The Koch Billions’ Toxic Effect on American Democracy
post by staff writer on Before It’s News:
Last week we talked about how Republicans were unleashing a barrage of attack ads against weak conservative Democrats, like John Barrow, for voting with Republicans. Democrats who crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans to cut Social Security benefits for retired people are now being bombarded with ads– that are true, regardless of the disingenuous source– pointing out that they are the enemies of working people. That's what Blue Dogs and New Dems like John Barrow– he's both– deserve anyway.
Too Much Ice is Really Bad for Polar Bears; Give Yourself a Real Scare with this Great Video of Koch-Financed Disinformation
by Sara Sullivan for Climate Connections:
Brendan DeMelle of DeSmogBlog drew my attention to this great video by Brave New Films. He wrote:
Too Scared to go Outside
by Alexander Reed Kelly for TruthDig:
One year ago, a 67-year-old Pakistani woman was killed allegedly in a U.S. drone attack while picking vegetables with her grandchildren. President Obama has never acknowledged her death or that of any other alleged drone victim in Pakistan. This week, her son and two of her grandchildren traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify before members of Congress.
Drone War Crimes
posted on Political Film Blog:
Since 2004 drone strikes have killed 2,379 human beings. Of those thousands killed, only 12% could be positively identified as “militants”. Drone strike victims are overwhelmingly innocent civilians.
America’s Drones Are Still Killing Scores of Innocents
Mamana Bibi was a 67-year-old Pakistani grandmother and midwife, killed by a U.S. drone strike on October 24, 2012. One year ago, the family of Mamana Bibi came to Washington,, D.C., to share their sad story with Members of Congress.
This City Came Up With a Simple Solution to Homelessness: Housing
Kilee Lowe was sitting in a park when cops picked her up and booked her into jail overnight.
After she got out the next morning, she returned to the park. The same officer who had thrown her into a cell not twenty-four hours before booked her again. It was back to jail for Kilee.
The Truth About the War of Drones
by Joyce Gonzoles Perez for 80 Grados:
About 98% of people who have died from so-called "drone attacks" are not civilian "targets" or high-value targets, but harmless. This is one of the data revealing documentary follows Unmanned: America Drone Wars (2013), which investigates the impact of these drone attacks, but are operated remotely by operators. The audiovisual project questions the foreign policy of the United States, through interviews ranging from the testimony of a drone operator and arguments of military officers, to the experiences of families of the victims and analysis of investigative journalists. - See more at: http://www.80grados.net/la-verdad-sobre-la-guerra-de-los-drones/#sthash.qeetxSwf.dpuf
Leadership Starts with Us
When the people lead the leaders will follow! Don't wait for a savior or organization to spring up and lead you.
People must organize ourselves, and unite for the greater good of the nation and in fact our world. WE are not alone!~ But we must start alone by ourselves where we are.
Organizations to Congress: Quit Playing Politics and Deal to Prevent Iran War
posted Press Release from NIAC (National Iranian American Council) for Payvand Iran News:
Washington, DC - The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) was one of 37 organizations to send a letter to Congress today regarding the roles of Congress and the President in sealing a nuclear deal with Iran. The letter was prompted when certain lawmakers reacted harshly to a New York Times report that, if there is a nuclear deal with Iran, the White House plans to initially use executive action to temporarily suspend certain sanctions.
Can a ‘Homeless Bill of Rights’ End the Criminalization of LA’s Most Vulnerable Residents?
by John Thomason for The Nation:
“We are human beings who live here,” Silvia Hernández says emphatically.
She is speaking of Los Angeles’s notorious Skid Row, though she no longer lives there herself. Hernández doesn’t look back fondly on the year she spent nights alternating between streets and shelters, but she appreciates what she believes is a strong sense of community among neighborhood residents. “Now with this new idea of gentrification, they want to take it away,” she says of the business interests and developers remaking downtown, and the police and security officers who are doing their bidding. “They don’t recognize the community as a community.”