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The tightening two-party duopoly has been moving relentlessly in the direction of common funding of candidates by the same privileged interests. The exclusion of independent or third party competitors through costly ballot access hurdles (see: opendebates.org for more information), litigious harassment, and barring them from debates has been well-documented. Gerrymandering into one-party districts has eliminated…
Like ravenous beasts of prey attacking a weakened antelope, the forces of subsidized capital and their mercenaries sunk their fangs into the United Auto Workers (UAW) and its organizing drive at the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The UAW narrowly lost – 712 to 626 – and the baying pack of plutocrats exalted, as if…
The annual Academy Awards GALA, viewed by one billion people worldwide, is scheduled for the evening of March 2, 2014. Motion pictures and the people who act in and produce them are center stage. Apart from the documentaries, this is a glittering evening of “make-believe” and “make business.” Now suppose our country had another Academy…
Every year brings the world more climatological science that man-made climate change, or overall global warming, is chronically worsening. Every year, from Antarctica to Greenland, from the Andes to Alaska, the ice is melting, the permafrost is melting, and very soon the Arctic may have a re-unprecedented ice-free season. Every year, more and more businesses…
After 94 years, on January 27, 2014, the world lost Pete Seeger. The world is the lesser for that loss. The accolades for this giant of folk songs and herald of all causes just, are pouring in from around the world. He is celebrated for regularly showing up at mass protests, for singing songs so…
Last month, the ruling Japanese coalition parties quickly rammed through Parliament a state secrets law. We Americans better take notice. Under its provisions the government alone decides what are state secrets and any civil servants who divulge any “secrets” can be jailed for up to 10 years. Journalists caught in the web of this vaguely…
Dear President Obama: All the daily decisions and crises you have to confront must not preclude occasional addresses to the country that rise to the level of statesmanship, transcending the hurly-burly of politics and executive branch administration. There are three areas where the people need the views and vision of their President. 1. A major…
On January 14, 2014, Ralph Nader sent letters to the CEOs of the top 10 institutional shareholders of Sirius XM Radio regarding the recent purchase of a majority of shares by John Malone’s Liberty Media Corporation. In this letter, Mr. Nader notes that as a growing company, Sirius has a 4 star rating by S&P…
You’ve heard the refrain “we live in the information age.” We have fingertip access to the Internet, providing us with massive amounts of information. There are no longer any excuses for us to say we don’t have the information; it is there, but up to us to act on the information. The above is all…
January 2, 2014 George W. Bush George W. Bush Presidential Center PO Box 560887 Dallas, Texas, 57356 Dear Mr. Bush: A few days ago I received a personalized letter from your Presidential Center which included a solicitation card for donations that actually provided words for my reply. They included “I’m honored to help tell the…