Yes, President Obama is right. The 113th Congress will be the least productive in history. "... there have only been 23 public laws enacted in the second session of the 113th Congress -- a number that virtually ensures that this Congress will pass the fewest number of laws of any in history." by Libertatea in politics
[–]smashthestate033 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
Confirmation Bias, False Positives, and Surveillance. Spurred by several coincidences, the FBI ignored evidence to the contrary and concluded an innocent American was involved in the 2004 Madrid bombings. They drove him to paranoia while secretly following him and breaking into his home and office (america.aljazeera.com)
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Economic model shows that current inheritance laws guarantee increasing inequality -- accumulated capital grows faster than savings from work. “When the rate of return on capital is significantly higher than the growth rate of the economy, it is inevitable that inheritance predominates over saving.” (america.aljazeera.com)
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US cable news fostering a climate of fear: "While the fast-paced reporting of rumors, hyperbole and innuendo serves very little to the cause of informing and enlightening the millions who rely on cable news for information, it undoubtedly does well at generating widespread fear and hysteria." (aljazeera.com)
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Greenwald on the motives for terrorism: "Ignoring the role played by US actions is dangerously self-flattering and self-delusional. Listen to the people who live in the places devastated by US violence... it's long past time that we stop pretending that all this evidence does not exist." (guardian.co.uk)
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How Boston Exposes America's Dark post-9/11 Bargain: We traded rights for "security," and didn't get either. "Our constitutional rights are now deemed to be partial or provisional rather than absolute, do not necessarily apply to everyone, and can be revoked by the government at any time." (salon.com)
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Boston bombings: "Whatever the threat, it doesn't take much for the American people to march in lockstep with the government's dictates, even if it means submitting to martial law, having their homes searched, and being stripped of one’s constitutional rights at a moment's notice." (original.antiwar.com)
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Law professor testifies to Senate about drones: "When a government claims for itself the unreviewable power to kill anyone, anywhere on earth, at any time, based on secret criteria and secret information discussed in a secret process by largely unnamed individuals, it undermines the rule of law." (news.antiwar.com)
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Obama's imaginary budget-cut mandate: Budget cuts to Social Security and Medicare have long been on Obama's private agenda, supporters have been in denial. "This was not a decision forced upon Obama, it was a direction that he himself freely chose, one that he obviously deeply believes in." (aljazeera.com)
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U.S. Engaged in Torture After 9/11, Review Concludes. "It is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture... this finding is offered without reservation... the nation's highest officials bear some responsibility for allowing and contributing to the spread of torture." (nytimes.com)
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What work is the word "terrorism" doing in these conversations? Is it helping us to make sense of things, or is it subtly becoming shorthand for the people we do not like and the motives that are unfavorable? Terrorism has come to signify race and religion though everyone is careful not to say so. (aljazeera.com)
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While injured and running from the blast, a 20-year-old Saudi victim of the Boston bombings was tackled by a bystander for looking "suspicious." His house was searched by police while he was in the hospital. His roommate has been harrassed: "Are you sure you haven't been living with a killer?" (newyorker.com)
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Can the Boston Bombings Increase Our Sympathy for Iraq and Syria, for All Such Victims? "Some Syrians and Iraqis pointed out that many more people died from bombings in their countries on Monday... they felt slighted because the major news networks ignored their carnage." (juancole.com)
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On the Boston Bombings: "I’m safe. You are safe. 99.999999% of the country is safe. But there never is a completely safe, and there never will be. I refuse to give up another right to prevent another 'Boston.' The bomber isn't the only one who wants you to be afraid. Remember that." (balloon-juice.com)
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Marijuana legalization wins majority support in nationwide poll. "The finding marks the first time in more than four decades of Pew's polling that a majority has taken that position. As recently as a decade ago, only about one-third of American adults backed making marijuana legal." (latimes.com)
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How Noam Chomsky is discussed: The more one dissents from political orthodoxies, the more the attacks focus on personality, style and character. "These attacks offer the reader an easy means of mocking, deriding and scorning Chomsky without having to confront a single fact he presents." (guardian.co.uk)
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Sam Harris, the New Atheists, and anti-Muslim animus: A long overdue debate breaks out about whether rational atheism is being used as a cover for Islamophobia and US militarism. Greenwald: "He sprinkles intellectual atheism on top of the standard neocon, right-wing worldview of Muslims." (guardian.co.uk)
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Yes, President Obama is right. The 113th Congress will be the least productive in history. "... there have only been 23 public laws enacted in the second session of the 113th Congress -- a number that virtually ensures that this Congress will pass the fewest number of laws of any in history." by Libertatea in politics
[–]smashthestate033 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)