Starting over: Ultimate democracy - life - 31 March 2011 Didn't vote for the bozos who are running the country? Join the club. Thanks to the competitive nature of electoral democracies, many - often most - citizens end up being governed by a party they didn't vote for. The idea is not as far-fetched as it might sound, says Olivier Ledoit, an economist at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, who proposes this so-called "choice democracy". It could work like this: before an election, each political party would lay out its governing principles - what services it will provide, how its taxes will be structured, what social policies it will pursue, and so forth. The idea might reduce demagoguery, says Ledoit, because a party that campaigned on an appealing-sounding but impractical platform would be forced to deliver after the election. Read more: See the articles below Starting over: Rebuilding civilisation from scratchThe way we live is mostly down to accidents of history. Bob Holmes is a consultant for New Scientist More From New Scientist
Fails of the Year 2010 Categories November 4, 2010 7:00am By Rowdy Joe Videos Fails of the Year 2010 Awesome compilation of the best fail videos from this year Crazy Luchador Wrestling Move Little Girl Gets Owned Near Trampoline Comments ouch fail pain Related Posts Recommended Posts
[Infographic] Combating Mass Incarceration - The Facts June 17, 2011 The war on drugs has helped make the U.S. the world's largest incarcerator. America’s criminal justice system should keep communities safe, treat people fairly, and use fiscal resources wisely. But more Americans are deprived of their liberty than ever before - unfairly and unnecessarily, with no benefit to public safety. Especially in the face of economic crisis, our government should invest in alternatives to incarceration and make prisons options of last – not first – resort. Download the graphic here » View the plain-text version » Learn More: Safe Communities, Fair Sentences: Combating Mass Incarceration Recent coverage: Breaking the Addiction to Incarceration: Weekly Highlights References
8 Reasons Young Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance The ruling elite has created social institutions that have subdued young Americans and broken their spirit of resistance.Bruce E. LevineAlterNet Traditionally, young people have energized democratic movements. Young Americans—even more so than older Americans—appear to have acquiesced to the idea that the corporatocracy can completely screw them and that they are helpless to do anything about it. How exactly has American society subdued young Americans? 1. There was no tuition at the City University of New York when I attended one of its colleges in the 1970s, a time when tuition at many U.S. public universities was so affordable that it was easy to get a B.A. and even a graduate degree without accruing any student-loan debt. Today in the United States, two-thirds of graduating seniors at four-year colleges have student-loan debt, including over 62 percent of public university graduates. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The fear of being surveilled makes a population easier to control. 7. 8.
» The Revolution Will Not Be Polite: The Issue of Nice versus Good Social Justice League A while ago, tumblr user “iamateenagefeminist” compiled a list of non-oppressive insults , a public service that will never be forgotten. The people of tumblr wept with joy and appreciation (although it should be noted that the people of tumblr will literally weep over a drawing of an owl). The list is not perfect, and “ugly” should NOT be on there as it reinforces beauty hierarchies. Still, I was happy to find it, because I am always looking for more insults that don’t reinforce oppressive social structures. But if you scroll through the reblogs you’ll see that not everyone was enamoured of the idea of creating this list at all. In particular, several people said that trying to find non-oppressive ways to insult other people is “missing the point” of social justice. Social justice is about destroying systematic marginalisation and privilege. Plenty of oppressive bullshit goes down under the guise of nice. Being good and being nice are totally unrelated.
Lanceurs d'alerte : Corinne Lepage doute de la motivation du ministre de l'Environnement Jean-Louis Borloo Lors du colloque organisé jeudi dernier au Sénat par la fondation Sciences Citoyennes, Corinne Lepage s'est inquiétée des silences de Jean-Louis Borloo à qui elle a remis un rapport sur les lanceurs d'alerte. Une loi est-elle encore d'actualité ? Au terme d'une journée de débats, ponctuée de témoignages parfois émouvants, Corinne Lepage a clôturé jeudi dernier le colloque de la fondation Sciences Citoyennes, intitulé Lanceurs d'alerte et système d'expertise : vers une législation exemplaire en 2008 ? Qui sont les lanceurs d'alertes ? La matinée leur fut consacrée. Le rapport Lepage Aux Etats-Unis et en Grande Bretagne, des lois spécifiques relatives au statut juridique des lanceurs d'alerte existent depuis plusieurs années.
Devenir lanceur d'alerte pour SOS-planète. Actualités environnementales. Vous disposez chaque jour d'une trentaine de minutes de bénévolat durable pour surveiller 5 à 10 mots clefs, choisis dans une liste que nous vous enverrons, parmi ceux qui vous interpellent le plus. Enregistrer les mots clefs choisis sur Google alertes Il faut juste avoir du bon sens, savoir surfer sur Internet, être familiarisé avec le clavier et surtout vouloir faire quelque chose pour le salut de la Vie sur Terre. Pourquoi ne pas devenir colibri-lanceur d'alerte (c'est possible même en free-lance intégral) ou rédacteur durable en ralliant notre équipe opérative? Un peu rebutant au départ, ça devient vite une passion! Qu'est-ce qu'un lanceur d'alerte ? Le nom est évocateur mais la définition reste floue pour beaucoup d'entre nous. C'est une personne ou un groupe ayant découvert des éléments susceptibles de révéler une menace pour la société ou l'environnement, et qui décide de le dévoiler au public, a des associations ou des médias entre autres. Faire la part du colibri Source Help!
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