Friday, April 30, 2010

Truthout 4/30

Whistleblower: BP Risks More Massive Catastrophes in Gulf
Jason Leopold, Truthout: "A former contractor who worked for British Petroleum (BP) has alleged that the oil behemoth has broken federal laws and violated its own internal procedures by failing to maintain crucial safety and engineering documents related to one of the firm's other deepwater production projects in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving it vulnerable to a catastrophic disaster that would far surpass the massive oil spill that began last week following a deadly explosion on a BP-operated drilling rig, according to emails and other documents obtained by Truthout."
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A New Blueprint for Taking On Wall Street
Abby Scher, Truthout: "Wanda Hernandez of NYC AIDS Housing Network was on the podium at the 10,000-strong march on Wall Street April 29, saying, 'We didn't screw up the economy - they did. But me and my community have to pay the consequences. Some don't, so that's why we demand that Wall Street pay their fair share in taxes!' The people were crowded in City Hall Park under the shadow of the financial district not just to chant down Babylon, but also to demand that Congress not bow to Wall Street pressure and instead enact strong regulations of Wall Street so that it can't wantonly destroy jobs."
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ElBaradei Says Sanctions on Iran Will Fail
C. M. Sennott, GlobalPost: "Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, believes it is likely the international community will move to impose tougher sanctions on Iran."
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Financial Reform Bill 101: What it Means for Consumers
Peter Grier, The Christian Science Monitor: "The big financial reform bill now under consideration in the Senate is about more than collateralized back-flip derivatives and other stuff you have to be an MBA to understand. It could also affect how average Americans acquire credit cards, mortgages, bank accounts and other ordinary features of modern monetary life."
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A Fitting Memorial to Labor's Dead and Injured
Dick Meister, Truthout: "This past Wednesday marked another Workers Memorial Day - a day when organized labor and its allies honor the millions of men and women who've needlessly suffered or died because of workplace hazards and to demand that the government act to lessen the hazards."
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From Charity to Solidarity in Haiti: Lessons for the Policy Makers (Part III)
Beverly Bell, Truthout: "Humanitarian aid initiatives organized by Haitian communities offer respectful, democratic contrasts to the multibillion-dollar aid effort of the international community, much of which is wasted at best and destructive at worst. 'Embedded in the local humanitarian responses is the model of a society premised on generosity and dignity,' says a report released April 27 by Other Worlds: 'From Disaster Aid to Solidarity: Best Practices in Meeting the Needs of Haiti's Earthquake Survivors.'"
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Economy Grew Briskly in First Quarter, Government Says
Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers: "The US economy grew at a 3.2 percent rate in the first three months of 2010, the Commerce Department reported Friday, providing further evidence that an economic recovery is well underway."
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Eugene Robinson | False-Memory Syndrome
Eugene Robinson: "If you haven't heard the name Sue Lowden, brace yourself. She is a Republican who might well become a US senator from Nevada, and judging by her idea for containing health care costs - critics call it 'chickens for check-ups' - she threatens to make Sarah Palin sound like some kind of pointy-headed policy wonk.... Yes, I said chickens."
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State of Disgrace: The Right Fiddles While Arizona Burns
Randall Amster, J.D., Ph.D., Truthout: "It's getting hot here in Arizona these days, and summer isn't even upon us yet. As you've most likely heard, the Republican-controlled State Legislature passed - and the Republican governor signed - the nation's most draconian anti-immigrant law, essentially creating a class of new 'status crimes' and opening a Pandora's box of racial profiling implications. While to many of us who live here such sentiments among state officials aren't exactly novel, the shocking 'where are your papers?' aspects of the law (SB 1070) have raised a much-deserved national furor."
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House Members Call for Criminal Investigation Into Goldman Sachs After Senate Hearing
Grace Huang, Truthout: "In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder sent Wednesday, 62 members of the House asked the Justice Department to begin a criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs and other firms that possibly committed fraud."
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Mayor Bloomberg vs Artists: The Battle for the Soul of New York City
Brendan Smith, Truthout: "Last week a bubbly woman from Ohio stopped by our table in Union Square. 'This is why I love coming to New York!' she explained as she flipped through our silkscreens. 'Everywhere else I go, it's the same imported crap in the stores. But out here, I can meet local artists making art with their own hands.' ... Well, not for long ..."
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Government, Public Aid and Discrimination
Julia Stronks, Truthout: "On April 19, 2010, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. At the same time, Californians wait for an opinion from a federal judge in Perry v. Schwarzenegger. Both cases involve government financial support of and recognition of minority groups. The strange thing is that in one case Christians are in the minority and the gay community wants government to withhold recognition of the group. In the other case the gay community is in the minority and Christians want government to withhold recognition of the group. These cases highlight the need for all of us to think more carefully about whether government should be about majority rule or whether government should protect a plurality of perspectives."
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Tom Engelhardt | Obit Page
Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com: "She wheeled into the coffee shop, pulled up next to me, and pushed a piece of paper my way. 'Take a look,' she said.... It was a single typed page with her full name, Helena Bascomb Johnson, at the top, which was not, of course, how any of us knew her."
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The Supreme Court's Cross to Bear
Ruth Marcus, Truthout: "I am so going to miss Justice Stevens.... The latest reminder came as I was reading the Supreme Court's ruling resurrecting - pardon the pun - Congress' effort to keep an eight-foot-tall cross erected on federal land in the Mojave Desert as a memorial to World War I soldiers."
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News Brief: Goldman Sachs May Have Lied Under Oath and More ...
Yana Kunichoff, Truthout: "Reuters reported the unveiling of a new immigration bill by Senate Democratic leaders yesterday, with an emphasis on bolstered border security. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and fellow Democrats moved to overhaul the nation's 'broken' immigration system in the wake of Arizona's crackdown on undocumented immigrants. "
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Sen. Bernie Sanders: Not Far Enough on Financial Regulation (VIDEO)
Laura Flanders, GRITtv: "Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders joins us via Skype from Washington to tell us what he thinks about financial regulations, too-big-to-fail banks, and transparency at the Federal Reserve."
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