It is not easy to escape from one’s skin, to see the world differently from the way it is presented to us day after day. But it is useful to try. Let’s take a few examples.
Protests, Fury After US Drone Strike Kills 13 Civilians in Yemen
Protests have erupted in Yemen after a U.S. drone strike killed 13 civilians on Sunday.
Web Surveillance Through Social Media Sites A Powerful Tool For Local Law Enforcement
Anonymous Demands to See Gawker Writer In Ballet Tutu For More Information On Massive FBI Hack
Anonymous really wants to see a picture of me wearing a ballet tutu with a shoe on my head. This is the hacker collective's condition for releasing more information about their latest blockbuster leak, for some reason.
Obama's justice department grants final immunity to Bush's CIA torturers
By closing two cases of detainees tortured to death, Obama has put the US beyond any accountability under the rule of law
Why Gas and Groceries Are So Damn Expensive
The hidden cost of Wall Street speculation on oil comes up to at least $23 per barrel of oil, or 56 cents a gallon at the pump. That's about 15% of a $3.85 gallon of gas. And that's just what Goldman Sachs, one of the worst of the speculators, will admit to. The actual influence speculation has on gas prices is probably much higher. Meanwhile, Wall Street titans like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Barclays have driven up prices by speculation on not just oil, but food as well. Thanks to commodity index trading, which lets investment firms bet on several commodities at once, everything can be speculated upon in a package deal. Between 2004 and 2008 commodity index trading volume went from $13 billion to $260 billion. Remember the summer of 2008 when gas was almost $5 a gallon?
http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/279-82/13298-why-gas-and-groceries-are-so-damn-expensive
How We Can Bring Millions of Americans to the Middle Class?
he United States needs to be reimagined. A recent study from the Pew Research Center tells us that in economic terms the middle class "has suffered its worst decade in modern history." It's shrinking.
Convention Speeches Are So Boring
They should be more like TED talks.
In the 48 hours before the Democratic National Convention was gaveled into session, chattering-class talk focused on the governing party's bungling of the classic question for presidential incumbents: Are you better off than you were four years ago?
Are We Doomed? Too Late To Save Earth?
The World is facing a climate emergency due to global warming from man-derived greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution. The atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is now 394 parts per million (ppm) and increasing at 2.4 ppm per year. Until recently the atmospheric CO2 concentration was in the range of 180-300 ppm for the last 800,000 years, fluctuations in this range giving rise to successive glacial and inter-glacial periods that imposed selection pressures upon evolving humanity.
U.S. Militarism In Africa: Humanitarian Missions Or Imperialist Aggression?
The following is a lecture delivered to the Adult Learning Institute held at Oakland Community College Orchard Ridge Campus in Farmington Hills, Michigan on May 2, 2012.
Israel's lynch mob violence
An assault on a Palestinian teenager has shone a spotlight on a cauldron of prejudice that runs through the Israeli establishment, explains .
Occupying a union-buster
reports from New York City on a militant fight by immigrant workers.
Diverse Causes Join Forces in Charlotte to Kick Off Week of Protests at DNC
On Sunday ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, more than 1,000 people gathered for a March on Wall Street South.
Israeli vets confess to ‘no mercy’ abuse of Palestinian ‘terrorist’ kids
Israeli veterans have spoken out, describing a degrading culture of abuse and harassment of Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza. A report containing 30 veterans’ testimonies details numerous cases of violence committed by Israeli soldiers.
Border Police caught on video beating elderly Palestinian man
Clip shows Faraj Sub-Labn, a man of around 60, collapsing on the ground after being shoved onto a parked military vehicle near his home in the northern Jerusalem village of Dahiat Al-Barid.
Whistleblowing incentives for lawyers?
Second Circuit weighs whether conflict-of-interest rules bar attorneys from suing ex-employers under False Claims Act.
Barack Obama Promised A New Kind Of Politics, But Played The Same Old Game
Johnson surveyed the legislative landscape and knew he had to shake things up.
Is technology making students lazier?
According to the Canadian Council of Learning, academic dishonesty has always been an issue, but with the rise of the Internet has come a “dramatic” rise in its prevalence. The Council reports it’s not just the pursuit for better grades, it’s the different perception to teens about what qualifies as cheating.
Religious labels matter less in this year's election
There aren't any white Protestants on the presidential ballot this year — a first in American history.
Addiction Treatment Funding: Why Cutting Spending Could Lead To Higher Costs
Remember the old Fram oil filter commercial? “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.” It featured an automobile mechanic in the process ofrebuilding an engine, a costly and messy endeavor that could have been avoided—if the car’s owner had only changed his oil regularly and put in a Fram oil filter.
Godless Marriage, Families, Children: Atheist Families Don't Need Religion, God
America's Christian Right invests a lot of effort arguing for a connection between family values and their religion, but what basic family values require their religion or belief in their god?Godless families exist because values like love, respect, and sacrifice don't depend upon theism. You don't even have to be a theist to oppose abortion or support sexual abstinence until marriage. None of the positive family values necessary for raising healthy children are undermined by being godless. Religion, Atheism, Family Values
US conventions looking ahead to 2016
There's an intriguing subplot to events this week. Win or lose in November, Barack Obama will have fought his last election.
Sucking Up Shamelessly to Israel
America's special relationship with Israel too often reflects the tail wagging the dog. Increasingly, the Jewish state is more strategic liability than asset.
Labor Day: Team America, Including Workers, Built That
The GOP, the party of exclusion -- no gays seeking marriage allowed, also no Hispanics, no black people, no poor people who are on or ever were on welfare, and no women who are on or ever were on birth control --- yeah, that private party spent last week taking sole credit for America's greatness, saying in speeches, announcing on signs and even chanting: We built it.
Gay couples have happier kids
Studies show that the traditional nuclear family is not better. It's a dying model -- and that's a good thing
Relationship advice: Forget Venus and Mars
A relationship guru explains that it's better to concentrate on the mismatched narratives in our relationships
Naomi Wolf: Anonymity for rape accusers gives impunity to prosecutors
The Vagina author's odd comments on Newsnight.
Could You Raise Your Kids on Less Than $15,000 a Year? Millions of Parents Are Forced to Learn How
Could You Raise Your Kids on Less Than $15,000 a Year? Millions of Parents Are Forced to Learn How
Dear Occupy: Does The 2012 Election Matter?
The Occupy movement has never been about promoting political parties or politicians. The question is: Is there an outcome of the 2012 election that would be better for the future of Occupy?
Jon Stewart Cuts Through The Hypocrisy Of The RNC In Less Than 8 Minutes
What The Economic Crisis Really Means - And What We Can Do About It
Buying Power: Corporate Money in Politics
It began with an on-air rant by CNBC commentator Rick Santelli. It became a major political movement, with elected representatives on Capitol Hill. The Tea Party has come a long way, but who’s really behind it? On this edition: how some of America’s largest corporations are using grassroots movements to influence law makers. We hear excerpts from the documentary “The Billionaires’ Tea Party” and learn more about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). USA – Freedom To Fascism DocumentaryPolitical|Buy the DVD | Add to Playlist|111 mins
Ahead of Charlotte DNC, Hundreds Protest Corporate Giants in "March on Wall Street South"
Diverse Causes Join Forces in Charlotte to Kick Off Week of Protests at DNC
Steve Dustcircle can be found at:
http://www.dustcircle.com
