If you can stomach watching, big name Republicans like failed presidential contender Mitt Romney and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are some of the headliners of this year's 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference.

The gathering brings Republicans to National Harbor near Washington, D.C., to hear conservative "all-stars" ... *cough* like former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Donald Trump speak. The 40th annual conference takes place March 14th to 16th.

Some of the latest highlights from Twitter:

@ singernews : "McConnell says Democratic candidates for 2016 look like "a re-run of the Golden Girls" (Hillary/Biden) #CPAC

@ USATMoore : Mitch McConnell: "Don’t tell me we’re the party of intolerance when ... some pac is sending out racist tweets about my wife." #cpac2013

@ howardfineman : #CPAC, begun decades ago as an earnest effort to mix ideas, policy and grassroots politics, is ending now not in Triumph but in Trump.

@ maggiepolitico : Dead silence for most of Trump's speech. Now getting some applause for Gingrich suggesting he pay for WH tours

President Obama speaks Tuesday at a Virginia shipyard on the danger of the sequester cuts, and lists ways the sequester would hurt the defense industry and the economy.

"The threat of these cuts has caused the Navy to cancel the deployment or delay the repair of aircraft carriers," he says. "Another might not get finished. Another might not get started at all."

"About 90,000 Virginians who work for the Department of Defense would be forced to take unpaid leave. That's money out of their pockets. That means a ripple effect... so it's not just restricted to the defense industry.

"All told, the sequester could cost tens of thousands of jobs right here in Virginia," the president says.

Obama also mentions damage to programs supporting college tuition and Head Start. He says prosecutors may be forced to close cases. Also on the list mentioned; airport delays; childcare problems; fewer cancer screenings and flu vaccinations.

"So these cuts are wrong... they're a self-inflicted wound that doesn't have to happen," Obama says.

Economist Richard Wolff explains the weaknesses of capitalism and the need for Americans to understand the system under which they live and work.

There are many problems associated with capitalism (state capitalism): wage slavery, concentration of wealth and power, undermining of democracy, repression of curiosity and creativity, environmental destruction, the boom and bust cycle (over production), economic depression, promotion of competition over cooperation, isolation of individuals from society, consumerism, escapism, apathy, emotional instability, political corruption (cronyism), suppression of science and technology research due to short term profit motive, personal debt, crime, violence, war, etc.

The strength of capitalism is its ability to produce enormous wealth (surplus), but this is only possible through state capitalism (government control of the economy).

DemocracyNow! reports:

The Peruvian government has declared a state of emergency in the mountain region of Cajamarca where thousands have gathered in recent days to protest the expansion of a gold mine owned by the U.S.-based Newmont Mining that is already the largest in South America. Using live ammunition against the protesters, police have killed five people this week alone. In a dramatic video broadcast nationally on Peruvian television, police severely beat Marco Arana, a former Roman Catholic priest, who had rallied protesters despite emergency measures restricting freedom of assembly. We speak to journalist Bill Weinberg, who was recently in Cajamarca. "Every time the company, Yanacocha, proposes an expansion of the mine, the local people there get organized, and they block the roads, and they shut down the businesses," Weinberg says.

Full transcript here.

One of my most favorite comedian/activists, Lee Camp has a new live album coming out called "Pepper Spray the Tears Away," which was taped in NYC at the Bowery Poetry Club. It's available now for pre-order only at Amazon, and will be available directly from Lee's website later in June.

Lee Camp, widely known as a bright torch for a new generation of stand up comedy and a strong voice for social good, has broken the mold in many ways. Whether it’s performing at over a dozen Occupy encampments or calling Fox News “a parade of propaganda” while on Fox News, Camp defies expectations. And now he returns to Stand Up! Records with a comedic rallying cry in the form of his new album “Pepper Spray the Tears Away.” Camp’s thrust throughout the hour is that this stuff matters. Apathy is unacceptable. Ambivalence is dangerous. You don’t get to outlaw abortion if you can’t even spell it. You don’t get to take away teachers’ benefits just because you’re high on crashing the market in 2008. You don’t get to pepper spray peaceful protestors just because you have a nifty new toy on your police belt. And you sure as hell don’t get to force a grown man to say made-up corporate words like “crumble-berry coffee cake” because some douche-head at a marketing firm told you it was good branding. Lee Camp specializes in taking on the powerful by exposing their might for so much smoke-and-mirrors chicanery while tempering his rage with just the right amount of razor-sharp wit followed by a pinch of skillful wordplay. Considering him our own Howard Zinn with call-backs, Noam Chomsky with curse words, or Abbie Hoffman with less FBI surveillance, Stand Up!

And if you haven't picked up a copy of Lee's book, "Moment of Clarity," it's available now at Lee's website, LeeCamp.net.

I've got the book, and I love it, but don't listen to me...this is the guy that Fox News had to throw out of their studio! Now that's a great reason to buy this book. That, and you can still get your Moment of Clarity if Lee goes off on tour and can't load his great videos to Youtube.