Events That Actually Matter

"Because higher wages mean more expensive goods and customers don’t want to pay higher prices. While..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:33:00 -0400

“Because higher wages mean more expensive goods and customers don’t want to pay higher prices. While it would make for a simpler narrative, companies like Walmart, Gap, and H&M that have operations in Bangladesh outsource the making of their clothing lines overseas not simply because they want to exploit people on the other side of the world, but because we their customers all but force them to do it. While most of us would be appalled if we saw the working conditions and knew the wages of the people that make the clothes we wear and would no doubt shout our anger from the roof tops, our wallets tell a different story. Our wallets, or more specifically our spending habits reveal the cold hard reality that most of us just don’t give a shit about where we get our clothes, so long as we get them for cheap. Worse yet, as Tony Campolo would say, most of us in the church care more about fact that I just said “shit” than the fact that countless men, women, and children suffer and die everyday as a direct result of our lust for low, low prices. Which is why the problem of evil is hanging in our closets.”

- The Problem Of Evil Is Hanging In Your Closet (via azspot)

progressivefriends: irritable-belle-syndrome: If a report of...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:38:24 -0400

progressivefriends:

irritable-belle-syndrome:

If a report of mugging was treated like a report of rape.

Word indeed.

This is the best ever

"The Supreme Court on Monday struck down an Arizona law that requires people to submit proof of..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:16:05 -0400

“

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down an Arizona law that requires people to submit proof of citizenship when they register to vote.

The vote was 7-2, with Justice Antonin Scalia writing for the court. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two members of the court’s conservative wing, dissented.

Several states said that such a law reduces voter fraud, but civil rights groups said it was an effort to discourage voting by legal immigrants. The case was argued and decided at a time when the country is considering how to change its immigration laws.

Citizenship is a requirement to vote in any federal election, and the federal registration form requires people to state, under penalty of perjury, that they are American citizens. States can use their own forms, but they must be equivalent to the federal form.

The Arizona law, known as Proposition 200, adopted by Arizona voters in 2004, went further than the federal form by requiring applicants to provide proof of citizenship.

Challengers to the law argued that it put an extra burden on naturalized citizens. Using a naturalization document as proof would require an applicant to register in person, as opposed to through the mail, because federal law prohibits copying the document.

A federal appeals court said that Arizona had gone too far and essentially rejected the federal form. Arizona said it was not a rejection of the federal form any more than asking for ID at an airport is a rejection of a plane ticket.

Three other states — Alabama, Georgia and Kansas — have almost identical laws and joined Arizona in urging the court to uphold the additional requirements for proof of citizenship.

”

- NBC News, “Supreme Court Strikes Down Arizona Immigration Law Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote” (via inothernews)

music-fox: this has actually become one of my mantras.

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 16:46:28 -0400

music-fox:

this has actually become one of my mantras.

determinatenegation: evilroda: theuppitynegras: brandx: fruit...

Thu, 30 May 2013 14:11:38 -0400

determinatenegation:

evilroda:

theuppitynegras:

brandx:

fruitytootybasedsmoothy:

alltheblacksheep:

defyexpectations:

determinatenegation:

doux-amer:

determinatenegation:

Pablo Picasso - Massacre in Korea

“In 2008 the South Korean Truth and Reconciliation commission found 1,222 instances of mass killings, with at least 215 of these involving U.S. troops or airplanes massacring unarmed civilians. At Cheongwon in central Korea, up to 7,000 people were slaughtered.”

The U.S. committed an uncountable amount of acts designated as “war crimes”, including widespread use of chemical and biological weapons such as the plague, and intentionally destroying hydroelectric dams that provided drinking water for 75% of the population. In total around 5 million Koreans lost their lives.

Remember No Gun Ri, Jeju, Yeosun, and the countless other instances of mass extermination by the U.S.

Reblogging this because most of my followers probably don’t know about this and this is important regardless of whether or not you’re Korean. SERIOUSLY, READ THIS. This is important if you’re an American (well, in my opinion, it’s important even if you’re not) and if you want to better understand why, aside from the obvious, the U.S. and North Korea don’t get along and why the DPRK hates the U.S so much.

I’m going to condense this into bullets and put the main points in bold because I know that if this is super long, you guys are definitely going all TL;DR and scroll past this post. Anyway, if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I’ll try to answer to the best of my limited knowledge:

The U.S., not Korea, was completely responsible for splitting Korea into two, which everyone in Korea wanted to avoid. This happened in 1945 at the end of WWII with the surrender of Japan (not with the 1953 Korean War armistice which basically just reaffirmed things that were already in place).

Yes, armistice, not treaty. Even though it’s been 63 years since the start of the war (and 60 since the armistice), the war has never officially ended. The two Koreas are technically still at war. This explains the South’s mandatory military service required of all their male citizens and why, if the North declares war, it’s a continuation of an existing war rather than a completely new one.

The U.S. is also partially at fault for the Korean War happening. After WWII, they put those who were in power during colonial rule back into influential positions in the South, pissing off a lot of people in the North for a lot of reasons, namely that many of these people were Japanese sympathizers or collaborators. Basically, they put the old Japanese machinery back into place and if you know anything of the Japanese occupation of Korea, you’ll know why they were angry. It’s also why the North didn’t see the South’s government as legitimate. Yeah, somehow the U.S. thought it was a great idea to put people who supported their enemies during the war in power again.

The American strategy during the Korean War was to wipe out all life in tactical locality. They carpet-bombed the North with bombs and napalm with next to no concern for civilian casualties.

According to U.S. Air Force estimates, “the scale of urban destruction quite exceeded that in Germany and Japan.” Yes, you read correctly. Feel free to go “WTH?” especially considering how tiny North Korea is (46,541 sq. miles). It’s about the same size as Pennsylvania (46,055 sq. miles). Compare that to Germany (137,800 sq. miles) and Japan (145,925 sq. miles).

More bombs were dropped in Korea by the U.S. than had been dropped in the entire Pacific theater in World War II. Also a huge WTH if you guys know how bad the war was in the Pacific.

By 1953, at least 50% of 18 out of North Korea’s 22 major cities were obliterated.

Nearly 10% of the Korean population died during the war, the majority from the North.

The aerial bombardment of North Korea inflicted the greatest loss of civilian life in the Korean War by far.

So basically, the U.S. never talks about this. I never learned ANY of this growing up. All I learned from high school was that the North started the Korean War (only partially true; they did invade, but things had been going on before 1950 due to American actions and conflicts originating from the colonial era) and that the U.S. and South Korea (democracy! Good!) went against North Korea and China (Communism! Bad!). I was shocked when I learned all this last semester and basically, it makes it a lot easier to understand the deep seated hatred North Korea holds towards the United States today. I’m not saying the North wasn’t aggressive during the war; they were as were the South, but it’s kind of strange how while it was the U.S. that wreaked the most devastation during the war, the North is seen as the ultimate aggressor.

Like do you guys understand? The U.S. committed war crimes and NO ONE TALKS ABOUT THIS AND THIS IS SO IMPORTANT IN UNDERSTANDING WHY NORTH KOREA ACTS THE WAY IT DOES RIGHT NOW (not including the events that happen from 1953 and on with the collapse of the USSR, the 1990s famine, and basically just how the U.S. dealt and interacted with the DPRK in the second half of the 20th century).

Anyway, sorry this is disgustingly long, but I just think it’s really important for people to learn and know. :/

Thank you for adding that information. This information should be required reading for all humans.

read this.

that explains why North Korea acts so erratically to our eyes…

Plus there are a lot of aspects of which the US has fucked over Korea as a whole which span from BEFORE the Korean war. I’ve written about it in this post before but I’ll just organize a few other things not included here.

The US agreed to sign the Taft-Katsura Agreement in which the US agrees to Japanese control of Korea, which was done without the agreement or even inclusion of Korean people, as long as Japan did not disturb with their control of the Philippines. This means that the US allowed Japan to colonize Korea, which would later lead to various atrocities committed by the Japanese during their occupation of Korea.

Thus, after the Japanese rule, when the US army, under the ruse of protecting Korean from communism under the ideals of the domino theory come into Korea and temporarily declare Korea to be under their military rule for 3 years, who do they find in power? Japanese sympathizers. They allow the Japanese sympathizers to maintain power under the name of fighting communism despite the fact that the Korean people called for purges of Pro-Japanese sympathizers like Noh Duksool who hunted that Independence Fighters and tortured activists calling for independence from Japanese rule. Noh Duksool went from a pro-Japanese sympathizer to a anti-Communist hero under the US Military rule.

Once the US left and set up a puppet government in the form of Rhee’s administration, the Korean people voted in anti-Japanese sympathizer senators who called for a committee for the punishment of anti-Korean sentiments, which arrested 480 pro-Japanese sympathizers. The US government, via Rhee’s administration, believed that the arrest of so many of their “anti-Communist fighters” would lead to the Communists of North Korea to invade, and thus had Rhee order the police to attack the committee, had the senators serving on the committee arrested, and thus lead to the Pro-Japanese sympathizer purges as a failure.

These are the people who know form a large part of the leaders of Korean business, politics, military, and police by helping the Japanese commit atrocities and then being allowed to flourish due to US imperialism, anti-Communist sentiments, and manipulation of a puppet government.

On another level, the US, in planning to strategically “throw away” the Korean peninsula, did not allow the South Korean government to actually maintain a large army, which would later cause for the North Korean army, which was largely supported by Stalin, to be able to take over Seoul with no problem, but the US blocking of the creation and maintaining a larger South Korean army allowed for the North to make a quicker and more brutal push before the US finally turned around from their strategically “throwing away” the Korean peninsula and got involved. This means that the US not only artificially manipulated the situation so that the initial North Korean push lead to the most civilian deaths possible, they also reentered the war later, artificially prolonging the war and waiting till the North Korean soliders had went as far down as Busan meaning that the US army had to sweep south and then proceed north, causing, again, the most civilian deaths possible in said situation.

Imperialism. It’s a scary thing.

Kill ‘Em All, BBC Documentary on U.S. War Crimes in Korea

“During the years of the Korean war, soldiers from the UN-army started to adopt children. The UN-army contained most of the countries which would adopt the majority of the Korean children: Australia, Canada, Luxembourg, United States, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Witnesses describe the Korean War as something close to genocide. The UN-soldiers killed tens of thousands of Koreans on both sides indiscriminately[…] it is important to bear in mind that almost all of the first Korean adoptees were products of unequal relations between UN-soldiers and Korean women.” — Tobias Hübinette

no seriously fuck the United States

I am tempted to just shout GOOD POST!, but there is one thing bothering me about one of Doux-Amer’s statistics. Specifically, the one about there being more bombs dropped on North Korea than in the Pacific Theater. This statistic is misleading. You see, the war in the Pacific was largely fought in the seas and skies. Even when storming an island, it would be more prudent to shell the enemy entrenchments with a ship’s artillery than to wait for a plane to get there and start dropping bombs. However, there is a deeper flaw in the statistic, in that they don’t give us exact figures. One more bomb used in Korea than in the Pacific still means more bombs were used in Korea. If a hundred bombs were dropped in Korea and only 99 in the Pacific, the Korean figure would still be higher. See what I’m getting at here? Also, notice they didn’t mention the European theater at all, which was much more heavy in the land combat department, much like Korea. I would very much like Doux-Amer to respond with some concrete numbers for this.

“In November 1950, MacArthur ordered the U.S. airforce to turn North Korea into a wasteland by destroying “every installation, factory, city, and village.” He congratulated the air force on November 8th when seventy B-29s dropped 550 tons of incendiary bombs on Sinuiju, “removing it from the map.” In the following week, napalm was used to completely burn the city of Hoeryong, and by November 25 MacArthur joyfully declared that “a large part of the northwest area between Yalu river and southwards to enemy lines was more or less burning” and would become “a wilderness of scorched earth.”

Considering there were almost no buildings over one story left in the country, the extent and intensity of the bombing campaign is evident. More bombs were dropped on the DPRK than on Germany in WW2. Bruce Cummings book “North Korea: Another Country” has the citation for some of this, or George Katsiaficas’ “Asia’s Unknown Uprisings: Vol.1”. Also Charles Armstrong’s “The North Korean Revolution” covers the bombing campaign by the US I believe.

Walmart Smacked With $110 Million in Fines for Environmental Crimes

Thu, 30 May 2013 11:44:49 -0400

Walmart Smacked With $110 Million in Fines for Environmental Crimes:

sinidentidades:

Mega-retail company Walmart plead guilty on Tuesday for Clean Water Act violations that involved years of illegally and improperly handling hazardous liquids and pesticides in California and Missouri. The company is on the hook for $81.6 million in criminal environmental fines for violating federal laws and another $30 million to resolve state environmental law violations.

Documents from the U.S. District Court in San Francisco say that “from a date unknown until January 2006, Walmart did not have a program in place and failed to train its employees on proper hazardous waste management and disposal practices at the store level. As a result, hazardous wastes were either discarded improperly at the store level - including being put into municipal trash bins or, if a liquid, poured into the local sewer system - or they were improperly transported without proper safety documentation to one of six product return centers located throughout the United States.”

In Missouri, Walmart employees improperly handled pesticides that customers had returned. “Truckloads of hazardous products, including more than 2 million pounds of pesticides, were improperly handled under Walmart’s contract,” said Tammy Dickinson, U.S. Attorney for Western District of Missouri.

In 2006, Walmart began sending certain damaged household products, including regulated solid and liquid pesticides, from its six return centers to Greenleaf LLC, a recycling facility located in Neosho, Mo., where the products were processed for reuse and resale. Because Walmart employees failed to provide adequate oversight of the pesticides sent to Greenleaf, regulated pesticides were mixed together and offered for sale to customers without the required registration, ingredients, or use information, which constitutes a violation of Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA.

For all of these violations, Walmart will pay roughly $110 million in criminal fines, at least $20 million of which will go to community service projects and programs to train people on how to legally handle hazardous waste. Their plea agreement includes requirements to ensure adequate environmental personnel and training at all levels of the company, proper identification and management of hazardous wastes, and the development and implementation of Environmental Management Systems at its stores and return centers. Compliance with this agreement is a condition of probation imposed in the criminal cases.

"Facebook is the living dead: the most popular, least relevant social network where teenagers and..."

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:57:40 -0400

“Facebook is the living dead: the most popular, least relevant social network where teenagers and adults alike gather out of fear of missing out on things that don’t even make them happy.”

- Teenagers Hate Facebook, but They’re Not Logging Off [Slate] (via jbrotherlove)

waronidiocy: If Dr. Seuss Books Were Titled According to Their...

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:56:08 -0400

waronidiocy:

If Dr. Seuss Books Were Titled According to Their Subtexts

upcominghorizon: Amazon Is Building A Biosphere For Its...

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:24:30 -0400

upcominghorizon:

Amazon Is Building A Biosphere For Its Employees

If you’ve ever dreamed of working in a lush, greenery-filled dome, consider moving to Seattle. That’s where Amazon is building a biosphere (made out of three intersecting domes) alongside a new skyscraper project. Plans for the 65,000 square foot structure, unveiled earlier this month, call for a general temperature range of 68 to 72 degrees and plants from high-elevation climates (that’s the “montane ecologies” below) that can thrive in the weather.

It’s an experimental work environment, sure, but it’s not all that different from how tech companies like Google and Facebook are building green roofs for their employees to enjoy. Facebook’s roof will even have hiking trails. In rainy Seattle, an indoor biosphere might be preferable.

full article

fuckyeahmarxismleninism: Detroit, Michigan: Students, parents...

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:22:18 -0400

fuckyeahmarxismleninism:

Detroit, Michigan: Students, parents and supporters protest the planned closing of Oakman Elementary Orthopedic School, which specializes in teaching children with disabilities, outside the headquarters of Detroit Public Schools, May 23, 2013.

Last month, Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Roy Roberts announced he will shut Oakman Elementary Orthopedic School. One of four DPS schools listed to be closed, Oakman, offers special services to children with a wide range of disabilities that mainstream schools cannot provide. Although DPS spokesman Steven Wasko states attendance is down, the school’s enrollment has actually increased over the past two years. Wasko also claims that the school needs an estimated $900,000 worth of improvements in order to operate properly, which has been disputed by staff, parents and others outside of the school district.

In an apparent effort to quell dissent about the school’s closing, DPS informed parents, students and staff that the school building had been sold off, when in fact they had only just put it up for sale. The price tag: $46,000. After the protest, parents and supporters started taking up a collection to put a downpayment on the school and avert the sale. They also plan to file an injunction in an effort to block DPS action against the school.

Photos and report by James Fassinger

bmoburns: continueplease: nbcnews: Teen’s invention could...

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:06:45 -0400

bmoburns:

continueplease:

nbcnews:

Teen’s invention could charge your phone in 20 seconds

(Photo: Intel)

Waiting hours for a cellphone to charge may become a thing of the past, thanks to an 18-year-old high-school student’s invention. She won a $50,000 prize Friday at an international science fair for creating an energy storage device that can be fully juiced in 20 to 30 seconds.

Read the complete story.

Everybody, remember this face.
Remember this name.
If this becomes a commonly used & highly lauded discovery, at some point a White guy is going to take credit, even if he has to word it like “Improved upon a previous…”
No no no
Fuck that guy.
Remember this brown girl.
Remeeeemmmmmberrrrr

*plays fort minor*

motherjones: foulmouthedliberty: poptech: And the highest...

Sun, 12 May 2013 16:58:15 -0400

motherjones:

foulmouthedliberty:

poptech:

And the highest paid public employee in your state is…

Just be you, Vermont.

redflagflying: “I am convinced there is only one way to...

Mon, 06 May 2013 02:34:56 -0400

redflagflying:

“I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an education system which would be oriented towards social goals. In such an economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman and child.” — Albert Einstein

satanic-capitalist: Ground Turkey Contaminated with...

Mon, 06 May 2013 02:33:22 -0400

satanic-capitalist:

Ground Turkey Contaminated with Feces??

Published on May 4, 2013

“In the wake of the recent Consumer Reports investigation finding a high percentage of contamination in ground turkey sold at retail outlets, there are some things to remember about food safety.

The Times’ Ricardo Lopez reported: “Consumer Reports said it tested 257 samples of ground turkey and patties from 21 states for five types of bacteria, including E. coli and salmonella.”*

Consumer Reports launched an investigation, finding alarming amounts of fecal bacteria in ground turkey. But, is this purely “alarmist” and an attempt to deregulate the FDA? Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian break it down.

*Read more from LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/…

hacking-curriculum: The true value of a tree…

Fri, 03 May 2013 13:22:27 -0400

hacking-curriculum:

The true value of a tree…

socialismartnature: Intersectionality 101

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:44:29 -0400

socialismartnature:

Intersectionality 101

New York Magazine: "Meet the 28-Year-Old Grad Student Who Just Shook the Global Austerity Movement"

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:43:42 -0400

New York Magazine: "Meet the 28-Year-Old Grad Student Who Just Shook the Global Austerity Movement":

Most Ph.D. students spend their days reading esoteric books and stressing out about the tenure-track job market. Thomas Herndon, a 28-year-old economics grad student at UMass Amherst, just used part of his spring semester to shake the intellectual foundation of the global austerity movement.

Herndon became instantly famous in nerdy economics circles this week as the lead author of a recent paper, “Does High Public Debt Consistently Stifle Economic Growth? A Critique of Reinhart and Rogoff,” that took aim at a massively influential study by two Harvard professors named Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. Herndon found some hidden errors in Reinhart and Rogoff’s data set, then calmly took the entire study out back and slaughtered it. Herndon’s takedown — which first appeared in a Mike Konczal post that crashed its host site with traffic — was an immediate sensation. It was cited by prominent anti-austerians like Paul Krugman, spoken about by incoming Bank of England governor Mark Carney, and mentioned on CNBC and several other news outlets as proof that the pro-austerity movement is based, at least in part, on bogus math.

New York Magazine: "Meet the 28-Year-Old Grad Student Who Just Shook the Global Austerity Movement"

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:13:21 -0400

New York Magazine: "Meet the 28-Year-Old Grad Student Who Just Shook the Global Austerity Movement":

Most Ph.D. students spend their days reading esoteric books and stressing out about the tenure-track job market. Thomas Herndon, a 28-year-old economics grad student at UMass Amherst, just used part of his spring semester to shake the intellectual foundation of the global austerity movement.

Herndon became instantly famous in nerdy economics circles this week as the lead author of a recent paper, “Does High Public Debt Consistently Stifle Economic Growth? A Critique of Reinhart and Rogoff,” that took aim at a massively influential study by two Harvard professors named Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. Herndon found some hidden errors in Reinhart and Rogoff’s data set, then calmly took the entire study out back and slaughtered it. Herndon’s takedown — which first appeared in a Mike Konczal post that crashed its host site with traffic — was an immediate sensation. It was cited by prominent anti-austerians like Paul Krugman, spoken about by incoming Bank of England governor Mark Carney, and mentioned on CNBC and several other news outlets as proof that the pro-austerity movement is based, at least in part, on bogus math.

globalvoices: Now it’s time to watch, because this is not...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:38:09 -0400

globalvoices:

Now it’s time to watch, because this is not going to be an easy debate. The government as well as the power groups that finance most of the congressmen want to have the indigenous land [for themselves], which are rich with natural resources. But the fact is that the “Indigenous April” action was at least able to put in the agenda a topic that has been moving forward for many years and had not yet received due attention by the media or by the congressmen.

Indigenous People Occupy Brazil’s Congress Over Land Rights Bill

thepeoplesrecord: randomactsofchaos: thepeoplesrecord: Richard...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:02:33 -0400

thepeoplesrecord:

randomactsofchaos:

thepeoplesrecord:

Richard Berman: if you see this man in public, please spit on him. If you serve him food ever in any restaurant, please do the people of the world a favor and defecate in it.
April 29, 2013

Yesterday we reblogged something from HumaneWatch.org, which was criticizing (& representing straight-up lies) against the humane society. One reader was kind enough to inform us that HumaneWatch is one of the many misinformation projects of Richard Berman’s. All of the above organizations are various projects run by Berman and Company, paid for by the ruling class, intended to spread misinformation & lies for the benefit of the ruling class.

Richard Berman is a Washington, D.C.-based hired propagandist who uses front groups to defend his corporate clients against the public interest. Using his lobbying and consulting firm, Berman and Company, as a revenue vehicle for his activities, Berman runs at least 23 industry-funded projects, such as the Center for Union Facts, and holds 24 “positions” within these various entities.

Make a mental note of the above organizations and keep in mind these brands. Never reblog (like I did) Berman and Company’s propaganda.

It was suggested to me that Charity Navigator is an honest & useful tool for actually evaluating how charities are spending their money. Here’s their information on The Humane Society of the United States. They have a 4 star rating.

The information in that post against the humane society was wrong, but it got 800+ notes (and we contributed to that count in a big way). Please reblog this & do some more reading/post your own posts about the propaganda campaigns Richard Berman is running to combat the misinformation.

I’m sorry we posted the original post, but let’s not allow this opportunity to expose this terrible organization go to waste.

http://bermanexposed.org/

I also took down the original post and apologize for the misinformation - I should have done some research first.

Sorry readers, but I’m gonna be like a dog-with-a-bone reblogging this one, in hopes that I can see this post get more notes than the original misinformation.