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Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.



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SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris





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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.


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Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

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"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.





Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.



JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

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Republicans Push State-by-State Anti-Abortion Agenda Across U.S.

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Posted June 29, 2011

Interview with Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL-Pro Choice America, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

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Almost all of the nation’s state legislatures this year were forced to focus on large budget deficits and figuring out ways to deal with them, including deep cuts to government services and programs. But, just like in the U.S. House of Representatives, many legislatures controlled by Republicans made time to debate bills that restrict women's access to abortion. Hundreds of measures were introduced around the country, and a significant number were passed. Some require mandatory ultra-sounds; others ban abortions after 20 weeks with no exceptions for the health of the mother or rape or incest; others place restrictions on abortion coverage in the federal government's new health insurance exchanges.

Four states have banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, joining Nebraska, which did the same before the 2010 election. Some states have attempted to impose a legislative ban on all funding to groups, such as Planned Parenthood, that offer preventive care like pap smears and birth control in addition to abortion services. Indiana’s law prohibiting funds to Planned Parenthood is now facing a court challenge.

The groups and politicians supporting these dozens of anti-abortion state bills, are openly attempting to coordinate their efforts to chip away at the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision on Roe v. Wade that made abortion legal in the United States. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL-Pro Choice America. She talks about these recently passed state restrictions on reproductive rights and how her organization is responding.

NANCY KEENAN: The anti-choice agenda at the state level is more than we've seen in the past, particularly more than last year. I believe we had somewhere around 456 anti-choice bills introduced, compared to about half that last year. And you take a look at the composition of state legislatures: We have 15 states now with an anti-choice governor and both houses of the legislature in the hands of anti-choice politicians.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Is that the same as Republicans?

NANCY KEENAN: (Laughs) We're a non-partisan group; our party is choice. But yeah, sadly so, we're seeing that there are very few pro-choice Republicans running anymore in that party. It has very much changed from the day when they believed in personal privacy and liberty, and they've gone much more to the right.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Of all those hundreds of bills that were introduced, please talk about some that were passed, in which states, and what they do.

NANCY KEENAN: Let me talk about the mandatory ultrasound bill. That was introduced in 28 bills in 14 states. Two of those have passed in two states, Arizona and Texas. That bill primarily interferes in the doctor-patient relationship. We believe that women should have the option of an ultrasound if they request it or their doctor recommends it, but it should not be forced on them. Here again, we are seeing these anti-choice politicians putting their agenda in the examination room with the doctor and patient. It's a matter if a woman determines that she's considering termination of the pregnancy; this requires women to have a mandatory ultrasound, for the doctor to show her the results, often to read a script about it.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Any other laws?

NANCY KEENAN: Let me just talk about the Nebraska-like bans we've seen in the states as well. We've seen 30 bills in 14 states; five bills have been enacted in five states, so we've seen it in Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, and then in Minnesota; I believe that one was vetoed. This means there will be no abortions after 20 weeks and there are no exceptions for the woman's health, rape or incest. And it's very much modeled after Nebraska, which was enacted in 2010. It obviously interferes in the doctor-patient relationship. This is a ban that harms women who have wanted pregnancies that may experience some heart-breaking complications, such as a fetal anomaly or a cancer diagnosis. This ban could threaten a woman's health, her ability to have children in the future, if she can't access this care. So this is their strategy, again, a ban earlier and earlier.

BETWEEN THE LINES: I don't want to leave anything out. Are there other anti-choice bills that were put into effect this year in different states?

NANCY KEENAN: The health care bill that was passed at the federal level, which then requires states to put these insurance exchanges in place. We've seen as those states begin to implement those exchanges, there are statewide bans on abortion. We've seen seven states basically take away insurance coverage of abortion, deny insurance companies to cover abortion if they want to participate in the exchange in that state. They're basically saying if you want to do business in our state, and you're an insurance company that covers abortion -- of which, 87 percent of insurance companies presently do -- if you want to do business in our state, you have to basically not cover abortion care. So, it interferes with the woman's ability to make those private decisions. Obviously, it discriminates against women who work for small business owners or pay for insurance with their private money.

BETWEEN THE LINES: So, Nancy Keenan, this is a pretty depressing scenario. How is NARAL-Pro Choice America dealing with this new reality?

NANCY KEENAN: Well, look, number one, elections matter. And as we head into the 2012 elections, we know we have to establish the contrast between these people that ran on jobs and the economy and are spending all of their time attacking reproductive health care. We have had about an average of a thousand new names to our email list every day, so people are paying attention and they understand the consequences of the folks that were elected last year. We've had about 500,000 messages to Congress, because again, it's not only the state attacks, it's the federal attacks, so we have been really making our voices heard in Congress. And we're building now for 2012, building the contrast between pro-choice candidates and the lawmakers who are advancing this extreme agenda.

Find more information about various state’s anti-abortion legislation and pro-choice group’s response at naral.org.

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