Post by Aaron Cynic A Freedom of Information Act has revealed the Department of Homeland Security awarded a contract in 2010 to General Dynamics’ Advanced Information Systems in order to provide constant surveillance of social media, according to The Washington Post. The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed the request, and according to a training manual [...]

Newt Gingrich shows conservatives only care about free speech when it’s their own.

Instead of trying to fix ourselves, failing, and then beating ourselves up about it, let’s consider a new concept of resolutions for this New Year. Let’s endeavor to better society for everyone, not just our individual selves.

Crawling out of an economic hole of epic proportions will take more time than most seem to realize, but from this month’s jobs report, we’re sure to see plenty of braying from media and politicians about how we’re in some kind of full recovery. While it’s true that the economy added 200,000 jobs this past [...]

The Pengaton’s new eye in the sky

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 breezed through Congress and headed to the White House, even though public opposition to parts of the bill, now directed at President Obama in the hope of a hail Mary veto, remains strong. The most troubling aspects of the bill violate fundamental rights provided in the U.S. Constitution [...]

Earlier this week in the Tribune, Dennis Byrne made an attempt to dismiss poverty in America and criticize the Occupy movement by calling poverty an “overstated” problem. Using the typical conservative demon of welfare and government subsidies via research from the right wing Heritage Foundation, Byrne argues that the 46.2 million Americans the government defines [...]

That same ol’ catchphrase is still ringing in the ears of Americans everywhere: that of the “job creators.” In these hard times of high unemployment, it’s all about these mysterious job creators, whom we’re desperately awaiting to save us all. From my understanding, these supposed job creators are corporations owning a certain level of wealth. [...]

I will use their hegemony to recreate it into ours.

For more than three weeks, you’ve been out in the streets, raising your voices in unison to make a change. Not just a little change – there’s no law to tweek here or there that’s going to fix “the system.” Even the most right wing arch conservative republican knows that. This is why you’re demonstrating [...]

Is mainstream media fair to populist progressive movements?

Occupy Chicago enters its second week on the streets