Gas. Pants. Press.

The Rich: Should We Kill and Eat Them?

Seeded on Fri Sep 24, 2010 9:49 AM EDT (A Tiny Revolution)

In the past, I have opposed killing and eating the rich. This is because on any kind of rational world scale, I am part of the rich. More recently, however, I've been on the fence. In fact, just one thing keeps me from endorsing this wholeheartedly.

bolivia, politics, evo-morales, plutocracy, ben-stein, oligarchy, the-rich, plutocrats, the-ruling-class, the-elite

Queen Tried to Use State Poverty Fund to Heat Buckingham Palace: Documents

Seeded on Fri Sep 24, 2010 6:56 AM EDT (Independent.co.uk)

Documents disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the Queen asked ministers for a poverty handout to help heat her palaces

england, queen-elizabeth-ii, buckingham-palace, world-news, uk, royalty, aristocracy, windsor-castle, elite, great-brtiain

NY Billionaires Fortunes Grew Under Obama as Top Billionaire Koch Funded Tea Party

Seeded on Thu Sep 23, 2010 7:29 AM EDT (NY Daily News)

Mayor Bloomberg has been supplanted as New York's richest man - by a reputed Tea Party bankroller.

nyc, obama, michael-bloomberg, us-news, forbes, billionaires, plutocracy, tea-party, david-koch

Homeland Security Official 'Goes into Hiding' after Being Proven Deceptive on Activist Spying

Seeded on Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:44 AM EDT (Raw Story)

The head of Pennsylvania's Office of Homeland Security said last week that his office was not involved in the tracking of peaceful political activists and has reportedly "gone into hiding" now that his statement has been contradicted.

israel, pennsylvania, mossad, privatization, special-operations, us-news, aclu, dhs, philadelphia-inquirer, veterans-for-peace

Major Insurers to Drop Child Policies Ahead of Coverage Mandate

Seeded on Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:06 AM EDT (Raw Story)

Just days away from the implementation of new rules that will prevent insurers from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, numerous major insurers have opted to end the sale of child-only policies.

health-care, health-insurance, aetna-inc, us-news, corporatocracy, americas-health-insurance-plans, health-care-for-america-now, anthem-blue-cross, privatized-health, cigna-inc

Israeli Company Hired by State Government to Spy on Pennsylvanians and Other Americans

Seeded on Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:20 AM EDT (Common Dreams)

The surprise disclosure that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, through its state Homeland Security Agency, along with a number of local police departments in the state, have been employing a private Israeli security company with strong links to Mossad and the Israeli Defense Forc …

israel, pennsylvania, mossad, privatization, us-news, aclu, dhs, philadelphia-inquirer, veterans-for-peace, tom-ridge

Biotech spokesman: 'Extra labeling only confuses the consumer'

Seeded on Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:00 AM EDT (Raw Story)

'Extra labeling only confuses the consumer,' biotech spokesman says.

fda, monsanto, biotech, us-news, profit, gmo, food-and-drug-administration, corporatocracy, dennis-kucinich, frankenfoods

Lawyer Makes Case that the Pope Should Face Charges for Harbouring Pedophiles

Seeded on Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:59 AM EDT (MaCleans)

But Pope in the Dock? Literally? Perhaps not in our lifetimes, as British lawyer Geoffrey Robertson concedes in The Case of the Pope: Vatican Accountability for Human Rights Abuse, a book set to appear just one week before Benedict XVI makes the first-ever papal state visit to Br …

john-paul-ii, pope, roman-catholic, international-criminal-court, world-news, pedophilia, joseph-ratzinger, benedict-xvi, child-sexual-abuse, geoffrey-robertson

Nader: Doomsday for Democrats?

Seeded on Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:25 AM EDT (CounterPunch.org)

The Democratic Party's problems are much deeper than the Sunday talk shows indicate. First the Democrats do not have a progressive political philosophy.

elections, economy, democrats, politics, gop, republicans, ralph-nader, franklin-delano-roosevelt, tea-party

Untangling the Bizarre CIA, Military & Fox News Links to the Ground Zero Mosque

Seeded on Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:23 PM EDT (The New York Observer)

So far, the debate over the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero has unfolded along predictable lines, with the man at the center of the project, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, drawing attacks from the right painting him as a terrorist sympathizer with ties to Hamas and the Muslim B …

cia, pentagon, politics, wachovia, george-w-bush, fox-news, us-news, 911, glenn-beck, james-pavitt

June Sets Army Suicides Record

Seeded on Fri Jul 16, 2010 11:13 AM EDT (USA Today)

Soldiers killed themselves at the rate of one per day in June making it the worst month on record for Army suicides, the service said Thursday.

iraq, army, afghanistan, suicide, pentagon, war, national-guard, us-army, us-news, us-military

Free and Easy? One Man's Experiment in Living without Money

Seeded on Fri May 21, 2010 10:30 AM EDT (CNN)

For most of us it seems that money makes the world go round. But not for Mark Boyle, who has turned his life into a radical experiment and pledged to live without cash, credit cards, loans or any other form of finance.

money, community, economics, DIY, world-news, capitalism, consumerism, freecycle, gandhi, barter

Secretive EU Studies Further Question 'Green' Credentials of Biofuels (and of the EU)

Seeded on Thu Apr 22, 2010 8:41 AM EDT (Reuters)

Biofuels were once seen as the perfect way to make transport carbon-free, but a series of EU studies are throwing increasing doubt on the green credentials of the alternative fuel.

eu, europe, climate, climate-change, european-union, world-news, biodiesel, biofuel, bioethanol, biofuels

Danger! Danger! Memory Hole Efficiency Falls to 99.98%!

Seeded on Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:18 PM EDT (A Tiny Revolution)

I'm afraid I have some very bad news...

media, sec, fraud, hedge-funds, goldman-sachs, alan-greenspan, us-news, capitalism, revolving-door, cody-willard

Goldman Sachs Hires ex-Obama White House Counsel

Seeded on Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:08 PM EDT (Politico)

Goldman Sachs is launching an aggressive response to its political and legal challenges with an unlikely ally at its side — President Barack Obama's former White House counsel, Gregory Craig.

sec, wall-street, democrats, politics, goldman-sachs, barack-obama, capitalism, plutocracy, corporatism, revolving-door

Did you think Marja was a "City" of 80,000 Afghans too? US Military Misinformation and Media Failure on a Grand Scale

Seeded on Tue Mar 9, 2010 9:31 AM EST ( IPS Inter Press Service)

For weeks, the U.S. public followed the biggest offensive of the Afghanistan War against what it was told was a "city of 80,000 people" as well as the logistical hub of the Taliban in that part of Helmand.

afghanistan, ap, reuters, taliban, drugs, war, new-york-times, washington-post, cnn, us-marines

Bolivia, Our Beacon of Hope: Guardian

Seeded on Mon Mar 8, 2010 2:05 PM EST (Guardian Unlimited)

There's a game I've been playing recently. Any time I read the news and get depressed about the parlous state of our world, I type "Bolivia" into Google news and wait for the results. It's really all you need to brighten up your day.

bolivia, democracy, latin-america, evo-morales, world-news, cochabamba, social-democracy, matt-kennard, movimiento-al-socalismo

Pulitzer Prize-winning Reporter Says Capitalism is Destroying Life on Earth

Seeded on Sat Mar 6, 2010 11:24 AM EST (Raw Story)

Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times reporter, told Michael Moore that Capitalism is extinguishing the system that sustains life on Earth.

un, politics, citigroup, economics, new-york-times, capitalism, michael-moore, free-market, chris-hedges, supply-side

346 Afghan Children Killed in 2009, More Than Half by NATO

Seeded on Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:39 AM EST (The Earth Times Online)

The United Nations said Wednesday that 346 children were killed in Afghanistan last year, more than half of them by NATO forces, mostly in airstrikes.

afghanistan, taliban, children, nato, war, united-nations, world-news, stanley-mcchrystal, radhika-coomaraswamy

Blackwater Official Allegedly Threatened to Kill Protester at Senate Hearing

Seeded on Thu Feb 25, 2010 7:55 AM EST (Raw Story)

A Code Pink protester claimed a high-ranking Blackwater official threatened his life during a break of a Senate Armed Services hearing focused on the military contractor's actions in Afghanistan.

afghanistan, pentagon, politics, war, privatization, outsourcing, us-news, senate-armed-services-committee, xe, mercenary

Robert Gates Explains to Europe that Peace is a Threat to Peace

Seeded on Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:53 AM EST (The New York Times)

"The demilitarization of Europe — where large swaths of the general public and political class are averse to military force and the risks that go with it — has gone from a blessing in the 20th century to an impediment to achieving real security and lasting peace in the 21st …

iraq, afghanistan, netherlands, europe, pentagon, peace, nato, war, united-states, european-union

City to Charge Residents $300 to Call 911

Seeded on Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:55 AM EST (CBS 13)

But there are a couple of options. Residents can pay a $48 voluntary fee for the year which allows them to call 9-1-1 as many times as necessary. Or, there's the option of not signing up for the annual fee. Instead, they will be charged $300 if they make a call for help.

budget, california, us-news, insanity, 911, economic-crisis, austerity, structural-adjustment, economic-apartheid

US Army Kills Your Child, You Get $1,500-$2,500; Destroys Your Car, $500-$2,500

Seeded on Sun Feb 21, 2010 10:32 AM EST (TheState.com)

U.S. Army units fighting the Taliban in Helmand province have a compensation system for any death, injury or damage to crops and buildings caused by American forces to Afghan civilians and their property. The American units carry a list that gives guidance on payouts:

afghanistan, nato, war, world-news, helmand, u-s-army

US Ships Arms but Blocks Humanitarian Aid to Somalia

Seeded on Thu Feb 18, 2010 7:48 AM EST (AntiWar.com)

UN officials today issued their most public condemnation yet of US policy on Somalia, noting that the US government is preventing millions of dollars worth of humanitarian aid, including food aid, from reaching the Somali people.

somalia, arms, weapons, united-states, united-nations, state-department, world-food-program, world-news, humanitarian-aid, hillary-clinton