Weekly Standard Publishes Hagiography To Koch Brothers, Doesn’t Disclose Financial Ties To Kochs

The ever-vigilant site ThinkProgress reports on the undisclosed conflicts of interest of the Weekly Standard and its reporters, and their misleading and disingenuous story.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/28/koch-weekly-standard/

Radioactive water spilling into tunnels beneath Japan's quake-damaged nuclear plant

None of the news coming out of Japan is very encouraging.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-sci-japan-reactor-damage-20110328,0,2784682.story?track=rss&utm_

Fukushima may end up as a concrete-encased ghost plant, says expert
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-28-fukushima-will-end-up-as-a-concrete-encased-ghost-plant-says-exp

American Thought Police

Krugman weighs in of the Wisconsin GOP's attempt to silence Professor Cronon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/opinion/28krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The American Historical Association Deplores Effort to Intimidate Professor Cronon.
http://blog.historians.org/news/1293/aha-council-deplores-recent-intimidation-efforts-aimed-at-cronon

The Fate That Geraldine Ferraro Didn't Deserve

I remember being outraged at the press reviews after the Vice-Presidendial debate with Bush I. I thought Geraldine had kicked ass...
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/democratic_party/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/03/26/geraldine_ferraro

Paul Stamets On 6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save The World

This is an incredible video from TedTalk of a lecture by mycologist, Paul Stamets. It's fascinating, both technical and historical in nature, and he demonstrates the power of these natural organisms to clean up toxins in six case studies. 
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world.html

Below is a link to The Nuclear Forest Recovery Zone - a plan developed by Stamets to remediate the radiation damage at Fukushima in part by planting mushrooms that use radiation as an energy source. Here are a few words thoughts from Stamets on the situation:
"The tragedy in Japan has brought into focus, for me, what we could do to help heal the ecosystem. I suggest a novel mycoremediation strategy: The Nuclear Forest Recovery Zone. This approach would be to utilize the abundant wood debris, chipping it, and placing the chipped wood over the most contaminated landscapes. Thereupon, trees with mycorrhizal mushrooms, native to Japan, would uptake and hyperaccumulate radioactive metals, a phenomenon brought into focus after Chernobyl where one mushroom, Gomphidius glutinosus, concentrated 10,000 x the background, ambient levels of cesium 137."
http://coalitionforpositivechange.com/stamets-fallout-mycoremediation.pdf

End Tax Breaks for Profitable Corporations

Bernie Sanders calls on Corporate America to pay their fair share of taxes and for the government to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas. Hopefully we will hear more and more about this until the laws are finally rewritten.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/end-tax-breaks-for-profit_b_841173.html

Ten Big Corporate Tax Breaks, and Who Benefits
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/02/09/10-Big-Corporate-Tax-Breaks.aspx

In Lawless Fitzwalkerstan: A Constitution Officer Refuses to Bend to a Royal Governor's Dictate

The Secretary of State, Doug LaFollette, restores some of the dignity that once was a hallmark of Wisconsin statehood.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/159511/lawless-fitzwalkerstan-constitution-officer-refuses-bend-royal-governor’s-dictate

Justice For Sale in Wisconsin

The Citizen's United ruling that allows unlimited contributions from corporation in political races had the effect of overturning a ban on corporate election spending that was enacted back in 1905. Now, the GOP is opening the floodgates to help their conservative candidate win the crucial April 4th election.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/25/wisconsin-justice-for-sale/

Fukushima Update: Situation Still Does Not Warrant Optimism

Greenpeace provides a technical update on the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima.
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/news-and-blogs/campaign-blog/fukushima-update-situation-does-not-warrant-o/blog/33957

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Suffers Historic Defeat in Referendum on Nuclear Energy

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/27/germany-merkel-nuclear-vote_n_841163.html

The Forgotten Millions

Paul Krugman wonders why all of the talk is about cutting the deficit rather than creating jobs. He calls it Herbert Hoover economics.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02EFDE1F3EF93BA25750C0A9679D8B63&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

A Short History of Conservative Voter Suppression Tactics

ThinkProgress reports on the history of poll taxes and voter ID laws designed to suppress turnout at the polls, and current efforts taking place in 22 states.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/27/report-from-poll-taxes-to-voter-id-laws-a-short-history-of-conservative-voter-suppression/

Billionaire Self-Pity and the Koch Brothers

Glenn Greenwald on the Koch brothers as a symbol of the death of American democratic values.  
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/03/27/koch?utm_

The WikiLeaks News and Views Update

Roundup of developments and resources related to ongoing WikiLeaks controversies.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/159500/wikileaks-news-views-blog-special-weekend-edition

New Hampshire Budget Cuts and Union-Busting Protests

Protestor's battle against budget cuts and efforts to bust unions by stripping collective bargaining rights, by storming the vote on legislation. There's a video of that event showing the votes for the bill.
http://politics.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979161699

Seismologist Warnings of Tsunami Risk to Fukushima Nuclear Plant Ignored by Tokyo Electric

Private industry and weak government regulators cannot be trusted with something as destructive as nuclear energy and its deadly waste products.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1628917.php/Report-Japan-nuclear-plant-operator-ignored-tsunami-warnings

Low-level radiation found in Massachusetts rainwater.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/27/radiation-rain-water-massachusetts-radioactive_n_841188.html

Court Allows Constitutional Challenge to New FISA Law

Warrantless surveillance, Obama's campaign lies, and the ACLU's revitalized legal challenge.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/03/21/aclu/index.html

ADHD: It's the Food, Stupid!

A ground-breaking study reported in The Lancet shows that food is the biggest causes of ADHD for 64% of patients. This is good news for families that want to avoid the serious side effects of drugs like Ritalin. This study was only reports by one mainstream media outlet...
http://civileats.com/2011/03/25/adhd-it’s-the-food-stupid/

What the Right Means When it Calls NPR 'Liberal'

Bill Moyers and Michael Winship debunk the claim that NPR is the left-wing opposite of the right-wing media machine. In fact, NPR is committed to an independent and balanced representation of the news. The Right is all about propaganda and misinformation. New word here, 'agnotology,' and it's a beauty.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/03/25/moyers_winship_npr

Five Fun Facts About the $14 Trillion National Debt

Republicans leave more debt than Democratics because of persistent tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations they've pushed through over the years. China owns only 10% of our debt. We are still paying for Vietnam and other wars. Don't believe the GOP rhetoric about fiscal responsibility - it's a code for corporate handouts and marginalizing the working class.
http://www.alternet.org/news/150371/five_fun_facts_about_the_$14_trillion_national_debt/?utm_

It's Time to Question Bioengineering

The video is from the TedTalk site which I recently discovered and it presents a chilling view of the future if the bioengineering industry cannot be reined in.  It appears that transgenic salmon is only the tip of the iceberg.
http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_root_wolpe_it_s_time_to_question_bio_engineering.html

"Shared Sacrifice" Is Rhetoric for Regressive Taxes in Michigan

Budget cuts throughout the nation purport to be about everybody pitching in to get out of the crisis, but it's really about business as usual. This means cutting services for people while maintaining massive corporate subsidies, allowing corporations to avoid their rightful tax burden, tax cuts for the wealthiest and, yes, incremental tax increases for the poor and middle class. 
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/must-read/rick-snyders-shared-sacrifice

Here's a piece from The Nation that explores the ongoing class war against the poor in general, and African-Americans in particular, that is fueled by budget cuts and the reduction of social programs around the country. 
http://www.thenation.com/blog/159391/skipping-class-blind-side-duke-michigan-uncle-tom-debate