Matt Stoller hits the nail on the head

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Friday April 13, 2012 · 9:34 AM PDT

2012/04/13 · 09:34

Although the jockying for position with women voters utilizing empty rhetoric that both parties engage in, isn't the only kabuki theater in town, it's the most recent. Matt Stoller uses this "battle over women voters" to expose the real deal behind the scenes of electoral politics:

Political scientist Tom Ferguson has noted that there are always two elections at work concurrently in America, a public election that voters see, and a hidden election where funders operate in shifting coalitions to pull the levers of power. In this case, it’s the very triviality that is on display that speaks to what is going. Rosen, a corporate lobbyist who represents or has represented copyright interests, for-profit colleges, and BP, is fighting with David Axelrod, who has made money from the nuclear industry, and Anna Romney, who rides expensive horses bought by her husband’s private equity millions. This is staged kabuki between powerful millionaires, none of whom can credibly speak from recent experience on economic struggles.

scorpiorising

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Friday April 06, 2012 · 12:02 PM PDT

2012/04/06 · 12:02

It smells like roses rising above a rotted system. It looks like Occupy in the springtime. It resembles thousands taking part in direct action trainings. It feels like the frenetic sharing of info on facebook, blogs and web sites to educate each other. It doesn't look like the lesser of two evils. It has a visionary nature to it with a practical application ability. It looks like the taking back of our streets, our farmland, our waterways. It's music to my ears...a yes we can without the 1% or their parasites in D.C., state legislatures or city councils. It looks like people relying on each other and their native intelligence. It doesn't look like fracking, but it does look like alternative clean energy and conservation. It will shut down the likes of Monsanto, Dow, BP and all corporations that exploit people and the earth for profit. You think it can't be done? It's already in motion.

Evading arrest in Baton Rouge

scorpiorising

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Thursday March 15, 2012 · 10:29 AM PDT

2012/03/15 · 10:29

This past Monday, March 12th, Occupy NOLA teamed up with Occupy Baton Rouge to stage a rally in front of the state capital to support teacher and student rights that is under attack in the Jindal administration. What transpired was both tragic and hilarious, tragic for the true state of democracy in our country, and hilarious and inspirational as to how one young man dealt with this absence of democracy.

scorpiorising

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Saturday March 10, 2012 · 9:12 AM PST

2012/03/10 · 09:12

'Bout time someone did it:

Does Duncan respect the limited role of the federal government in education, which all previous secretaries have recognized?
States and local school districts now look to Washington to tell them how to reform their schools and must seek permission to deviate from the regulations written by the U.S. Department of Education. George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) created the template for this growing federal control of education, but Arne Duncan’s Race to the Top has made it possible for Washington to dictate education policy across the nation. Grade: F.

scorpiorising

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Thursday February 23, 2012 · 7:29 AM PST

2012/02/23 · 07:29

In this brave new neoliberal world of every man for himself and the destruction of public services, the shredding of the social safety net goes hand in hand. There are of course...victims, not the least of which is common decency and compassion:

Morgan had a heart condition and police believe he may have been in the truck outside his home trying to keep warm.
Broadnax is still awaiting autopsy results, but is angry that the power was shut off at the 86-year-old's home over what appears to have been a $291 bill.
"I'm thinking, '$300? Are you serious?' If I knew, I could have sent the money," she said. "I'm quite sure he had the money. I'm quite disappointed with Consumers (Energy)."
Consumers officials have said Morgan could have avoided a winter shutoff regardless of his debt if he had notified the company that he was a senior citizen.

A spokeswoman said Consumers representatives went to Morgan's home before shutting off the electricity but were unable to make contact with anyone.
But Broadnax said there should have been no mistaking the advanced age of her cousin because he held the account for decades.
"He's been in that house for over 60 years," she said. "If they would have just did a little check they would have seen that he was a senior citizen.
"I'm just shocked."

scorpiorising

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Saturday February 18, 2012 · 8:23 AM PST

2012/02/18 · 08:23

CBS news is highlighting an article from the Financial Times that highlights a clause from the settlement that "allows the banks to use the government's Home Affordable Modification Plan, or HAMP, to cover the principal reductions." I don't have access to Financial Times articles, but here is CBS on the issue:

2. $20 billion in "credits" the banks will receive for principal write-downs and other aid to nearly 1 million homeowners at risk of default, up to $20,000 per loan.
It's part two that's coming under scrutiny. A clause in the provisional agreement allows the banks to use the government's Home Affordable Modification Plan, or HAMP, to cover the principal reductions. Neil Barofsky, the former special inspector-general of the TARP, described the clause as "scandalous." Says Barofsky: "It turns the notion that this is about justice and accountability on its head."

scorpiorising

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Friday February 03, 2012 · 11:36 AM PST

2012/02/03 · 11:36

Josh Fox's, filmaker and creator of "Gasland", recent interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now revealed deep disappointment with President Obama's support for fracking. Fox expressed the belief that fracking as a technique, cannot be made safe and essentially should be abandoned.

Here is part of his statement in response to the President's statement on fracking in the State of the Union message:

JOSH FOX: That was actually quite, I think, a very painful moment for a lot of people who have been focusing on gas fracking for the last several years. I think the President’s statements right there are wrong. I mean, it’s very clear that we do not have a hundred years’ worth of natural gas, and certainly not if we want to start using it in cars and trucks. And it has been—it’s very, very unclear, in the science, whether or not this fracking technique can be done safely. And in my research, it shows itself to be inherently contaminating. And there is no proof to think that we could be doing this gas extraction safely.

scorpiorising

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Wednesday February 01, 2012 · 8:58 AM PST

2012/02/01 · 08:58

No, you're not alone, and you're not as isolated as you think. , indeed, it appears very dark these days. My beloved Gulf on the northern coast appears mortally wounded, and dead dolphins are telling that tale. The voice of the poor appears more marginalized than ever in national campaigns during election season. But we still have plenty of cheering over further militarization of our foreign policy.

I stumbled upon this essay, and it fed my soul like a nourishing spring. I hope it feeds yours.

scorpiorising

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Monday January 30, 2012 · 11:31 AM PST

2012/01/30 · 11:31

I'm a regular reader of the World Socialist Web Site, and they had an analysis of the protest in Oakland on Saturday. These two paragraphs caused me concern:

Some protesters—members of the anarchist “black block”—retaliated with rocks, bottles, and other small projectiles. The police managed to push the large crowd away from the abandoned convention center, making several arrests and continuing to fire rubber bullets, bean bags, flash grenades, and smoke bombs into the retreating crowd.
Saturday’s demonstrations were more heavily-dominated by “black-block” anarchistic tendencies than earlier demonstrations in Oakland. Their bankrupt politics has often in the past coincided with infiltration by police with the aim of creating a provocation to be used to justify mass arrests. The mid-day demonstration was organized in part by a faction of anarchists within the Bay Area Occupy movement that calls itself “Bay of Rage”.

scorpiorising

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Friday January 13, 2012 · 12:49 PM PST

2012/01/13 · 12:49

Over and over the issues concerning many progressives has been brought up here and on many blogs. Occupy addressed many of those issues, despite the notion that there were no demands. There are plenty of demands in Occupy if you are paying attention. Despite all of this...It is difficult to see that Obama has retreated from his soft approach to banks, his detached approach to mortgage foreclosures, the continued eroding of civil liberties in this country and indeed, the world, support for austerity in Europe that is eroding their economy and will ultimately affect us, endless war...now fought with drones....name your issues, progressives. There has been little success on these fronts.

The question is to how to build the kind of dissent within the democratic party that will push back on these issues and demand some accountability, the kind of dissent that will result in better Democratic leaders and candidates.

scorpiorising

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Wednesday January 11, 2012 · 8:55 AM PST

2012/01/11 · 08:55

Innocent people are being held with benefit of trial, without benefit of having the ability to prove their innocence.

BREMEN, Germany - I left Guantánamo Bay much as I had arrived almost five years earlier — shackled hand-to-waist, waist-to-ankles, and ankles to a bolt on the airplane floor. My ears and eyes were goggled, my head hooded, and even though I was the only detainee on the flight this time, I was drugged and guarded by at least 10 soldiers.

scorpiorising

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Friday December 23, 2011 · 6:31 PM PST

2011/12/23 · 18:31

Over at the Occupy Oakland web site this horrific tale of possible abuse of an occupier is detailed in what sounds like, on the surface, a house of horrors tale:

Khali was originally arrested on minor misdemeanor charges but because of a violation hold he was incarcerated for 4 days before any charges were formally filed.
- While most people would have been released from jail and asked to appear for a future court date given the minor nature of the misdemeanor charges, the DA extended Khali’s incarceration because of the county’s assertion that he is homeless.

- We are concerned for Khali’s health and physical well-being. He has shown up for every court appearance with severely bruised, swollen eyes and it’s evident that he is suffering physical abuse.

- We are also concerned for Khali’s mental health. He is on medication prescribed by a psychiatrist and we have learned that he has not been given his meds, nor even received medical evaluation since his arrest. It is clear during his court appearances that he is suffering enormously from having his medication withheld.

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To all the Poets and Would be Poets here

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Why push Obama further left?

There's another, more important reason to close Guantanamo

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