Chris Hedges | James Baldwin and the Meaning of Whiteness
Whiteness is a dangerous concept. It is not about skin color. It is not even about race. It is about the willful blindness used to justify white supremacy.
Chris Hedges | The Illusion of Freedom
Politics in totalitarian societies are entertainment. Reality, because it is complicated, messy and confusing, is banished from the world of mass entertainment. Clichés, stereotypes and uplifting messages that are comforting and self-congratulatory, along with elaborate spectacles, replace fact-based discourse.
Ralph Nader | Commercializing Elections to Destroy Our Democracy
These are the citizen champions who, for example, led the fight for safer and nutritious food, less harmful medicines, cleaner air and water, more secure pensions, a freer media, more open government, waging peace instead of war, securing indigenous peoples’ rights, safer transportation, the well-being of children, insurance industry accountability and great advances for people with disabilities.
Tomgram: Engelhardt, Is a New Political System Emerging in This Country?
Engelhardt: don’t for a second think that the American political system isn’t being rewritten on the run by interested parties in Congress, our present crop of billionaires, corporate interests, lobbyists, the Pentagon, and the officials of the national security state.
▶ Noam Chomsky: “Thought Control In Democratic Societies”
Rare Interview of Prof. Noam Chomsky on Necessary Illusions: Thought Control In Democratic Societies. Must Watch! Date - 1990-02-20
▶ The Internet’s Own Boy: New Documentary About Aaron Swartz Now Free Online
[The film] features interviews with his family and friends as well as the internet luminaries who worked with him. The film tells his story up to his eventual suicide after a legal battle, and explores the questions of access to information and civil liberties that drove his work.” By Dan Colman openculture.com June 29, 2014 [youtube=http://youtu.be/vXr-2hwTk58] More
Glenn Greenwald: Congress Is Irrelevant on Mass Surveillance. Here’s What Matters Instead.
The boredom of this spectacle was simply due to the fact that this has been seen so many times before—in fact, every time in the post-9/11 era that the U.S. Congress pretends publicly to debate some kind of foreign policy or civil liberties bill. Just enough members stand up to scream “9/11″ and “terrorism” over More
▶ Mark Fiore: Post-Racial America Alert
Another great satirical animation from Mark Fiore. To watch the video click on the Watch the Video with the blue background and white lettering. [vimeo http://vimeo.com/103985337] What better way to defuse racially-charged tension following a police shooting of an unarmed man than with a show of militarized force? Cue the tough talk from the pudgy pink More
David Swanson: Militarism Is a Public Safety Crisis in Ferguson and Beyond
"There is a no-fly-zone over Ferguson, Mo., because people in the U.S. government, from which local police forces take their cues, view the people of the United States increasingly as they view the people of other countries: as best controlled from the air." By DAVID SWANSON counterpunch.org August 19, 2014 Peace and justice organizations in St. More
Trevor Timm: The Senate is giving more power to the NSA, in secret. Everyone should fight it
Politicians are still trying to hand over your data behind closed doors, under the guise of 'cybersecurity' reform. Have we learned nothing? Trevor Timm theguardian.com, Saturday 12 July 2014 Senator Dianne Feinstein says a new cyber security bill helps share information 'through a purely voluntary process and with significant measures to protect private information.' Did you More
▶ Nigel Parry: Daniel Ellsberg announces the launch of exposefacts.org
"ExposeFacts aims to shed light on concealed activities that are relevant to human rights, corporate malfeasance, the environment, civil liberties and war." by NIGEL PARRY nigelparry.net JUNE 4, 2014 [vimeo http://vimeo.com/96761034] Launched by the Institute for Public Accuracy in June 2014, ExposeFacts.org represents a new approach for encouraging whistleblowers to disclose information that citizens need to More
Bill Moyer: The 8 Stages Of Successful Social-Political Movements
The Movement Action Plan by Bill Moyer PopularResistance.org Originally posted December 26, 2013 The Movement Action Plan by Bill Moyer Long-time political activist and social change agent Bill Moyer, who developed the Movement Action Plan Model of how successful progressive movements evolve makes his last public presentation in this video six weeks before he More