137 QuickLinks

Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Spin meter: Legislation inflation grips GOP
Republicans: You Lie! Read how the simple-minded Republicans artificially inflate the 209 page healthcare reform bill into a 2,000+ page back-breaker. It is NOT longer than War & Peace, & it is barely longer than Bush's No Child Left Behind Act.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Devra Davis: Huffington Post: The Secret History Of Mammography
(1 comments) Mammography is one of the most oversold and understudied technologies in medical history. To continue to assert that mammography will save lives flies in the face of huge numbers of studies on the topic.. . . But wistful wishing cannot alter the fact that mammographic screening in women under 50 years of age does not reduce deaths, while for those over the age of 50 years it saves lives.

Thursday, November 19, 2009
Red Rock Pictures: Split Estate
The new documentary from Red Rock Pictures explains the hazards of Nat Gas fracking better than anything I've seen. See the trailer for how we are creating rural Sacrifice Zones for the sake of industry. Energy Independence should not come at the cost of human health. Renewables, not expendable humans.

Sunday, November 8, 2009
The End of Poverty opens Friday Nov. 13-20
"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and can be eradicated by the actions of human beings" - Nelson Mandela. See the true cause of poverty in a world of plenty in this award-winning film. 20 minute clip online.

Thursday, November 5, 2009
Dylan Ratigan: Four-Step Bank Fix
Rare among Financial Journalists, Ratigan not only recognizes the financial scam mess we are in, but proposes solutions. Here are 4 more.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.): Numbers, not shouting, overwhelm health care debate
"About 17 percent of our $14 trillion dollar economy is dedicated to health care. We pay more for health care than we do for food. Too much of what we spend on our care does nothing to improve our health. We pay for our highly bureaucratic and unwieldy health care system not just with dollars, but with the lives and well-being of millions of Americans."

Friday, October 30, 2009
NY Times: Hospitalized Children Without Insurance Are More Likely to Die, a Study Finds
“If you take two kids from the same demographic background — the same race, same gender, same neighborhood income level and same number of co-morbidities or other illnesses — the kid without insurance is 60 percent more likely to die in the hospital than the kid in the bed right next to him or her who is insured.” Of course, those children's parents probably wouldn't have voted for Republicans anyway...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
USA Today: Federal complaint: Filipino teachers held in 'servitude'
Cruz is one of more than 300 teachers imported to Louisiana from the Philippines since 2007, a group of educators who say collectively they paid millions of dollars in cash to a Filipino recruiting firm, Cases like those of Cruz and others prompted the American Federation of Teachers and its state affiliate, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, to file a complaint on Sept. 30 with the state Workforce Commission and A.G.

Saturday, October 24, 2009
How Moody's sold its ratings - and sold out investors
Since 2000, Moody's was always in a good mood, as it sold its ratings to the highest bidder, says a new blistering SEC report. Managers were fired for telling the truth about what are now called "Toxic Assets", while other managers were promoted for lying.

Saturday, October 17, 2009
NY Times Editorial: Shale and Our Water
New York State's environmental regulators have proposed rules to govern drilling in the Marcellus Shale—a subterranean layer of rock curving northward from West Virginia through Ohio and Pennsylvania to New York's southern tier. But regulators must amend the rules to bar drilling in the New York City watershed: a million acres of forests and farmlands whose streams supply the reservoirs that send drinking water to 8 million.

Thursday, October 15, 2009
Bloomburg.com: Greenspan Says U.S. Should Consider Breaking Up Large Banks
Will wonders never cease? Greenspan becomes a consumer advocate & advises breaking up the megabanks.

Thursday, October 15, 2009
Dylan Ratigan: Huffington Post: Turn Goldman Anger Into Government Action
(1 comments) Dylan Ratigan rats out Wall Street for Corporate Communism: "In a world where real competition, modern technology and lack of special government standing means most American businesses have no choice but to adapt and innovate -- Wall Streets wimps only apparent skill is rigging the game."

Monday, October 12, 2009
The World's First 'Terrorists' Johann Hari Columnist, London Independent
"Imagine it. A network of violent radicals is picking off the world's leaders one by one. They have killed the American president, the Russian head of state, the French president, the Austrian head of state, and the Spanish prime minister." It happened - 100 years ago. We are not the first generation to experience terrorism; why did it go away, & resurface?

Monday, October 12, 2009
What's the Matter with Michigan? The Rise and Collapse of an Economic Wonder, by Mason Gaffney
"Michigan's “Big 3” auto firms have become beggars...University of Michigan...charges the highest tuition of any public university. Michigan's number of US Representatives has dropped from 19 in 1960 to 15 in 2000. What underlies the state's decline, where industrial cities rot, unemployment soars...youth flee." In Mason Gaffney's Georgist article, he describes how Detroit could rise again, anytime it wants to.

Friday, October 9, 2009
Gas Drilling Vs. Drinking Water: New York City Consultant's Report Sets Stage for Fight With Albany by Abrahm Lustgarten
A report from a consultant hired by New York City warns that "nearly every activity" associated with natural gas drilling could potentially harm the city's drinking water supply and that while the risk can be reduced with strict regulations, "the likelihood of water quality impairment " cannot be eliminated." That assessment contrasts sharply with the picture presented by a review released by the state. BAN FRACKING NOW!

Friday, October 9, 2009
News Corp., AP Push for Online Pay By Sung Moss
The days of free news aggregation may be drawing to a close. Murdoch and AP make plans to start charging news aggregators (including OEN, presumably), for content.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009
With Natural Gas Drilling Boom, Pennsylvania Faces an Onslaught of Wastewater by Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica
"Workers at a steel mill and a power plant were the first to notice something strange about the Monongahela River last summer. The water that U.S. Steel and Allegheny Energy used to power their plants contained so much salty sediment that it was corroding their machinery." NG Fracing is the unreported menace that will ruin our drinking water & clog our waste treatment facilities. Support the FRAC Act.

Friday, October 2, 2009
The Forbes 400 Edited by Matthew Miller and Duncan Greenberg
The collective worth of the Forbes 400-totaling $1.57 Trillion-grew 2% last year, even as ordinary Americans' income/net worth continued to shrink, as it has for years. Bill Gates is still the richest man. Should you apply for a grant? America is not broke-it is the wealth inequity that makes it seem so.

Thursday, October 1, 2009
New York State Paves Way for Gas Drilling With Release of Environmental Review by Abrahm Lustgarten, Propublica
Ready or not, here comes the drill! NY State just issued guidelines to NG drilling in New York State. These do NOT prohibit drilling near the vulnerable Catskill Watershed-home to 90% of New York City's water, all UNFILTERED. Will we wake up one morning to the smell of NG in our taps and showers? This has happened all over the country, though never on such a catastrophic scale as it would be in New York City.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Congestion Tax Boosts Alt-Fuel Vehicle Use By Todd Woody
Congestion Pricing works - in Sweden. Carbon spewing down, alternative vehicle use up, driving down. What's so hard - except in America? No wonder Europeans shake their heads in bewilderment at the U.S. & our profligate, backwards, ways.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Kevin M. Mukri: OCC Reports Second Quarter Bank Trading Revenue of $5.2 Billi
The banksters are at it again, trading derivatives in the $600 Trillion market to record profits, with no accountability, & no way to cover their ever-increasing bets. Get ready for meltdown II. The largest TBTF banks hold 97% of derivatives.

Monday, September 28, 2009
Blog Action Day '09: Climate Change
Change.Org is sponsoring a one day Blog Bombardment on Climate Change 10/15/09. "Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices."

Monday, September 28, 2009
Secular Coalition Opposes Amendments to Baucus' Health Care Reform bill
Just when you thought healthcare legislation couldn't possibly get any worse; now there are amendments to Pay for Prayer, Abstinence before Marriage counseling (but not end of life counseling), Conscious Exemptions that'd allow doctors to decide whom to treat on personal moral grounds. Progressives should oppose all of these, as the Secular Coalition does.

Friday, September 25, 2009
Huffington Post, Bill Maher: New Rule: If America Can't Get it Together, We Lose the Bald Eagle
(1 comments) Why is it comedians know better than anyone what ails us? Guess their BS meter is set lower than everyone else's Maher's commentary will make you laugh...then you'll think 'hey, wait a minute, he's right.' Then you'll cry.

Monday, September 21, 2009
Propublica: Frack Fluid Spill in Dimock Contaminates Stream, Killing Fish by Abrahm Lustgarten
Pennsylvania environment officials are racing to clean up as much as 8,000 gallons of dangerous drilling fluids after a series of spills at a natural gas production site near the town of Dimock late last week. The incident is the latest in a series of environmental problems connected to Cabot's drilling in the Dimock area. Last winter drinking water in several area homes was found to contain metals and methane gas.

Monday, September 14, 2009
The Atlantic: by Ronald Brownstein: Closing The Book On The Bush Legacy
It's official: Bush's economic policies were a complete failure. He even makes Reagan look good. On every measure of the Census Bureau, the vast majority of Americans were worse off when Bush left office than when he came in; the first time net incomes have declined in modern history. The only things to go up were the poverty rate, unemployment, uninsured Americans & everything bad.

Friday, September 11, 2009
Bush and Obama: A Counterterrorism Comparison by Emily Witt, ProPublica
In a half-dozen national security lawsuits we've been following, the Obama administration has so far largely stuck by the positions taken by the Bush administration. Obama's positions are more nuanced, but are they 'change?' A side-by-side comparison, suitable for framing (in both senses of the word).

Thursday, September 10, 2009
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's Petition for Public Option in Healthcare
NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's petition to guarantee the public option: "Political opponents are proposing nothing but the status quo. To me, that is unacceptable. I plan to stand with the President so that we move forward on health care reform, and I hope you will join me. I'm hopeful that over the next several weeks Republicans will now come to the table in good faith...if not, we must move forward without them."

Monday, September 7, 2009
George F. Will: Time to Get Out of Afghanistan
In this seminal piece by normally conservative George F. Will, the political commentator lays out in stark & somewhat alarmed terms the reason why we must exit Afghanistan NOW, rather than build up forces for a war we can't win, to support a corrupt regime that can't govern. When Obama is to the right of George Will, what does Conservative even mean anymore?

Sunday, September 6, 2009
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), House Members Introduce Companion Bills To Protect Drinking Water from Natural Gas Fracking
Sen. Bob Casey(D-PA), Reps. Diana DeGette(D-CO), Maurice Hinchey(D-NY), Jared Polis(D-CO) introduce companion Senate and House bills, the FRAC Act- Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, amending the Safe Drinking Water Act. The legislation would repeal a Bush administration exemption provided for the oil & gas industry & would require them to disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.

Sunday, September 6, 2009
NY Times: Wall Street Pursues Profit in Bundles of Life Insurance
The Bubble machine is back: Wall St. wants to package life insurance policies & cash in when you die - which they hope will be soon, for a bigger payoff. Um, that healthcare reform you wanted. Well, no, that would get in the way of people dying=profits made, you see. "What is good for Wall Street could be bad for the insurance industry...We're hoping to get a herd stampeding after the first offering," says investment banker.

Saturday, September 5, 2009
Summer of our discontent: Why is America so angry? By Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers
(2 comments) Dozens of new hate groups, angry mods at healthcare forums, vitriol from every media orifice. According to experts in tracking hate-mongerers, we ain't seen anything yet.

Friday, September 4, 2009
Huffington Post: Al Franken Calms Down Health Care Opponents (VIDEO)
(1 comments) Al Frankin: the voice of Reason? Seems like the novice Senator from Minnesota could teach the old (blue?) Dogs a thing or two about how to handle a riled up crowd over healthcare. He makes a lot of sense in this 10 minute short film.

Thursday, September 3, 2009
NY Times: Roosevelt: The Great Divider By JEAN EDWARD SMITH
(2 comments) PRESIDENT OBAMA'S apparent readiness to backtrack on the public insurance option in his health care package is not just a concession to his political opponents—this fixation on securing bipartisan support for health care reform suggests that the Democrats have forgotten how to govern and the White House has forgotten how to lead. This was not true of Franklin Roosevelt & the Dem. Congresses that enacted the New Deal.

Monday, August 31, 2009
Cellphones Cause Brain Tumors, Says New Report By International EMF Collaborative
A new meta-study, delayed for years, shows that the danger of getting brain tumors form cell phones has been underestimated by over 700%. Call at Your Own Risk.

Sunday, August 30, 2009
The Economic Aspect of Ecoforestry by Dr. Hans Burkhardt
(1 comments) Restoration Forestry is a cut above Sustainable Forestry in that it doesn't just preserve the forest, it enhances it, making it more productive & safer from fires (CA. forest managers & firefighters, take note!) You CAN have your trees & build things too. This article first appeared in the International Journal of Ecoforestry in the spring of 1996.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009
CNN: Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy dead at 77
We've lost the Senate's 'Lion,' as he was known to many. His signature issue: Healthcare lost one of its major proponents. Sen. Kennedy pleaded with Mass Gov. Patrick to be ready to appoint a replacement, but with Sen. Byrd out sick too, the Dems MUST do Reconciliation NOW to pass healthcare reform with public option as Kennedy would have wanted. The country mourns but must fight as he would want us to.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009
EPA: Chemicals Found in Wyo. Drinking Water Might Be From Fracking by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica
(2 comments) More evidence of the harm from Natural Gas Fracking (drilling), as wells all over Wyoming become contaminated with carcinogen 2-BE. The EPA is (finally) on the case. See Propublica link for multiple articles on the dangers of NG drilling coming to a neighborhood near you.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009
NY Times: Visitors From Planet LaRouche By Robert Mackey
Want to know where the Hitler-Obama comparisons in the Healthcare debate REALLY came from. Well, so does the Lyndon LaRouche campaign - since it came from them-posters, protesters (incl. the woman shot down by Barney Frank in a town hall mtg). We have been invaded...

Monday, August 24, 2009
Sharon Lerner, The Nation: How Our Health System Screws Over Women
(1 comments) To be sure, no group is doing well under our network of private insurers, which is more holes than net. But women fare particularly badly in terms of health, being more likely than men to leave a prescription unfilled; forgo seeing a needed specialist; and skip a medical test, treatment or follow-up.

Saturday, August 22, 2009
Still crazy after all these years
Crazy conspiracy theories have been with us forever in America, mostly from the right, but also the left. In some cases, there's no difference. Sometimes, theories can kill. They rarely advance society & they always poison rational discussion.

Friday, August 21, 2009
Rep. John Conyers Congressman from Michigan: Karl Rove, Rupert Murdoch and Media Bias
Rep Conyers takes on Rove's roving, and wrong, statements in a recent WSJ Editorial. Lots of citations.

Friday, August 21, 2009
Larry Flynt Publisher of Hustler magazine and free speech advocate: Common Sense 2009
OMG, I agree with Larry Flint! Before you dismiss him as self-serving, read what he has to say about the oligarchical rule of the banksters and the country's Founders' fear of them. "The American government -- which we once called our government -- has been taken over by Wall Street, the mega-corporations and the super-rich. They are the ones who decide our fate."

Friday, August 21, 2009
Propublica: FRAC Act—Congress Introduces Twin Bills to Control Drilling and Protect Drinking Water
Help pass the FRAC-ACT to force the Nat Gas industry to clean up after itself & disclose the chemicals it pumps into the ground to get NG out. NY State's watershed needs protection. NYC has NO filtration for 90% of its water. Undo Cheney's bypass of the Clean Water Act & people have been sickened, wells poisoned, cattle killed, houses blown up.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Johann Hari Columnist, London Independent: The Republican Party Is Turning Into A Cult
(3 comments) Something strange has happened in America in the nine months since Barack Obama was elected. It has best been summarized by the comedian Bill Maher: "The Democrats have moved to the right, and the Republicans have moved to a mental hospital." Since Obama's rise, the US right has been skipping frantically from one fantasy to another, like a person in the throes of a mental breakdown.

Monday, August 17, 2009
Robert Kuttner: Killing Yourself with Kindness
(1 comments) "Will somebody please explain to me why Barack Obama is still on his bipartisan kick?" Kuttner points out how Obama is losing support form progressives, while gaining nothing from the right. A new strategy is needed, pronto.

Sunday, August 16, 2009
Blake Hurst: The American: The Omnivore's Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals
If you thought you understood the rationale for organic farming vs. industrial farming, think again. From this farmer who's used both comes a balanced view - one that runs counter to the organic/Pollen viewpoint.

Friday, August 14, 2009
NY Times: DAVID LEONHARDT: Fat Tax
(1 comments) the great American public-health problem is indeed obesity. The statistics have become rote, but consider that people in their 50s are about 20 pounds heavier on average than 50-somethings were in the late 1970s. Why a Fat Tax may be necessary to true Health Reform - at least to pay the difference in foods that are bad vs. those that are good.

Thursday, August 13, 2009
Teresa Hommel: Why Keep the Lever Voting Machines?
New York should keep its mechanical lever voting machines, rather than switching to PBOS (voter-marked Paper Ballots and precinct-based Optical Scanners).

Monday, August 10, 2009
ERIC ZENCEY: NY Times: G.D.P. R.I.P.
The G.D.P. measures the value of cleanup after hurricane Katrina ($82 billion) & a new school as if both contributed to our standard of living in the same way. G.D.P. is an obsolete indicator of wealth & happiness. An idea for a replacement...

Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Thomas Friedman: Green Shoots in Palestine
(1 comments) A new group of Arab scholars last week came out with a new Arab Human Development report. Things are worse in the Arab world than they were when the last report came out, but better in the West Bank, where new ideas are producing 7% growth and jobs for disaffected youth.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Industries Hurt Most by Soaring Health Costs
Not enough attention is paid to the ill-health of our Industries because they must pay for health insurance, while in competing countries it is covered by the government. USA Today - hardly a left-wing rag - published a study showing a direct correlation between company healthcare costs & declining competitiveness. Take THAT, right-wing ideologues!

Saturday, August 1, 2009
Propublica: Plan to Pay Sick Nuclear Workers Unfairly Rejects Many, Doctor Says
Nuclear may produce fewer greenhouse gases, but in every other way it is as dirty a fuel as coal or oil. 3 out of 4 claimants are being denied healthcare under a nuclear plant healthcare plan, skewing the stats and people's lives. A whistle-blowing Doctor tells how its done.

Saturday, August 1, 2009
The Progress Report: Mine owner wants a tax on land to revive ruined Zimbabwe
Haven't heard much about Zimbabwe lately? Read how everyone's favorite basket case just might be turning things around, by instituting a Land Value Tax (LVT). Connecticut is about to try a LVT in impoverished New London, which is corporation-rich, and revenue poor. Both ends of the globe stand to benefit from a LVT.

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Senator Bernie Sanders: Public Healthcare
(2 comments) Anyone who is unfamiliar with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, or his position on Health Care, or who thinks the entire Senate is completely out of touch with what the American people want, should view this 3 minute video of the Senator describing how socialized medicine works (the V.A.), Single Payer works (Medicare). Sanders and Rep. Kucinich have been unfairly mocked & marginalized, though they represent the majority's will.

Monday, July 27, 2009
Mason Gaffney: Oil and Gas Leasing
From one of today's most influential Georgist economists comes this article on how to get proper value for our natural resources, the difference between managerial and distributive socialism, and how America is being ripped off by Big Oil Monopolists. (in PDF format)

Saturday, July 25, 2009
Propublica: Buried Secrets: Gas Drilling's Environmental Threat
I am pro-Energy Independence, but one can't ignore the Nat Gas industry's atrocious record regarding water use/abuse/depletion, harm to human/animal health & widespread pollution. A series of articles by Propublica should alarm you & any one of the 1 in 12 Americans whose drinking water is threatened by the NG industry. Renewables now, and only, for true Energy Security.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Olivia Judson: Microbes 'R' Us
Microbial cells outnumber your own by a factor of 10. On a cell-by-cell basis, then, you are only 10 percent human. Without microbes you couldn't digest food & couldn't live. They're in our genes & drive our evolution-forget about being created in God's image too, unless He is a giant microbe. Microbes are, have been, and always will be, the dominant life form on Earth.

Monday, July 20, 2009
AP: Kids' lower IQ scores linked to prenatal pollution
(4 comments) So far, we've been dumb about controlling pollution. Is pollution itself making us dumber? A new study finds a link between prenatal exposure to pollution and lower early age IQ - even after controlling for other factors. When true costs are factored in, Renewable Energy and EVs just keep looking better and better.

Monday, July 20, 2009
Bloomberg.com: U.S. Rescue May Reach $23.7 Trillion, Barofsky Says
"U.S. taxpayers may be on the hook for as much as $23.7 trillion to bolster the economy and bail out financial companies, said Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program." Just how far do they think we can be pushed before we apply the constitution & print our own dang money & set up our own state banks? This is beyond ridiculous.

Thursday, July 9, 2009
James Hansen: G-8 Failure Reflects U.S. Failure on Climate Change
(3 comments) It's about time someone proposed a Geonomic solution. This is the basic flaw of our current version of capitalism: it rewards speculators who produce nothing, while taxing people who do produce through their wages and capital (real capital, like tractors, trucks and buildings). I'm surprised Al Gore got behind Cap 'n Trade, since his motto is (correctly), "Tax what you burn, not what you earn." This bill accomplishes neither.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Rethink Afghanistan: Part 5
(1 comments) Robert Greenwald has a new installment of his on-the-ground hard-hitting documentary, "Rethink Afghanistan." This time he looks at whether women's lives have improved since the country was 'liberated' from the Taliban. Yes, on paper, but no in reality. The other 4 earlier parts are available from this link too.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Energy Industry Sways Congress With Misleading Data
The two key arguments that the oil and gas industry is using to fight federal regulation of the natural gas drilling process called hydraulic fracturing -- that the costs would cripple their business and that state regulations are already strong -- are challenged by the same data and reports the industry is using to bolster its position.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Health Co-op Offers Model for Overhaul By KEVIN SACK
How Health Cooperatives can change the way patients are treated, for the better. "In the end, it's not about who owns the place," she said. "It's about the incentives."

Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Rediscovering Secular America
Quick question: What group is bigger than Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Mormons and Jews combined? If you were thinking of another religious organization, you're in for a surprise, for it is Non-Theists (aka, atheists, non-believers, freethinkers etc.). Secular Humanists are ethical, moral, and we are gaining numbers. read all about the biggest non-religious group you never heard of.

Saturday, July 4, 2009
Sarah's Straight Talk
For those of you who wonder what a matchup between Palin and Obama might be like in 2012, read the quotes from Palin's (typically) bizarre resignation speech (is that even what it was?), given in front of her family Friday. Who knows what the hockey mom is really planning. Does even she? You betcha...

Thursday, July 2, 2009
The Patients Doctors Don't Know
Into the healthcare debate must come better standards of care for Seniors. 48% of inpatients in hospitals are over 65 - and they should NOT be treated like 50 year-olds. Medical Schools, however, do not teach Geriatric Medicine. This must change, especially as the population ages.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Tax and Mend: It may sound boring, but the LVT could help fix our economy
The Geonomic Land Value Tax would result in lower property taxes for mom & pop homes and stores, higher taxes for speculators, end the budget deficits of most major cities (and hence, most states), free up unused land, end urban sprawl, provide good jobs developing communities, and provide affordable housing. Why aren't we doing it? Can you spell e-l-i-t-e?

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Has There Really Been a Policy Change in Iraq?
Captain Jon Soltz predicted, and predicts, ensuing chaos when U.S. forces leave Iraq, and says we should accelerate our departure anyway. "The Iraqi military will never be well-trained enough to handle major explosions of violence" but only by leaving will Iraqi politicians be persuaded to fix their problems. If not, it is their country, and their mess.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Ellen Brown: California's Empty Wallet: Turning Crisis into Opportunity
California's economy is larger than all the BRIC nations, except China. How is it that it is $24 billion short then? Because of debts to the banks, that's how. Brown explains how the state could set up its own bank & run a surplus, like North Dakota. CA has more than enough money - it is being siphoned off by the private banks by their monopoly. Governator, are you listening? Tell the banks, Hasta la vista, baby.

Monday, June 29, 2009
Almost Hell West Virginia
West Virginia is being sacrificed on the alter of coal. Its mountains were once among the most beautiful in the country; they are now destroyed, along with the streams and rivers below. Anyone who has been reading my Geonomics articles should see what happens when private industry is allowed to steal the land from all of us. John Denver would be rolling over in his grave, but not in WV, they get buried by sludge too.

Sunday, June 28, 2009
It's Time to Learn From Frogs
Scientists are connecting the Endocrine Disrupters in our water with evidence of increasing abnormalities among humans, particularly large increases in numbers of genital deformities among newborn boys. Girls may develop cancers as a result, as well.

Sunday, June 28, 2009
Health Care Stories for America
(4 comments) We don't usually post links to Politician's sites, at least not those that ask for donations, but this one shows health stories. It might behoove Progressives to push the issues on this site in case Obama/Biden are actually reading this, as stories of suffering alone won't effect Change. Biden sent me (and many others) an email asking for input. Now I'm asking for yours.

Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Prurient Trap
It's official: Republicans are more deviant, prurient, and sexually off-center than democrats. See the charts in this article by NY Times columnist Charles M. Blow. Oh, and the Republicans are also the party of hypocrisy...but you already knew that.

Friday, June 26, 2009
NYC Watershed: Development Review: Riverkeeper's Industrial Gas Drilling Reporter
Everyone interested in energy independence should read this. If Natural Gas is going to be part of the answer, the industry has some serious cleaning up to do. Poisoned water wells, dying cattle, exploding houses - these are just a few of the side effects from NG "Fraking" that uses deadly chemicals near fragile water reserves. NYC residents especially need to fear for their Catskill watershed.

Thursday, June 25, 2009
McCain Strikes a Pose, Recklessly
John McCain has been at his recklessly self-righteous best this past week, assured that he's "on the right side of history" in trying to bully Barack Obama into inserting himself into the drama in Tehran. McCain fancies himself a "student of history," even though he's apparently never considered the many reasons why it would be disastrous for an American president to loudly declare solidarity with the protesters in Iran.

Thursday, June 25, 2009
Op-Ed Contributor: Shifting America from sick care to genuine wellness
(2 comments) With the Senate health committee convening daily to craft a comprehensive health reform bill, the basic outline of this landmark legislation is now clear. Yes, it will ensure access to affordable, quality care for every American. But, just as important, it will hold down health care costs by creating a sharp new emphasis on disease prevention and public health.

Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Great American Bubble Machine
(2 comments) Meet the firm behind the last 6 bubbles of the last 100 years - Goldman Sachs. They are now the major player in the fourth branch of government - the banks - so you'd better get familiar with your new boss. The latest bubble - Cap and Trade - will make them wealthy beyond anything that's gone before.

Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Bloodless Coup of the Global Financial Stability Board: From Guidelines to Rules
It seems the world's bankers have executed a bloodless coup and now represent all of the people in the world. . . . President Obama agreed at the G20 meeting in London to create an international board with authority to intervene in U.S. corporations by dictating executive compensation and approving or disapproving business management decisions. Under the new Financial Stability Board, the United States has only one vote.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Green Revolution(s)
There has been a lot of worthless chatter about what President Barack Obama should say about Iran’s incipient “Green Revolution.” Sorry, but Iranian reformers don’t need our praise. They need the one thing we could do, without firing a shot, that would truly weaken the Iranian theocrats and force them to unshackle their people. What’s that? End our addiction to the oil that funds Iran’s Islamic dictatorship.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Lucre-Addicted Senate Democrats Are Blowing It on Health Care
If Congress fails to enact health care reform this year – or if it enacts a sham reform designed to bail out corporate medicine while excluding the “public option” – then the public will rightly blame Democrats, who have no excuse for failure except their own cowardice and corruption. The punishment inflicted by angry voters is likely to be reduced majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Monday, June 22, 2009
Numbers On Welfare See Sharp Increase
(1 comments) Twenty-three of the 30 largest states, which account for more than 88% of the nation's total population, see welfare caseloads above year-ago levels. States with the largest unemployment are the hardest hit as people run out of UI & switch to welfare, but tough eligibility requirements limit enrollment to the extreme poor.

Monday, June 22, 2009
Business’ health care costs to rise 9%
In case anyone had any doubt Health Care is out of control, costs are expected to rise over 9% for the 3rd year in a row in 2010, & this after they promised to CUT costs & work with Obama. We need Single Payer NOW, AND reform across the board to lower costs, from what we eat to how we're treated when we're sick.

Sunday, June 21, 2009
Vt. farmers cut cows' emissions by altering diets
(2 comments) Vermont farmers rediscover Cows' natural diet and cut down on Greenhouse gases at the same time, plus increase healthy Omega 3 content in milk and meat. What took them so long?

Saturday, June 20, 2009
In stark legal turnaround, Obama now resembles Bush
(2 comments) McClatchy makes it official: Obama is morphing into George Bush. They provide a listing of how many Bush policies Obama has come to embrace. Maybe there's something in the water in Washington?

Saturday, June 20, 2009
Let Steroids Into the Hall of Fame
Baseball, led by the Hall of Fame, needs to accept steroids and replace mythology and spin with realism and honesty. If everyone has access to the same drugs and training methods, and the fans are told what these are, then the field is level and fans will be able to interpret what they are seeing on the diamond and in the box scores.

Thursday, June 18, 2009
Rethink Afghanistan
Robert Greenwald's excellent & ongoing documentary of what's really happening in Afghanistan came out in part 4 today. It is a particularly heartbreaking part that deals graphically with the death of innocent civilians due to American bombs. Anyone who isn't moved by this has ice in their veins, or is Dick Cheney. Precision bombing, my butt...

Thursday, June 18, 2009
Questions for Hearing on Denial of Benefits to Civilian Contractors Injured in Iraq and Afghanistan
There are now more civilian contractors in Iraq than soldiers. These contractors often get injured just like soldiers. The difference is their injuries are often not compensated. Bailout-Buddy AIG is withholding payments. Congress is holding hearings, with Rep. Dennis Kucinich & Sen. Bernie Sanders leading the questioning.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Let's hold Bush officials accountable for torture
The ACLU's executive director joins with a military officer and ex-Gitmo prosecutor to ask for a special prosecutor for torture. By Anthony Romero and Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld

Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Of Plankton and Plastic in the Pacific
(2 comments) Captain Moore discovered the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, known as the the Pacific Gyre, and he is continuing his research to help all of us understand that the rapid rise in global plastic production is leading to a rise in plastic pollution and its devastating effects on our oceans and our lives.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
401(k) Investors Can’t Get Money
Remember Will Rogers' quip that he "was more concerned about the return OF my money than the return ON my money"? Well, you should be too; you may not even be able to withdraw the diminished amount still remaining in your 401K if the plan invested in certain illiquid assets...perhaps illegally.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Detainee says he lied to CIA in harsh interrogations
Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed told U.S. military officials that he had lied to the CIA after being abused. Even the "worst-of-the-worst" may turn out not to have been so bad after all. It seems people will say anything under torture. Who knew? Excellent photo of criminal mastermind...Dick Cheney.

Sunday, June 14, 2009
Money from Nothing: Supplying Money Should be a Public Service
(2 comments) Supplying money should be a public service, not a cash cow for banks. James Robertson wrote this article as part of The New Economy, the Summer 2009 issue of YES! Magazine. James works for sustainability and monetary reform. He is author of a dozen books, and co-founded The Other Economic Summit and the New Economics Foundation.

Sunday, June 14, 2009
A demilitarized Palestian State: Should Israel, should the world rely on it?
It is the declared policy of the United States government (and of most of the world) that in order to bring peace to the Middle East, the creation of a Palestinian state – the two-state solution – is indispensable. Even many Israelis have come to agree with that. But it is generally understood and taken for granted that such a state, which would consist of Judea/Samaria (the “West Bank”) & Gaza, would have to be demilitarized.

Sunday, June 14, 2009
Projection: It'll be years before jobs return to much of U.S
Unemployment will be at or near double digits for some time, maybe years, warns a prominent economic forecasting group. Chart your are on the map...or decide where to move.

Friday, June 12, 2009
Economics in Support of Environmentalism
To preserve the environment stop subsidizing urban sprawl and urban flight. Economist Mason Gaffney, in a classic Georgist article, tells us how.

Friday, June 12, 2009
Economics in Support of Environmentalism
To preserve the environment stop subsidizing urban sprawl and urban flight. Economist Mason Gaffney, in a classic Georgist article, tells us how.

Thursday, June 11, 2009
Excerpts from The Corruption of Economics
Think there is no such thing as a "free lunch" in economics? There is. You can have social justice & productivity, equity and efficiency. Henry George had the answer in 1879. Tax the resources of the world & untax wages and capital. Read how it worked for decades & still works, except in the U.S. where it was born, then suppressed. It's time, again, for a Georgist/Geonomic Single Tax revolution.

Thursday, June 11, 2009
This Time, We Won’t Scare
NY Time's columnist Nicholas D. Kristof speaks out on health care, Canada's and ours.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Words and War
It takes at least tacit faith in massive violence to believe that after three decades of horrendous violence in Afghanistan, upping the violence there will improve the situation. Despite the pronouncements from high Washington places that the problems of Afghanistan can't be solved by military means, 90 percent of the spending for Afghanistan in the Obama administration's current supplemental bill is military.

Sunday, June 7, 2009
The Economy Is Still at the Brink
(2 comments) The economy is still in deep recession. Why are we still in deep denial? Two insiders spill what's really needed to address the abuses of the recent past and how to begin to fix the future. Warning: this is only about how to fight fraud, non-transparency, perverse incentives and bailout capitalism. Issues of replacing the Fed, eliminating the shadow banking system, Geoeconomics, demonopolization, etc. aren't addressed.

Friday, June 5, 2009
Could We Be the Generation that Runs out of Fish?
90% of edible fish stocks have been depleted worldwide. It is not a stretch to say we will see the end of fish as a food source in our lifetimes. The perverse incentive structure encourages fishing every last fish from the ocean. It's time to wake up the True Cost of our irresponsible policies.

Friday, June 5, 2009
ABORTION FOE TO LEAD HHS FAITH-BASED OFFICE
First of all, why is there a faith-based office at all in Health & Human Services, or anywhere else in our supposedly money-strapped government? Second, why is Obama appointing someone who wants to make abortion illegal to a key position in HHS? Obama talks left, but moves right...again.

Thursday, June 4, 2009
Unemployment Insurance Buckles After Years of Underfunding
Unemployment Insurance is running out of money. Propublica's interactive chart lets you see how your state is doing. P.S. North Dakota - with its state owned bank, free of derivatives and Wall Street - still has 4% unemployment and a surplus.

Thursday, June 4, 2009
Shifting dental care to the ER could further decay budget
Getting good dental care in Minnesota will soon be like pulling teeth. Gov. Tim Pawlenty will make a costly shift to ERs that will end up costing state taxpayers more, say Minnesota dentists.

Thursday, June 4, 2009
Informed criticism of Gallup “pro-life” poll
The recent Gallup Abortion poll is not the turnaround in attitudes the MSM purported it to be. The majority of Americans still favor a woman's right to choose. reading the results for what they are...

Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Annals of Medicine: The Cost Conundrum
(1 comments) What will drive medical costs down, improve care, and allow Medicare to continue in perpetuity? It isn't single-payer, necessarily; we need to start looking at the biggest expense areas: doctors & hospitals, where quantity is valued over quality. The Mayo Clinic delivers better care at 1/3 the cost of hospitals that deliver worse care. Here's how...

Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Deadly Toll of Abortion by Amateurs
(1 comments) Yesterday, another abortion doctor was killed in America. It's worth considering where we might be heading by looking at how countries without competent abortion doctors are faring. Tanzania is one such place, where abortion is illegal except to save the mother's life. Maternal mortality is 100 times that of the U.S. A timely warning.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Keeping Wolves Out of Harm's Way
The Interior Department has allowed hunting of wolves in the west again - Obama/Salazar are carrying forward the Bush delisting of wolves as endangered species. Wolves are very much in danger, from hunters. Watch this short video; there ARE solutions that are compatible with ranching and saving the Grey Wolf.

Monday, June 1, 2009
City Resists State on Voting-Machine Program
In this off-election season, we must take special care that our right to a fair and honest election is not being surreptitiously undermined by special interests and status-quo right-wingers. New York is fighting to preserve the only unhackable election machines in the country. Pls. read article and comments too.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Kabuki on the Potomac: Reforming Credit Default Swaps and OTC Derivatives
Obama wants to set up a new super-regulator of the financial system. Don't be fooled - the regulator is conceived, funded and staffed by the derivative-trading banks that would be insolvent already if not for the unwilling taxpayer. Here's what they don't want you to know. The only question is Obama a fool or in bed with the bankers too?

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Geithner's gift to Wall Street
It's all over now, the Banks frankly own the place, the 'place' being America. How would you like a non-recourse government-backed loan at <3% interest for 94% of an asset where you get paid an unlimited amount as quickly for your 6% as the government does for its higher risk 94%? Oh, you can walk away & not pay if it doesn't work out. Sorry, if you are not a hedge fund, don't apply. How TALF may make you want to BARF.

Friday, May 15, 2009
The happiest taxes on earth
Think having a high GDP = Happiness? Think again, America is 11th in Happiness even with the highest GDP. Maybe that's because we're 15th on a per capita basis. If you want to be happy, says a new Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development survey, move to the chilly climes of Northern Europe, and pay up to 2/3 in taxes.

Friday, May 1, 2009
16 Cattle Drop Dead Near Mysterious Fluid at LA Gas Drilling Site
Drilling for Natural Gas nails 16 bovine victims. Propublica highlights the latest casualties in the Natural Gas vs. Clean Water debate. Is a chemical soup headed your way?

Monday, April 27, 2009
After Off Year, Wall Street Pay Is Bouncing Back
Wall Street has set aside $36 to pay in bonuses this year - about half a million per employee average and roughly what they paid out in record 2007, before the crisis hit. After all, the banks are making money again. Are you?

Monday, April 20, 2009
3 Trustees of A.I.G. Are Quiet, Perhaps to a Fault
Control of America's largest financial institutions now belongs to a handful of people who weren't elected, aren't political appointees, don't hold offices, are completely independent, can't be fired, and are unknown to virtually every taxpayer. How the Government is avoiding nationalization at all costs...

Sunday, April 12, 2009
(No) Drill, Baby, Drill
Costa Rica charges for pollution and rewards support for the environment. Result? 100% MORE forest than 20 years ago, less pollution, less poverty, no oil drilling, green energy from wind, hydro and geothermal. now, was that really so hard?

Sunday, April 12, 2009
The New Face of Health Care A new system rewards doctors and hospitals for taking better care of patients at lower costs
Think there are no good solutions to the Health Care crisis without spending gobs of money? Take a look at what award-winning Geisinger is doing to improve health care at lower cost. Is the 750 physician hospital serving 2.6 million patients a model for our future?

Saturday, April 11, 2009
The Lessons of the Savings-and-Loan Crisis
From an ex-regulator of the 1990s S&L crisis comes refreshing candor about the current, much bigger, credit crisis. Obama continues the Bush sweep-it-under-the-rug policy. W. Black makes the case for killing the Zombies and getting rid of their enablers in conservative Barron's newspaper.

Friday, April 3, 2009
Everglades Restoration Plan Shrinks
To heck with the Everglades. Florida scales back its plan to restore the Everglades by half. Alligators suffer in the economy too. Do we really need to keep a sugar company in business longer? Maybe we should tax sugar to pay for the Everglades which would make both people and nature healthier.

Monday, March 16, 2009
Northeast US to suffer most from future sea rise
Will the Northeast get 8" more sea level rise than the world average? That would turn New York Subways into Gondola Zones. Ocean currents may complicate even the worst scenarios for the northeast.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Energy Dept. Said to Err on Coal Project
The Bush DOE overestimated the cost of the test carbon sequestration plant by $500 million. Without that error, the technology might have been profitable, says the GAO. On such fuzzy math hangs our country's future. I don't know if clean coal exists, but clean math does. Also, let's untax their profit but heavily tax their resource/pollution use to incentivize them to clean up their act. If they still can't make it, shut 'em.

Thursday, March 5, 2009
Middle-aged Women Keeping Zimbabwean Economy Afloat
Maybe the last place anyone would expect to see good news these days is Zimbabwe, but it seems the women of that country are finding a way around the collapse of their economy. I've always said the women anywhere are generally smarter than the men - who simply like to fight a lot. Here's some proof.

Monday, March 2, 2009
Filibusters: The Senate's Self-Inflicted Wound
(2 comments) "It is now possible for the senators representing the 34 million people who live in the 21 least populous states - a little more than 11 percent of the nation's population - to nullify the wishes of the representatives of the remaining 88 percent of Americans." We MUST end the routine use of the filibuster now & restore majority rule!

Sunday, March 1, 2009
Franklin Delano Obama
(2 comments) Obama's next big challenge is health care. Some people have narrowly focused on the increased costs, without realizing the tremendous increased benefits, not just to those finally getting covered, but to business, the economy etc. Nicholas Kristof makes the case why reform can't wait - it might even save G.M.

Monday, February 23, 2009
Your request is being processed... Ryan Grim Ryan Grim ryan@huffingtonpost.com | HuffPost Reporting From DC Become a Fan
This piece shows why it's so hard to get anything passed in the Senate. But, why do we need 60 votes when Franken hasn't been seated yet? Someone should really do whatever it takes to get Ted Kennedy back to the floor, even if it means setting up intensive care in his office and wheeling him down to vote - that'd be 58 votes, 1 shy of 60% if only 99 Senators are counted. Rule check!

Sunday, February 22, 2009
Class Dismissed in Swat Valley
Anyone who thinks Pakistan can negotiate with the Taliban should look at this video of how the pathologically misogynist Taliban treat school age girls. There is no way a country can thrive with half the population terrorized by a handful of the other half, while the good people leave the region. A quarter of the residents of the Swat Valley have already fled. Should we care, beyond humanitarian reasons? this is how they win.

Monday, February 9, 2009
Your request is being processed... Progressives Call For Democrats To Abolish The Filibuster
Want to get a stimulus bill with teeth? Abolish the Filibuster - the 60 vote requirement in the Senate is killing majority rule.

Monday, February 9, 2009
U.S. Taxpayers Risk $9.7 Trillion on Bailout Programs (Update1)
The latest tally on the various bailouts and guarantees is nearly $10 Trillion. With the money going to the banks, almost the entire value of every mortgage in America could have been paid off! Oh, that's right, we the Taxpayers will be getting most of this back, eventually. Right. The Redistributionist Republicans have struck again.

Friday, February 6, 2009
As Layoffs Surge, Women May Pass Men in Job Force
The NYT reports that the recession has a gender bias against men, who constitute 82% of the layoffs. Women may soon outnumber men in the workforce as teachers, nurses etc. outwoman men in manufacturing and construction jobs. Of course, this "woman's work" traditionally doesn't pay the big bills, nor come with perks like health insurance. It does create the imperative to reexamine gender roles.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Your request is being processed... Tenn. Congressmen Seek $25M In Stimulus For Coal Cleanup
This outrageous giveaway has to stop or we will never get true price discovery of a lump of coal (the kind you get all year round, not just at Christmas). If these kinds of subsidies were ended, renewables would be seen as the real bargains. When we the last time a wind turbine or solar field experienced a toxic ash dump? The coal/oil/NG industries have to stop getting a free ride and should pay to clean their messes.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Commentary: How to rescue the bank bailout
Joseph E. Stiglitz (who should have been made Treasury Secretary, not Geithner), makes a compelling case for nationalizing the banks and ending the hundred billion dollar bridge-loans to nowhere. He cites the successful temporary nationalization that Sweden did years ago. It's time to start letter-writing Obama and Congress to do this while rebuilding the real economy.

Monday, December 22, 2008
How the West's Energy Boom Could Threaten Drinking Water for 1 in 12 Americans
Even if you're pro-domestic energy sourcing, you need to read this article regarding the risks to our freshwater. I'm rethinking my membership in the Pickens Plan due to the harm caused by drilling for NG. They want to drill near New York City's reservoirs too. And even if the water is safe to drink, there may not be any left.

Sunday, December 21, 2008
Hedge funds gain access to $200bn Fed aid
I thought it couldn't get any worse, but now the Fed wants to give money to the hedge funds who got us into this mess in the first place! It seems they cannot get enough leverage. The hedge funds need to be killed off and deleveraged, not encouraged so we have more Madoffs and more redemption-driven market crashes. We are living in the world of the Onion.

Sunday, December 21, 2008
Missing the Target With $700 Billion
In response to Mr. Blinder's call for renaming the TARP, since it now seems to be used for only LIFTING the banks and SEPARATING money from the taxpayers, I propose calling it the Banking Recapitalization Act - or, BRA. CNBC reported that Paulson will get the next $350 billion unless Congress objects in 15 days. He asked for the money 12/19 & Congress reconvenes on 1/6 - 19 days.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tracking the Bailout: The Government's Commitment
Finally, a wallchart of all the government's commitments (so far) to save our shaky financial system, suitable for framing, or for shaking our heads in disbelief over. We are in uncharted territory, in spite of the chart.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Great Crash of 2008
For a fuller explanation of the cause behind the Great Crash of 2008 (and it was, until this week, the second worst year on the stock market - ever - and since 1932) see Georgist economist Mason Gaffney's excellent article on how land speculation has led to similar busts for the last 1,000 years, and what to do about it.