April 26, 2011

By Mitchell J. Rabin

“Let’s celebrate by banning Nuclear Power!”I know, let’s celebrate by banning Nuclear Power! Yes, what a great way to
commemorate Earth Day. A world gone sane! And we

After losing his parents, this 3 year old orangutan was so depressed he wouldn’t eat and didn’t respond to any medical treatments. The veterinarians thought he would surely die from sadness.
The zoo keepers found an old sick dog on the grounds in the park at the zoo where the orangutan lived and took the dog to the animal treatment center. The dog arrived at the same time the orangutan was there being treated.
The 2 lost souls met and have been inseparable ever since.
The orangutan found a new reason to live and each always tries his best to be a good companion to his new found friend. They are together 24 hours a day in all their activities.

By Daniel Tencer, 1319
Posted on April 24, 2011, Printed on April 24, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/569425/study%3A_most_americans_want_wealth_distribution_similar_to_sweden

Americans generally underestimate the degree of income inequality in the United States, and if given a choice, would distribute wealth in a similar way to the social democracies of Scandinavia, a new study finds.

For decades, polls have shown that a plurality of Americans — around 40 percent — consider themselves conservative, while only around 20 percent self-identify as liberals. But a new study from two noted economists casts doubt on what values lie beneath those political labels.

According to research (PDF) carried out by Michael I. Norton of Harvard Business School and Dan Arielyof Duke University, and flagged by Paul Kedrosky at the Infectious Greed blog, 92 percent of Americans would choose to live in a society with far less income disparity than the US, choosing Sweden’s model over that of the US.

By Peggy Maze Johnson, AlterNet
Posted on April 18, 2011, Printed on April 24, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/150661/vision%3A_watching_the_nuclear_disaster_in_japan_from_nevada%27s_nuke-free%2C_earthquake-prone_yucca_mountain

Editor’s note: The following is a vital story by an activist who helped lead one of the most important successful environmental campaigns in recent history — the effort to stop the plan to make Yucca Mountain into the US nuclear waste repository. Peggy Maze Johnson reflects on the campaign in light of the disaster in Japan.

1975: I was living in Seattle and was named to a committee to choose a contractor/consultant to look at Seattle’s energy needs for the next 15 years. After selecting a consultant, the City Council asked if we would like to continue to oversee the work of the consultant. We did and added several more citizens to our committee. The reason for the study? Seattle was being pushed to join the Public Utility Districts in completing and financing additional nuclear plants in Eastern Washington. The new generation (no pun intended) of plants was to be named WPPSS for Washington Public Power Supply System. There was a lot of pressure because Seattle’s population brought the majority of the monies to complete this project. The committee broke down and we all studied different facets of the study. At the end, in February of 1976, the report titled “Energy 1990” was finished and presented to the City Council and the Mayor. We said NO! Our finding indicated that if Seattle instituted an aggressive conservation program there would be no need for WPPSS 3 and 4. What a concept! Whoops! 

Sunday, April 24, 2011 by  the Los Angeles Times

by Noam N. Levey and Kim Geiger

WASHINGTON — Despite mounting calls for greater transparency, only a few of the country’s 75 leading energy, healthcare and financial services corporations fully disclose political spending, according to  a review of company records and state and federal campaign finance reports.

While complying with legal requirements to report direct donations to candidates, the vast majority of these companies — many of which are seeking legislative favors from the new Congress — do not reveal information even to their shareholders about support for politically active trade associations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Groups such as the chamber, some of which spend millions of dollars on elections, are not required to reveal their financial supporters. And companies are not required to report their donations to those groups.