Daily Music Selection
Written by Richard Eskow Fire all the janitors and make poor kids clean their schools? Zap Korea with an airborne superlaser that’s never worked during testing? Ignore global warming and plan to re-engineer the entire planet with untested technology instead? People like Maureen Dowd have been having fun with Newt Gingrich’s wackier ideas lately. But despite their snarky comments – and the fact that some of Gingrich’s ideas truly are bizarre – they’re missing something important and making a fundamental mistake. They’re seriously underestimating both Gingrich and the “Insane Idea Industry” he represents. The Shock of the Newt
Written by Timothy Gardner for Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drilling fluids from a company employing a technique known as “fracking” likely polluted an aquifer in Wyoming, environmental regulators said in a draft report that could blow apart industry claims the process has never led to water contamination. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s investigation into the polluted aquifer could have wide implications on a booming industry that has promoted hydraulic fracturing as way to dramatically wean the United States off gas and oil imports. The agency said “the best explanation” for the pollution in the wells inPavillion, Wyoming was that fluids from hydraulic fracturing contaminated the aquifer. The EPA, however, noted that Wyoming was much more vulnerable to water contamination from fracking chemicals than other areas because drilling there often takes place much closer to the surface than in other states. In the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania, which is also experiencing a drilling boom, drilling occurs much farther below water sources, which could make pollution from fluids harder to migrate into aquifers.
Written by Richard Eskow Lately we’ve been hearing some strong words from the President about Wall Street crime. But when the cameras and lights aren’t around, his Administration’s been working feverishly to protect bankers from state law enforcement officials. Six conscientious Attorneys General believe the law applies to everyone. While they’re working to bring justice to Wall Street, White House officials are obstructing them by pushing a sweetheart deal with the banks that would end their investigations and prevent them from prosecuting crooked bankers. If more people knew what was happening, the White House would be flooded with calls and emails demanding that it stop protecting Wall Street. It’s still not too late for that. The Evidence
“The memes that drive our perception are no longer similar enough for us to even have a calm, cordial discussion about up and down, or black and white.” Written by SmokingMan For most of the past two decades, if not longer, the United States – and indeed, much of the world – has been paralyzed by internal political, social and conceptual contradictions that border on schizophrenia. Competition, antagonism and a dualistic mindset have been taken to extremes, with every issue and every event portrayed in stark black-and-white tones, as a winner-takes-all battle between opposites in which middle ground is barely even seen as an option, much less sought out or cultivated. Politics has been particularly polar, with the meme of red states and blue states, liberals or conservatives, Republicans or Democrats; every issue and every campaign reduced in meaning to the rhetorical simile of a horse race or a boxing match. Metaphors about a “cultural divide,” a “clash of civilizations” or even “class warfare” feed the divisive mindset, and make it more difficult for those seeking common ground or mutual understanding. Yet for all the efforts of media and the two-party political infrastructure to encourage this polarization, these divisions were…
Written by Jim Burns A few years ago, I was extremely disappointed to see that the government’s participation in space-related ventures was being phased out. I wondered how they could be so short-sighted. Then someone explained to me that the government simply wanted to move the space program ahead into its next natural phase of development. They knew that space exploration would never reach its maximum potential until it moved up to the private sector. What was needed was for private enterprise to work its magic. Only then would the development of space begin in earnest. Let evolution work. Now, let’s talk about the Post Office.
Commissioner Fred Skillern speaks during a Hamilton County Commission meeting in this file photo. Photo by Angela Lewis /Chattanooga Times Free Press. Though a local, southeastern Tennessee, story, is this a sign of the times: Teabagger nation “humor?”- OEN Editor Written by Ansley Haman for timesfreepress.com Four white men enter an elevator … Disputed is whether what took place inside constituted a joke. Fred Skillern insists it did. “I said, ‘Why don’t we go back to the Constitution when the only voters were white male property owners?’” he said when reached by phone.
By the Associated Press US contractor destroyed evidence about possible problems with cementing of Macondo well before disaster, allege court papers BP has accused Halliburton of destroying damaging evidence relating to last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill. In a court filing, BP has alleged that the US oil services firm of intentionally destroying evidence about possible problems with its cement slurry poured into the deep-sea Macondo well about 100 miles (160 km) off the Louisiana coast. An oil well must be cemented properly to avoid blowouts. Also in the documents filed in a New Orleans federal court, BP accuses Halliburton of failing to produce incriminating computer modelling evidence.
Written by Bill Berkowitz The Republican Jewish Coalition is hosting a presidential-candidates forum on Wednesday, December 7 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. Guess which candidate isn’t being invited to participate. Michelle Bachmann and her apocalyptic religious views that leaves Jews stranded in a desert wasteland? Wrong, she’ll be there. Mitt Romney and John Huntsman of the Mormon crew that has fancied converting to Mormonism Jews that were killed in the Holocaust in order to swell their numbers in Heaven? Wrong, they’ll be there. The uninhibited-unexpurgated Herman Cain? He was invited and he accepted, but since he has suspended his campaign it is unlikely he will appear. Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. The only GOP presidential candidate not being invited to participate in the daylong festivities is Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
