By Noam Chomsky

January 21, 2010 will go down as a dark day in the history of American democracy, and its decline. The editors of the New York Times did not exaggerate when they wrote that the Supreme Court decision that day "strikes at the heart of democracy" by having "paved the way for corporations to use their vast treasuries to overwhelm elections and intimidate elected officials into doing their bidding" -- more explicitly, for permitting corporate managers to do so, since current laws permit them to spend shareholder money without consent.

Nor does Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice at N.Y.U. School of Law, exaggerate when he writes that this exercise of the radical judicial activism that the rightwing claims to deplore "matches or exceeds Bush v. Gore in ideological or partisan overreaching by the court. In that case, the court reached into the political process to hand the election to one candidate. Today it reached into the political process to hand unprecedented power to corporations." Read more »

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.

- Nelson Mandela

The End of Poverty? is a daring, thought-provoking and very timely documentary film by award-winning filmmaker, Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. Poverty began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, global poverty has reached daring new levels due to unfair debt, forced privatization, economic colonialism, trade and tax policies -- in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries.

Watch Democracy Now's Amy Goodman interview filmmaker, Philippe Diaz. Read more »

"That's why when they want to pressure us to maintain their military base in our country, a foreign base that they don't pay anything for either, and they accuse us of being extremists because we don't want the base. If there's no problem having foreign military bases in a country, we set a simple condition, we would keep the North American Base in Manta, provided they let us put a military base in Miami. If there's no problem with foreign bases then we should be able to have one over there."

- President Rafael Correa, Ecuador

 
President Rafael Correa, Ecuador

Change is coming. There is a movement against imperialism, unchecked capitalism, and eliteist rule. A movement where human rights, freedom, and liberty for all - including the poor - are supported and considered in public policy and new democracy initiatives. A movement where nations are ruled by citizens motivated by passion and principles rather than money and rich elitists. But that change is not being led by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, or other western states. Instead, that change is happening in Latin America and Asia, where there are strong movements away from western engagement and fresh new approaches to government. Read more »

There is much misinformation about the healthcare reform bill. For those inquiring minds, you may donload the bill and review it for yourself. After all, a mind is a terrible thing to waste, and reading is "fundamental." Whether you support the bills passage, or oppose it, by reviewing it you'll be much better informed.

H.R. 3590 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act