FEATURE

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE August 8, 2019

Ruin Trump’s Day: Here’s A Direct Action You Can Take To Support Young ‘Dreamers’

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is still alive, despite the Trump administration’s efforts to kill it, and it’s vital that eligible immigrant youth renew their two-year protections as soon as possible. The cost for immigrant youth to apply is steep. That’s why Daily Kos is supporting the United We Dream DACA renewal fund. UWD has a waiting list of hundreds of young people, and every dollar raised is a chance to get them the resources they need to live without fear of deportation. Please chip in to the DACA renewal fund today to help support immigrant…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, CIA, FEATURE, Surveillance State August 5, 2019

Wisconsin Under Direct Surveillance By War Dept. This Summer: ‘A Dystopian Surveillance State Being Built in Plain Sight’

“These programs are not about stopping violence, they’re about social control.” [Editor’s Note: Americans would never put up with the incessant hum of surveillance drones circling endlessly overhead as civilian victims of American wars have to. So, instead, unseen, silent, high-altitude and just as observant surveillance balloons will not attract attention while doing the job. History has shown that all empires hollow themselves out, eventually turning the weapons of foreign domination back on to the impoverished and beaten down civilians at home. This is happening now. — Mark L. Taylor] By Julia Conley Common Dreams (8/2/19) Millions of Americans across the…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, Health Care August 5, 2019

Ex-Health Insurance Exec: Industry Is Using Same Old, Decades-Old Lies & Scare Tactics To Fight Medicare For All

Democracy Now! (8/2/19) The Democratic presidential candidates remain deeply divided on how to expand healthcare to the tens of millions of Americans who are uninsured or underinsured. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have both pushed for abolishing private health insurance and establishing a Medicare for All system. Their rivals have pushed a number of different, more incremental approaches. During the first night of the latest debates, Sanders pointed out that the country has taken sweeping action before to expand health coverage to millions of Americans, referring to the 50th anniversary of the creation of Medicare and Medicaid. We…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, Trumpenstan, Your Brain On Politics August 1, 2019

Trump’s Crude Words Are Cruel, Hateful – And Infectious. We Must Resist Calculated Hate

Language is a kind of virus, and history has shown many times that this virus can be lethal. By Francine Prose The Guardian (7/30/19) In the lead-up to the 2016 election, after Donald Trump referred to Mexican immigrants as “animals” and his supporters began chanting “Lock her up” about Hillary Clinton, it seemed as if a malevolent genie had been let out of a bottle. Now, almost three years later, it has become painfully clear just how cruel, powerful and destructive that hateful spirit is, and that the survival of our country, our culture – indeed of our humanity – may depend…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, Ron "RoJo" Johnson August 1, 2019

As Deficit Explodes, Ron Johnson & Ted Cruz Demand Even More Tax Cuts For The Super Wealthy

Ron Johnson joined 19 other GOP senators to urge Treasury to give the wealthy yet another massive tax cut via executive order. By Bess Levin Vanity Fair (7/29/19) A sitting U.S. president who can’t stop attacking black and brown people. A never-ending trade war that has necessitated more than one multibillion-dollar farm bailout. A humanitarian crisis on the border of his own state. These are just a handful of the many issues that Senator Ted Cruz could be focused on. Instead, he’s currently devoting his efforts to a much more important cause: demanding another tax cut for the rich, this time without Congress’s approval. In a letter sent to Steve Mnuchin on Monday, the…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE July 29, 2019

The Legalistic Veneer Of Fascism: Weaponizing National Belonging, From Nazi Germany To Trump

By Masha Gessen The New Yorker (7/21/19) This past week I found myself in Stuttgart, an industrial city in southwest Germany. As I usually do in a European city I haven’t visited before, I went to the local history museum to see how the story of the Second World War is presented. Stuttgart’s museum opened just last year, and its handling of the Nazi era is more circumspect than that of older German memorials. The period from 1933 to 1945 comprises a small set of displays, perhaps ten per cent of the entire exhibition. The tone is neutral. By turning…

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice, FEATURE, Health Care July 25, 2019

The American Corporate Wealth Care System Is A Needlessly Complicated, Colossal Mess … That Kills

Corporate Wealthcare In The United States 66.5 percent of all bankruptcies in the United States are linked to health care financial stress. 45,000 people die every year due to a lack of health insurance. In 2017, 3.9 million children were uninsured, up from 3.6 million in 2016. Life expectancy at birth in the U.S. fell by 0.1 years, to 78.6, in 2016, following a similar drop in 2015. This is the first time in 50 years that life expectancy has fallen for two years running. In 25 other developed countries, life expectancy in 2015 averaged 81.8 years. ***** “The American health…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, Media Hits & Misses, War State America July 22, 2019

‘Official Secrets’ — Movie About Courageous UK Intel Whistleblower Who Leaked Damning Memo

[Editor’s Note: The disastrous Iraq War rolled forward and was enabled by government deceit and malfeasance, bitter failure and active complicity of the British and American corporate media. In the midst of the craven battalions of government and corporate media a few brave souls stood out. Here’s the story of a courageous 27 year-old intelligence worker who stood for truth and principle. — Mark L. Taylor] Democracy Now! (7/19/19) In 2003, Katharine Gun, a young specialist working for Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters, exposed a highly confidential memo that revealed the United States’ collaboration with Britain in collecting sensitive information…

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice, FEATURE, Rethuglicans July 22, 2019

The Numbers Are In, Proving The Shady Trumpublican Tax Cut Was The Scam Critics Had Warned Of

This tax bill was constructed on a foundation of lies. By Marshall Auerback Independent Media Institute (7/16/19) The most commonly heard refrain when Donald Trump and the GOP were seeking to pass some version of corporate tax reform went something like this: There are literally trillions of dollars trapped in offshore dollar deposits which, because of America’s uncompetitive tax rates, cannot be brought back home. Cut the corporate tax rate and get those dollars repatriated, thereby unleashing a flood of new job-creating investment in the process. Or so the pitch went. Since the passage of the tax bill, the data show no…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, Police State America, Rethuglicans, Trumpenstan, War State America July 18, 2019

This Is How Genocide Begins: A Border Patrol Agent Reveals What It’s Really Like To Jail Migrant Children

“Somewhere down the line people just accepted what’s going on as normal. That includes the people responsible for fixing the problems.” By Ginger Thompson ProPublica (7/16/19) The Border Patrol agent, a veteran with 13 years on the job, had been assigned to the agency’s detention center in McAllen, Texas, for close to a month when the team of court-appointed lawyers and doctors showed up one day at the end of June. Taking in the squalor, the stench of unwashed bodies, and the poor health and vacant eyes of the hundreds of children held there, the group members appeared stunned. Then,…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, History They Don't Want You To Know, Media Hits & Misses, Resist! July 18, 2019

Famed CBS Journalist Edward R. Murrow Reminds Us Of What It Means To Be Americans: “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.”

“A Report On Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy” / “See It Now” on CBS – March 9, 1954. “Earlier the Senator asked, “Upon what meat does this, our Caesar, feed?” Had he looked three lines earlier in Shakespeare’s Caesar, he would have found this line, which is not altogether inappropriate: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” “No one familiar with the history of this country can deny that congressional committees are useful. It is necessary to investigate before legislating, but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one, and the junior senator from…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE July 15, 2019

Dem Rep. Adam Schiff Accused Of ‘Criminalizing Routine Reporting,’ Groups Call For Stripping CIA-Backed Provision From Intelligence Legislation

“Schiff is clearly the resistance to the resistance, and he should drop this provision from his bill.” By Eoin Higgins Common Dreams (7/11/190 A CIA-backed provision for a bill that could have dire effects on the freedom of the press is quietly making its way through Congress, despite the protestations of civil rights groups to Rep. Adam Schiff, the powerful California Democrat who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, to strip the rule. “Adam Schiff is once again putting the interests of the intelligence agencies in concealing their misdeeds ahead of protecting the rights of ordinary Americans,” said Daniel Schuman, policy director…

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice, FEATURE, One Percenters July 15, 2019

The Creepy Epstein Scandal Reveals The Deep Bipartisan Rot Of The Nation’s Supposed ‘Elites’

By Frank Rich New York Magazine (7/12/19) In the wake of Jeffrey Epstein’s indictment in New York, a number of powerful people formerly in Epstein’s orbit — Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, Bill Clinton, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, and Donald Trump — have been scrambling in the face of renewed scrutiny. What will Acosta’s exit and the new Epstein prosecution shake up, and what might they not be able to change? Perhaps at long last a serial rapist and pedophile may be brought to justice, more than a dozen years after he was first charged with crimes that have brutalized countless girls and women. But…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats, FEATURE, History They Don't Want You To Know, M. Taylor Columns, One Percenters July 11, 2019

Bill Clinton Is Lying About Scandal … Again. But This Time Things Could Be Far More Serious

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” — President Bill Clinton (1/26/98) By Mark L. Taylor The Commoner Call (7/11/19) While George W. Bush got tangled in its subtle logical intricacies, there is a folksy bit of advice citizens need to keep handy when dealing with politicians of all skunky stripes and varieties: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.” Present White House occupier aside, there is no politician where this is more true than Bill Clinton. Anyone conscious at the time can recall Clinton’s brash, self-righteous presentation when he sternly declared to…

ALL ARTICLES, American Socialist Tradition, Democrats, FEATURE, Rethuglicans July 11, 2019

Eugene Debs: “I am suspicious of leaders…”

“I am suspicious of leaders, and especially of the intellectual variety. Give me the rank and file every day in the week. “If you go to the city of Washington, and you examine the pages of the Congressional Directory, you will find that almost all of those corporation lawyers and cowardly politicians, members of Congress, and misrepresentatives of the masses — you will find that almost all of them claim, in glowing terms, that they have risen from the ranks to places of eminence and distinction. “I am very glad I cannot make that claim for myself. I would be…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, Police State America July 8, 2019

“Welcome back to the USA” — Though I’m A Journalist I Didn’t Fully Realize The Abusive Power Of U.S. Border Officials Until They Trounced On My Rights & Privacy

“Regardless of whether you have embarrassing information on your device, it’s about personal autonomy and living in a free society and not a police state.” By Seth Harp The Intercept (6/22/19) I SHOULD HAVE kept my mouth shut about the guacamole; that made things worse for me. Otherwise, what I’m about to describe could happen to any American who travels internationally. It happened 33,295 times last year. My work as a journalist has taken me to many foreign countries, including frequent trips to Mexico. On May 13, I was returning to the U.S. from Mexico City when, passing through immigration at…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, Resist! July 8, 2019

Interviews With Madison Native & Liberation Theologian Matthew Fox, Target Of Corrupt Papal Forces

By Mark L. Taylor The Commoner Call (7/8/19) Below are six interviews conducted by Paul Jay for Reality Asserts Itself on the Real News Network of Madison native and liberation theologian Matthew Fox. When Fox and other courageous priests continued preaching the liberation theology of justice for the poor in Central America he was kicked out of the church by the the fascist supporting Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the future Pope Benedict XVI. While targeting priests advocating for the poor, Ratzinger was one of the key…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, Good News July 1, 2019

WDRT Conversations: In A Violent, Lost Culture Rites Of Passage Are A Path To Healing

WDRT (6/29/19) Commoner Call columnist WDRT community radio host Dan Peak interviews Dr. Thomas Balistrieri on the significance of rites of passage for human beings, and how we can re-integrate them into our lives. WDRT is a non-commercial, community-supported radio station located in Viroqua, Wisconsin. Link to 58-Minute Audio ***** Pilot Edition Of Locally-Produced News Show: The Monthly Review WDRT (6/29/19) Check out the pilot edition of WDRT’s new program, The Monthly Review. Hosts Dan Peak and Mark Taylor take a critical look at the news of the last month. Both hosts collaborate on the twice-weekly news site, The Commoner Call….

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE June 27, 2019

Here’s A List Of Organizations Mobilizing To Help The Influx Of Immigrants Crossing The Texas-Mexico Border

By Alex Samuels Texas Tribune (6/18/19) Government agencies are grappling to respond to the number of immigrants coming into the country. Many tax-funded shelters housing immigrants are overcrowded, and there are reports some have substandard living conditions. We’ve compiled a list of organizations that are mobilizing to help. … Read the Rest (Commoner Call cartoon by Mark L. Taylor, 2019. Open source and free for non-derivative use with link to www.thecommonercall.org ) ***** Kids In Need Of Defense KIND’s Family Separation Response Team is addressing the profound crisis caused by the Trump Administration taking children away from their parents upon…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, Health Care June 27, 2019

$11 For Any Prescription? What Corporate U.S. Health Care Could Learn From Germany

On Point / WBUR (6/24/19) Germany has a private health care system like the U.S., but even the sickest patients rarely pay more than $11 for a prescription. How? Guests: Noam Levey, writes about national health care policy out of Washington, D.C., for the Los Angeles Times. (@NoamLevey) Leigh Purvis, director of health services research at the AARP Public Policy Institute. (@leighdrugwonk) Link to 40-Minute Audio ***** German Patients Get The Latest Drugs For Just $11. Can Such A Model Work In The U.S.? By Norm Levey The Los Angeles Times (6/19/19) Patients who come to the Havelhöhe cancer…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, Police State America, Trumpenstan, War State America June 24, 2019

Concentrate Real Hard On This, America: Here Is Why They Are Called ‘Concentration Camps’

MSNBC news host Lawrence O’Donnell does an excellent job of running down the shameful history of concentration camps in the United States, supposed home of the free. Link to 5-Minute Video (Commoner Call illustration by Mark L. Taylor, 2019. Open source and free for non-derivative use with link to www.thecommonercall.org ) ***** How Trump Administration’s Border Camps Fit Right Into The History Of Concentration Camps When it comes to this kind of detention, even when a government isn’t plotting a genocide, shocking numbers of people can still end up hurt—or dead. By Andrea Pitzer GQ (6/18/19) In February 2018, U.S….

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice, FEATURE, One Percenters June 17, 2019

Crime Report: Analysis Shows Top 1% Gained $21 Trillion In Wealth Since 1989 While Bottom 50% Of Us Lost $900 Billion

“The top one percent owns nearly $30 trillion of assets while the bottom half owns less than nothing.” By Jake Johnson Common Dreams (6/14/19) Adding to the mountain of statistical evidence showing the severity of U.S. inequality, an analysis published Friday found that the top one percent of Americans gained $21 trillion in wealth since 1989 while the bottom 50 percent lost $900 billion. Matt Bruenig, founder of the left-wing think tank People’s Policy Project, broke down the Federal Reserve’s newly released “Distributive Financial Accounts” data series and found that, overall, “the top one percent owns nearly $30 trillion of assets while the bottom…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats, Economic Injustice, FEATURE, History They Don't Want You To Know, M. Taylor Columns, One Percenters, Rethuglicans June 13, 2019

The Price Of Money: Political & Moral Defeat

“The Democrats have no power to change the system. Yet. So if they want to stay in the game and be competitive they’re going to have to match the Republican’s fundraising juggernaut, otherwise Trump will out-organize, out-advertise and flat out bury us in 2020.” — Facebook post (6/6/19) By Mark L. Taylor The Commoner Call (6/13/19) So let’s take a look at that siren call of money… Two figures to consider from the 2016 presidential race: $1.2 billion and $217.5 million. The first is the amount of money raised by Hillary Clinton. The second is the amount of money raised…

ALL ARTICLES, American Socialist Tradition, FEATURE June 13, 2019

Watch Bernie Sanders Deliver Speech On Why Democratic Socialism ‘Only Way to Defeat Oligarchy and Authoritarianism’

By Jake Johnson Common Dreams (6/12/19) In a speech at George Washington University on Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders laid out his vision of a democratic socialist society and made the case for why an ambitious agenda centered on economic rights for all is the only way to confront America’s deep inequities and defeat far-right authoritarianism. “We must recognize that in the 21st century, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, economic rights are human rights,” said Sanders, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. “And that is what I mean by democratic socialism.” Decrying an economic system that…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE June 10, 2019

Measure Of Public Mood Is ‘Most Liberal Ever Recorded,’ Political Scientist Says

By Matt Shuham Talking Points Memo (6/6/19) The U.S. public’s vision for the government’s size and scope is “the most liberal ever recorded” in the 68-year history of what’s known as the Public Policy Mood estimate, the estimate’s creator James Stimson announced Wednesday. “The annual estimate for 2018 is the most liberal ever recorded in the 68 year history of Mood, just slightly higher than the previous high point of 1961,” Stimson wrote to POLMETH, the mailing list of the Society for Political Methodology and the Political Methodology section of the American Political Science Association. Stimson is a recently retired professor of political science at the…

ALL ARTICLES, American Socialist Tradition, Economic Injustice, FEATURE, Good News, Resist! May 30, 2019

‘Let’s Expand Employee Ownership’ — Bernie Sanders Backs Plan To Give Workers Power Over Corporate Decisions

“Employee-owned companies will not provide starvation wages to workers and huge compensation packages to CEOs. They will not allow for unsafe working conditions.” By Jake Johnson Common Dreams (5/28/19) Decrying an economic status quo that “produces huge CEO bonuses while millions are paid starvation wages,” Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday backed a pair of policies aimed at reducing soaring inequality by giving workers more power over corporate decision-making. According to the Washington Post‘s Jeff Stein—who first reported on Sanders’s plans—the Vermont senator is developing a proposal that would force large companies to “regularly contribute a portion of their stocks to a fund controlled…

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice, FEATURE, History They Don't Want You To Know May 30, 2019

SUCKERED! Study Proves Trump Tax Cuts Led To Virtually No Wage Growth & More Proof They Were ‘Designed To Put A Big Windfall In Oligarch Pockets’

“It’s done nothing to raise wages and flown right into corporate execs’ pockets.” By Jake Johnson Common Dreams (5/29/19) Despite lofty promises from President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, the $1.5 trillion in tax cuts that went into effect last year have done little—if anything—to raise workers’ wages, boost economic growth, or spur business investment. That’s according to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), which appeared to vindicate warnings from progressive critics that the GOP tax cuts were little more than a scam designed to put more money in the pockets of wealthy Americans. In its 23-page report (pdf), the independent…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE May 27, 2019

Why Did Deutsche Bank Keep Lending Billions To Donald Trump, Even After He Stiffed Them?

Like Trump, Deutsche Bank has been scrutinized for its dealings in Russia. ProPublica / WNYC (5/22/19) Whispers of money laundering have swirled around Donald Trump’s businesses for years. One of his casinos, for example, was fined $10 million for not trying hard enough to prevent such machinations. Investors with shady financial histories sometimes popped up in his foreign ventures. And on Sunday, The New York Times reported that anti-money-laundering specialists at Deutsche Bank internally flagged multiple transactions by Trump companies as suspicious. (A spokesperson for the Trump Organization called the article “absolute nonsense.”) The remarkably troubled recent history of Deutsche Bank,…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, History They Don't Want You To Know, War State America May 27, 2019

Author Annie Jacobsen: Inside The CIA’s World Of Secret Wars In Our Name

No longer interested in peace. Preparing for the next war. [Editor’s Note: This is an essential interview for all American citizens to watch, to learn what is being done in our name and how the architecture for corporate forever wars is being welded into place. A sobering account of national insecurity. — Mark L. Taylor] Commonwealth Club (5/22/19) Annie Jacobsen is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and investigative journalist whose work revolves around government secrets. She has published books on a range of topics, including what really goes on inside Area 51; Operation Paperclip, which brought Nazi scientists to America; and…

ALL ARTICLES, American Socialist Tradition, FEATURE May 20, 2019

Author Bhaskar Sunkara Answers The Question: Why Socialism?

Real News Network (5/17/19) Most people know capitalism is unjust. Jacobin founder Bhaskar Sunkara says he wrote The Socialist Manifesto to lay out an alternative. Link to 13-Minute Video ***** Part 2: What Would US Socialism Look Like? Real News Network (5/17/19) Bhaskar Sunkara, founder of Jacobin and author of The Socialist Manifesto, explains what socialism could actually look like in the United States. Link to 16-Minute Video

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice, FEATURE May 16, 2019

The Republican Tax Lie: While Reaping $21 Billion Windfall From Trump Tax Cuts, AT&T Hiked Executive Pay While Slashing 23,000 Jobs

Members of the Communications Workers of America demonstrate outside of an AT&T building. (Photo: Communications Workers of America) By Jake Johnson Common Dreams (5/14/19) AT&T promised to create thousands of new jobs as President Donald Trump’s tax legislation moved through Congress in 2017—but the telecom giant has done precisely the opposite since the bill became law, while raking in over $20 billion in extra profits. That’s according to an analysis published Monday by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which found that AT&T has slashed 23,328 jobs since Congress passed Trump’s tax bill in 2017, including nearly 6,000 in the first quarter of 2019…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE May 13, 2019

Southwest Wisconsin Towns Stripped Of Say-So In Installation Of Cell Phone Towers

Cell tower just off Hwy. 35 between Viroqua and Westby, in Vernon County. [Editor’s Note: The full story details the devastating impact cell towers have on the property values of adjacent land owners. — Mark L. Taylor] By Gillian Pomplin Crawford County Independent (5/10/19) SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN – Local residents in Vernon and Richland counties are asking some hard questions about the company Bug Tussel’s plans to install dozens of cell phone towers in the two counties in 2019. Residents in the Richland County, Town of Bloom, near West Lima, say that through Vernon Telephone Cooperative they already have great, affordable, internet…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE May 13, 2019

Joe Biden Is A Retread Of Hillary Clinton Of 2020 – And It Won’t End Well This Time Either

His is the vaguest and most centrist of battle cries: let’s go back to, you know, “all those good things”. By Arwa Mahdawi The Guardian (4/26/19) Joe Biden wants to make America straight again. “America’s coming back like we used to be,” the former vice-president told reporters in Delaware on Thursday, shortly after he released a video officially announcing his 2020 campaign. “Ethical, straight, telling the truth … All those good things.” It was unfortunate phrasing, but what else would you expect from a man whose foot always seems to be hovering somewhere near his mouth? Gaffes are part of Biden’s brand and,…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, History They Don't Want You To Know, Screwing With Your Vote May 9, 2019

Outside The Law: American Election System In Hands Of Secretive Corporations

Weak state or federal guidance leaves many cybersecurity companies doing whatever they want. The Guardian (4/23/19) Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin is a newcomer to the cause of reforming America’s vote-counting machines, welcomed through baptism by fire. In 2015, Maryland’s main election system vendor was bought by a parent company with ties to a Russian oligarch. The state’s election officials did not know about the purchase until July 2018, when the FBI notified them of the potential conflict. The FBI investigated and did not find any evidence of tampering or sharing of voter data. But the incident was a giant red flag as to the…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats, FEATURE April 25, 2019

Just Who Is Mayor Pete Buttigieg?

***** Neoliberal Buttigieg Is The Democrats’ Flavor Of The Month. Just Don’t Ask What He Stands For He’s a classic “empty suit”, a package without contents. He stands for nothing except his own advancement. By Nathan Robinson The Guardian (4/16/19) For being the mayor of the fourth-largest city in Indiana, Pete Buttigieg has been shockingly successful in carving out a national political profile. Buttigieg has only just formally announced that he is running for president, but already he is placing near the top of some polls, and being given cover stories in national magazines, touted as a “wonder boy” and the “Democrats’ heartland hope”….

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE April 23, 2019

Thank The GOP Tax Scam For This: Amazon — And 56 Other Corporations On The Dole — Swiped Your Tax Dollars

They claim to hate socialism if it means Medicare for All, but they sure as hell love socialism when it’s welfare for them. By Leo Gerard Common Dreams (4/19/19) Yeah, yeah, yeah, Bernie Sanders, castigator of the one percent, is a millionaire now. So are Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren. Big whoop. There’s a crucial difference between these candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination and the super wealthy – particularly 60 gigantic, massively profitable U.S. corporations. The candidates faithfully pay federal taxes. The corporations don’t. That’s right. Sixty profitable corporations paid no federal taxes in 2018, twice the number that typically paid…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, Trumpenstan April 22, 2019

Inciting Hatred Is Trump’s 2020 Game Plan

By John Nichols The Nation (4/19/19) Donald Trump is not an electoral mastermind. He is something far more dangerous: a persistent political grifter who is desperately, shamelessly determined to maintain his grip on the presidency that he assumed after losing the 2016 popular vote by almost 3 million ballots. Trump’s desperation will intensify as the 2020 election approaches. He will turn with increasing frequency to the playbook of racism and xenophobia that he has employed from the moment four years ago when he crept from reality TV onto the Republican debate stage. Trump confirmed his intentions in mid-April, when he began…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, War State America April 22, 2019

War Dept. Spending Set To Hit Near-Record Levels, While ‘Establishment Says We Can’t Afford’ Programs To Help Citizens

“Very few in Congress are questioning how the U.S. can afford to spend $7.5 trillion on the military.” By Jake Johnson Common Dreams (4/19/19) Pentagon spending is on track to grow significantly for the fifth consecutive year, but “very few in Congress are questioning” how the U.S. can afford it. That’s according to the Washington Post‘s Jeff Stein and Aaron Gregg, who reported Thursday that “the United States is expected to spend more on its military in 2020 than at any point since World War II, except for a handful of years at the height of the Iraq War.” In his 2020 budget…

ALL ARTICLES, Climate Change, FEATURE April 22, 2019

Alarm Grows As Study Shows How Microplastics Are Blown To Even The Most Remote Areas Of The Globe

By Damian Carrington The Guardian (4/15/19) Microplastic is raining down on even remote mountaintops, a new study has revealed, with winds having the capacity to carry the pollution “anywhere and everywhere”. The scientists were astounded by the quantities of microplastic falling from the sky in a supposedly pristine place such as the French stretch of the Pyrenees mountains. Researchers are now finding microplastics everywhere they look; in rivers, the deepest oceans and soils around the world. Other recent studies have found microplastics in farmland soils near Shanghai, China, in the Galápagos Islands, a Unesco world heritage site, and in rivers in the Czech Republic. Humans and other…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, History They Don't Want You To Know April 22, 2019

History They Really Don’t Want You To Know: Gore Vidal Gives A Powerful Run-Down On The Origin Of The National Security State

The United States of Amnesia. Gore Vidal speaks to the National Press Club on March 18, 1998 on the evolution of the brutal American National Security State. It is significant that Wikileaks Julian Assange was clutching a copy of “History Of The National Security State”, a collection of interviews with journalist Paul Jay of the Real News network, as he was roughly hauled out of the Ecudoran embassy in London by a squad of police. He was as insightful — humorous — and as he was prescient. Link to 47-Minute Video