Plutocracy

AJ+ | — “The British twitterati is in a tizzy over a brawl between Russell Brand and Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun. The “manarchist” comedian has been accused of hypocrisy for championing housing rights and decrying tax-evading gentrifiers all while paying rent to a tax-dodging landlord. Find out who’s winning here.” AJ+: “Russell Brand Vs. Murdoch’s […]

Coal

Solar Power in US doubles in 2014, Wind now 4% of Energy Mix

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | — Compared to Germany and Spain, the United States is woefully backward in its development of wind, solar and other renewable sources of energy for electricity generation. But there is some good news on this front, as CleanTech notes. Utility-scale solar power generation in the United States doubled in the past […]

Democratic Party

The Beltway Beast: How two Tribes in D.C. are Destroying the Middle Class

contributors

By Munir Moon The area inside the Beltway consists of Washington, D.C., and surrounding counties, and what I call the Beast includes defense contractors, lobbyists, Wall Street, think tanks, advocacy groups, journalists, foreign agents, and everyone else who wants something from our government. All of these congregate in the Beltway and are actively engaged in […]

Economy

How Public Power can get Big Money out of Politics & Defeat Plutocrats

contributors

Bill Moyers | — Bill Moyers: “How Public Power Can Defeat Plutocrats” via BillMoyers.com “Government has become a clearinghouse for corporations and plutocrats with deep pockets to buy the politicians who grease the wheels for lucrative contracts and easy regulation. It’s all pay for play, and look the other way. According to the watchdog Sunlight […]

Economy

Child Homelessness rising in US — Red States wonder why they’re the Worst

contributors

ABC 15, AZ | — “Arizona ranks as one of the worst states for homeless children.” ABC 15 Arizona: “Increase in homeless children in the US”

Economy

U2’s Bono on ‘Band Aid 30’: Ebola is a ‘political failure’

contributors

Channel 4 News | — “The spread of Ebola is “not a medical failure” – U2 lead singer Bono tells Channel 4 News political leaders “need to keep their promises”.” Bono on Band Aid 30: Ebola is a ‘political failure’ | Channel 4 News

Bush

ISIL Grew out of Bush’s Destruction of Iraq’s Socialist Economy

contributors

By Noah Bassil via The Conversation To explain the disaster befalling Iraq, as well as the rise of Islamic State (IS), you have to go back a century – before modern Iraq even existed. That’s not to discount the shared culpability of Iraq’s numerous leaders, from King Faisal I to Saddam Hussein and Nuri al-Maliki, […]

Inequality

How Secret Millionaire Donors Bought the Midterms with Dark Money Superpacs

contributors

by Theodoric Meyer, ProPublica In the final weeks before this year’s elections, a super PAC called Key Questions, Key Answers started buying TV ads across Pennsylvania attacking Tom Wolf, the Democratic candidate for governor. “Don’t vote for a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” the narrator says in one of the ads as a sheep with Wolf’s […]

Democracy

Bernie Sanders on Breaking Big Money’s Grip on Elections (Moyers)

contributors

Bill Moyers: “Bernie Sanders, Vermont’s independent senator, is angry about what he sees as big money’s wholesale purchase of political power. It’s a grave threat, he believes, not only to our electoral process but to democracy itself. Two weeks ago, Sanders visited a town hall meeting in Richmond, California, to fire up supporters of Mayor […]