Steve Israel: Confessions of a Congressman. How does your state rank for integrity? The Families Funding the 2016 Presidential Election. Why Gerrymandering Sucks in One Pic. As if money in politics wasn’t a big enough deterrent to fairness in this country, Gerrymandering just proves that we are playing against a stacked deck.
This handy dandy chart from the Wonkblog really sums up how easy it is to divide and conquer no matter what the odds are. This has been going on for way too long and it’s not just Republicans who are guilty of this; Democrats just aren’t as good at it as Republicans. So ya see, it doesn’t matter that there are more blue squares in the above example. If you creatively arrange the lines dividing everything, you can guarantee a win. Here are a few examples of some ridiculously Gerrymandered maps. This week the Supreme Court made a pretty awesome ruling that independent panels can draw election district lines.
The Obama Legacy: Inequality, Corporate Trade Deals, Worldwide War. Obama’s legacy is a mixed bag.
Alongside health care reform and marriage equality, his eight years in office have greatly benefitted corporations and left Bush-era war mentalities even more deeply entrenched. President Barack Obama walks to the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 26, 2015, to make a statement after the Supreme Court declared that same-sex couples have the right to marry anywhere in the United States. WASHINGTON — An undocumented transgender woman interrupted the White House LGBT Pride celebrations last week, highlighting a rift between those who praise President Barack Obama’s accomplishments after two terms in office, and those who see a decline in freedoms and a rise in inequality as the real legacy he’ll be leaving behind.
US Senate Passes 2016 NDAA as the Country Mourns for Charleston. Claire Bernish June 22, 2015 (ANTIMEDIA) With the phenomenal ability to watch news unfold moment by moment comes the unspoken responsibility of vigilance—both in watching for distraction and in not allowing matters of importance to slip from the spotlight.
Issues tend to vanish after a maximum of two weeks spent debating every conceivable aspect, at which point—whether resolved or not—apparent aggregate memory loss sets in. Unfortunately, that is exactly what has happened with the indefinite detention provision passed into law as part of the 2012 NDAA. As the Senate took the callous opportunity afforded by the shooting in Charleston to ram through its veto-proof approval of nobody’s favorite legislation for fiscal year 2016, another golden opportunity to bring the egregious law to the forefront passed right by. The $612 billion National Defense Authorization Act for 2016 passed the Senate by a vote of 71 to 25 last Thursday. U.S. Flag Recalled After Causing 143 Million Deaths - The Onion - America's F...
WASHINGTON—Citing a series of fatal malfunctions dating back to 1777, flag manufacturer Annin & Company announced Monday that it would be recalling all makes and models of its popular American flag from both foreign and domestic markets.
The Pentagon Doesn’t Know What it Spent 8.5 Trillion Dollars on. Claire Bernish, The Anti Media When government is completely dysfunctional and seems not to serve the people’s interests, we have to wonder where our tax dollars are going.
Thanks to a Reuters investigation by Scot Paltrow, we have an answer—or, rather, a non-answer. Apparently, the Pentagon has made use of $8.5 trillion of our tax money handed over by Congress since 1996—but don’t ask what was done with the money. The Department of Defense doesn’t have a clue. Audits of all federal agencies were mandated by law beginning in 1996, but the Pentagon is unique in never having complied. According to the investigation, employees of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the Pentagon’s primary accounting agency, were routinely told by superiors to take “unsubstantiated change actions.” Many of the problems occurred in simple bookkeeping errors rather than actual financial losses.
91% of the time the better-financed candidate wins. Don’t act surprised. - The Washington Post. There are few talking points more beloved by underdog political candidates (and their aides) than to declare that money doesn't matter.
(If it did, Steve Forbes would be the president!) Well, they're wrong -- at least most of the time. Take a look at the chart below, created last month by Jasper McChesney, a designer at United Republic, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tries to spread awareness about the influence of money in politics. The chart analyzes 467 congressional races held in 2012. Its findings: 20 years of data reveals that Congress doesn't care what you think.
Professors Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University looked at more than 20 years of data to answer a pretty simple question: Does the government represent the people?
This video gives a quick rundown of their findings and explains what's going on in the simple graph above: Things start out bleak, but stick with it — it's not all depressing. Like This Post On Facebook. The Empire Lies: How to Fight Western Propaganda. First they manufacture monstrous lies, and then they tell us that we should be objective!
Is love objective; is passion? Are dreams defendable, logically and philosophically? When a house is attacked by brigands, when a village is overran by gangsters, when smoke, fire and cries for help are coming from every corner, should we award ourselves with the luxury of time to calculate, analyze and aim at complete logical, ethical, holistic and objective solutions? Pop Quiz: How Many Constitutional Rights Have We Lost? March 5, 2015 (Washington’s Blog) How Many Constitutional Freedoms Have We Lost?
This post explains the liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights – the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution – and provides a scorecard on the extent of the loss of each right. Painting by Anthony Freda: www.AnthonyFreda.com First Amendment The 1st Amendment protects speech, religion, assembly and the press: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The Supreme Court has also interpreted the First Amendment as protecting freedom of association. However, the government is arresting those speaking out … and violently crushing peaceful assemblies which attempt to petition the government for redress. Mass spying by the NSA violates our freedom of association. 35 yrs for truth. Snowden Reveals First Ever Public Disclosure Of Secret Black Budget Programs. Edward Snowden, a former intelligence contractor has leaked the very first documentation that proves the existence of clandestine black budget operations (1)(programs that are extremely classified dealing with technology, information and more.)
Did we really need this leak in order to believe that black budget programs operate in secrecy? No, many people will tell you that the existence of black budget programs was obvious and that we didn’t need any official documentation to prove it, but this still helps. The United States has a history of government agencies existing in secret for years. The National Security Agency (NSA) was founded in 1952, its existence was hidden until the mid 1960’s. Even more secretive is the National Reconnaissance Office, which was founded in 1960 but remained completely secret for 30 years. We are talking about Special Access Programs (SAP). We are talking about large amounts of unaccounted-for money going into programs we know nothing about.
Detroit zero. By today's standards. Stomping on face forever. Watch heads roll. Lied about. How Americans are Tricked into Supporting Wars. Oil & food. I want out. Crimes against Humanity: Why Is Henry Kissinger Walking Around Free? Two months ago, hundreds of thousands of Chileans somberly marked the 40th anniversary of their nation’s September 11th terrorist event.
CIA. Tl;dr. Exceptionalism. Freedom isn't free. 2008 election contributions. NDAA. Gop translator. Pledge compliance. Never elected. Let John Oliver Explain the Insane Amount of Power Your Bizarre State Legisla... —Inae Oh on Mon. November 3, 2014 9:20 AM PDT With the midterm elections finally arriving tomorrow, John Oliver is asking voters to do everyone a solid and pay attention to what's happening on the local level. Though they often resemble ridiculous shit shows, state houses actually wield an incredible amount of power and affect everything from abortion laws to gun control. "All those conspiracy theories about a shadow government are actually true," Oliver explained on the latest Last Week Tonight. Al Gore. Only bill passed. Koch Bros. Exposed! Gov't officials' salary. Cia. Why Even Deniers Should Care About Climate Change. Should Oil Barons Like David Koch Be Funding Our Museums?
The Natural History Museum's mobile tour. KOCH BROTHERS EXPOSED: 2014 Version - Brave New Films. I hope you’re ready for a wild ride. Billionaires David and Charles Koch have been handed the ability to buy our democracy in the form of giant checks to the House, Senate, and soon, possibly even the Presidency. Who’s Paying the Pro-War Pundits? Retired General Anthony Zinni, retired General Jack Keane and former Bush administration official Fran Townsend.
Who Controls the Kochs’ Political Network? ASMI, SLAH and TOHE. Libertarian billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch were among the first to grasp the political potential of social welfare groups and trade associations — nonprofits that can spend money to influence elections but don’t have to name their donors. The Bush - Cheney Drug Empire. Us vs iran. That's a long list. Pentagon preparing for mass civil breakdown. A US Department of Defense (DoD) research programme is funding universities to model the dynamics, risks and tipping points for large-scale civil unrest across the world, under the supervision of various US military agencies. The multi-million dollar programme is designed to develop immediate and long-term "warfighter-relevant insights" for senior officials and decision makers in "the defense policy community," and to inform policy implemented by "combatant commands. " Northwoods.pdf.
Court Orders Kansas Legislature to Spend More on Schools. "El Chapo" Arrested Now. By Douglas Lucas on Feb 24, 2014. The United States Has Killed At Least 8 Million People. The United States Has Killed At Least 8 Million People In The Last 50 Years For The Greedy Capitalistic Corporate Profits Controlled By The 1% Oligarchy In the last 50 years, the United States has promoted, financed and participated in over 200 incursions and 20 separate wars, killing over 8,000,000 people. Emad Salem.