Skip to main content
Home

Search form

  • Log In
  • Become a Contributor
May 25, 2013
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter

Main menu

  • Home
  • Your State
  • Video
  • Graphics
  • About Us
now:
  • Economy
  • Media
  • Religion
  • Health Care
  • Labor
  • Environment

Featured News

Boy Scouts Accept Gay Scouts, But Still Think Gay Adults are Pedophiles

David Crary and Nomaan Merchant for The Associated Press Posted May 23, 2013

The Boy Scouts of America threw open its ranks Thursday to gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders - a fiercely contested compromise that some warned could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections of members and donors.


Read full story

Bible Belt Unbuckled: Deep South Towns Top List of Porn Site Visitors

countrycat for Left In Alabama
May 23, 2013

What happens when one of the Internet's most popular porn sites compares Gallup's annual survey of the "most religious cities" with its own meta-data? Alabama has a whopping three cities in a Top 10 dominated by areas throughout the South.


Read full story

Editor's Column: Apple Could Pay For Moore

Tina Dupuy for The Contributor
May 23, 2013
Photo by The National Guard

Even Senator John McCain conceded, “Apple claims to be the largest U.S. corporate taxpayer, but by sheer size and scale, it is also among America’s largest tax avoiders.”


Apple is not alone. They’re in very posh company. Senator Carl Levin, who called Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, to Capitol Hill this week, cited a study by Citizens for Tax Justice that 30 multi-national companies pay zero in federal taxes.


Read full story

Eminent Domain's Great Farmland Heist

Walter M. Brasch, Ph.D. for Pennsylvania Progressive
May 23, 2013

From Texas to Pennsylvania to Michigan, energy companies (including foreign corporations) are outright stealing land from American citizens who refuse to give up their property. Who will stand tall for land owners? How can Americans allow this practice of greed continue?


Read full story

LGBT Community: Senate Dems 'Betrayed Us' on Immigration

Jon Queally for Common Dreams
May 23, 2013

Champions of equality slammed Democratic members on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday after it succumbed to the pressure of rightwing threats by removing a crucial amendment to the immigration reform package that would have provided inclusion and protection of LGBT members of immigrant and binational families.


Read full story

American Drones: Hitmen for Hire

JP Sottile for LA Progressive
May 22, 2013

Everyone is a potential target in the War on Terror’s lingering “With Us or Against Us” protection racket, and drones are the crooked-nosed enforcers that kill without remorse, without hesitation and without accountability.


Read full story

Anthony Weiner's Running for Mayor but He's Already Down 10 Points

Steve Cooper for TheContributor
May 22, 2013

Anthony Weiner is embarking on an audacious comeback quest, hoping to go from punch line pol whose tweeted crotch shot was emblazoned on the nation's consciousness to Mayor of America's biggest city, New York. The Democrat is jumping into a crowded field for September's primary.


Read full story

House Panel to Vote Today on Rules Change Which Would Enable 'Vigorous Prosecution' of Military Sex Offenders

Richard Lardner for Associated Press
May 22, 2013

"I think the leadership of the military is confused," said Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, who along with Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Mass., wrote several of the provisions before the subcommittee. "They believe as long as they have programs where they say sexual assault is wrong that they've done enough. No. They have to support the victim, and they have to support vigorous prosecution."


Read full story

No Arrests on Wall Street, But Over 7,700 Americans Have Been Arrested Protesting Big Banks

Zaid Jilani for The Daily Change
May 22, 2013

As Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has said, the nation’s biggest banks have essentially gained “too big for trial” status, and the federal government has failed to prosecute any executive at a Big Bank for financial fraud.


While Wall Street has escaped prosecutions, thousands of Americans have been arrested in the course of protests against the banks. As of May 2013, that number is 7,736 — according to the website Occupy Arrests, which tracks arrests.


Read full story

The Latest Lie: IRS Targeted Conservatives

Dave Johnson for Campaign for America's Future
May 21, 2013

The corporate media is blasting out the story that the IRS “targeted conservative groups.” This story that is being repeated and treated as “true” is just not what happened at all. It is one more right-wing victimization fable, repeated endlessly until the public has no choice except to believe it.


Read full story

Dept. of Veterans Affairs: 1 in 5 Women Screen Positive for Military Sexual Trauma

Kevin Freking for The Associated Press
May 20, 2013

The hurdles are steep for military sexual abuse victims that seek disability compensation — too steep for some veterans groups and lawmakers who support legislation designed to make it easier for veterans to get a monthly disability payment.


"Right now, the burden of proof is stacked against sexual trauma survivors," said Anu Bhagwati, executive director of the Service Women's Action Network. "Ninety percent of 26,000 cases last year weren't even reported. So where is that evidence supposed to come from?"


Read full story

Republican Judge Forces Lesbian Texan Out of Her Home

Ben Sherman for Burnt Orange Report
May 20, 2013

This month in McKinney, just outside of Dallas, Republican judge John Roach kicked Page Price, a lesbian, out of her home. Why? Because she was helping raise her partner's two children. As of May 7th, Price has 30 days to evacuate her home.


This sick, anti-family judge is involved at all because Price's partner, Carolyn Compton, is going through a divorce. Roach inserted a "morality clause" into Compton's divorce papers which forbids Compton from having anyone she is not related to "by blood or marriage" in her home past 9:00 p.m. if the children are present. The aptly named Roach wrote that he didn't approve of Compton's "lifestyle". Her lifestyle of living with the person she loves and raising two kids.


Read full story

Crowdfund the Tribune Co and Keep it Out of Koch Bros Hands

Steve Cooper for The Contributor
May 18, 2013
WI Firefighters Union Pres. Mahlon Mitchell Joined Anti-Koch Protesters in LA

They only need a meager $660 million to make the Tribune Company into a newspaper-based NPR.


Read full story

Graphics

Rob Tornoe for The Contributor
May 21, 2013 - 11:32pm
see more graphics

BlogRoll

  • ABC
  • Access Hollywood
  • Al Jazeera
  • Associated Press
  • The Atlantic
  • BBC
  • Bloomberg
  • Boston Globe
  • C-SPAN
  • CBS
  • Chicago Sun-Times
  • Chicago Tribune
  • Christian Science Monitor
  • Center for Public Integrity
  • CNN
  • Congressional Quarterly
  • Daily Telegraph
  • Democracy Now!
  • Drudge Report
  • E! Online
  • Entertainment Weekly
  • Financial Times
  • Forbes
  • Foreign Policy
  • Fortune
  • Fox News
  • Globe and Mail
  • GlobalPost.com
  • GlobalVoices
  • Google News
  • Guardian
  • The Hill
  • Independent
  • Los Angeles Times
  • McClatchy
  • Mediaite
  • Mosaic
  • Mother Jones
  • MSNBC
  • The New Republic
  • New York Daily News
  • New York Observer
  • New York Times
  • Newsweek
  • NPR
  • OpEdNews
  • PBS NewsHour
  • People
  • Politico
  • ProPublica
  • Reuters
  • Roll Call
  • Rolling Stone
  • The Root
  • Salon
  • San Francisco Chronicle
  • Seattle Times
  • Slate
  • Sunlight Foundation
  • TIME
  • TMZ
  • USA Today
  • Vanity Fair
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Washington Independent
  • Washington Times
  • Washington Post
  • Yahoo! News
  • Youth Radio
  • Action America
  • Americablog
  • Andrew Sullivan
  • BagNewsNotes
  • Bloggingheads
  • Boing Boing
  • Brave New Films
  • BuzzFeed
  • BuzzMachine
  • The Corner (National Review)
  • County Fair (Media Matters)
  • Crooks and Liars
  • Daily Caller
  • Daily Kos
  • Danger Room
  • David Weigel
  • Democracy Arsenal
  • Ezra Klein
  • Felix Salmon
  • Firedoglake
  • FiveThirtyEight
  • FrumForum
  • Funny or Die
  • George Stephanopoulos
  • Gothamist
  • Hotline On Call (National Journal)
  • Hullabaloo
  • Informed Comment
  • Instapundit
  • James Fallows
  • James Wolcott (Vanity Fair)
  • John Gruber
  • Jonathan Chait
  • Joshua Green
  • Kausfiles (Newsweek)
  • kottke.org
  • Left, Right and Center
  • Marginal Revolution
  • Matt Yglesias
  • The Moderate Voice
  • NDN Blog
  • The Notion (Nation)
  • OilPrice.com
  • Pandagon
  • Passport
  • Paul Krugman
  • Political Animal (Washington Monthly)
  • Political Wire
  • Raw Story
  • Redstate.com
  • Seeing The Forest
  • Swampland (Time)
  • TalkLeft
  • Talking Points Memo
  • Tapped (American Prospect)
  • Taylor Marsh
  • That Minority Thing
  • Think Progress
  • This Modern World
  • Timothy Noah
  • Tina Dupuy
  • TomDispatch
  • Threat Level
  • Truthdig
  • Washington Whispers
  • Wonkette
  • The Young Turks
  • Eric Alterman
  • David Brooks
  • Ron Brownstein
  • Stanley Crouch
  • EJ Dionne
  • Jon Friedman
  • John Fund
  • Howard Kurtz
  • John Nichols
  • Peggy Noonan
  • Jack Shafer
  • Lynn Sweet
  • George Will

Health Care

Slow Clap: NC Teens to Need Parental Permission for STD Testing

picture-583-1354629691.jpg
SamSeder for SamSeder
May 24, 2013 - 4:10pm
Slow Clap: NC Teens to Need Parental Permission for STD Testing
A bill making its way through North Carolina would make it mandatory for teens to provide notarized parental consent before being tested for STDs. The measure—the most explicit of its kind in any state—would also require parental permission for birth control, substance abuse treatment and mental health care.
0
  • Read full story

Alabama Head Slammer: Doctors Required to Prove Citizenship

picture-543-1354629490.jpg
countrycat for Left In Alabama
May 24, 2013 - 2:10pm
Alabama Head Slammer: Doctors Required to Prove Citizenship
As prompted by the state's new immigration laws, the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners is requiring already-licensed and credentialed medical doctors to prove their citizenship. It's an asinine move that will, at best, waste a lot of time and government resources or, in the worst case scenario, take away doctors from a state already in dire need of better medical care.
0
  • Read full story
More on Health Care

Civil Rights

VIDEO: Grieving Widow Denied Basic Federal Benefits

picture-713-1355139032.png
The Seattle Lesbian for The Seattle Lesbian
May 24, 2013 - 2:40pm
VIDEO: Grieving Widow Denied Basic Federal Benefits
Even though the Morgans were legally married in New Hampshire, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act doesn’t allow the military to recognize their marriage. Now, in the wake of her family’s loss, Karen Morgan faces financial uncertainty amid her grief, because she is not eligible for survivorship benefits she needs to care for their five-year-old daughter.
0
  • Read full story

Texas Sized Leap: Dallas D.A. Backs Marriage Equality

picture-544-1354629517.jpg
Edward Garris for Burnt Orange Report
May 24, 2013 - 1:10pm
Texas Sized Leap: Dallas D.A. Backs Marriage Equality
Yet another public official in a traditionally conservative state has admitted to possessing common sense, as Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins endorsed marriage equality during an interview with "Dallas Voice."
0
  • Read full story
More on Civil Rights

Local

Detroit's Overreaching Emergency Financial Manager Threatening to Sell Off City's Art Collection

picture-553-1354626621.jpg
Eric B. for Michigan Liberal
May 24, 2013 - 1:45pm
Detroit's Overreaching Emergency Financial Manager Threatening to Sell Off City's Art Collection
Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr is considering whether the multibillion-dollar collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts should be considered city assets that potentially could be sold to cover $15 billion in debt.How much is the art at the DIA worth? Nobody knows exactly, but several billion dollars might well be a low estimate.
0
  • Read full story
More on Local

Business

From Label to Table: USDA's Enhanced Meat Packaging Info Goes Into Effect Against Beef and Grocery Lobby Wishes

M.L. Johnson for Associated Press
May 24, 2013 - 12:10pm
From Label to Table: USDA's Enhanced Meat Packaging Info Goes Into Effect Against Beef and Grocery Lobby Wishes
Shoppers in the U.S. will soon have more information about where their meat comes from after new federal labeling rules went into effect Thursday. "Consumers want and have the right to know where their food comes from," the National Farmers Union says.
0
  • Read full story
More on Business

Immigration

CT House Approves Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants

picture-551-1354625553.jpg
ctblogger for My Left Nutmeg
May 24, 2013 - 7:10am
CT House Approves Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants
In a move that puts public safety ahead of party politics, the Connecticut House of Representatives approved a measure that would grant drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants. Facing stark Republican opposition, Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey (D-Hamden) touted a bill that he explained in a press release would "make our roads and families safer, is good for the economy, and is the right thing to do."
0
  • Read full story
More on Immigration

Congress

House GOP Aims to Exacerbate Already Painful Austerity by Further Slashing Education, Interior, State Departments

Andrew Taylor for Associated Press
May 22, 2013 - 1:10pm
House GOP Aims to Exacerbate Already Painful Austerity by Further Slashing Education, Interior, State Departments
Republicans controlling the House pressed ahead Tuesday with efforts to slash funding for the departments of Education, Interior and State that go deeper than those already implemented under a painful round of automatic austerity.
0
  • Read full story

AP Calls SC House Race for Sanford

AP for The Associated Press
May 7, 2013 - 8:41pm
AP Calls SC House Race for Sanford
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has redeemed a political career sidelined by scandal by winning his old congressional seat. Sanford defeated Elizabeth Colbert Busch Tuesday in the state's 1st Congressional District.
1
  • Read full story
More on Congress

Poverty in America

Flee City: Poor People Relocate to Suburbs

picture-592-1354630179.jpg
Randy Shaw for LA Progressive
May 23, 2013 - 10:00am
Flee City: Poor People Relocate to Suburbs
According to a new report, the number of low-income people living in suburbs increased 67-percent between 2000 and 2011, altering longstanding perceptions of a rising middle-class fleeing from cities to achieve the American Dream. It's now the poor who are being forced out by the cycle of gentrification to places where, more often than not, the safety nets aren't ready.
0
  • Read full story
More on Poverty in America

Humor

The Crazy GOP and Their Benghazi Smoke Screen

Will Durst for Cagle Cartoons
May 21, 2013 - 2:00am
The Crazy GOP and Their Benghazi Smoke Screen
Up until about an hour ago, most Americans thought Benghazi was the guy who palled around with John Cassavetes back in the '60s, but now it's obvious we're talking about the foreign policy arm of a multi-ramped tar pit the president has found himself swimming -- up to his armpits. Yes, friends, it's pity time at the White House.
0
  • Read full story
More on Humor

Politicians

Lush Fund: $20,000 Tab For Texas Committee's Year-End Party Includes 75 $50 Wine Bottles

picture-544-1354629517.jpg
Chaille Jolink for Burnt Orange Report
May 23, 2013 - 12:30pm
Lush Fund: $20,000 Tab For Texas Committee's Year-End Party Includes 75 $50 Wine Bottles
It is very common for committees in the Legislature to have end of session parties and invite staff and friends of the committee. What is not probably too common is the final tab the party racked up: $18,584.55, with a 20% tip of $3,656.48 added, for a total tab of $22,241.03. That includes around 75 bottles of wine for 121 people.
0
  • Read full story
More on Politicians

Gun Safety

for The Contributor
May 9, 2013 - 2:55am
Maher, Guns and Thor
View Comments
More on Gun Safety

The Contributor News

Join our mailing list!

Read RSS feed.

Labor

Cantor Works Overtime to Give Away Workers' Time and Money

picture-575-1354631625.jpg
Jim Hightower for United SteelWorkers
May 24, 2013 - 3:10pm
Cantor Works Overtime to Give Away Workers' Time and Money
A crude deceit is at the very heart of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's “Working Families Flexibility Act,” which the Virginia Republican recently slid through the House. It eliminates a central piece of America’s middle-class framework: the eight-hour workday and 40-hour week. Under the 1938 Fair Labor Law, bosses can make hourly employees work extra, but only by paying an overtime wage for the added hours. Cantor's plan takes that away.
0
  • Read full story

REPORT: A Whopping 84% of NYC Fast Food Workers Have Experienced Wage Theft

picture-572-1354631394.jpg
Chaz Bolte for We Party Patriots
May 24, 2013 - 12:40pm
REPORT: A Whopping 84% of NYC Fast Food Workers Have Experienced Wage Theft
A staggering new statistic does much to explain why fast food workers are striking from New York to Milwaukee. According to Fast Food Forward, 84% of fast food workers surveyed report having experienced wage theft at least once. For delivery workers, the number is an incredulous 100 percent.
0
  • Read full story
More on Labor

Military

'Not Enough': Rights Groups Respond to Obama's Foreign Policy Speech

Jon Queally for Common Dreams
May 24, 2013 - 8:40am
'Not Enough': Rights Groups Respond to Obama's Foreign Policy Speech
Human and civil rights groups generally responded to Obama's foreign policy speech by saying that though they welcomed the president's decision to directly address long-ignored issues, but there remained enormous problems with his many of his declarations and formulations surrounding these controversial policies.
0
  • Read full story

Obama Administration Admits Drone Attacks Killed 4 US Citizens

Lara Jakes and Pete Yost for The Associated Press
May 24, 2013 - 7:50am
Obama Administration Admits Drone Attacks Killed 4 US Citizens
The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that four American citizens have been killed in drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen since 2009. The disclosure to Congress comes on the eve of a major national security speech by President Barack Obama in which he plans to pledge more transparency to Congress in his counterterrorism policy.
0
  • Read full story
More on Military

Economy

Tax-Avoiding Corporations Siphoning Billions from World's Poorest

Jon Queally for Common Dreams
May 24, 2013 - 11:40am
Tax-Avoiding Corporations Siphoning Billions from World's Poorest
Some of the world's wealthiest corporations—utilizing secretive tax havens backed by powerful governments—are siphoning billions of dollars of potential revenue from the very same poor countries that foreign investment is so often said to be helping.
0
  • Read full story
More on Economy

Education

IL Votes to Make Birth Control in Sex Ed Classes Mandatory

Robin Marty, for RH Reality Check
May 24, 2013 - 9:50am
IL Votes to Make Birth Control in Sex Ed Classes Mandatory
The Illinois senate voted 37-21 Wednesday in favor of legislation that would mandate comprehensive sex education in classrooms that teach sex ed, a move that would end abstinence-only programs in some schools and which has riled some religious activists.
0
  • Read full story
More on Education

Environment

Christie Needs More Proof in His Climate Change Pudding

Frank Knapp, Jr. for Unconflicted
May 24, 2013 - 1:40pm
Christie Needs More Proof in His Climate Change Pudding
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called climate change an “esoteric theory” when asked about the rising sea levels that 99-percent of scientists believe contributed to Hurricane Sandy’s devastation. It's not the first time Christie has ignored the other 99-percent of something.
0
  • Read full story
More on Environment

Immigration

CT House Approves Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants

picture-551-1354625553.jpg
ctblogger for My Left Nutmeg
May 24, 2013 - 7:10am
CT House Approves Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants
In a move that puts public safety ahead of party politics, the Connecticut House of Representatives approved a measure that would grant drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants. Facing stark Republican opposition, Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey (D-Hamden) touted a bill that he explained in a press release would "make our roads and families safer, is good for the economy, and is the right thing to do."
0
  • Read full story
More on Immigration

Editor's Contribution

Editor's Column: Apple Could Pay For Moore

Tina Dupuy for The Contributor
May 23, 2013 - 12:53pm
Editor's Column: Apple Could Pay For Moore
Even Senator John McCain conceded, “Apple claims to be the largest U.S. corporate taxpayer, but by sheer size and scale, it is also among America’s largest tax avoiders.”
Apple is not alone. They’re in very posh company. Senator Carl Levin, who called Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, to Capitol Hill this week, cited a study by Citizens for Tax Justice that 30 multi-national companies pay zero in federal taxes.
1
  • Read full story

The Right Wing Outrage Industrial Complex’s Complicated Week

Tina Dupuy for The Contributor
May 16, 2013 - 11:52am
The Right Wing Outrage Industrial Complex’s Complicated Week
Since the president who touted torture as a foreign policy, lied us into two quagmires and outed an undercover CIA agent in retaliation for her husband’s New York Times op/ed, has been out of office for a couple of years, our bar for scandal is pretty low.
0
  • Read full story
More on Editor's Contribution

Opinion

The Scandal of Scandal in Washington

Cliff Schecter for Cagle Cartoons
May 22, 2013 - 10:30am
The Scandal of Scandal in Washington
If you listen loud enough you can almost hear the siren song of the Republican Party spread its dulcet tones across Washington. It's scandal season boys and girls, and for the GOP it's Mardi Gras, Christmas and The Spanish Inquisition all in one!
0
  • Read full story
More on Opinion

Media

Koch Brothers Linked to Censorship of PBS Documentary About Post-Citizens United America

picture-572-1354631394.jpg
Chaz Bolte for We Party Patriots
May 23, 2013 - 9:30am
Koch Brothers Linked to Censorship of PBS Documentary About Post-Citizens United America
A recent expose in the New Yorker by writer Jane Mayer reveals that two major PBS stations attempted to edit and censor an upcoming documentary titled “Citizen Koch” for fear of the billionaire brothers halting their financial support of PBS.
0
  • Read full story
More on Media

The Contributor's Columnists

Critics of Sequester Forget All About BRAC

Robert W. McKnight for The Contributor
March 12, 2013 - 12:55pm
Critics of Sequester Forget All About BRAC
It was 25 years ago that our country struggled with what to do with the surplus military bases around the country. Prudent management of our national budget dictated that a large number be shuttered and that could be done without any threat to our defense capability.
0
  • Read full story
More on The Contributor's Columnists

POTUS

Four Historic Obama Speech Moments

Robert W. McKnight for The Contributor
May 22, 2013 - 10:00am
Four Historic Obama Speech Moments
As President Barack Obama moves more and more into his second term, scholars will begin making note of some of his most memorable speeches and public remarks that might mark his presidency and his two successful campaigns.
0
  • Read full story
More on POTUS
  • Terms of Service
  • Contact Us
  • The Contributor Network