December 2009
44 posts
“Bradley Birkenfeld… has been hailed by whistleblower advocates and U.S....”
– “UBS whistleblower asks why he is going to prison” from Reuters.
“In general, we are facing the consequences of the Bush administration’s...”
– DCCC Chairman Congressman Chris Van Hollen smacking down Republican attempts to politicize the recent attempted bombing of an airliner en route to Detroit.
“Our aviation system is in a panic over a terrorist attack that FAILED. Full on...”
– Daily Kos diarist brooklynbadboy, complaining about the extreme and pointless measures that the Transportation Security Administration has forced on air travelers to try to foil terrorist attacks.
“Instead of luring outside corporations with promises of tax breaks and lax...”
– Cleveland’s Worker-Owned Boom. From YES! Magazine.
“We have 37 million Americans on food stamps and many wait until midnight of the...”
– 1% of population controls six times the financial wealth of 80% of population. From My Budget 360.
Movement vs. establishment: The most important... →
Frameshop’s Jeffrey Feldman makes the argument that progressives should focus their fire on the corporate-enabled establishment, rather than being baited and suckered into a pointless and fruitless war with the grassroots of the right wing.
Bold predictions about technology and media for... →
Tech pundit Mark Anderson has issued ten predictions for what 2010 holds in the technology and media realm. Among his bold predictions: Microsoft’s consumer business will tumble off a cliff and die.
The top 10 stories not brought to you by... →
“Peter Phillips, director of Project Censored for 13 years, says he’s finished with reform. It’s impossible, he said in a recent interview, to try to get major news media outlets to deliver relevant news stories that serve to strengthen democracy.”
Rob McKenna object to Health Care Reform →
Attorney General McKenna and six Republican colleagues are trying to challange the “constitutionality” of a deal made with Senator Ben Nelson for his vote on healthcare reform. Just another example of Republicans obstructing reform.
USDOT announces stiff penalties for airlines that... →
It’s about time! Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced new rules that will prevent airlines from stranding passengers inside jets on the tarmac for hours at a time. Airlines could be fined as much as $27,500 a passenger if they don’t provide food and water after two hours or return passengers to the gate after three hours.
“He said his advice did not contradict the Bible’s eighth commandment, not to...”
– Priest declares shoplifting justified in failed society.
“We keep being fooled by leaders in all sectors of American life, over and over....”
– New York Times columnist Frank Rich, suggesting that Tiger Woods should have been named person of the year
“People wanted to believe what they wanted to believe. Tiger’s off-the-links...”
– New York Times columnist Frank Rich, arguing that Tiger Woods should be the real Person of the Year, because he symbolizes the decade of cons in American politics, culture, and business.
Authentic storytelling on the Net →
Earlier this week, Northwest Progressive Institute fellow Garlin Gilchrist II, who works at the Center for Community Change in Washington, D.C. spoke at a Federal Communications Commission hearing on Net Neutrality. His remarks focused on the Internet’s usefulness as an equalizer in the marketplace of ideas, allowing anyone with a computer and a connection to share their point of view.
“the daughter of controversial journalist Karol Cabrera was murdered by...”
– News from Honduras after their recent “election.” From Quixote Center.
“Morgan Stanley is current on the loan and is not in foreclosure. They are simply...”
– Does Morgan Stanley “Walking Away” from CRE Contribute to Strategic Defaults? From CalculatedRisk.
“No one knows if the Mariners can afford to sign Lee. No one knows if he’s...”
– ESPN’s Jayson Stark, analyzing the Major League Baseball mega-deal that brought pitching ace Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for three prospects
“The president’s biggest flaw is that he’s too much in love with his...”
– Daily Kos user MJB, reflecting on President Obama’s failure to lead on what has become his signature policy direction: healthcare reform.
America Magazine - What If We Said, 'Wait'? →
Father Michael G. Ryan of the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle makes the case for a grassroots review of the new Roman Missal, wisely arguing that changes to the Mass from the top-down is the wrong approach.
“The police stormed the cages and took everything from us: blankets, water...”
– Prisoners riot in ’climate jail’. From modkraft.
“If you think you are sick of Joe Lieberman now, just wait until you get sick.”
– Hartford Courant columnist Jim Shea, commenting on the Connecticut senator’s fixation on wrecking progressive legislation.
“If you compared it to the alternative, it looks good. If you compare it to the...”
– Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, commenting on the current state of the healthcare reform bill in the Senate, which has been almost completely gutted by Joe Lieberman and ConservaDems like Blanche Lincoln.
“The email cited exemptions to the FOIA that protect records concerning the...”
– Freedom of Information Act turns up virtually no information on WaMu takeover. From Puget Sound Business Journal.
Annise Parker becomes first gay mayor in any major... →
Senate Passes Federal Spending Bill - NYTimes.com →
The vote for the huge spending bill, which actually totals more than $1 trillion when required spending for social programs is added in, left one spending bill remaining – a $600 billion Pentagon measure that Democrats hope to use to carry along some of the more contentious remaining items.
“The world consumes 85 million barrels of oil per day, but it’s not...”
– Wall Street’s Naked Swindle from Rolling Stone
“The major difference at the BTU school is the lack of a principal....”
– Tired of Teacher-Bashing, Union Educators Grow Their Own Schools from Labor Notes.
“Can we have a new Senate for Christmas? This one is broken.”
– Daily Kos contributing editor Joan McCarter, reacting to the disclosure that only Harry Reid knows which public option he sent to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring.
Comcast's "TV Everywhere" an oxymoron →
Free speech and media reform advocate Marvin Ammori warns that unless we speak up in protest of the cable industry’s plans to keep content behind a wall (so they can charge lots of money for access to it) they’re going to go right ahead and gouge us.
“gamers buy “virtual goods” such as a machine gun for “Mafia...”
– Health Insurers Caught Paying Facebook Gamers Virtual Currency To Oppose Reform Bill from The Business Insider.
Doctorow: Streaming will never stop downloading →
Boing Boing writer Cory Doctorow explains why “streaming” audio and video isn’t going to replace or stop the downloading of movies and music.
Something in the water
A New York Times analysis has shown that since 2004 twenty percent of water treatment systems in the nation have violated the Safe Drinking Water Act, delivering water containing unhealthful and illegal levels of arsenic, bacteria and radioactive materials.
According to the report 49 million people are affected. To give some perspective on how widespread this problem is and just how incredibly...
Proximity of wind farms no factor in U.S. property... →
A report by the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has concluded that there is no evidence of any widespread impact on property values in communities surrounding wind energy facilities.
“The minister said that during the demonstrations the police didn’t even scratch...”
– Street battles break out on first anniversary of death of Greek youth at hands of police.
Microsoft, Google in battle to win over students →
Google and Microsoft are each vying to be the providers of “cloud” computing services for institutions of higher learning. The term “cloud” refers to the idea of storing information in a remote datacenter maintained by some big company that can be accessed anywhere in the world over an Internet connection.
You are what you eat
The phrase “mystery meat” is one every school child hears with reference to the typical school lunch served in the cafeteria.Now, there’s evidence that the phrase is more than just a schoolyard myth.
With student diet linked to performance in school, why is the U.S. government serving food that’s doesn’t meet basic health standards to our children?
“Recognizing our mutual determination to support strategic stability between the...”
– President Barack Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev, in a joint statement released this morning to NPI (via email) on the expiration of the START treaty.
“Wal-Mart has denied the allegations, but in December, the merchant agreed to pay...”
– Wal-Mart accused of denying workers rest and meal breaks, refusing to pay overtime, and manipulating time cards to lower employees’ pay - from The Boston Globe.
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“This is an attack on the idea of union and the idea of community, because as I...”
– Former Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) speaking to sheet metal workers in 1999 and summing up well the philosophy of the present-day Republican party.
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A comparison of the U.S. and Soviet Union in...
In light of President Obama’s announcement yesterday that he will escalate the war in Afghanistan, James Fergusson has penned an interesting comparison. Is history going to repeat itself?
PAPA JOHN’S TO DONATE TO FAMILIES OF FALLEN...
A fundraiser to benefit the families of the four fallen Lakewood, WA police officers will held at all Puget Sound Papa John’s restaurants (40 locations).
100% of profits from all sales during the two-day period of Tuesday and Wednesday, December 8-9, will be donated.
All 42 Papa John’s locations in the Puget Sound area will be participating. Consumers may place orders next Tuesday and...
From deep underground, data center will help heat... →
Scandinavia is out to prove that the heat generated by computers doesn’t have to go to waste. A new data center planned for the Finnish capital will channel air warmed by microprocessors into the city’s central heating network.
Technology to help navigate Black Friday sales →
A roundup of some of the smartphone and Twitter apps that have been developed to guide shoppers toward the best deals throughout this holiday season and beyond.