Chris Hedges – ‘A Pipeline Straight to Jail’

The defeat of the Harvard University debate team by a team from the Eastern New York Correctional Facility in the Catskills elucidates a truth known intimately by those of us who teach in prisons: that the failure of the American educational system to offer opportunities to the poor and the government’s abandonment of families and children living in blighted communities …

Lawrence Davidson – On the Age-Old Tradition of Not Caring

Part I — Deep PovertyIn the assessment of poverty in the United States there is a category known as “deep poverty.” The definition of deep poverty, as given in a recent article on this subject in the Philadelphia Inquirer of 30 September 2015, goes as follows: “deep poverty is measured as income of 50% or less of the poverty rate.” …

David Gutierrez – CDC’s wild disease hysteria overestimates disease transmission by up to 6,400%

In August 2014, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) loudly publicized the prediction of one of its most famous disease modelers, Martin Meltzer, that there could be 500,000 to 1.4 million new Ebola cases in western Africa over the next few months if the world did not immediately step in to assist. The prediction was admittedly a …

Pepe Escobar – Brave (miserable) new normal world

Shares in the Shanghai/Shenzhen soared a whopping 150 percent in the 12 months up to mid-June. Small investors – almost 80 percent of the market – believed in a never-ending party, and often borrowed heavily to be part of the “get rich is glorious” bonanza. There had to be a correction. Those shares – which had hit a 7-year peak …

April M. Short – Why Now Is the Worst Time in American History to Be a Renter

If you’re having trouble keeping up with rent, you’re not alone. Renting in the U.S. has never been as expensive as it is right now. According to a new report [3] by the online real estate database Zillow, rents have never taken up this much of the American paycheck. Mortgage prices have remained relatively stable over the last several years, …

Racialized Poverty in America has Nearly Doubled in 21st Century

Discriminatory housing, zoning, and other policy choices are driving the dramatic rise of racialized poverty and segregation across the United States, with the number of people residing in low-income “ghettos, barrios, and slums” nearly doubling in the 21st century alone, a new report finds. Architecture of Segregation, authored by the Century Foundation fellow Paul Jargowsky, concludes that midsized cities of …

Andre Damon – Chinese stock market suffers biggest one-day sell-off since 2007

China’s stock market suffered its biggest one-day sell-off since 2007 on Monday, with share values plunging by more than 8.5 percent. Panic selling triggered the automatic suspension of trading for over 1,000 companies, leading Chinese financial authorities to announce a new round of share purchases in an attempt to stop the rout. However, Chinese stock indexes continued to fall in …

Matt Taibbi – In the Age of Trump, Will Democrats Sell Out More, or Less?

ver the weekend, polls showed that that the Trump-fueled collapse of the Republican Party is reaching historic depths. According to CNN, the GOP’s approval rating is now down to 32 percent, the lowest level in over two decades. It probably won’t be trending up anytime soon, either, now that the Trump campaign is turning “you can’t rape your spouse” into …

US health insurers seek huge rate increases for 2016 By Kate Randall

Health insurance companies across the US are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent and more, according to filings by the insurers with state insurance commissions. Insurance companies cite a larger than expected pool of unhealthy enrollees, high drug prices, and diminishing profits as contributing factors requiring the premium hikes. The rate increase requests are the latest demonstration …

How to Steal from the Taxpayers While Blaming the Poor – Paul Buchheit

a vicious circle of hypocrisy: Americans dependent on the safety net are urged to “get a job” by the same free-market system that pays them too little to avoid being dependent on the safety net. Theft, Part 1: The Average U.S. Household Pays About $400 for Safety Net Programs for Low-Wage Workers According to the Economic Policy Institute, $45 billion per …