Republican attack ads peddle a shopworn, overblown claim about the health care law's effects.

We all know at least one person that doesn’t know much about history. And we all know that there have been people who have tried to distort history. The Republican Party, however, does both.

Auditors find repeated errors in projected expenditures for repairs, maintenance and operations.

Public interest groups have waged a spirited campaign to prevent a corporate takeover of the Internet.

Fracking has only recently become a household word, but government involvement with the drilling technique goes back decades. We trace officials' moves -- and levels of caution -- over time.

When biologist Tyrone Hayes discovered that a top-selling herbicide messes with sex hormones, its manufacturer went into battle mode. Thus began one of the weirdest feuds in the history of science.

The more passionate they are, though damaging to general election candidates, the more regarded they become within the right.

Q: How much has the federal debt gone up under Obama?

A: During his first three years in office, it rose $4.7 trillion, an increase of 45 percent. Partisan graphics circulating via email and Facebook are both incorrect.
 

What happened to Canada? It used to be the country we would flee to if life in the United States became unpalatable. No nuclear weapons. No huge military-industrial complex. Universal health care. Funding for the arts. A good record on the environment.

But that was the old Canada.
 

U.S. law enforcement agencies are exposing people to radiation in more settings and in increasing doses to screen for explosives, weapons and drugs. In addition to the controversial airport body scanners, which are now deployed for routine screening, various X-ray devices have proliferated at the border, in prisons and on the streets of New York.

While the Taliban lost power ten years ago, discrimination and violence against women has occurred in Afghan society for centuries. Thus, despite some progress, public and official sensitivity to violence against women is only slowly emerging.

The president’s State of the Union address got the facts right — mostly.

Had the accident occurred in Canada, her family would not be facing having to come up with more than half a million dollars to pay for her care. Her care would have been covered because, unlike the U.S., Canada has a system of universal coverage.

Is there anything in the years to come that can lead to a victory against the notorious Supreme Court decision?

Calls for the GOP presidential candidate to release his tax returns are likely to increase.

Inside the GOP group that skirts election rules by shuffling millions across state lines and then "wiping the fingerprints off the money."

The former national security adviser explains why he’s worried about Obama’s approach to China.

Chefs are taking sustainability to new heights by gazing into the depths: that is, at what would otherwise be deemed not fit to eat.

Big Pharma uses ads that sow hypochondria, raise health fears and sell diseases to adults and their children.

2012 can’t be much worse than 2011. Let us look into the crystal ball and see what will happen in the New Year. Here are the Top 10 Predictions for 2012. (Yikes! –B)
 

In a Romney-Santorum match-up, a fight for the soul of the GOP.

Walk into a fancy grocery store today and you'll see them: stacks of pristine, glistening organic tomatoes. But what does it take to generate a bounty of organic tomatoes in January?

The Citizens United ruling held that corporations had the same First Amendment rights as people and that political spending was free speech. The ruling allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections.

By any measure 2011 was a year to forget for the American middle class. Unfortunately, most of us cannot. Who is to blame depends on your political view.

Ryan's plan would change health program by shifting risk to beneficiaries.

At a moment when the nation wonders whether politicians can agree on anything, here is something that unites the Republican presidential candidates—and all of them with President Obama: Everyone agrees that the 2012 election will be a turning point involving one of the most momentous choices in American history.

It seems America’s bankers are tired of all the abuse. They’ve decided to speak out.

The year's worst political deceptions, from both sides. (Don't forget, the year is not over. –B)

2012 will be remembered as the year the court rewrote the constitutional boundaries between federal and state authority, severely curtailing federal initiatives on behalf of working people, minorities and the poor.

The House Republicans averaged more than one anti-environmental vote for every day that the House was in session – a total of 165 days in 2011.   These reckless proposals attempt to dismantle clean air and clean water safeguards, stop protection for some of our last wild places, and make it easier for big energy companies to drill, mine and pollute.

When the discussion moves beyond "Repeal Obamacare!" the Democrats could regain the advantage.

With historically high levels of long-term unemployed, maintaining unemployment benefits is vital for keeping millions of jobless Americans and their families from falling into poverty.

False and misleading claims were flying again at the latest Republican presidential candidates’ debate in Iowa.

The artist's joyous, inspiring and subversive conversation with Rolling Stone three days before his death.

On Fox Business Channel anchor Eric Bolling showed a clip of the new Disney movie and suggested -- well, no, he said outright -- that the story was aimed at planting the seeds of class warfare among our precious children. (Those commie bastards. Before you know it, they’ll succeed in their diabolical plan to establish a puppet government. –B)

SOPA would require every web site in the country to become unpaid copyright enforcement officers for Time Warner, Disney and The Washington Post, among others.

Following demonstrations earlier this year which drew up to 100,000 people to the Wisconsin Capitol, Republican Gov. Scott Walker has proposed new policies that would require future protesters to pay in advance to stage an event, at a cost of $50 per hour, per Capitol Police officer.

The fracking industry has spent $747 million dollars in the past decade to lobby Congress and support politicians in states like Ohio, Michigan and New York as part of a campaign to keep fracking unregulated.

A new trend in pharmaceutical sales has raised concerns over ethics and patient safety, as companies buy up critical cancer drugs in short supply and attempt to resell them at huge markups.

The industry’s lobbying and political muscle remains intact even after a year that saw $4-per-gallon gasoline prices and strong profits.

Tips to help keep your turkey from exploding.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce puts a new twist on a tired old falsehood about “government-run health care” in one of its new ads attacking Democratic lawmakers. (The World Is Flat – See, we can lie, too. –B)

Here is a surefire way to cut $7.1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade. Do nothing.

In misleading TV ads, the bank casts itself as a champion of the working class and small business. Reality check!

With more than $100 billion in annual revenues and nearly $15 billion in operating profits, Verizon Communications is a large and prosperous company that should pay a substantial amount in taxes to federal, state and local governments.
 

Most turkeys grown in this country are Broad-Breasted Whites, a big-breasted bird has a lifespan of only 18 weeks and can neither fly, nor reproduce without artificial insemination.

The “postwar world” brought into existence as a consequence of World War II is coming to an end. A major redistribution of global power is underway.

After years of complaints from residents about foul water and health concerns, government investigators have found chemical compounds consistent with those used in natural gas fracking.

As you may have noted already, we always try to promote Oberlin sites. However, we particularly like this one because:

1) They are not mainstream
2) Although suspected of being funded by the Young Republicans, they do not seem to embrace hardcore Tea Party philosophy
3) Their shower cams are almost impossible to find (actually, that’s not a plus)
4) Its URL is a great read: whythefuckshouldichooseoberlin.com

They have some neat sections, also:

• What The Fuck Should I Make for Dinner
• The Fucking Weather
• The Fucking Word of the Day

You should definitely fucking visit them.