Janet Napolitano is leaving the Dept. of Hysterical Security to head up….wait for it…the University of California, including Berkeley.…
While reading the article, I again ask myself, “why is one person head over natural disasters, the CDC, as well as security?”
…was on a sign protesting their continued more-for-us-less-for-you campaign. Thankfully, they were unsuccessful in their bullying tactics.
From the first link:
“From day one, we have said this legislation is arbitrary, discriminatory, and discourages investment in D.C.,” Alex Barron, a general manager for Wal-Mart whose region includes D.C., writes in a company statement. “It means most shopping dollars will stay in the suburbs, unemployment will remain in the double-digits in some neighborhoods and underserved communities will continue to have disproportionate access to affordable groceries.”
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I followed the last link to this:
The company’s hardball tactics come out of a well-worn playbook that involves successfully using Wal-Mart’s leverage in the form of jobs and low-priced goods to fend off legislation and regulation that could cut into its profits and set precedent in other potential markets. In the Wilson Building, elected officials have found their reliable liberal, pro-union political sentiments in conflict with their desire to bring amenities to underserved neighborhoods.
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I just can’t understand the thinking that losing Wal-Mart is a bad thing? Good Riddance to a big box store that pays poor wages, encourages employees to apply for food stamps, guts entire towns that were once full of independent small business owners, and imports cheap plastic crap from China, where again, people are paid low wages (which I know are beginning to rise, but still…).
Judge Jeffrey White is allowing the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to move forward. Don’t fly in any small air craft, judge. Or drive a car...
From the EFF website:
“The court rightly found that the traditional legal system can determine the legality of the mass, dragnet surveillance of innocent Americans and rejected the government’s invocation of the state secrets privilege to have the case dismissed,” said Cindy Cohn, EFF’s Legal Director. “Over the last month, we came face-to-face with new details of mass, untargeted collection of phone and Internet records, substantially confirmed by the Director of National Intelligence. Today’s decision sets the stage for finally getting a ruling that can stop the dragnet surveillance and restore Americans’ constitutional rights.”
This is not good. It is just mindboggling that anyone could possibly think Nuclear energy is cost effective and SAFE. It is neither. It is the biggest energy scam ever. It is unsustainable.
Billions of dollars spent on this black hole could have been used to develop and promote solar energy. It could have been used to sponsor classes of off-grid energy for the public….but no…
common dreams has this link up on the octopus of GMO corn and the emerging super bugs that are resistant to the pesticides….
…and of course, their answer is to….throw more pesticides after them.
We all saw this coming, so why are Monsanto and Syngenta still allowed to market this monster?
Congress, can you hear the American public that you love to *quote* all the time? Can you hear us above the *clink* of money in your pocket? (Be sure to click on the media link and its pathetic and sometimes belittling coverage).
Vilsack, can you cut your ties with Monsanto and do what is right for the environment and our health?
Here’s a report about GMO’s in the waterways in my own backyard. This is a freaking nightmare.
As a side note, here’s an article on aerial spraying and untested chemicals. Gees-o-pete, does anyone stand up to the chemical industry??
…grows in the dark….is what passed in my head while reading this.
I just can’t wrap my brain around this. The hubris is just beyond me. What gives us the right?
From the last post, Center for Media and Democracy has this up on filing suit for Ethics investigation of unreported gifts.
I really wanted to get access to the Financial Times article that includes John Kerry’s dirty fingers in the pie, but I don’t have a subscription….can Kerry get any farther from the Vietnam protester that he once was? What the hell happened to him?
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Here is a group fighting back against the privatization of public interests. What bothers me about this is that I don’t see language here that expressly denies privatization, but rather, it seeks to make more stringent rules. Making rules is good, don’t get me wrong, but to me, privatization should be illegal when taxpayers have already foot the bill for building roads (and keeping them maintained with paving and such); when taxpayers paid for parking meters; when taxpayers built huge water reservoirs, when taxpayers paid for library books that are now being dumped and then sold by so-called ‘friends of the library”…and on….
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Nine state legislators were flown on a chartered flight and…well, you can read the rest here.
From the article:
The tar sands of Alberta are estimated to be the third largest reserve of crude oil on the planet. But the process of turning the tar-like bitumen into a refined product that can be used as fuel is extremely energy intensive and highly polluting. The former NASA scientist James Hansen, warned that the extraction and use of Canadian tar sands would mean “game over” for the climate. TransCanada is the operator of the proposed KXL pipeline, which would carry the tar sands to Texas for processing and likely for exports to markets abroad.
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I think it’s really important to highlight NASA scientist James Hansen’s statement on this because most folk think that folks who believe in climate change are “fringe” liberals, when they’re not. Dr. Hansen is a prime example of that.
More:
TransCanada, which is a member of ALEC, sponsored ALEC’s Spring Task Force Summit in Oklahoma City in May 2013, alongside other corporations with tar sands interests including BP, Devon Energy and Koch Industries. TransCanada’s Vice President Corey Goulet presented to legislators at the conference during a session called “Embracing American Energy Opportunities.“
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Dimon stayed in touch with Adams’ office over the proceeding months, providing his staff with further materials about Keystone XL, including a set of talking points stamped with the TransCanada logo.
By February 14, Adams had an updated draft that had been reviewed by the Ohio legislative service commission, the non-partisan body that assists legislators with drafting legislation. Adams staffer Ryan Crawford sent this language to Rob Eshenbaugh, a lobbyist with Ohio Petroleum Council, the state affiliate of the American Petroleum Institute. “Please let me know if I can be of further assistance,” Crawford wrote to the lobbyist. Eshenbaugh responded with some requested changes, which Crawford then incorporated into the bill.
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So…yeah….pretty glaring examples of not so subtle bribery. Unethical. Unethical. Unethical.
I have something of a quibble with the story saying that the XL has become a national issue….where were you when Enbridge was getting the northwest Indiana pipeline approved even though it runs near Lake Michigan and other sources of water? Does anyone know why Indiana is ignored? I’d like to know why we don’t matter….somebody tell me, please.
Thomas Burr, a *cough* reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune, was on CSPAN this morning telling everyone what paranoids they are…the NSA is not spying on you, they are just gathering data.
And that 1 million square foot facility in Utah? Pshaw…it’s only got a tiny, tiny bit of space devoted to that data.
And they *only* have 200 employees for that giant space (well…as far as we know….the exact number is…you guessed it…secret.)
And they’re not analyzing the data collected. Really. Would he lie to you? Why are you so paranoid? You probably need to take something for that. /extra snarky
And when a caller point blank said this was illegal and needs to be stopped, Burr spent the next few minutes speaking in double speak evading the question she asked about the legality of it.
Center for Media and Democracy has this up on Bill Moyers covering the dirty dealings of American Legislative Exchange Council. It states that this was all over the nation on PBS stations this weekend. If it was on my local station, I saw no advertisement of it, so I missed it. (Boy, do I miss FW, which has such a kick butt public radio station, and three PBS stations, as well. )
Luckily, there is a link here to watch the show online. Also, there is a link for finding out which of your own state’s representatives belong to ALEC. I found a couple of surprises, there, such as Win Moses, who was the former mayor of Fort Wayne, and John Gregg, the guy who just ran for governor. Mike Pence was not listed, but yeah, he seems to be doing their bidding:
mikepence.com/newsletter/pence-hires-atkins-policy-director
See…this exposure of ALEC is a double-edged sword–you’re getting the word out and people are paying attention, but they (ALEC) will find ways around it by people who are off in the wings, such as Atkins.
Eagle 
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