Thanks to the FCC, two-thirds of our nation's high-speed internet subscribers may soon be under the control of just two companies.

According to a recent article over at CommonDreams.org, that agency has approved Charter Communication's $90 billion dollar takeover of two other cable providers: Time Warner and Bright House Networks.

Despite the fact that more than 300,000 public comments were submitted regarding the deal, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated an approval order after Charter agreed to a set of so-called “consumer-friendly” conditions. As if we haven't heard those promises before...

Craig Aaron, the president and CEO of Free Press, said, “Thanks to this merger both Charter and Comcast now have unprecedented control over our cable and Internet connections.” He added, “Their crushing monopoly power will mean fewer choices, higher prices, no accountability, and no competition.”

And, that is pretty much everything that the FCC was supposed to protect against. We shouldn't be increasing the size of monopolies, we should be breaking them up, and this cable merger should have been blocked.

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... TTIP...New Docs Reveal It's Worse Than You Know (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

The Daily Stack

Article: "Chapter 16: Unequal Responsibility for Crime" by Thom Hartmann.

Book: "Unequal Protection: The Battle to Save Democracy" by Thom Hartmann (read online).

Book: "Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became "People" - And How You Can Fight Back" by Thom Hartmann - new updated version out now!

Article: "Dole Knew About Listeria Problem at Salad Plant, F.D.A. Report Says" by Stephanie Strom.

Article: "House Republicans Have A Temper Tantrum Over Rule That Bans Financial Advisers From Scamming Retirees" by Bryce Covert.

Movie: "The Insider".

Article: "Ted Kaczynski" (Unabomber) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Justice Department investigates Blue Bell Creameries over listeria response" by Sandee LaMotte and Evan Perez.

Article: "DOJ: Food companies risk prosecution for outbreaks" by AP.

Article: "Indiana primary: what's at stake for the remaining presidential candidates" by Ben Jacobs.

Article: "Carrier plans to move 1,400 jobs from Indianapolis to Mexico" by Matt Adams.

Article: "Carrier workers' rage over move to Mexico caught on video" by Ahiza Garcia.

Article: "Warren: 'I’m still cheering Bernie on’" by Mark Hensch.

Article: "The Powell Memo or Powell Manifesto".

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976.

Book: "Threshold: The Progressive Plan to Pull America Back from the Brink" by Thom Hartmann.

Site: Mondragon Corporation

Book: What Then Must We Do?: Straight Talk about the Next American Revolution by Gar Alperovitz.

Article: "US anti-Vietnam war priest Daniel Berrigan dies aged 94" by BBC.

Hour Two: TTIP...New Docs Reveal It's Worse Than You Know
- Lori Wallach, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch

Book: The Rise and Fall of Fast Track Trade Authority by Lori Wallach.

Article: "Hundreds of thousands protest in Berlin against EU-U.S. trade deal" by Reuters.

Article: "Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership" (TTIP) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Swedish energy giant sells German coal plants" by AFP.

Article: "Vattenfall Seeks $6 Billion in Compensation for German Nuclear Phase-Out" by Alexander Hellemans.

Case: "Vattenfall AB and others v. Federal Republic of Germany (ICSID Case No. ARB/12/12)".

Article: "TransCanada Seeks $15 Billion From U.S. Over Keystone XL Pipeline" by Ian Austen.

Site: theyrule.net

Article: "Value added tax" (VAT) by Wikipedia.

Video: Senator Perdue Bloomberg Interview.

Site: ReaganBushDebt.org.

Book: "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: Revised and Updated: The Fate of the World and What We Can Do Before It's Too Late" by Thom Hartmann.

Tweet: "Anybody else see this as "sensitive content" that won't display? Weird..." by Thom Hartmann.

Site: David Soll for Winnebago County Board – District 17, Illinois.

Video: "Real Time with Bill Maher, April 29, 2016" incl. Thomas Frank.

Talk Media News Segment:
- Victoria Jones

Article: "Supreme Court rejects death penalty case" by Lydia Wheeler.

Article: "8th Amendment" "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.".

Article: "Supreme Court rejects challenge to Seattle’s $15 minimum wage" by AP.

Article: "US foreign intelligence court did not deny any surveillance requests last year" by Reuters.

Article: "Trump: I Have More Foreign Policy Experience Than 'Virtually Anybody'" by Sara Jerde.

Article: "Kid Screams “You Suck!” at Cruz Rally – Cruz Says He’ll Spank Him (VIDEO)" by Jim Hoft.

Article: "Trio of Earth-sized planets around nearby star could reveal life" by Sara Goudarzi.

Article: "For 1st time since 1978, U.S. cruise docks in Cuba" by CBS/AP.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman

Article: "Quick Morning News - Trump: “It’s already over” / “Obama out” at WH dinner + Larry Wilmore gets tough - May 2, 2016" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: The Latest News From the District Sentinel News Co-op
- Sam Sacks, The District Sentinel

Article: "Congress Lets Puerto Rico Default on $370 Million Debt Payment" by Sam Knight.

Law: "Merchant Marine Act of 1920" (Jones Act).

Article: "Cover for Financial Speculators Stuffed into Agriculture Spending Bill" by Sam Knight.

Article: "‘Cromnibus’ Highlights: IRS Cuts; No Raise for Biden; Break on School Lunches" by Siobhan Hughes.

Article: "Porter's five forces analysis" by Wikipedia.

Law: "Voting Rights Act of 1965".

Law: "Civil Rights Act of 1964" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Fairness Doctrine" by Wikipedia.

Site: Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Article: "We All Do Better When We All Do Better" by Stan Sorscher.

Video: Larry Wilmore COMPLETE REMARKS at 2016 White House Correspondents' Dinner (C-SPAN).

Article: "'In poor taste': Al Sharpton hits out at Larry Wilmore's N-word shout out to Obama during the White House Correspondents' Dinner" by Valerie Edwards and Ollie Gillman.

Article: "Elections Board Official in Brooklyn Removed Amid Investigation" by Rick Rojas and Vivian Yee.

Article: "Tired, poor, huddled millennials of New York earn 20% less than prior generation" by Jana Kasperkevic.

Article: "Tens of Thousands Call for Repeal of North Carolina Anti-LGBT Law As Legislature Returns" by ACLU.

Article: "FCC Green Lights 'Crushing' Charter Cable Mega-Merger" by Lauren McCauley.

Article: "Dodd-Frank Rule on Risky Bonuses Finally Proposed" by Sam Knight.

Article: "Trans Students Have Better Options On College Applications Now" by Casey Quinlan.

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Should we bring back the corporate death penalty?

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Great Minds P1: Ari Rabin-Havt - Doctor Evil Exposed...

Great Minds P2: Ari Rabin-Havt - How We End The Lies?

Rumble: Proof You Need An ID to Pee...

Rumble: Is Trump’s “America First” Anti-Simetic?

TTIP...New Docs Reveal It's Worse Than You Know

Should Dole Get the Corporate Death Penalty?

Greenspace and Silence Are Good for Your Health

Those Cheap Electronics Aren't so Cheap...

Thom Hartmann with the Obama Scorecard

Lincoln Should Have Let the South Go!

Australia is Proof - National Gun Laws Work...

When Will We Try to Make America Less Miserable?

Hey Debt Trap Debbie, You Need to go Further on Pay Day Lending!

Mein Kampf: GOP Edition

Caller: Want to Talk About the America First Movement and Anti Semitism

Hillary Better Adopt Bernie's Ideas Before Trump Does!