It's remarkable who much life today imitates the art of the past. This piece marking the passing of Ray Bradbury says it better than I ever could. I couldn't agree more with his critique of futuristic and now modern society. Check it out...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/opinion/uncle-rays-dystopia.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Lobbyists, Guns and Money

Paul Krugman puts the spotlight on ALEC, the conservative corporate-backed legislative organization, and its role in a host of America's most destructive trends. These include the Stand Your Ground law in Florida (backed by the NRA, that resulted in the death of Trayvon Martin), union-busting, tax breaks for the one percent, environmental degradation, and the privatization war to capture public sector revenue and jobs for the crony capitalists who are destroying the country. We've got to call out Coca-Cola, ATT and others who play nice to the public while orchestrating systematic exploitation of the people's rights and interests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/opinion/krugman-lobbyists-guns-and-money.html?ref=opinion

Big Nuclear's cosy relationship with the Obama administration

Here's a recent article by Amy Goodman that details how the US government, on both sides of the aisle, is in bed with the nuclear industry and determined to push new reactors on the public despite the risks and astronomical financial cost - all with the help of public subsidies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/mar/08/big-nuclear-cosy-relationship-obama-administration

Nuclear Disaster in Japan Was Avoidable, Critics Contend

The political and economic system in Japan was set up by the US following WW II and shares many similarities with our capitalist model. In the US today, as in Japan, government agencies consider their constituencies to be industry rather than the public interest. We see this time and again, particularly in the nuclear industry where guidelines are often written by industry insiders to accommodate their business priorities and facilitate profits. This often comes at the expense of public safety concerns. This article presents a compelling example of how such collusion between government officials and industry can pose great risk to populations. The NRC in America just approved construction for a nuclear plant in Georgia without requiring safety provisions to protect against natural disasters. TEPCO and nuclear regulators in Japan ignored repeated warnings from engineers that Fukushima was vulnerable to tsunamis up to fifty feet high, making the nuclear disaster that ensued, in fact, preventable.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/10/world/asia/critics-say-japan-ignored-warnings-of-nuclear-disaster.html?hp

Romney Isn’t Concerned

Of course, there are so other major issues to consider these days that I am reluctant to even pay attention to the dysfunctional and disruptive goings-on in the Republican primary race. Nonetheless, Mitt Romney's revealing comments about the plight of the poor and Paul Krugman's explanation of how he would further undercut the disadvantaged through his tax policies, is a worthy read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/opinion/krugman-romney-isnt-concerned.html?ref=opinion

We'll Frack Alberta's Next Election, Vow Landowners

Exemptions to environmental laws to allow fracking have already caused enormous contamination damage to groundwater throughout North America. This piece details what's going on in Alberta, and the political backlash gaining steam there.
http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/01/25/Landowners-Against-Fracking/

Repeal HPV Vaccine for Girls—Not a Dream: Commonwealth of Virginia House of Delegates Passed Such a Bill

Virginia, the first state to require the HPV vaccine for young girls is now the first to repeal the requirement, because of major and life-threatening adverse reactions.
http://vactruth.com/2012/01/28/virginia-repeal-hpv-vaccine/

‘Gasland’ director arrested for filming in Congress

Josh Fox has really been working hard to keep the heat, and the camera, on the fracking industry and its Congressional pals. Hopefully this incident, in which representatives denied credentials to ABC and Fox to shoot a public hearing, will backfire on the Oil & Gas industry and its GOP apologists.
http://grist.org/list/gasland-director-arrested-for-filming-in-congress/

Protein propaganda: It’s what’s for dinner

I've always loved a medium-rare steak but I don't really don't like being lied to about it by the government and the meat industry.
http://grist.org/food/protein-propaganda-its-whats-for-dinner/

Why Is a Monsanto Lobbyist Serving as the FDA’s Food Safety Czar?

It is a travesty that Michael Taylor, a former high-profile lobbyist for Monsanto, is the second highest-ranking official in the FDA. He's been actively persecuting small farmers and food co-ops with armed raids while pushing through new GMO crops and protecting the food industry rather than public health. The story includes a link to sign a petition calling for Taylor's dismissal. I'd love to see that happen in a second Obama Administration.
http://ecowatch.org/2012/action-why-is-a-monsanto-lobbyist-serving-as-the-fdas-food-safety-czar/

FDA Hacks Whistleblowers to Protect Industry Interests

The FDA is seriously compromised in its mission to protect public health from the dangers of pharmaceuticals and food products. This incident, in which the agency persecuted and ultimately fired scientists acting to protect the public, is just the latest example of what has become a rogue federal agency.
http://www.naturalnews.com/034824_FDA_scientists_hacking_whistleblowers.html

Here is a petition site if you would like to register your dissatisfaction with the FDA's actions in this case.
http://www.whistleblowers.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1333

Most of the Washington Post's story that broke this news.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fda-staffers-sue-agency-over-surveillance-of-personal-e-mail/2012/01/23/gIQAj34DbQ_story.html?sub=AR

Folklorist’s Global Jukebox Goes Digital

This is an amazing story with an inspiring and empowering legacy. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/arts/music/the-alan-lomax-collection-from-the-american-folklife-center.html?hp

Organizers Say 1 Million Signed Petition to Recall Wisconsin Governor

This is inspiring to me. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/us/organizers-say-1-million-signed-petition-to-recall-gov-walker-in-wisconsin.html?hp

Bain, Barack and Jobs

Krugman drills down on the fallacy of Mitt Romney's jobs creation claims. When he examine the facts behind Romney's assertions the truth of his legacy emerges - that he profited from throwing good paying jobs in the toilet at the expense of the middle class.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/opinion/bain-barack-and-jobs.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Bring Back Boring Banks

The banking industry has too much power and not nearly enough transparency. Since the repeal of the Glass-Steagal Act in 1999, at the urging of Clinton's Treasury Sec'y Robert Rubin, markets have become so corrupted and unstable as to recall the circumstances of the Great depression that led to the law that separated commercial and investment banking back in 1933. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/opinion/bring-back-boring-banks.html?ref=opinion

Obama's recess appointment to head the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, in response to GOP stonewalling, is a step in the right direction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/us/politics/richard-cordray-named-consumer-chief-in-recess-appointment.html?hp

Why the Food Movement Should Occupy Wall Street

The imbalance of power resulting from unfettered corporate influence in agriculture and disruptive speculation in the financial industry affects the world's population in myriad ways, including the quality and price of food. This Civil Eats feature neatly makes the connection between monopolistic corporate control of the food system and deregulation in the agricultural markets to reveal how the world's food supply has been co-opted by big business. It's essential reading for anyone who realizes that "you are what you eat," and believes that we vote with our forks and food choices every day.
http://civileats.com/2011/10/13/why-the-food-movement-should-occupy-wall-street/

Here is a roundup of the food issues Civil Eats covered in 2011, including a top-ten list of the eye-opening pieces that got the most traffic on their site during the year.
http://civileats.com/2011/12/30/see-ya-2011-hello-2012-a-civil-eats-story-round-up/