Day: April 30, 2009

Prisoners Defending Prisoners: Review of new book by Mumia Abu-Jamal

by Carolina Saldaña

(Spanish language version below)

“My only wish is to tell a story that has never been told before,” says Mumia Abu-Jamal of his new book Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the U.S.A., City Lights Books, 2009.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood yesterday ordered a departmental review of commercial bus safety, a response to a string of fatal bus accidents across the country and criticism that the federal government has failed to act.

[Updated May 1, 2009]

In response to the Obama Administration’s ever-so-slight and subtle hint that maybe, just maybe, some Bush Administration officials might face investigation and prosecution if they broke the law in authorizing torture, a neoconservative Republican talking point has emerged.

For the second time in two years, a provision to allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages died in the Senate today, handing the Obama administration a significant defeat in its plans for arresting the foreclosure crisis.

Call it a case of preemptive lobbying: A group of corporate CEOs today launched an effort to personally appeal to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to cancel introduction of a bill that would give shareholders a greater say in how executives are paid and appointed.

A former Justice Department grant-making administrator violated federal ethics and procurement rules in awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars in sole source contracts to ideologically favored companies and individuals, the department’s inspector general concluded today.

SPEAKER: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA [*] OBAMA: One month ago, I spoke about some of the problems that have led to the crisis in the auto industry and about what would be required to ensure that General Motors and Chrysler emerge from their current troubles stronger and more competitive. My team wi…

SPEAKER: PRESIDENT BARACK [*] : Please, be seated. Before we begin tonight, I just want to provide everyone with a few brief updates on some of the challenges we’re dealing with right now. First, we are continuing to closely monitor the emergency cases of the H1N1 flu virus thro…

Republicans may not be able to rely on social issues as they try to rebound against a popular president and increasingly dominant Democratic Party, as a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows rising support for same-sex marriage, legalized marijuana and a process by which undocumented immigrants…