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The Government Just Made Prison a Little Less Terrible

by StephanWormald Posted on October 22, 2015

Mother Jones

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For the families and friends of inmates, hearing the sound of a loved one’s voice can be an unaffordable luxury, with phone companies sometimes charging up to $14 per minute for calls from correctional facilities. The Federal Communications Commission took a step to change that today, voting to approve new rules on the rates companies can charge for inmates’ in-state calls.

The rules close a loophole created in 2013, when the FCC limited rates on interstate calls to 21 cents per minute but did not regulate in-state calls. The commission will now cap the cost of prepaid in-state calls from state and federal prisons at 11 cents a minute. County jails will use a tiered system, with calls from the smallest jails costing the most (22 cents a minute) and calls from the biggest jails costing the least (14 cents a minute).

The new rules also ban companies from charging a flat rate for calls, phase down collect call rates, and eliminate most of the add-on charges like payment and billing fees, which right now can bump up the cost of a call by 40 percent. Additionally, the rules increase the access to calling services for people with hearing or speech disabilities.

Industry giants like GTL and Securus have fought the move, and many have introduced exorbitantly priced video visitation services that have replaced in-person visits in some places.

“This system has preyed on our most vulnerable for far too long,” FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn told the Washington Post. “Families are being further torn apart and the cycle of poverty is being perpetuated.”

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The Government Just Made Prison a Little Less Terrible

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Here’s How Elizabeth Warren Is Holding Clinton’s "Feet to the Fire" on Liberal Policies

by Mitchel3832 Posted on April 27, 2015

Mother Jones

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) may have officially ruled out a bid for the White House, but she might as well be a shadow candidate. That’s according to a report by Ryan Lizza in the New Yorker today, which describes the Massachusetts senator and her advisers working in the background to ensure Warren’s populist agenda is embedded into Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Judging by Clinton’s recent embrace of a number of key Warren issues, the strategy seems to be working pretty well—and Warren’s team appears to know it. In the New Yorker today:

One of Warren’s advisers believes that if she entered the race against Clinton she would be shredded by the Clinton political machine. Instead, the best way to pursue her agenda is to use the next year to pressure Clinton.

“I think she’s in a beautiful position right now,” the Warren adviser said, “because she can get Hillary to do whatever the hell she wants. Now the question is, will Hillary stick to it if she gets in? But at the moment Elizabeth can get her on record and hold her feet to the fire.”

Even as recently as last week, members of Warren’s team reportedly passed around a photo of the two sitting next to each other with a thought quote hovering over Clinton that read, “What she said.” Additionally from Lizza:

When I asked Warren last week if she believed that Clinton was co-opting her message, she hesitated and replied, “Eh.”

Burn. Of course, team Clinton is quick squash any notion she’s hijacking Warren’s signature policies to score some liberal points. We’ll see where she officially stands on the issues soon.

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Here’s How Elizabeth Warren Is Holding Clinton’s "Feet to the Fire" on Liberal Policies

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Global Warming Will Intensify Drought, Says New Study

by Myrna Posted on December 23, 2013

A new paper concludes droughts will probably set in more quickly and become more intense. Flooding in New Delhi. Partha Sarkar/Xinhua/ZUMA When scientists think about climate change, we often focus on long term trends and multi-year averages of various climate measures such as temperature, ocean heat, sea level, ocean acidity, and ice loss. But, what matters most in our day-to-day lives is extreme weather. If human-caused climate change leads to more extreme weather, it would make taking action more prudent. It is clear that human emissions have led to increased frequencies of heat waves and have changed the patterns of rainfall around the world. The general view is that areas which are currently wet will become wetter; areas that are currently dry will become drier. Additionally, rainfall will occur in heavy doses. So, when you look at the Earth in total, the canceling effects of wetter and drier hides the reality of regional changes that really matter in our lives and our economies. Keep reading at The Guardian. Taken from: Global Warming Will Intensify Drought, Says New Study Related Articles A Glitter-Covered Banner Got These Protesters Arrested for Staging a Bioterror Hoax Oil and Dolphins Don’t Mix Dot Earth Blog: Climate Scientists, Then and Now, Espousing ‘Responsible Advocacy’

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Global Warming Will Intensify Drought, Says New Study

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