PBC News & Comment: Obama’s Action on Gun Buyer Background Checks Exposes Ugly Realities

Hammered by gun huggers, Obama’s feeble efforts at sensible gun regulation expose the extreme power of NRA, its minions…
--Gareth Porter follows up on Sy Hersh’s pre-holiday bombshell, that Pentagon leaders undermined Obama by secret, indirect support for Assad in Syrua
--NY Times editorial slams Pentagon for “insubordination” in delaying and blocking prisoner releases from Guantanamo
--under pressure from Dr. Jeff Kaye and others, American Psychological Assn finally bans its members from participating in interrogations at Gitmo, elsewhere
--NSA wiretapped Israeli phone calls to US lawmakers over Iran deal, exposing Israeli leaks of secret negotiations and attempts to bribe members of Congress
--we pause to honor listener Cassandra Troy, prolific promoter of the PBC podcast who died just after her 68th birthday
--and we praise listener and VP/marketing Del Leonard from Maine, for suggesting our in-depth interview with Prof. Ken Geiser, author of Chemicals Without Harm. In this excerpt, Geiser talks about the co-location of chemical plants and poor people
--the Bundy gang’s occupation of Oregon wildlife refuge is covered in BoilingFrogsPost
--in op-ed,Natasha Lennard isn’t laughing at liberals’ jokes about the armed occupiers
--Turkey releases Vice reporter it locked up for 4 months
--Steve Horn rolled out two important reports exposing Obama administration’s actions on behalf of energy companies that conflict with climate change agenda, here and here
--near Los Angeles, Porter Ranch fracking well is leaking massive amounts of gas, forcing residents to move
--Bernie Sanders pledges to break up big banks in his first year, takes swipes at Clintons' cozy ties to bankers
--our official film reviewer, Gary Chew, reviews The Big Short, about the mortgage meltdown of 2008