First the oligarchs came for our economy, and we said nothing. Then they came for our government, and again, we said nothing. Now, they've come for science, and we're not saying a word. Thanks to Republican-backed austerity measures, our nation's scientific infrastructure has been hit with devastating budget cuts.

 

All across America, research labs are shutting their doors, scientists are joining unemployment lines, and potentially life-saving drug trials and research projects are being put on hiatus. But have no fear, because the billionaire oligarchs are here. As William Broad points out in The New York Times, "Yet from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, science philanthropy is hot, as many of the richest Americans seek to reinvent themselves as patrons of social progress through science research."

 

Broad goes on to write that, "The result is a new calculus of influence and priorities that the scientific community views with a mix of gratitude and trepidation." And as Steven Edwards, a policy analyst with the American Association for the Advancement of Science said, "For better or worse, the practice of science in the 21st century is becoming shaped less by national priorities or by peer-review groups and more by the particular preferences of individuals with huge amounts of money."

 

From disease research and underwater exploration, to space travel and climate change denial, billionaires are funding just about all aspects of science - or pseudoscience - in America today. As a result, basic science research, which is most often responsible for huge scientific breakthroughs, is suffering, because it's not in the personal interests of the billionaires.

 

Read more here.

 

-Thom

 

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 9pm... Social Security, the battle is far from over (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

 

Get your copy of Thom's new book, The Crash of 2016, today and click here for tour dates & events!

 

Watch the video 'Last Hours' narrated by Thom Hartmann about the "time bomb" that is ticking underground, underwater and under ice... frozen methane that is now escaping and could trigger runaway climate change. www.lasthours.org

 

Have a question or comment for Thom? Grab your phone, hit record and send your video to YourTakeMyTake@gmail.com and we may air it on "The Big Picture."

 

Need to Know: Social Security, the battle is far from over
- Richard Eskow, Campaign for America's Future (CAF)    

 

Screwed: Leave fossil fuels in the ground
- John Fullerton, Capital Institute.

 

 

Mortgage crisis gets personal
- Patrick Lovell, Forward 13: Waking Up the American Dream.

 

PLUS, Marianne Williamson on running for Congress?
- Marianne Williamson, Candidate for Congress (I-CA, 33rd district)    

 

  

Friday's Daily Stack 

Hour One: If it's Friday, it's "Brunch With Bernie"... the honorable Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joins Thom with all the news from our nation's capitol and as always he'll be spending the hour taking your calls and answering your questions too...
Follow Bernie:     campaign site.

Article: "The Week in Review Friday, March 14, 2014" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Poverty is a Death Sentence" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Senate Seeks White House Plan on Childhood Poverty" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Reports: Obama to issue executive order expanding overtime pay" by Fred Barbash.

Article: "Sanders Statement on Overtime Pay" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "What the U.S. Health Care System Can Learn from Other Countries" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Watch an Expert Teach a Smug U.S. Senator about Canadian Healthcare" by Michael Hiltzik.

Video: Health Care: U.S. vs. Canada.

Article: "Senate Investigation of Bush-Era Torture Erupts Into Constitutional Crisis" by George Zornick.

Article: "Sanders Statement on Climate Change All-Nighter" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Save the Postal Service" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

 

Article: "Harry Reid Torches Koch-Fueled 'Lies' About Obamacare" by Sahil Kapur.

Article: "Harry Reid rejects President Obama's trade push" by Eric Bradner and Manu Raju.

Article: "USDA to Allow Chickens From U.S. to Be Shipped to China for Processing and Back to U.S. for Consumption, Just Like Seafood" by John Deike.

Site: Progressive Radio Northwest.

Event: Seattle, March 26 at 7:00 pm: Tweets, Posts & Chat: Progressive Radio in the Social Media Age".

Article: "This Is What The Comcast-Time Warner Deal Does To Cable TV (It's Appalling)" by Kevin Short.

Article: "FCC Suppressed Its Own Reports on Corporate Media Consolidation" by Mark Taylor-Canfield.

Case: "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" (2010).

Hour Two: What is the White Man March all about?
- Kyle Hunt, White Man March.

Article: "White Man March Coming To NYC To Fight "Anti-White Agenda"".

Movie: "Django Unchained".

Movie: "12 Years a Slave".

Article: "Barbara Lerner Spectre" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Legal definition of genocide" by UN.

 

Article: "Cesar Chavez" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Delano grape strike" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Neighbors Fume at Radioactive Dump" by John R. Emshwiller.

Article: "Who is Homeless?" by National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009.

 

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Victoria Jones 

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Article: "TRNS News Notes - 3/17/14" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes - 3/14/14" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "Kerry-Lavrov Talks on Crimea Crisis Break Down" by Jay Solomon And Geoffrey T. Smith.

Article: "Ukraine signs $10 billion shale gas deal with Chevron" by Pavel Polityuk and Richard Balmforth.

Article: "Ukraine Aid Package Stalls As Lawmakers Head Home" by Siobhan Hughes and Kristina Peterson.

Article: "Senators Reach Compromise On Extending Benefits For Long-Term Unemployed" by AP.

Article: "Missing Malaysia Airlines plane 'deliberately diverted'" by BBC.

Article: "Paul Ryan To Meet With Congressional Black Caucus After 'Inarticulate' Poverty Remarks" by Reuters.

Article: "Clinton adviser thought Russia 'doctored' JFK papers" by Colby Itkowitz.

Law: "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" (DMCA), 1998.

Article: "Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call" by BBC.

Article: "The shock doctrine in Ukraine" by Phil Ebersole.

Article: "4th Amendment". "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.".

Site: callcongress.org.

Site: Progressive Democrats of America.

Site: Move to Amend

       

Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET 

 

PLUS, Welcome XRAY FM Portland!
- Jefferson Smith, XRAY FM  

 

Hour Two: Lack of sex ed in school...child abuse?
- Bruno Behrend, Heartland Institute 

 

Hour Three: Time to end tipping?
- Bryce Covert, Think Progress  

 

And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...

 

The Thom Hartmann Program...your media support group for "we the people"...

Free excerpt, read book for free at Truthout, buy the book!

Tuesday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET 

We'll have all the latest news and information you won't hear from the corporate owned news media...

 

Plus, what do conservatives have against a healthy diet? I'll challenge Julie Gunlock of the Independent Women's Forum...

 

And, we'll be taking your calls too...right here on...

 

The Thom Hartmann Program...Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"...

 

And remember...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

Thank you for being part of our ever growing community for News, Debate and Opinion on the Thom Hartmann Program.

 

Click here to subscribe to the Thom Hartmann Newsletter.
 

Sincerely,

Buy Thom's newest book now!
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"Crash of 2016" website

Watch Thom on: - MSNBC's The Cycle
- CNN's Crossfire
- Democracy Now!

Should BP be allowed to bid for government contracts again?

Vote here!

Full Show 3/14/14: U.S. Says BP Can Drill Again, But Why?

Tonight's "Big Picture Rumble" discusses whether the U.S. should let BP drill again, the lawsuit against McDonalds over wage theft and AG Eric Holder's endorsement of reducing drug sentences. In tonight's "Conversations with Great Minds" Thom talks with Ploughshares Fund President Joe Cirincione, author of the new book "Nuclear Nightmares: Securing the World Before It Is Too Late."

Thom Hartmann on the Science and Green News - March 17, 2014

Senator Bernie Sanders on the 'New' Republican Party

The Thom Hartmann Program - March 14, 2014

Caller Experiences White Privilege

Caller: Paul Ryan and Kyle Hunt Don't Understand White Privilege

What is the White Man March all About?

Brunch with Bernie - March 14, 2014

Would you like to help give a child with a very troubled background this feeling of peace?

Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV) in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow. Can you help? Now on Facebook.