Earth Day is this Sunday, and millions of people worldwide are expected to take part in events intended to celebrate Mother Nature and call attention to environmental issues. Looming in the background of this day of action and awareness is a great threat to both the earth and humanity: catastrophic climate change spurred on by
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The for-profit college industry gets about $32 billion of its approximately $35 billion annual revenue from federal financial aid. Fifteen of the largest for-profits get 86 percent of their money from federal student aid programs – such as Pell grants, student loans, and the G.I. Bill. Yet every time someone proposes making their schools more
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The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is in trouble and it knows it. Corporate sponsors have dropped the group in droves and it has responded with a panicked public relations operation. After a series of extremely exaggerated (if not outrightly facetious) press releases, a plea for donations on the organization’s homepage, a botched social media operation,
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Last year, over 850,000 people in America were arrested for marijuana-related crimes. Despite public opinion, the medical community, and human rights experts all moving in favor of relaxing marijuana prohibition laws, little has changed in terms of policy. There have been many great books and articles detailing the history of the drug war. Part of
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All over the country, the agriculture industry is pushing “Ag Gag” bills that would criminalize people who take undercover videos at factory farms to expose the abuse of animals and unsanitary conditions that could sicken people. On Tuesday, the Missouri House of Representatives passed an “Ag Gag” bill. Rep. Casey Guernsey (R), the chief sponsor of
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We’ve all seen them. Television commercials from Big Pharma promising love and happiness if we take the products being advertised. Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau, a former 10 year Pharma sales rep, in 2009 explained how the industry manipulates consumers with its advertising: “We’ve seen the industry medicalizing so many different things throughout your life. If you’re shy, take
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On Tuesday, President Obama boldly called for cracking down on rampant oil speculation, which experts say has increased the amount consumers pay at the pump by as much as $10 dollarsper a tank of gas. In response, the Republican Party and a set of big business-friendly blogs are rushing to promote a video clip of
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The corporate front group the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is finally in the public eye. Americans everywhere are finally seeing how this group colludes with big corporations to pass laws all over the country that harm nearly every area of American life. As ALEC has come under public scrutiny, the group has called upon
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