via Declan McCullagh, CNET News Instagram said today that it has the perpetual right to sell users’ photographs without payment or notification, a dramatic policy shift that quickly sparked a public outcry. The new intellectual property policy, which takes effect on January 16, comes three months after Facebook completed its acquisition of the popular photo-sharing … Continue reading
via Gerry Bello, Bob Fitrakis, and Harvey Wasserman, Truth Out Will you cast your vote this fall on a faulty electronic machine that’s partly owned by the Romney Family? Will that machine decide whether Romney will then inherit the White House Through a closely held equity fund called Solamere, Mitt Romney and his wife, son … Continue reading
via Dan Eggen and Phillip Rucker, The Washington Post Even as it bragged about beating President Obama in fundraising over the summer, Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign was so low on cash that it ended up engineering an unusual $20 million loan to meet expenses until the former Massachusetts governor was formally named as the Republican … Continue reading
via Rick Hampson, USA Today Protesters will mark the anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement today with rallies in more than 30 cities around the world, including a march on the New York Stock Exchange, not far from the park where the movement was born. But as the last of its urban encampments close … Continue reading
via David Lawder, Reuters Massive U.S. government spending cuts and tax hikes due next year will cause even worse economic damage than previously thought if Washington fails to come up with a solution, the Congressional Budget Office warned on Wednesday. Without action by Congress to avoid a “fiscal cliff,” Americans should expect a “significant recession” … Continue reading
via Elizabeth Hewitt and Abby Ohlheiser, Slate The Obama campaign has an offer for Team Romney: Release five years’ worth of tax returns and they’ll stop asking to see more. Obama campaign manager Jim Messina released an open letter to the candidate on Friday outlining the deal: “If the governor will release five years of … Continue reading
via Nicholas Confessore and Michael D. Shear, The New York Times The fund-raising machine behind Mitt Romney and the Republican Party once again outperformed President Obama and the Democrats last month, raising $25 million more in July than the president and his Democratic allies. Mr. Romney and the Republican National Committee took in $101.3 million … Continue reading
via Cecilia Kang, The Washington Post Devra Davis, a long-ignored evangelist on the health dangers of cellphones, finally feels like she’s been heard. As soon as next week, Congress is expected to say that a year-long investigation by the Government Accountability Office has found the Federal Communications Commission’s cellphone-safety regulations are woefully out of date. … Continue reading
via Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), San Gabriel Valley Tribune Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, represents California’s 29th Congressional District. Three weeks ago, in a decision all but lost in the tumult over the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act, the Justices overturned a century-old Montana law that prohibited corporate spending in that state’s elections. In … Continue reading
via Ira Israel, The Huffington Post “It is not true that money can’t buy happiness. It can, that’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s someone else’s happiness.” — Nick Hornby Spoiler alert: The last line, the summation of my new experiential documentary Mindfulness for Urban Depression is an ebullient “Happiness is a … Continue reading
via The Associated Press, NPR The Supreme Court on Monday reaffirmed its 2-year-old decision allowing corporations to spend freely to influence elections. The justices struck down a Montana law limiting corporate campaign spending. By a 5-4 vote, the court’s conservative justices said the decision in the Citizens United case in 2010 applies to state campaign … Continue reading
via Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post In the ‘you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff’ category, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is spending about $1.1 million to develop a way to physiologically measure how engaged students are by their teachers’ lessons. This involves “galvanic skin response” bracelets that kids would wear so their engagement levels could be measured. If this … Continue reading
via David G. Savage and Melanie Mason, L.A. Times When the Supreme Court ruled that corporations had the right to political free speech, it set loose a tidal wave of campaign money that helped elect a new Congress in 2010 and is now reshaping the presidential race. But the impact of the Citizens United decision … Continue reading
via Don Lee, Chicago Tribune The Great Recession took such a heavy toll on the economy that the typical American family lost nearly 40% of its wealth from 2007 to 2010, shaving the median net worth to a level not seen since the early 1990s. The Federal Reserve said in a new report Monday that median family net … Continue reading
via Paul Blumenthal, The Huffington Post The push to raise unlimited contributions by a super PAC backing President Barack Obama’s reelection has run into a number of hurdles since Priorities USA Action was set up by former White House aide Bill Burton in 2011. Major Democratic donors have shunned the group, denying it funds to … Continue reading
via Lucia Graves, The Huffington Post The federal government could save as much $13.7 billion annually if it were to legalize marijuana, according to a paper by Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron. More than half of the savings, $7.7 billion, would come from not having to enforce the current prohibitions against the drug, while an additional … Continue reading
via E.J. Dionne Jr., The New York Times We are about to have the worst presidential campaign money can buy. The Supreme Court’s dreadful Citizens United decision and a somnolent Federal Election Commission will allow hundreds of millions of dollars from a small number of very wealthy people and interests to inundate our airwaves with … Continue reading
via Angel Clark, Examiner Texas Congressman Ron Paul has been voted one of the most influential people in the world. He speaks to packed stadiums and sold out crowds almost nightly. On Tuesday, Dr. Paul spoke to over 3,000 people in one stadium while at the same time Governor Mitt Romney spoke to roughly 400 … Continue reading
via Jon Clinkenbeard, Techcitement If I were going to describe the perfect contraceptive, it would go something like this: no babies, no latex, no daily pill to remember, no hormones to interfere with mood or sex drive, no negative health effects whatsoever, and 100 percent effectiveness. The funny thing is, something like that currently exists. … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post While women still earn 77 cents for every dollar that men make in the United States, the gender wage gap has closed significantly over the past several decades. Now, for the first time ever, a new study has connected the narrowing of that pay gap to increased access to … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post As the only Republican Congressman at a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment on Thursday, Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) gave women an unexpected piece of advice: Give your money to Democrats. “I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under … Continue reading
via Money Trend Research Canadian researchers find a simple cure for cancer, but major pharmaceutical companies are not interested. Researchers at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada have recently cured cancer, yet there is but little ripple in the news or on TV. It is a simple technique using a very basic drug. The … Continue reading
