A Father’s Day Barbeque—Washington, D.C.,-Style

It’s Father’s Day, and that means the Great White Republican Hierarchy in Washington smells burnt charcoal and is ready to barbeque some Democrats. Because Father’s Day is special, the Republican-proposed Sequester is waived, and there is no budget limit for the day’s food and frivolity. It’s warm this Father’s Day, but the Republicans aren’t complaining about all [...]

Political Context - The Progressive Mosaic

Green Shadow Cabinet: No action should be taken against NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden

From the Green Party’s Marsha Coleman-Adebayo and King Downing: The Green Shadow Cabinet’s Government Transparency and Accountability Department calls on the Obama administration to “stand down” from action against National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden. Snowden, a former CIA technician working for the military firm Booz Allen Hamilton under NSA contract, took responsibility for exposing widespread NSA [...]

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Why is it offensive to be called the backyard of the United States?

There was great discontent in Latin America when the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, said to his country’s Congress that Latin America is “the backyard of the United States.” The comment was aggravated given the context that the United States had not recognized the constitutional and elected government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, and that [...]

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JL Schatz: A War on Freedom and Food

Warscapes graciously gave us permission to repost this piece by JL Schatz. There’s a war going on. It’s a war against consumer knowledge, against immigrants, a war against the impoverished and a war against animals. This war is being waged through Ag Gag laws that silence information about how food is produced in the United States. These laws [...]

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The Cody-Big Horn Basin Tea Party and other horror stories

Submitted to me today. I’ve edited a tiny bit and embedded a few links (and gifs), but the message remains the same — this is a creepy eyewitness account of the Tea Party strain operating in Northwestern Wyoming. It’s also a long read, but worth it. I included my own commentary, plus information on blackmail [...]

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Mitch McConnell’s ‘Whack-a-Mole’ Dirty Politics Campaign

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was mad. Not the kind of mad you get when your favorite team blows a big lead and loses its eighth straight game, but Red-Faced-Exploding-Blood-Pressure Mad. “This is what you get from the political Left in America,” McConnell bellowed to the media. “That is what the political Left does these [...]

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Strategy for the International Control of Narcotics

Cambio Newspaper,  March 27 and 28, 2013 Because of their hegemonic origin, the current U.S. foreign-aid programs still bear the mark of paternalism Juan Carlos Zambrana Marchetti* On March 3, 2013, the U.S. Department of State issued its annual report to the nation’s Congress on the efforts made by “key” countries in the fight against narcotics during [...]

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The Paul Ryan Magical Mystery Chop, Dice, and Slice Budget

In 2011, before he was the Republican nominee for vice-president, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) proposed a federal budget. He called it, “The Path to Prosperity: Restoring America’s Promise.” Two years later, now in his second year as chair of the House budget committee, he dusted off and polished his old proposal. He calls this one: “The [...]

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My Poor Teeth: Lack of Dental Protection & Failure to Protect Americans’ Health

I received a letter from a friend this past week. It was a letter he should never have had to write, yet did so out of desperation. He is 80 years old, living off occasional writings and Social Security. He has Medicare, but no dental insurance, and that’s the problem. He needs dental work. A lot of dental [...]

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Jónsdóttir, Taibbi to Speak at Public Banking Conference

Icelandic MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir and Rolling Stone financial author Matt Taibbi will both be speaking at the second annual Public Banking Conference, “PBA2013: Funding the New Economy,” taking place in San Rafael, California on June 2-4, 2013. Jónsdóttir Jónsdóttir, a member of Althing (the Icelandic Parliament) since 2009, is well-known as an activist and spokesperson for organizations ranging from Wikileaks to [...]

Political Context - The Progressive Mosaic