Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Congress is* in session
Washington Post | Dana Milbank | 07/01/14

The people’s representatives can’t agree on much of anything these days -- even calling a recess. When senators and members of the House went home for their Independence Day break, they didn’t, or couldn’t, agree on an adjournment resolution. So they did what they usually do: They went into “pro-forma session,” a status when they are technically working but don’t actually do anything. Come to think of it, that’s pretty much how it is when they’re in town, too.

Lawmakers are home. Staffers in the Capitol lounge in open-collar shirts. But make no mistake: Congress is in session. President Obama made this mistake. He made recess appointments during a pro-forma session, claiming it was really a recess, and the Supreme Court unanimously smacked him down last week: “The Senate is in session when it says it is, provided that, under its own rules, it retains the capacity to transact Senate business.” ... Read more

What's A Caliphate?
NPR | Greg Myre | 06/30/14

The Islamic caliphates had a long and glorious run, but in the 21st century, they seemed consigned to history. Simply put, a caliphate is an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader, and it has existed in one form or another for most of the 1,400-year history of Islam.

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire a century ago marked the end of the last caliphate, an extraordinarily powerful one that had survived for more than four centuries. ... Read more

Bill O’Reilly: Laura Ingraham plan dooms GOP
Politico | Kendall Breitman | 07/04/14

Bill O’Reilly is pegging Laura Ingraham’s opinion of using mass deportation to address illegal immigration as a “draconian” idea that would “destroy the Republican Party.” The heated debate arose on Wednesday after O’Reilly asked on his Fox News show, “The O’Reilly Factor,” what Ingraham would do to address the tens of thousands of children and adults that have been apprehended trying to cross the U.S-Mexico border.

“No. 1, first thing you do is start deporting people, not by the hundreds, not by the dozens, by the thousands,” the conservative radio talk show host said. “That means entire families, not just the father or mother, but we keep families unified by deporting all people who are here illegally.” ... Read more

Chicago Shootings Over July 4th Weekend Leave At Least 9 Dead, Dozens Wounded
HP | Jade Walker | 07/07/14

Yet Another 12 Mind-Blowing Documentaries To Watch On Netflix
HP | Lauren Duca | 07/01/14

Whose Security? How Washington Protects Itself and the Corporate Sector
Bill Moyers & TomDispatch | Noam Chomsky | 07/03/14

... There is a “received standard version,” common to academic scholarship, government pronouncements and public discourse. It holds that the prime commitment of governments is to ensure security, and that the primary concern of the US and its allies since 1945 was the Russian threat. ...

Instead, a series of fraudulent pretexts for the invasion were concocted that collapse instantly on examination. The media chimed in enthusiastically, lauding the magnificent achievement of defeating Panama, unconcerned that the pretexts were ludicrous, that the act itself was a radical violation of international law, and that it was bitterly condemned elsewhere, most harshly in Latin America. Also ignored was the US veto of a unanimous Security Council resolution condemning crimes by US troops during the invasion, with Britain alone abstaining. ... Read more