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As Goes Colorado, So Goes the Nation?
Jan 5, 2014 New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, formerly opposed, now reportedly backs loosening some restrictions on marijuana use by medical patients, as support for legalizing pot grows like, well, a weed.
Score a Victory for the Poor and for Constitutional Rights
Jan 3, 2014 A federal court ruling in Florida this week that drug testing low-income applicants for public assistance is unconstitutional could set the stage for a larger challenge to the political scapegoating of the poor. Could we be seeing the swing of the pendulum?
Why Are Wages Low? Blame Workers for Not Knowing They Are, in Fact, Workers
Jan 1, 2014 The anti-union movement won the battle of self-perception. Union-friendly blue-collar workers have been supplanted by white-collar office drones who don't see themselves as candidates for unionization because they don't really see themselves as workers, author Edward McClelland argues.
Want a Faster Internet Connection? Try Any of 31 Other Countries
Dec 30, 2013 The United States has fallen behind competing nations in the speed of its Internet infrastructure. There's more than faster movie downloads at stake. And yes, there are sleazy corporate stances muddying up the issue.
We Know the NSA Spies on Us — but on Whom Specifically? And Why?
Dec 29, 2013 Author Seth Rosenfeld, whose book "Subversives: The FBI's War on Student Radicals, and Reagan's Rise to Power" explored the federal government's domestic spying programs of a generation ago, calls for a new incarnation of the Church Committee to mine the extent of present-day domestic spying. But can this Congress focus on truth ahead of political spin and gamesmanship?
Obama Signs NDAA, Maintaining Indefinite Detention Provision
Dec 27, 2013 In an odd juxtaposition, Obama signed the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday while criticizing Congress for abridging the constitutional separation of powers, yet is unconcerned about the violation of individual constitutional rights contained in the law.
If Wolves Were as Cute as Pandas, Would We Be Killing Them for Fun?
Dec 26, 2013 In a year in which a record number of pandas were born in captivity, Idaho launches a "derby" for kids to shoot endangered gray wolves. If we just want to kill animals, why save them in the first place?
McKibben on Obama, Environment: The Cynics ‘Were Right’
Dec 23, 2013 Writer and environmental activist Bill McKibben slaps the administration for taking on easy battles, sidestepping the tough ones and trying to claim environmental progress. Meanwhile, the earth continues to heat up as Obama pursues oil- and coal-based energy policies, and then brags about them.The CIA and NSA Helped Colombia Target and Kill FARC Leaders
Dec 22, 2013 A clandestine program that began under the Bush administration and continues under the Obama administration led to the killings of at least two dozen leaders of the rebel group, The Washington Post reports. How did the U.S. justify involving itself in assassinations by another government? The same Office of Legal Counsel that OK'd the use of torture said it could.
It’s A Start: Obama Commutes Harsh Drug Sentences for Eight Convicts
Dec 20, 2013 In the latest scale back of the nation’s war on drugs, the president has ordered the release of eight people serving from 15 years to life sentences for crack cocaine crimes that no longer would qualify for such harsh punishment.