William Rivers Pitt | An Open Letter to Lovers of the Gun
William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: “I am puking sick of reading every single day about how your baby, your toddler, your brother, your sister, your cousin, your niece, your nephew, blew their brains into their lap with a gun you left lying around, because freedom, or something.”
Read the Article
First Things First: Until We Fix Our Democracy Problem, It’s Hard to Fix Any Problem
Marge Baker, OtherWords: Whether the issue you’re most concerned about is guaranteeing that your family has access to clean water, or ensuring that workers get a fair minimum wage, when wealthy special interests can buy elected officials, progress on these issues will continue to stall.
Read the Article
How Antiwar Activists Robbed the FBI, Got Away With It, and Exposed Massive Covert Surveillance
Betty Medsger, Knopf: The Burglary is a fascinating and inspiring story of protestors who robbed the FBI – how they pulled it off – and how they exposed the agency’s illegal surveillance and suppression of individuals who challenged government policy.
Read the Book Except
Paul Krugman | Encouraging Signs for a Brighter 2014
Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co.: “There’s an alarming amount of optimism out there about the United States’ economic prospects for 2014. Let me make the situation even more alarming by saying that I basically share that optimism. Why? Because of the Three Stooges effect.”
Read the Article
Why Drug Prices Are Out of Control, or Money Well Spent by Big Pharma
A. W. Gaffney, Truthout: Big Pharma lobbying (campaign donations) that resulted in prohibiting Medicare Part D from negotiating for the best drug prices offers a dramatic illustration of how the best return on investment is an effective lobbying campaign.
Read the Article
TransCanada’s Keystone XL South Pipeline Begins Operations
Julie Dermansky, DeSmogBlog: TransCanada is surely celebrating now that it has a pipeline system in place connecting the tar sands in Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast refineries and export terminals – via the combination of the original Keystone pipeline running from Alberta to Cushing, Oklahoma and the pipeline’s southern half from Cushing to the Gulf.
Read the Article and View the Photos
From Canada, a New Gold Standard
Sam Pizzigati, OtherWords: We need to start honoring enterprises that practice fair pay, and stop rewarding – with our consumer and tax dollars – those enterprises that are making our societies more unequal. Wagemark is one initiative recognizing companies for curbing excessive CEO pay, not soaring profits.
Read the Article
Vermont’s Senator Sanders Is Right: Use War Money to Take Care of Veterans
Robert Naiman, Truthout: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders proposes restoring money in the budget for military pensions by using war funding and giving us a true cost of war at the same time.
Read the Article
Tuition-Free Public College Education Is Possible. Demand It.
Richard Long, Campaign for America’s Future: Here’s a news flash you probably didn’t know: It would cost less for the government to make all public universities tuition-free than what the government already spends in higher education.
Read the Article
Gar Alperovitz: Nuclear Attack on Japan Was Opposed by American Military Leadership
Paul Jay, The Real News Network: Gar Alperovitz tells Paul Jay that President Harry Truman used the Atomic bomb to make a ”diplomatic” point to the Soviet Union, not out of military necessity.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Kellogg’s Delivers Memphis a Slap in the Face
Steve Payne, Labor Notes: During contract negotiations in October 2013, Kellogg demanded the right to hire more part-time and casual employees, at lower pay rates. When workers voted the proposal down, Kellogg locked them out. Three months into a lockout, the company has yet to return to the bargaining table.
Read the Article
BuzzFlash
Hospitals and Doctors Make More Money When More People Are Sick: Maryland Wants to Stop That
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: With a federal waiver in hand, Maryland is going to implement a test program that will incentivize preventive medical care while reducing costs
Read the BuzzFlash Commentary
Train Derailments: Another Problem With Fracking
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
A Second Chemical Spilled in West Virginia, and the Company Said Nothing Until Now
Read the Article at Bloomberg Businessweek
Four Years After “Citizens United,” There Is Real Movement to Remove Big Money From Politics
Read the Article at The Utne Reader
“If I Didn’t Sell Drugs, I’d Be Dead”: What It’s Like to Lose Unemployment Benefits
Read the Article at Mother Jones
Conservative Author and Pundit Dinesh D’Souza Charged in Campaign Finance Case
Read the Article at The Washington Post
Spoiler Alert: The GOP Won’t Budge on Its Antichoice Platform
Read the Article at The Nation
US Hints at Edward Snowden Plea Bargain to Allow Return From Russia
Read the Article at the Guardian UK