Lincoln: “Labor Is the Superior of Capital,” By Alan Grayson

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. . .”

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A Club of Liars, Demagogues and Ignoramuses

The US Republican race is dominated by ignorance, lies and scandals. The current crop of candidates have shown such a basic lack of knowledge that they make George W. Bush look like Einstein. The Grand Old Party is ruining the entire country’s reputation. . .

What a nice club that is. A club of liars, cheaters, adulterers, exaggerators, hypocrites and ignoramuses. “A starting point for a chronicle of American decline,” was how David Remnick, the editor of the New Yorker, described the current Republican race.

The Tea Party would take issue with that assessment. They cheer the loudest for the worst, only to see them fail, as expected, one by one. Which goes to show that this “movement,” sponsored by Fox News, has never been interested in the actual business of governing or in the intelligence and intellect that requires. They are only interested in marketing themselves, for ratings and dollars.

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Study: Legalizing Marijuana Reduces Traffic Deaths

. . . [L]egalizing pot reduced traffic deaths by a stunning 9%, and reduced beer consumption by 5%. . . Reducing alcohol consumption is not only positive because it reduces traffic deaths, but also because alcohol is far more dangerous and addicting than marijuana (which is neither).

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The Other Debt Crisis: Climate Debt

The climate crisis in Bolivia is not a headline or an abstraction – it is playing out in people’s lives in real time.

Melting glaciers are threatening the water supply of the country’s two biggest cities. Increasing droughts and floods are playing havoc with agriculture.

So it is no surprise that in climate negotiations, Bolivia is emerging as a leader in the global south – advancing both radical solutions and analysis that make rich countries distinctly nervous.

On this edition of Fault Lines, Avi Lewis travels to Bolivia to explore the country’s climate crusade from the inside.

It is the story of an emerging movement, based in the global south, raising questions about who owes what to whom in confronting the climate crisis.

And it is playing out in Bolivia’s epic landscape – from the tropical glaciers to the endless salt flats. A landscape that in normal times seems to mock the very idea that human beings can change the course of nature.

Watch video here . . .

Bill Looman, Georgia Business Owner, Draws Fire For ‘Not Hiring Until Obama Is Gone’

A west Georgia business owner has been deluged with calls and emails after posting signs on his company’s trucks that say he’s not hiring anyone until President Barack Obama leaves office.

A redneck small business owner in the deep south, who could  have imagined that? He draped himself in the flag with his non subject related mention of military service, but failed to thump the bible while he was at it. What kind of Neoliberal Reactionary is he?  [MSH]

Watch video here . . .  

Overdue Notice: Defend Our Libraries

. . . [T]oday, in the wake of an inexhaustible economic crisis and the reactionary assault on everything public, the public library is under attack. Local governments across the United States—from New York City to Detroit, and from Denver to Seattle—are slashing library budgets and closing libraries. . . These cuts will disproportionately punish poor and working class people.

Another key aspect of the public library mission is to defend free speech and intellectual freedom. With programs like “Banned Books Week,” libraries are on the front lines of defending the rights of people to examine unpopular points of view so they can make their own informed decisions.

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