Monday, April 25, 2011

Walker: Too Many Recalls 'Makes It Very Hard' To Get Things Done

One can imagine that if Walker had his way e would undermine the Wisconsin laws that permit recalls of politicians in the state. It's too bad that he feels it's difficult to govern in this environment which he created with an all-out attack on the working people of Wisconsin and particularly public sector unions. Perhaps he underestimated the capacity of the public to act in a democracy but now he must deal with the consequences of the GOP power grab. It appears the people would prefer a government that has the best interests of people rather than corporate interests in mind.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/walker-too-many-recalls-makes-it-very-hard-to-get-things-done.php?ref=fpi

'Gitmo Files' Finally Released by WIkiLeaks -- But 'NYT' Got Its Own Copy

The NYT is going to town on the Guantanamo cables released by WikiLeaks, though they did not receive the data directly from the transparency group. It's important to realize that this information would not be in the public domain if it were not for the actions of WikiLeaks and its collaborators. 
http://www.thenation.com/blog/160134/gitmo-files-finally-released-wikileaks-nyt-got-its-own-copy

An Empire of Autocrats, Aristocrats and Uniformed Thugs Begins to Totter

A comprehensive essay on the decline of the American Empire as evidenced by upheaval in the Middle East and the increasing reliance on military intervention to effect global policy.
http://www.thenation.com/article/160146/empire-autocrats-aristocrats-and-uniformed-thugs-begins-totter

Hidden Handouts to Corporations Found in Walker’s Budget

Two hidden details have been discovered in Governor Walker's Wisconsin budget that constitute a major handout to corporations operating in the state. Designed to close "Las Vegas loopholes" that allowed corporations to avoid paying taxes through accounting tricks, the law had been passed by a Democratic legislature in 2009. Walker now has moved to invalidate the provision through the budget austerity measure even though it would cost the state a significant amount of revenue! It's embarrassing, really, how callous and devious these Republican hacks for blind corporate can be...
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/04/10644/hidden-handouts-corporations-found-walker’s-budget

Banking Groups Stir Consumer Fears on Debit Card Regulations via Twitter

Banks have succeeded in delaying implementation of Dodd-Frank rules cutting the amount merchants would pay banks (with over $10 billion in assets) on debit card transactions. Over 100 lobbyists have been fighting this and other legislation concerning bank reform and banks are continuing to lobby consumers directly through dissembling twitter messages.
http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/banking-groups-stir-consumer-fears-on-debit-card-regulations-via-twitter

Media Ignores Energy Breakthrough: Worry-Free Nuclear Power

This is an incredible story and the first that I've heard about the Energy Catalyzer, a cold-fusion device that safely produces clean energy in a process utilizing nickel dust and the hydrogen from water. It is going into commercial production in Greece and has been written about in the Baltic and European press but has received little, if any, mainstream attention in the US.
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/04/10661/media-ignores-energy-breakthrough-worry-free-nuclear-power

Green diary rescue: Oakland seeks to defeat pollution and poverty

Two years of activism in Oakland resulted in an Energy and Climate Action Plan to accelerate the city's installation of sustainable energy capacity and create jobs. 
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/23/969633/-Green-diary-rescue:-Oakland-seeks-to-defeat-pollution-and-poverty?utm

Should kids be exposed to more or less toxic pollution?

The limits of my knowledge about what's really going on in the world continue to amaze me. A case in point is the fact that major polluters, such as power plants, cement kilns and other industrial plants, have never been effectively forced to reduce the toxic emissions they put into the air. The EPA has proposed stringent new rules to finally clean up polluters, through existing and affordable technology that would vastly improve the health of millions of Americans, but the GOP is going all out to weaken the proposed regulations.
http://www.grist.org/pollution/2011-04-13-should-kids-be-exposed-to-more-or-less-toxic-pollution

How Socialists Built America


This in-depth piece examines the influence of socialists in American politics and acknowledges the major contributions that they've made to the evolution of American capitalism in the form of democracy.


"Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy were not socialists. But the nation benefited from their borrowing of socialist and social democratic ideas. Barack Obama is certainly not a socialist. But he, and the nation he leads, would be well served by a similar borrowing from the people who once imagined Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the War on Poverty."
http://www.alternet.org/news/150683/how_socialists_built_america/?page=1