News blog

Sep 192012
 

Rich are waging war against the have-nots.

New York Times Editorial

It turns out that Mitt Romney was right. There is class warfare being waged in the 2012 campaign. It is Mr. Romney who is waging it, not President Obama, and he’s stood the whole idea on its head.

When you think of class warfare, you probably think of inciting anger, resentment and jealousy among the have-nots against the haves. That’s what Mr. Romney has accused Mr. Obama of doing, but those charges have always been false. The truth is that Mr. Romney has been trying to incite the anger of a small slice of the richest Americans who need no government assistance but get it anyway, against the working poor, older Americans, the disabled workers and veterans, and even a significant chunk of middle-class Americans.

That was the message of remarks that Mr. Romney made in May at a private fund-raiser held at a private equity manager’s estate in Florida, a moment when he thought he was safe from annoying reporters and cameramen, and other Americans who are not rich enough to have bought a ticket to the event…

Mitt Romney, class warrior

Sep 192012
 

From The Nation

 

Marijuana legalization would harm kids, says Smart Colorado, a group advertising stock images of children along with messages asking for voters to reject Amendment 64, a ballot initiative this year to legalize and tax pot.

Smart Colorado, led former Republican senate candidate Ken Buck and a team of Republican lobbyists and campaign operatives, hopes to drive down the popularity of Amendment 64 before Election Day. The supposedly family-friendly group, however, relies heavily on funds from a pair of controversial Republican fundraisers who once led a drug rehab center shut down over wide-ranging child abuse scandals.

 

Full article…

Sep 172012
 

From The Independent

 

This analysis offers an anaysis of classic "blowback:"

 

…"But we have an expression in Syria: 'If you feed a scorpion, it will bite you'." His message couldn't have been clearer.

The United States supported the opposition against Libya's Colonel Gaddafi, helped Saudi Arabia and Qatar pour cash and weapons to the militias and had now reaped the whirlwind. America's Libyan "friends" had turned against them, murdered US ambassador Stevens and his colleagues in Benghazi and started an al-Qa'ida-led, anti-American protest movement that had consumed the Muslim world…

Full story:..

Sep 172012
 

From Democracy Now

 

Pakistani authorities have registered a murder case against factory owners and government officials after a Karachi factory blaze killed nearly 300 people Tuesday in the country’s worst industrial disaster. As relatives mourned the dead Thursday, survivors said factory managers had intentionally locked the building’s main 30-foot sliding door, trapping workers, in order to save a stock of stonewashed jeans due for export to Europe. The move reportedly left hundreds of workers trapped in the blaze with just one available exit. Relatives of the victims gathered at the factory Thursday to search for the bodies of their loved ones.

 

More…

Sep 142012
 

from Democracy Now!

A Wisconsin judge has struck down Gov. Scott Walker’s union-busting law because Republican legislators failed to provide sufficient public notice before passing the measure in March. The law sharply curbs nearly all collective bargaining rights of state employees. We speak to John Nichols of The Nation magazine on the future of the bill, Wisconsin’s repressive new voter ID bill, and Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget proposals to overhaul Medicare and Medicaid. [includes rush transcript] …

Reference:

The Battle for Wisconsin

Sep 132012
 

Money is the least of the US's problems; other deficits loom much larger.

by David Korten

Every generation has an incentive to borrow money from the future to spend on itself."
—David Brooks, The New York Times, Jun 4, 2012

The political debate in the United States and Europe has focused attention on public financial deficits and how best to resolve them. Tragically, the debate largely ignores the deficits that most endanger our future.

In the United States, as Republican deficit hawks tell the story, “America is broke. We must cut government spending on social programs we cannot afford. And we must lower taxes on Wall Street job creators so they can invest to get the economy growing, create new jobs, increase total tax revenues, and eliminate the deficit.”

Continue reading »

Sep 132012
 

From Democracy Now

 

Newly disclosed documents provide further evidence the administration of George W. Bush ignored repeated warnings about Osama bin Laden’s plans to attack the United States. In "500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars,” author and journalist Kurt Eichenwald fleshes out how the Bush administration dismissed a number of warnings of an al-Qaeda attack against the United States beginning in the spring of 2001, instead focusing on alleged threats from Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

 

More…

Sep 122012
 
from The Network
 
OTTAWA, September 12, 2012 — ­ Every six days in Canada, a woman is murdered by her spouse. That’s the sort of sobering statistic shelter workers across Canada know all too well. In a first for Canada, they will convene later this week as a pan-Canadian Network.
 
An expected 250 will attend the National Leadership Forum from 17-19 September at the Delta Montreal, with hundreds more participating in Forum discussions through social media.
 

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