Unconstitutional Gerrymandering, RGA Funneling Corp Dark Money, Privatizing Public TV, The First Slip of Corp Media, Citizen Actions Against Abuse

Suggested Reading for Week Ending 10/12

  • Federal Court Strikes Down One of the Most Aggressive Gerrymanders in the Country
    One of the most aggressive gerrymanders in the country is unconstitutional, according to a divided three-judge panel in Virginia. In 2012, President Barack Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney by three points in the state of Virginia. Nevertheless, Republicans control eight of the state’s eleven congressional districts. Yet, according to an opinion by Judge Allyson Duncan, a George W. Bush appointee, the maps that produced this result are unconstitutional and the legislature must “act within the next legislative session to draw a new congressional district plan.”
  • Republican Governors Association Used to Funnel Dark Money from Corporations
    Fred Wertheimer, a lifelong champion of campaign finance reform, noted that this boo-boo offers “a classic example of how corporations are trying to use secret money hidden from the American people, to buy influence, and how the (Republican) Governors Association is selling it.”
  • Who Rules Public TV? The ONE%?
    Many board members are affiliated with major corporations like Boeing, Wells Fargo and Citigroup. Seventy-five board members, nearly half of all those with corporate ties, are financial industry executives. Another 24 are corporate lawyers.
  • The Sordid Contra-Cocaine Saga – The Loss of Critical Media
    If you ever wondered how the mainstream U.S. media changed from the hard-nosed Watergate press of the 1970s into the brown-nose MSM that swallowed the Iraq War lies, a key middle point was the Contra-cocaine scandal of the 1980s/1990s
  • People Are Ready for Action
    There is no doubt that the people are rising. Today there are at least three major events taking place – the Ferguson October massive march to end police brutality and racism in St. Louis, the European-wide day of actions against the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Agreement (TAFTA) and the Global Frackdown. People are also protesting the World Bank meeting in Washington, DC and the Maine Walk for Peace is beginning.

    We need more campaigns like this. And we need more actions like this lawyer took who saw a black man being stopped by police for no reason other than walking in a wealthy neighborhood. She confronted the police and told them to get out of the neighborhood. We need to understand our legal rights and help each other.

  •  

    The majority of citizens have let this happen by not participating in the political process. Too many citizens are not electing representatives who will work for the majority of citizens. Instead we are letting a ‘minority of us’ elect those who see the majority of citizens as ‘them.’


    Why privacy matters – “Mass surveillance creates a prison in the mind.”

    “He that does not move, does not notice his chains.”

    Andy Hailey

    Vietnam Vet, UT El Paso Grad, Retired Aerospace Engineer, former union rep, 60's Republican now progressive, web admin, blogger.

    Recent Posts

    My Most Recent Postings Are Shared at Op Ed News

    --------- Check them out! ---------

    12 months ago

    Preserving Our Democracy – Allegiance To a Nation OR Serving a More Perfect Union

    On the one hand, patriotism divides citizens into multiple factions based on variable notions of a nation and its history. On the…

    2 years ago

    Voters Can Empower and Protect Our Threatened Democracy

    Voters have witnessed a long history of peaceful Executive leadership change.  However, we’ve just seen, 1/6/2021, how fragile that transition…

    2 years ago

    WAR, Civil or World, Enables Hunting Humans

    This is about the need for national efforts to stop enabling haters (individuals and political parties) from optimizing their hunting…

    2 years ago

    Authoritarian Domination by 2030 in US!

    In 2030, the entire world is condemned to extreme inequality, slavery, baby farms with women dressed in red and world domination as originally…

    2 years ago

    Predatory Capitalism: Chaining It?, Embracing It?, Controlling it?, Saving it?, Replacing It!

    Any nation with either an authoritarian political system or an authoritarian economic system, like predatory capitalism, is susceptible to totalitarianism.…

    3 years ago