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August 2011
“Joshua Holland” – The 10 States With the Best Economies in America
http://www.alternet.org/economy/152187/the_10_states_with_the_best_economies_in_america/
August 26, 2011
The best local economy in the United States, by far, is the DC metropolitan area. Average incomes in the region top $150,000, more than triple the national average. The reason for Washington’s affluence (or parts of Washington’s affluence – the Capitol also has abundant poverty) is clear: while the rest of the economy is facing a crisis in demand as a result of high unemployment and stagnant wages in the private sector, the Capitol, in classic Keynesian style, is making up for it with plenty of public spending, which has skyrocketed since 9/11 – defense and homeland security contractors, and other firms providing goods and services to the government are flush.
It’s the same model that got us out of the Great Depression, but in this age of austerity, Washington isn’t spreading enough public dollars around to help those of us living in the 50 states. Even so, not all states have seen the same kind of economic pain since the Great Recession began. Here are 10 that are doing pretty well, with relatively low unemployment, fewer homes in foreclosure, decent wages and a large share of their populations enjoying health insurance. It’s not a comprehensive analysis of the thousands of economic metrics one might examine, but it does provide a handy snapshot of some of the states that are weathering the storm fairly well.
“Adele M. Stan” – 5 Reasons Progressives Should Treat Ron Paul with Extreme Caution — ‘Cuddly’ Libertarian Has Some Very Dark Politics
August 26, 2011
There are few things as maddening in a maddening political season as the warm and fuzzy feelings some progressives evince for Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, the Republican presidential candidate. “The anti-war Republican,” people say, as if that’s good enough.
But Ron Paul is much, much more than that. He’s the anti-Civil-Rights-Act Republican. He’s an anti-reproductive-rights Republican. He’s a gay-demonizing Republican. He’s an anti-public education Republican and an anti-Social Security Republican. He’s the John Birch Society’s favorite congressman. And he’s a booster of the Constitution Party, which has a Christian Reconstructionist platform. So, if you’re a member of the anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-black, anti-senior-citizen, anti-equality, anti-education, pro-communist-witch-hunt wing of the progressive movement, I can see how he’d be your guy.
Paul first drew the attention of progressives with his vocal opposition to the invasion of Iraq. Coupled with the Texan’s famous call to end the Federal Reserve, that somehow rendered him, in the eyes of the single-minded, the GOP’s very own Dennis Kucinich. Throw in Paul’s opposition to the drug war and his belief that marriage rights should be determined by the states, and Paul seemed suitable enough to an emotionally immature segment of the progressive movement, a wing populated by people with privilege adequate enough to insulate them from the nasty bits of the Paul agenda. (Tough on you blacks! And you, women! And you, queers! And you, old people without money.)
“Ted Rall” – 9/11: Ten Years Later, Americans Still Stupid and Vulnerable
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/28
Published on Sunday, August 28, 2011 by CommonDreams.org
by Ted Rall
They say everything changed on 9/11. No one can dispute that. But we didn’t learn anything.
Like other events that forced Americans to reassess their national priorities (the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, Sputnik) the attacks on New York and Washington were a traumatic, teachable moment.
The collective attention of the nation was finally focused upon problems that had gone neglected for many years. 9/11 was a chance to get smart—but we blew it.
First and foremost the attacks gave the United States a rare opportunity to reset its international reputation. Even countries known for anti-Americanism offered their support. “We are all Americans,” ran the headline of the French newspaper.
The century of U.S. foreign policy that led to 9/11—supporting dictators, crushing democratic movements, spreading gangster capitalism at the point of a thousand nukes—should and could have been put on hold and reassessed in the wake of 9/11.
“Paul Vallely” – There is No Moral Case for Tax Havens
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/28-1
Published on Sunday, August 28, 2011 by the Independent/UK
They are the epitome of unfairness and injustice, leaving ordinary citizens to foot the bill for multinational corporations
by Paul Vallely
There is a building in the Cayman Islands that is home to 12,000 corporations. It must be a very big building. Or a very big tax scam. Tax havens are in the spotlight since the Chancellor, George Osborne, did a deal the other day with the Swiss authorities to slap a levy on secret bank accounts held there by British citizens. Opinions are divided on the move, which could net the Treasury £5bn, but which tacitly legitimizes bank accounts kept secret from the Inland Revenue. It is a de facto amnesty for those guilty of tax evasion crimes. And they will pay less than they would if they declared their income to the British taxman.
Are there any legitimate reasons why anyone would want to have a secret bank account – and pay a premium to maintain their anonymity – or move their money to one of the pink dots on the map which are the final remnants of the British empire: the Caymans, Bermuda, the Turks and Caicos and the British Virgin Islands?
The moral case against is clear enough. Tax havens epitomize unfairness, cheating and injustice. They replace the old morality embodied in the Golden Rule of reciprocity – that we should do as we would be done by – with a new version that insists that those who have the gold make the rules.
“The Japan Times” – Japan’s Cesium Leak Equal to 168 ’45 A-Bombs
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/27-0
Published on Saturday, August 27, 2011 by The Japan Times
NISA compares contamination to Hiroshima blast
The amount of radioactive cesium ejected by the Fukushima reactor meltdowns is about 168 times higher than that emitted in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the government’s nuclear watchdog said Friday
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency provided the estimate at the request of a Diet panel but noted that making a simple comparison between an instantaneous bomb blast and a long-term accidental leak is problematic and could lead to “irrelevant” results.
The report said the crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant has released 15,000 terabecquerels of cesium-137, which lingers for decades and can cause cancer, compared with the 89 terabecquerels released by the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
The report estimated each of the 16 isotopes released by the “Little Boy” bomb and 31 of those detected at the Fukushima plant. NISA has said the radiation released at Fukushima was about one-sixth of that released during the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
“Little Boy,” dropped Aug. 6, 1945, destroyed most of the city and eventually killed as many as 140,000 people.
“Robert Ray” – After Irene: Little Damage Seen in Many Places
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/26-12
Published on Sunday, August 28, 2011 by the Associated Press
by Robert Ray
KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — From North Carolina to New Jersey, Hurricane Irene appeared to have fallen short of the doomsday predictions. But with rivers still rising, and roads impassable because of high water and fallen trees, it could be days before the full extent of the damage is known.
More than 4.5 million homes and businesses along the East Coast lost power, and at least 11 deaths were blamed on the storm. But as day broke Sunday, surprisingly light damage was reported in many places, with little more than downed trees and power lines.
“I think it’s a little strong to say we dodged a bullet. However, it certainly could have turned out worse for the Hampton Roads area” in Virginia, said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Montefusco.
At the same time, officials warned of the possibility of severe flooding over the next few days as runoff from the storm makes its way into creeks and rivers. In some parts of the Northeast, the ground was soggy even before the storm because of an extremely rainy August.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett cautioned: “The rivers may not crest until Tuesday or Wednesday. This isn’t just a 24-hour event.”
“Progressive Radio Network Host Mike Feder, Thursday’s @ 1pm(EDT”) – Friends
Friends,
It is obviously a very dark time in the world– in out country.
It’s hard to even look the paper or TV- or listen to the radio (however you get your regular dose of news).
Maybe, like me, you’re just exhausted from the relentless shocks to the system that all these visions and reports of wars, murders, disease, corruption, poverty and pure insanity engender.
In particular, after last Tuesday’s great giveaway by The President, it’s hard to have any hope that the country can be reclaimed from the pirates and their hired (or, at the very least, cowed and brainwashed) politicians, judges and agency heads.
But, once in a while, there is a brief glimmer of hope in this bleak landscape…
One such glimmer is a man named Tim DeChristopher who was sentenced to two years in Federal Prison in Federal Court in Salt Lake on July 26th.
Briefly–here’s the background:
“The San Francisco Chronicle” – Nuclear Reactors on East Coast Brace for Hurricane Irene’s Wrath
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/26-2
Published on Friday, August 26, 2011 by The San Francisco Chronicle
NEW YORK — More than a dozen nuclear reactors along the U.S. East Coast are being prepared for potential loss of power and damage from high winds and storm surges as Hurricane Irene bears down on the region.
Nuclear plants in Irene’s path continued to operate as workers secured loose equipment, checked diesel fuel supplies for backup generators and stowed cots and food for workers who may be stranded during the storm.
At Dominion Resources Inc.’s Millstone nuclear station, which sits on a narrow peninsula in the Long Island Sound near Waterford, Connecticut, workers were examining flood barriers and submarine doors designed to keep reactors dry from a hurricane’s storm surge.
“That’s part of our storm preparations: ensuring those flood barriers are in place, ready to do their job,” said Ken Holt, a spokesman for Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion, in an interview yesterday.
Irene, a Category 3 hurricane, is on track to become the first major storm to strike the U.S. since Hurricane Ike in 2008, following a similar path to Gloria in 1985, which swept through New York City into New England.
Progressive Radio Network Host Bhavani Jaroff” – Farm to Table Cooking Class
Join us for a Farm to Table Cooking Class followed by a candlelit dinner in the garden Thursday, September 1st, 6:00-9:00 pm $75.00 per person Space is limited Farm to Table Cooking Class 9-1-11.doc iEat Green Registration Form.dociEat Green Registration Form.doc Farm to Table Cooking Class 9-1-11.doc
“Jaclyn Gallucci” – A Look Inside The Immunization Dilemma
“Mark Engler” – Dramatizing Obama’s Climate Dilemma
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/26-6
President Obama now has a clear choice on climate change. Major energy corporations are seeking to build a 1700-mile oil pipeline from Canada’s tar sands to refineries in Texas. The Keystone XL Pipeline would itself carry social and environmental costs: cutting through fragile ecosystems, creating risk of spills, and negatively affecting indigenous communities. But, most significantly, it would be a boon to efforts to exploit the tar sands.
The Canadian tar sands are a particularly dirty source of fossil fuels that could produce egregious carbon emissions. As Elizabeth Kolbert reported at the New Yorker:
[B]ecause tar-sands oil is so heavy, it has to be very heavily processed, which requires tremendous amounts of energy, usually in the form of natural gas. It’s been estimated that, on what’s known as a well-to-tank basis, tar-sands oil is responsible for eighty percent more greenhouse-gas emissions than ordinary crude.
“Michelle Chen” – To Stop Corruption, Fight the Power, Not the People
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/26-4
Published on Friday, August 26, 2011 by ColorLines
Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and in a world where the gap between the powerful and powerless grows wider each day, corruption in political and economic institutions spreads much faster than shame.
Political power is abused wherever it exists—with scandals ranging from political graft in India to white collar crime on Wall Street to bribery of government regulators in China. Nonetheless, some communities seem especially vulnerable to the cycle of corruption, repression and impunity. And lately, we’ve seen many of them getting fed up with living under regimes that have lost legitimacy in the eyes of the people. Corruption has been one of the major issues driving the unrest across the Middle East and North Africa, and it has catalyzed a Gandhi-esque movement in the streets of New Delhi.
Indian activist Anna Hazare has inspired huge demonstrations in support of his hunger strike to promote a strict, controversial anti-corruption measure known as the Jan Lokpal bill. The government’s recent crackdown on Hazare only steeled protesters’ resolve under the slogan “India is Anna, Anna is India.”
“NBA vs. NFL” – Who Wins?
NBA VS NFL Even if you aren’t a Sports Fan this is Very Interesting! 36 have been accused of spousal abuse 7 have been arrested for fraud 19 have been accused of writing bad checks 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses 3 have done time for …
“YouTube Clip” – Big Pharma—Define ‘Better’
Watch this Music Video Featuring Chill EB – Psycho/pharma spends billions of dollars a year marketing mental ‘disorders’ & drugs for kids — yet these drugs are documented by international drug regulatory agencies to cause mania, psychosis, hallucinations, suicide, violence, homicidal ideation, heart attack, stroke and death. What’s more, they …
Transforming the United States into something closer to a democracy requires: 1) knowledge of how we are getting screwed; 2) pragmatic tactics, strategies, and solutions; and 3) the “energy to do battle.”
The majority of Americans oppose the corporatocracy (rule by giant corporations, the extremely wealthy elite, and corporate-collaborator government officials); however, many of us have given up hope that this tyranny can be defeated. Among those of us who continue to be politically engaged, many focus on only one of the requirements—knowledge of how we are getting screwed. And this singular focus can result in helplessness. It is the two other requirements that can empower, energize, and activate Team Democracy— a team that is currently at the bottom of the standings in the American Political League.
1. Knowledge of How We are Getting Screwed