October 17, 2015

Trump Fan Spits In Latino Man's Face At Rally

Published on Oct 15, 2015

During Donald Trump’s rally in Richmond, VA there were a number of protestors who were not in favor of Trump’s immigration policy. As they were protesting they got into a bit of an altercation with an angry Trump supporter. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian (The Point), hosts of the The Young Turks, break it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

"Donald Trump was heckled at a Virginia rally tonight and some of his supporters ended up getting in a physical altercation with the protesters.

The protesters began to speak up when Trump talked about immigration. His supporters cheered to drown them out while Trump said it’s their First Amendment right, while still predicting the ‘dishonest” media would run headlines about the hecklers instead of all the thousands of people who didn’t heckle him (which, no, since when has not heckling someone been news?).

But as CNN reported tonight, before the protesters were removed from the room, things got physical between the roughly-dozen protesters and a few of Trump’s supporters.”*

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/watch-fight-breaks-out-at-trump-rally-between-supporters-and-protesters/

October 17, 2015

Target Store Accidentally Plays Porn Audio Over PA System (VIDEO)

October 17, 2015

Richard Wolff: Capitalism and Its Regulation Delusion: Lessons From the Volkswagen Debacle

Capitalism and Its Regulation Delusion: Lessons From the Volkswagen Debacle

Thursday, 15 October 2015 11:50
By Richard D. Wolff, Truthout | News Analysis


Volkswagen (VW), we now know, systematically evaded pollution control regulations. Over the last decade it defrauded 11 million buyers of its diesel-engine vehicles, fouled the planet's environment and thereby damaged the health and lives of countless living organisms. Regulation-defeating deception gave VW diesel autos competitive advantages over other companies' diesel products and thereby enhanced its profits, the driving purpose of capitalist corporations.

VW's massive evasion was hardly the only socially destructive mockery of regulation. Ford and other auto companies had earlier done the same as Volkswagen, gotten caught and paid fines. Other auto companies have not yet been caught, but similar evidence has surfaced about diesel vehicles produced by Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi. Exposures and punishments, if and when they occur, clearly fall far short of dissuading major capitalists from evading regulations. Thus, we now know that General Motors and Toyota did not follow regulations recently requiring notification of government agencies after crashes, injuries and deaths associated with ignitions and airbags, respectively.

As products using computer devices increase, they spread opportunities for similar evasions of regulations. New mechanisms have enabled electrical appliance makers to falsify regulated energy-use tests. Capitalist competition and profit were motivators in these and many other regulation evasions too. The problem is endemic, for example, in the food and drink industry. Since 2008's global capitalist crash, the world has learned of parallel failures of financial regulation with horrific social consequences. Nor is the failed relationship of capitalism and regulation only a US problem; it is global.

The histories of countries where capitalism prevails illustrate an endless cycle of industrial misdeeds provoking the usual struggles over regulation, the profitable delays in achieving regulations followed by profitable evasions of those regulations. Often - as with smoking, genetically modified organisms, lead additives to fuel, etc. - the cycle in one country functions as prelude and provocation to the cycle's nearly identical repetition in another. ................(more)

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33250-capitalism-and-its-regulation-delusion-lessons-from-the-volkswagen-debacle

October 17, 2015

Inside Corporate America's Campaign to Ditch Workers' Compensation

Inside Corporate America's Campaign to Ditch Workers' Compensation

Friday, 16 October 2015 00:00
By Michael Grabell and Howard Berkes, ProPublica | Report


Standing before a giant map in his Dallas office, Bill Minick doesn't seem like anyone's idea of a bomb thrower. But backed by some of the biggest names in corporate America, this mild-mannered son of an evangelist is plotting a revolution in how companies take care of injured workers.

His idea: Let them opt out of state workers' compensation laws - and write their own rules.

Minick swept his hand past pushpins marking the headquarters of Walmart, McDonald's and dozens of his other well-known clients, and hailed his plan as not only cheaper for employers, but better for workers too.

"We're talking about reengineering one of the pillars of social justice that has not seen significant innovation in 100 years," Minick said.

.....(snip).....

Already in Texas, plans written by Minick's firm allow for a hodgepodge of provisions that are far different from workers' comp. They're why McDonald's doesn't cover carpal tunnel syndrome and why Brookdale Senior Living, the nation's largest chain of assisted living facilities, doesn't cover most bacterial infections. Why Taco Bell can accompany injured workers to doctors' appointments and Sears can deny benefits if workers don't report injuries by the end of their shifts.

And it's Minick's handiwork that allows Costco to pay only $15,000 to workers who lose a finger while its rival Walmart pays $25,000. .................(more)

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33265-inside-corporate-america-s-campaign-to-ditch-workers-compensation

October 17, 2015

Memo to Cecile Richards and reps of other progressive orgs: STOP APOLOGIZING WHEN YOU"RE RIGHT!

Published on Oct 13, 2015

Planned Parenthood has decided to stop taking money for fetal tissue donations. While they’ve never profited from fetal tissue donations (though the smear campaign against them has convinced many otherwise), the only type of money they’ve ever received for fetal donations was to cover transportation costs. Nonetheless, the group has decided to stop taking reimbursement for even these costs. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian (The Point), hosts of the The Young Turks, break it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

"Planned Parenthood announced Tuesday that it will no longer accept any reimbursement for the fetal tissue it supplies to medical researchers, a move to distance itself from recent political attacks.

In a letter to the director of the National Institutes of Health, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards wrote that though reimbursement for procuring fetal tissue for research purposes is legal, she intends to “completely debunk the disingenuous argument that our opponents have been using—and to reveal the true political purpose of these attacks.””*

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2015/10/13/planned_parenthood_will_no_longer_accept_reimbursement_for_fetal_tissue.html

October 17, 2015

Norman Solomon: Clinton’s Debate Comments on Snowden "Give Hypocrisy a Bad Name"

Published on Oct 15, 2015

At Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate, candidates offered differing views on what should happen to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden for exposing illegal mass surveillance. "He stole very important information that has unfortunately fallen into a lot of the wrong hands," said front-runner Hillary Clinton. "So I don’t think he should be brought home without facing the music." The four other candidates expressed appreciation for Snowden’s leaks and said his exposure of wrongdoing should be taken into account. We get reaction from Norman Solomon, longtime activist and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.
Democracynow.org - Democracy Now!, is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on 1,300+ TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9am ET: http://democracynow.org

October 16, 2015

Guns Do Kill People. A Lot.

Published on Oct 12, 2015
One of the reasons we’re upset about guns in this country is all of the mass shootings. Another reason we’re concerned is because, on a personal level, your gun is statistically more likely to kill you or your loved ones than bad guys trying to hurt you. Cenk Uygur, host of the The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

"A Texas man shot and killed his wife after mistaking her for an intruder.

The man said he saw a light and someone standing at a distance, so he fired one blast from the shotgun.

That’s when he realized he had shot his wife, 48-year-old Debora Kelly.

Police tried to resuscitate her when they arrived, but she was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to her chest.”*

https://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/texas-man-kills-wife-with-shotgun-blast-after-incorrectly-guessing-she-was-an-intruder/

October 16, 2015

Richard Wolff: Capitalism and Its Regulation Delusion: Lessons From the Volkswagen Debacle

Capitalism and Its Regulation Delusion: Lessons From the Volkswagen Debacle

Thursday, 15 October 2015 11:50
By Richard D. Wolff, Truthout | News Analysis


Volkswagen (VW), we now know, systematically evaded pollution control regulations. Over the last decade it defrauded 11 million buyers of its diesel-engine vehicles, fouled the planet's environment and thereby damaged the health and lives of countless living organisms. Regulation-defeating deception gave VW diesel autos competitive advantages over other companies' diesel products and thereby enhanced its profits, the driving purpose of capitalist corporations.

VW's massive evasion was hardly the only socially destructive mockery of regulation. Ford and other auto companies had earlier done the same as Volkswagen, gotten caught and paid fines. Other auto companies have not yet been caught, but similar evidence has surfaced about diesel vehicles produced by Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi. Exposures and punishments, if and when they occur, clearly fall far short of dissuading major capitalists from evading regulations. Thus, we now know that General Motors and Toyota did not follow regulations recently requiring notification of government agencies after crashes, injuries and deaths associated with ignitions and airbags, respectively.

As products using computer devices increase, they spread opportunities for similar evasions of regulations. New mechanisms have enabled electrical appliance makers to falsify regulated energy-use tests. Capitalist competition and profit were motivators in these and many other regulation evasions too. The problem is endemic, for example, in the food and drink industry. Since 2008's global capitalist crash, the world has learned of parallel failures of financial regulation with horrific social consequences. Nor is the failed relationship of capitalism and regulation only a US problem; it is global.

The histories of countries where capitalism prevails illustrate an endless cycle of industrial misdeeds provoking the usual struggles over regulation, the profitable delays in achieving regulations followed by profitable evasions of those regulations. Often - as with smoking, genetically modified organisms, lead additives to fuel, etc. - the cycle in one country functions as prelude and provocation to the cycle's nearly identical repetition in another. ................(more)

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33250-capitalism-and-its-regulation-delusion-lessons-from-the-volkswagen-debacle

October 16, 2015

Iowa educator tells mixed-race kids: Blacks are too ‘stupid’ to go to school or live with whites

Two Iowa parents are calling for an educator at Bailey Park Elementary School in Grinnell to be fired for allegedly making racist comments to mixed-race children.

Geoff Burd choked up as he explained to KCCI that his daughter, Nikki, came home from school and recalled that the para-educator had said black people and white people should not be a family or go to the same school.

“It’s an unbelievable situation,” Burd said, sounding defeated. “I work very hard to protect her. I have worked her entire life to protect her.”

According to Burd’s daughter, the educator said that “black people and white people can’t be family. Black people should not go to this school. Black people should have their own school.”

The educator also confronted Burd’s son, Marquez, on the playground. ...............(more)

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/iowa-educator-tells-mixed-race-kids-blacks-are-too-stupid-to-go-to-school-or-live-with-whites/

October 16, 2015

Too late for Miami, New Orleans and 400+ other cities?

An alarming new study has found that, no matter what we do to fight climate change, it is already too late for more than 400 U.S. cities — including Miami and New Orleans — which will be overcome by rising sea levels caused by anthropogenic climate change. Under a worst-case scenario, New York could be unlivable by the year 2085. Most of the population in those cities live within five feet of the current high tide line.

“Some of this could happen as early as next century,” said lead author Ben Strauss, vice president for sea level and climate impacts at Climate Central, a nonprofit climate news organization with offices in New York and Princeton, New Jersey. “But it might also take many centuries,” he added. “Just think of a pile of ice in a warm room. You know it is going to melt, but it is harder to say how quickly.”

The reason that current efforts to combat climate change won’t save many of these cities is because of what mankind has done in the past, as carbon pollution that humans have already emitted will continue to affect planetary surface temperature for centuries to come. “Historic carbon emissions have already locked in enough future sea level rise to submerge most of the homes in each of several hundred American towns and cities,” according to Climate Central.

The researchers warned that, under a “business-as-usual” scenario in which greenhouse gas emissions remain unchecked through the end of the century, then the total number of “locked-in” cities could grow to more than 1,500. However, if society somehow manages to achieve extreme carbon reductions, many cities could be saved, such as Jacksonville, Florida; Chesapeake, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach in Virginia; and Sacramento and Stockton in California. ...................(more)

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/reducing_carbon_emissions_us_cities_but_more_than_400_lost_20151015