Do you feel like you’re overworked and underpaid? If so, President Obama is looking to help you. As you may know, the President has been fighting to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour for some time. This has been no easy battle, as he faces heavy GOP opposition in Congress. While the President was successful in increasing the minimum wage for federal contractors, … [Read more...] about President Obama to Extend Overtime Benefits to More Americans
Tying Republicans To The Koch Brothers To Campaign Against Plutocracy
Republicans often do a better job of messaging than Democrats, but they make their job much easier by making things up. They don't care that the economic theories they promote have no relationship to how the economy really works or if the "facts" they use to justify their policies with are frequently false. Democrats have a tougher time explaining the problems caused by an … [Read more...] about Tying Republicans To The Koch Brothers To Campaign Against Plutocracy
St. Patty’s (Cartoon)
Copyright 2014 David Donar. All rights reserved. Copyright Donar, Political Graffiti … [Read more...] about St. Patty’s (Cartoon)
Film about Noah ‘Not Forbidden’ Under Sharia Law (Al-Mogaz, Egypt)
For those wondering what the debate is like among Muslim scholars over the new Russell Crowe film Noah, this is an Islamic analysis of whether the film violates an injunction against 'personifying The Prophets in art.' Noah is - like Abraham, Moses and Jesus - a saint and prophet, so the film is just as touchy form Muslims as it is for Christians or Jews. According to this … [Read more...] about Film about Noah ‘Not Forbidden’ Under Sharia Law (Al-Mogaz, Egypt)
GOP Oppositon as Performance Art
Andrew Sullivan comments on the Republican Party's lack of seriousness about governing on The Daily Dish. It is as if the Republicans had decided that their opposition to the president would become a kind of performance art version of all their previous tricks. Obamacare is a function of a tyrant! The president is a mom-jeans-wearing weakling compared with Putin! He’s coming … [Read more...] about GOP Oppositon as Performance Art
A Birthday Valedictory: ‘I Was So Much Older Then, I’m Younger Than That Now’
Most of the people my age is dead. You could look it up. ~ CASEY STENGEL as related by ROGER ANGELL Today is my birthday, an occasion that I have studiously ignored since I was a youngster and my mother would prepare my favorite dinner of hot dogs and French fries with ice cream cake roll for dessert. But this birthday is different because I find myself two thirds of the … [Read more...] about A Birthday Valedictory: ‘I Was So Much Older Then, I’m Younger Than That Now’
The CIA is out of line
WASHINGTON -- We now have even more proof that our burgeoning intelligence agencies, which were given unprecedented latitude to wage war against terrorists, are dangerously out of control. Not that further evidence was needed: Months of stunning revelations about the National Security Agency's massive domestic surveillance, thanks to fugitive whistle-blower Edward … [Read more...] about The CIA is out of line
French animal lobby uncovers ‘unhealthy’ horsemeat from Americas
French animal lobby uncovers 'unhealthy' horsemeat from Americas (via AFP) Horses from the United States, Canada and other countries in the region whose meat is sold in France for human consumption pose a health risk and are often cruelly treated, a leading animal rights group said Thursday. L214, which derives its name from… … [Read more...] about French animal lobby uncovers ‘unhealthy’ horsemeat from Americas
The perceived conflicts between science and religious faith (Reader Guest Voice)
The Perceived Conflicts between science and religious faith by Peter W. Johnson Many consider the gap between religious faith and Scientific knowledge, not able to be mended and impossible to reconcile. However, I believe that both ways of thinking deal with discovering aspects of the unknown. And while one is more involved with philosophy and ideology and another with … [Read more...] about The perceived conflicts between science and religious faith (Reader Guest Voice)
Rand Paul Gets It (Guest Voice)
Rand Paul Gets It by Michael Reagan I disagree with some of Rand Paul's more libertarian positions, especially on social issues. And I'm certainly not endorsing him or anyone else to be the Republican nominee for president at this time. But Sen. Paul of Kentucky did two things recently that won my favor. He showed the 2,500 conservative activists at the CPAC conference … [Read more...] about Rand Paul Gets It (Guest Voice)
McUnhappy: Workers sue McDonald’s for stealing wages
Workers sue McDonald's for stealing wages (via AFP) US workers accused fast-food giant McDonald's Thursday of systematically stealing wages through illicit practices like forcing them to work off-the-clock and failing to pay overtime. Seven class-action lawsuits were filed Wednesday and Thursday in California… … [Read more...] about McUnhappy: Workers sue McDonald’s for stealing wages
Obama signs order expanding overtime pay for workers
In yet another use of an executive order to take action and bypass a stalemated Congress, President Barack Obama has signed an order asking the Labor Department to come up with new rules that'll expand the number of workers that can get overtime pay. The expected partisan reactions are now coming in: Saying it’s “just fair” for more Americans to earn overtime pay, … [Read more...] about Obama signs order expanding overtime pay for workers
Merkel’s tough stance toward Russia threatens trade war
Merkel’s tough stance toward Russia threatens trade war (via GlobalPost) BERLIN, Germany — Chancellor Angela Merkel has issued an ultimatum to Russia over what she called its annexation of Crimea: Back down or face strong measures from the European Union. Accusing Moscow of acting by the “law of the jungle” in an address… … [Read more...] about Merkel’s tough stance toward Russia threatens trade war
Larison on Foreign Adventurism
Daniel Larison comments on the limits of hard power in foreign policy in The American Conservative. If most Americans are more aware of the limits of power generally and U.S. power in particular, I’d say that is a very sensible reaction to more than a decade of overreach and absurd ideological projects, and a very healthy backlash to the delusions of Bush’s Second Inaugural. … [Read more...] about Larison on Foreign Adventurism
Karl Rove Warns Republicans (Again)
Bush-era GOP political maven Karl Rove is raining on the Republican Party's parade. It wasn't enough (for some Republicans) that Rove criticized over the top verbal Republican missle hurlers for hurting their party's chances at the polls, now he's telling his party to take a deep breath and not assume that a win in Florida means the Democrats are defeated in 2014 and beyond. … [Read more...] about Karl Rove Warns Republicans (Again)
‘Honky Tonk Women’ too dirty for China as song ‘vetoed’
'Honky Tonk Women' too dirty for China as song 'vetoed' (via AFP) The sexual lyrics of "Honky Tonk Women" were apparently too much for China's Communist fathers as the Rolling Stones said the chart-topping song was "vetoed" for their second ever show in the country on Wednesday. "About now we'd usually play something… … [Read more...] about ‘Honky Tonk Women’ too dirty for China as song ‘vetoed’
Rep. Paul Ryan Under Fire for Blaming Poverty on Lazy ‘Inner City’ Men
Rep. Paul Ryan is defending racially charged comments he made about inner city men -- ahem, black men. Ryan claimed that poverty is caused by men in “our inner cities” who are “not even thinking about working.” Ryan said the comments had nothing to do with race. Um, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) begs to differ and read him the riot act: Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), a member of the … [Read more...] about Rep. Paul Ryan Under Fire for Blaming Poverty on Lazy ‘Inner City’ Men
Republicans, White Working Class Voters, And Race
White working class males present a particular frustration for Democratic strategists. Most independent economists agree that Republican economic policies have increasingly led to redistribution of wealth to the ultra-wealthy at the expense of the middle class yet Republicans obtain the majority of votes from low-information white voters who are hurt the most by Republican … [Read more...] about Republicans, White Working Class Voters, And Race
Tragedy strikes SxSW as car plows through crowd, killing 2
The original post of this story contained a typo in the headline, relating that 5 persons were killed. It is two persons who were killed in this tragic accident. The headline has been corrected to reflect those facts. Thank you. Eds. [Update 9: 4:35 am Friday, Pacific] At about 12:30 am Thursday, a stolen car traveling at a high rate of speed killed two people and injured … [Read more...] about Tragedy strikes SxSW as car plows through crowd, killing 2
Francis’ anti-imperial papacy
WASHINGTON -- Religion makes a lot of mistakes. Faith traditions can be so harsh that they drive away everyone but the self-righteous scolds. Or they can so indulge in therapeutic comfort and manufactured joy that they come to seem like a charlatan's game. They can be so otherworldly that they offer no guidance to those living in this one on matters of justice, … [Read more...] about Francis’ anti-imperial papacy