Science-Gate
Posted on June 20, 2013 in Videos
World renown scientists have seedy, sordid histories. At a time of critical environmental predicaments, why should we trust them?!
15 Provocative George Orwell Quotes For You To Ponder
Posted on June 20, 2013 in Quotes
Revelations about and reactions to the National Security Agency’s alarmingly lawful surveillance programs aren’t going anywhere soon. And as the US populace engages in frantic (and monitored) discussions about the very real possibility that George Orwell’s “Big Brother” state in 1984 is not so much fiction as it is fact, Orwell’s words have never been more relevant:
‘Rich States, Poor States,’ Red States, Blue States
Posted on June 20, 2013 in Articles
The Article: Rich States, Poor States, Red States, Blue States by Laura Macomber in Bill Moyers Online.
The Text: Last month, The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — a corporate lobbying group that Common Cause says is masquerading as a nonprofit charity — published its sixth annual “Rich States, Poor States” report. The publication is coauthored by Dr. Arthur Laffer, often called the father of supply-side economics, and it ranks U.S. states according to their “economic outlook” — a measure based on 15 different ALEC-selected criteria. Basically, the lower a state’s taxes, the fewer public services it offers and the less hospitable it is to labor unions, the higher it will be ranked. It also helps to have a really low minimum wage. Utah took this year’s top slot, with Vermont landing at number 50.
Many local news outlets are touting the report as a concrete source for assessing their state’s economic performance. But it appears that ideology is what gets a state to the top — or the bottom — of the rankings.
Before we get to why that is, some background: ALEC — a self-proclaimed “nonpartisan” organization with an overwhelmingly Republican political membership — is where corporations and politicians can meet each other away from the prying eyes of taxpayers and voters. Together, ALEC’s members draft model laws that promote a corporate, profit-driven agenda that simultaneously seeks to dismantle a state’s public services and workers’ rights. With this in mind, any “reports” that ALEC issues must be scrutinized with a magnifying glass, lest the conclusions drawn from its hand-picked data be taken as objective reporting.
Rick Perry’s Benghazi Fail
Posted on June 19, 2013 in Videos
In Rick Perry’s alternate reality, the Benghazi travesty occurred in Lebanon and your anti-regulation, anti-nanny state policies can lead to the premature demise of a power plant but you can still seek federal assistance without compromising your “conviction”. This is the face of the Republican Party.
Edward Snowden, The Internet’s Latest Sensation
Posted on June 19, 2013 in Images and Political Cartoons
As we learn more and more about NSA surveillance, the same can be said for the life of secret-spiller Boehner-berated contractor Edward Snowden. Some of it is crucial information (re: he has a pet phoenix and an equally smokin’ girlfriend), others not so much. Regardless, a quick comb through the internet will bring you to the conclusion that while he might be extradited to the US soon, he’ll always have a home with internet nerds around the world. Here are the best–and weirdest–Snowden envisions we’ve come across yet:
