Tuesday, January 05, 2016

So I didn't blog yesterday...

...and it feels like all heck broke loose
in the meantime.

With that, I bring you a smattering of this week's steaming pile of bad news.

Ugh.

Erm...happy new year...?

********************************************
Authorities in a major city stand accused of rough handling of thugs they take into custody.
 
The city has been forced to give hand-outs of free money to settle decades-old accusations that authorities freedom-tickled
thugs already in custody.
 
Outraged Democrats
scream for the mayor to resign.
********************************************

OK, boys and girls--get out your decoder rings, and let's translate newspeak into English.

"Authorities" = "police"
"Rough handling" = "unnecessary brutality"
"Thug" = Black person, usually male and usually unarmed
"Freedom-tickling" = "torture," including tazing genitals (as heard on the radio; I'll post a reference if I have time to find one)

Does it matter who committed the crime?

YES. NO ONE should be above the law.

Does it matter who the victim is?

It shouldn't, but, too often, I hear Republicans blame the victims. "He was a thug." "He was no angel." "He had it coming." "He deserved to die." "It was a good death." I'm sorry, but none of those "reasons" justifies capital punishment for non-capital offenses--we are still a nation of "innocent until PROVEN guilty." And the police and the justice system make mistakes--it is unrealistic to assume that every single person apprehended or imprisoned is guilty as charged. I remember hearing some years ago that one of the states abolished its death penalty as soon as officials realized that on the order of 20% of prisoners had ben exonerated by DNA evidence after their executions.

Does it matter which political party condoned it?

Apparently, it doesn't matter to Democrats calling for Emanuel to step down. To them, wrong is wrong. To me, Rahm Emanuel has one of the most punchable faces in politics (although Ted Cruz has him beat).

Rahm Emanuel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz both need to resign. NOW. They are a disgrace to the Democratic party.

********************************************
Christian morality is not concerned
with WHAT is done.
It is concerned with WHO does it.
 
If you call yourself a Christian, you can make Hitler look like Pope Francis, and other Christians will jump through their own assholes to ignore or minimize your atrocities.
 
You can serially rape little boys, grope your younger sisters and cheat on your wife, bilk millions from the gullible, lie through your teeth, and grift your way into the lifestyle of the rich and famous...and "it's all good" to Christians as long as you're one of them.
 
"Don't persecute the priests...the bishops...the Duggars...they just made a teensy weensy little harmless oopsie! You are attacking Christianity if you're outraged by the saintly actions of these Godly good people."
 
If you're a Black man, you're a "thug"
...and "no angel."
********************************************
 
Like an overwhelming majority of Americans, I’m frustrated by Washington’s inaction on common sense reforms to our gun laws. Last year alone, 2,939 people were shot in Chicago — and an estimated 30,000 people were killed by firearms nationwide. It’s an epidemic. We’ve got to do something.

For that very reason, I applaud the actions President Obama has taken today to reduce gun violence. They won’t solve all the problems we’re facing, but they will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals. Can you add your name to my petition today thanking President Obama for taking action to reform our nation’s broken gun laws?

Before the gun lobby, and sadly my Republican colleagues, have a chance to twist the facts about the President’s executive actions, I want you to know the truth. These actions do not take away the rights of anyone to own a gun. In fact, these actions ensure our Second Amendment rights are protected as we keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

What these actions actually do:

  • Clarify existing laws to ensure all gun dealers — including those who sell online — obtain a dealer license and conduct background checks.
     
  • Hire more personnel to process background checks in a timely manner. This could have prevented, for example, the tragic Charleston mass shooting last year.
     
  • Direct government officials to conduct research about how to prevent gun violence.
     
  • Encourage more domestic violence prosecutions. This way, fewer domestic abusers will be able to hurt their partners with guns and other dangerous weapons.
     
  • Make it easier for states to provide mental health information to the background check system, which would prevent unstable individuals from purchasing guns.
     
  • Make sure that guns that are lost or stolen while being shipped are promptly reported to law enforcement.

Like I said, these reforms will not prevent every shooting — but they are a big step forward in the fight to fix our broken gun laws and save lives. I am encouraged by these actions and hope that we can add to them in the next year with congressional action. Let’s come together in the next year and work to build on the progress President Obama has made here today.

Best wishes,

Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator

 



 
 
********************************************
One day, my Tea Party Christian friend loudly claimed that humans are not animals.
 
"What are we then," I asked,
"vegetable or mineral?"
 
An animal is an organism (living thing) that is composed of eukaryotic cells (cells that have nuclei bounded by membranes) and that has an internal digestive system.
 
Last time I checked, humans fit that description.
 
Next, he'll be claiming that we are not primates.
Or mammals.
Or vertebrates.
Or some such bullshit.
 
As Mr. Handy from The Tick would say, "You're making us look like jerks...READ A BOOK!"
********************************************

“I like to give on a scale where I can see impact...” - David Koch

Earlier this year, a number of Republicans flew to California to make fundraising pitches to more than four hundred wealthy conservative donors attending a private conference hosted by the Koch brothers.

It’s worth taking a moment to ask the question, who are the Koch brothers, and what do they want?

The Koch brothers are the second-wealthiest family in America worth $82 billion. For the Koch brothers, $82 billion in wealth apparently is not good enough. Owning the second-largest private company in America is apparently not good enough. It doesn’t appear that they will be satisfied until they are able to control the entire political process.

This issue isn't personal for me. I don't know the Koch brothers, but I do know this. They have advocated for destroying the federal programs that are critical to the financial and personal health of middle class Americans.

Now, most Americans know that the Koch brothers are the primary source of funding for the Tea Party, and that’s fine. They know that they favor the outright repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and that’s their opinion. It’s wrong, but that’s fine as well.

But it is not widely known that David Koch once ran for Vice President of the United States of America on the Libertarian Party ticket because he believed Ronald Reagan was much too liberal. And he ran on a platform that included the following:

  • “We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt and increasingly oppressive Social Security system.”
  • “We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
  • “We support repeal of all laws which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws…”
  • “We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”
In 1980, David Koch’s presidential ticket received one percent of the vote from the American people. And rightly so. His views were so extreme they were rejected completely out of hand by the American people.

But fast forward almost thirty-six years, and one of the most significant realities of modern politics is just how successful David Koch and the like-minded billionaires attending his retreat have been at moving the Republican Party to the extreme right. The ideas above that were dismissed as downright crazy in 1980 are now part of today’s mainstream Republican thinking.

The Koch brothers, and billionaires like them, have bought up the private sector and now they’re buying up the government. It’s up to us to put a stop to them, but it will require all of us standing together with one voice on this issue.

Your donation to our campaign today is a contribution towards the dismantling of a corrupt system of campaign finance held in place by the Koch brothers and their billionaire friends:

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

Here’s the truth: The economic and political systems of this country are stacked against ordinary Americans. The rich get richer and use their wealth to buy elections, and I believe that we cannot change this corrupt system by taking its money. If we’re serious about creating jobs, health care for all, climate change, and the needs of our children and the elderly, we must be serious about campaign finance reform.

So far in this election, less than four hundred families have contributed the majority of all the money raised by all the candidates and super PACs combined. According to media reports, one family will spend more money in this election than either the Democratic or Republican Parties.

This is not democracy. This is oligarchy.

Our job is not to think small in this moment. The current system of campaign finance in this country is utterly corrupt. That is one of the reasons I am so proud of how we have funded our campaign — over 2.5 million contributions from working Americans giving less than $30 at a time. But our campaign is unique.

We must pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, and I will not nominate any justice to the Supreme Court who does not make it abundantly clear that she or he will overturn that decision. We need legislation that requires wealthy individuals and corporations who make large campaign contributions to disclose where their money is going. And more importantly, I believe we need to move towards the public funding of elections.

Our vision for American democracy should be a nation in which all people, regardless of their income, can participate in the political process, can run for office without begging for contributions from the wealthy and the powerful.


Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be in New York City to deliver a major speech about our need to create a financial system that works for all Americans, not just the few. I’ll be in touch shortly after. I hope that you’ll keep an eye on your inbox for my message.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders



********************************************
If they weren't white, they'd be dead by now.
********************************************
Greed, fraud, dishonesty, and arrogance: these are the words that best describe the reality of Wall Street today.

We can no longer tolerate an economy and a political system that have been rigged by Wall Street to benefit the wealthiest Americans in this country at the expense of everyone else. While President Obama deserves credit for getting this economy back on track after the Wall Street crash, the reality is there is a lot of unfinished business.

That's why today in New York City I announced my plan for taking on Wall Street. We must break up the banks, end their casino-style gambling, and fundamentally change the approach of the financial industry to focus on helping the American people.



To those on Wall Street, let me be very clear. Greed is not good. In fact, the greed of Wall Street and corporate America is destroying the fabric of our nation. And here is a promise I will make as president: If Wall Street does not end its greed, we will end it for them.

As most people know, in the 1990s and later, financial interests spent billions of dollars in lobbying and campaign contributions to force through Congress the deregulation of Wall Street, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, and the weakening of consumer protection laws.

They paid this money to show the American people all that they could do with that freedom. Well, they sure showed the American people. In 2008, the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street nearly destroyed the U.S. and global economy. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes, and their life savings.

Meanwhile, the American middle class continues to disappear, poverty is increasing, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider and wider by the day. But the American people are catching on. They also know that a handful of people on Wall Street have extraordinary power over the economic and political life of our country.

We must act now to change that. Our goal must be to create a financial system and an economy that works for all Americans, not just a handful of billionaires.

There are eight points to my plan, and I want to go through each of them here because I think it's important for our campaign to discuss specific policies with our supporters. Some of this may seem a little in the weeds, but I trust our supporters to be able to handle this kind of policy discussion.

Here's my plan for what I will do with Wall Street when I am president:

Break up huge financial institutions in the first year of my administration. Within the first 100 days of my administration, I will require the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a “Too Big to Fail” list of commercial banks, shadow banks, and insurance companies whose failure would pose a catastrophic risk to the U.S. economy without a taxpayer bailout. Within one year, my administration will break these institutions up so that they no longer pose a grave threat to the economy.

Reinstate a 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act to clearly separate traditional banking from risky investment banking and insurance services. It is not enough to tell Wall Street to "cut it out," propose a few new rules and slap on some fines. Under my administration, financial institutions will no longer be too big to fail or too big to manage. Wall Street cannot continue to be an island unto itself, gambling trillions in risky financial instruments. If an institution is too big to fail, it is too big to exist.

End too-big-to-jail. We live in a country today that has an economy that is rigged, a campaign finance system which is corrupt, and a criminal justice system which often does not dispense justice. The average American sees kids being arrested and sometimes even jailed for possessing marijuana. But when it comes to Wall Street executives — some of the most wealthy and powerful people in this country whose illegal behavior hurt millions of Americans — somehow nothing happens to them. No jail time. No police record. No justice.

Not one major Wall Street executive has been prosecuted for causing the near collapse of our entire economy. That will change under my administration. “Equal Justice Under Law” will not just be words engraved on the entrance of the Supreme Court. It will be the standard that applies to Wall Street and all Americans.

Establish a tax on Wall Street to discourage reckless gambling and encourage productive investments in the job-creating economy. We will use the revenue from this tax to make public colleges and universities tuition free. During the financial crisis, the middle class of this country bailed out Wall Street. Now, it’s Wall Street’s turn to help the middle class.

Cap Credit Card Interest Rates and ATM Fees. We have got to stop financial institutions from ripping off the American people by charging sky-high interest rates and outrageous fees. In my view, it is unacceptable that Americans are paying a $4 or $5 fee each time they go to the ATM. And it is unacceptable that millions of Americans are paying credit card interest rates of 20 or 30 percent.

The Bible has a term for this practice. It's called usury. And in The Divine Comedy, Dante reserved a special place in the Seventh Circle of Hell for sinners who charged people usurious interest rates. Today, we don't need the hellfire and the pitchforks, we don't need the rivers of boiling blood, but we do need a national usury law.

We need to cap interest rates on credit cards and consumer loans at 15 percent. I would also cap ATM fees at $2.

Allow Post Offices to Offer Banking Services. We also need to give Americans affordable banking options. The reality is that, unbelievably, millions of low-income Americans live in communities where there are no normal banking services. Today, if you live in a low-income community and you need to cash a check or get a loan to pay for a car repair or a medical emergency, where do you go? You go to a payday lender who could charge an interest rate of over 300 percent and trap you into a vicious cycle of debt. That is unacceptable.

We need to stop payday lenders from ripping off millions of Americans. Post offices exist in almost every community in our country. One important way to provide decent banking opportunities for low-income communities is to allow the U.S. Postal Service to engage in basic banking services, and that's what I will fight for.

Reform Credit Rating Agencies. We cannot have a safe and sound financial system if we cannot trust the credit agencies to accurately rate financial products. The only way we can restore that trust is to make sure credit rating agencies cannot make a profit from Wall Street. Under my administration, we will turn for-profit credit rating agencies into non-profit institutions, independent from Wall Street. No longer will Wall Street be able to pick and choose which credit agency will rate their products.

Reform the Federal Reserve. We need to structurally reform the Federal Reserve to make it a more democratic institution responsive to the needs of ordinary Americans, not just the billionaires on Wall Street. It is unacceptable that the Federal Reserve has been hijacked by the very bankers it is in charge of regulating. When Wall Street was on the verge of collapse, the Federal Reserve acted with a fierce sense of urgency to save the financial system. We need the Fed to act with the same boldness to combat the unemployment crisis and fulfill its full employment mandate.

So my message to you is straightforward: I’ll rein in Wall Street's reckless behavior so they can’t crash our economy again.

Will Wall Street like me? No. Will they begin to play by the rules if I’m president? You better believe it.


No president alone, not Bernie Sanders or anyone else, can effectively address the crises facing the working families of this country without a powerful grassroots movement. When we stand together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.

Thank you for standing with me.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

 ********************************************
 

From Democracy Now!



2015, the hottest on record, was also the year ExxonMobil was caught in a more than three-decade lie. Internal documents revealed Exxon knew that fossil fuels cause ... Read More →

  • Comedian Bill Cosby Charged with Sexual Assault

  • Hundreds Evacuated in Missouri as Death Toll from Flooding Rises

  • Islamophobic Attacks Reported in Las Vegas, New York and Fresno, CA

  • Chicago: Emanuel Announces Reforms Amid Calls for His Resignation

  • Cleveland: Protests over Lack of Indictment in Tamir Rice’s Death
  • Saudi Arabia Executes 47 People Including Shiite Cleric

  • Saudi Arabia, Bahrain Cut Ties with Iran After Protests over Execution

  • Armed Right-Wing Militia Occupies Wildlife Refuge in Rural Oregon

  • Media Coverage of Oregon Militia Sparks Hashtags: "#YallQaeda,""#VanillaISIS"

  • Saudi-Led Coalition Pounds Yemeni Capital After Ending Ceasefire

  • India: At Least 12 Killed After Militants Attack Air Base

  • U.S. Closes Drone Base in Ethiopia

  • Obama Moves Toward Executive Action on Gun Control



  • From Daily Kos

  • Marco Rubio's scandal-plagued career just got a little more interesting    
  • Oregon 'standoff' roundup: The dumbest revolutionaries on the planet?    
  • Good luck running against this in 2016, Republicans    
  • Pastor courageously disarms distraught gunman as 60 church members face New Years Eve massacre    
  • Now there's a bank account that puts customers, not greed, first    
  • 2016 starts very badly for Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson    
  • Cartoon: Walkin' in a bigot wonderland    
  • House Republicans ready Volkswagen bailout vote    
  • Supreme Court Justice Scalia: 'There's no place' for claims that the Constitution protects atheists    
  • What is wrong with these crazy Americans? Get a grip!    
  • Ammon Bundy, like his father before him, hates the Fed except when taking money from the Fed    
  • My neighbor's perfect response to the foiled ISIS 'plot' against our city    
  • Cartoon: The awesome world of the future    
  • Sign if you agree with Bernie: Banking at the Post Office should be reinstated to save money and provide revenue to the Post Office.    
  • NYPD officer indicted for groping woman, then attacking and arresting the man who tried to film it    
  • Scientists have created injectable foam to repair bones    
  • Schools forced to close for another week while grown men play militia in Oregon 
  • Crazy Trump spokesperson with bullet necklace turns out to be unemployment cheat and shoplifter    
  • No fed action planned, but Oregon militia loons post hilarious 'goodbye' videos    
  • Cartoon: Gun shop    
  • Sign if you agree: Climate change is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century. Join Hillary’s fight to protect our environment and natural resources.    
  • In 91 seconds, watch Tea Party Kool-Aid drinkers 'thank' Obama—for EVERYTHING    
  • Couple wraps home in greenhouse to grow food and stay warm during cold Swedish winters    
  • It sucks to be a woman in the United States   
  • Monarchs help solve their own mystery, but local people always knew the answers    
  • Cartoon: Senior citizens of Counter-Earth, in kick-butt gear    
  • The revolutionary conflict of our civilization is being televised    
  • Will 'bitter' voters keep clinging to Trump?    
  • Don't suffer internet trolls gladly    
  • Sign the petition from the Democratic Governors Association to tell Republicans: Stop rigging the map. Republicans are going all out to make sure that partisan redistricting schemes continue to expand GOP majorities across the country.    
  • Taking the public out of public education    
  • A wretched example of American exceptionalism: Our poor showing on maternal mortality    
  • As Trump attacks and divides, liberals must be the glue that unites the victims of his vile vitriol    
  • View from the left—will ‘pro-gay’ GOP donors finally face down their anti-LGBT candidates in 2016?    
  • 2015 ends with 344 homicides in Baltimore city, second highest In history    
  • MD-SEN: If you want a fighter for the people    
  • We're not stopping until we win    
  • Pennsylvania man hurls vile, racist insults at cameraman and protesters, promptly gets swift justice    
  • The dark truth of John Boehner's resignation
  • Trump throws a Twitter fit after Bernie tells truth on him. Very interesting. . .    
  • Pennsylvania man hurls vile, racist insults at cameraman and protesters, promptly gets swift justice    
  • Hahahahaha! Scott Walker has some more problems    
  • Why Snowden's Hillary tweet matters    
  • Sign if you agree: Climate change is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century. Join Hillary’s fight to protect our environment and natural resources.    
  • Huckabee lies about his love affair with Josh Duggar   
  • Chicago shop owner, finally allowed to defend himself, shoots everyone but the robber    
  • Muslim woman sets up 'Ask a Muslim' stand in Massachusetts, and what happens may surprise you.    
  • The Dunning-Kruger effect illustrated: The stupid do not know they are stupid    
  • Tough guy Trump backs down to conservative talk radio hosts      
  • Cartoon: Trumplandia    
  • Sign if you agree with the Democratic Governors Association––tell Republicans to stop gerrymandering to steal elections.    
  • Mistaking her for an intruder, Florida woman shot and killed 27-year old daughter    
  • Bernie Sanders counters Andrea Mitchell's shallow interview by redirecting the narrative    
  • Mika Brzezinski to Rick Santorum: 'Why aren't you working on white men with guns'    
  • NFL wide receiver will not apologize for wearing 'Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford' T-shirt    
  • Tears and goosebumps as the Queen of Soul rocks the Kennedy Center honor

  • ********************************************
    If Obama came out in favor of breathing, Republicans would suffocate.
     
    If Obama said, "Don't eat yellow snow," FOX News would start blaring 24/7 that yellow snow is healthful and delicious.
     ********************************************
     
    AlterNet Summaries

    Adam Johnson, AlterNet
    He doesn't seem to get it at all, and he's not alone.  READ MORE»

    Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
    "People are dying and the constant excuses for inaction no longer suffice," the president said. READ MORE»

    Kali Holloway, AlterNet
    The new decision is an important political gesture.  READ MORE»

    By Chauncey DeVega, Salon
    Oregon is about guns, right-wing media and state violence as well as race. But it shows our racial inequity clearly. READ MORE»

    By Janet Allon, AlterNet
    The pictures say it all. READ MORE»

    By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
    Once again, the Lone Star state leads the way in gun obsession.  READ MORE»

    By Eric Boehlert, Media Matters for America
    Hillary Clinton was the target of all three botched hits.  READ MORE»

    By Sophia A. McClennen, Salon
    Trump is polarizing, yes, but the real problem is that he's making us all obnoxious. Don't let the terrorist win. READ MORE»

    By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
    The late-night host couldn't contain his happiness upon receiving a copy of the alleged rapist's mugshot.  READ MORE»

    By John M. Glionna, Jason Wilson, The Guardian
    Armed militants will begin their third day at the wildlife refuge and have vowed to remain for months in protest over the treatment of two local cattle ranchers. READ MORE»

    By David Edwards, Raw Story
    "It is really an overgrowth of government, government gone wild is outreach of government,” said Deneen Borelli. READ MORE»

    By Art Way, AlterNet
    Chicken Little was wrong.  READ MORE»

    Jill Richardson, AlterNet
    A scientific study alleges that lavender and tea tree oils caused pubescent boys to grow breasts.  READ MORE»

    Janet Allon, AlterNet
    Is Pierson this year's Sarah Palin? READ MORE»

    Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
    Both campaigns have heavy campaign coffers leading into the primaries. READ MORE»

    By Edwin Lyngar, Salon
    People like the Bundy family are on the decline in America. But before they disappear, they're going to raise hell. READ MORE»

    By Chris Hedges, Truthdig
    The reality of empire rarely reaches the American public. READ MORE»

    By Hannah Ewens, The Guardian
    On holiday with my family, I looked in the mirror and saw a stranger. Somehow, my brain can pull me apart and put me back together again READ MORE»

    By Paul Armentano, NORML Stash Blog
    New data upends a common assumption. READ MORE»

    By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch
    America and China may not have much of a planet left to rule.  READ MORE»

    By Beckie Elgin, Earth Island Journal
    A new wave of animal rights activism is scrupulous about staying within the law to protect wolves, bears and other animals from hunters. READ MORE»

    By Tom Boggioni, Raw Story
    GOP front runner Donald Trump, the most vocal and unfiltered of all the candidates, has yet to comment about Oregon. READ MORE»

    By Matt Agorist, The Free Thought Project
    After years of raking in more than $250,000 for thieving officials, the town has decided that they will be better off without their police department. READ MORE»

    By Nixon Boumba, Other Worlds
    An interview with Nixon Boumba, Democratic Popular Movement (MODEP) and American Jewish World Service. READ MORE»
    Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
    Both have more than enough to wage fierce campaigns. READ MORE»

    Janet Allon, AlterNet
    Krugman paints a picture that shows how bad things could easily get, again. READ MORE»

    Brian McFadden, AlterNet
    Make sure you pick one of these up before November. READ MORE»

    By Don Hazen, AlterNet
    Support from readers put AlterNet over the top.  READ MORE»

    By Sharon Kelly, Earth Island Journal
    Internal company reports have revealed that DuPont had for many years either known or suspected that Teflon contained a harmful ingredient. READ MORE»

    By Paul Ames, Global Post
    The Donald has already professed his admiration for Vladimir Putin. He'd get along famously with Marine Le Pen.  READ MORE»

    By Medea Benjamin , AlterNet
    This exacerbation of Sunni-Shia tensions is the result of the reckless Saudi action against a popular, nonviolent Shia leader. READ MORE»

    By Gareth Porter, Middle East Eye
    The account makes it clear that the Obama administration’s policy of regime change in both Libya and Syria provoked pushback from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. READ MORE»

    By Justin Gardner, The Free Thought Project
    The undercover cop, named “Dan,” introduced himself to Jesse on the first day of school and befriended him during graphics art class.  READ MORE»


    Kali Holloway, AlterNet
    There are psychological and neurological explanations for why we pay so much attention to our favorite shows. READ MORE»

    Dan Schneider, Dollars and Sense
    A review of major studies published in the past few years suggests one area is perhaps the most oppressive. READ MORE»

    Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
    Forget hope and change. Let’s look at the record. READ MORE»

    By Robert Reich, RobertReich.org
    America has succumbed to a vicious cycle in which great wealth translates into political power. READ MORE»

    By David Edwards, Raw Story
    "This is a very rural area. It is out in the middle of nowhere. What are they actually doing? They’re not destroying property, they’re not looting anything.” READ MORE»

    By Phillip Smith, AlterNet
    While Australia's Stoner Sloth anti-drug PSA drew scorn worldwide, we might not want to laugh too hard here in the US. We've probably got the Aussies beat. READ MORE»

    By Brittney Cooper, Salon
    Time after time, black freedom of expression gets spun into something very different by the law and the media. READ MORE»

    By Scott Kaufman, Carolyn Gregoire, Perigee
    Scientists have begun to uncover the changes in neurobiology and brain structure underlying the cognitive improvements linked with meditation. READ MORE»

    By Andrew O'Hehir, Salon
    Forget Kylo Ren! From "Carol" to the Panthers, from "Timbuktu" to "the iPhone movie," it was an amazing movie year. READ MORE»

    By Matt Agorist, The Free Thought Project
    North Las Vegas police announced last week that no charges will be filed against the officer and her husband. READ MORE»