BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

At the age of twenty-one, Patricia M. arrived in the United States from Mexico without a work visa. She eventually found a job harvesting almonds. Within days of starting her job, her foreman took her to a remote field and, "got on top of her and tied her hands with her bandanna to the hand grip above the truck door." Then, Patricia M. told Human Rights Watch, "He took off my clothes and he raped me.... He hurt me badly."

Alone and unable to leave the farm, Patricia M. was repeatedly raped: "He kept raping me and I let him because I didn't want him to hit me. I didn't want to feel pain." She later found out she was pregnant, "and went to a social service agency where the employees asked her whether she had a partner. That question prompted her to tell them everything, and the agency helped her file a police report." The foreman was deported and wasn't charged with any crime.

According to a new Human Rights Watch report titled "Cultivating Fear: The Vulnerability of Immigrant Farmworkers in the US to Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment" - written by Grace Meng - Patricia M.'s story is not unusual.

In its interviews, Human Rights Watch found numerous stories of rape and sexual harassment: A supervisor, who continued to threaten her afterward, raped Angela G., a single mother in California. "An 18-year-old indigenous woman from Oaxaca, Mexico, who spoke no English and practically no Spanish, reported her rape to a local farmworker women's organization but left the area before the organization was able to help her seek justice."

DANNY SCHECHTER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

New York, New York: In theory, American elections traditionally get going after Labor Day, but, as we can see by the daily overkill media "coverage," polls and constant reporting about who has raised what---to the degree that anyone really knows in the age of SuperPacs--- that the political horses for the 2012 are off and running.

Lots of the "analysis" seems absurd on its face even as everyone who follows politics knows it's much too early to spot key trends. The race will tighten with what happens in October crucial. Example: the recent survey that found-voila-- "cell phone users prefer Obama; landline users like Romney." All of this reflects the obsession the press and its senior wise men have on reporting domestic politics over all other issues. They are like sports fanatics in this respect.

BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

This is a story about fraud. It is a story about Christians deceiving Christians. It is not, as you might anticipate, a story about a conservative Christian pastor or ministry bilking its followers. Rather, it is about liberal Christian non-profit organizations falling prey to a silver-tongued, well-credentialed man who didn't deliver on his promises. It is a tale about a man whose past included jail time for previous fraudulent financial projects. It's not as huge a story as the saga Bernard Madoff. It doesn't involve either the amounts of money Madoff dealt with, or his mostly upper crust clientele. National media hasn't covered this story. Nevertheless, in the world of struggling non-profit liberal-oriented Christian organizations, Rev. Steven E. Clapp's transgressions have had an enormous impact. This story ends tragically, for everyone involved.

JACQUELINE MARCUS FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

What's the explanation for a ‘secret kill list' that's been given the President's stamp of approval?

Regarding Yemen, could the answer to that question have something to do with oil? Oil companies operating in Yemen include Austria's OMV, the U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum and French oil group Total SA.

As reported in Reuters , "Yemen's oil and gas pipelines have been repeatedly sabotaged since anti-government protests broke out in January 2011, with the feed line for the Yemen LNG gas export terminal blown up within hours of an air strike.

Ansar al-Sharia, an armed group affiliated with al-Qaeda, said in a text message on that the latest oil pipeline explosion was part of "a chain of attacks" planned in response to the U.S. strike..." Oil and gas are transported through Somalia and Pakistan.

PAUL BUCHHEIT FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Half of America has been deceived into believing that union employees and government workers are the problem in our country. The following five facts all send the same message to voters: Wealthy individuals and corporations, not middle-class wage earners, have taken your money.

(1) $430 billion: The total payroll for federal and state employees in 2010. This is less than the amount of untaxed cash being held overseas by non-financial corporations. Local government payrolls bring the total up to about $1 trillion, still less than the total amount of cash being held by non-financial corporations.

(2) $800 billion: The total earnings of unionized employees in 2011. Even though union members make up about 12% of the workforce, their total pay amounts to just 10% of adjusted gross income as reported to the IRS.

(3) $900 billion: The total salaries of corporate executives and financial industry employees. CEOs and managers and finance workers made more than ALL 16 million unionized employees in the United States. They made almost as much as ALL 17.5 million full-time government workers in the United States.

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Washington - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today urged President Barack Obama to replace Gary Gensler as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman with someone who will enforce speculation limits on Wall Street oil and gas traders.

Sanders said Wall Street speculators were responsible for a spike in crude oil prices that, in turn, artificially drove up gasoline prices this spring to a nationwide average of about $4 a gallon for regular unleaded.

Under Gensler, the commission has failed to enforce a provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which required rules to be implemented by no later than January 17, 2011, to eliminate, prevent, or diminish excessive oil speculation.

"In blatant disregard of the law, Chairman Gensler has allowed oil and gasoline prices to be dictated by Wall Street speculators instead of supply-and-demand fundamentals," Sanders wrote to the president. "As a result, the American people continue to pay much higher prices for gasoline than they should.

"At a time when gasoline prices have been a serious problem for our nation's economy and especially for people who must drive long distances to and from work in rural states like Vermont, the commission's refusal to enforce the law is inexcusable," the senator added.

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Raising the Social Security payroll tax cap would strengthen the retirement program while affecting only a small percentage of the wealthiest workers in the United States, according to a new study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

The researchers found that legislation proposed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) would affect only 1.4 percent of all American workers with earned incomes of more than $250,000 a year.

Currently, only earned income under $110,100 a year is subject to the payroll tax that funds Social Security. There is no tax on income above that cap.

MARK PERKEL FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

OK - let's just admit it! We live in a world where "stupid" is becoming the new "smart". Case in point is The Donald claiming that Obama wasn't born in America. Not only is this an assault on our collective IQ, but the message actually works against Republicans because it turns out - they are the ones whose presidential candidates are foreign born.

Case in point - 2008 - John McCain. McCain was born in Panama. Although there are likely a number of plausible exceptions, John McCain has never explained it. And quite frankly, I'm still curious to hear it.

ROBERT C. KOEHLER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

The poison seeps slowly into the future. No one notices.

"The Obama administration," the Wall Street Journal informs us, "plans to arm Italy's fleet of Reaper drone aircraft, a move that could open the door for sales of advanced hunter-killer drone technology to other allies . . ."

I can't quite get beyond the name: Reaper drones?