Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult

This is a brilliant analysis of the current political mess in America, painstakingly breaking down the motives behind GOP obstructionism and the Party's cow-towing to wealthy and corporate interests. It's an important document that should be widely distributed if there is any hope that the misinformed public may someday wake up and stand up for their interests and future well-being.
http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779

GOP Backs Insurance Industry-Friendly, Anti-Consumer Bills

This piece from PR Watch should come as no surprise to anyone following the increasingly blatant handiwork of Congressional Republican efforts to increase profits for their corporate benefactors at the expense of working Americans. What amazes me is that millions of working class people support a party that explicitly works against their own interests, in this case consumer protections related to healthcare spending. Democrats often cave to corporate influence as well but they are far less brazen in their capitulations.
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/09/11029/gop-backs-insurance-industry-friendly-anti-consumer-bills

Medical Societies Maintain Secret Financial Ties to Drug Companies

A short primer on the revolving doors and conflicts of interest that renders the integrity of various medical societies suspect. Emanating from ill-conceived clinical trials and the manipulation of dubious data to promote drug sales, Big Pharma willfully sacrifices public health in the pursuit of massive profits. One need only to look into the case of Vioxx to get a taste of Big Pharma's medicine and what it can do to unsuspecting and trusting patients.
http://www.naturalnews.com/033583_financial_ties_medical_societies.html

How Bad is the Drought in Texas, Really?

Mike adams, who lives in Austin, reports on the Texas drought for Natural News, and puts forth several initiatives that would mitigate future droughts and help build more sustainable soil for farming in that critically arid state.
http://www.naturalnews.com/033500_Texas_drought.html

Good Jobs

On Labor Day we should all reflect on the current anti-labor agendas being pushed in a number of states designed to strip collective bargaining right from workers and strengthen the position of corporations and industry at the expense of working Americans. While the USA is still considered a wealthy country its population is becoming poorer and increasingly unemployed. The dialogue is off the mark in Washington and it's clear that massive jobs programs, in the form of infrastructure investment, is the key to ending the recession and reigniting economic growth. Unions are not the problem in America but rather its the reckless profit-driven corporations and their political enablers who are ripping out the heart and soul of our democracy and co-opting the American Dream.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-p-hoffa/good-jobs_b_948850.html

Science Stunner: Editor of Journal that Published Flawed Denier Bunk Apologizes, Resigns, Slams Spencer for Exaggerations

This is a very interesting piece about the manipulated science and false claims behind climate denier attempts to debunk established science on global warming. In this case a journal published and, after public criticisms through discussion groups, lifted a position paper that broke all the rules for credible research and analysis.

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/09/02/310889/editor-denier-bunk-resigns-spencer/

Stung by the President on Air Quality, Environmentalists Weigh Their Options

This follow-up to the Obama Administration's recent actions offers a glimmer of hope for the strong-willed and passionate citizens committed to sustained activism on environmental issues. The undeniable evidence that the President is weak on pollution and climate change has led to a determination on the part of environmental groups to fight through sustained public action and lawsuits to force the government to comply with existing statutes and to institute more stringent regulations to protect public health and counter climate change. No progressive legislation has ever been accomplished without a fight and it's clear that the Administration cannot be trusted to do what they have promised to do.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/science/earth/04air.html?hp

Nuclear Expert Says Fukushima Radiation Coming to USA, Massive Cover-up Under Way

The US government has not been vigilantly testing for radiation fallout from Fukushima, and estimates have been systematically scaled back in an effort to calm public fears from the dangers of the disaster. There are significant long-term risks from elevated radiation levels that are currently hard to quantify because the Japanese and American governments are politically committed to downplaying the event. Isn't it odd that these reactors continue to leak radiation, and that massive amounts of radioactive water continue to be dumped into the Pacific Ocean, but there is next to zero coverage of the issue in the mainstream media? If politics nuclear energy were not influencing government's handling of this catastrophe, wouldn't we be hearing more about the continuing radiation releases and coverage about methods to mitigate danger from increased radiation levels in our food, water and air?
http://www.naturalnews.com/033481_Fukushima_radiation.html

Farm Wars posted this 60-minute video featuring nuclear expert Dr. Michio Kaku on the long-term fallout and health risks posed by radiation leaking from the three reactors that melted down in Japan.
http://farmwars.info/?p=6870&utm

Is the Obama Administration Putting Corporate Profits Above Public Health?

The before and after picture above compelling demonstrates the horror of the tar sand coal mines that Obama has embraced by approving the Keystone pipeline project. Robert Redford lays it all out in a crisp and passionate report.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-redford/keystone-epa-obama-2012_b_947515.html

New WikiLeaks Cables Show US Diplomats Promote Genetically Engineered Crops Worldwide

A new batch of WikiLeaks diplomatic cables lays bare the US Government's interest in aggressively pushing genetically engineered crops in both developed and developing countries. In particular, these documents show that our government is trying to subvert resistance to biotechnology in France where there is an active opposition. In America, unfortunately, there is very little attention given to this topic and most people seem not to care about the issue. In my opinion the biotech GE and GM crops, trees  and animals already in production and in development represent one of the biggest threats we face on the planet in terms of agricultural diversity and the quality of the food we depend on for human health.
http://civileats.com/2011/08/30/new-wikileaks-cables-show-us-diplomats-promote-genetically-engineered-crops-worldwide/

The 5 Dumbest Right-Wing Reactions to Hurricane Irene

I've been out of town for a bit and haven't posted in a while. Though the entire system seems largely broken to me it's still remarkable, in my view, how delusional and reactionary the Tea Party folks on the right continue to be. The rhetoric is deafening and the logic in virtually all of their arguments and policy positions is wholly porous. Reactions from the right to the government response to Hurricane Irene is a case in point.
http://www.alternet.org/news/152202/the_5_dumbest_right-wing_reactions_to_hurricane_irene/?page=1

Sorry, NY Times: GMOs still won’t save the world

The hollow promises of industrial agriculture and the biotech industry reverberate throughout mainstream media with percussive regularity through spurious claims that GMOs are the only way to feed the world. Yet, numerous studies by reputable international organizations and sustainable farming projects refute this pernicious talking point promoted by the biotech industry. This piece, which originated at Civil Eats and was cross-posted by Grist, provides some push back on this critical issue.
http://www.grist.org/industrial-agriculture/2011-08-20-why-gmos-wont-save-world-nina-federoff-new-york-times

Groups Sue to Uproot GE Crops from Southeast Wildlife Refuges

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/groups-sue-to-uproot-ge-crops-from-southeast-wildlife-refuges/

Japan Ignored Government's Radiation Forecast - Misinformed Citizens

A video news report form the HuffPost that documents how officials misled the public about fallout nearby Fukushima, and the presence of radiation in the nation's beef supply.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/09/japan-ignore-own-radiation-forecast_n_922263.html

Court Rules Organic Farmers Can Sue Conventional, GMO Farmers Whose Pesticides 'Trespass' and Contaminate Their Fields

An important legal ruling has come out of a long-standing dispute in Minnesota where a large organic farm was continually contaminated by a nearby pesticide co-op. The decision, if ultimately upheld (one worries about the US Supreme Court on this point), could be an important precedent for limiting the spread of GMOs and the genetic and chemical contamination they threaten to organic and non-GMO farmers.
http://www.NaturalNews.com/033216_GMO_contamination_lawsuits.html

GMOs Failing Across America - Farmer to Farmer Film Reveals Disastrous Failure

This Natural News bulletin summarizes many of the emerging issues concerning GM crops and the emergence of Roundup -resistant weeds and other issues that threaten American farmers. The story includes a link to a film with more details about these issues that the mainstream media is ignoring.
http://www.NaturalNews.com/033264_farmers_GMOs.html

Timeline of FDA Raids Raw Milk Farmers, Dietary Supplement Makers, and Natural Medicine Practitioners

Natural News has compiled a list of FDA raids on natural food and supplement businesses that dates from 1985. The often warrantless actions of the agency are stunning to contemplate and demonstrate a clear bias by the FDA against these providers who essentially compete with the pharmaceutical industry for therapeutic business. In a country where 100,000 die each year from Big Pharma's FDA-approved medicines, and no one dies from raw milk and few, if any, from vitamin supplements, the FDA's actions beg the question of whether the rogue agency is serving the public interest or that of the pharmaceutical industry.
http://www.naturalnews.com/033280_FDA_raids_timeline.html

Wisconsin Recalls Replace Two Republican Senators in a Rebuke to Governor's Anti-Labor Agenda

I admit to a bit of let down after learning that the recall elections in Wisconsin only resulted in the defeat of two of the six Republican State Senators there by Democrats, leaving anti-labor Governor Walker with a one vote majority. Then I learned that all of these races were in heavily Republican districts and that even the losses were extremely competitive. In fact, the successful recall of these two Walker allies was a remarkable triumph for democracy and the ability of ordinary people to effect change in government. The result is even more stunning in light of the fact that it was the first Citizen's United election which saw millions upon millions of dollars, and the predictable propaganda, pour into the state from outside conservative organizations funded by the Koch brothers and other groups. If they Democrats can hold the seats of two state senators facing recall next week then they will be able to aggressively challenge the Governor's agenda and curtail some of his autocratic power and move on to the next goal, recalling the Governor himself.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/162654/wisconsin-recalls-replace-two-republican-senators-rebuke-governors-anti-labor-agenda

Handicapping the Wisconsin Recall Elections

Mother Jones handicaps the Wisconsin GOP recall elections that will take place tomorrow. The Dems need to win three seats, and defend their own candidates recall elections net week, to regain control of the Wisconsin State Assembly and slow down the anti-labor forces of the Walker Administration. I'm excited to see how this all turns out and am hopeful for a resounding victory for the people of the state. Watch out for election fraud and dirty tricks on Tuesday...
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/handicapping-wisconsin-recall-elections

A more detailed analysis by AlterNet on the recalls. It turns out that one Democrat has already successfully defended his seat in an election. Tuesday could become a monumental day in United States history, and demonstrate that the foundation of our democracy still has some kick left.
http://www.alternet.org/news/151927/will_voters_boot_wisconsin_republicans_7_things_to_know_about_tuesday's_recall_elections/?utm

Credibility, Chutzpah And Debt

Paul Krugman deconstructs the latest development in the hoopla of debt in this country. S & P, of course, was partly responsible for the mortgage crisis fiasco which triggered the economic downturn that has exacerbated debt problems, when it maintained high credit ratings for financial institutions that were on the brink of collapse in 2008. Krugman also points out that US debt problems could be solved rather easily if we were able to cut health care costs and raise revenues from the wealthy and corporations that was more in line with what other industrialized countries have done. Of course, the extremist right that has gummed up the political scene are hellbent on stopping that sort of sensible action.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/opinion/credibility-chutzpah-and-debt.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

A Tainted Water Well, and Concern There May Be More

The CEO of ExxonMobil stated emphatically to Congress that there had never a documented case of groundwater contamination from natural gas fracking. Actually, it turns out that there is one such case as well as hundreds of others in which the details of the case and settlement terms have been sealed by a court. Such sealed settlements are the subject of a bill before Congress that would require judges to consider public safety and health before agreeing to seal the settlement. Such sealed cases have frustrated the EPA's efforts to research the safety of fracking, as well as many others who have sought records. If fracking is so safe, as the government and industry claims, then why is there so much secrecy. With fracking post-2002, exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act, drilling operators are not even required to tell regulators or the public what chemicals they are using in the process. Reportedly over 600 chemicals are pumped into the ground during deep shale drilling, and as you can see in the excellent documentary, Gasland, many of them migrate into water supplies along with escaped natural gas. And, by the way, natural gas fracking is not a clean alternative to oil and gas, as a Cornell study established earlier this year. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/us/04natgas.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss