of-mass-surveillance/5311802

The focus of critiques of authoritarianism today lies increasingly in the use by liberal governments of ‘exceptional’ powers. These are powers in which an imminent threat to national security is judged to be of such importance as to warrant the restriction of liberties and other socially repressive measures in order to protect national security. ‘Terrorism’ has offered a particularly salient source of justification for a level of social repression that would be intolerable in normal times. A dominant line of criticism is that the use of exceptional powers to this end has gone too far. Critics emphasise the need to curtail such power by bringing it into line with basic human rights standards.[1]

Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49802535

Marc Faber, managing director of Marc Faber Ltd. and publisher of the Gloom, Boom and Doom Report. “I don’t think markets are going down because of Greece, I don’t think markets are going down because of the ‘fiscal cliff’ — because there won’t be a ‘fiscal cliff,’ ” Faber told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “The market is going down because corporate profits will begin to disappoint, the global economy will hardly grow next year or even contract, and that is the reason why stocks, from the highs of September of 1,470 on the S&P, will drop at least 20 percent, in my view.”

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/11/13-0

Controversial study suggests human intelligence peaked several thousand years ago and we've been on an intellectual and emotional decline ever since.Humankind's intelligence peaked thousands of years ago and advanced civilization has made life so easy for so many that our trend towards stupidity will continue as the ingenuity and intellect once needed for basic survival erode even further.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/11/13

As the New York Times reports Tuesday morning that the Petraeus sex scandal has now spread and the Pentagon has initiated an investigation into top NATO commander in Afghanistan, US General John Allen, what is becoming increasingly clear—beyond all the seemingly bizarre twists of this unfolding drama and leaving aside the question about whether or not the private sexual lives of top officials are, in fact, worthy of the endless media blitz they receive—is that the FBI's ability to examine private email accounts during an investigation are having far-reaching, if not ironic, consequences.

Link: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981755562

Stocks tumbled again on fears of the rapidly approaching fiscal cliff in the United States and a failure by eurozone finance ministers and the IMF to decide how Greece will resolve its sovereign debt and pay off the banksters at Société Générale, Deutsche Bank, Eurobank, and other loan sharking institutions.

Link: http://www.voltairenet.org/article176565.html

Far from having broken with his Republican predecessor, Democratic President Barack Obama has now reinforced the law of exception that he criticised when he was a senator. It is now possible to deprive United States citizens of their fundamental rights because they have taken part in armed action against their own country, but also when they take a political position favourable to those who use military action to resist the Empire. Worse - Barack Obama has added to the law John Yoo’s "Unitary Executive theory," which puts an end to the principles of the separation of powers as defined by Montesquieu. The security policy of the United States President now escapes all control.

Link: http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2012/11/13/american-immorality-is-at-a-peak/

When Chris Floyd is at his best, as he is below, he puts things in perspective for readers that they otherwise never confront. Obama has won reelection, and his supporters think that somehow things are going to be different. Fat chance. While evil continues to envelop America, the public is focused on CIA director General Petraeus’ resignation. The FBI spied on him and found that he was having an affair with his biographer, a woman 20 years younger than his 60 years

Link: http://www.alternet.org/pot-legal-two-us-states-latin-american-leaders-call-review-international-drug-policy

Leaders form Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Belize are wondering what marijuana legalization in WA and CO means for the region.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/retributive-warfare-mistaking-killing-and-revenge-for-justice/5311427

Much is being written both for and against America’s use of drones to assassinate those whom Americans consider to be anti-American combatants. Although there is no doubt on which side the moral arguments lie, what’s being written strikes me as nugatory. Pious platitudes, legalistic niceties, and sophistical rationalizations appear to be written by the guilty to convince themselves that they are not the people evil to the marrow that they are, and the dying and the dead couldn’t care less. To them, being killed by a bullet or a bomb fired from an AK-47 or a drone makes no difference whatsoever. Dead is dead. Death cannot be sanitized by pronouncements.

Link: http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15797

Adrian Elcuj Miranda, a judge in Buenos Aires, has ordered the seizure of Chevron’s assets in Argentina, to force the company to pay a $19 billion penalty for polluting the Amazon in Ecuador. The plaintiffs are seeking similar legal action in Brazil, Canada, Colombia and other countries.

Link: http://ecowatch.org/2012/fossil-fuel-underground-stabilize-climate/

Two thirds of all proven fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground if the world is serious about avoiding dangerous climate change, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its World Energy Outlook 2012 report released today. “The IEA’s conclusion reflects sound science. CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels are destabilizing our climate. We cannot burn fuels like coal and oil indefinitely without paying the price in the form of climate instability, droughts, heat waves and superstorms.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/10

It is my hope that a great artist takes brush to canvas to capture the contours of your furrowed brow when you uttered the words, “It’s not a traditional America anymore.” It was a look of depraved beauty that made my heart sing. Watching you, Mr. O’Reilly, before a national audience, realize that all of your racist lies and hatred could not change the fact that people of color exist and will not be bowed by your insane denunciations, was an inspiration to me and millions of others.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/10/alzheimers-junk-food-catastrophic-effect

Plenty of research still needs to be done. But, if the current indications are correct, Alzheimer's disease could be another catastrophic impact of the junk food industry, and the worst discovered so far. Our governments, as they are in the face of all our major crises, seem to be incapable of responding.

Link: http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/2295-dead-enough-the-reality-of-the-qlesser-evilq.html

"Yes, the drone wars, the gutting of civil liberties, the White House death squads and all the rest are bad; but Romney would be worse. Therefore, with great reluctance, holding our noses and shaking our heads sadly, we must choose the lesser evil of Obama and vote accordingly."

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-elections-the-empty-politics-of-duopoly/5311179

After months of rhetoric and political campaigning, the smoke has finally cleared on the media frenzy that is the US Presidential Election. Once the winner of the race was announced, supporters at the Obama Campaign headquarters in Chicago jubilantly celebrated. The haze of American flags, pop music, and confetti worked wonders to mask the absence of any real political substance throughout the election process.

Link: http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/7447

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has commented on the re-election of US president Barack Obama, while urging his own state governor candidates to maintain their commitment “with the people” and not the “local bourgeoisie.”

Link: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/11/09/new-sheriff-in-town/

The Chinese action and its immediate effect are not lost on the Japanese leadership and the rest of the world. So, now the US and Japan are aimlessly playing with their war toys in the South China Sea, impressing no one but the eternally weak minded that are always with us.

Link: http://jonathanturley.org/2012/11/09/poll-one-third-of-american-would-accept-cavity-searches-by-tsa/

In past columns, I have lamented how our government has not only stripped away core civil liberties from citizens, but that citizens have become increasing passive and accepting of the loss of such freedoms. A new poll conducted by Harris Interactive offers a particularly chilling measure of just how passive and accepting citizens have become to the new realities of our internal security system. The poll found almost one third of American adults would accept a “TSA body cavity search” in order to fly. Moreover a majority believes that it is reasonable to criminalize the act of disobeying any TSA agent.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/drugs/american-public-doing-180-marijuana-prohibitionhow-come-politicians-arent

Public opinion on marijuana is moving fast, and pols will eventually follow. The election results this week from Washington, Colorado, Massachusetts and Arkansas demonstrate that public opinion about cannabis has moved much faster than the positions of elected officials.

Link: http://www.voltairenet.org/article176501.html

Drawing on historical precedents, Peter Dale Scott exposes the contradictions and perverse effects of the "war on terror", which adds insecurity to instability and increases the number of terrorists it pretends to be fighting.

Link: http://rt.com/usa/news/monsanto-california-37-measure-182/

President Obama wasn’t the only big winner on Tuesday: the Monsanto Co. and the billion-dollar business behind genetically modified foods were victorious in California, where a measure that would've required the labeling of GMOs lost at the polls. Proposition 37, a state-wide initiative that aimed to increase consumer awareness about the food industry’s growing use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), was defeated by a margin of 53 to 47 percent, with nearly all of the polls accounted for Wednesday morning.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/07-9

It's a basic part of what makes America run, like our national highway system. Social Security is more popular than sliced bread. And it should be. Our Social Security system is the foundation of our families' security: We work hard and pay into it with every paycheck so each of us can retire with dignity.

Link: http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/marijuana-ballot

Last night brought exciting signs that America is finally ready to choose sensible policies over draconian ones that deny sick people access to the medicine they need, and others that clog our criminal justice system with nonviolent marijuana users. ACLU affiliates across the country worked hard to support the passage of three important measures.

Link: http://www.necn.com/11/07/12/Wichita-rejects-putting-fluoride-in-wate/landing_health.html?&apID=70c51dbdf7554475824da77516700f8e

Wichita voters have rejected an initiative to add fluoride to the city's water. Unofficial results from Tuesday's vote showed 59 percent of the voters rejected the proposal. Wichita voted down similar fluoride initiatives in 1964 and 1978.

Link: http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2012/11/07/the-special-interests-won-again/

The election that was supposed to be too close to call turned out not to be so close after all. In my opinion, Obama won for two reasons: (1) Obama is non-threatening and inclusive, whereas Romney exuded a “us vs. them” impression that many found threatening, and (2) the election was not close enough for the electronic voting machines to steal.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/our-future-going-be-keeping-rich-people-happy-servant-economy

That's where we seem to be headed, as we shed decent American jobs. Fire fighter, basketball player, lion tamer, teacher, nurse: Ask little kids what they want to be when they grow up, and you’ll get all sorts of answers. But you’ll never hear this one. You’ll never hear youngsters say they want to devote their careers to serving rich people.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/05-5

What will the United States look like in 2016 if Mitt Romney wins? While predicting the future is of course impossible, actually my experience is that if you play out known possible scenarios in your mind, you can often get a fair idea of the likely course of events.

Link: http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175612/tomgram%3A_jeremiah_goulka,_the_urge_to_bomb_iran/

The Obama administration has engaged in a staggering military build-up in the Persian Gulf and at U.S. and allied bases around Iran (not to speak of in the air over that country and in cyberspace). Massive as it is, however, it hasn’t gotten much coverage lately. Perhaps, after all the alarms and warnings about possible Israeli or U.S. military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities this election season, it’s become so much the norm that it doesn’t even seem like news anymore. Still, two recent stories should jog our memories.

Link: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article37332.html

The opinion polls continue to paint a picture of a close race between Obama and Romney going into the final two days of campaigning ahead of Tuesdays election. However all of the opinion polls with large margins of error of + /- 3% are further complicated by the electoral college votes system which means that the polling is increasingly focused on a handful of swing states such as Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Wisconsin and New Hampshire, making it virtually impossible to gauge the probable election outcome by looking at these polls,