IRS plans Jan. 30 tax season opening For 1040 Filers
WASHINGTON — Following the January tax law changes made by Congress under the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA), the Internal Revenue Service announced today it plans to open the 2013 filing season and begin processing individual income tax returns on Jan. 30.The IRS will begin accepting tax returns on that date after updating forms...Hate crimes against American Muslims remain near decade high
Societies have laws in order to protect people from serious threats made by other people. To protect innocent victims, judges should take into consideration the criminal background of the alleged perpetrator in a climate of growing crimes. The job of the police is not only to enforce the law, but also to prevent crimes from...Halting anti-Muslim violence
There has been a sudden uptick in the number of violent hate crimes where the victims are thought to be Muslim or "Middle Eastern". Sunando Sen, a Hindu man originally from India, was shoved in front of an oncoming subway train in New York City, where he died. Cameron Mohammed, a Catholic American man whose parents are from Trinidad, was...U.S. health worse than nearly all other industrialized countries
WASHINGTON— U.S. citizens suffer from poorer health than nearly all other industrialized countries, according to the first comprehensive government analysis on the subject, released Wednesday.Of 17 high-income countries looked at by a committee of experts sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the United States is at or near...U.S. immigration system’s cost and reach are “unprecedented”
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The United States government is spending more on immigration enforcement each year than it is on all other federal law-enforcement agencies combined, according to the first comprehensive look at how the country’s sprawling immigration complex has grown over the past decade.Likewise, on a daily basis the U.S....Why U.S./Israel face sinking polls
When U.S. and Israeli officials look glumly at international polls showing their declining popularity, they often think that just some better salesmanship will do the trick. But the real problem isn’t the pitch; it’s the product, in this case policies that offend much of the world, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.An Israeli think...What Hagel could give Obama
With the “fiscal cliff” partly solved and partly delayed, President Obama may now turn his attention to filling his national security team for the second term, including whether to face down neocon opposition to Nebraska Republican Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary, as ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern notes.Absent from the discussion...Legislation that permits wiretapping of foreign citizens without warrant extended
The U.S. Senate recently agreed to approve and extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The legislation permits the National Security Agency (NSA) and other foreign intelligence groups to wiretap the conversations of foreign citizens without a warrant. Civil rights agencies across the country have for years expressed...
Petition to recognize Westboro Baptist Church as hate group is most popular in White House history
January 4th, 20130 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Users of the White House's "We the People" digital petition platform have flooded the site in support of an effort to officially designate the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group.The most popular petition was submitted on Dec. 14, the same day as the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in...
U.S. Senate extends warrantless wiretapping under FISA
December 28th, 20120 WASHINGTON, DC - The Senate agreed on Friday to approve an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, legislation that allows the NSA and other US intelligence agencies to wiretap conversations involving foreign citizens without obtaining a warrant.Despite growing opposition to one of the most notorious and secretive US...
Petition to recognize Westboro Baptist Church as hate group is most popular in White House history
December 28th, 20120 WASHINGTON, DC - Users of the White House's "We the People" digital petition platform have flooded the site in support of an effort to officially designate the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group.The most popular petition was submitted on Dec. 14, the same day as the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary...Pew Research Center issues in-depth report on Arab American media
According to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism the Arab American media’s efforts to meet the demands of its readers have become difficult in recent years because of declining ad revenue, new technology and increasing competition from Arab outlets in the Middle East and North Africa.The...Iraqi American family caught in sanctions nightmare
Columbia, Missouri - During the first war with Iraq, the Gulf War that started in 1990, President George Bush appeared on TV. He said, “We have no argument with the people of Iraq.” At the time, Iraq was under U.N. sanctions.Meanwhile in Columbia, Missouri, Lamya Najem and her husband, Shakir Hamoodi, had migrated to the U.S. They...Neo-Cons, Israel lobby mobilize to pre-empt Obama Pentagon favorite
WASHINGTON - Neo-conservatives and leaders of the powerful Israel lobby are mobilizing their forces in what looks like an all-out campaign to pre-empt the nomination by President Barack Obama of an outspoken former Republican senator and decorated Vietnam War hero to replace Leon Panetta as secretary of defense.The campaign was launched...BDS: Seven years with a global reach struggling for Palestinian rights
For the past seven years since its launch, the Palestinian grassroots Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, now with a global reach, has made concrete steps towards exposing Israel as a colonial occupier executing an apartheid policy against the Palestinian people. The BDS campaigns around the world have, to a......
United States and Russia confer as Syria crisis takes dark turn
DUBLIN - The United States and Russia held surprise talks on the crisis in Syria Thursday, suggesting they may be looking to put acrimony aside amid allegations that President Bashar al-Assad could be preparing to use chemical weapons.The Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, met her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and the UN Syria...U.S. ramping up threats, troop deployments to Syrian coast
WASHINGTON - American media are reporting extensively that the Syrian president is getting ready to use chemical weapons on his own people, raising concerns that Washington could be planning a strike on Damascus with the chemical threat as a pretext.Reports that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime is preparing to use its chemical......
Stevie Wonder pulls out of Israel gala
Stevie Wonder is set to pull out of a performance at a fundraiser for the Israel Defense Forces, a source told JTA.Wonder’s representatives will claim that he did not know the nature of the group, the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, and that he believes such a performance would be incongruent with his status as a U.N....Brzezinski: U.S. won’t follow Israel ‘like a stupid mule’
Leading U.S. strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski rejects Israeli pressure to form American national security policy by beating the drum for war on Iran. Washington would not blindly follow Tel-Aviv if Israel chooses to unilaterally strike Iran, he said.Brzezinski said he would not advise President Barack Obama to back military action against...Thousands of signatures gathered for churches’ call to investigate “unconditional” military support of Israel
WASHINGTON, DC — Christian and Jewish leaders gathered at the United Methodist Building in Washington, DC to applaud the actions of fifteen heads of major U.S. Christian denominations who called for a congressional investigation into possible violations of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act and the U.S. Export Control Act by...Historic UC Irvine divestment vote deals stinging defeat to Zionist bullying on campus
Just over a year since an Orange County jury, in a politically-motivated prosecution, convicted the "Irvine 11" students for disrupting a lecture by Israeli Ambassdor Michael Oren, the Associated Students of UC Irvine voted unanimously earlier this week to call for divestment from companies that profit from Israeli occupation.The vote......
Arab Americans and law enforcement: Rights at risk
I testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights this week on the relations between law enforcement agencies and the Arab American and Muslim American communities. This provided an opportunity to lay out the problems that exist and an agenda that would allow us to move forward.In a democratic society based on constitutionally...Jewish, Christian groups clash over U.S. aid to Israel
WASHINGTON (IPS) — Jewish groups have reacted furiously to a letter to Congress by 15 leaders of Christian denominations asking for a review of whether some of the three billion dollars in annual United States aid to Israel is being used in violation of U.S. law and policies.After pulling out of an interfaith dialogue conference,......
#StopNDAA — What Obama and Romney didn’t touch on during the debate
The defense bill that lets the government indefinitely detain any US citizen without charge or trial wasn't mentioned once during the three presidential debates, but that didn’t stop activists from sounding off: #StopNDAA went worldwide Monday night.A campaign aimed at drawing awareness to the National Defense Authorization Act for...New poll finds shifts in U.S. public opinion towards Middle East
WASHINGTON — The attacks on U.S. embassies in Libya and Egypt last month shocked and scared Americans, but the majority of Americans nevertheless recognizes that the violence was the work of extremist minorities and not the majority of the population, according to a new poll. The poll, conducted by the University of Maryland, was......
