How to buy members of Congress: A case study involving Comcast

It's all legal of course, thanks to be playing field itself being corrupt, as reported by The Consumerist:

Senators Pat Toomey, whose campaign hauled in $70,600 in contributions from Comcast and its employees this election cycle, and Bob Casey, who really felt the love from Comcast’s $114,000 in combined contributions in 2014, penned a joint letter to FCC Chair Tom Wheeler today, urging him to hurry up and approve this merger already.

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Read more about the article On Being Primed For Worse

On Being Primed For Worse

Haven’t we been gearing up for some kind of O.K. Corral showdown pretty much since the announcement that there would be a grand jury? Haven’t we been gearing up for some kind of O.K. Corral showdown pretty much since the announcement that there would be a grand jury? Sure looked like we expected what we got. [More . . . ]

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Time to end the “war on drugs”

What's the drug war about? American psychosis, born of racism, but now one humongous wholly misguided attempt to put children into a protective bubble. But now there is some hope for change in the right direction, according to Ethan Nadelmann's TED talk. He is Director of Drug Policy Alliance. Brilliant talk, concluding with a call to end the drug war.

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Karl Marx was correct about these ill-affects of capitalism

Rolling Stone points out that, despite some huge problems with his proposed solutions, Marx was correct about these ill-effects of capitalism. 1. Capitalism's Chaotic Nature 2. Imaginary Appetites 3. The Globalization of Capitalism 4. Monopoly 5. The Reserve Army of Industrial Labor

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New Study: United States no longer a Democracy

Is the U.S. government following the will of the People? The answer is no, according to a new study:

Asking "[w]ho really rules?" researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page argue that over the past few decades America's political system has slowly transformed from a democracy into an oligarchy, where wealthy elites wield most power. Using data drawn from over 1,800 different policy initiatives from 1981 to 2002, the two conclude that rich, well-connected individuals on the political scene now steer the direction of the country, regardless of or even against the will of the majority of voters.
[Cartoon by Jonik reprinted here with his permission] Jonik cartoon

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