caucus99percent

free-range politics, organic community

All eyes are on Greece this weekend.

This article comes from the most polluted city in the world where small children have already damaged lungs. Most of the pollution comes from fossii fuelled transportation and open burning. The recognition of the dangers of pollution has come too late for them. Why do we wait until we reach this level before the realization sets in that we cannot continue our way of life.

Do you know how many countries we are bombing? Go ahead. Try to guess how many.

You probably can't, and that is an incredibly awful thing about our country.
We've bombed brown-skinned people in seven different countries in the past few months and most Americans couldn't care less.

When grassroots activists and union leaders threatened to withhold campaign donations from Democratic Congressmen who voted for Fast Track, it should have been a wake up call for all Democrats. If party members have been reduced to threatening representatives just to ensure voter interests are protected, then you know the party has lost its way.

In two days about a quarter of a million people will be made stateless. They will have no homes, no passports, and no civil rights. There are several reasons for this, but the primary reason is racism.

The TPP agreement has never been about helping average Americans obtain jobs. Its overarching purpose has been to ensure US corporations gain enough power to dominate international trade markets. More specifically, it was designed to deter China’s expansionist ambitions.

As CNN noted in April:

Really, this is about China.

President Obama has declared that the temporary defeat of the TPP in Congress by the Democratic Party "will directly hurt" American workers.
The CATO Institute, most congressional Republicans, and Wall Street agrees.

I just posted this brief diary at the Dkos:

Long before the 2014 midterm-elections, I was one of the few people on this site warning members of the Democratic Party to prepare themselves for huge losses during the midterm elections. For holding that position, I was vilified. But in the end, I was proven right.

All the politicians and economists will tell you that the economy has recovered. While things aren't as bad as they were in 2008-2010, it certainly doesn't feel like we've ever gotten over the crash.

I am acquainted with a neurophysicist who maintains that it is breezingly easy, when reading brain scans, to determine which images reflect the skull-mush of a homo-sapien female, as compared to the skull-mush of a homo-sapien male.

This is because, so says the neurophysicist, scans of the female brain reveal many folds: folds being the way information in the brain is stored. And human females are interested in many things. Thus: many folds.

Next week Hillary Clinton's confidant Sidney Blumenthal will testify in front of Congress about Benghazi. The session will be closed to the media.

Kickback: The payment of something of value to a recipient as compensation or reward for providing favorable treatment to another party.

A kickback in the form of money, gifts, credit, or anything of value may be viewed as a corrupt practice that interferes with an employee or official’s ability to make unbiased decisions. - Investopedia

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The Fall of Ramadi is becoming a game-changer. Not for the defeat itself, but for the response. In particular, the military offensive to retake Ramadi.
The most obvious element of how things have changed is the composition of the Baghdad army.

to think Bernie loses the general election. Comparing Bernie in 2016 to McGovern in 1972, saying Bernie loses like George did is a bit of a stretch. One should remember that the 1972 Democratic primary was a 4 man race, Humphrey [4.1 million], Wallace [3.7] & Muskie [1.8] got 9.6 million votes to McGoverns 4 million. Humphrey would have been the nominee on the basis of the popular primary vote.

If Hillary Clinton is a true liberal, as Markos Moulitsas has so definitively asserted, then it creates a framework for healing the wounds that have divided the Democratic Party.

At the same time, it stands to reason that Hillary Clinton’s refusal to acknowledge the growing rift between party members creates an almost insurmountable obstacle. As is common in all sick families, a problem that isn’t acknowledged can’t be cured. And there are many grievances to be healed.