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Benefits

Clay Bennett Chattanooga Times Free Press

Reid Shunts TPA Onto Slow Track

By Alexander Bolton and Vicki Needham The Hill
The passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership suffered a set-back when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would not support "fast track" legislation, which would limit debate and Congressional ability to amend the "NAFTA on Steroids" trade pact.

How the NSA Threatens National Security

Bruce Schneir Crypto-Gram Newsletter
Not only is ubiquitous surveillance ineffective, it is extraordinarily costly. Not just the budgets, which will continue to skyrocket, or the diplomatic costs, but the cost to our society. It breaks much of what our society has built. It breaks our political systems, our legal systems, our commercial systems, our technical systems, as the very protocols of the Internet become untrusted. And it breaks our social systems, with loss of privacy, freedom, and liberty.

The Silences of Pope Francis

Vincent Navarro Counterpunch
It is safe to assume that Pope Francis knows very well that the Catholic Church supported the military coup and dictatorship of General Franco in Spain. In this light, the recent service honoring the members of the Church who fell during the Spanish Civil War on the fascist side casts doubt on what motivated the silence of Bishop Bergolio (Pope Francis) during the Argentinian coup.

A Baby in Paris: $200 Minus $200

Claire Lundberg Salon
Having a baby in Paris gave me a crash course in socialized medicine—and a new, very French definition of “costly.”

Obama Inauguration: This Land Is Your Land

Pete Seeger, grandson Tao Rodriguez and Bruce Springsteen sing Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land for the Obama inauguration in 2008. They include the often-omitted political verses, including this:
 
Was a high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property,
But on the back side it didn't say nothing —
This land was made for you and me
 
More Pete Seeger tribute here.

It Takes a Worried Man

Even if you wake up with shackles on your feet, you can sing a song of hope. Pete Seeger and Johnny Cash sing The Worried Man Blues, live in Nashville, 1970. More Pete Seeger tribute here.
 

If I Had a Hammer

Peter, Paul and Mary perform If I Had a Hammer, by Pete Seeger and Lee Hayes, at the Newport Folk Festival, 1963. More Pete Seeger tribute here.

Waist Deep in the Big Muddy

After years of being blacklisted, Pete appeared on the Smothers Brothers Show in 1967 with this challenge to the madness of the Vietnam War. More Pete Seeger tribute here.