Earlier this month, the United States came one step closer to enacting its first constitutional amendment in 24 years.
A bipartisan majority of New York’s Senate and Assembly issued letters to Congress on June 15 calling for a 28th amendment. Both Republican and Democratic versions of the letter demand the new amendment say that corporations “are not entitled to the same rights and protections as natural persons under the Constitution,” which moves the country toward overturning the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United.
That decision has resulted in a great expansion of “outside spending,” meaning spending by political action committees and nonprofits rather than by candidates’ own campaigns. In the first four years after Citizens United was passed, outside spending on Senate races nationwide more than doubled to $486 million. Across all campaigns, super PACs have spent more than $1 billion on races since 2010, with more than 60 percent of that amount coming from fewer than 200 individuals and married couples.This month’s letters make New York the 17th state to call […]
Wednesday, July 6th, 2016
Nicholas Kristof, Columnist - The New York Times
Stephan: Going back to my own time in government, I have seen the Saudis as essentially a 12th century nomadic culture made fabulously wealthy because of the world's addiction to oil. Along with Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain they became a cartel, the biggest and richest drug dealers in the world. And it allowed them to advance the Wahhabi sect of Islam, the antipode to the Islam of the Sufis.
Wahhabism is to Islam, as the Rightist Fundamentalist Christians are to Christianity, and the combination of those three elements, 12th century culture, fundamentalism, and enormous wealth produced particularly in Saudi Arabia a dangerous culture, as events from 9/11 onward have demonstrated. Here is a part of the story you may not know. Nicholas Kristof is a man of both intellect and compassionate wisdom. It allows him to tell this story truthful.
The Kater Llulla mosque in Prishtina (also known as “Hasan Beg” mosque). Built with funds from Saudi Arabia, the mosque has the reputation of being a hotbed of radical Islam.
Credit: Andrew Testa/The New York Times
PEJA, KOSOVO — First, a three-part quiz:
Which Islamic country celebrates as a national hero a 15th-century Christian who battled Muslim invaders?
Which Islamic country is so pro-American it has a statue of Bill Clinton and a women’s clothing store named “Hillary” on Bill Klinton Boulevard?
Which Islamic country has had more citizens go abroad to fight for the Islamic State per capita than any other in Europe?
The answer to each question is Kosovo, in southeastern Europe — and therein lies a cautionary tale. Whenever there is a terrorist attack by Muslim extremists, we look to our enemies like the Islamic State […]
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