Whistleblower At The CIA: A Path Of Dissent – An Insider’s Account Of The Politics Of Intelligence, by Melvin A. Goodman (City Lights Books, San Francisco, 2017, 421 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

August 16, 2017 (San Diego) - Melvin A. Goodman, a former Soviet analyst at the CIA and the Department of State for 24 years, and a professor of international relations at the War College for 18 years, has written an intriguing and thought provoking book about espionage and politics; Whistleblower at the CIA. This is a timely and definitive book on the current state of affairs between America and Russia.

By Miriam Raftery

January 27, 2016 (Washington D.C.) – Juveniles in federal prisons can no longer be sentenced to solitary confinement under an executive order issued by President Barack Obama that also reforms solitary confinement rules for adults. Also this week, the Supreme Court ruled that an earlier decision banning mandatory life sentences for juveniles applies retroactively—meaning prisoners who committed serious crimes before age 18 must have parole hearings or an opportunity for resentencing.

America: The Black Point Of View, An Investigation And Study Of The White People Of America And Western Europe, and The Autobiography Of An American Ghetto Boy, The 1950s And 1960s, by Tony Rose (Amber Books, 2015, Phoenix, Arizona, 545 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

November 28, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - The title itself is a mouthful, but make no mistake, this thought-provoking book by Tony Rose, Publisher/Editor and Editorial Director of Amber Communications Group, Inc., and the 2013 44^th Annual NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Literature, is hard hitting and frank. Rose pulls no punches, as he tells his story the way he knows and believes it to be true. This book is raw and compelling, and as a matter of fact, Rose feels the need to forewarn us by stating on its cover; “Warning: This Book Has Strong Language, Explicit Violence, Explicit And Extreme Sexual Content.”

Hard Choices, by Hillary Rodham Clinton (Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 2015, 535 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

August 23, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former First Lady of the United States, Senator from New York, and Secretary of State, has written an insightful and finely calibrated work; Hard Choices. This book, or memoir, takes us inside national and international politics from the perspective of someone who has actually lived and breathed it for the majority of her life, making her eminently qualified to speak on subjects such as climate change or nuclear proliferation. Being the author of several bestselling books, including her memoir Living History, and her groundbreaking work on children, It Takes a Village, Clinton demonstrates her compassion and humanity in this book.

East County News Service

July 16, 2015 (Washington D.C.) – President Barack Obama has announced that the U.S. Department of Labor will propose extending overtime pay protections to nearly 5 million American workers, including over 400,000 Californians. This proposal would increase the current overtime protection threshold, guaranteeing overtime pay to most salaried workers earning less than $50,440 per year if they work more than 40 hours a week.

Supervisor Dianne Jacob welcomes news after leading efforts to launch Alzheimer’s Project

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: National Institute of Health

June 27, 2015 (San Diego) – The University of Southern California (USC)’s Keck School of Medicine announced Friday that it has established the USC Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute  in San Diego.

East County News Service

March 10, 2015 (Washington D.C.)--President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed the Student Aid Bill of Rights, a presidential memorandum aimed at making it easier for graduates to pay off student loans.

Photo: Hillary Rodham Clinton at 2007 California Democratic Convention

By Miriam Raftery

March 2, 2015 (Washington D.C.) – A controversy has arisen involving Hillary Rodham Clinton over revelations that while serving as Secretary of State, she did not have an official government e-mail address and used only a personal e-mail address for all of her official government business.

East County News Service

February 28, 2015 (Washington D.C.)—President Barack Obama has vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline bill passed by the Republican-controlled Congress. In his veto message, he criticized the Congressional attempt to bypass his administration’s environmental review of the project and ““circumvent longstanding and proven processes for determining whether or not building and operating a cross-border pipeline serves the national interest.”

East County News Service

February 10, 2015 (Washington D.C.) – President Barack Obama is asking Congress to approve military force against the Islamic State terrorists, also known as ISIL or ISIS, over the next three years.

Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

January 25, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - The U.S. Department of the interior announced Sunday that President Barack Obama plans to ask Congress to designate  12 million acres of Alaska’s 19 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness to protect it from oil and gas drilling.

East County News Service

January 8, 2015 (Washington D.C.)--The House of Representatives voted today to strike down a portion of the Affordable Care Act’s healthcare mandate.  The law requires that employers must provide healthcare for all employees working 30 hours a week or more.

By Miriam Raftery

December 26, 2014 (San Diego)--At a Christmas Eve mass in Rome, Pope Francis made a plea for the many children who are suffering around the world. “Truly there are so many tears this Christmas," he said, asking for divine intervention to save children who are victims of violence, made objects of trade and trafficking, or forced to become child soldiers.

By Miriam Raftery

December 16, 2014 (San Diego) – Border Angels founder and San Diego immigrants rights activist Enrique Morones met with President Barack Obama recently at the White House, following a briefing on recent immigration executive action.  Morones told ECM he asked for a second executive action “if the new Congress does not act soon on humane immigration reform.” (You can learn more about Border Angels efforts to help local refugees and immigrants at www.borderangels.org .)

By Miriam Raftery

December 9, 2014 (Washington D.C.) --California Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has released a 500-page executive summary of  the committee’s report on enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA after the 9/11 attacks. Those treatments on 119 suspects amounted to torture in some cases, said Senator Feinstein, who concludes that the CIA’s actions a decade ago are “a stain on our values and on our history.”