Thom's blog

South African police kill striking miners

South Africa is reeling after police opened fire on striking miners Thursday, killing 34 people and wounding 78. The massacre caps off a week-long strike with workers demanding a monthly-salary increase from $625 to over $1,500 – and calls to nationalize South Africa’s mines.

Police defended their actions, saying non-lethal force like water cannons and tear gas was used first, but after miners wielding machetes rushed a police li

Ecuador has granted Julian Assange asylum

After being holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for almost two months, Julian Assange has been granted asylum by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. Now the hard part begins. In an explosive announcement this morning, Ecuador’s foreign minister announced the asylum decision and blasted the U.K.

Time to take the battery out of your cell phone

On Tuesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth District threw the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution out the window, ruling that police can track cell phone GPS data – and thus track you – without a warrant. The case of United States v.

Another mass shooting in America...

This one happened on Monday in College Station, Texas – just blocks from Texas A&M University. The shooter - identified as 35-year-old Thomas Caffall - opened fire after he was served an eviction notice by a county constable. That constable, Brian Bachmann was killed in the shootout, as was a bystander. A police officer and another civilian were also shot and injured, and are in the hospital. The shooter,

Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney & complete destruction of the middle class

The GOP ticket is set – Mitt Romney will be running for president alongside Republican Congressman from Wisconsin – Paul Ryan. Ryan is the powerful House Budget Committee Chairman who this year authored the most radical budget to ever pass the House of Representatives. Newt Gingrich referred to the Ryan Budget as “right-wing social engineering” – and it’s an appropriate description, since it decimates the poor – with more tha

The Domain Awareness System - developed by Microsoft

New York City is poised to become the surveillance capital of America. On Wednesday, city officials unveiled a massive new surveillance system that they say will “revolutionize law enforcement.” The Domain Awareness System - as it’s called - gathers information from thousands of video cameras mounted around the city. And using maps, city records, arrest records, license plate readers, and 911 calls, it brings everything

No new nukes!... at least for a little bit

On Tuesday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it would temporarily freeze any new licenses or renewal of licenses for nuclear power plants around the country. That decision by the NRC was prompted by a US Court of Appeals ruling back in June that the NRC has insufficiently dealt with the problem of nuclear waste material - thus violating the National Environmental Policy Act. Currently, the NRC provides license

America’s two-tiered justice system

Eight billion dollars is a lot of money, but a small price to pay to stay out of jail. As the New York Times reports today, corporations are on track to pay as much as $8 billion in fraud settlements this year to the U.S.

The world is on the brink of a major food crisis

For the first time in recent history, humanitarian organizations are responding to three major food crises at once – one in West Africa, one in East Africa, and one in Yemen. Accelerating climate change and dwindling resources have created several severe food shortages – adding 43 million more people around the world to the ranks of those who will go hungry this year alone.

As Barbara Stocking, the chief executive with OxFam G

The second mass shooting in the US in just two weeks

This time it was in Oak Creek Wisconsin where an, armed to the teeth gunman, walked into a Sikh temple and opened fire – killing six people. We may never know the shooter’s motivation since he was killed as well, but authorities are piecing together what looks to be a hate crime against Sikh worshippers – who’ve routinely been mistaken for Muslims and targeted for hate crimes since 9/11.

According to early reports – the shoot

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