September 19, 2013

Prison-Industrial Complex Watch: End Mandatory Minimum Sentences For Non-Violent Drug Offenses

It’s time for Americans to pay attention to what we are doing to so many non-violent drug offenders. We put them in jail, take away their right to vote when they get out, in many cases for minor offenses, that probably shouldn’t be illegal in the first place. Americans need to see the forest for the trees when it comes to U.S. drug laws. Why is it so hard to change failed policy?

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September 12, 2013

The Public Is Obtuse On Medicare Spending, While Conservative ‘Leaders’ Bank On This Ignorance

There are conservatives who believe government is incapable of doing anything meaningful. They believe the only true purpose of government is national security. And these conservatives believe programs like Medicare are saddled with massive fraud and waste. And there are conservatives who are on Medicare that hold these beliefs while gobbling up more Medicare services than they paid for. But because they are conservatives, that means they abhor welfare, and would never be caught getting a free handout. And they believe this of themselves because they are ignorant to the fact that Medicare pays $3 in benefits for every $1 it takes in.

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September 1, 2013

Insomniac Edition: Neil Young – Rockin’ in the Free World (1989)

Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” is one of those protest songs that can probably be utilized by people of many different political stripes and motivations. Taken at face value, and only paying attention to the title, it could be interpreted as pro-West, pro-democracy, or in other words, pro-American. Much the same as Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The U.S.A” which was misappropriated by the conservative right (including former President Ronald Reagan), “Rockin’ in the Free World” has a more subversive meaning, possibly even rivaling that of Springsteen’s “Born.”

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