COMMENTARY
TruthOut has been a part of my essential reading going back now for many years ... back to the early days of the Internet and e-mail. While they help to get perspective about current news, way better than the mainstream media on its own, they still do not provide a systemic history of issues which I believe is needed in order to have sustainable progress in a world where the main motivation is greed not good.

My hope is that the right framework will help to merge the big issues of any specific time with the economic activity that is going on all the time to address issues already identified and resolve them favorably. Progress is rarely a headline event, and more often than not should be 'under the radar' in order for real progress to be made.
Peter Burgess

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William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: 'Let's get a few things straight right from the jump. First of all, despite all the gleeful obituaries that have been appearing across the scabrous landscape of the 'mainstream' news media, the Occupy movement is not, in fact, over. Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have sent in cops like thieves in the night to dispossess peaceful protesters and destroy books in New York City, but there are hundreds of Occupy camps still standing from one side of this nation to the other.' Read the Article

J.A. Myerson, Truthout: 'There is a new group of people occupying Liberty Plaza Park. Clad in dark clothes with glowing yellow vests, a group of husky security guards, all of them white men, now patrol the park. Since Monday night's eviction of the occupation by New York's Police and Sanitation Departments, under the orders of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Liberty Plaza Park, whose specific commission is to provide access to the public 24 hours a day, has been surrounded by metal barricades, a handful of one-person-wide breaks providing the only entrances and exits.' Read the Article

This blog will feature Truthout's live coverage of the Occupy movement's national day of protest today. Our editors will be summarizing news from around the country. Matt Renner (Truthout's Director of Development) will be on the ground in New York City, participating in and tweeting from the New York protests. Read the Live Blog

Maura Dolan, The Los Angeles Times: 'Protesters in the Occupy Wall Street movement seized a Bank of America branch in the city's financial district Wednesday, a demonstration that forced jittery customers and employees to flee and ended in nearly 100 arrests. It took about 40 police officers in riot gear nearly four hours to clear the bank, but no one was injured. Police said many of those arrested were UC Santa Cruz students who were protesting fee increases and budget cuts.' Read the Article

Mark Karlin, Truthout: 'Mark Karlin: Given your expertise in understanding the corruption of Wall Street, what did you find in the practices of the financial world leading up to the 1929 crash that presaged the 2007 crisis? Nomi Prins: Into the crash of 1929, there were six big banks. Their leaders controlled most of the market activity, sat on each others' boards and owned large chunks of stock in each others' firms. They inflated the values of stocks through 'trusts' (financial mechanisms by which many investors could 'pool' together their money, and borrowed money, to purchase or sell various stocks in bulk).' Read the Article

Charlie Savage, The New York Times News Service: 'Federal authorities charged a 21-year-old Idaho man on Thursday with trying to assassinate President Obama. They said he had told friends that he believed the president was 'the Antichrist' and that he 'needed to kill him,' according to a complaint filed in federal court.' Read the Article

Amy Dean, Truthout: 'Last week, the labor movement and its allies scored a major victory with the repeal of Ohio Senate Bill 5 (SB5), a piece of anti-union legislation signed by Republican Gov. John Kasich. In a referendum that gave voters a chance to speak on the issue, Ohioans resoundingly rejected the law, which would have gutted the bargaining rights of 350,000 public-sector workers. In a landmark defeat for Republicans, voters turned out in large numbers and voted 61 percent to 39 percent to strike down SB5.' Read the Article

Dina Rasor, Truthout: 'The Department of Defense (DoD) contractors and their followers in the Pentagon are in a panic. The first set of proposed cuts in the DoD by the Congress and the Obama administration, followed by the threat of more cuts if the Congressional 'supercommittee' does not come to an agreement has them claiming potential national security Armageddon.' Read the Article

Mike Ludwig, Truthout: 'The California Supreme Court decided on Thursday that the anti-gay marriage group defending California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage does have legal standing to defend the ban in appeals courts when the state refuses to do so. The decision is a setback for gay rights groups and a pivotal moment in the case, which could end up in the Supreme Court and set a national precedent on gay marriage that would affect bans in states beyond California.' Read the Article

In today's On the News segment: Demonstrations are planned across the nation to mark the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement; the clock is ticking on the Gang of 12; in Wisconsin, the Republican plot to sabotage the Scott Walker recall campaign is in full swing; Blue Dog Democrats have signaled a willingness to join Republicans in support of a balanced budget amendment; and more. Watch the Video and Read the Transcript

Norm Stamper, Yes! Magazine: 'The police chief who oversaw Seattle's crackdown on WTO protesters learned the dangers of militarization. His advice for a creating a police force that truly serves and protects communities. They came from all over, tens of thousands of demonstrators from around the world, protesting the economic and moral pitfalls of globalization. Our mission as members of the Seattle Police Department? To safeguard people and property - in that order. Things went well the first day. We were praised for our friendliness and restraint - though some politicians were apoplectic at our refusal to make mass arrests for the actions of a few.' Read the Article

J.A. Myerson, Truthout: 'This is an era of revolution, aristocracy, democratic fervor and authoritarian violence. It is a confusing time, when Russell Simmons, who hawks a credit card that bears his moniker, and Alec Baldwin, who does commercials for Capital One, both claim solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, the very identity of which stands opposed to a nefarious financial sector's abuse of American society and politics. It can sometimes be difficult, therefore, to identify heroes and villains reliably. In the wake of the eviction of Liberty Plaza Park, though, two city officials have emerged to fill those roles very clearly.' Read the Article

Costas Panayotakis, The Indypendent: 'The latest phase of the Greek crisis (a crisis that is only part of the broader European and global capitalist crisis) illustrates the determination of political and economic elites in Greece and Europe to seal the future of ordinary Greeks without asking for their consent. Even more, it is an attempt to push further the devastating and ineffective attempt to solve the European debt crisis through a continuation of draconian austerity measures that have led not only to the spread and deepening of the crisis across the continent but also to mounting popular resistance.' Read the Article

Michael Winship, Truthout: 'J. Edgar Hoover passed away on May 2, 1972. The legendary FBI director lay in state at the Capitol rotunda, the doors kept open all day and night for the convenience of mourners. I remember because I was still at college in Washington then, and around 3 o'clock in the morning a bunch of us drove up there, not to pay our respects, but to make sure he was really dead. In those pre-9/11 days, you could still do that sort of thing.' Read the Article

Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch: 'Every childhood has its own geography and every child is an explorer, as daring as any Peary or Amundsen or Scott. I was the mildest of children, such a picky eater that my parents called me a 'quince' (a fruit sour enough, they insisted, to make your face pucker, as mine did when challenged by any food out of the ordinary). I was neither a daredevil nor a chance-taker, and by my teens scorned myself for being so boringly on the straight and narrow. I never raced a car, or mocked a cop, or lit out for the territories.' Read the Article