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Chris Hedges: Hope for Corporate America

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Hedges reminds us that ALL of the current crop of candidates, including Obama, are happily sucking on the corporate teat. He writes, "The same Beltway lobbyists, corporate donors.. weapons manufacturers, defense contractors... and Wall Street interests that give Clinton and McCain money, give Obama money. They happen, in fact, to give Obama more. And the corporate state, which is carrying out a coup d’état in slow motion, believes it will prosper in Obama’s hands. If not, he would not be a viable candidate". Edwards was the only guy who put up a fight, hence his marginalization in the press - mab
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Filed in Articles, Economics, Media, Politics, Elections/Voting | Comments (0) | Permalink

Mark Hertsgaard: Running on Empty

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"The United States, with its two-hour commutes, three-car families, atrophied mass transit and petroleum-based food system, is most vulnerable to an oil shock" - Hertsgaard in The Nation
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Filed in Articles, Environment, Science, Economics, Energy | Comments (0) | Permalink

NYT Op-Ed (Friedman): Dumb as We Wanna Be

"Why waste tax dollars in the gas tank instead of investing in innovation?" Newly returned from his facial receipt of a pie, Friedman throws a pie of his own.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Filed in Economics, Articles, Politics, Energy | Comments (0) | Permalink

NYT Op-Ed (Dowd): Praying and Preying

"A crisis called 'Bad Dreams From My Faux Father.'"
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

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NYT Editorial: Mr. Obama and Rev. Wright

"'If Reverend Wright thinks that that’s political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn’t know me very well,' Mr. Obama said. 'And based on his remarks yesterday, well, I may not know him as well as I thought either.'” Excuse me? It stretches credibility WAY beyond the breaking point that Obama could make this final statement - not knowing Wright "as well as I thought" - after TWENTY YEARS of a close relationship with him. Obama has now gone from "much ado about nothing" (his first reaction to the Wright issue) to "Okay, he said some inflammatory things, but I wasn't in the pews when he said them," to "Okay, I WAS in the pews when he said SOME of those things - but the issue is race in general," to "He doesn't speak for the campaign," to, finally, "I am outraged." Sorry; I don't buy it.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

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NYT: Bill Regulating Air Monitors Draws Concern at Hearing

"A proposal to require police oversight of detection devices." As noted in the article, "But opponents...expressed concern that police oversight would deter independent attempts to monitor air quality. They said that under such a law, citizens’ groups would not have been able to do the air testing that contradicted overly optimistic official air-quality reports after the destruction of the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001." That is all you need to know. This bill must NOT be allowed to pass!
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Filed in Articles, Human Interest, Politics, Environment, Legal, Law Enforcement | Comments (0) | Permalink

NYT: On Arrests, Demographics, and Marijuana

"A study released Tuesday reported that between 1998 and 2007, the police arrested 374,900 people whose most serious crime was the lowest-level misdemeanor marijuana offense. That is more than eight times the number of arrests on those same charges between 1988 and 1997, when 45,300 people were picked up for having a small amount of pot." What a stupid, unnecessary and costly waste of time.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Filed in Articles, Human Interest, Politics, Legal, Law Enforcement | Comments (0) | Permalink

NYT: Albert Hofmann, the Father of LSD, Dies at 102

Like it or not, a critical figure of the 60s: where would the hippie movement - to say nothing of Leary & Co. - have been without him? And it interesting that he died in between the 40th anniversary of the "Summer of Love" and the 40th anniversary of 1968 (and Hair). And apparently his use of LSD did not affect his longevity...LOL.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, April 30, 2008