corruption

A prime locale to talk bribery, suspect campaign funding, and all other instances of political corruption. The shadier, the better.

THE GREAT AMERICAN FUNHOUSE: How We Traded the New Deal for a Corporate Lease and Called It Freedom
Gather ’round, citizens, grab your participation trophies, and strap yourselves tightly into the Tilt-A-Whirl because the ride is completely unbolted from the concrete.
By Meko James 26 days ago in The Swamp
Tennessee Candidate Takes Ethics Battle to the U.S. Supreme Court
Elliott Schuchardt has an axe to grind with the Tennessee court system. He says that Tennessee is using the state's ethics system to attack lawyers who run for political office.
By Elliott Schuchardt29 days ago in The Swamp
You gotta have thicker skin
Thicker skin is what you develop when you swim against life like the Koi fish, when there are tribulations and high critiques of those who never believed in you. However, when someone is the intended target of unprovoked animosity with the expectation that the target follow protocols and report to those in charge about behavior patterns and observations; a leader does not dismiss it and insinuate the targeted individual should develop thicker skin especially when you do not know what that person has been through. The problem is not "thicker skin" the problem is someone's confident behavior to be intentionally disrespectful. I listened to you as my primary leader of this location with me as the intended 2nd hand and yet when I answer your questions and do what is requested of me and inform you of disrespectful behavior and tones to a childish employee it seems in your language stating to have thicker skin and it's just part of the job while in turn stating "i don't support disrespect and rudeness" after I explicitly explained my observations and how that can disrupt the work flow your only focus is your disdain of my words how it creates a hostile work environment while willingly not acknowledging how the patterned behavior is observed by others and encourages and creates toxicity is expected. Now I expect less of you any opportunity to obtain loyalty has waned itself.
By Cadma30 days ago in The Swamp
The Predator We Refuse to See
A bear attacks a person on a trail. And inevitably, someone asks what the victim did wrong. Why were they there? What did they do to provoke it?
By THE HONED CRONEabout a month ago in The Swamp
The Confluence of Three Downward Curves
In late August 2026, a Kyodo News telephone poll put the Takaichi Cabinet's approval rating at 50.2%. That same month, NHK recorded 53%, while the Nikkei business daily arrived at 62%. The gap between these three numbers already tells a story of its own. Different media, different samples, different question wording—all reflecting a public mood that is itself unsettled and inconsistent.
By Jinabout a month ago in The Swamp
Who Really Owns Venezuela’s 65 Billion Barrels of Oil?
I. The Gap Between Two Announcements On August 28, 2026, two messages appeared almost simultaneously on social media. Trump's wording sounded like a victory declaration: "American taxpayers will not bear any cost," "majority control," "more than double our petroleum reserves." He released no text of the agreement. He did not mention where it was signed. He did not answer the most basic question—whether Venezuela's National Congress had ever voted on it.
By Jinabout a month ago in The Swamp
7 Reasons Why Your Vote Often Brings Little Change
Over 17 years ago, USA President Barack Obama burst on the scene with a stirring "Yes, We Can" . Many of the American population, especially the youth, were galvanised into action, having been in some despair about the Bush years. They saw Obama's vision, they could feel the possibilities, they loved his speeches and jumped on to his bandwagon. The rest is history as he stormed the White House.
By Elaine Sihera about a month ago in The Swamp
Is Capitalism a Convenient Scapegoat?
There is something psychologically satisfying about discovering a single word that appears to explain nearly everything that is wrong with the world. For some, the word is capitalism . War, imperialism, fascism, exploitation, alienation, environmental destruction, cruelty, loneliness, even sadism and abuse can be placed beneath one enormous conceptual umbrella. Once this is done, history acquires an appealing simplicity: remove the economic system and perhaps the pathologies produced by it will disappear as well.
By ANTICHRIST SUPERSTARabout a month ago in The Swamp
THE STRAND THAT REFUSED THE SCISSORS
I was going to link my short you tube link to this story but bot said only you tube or vimeo videos accepted. Well this is a you tube short video.
By Vicki Lawana Trusselli about a month ago in The Swamp
WORKER OF PATHWAYS
Disclaimer: All writing, ideas, and creative work in this story are my own. I draft my pieces, take my notes, and develop my concepts independently. I also edit my own videos and create my own music. Every idea, note, edit, and creative choice comes from my lived experience, my training, and my craft not from automated tools or “pushing a button.” What you read here is mine.
By Vicki Lawana Trusselli about a month ago in The Swamp
Family-Directed Support. AI-Generated.
American family policy has a basic design failure. Government can spend heavily around a low-income household—on subsidized child care, food assistance, housing support, tax credits, disability services, provider reimbursements, case management, and repeated eligibility reviews—while the household itself remains cash-poor, overregulated, unable to save, and vulnerable to every ordinary emergency.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcastabout a month ago in The Swamp
Pay Families Directly Without Paying Them to Remain Poor. AI-Generated.
Every debate over family policy tends to collapse into two positions: keep the current fragmented, provider-directed welfare system, or replace a household's entire public-spending footprint with one large, unrestricted cash payment. Both sides of that argument are, in their own way, correct about something important. The status quo really does trap families in cliff-ridden, cash-poor dependency on institutions that treat parental caregiving as economically worthless. The buyout really does identify a genuine contradiction — government will pay almost anyone to care for a child except the parent — and it's right that fixing that contradiction is worth real money.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcastabout a month ago in The Swamp