Monthly Archives: January 2016

At Stake in 2016: Ending the Vicious Cycle of Wealth and Power

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By Robert Reich – What’s at stake this election year? Let me put as directly as I can. America has succumbed to a vicious cycle in which great wealth translates into political power, which generates even more wealth, and even more power. This spiral is most apparent is declining tax rates on corporations and on…

FBI Returns Millions to Defrauded Investors in Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Scam

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The recent announcement that federal authorities have returned nearly $12 million in recovered losses to more than 1,000 victims of an elaborate fraud scheme represents still another cautionary reminder “that all that glitters is not gold,” according to an announcement just out from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. For nearly seven years, Goldfinger Coin and…

Armed Rednecks Occupy Federal Wildlife Refuge in Oregon

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Following in the footsteps of his father, who made headlines in 2014 by leading an armed standoff between ranchers and the federal government over grazing rights in Nevada, Ammon Bundy and his fellow protesters are occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Burns Oregon demanding that the government surrender public control of a habitat preserve…

Worst El Niño Effects Yet to Come

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By Renee Lewis – The weather effects of El Niño, already blamed in large part for unusual winter floods, tornadoes and other extreme weather in the U.S., the U.K. and other countries during 2015, is far from over. Scientists predict El Niño’s worst effects will be felt in 2016. “El Niño 2015 has already created…

What Could Go Wrong in 2016?

Donald Trump

By Eugene Robinson – You probably noticed that 2015 was pretty weird. But hey, it’s a brand new year — a fresh start, a blank slate, an unwritten script. In 2016, what could possibly go wrong? Uh, where to begin? My fingers balk at typing the words “President-elect Trump” because I don’t think such a…