Author: Richard Eskow

After 71 percent of Washington D.C. residents voted in favor of legalizing marijuana for recreational use, leave it to a Republican politician bought by Big Pharma to ruin it. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) is leading the forefront of GOPers in Congress who are blocking the law’s implementation. What’s most disturbing about this case is that Congress can rule the laws of Washington D.C., but the nation’s capitol has no representation in Congress. Harris included a provision in the Congressional spending so that city residents are now blocked from implementing the heavily favored marijuana law. The congressman still resorts to...

Last year’s polar vortex brought record-low temperatures to an area ranging from “the Deep South near the Gulf Coast to the US-Canadian border, all the way up to Maine and Minnesota,” as NPR reported. Brace yourself and stock up on blankets, because the polar vortex is expected to show up once, if not twice, again this winter. “Though parts of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic had a gradual introduction to fall, winter will arrive without delay. Cold air and high snow amounts will define the season,” wrote Jill MacMath of Accuweather. “Farther south, ice storms and snow events will threaten...

NASA announced that last month was the hottest September since scientists began keeping records on global temperature in 1880, reported ThinkProgress. Furthermore, NOAA projects that this year will be the hottest ever on record. Scientists understand this danger, but today’s crop of Republicans, possibly the most detrimental group of politicians to America in history, still don’t get it. Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, during a debate yesterday against his Democratic challenger for the House, said that he doesn’t think that humans are causing climate change. “I don’t know the answer to that question,” said Ryan. “I don’t think science...

This segment originally aired on the September 21st, 2014 episode of Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV. Midterm elections are right around the corner, and Democrats are worried that they may lose even more House seats, and possibly control of the Senate in November. If they want to win, they need to re-commit to their principles, and work to strengthen social safety net programs. America’s Lawyer Mike Papantonio discusses how this can happen with Richard Eskow, host of The Zero Hour. Support Ring of Fire by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Listen to Ring of Fire on Saturdays...

This article originally appeared on The Raw Story. During the first city council meeting in Ferguson, Missouri since Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown, black residents powerfully responded to how the city dealt with the shooting. A young man in a “Peace Keeper” t-shirt who introduced himself as “Mike Brown from Ground Zero” said that the problem with the white people at the meeting who claim to speak for the entire city “do not represent us.” Although whites only make up 29 percent of Ferguson’s population, five of the six sitting city council members are white, as is Mayor James Knowles....