We can’t have both
Louis Brandeis once warned the American people, that as a nation, “We must make a choice. We may have a democracy, or have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” Democracy In Chains, p 211.
Politics
The real question about the Equifax hack
It seems to me that this breach as outlined by F. Manjoo in the NYT today is about trust. The crown jewels have been stolen. Because they all use the same dataset and we’ve always considered them interchangeable, there is no difference, TransUnion and Experian are as culpable as Equifax. So, now that the data … [Read more…]
Dicamba in the Field …
Monsanto and BASF, what could go wrong? Washington Post, Aug 29, 2017. “This miracle weed killer was supposed to save farms. Instead, it’s devastating them.”
Misinforming the Majority
An interview by Mark Karlin, Truthout magazine, with writer Nancy MacLean, who’s book ‘Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America’ shines a light on the work of economist James McGill Buchanan who’s work inspired the Koch brothers, among others. If you have the nerve after 6+ months of … [Read more…]
$9 Billion Nuclear Boondoggle Fits a Global Pattern of Troubles
From the IEEE Spectrum on South Carolina’s VC Summer nuclear power plant. “Public trust is at stake here, folks.” That’s how South Carolina’s top power industry regulator described the gravity yesterday of local utilities’ decision to walk away from a pair of partially-built nuclear reactors, according to Charleston’s Post and Courier newspaper. Public Service Commission … [Read more…]
LBJ Launches Medicare: ‘You Can’t Treat Grandma This Way’
LBJ Launches Medicare: ‘You Can’t Treat Grandma This Way’ Yes, our health system is broken, but broken systems can be fixed — not easily, but they can be fixed. By Bill Moyers | July 30, 2017 Watching the craziness in the Senate this week, as Mitch McConnell and the GOP’s zealots drove their clown car … [Read more…]
Trump’s unfitness for office – The Observer July 27, 2017
Trump’s unfitness for office is a scathing reduction of the first six months of the Trump administration.
Patent-Free Drugs
Another piece from the NY Times today, July 18, 2017, this one by Fran Quigley (Health and Human Rights Clinic at Indiana University McKinney School of Law) and the full article can be read here. How’s this for a great deal? The United States government funded research and development of a new vaccine against Zika. … [Read more…]
White House Ethics ?
Lovely article in the NY Times of July 18, 2017 from Walter M. Shaub, Jr., former head of the Office of Government Ethics. The article can be found here and is a fine reminder of what has transpired in the first six months of the Trump administration. The cascading effects of the president’s departure from … [Read more…]
A predictable nuclear accident at Hanford
From the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists – A predictable nuclear accident at Hanford. From May, 2017.