(Joe Bageant, DECEMBER 08, 2009)
[CLICK the above credit line for the full article]

[NOTE by Lorenzo: I strongly urge you to click the above link and read this entire essay. The following is a quote from the end of the article.]

George W. Bush left office wearing the same smirk he came in with. Perhaps it’s congenital. But if Bush was smirking when he left office, he must now be convulsed in crazed hysterical laughter. His gang not only got away clean, but Obama carries on the dark Bush-Cheney legacy. And, almost as if to top the whole black escapade with a cherry of irony, the most inarticulate president in American history is now on the motivational speaking circuit at $200,000 a pop. Never let it be said that the Devil does not care for his own. . . . Will Americans ever rise up in defense of their own common well being through such things as education, health and a productive peace caring society? Nope. Because it has been seen to that socialism — the administration of the nation solely for the common good and benefit of all the people without preference or privilege — doesn’t stand a chance in America. . . .

» Continue reading “Barack promised change — and sure enough, things changed for the worse”

(ACLU Report, July 2010)
[CLICK the above credit line for the full article]

President Obama will be in office at least through 2012, and perhaps through 2016. But the policies the Obama administration pursues on the issues discussed in this report will have implications that will extend far beyond this presidency. That is why it is so critical that the administration right its course and keep faith with our nation’s highest ideals and aspirations. . . . There can be no doubt that the Obama administration inherited a legal and moral morass, and that in important respects it has endeavored to restore the nation’s historic commitment to the rule of law. But if the Obama administration does not effect a fundamental break with the Bush administration’s policies on detention, accountability, and other issues, but instead creates a lasting legal architecture in support of those policies, then it will have ratified, rather than rejected, the dangerous notion that America is in a permanent state of emergency and that core liberties must be surrendered forever.

(: David Sherfinski, Washington, March 10, 2010)
[CLICK the above credit line for the full article]

Loudoun ranks as the richest county in the United States, immediately followed by Fairfax and Howard counties, while Montgomery, traditionally one of the wealthiest, is now 10th. . . . Forbes magazine ranked eight other Washington-area counties in its list of the nation’s 25 wealthiest counties, far more than any other area in the country. The rankings are based on 2008 median household income data from the U.S. Census Bureau. . . . “We’re so much better off here than other places,” he said. “It’s not like we’re talking about draconian cuts or anything.” . . . Northern Virginia and Fairfax also house government agencies and employers that have been less affected by the economic downturn than biotech-heavy Montgomery, Robertson said. . . . While other traditionally wealthy regions such as New York and San Francisco have suffered heavily in the recession, the Washington area benefits from the presence of the federal government and its contractors.

(David Sirota, AlterNet, July 21, 2010)
[CLICK the above credit line for the full article]

Over the last few days, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner have made the case that Harvard professor and Congressional Oversight Panel chairwoman Elizabeth Warren is too controversial a figure to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. This, then, raises the revealing question of how Washington defines “controversial”? . . . » Continue reading “The new meaning of ‘controversial””

(Jon Boone, The Guardian, 18 July 2010)
[CLICK the above credit line for the full article]

The US military build-up in Kandahar is likely to further strengthen the hold of the Taliban over the vital southern Afghanistan city, a highly respected security organisation said today in a bleak report warning of record Taliban violence and rising civilian deaths across the country. . . . The report by the Afghanistan NGO Security Office, which monitors trends in violence on behalf of aid organisations, said Nato‘s counter-insurgency strategy was not showing any signs of succeeding amid rising violence, the unchecked establishment of local militias and a huge increase in attacks on private development workers across the country. . . . It revealed that June marked a record for Taliban attacks – up 51% on the previous year to 1,319 operations. » Continue reading “US military build-up in Kandahar will bolster Taliban, warns security monitor”

(Marion Nestle, Food Politics, July 18, 2010)
[CLICK the above credit line for the full article]

So says a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO): GAO identified a variety of products that currently incorporate nanomaterials already available in commerce … [in] food and agriculture …The extent to which nanomaterials present a risk to human health and the environment depends on a combination of the toxicity of specific nanomaterials and the route and level of exposure to these materials. Although the body of research related to nanomaterials is growing, the current understanding of the risks posed by these materials is limited. . . . In the meantime, the European Food Safety Authority is preoccupied with issues related to the safety of food nanotechnology: The risk assessment framework for nanotechnology in Europe—like so much else connected to the technology—appears to be in its infancy but developing at a rapid pace … Nano knowledge gaps have led some to call for a ban on the use of nanomaterials in food products until their safety has been fully established. One area of concern is whether nanoparticles can migrate from packaging materials into foods. . . . In seeking to assess nanomaterials, the food safety body repeatedly used phrases such as “specific uncertainties”, “limited knowledge” and…”difficult to characterise, detect and measure” in relation to toxicokinetics and toxicology in food. Likely usage and exposure levels are also largely a mystery.  . . . The European Food Safety Authority says that lack of knowledge means that risk assessment of risk assessments must be done on a “cautious case-by-case approach.” . . . Last April, the European Parliament’s environment committee said nanotech products should be withdrawn from the market until more is known about their safety. In June, that committee added that nanotech foods should be assessed for safety before they are approved for use and labeled. . . . Doesn’t that sound reasonable? Let’s hope it’s not too late to put such constraints in place, and in the U.S., too.

The images above were found at:
BP Gulf Oil Spill Photos Show What BP Doesn’t Want You To See, The Real Reason Constitution Has Been Suspended