Tuesday, January 31, 2012

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

Friday, January 6, 2012

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

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

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

Monday, January 2, 2012

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/