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Greek People to Vote July 5 on “Blackmailing Ultimatum”

Anastasios Papapostolou Greek Reporter
Late Friday night Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced Greece will hold a referendum on July 5 to ask Greek citizens if they approve the proposed bailout agreement put forward by Greece’s foreign creditors. “I call on the Greek people to rule on the blackmailing ultimatum asking us to accept a strict and humiliating austerity without end and without prospect, ” Tsipras said. Included: Tsipras’ address to the Greek people and a link to the creditors’ proposal.

Secret World War II Chemical Experiments Tested Troops By Race

Caitlin Dickerson NPR
While the Pentagon admitted decades ago that it used American troops as test subjects in experiments with mustard gas, until now, officials have never spoken about the tests that grouped subjects by race. And it wasn't just African-Americans. Japanese-Americans were used as test subjects, serving as proxies for the enemy so scientists could explore how mustard gas and other chemicals might affect Japanese troops. Puerto Rican soldiers were also singled out.

The Saudi Air War: Devastating a People and Their Culture

Lamya Khalidi The New York Times
While the international media has devoted extensive coverage to the barbaric destruction of museums and archaeological sites in Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State, not so with the continuing aerial vandalism perpetrated in Yemen by Saudi Arabia. The same obscurantist ideology by which the Islamic State justifies its destruction of cultural heritage sites appears to be driving the Saudis’ air war against the precious physical evidence of Yemen’s ancient civilizations.

“No Boots on the Ground” and Other Fairy Tales

John LaForge CounterPunch
Although the White House has repeatedly said it would not add “boots on the ground” to wars in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, etc., the assurance is bogus. U.S. ground forces have been active in Yemen, and more recently Syria, and the Obama Administration, which has delayed the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, is now adding 450 U.S. “commandos” to the 3,000 military advisers in Iraq.

Congressional Letter Puts Spotlight on Abuse of Palestinian Children

Kate Gould Mondoweiss
In arguably the strongest signal Congress has ever sent in support for Palestinian human rights, 19 members of Congress sent a letter June 20th to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urging the Department of State to make the human rights of Palestinian children a priority in the U.S. bilateral relationship with Israel. The letter was initiated by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), and focuses a Congressional spotlight on Israeli military abuse of Palestinian children.

On the Trail of an Ancient Mystery

John Markoff The New York Times
Although it was not programmable in the modern sense, some have called it the first analog computer.

The CIA's Student-Activism Phase

Tom Hayden The Nation
In the 1960s, the agency sought to fight Communism through the students’ rights movement. There’s little reason to think its tactics have changed.

Can Chuy beat Rahm in the Race for Mayor?

Steve Bogira Chicago Reader
If anyone can overcome the hurdles for a Latino mayoral candidate in Chicago, it's Garcia given his lifetime commitment to a multiracial coalition—not just talking the talk, but 30 years of walking the walk.

Patrolling the Boundaries Inside America

Robert B. Reich Robert Reich's blog
The boundary separating white Anglo upscale school districts from the burgeoning non-white and non-Anglo populations in downscale communities is fast becoming a flashpoint inside America.