A little bit of good news and a lot of bad…
- Nearly 80% of the voters in Chicago supported publicly financed campaigns. When put to a public vote, this issue leaves little doubt where many stand on the idea that speech is money and where it belongs in our political campaigns. Most of us want it out and want the corruption that comes along with it gone as well. A Gallup poll showed half of the country was in favor of this in 2013, a number very likely to continue growing as the explosion in spending by outside groups who can hide their donors also continues. Of course, Congress would have to bite the hand that feeds their family members 6-figure salaries to run their campaigns in order for this to change, which means it certainly won’t in the foreseeable future.
- Worker productivity grew 74% in the past 40 years while wages only grew 9%. Because that is totally fair. It’s true that part of the increase is due to technology but the disparity is still startling. Considering the incredible increase in income inequality over the same period, it’s pretty obvious the average American is getting the shaft. It’s also obvious which political party’s ideology is most responsible for this outcome. But hey, voting against gay marriage, climate change, and abortion has worked out really well, hasn’t it?
- The sea level north of New York City rose over 5 inches in 2009-2010. The article states it was a “1-850 year event” and it’s likely we’ll see this type of thing more often. And, since it’s an article from an international media source, it doesn’t bother digging up a climate change denier paid by the fossil fuel industry to refute the reality. So refreshing when media accepts scientific consensus and doesn’t play to the least knowledgeable among us.
- If you live in the U.S. then no, you shouldn’t be very afraid of terrorists. An excellent op-ed in The Guardian by a couple of academics noting the recent change in political discourse about terrorism in the U.S. by mostly the Obama administration. In short, if you live here and aren’t traveling to dangerous locales, you are almost certainly not going to die at the hands of a terrorist. And you probably shouldn’t hand over your freedoms and privacy at home in the name of fighting the so-called “War on Terror”.
It is astounding that these utterances – “blindingly obvious” as security specialist Bruce Schneier puts it – appear to mark the first time any officials in the United States have had the notion and the courage to say so in public.
Speaking of terrorism…
- A Palestinian mosque was torched by an Israeli terrorist group. Not that there will be much outrage in the American media over nefarious Israeli actions, such as the shooting death of a 19-year old college student by the Israeli military the day before, as noted in the article. And it’s not like these Israeli terrorist groups have just started up or are carrying out their first attack on Palestinians:
Hebrew graffiti was scrawled on the walls, including “Revenge for the Land of Zion” and “Price Tag,” a phrase used by Israeli nationalists linked to hundreds of attacks on Palestinian targets since 2008. Some attacks have also targeted Israeli military posts. (Emphasis added)
Which begs the question, will the Israeli military kill over 2,000 people, mostly civilians and children, to get back at these groups like they did to Gaza last summer? I mean, these groups are attacking the Israeli military and “hiding behind civilian targets”, aren’t they? And that clearly doesn’t matter when it comes to bombing populations as they’ve shown in the past, right? What’s the difference? Amazing how the double-standards look when they are revealed.
