News News

Really Screwed Up

1:07 am EST November 3rd, 2011 | News | 39 Comments

30 MAJOR CORPORATIONS PAID NO TAXES FROM 2008-2010

A new bombshell report reveals that 30 major US corporations effectively paid no taxes between 2008 and 2010 as they raked in giant profits.

Lindsey Graham: It’s Hard Out Here For A Southern White Guy

4:15 pm EST October 6th, 2011 | News | 27 Comments

Who will stand up for the southern white man? WHO???

RIP Steve Jobs

8:40 pm EST October 5th, 2011 | News | 4 Comments

He fits right in with this crew:

Greek Austerity Misses Deficit Target

8:42 pm EST October 2nd, 2011 | News | 10 Comments

Hey, look, the drive to austerity hasn’t helped the Greeks meet their deficit targets. Guess what? It won’t happen here either. All it does, especially here, is squeeze those who are already being squeezed while the robber barons get to fleece us yet again.

It’s almost as if “starve the beast” policies are designed to keep those with wealth flush in cash while the middle and lower classes languish.

Almost.

FBI Arrests Alleged Terrorist

3:53 pm EST September 28th, 2011 | News | 45 Comments

Rezwan Ferdaus: Man Charged With Plotting Terrorist Attack Vs. Pentagon, U.S. Capitol

The Department Of Justice announced today that Rezwan Ferdaus of Ashland, Massachusetts has been charged in a plot to attack the Pentagon and US Capitol. Ferdaus reportedly tried to detonate a remote controlled plane filled with C-4 explosives.

Anti-Vaxxers Kill Children In Montreal

1:17 pm EST September 22nd, 2011 | News | 13 Comments

There is a measles outbreak in Montreal.

For the first time since 2007 Quebec is dealing with a widescale measles outbreak.

More than 700 cases of the potentially deadly disease have been reported in the province this year, with the majority of people being infected between April and July, although new infections are still being reported.

Most of the people infected live in the Mauricie region of the province, but the most recent cases have been reported in the Eastern Townships.

12 percent of the infections have been so bad people needed to be hospitalized for treatment.

Children need to be vaccinated against these diseases. It is a public health issue. If you are supporting the cause of the anti-vaxxers, pushing their agenda, or as a news organization forwarding these views – you are helping to kill children. (via @ZieberKR)

Mary Landrieu, Oil Industry Puppet, Hurting Louisiana Citizens

10:41 am EST September 15th, 2011 | News | 22 Comments

Hey look, it’s “Democrat” Mary Landrieu, once again doing her best to fulfill the “how high” requirement when the oil industry commands her to jump. This time around it’s opposition to the jobs bill.

Some are unhappy about the specific types of companies, particularly the oil industry, that would lose tax benefits. “I have said for months that I am not supporting a repeal of tax cuts for the oil industry unless there are other industries that contribute,” said Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana.

For Louisiana, the difference between this “Democrat” and a Republican in that seat is that a Republican doesn’t pretend to be on the side of the worker while doing the corporation’s dirty work.

Michele Bachmann Helps Those Who Kill Children

6:28 pm EST September 13th, 2011 | News | 14 Comments

Bachmann’s words are irresponsible. Even moreso when you consider that she isn’t just some Jill Schmoe, but an elected official.

Last night, carrying the mantle of fear and ignorance that are hallmarks of anti-vaccine activists, Bachmann denounced Texas Governor Rick Perry for mandating vaccines for schoolgirls, starting in the sixth grade, against the human papillomavirus.

“I’m offended for all the little girls and parents that didn’t have a choice,” she said. (Actually, any parent can opt out on a child’s behalf.) She said that girls who were harmed by the vaccine don’t get “a mulligan.” Later, the offended Bachmann ventured deeper into scientific illiteracy, telling Fox News that a woman had approached her after the debate and told her that she had a daughter who had “suffered mental retardation as a result of that vaccine.”

This is a particularly irresponsible way to speak, in part because it raises the memory of the deadly fiasco caused by the British physician Andrew Wakefield when he asserted that vaccines caused autism. That assertion has been withdrawn, Wakefield has been disgraced, and, after scores of studies, no correlation between vaccinations and autism has ever been found. But vaccine rates plummeted and diseases like measles and whooping cough, once nearly vanquished, came roaring back. The fear Wakefield caused has killed many children.

Hours later, Bachmann doubles down on her harmful statements.

This is a byproduct of the right’s systematic elevation of ignorance.

Regulation Can Spur Innovation? Yes.

6:08 pm EST September 13th, 2011 | News | 2 Comments

Public Citizen has an interesting list of regulation that caused product innovation. Check the whole link for the complete story:

1. The Incandescent Light Bulb
For the sake of energy efficiency, Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act in 2007. The measure requires light bulb manufacturers to meet a 25 to 30 percent increase in incandescent light bulb efficiency by 2012.

The law, drafted in consultation with industry, began a new era in innovation.
…

2. Reducing Sulfur Dioxide Emissions
Sulfur Dioxide, SO2, is a major air pollutant that causes acid rain and smog, and contributes to thousands of premature deaths annually in the United States.

During the 1970s, Congress passed the Clean Air Act to curb SO2 emissions at their largest source—coal-fired power plants. Coal power plants were then required to implement and install “scrubbing” technologies in their tall smoke stacks.

Although scrubbers had serious technical problems, the law led to major improvements. By the mid-1990s scrubbers’ efficiency had improved 25 percent, their costs were cut in half and the number of vendors offering the technology greatly increased.

Between 1980 and 2008, the country experienced a 71 percent decrease in SO2 concentrations while the amount of coal-generated electricity in the U.S. was still increasing.

3. Protecting Workers from Poisonous Vinyl Chloride
In 1974, vinyl chloride, a substance used to produce a popular type of plastic called polyvinyl chloride (PVC), was found to cause a rare and fatal cancer among manufacturing workers.

Four months later, after substantial investigation into the health risk, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a rule banning any “detectable level” of vinyl chloride in workplaces.

Ten months after final rule was issued, the largest PVC manufacturer, B.F. Goodrich, announced that it had developed a containment system that prevented vinyl chloride from coming into contact with PVC workers. The company then announced that it had signed licensing agreements for its containment technology with six corporations and planned to expand to several other plants.

…

4. Preventing Ozone-Layer-Destroying CFC Emissions from Aerosols
First developed in the 1920s, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are chemical propellants that dispense anything from perfumes and spray deodorants to insecticides from aerosol cans.

In 1974, CFCs were found to break down the ozone layer, adversely affecting the earth’s vegetation and exposing people to increased risk of skin cancer. In 1977, the EPA and two other agencies banned all use of CFCs as aerosol propellants—the largest source of CFC emissions in the U.S.

In response to the federal ban, industry raced to develop a preferred alternative to CFCs. Just one day after the final implementation of the ban, the inventor of the original aerosol valve announced that he had the solved the problem. Robert H. Abplanalp said he had developed an aerosol system with a non-CFC propellant that worked better than existing systems.

…

5. Improving the Energy Efficiency of Home Appliances
Several laws, starting in the 1970s, have mandated improved efficiency standards for appliances.

These regulations resulted in dramatic improvements. Many appliances use less than half the energy they did in the 1970s.

Conservatives are pretty good at getting “alternative” storylines out there, while liberals tend not to be. Hopefully this is a sign of the future.

The Party Of Death

2:37 pm EST September 13th, 2011 | News | 1 Comment

The advantage of having the Tea Party movement host a Republican debate is that unvarnished conservative beliefs can come into the light instead of hiding. Beliefs like those who have money deserve medical care while others can just go and die reveals conservativism for what it is.