So I was out trying to locate some new voters to register on the next to last day for new registrations, when I came across this street corner populated by some dedicated Teaparty/Romney voters keeping it classy. They had signs for just about every hysterical conspiracy theory that existed for Obama to date.  They would rotate the different messages every few minutes, sometimes marching into the center of the street disrupting traffic when they could get away with it. I decided to ask them what one of them meant.

I apologize for the primitive nature of this little movie. It’s the very first I’ve edited on my own. I promise to get better if I ever decide I need a new hobby.

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  • Cloward–Piven strategy  — the teaparty activist in the video is not making-up this bit of strategy, but it never became the lynchpin of anything, as Glenn Beck has suggested. Legions of teaparty activists need these conspiracy theories, half-rooted in reality, so that they have a reason to get up each day.

Today on NPR's FreshAir, Terry Gross…

…had an interview with the always insightful David Cay Johnston (@davidCayJ) about his new book The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use "Plain English" to Rob You Blind.

If you want to get really angry at just how royally screwed we've been over the past quarter century, then take some time to listen to this interview with him.

Update: 2/14/2014 — Frida Ghitis has eritten an excellent piece on this very topic.

Update: 3/31/2014 — Ezra Klein interviews Susan Crawford on the issue. Must see TV

Update: 11/11/2014 — Al Jazerra's Jacob Ward delivers a stunningly effective 3 minute segment on why Net Neutrality is so important.

It will explain just what business has been doing while progressives have been whining about just about everything except the run-away plutocracy that owns us. If we can't restore basic regulations and economic justice FIRST, then social justice will always be dependent on whatever table scraps can be snatched from the laps of a corporate oligarchy feasting on the taxpayer's soul.

It may sound like a tired old harangue, but it's still one we're doing nothing about. And we have to find a way to start doing something. Occupy Wall Street had the right imperatives, if not the right strategies for pursuing them. Sadly, they squandered much of their initative.  But something has to give, and soon, or stories like this one will be familiar across every industry. Sadly, in many cases they aleady are. Remember, even the "Left" media is owned by these international corporate behemoths.  They have no interest in having this conversation. None. But someone better start having it.

Americans are paying high prices for poor quality Internet speeds — speeds that are now slower than in other countries, according to author David Cay Johnston.

He says the U.S. ranks 29th in speed worldwide.

We're way behind countries like Lithuania, Ukraine and Moldavia.

Per bit of information moved, we pay 38 times what the Japanese pay," Johnston tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies.

If you buy one of these triple-play packages that are heavily advertised — where you get Internet, telephone and cable TV together —

Typically you'll pay what I pay, about $160 a month including fees

The same service in France is $38 a month.

Listen to the interview 

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It could be argued that Nixon's famous Checkers speech, 60 years old this week, which not only saved his political career, but was also his most meaningful legacy.  It, more than anything else led, was the catalyst behind the media's present day interest in and disclosure of a candidate's finances (but sadly, not nearly enough, of late).

Of course, compared to Romney, Nixon was a middle class schlub.  Romney won't be going this route, you can be sure. He's not as bright as Nixon was.

It's fascinating to watch.

 

Nixon's "Checkers Speech" – Part 2 of 2 – YouTube (was not embeddable)

 

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