‘Guest column’ Archives
Corporations manufacture scientific doubt
Corporate campaigns manufacture scientific doubt by David Michaels From the September 27, 2008 issue of Science News In Doubt Is Their Product, published in April, epidemiologist David Michaels describes the growing corporate practice of “manufacturing” scientific uncertainty to thwart regulation of products that appear to pose risks. Michaels encountered the practice firsthand with beryllium, a metal used at U.S. nuclear weapons facilities, while he was the Energy ... Full Story
The Vatican meets the Wall Street occupiers
The Vatican meets the Wall Street occupiers By E.J. Dionne Jr. Opinion Writer Will we soon see a distinguished-looking older man in long, white robes walking among the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators in New York’s Zuccotti Park? Is Pope Benedict XVI joining the protest movement? Well, yes and no. Yes, the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace issued a strong and thoughtful critique of the global financial system this week that ... Full Story
The wealthy’s rewards
The study that shows why Occupy Wall Street struck a nerve By Eugene Robinson Opinion writer The hard-right conservatives who dominate the Republican Party claim to despise the redistribution of wealth, but secretly they love it — as long as the process involves depriving the poor and middle class to benefit the rich, not the other way around. That is precisely what has been happening, as a jaw-dropping new report by the nonpartisan Congressional ... Full Story
“Puppies are nice, but who paid for the ad?”
Politicians in the United States are diverse. They are tall, short, young, old, Republican, Democrat. But they all have one thing in common. They want to be reelected. That is why the vast majority of them sell us out for special interest campaign contributions. They think that the only way they can get elected is to buy expensive television time in order to get mindless name-recognition or poison their opponent with vicious, negative ads. In exchange for this money, they are willing to ... Full Story
When Romney helped Perry evade the law
Lawsuit reveals contradictory stories about an illicit $1 million campaign contribution from “Swift Boat” funder By Mark Hertsgaar “Follow the money” is an elementary rule for understanding American politics, and in the case of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the money trail leads to a case of apparent money laundering that involves his Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney and a $1 million contribution from the same Texas tycoon who bankrolled the ... Full Story
The Tax Hikes That Republicans Love
The Tax Hikes That Republicans Love A Commentary By Joe Conason Saturday, October 15, 2011 From the tea parties to the corporate boardrooms to the presidential debate platforms, we hear a familiar droning whine about taxes -- except the angry message is no longer simply that taxes are too high. Today, conservative politicians and pundits complain instead that some people, namely those too poor to owe federal income taxes, aren't paying enough. So what if those ... Full Story
The class warfare the rich don’t understand
Al Jazeera The class warfare the rich don't understand The Masters of the Universe evaded responsibility and defiantly demanded more sacrifice from their victims, says author. By Heather Digby Parton, Last Modified: 10 Oct 2011 09:43 "Those who own the country ought to govern it." - Founding father, John Jay There have been rumblings in the corners of the Tea party movement for some time, but the minute president Obama announced that he was going to ask wealthy Americans ... Full Story
How much does a congressman cost
All Posts Editorial Opinion As we consider ways to cut costs, perhaps the congress should consider eliminating itself. At least some of itself. It is expensive to keep a congressman in office. How much does it cost to have a man or woman in the House of Representatives? The house publishes a Statement of Disbursements, which you can access by going to this site; http://disbursements.house.gov/. This document is over 3000 pages and covers the expenses incurred in running the offices of ... Full Story
Dems accuse Gardner of cozying up to the Kochs
Representative Gardner Gets Support from Company Doing Business with Iran Press release: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Last year Congress passed the Iran Sanctions Act with strong bipartisan support, but a new Bloomberg investigation revealed that one of Representative Cory Gardner (CO-04)’s large supporters, who spent over $300,000 to benefit his campaign, profited from business with Iran despite the country’s known links to financing terrorists. Not only did Gardner’s ... Full Story
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
By John W. Whitehead October 3, 2011 "Sometimes I feel like I'm actually on the wrong planet, and it's great when I'm in my garden, but the minute I go out the gate I think: 'What the hell am I doing here?'"--George Harrison By the time he was 21 years old, George Harrison--along with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr--had conquered the pop world. Within a few years, when the so-called "Summer of Love" swept over the world, the Beatles had invaded Western ... Full Story