California On The NSA
Posted on July 11, 2013 in Videos
*Plunges spork into retina*
Rick Perry’s Dumbest Moments Ever Recorded
In case you missed it, Rick Perry recently stated that he will not seek re-election for the Texas governorship in 2014, instead opting to pass along his spectral “leadership” torch to another cowboy-booted, lady-loathing and corndog-crunching conservative. Will he run for president again? He’s not ruling it out, and for the sake of Daily Show writers (and selfishly, ourselves) we hope he does. Indulge in a little schadenfreude below with some of the aspiring MENSA member’s most clever quips–maybe 2016 will bring along some more classic “oops” moments:
Perry’s Amnesia Regarding His Own Ideas
Perry’s Revisionist Approach To American History
We Must Hate Our Children
Posted on July 11, 2013 in Articles
The Article: We Must Hate Our Childre by Joan Walsh in Salon.
The Text: Next time youāre watching a college graduation, as you look out over the sea of caps and gowns, make sure you notice the ball and chain most graduates are wearing as they march onstage to receive their diplomas. Thatās student loan debt, which at over $1 trillion tops credit card debt in the U.S. today. The average burden is $28,000, but add in their credit cards and theyāre graduating with an average of $35,000 in debt. Itās no wonder that people whoāve paid off their student loan debt are 36 percent more likely to own homes than those who havenāt, according to new research by the One Wisconsin Now Institute and Progress Now.
What kind of society sends its young people from higher education into adulthood this way? Iām aware Iām only talking about those lucky enough to go to college, when roughly one-third of high school graduates donāt ā but if this is the way we treat our relatively lucky kids, the rest of them donāt have a prayer. For many, the school to prison pipeline functions much more efficiently than the school to college one; California is one of at least 10 states that now spends more on prison than education (all education, not just higher education). According to the Federal Reserve Bank, two-thirds of college graduates leave with some debt, and 37 million Americans are repaying a student loan right now.
Unbelievably, interest rates on federally subsidized loans are doubling today, from 3.4 to 6.8 percent. As Congress bickers over alternatives, even Democrats are backing āmarket-basedā plans that arenāt as bad as GOP ideas, but arenāt good either. I hope they can find a way to lower interest rates, but the real scandal isnāt the rate hike. The real scandal is that we take for granted that young people must go into debt ā at whatever interest rate ā to pay for college.
Border Patrol Body Slam
Posted on July 10, 2013 in Videos
Immigration reform might be on its way, but cultural attitudes are far from changing. In California, self-proclaimed defenders of Mexican immigrants battle against wrestlers who portray United States border patrol agents in what’s known as ‘Lucha Libre’.
Over 700 Arrested In North Carolina Anti-GOP Protests
Posted on July 10, 2013 in Images
For 64 people in North Carolina this past Monday, expressing your morality lands you with handcuffs. Comprising a months-long display of civil disobedience regarding the Tar Heel state’s political shift rightward following Barack Obama’s 2008 election, over 2000 people took to the Raleigh state capitol on what was dubbed “Moral Monday” to challenge the state’s latest draconian abortion bill that would require all abortion clinics to conform to the same safety standards as ambulatory surgery centers. At the moment (and as you can easily guess), only one of the state’s five mere clinics achieves that.
Beginning as a grassroots movement some ten weeks ago, this fervent demonstration follows a spate of protests regarding issues that in the past have ranged from fracking to school vouchers to voting rights. As of now a whopping 700+ arrests have been made, and as long as conservative legislators keep pumping out anti-choice, anti-minority bills it doesn’t seem as if the mass movements will abate any time soon. Finally, activism that takes place in public–not just internet–forums.
