Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Bernie Sanders Channels FDR To Explain What 'Democratic Socialism' Means To Him
HP | Samantha Lachman | 11/19/15

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sought to contextualize his self-described "democratic socialism" on Thursday by pointing out that many of the programs Americans use today -- such as unemployment insurance, Social Security and Medicare -- were considered radical when they were introduced decades ago.

... Sanders' speech invoked Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1944 State of the Union address, in which the president described "a second Bill of Rights" to provide more economic security for the American people. Sanders quoted Roosevelt, who said that "true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men." ... ... "In other words, real freedom must include economic security," Sanders said. ... Read more

Ex-Drone Operator Says Program Is 'Good At Killing People, Just Not The Right Ones'
HP | Dana Liebelson | 11/19/15

Former U.S. drone operators and technicians spoke out on Thursday about the extensive problems with the Obama administration's lethal program in the Middle East, shedding light on civilian deaths, the callousness of the culture, and the heavy weight of responsibility. The ex-drone program participants outlined their experiences at an event held in New York that was organized to promote the new documentary Drone.

Michael Haas, who is a former senior airman with the U.S. air force and helped guide missiles to their targets, according to the Guardian, discussed his experience serving under the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, which included working as an instructor. He said over time the quality of personnel rapidly declined, and the mentality under the Obama administration shifted to where, "a meritorious thing to do was to fire a shot, circumstances be damned." ... Read more

The Hunger Game
MotherJones | Shane Bauer | older 12/00/14

When Waed and Hassan fell in love, they were students in a neighborhood of internet cafes and all-night parties. Then the Assad regime turned their world into a medieval hellscape.

... There were many sounds: children playing soccer in the alleys, men advertising the watermelons they pushed around on wooden carts, stereo-projected voices calling the devout to prayer. In between the honking of horns and vrooming of motorcycles there were the coos of pigeons, the dings of bicycle bells, the gossip of neighbors.

The scent of food always beckoned on Yarmouk Street: warm, cheese-filled pastries dripping with sugary syrup; the best falafel in Damascus; pizzalike things called fata'ir that came in 10 different varieties and cast tantalizing scents a block away. People were poor in Yarmouk, more so than in most of Damascus, but there was always much food. Many had large bellies.

Who then could conceive that imams would one day announce it was no longer religiously taboo to eat cats or donkeys? Women and children couldn't yet dream they would soon be sifting through the grass for edible weeds. No one could imagine that on a street outside some apartments, there would be a little pile of cat heads next to men and children flaying the mangy animals and boiling them in a pot. ... Read more

Real American History Neither Ted Cruz Nor the New York Times Will Tell You
AlterNet | Ben Norton | 11/20/15

We talk democracy, then overthrow elected governments and prop up awful regimes. Let's discuss the actual history.

The disant Land of the Free and Home of the Brave has a long and iniquitous history of overthrowing democratically elected leftist governments and propping up right-wing dictators in their place.

In the second Democratic presidential debate, however, candidate Bernie Sanders condemned a long-standing government policy his peers rarely admit exists. "I think we have a disagreement," Sanders said of fellow presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. "And the disagreement is that not only did I vote against the war in Iraq. If you look at history, you will find that regime change -- whether it was in the early '50s in Iran, whether it was toppling Salvador Allende in Chile, or whether it was overthrowing the government of Guatemala way back when -- these invasions, these toppling of governments, regime changes have unintended consequences. I would say that on this issue I'm a little bit more conservative than the secretary." ... Read more