Thom's blog
Could CISPA be worse than SOPA?
Microsoft is now rethinking its support for the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act – better known as CISPA – which passed out of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last week. CISPA allows for the sharing of information between the government and private online companies to stop possible cyber security threats. But since the bill is overly-broad on what exactly is a “cyber security threat” – there’s real c
10 People Fund the Best Democracy Money can Buy!
The oligarchs are making their voices heard this election. A new analysis of SuperPAC donations by the Center for Public Integrity finds that just ten donors are responsible for one-third of the $202 million of SuperPAC money so far this election. Of those ten donors – seven are individuals and four are billionaires. Leading the way is casino mogul Sheldon Adelson who’s dished out $26.5 million so far – mostly on Ne
If we don’t change our ways soon...
A new report by the Royal Society, chaired by Nobel prize-winning biologist Sir John Sulston warns that world population must be stabilized and consumption in wealthy nations must be reduced or the entire planet is in big trouble. As the report reads: “The number of people living on the planet has never been higher, their levels of consumption are unprecedented and vast changes are taking place in the environment. We can choos
Two years of trickle-down austerity has The U.K. officially in a second recession
The U.K. is officially in a second recession as the British economy shrank for the second straight quarter. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron whose government has been pushing trickle-down austerity for nearly the last two years called the new economic numbers, “very, very disappointing.” The U.K.
The blowback against Austerity rages throughout Europe
The continental rejection of austerity continues in Europe. In the Netherlands – the Dutch government coalition collapsed on Monday – after lawmakers failed to agree upon a series of austerity measures. And in Ireland – the nation’s largest trade unions are pressuring the government to vote against more austerity measures being pushed by Germany.
These latest protests – coupled with the early electoral defeat of French Presid
The Worldwide Recession & Austerity has led to Global Unemployment & Civil Unrest
The United States isn’t the only nation dealing with chronic unemployment – the rest of the world is too! A new report by the World Bank says that the global economy needs to create 200 million jobs to recover from the worldwide recession and reach full employment. Twenty-seven million jobs were lost around the world when the economy went in the tank in 2008 – and subsequent job growth hasn’t been nearly strong enough to keep up wit
It pays to be a greedy CEO and screw over your workers
The AFL-CIO is out with their new Executive Pay Watch report – revealing that CEOs at Fortune 500 companies made on average $12 million each in 2011. They’re now getting paid 380-times more than their average worker. That’s a slight increase since 2010 – and a massive increase since 1980 – when, before Reaganomics, CEOs were paid only 42-times more than their average worker.
On top of that – CEO pay increased nearly 14% in 20
Children are the biggest victims of the current housing crisis
In 2008 - Wall Street got bailed out – and homeowners got sold out. And now – it’s the children who are the biggest victims of the ongoing housing crisis. According to a new report from First Focus and the Brookings Institute – more than 8.3 million children are facing the direct consequences of home foreclosures.
Already – more than two million children have seen their homes foreclosed on since 2008, and another six million
ALEC drops its campaigns for 'Stand Your Ground' & Voter ID laws
In response to pressure from several progressive organizations – and an exodus of corporate members – the American Legislative Exchange Council announced on Tuesday it’s dismantling its non-economic taskforces responsible for writing radical legislation like “Shoot First” laws and “Voter ID” laws.
While this is a small progressive victory – ALEC promises to continue writing economic legislation that repeals environmental regulations, bus
As the ice cap melts, the war for the North Pole is heating up
The oil barons of the world – and the militaries that rely on that oil – are seeing new opportunities in the North Pole as global climate change kicks into high gear. Warming weather is leading to the Northern ice cap melting – uncovering a treasure trove of oil and natural gas reserves. Scientists believe that the Arctic is storing 13% of the world’s untapped oil – and nearly a third of the world’s undiscovered natural gas.