Link: http://socialistworker.org/2011/12/07/republican-creeps-democratic-enablers

The differences between the two parties are dwarfed by the disconnect between what they stand for in common and the real concerns of working people.

Link: http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/behind-closed-doors-congress-trying-force-indefinite-detention-bill-americans

Maybe you spent the last weekend shopping for gifts, writing out holiday cards or studying for final exams. For most of America, the end of the year is a busy time. In Congress, this is a season usually spent trying to jam through bad bills while they hope no one is looking.

Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29913.htm

With age come such things as catheters, colostomy bags and adult diapers. Now add another indignity to getting old -- having to drop your pants and show these things to a complete stranger. How many 88 year old American women terrorists are there?

Link: http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/behind-closed-doors-congress-trying-force-indefinite-detention-bill-americans

Maybe you spent the last weekend shopping for gifts, writing out holiday cards or studying for final exams. For most of America, the end of the year is a busy time. In Congress, this is a season usually spent trying to jam through bad bills while they hope no one is looking.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/07-3

As progressives, we must occasionally test our beliefs by venturing into the netherworld of the Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, and American Enterprise Institute (AEI). This is a murky world, filled with half-truths and an emphasis on minor but conservative-friendly points. The issue of income and wealth distribution is a timely example.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/07-1

Mansions on one side of the road, and slums on the other. People queuing for food rations, while others drive by in shiny Land Rovers with tinted windows. New data for the United States show that the "share of after-tax household income for the top 1 percent more than doubled" from 1979 to 2007, while the share of the "bottom" 20 percent of the population fell from 7 percent to 5 percent. Though varied throughout the world, these inequality statistics pervade and paint a picture of a world in which the rich profit while the poor are left further and further behind. (Image: OECD) These are just some of the sights that have confronted Danielle Nierenberg as she traveled through 30 countries to supervise the Worldwatch Institute’s report titled ‘State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet’

Link: http://real-agenda.com/2011/12/07/u-s-government-activating-fema-camps-across-u-s/

KBR is looking to farm out to subcontractors. The document was passed on to us by a state government employee who wishes to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. Services up for bid include catering, temporary fencing and barricades, laundry and medical services, power generation, refuse collection, and other services required for temporary “emergency environment” camps located in five regions of the United States.

Link: http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/57128-new-zealand-food-bill-to-make-growing-food-a-government-privilege-rather-than-a-human-right

The God-given human right to freely cultivate food is under attack in New Zealand (NZ) as special interest groups and others are currently attempting to push a “food security” bill through the nation’s parliament that will strip individuals of their right to grow food, save seeds, and even share the fruits of their labor with friends and family members.