04-15-09
- The Corporate Rich and Their Fear of Unions:
- Corporate Offense Against Unions Relies on Myths (bangordailynews)
- Military-Industrial Profiteers - Making Sure There Will Always Be Enemies to Fight With Expensive US Weaponry:
- Errant Drone Attacks Spur Militants in Pakistan (ips) "the Pakistani government leaked data last week to The News in Lahore showing that only 10 drone attacks out of 60 carried out from Jan. 29, 2009 to Apr. 8, 2009 actually hit al Qaeda leaders, while 50 other strikes were based on faulty intelligence and killed a total of 537 civilians but no al Qaeda leaders. The drone strikes have been even less accurate in their targeting in 2009 than they had been from 2006 through 2008, according to the detailed data from Pakistani authorities. Of 14 drone strikes carried out in those 99 days, only one was successful, killing a senior al Qaeda commander in North Waziristan and its external operations chief. The other 13 strikes had killed 152 people without netting a single al Qaeda leader."
- Radioactive Sham:
- Keynote: Helen Caldicott (freespeech video - patience while loading) "Dr. Caldicott explains the nuclear fuel cycle and that, over the life of a nuclear power plant (which couldn’t be built without tax payer subsidies), the plant puts out the same amount of greenhouse gases as a fossil fuel plant does. In addition, we are left to store the spent fuel rods for the next half million years. . . . Dr. Caldicott also explains the medical effects of nuclear power and the madness of stockpiling nuclear arms."
- Do It the American Way - Steal That Vote:
- 'Thousands of Ballots' May be 'Missing' from AZ's Criminal Investigation Ballot Count in Phoenix (bradblog) "In a letter written to the Arizona Attorney General's office on Monday, as obtained by The BRAD BLOG, the attorney for the Pima County (Tucson) Democratic Party has expressed a concern that [as many as 19,000] thousands of ballots from a disputed 2006 special election, which should be in the AG's possession, may instead be 'missing'."
- This United Police State of America:
- Look Out for the Blimp That Doesn't Blink (creators)
- Restore the Rule of Law and Legal Accountability:
- Ray McGovern: Anatomy of Bush's Torture 'Paradigm' (consortiumnews) "Rather than Harry Truman's famous motto on his Oval Office desk, 'The Buck Stops Here,' this was a case of 'The Buck Starts Here.' President George W. Bush set the tone and created the framework, with strong support from Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld."
- Poisoning Our Food With Impunity:
- Corn, Soy Yields Gain Little From Genetic Engineering (afp/cd) "The use of genetically engineered corn and soybeans in the United States for more than a decade has had little impact on crop yields despite claims that they could ease looming food shortages, a study released on Tuesday concluded."
- Tea Parties: From Way Down the Rabbit Hole:
- Thom Hartmann: The Real Boston Tea Party was an Anti-Corporate Revolt (commondreams) -- In response to the Republicons' phony "tea parties" craze.
- Tea Parties? This is What Astroturf Looks Like (commongdreams) "'Astroturf.' Fake grassroots. It's what you get when big business and rich zealots hire pricey consultants to manufacture public outrage. With big budgets, limitless manpower, sophisticated targeting, and a sympathetic media channel, it's not difficult to generate anger."
- Pelosi: Tea parties are part of an ‘astroturf’ campaign by ‘some of the wealthiest people in America.’ (thinkprogress) "It’s astroturf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class."
- NGC 602 and Beyond (apod)
