After 75 years enshrined as one of the backbones of federal worker protection laws, Republicans in Congress want to eliminate overtime pay regulations in favor of extra time off under the guise of “flexibility.” Republicans have tried to fundamentally change the way workers that out extra time on the clock are treated for nearly two [...]
(SOMEBODY’S) “WAR GAMES” BEGIN IN SYRIA—BUT WHOSE GAMES AND TO WHAT PURPOSE? These are questions without definitive answsers as devastating air strikes hit targets near Damascus. Syrian officials, noting that only Israeli forces would have the firepower in the area to deliver such blows, accuse Israel of perpetrating them, though Israel officially denies this. [...]
NEW YORK TIMES TAKES ITS LITTLE HATCHET TO A RACIAL DISCRIMINATION SUIT BY BLACK FARMERS. An article in the Times derogates a class action lawsuit against the USDA claiming what is a long-known fact, that this agency has conspired with local white racists to administer farm loans in a way to restrict opportunities for [...]
PUBLIC REACTIONS TO BOSTON BOMBING: SELECTIVE SYMPATHY AND IRRATIONAL FEAR. While a definitive “who did it?” narrative has yet to emerge, preliminary reactions show an all-too-familiar pattern, according to Glenn Greenwald. There is the typical quick assumption of a “Muslim” involvement that puts U.S. Muslims everywhere at fear of retaliation, and makes “heightened security” [...]
“PROPAGANDA ALWAYS WINS…IF YOU ALLOW IT.” British investigative journalist John Pilger quotes Leni Riefenstahl, whose World War II era movies helped smooth the way in public opinion for the rise of Hitler. She credits a form of “liberal fascism” of that time that succumbed to her form of propaganda. Just so, the main stream [...]
WHY DOES BARACK OBAMA HATE FDR? Despite facing slurs of “socialist” and “leftist” from his conservative opponents, President Obama is beginning to irritate fellow Democrats by seemingly turning against the party’s roots. In the same budget that guts Social Security, the centerpiece of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, the president has proposed privatizing the Tennessee Valley [...]
SENATE DEAL ON BACKGROUND CHECKS DOES NOTHING TO CLOSE GUN SALE LOOPHOLE. In a sign of hoe fractured the national political landscape has become on even the most widely supported of issues, cheers went up from gun control advocates after the Senate merely allowed debate on a bipartisan bill that would expand federal background [...]
THE FACTS BE DAMNED, THE U.S. AND ISRAEL MAINTAIN THAT IRAN IS A MAJOR THREAT TO DEVELOP NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES. Numerous independent reports and even one by the U.S. Intelligence Agency have established that Iran is nowhere near a “red line” of nuclear development that could represent any kind of serious threat to other nations. [...]
Skeletal remains of the system of federal laws that regulate political contributions could be further weakened in another landmark case three years after the historic Citizens United decision opened the gateway for record election spending and unprecedented secrecy for wealthy donors. The Supreme Court agreed last month to hear a case that challenges federal limits on [...]
IS AMERICA DEALING WITH THE NEEDS OF ITS GROWING HOMELESS POPULATION? NOT EVEN CLOSE, SAYS DIANE NILAN. Ever since the War on Poverty became the War on the Poor and the federal government opened its boondoggling agenda of “10 year plans” to “eradicate” homelessness, most U.S. communities have managed to ignore the immediate needs [...]
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