Portside

REWIND - A Week of Quotes and Cartoons

SUNDAY

Quote of the Day
March 16, 2014

'Based on the leaks - and the history of arrangements in
past trade pacts - it is easy to infer the shape of the
whole TPP [Trans-Pacific Partnership], and it doesn't
look good. There is a real risk that it will benefit the
wealthiest sliver of the American and global elite at
the expense of everyone else. The fact that such a plan
is under consideration at all is testament to how deeply
inequality reverberates through our economic policies.'

Economist Joseph Stiglitz
New York Times
March 16, 2014
 

Toon of the Day

FDA
Rob Rogers
 

MONDAY

Quote of the Day

'The blackout on covering progressive proposals is
effectively telling ambitious politicians that if they
want to get ahead, they better move to the right. They
will be ignored as long as they push ideas perceived as
being on the left, regardless of the merits of the
ideas.

'The media are putting a very big thumb on the scale
when they decide to ignore the CPC budget and other
proposals coming from the left side of the political
spectrum. This is not neutral reporting. This is not
good economy policymaking.'

Economist Dean Baker
The Guardian (UK)
March 17, 2014
 

Toon of the Day

Congress
Tom Toles
Washington Post
 

TUESDAY

Quote of the Day

'The National Security Agency has built a surveillance
system capable of recording "100 percent" of a foreign
country's telephone calls, enabling the agency to rewind
and review conversations as long as a month after they
take place, according to people with direct knowledge of
the effort and documents supplied by former contractor
Edward Snowden.

'A senior manager for the program compares it to a time
machine - one that can replay the voices from any call
without requiring that a person be identified in advance
for surveillance.'

Washington Post
March 18, 2014
 

Toon of the Day

Missing Train
Tom Toles
Washington Post
 

WEDNESDAY

Quote of the Day

'There's so much more underway, such as placing a Robin
Hood tax on Wall Street speculators; a surge in co-ops
as a democratic alternative to corporate control;
getting Monsanto's genetically altered organisms out of
our food supply; a vibrant and positive campaign by
immigrants themselves for immigrant rights; battling
giants such as Disney World and Walmart to win paid sick
leave days for low-wage workers; freeing college
students from Wall Street's loan sharks. All of these
and so many more are the sprouting seeds of a
widespread, flourishing Populist movement. The moment is
ripe to bond them into something larger.'

Jim Hightower, National radio
commentator, writer, public
speaker, and author Swim
Against The Current: Even
A Dead Fish Can Go
With The Flow

Common Dreams
March 19, 2014

Toon of the Day

Black Holes
Jen Sorensen
 

THURSDAY

Quote of the Day

'The ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima should serve
as a warning to the world. Instead of following the
wisdom of Naoto Kan, President Barack Obama is
committing public funds to build the first new nuclear
power plants in the United States in more than 30 years.
In the wake of Fukushima, Obama's Nuclear Regulatory
Commission put out talking points designed to diminish
growing public concern with the safety of nuclear power
plants in the U.S. NBC News obtained the NRC's internal
emails instructing staff to downplay safety risks. U.S.
nuclear plants are not safe. The U.S. sailors and
Marines of Operation Tomodachi deserve their day in
court. The U.S. public deserves an honest assessment of
the grave risks of nuclear power.'

Amy Goodman

'U.S. Sailors and Marines Allege Fukushima Radiation
Sickness'

Nation of Change
March 20, 2014

Toon of the Day

Education
Signe Wilkinson
 

FRIDAY

Quote of the Day

'There don't seem to be any major economic crises
underway right this moment, and policy makers in many
places are patting themselves on the back. In Europe,
for example, they're crowing about Spain's recovery: the
country seems set to grow at least twice as fast this
year as previously forecast.

'Unfortunately, that means growth of 1 percent, versus
0.5 percent, in a deeply depressed economy with 55
percent youth unemployment. The fact that this can be
considered good news just goes to show how accustomed
we've grown to terrible economic conditions. We're doing
worse than anyone could have imagined a few years ago,
yet people seem increasingly to be accepting this
miserable situation as the new normal.'

Economist Paul Krugman
'The Timidity Trap'
New York Times
March 21, 2014

Toon of the Day

Future Find
Tom Toles
Washington Post
 

SATURDAY

Quote of the Day

'The United States government should not make billions
of dollars off the backs of students and preserve
loopholes for billionaires and oil companies so they can
make it big,'

Senator Elizabeth Warren
Telegram (UK)
March 21, 2014
 

Toon of the Day

Bracketing Congress
M. Wuerker
Politico