Undernews: October 15 2012

Ryan ramrods his way into soup kitchen for photo op
Washington Post - The head of a northeast Ohio charity says that the Romney campaign last week “ramrodded their way” into the group’s Youngstown soup kitchen so that GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan could get his picture taken washing dishes in the dining hall. Brian J. Antal, president of…

David Stockman takes Romney to the cleaners
David Stockman, Daily Beast - Mitt Romney was not a businessman; he was a master financial speculator who bought, sold, flipped, and stripped businesses....That is the modus operandi of the leveraged-buyout business, and in an honest free-market economy, there wouldn’t be much scope for it because …

ACLU sues JP Morgan for treatment of black homeowners
NY Times - The American Civil Liberties Union is accusing Morgan Stanley of fueling the production of risky, expensive loans that targeted African-American borrowers. In the lawsui, the A.C.L.U. claims that Morgan Stanley is culpable for predatory loans made through the New Century Financial Corporation…

Major British study calls for decriminalization of minor drug use
Guardian, UK: A six-year study of Britain's drug laws by leading scientists, police officers, academics and experts has concluded it is time to introduce decriminalisation. The report by the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC), an independent advisory body, says possession of small amount…

Young buying fewer cars
Jordan Weissmann, Atlantic - According to CNW Marketing Research, Americans between the ages of 21 to 34 purchased just 27 percent of new cars in 2010, down from 38 percent in 1985. Bloomberg quotes the industry analysts at R.L. Polk & Co., who say that "the rate of U.S. auto sales to 18-34-year-olds...

The idea mill: Postal savings banks
Ellen Brown, Counterpunch - The USPS has been declared insolvent, but it is not because it is inefficient (it has been self-funded throughout its history). It is because in 2006, Congress required it to prefund postal retiree health benefits for 75 years into the future, an onerous burden no other…

The best reason not to vote for Romney
Sam Smith Whatever your politics there’s one good reason not to vote for Romney: he is a pathological liar and a fraud. Periodic cons are a hazard of American politics these days – as Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton have amply demonstrated. And when we fall for them we pay a big price. Reagan started…

How the American university was killed

Recovered history: Ma Barker's house for sale
Radar - The house that served as a hideout for notorious gangster "Ma" Barker, ...recently hit the market with an asking price of $1 million. The mother of a crew of criminals wanted for bank robbery, kidnapping and murder was shot dead in 1935 at age 61 in the Ocklawaha, Florida, house in one of…

Why technology may not make children stupid
Maggie Koerth-Baker , Boing Boing - All this newfangled technology is going to make young people stupid. This is a very old argument, dating back (at least) to 370-ish BC, when Plato wrote the The Phaedrus . Like the better-known Republic , Phaedrus is written as a conversation between the characters…

Private offshore cities being planned
Intel Hub - Blueseed is a San Francisco startup corporation that plans to launch a floating city 12 nautical miles off the coast of California. Blueseed will revamp a cruise ship or barge to create the off-shore city. It will sit in international waters and be a metropolis where foreign and America…

Are crowded cities bad for our minds?
Tree Hugger - Simply living in cities may be driving us insane. Or at least making us more likely to develop schizophrenia or various forms of psychosis. That's the fear propelling a growing body of research, which seeks to document the psychological effects of growing up and living in dense urban...

Romney was absent a quarter of his time as governor
NY Times - During Mr. Romney’s four-year term as governor of Massachusetts, he cumulatively spent more than a year - part or all of 417 days - out of the state, according to a review of his schedule and other records. More than 70 percent of that time was spent on personal or political trips unrelated…

A short guide for activists
The JLLLOW Home Journal’s Guide to Keeping Cool and Not Losing Your Shit Whilst Trying to Change The World

Why don't more musicians have good hi fis?
Steve Guttenberg, CNET - Most musicians I've met at recording sessions focus on the sound of their own instrument, and how it stands out in the mix. They don't seem all that interested in the sound of the group. I remember a bass player at a jazz recording session who grew impatient with the time…

Candidates you may not have heard of
Dan Poppy, Comedy Central Indecision - Holly Seeliger is running for school board in Portland, ME. Holly Seeliger is also a part-time burlesque dancer who goes by the name of Holly D'anger . Burlesque is hip these days, especially at bars where you get a tattoo with every whiskey and the bartenders…

The best and worst paying college degrees
12/7 Wall Street - According to a new study conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the average college graduate will earn $2.4 million over his or her lifetime. Engineering majors, the highest-earning major, will earn more than $3.6 million. The study, which is part of the 2011 American Community Survey...

Criminal charges dropped against Wall Streeter
Bloomberg - Charges against William Bryan Jennings, the former Morgan Stanley U.S. bond-underwriting chief accused of stabbing a New York cab driver over a fare, will be dropped, police said. “I’m aware that the charges are being dropped,” Detective Chester Perkowski of the Darien, Connecticut police department said today in an interview.

Billy Graham endorses Romney, scrubs web listing of Mormonism as a cult
The New Civil Rights Movement - Billy Graham endorsed Mitt Romney for president, and shortly thereafter, his website was scrubbed of a statement Graham or his organization made calling Mormonism a “cult.” ....As of June 5, 2010, if not much earlier, Billy Graham’s website stated: A cult is any group…

UN warns of major hunger crisis next year
Guardian, UK - World grain reserves are so dangerously low that severe weather in the United States or other food-exporting countries could trigger a major hunger crisis next year, the United Nations has warned. Failing harvests in the US, Ukraine and other countries this year have eroded reserves...

Walmart workers plan Black Friday protest
Dave Moberg, In These Times - OUR Walmart, an association of workers at the retail giant, announced it will stage a wide range of actions nationwide on "Black Friday"--the kick-off of the holiday shopping season--if Walmart does not meet to resolve complaints about working conditions and retaliation…

Chipping away at freedom with RFID chips
Activist Post - A school in Maryland has installed PalmSecure, a biometric scanning system that requires elementary students to place their hand on infrared scanners in order to pay for their school lunch. The unique nuances of each child’s individual hand will be catalogued and the image encrypted…

Why Social Security and Medicare are not going bankrupt
From Bold Progressive: Social Security: It’s currently projected to be fully solvent until the year 2037. After that, it is expected to be able to pay out 75 percent of benefits until 2084, which basically equals full benefits, once inflation is accounted for. There is no threat…

Three quarters of Americans believe in climate change
ENN - According to a new poll, 74 percent of Americans agree that climate change is impacting weather in the U.S., including 73 percent who agreed, strongly or somewhat, that climate change had exacerbated record high temperatures over the summer. The findings mean that a large majority of American…

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