Noam Chomsky | The Prospects for Survival
Noam Chomsky, Truthout: Security is a high priority for government planners: security, that is, for state power and its primary constituency, concentrated private power. In these terms, government actions fall in place as quite rational, including the rationality of collective suicide.
FCC Votes To Curb Media Consolidation in Local TV Markets
Mike Ludwig, Truthout: FCC commissioners approved new rules that are designed to curb “joint sales agreements” by closing a legal loophole exploited by broadcasting companies that circumvent local TV ownership rules by sharing advertising revenues with companies they are supposed to be competing against.
Sixteen for ’16 – Number 6: Flat Tax for Social Security
Salvatore Babones, Truthout: The FICA payroll tax may be the most regressive tax in the developed world: the least a progressive administration could do would be to remove the taxable maximum.
Richard Sale, Truthout: The figures for the refugees of the Syrian civil war simply stagger the mind. More than 9 million Syrians have fled the country, having been forced from their homes, creating the world’s largest displaced population. But as carnage in Syria mounts and allies on all sides tweak their strategies, no yet-discovered path leads to peace.
Michael Klare, TomDispatch: A far-ranging kind of carbon detoxification must come in time. As with all addictions, the first and most crucial step is to acknowledge that our addiction to fossil fuels has reached such an advanced stage as to pose a direct danger to all humanity.
When Capitalism Fails, a Job Should Still Be a Right
The Daily Take, The Thom Hartmann Program: When a corporation that makes tens of billions of dollars of profits every year is hiring fewer people than Harvard University is accepting students, you know there’s a jobs problem in America. It’s time for that to change.
Open Letter to Legislators From a Clinic Escort
Katie Klabusich, Truthout: “As a reproductive health care clinic escort, I have seen the harassment and danger patients face simply attempting to access their doctor’s office. Elected officials should implement buffer zones to ensure public safety.”
Paul Krugman | Poor Billionaires, Victimized by Highfalutin Ideas
Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co.: Here comes another billionaire who thinks that anyone who talks about income inequality is a Nazi; this time it’s Ken Langone, co-founder of Home Depot. There must be a lot of these guys.
David Sobel, Yes! Magazine: New approaches to kindergarten offer us a glimpse of what childhood used to be and still could be – the modern re-creation of the children’s garden. If we looked to these examples, we might be able to rescue childhood.
The Nativist Origins of Philippines Independence
Richard Baldoz, Truthout: The racism and self-interest surrounding the passage of the Tydings-McDuffie Act 80 years ago serve as a reminder of the lamentable US experiment with overseas empire-building and help us to understand one of the most visible legacies of the complicated US-Philippines relationship – the large number of Filipino US residents.
A Presidential Run for Bernie Sanders? Bill and Ted’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure
Patrick Barrett, Truthout: Attempting to build the broad-based progressive coalition we need through the electoral arena is a quixotic adventure virtually destined to fail. It also runs the serious risk of undermining the very objective it hopes to achieve.
Delaware Chief Justice to Shareholders: Drop Dead
Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism: A Columbia Law Review article by the chief justice in Delaware, Leo Strine, argues that shareholder activism needs to be curbed. It confirms the notion that companies being obligated to maximize shareholder value is a theory made up by economists and eagerly adopted by corporate executives.
BuzzFlash
US and North Korea Have Something in Common: The Highest Incarceration Rates
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: The US health care system ranks at the bottom of developed nations. However, America has the dubious distinction of having the highest incarceration rate in the world, with North Korea a close second.
If We Want To Adapt to Climate Change, We Need To Start Now
Read the Article at The Nation
Senate Report: CIA Misled on Interrogations
Read the Article at The Washington Post
The Koch Brothers, the Teenager and Libertarianism Run Amok
In Private Speech, Dick Cheney Talks About Bombing Iran, and GOP Donors Applaud
Read the Article at Mother Jones
Large LNG Explosion Displaces Hundreds in Washington
FBI Said To Probe High-Speed Traders Over Abuse of Information
Read the Article at Bloomberg News
The Damning New Torture Report Shows the CIA Doing What It’s Always Done
