The Butte Standard, daily newspaper for Butte, Montana, has this op-ed by Republican Party state chairman Jeff Essmann. Essmann makes the philosophical case in favor of closed primaries. …read more
Bernie Sanders has made a lot of expensive promises during his campaign, and a recent Wall Street Journal report indicated that these promises may not even be financially possible.
According to the numbers released by WSJ this week, Sanders’ plans would cost roughly 18 trillion dollars, a figure that is about the size of the entire national debt. This means that if these plans were enacted, it would double the current national debt, a feat that may not even be possible under today’s economic circumstances.
To fund his plans, Sanders has suggested large tax increases that would bring in $6.5 trillion over …read more
On September 14, the Florida House of Representatives submitted a proposed U.S. House redistricting plan to a state court judge. Later this month the judge will submit his own recommendations to the Florida Supreme Court. See this story.
UPDATE: also, see this story. …read more
One of the many purposes of the Dark Android Project is to help people create a secure, privacy-oriented device (concentrating on Android, mostly) that you can use anonymously. A disposable (if need be) device that you can get shit done on. An easily portable and DAPS-compatible productivity machine (particularly, say, if you wanted to use The Guardian Project’s “Storymaker” journalism and activism app, or if you just want to crank out encrypted emails, do some “shopping”, or write your latest opus).
As I like to concentrate on tablets for this–or devices with a touch-first interface, anyway–I think some people (myself included) …read more
Taiji, Japan – In an annual display of absolute barbarism, the infamous dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan kicked off its yearly massacre of dolphins and whales last week.
Founder of The Dolphin Project and star of the 2009 documentary film “The Cove,” Ric O’Barry was on scene to witness the bloodbath once again.
Even after years of witnessing the most heinous acts, Barry was left reeling from witnessing the wanton extermination of such intelligent life forms.
The Taiji hunt lasts for six months, killing or capturing up to a quota of 1,873 animals this season alone. The annual slaughter continues to cause international …read more
The cushiest government job of all might belong to Jeffrey Farrow, executive director of an obscure federal agency called the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad (CPAHA).
Established in 1985, the CPAHA is tasked with preserving and protecting monuments and buildings “associated with the foreign heritage of U.S. citizens abroad.”
Farrow works four hours per week leading this commission and collects an annual salary of $143,000. He was appointed in 2001.
This incredible waste of taxpayer money was discovered in 2013 by General Services Administration’s inspector general. But Senator Ron Johnson, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs …read more
Chris Shelton has this opinion piece in American Prospect, praising the Working Families Party and celebrating its growth and expansion. Shelton has been President of the Communications Workers of America since June 2015, and he lives in New York city. …read more
On September 10, the Vermont Progressive Party filed an amended Complaint in Corren v Sorrell, 2:15cv-58. The amended Complaint charges that Vermont campaign finance law is unconstitutional, when it prohibits political parties from spending even one cent on their nominees who have qualified for public funding. The case was originally filed on March 20, 2015, in an attempt to stop the Vermont Attorney General from fining the party’s nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2014, Dean Corren, $72,000. The Attorney General says that Corren, because he qualified for public funding, could not receive any type of support from …read more
Nearly half of the Syrian population has been displaced by the ongoing civil war in that country. Many of those able to flee the country have attempted to reach Europe. …
(RT) — Being shocked by a plug socket feels bad enough. Ever wondered what’s it like to be shot with a police Taser stun gun? The moment a man is tasered has been caught on camera in super slow motion by YouTube wizards The Slow Mo Guys.
Equipped with a high-speed camera, the team traveled to Taser International headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, to have their subject stunned with a Taser X26, the company’s most popular model, at 28,500 frames per second.
The first thing you get to see is a mixture of pink and yellow confetti that explodes from the Taser when …read more
