Recent reads + quotes.

RACE.

Racist hate crimes increase five-fold in week after Brexit vote. Payton, M., The Independent (Jul. 2016). [Gosh, who ever could have seen this coming? This is what happens when conservatives and their lies are legitimized—by, say, corporate media or the “election” of George W. Bush—instead of mocked and driven into the dust and shadows. –Ed.]

Shameful Camps. Caine, Freethought Blogs | Affinity (Jul. 2016).

It’s not surprising that white attitudes towards indigenous people remains so negative when this whitewashing is taking place in the heart of Indian country. It’s sad and burdensome to see that lying about Custer is still so very important to some people. “History comes to life”. Yes, a very whitewashed, colonial version, which celebrates the largest mass murder in U.S. history, the Massacre at Wounded Knee.

[It’s bad enough that incredibly significant events are either whitewashed or completely blacked out in public school history classes and by corporate media. But this goes further than propaganda, into dehumanization and genocide…as entertainment. –Ed.]

The Amazing Atheist’s Racism. Hughes, M., Patheos | barrierbreaker (Jun. 2016). [&%#*@! –Ed.]

JOY.

How to stay happy when the sky is falling in. Burkeman, O., The Guardian (Jul. 2016).

[Derrick Jensen, a writer and co-founder of the radical environmental movement Deep Green Resistance] has written that people sometimes ask him why he doesn’t just kill himself, if things are as bad as he says. “The answer is that life is really, really good. I am a complex enough being that I can hold in my heart the understanding that we are really, really fucked, and at the same time that life is really, really good. I am full of rage, sorrow, joy, love, hate, despair, happiness, dissatisfaction, and a thousand other feelings. We are really fucked. Life is still really good.”

HARASSMENT + ABUSE.

Man sends woman an unsolicited d*ck pic, woman responds brilliantly. Man regrets it. Felton, J., SMS (Jun. 2016).

In Orlando, as Usual, Domestic Violence Was Ignored Red Flag. Chemaly, S., Rolling Stone (Jun. 2016).

Intimate partner violence and the toxic masculinity that fuels it are the canaries in the coal mine for understanding public terror, and yet this connection continues largely to be ignored, to everyone’s endangerment. It is essential to understand religious extremism (of all stripes), racism, homophobia, mental illness and gun use, but all of these factors are on ugly quotidian display in one place before all others: at home.

Rape fantasy letter haunts Scotts Valley High School girls. Baxter, S., Santa Cruz Sentinel (Jun. 2016).

“All of us (named in the letter) felt extremely uncomfortable that he was given no true consequence. Along with that, the school didn’t even follow policy. The school was not interested in our well-being but more in his, and in this they believed that pushing this under the rug will make us forget everything. We were asked not to tell anyone, including the people on the lists (named in the letter) who have a right to know.”

[For some of us, they were going to hit us too. –Ed.]

TERRORISM, WAR.

As Medina reveals: ISIS is not hijacking Islam, it is actively at war with Islam. Ali, A., Amro Ali (Jul. 2016).

If a self-proclaimed Catholic group bombed the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica and constantly killed scores of innocent Catholics, then we would deem such an entity, in various degrees, as an anti-Catholic terrorist group. Likewise, ISIS is not a radical Islamist movement as much as it is an active anti-Muslim, terror movement.

…

How many more sickening anti-Muslim, if not anti-human, acts does it take for a diabolical group to be dissociated from a religious body in the eyes of the world?

CONSERVATIVE PERSONALITY DISORDER.

The Authoritarian Personality Revisited: Reading Adorno in the Age of Trump. Gordon, P., Greanville Post (Jun. 2016). [A long but excellent read. –Ed.]

‘Kill the gays’ pastor has a pulpit-stomping meltdown after he’s booted from online fundraising. Markus, B.P., Raw Story (with video) (Jun. 2016). [CONTENT NOTE: extreme hostility to LGBTQ individuals and communities. See also. –Ed.]

Lie Witness News – Hillary Clinton Email Edition. Kimmel, J., Jimmy Kimmel Live via youtube.com (Jul. 2016).

[Behold the US voter. –Ed.]

ABORTION, RULE OF LAW.

What Monday’s Supreme Court Decision Means in the Fight for Abortion Rights. Pieklo, J.M., Rewire (Jun. 2016). (“Monday’s decision striking two provisions of Texas’ HB 2 doesn’t just threaten similar laws nationwide; it could be the basis for finally stemming the onslaught of anti-science abortion restrictions in the states.”) [Here is the decision (pdf). Read Thomas’s dissent for a special treat: a case study in characteristic conservative reality-denial. –Ed.]

How Did I Get an Abortion in Texas? I Didn’t. Peterson, V., The New York Times (Jun. 2016). (“I had never been involved in activism before. I didn’t know about these types of laws, or really have an opinion on abortion before I needed one myself.”) [JFC. smh. –Ed.]

MEDIA.

Donbass Truth – Drunk Russian Propaganda edition. Chopov, A., youtube.com (Jul. 2016).

“[W]e spent countless research hours to make this video to see if anything you hear in Western media about ‘failing Russia’ or ‘rising Ukraine’ is grounded in actual facts – for this we used statistics from the UN, CIA, IMF and other world famous organizations. Take a look – this might just cause to learn to think for yourself!”)

[Highly doubtful—see above links re: conservatives. CONTENT NOTE: violent and disturbing images, including dead children. –Ed.]

The Ralph Nader Myth. gjohnsit, Daily Kos (Dec. 2013).

So why did Gore lose to Bush? Democrats…Nader only drew 24,000 Democrats to his cause, yet 308,000 Democrats voted for Bush.
Nader wasn’t the real betrayal of Democrats. Democrats were. Nearly a third of million of them.

Even more important, consider the math: since Bush was the main challenger, a Democrat voting for Bush hurts twice as much as a Democrat voting for Nader.

This is a fact. The reality-based community must learn to deal with it.

[Oh must they? Citation needed. An old post well worth re-reading. –Ed.]

FEMINISM.

Teens, Marines, and Men. angietheantitheist, Misandry Angie (Jun. 2016).

I have to say men aren’t looking too good as a group right now. They claim to be strong protectors yet fold at the idea of a strong, armed woman. They throw utter tantrums about not getting to gawk at teen girls on stage, not realizing they are the reason the swimsuit competition was dropped. Beauty pageants are a controversial thing, but they award the largest college scholarships to girls. Did your scholarship application involve adults staring at and appraising your nearly naked underage body? Probably not.

SCIENCE, FOOD.

Probiotics Are Useless, GMOs Are Fine, and Gluten Is Necessary. Rogers, K., Motherboard (May 2016).

__________

Finally, for my poor neglected Quote Collection:

Everything is going to be unimaginably worse and is never going to get any better. –Kurt Vonnegut

We’re terrible animals. I think that the Earth’s immune system is trying to get rid of us, as well it should. –Kurt Vonnegut

The only difference between Bush and Hitler is that Hitler was elected. –Kurt Vonnegut

I don’t know about you, but I practice a disorganized religion. I belong to an unholy disorder. We call ourselves “Our Lady of Perpetual Astonishment.” –Kurt Vonnegut

However sugarcoated and ambiguous, every form of authoritarianism must start with a belief in some group’s greater right to power, whether that right is justified by sex, race, class, religion or all four. However far it may expand, the progression inevitably rests on unequal power and airtight roles within the family. –Gloria Steinem

As the little boy said when asked if he wanted to be a lawyer like his mother, “Oh no, that’s women’s work.” Logic has nothing to do with oppression. –Gloria Steinem

It doesn’t surprise me to learn that there is bias and sexism everywhere, just like there are problems of racism and homophobia stemming from the whole notion that we’re arranged in a hierarchy, that we’re ranked rather than linked. –Gloria Steinem

__________

PLEASE NOTE: Linking or quoting here does not imply 100% agreement with, or endorsement of, any content, organization, source or individual.

Recent reads.

FOOD, ENERGY + ENVIRONMENT.

This Former Fisherman Is Now Farming the Most Sustainable Food on Earth—Underwater. Smith, B. and Holmes, L., The Nation (May 2016). [Mind = blown. –Ed.]

WAR.

Yemen: Saudis Using US Cluster Munitions. Contributors, Informed Comment (May 2016).

Top CIA Objective: Fracture The Eurasian Bloc. Maupin, C., NEO (Apr. 2016).

SEX + SEXUALITY: GENDER.

♥♥♥ this kid.

Pennsylvania teen kicked out of prom because she was too covered up in a tux. Adams, J., someecards (May 2016). [Keep it up Catholics. You’re alienating a generation. –Ed.]

HEALTH CARE, REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.

41,000 Doctors to Join Lawsuit Against Catholic Hospital Over Denial of Care. Shine, N.K., Rewire (Apr. 2016).

Religious directives, written by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, forbid doctors at Catholic facilities from providing birth control and performing common reproductive health procedures like tubal ligation, sterilization, and abortion, even when the patient’s health is at risk.

DRUG WAR.

Three major concepts that shatter the myths surrounding drug legalization. Hari, J., Rw Story (Mar. 2016).

RACE.

Ivy League professor kicked off plane for writing ‘Arabic symbols,’ aka math equations. Provenzano, B., AOL (May 2016).

SCIENCE.

Shape oscillation of a levitated drop in an acoustic field. youtube (VIDEO)

MEDIA.

This election is blinding us to a Wall Street outrage: Inside the media’s negligent response to a foreclosure disaster. Salon (Apr. 2016). (“While banks are finding new ways to rip off homeowners, the press only cares how it affects Julian Castro’s VP odds.”)

ISRAEL.

The American Jewish Conflict over Israel. Polner, M., Greanville Post (May 2016).

CONSERVATIVE PERSONALITY DISORDER.

Why America Is Moving Left. Beinart, P., The Atlantic (Jan. 2016):

[C]onservatives may wish to reassure themselves that Millennials will move right as they age. But a 2007 study in the American Sociological Review notes that the data “contradict commonly held assumptions that aging leads to conservatism.” The older Americans who are today more conservative than Millennials were more conservative in their youth, too. In 1984 and 1988, young voters backed Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush by large margins. Millennials are not liberal primarily because they are young. They are liberal because their formative political experiences were the Iraq War and the Great Recession, and because they make up the most secular, most racially diverse, least nationalistic generation in American history. And none of that is likely to change.

_________

NOTE: Acquisition of links for the Palace Library does not imply the Palace’s 100% agreement with or endorsement of any content, organization, source or individual.

Recent reads.

ENERGY, RULE OF LAW.

Indigenous Activist Berta Cáceres Assassinated in Honduras. SOA Watch (Mar. 2016).

Since the 2009 military coup, that was carried out by graduates of the U.S. Army School of the Americas, Honduras has witnessed an explosive growth in environmentally destructive megaprojects that would displace indigenous communities. Almost 30 percent of the country’s land was earmarked for mining concessions, creating a demand for cheap energy to power future mining operations. To meet this need, the government approved hundreds of dam projects around the country, privatizing rivers, land, and uprooting communities. Repression of social movements and targeted assassinations are rampant. Honduras has the world’s highest murder rate. Honduran human rights organizations report there have been over 10,000 human rights violations by state security forces and impunity is the norm – most murders go unpunished. The Associated Press has repeatedly exposed ties between the Honduran police and death squads, while U.S. military training and aid for the Honduran security forces continues.

Gosh this all sounds familiar…what was it? Oh yeah:

U.S. Marshals Enforce Eminent Domain for Constitution Pipeline. Zangas, J., DC Media Group (Mar. 2016).

The land of the free got a little smaller this week when cutters from Williams Partners Company began clear-cutting trees on the Zeffer-Holleran property, readying it for construction of the Constitution pipeline. Five acres of the property were condemned under eminent domain to build the natural gas pipeline.

A dozen Pennsylvania State police and heavily armed U.S. Marshals escorted scores of tree cutters to remove hundreds of sugar bush maple trees from the property. The Marshals carried AR-15 assault weapons and wore bullet proof vests…

The Hollerans have owned the 23-acre tract since 1950, when Megan Holleran’s grandfather bought it to start the Harford Maple Syrup business. Losing the hundreds of sugar bush maple trees will effectively end 90% of their business.

[This is what FREEDOM!!11!! looks like, people! –Ed.]

ABORTION.

One-Third Of The Abortion “Facts” Used For Informed Consent Are Inaccurate
comments. Coughlin, S., Refinery 29 (Mar. 2016).

By a large margin, most of the inexact information pertained to the first trimester of a pregnancy — when most abortions are performed, as lead author Cynthia Daniels, PhD pointed out in a statement. When it came to information about the first trimester, a whopping 45% of the statements were medically inaccurate. This percentage dropped to 29% and 13% for imprecise statements about the second and third trimesters, respectively.

Behold: the fine work of Liars 4 Jeezus! IMPRESSIVE. Speaking of Jeezus…

GODLESSNESS.

Why People Don’t Take Right-Wing Evangelicals So Seriously Anymore. Tarico, V., AlterNet (Mar. 2016). [h/t SJ]

HARASSMENT + ABUSE.

Cartoon genitals star in consent awareness campaign. Frauenfelder, M., Boing Boing (Mar. 2016).

There’s no ‘silver bullet’ for the internet’s revenge porn problem. Reynolds, E., WIRED (Mar. 2016).

SCIENCE, FEMINISM.

Those Who Dared To Discover: 15 Women Scientists You Should Know. Katherine, A Mighty Girl (Mar. 2016).

GUNS.

New Study Proves Conclusively That More Guns = More Violent Crime. Bradford, A., Bipartisan Report (Mar. 2016). [GTFO. –Ed.]

Have a nice day.

 

 

Recent reads.

PRISON + SENTENCING REFORM, RULE OF LAW.

Due Process is Dead: A Staggering 95% of All Inmates in America Have Never Received a Trial. Bernish, C., The Free Thought Project (Jan. 2016).

Why Innocent People Plead Guilty. Rakoff, J.S., New York Review of Books (Nov. 2014).

[^h/t (both) Amy Lou]

ABORTION.

Study: At Least 100,000 Texas Women Have Attempted Self-Induced Abortion. Jacobson, J., RH Reality Check (Nov. 2015).

Tennessee woman nearly dies trying coat hanger abortion — and then gets jailed for attempted murder. Edwards, D., Raw Story (Dec. 2015).

There Are No More Hospitals in Cincinnati That Offer Abortions in Cases of Fatal Fetal Anomalies. Davies, M., Jezebel (Jan. 2016).

Kasich signs bill to defund Planned Parenthood. Kludt, T. and Spodak, C., CNN (Feb. 2016). [Welcome to the Abattoir, “moderate” Republican Governor and Presidential Candidate John Kasich. –Ed.]

Brazilian Legislators Look to Increase Abortion Penalties in the Wake of Zika Outbreak. Sandy, M., Time (Feb. 2016).

ART + CULTURE.

13 Bathrooms You Will Instantly Fall In Love With. Grumstrup, C., Dose (Dec. 2015). [OMGOMGOMG. I need 13 bathrooms right now. –Ed.]

2016 European Figure Skating Championships: Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. YouTube (Jan. 2016). [Okay, WOW. –Ed.]

MEDIA.

Chomsky and his critics. Sayeed, T., Mondoweiss (Feb. 2016).

SURVEILLANCE STATE.

Big Banks Hiring Former Spies to Snoop on Employees. Numbers, E., The Anti-Media (Feb. 2016).(“Every move bank employees make is likely being monitored by former military intelligence or CIA and GCHQ members.”)

Apple Defies Court Order, Refuses To Comply With FBI Demand. Wilkinson, A., Second Nexus (Feb. 2016).

DoJ forced Google to turn over Jacob Appelbaum’s email, then gagged Google. Doctorow, C., BoingBoing  (Dec. 2015).

HARASSMENT + ABUSE.

When I Quit Cutting My Hair, I Learned How Men Treat Women On American Roads. Baruth, J., Vocativ (Jan. 2016). (“Once cowardly road-ragers realize I’m a man, they quickly back off.”)

 

POLICE.

Entire Florida Police Dept Busted Laundering Tens of Millions for International Drug Cartels. Gardner, J., The Free Thought Project (Dec. 2015). [And why wouldn’t they? –Ed.]

It’s official: There never was a ‘war on cops’. Ingraham, C., Washington Post (Dec. 2015).

_________

SEX + SEXUALITY.

• Now That Lesbians Can Marry, Can We Admit They Have Sex? Gore, A., Nerve (Feb. 2016).

__________

QUOTES.

It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. –Upton Sinclair (1935)

Capitalism is fascism plus murder. –Upton Sinclair (1944)

The American People will take Socialism, but they won’t take the label. I certainly proved it in the case of EPIC. Running on the Socialist ticket I got 60,000 votes, and running on the slogan to “End Poverty in California” I got 879,000. I think we simply have to recognize the fact that our enemies have succeeded in spreading the Big Lie. There is no use attacking it by a front attack, it is much better to out-flank them. –Upton Sinclair (1951)

Rome lived upon its principal till ruin stared it in the face. Industry is the only true source of wealth, and there was no industry in Rome. By day the Ostia road was crowded with carts and muleteers, carrying to the great city the silks and spices of the East, the marble of Asia Minor, the timber of the Atlas, the grain of Africa and Egypt; and the carts brought out nothing but loads of dung. That was their return cargo. –Winwood Reade, The Martyrdom of Man (1871)

Recent reading.

SURVEILLANCE.

Walmart Is Working with the FBI and Lockheed Martin to Spy on Striking Workers. Wharton, H., US Uncut (Nov. 2015). [Your tax dollars at work, people. –Ed.]

ASSHOLES.

Senate Report Says Pentagon Paid Sports Leagues for Patriotic Events. Huetteman, E., The New York Times (Nov. 2015). [MOAR of your tax dollars at work, people. –Ed.]

Sam Harris’s Quantum Universe (or, How to Say One Thing While Meaning Another). Sullivan, M., Counter Punch (Dec. 2015).

ECONOMICS.

Income inequality happens by design. We can’t fix it by tweaking capitalism. Thrasher, S.W., The Guardian (Dec. 2015).

TERRORISM, WAR.

Deaths In Other Nations Since WW II Due To Us Interventions. Lucas, J.A., Countercurrents.org via The Greanville Post (Apr. 2007):

Virtually all parts of the world have been the target of U.S. intervention.The overall conclusion reached is that the United States most likely has been responsible since WWII for the deaths of between 20 and 30 million people in wars and conflicts scattered over the world.

‘Terrorism for Dummies’: Clinton’s Neo-Conservativsm Is Simply Dangerous. Bloom, P., Common Dreams (Nov. 2015):

In echoing the simplified “us vs. them” narrative of her neo-conservative predecessors, Clinton is reinforcing a dangerous and ineffective policy of 21st century American militarism and imperialism.

White Terrorist Bingo:

CONSERVATIVE PERSONALITY DISORDER.

Republicans Just Don’t Get Stephen Colbert: Science Denying Crowd Stumped by Satire. MacClennan, S.A., Alternet (Nov. 2015).

What social science tells us about racism in the Republican party. Ehrenfreund, M., Washington Post (Dec. 2015). [Conservatives are terrible people, Exhibit No. 7,926,142,964. –Ed.]

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.

“Pro-Lifers” Take to Twitter to Praise Planned Parenthood Shooter. Moody, T., Friendly Atheist/Patheos (Nov. 2015).

Christian pregnancy centers freak out after California turns tables and forces them to disclose abortion rights. Edwards, D., Raw Story (Nov. 2015). [Hahaha. Good. –Ed.]

HARASSMENT + ABUSE.

The Serial Swatter: Internet trolls have learned to exploit our over-militarized police. Fagone, J., The New York Times (Nov. 2015).

BBC sends security guard to protect journalist who received abuse on Twitter after she said she didn’t want children. Richards, V., The Independent (Nov. 2015).

HEALTH CARE, DEMOCRATS, ENEMIES.

Hillary Clinton Attacks Bernie Sanders’ Plan for Single-Payer Healthcare Following Sanders’ proposal is ‘one thing we should not do,’ Clinton said. Germanos, A., Common Dreams, (Nov. 2015).

Official Palace Position.

SCIENCE + SKEPTICISM.

The Price of Denialism. McIntyre, L., The New York Times (Nov. 2015).

HUMOR.

How to sneak chocolate into an American movie theater:

Darth Trump: Auralnauts.

[Hahaha. –Ed.]

__________

PLZ NOTE: Acquisition of links for the fabulous Palace library does not imply 100% agreement with or endorsement of any content, organization, source or individual.

Have a nice day.

Recent reading.

WAR.

Afghanistan: MSF denounces blatant breach of International Humanitarian Law in Kunduz. Statement by Dr Joanne Liu, President, MSF International. Medecins Sans Frontieres (Oct. 2015).

On the night of the bombing, MSF staff working in the hospital heard what was later confirmed to be a US army plane circle around multiple times, releasing its bombs on the same building within the hospital compound at each pass.

The building targeted was the one housing the intensive care unit, emergency rooms and physiotherapy ward. Surrounding buildings in the compound were left largely untouched.

Despite MSF alerting both the Afghan and Coalition military leadership, the airstrike continued for at least another 30 minutes. The hospital was well-known and the GPS coordinates had been regularly shared with Coalition and Afghan military and civilian officials, as recently as Tuesday 29 September.

This attack cannot be brushed aside as a mere mistake or an inevitable consequence of war. Statements from the Afghanistan government have claimed that Taliban forces were using the hospital to fire on Coalition forces.

These statements imply that Afghan and US forces working together decided to raze to the ground a fully functioning hospital, which amounts to an admission of a war crime.

Afghanistan: Kunduz bombing latest. Medecins Sans Frontieres (Oct. 2015).

CONSERVATIVE PERSONALITY DISORDER.

Financial Crimes Perpetrated by Far-Right Extremists in the United States: 1990-2013. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), Research Brief (Jun. 2015) (pdf).

The most prominent  affiliation is with sovereign citizens (40%), who believe they are freemen not subject to  governmental authority. Sovereign citizens either declare themselves to be entirely sovereign entities or members of a state republic, often creating their own common law court systems. An additional 5% were affiliated with militia or patriot groups, and 4% affiliated with white supremacists (KKK, neo-Nazi, Christian Identity, etc.). The remaining 23% of extremist individuals are tax protesters. Tax protesters use a wide array of frivolous anti-tax arguments to morally and legally justify not paying  taxes, arguing that taxes and other laws are unconstitutional, illegal, invalid, or voluntary.

10 Things I Discovered About Ayn Rand’s Addled Brain After Reading ‘Atlas Shrugged’. Lee, A., AlterNet (Oct. 2015) [h/t SJ]:

If you’ve ever voted for politicians who passed safety regulations or accepted any kind of loan or grant money from the government or criticized the excesses of capitalism or valued your own family more than rich strangers or done any of a hundred other seemingly innocuous things, then according to Ayn Rand, you too deserve to die. The number of people who’d meet her very strict criteria for worthiness to continue living is tiny — which is precisely the point.

[She seems nice. –Ed.]

Why Right-Wing Christian Leaders Are Often Indifferent to Needless Suffering. Tarico, V., AlterNet (Sep. 2015). [h/t SJ]

These political scientists may have just discovered why U.S. politics are a disaster. Swanson, A., The Washington Post (Oct. 2015):

This study offers evidence that inequality leads to political polarization. Though they have yet to produce definitive findings, the researchers also believe, as many others in their field do, that political polarization also in turn produces more inequality, creating a vicious feedback loop of inequality and polarized politics.

[NEWSFLASH: Hierarchy begets hierarchichal worldviews. You know, I could have saved these people the trouble of doing this study. But what do I know? I’M JUST THE WORLD’S LEADING EXPERT ON CONSERVATIVE PERSONALITY DISORDER, that’s all. –Ed.]

ISRAEL, PALESTINE.

Exposed: Pro-Israel Modern Day McCarthyites Going to Extremes to Slime Human Rights Activists. Blumenthal, M. and Carmel J., AlterNet [Part 1 in an ongoing series] (Sep. 2015):

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a campaign against the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement that is spreading on American college campuses…It is inspiring an atmosphere of incitement and intimidation, and the FBI is now investigating violent threats made against BDS activists.

…

Netanyahu has created a special ministerial post for countering BDS, and the Israeli army recently announced its intention to monitor groups involved in boycott campaigns across the globe.

Flush With Cash, Right-Wing Extremists Train the Future Zealots of Pro-Israel Campus Activism. Blumenthal, M. and Carmel J., AlterNet [Part 2 in an ongoing series] (Oct. 2015).

Why Are Dianne Feinstein and Janet Napolitano Backing a McCarthyite Push Against Palestine Activists? Blumenthal, M. and Carmel J., AlterNet [Part 3 in an ongoing series] (Oct. 2015).

A New Report Shows That the Palestinian Movement is Under Attack in the US. Nevel, D., AlterNet (Oct. 2015).

The Palestine Exception to Free Speech: A Movement Under Attack in the US. Palestine Legal (2015).

ART.

Maths palace built by calculus ‘rock star’ on sale for £11.4m. Bellos, A., The Guardian (Oct. 2015). [I can haz £11.4m na plz. kthx. –Ed.]

17 Satellite Photos Around the World that Will Change Your Perspective. Twisted Sifter (Jun. 2014).

Central Park – New York City, USA
40°46’56″N; 73°57’55″W

Burning Man: The Portfolio. Trey Ratcliff, Stuck in Customs. [h/t SJ]

ENERGY + ENVIRONMENT.

If Pope Francis Really Wanted to Fight Climate Change, He’d Be a Feminist. Pollitt, K., The Nation (Sep. 2015). (“The world will never be healed of its ecological ills as long as women cannot control their fertility.”) [The world will never be healed of a whole lot of its ills as long as women cannot control their fertility. –Ed.]

USDA: We will not steer people away from meat to protect the environment. Whoriskey, P., The Washington Post (Oct. 2015). [This is your government on Democrats. –Ed.]

PRIVILEGE.

“Female Privilege” and Sexist Arguments. Poland, B., suite.io (Oct. 2015):

The concept of female privilege requires looking at a social outcome and deciding that it favors women, regardless of who had the power to make that decision or on what grounds the decision was made. If women appear to be favored, as in custody cases or “women and children first,” the reason for that choice is ignored; if women are left out, as in the draft, the basis for such exclusion is left unexamined. Key to arguing for “female privilege” is ignoring the actual beliefs about gender that inform the outcome, and simply blaming women for all of it.

Study: White people react to evidence of white privilege by claiming greater personal hardships. Edwards, D., Raw Story (Sep. 2015):

Researchers at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business have found that white people respond to evidence that they are privileged by their race by insisting that they face greater hardships in life.

[Jeezus fucking Christ get some fucking perspective, white people. –Ed.]
[h/t feminace for the gif.]

FEMINISM.

College Talk vs. “Girl Talk” at a Texas Elementary School. Marcotte, A., Slate (Oct. 2015).

[^-Ed.]

Idaho teen threatened to ‘kill all the girls’ because cheerleaders wouldn’t send him any ‘freaking nudes’. Gettys, T., Raw Story (Oct. 2015):

“Because no one will give any to me,” the teen complained. “Every one hates me.”

[Good. I hate you too, d00d. –Ed.]

It’s Not Your Kids Holding Your Career Back. It’s Your Husband. Grose, J., Slate (Nov. 2014):

The authors found, definitively, that the “opt-out” explanation is a myth.

…

while millennial [Harvard Business School] grads are a little more egalitarian than their older peers, half of the youngest men still assume that their careers will take precedence, and two-thirds of them assume their spouses will do the majority of child care.

ECONOMICS, LEFTY-LICIOUS.

Study shows that countries with more generous welfare programs have more citizens motivated to work. Einenkel, W., Daily Kos (Sep. 2015).

__________

PLZ NOTE: Acquisition of links for the fabulous Palace library does not imply 100% agreement with or endorsement of any content, organization, source or individual.

Recent reading.

WAR ON FUCKING.

Federal bust of long-running escort site Rentboy.com leads to protests. Mullin, J., Ars Technica (Sep. 2015). [The Department of Homeland Security, people: Keeping Us Safe™ from the consensual gay sex terrorists. –Ed.]

Minister Louis Farrakhan Wants Jay Z To Keep Beyonce “Covered”. Robertson, I., Vibe (Sep. 2015). [HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STFU 4EVAH, Lou. –Ed.]

GODLESSNESS.

Americans are leaving religion. Why are we still subsidizing it? Niose, D., The Washington Post (Sep. 2015). [Why indeed. –Ed.]

RACE. 

The Hypocrisy of the Anti-Muslim Bigotry Arrest of Ahmed Mohamed, in One Tweet. Levine, J., Mic.com (Sep. 2015):

The tweet shows the younger Mohamed, left, in handcuffs as police led him out of his high school Monday. On the right are two white, gun-holding children who showed up with other open carry activists at a 2014 arts festival in Fort Worth, Texas, where the group had previously been banned. Neither the children nor other members of the group were arrested.

ENERGY + ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE.

[Oh, I don’t know, Neil. I’m not surprised, why should aliens be? Have you met humans? –Ed.]

Here’s what happens when you try to replicate climate contrarian papers. Nuccitelli, D., The Guardian (Aug. 2015):

[T]here is no cohesive, consistent alternative theory to human-caused global warming. Some blame global warming on the sun, others on orbital cycles of other planets, others on ocean cycles, and so on. There is a 97% expert consensus on a cohesive theory that’s overwhelmingly supported by the scientific evidence, but the 2–3% of papers that reject that consensus are all over the map, even contradicting each other. The one thing they seem to have in common is methodological flaws like cherry picking, curve fitting, ignoring inconvenient data, and disregarding known physics.

EDUCATION, FEMINISM, RACE, SCIENCE.

Picture yourself as a stereotypical male. Michelle G., MIT Admissions (Sep. 2015):

As it turns out, there is zero statistically significant gender difference in mental rotation ability after test-takers are asked to imagine themselves as stereotypical men for a few minutes. None.

…

Similar findings have been shown regarding racial identities: for example, asking black students to indicate their race before a test both significantly increases their anxiety and lowers their test scores.

MOCKERY FTW.

17 Genius Tweets from the Person who Allegedly ‘Sits Next to Kim Davis’. SheWired (Sep. 2015):

#KimDavis – DID GOD ORDER YOU NOT TO REFILL THE XEROX TRAY, TOO? GODDAMN IT SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO GO HOME TO OUR FIRST HUSBAND
-@nexttokimdavis

[LOL. –Ed.]

[They might kill you anyway. –Ed.]

CONSERVATIVE PERSONALITY DISORDER.

30 military cadets hurt in West Point pillow fight. Yahoo News (Sep. 2015).

The brawl left 24 young cadets with concussions, The Academy told the paper, after reports that some stuffed their pillows with hard objects.

A total of 30 cadets were injured, and students reported that the list of wounds included one broken leg as well as dislocated shoulders.

…

No disciplinary measures have been taken against the cadets and there were no plans to end the yearly brawl…

[Shit mocks itself, really. –Ed.]

ABORTION.

Why the Fuck you Lyin’, Carly Fiorina? Feminace, Seriously?!? (Sep. 2015):

You wanna end [Planned Parenthood]? Offer to be its CEO.

[BOOM. –Ed.]

Jeb Bush would rather you forget that his grandfather helped found Planned Parenthood. Palma, S., Dead State (Aug. 2015):

the grandfather and father of the last two Bush presidents, Prescott Bush, was the treasurer of the organization in its early years.

Republican’s mind [sic] blown when witness tells him some Planned Parenthood patients are mothers. Gettys, T., Raw Story (Sep. 2015):

“How can they be the mothers of the children when children are aborted through Planned Parenthood?” Sensenbrenner said…“Well, I don’t think that there’s statistics that indicate that’s the case.”

[Here in reality—a place conservatives are only dimly aware of, I know—61 percent of women who seek an abortion already have at least one child. And yeah, “there’s statistics that indicate that’s the case.” FFS. –Ed.]

The War on Women is Over—And Women Lost. Redden, M., Mother Jones (Sep. 2015):

“Sometimes, I feel like I’ve gone back 40-some years,” [Renee Chelian, founder and CEO of Northland Family Planning Centers] says. “And I can hardly believe that.” Women trek hundreds of miles north from Dayton, Ohio, or east from South Bend, Indiana, for an abortion at one of her centers. Some are already miscarrying—probably after taking pills or herbal concoctions they got from the internet. A few have tried to open their cervix by digging into it with a sharp object.

FUCK YOU, CONSERVATIVES.
–Ed.

TERRORISM, WAR.

Trying to follow what is going on in Syria and why? This comic will get you there in 5 minutes. Huber, A., UpWorthy (Sep. 2015).

Decoding the Current War in Syria: The Wikileaks Files. Ganesan, J., Global Research (Sep. 2015):

The US strategically schemed to cause unrest in Syria against the Bashar al-Assad government. Faced with the rise of ISIS, which the US was not only aware of but also encouraged, the US slides deeper into a complicated war it helped escalate in the first place…

MEDIA.

Invisible War Crimes – The Corporate Media On Yemen. DC, Media Lens (Sep. 2015).

The overarching framework, Chomsky points out, is the so-called Clinton Doctrine, named after former US president Bill Clinton. The doctrine asserts that United States is entitled to the ‘unilateral use of military power’ to ensure ‘uninhibited access to key markets, energy supplies, and strategic resources’. This entitlement is dressed up as alleged ‘security’ or ‘humanitarian’ concerns.

Mosaic of Facts. Francis-Santiago, M., RT via youtube (Sep. 2015). (VIDEO).

Miguel Francis-Santiago delves deep to try to understand the intricacies of information war. He meets media experts and puts together the Mosaic of Facts, showing how public opinion is manipulated, not just over the Ukrainian Crisis but throughout the world.

[Behold: your liberal media. –Ed.]

DRUG WAR.

Colorado Becomes First State In History To Collect More Taxes From Pot Than Alcohol. Taylor, C., Occupy Democrats (Sep. 2015). [Doooooood. That’s, like, sooooo freakin’ awwsummm? –Ed.]

ECONOMICS.

The TPP Will Finish What Chile’s Dictatorship Started. Grandin, G., The Nation (Sep. 2015):

In the 1970s, socialism was, for many, on the horizon of the possible, with the principle of “excess profit” seen as a way for exploited countries to, in Allende’s words, “correct historic wrongs.” Today, forget nationalization, much less socialism. If the TPP is ratified and ISDS put into effect, countries won’t be able to limit mining to protect their water supply or even enforce anti-tobacco regulation.

This September 11, as the Obama administration makes its final push for the TPP, it’s worth taking a moment to realize why all those people in Chile—and in Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, and throughout Latin America—died and were tortured: to protect the “future profits” of multinational corporations.

Swedish nurses experiment with 6-hour work day and efficiency goes up and turnover goes down. Einenkel, W., Daily Kos (Sep. 2015):

There are drawbacks to this. It costs some money and CEOs cannot make 300 times more than their workforce if they do this. You also may only be able to buy a new private jet once every ten years and not once every three years. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live in a country where I can’t dream about owning more stuff than other people and then telling them they’re lazy…

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PLZ NOTE: Acquisition of links for the fabulous Palace library does not imply 100% agreement with or endorsement of any content, organization, source or individual.

Recent reads.

IMMIGRATION, DRUG WAR.

Immigrant Teens Less Likely To Commit Crime, Consume Drugs, Study Finds. Attanasio, C., Latin Times (Sep. 2015):

[T]he U.S. may have a criminalizing effect on immigrants, not the other way around.

Instead of immigrants “bringing drugs” and “bringing crime” to the U.S. — as the immigration analysis of Donald Trump has argued — the research implies that it is the U.S. that brings drugs and crime to immigrant youth.

RACE.

Racial Injustice Fatigue: Coping with the Toxicity of Well-Meaning White People. Daroe, K., For Harriet (Sep. 2015).

SCIENCE.

AI robot that learns new words in real-time tells human creators it will keep them in a “people zoo”. Glitch.News (Aug. 2015). WATCH:

[OMFG. –Ed.]

RULE OF LAW.

Cheers Erupt As Guatemala Paves Way to Arrest School of the Americas-Trained President Perez Molina. Germanos, A., Common Dreams (Sep. 2015). (“‘Now that Guatemala has kicked open the door, set an example for the world, this trail of blood can be followed wherever it leads, including back to Washington,’ says journalist Nairn.”) [Hahaha. Sure. You know what I always say: Don’t count your incarcerated war criminals before they’re led off in shackles at the Hague. –Ed.]

ISRAEL, POLICE.

U.S. Police Routinely Travel to Israel to Learn Methods of Brutality and Repression. Gardner, G., The Free Thought Project (Aug. 2015):

At least 300 high-ranking U.S. sheriffs and police from all over the country, as well as FBI and US Customs and Border Protection agents, have traveled to Israel to learn first-hand the most efficient means of subduing populations.  The purported reason is counterterrorism, but protests and crowd control methods are commonly discussed…The use of excessive or deadly force for crowd control is rarely questioned.

Israeli Police Brutality Is Out of Control, and the Media Is Still Silent. Moreh B.D.K. and R. Abraham, Counter Current News (Nov. 2014).

It’s Time To Admit It. Israeli Policy Is What It Is: Apartheid. Burston, B., Information Clearinghouse (Aug. 2015).

CONSERVATIVE PERSONALITY DISORDER.

Arizona school district requires students to paste anti-abortion sticker in science textbook. Mother Mags, Daily Kos (Aug. 2015).

Consumer Reports calls latest Tesla best vehicle they’ve ever tested, right wing goes nuts. kos, Daily Kos (Aug. 2015).

WANT.

BLOGGING & WRITING.

Hispanic Or Latino? A Guide For The U.S. Presidential Campaign. Garcia-Navarro, L., NPR (Aug. 2015) [via Skepchick.]:

A quick test to see if you’re paying attention to the original question: What am I?

I’m neither Latina nor Hispanic because I don’t live in the U.S.

I’m a Cuban-Panamanian-Brit who speaks Spanish and lives in a Portuguese-speaking part of Latin America.

See, it’s simple.

HEALTH CARE.

Why one naturopath quit after watching her peers treat cancer patients. Belluz, J., Vox (Sep. 2015):

I had a lot of perception bias and self-fulfilling prophecies. I saw myself getting better, friends having healing experiences, that now in hindsight I realize was due to other things — self-limiting conditions, evidence-based medicine sprinkled in with the naturopathic medicine we were doing.

Put down the Emergen-C — vitamin C does not ward off colds. Guth, D., PRI (Public Research International) (Aug. 2015). [via Skepchick.]

GODLESSNESS, CRITICAL THINKING.

POTUS at the Bully Pulpit. Coleman, A.D., The Humanist (Aug. 2015) [h/t Don Ardell]:

[A]s Goya wrote, the sleep of reason produces monsters. Religion, by definition, anesthetizes reason, and those who believe the application of compassionate reason is the best way to help others should point out such anesthetization whenever it occurs, especially when everyone’s watching.

ART + CULTURE.

Vintage Magazines Repurposed: Belgian artist Sammy Slabbinck. Skidmore, M., AnOther (Aug. 2015).

Going Nowhere © Sammy Slabbinck.

WAR.

Despite Global Ban, Saudi-Led Forces Kill Dozens in Yemen Using U.S.-Made Cluster Bombs. Goodman, A. and Roth, K., Democracy Now, (Sep. 2015):

Dozens of civilians were killed or wounded, both during the attacks and later, when they picked up unexploded submunitions that detonated. Neither the United States, Saudi Arabia or Yemen have joined the global convention banning the use of cluster munitions.

U.S. launches secret drone campaign to hunt Islamic State leaders in Syria. Miller, G., The Washington Post (Sep. 2015).

A Syrian Photographer Survives to Show His Country’s Destruction. Schatz, B., Mother Jones ( Aug. 2015). (“Mahmoud al-Basha lost nearly all his photos when he was kidnapped. Here’s what’s left.”)

The Nuclear Deal. Chomsky, N., teleSUR (Aug. 2015). [FIVE STARS. –Ed.]

PRISON + SENTENCING REFORM.

These 7 Household Names Make a Killing Off of the Prison-Industrial Complex. Davidson, K., US Uncut (Aug. 2015):

“Insourcing,” as prison labor is often called, is an even cheaper alternative to outsourcing. Instead of sending labor over to China or Bangladesh, manufacturers have chosen to forcibly employ the 2.4 million incarcerated people in the United States. Chances are high that if a product you’re holding says it is “American Made,” it was made in an American prison.

On average, prisoners work 8 hours a day, but they have no union representation and make between .23 and $1.15 per hour, over 6 times less than federal minimum wage. These low wages combined with increasing communication and commissary costs mean that inmates are often released from correctional facilities with more debt than they had on their arrival. Meanwhile, big businesses receive tax credits for employing these inmates in excess of millions of dollars a year.

Drug Sentences Rise, While Time Served For Other Crimes Falls. Hayes, M., BuzzFeed (Aug. 2015). (“A new study finds that drug offenders are serving more time in federal prison while all other sentences are on the decline.”)

POVERTY.

Half a million California children are homeless. Mclean, A., World Socialist (Aug. 2015):

More broadly, the gutting of federal programs for food stamps and the health care overhaul by the Obama administration have hacked away at what little is left of a social safety net, placing more of the burden on the backs of working people. The result of these policies has been the highest rate of child homelessness since the Great Depression. As the global economic crisis intensifies, the capitalist politicians will more and more seek to force the working class to pay for a crisis that it did not create. The impoverishment and homelessness of a large number of children in the US is a further symptom of this process.

FEMINISM.

Similarities Between Anti-Suffragette Posters and Anti-Feminist Memes: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Poland, B., Suite (Aug. 2015).

[“My” country? I think I see the problem… –Ed.]

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PLZ NOTE: Acquisition of links for the fabulous Palace library does not imply 100% agreement with or endorsement of any content, organization, source or individual.

Recent reads.

PRISON + SENTENCING REFORM.

Bernie Sanders Will Introduce Legislation To End Private Prisons. Lavender, P., The Huffington Post (Aug. 2015). [GOOD. –Ed.]

DRONES.

FAA records detail hundreds of close calls between airplanes and drones. Whitlock, C., Washington Post (Aug. 2015). [This story is brought to you by a government whistleblower. I am sure the Obama administration is hunting down this terrorist threat to national security as we speak. I know I sure don’t want to live in the kind of country where I can know about the 700 near-collisions between planes and drones so far this year! –Ed.]

ENERGY + ENVIRONMENT.

Islamic Leaders Want A Jihad Against Global Warming. Bastasch, M., The Daily Caller (Aug. 2015).

July was the hottest month in Earth’s hottest year on record so far. Samenow, J., Washington Post (Aug. 2015). (“And the globe is well on its way to having its hottest year on record.”) [Great job, everyone! –Ed.]

Global warming worsened the California drought, scientists say. Fears, D., Washington Post (Aug. 2015):

The study by Columbia University’s Earth Institute isn’t the first to say warming has played a key role in fueling California’s dry conditions, but it’s the first to measure its impact, calculating that it increased the problem by as much as 25 percent.

LGBT.

The Troubles with Gender. Veronica, Skepchick (Aug. 2015).

Elisha Walker Is Third Trans Woman Reported Dead Today. Matthews, G., The Rainbow Hub (Aug. 2015). [PEOPLE ARE TERRIBLE FUCK EVERYONE THE END. –Ed.]

WAR, VETERANS.

“You Grow Up Wanting to be Luke Skywalker, Then Realize You’ve Become a Stormtrooper for the Empire”. Crimmins, D., Reddit via Democratic Underground (Oct. 2014):

Then you realize you haven’t seen anything to support the idea that these poor fuckers are a threat to your home. You look around and you see all he contractors making six figure salaries to fix your shit, train Iraqis, maintain the ridiculous SUVs the KBR dicks ride around in. You consider the fact that every 25mm shell costs about forty bucks, and your company has been handing those fuckers out like shrapnel flavored parade candies. You think about all the fuel you’re going through, all the ammo and missiles and grenades. You think about every time you lose a vehicle, the Army buys a new one. Maybe you start to see a lot of people making a lot of money on huge amounts of human suffering.

Then you go on leave, and realize that Ayn Rand has no idea what the fuck she’s talking about. You realize that Fox News and Limbaugh and John McCain don’t respect you or your buddies. They don’t give a fuck if you get a parade or a box when you get home, you’re nothing to them but a prop.

WAR, ACTIVISM.

Where Did the Antiwar Movement Go? Or What It Means When You Kill People On the Other Side of the Planet and No One Notices). Engelhardt, T., The Greanville Post (Aug. 2015).

RACE.

NYC, POLICE, POVERTY.

Police are posting photos online of New Yorkers at their most vulnerable. Badger, E., Washington Post (Aug. 2015). [This is all kinds of fucked up. –Ed.]

FEMINISM.

Stephen Colbert Shares Why He Thinks Women Should Be in Charge of Everything. Colbert, S., Glamour (Aug. 2015). (“I’m going to do my best to create a Late Show that not only appeals to women but also celebrates their voices.”)

Amazon Warriors Did Indeed Fight and Die Like Men: Archaeology shows that these fierce women also smoked pot, got tattoos, killed—and loved—men. Worrall, S., National Geographic (Oct. 2014).

ECONOMICS.

Overcoming systemic roadblocks to sustainability: The evolutionary redesign of worldviews, institutions, and technologies. Beddoe, R., PNAS, vol. 106 no. 8, 2483–2489, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0812570106 (Dec. 2008).

Participatory Economics. (“a model for a new economy based on democracy, justice and ecological sustainability proposed as an alternative to our current economic system.”)

 The Root of all Evil. Wood., S., The 99.99998271% (Feb. 2015):

The profit motive, therefore, is the fundamental principle underlying modern capitalism; the all-encompassing priority of corporate entities. This drive for profit, however, is incompatible with the complex needs of humanity and the environment, as it leads to exponential ‘growth’ in a limited system, meaning it is unsustainable, creating mounting misery and chaos for ever increasing numbers of people, even those in so-called ‘rich’ or ‘advanced’ nations.

Yes, there is an alternative to capitalism: Mondragon shows the way. Wolff, R., The Guardian (Jun. 2008). (“Why are we told a broken system that creates vast inequality is the only choice? Spain’s amazing co-op is living proof otherwise.”)

MEDIA.

‘You Say What You Like, Because They Like What You Say’. Cromwell, D., Media Lens (May 2013):

In a talk almost twenty years ago, the American political writer and media critic Michael Parenti explained powerfully how journalism works in practice:

‘Oddly enough, if you talk to most reporters, most of the reporters I know who are giving me stories about censorship, about top-down control and all, are ex-reporters. They’re often people – I began noticing, “Well I used to work for Associated Press…”, or “Well, I used to work for CBS…” – “Well I used to…” The ones who are still in there absolutely vehemently deny that there’s any such thing like this. They get very indignant. They say: “Are you telling me that I’m not my own man? I’ll have you know that in 17 years with this paper I always say what I like.” And I say to them: “You say what you like, because they like what you say.” [emphasis in original.]

Beyond Manufacturing Consent. Street, P., teleSUR (Mar. 2015). (“The leading capitalist US media corporations are naturally no less committed to advancing ‘homeland’ oppression structures and ideologies than they are to hawking related imperial policies and propaganda.”)

The Gatekeepers. Wood, S., The 99.99998271% (Apr. 2015):

True democracy – a community sharing resources fairly and working together for peace, security, justice and prosperity – is antithetical to the ideology of the profit motive. For this reason, rule number one of the corporate media’s version of reality is to present at all times the illusion of freedom, the idea that people are actually in control of their societies, economies and leaders. This demonstrably false idea must be promoted relentlessly in order to quell and misdirect the anger and hopelessness felt by the millions upon millions of victims of the corporate credo – the now utterly discredited idea that the ‘free market’ is the best and fairest method of running humanity.

BODY IMAGE, INTERSECTIONALITY.

Towards a Fatter Insurrection: Introduction to a Revolutionary Body Liberation Movement. Burley, S., Institute for Anarchist Studies (Aug. 2015).

GODLESSNESS.

[Also, fuck your god too. –Ed.]

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PLZ NOTE: Acquisition of links for the fabulous Palace library does not imply 100% agreement with or endorsement of any content, organization, source or individual.

Recent reads.

DEMOCRATS, RACE.

Open letter to progressives: You’re doing it wrong and it’ll cost the Democratic Party. Teal. M., Daily Kos (Aug. 2015). (“At every single point of transformative change in this country, disruption has been key.” -emphasis in original.)

Democrats Can’t Win on the White Vote. Svan, S., FreeThoughtBlogs/Almost Diamonds (Aug. 2015):

When black people tell you it’s important that Sanders address race issues, they don’t just mean it’s important to them. They don’t just mean it’s a matter of their equality and their very lives, though it is. They mean that it’s important to Sanders or Clinton or whoever it is who ends up the Democrats’ nominee for president next year. Why? Because white people haven’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in the last forty years.

Let me repeat that: In the last ten elections, white people as a group have chosen the Republican candidate every single time. No exceptions. The closest they came was in voting for Bill Clinton, where there was only a deficit of 2% of the white voting population, when Perot was splitting the white vote.

Some People of Color Bernie Sanders Fans Would Do Well to Listen To. Hunter, D., FreeThoughtBlogs/En Tequila es Verdad (Aug. 2015).

Bernie Sanders, Black Lives Matter and the racial divide in Seattle. Oluo, I., The Seattle Globalist (Aug. 2015). [FAQs for white “progressives”. –Ed.]

OH LOOK IT’S WORKING.

Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Adds Young Black Woman As New Public Face. McMorris-Santoro, E., BuzzFeed (Aug. 2015). (“After meeting with Bernie Sanders about criminal justice and Black Lives Matter, Bernie Sanders has hired Symone Sanders as national press secretary.”)

Bernie Sanders Unveils Sweeping Policy Platform To Combat Racial Inequality. Fang, M., Huffington Post (Aug. 2015).

POLICE, RACE.

The Dogs Are Still in the Streets: Ferguson 2015—It’s Still Right to Rebel Against Injustice! Dix, C., Stop Mass Incarceration Network (Aug. 2015).

[The arrested girl is 12. TWELVE. –Ed.]

POLICE, YOUR LIBERAL MEDIA.

Cops Gun Down Unarmed Journalist’s Career. Palast, G., Reader Supported News (Aug. 2015). (“LA Times fires Ted Rall – evidence blows up in newspaper’s face.”)

PRISON & SENTENCING REFORM, TORTURE.

Man’s US extradition over terror refused. O’Riordan, A., Irish Examiner (May 2015). [Ireland’s High Court refuses to extradite an alleged terrorist to the US because our criminal justice system and prison-industrial-complex are human rights atrocities. Go USA! –Ed.]

Who Are the Biggest Killers in America? The Numbers Will Shock You. Jilani, Z., AlterNet (Aug. 2015) (“The crimes committed by the rich not only cause more monetary damage but kill far more people than ordinary street crime, yet the former are treated with kid gloves while the latter are treated with long prison sentences or even executions.”) [For the record, I am not shocked. –Ed.]

ECONOMICS, ENERGY + ENVIRONMENT.

G20 countries pay over $1,000 per citizen in fossil fuel subsidies, says IMF. Carrington, D., The Guardian (Aug. 2015).

Subsidies for fossil fuels amount to $1,000 (£640) a year for every citizen living in the G20 group of the world’s leading economies, despite the group’s pledge in 2009 to phase out support for coal, oil and gas.

New figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that the US, which hosted the G20 summit in 2009, gives $700bn a year in fossil fuel subsidies, equivalent to $2,180 for every American. President Barack Obama backed the phase out but has since overseen a steep rise in federal fossil fuel subsidies.

[Free Market™ capitalism, YAY! And remember, kids! THIS is why we can’t have nice things. Like health care, food, education, a living wage, affordable housing, Social Security, infrastructure investment, etc. –Ed.]

POVERTY, RACE.

The Resurrection of America’s Slums: After falling in the 1990s, the number of poor people living in high-poverty areas has been growing fast. Semuels, A., The Atlantic (Aug. 2015).

The number of people living in high-poverty areas—defined as census tracts where 40 percent or more of families have income levels below the federal poverty threshold—nearly doubled between 2000 and 2013, to 13.8 million from 7.2 million, according to a new analysis of census data by Paul Jargowsky, a public-policy professor at Rutgers University-Camden and a fellow at The Century Foundation. That’s the highest number of Americans living in high-poverty neighborhoods ever recorded.

[In case you were wondering, this is what “economic recovery” apparently looks like. –Ed.]

Black poverty differs from white poverty. Badger, E., The Washington Post (Aug. 2015).

In five-year American Community Survey data from 2009-2013, more than a third of all poor African Americans in metropolitan Chicago live in high-poverty census tracts (where the poverty rate is above 40 percent). That number has gotten worse since 2000. And it’s about 10 times higher than for poor whites.

In St. Louis, 29.5 percent of poor African Americans live in concentrated poverty. Among poor whites, just 1.6 percent do.

RACE, EDUCATION.

Why do people believe myths about the Confederacy? Because our textbooks and monuments are wrong. Loewen, J.W., Washington Post (Jul. 2015):

“The Confederates won with the pen (and the noose) what they could not win on the battlefield: the cause of white supremacy and the dominant understanding of what the war was all about. We are still digging ourselves out from under the misinformation they spread, which has manifested in our public monuments and our history books.

 HEALTH CARE, SECULARISM, REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.

Bishops Meddle in Health Care. Novella, S., Neurologica Blog (Aug. 2015).

“the country’s Conference of Catholic Bishops declared a boycott of the World Health Organization’s vaccination campaign, saying they needed to “test” whether ingredients contain a derivative of estrogen. Dr. Wahome Ngare of the Kenyan Catholic Doctor’s Association alleged that the presence of the female hormone could sterilize children.”

[“Pro-life,” everyone. And no, they have no idea what they’re fucking talking about. –Ed.]

Hospital Denies Mother’s Choice For Tubal Ligation Minutes Before Surgery. Salzillo, L., Daily Kos (Aug. 2015):

When Angela Valavanis established her birth plan for delivering her youngest child, she indicated that if a C-section was medically necessary, she wanted to get a tubal ligation at the same time. But, at the last minute, the Illinois mom was denied the sterilization surgery because the hospital where she was delivering was a Catholic institution and policy dictated it couldn’t perform contraceptive procedures — something Valavanis was never made aware of throughout her pregnancy.

[Paging smiley progressive pope? HELLO…? –Ed.]

Paying through the nose for prescription drugs: We pay far more for prescription medications than any other country – just the way Big Pharma and the insurance industry likes it. Potter, W., Medicare Resources (Aug. 2015). [Good article, but buries the lede in the penultimate paragraphs:

The industry’s influence with Democrats is just as strong as it is with Republicans. That’s why provisions that would have allowed the importation of drugs from Canada and that would have given Medicare the power to negotiate with drug companies were stripped out of the Affordable Care Act before it reached President Obama’s desk.

That was by design. Obama and Democratic leaders had agreed to strip out those provisions when PhRMA said it would spend millions to torpedo Obamacare if the industry didn’t get what it wanted.

…with friends like these… –Ed.]

4 New Depression Treatments You Won’t Believe Actually Work. Coville, C., Cracked (Jul. 2014).

GODLESSNESS.

The Maturing Secular Community: Fewer Personalities, More Good Deeds. Lee, A., Patheos/Daylight Athiesm (Aug. 2015).

ABORTION, TERRORISM.

Planned Parenthood Clinic Construction Site Vandalized in New Orleans. Wilson, T., RH Reality Check (Aug.  2015).

FEMINISM, MEDIA, NYC.

The real reason some men still can’t handle the all-female ‘Ghostbusters’. Thériault, A., The Daily Dot (Jul. 2015). (“On social media, people’s reactions have been hilariously out of touch with reality, ranging from faux-intellectual comments about how gender-swapping is ‘pandering’ to women to complaints from Twitter users that the new film will ‘ruin’ their childhoods.”) [FEMINISM: ruining men’s childhoods by going back in time and digitally inserting women into every copy of the original Ghostbusters! Bwhahahahah! –Ed.]

Central Park Has 22 Statues of Historical Figures. Every Single One is a Man. Blakemore, E., The Smithsonian (Jul. 2015). (“Could a crusade to bring historic women into the park change the face of the city?”) [Or does having a female statue in Central Park ensure we’ll all drown in male tears? Do I really need another fucking pool? –Ed.]

[There is a distinct chance that this mug actually contains vodka. –Ed.]

DEMOCRACY, RULE OF LAW.

A mathematician may have uncovered widespread election fraud, and Kansas is trying to silence her. Green, J., America Blog (Aug. 2015).

The irregularities are isolated to precincts that use “Central Tabulator” voting machines — machines that have previously been shown to be vulnerable to hacking. The effects are significant and widespread: According to their analysis, Mitt Romney could have received over a million extra votes in the 2012 Republican primary, mostly coming at the expense of Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. President Obama also ceded significant votes to John McCain due to this irregularity, as well.

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REMINDER: Acquisition of links for our fabulous library does not imply the Palace’s 100% agreement with or endorsement of any content, organization, source or individual.

Have a nice day.