The Facts Are in: Austerity Politics Doesn’t WorkThe idea that rational thinking should govern political decision making in America dates back to our very founding. “Facts are stubborn things,” John Adams said, “and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
White House reporter: Obama administration ‘most hostile’ to journalists in US historyChip Somodevilla / Getty Images / AFP A longtime Washington reporter and White House correspondent has accused the current administration of being “the most hostile” to journalists in the history of the United States.
The Mightiest NationFirst they conquered the savage tribes that hemmed them in. […] some disillusioned soldiers refused to obey orders and some sailors mutinied, even though the leader raised their pay. When the poor grumbled, they were entertained by highly paid athletes and the firing of expensive rockets into the air which sometimes fizzled.
The Coming World GovernmentBy ADRIAN SALBUCHI- Lucid and aware people observing world events unfold over the past decade or so – say, since September 11, 2001 – will have surely asked themselves what on Earth is going on here? We see ever-growing violence, war, outright lies, invasions, false flags, social upheavals, poverty, ruin and the death of millions…
Nonconformity and Freethinking Now Considered Mental IllnessesIs nonconformity and freethinking a mental illness? According to the newest addition of the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), it certainly is. The manual identifies a new mental illness called “oppositional defiant disorder” or ODD. Defined as an “ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior,” symptoms include questioning authority, negativity, defiance, argumentativeness, and being easily annoyed.
Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That’s OK | How to Survive the Economic Collapse and Be HappyYou are about to become obsolete. You think you are special, unique, and that whatever it is that you are doing is impossible to replace. You are wrong. Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That’s OK: How to Survive the Economic Collapse and Be Happy explores the impact of technological advances on our lives, what it means to be happy, and provides suggestions on how to avoid a systemic collapse.
Pope Francis rips capitalism and trickle-down economics to shreds in new policy statementBy Travis GettysTuesday, November 26, 2013 11:48 EST In case there was any doubt left, Pope Francis made it clear that he shares little in common with U.S. conservatives. The pontiff released his Evangelii Gadium, or Joy of the Gospel, attacking capitalism as a form of tyranny and calling on church and political leaders to address the needs of the poor.
Pope Francis ‘is mafia target after campaigning against corruption’Pope Francis’s crusade against corruption has made him a target for Italy’s all-powerful mafia clans, a leading anti-mob prosecutor has warned. Nicola Gratteri, who has battled Calabria’s shadowy ‘Ndrangheta mafia, said on Wednesday that Francis’s attempt to bring transparency to the Vatican was making the white collar mobsters who do business with corrupt prelates “nervous and agitated”.
ICANN leaders push for broad-based Internet governanceAn Internet governance model that includes businesses and civil-society groups in the decision-making process remains the best approach, despite a push from some countries for a more government-centric model, officials with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said.
Exclusive: Inside America’s Plan to Kill Online Privacy Rights EverywhereThe United States and its key intelligence allies are quietly working behind the scenes to kneecap a mounting movement in the United Nations to promote a universal human right to online privacy, according to diplomatic sources and an internal American government document obtained by The Cable.
Corporatism Is Not Capitalism: 7 Things About The Monolithic Predator Corporations That Dominate Our Economy That Every American Should KnowRight now, there is a lot of talk about the evils of “capitalism”. But it is not really accurate to say that we live in a capitalist system. Rather, what we have in the United States today, and what most of the world is living under, is much more accurately described as “corporatism”.
The Neo-Imperialist Corporatist Order and the “Men Behind the Curtain”The Neo-Imperialist Corporatist Order and the “Men Behind the Curtain” Vincent Harlow once wisely observed, “Men’s minds indeed conceive new thoughts and plan new projects, but out of ancient thinking and under potent influence of long-established characteristics.” This has been reflected in reality for both the positive but also for the negative.
Switzerland’s Proposal to Pay People for Being AliveThis fall, a truck dumped eight million coins outside the Parliament building in Bern, one for every Swiss citizen. It was a publicity stunt for advocates of an audacious social policy that just might become reality in the tiny, rich country.
5 Scary Provisions In The Leaked Trans-Pacific Partnership ChapterAdvocacy groups and independent organizations have begun parsing the document, and they have already found quite a few problematic passages.
The Mutilated EconomyFive years and eleven months have now passed since the U.S. economy entered recession. Officially, that recession ended in the middle of 2009, but nobody would argue that we’ve had anything like a full recovery. Official unemployment remains high, and it would be much higher if so many people hadn’t dropped out of the labor force.
Activist PostPaul Adams, J.D. Activist Post The world economy is based on the sand foundation of usury, which was considered a sin and tool of covert warfare for thousands of years. The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.
Society Controls UsNick Williams, Guest Waking Times Society controls us. To state this sounds fairly obvious but there’s more to this than meets the eye.
Bank of America’s Countrywide loans were ‘in the ditch,’ says U.S.Bank of America Corp.’s Countrywide unit defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by selling them thousands of loans known to be defective, an attorney for the U.S. said in closing arguments in a lawsuit against the lender. The U.S. last year joined a whistle-blower action against Bank of America filed by former Countrywide executive Edward O’Donnell.
Who Buys the Spies? The Hidden Corporate Cash Behind America’s Out-of-Control National Surveillance StateEditor’s note: This is the first in a new series from AlterNet’s New Economic Dialogue Project, edited by Lynn Parramore. Long before President Obama kicked off his 2008 campaign, many Americans took it for granted that George W. Bush’s vast, sprawling national security apparatus needed to be reined in.
On the Prospect of Blackmail by the NSASometimes when I hear public officials speaking out in defense of NSA spying, I can’t help thinking, even if just for a moment, “what if the NSA has something on that person and that’s why he or she is saying this?” Of course it’s natural, when people disagree with you, to at l…
Stallman: How Much Surveillance Can Democracy Withstand?Editor’s Note: Given Richard Stallman’s longtime role in promoting software that respects user freedom (including GNU, which just turned 30), his suggested “remedies” for all the ways technology can be re-designed to provide benefits while avoiding surveillance – like the smart meters example he shares below – seem particularly relevant.