April 2011
35 posts
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WatchRachel Maddow on what is going on in Michigan with the EFM.
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Capitalism is failing the middle class →
“This conclusion is a very big deal – Spence is telling us that global capitalism is working the way it should, but that the American middle class is losing out anyway. Since global capitalism is the best way we’ve come up with so far to run our economy, that creates quite a dilemma”
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Need versus greed - Opinion - Al Jazeera English →
“India’s great moral leader Mohandas Gandhi famously said that there is enough on Earth for everybody’s need, but not enough for everybody’s greed. Today, Gandhi’s insight is being put to the test as never before. “
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FDR Said It All in 1936 -- Who Will Follow in His... →
“We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace—business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.
They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.”
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Welcome to the era of 'extreme energy' →
Celina Harpe was 7 when her grandfather made a prediction that would forever change her life.
“I won’t see it, I’m too old now, but it’s going to be really bad,” she recalls him saying on a warm summer night after returning from a moose hunt. The two were standing on a hill that overlooks the birch-and-spruce-lined river here in far northwest Canada.
“You...
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The People's Budget →
“It would close the budget deficit by raising tax rates on the rich and giant corporations, while also curbing military spending and wrestling health care costs under control, partly by introducing a public option. By raising tax revenues to 22.3 percent of GDP by 2021, the People’s Budget closes the budget deficit while protecting the poor and promoting needed investments in...
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Chapter 2.1
Previously 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4
Song: The Resist Stance – Bad Religion
Snow began to fall, coming down bigger and harder with every mile as the young men headed east. As they approached St. Ignace, a large flashing sign indicated the bridge was closed.
“I guess we have to stop for the night,” said Oliver pulling into the nearest hotel chain and got a room.
“It’s early, let’s hit the bar,”...
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“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the...”
– Friedrich Nietzsche
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“Men who don’t like girls with brains don’t like girls.”
– Mignon McLaughlin
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Climate Change: Doing Nothing Will Cost More Than... →
“We are seeing a change in our climate. You’re seeing more devastating and frequent storms. You’re seeing more droughts, you’re seeing more floods,” Whitman said. “Overall you’re seeing changes in weather patterns, and if there’s anything we can do to help slow that down, we’ll be better off.”
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WatchMore about Benton Harbor, MI.
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WatchWasn’t there something about no taxation without representation?
More here: http://www.politicususa.com/en/benton-harbor
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Let’s Not Be Civil →
Last week, President Obama offered a spirited defense of his party’s values — in effect, of the legacy of the New Deal and the Great Society. Immediately thereafter, as always happens when Democrats take a stand, the civility police came out in force. The president, we were told, was being too partisan; he needs to treat his opponents with respect; he should have lunch with them, and work out a...
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Chapter 1.4
Previously 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
Song: The Defense – Bad Religion
“Are you saying that I don’t?”
“Don’t be so touchy. I meant our cultural paradigm is bullshit. Not an ounce of truth in any of it. I can no longer take this madness and the only way out that I see is to question the basic assumptions.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The basic assumptions of our culture are inconsistent with reality...
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Chapter 1.3
Previously 1.1, 1.2
Song: Lookin’ In – Bad Religion
Sitting bathed in the light of three televisions was a thirty-something Middle Eastern man in an advanced but manageable state of decay. He was wearing a brown bisht over his thawb, which was quite odd given the weather. The televisions were tuned to different news channels. Trot and Oliver sat down on either side of the man facing each...
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Chapter 1.2
Previously 1.1
Song: Stranger than Fiction – Bad Religion
The vehicle came to an abrupt rest in a snow drift. The two men slowly got out of the car and assessed the situation. “Well, we’re screwed. You alright?” asked Oliver.
Trot checked his phone and replied, “A little sore. Do you have any bars?”
“None”
“Do you remember if we passed anything?”
“Nothing, we’re north of the refuge there’s...
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Chapter 1.1
Song: Shattered Faith – Bad Religion
Sunlight penetrated the venetian blinds casting a sickly yellow glow upon the office. Papers haphazardly litter the desk threatening to jump and make a break for the door. Behind the desk sits a middle aged man in a khaki uniform with gray flecks in his brown hair. Across the desk is a young, blonde man dressed in the same uniform.
“I’m sorry, but we no...
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“But wherever the truth may lie, this much is crystal-clear: our...”
– Aldo Leopold
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“This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise...”
– Walt Whitman
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Groundbreaking New UN Report on How to Feed the... →
Used successfully by peasant farmers worldwide, agroecology applies ecology to agriculture in order to optimize long-term food production, requiring few purchased inputs and increasing soil quality, carbon sequestration and biodiversity over time. Agroecology also values traditional and indigenous farming methods, studying the scientific principals underpinning them instead of merely seeking to...
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This month's charity - April 2011
826michigan is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Their services are structured around our belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.
Of the 1%; by the 1%; for the 1%; Society:... →
Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few. Yet in our own democracy, 1 percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation’s income—an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret.
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Who’s Bashing Teachers and Public Schools and What... →
“The short answer to this question is that far too many people are bashing teachers and public schools, and we need to give them more homework, because very few of them know what they’re talking about. And a few need some serious detention.”
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Book of the Month, April 2011
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
From barnesandnoble.com: Upton Sinclair’s muckraking masterpiece The Jungle centers on Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant working in Chicago’s infamous Packingtown. Instead of finding the American Dream, Rudkus and his family inhabit a brutal, soul-crushing urban jungle dominated by greedy bosses, pitiless con-men, and corrupt politicians.
While Sinclair’s main...
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Tax the Super Rich now or face a revolution →
“We know the Super Rich don’t care. Not about you. Nor the American public. They can’t see. Can’t hear. Stay trapped in their Forbes-400 bubble. An echo chamber that isolates them. They see the public as faceless workers, customers, taxpayers. See GOP power on the ascent. Reaganomics is back. Unions on the run. Clueless masses are easily manipulated.”
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Speak, money →
“No, what is required is that Americans take a stand on behalf of their selfish material interests and against those of the monopolies and transnational corporations that have captured our institutions of government. The paradoxical character of our popular corruption is that the people have become slothfully selfless, too absorbed by their ephemeral entertainments and petty cultural...
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NASA website on climate change →
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This month's charity- March 2011 →
AmeriCares is a non-profit disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization providing immediate response to emergency medical needs and supporting long-term health care initiatives for people in the United States and around the world. Since its founding in 1982, AmeriCares has provided more than $9 billion of aid to 147 countries. AmeriCares delivers donated medicines, medical supplies and...
