The number of prisoners currently on hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay has reached 100, forcing the United States to send 40 nurses and medical specialists to the detention center to monitor the situation over the weekend. Of those on strike, 21 are being force-fed. The inmates, many of whom are held without charge, are protesting their detention with the hunger strike, which began in February.

BBC:

Although such actions are frequent at Guantanamo, the current protest is one of the longest and most widespread.

Guantanamo officials deny claims that the strike began after copies of the Koran were mishandled during searches of prisoners' cells.

Violence erupted at the prison on April 13th as the authorities moved inmates out of communal cell blocks where they had covered surveillance cameras and windows.

Some prisoners used "improvised weapons" and were met with "less-than-lethal rounds", camp officials said, but no serious injuries were reported.

Nearly 100 of the detainees have reportedly been cleared for release but remain at the facility because of restrictions imposed by Congress and also concerns of possible mistreatment if they are sent back to their home countries.

During a White House press conference on Tuesday, President Obama said he will renew his first-term efforts to close the detention center. Obama reasoned that the existence of the facility damages the country’s image abroad, costs too much money and undermines U.S. counterterrorism efforts by serving as a recruiting tool for militants.

“I’m going to go back at this,” he said. “I’m going to reengage with Congress to try to make the case that this is not something that’s in the best interests of the American people.”

At a press conference on Thursday, Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey blasted the National Rifle Association for airing a commercial about President Barack Obama’s daughters.

“To talk about the president’s children or any public official’s children who have, not by their own choice, but by requirement, to have protection, and to use that somehow to try to make a political point I think is reprehensible,” he said.

The controversial ad said Obama was a “elitist hypocrite” because the Secret Service guards his daughters at school. The President recently said he was skeptical of the NRA’s proposal to stop mass shootings by placing armed guards in every school.

“You know, the President doesn’t have a choice and his children don’t have a choice of whether they’re going to be protected or not,” Christie said.

Christie said the public relations ploy made him "cringe" and that the association was demeaning itself and undermining its reputation.

Christie held the press conference to announce the creation of a task force to study ways to reduce gun violence in New Jersey. The task force, reports NJ.com, will in the next 60 days study and make recommendations in five key areas: gun control, drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness, violence in society and school safety and security.

The report was critical of Christie for side-stepping questions about his opinions on a federal assault weapons ban, which seemed petty when you consider that New Jersey -- which has the second-toughest laws in the nation -- has its own ban on assault weapons and ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.

Lawrence O'Donnell condemned NRA president Wayne LaPierre on Friday for his press conference about the Newtown massacre in a special edition of his MSNBC show, "The Last Word."

O'Donnell doesn't usually work on Fridays, but he made a special exception for LaPierre. The gun lobbyist called for armed police officers in every school. To say his comments were widely criticized would be an understatement.

O'Donnell called LaPierre a "lobbyist for mass murderers," and blasted him for trying to score cheap points with NRA members during his press conference by making a point to note that the media had gotten a fact wrong about the power of the gun shooter Adam Lanza used.

“Is there really something to quibble about in how powerful a bullet is when it is heading toward a six-year-old at the speed of 3200 feet per second," asks O'Donnell. "What kind of desperate, cornered rat would dare to mention that the Sandy Hook shooter could have used a more powerful bullet? Could have what? Done more damage? Made the bodies of six-year-olds even more difficult to identify?"

All of O'Donnell's comments were spot on, and I'm just going to give you the full text of the rest of his remarks, and I give him extra kudos for getting through his commentary without a single word that needed bleeped!

"So today, the NRA announced that it has a solution. Complete solution to gun violence in America, mass murders in America. Their solution is the national school shield program, a police officer with a gun in every school.

Now, he didn`t announce a national movie theater shield program with a police officer in every movie theater in America. Wayne LaPierre has in fact never spoken one word about 6-year-old Veronica Moser Sullivan, who was murdered in that movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, along with 11 other people, and 58 wounded, 58.

All of that, death and savagery was delivered from an ammunition delivery system so big it isn`t called a magazine. It`s called a drum. It holds 100 rounds.

Wayne LaPierre is the lobbyist who made it possible for the mass murderer in the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater to be able to shoot and kill and wound so many people without reloading even once.

Continue reading »

Illustration by Robert Grossman/Rolling Stone

Uh oh. This is not going to be a good day for Mittens:

For Mitt Romney, it's one scary Halloween. The Presidential candidate has just learned that tomorrow afternoon he will be charged by the United Automobile Workers (UAW) and other public interest groups with violating the federal ethics in government law by improperly concealing his multi-million dollar windfall from the auto industry bailout.

At a press conference in Toledo, Bob King, President of the United Automobile Workers, will announce that his union and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) have filed a formal complaint with the US Office of Government Ethics in Washington stating that Gov. Romney improperly hid a profit of $15.3 million to $115.0 million in Ann Romney's so-called "blind" trust.

The Nov. 1, 2012 press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST at the UAW on Ashland Ave., Toledo, Ohio.

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Conservative columnist and Fox News commentator, Michelle Malkin is having a really tough time lately. As she throws gasoline on every fire, or would-be fire that comes up in the media, no one will dance around the flames with her. It seems it's getting difficult to be a right-wing extremist these days.

On Wednesday, Malkin thought she was going to have a great day after catching wind of a couple of reporters who were captured planning to ensure that Romney was asked if he regretted the tone and timing of his statement condemning President Barack Obama’s response to Tuesday’s embassy attacks.

“If it looks, sounds, talks like journo-tools for Obama, it is what it is,” said Malkin.

Imagine her dismay when told that The Hill columnist Juan Williams said that coordinating a line of questioning ahead of a press conference was a common practice among reporters. Perhaps sensing that the flames she was trying to ignite would diminish, she declared to Sean Hannity that she had "seen how the sausage is made in these sausage factories," so maybe when no one will dance around her flames she holds cook outs? Sort of like when life hands you lemons, make lemonade?

It wasn't long for Ms. Malkin to wait before the fatal attacks in Libya lit a spark in her again this week. "These optics suck," she angrily yelped on Fox News. As she blasted the Obama administration for not being psychic and fortifying "these embassies on the 11th anniversary of 9-11," I thought to myself that first of all, it wasn't an embassy that was attacked, it was a consulate that Ambassador Stevens was visiting. Then next, I wondered if she called up George W. Bush every year to blast him for not fortifying our foreign embassies? Probably not, eh?

Next thing I knew, Malkin is literally screaming that basically everyone should be as angry as she is because "Every Friday is riot Friday," and she really wants us to remember that because she seemed really just beside herself as she cried out "Will we ever forget? Never forget!" It was hard to believe that Hannity let her ramble on like that, you'd think he would be rather embarrassed to have her on the show. There was no mention of meat during that episode.

I'm not sure of the date of the next time I caught Ms. Malkin on Fox News, but she was trying to start a fire with Chris Rock, and he's a funny guy. First, Malkin screeches that "Left-wing "Holly-Weirdos" are sooo out of touch with the American mainstream," which made me laugh just a little. A right-wing extremist like Malkin accusing Hollywood of being out of touch with the mainstream? The irony! But then she brings up a graphic with a copy of one of Chris Rock's "tweets" from back on July 4th that said:

"Happy white peoples independence day the slaves weren't free but i'm sure they enjoyed the fireworks"

You can see in the video how unhinged she gets over this one as she screams out "Chris Rock, You make a living running your mouth off. Hey! Just like me. That's something to celebrate. You can't do that everywhere else in the world, you know!"

Maybe someone should tell her that Chris is a comedian, and also that he has a point. Now that he mentions it, blacks celebrating "freedom" while they were still in chains in this country...well, I'm just saying, he has a point.

That was all I caught of Michelle Malkin screaming this week, and it sure was more than enough. Even fellow Fox News contributor Tamara Holder said of Malkin, "I don't know her personally, but I am not a fan of her debating style. I think she probably needs to get laid. She's very angry." Malkin mentions this on her Facebook page...blames it on the "Vulgar left." Always with the gas on the fire, and it's always the left's fault.

Retired Navy Commander Leah Bolger to plead guilty to interrupting the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to tell the truth about the only things needed to fix the federal budget, "Tax the rich, end the wars!"

Bolger spent 20 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy and retired in 2000 at the rank of Commander. She is currently a full-time peace activist and serves as the President of Veterans For Peace. She was also a member of Occupy D.C. at Freedom Plaza. Bolger was arrested on October 26, 2011 for an act of civil disobedience, and will plead guilty at her hearing on these charges, which is scheduled for April 12, 2012.

A press conference will be held at 8:30 am, Thursday April 12th in front of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, 500 Indiana Ave NW, Washington DC. Those scheduled to speak and/or answer questions include:

Leah Bolger, defendant, President of Veterans For Peace (VFP)

Mark Goldstone, attorney for the defendant

Art Brennan, NH Retired Superior Court Associate Justice, member of VFP

Kevin Zeese, Co-director, Its Our Economy, organizer of Occupy Washington, DC

David Swanson, author, activist, radio host, member of VFP

Live video from your Android device on Ustream

City Council member Ydanis Rodriguez started off the press conference on police violence being held today at Zucotti Park, after the many reports of brutal treatment of protesters and journalists by the New York Police Department during the Occupy movements' 6-month anniversary celebration.

Happening now in NYC: Occupy Wall Street's Day of Action today includes "Blood sucking squid" Goldman Sachs holding a presser with a translator who speaks fluent squid.