December 27, 2013
In just a few months, Pope Francis has proven to be one of the most outspoken pontiffs in recent history, especially when it comes to poverty and income inequality. In a message to be sent to world leaders marking the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace on January 1, he criticized the “widening gap between those who have more and those who must be content with the crumbs.”
Thomas Cahill on the People's Pope from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
The Pathology of the Rich - Chris Hedges
On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Chris Hedges discusses the psychology of the super rich; their sense of entitlement, the dehumanization of workers, and mistaken belief that their wealth will insulate them from the coming storms.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
David Simon: Some people are more equal than others
There are two Americas. In one, bankers get golden parachutes, insider traders return to society as well-paid consultants, and influence is for sale. In the other, opportunity is scarce and forgiveness scarcer, jail awaits those caught possessing recreational drugs, and cries for help are ignored. Society preaches forgiveness for the rich and retribution for the poor. Entrenched inequality and its companion, poverty, are the dark side of the American dream for a citizenry united by name, but not by rules.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Sunday, December 08, 2013
Paul Krugman: Obama Gets Real
Paul Krugman | New York Times
5 Dec 2013
excerpt:
Much of our political and pundit class remains devoted to the notion that rising inequality, to the extent that it’s an issue at all, is all about workers lacking the right skills and education. But the president now seems to accept progressive arguments that education is at best one of a number of concerns, that America’s growing class inequality largely reflects political choices, like the failure to raise the minimum wage along with inflation and productivity.
5 Dec 2013
excerpt:
Much of our political and pundit class remains devoted to the notion that rising inequality, to the extent that it’s an issue at all, is all about workers lacking the right skills and education. But the president now seems to accept progressive arguments that education is at best one of a number of concerns, that America’s growing class inequality largely reflects political choices, like the failure to raise the minimum wage along with inflation and productivity.
And because the president was willing to assign much of the blame for
rising inequality to bad policy, he was also more forthcoming than in
the past about ways to change the nation’s trajectory, including a rise
in the minimum wage, restoring labor’s bargaining power, and
strengthening, not weakening, the safety net.
And there was this: “When it comes to our budget, we should not be stuck
in a stale debate from two years ago or three years ago. A
relentlessly growing deficit of opportunity is a bigger threat to our
future than our rapidly shrinking fiscal deficit.” Finally! Our
political class has spent years obsessed with a fake problem — worrying
about debt and deficits that never posed any threat to the nation’s
future — while showing no interest in unemployment and stagnating wages.
Mr. Obama, I’m sorry to say, bought into that diversion. Now, however,
he’s moving on.
READ IT ALL:
READ IT ALL:
Friday, November 29, 2013
Digging In
How eating cornbread and beans taught me who I was -- and who we are as Texans.
PATRICIA SHARPE | Texas Monthly
December 2013
December 2013
Since Mother firmly believed that those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it, she made sure her three well-fed children had an inkling of what the previous generation had endured. At least a couple of times a year, a big pot of pinto beans seasoned with salt pork would appear on the stove, slowly simmering down almost to mush, along with a pan of yellow cornbread, fragrant and steaming. We would gather around our fifties-era Formica dinette table and fill our cereal bowls and plates. I’m afraid that my two younger brothers and I rolled our eyes, although never so that Mother or Daddy could see us. Still, something must have sunk in, because I often find myself calling up remembrances of meals past as a way of understanding, if only a little, where I came from. Food is about many things—nourishment, pleasure, and culture among them—but it’s also about recognizing who you are, and why.
READ IT ALL:
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Clinton vs. Warren?
Hendrik Hertzberg | newyorker.com
15 Nov 2013
Warren was a Republican well into her forties (she’s sixty-four, just three years Hillary’s junior)—but, as the saying goes, that could be a feature, not a bug. It makes for a potentially useful party-line-blurring “narrative.” Reagan, too, switched affiliations in midlife. He knew how to talk the other side’s talk, and even as he won the hearts of the far reaches of his adopted party he remained politically bilingual. Warren may turn out to have a similar talent. After all, there are Republicans who are suspicious of the banks, just as there were Democrats who fretted about welfare.
[snip]
When Warren is on her game, she’s almost as good as Hillary’s husband (or Nancy’s) at ’splaining stuff in plain language, above all when she’s talking about her signature issue, financial reform—which, as it happens, is Clinton’s biggest ideological vulnerability with the Democratic-primary electorate.
[snip]
Should Hillary Clinton end up heading the Democratic ticket in 2016, she would be the most qualified, most fully prepared, most thoroughly tested non-incumbent major-party nominee for President since Henry Clay. She has spent more than twenty years in the crucible. She didn’t while away her eight White House years walled up in the East Wing convent, First Ladylike. She was a full participant in every important political and policy deliberation and in every crisis, foreign and (in both senses) domestic. She was a successful senator, popular with voters and colleagues alike. While her tenure as Secretary of State yielded no spectacular diplomatic coups, she did the job competently and creatively. Her partnership with President Obama was a political masterstroke for them both. She is as Presidential as they come, and, as Scheiber writes, she sounds increasingly “candidential.” (A nice neologism, that.)
To the extent that Hillary has a problem, though, it may not be only the liberal and populist unease with the Clintons’ history of chumminess with Wall Street—and their role in creating the deregulatory regime that was an indispensable precondition for the 2008 financial crisis and the economic ruin that it has wrought.
READ IT ALL:
15 Nov 2013
Warren was a Republican well into her forties (she’s sixty-four, just three years Hillary’s junior)—but, as the saying goes, that could be a feature, not a bug. It makes for a potentially useful party-line-blurring “narrative.” Reagan, too, switched affiliations in midlife. He knew how to talk the other side’s talk, and even as he won the hearts of the far reaches of his adopted party he remained politically bilingual. Warren may turn out to have a similar talent. After all, there are Republicans who are suspicious of the banks, just as there were Democrats who fretted about welfare.
[snip]
When Warren is on her game, she’s almost as good as Hillary’s husband (or Nancy’s) at ’splaining stuff in plain language, above all when she’s talking about her signature issue, financial reform—which, as it happens, is Clinton’s biggest ideological vulnerability with the Democratic-primary electorate.
[snip]
Should Hillary Clinton end up heading the Democratic ticket in 2016, she would be the most qualified, most fully prepared, most thoroughly tested non-incumbent major-party nominee for President since Henry Clay. She has spent more than twenty years in the crucible. She didn’t while away her eight White House years walled up in the East Wing convent, First Ladylike. She was a full participant in every important political and policy deliberation and in every crisis, foreign and (in both senses) domestic. She was a successful senator, popular with voters and colleagues alike. While her tenure as Secretary of State yielded no spectacular diplomatic coups, she did the job competently and creatively. Her partnership with President Obama was a political masterstroke for them both. She is as Presidential as they come, and, as Scheiber writes, she sounds increasingly “candidential.” (A nice neologism, that.)
To the extent that Hillary has a problem, though, it may not be only the liberal and populist unease with the Clintons’ history of chumminess with Wall Street—and their role in creating the deregulatory regime that was an indispensable precondition for the 2008 financial crisis and the economic ruin that it has wrought.
READ IT ALL:
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Audience laughs at Ted Cruz for claiming he 'didn't want a shutdown'
14 Nov 2013 - Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) faced howls of laughter from an audience in
Washington, D.C. on Thursday when he claimed that he "didn't want a
shutdown" over President Barack Obama's health care reform law.
At The Atlantic's Washington Ideas Forum, Fox News host Chris Wallace pointed out to the Texas Republican that many of his colleagues thought he hurt the party by forcing the government shutdown instead of letting Obamacare fail on its own.
"That ignores who I think was responsible for the shutdown," Cruz replied. "I didn't want a shutdown. Throughout the whole thing, I said we shouldn't have a shutdown."
That remark elicited laughter from the forum audience.
SOURCE
At The Atlantic's Washington Ideas Forum, Fox News host Chris Wallace pointed out to the Texas Republican that many of his colleagues thought he hurt the party by forcing the government shutdown instead of letting Obamacare fail on its own.
"That ignores who I think was responsible for the shutdown," Cruz replied. "I didn't want a shutdown. Throughout the whole thing, I said we shouldn't have a shutdown."
That remark elicited laughter from the forum audience.
SOURCE
Saturday, November 09, 2013
Sunday, November 03, 2013
Saturday, November 02, 2013
Trans-Pacific Partnership is the answer to the question: How can we make the rich richer?
Dean Baker, Truthout | 28 Oct 2013
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) stands at the top of the Obama administration’s trade agenda. The argument from its supporters is that this agreement is part of the never-ending quest for freer trade. The evidence from what we know of this (still secret) pact is that the TPP has little to do with free trade. It can more accurately be described as a pact designed to increase the wealth and power of crony capitalists.
[snip]
The TPP is about crafting rules that will favor big business at the expense of the rest of the population in both the United States and in other countries. For example, we can expect to see limits on the ability of national and sub-national governments to impose environmental restrictions, such as requirements that companies engaging in fracking disclose the list of chemicals they use. There may also be limits on the extent to which governments can restrict the sale of genetically modified foods, with rules on labeling. And, the TPP may prevent governments from imposing restraints on financial firms that would prevent the sort of abuses that we saw during the run-up of the housing bubble.
READ IT ALL:
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) stands at the top of the Obama administration’s trade agenda. The argument from its supporters is that this agreement is part of the never-ending quest for freer trade. The evidence from what we know of this (still secret) pact is that the TPP has little to do with free trade. It can more accurately be described as a pact designed to increase the wealth and power of crony capitalists.
[snip]
The TPP is about crafting rules that will favor big business at the expense of the rest of the population in both the United States and in other countries. For example, we can expect to see limits on the ability of national and sub-national governments to impose environmental restrictions, such as requirements that companies engaging in fracking disclose the list of chemicals they use. There may also be limits on the extent to which governments can restrict the sale of genetically modified foods, with rules on labeling. And, the TPP may prevent governments from imposing restraints on financial firms that would prevent the sort of abuses that we saw during the run-up of the housing bubble.
READ IT ALL:
Friday, November 01, 2013
Jon Stewart to The Media for using him to attack Obamacare: 'Go F*ck Yourselves!'
31 Oct 2013 | Wit Happens
The media uses Jon's lampooning of the Affordable Care Act as evidence of its impotence. (05:51)
The media uses Jon's lampooning of the Affordable Care Act as evidence of its impotence. (05:51)
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Russell Brand's revolutionary interview
Actor-slash-comedian-slash-Messiah Russell Brand, in his capacity as guest editor of the New Statesman's just-published revolution-themed issue, was invited to explain to Jeremy Paxman why anyone should listen to a man who has never voted in his life.
"I don't
get my authority from this preexisting paradigm which is quite narrow
and only serves a few people," Russell responded. "I look elsewhere for
alternatives that might be of service to humanity."SOURCE:
Oasis in a Food Desert | Bill Moyers
An Oasis in a Food Desert
24 Oct 2013 | BillMoyers.com
Since
opening last month, America’s first nonprofit grocery store is bringing
fresh and affordable fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy to Chester,
Pa., a community that has struggled to find healthy food options since
the city’s last supermarket closed in 2001.Chester, home to 35,000 people, has been designated a food desert, a low-income area lacking easy access to healthy food, by the US government. For the residents of Chester the Fare & Square grocery store — seven years in the making — is a welcome relief: “It’s a beautiful supermarket,” said employee Geraldine Carter.
The store is the brainchild of Bill Clark, the executive director of Philabundance, a nonprofit hunger relief organization. Chester has a 36 percent poverty rate and unemployment is 13 percent. Clark said at one time Chester had five grocery stores, but they all closed when the city fell on hard times after manufacturing virtually disappeared.
READ THE REST:
Monday, October 21, 2013
Park Avenue: money, power and the American dream - Why Poverty?
740 Park Ave, New York City, is home to some of the wealthiest Americans. Across the Harlem River, 10 minutes to the north, is the other Park Avenue in South Bronx, where more than half the population needs food stamps and children are 20 times more likely to be killed. In the last 30 years, inequality has rocketed in the US -- the American Dream only applies to those with money to lobby politicians for friendly bills on Capitol Hill.
How much inequality is too much? To find out more and get teaching resources linked to the film, go to www.whypoverty.net
How much inequality is too much? To find out more and get teaching resources linked to the film, go to www.whypoverty.net
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Krystal Ball tells the truth on Obamacare
25 Sept 2013 | MSNBC.com
Krystal Ball stated the truth that Conservatives’ alternative to Hillarycare’s liberal healthcare proposal was one by Wharton Business School professor Marl V. Pauly. That proposal was subsequently adopted by Conservative/Republican Think Tank Heritage Foundation. His proposal required individuals to purchase private insurance called an individual mandate. It was within a bill cosponsored by 22 GOP Senators. It is the same bill that was adopted by Mitt Romney (Romneycare) and it was adopted by President Obama who went against his initial support of Single Payer in order to appease Republicans.
Krystal Ball stated the truth that Conservatives’ alternative to Hillarycare’s liberal healthcare proposal was one by Wharton Business School professor Marl V. Pauly. That proposal was subsequently adopted by Conservative/Republican Think Tank Heritage Foundation. His proposal required individuals to purchase private insurance called an individual mandate. It was within a bill cosponsored by 22 GOP Senators. It is the same bill that was adopted by Mitt Romney (Romneycare) and it was adopted by President Obama who went against his initial support of Single Payer in order to appease Republicans.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
'What the Guardian is doing is important for democracy'
10 October 2013 | The Guardian
On Thursday the Daily Mail described the Guardian as 'The paper that helps Britain's enemies'. We showed that article to many of the world's leading editors. This is what they said:
READ IT HERE:
Grim report on press freedoms under Obama
Zoë Carpenter | The Nation | 10 Oct 2013
What sets the Obama administration apart from others, said Downie, is not its attempt to control the media narrative but rather its ability to do so. “What’s significant here is the very sophisticated, very successful, very determined way they’ve gone about doing this,” Downie told The Nation. “Most administrations aren’t very successful. This one has been very tightly disciplined.”
READ IT ALL:
What sets the Obama administration apart from others, said Downie, is not its attempt to control the media narrative but rather its ability to do so. “What’s significant here is the very sophisticated, very successful, very determined way they’ve gone about doing this,” Downie told The Nation. “Most administrations aren’t very successful. This one has been very tightly disciplined.”
READ IT ALL:
Friday, October 11, 2013
Republican governors and Medican't | The Daily Show
10 Oct 2013 | Health-challenged states like Texas and Mississippi refuse to take advantage of a federally subsidized Medicaid expansion.
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Monday, October 07, 2013
Bill Moyers essay: On the sabotage of democracy
4 Oct 2013 | BillMoyers.com
Once upon a time when I was a young man working on Capitol Hill, it was commonplace that when a bill became law, everybody was unhappy with it. But you didn’t bring down the government just because it wasn’t perfect. You argue and fight and vote and then, due process having been at least raggedly served - on to the next fight." - Bill Moyers
Once upon a time when I was a young man working on Capitol Hill, it was commonplace that when a bill became law, everybody was unhappy with it. But you didn’t bring down the government just because it wasn’t perfect. You argue and fight and vote and then, due process having been at least raggedly served - on to the next fight." - Bill Moyers
Saturday, October 05, 2013
Bernie Sanders explains how the Koch Brothers are keeping the government shutdown
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) explained on The Ed Show how the Koch
brothers are using threats and their money to keep the government shut
down.
The Shutdown... brought to You by Citizens United
2 Oct 2013 | TheBigPictureRT
The first government shutdown in 17 years might never have happened if the Supreme Court didn't open up the floodgates of corporate money with its 2010 Citizens United decision.
The first government shutdown in 17 years might never have happened if the Supreme Court didn't open up the floodgates of corporate money with its 2010 Citizens United decision.
Elizabeth Warren: Why government matters
4 Oct 2013 | Elizabeth Warren speaks the truth with class and passion:
Thursday, October 03, 2013
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
Republican shutdown... "irrational, avoidable and predictable"
San Antonio Express-News makes it very clear that one party is responsible for an "irrational, avoidable and predictable" government shutdown.
READ MORE: http://bit.ly/1g443mX
READ MORE: http://bit.ly/1g443mX
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
Sunday, September 29, 2013
David Gregory obliterates Ted Cruz on Meet The Press
Things have gotten so bad for Ted Cruz that even David Gregory destroyed
him on Meet The Press. Gregory painted Cruz as a total failure, and
told the Senator, ‘You haven’t moved anyone.’
Calling out Ted Cruz's faux filibuster lie | The Ed Show
Sen. Cruz distorted a story about a student from New Jersey to try and make a point about defunding healthcare and student loans.
Healthcare Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
25 Sept 2013 | The Daily Show
Texas Senator Ted Cruz casts himself as Churchill to Obama's Chamberlain in the great fight against Hitler's healthcare exchanges.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz casts himself as Churchill to Obama's Chamberlain in the great fight against Hitler's healthcare exchanges.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Bernie Sanders flames 'extreme right wing extremists' for threatening government shutdown
27 Sept 2013
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Friday tore into what he called "extreme right-wing Republicans" for threatening to shut down the government and default on the nation's debts if President Barack Obama's health care reform law was not defunded.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Friday tore into what he called "extreme right-wing Republicans" for threatening to shut down the government and default on the nation's debts if President Barack Obama's health care reform law was not defunded.
Matt Taibbi on how Wall Street hedge funds are looting the pension funds of public workers | Democracy Now
26 Sept 2013
In his latest article for Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi reports that Wall Street firms are now making millions in profits off of public pension funds nationwide. "Essentially it is a wealth transfer from teachers, cops and firemen to billionaire hedge funders," Taibbi says. "Pension funds are one of the last great, unguarded piles of money in this country and there are going to be all sort of operators that are trying to get their hands on that money."
SOURCE:
In his latest article for Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi reports that Wall Street firms are now making millions in profits off of public pension funds nationwide. "Essentially it is a wealth transfer from teachers, cops and firemen to billionaire hedge funders," Taibbi says. "Pension funds are one of the last great, unguarded piles of money in this country and there are going to be all sort of operators that are trying to get their hands on that money."
SOURCE:
Across America, Wall Street is grabbing money meant for public workers
Matt Taibbi | RollingStone.com
26 Sept 2013
[Excerpt] This is the third act in an improbable triple-fucking of ordinary people that Wall Street is seeking to pull off as a shocker epilogue to the crisis era. Five years ago this fall, an epidemic of fraud and thievery in the financial-services industry triggered the collapse of our economy. The resultant loss of tax revenue plunged states everywhere into spiraling fiscal crises, and local governments suffered huge losses in their retirement portfolios – remember, these public pension funds were some of the most frequently targeted suckers upon whom Wall Street dumped its fraud-riddled mortgage-backed securities in the pre-crash years.
Today, the same Wall Street crowd that caused the crash is not merely rolling in money again but aggressively counterattacking on the public-relations front. The battle increasingly centers around public funds like state and municipal pensions. This war isn't just about money. Crucially, in ways invisible to most Americans, it's also about blame. In state after state, politicians are following the Rhode Island playbook, using scare tactics and lavishly funded PR campaigns to cast teachers, firefighters and cops – not bankers – as the budget-devouring boogeymen responsible for the mounting fiscal problems of America's states and cities.
READ IT ALL:
26 Sept 2013
[Excerpt] This is the third act in an improbable triple-fucking of ordinary people that Wall Street is seeking to pull off as a shocker epilogue to the crisis era. Five years ago this fall, an epidemic of fraud and thievery in the financial-services industry triggered the collapse of our economy. The resultant loss of tax revenue plunged states everywhere into spiraling fiscal crises, and local governments suffered huge losses in their retirement portfolios – remember, these public pension funds were some of the most frequently targeted suckers upon whom Wall Street dumped its fraud-riddled mortgage-backed securities in the pre-crash years.
Today, the same Wall Street crowd that caused the crash is not merely rolling in money again but aggressively counterattacking on the public-relations front. The battle increasingly centers around public funds like state and municipal pensions. This war isn't just about money. Crucially, in ways invisible to most Americans, it's also about blame. In state after state, politicians are following the Rhode Island playbook, using scare tactics and lavishly funded PR campaigns to cast teachers, firefighters and cops – not bankers – as the budget-devouring boogeymen responsible for the mounting fiscal problems of America's states and cities.
READ IT ALL:
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Obamacare government shutdown | The Colbert Report
19 Sept 2013
Republicans threaten to shut down the federal government if Democrats don't vote to defund Obamacare.
Republicans threaten to shut down the federal government if Democrats don't vote to defund Obamacare.
Robert Reich on 'Inequality For All' | Bill Moyers
20 Sept 2013 | BillMoyers.com
This
week marks both the fifth anniversary of the fiscal meltdown that
almost tanked the world economy and the second anniversary of Occupy
Wall Street, the movement that sparked heightened public awareness of
income inequality. Yet the crisis is worse than ever – in the first
three years of the recovery, 95 percent of the economic gains have gone
only to the top one percent of Americans. And the share of working
people in the U.S. who define themselves as lower class is at its
highest level in four decades.More and more are fighting back. According to Robert Reich, Bill Clinton’s secretary of labor: “The core principle is that we want an economy that works for everyone, not just for a small elite. We want equal opportunity, not equality of outcome. We want to make sure that there’s upward mobility again, in our society and in our economy.”
This week, Reich joins Moyers & Company to discuss a new documentary film, Inequality for All, opening next week in theaters across the country. Directed by Jacob Kornbluth, the film aims to be a game-changer in our national discussion of income inequality. Reich, who Time magazine called one of the best cabinet secretaries of the 20th century, stars in this dynamic, witty and entertaining documentary.
SOURCE:
Ex-U.S. House leader Tom DeLay's conviction overturned
19 Sept 2013 | Associated Press
AUSTIN, TX -- A Texas appeals court tossed the criminal conviction of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Thursday, saying there was insufficient evidence for a jury in 2010 to have found him guilty of illegally funneling money to Republican candidates.
snip
The Travis County District Attorney's office issued the following statement: "Today, two judges sitting on the Third Court of Appeals reversed and acquitted former United States House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who was convicted of felony offenses by a jury in November of 2010.
We strongly disagree with the opinion of Judges Goodwin and Gaultney that the evidence was insufficient. We are concerned and disappointed that two judges substituted their assessment of the facts for that of 12 jurors who personally heard the testimony of over 40 witnesses over the course of several weeks and found that the evidence was sufficient and proved DeLay's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
We are preparing a response to this opinion and will ask the full Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to review the ruling."
READ IT ALL:
AUSTIN, TX -- A Texas appeals court tossed the criminal conviction of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Thursday, saying there was insufficient evidence for a jury in 2010 to have found him guilty of illegally funneling money to Republican candidates.
snip
The Travis County District Attorney's office issued the following statement: "Today, two judges sitting on the Third Court of Appeals reversed and acquitted former United States House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who was convicted of felony offenses by a jury in November of 2010.
We strongly disagree with the opinion of Judges Goodwin and Gaultney that the evidence was insufficient. We are concerned and disappointed that two judges substituted their assessment of the facts for that of 12 jurors who personally heard the testimony of over 40 witnesses over the course of several weeks and found that the evidence was sufficient and proved DeLay's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
We are preparing a response to this opinion and will ask the full Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to review the ruling."
READ IT ALL:
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich calls for a new era of citizen activism | Part 2
16 Sept 2013 - In this exclusive, unedited interview, economist Robert Reich discusses getting big money out of politics, interning for Robert Kennedy, and media mud wrestling. Scroll down for Part 1.
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich calls for a new era of citizen activism | Part 1
16 Sept 2013 - In this exclusive, unedited interview, Robert Reich looks to the past for future economic solutions.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Labor redefines itself in Los Angeles
Michael Winship, Moyers & Company
11 Sept 2013
“It’s time to turn America right side up!” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka exhorted those in attendance at the labor alliance’s quadrennial convention in Los Angeles on Monday. Time, he said in his keynote address, to change the ratio of power, to put the 99 percent in charge rather than let the richest one percent dominate government, politics and society.
“Since 2009, the pay of America’s corporate CEOs has gone up nearly 40 percent,” Trumka noted. “Imagine for a second what kind of country we would live in if ordinary people’s incomes had increased like CEO’s. Almost no one would live in poverty.”
READ IT ALL:
11 Sept 2013
“It’s time to turn America right side up!” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka exhorted those in attendance at the labor alliance’s quadrennial convention in Los Angeles on Monday. Time, he said in his keynote address, to change the ratio of power, to put the 99 percent in charge rather than let the richest one percent dominate government, politics and society.
“Since 2009, the pay of America’s corporate CEOs has gone up nearly 40 percent,” Trumka noted. “Imagine for a second what kind of country we would live in if ordinary people’s incomes had increased like CEO’s. Almost no one would live in poverty.”
READ IT ALL:
Monday, September 09, 2013
LEAKED mockumentary: The Internet Must Go
In John Wooley's hilarious 30-minute mockumentary The Internet Must Go,
he plays a marketing shill hired by the big cable operators and phone
companies to convince Americans to accept corrupt, non-neutral Internet
connections where your ability to reach sites and services online is
based on whether your ISP has a deal with the company offering it
Wooley's playing a Colbert-esque useful idiot, and he never breaks character as he interviews Susan Crawford, Al Franken, John Hodgman, Tim Wu, Larry Lessig, and many others, giving them the chance to play out the arguments for a neutral, fair Internet. The climax is a visit to North Carolina, where the big telcos have successfully gotten legislation passed banning municipalities from offering high-speed Internet, even in towns where the cable and phone companies have no plans to offer high-speed connections.
Learn more and take action: www.theinternetmustgo.com
Wooley's playing a Colbert-esque useful idiot, and he never breaks character as he interviews Susan Crawford, Al Franken, John Hodgman, Tim Wu, Larry Lessig, and many others, giving them the chance to play out the arguments for a neutral, fair Internet. The climax is a visit to North Carolina, where the big telcos have successfully gotten legislation passed banning municipalities from offering high-speed Internet, even in towns where the cable and phone companies have no plans to offer high-speed connections.
Learn more and take action: www.theinternetmustgo.com
Saturday, September 07, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
Happy Birthday, Molly Ivins (you were right)
"Watch the House pass a bad bill. Watch the Senate make it worse. Watch the banking industry dig its own grave. Watch supposedly smart people set up a financial disaster. Can we see President Clinton veto this mess? Veto, Clinton, veto.
"Not since Congress passed the Garn-St. Germain bill in 1981 – the one that deregulated the S&Ls and unleashed a half-a-trillion-dollar disaster, which the taxpayers of this country wound up paying for – has there been a move to match this for pure folly.
"In May, the House passed (by one vote) a bill to eliminate barriers between banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies. This sets up financial holding companies that can offer all three types of services simultaneously. The most obvious risk is that a blunder in the insurance or brokerage end of the business could bring down a bank, putting insured deposits at risk. The taxpayers, of course, then wind up with the tab, as we did with the savings-and-loan mess."
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Mark Leibovich on America's Gilded Capital | Bill Moyers
This
Town by Mark Leibovich is the story of how Washington became an
occupied city, its hold on reality distorted by greed and ambition.
Leibovich pulls no punches, naming names and revealing the city’s
bipartisan lust for power, cash and notoriety.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Johnny Winter And - It's My Own Fault
'Live Johnny Winter And' is a 1971 album recorded live at various locations during the fall of 1970.
Monday, August 12, 2013
David Sirota on Jeff Bezos and the Citizen Kane-ification of newspapers
6 August 2013 | Current.com
David Sirota interviews Pulitzer Prize winning reporter David Cay Johnston about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos purchasing the Washington Post.
David Sirota interviews Pulitzer Prize winning reporter David Cay Johnston about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos purchasing the Washington Post.
Media silent as State of Texas defends constitutionality of racial discrimination
11 August 2013 | NewsCorpse.com
Excerpt:
The argument by the state of Texas is that they are deliberately discriminating against Democratic voters, not minorities or other protected classes of citizens, and they regard that as permissible. The first problem with their argument is that it is questionable to assert that it is constitutional to “make partisan districting decisions.” Any overt attempt to suppress the voting rights of any citizen is challengeable and potentially in violation of civil liberties.
More to the point, the claim that they are only aiming their discriminatory activities at Democrats is disingenuous and unsupportable. The redistricting maps proposed by the Republican-controlled Texas legislature cut obviously across racial boundaries. The clear intent is to segregate blacks and Latinos into the fewest number of districts possible, denying them equal representation. These maps were struck down by federal courts as blatantly discriminatory, but now the state can re-introduce them with the blessing of an atrociously reasoned Supreme Court decision.
There is simply no way to pretend that the statement made in the filing defending the constitutionality of discrimination against Democrats is anything other than a defense of discrimination against minority communities in Texas. Given the demographic breakdown of the district mapping, it is absurd and grossly dishonest to assert that the “effects on minority voters” are “incidental.” What the state of Texas is doing is racism, pure and simple.
So where is the media coverage of this outrageous admission made in an official court document? None of the television news networks has reported on it. None of the major national newspapers has published a story about it. A few Internet news outlets have done some commendable reporting on it, but their reach is minimal at this point.
READ IT ALL:
Excerpt:
The argument by the state of Texas is that they are deliberately discriminating against Democratic voters, not minorities or other protected classes of citizens, and they regard that as permissible. The first problem with their argument is that it is questionable to assert that it is constitutional to “make partisan districting decisions.” Any overt attempt to suppress the voting rights of any citizen is challengeable and potentially in violation of civil liberties.
More to the point, the claim that they are only aiming their discriminatory activities at Democrats is disingenuous and unsupportable. The redistricting maps proposed by the Republican-controlled Texas legislature cut obviously across racial boundaries. The clear intent is to segregate blacks and Latinos into the fewest number of districts possible, denying them equal representation. These maps were struck down by federal courts as blatantly discriminatory, but now the state can re-introduce them with the blessing of an atrociously reasoned Supreme Court decision.
There is simply no way to pretend that the statement made in the filing defending the constitutionality of discrimination against Democrats is anything other than a defense of discrimination against minority communities in Texas. Given the demographic breakdown of the district mapping, it is absurd and grossly dishonest to assert that the “effects on minority voters” are “incidental.” What the state of Texas is doing is racism, pure and simple.
So where is the media coverage of this outrageous admission made in an official court document? None of the television news networks has reported on it. None of the major national newspapers has published a story about it. A few Internet news outlets have done some commendable reporting on it, but their reach is minimal at this point.
READ IT ALL:
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Richard Wolff on fighting for economic justice and fair wages | Bill Moyers
February 22, 2013
Economist Richard Wolff
joins Bill to shine light on the disaster left behind in capitalism’s
wake, and to discuss the fight for economic justice, including a fair
minimum wage. Wednesday, August 07, 2013
Texas State Senator Wendy Davis Remarks | National Press Club
Aug 5, 2013 - Every Texan should listen to her speech. Ms. Davis’ life story, empathy,
and actions make her that amalgam of knowledge, empathy, and experience
needed to lead Texas at this time in our history.
READ MORE HERE:
READ MORE HERE:
Monday, August 05, 2013
John Oliver's takedown of Fox News' absurd arguments against raising the minimum wage
John Oliver lays bare the ignorance, mean-spiritedness, and unabashed greed of those who argue against raising the minimum wage.
Saturday, August 03, 2013
President John F. Kennedy in 1962 on the need for Medicare
This video is a short clip from a speech given in 1962 by President Kennedy, at a huge public rally in support of his proposal, later known as Medicare, to provide health care insurance for the elderly, as part of the Social Security system. Here, the President explains the need for the Medicare program, and also defends it against false attacks by opponents. Medicare was not enacted into law until 1965, during the term of President Lyndon Johnson, approximately two years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. The arguments made by President Kennedy are also pretty good reasons why our country should have a program of universal health care, by expanding Medicare to cover all citizens of all ages.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Collaboration is key to keeping investigative journalism alive
By Denise Malan | MediaShift
July 24, 2013
Collaboration is more than just a buzzword. It could be one of the pillars that keeps investigative journalism standing
Look at some of the most recent examples of investigative projects that are making a difference: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists worked with 86 investigative journalists from 46 countries to shine light on the seedy underworld of offshore tax havens.
A congresswoman has asked for a Department of Justice investigation into 50 charities in the wake of the America’s Worst Charities project by the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Tampa Bay Times.
The Big Sky, Big Money partnership between PBS, American Public Media’s “Marketplace” and ProPublica won an IRE award for its look at post-Citizens United campaign finance in Montana and led to rulings that a group violated campaign finance laws.
READ IT ALL HERE:
July 24, 2013
Collaboration is more than just a buzzword. It could be one of the pillars that keeps investigative journalism standing
Look at some of the most recent examples of investigative projects that are making a difference: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists worked with 86 investigative journalists from 46 countries to shine light on the seedy underworld of offshore tax havens.
A congresswoman has asked for a Department of Justice investigation into 50 charities in the wake of the America’s Worst Charities project by the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Tampa Bay Times.
The Big Sky, Big Money partnership between PBS, American Public Media’s “Marketplace” and ProPublica won an IRE award for its look at post-Citizens United campaign finance in Montana and led to rulings that a group violated campaign finance laws.
READ IT ALL HERE:
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Lewis Black's response to Rick Perry's pro-Texas, anti-New York ad | The Daily Show
Rick Perry and the Texas GOP in Austin should be the target, not the entire State of Texas, but here it is anyway. - Tex Edit
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
John Oliver slams Florida | The Daily Show
15 July 2013 – John Oliver ripped into the “fucking crazy” state of Florida over George Zimmerman’s not guilty verdict. He noted the state’s self-defense laws were not only “incredibly stupid,” they also were not applied equally. Zimmerman was considered innocent after killing an unarmed teen in self-defense, but a black woman received 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot to scare off her abusive husband.
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Busted in Texas | The Young Turks
2 July 2013
As Congress looks to significantly boost funding for the U.S. Border Patrol as part of a new immigration bill, we investigate the impact of the police buildup at a West Texas checkpoint. The Sierra Blanca checkpoint along Interstate 10 was set up to catch major traffickers and immigrants who entered the country illegally. But the checkpoint now busts thousands of unsuspecting Americans a year for low-level drug possession -- including some famous musicians.
Monday, July 01, 2013
Sen. Wendy Davis: We will not concede on Texas abortion bill
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Friday, June 28, 2013
How Rick Perry is working to turn Texas blue
27 June 2013: Chris Hayes discusses the demographic and political future of Texas with Democratic State Senator Leticia Van De Putte and Evan Smith of the Texas Tribune.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Wendy Davis says she has aspirations to run for state-wide office
26 June 2013: Texas State Senator Wendy Davis had the eyes of the nation during her long filibuster of an anti-abortion bill. Davis tells Chris Hayes about the details of her test of will and endurance. She also said she'd be lying if she told us she didn't have aspirations to run for a state-wide office in Texas.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
How to make freelance journalism possible
Josh Stearns | www.freepress.net/
17 June 2013
Last month the Chicago Sun Times fired its entire staff of photographers -– 28 full-time journalists — and plans to rely primarily on freelancers. This news is just the most recent in a growing trend across the news industry, which is relying more than ever before on independent journalists and freelancers. However, despite all the debate about the future of journalism, not enough has been said about how we can better support freelance journalists and how best to adapt to a media landscape in which so many people are operating without the resources and backing of newsrooms.
On Twitter, I asked freelancers to tell me what the future of journalism looks like to them. This is the first post in a series where I’ll look at some of their responses. While people come to freelancing for a range of reasons, some by choice, some not, I found a few key themes in the responses I got.
But before I get to those responses, some background on the major research done recently, and the conspicuous absence of freelancers.
According to the most recent statistics from the Pew State of the News Media 2013, the U.S. has lost roughly 30% of its journalism workforce since 2000. While I wasn’t able to find concrete data on the rise of freelancers, anecdotal evidence suggests a major shift in the industry. The Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that they are increasingly handling cases for independent and freelance journalists; the Society for Environmental Journalists recently told the Federal Communications Commission that it has seen a spike in membership from people identifying as freelancers; and both the Daily Beast and Columbia Journalism Review have reported on the increase of freelancers reporting from conflict zones abroad in the last year.
READ IT ALL:
17 June 2013
Last month the Chicago Sun Times fired its entire staff of photographers -– 28 full-time journalists — and plans to rely primarily on freelancers. This news is just the most recent in a growing trend across the news industry, which is relying more than ever before on independent journalists and freelancers. However, despite all the debate about the future of journalism, not enough has been said about how we can better support freelance journalists and how best to adapt to a media landscape in which so many people are operating without the resources and backing of newsrooms.
On Twitter, I asked freelancers to tell me what the future of journalism looks like to them. This is the first post in a series where I’ll look at some of their responses. While people come to freelancing for a range of reasons, some by choice, some not, I found a few key themes in the responses I got.
But before I get to those responses, some background on the major research done recently, and the conspicuous absence of freelancers.
According to the most recent statistics from the Pew State of the News Media 2013, the U.S. has lost roughly 30% of its journalism workforce since 2000. While I wasn’t able to find concrete data on the rise of freelancers, anecdotal evidence suggests a major shift in the industry. The Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that they are increasingly handling cases for independent and freelance journalists; the Society for Environmental Journalists recently told the Federal Communications Commission that it has seen a spike in membership from people identifying as freelancers; and both the Daily Beast and Columbia Journalism Review have reported on the increase of freelancers reporting from conflict zones abroad in the last year.
READ IT ALL:
Saturday, June 01, 2013
Inside Job [2010 documentary]
Winner of 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
Inside Job is a 2010 documentary film about the late-2000s financial crisis. The film is described as being about "the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption". In five parts, the film explores how changes in the policy environment and banking practices helped create the financial crisis.
Inside Job Documentary from Splashy on Vimeo.
Inside Job is a 2010 documentary film about the late-2000s financial crisis. The film is described as being about "the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption". In five parts, the film explores how changes in the policy environment and banking practices helped create the financial crisis.
Inside Job Documentary from Splashy on Vimeo.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Dallas News: Texas prohibits nearly 70 percent of its counties from having a fire code
Despite the lessons from the West Fertilizer Co. fire and
explosions about the value of fire prevention, site security and safe
storage of dangerous goods, Texas prohibits nearly 70 percent of its
counties from having a fire code.
Fire codes aren’t just for fires. They also contain rules for managing explosive or toxic chemicals, including specific guidelines for ammonium-nitrate fertilizer, the substance that exploded and killed 15 people and injured 200 in West on April 17.
Fire code rules emerge from tragic history.
READ IT ALL:
Fire codes aren’t just for fires. They also contain rules for managing explosive or toxic chemicals, including specific guidelines for ammonium-nitrate fertilizer, the substance that exploded and killed 15 people and injured 200 in West on April 17.
Fire code rules emerge from tragic history.
READ IT ALL:
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
The Daily Show Exclusive - George Packer extended interview
Exclusive - George Packer extended interview
16 May 2013
In this exclusive, unedited interview, "The Unwinding" author George Packer investigates the systemic failure of American government and institutions.
16 May 2013
In this exclusive, unedited interview, "The Unwinding" author George Packer investigates the systemic failure of American government and institutions.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
How the NRA is like the Westboro Baptist Church
Liberals Unite | http://samuel-warde.com
14 May 2013
John Fugelesang takes on the NRA comparing it to the Westboro Baptist Church in this entertaining monologue.
Maybe you’re someone who, like the majority of Americans, supports the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms, but you feel kind of creepy about the weapons-grade cretins who run the NRA and do all they can to keep Americans safe from any gun laws that might keep Americans safe.
Well, you’re not alone. And this is why: loving the Second Amendment while opposing the NRA is every bit as natural as loving Jesus while opposing the Westboro Baptist Church.
READ IT ALL:
14 May 2013
John Fugelesang takes on the NRA comparing it to the Westboro Baptist Church in this entertaining monologue.
Maybe you’re someone who, like the majority of Americans, supports the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms, but you feel kind of creepy about the weapons-grade cretins who run the NRA and do all they can to keep Americans safe from any gun laws that might keep Americans safe.
Well, you’re not alone. And this is why: loving the Second Amendment while opposing the NRA is every bit as natural as loving Jesus while opposing the Westboro Baptist Church.
READ IT ALL:
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Two degrees of separation: Tsarnaev brothers had a CIA Connection
Dave Lindorff | thiscantbehappening.net
30 April 2013
"Look, I said before I’m not a conspiracy theory fan, and maybe this bombing in Boston was just a case of two angry young brothers who flipped out, egged each other on, and decided to go out with a bang. But it would be naive and irresponsible not to make note of these bizarre links, through their Uncle Ruslan Tsarni, of the Tsarnaev brothers to the CIA, and of the apparent presence of the Craft International personnel at the marathon finish line, not to mention the uncanny similarity in attire between Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the Craft mercenaries at the marathon bombing scene. (Besides, my late father, a retired electrical engineer and a Jungian analyst, used to say that many seeming coincidences are actually synchronicities, and can have much more meaning than simply being a highly improbable accident.) Also begging an answer is the question of where the two brothers, neither of whom had obvious access to wealth, got the money to spend on fancy clothes or, in the case of Tamerlan (who with his wife and small daughter, on the basis of his publicly available information, qualified until this year for welfare assistance), owned a late model Mercedes-Benz sedan."
READ IT ALL:
30 April 2013
"Look, I said before I’m not a conspiracy theory fan, and maybe this bombing in Boston was just a case of two angry young brothers who flipped out, egged each other on, and decided to go out with a bang. But it would be naive and irresponsible not to make note of these bizarre links, through their Uncle Ruslan Tsarni, of the Tsarnaev brothers to the CIA, and of the apparent presence of the Craft International personnel at the marathon finish line, not to mention the uncanny similarity in attire between Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the Craft mercenaries at the marathon bombing scene. (Besides, my late father, a retired electrical engineer and a Jungian analyst, used to say that many seeming coincidences are actually synchronicities, and can have much more meaning than simply being a highly improbable accident.) Also begging an answer is the question of where the two brothers, neither of whom had obvious access to wealth, got the money to spend on fancy clothes or, in the case of Tamerlan (who with his wife and small daughter, on the basis of his publicly available information, qualified until this year for welfare assistance), owned a late model Mercedes-Benz sedan."
READ IT ALL:
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
NY Attorney General: Banks have no fear of law enforcement
Eric W. Dolan | Raw Story
6 May 2013
New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman on Monday suggested that big banks were not afraid of skirting the law because they didn’t believe law enforcement would target them.
But he plans to change that.
Schneiderman announced a lawsuit against Wells Fargo and Bank of America earlier in the day. He alleged the two major banks repeatedly violated the terms of a mortgage settlement reached by the Department of Justice, Department of Housing and Urban Development and 49 state attorneys general last year.
“The problem is the banks have overwhelming confidence that law enforcement is not taking this seriously,” he told MSNBC host Chris Hayes. “They have overwhelming confidence that whatever the rules are, they won’t be followed up on.”
READ IT ALL:
6 May 2013
New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman on Monday suggested that big banks were not afraid of skirting the law because they didn’t believe law enforcement would target them.
But he plans to change that.
Schneiderman announced a lawsuit against Wells Fargo and Bank of America earlier in the day. He alleged the two major banks repeatedly violated the terms of a mortgage settlement reached by the Department of Justice, Department of Housing and Urban Development and 49 state attorneys general last year.
“The problem is the banks have overwhelming confidence that law enforcement is not taking this seriously,” he told MSNBC host Chris Hayes. “They have overwhelming confidence that whatever the rules are, they won’t be followed up on.”
READ IT ALL:
Friday, May 03, 2013
Thursday, May 02, 2013
Guantanamo: Either they are guilty, or they aren't.
Heywood J. | Hammer Of The Blogs
1 May 2013
You can make fun of Dubya's ridonkulous Liberry and its self-serving exhibits, but what's Obama's library going to look like at the rate he's going, a cartoon of Barry O getting pushed around by Mitch McConnell and Jamie Dimon for eight goddamned years?
I know his acolytes console themselves that his feckless 11th-dimensional chess mastery is somehow infinity better than whatever shit sandwich Romney and Ryan were cooking up. But only as a mild, eroding bulwark against the eternal predations of the oligarchy, not that Obama has done thing one about them or even slowed them down. In the meantime, every bloody thing you despised about the Bushies -- imprisonment without trial, drone war without end, the ongoing and deliberate ruination of the financial system, the rich getting richer and the poor no longer even getting by -- continue unabated.
There's not much more time for Obama to decide and act on whether he wants to end on eight years of excuses and ineffectual moderation, or to take a risk and do something, anything, pick a direction and grab a shovel. I have zero faith that he'll do the right thing, and it no longer matters whether he wants to but can't, or if he simply was never the transformative figure he was pretending to be. Just another politician, forever chasing the next election and too timid to do anything that might actually impact someone from the non-donor class.
READ IT ALL:
1 May 2013
You can make fun of Dubya's ridonkulous Liberry and its self-serving exhibits, but what's Obama's library going to look like at the rate he's going, a cartoon of Barry O getting pushed around by Mitch McConnell and Jamie Dimon for eight goddamned years?
I know his acolytes console themselves that his feckless 11th-dimensional chess mastery is somehow infinity better than whatever shit sandwich Romney and Ryan were cooking up. But only as a mild, eroding bulwark against the eternal predations of the oligarchy, not that Obama has done thing one about them or even slowed them down. In the meantime, every bloody thing you despised about the Bushies -- imprisonment without trial, drone war without end, the ongoing and deliberate ruination of the financial system, the rich getting richer and the poor no longer even getting by -- continue unabated.
There's not much more time for Obama to decide and act on whether he wants to end on eight years of excuses and ineffectual moderation, or to take a risk and do something, anything, pick a direction and grab a shovel. I have zero faith that he'll do the right thing, and it no longer matters whether he wants to but can't, or if he simply was never the transformative figure he was pretending to be. Just another politician, forever chasing the next election and too timid to do anything that might actually impact someone from the non-donor class.
READ IT ALL:
Principal fires security guards to hire art teachers — and transforms elementary school
Orchard Gardens, a school in Roxbury, Mass., had been plagued by bad test scores and violence – but one principal's idea to fire the security guards and hire art teachers is helping turn it around.
By Katy Tur, Correspondent, NBC News
ROXBURY, Mass. — The community of Roxbury had high hopes for its newest public school back in 2003. There were art studios, a dance room, even a theater equipped with cushy seating. A pilot school for grades K-8, Orchard Gardens was built on grand expectations.
But the dream of a school founded in the arts, a school that would give back to the community as it bettered its children, never materialized. Instead, the dance studio was used for storage and the orchestra's instruments were locked up and barely touched.
The school was plagued by violence and disorder from the start, and by 2010 it was rank in the bottom five of all public schools in the state of Massachusetts. That was when Andrew Bott — the sixth principal in seven years — showed up, and everything started to change.
“We got rid of the security guards,” said Bott, who reinvested all the money used for security infrastructure into the arts.
LINK:
By Katy Tur, Correspondent, NBC News
ROXBURY, Mass. — The community of Roxbury had high hopes for its newest public school back in 2003. There were art studios, a dance room, even a theater equipped with cushy seating. A pilot school for grades K-8, Orchard Gardens was built on grand expectations.
But the dream of a school founded in the arts, a school that would give back to the community as it bettered its children, never materialized. Instead, the dance studio was used for storage and the orchestra's instruments were locked up and barely touched.
The school was plagued by violence and disorder from the start, and by 2010 it was rank in the bottom five of all public schools in the state of Massachusetts. That was when Andrew Bott — the sixth principal in seven years — showed up, and everything started to change.
“We got rid of the security guards,” said Bott, who reinvested all the money used for security infrastructure into the arts.
LINK:
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
The incredibly racist Mountain Dew ad they don't want you to see
"Mountain Dew has set a new low for corporate racism. Their decision to
lean on well-known racial stereotypes is beyond disgusting [...] Even
worse is that Mountain Dew probably thinks this ad is acceptable because
they got the OK from a black man". – Dr. Boyce Watkins
READ THE ARTICLE:
READ THE ARTICLE:
The Top Ten things Black America will have to show for eight years of President Obama — none of them are good
In 2017, it will be routine for US presidents to unilaterally murder with or without announcement of cause anybody, anyplace on the planet within the reach of US drones, special operators and mercenaries.
Bruce A. Dixon | alternet.org
30 April 2013
When Barack Obama leaves the White House in January 2017, what will black America, his earliest and most consistent supporters, have to show for making his political career possible? We'll have the T-shirts and buttons and posters, the souvenirs. That will be the good news. The bad news is what else we'll have... and not.
To hear our black political class tell it, the election of the first black US president was its ultimate achievement to date, a giant step toward fulfillment of a previous generation's insurgent agenda for social transformation. Is that real? Has the career of Barack Hussein Obama really advanced any of the historic goals of the Freedom Movement? Is the question even fair?
With corporate media already speculating about next year's midterm elections, and the presidential contest of 2016, it's entirely appropriate to discuss the president's legacy. And fair is fair --- the black political class doesn't want its meager achievements compared to the agenda of those who fought for our freedom a half century ago, it probably ought to abandon its ceaseless self-promotion as the inheritors of that tradition.
It was the overwhelming black and brown vote, along with the utter, unwavering and uncritical support of African America which made President Obama's career possible. When he leaves office in January 2017, what will be the top ten things we can say black America gained or lost from his two terms in the White House?
READ THE TOP TEN:
Bruce A. Dixon | alternet.org
30 April 2013
When Barack Obama leaves the White House in January 2017, what will black America, his earliest and most consistent supporters, have to show for making his political career possible? We'll have the T-shirts and buttons and posters, the souvenirs. That will be the good news. The bad news is what else we'll have... and not.
To hear our black political class tell it, the election of the first black US president was its ultimate achievement to date, a giant step toward fulfillment of a previous generation's insurgent agenda for social transformation. Is that real? Has the career of Barack Hussein Obama really advanced any of the historic goals of the Freedom Movement? Is the question even fair?
With corporate media already speculating about next year's midterm elections, and the presidential contest of 2016, it's entirely appropriate to discuss the president's legacy. And fair is fair --- the black political class doesn't want its meager achievements compared to the agenda of those who fought for our freedom a half century ago, it probably ought to abandon its ceaseless self-promotion as the inheritors of that tradition.
It was the overwhelming black and brown vote, along with the utter, unwavering and uncritical support of African America which made President Obama's career possible. When he leaves office in January 2017, what will be the top ten things we can say black America gained or lost from his two terms in the White House?
READ THE TOP TEN:
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Guy confronts Boston conspiracy theorists
Man confronts an Infowars reporter who was previously spotted
interrupting FBI press conferences, claiming that the Boston Marathon
bombings were an inside job false flag operation perpetrated by the U.S.
government.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Top Ten things that make Brian Schweitzer an awesome economic populist
With the news that Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) is retiring, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee has launched a campaign to draft former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (D) to run for the spot.
As of this writing, over 15,000 Americans have signed onto the campaign, and have donated over $21,000 to a draft fund that will go to Schweitzer on Day One of his campaign.
Here’s why you should too –the top ten things that make Brian Schweitzer an awesome economic populist:
George W. Bush manure locker is now open
Charles P. Pierce | esquire.com
25 April 2013
The coverage of the opening of this vast temple to prevarication and ruin is not about bricks and mortar. It's about an attempt by the courtier press to absolve itself of a dereliction of duty that rivaled even that of the president in question while New Orleans drowned, and while the economy was bubbling toward disaster. (That dereliction of duty, it should be noted, now and forever, began with the coverage of the 2000 presidential campaign, and the disgraceful performance of the elite political press corps towards Al Gore.)
It's about their efforts to help the country absolve itself from the immense damage it brought upon itself by electing, and then re-electing, a half-bright dry drunk who wrecked nearly everything he touched, and who now is trying to rehabilitate himself by explaining that he hasn't ruined anything else since he left office, and doesn't that make him a swell fella. The elite press is dedicating an entire day of coverage to the perpetuation of a monstrous public lie. Electing George W. Bush twice was a monumental act of democratic self-destruction from which the country has yet to recover.
Celebrating him celebrating himself is simply to pour battery acid into the still-open wounds. I will take theories about dinosaurs in ancient China over the notion that George W. Bush was a good man confronted by insurmountable problems dropped on him by an implacable universe of chance. He was a career fk-up, from start to finish, and he finally found himself in a job where Daddy's money and Daddy's lawyers couldn't bail him out.
READ IT ALL:
25 April 2013
The coverage of the opening of this vast temple to prevarication and ruin is not about bricks and mortar. It's about an attempt by the courtier press to absolve itself of a dereliction of duty that rivaled even that of the president in question while New Orleans drowned, and while the economy was bubbling toward disaster. (That dereliction of duty, it should be noted, now and forever, began with the coverage of the 2000 presidential campaign, and the disgraceful performance of the elite political press corps towards Al Gore.)
It's about their efforts to help the country absolve itself from the immense damage it brought upon itself by electing, and then re-electing, a half-bright dry drunk who wrecked nearly everything he touched, and who now is trying to rehabilitate himself by explaining that he hasn't ruined anything else since he left office, and doesn't that make him a swell fella. The elite press is dedicating an entire day of coverage to the perpetuation of a monstrous public lie. Electing George W. Bush twice was a monumental act of democratic self-destruction from which the country has yet to recover.
Celebrating him celebrating himself is simply to pour battery acid into the still-open wounds. I will take theories about dinosaurs in ancient China over the notion that George W. Bush was a good man confronted by insurmountable problems dropped on him by an implacable universe of chance. He was a career fk-up, from start to finish, and he finally found himself in a job where Daddy's money and Daddy's lawyers couldn't bail him out.
READ IT ALL:
Friday, April 26, 2013
Six whistleblowers charged under the Espionage Act
John Light and Lauren Feeney
26 April 2013 | BillMoyers.com
The Obama administration has been carrying out an unprecedented crackdown on whistleblowers, particularly on those who have divulged information that relates to national security.
The Espionage Act, enacted during the first World War to punish Americans who aided the enemy, had only been used three times in its history to try government officials accused of leaking classified information — until the Obama administration.
Since 2009, the administration has used the act to prosecute six government officials. Meet the whistleblowers.
READ IT ALL:
26 April 2013 | BillMoyers.com
The Obama administration has been carrying out an unprecedented crackdown on whistleblowers, particularly on those who have divulged information that relates to national security.
The Espionage Act, enacted during the first World War to punish Americans who aided the enemy, had only been used three times in its history to try government officials accused of leaking classified information — until the Obama administration.
Since 2009, the administration has used the act to prosecute six government officials. Meet the whistleblowers.
READ IT ALL:
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Is the Press Too Big to Fail?
Todd Gitlin | TomDispatch.com
25 April 2013
Everyone knows this story, though fewer and fewer read it on paper. There are barely enough pages left to wrap fish. The second paper in town has shut down. Sometimes the daily delivers only three days a week. Advertising long ago started fleeing to Craigslist and Internet points south. Subscriptions are dwindling. Online versions don’t bring in much ad revenue. Who can avoid the obvious, if little covered question: Is the press too big to fail? Or was it failing long before it began to falter financially?
In the previous century, there was a brief Golden Age of American journalism, though what glittered like gold leaf sometimes turned out to be tinsel. Then came regression to the mean. Since 2000, we have seen the titans of the news presuming that Bush was the victor over Gore, hustling us into war with Iraq, obscuring climate change, and turning blind eyes to derivatives, mortgage-based securities, collateralized debt obligations, and the other flimsy creations with which a vast, showy, ramshackle international financial house of cards was built. When you think about the crisis of journalism, including the loss of advertising and the shriveled newsrooms -- there were fewer newsroom employees in 2010 than in 1978, when records were first kept -- also think of anesthetized watchdogs snoring on Wall Street while the Arctic ice cap melts.
Deserting readers mean broken business models. Per household circulation of daily American newspapers has been declining steadily for 60 years, since long before the Internet arrived. It’s gone from 1.24 papers per household in 1950 to 0.37 per household in 2010. To get the sports scores, your horoscope, or the crossword puzzle, the casual reader no longer needs even to glance at a whole paper, and so is less likely to brush up against actual -- even superficial -- news. Never mind that the small-r republican model on which the United States was founded presupposed that some critical mass of citizens would spend a critical mass of their time figuring out what’s what and forming judgments accordingly.
READ IT ALL:
25 April 2013
Everyone knows this story, though fewer and fewer read it on paper. There are barely enough pages left to wrap fish. The second paper in town has shut down. Sometimes the daily delivers only three days a week. Advertising long ago started fleeing to Craigslist and Internet points south. Subscriptions are dwindling. Online versions don’t bring in much ad revenue. Who can avoid the obvious, if little covered question: Is the press too big to fail? Or was it failing long before it began to falter financially?
In the previous century, there was a brief Golden Age of American journalism, though what glittered like gold leaf sometimes turned out to be tinsel. Then came regression to the mean. Since 2000, we have seen the titans of the news presuming that Bush was the victor over Gore, hustling us into war with Iraq, obscuring climate change, and turning blind eyes to derivatives, mortgage-based securities, collateralized debt obligations, and the other flimsy creations with which a vast, showy, ramshackle international financial house of cards was built. When you think about the crisis of journalism, including the loss of advertising and the shriveled newsrooms -- there were fewer newsroom employees in 2010 than in 1978, when records were first kept -- also think of anesthetized watchdogs snoring on Wall Street while the Arctic ice cap melts.
Deserting readers mean broken business models. Per household circulation of daily American newspapers has been declining steadily for 60 years, since long before the Internet arrived. It’s gone from 1.24 papers per household in 1950 to 0.37 per household in 2010. To get the sports scores, your horoscope, or the crossword puzzle, the casual reader no longer needs even to glance at a whole paper, and so is less likely to brush up against actual -- even superficial -- news. Never mind that the small-r republican model on which the United States was founded presupposed that some critical mass of citizens would spend a critical mass of their time figuring out what’s what and forming judgments accordingly.
READ IT ALL:
Monday, April 22, 2013
What Jesus wouldn't do
1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.
2. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian World.
4. Baptists do not recognize each other at "Hooters."
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
The New American Confederacy
Max Eternity, Truthout | Op-Ed
16 April 2013
Max Eternity argues that the continuity between the Bush and Obama administrations is evidence of a new American confederacy - a conspiracy against the American people.
Truth often shows up at the most inopportune times, especially for politicians. "You have to hand it to Barack Obama when it comes to having it both ways" writes the publisher of Harpers Magazine, John MacArthur, in a recent article, entitled "Obama's Real Political Program."
For "[n]ever has a leading American Democrat" done so little, MacArthur says, "in support of less-privileged people while getting so much undeserved credit for 'trying' to help them."
Truly, what a strange and bitter pill to swallow.
An article I wrote 2 years ago, titled "Obama's Right Wing Success: Silencing Black America and the Left," then quoted a young, progressive veteran named Evan Knappenberger, who wrote poignantly about this painfully odd dilemma in an editorial, entitled "Obama's Betrayal of Generation Hope."
It's worth mentioning again here, because it is so heartfelt and lays bare what Knappenberger sees as Obama's cruel hypocrisy:
16 April 2013
Max Eternity argues that the continuity between the Bush and Obama administrations is evidence of a new American confederacy - a conspiracy against the American people.
Truth often shows up at the most inopportune times, especially for politicians. "You have to hand it to Barack Obama when it comes to having it both ways" writes the publisher of Harpers Magazine, John MacArthur, in a recent article, entitled "Obama's Real Political Program."
For "[n]ever has a leading American Democrat" done so little, MacArthur says, "in support of less-privileged people while getting so much undeserved credit for 'trying' to help them."
Truly, what a strange and bitter pill to swallow.
An article I wrote 2 years ago, titled "Obama's Right Wing Success: Silencing Black America and the Left," then quoted a young, progressive veteran named Evan Knappenberger, who wrote poignantly about this painfully odd dilemma in an editorial, entitled "Obama's Betrayal of Generation Hope."
It's worth mentioning again here, because it is so heartfelt and lays bare what Knappenberger sees as Obama's cruel hypocrisy:
READ IT ALL:Most disappointing of all to the youth, though, is Obama's betrayal of their values. Particularly, his extensions of Bush policies and war-mongering. Obama's "dumb war" theory (i.e. that some wars are just and some are just "dumb") is, to us, a complete abomination of the concept of peace. By evoking the Reverend Doctor King in his Nobel acceptance speech while in the same breath dismissing nonviolence, Obama has bastardized the concept of peace and alienated us, antiwar youth permanently from his politics."
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