Later this year, far-right Colorado radio host and homeschooling activist Kevin Swanson will be attempting to expand his national profile by organizing a “National Religious Liberties Conference” in Des Moines, Iowa. Since Swanson believes that homosexuality should be punished by death and frequently claims that liberals are using things like the movie Frozen and Girl Scout cookies to make children gay, we hoped that even this year’s field of Republican …
The Bernie Bubble: How Long Will It Last? By Steven Rosenfeld
How long will the Bernie bubble last? Right now, Bernie Sanders is drawing [3] bigger crowds than any other presidential candidate. His economic populism [4] is bringing in millions in contributions that will carry him into next year’s opening caucuses and primaries. In short, Bernie has been campaigning in a way that has served him well for years—as a blunt retail politician whose calls [5] for economic fairness and …
Sanders Bullshit Meter Goes Off the Charts in Portland, Maine By Bruce K. Gagnon
I spent two hours yesterday holding a banner (joined by eight others with signs and a 2nd banner) outside the Bernie Sanders for President rally in Portland, Maine that reportedly drew about 9,000 people. It was an impressive crowd for someone who once claimed he was a ‘socialist’. People began lining up before 5:00 pm for the 7:00 event and …
45 times Secretary Clinton pushed the trade bill she now opposes By Jake Tapper
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, seems reluctant to take a firm position on an issue dividing her party: whether President Obama should have fast-track trading authority for the immense trade deal he has been negotiating, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. With some progressive voters eyeing her with some skepticism, and facing a challenge (such …
Iowa State University goes bananas over GMOs – Tim Schwab
When news circulated that the first people to consume a new GMO banana would be student guinea pigs at Iowa State University, the university community had questions. A recently released, redacted copy of the initial “informed consent document” that ISU lead researcher Wendy White gave to students doesn’t appear to mention that the GMO banana has never been approved as …
Bird Flu Is Slamming Factory Farms But Sparing Backyard Flocks. Why? – Tom Philpott
The Midwest’s ongoing avian flu crisis is wreaking havoc on the region’s large-scale egg and turkey farms. Last week alone, the US Department of Agriculture confirmed that the virus had turned up in more than 20 additional facilities in the region, condemning 4 million birds to euthanasia. Altogether, the H5N2 virus—”highly pathogenic” to birds, so far non-threatening to humans—has affected …
White America’s Greatest Delusion: “They Do Not Know It and They Do Not Want to Know It” – Tim Wise
Though perhaps overused, there are few statements that so thoroughly burrow to the heart of the nation’s racial condition as the following, written fifty-three years ago by James Baldwin: …this is the crime of which I accuse my country and my countrymen and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them, that they have destroyed and …
Wall Street Is Cool With Hillary Clinton Pretending To Be A Populist – DS Wright
At this stage of the game you have to be exceedingly dim or incredibly delusional to think that Hillary Clinton is a progressive. Her record of supporting cuts to programs helping children in poverty, voting for reckless wars overseas, applauding domestic surveillance, and standing with corporate power in Congress speaks for itself. But in order to win an election in …
The Ascent of Hillary, the $.2.5 Billion “People’s” Candidate – Glen Ford
The Democratic Party has become a desert where nothing grows – except the One Percent’s hold on the party machinery. No need for primaries; Hillary Clinton’s rich contributors have already locked up the nomination. “Wall Street is determined that there will be no serious Democratic deviation from the corporate agenda set by Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.” Hillary Clinton just …
Obama Blocks Tens of Thousands of Military Veterans from Owning Guns – Tim Devaney
The Obama administration is unfairly blocking tens of thousands of military veterans from owning guns, a Republican senator is charging. The FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is filled with military veterans who are essentially banned from owning guns, even though they may not be a danger to society, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote this …