Microsoft Leaves Conservative Advocacy Group ALEC
Quote:
"Microsoft said on Tuesday that it will end its involvement with the American Legislative Exchange Council, the conservative advocacy group, reportedly because of the group's lobbying against renewable energy.
CNET reported that Microsoft would cease being a member of ALEC's communications and technology task force.
"In 2014 Microsoft decided to no longer participate in the American Legislative Exchange Council's Communications and Technology Task Force, which had been our only previous involvement with ALEC," the software company said in a statement, per CNET."
♫Another one bites the dust.♫
It's revealing that Microsoft felt it worthwhile to explicitly limit the historical scope of their ALEC involvement with the phrase "which had been our only previous involvement."
That's turning a mighty cold shoulder against ALEC. [[The adjective "mighty" could apply to either or both of the nouns "cold" or "shoulder.")
Nick Hanauer: Beware, fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming
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Nick Hanauer is a rich guy, an unrepentant capitalist — and he has something to say to his fellow plutocrats: Wake up! Growing inequality is about to push our societies into conditions resembling pre-revolutionary France. Hear his argument about why a dramatic increase in minimum wage could grow the middle class, deliver economic prosperity ... and prevent a revolution.
Why Are Employers Stealing BILLIONS From Workers Every Year?
"That is far more than the less than $350 million stolen in all robberies, including from banks, residences, stores, and on the street in 2012. That's not just the figure for those that were solved, but for any robbery simply reported to the police."
Quote:
"As the economy slowly recovers, it’s become increasingly clear that it’s not just unemployed Americans who need help from the government. It’s those that are employed as well.
"That’s the main finding of a new report from the Economic Policy Institute on wage theft. What is wage theft? It’s when employers refuse to pay their workers their rightful wages and benefits, such as refusing to pay overtime. It’s a major problem across the United States. One study, which EPI cites, examined three cities [[New York, Chicago and Los Angeles) and found that two-thirds of workers in low-wage industries had experienced a pay-related offense in any given week in 2008. Those violations cost workers more than $2,600 a year on average—nearly 15 percent of their total earnings. If wage theft is as prevalent in the rest of the United States as it is in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, then it costs workers more than $50 billion a year."
Employment, in and of itself, has become a means of theft.
What the 1% Don't Want You to Know
Total duration 24 minutes:
Quote:
Economist Paul Krugman explains how the United States is becoming an oligarchy - the very system our founders revolted against.
Chris Hedges at the "Voices of Hope in a Time of Crisis" symposium
Total duration 22 minutes:
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This is Chris Hedges' talk at the November 2014 "Voices of Hope in a Time of Crisis" symposium, an event sponsored by Local Futures/ISEC.