NYT Editorial & Op-Eds (3)

"Corporations and unions can spend whatever they want on independent political ads, and now they can do so anonymously" (Editorial); "The Gulf Coast doesn’t look so bad on the surface. But it’s the unknowns that nobody is talking about" (Friedman); "Why can’t we train the fierce warriors of Afghanistan to be the fierce warriors of Afghanistan?" (Dowd)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, July 28, 2010

NYT (6): National News

MA TO BECOME 6TH STATE TO PASS LAW CIRCUMVENTING ELECTORAL COLLEGE; Residual surface oil in gulf disappearing faster than expected; Anti-financial reform lobby includes many former DC insiders; Success of wind farms brings problem - where to store the energy; Bloomberg loses appeals court decision on hybrid taxis; and NYC will pay $7 million settlement in Sean Bell case.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, July 28, 2010

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"Why didn’t climate-change legislation get through the Senate? The triumph of greed and cowardice" (Krugman); "Obama, Congress and the public all contributed to the legislation’s failure" (Guest Op-Ed); "If cap-and-trade is dead, it was the American conservative movement that ultimately killed it" (Douthat)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, July 26, 2010

NYT (3+): Int’l Affairs

NYT ARTICLES BASED ON HISTORIC RELEASE OF WIKILEAK DOCUMENTS; Will American take over BP?; and more on BP's involvement in release of Lockerbie bomber.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, July 26, 2010

NYT (4): National News

Two on the media in light of the Shirley Sherrod incident; Lutherans reverse course, accept gay pastors; and algae as "superfuel."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, July 26, 2010

NYT Op-Eds (5)

"Elation from electing the nation’s first African-American president more than 20 months ago was destined to abate, but we reached a new low last week" (Rich); "Congress’s failure to pass an energy/climate bill is bad news for all of us" (Friedman); "President Obama’s race problem: a White House in the truest sense of the word" (Dowd); "Will the Senate act to protect Americans from food-borne illnesses?" (Schlosser); "Living through information-age maelstroms" (Guest Op-Ed)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, July 25, 2010

NYT (6): National News

RANGEL MIGHT STILL AVOID TRIAL; As V.A. eases use of medical marijuana, NJ pot law backslides; The next energy concern: hydraulic fracture drilling; Can the gov't keep kids food makers honest?; and newspaper legend Daniel Schorr dies.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, July 24, 2010

NYT (9): National News

RANGEL WILL BE TRIED ON ETHICS CHARGES; Will Pentagon finally trim budget?; Does paying for your own campaign make you a "populist?"; Immigration debate in the courts and in the streets; Dems cave on climate bill; Race just keeps rearing its ugly head; Econs say slump in NYC is over [Ed: Cold comfort for those of us still unemployed...]; Sadly, NYC Charter Revision isn't "sexy"; and unintended victims of oil spill: pets.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Friday, July 23, 2010

NYT Op-Eds (4)

"The stakes are high for getting an energy bill passed this year. What will it take for a compromise?" (Friedman); "Polls show that the left’s effort to rebrand itself has failed — mostly because Americans aren’t sure what 'progressive' means" (Guest Op-Ed); "The strange, dark strategy to demonize the people in favor of building a mosque near ground zero" (Wright); "A merchant for modern times: Shylock, still nettlesome after all these years" (Dowd)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, July 21, 2010

NYT+ (10): National News

BP CAUGHT ALTERING MEDIA PHOTO; Senate finally passes jobless benefit extension; Is Fed fiddling while we all burn?; Senate Judiciary C'te approves Kagan; Palin-backed underdog leads GOP primary in GA; WV gov will run for Byrd's seat; NAACP "snookered" by Tea Party; Despite Blago's bluster, no testimony; Bloomberg, privilege, and pot; and Lindsay Lohan goes to jail.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, July 21, 2010

NYT Op-Eds (2)

"Washington loves to govern by letting experts dole out advice. We may soon find out if that is the best thing for new health and financial reforms" (Brooks); "If the U.S. is to develop new nuclear power plants, increased attention must be paid to safety and oversight" (Herbert)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, July 20, 2010

James Howard Kunstler: What if He’s Right?

Kunstler brings to our attention the warnings of Matt Simmons, "a button-downed corporate executive who's been around the oil business for forty years", who thinks ...

a gigantic "lake" of crude oil is pooling under great pressure 4000 to 5000 feet down in the "basement" of the Gulf's waters .. he is concerned that a tropical storm will bring this oil up and with it clouds of methane gas that will move toward the Gulf shore and kill a lot of people .. he says that several states along the Gulf ought to begin systematic evacuations in counties along the shore now

Kunstler writes that "Simmons has put his reputation on the line. A lot of bystanders and commentators are treating him as a fool. Simmons himself is painfully aware of his lonely stance and seems, in his public appearances, to be a very regretful messenger" .. but what of he's right? - mab .. read more
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Monday, July 19, 2010

NYT (6): National News

Re Obamacare, some insurers begin offering low-priced plans, but with less choice of doctors; Will Palin's imprimatur on midterm races matter?; Long-term jobless and a "shaky safety net"; Obama now admits health mandate is a "tax"; Is racism linked to age?; and the "corrosive legacy" of oil spills.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, July 18, 2010

Conservatism’s Death Gusher

Oil in the Gulf? Why do we have it? This is a result of Reagan/Bush emphasis on conservative de-regulation. Doesn't work. There are always those corporations who game the system. Often the larger are the most avid players. mb
Posted by Michael Butler, Saturday, July 17, 2010

NYT (5): National News

WV gov picks successor to Byrd; GOP raising money faster nationally, but lagging badly in NYS; Under cloud, Espada faces "well-financed opponent"; and agreement is reached between Chevron and documentary maker.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, July 17, 2010

NYT (8): National News

LYNNE STEWART GETS 10 YEARS (!); Major victory for Obama as Senate passes new financial regs; BP finally caps well with no oil escaping; Paterson will sign bill limiting "stop-frisk" data; McMahon under scrutiny for WWE dealings; Debate begins on AZ law in first of many cases; Bybee admits some torture methods were "unauthorized"; and NYC jobless rate falls a little bit.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Friday, July 16, 2010

NYT (3): Foreign Affairs

BP WAS BEHIND RELEASE OF LOCKERBIE BOMBER (!); Strikes at bazaars in Iran continue; and Argentina becomes first L.A. country to legalize gay marriage.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Friday, July 16, 2010

BP halts flow of oil for 1st time since April

Posted by Bill Swiggard, Friday, July 16, 2010

Chomsky: Is the U.S. Gearing Up for the Destruction of Iran?

Posted by Bill Swiggard, Friday, July 16, 2010

NYT Op-Eds (2)

"Congress must accept its share of blame in the gulf" (Guest Op-Ed); "The good news is that someone still wants to spy on us. The bad news is that it’s the Russians" (Friedman)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Joe Bageant: Our Plunder of Nature Will End Up Killing Capitalism and Our Obscene Lifestyles

Bageant ...

Capitalism wouldn't be around today, at least not in its current pathogenic form, if it had not caught a couple of lucky breaks. The first of course, was the expansion of bloodsucking colonialism to give it transfusions of unearned wealth, enabling "investors" to profit by artificial means (death, oppression and slavery). But the biggest break was being driven to stratospheric heights by inordinate quantities of available hydrocarbon energy. Inordinate, but never the less finite. Consequently, the 100-year-long oil suckdown that put industrial countries in the tall cotton, now threatens to take back from subsequent beneficiary generation everything it gave. The Hummers, the golf courses, the big box stores, cruising at 35,000 feet over the Atlantic -- everything

.. read more
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Wednesday, July 14, 2010

NYT (5): National News

BP's horrific record; U.S. tries again for drilling ban; NRA expands political agenda; Avandia is typical Big Pharma "hide the bad report" story; and Consumer Reports trashes the iPhone.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Air-Conditioning Is Terrible for the Earth — Here’s How to Live Without It

Posted by Bill Swiggard, Tuesday, July 13, 2010

NYT Editorial & Op-Eds (4)

"Putting 'Climategate' to bed" (Editorial); "A nonviolent resistance movement led by women could be a game-changer for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" (Kristof); "The Russian spy caper was funny, but how do we know it failed?" (Guest Op-Ed); "A history of weathering storms, and disasters, on the gulf’s Bayou Lafourche" (Guest Op-Ed)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, July 11, 2010

NYT (6): National News

Wall Sreet is hiring, just as bailout becomes election issue; Uncapping the well in order to (hopefully) cap it permanently; Synthetic pot is causing havoc among youth; Hanford plutonium waste is triple prior estimate; Does Volcker finally "get it" and, if so, is it too little too late?
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, July 11, 2010