Sunday, May 27, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
DEALING WITH TSA
Nothing illustrates our predicament more than the TSA routine every time a citizen flies.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
War against labor rages on
Thursday, April 5, 2012
A Perspective from Portland, Oregon: The mindset of too many appointed federal employee...
A Perspective from Portland, Oregon: The mindset of too many appointed federal employee...: " The chief of the General Services Administration is resigning and two of her top deputies have been fired amid reports of excessive spendi...
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
: The US Courts Engage in Large-scale Fraud on the People
This information is truely sickening. I mean, it really
turns my stomach to finally be able to see what has been
happening in our courts. And to think not too many years ago
I thought as do most Americans that our justice system had
some honesty and honor to it. It very well seems one would be
able to get a fairer trial in Africa than here in America.
It's very depressing for me....
The US Courts Engage in Large-scale Fraud on the People
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
UPDATE
Fairfax asks residents what kind of transit county will need between now and 2050
B.C. transit heroes honoured by new website
Washoe transit facing rough financial road
Toronto is studying road tolls and other fees to pay for public transit
Take transit bill of life support
Officials ID NJ man struck, killed by 2 trains
Washington Beat: New Yorkers In Congress Fight For MTA's Share Of Transit Funds
Dr. Gridlock's traffic, transit tips
Fiorito: On transit , we're talking past each other
Mass transit needs to be included now
News reports: At least 19 killed when Algerian bus crashes into ravine - The Washington Post
M5 crash: lorry driver dies in hospital
School bus fatality causes mother to relive daughter's '92 death
Bus driver arrested after fatal M5 crash
In bad economy, bus riders fear their number is up - News - ReviewJournal.com
M5 bus crash survivor relives the moment a lorry hit ...
14 dead in Andhra school bus accident - YouTube
Candles are lit in Leuven for Swiss bus crash victims ...
B.C. transit heroes honoured by new website
Washoe transit facing rough financial road
Toronto is studying road tolls and other fees to pay for public transit
Take transit bill of life support
Officials ID NJ man struck, killed by 2 trains
Washington Beat: New Yorkers In Congress Fight For MTA's Share Of Transit Funds
Dr. Gridlock's traffic, transit tips
Fiorito: On transit , we're talking past each other
Mass transit needs to be included now
News reports: At least 19 killed when Algerian bus crashes into ravine - The Washington Post
M5 crash: lorry driver dies in hospital
School bus fatality causes mother to relive daughter's '92 death
Bus driver arrested after fatal M5 crash
In bad economy, bus riders fear their number is up - News - ReviewJournal.com
M5 bus crash survivor relives the moment a lorry hit ...
14 dead in Andhra school bus accident - YouTube
Candles are lit in Leuven for Swiss bus crash victims ...
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
updated stories
Fracking: Pennsylvania Gags Physicians - 12160
Activist Post: Are We About To See The Imminent Mass Arrest of the Global Banking Cabal?
The Truth About Your Birth Certificate... - YouTube
Banks Know About Your Strawman (Here's Some Proof) - YouTube
Activist Post: Syrian Rebels are Foreign-backed Terrorists
Activist Post: Are We About To See The Imminent Mass Arrest of the Global Banking Cabal?
The Truth About Your Birth Certificate... - YouTube
Banks Know About Your Strawman (Here's Some Proof) - YouTube
Activist Post: Syrian Rebels are Foreign-backed Terrorists
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Spanish Unions Call General Strike
MADRID—Spanish unions Friday called a general strike on March 29, the
biggest challenge to date to the policies of Prime Minister Mariano
Rajoy.
Last month's overhaul of Spain's rigid labor laws provides the rallying call for the protest. "It [labor reform] represents a brutal regression in hiring rules and opens the door to free dismissals," said Ignacio Fernández Toxo, the head of Comisiones Obreras union. "This country doesn't need a labor-market reform," he told journalists at a press conference.
Last month's overhaul of Spain's rigid labor laws provides the rallying call for the protest. "It [labor reform] represents a brutal regression in hiring rules and opens the door to free dismissals," said Ignacio Fernández Toxo, the head of Comisiones Obreras union. "This country doesn't need a labor-market reform," he told journalists at a press conference.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
TRUTHOUT
Sunday 19 February 2012
Delusions of the Corporate State
Evaggelos Vallianatos, Truthout: "The citizens of America must push the servants of oligarchy out of office, the very people who made a killing with their 2008 financial disaster. Americans must return to the Greek-inspired path of Thomas Jefferson: reinvigorate democracy while bringing the military-industrial complex under control."
Read the Article
Mortgage-Backed Securities Make a Comeback, Despite Similar Risks
Azam Ahmed, The New York Times News Service: "Some Wall Street investors made money as the mortgage market boomed; others profited when it fell apart.... Mr. Lippmann is joined by other big-money investors — mutual funds like Fidelity as well as hedge funds — in riding a wave of interest in the same complex loan pools that nearly washed away the financial system."
Read the Article
Industry Plan to Save Us From Global Warming a Nightmare, Not a Dream
Peter Montague, AlterNet: "By ignoring global warming, the U.S. is painting itself (and the world) into a corner. But now the fossil fuel industry has prepared an escape for us. You may not have heard of it, but the escape is called 'carbon capture and storage' or CCS for short. It has never been tried on anything like the scale needed to limit global warming, so it's a colossal experiment with the future of civilization at stake."
Read the Article
Frustrated Protesters Fill the Streets in Syria's Capital
Neil MacFarquhar, The New York Times News Service: "Hundreds and hundreds of antigovernment protesters braved scattered gunfire from Syrian soldiers to march through a middle-class neighborhood in Damascus on Saturday, the biggest demonstration witnessed close to the heart of the capital since the country's uprising started 11 months ago."
Read the Article
Disaster Capitalism: Profiting From Crisis in Post-Earthquake Haiti
Deepa Panchang, Beverly Bell and Tory Field, Other Worlds Are Possible: "Below are a few examples of post-earthquake contracts and grants, selected to show just some of the problems at play. They offer a small glimpse into a much larger, secretive world of disaster deals. We're grateful to our investigative journalist colleagues who, alongside us, have kept heavy on the scent of these corporations and brought buried information to light."
Read the Article
Perfect Storm Threatens Long-Term Unemployed
Greg Kaufmann, The Nation: "In December, there were more than 13 million unemployed workers and about four people looking for work for every available job. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), 5.5 million people have been unemployed for more than half a year, up from 1.2 million in 2007, and the average duration for an unemployed person is over nine months.... So it's particularly alarming to see Congress playing games with an extension of unemployment benefits that are set to expire at the end of the month."
Read the Article
How the Ohio GOP's Attempts to Game Voting Rules Backfired
Jennifer Brunner, AlterNet: "In Ohio, the GOP-controlled legislature - without a fight from my predecessor, the Republican secretary of state, Ken Blackwell - began a systematic effort to tinker with Ohio's voting rules, from requiring people to take a training session before they could register voters, to requiring naturalized citizens to show their papers at the polling place (all of which were struck down by federal courts in 2005 and 2006).... Nearly every time the GOP in Ohio has succeeded in implementing an unfair 'reform,' it has backfired on them."
Read the Article
Andrew Bacevich | Uncle Sam, Global Gangster
Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch: "With the United States now well into the second decade of what the Pentagon has styled an 'era of persistent conflict,' the war formerly known as the global war on terrorism (unofficial acronym WFKATGWOT) appears increasingly fragmented and diffuse. Without achieving victory, yet unwilling to acknowledge failure, the United States military has withdrawn from Iraq. It is trying to leave Afghanistan, where events seem equally unlikely to yield a happy outcome."
Read the Article
Human Safaris: When Does Tourism Become Unethical?
Joanna Eede, Survival International: "In principle, there is little harm in tourists visiting tribal peoples who have been in routine contact with outsiders for some time. But as natural social sensitivity and respect would dictate, this only applies to tribal peoples who are happy to receive visitors, have proper control over where the tourists go and what they do in their communities, and receive a fair share of the profits."
Read the Article
It's Up to Us to Protect the First Amendment
Josh Stearns, Save the News: "What happens when a journalist is arrested? How do we account for the stories that don't get told, or the issues that don't get covered because the press was restricted or behind bars? How do we measure the intimidation journalists feel, and the chill that police intervention places on freedom of the press? One gauge might be the U.S.'s recent drop in global press freedom rankings, down to number 47 worldwide."
Read the Article
Subsidize This: US Eyes Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels, But What Gets Protected?
Gregg Levine, Capitoilette: "While trade is often a bone of contention between the United States and China, this week's visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping threw the spotlight on one subset of that battle that could have far-reaching effects well in excess of the raw dollar amounts at stake. At issue is a complaint filed by a solar industry trade group, the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing, or CASM, asking that the US government impose tariffs on Chinese solar panels. CASM wants the duties for what it claims are unfair subsidies by China that make Chinese solar products substantially cheaper than those offered by many US competitors."
Read the Article
Click here for more Truthout articles
Delusions of the Corporate State
Evaggelos Vallianatos, Truthout: "The citizens of America must push the servants of oligarchy out of office, the very people who made a killing with their 2008 financial disaster. Americans must return to the Greek-inspired path of Thomas Jefferson: reinvigorate democracy while bringing the military-industrial complex under control."
Read the Article
Mortgage-Backed Securities Make a Comeback, Despite Similar Risks
Azam Ahmed, The New York Times News Service: "Some Wall Street investors made money as the mortgage market boomed; others profited when it fell apart.... Mr. Lippmann is joined by other big-money investors — mutual funds like Fidelity as well as hedge funds — in riding a wave of interest in the same complex loan pools that nearly washed away the financial system."
Read the Article
Industry Plan to Save Us From Global Warming a Nightmare, Not a Dream
Peter Montague, AlterNet: "By ignoring global warming, the U.S. is painting itself (and the world) into a corner. But now the fossil fuel industry has prepared an escape for us. You may not have heard of it, but the escape is called 'carbon capture and storage' or CCS for short. It has never been tried on anything like the scale needed to limit global warming, so it's a colossal experiment with the future of civilization at stake."
Read the Article
Frustrated Protesters Fill the Streets in Syria's Capital
Neil MacFarquhar, The New York Times News Service: "Hundreds and hundreds of antigovernment protesters braved scattered gunfire from Syrian soldiers to march through a middle-class neighborhood in Damascus on Saturday, the biggest demonstration witnessed close to the heart of the capital since the country's uprising started 11 months ago."
Read the Article
Disaster Capitalism: Profiting From Crisis in Post-Earthquake Haiti
Deepa Panchang, Beverly Bell and Tory Field, Other Worlds Are Possible: "Below are a few examples of post-earthquake contracts and grants, selected to show just some of the problems at play. They offer a small glimpse into a much larger, secretive world of disaster deals. We're grateful to our investigative journalist colleagues who, alongside us, have kept heavy on the scent of these corporations and brought buried information to light."
Read the Article
Perfect Storm Threatens Long-Term Unemployed
Greg Kaufmann, The Nation: "In December, there were more than 13 million unemployed workers and about four people looking for work for every available job. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), 5.5 million people have been unemployed for more than half a year, up from 1.2 million in 2007, and the average duration for an unemployed person is over nine months.... So it's particularly alarming to see Congress playing games with an extension of unemployment benefits that are set to expire at the end of the month."
Read the Article
How the Ohio GOP's Attempts to Game Voting Rules Backfired
Jennifer Brunner, AlterNet: "In Ohio, the GOP-controlled legislature - without a fight from my predecessor, the Republican secretary of state, Ken Blackwell - began a systematic effort to tinker with Ohio's voting rules, from requiring people to take a training session before they could register voters, to requiring naturalized citizens to show their papers at the polling place (all of which were struck down by federal courts in 2005 and 2006).... Nearly every time the GOP in Ohio has succeeded in implementing an unfair 'reform,' it has backfired on them."
Read the Article
Andrew Bacevich | Uncle Sam, Global Gangster
Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch: "With the United States now well into the second decade of what the Pentagon has styled an 'era of persistent conflict,' the war formerly known as the global war on terrorism (unofficial acronym WFKATGWOT) appears increasingly fragmented and diffuse. Without achieving victory, yet unwilling to acknowledge failure, the United States military has withdrawn from Iraq. It is trying to leave Afghanistan, where events seem equally unlikely to yield a happy outcome."
Read the Article
Human Safaris: When Does Tourism Become Unethical?
Joanna Eede, Survival International: "In principle, there is little harm in tourists visiting tribal peoples who have been in routine contact with outsiders for some time. But as natural social sensitivity and respect would dictate, this only applies to tribal peoples who are happy to receive visitors, have proper control over where the tourists go and what they do in their communities, and receive a fair share of the profits."
Read the Article
It's Up to Us to Protect the First Amendment
Josh Stearns, Save the News: "What happens when a journalist is arrested? How do we account for the stories that don't get told, or the issues that don't get covered because the press was restricted or behind bars? How do we measure the intimidation journalists feel, and the chill that police intervention places on freedom of the press? One gauge might be the U.S.'s recent drop in global press freedom rankings, down to number 47 worldwide."
Read the Article
Subsidize This: US Eyes Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels, But What Gets Protected?
Gregg Levine, Capitoilette: "While trade is often a bone of contention between the United States and China, this week's visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping threw the spotlight on one subset of that battle that could have far-reaching effects well in excess of the raw dollar amounts at stake. At issue is a complaint filed by a solar industry trade group, the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing, or CASM, asking that the US government impose tariffs on Chinese solar panels. CASM wants the duties for what it claims are unfair subsidies by China that make Chinese solar products substantially cheaper than those offered by many US competitors."
Read the Article
Click here for more Truthout articles
|
TRUTHOUT'S BUZZFLASH DAILY HEADLINES |
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Truthout
NYPD Muslim Spy Scandal Grows With Newly Revealed Plan to Target Shiite Mosques (Video)
Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales, Democracy NOW!: "New revelations have emerged about the New York City Police Department's secret program to spy on Muslim communities. The Associated Press has just uncovered a confidential NYPD plan from 2006 to engage in targeted surveillance of Shiite mosques following increased tensions between the U.S. and Iran; the latest revelation on its secret intelligence operations focused on Muslim neighborhoods."
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
On the News With Thom Hartmann: China and Russia Veto Resolution Condemning Syrian Violence, and More
In today's On the News segment: 600 Canadian activists rallied to protest tar sands on Saturday, Komen enlists former Bush press secretary for "crisis communications," DC's Park Police raid Occupy encampment there, and more.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
The Deal That Saved Detroit (and Banned Strikes)
Laura Flanders, The Nation: "You're going to be hearing a lot about the deal that saved Detroit in the next few months, not least because likely opponent Mitt Romney was against it. Then Governor Romney wrote in the fall of 2008 that if the big three auto companies received a bailout, 'we can kiss the American auto industry goodbye.' Romney bad; Obama good; Big Three back. The Deal with Detroit is gold dust for Democrats. Reality is a bit more complicated."
Read the Article
Army Officer Turned Whistleblower: How Many More Must Die?
Scott Shane, The New York Times News Service: "On his second yearlong deployment to Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis traveled 9,000 miles, patrolled with American troops in eight provinces and returned in October of last year with a fervent conviction that the war was going disastrously and that senior military leaders had not leveled with the American public."
Read the Article
Dean Baker | Debt, Toll Roads and Patents
Dean Baker, Truthout: "It's budget time, again. This means that the deficit hawks will be out in force warning us about the devastating debt burden that we are passing on to our children. So that this Halloween fright gang doesn't needlessly cause any kids to lose sleep, here's what parents can tell their children."
Read the Article
Egypt Defies US by Setting Trial for 19 Americans on Criminal Charges
David D. Kirkpatrick, The New York Times News Service: "Egypt's military-led government said Sunday that it would put 19 Americans and two dozen others on trial in a politically charged criminal investigation into the foreign financing of nonprofit groups that has shaken the 30-year alliance between the United States and Egypt. The decision raises tensions between the two allies to a new peak at a decisive moment in Egypt's political transition after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak a year ago."
Read the Article
Six Things You Should Know About Arizona's Worse-Than-Wisconsin Attack on Public Workers
Sarah Jaffe, AlterNet: "Along with South Carolina's Nikki Haley and Indiana's Mitch Daniels, Arizona's Jan Brewer, not content with making her state the least friendly to immigrants and people of color, has decided to get in on the union-busting action as well, introducing a bill that makes Walker's and Kasich's attacks on public workers look mild."
Read the Article
E.J. Dionne | The Citizens United Catastrophe
E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post Writers Group: "The strongest case against judicial activism - against 'legislating from the bench,' is that judges are not accountable for the new systems they put in place, whether by accident or design. The Citizens United justices were not required to think through the practical consequences of sweeping aside decades of work by legislators, going back to the passage of the landmark Tillman Act in 1907, who sought to prevent untoward influence-peddling and indirect bribery."
Read the Article
Click here for more Truthout articles
|
TRUTHOUT'S BUZZFLASH DAILY HEADLINES
|
|
Last week, BuzzFlash at Truthout pointed out the GOP leanings of Nancy Brinker and her tightly held governance of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. We provided evidence of Brinker's strong Republican donation ties, and the domination of the small (nine member) Komen board by Brinker's friends, Republican donors - and even her son.
In essence, the Komen Planned Parenthood debacle should not have been unexpected, as detailed in our exposes, since Brinker's return in late 2009.
Aside from leaning to the right since Brinker's return as CEO, there has been a long-standing complaint that Komen indulges in rampant "pinkwashing." This is the use of corporate "cause marketing" relationships with Komen, in return for donations to the foundation. (The Bank of America "pink ribbon" credit card is one such example.)
But it comes at a significant price, according to many observers. Take for instance a Mother Jones article that charges that Komen underplays the likely impact of toxic chemicals in causing breast cancer and other cancers. Why would Komen adopt such policies? Allegedly, according to Mother Jones, because many of its corporate sponsors would have their profits and images negatively affected by Komen recognizing the likely causal relationship.
Mother Jones gets to the specific issue, for example, of Komen having downplayed a relationship between BPA in plastics and cancer:
In April 2010 Komen posted an online statement saying that BPA had been "deemed safe." And a more recent statement on Komen's website about BPA, from February 2011, begins, "Links between plastics and cancer are often reported by the media and in email hoaxes." Komen acknowledges in its older statement that the Food and Drug Administration is doing more studies on BPA, but also says that there is currently "no evidence to suggest a link between BPA and risk of breast cancer."And how about Komen promoting another corporate "sponsor" by asking people to chow down on Kentucky Fried Chicken? Not so good for preventing breast cancer, according to one critic quoted in The New York Daily News:
"I think that's at best, misleading, and at worst, demonstrating really significant ignorance by whoever at the Komen Foundation wrote that," said University of Missouri biology professor and BPA expert Dr. Frederick vom Saal in a telephone interview, reacting to Komen's 2011 BPA statement. "When you think of this as a foundation that's out there supposedly protecting women from factors that are involved in breast cancer, I find that statement to be just astounding."
With the KFC and Susan G. Komen collaboration, as blogger Yoni Freedhoff of Weighty Matters points out, consumers who buy the buckets of chicken are likely to also buy fries, gravy and soda, too. "So, in effect, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is helping to sell deep-fried fast food and, in so doing, help fuel unhealthy diet and obesity across America, an odd plan given that diet and obesity certainly impact on both the incidence and recurrence of breast cancer," Freedhoff wrote. And suggested that a possible alternative would have been for KFC to just hand over a check for breast cancer research to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.And there are the flat out intimidation and scams that Komen is party to, according to Jezebel:
In 2010, they spent more than $1 million suing smaller charities that used the phrase "for the Cure" in their names or in their events. The organization said that this was to prevent donor confusion. One fundraising program encouraged socially mobile cancer fighters to battle cancer themselves by mailing in Yoplait tops in order to prompt the company to make a 10-cent donation. Postage at the time was 37 cents; Yoplait prices varied.A Minnesota Post article gets to the heart of pinkwashing:
Pinkwashing is the term used to describe when corporations claim to care about breast cancer by promoting "pink" products or a "pink ribbon" campaign (especially each October during "Breast Cancer Awareness Month") while continuing to sell products that are linked to the disease. (One notorious example from a few Octobers ago was a company that promoted "Pinky" vodka to women. Alcohol consumption is generally considered a risk factor for breast cancer....)There is no doubt that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation has done some positive things for women with breast cancer, research and prevention.
For several years, Komen - with the help of TPR Holdings, a New York-based company that makes many colognes and cosmetics and which donates $1 million a year to the charity - has marketed its own perfume, "Promise Me." It turns out, however, that the perfume contains several toxic chemicals (not listed on the label), including ones suspected of being carcinogenic. (Confronted with these findings, Komen said last fall that it is reformulating the perfume.)
But "Promise Me" has another problem. Like so many of the other pinkwashing products hawked by companies, not much of the perfume's purchase price actually goes to breast cancer research.
But there is also little doubt that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation has turned into a corporate branding machine that has, at times, by its very "cause marketing structure" valued enhancing the corporate profits of its sponsors over the negative impact on the development of breast cancer.
As one source noted in a Daily Beast column: "Komen plays hardball and is determined to stay on top," says a member of another cancer organization, who declined to be identified. "Let's be honest about all this: people think of breast cancer as a charity, but it's really a major business."
Mark Karlin
Editor BuzzFlash at Truthout
US Embassy in Syria Halts Operations as Violence Flares
Read the Article at The New York Times
Glenn Greenwald: US Drones Targeting Rescuers and Mourners
Read the Article at Salon
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Facebook’s New Timeline Feature: Will It Increase Users’ Risk of Identity Theft?
Facebook bills its new
Timeline feature as a virtual scrapbook—a chronology of your postings,
photos, and activity that allows you to remember what you were doing way
back when. But others view this new feature as an intrusion upon
users’ privacy. Previously, old Facebook postings seemed to vanish; you
had to work hard to find something you had posted years ago. But now,
Timeline will make it much easier for you or your “friends” to scroll
through a new biography of your online life—a digital dossier and
electronic archive of many of your best and worst memories and musings.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
A Perspective from Portland, Oregon: It is Google's world, but
A Perspective from Portland, Oregon: It is Google's world, but: I am not sure that I want to live there. Google is exhibiting all the negative characteristics found with the narcissistic megalomaniac. Whi...
STOP SUPPORTING SLAVE LABOR-STOP BUYING IPHONES
According to the New York Times,
workers at a factory in Shenzhen, China, owned by Foxconn (a
company that manufactures iPhones, iPads and other devices for
Apple) regularly work sixteen-hour, seven-day work weeks.
They stand until their legs swell and they can’t walk, and they perform repetitive motions on the production line for so long that some permanently lose the use of their hands. To cut costs, managers make workers use cheap chemicals that cause neurological damage. There has been a rash of suicides at the Foxconn plant, and 300 workers recently threatened to jump off the roof over a safety and pay dispute.
In short, as one former Apple executive told the New York Times, "Most people would be really disturbed if they saw where their iPhone comes from."
Mark Shields, a self-described member of the "cult of Mac," started a
petition on Change.org demanding Apple exert its influence on its
suppliers to improve working conditions for the factory workers
that make iPhones, iPads and other Apple products. Click here to sign Mark’s petition right now.
Apple knows it
can play an important role in ensuring safe and fair working
conditions for the workers at its suppliers, like Foxconn. In 2005,
the company released a supplier code of conduct, and it performs
hundreds of audits each year in China and around the world to confirm
its suppliers are meeting the code’s expectations.
But that’s where Apple’s commitment falters: the number of supplier violations has held steady year to year and Apple hasn’t consistently publicly stated which suppliers have problems or dropped offending suppliers.
The bottom line, Apple executives admit, is that they’re not being forced to change.
One current executive told the New York Times
that there’s a trade-off: "You can either manufacture in
comfortable, worker-friendly factories," he said, or you can "make
it better and faster and cheaper, which requires factories that
seem harsh by American standards. And right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China."
That means
public pressure is the only thing that can force Apple to ensure
its suppliers treat workers humanely. If enough people sign Mark’s
petition -- and tell Apple they care more about human beings than
they do about how fast the company can produce the next generation
iPhone -- the company could be convinced to make real change for
the workers at Foxconn and other factories.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
A Perspective from Portland, Oregon: Why not Occupy Apple?
A Perspective from Portland, Oregon: Why not Occupy Apple?: Doesn't Apple represent the antithesis of Occupy, of the working class, and of 'made in the USA?' Isn't Apple, like many others, just anothe...
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
TRUTHDIG
>> TRUTHDIG ORIGINAL REPORT:
Bill Blum on the Roberts Court"Three Supreme Court Cases That Should Worry You" -- If the Roberts court is consistent, 2012 could be remembered as a very bad year for working people, minorities and the poor.
>> TRUTHDIG ARTS AND CULTURE:
Mr. Fish on Hitchens"For Christopher Hitchens" -- It was like meeting a clown outside of his makeup, away from the hysteria of his profession, who appears lovely and handsome and noble, if only because he isn’t trapped in a spotlight at the center of a ludicrous pie fight.
>> SPECIAL REPORT:
Barbara Ehrenreich and John Ehrenreich on the Fall of the "Liberal Elite" "The Making of the American 99% and the Collapse of the Middle Class" -- Until a few months ago, the 99% was hardly a group capable of articulating “the identity of their interests.” It contained, and still contains, most “ordinary” rich people, along with middle-class professionals, factory workers, truck drivers, and miners, as well as the much poorer people who clean the houses, manicure the fingernails, and maintain the lawns of the affluent.
>> DON'T MISS THE BEST OF OUR SYNDICATED COLUMNISTS:
E.J. Dionne, Jr. on Blackballing Newt Gingrich"Newt and the Revenge of the Base" -- It is one of the true delights of a bizarrely entertaining Republican presidential contest to watch the apoplectic fear and loathing of so many GOP establishmentarians toward Newt Gingrich.
>> MOST READ ON OUR BLOG:
"30 Companies Paid Lobbyists More Than the IRS" -- An analysis by Public Campaign reveals that between 2008 and 2010, 30 of America’s most profitable companies, including Verizon, Wells Fargo, FedEx, GE and Mattel, spent more money buying influence in Washington than they did paying taxes. 
"Hedges on Hitchens" -- Though he gives credit to Christopher Hitchens’ exceptional talent, Chris Hedges remembers the newly departed writer differently from the way others might in this clip from CBC Radio. In an unflinching appraisal, Hedges recalls what Hitchens got wrong about religion, his biggest intellectual failing and what it was like to engage him in a debate. 
"Kim Jong Il Is Dead" -- North Korea’s current dictator has died. State television gives the cause of death as—and this is not a joke—exhaustion from working too hard. Kim succeeded his father in 1994 and has indicated that his third son is to take over the responsibility of oppressing the North Korean people.
THRUTHDIG
The War on Drug Addicts - and Everyone Else
Maya Schenwar, Truthout: "In at least 36 states, Republicans have introduced legislation requiring applicants to public assistance programs - including food stamps, unemployment benefits and heating subsidies - to pass a drug test before receiving help. They're selling it as a route to kill two societal ills with one budget-slashing stone. By erecting barriers to aid for all (and denying it to needy people suffering from addiction), these lawmakers claim they'll ameliorate both drug problems and economic hardship."
Read the Article
Kim Jong-il's Enigmatic Young Son Steps Forward, or Seems To
Martin Fackler, The New York Times News Service: "The only precedent is the last transition in the current ruling dynasty, when Kim Jong-il took over after the 1994 death of his father, Kim Il-sung. In that case, the son observed a three-year period of traditional mourning before formally taking over control of the nation, a move that reflects the regime's odd mixing of the trappings of ancient Confucian monarchy with a 20th-century Stalinist cult of personality."
Read the Article
Extension of Tax Cut Stalls in House as GOP Objects
Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times News Service: "The deal slid off the rails abruptly on Saturday, just hours after the Senate vote, when House Republicans balked after being briefed about the terms by their leaders. Even a sweetener provision to speed the decision process for construction of an oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast could not mollify them. Mr. Boehner had called the provision a 'victory.'"
Read the Article
Occupy Climate Change: Anjali Appadurai Says, "Get It Done"
J.A. Myerson, Truthout: "She took the opportunity to tell them, 'Now is not the time for incremental action. In the long run, these will be seen as the defining moments of an era in which narrow self-interest prevailed over science, reason and common compassion.' That might have been radical enough, but upon finishing, Appadurai stepped away from the microphone up to the apron of the stage and shouted, 'Mic check!'"
Read the Article
On the News With Thom Hartmann: The Tea Party Clown Show (Video)
In today's On the News segment: What the troops are coming home to after Iraq, GOP pollsters on the edge in Iowa, Occupy Wall Street marks its three-month anniversary, new record set for lightbulb eating and more.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Jim Hightower | Missoula's Supremely Important Vote
Jim Hightower, OtherWords: "Meanwhile, the national media paid no attention to another 'personhood' vote that took place on that same day. This was a referendum in Missoula, Montana, on a concept even more bizarre than declaring zygotes to be persons with full citizenship rights. It was a vote on overturning last year's democracy-killing decision by the US Supreme Court in the now-infamous Citizens United case."
Read the Article
Noam Chomsky | The US-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement Is "Part of a Global Program of World Militarization"
Noam Chomsky and the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers, Waging Nonviolence: "My own feeling is that the most important consequence of the very significant peace efforts that are underway inside Afghanistan might well be to stimulate popular movements in the West through just people to people contact, which would help impose pressures on the United States, and particularly Britain, to end the military phase of this conflict and move towards what ought to be done: peaceful settlement and honest, realistic economic development."
Read the Article
Without Autopsies, Hospitals Bury Their Mistakes
Marshall Allen, ProPublica: "As Royak-Schaler's husband, Jeffrey Schaler, discovered, even sudden unexpected deaths do not trigger postmortem reviews. Hospitals are not required to offer or perform autopsies. Insurers don't pay for them. Some facilities and doctors shy away from them, fearing they may reveal malpractice. The downward trend is well-known - it's been studied for years."
Read the Article
If We Listened to the Pundits, We Would Still Be British Subjects
David Gespass, Truthout: "Why, then, are similar protests in this country, inspired in many ways by the events in Tahrir Square, not similarly defended by the government? The right to protest is not dependent on the degree of oppressiveness of the government. It is a fundamental human right that cannot be limited without damage to the entire body politic."
Read the Article
The Cowardly Senator Wyden: Casting His Lot With Paul Ryan on Health Care
Dean Baker, Truthout: "A genuinely courageous senator from Oregon might stand up and suggest ways to get our payments more in line with the rest of the world. But some of the main beneficiaries of these overpayments are in the 1 percent. They are not interested in a solution to our health care cost problem that will reduce their income."
Read the Article
Click here for more Truthout articles
How would you vote on this constitutional amendment?
Yes, such an amendment to the Constitution would be all of the above.
But polling of the GOP right wing this year has shown about 70 percent or more of likely Republican voters support alternative realities that are no less absurd.
The strict constructionist wing of the Republican party has shown its fidelity to the nation's founding legal document by proposing more amendments to change the Constitution than you can shake a stick at.
Now, Newt Gingrich is running on a platform that includes a promise to defy Supreme Court decisions that he disagrees with should he become president. The Los Angeles Times reports:
That might return this alternate-universe voting bloc to some semblance of reality.
Mark Karlin,
Editor of BuzzFlash at Truthout
Fortune 500 CEOs See Average Pay Rise 36.5 Percent in 2010, While Report Indicates 1 of Every 2 Americans in or Near Poverty
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
Freedom Riders Return to Alabama
Read the Article at MSNBC
Payroll Tax Cut Extension in Doubt Amid House Republican Uproar
Read the Article at The Washington Post
Occupy the New Year
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
Inside The 1 Percent's Texas Enclave
Read the Article at Mother Jones
As US Troops Exit, Iraq's Political Crisis Deepens
Read the Article at McClatchy Newspapers
Newt Gingrich Would Send US Marshals to Arrest "Activist" Judges
Read the Article at ThinkProgress
Click here for more BuzzFlash headlines
Maya Schenwar, Truthout: "In at least 36 states, Republicans have introduced legislation requiring applicants to public assistance programs - including food stamps, unemployment benefits and heating subsidies - to pass a drug test before receiving help. They're selling it as a route to kill two societal ills with one budget-slashing stone. By erecting barriers to aid for all (and denying it to needy people suffering from addiction), these lawmakers claim they'll ameliorate both drug problems and economic hardship."
Read the Article
Kim Jong-il's Enigmatic Young Son Steps Forward, or Seems To
Martin Fackler, The New York Times News Service: "The only precedent is the last transition in the current ruling dynasty, when Kim Jong-il took over after the 1994 death of his father, Kim Il-sung. In that case, the son observed a three-year period of traditional mourning before formally taking over control of the nation, a move that reflects the regime's odd mixing of the trappings of ancient Confucian monarchy with a 20th-century Stalinist cult of personality."
Read the Article
Extension of Tax Cut Stalls in House as GOP Objects
Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times News Service: "The deal slid off the rails abruptly on Saturday, just hours after the Senate vote, when House Republicans balked after being briefed about the terms by their leaders. Even a sweetener provision to speed the decision process for construction of an oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast could not mollify them. Mr. Boehner had called the provision a 'victory.'"
Read the Article
Occupy Climate Change: Anjali Appadurai Says, "Get It Done"
J.A. Myerson, Truthout: "She took the opportunity to tell them, 'Now is not the time for incremental action. In the long run, these will be seen as the defining moments of an era in which narrow self-interest prevailed over science, reason and common compassion.' That might have been radical enough, but upon finishing, Appadurai stepped away from the microphone up to the apron of the stage and shouted, 'Mic check!'"
Read the Article
On the News With Thom Hartmann: The Tea Party Clown Show (Video)
In today's On the News segment: What the troops are coming home to after Iraq, GOP pollsters on the edge in Iowa, Occupy Wall Street marks its three-month anniversary, new record set for lightbulb eating and more.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Jim Hightower | Missoula's Supremely Important Vote
Jim Hightower, OtherWords: "Meanwhile, the national media paid no attention to another 'personhood' vote that took place on that same day. This was a referendum in Missoula, Montana, on a concept even more bizarre than declaring zygotes to be persons with full citizenship rights. It was a vote on overturning last year's democracy-killing decision by the US Supreme Court in the now-infamous Citizens United case."
Read the Article
Noam Chomsky | The US-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement Is "Part of a Global Program of World Militarization"
Noam Chomsky and the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers, Waging Nonviolence: "My own feeling is that the most important consequence of the very significant peace efforts that are underway inside Afghanistan might well be to stimulate popular movements in the West through just people to people contact, which would help impose pressures on the United States, and particularly Britain, to end the military phase of this conflict and move towards what ought to be done: peaceful settlement and honest, realistic economic development."
Read the Article
Without Autopsies, Hospitals Bury Their Mistakes
Marshall Allen, ProPublica: "As Royak-Schaler's husband, Jeffrey Schaler, discovered, even sudden unexpected deaths do not trigger postmortem reviews. Hospitals are not required to offer or perform autopsies. Insurers don't pay for them. Some facilities and doctors shy away from them, fearing they may reveal malpractice. The downward trend is well-known - it's been studied for years."
Read the Article
If We Listened to the Pundits, We Would Still Be British Subjects
David Gespass, Truthout: "Why, then, are similar protests in this country, inspired in many ways by the events in Tahrir Square, not similarly defended by the government? The right to protest is not dependent on the degree of oppressiveness of the government. It is a fundamental human right that cannot be limited without damage to the entire body politic."
Read the Article
The Cowardly Senator Wyden: Casting His Lot With Paul Ryan on Health Care
Dean Baker, Truthout: "A genuinely courageous senator from Oregon might stand up and suggest ways to get our payments more in line with the rest of the world. But some of the main beneficiaries of these overpayments are in the 1 percent. They are not interested in a solution to our health care cost problem that will reduce their income."
Read the Article
Click here for more Truthout articles
| TRUTHOUT'S BUZZFLASH DAILY HEADLINES | |
How would you vote on this constitutional amendment?
Amendment to the US Constitution: Any Tea Party Member Over 65 Who Denounces "Obama Socialism," But Threatens the Government "Not to Touch My Medicare" Should Immediately be Removed From Medicare and Placed Into "NewtCare."Preposterous, ludicrous, unlawful?
Yes, such an amendment to the Constitution would be all of the above.
But polling of the GOP right wing this year has shown about 70 percent or more of likely Republican voters support alternative realities that are no less absurd.
The strict constructionist wing of the Republican party has shown its fidelity to the nation's founding legal document by proposing more amendments to change the Constitution than you can shake a stick at.
Now, Newt Gingrich is running on a platform that includes a promise to defy Supreme Court decisions that he disagrees with should he become president. The Los Angeles Times reports:
Newt Gingrich says as president he would ignore Supreme Court decisions that conflicted with his powers as commander in chief, and he would press for impeaching judges or even abolishing certain courts if he disagreed with their rulings.Of course, true to the nature of this year's GOP cavalcade of narcissistic hypocrisy, Gingrich sidestepped a question about healthcare reform that hinted at the reality of his campaign of public policy molotov cocktails mixed with high-octane ego and ubiquitous double standards. According to the LA Times:
"I'm fed up with elitist judges" who seek to impose their "radically un-American" views, Gingrich said Saturday in a conference call with reporters.
But the former House speaker demurred when asked whether President Obama could ignore a high court ruling next year if it declared unconstitutional the new healthcare law and its mandate that all Americans have health insurance by 2014.Perhaps the best alternative is to let all the seniors on Medicare who are "anti-socialist-medicine" use "RonPaulCare" instead. It was at a September Republican debate that CNN's Wolf Blitzer pinned Paul down on what should happen to a young man without health insurance in dire medical need:
"But he doesn't have that [insurance]," Blitzer said. "He doesn't have it and he's - and he needs - he needs intensive care for six months. Who pays?"Yes, "PaulCare" it is for Republican seniors who want to get rid of "socialized medicine." No Medicare for that group. Give them the medicine that they advocate: no care.
"That's what freedom is all about: taking your own risks," Paul said, repeating the standard libertarian view as some in the audience cheered.
"But Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?" Blitzer asked.
"Yeah," came the shout from the audience.
That might return this alternate-universe voting bloc to some semblance of reality.
Mark Karlin,
Editor of BuzzFlash at Truthout
Fortune 500 CEOs See Average Pay Rise 36.5 Percent in 2010, While Report Indicates 1 of Every 2 Americans in or Near Poverty
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
Freedom Riders Return to Alabama
Read the Article at MSNBC
Payroll Tax Cut Extension in Doubt Amid House Republican Uproar
Read the Article at The Washington Post
Occupy the New Year
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
Inside The 1 Percent's Texas Enclave
Read the Article at Mother Jones
As US Troops Exit, Iraq's Political Crisis Deepens
Read the Article at McClatchy Newspapers
Newt Gingrich Would Send US Marshals to Arrest "Activist" Judges
Read the Article at ThinkProgress
Click here for more BuzzFlash headlines
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