Helen H. Moore's Blog, page 1032
August 4, 2015
America enables mass murder: The inconvenient truth of the Aurora, Charleston and Lafayette shootings
Imagine that you’re in the FBI and you receive a tip -- or more likely, pick up information through the kind of mass surveillance in which the national security state now specializes. In a series of tweets, a young man has expressed sympathy for the Islamic State (ISIS), al-Qaeda, or another terrorist group or cause. He’s 16, has no criminal record, and has shown no signs that he might be planning a criminal act. He does, however, seem angry and has demonstrated an interest in following ISIS’s social media feeds as they fan the flames of youth discontent worldwide. He’s even expressed some thoughts about how ISIS’s “caliphate,” the Islamic “homeland” being carved out in Syria and Iraq, might be a place where people like him could find meaning and purpose in an otherwise alienated life.
A quick search of his school records shows that his grades, previously stellar, are starting to fall. He’s spending more time online, increasingly clicking on jihadist websites. He has, you discover, repeatedly read news stories about mass killings in the U.S. Worse yet, his parents own legally registered guns. A search of his medical records shows that he’s been treated by a psychiatrist.
7 products the food industry has convinced you are healthy
Science has come a long way toward identifying what kills us, but we are still a longer way from knowing what keeps us going. It is in the murky gray areas that charlatans lurk, peddling snake oil remedies they promise will perform miracles. And those charlatans aren’t necessarily shady, bewhiskered characters. More often they are huge corporations with the appearance of respectability, who convince millions of people that their products work. Scarcely a moment goes by when we aren’t being bombarded with messages from television, the Internet, print media, and radio, courtesy of Big Food. Many of those messages tell us that all we need to do to stay healthy, live longer and maintain that youthful glow is to buy their products.
Here are seven health food products with dubious claims to healthfulness.
1. Coconut water.
The 7 most dangerous myths about a $15 minimum wage
What was once a fringe movement led largely by far left liberals has become a major media story and trending topic on Twitter: Workers, politicians, and even business owners are fighting for a higher minimum wage. In some areas, they’re even winning. The White House has recommended a federal minimum wage of $10.10, but cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle have raised the bar, passing legalization to raise the minimum wage to $15. (In most places, the transition will take place over the next five to seven years).
August 3, 2015
Paul Krugman: No Greek “death spiral” for Puerto Rico so long as US rejects austerity
What to do with the Rockies’ only Confederate memorial?
Obama’s election was supposed to usher in a new post-racial era. Why has racist expression grown more vicious than any time since the 1960s?
6 worst right-wing moments of the week — Donald trump is “disgusting”
“True Detective” recap: A shocking death, a burning empire and a moment of comfort for Ani and Ray
You’re killing us, White America: How the Samuel DuBose murder exposes a system designed to destroy Black lives
Bayghazi won’t sink Hillary: Michael Bay’s new Benghazi movie has conservatives exploding with excitement
