The Poisoner's Handbook . American Experience . WGBH | PBS
You Won't Believe These Suez Canal Conspiracies
3 years ago
Friday, January 31, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
Koch World 2014
Koch World 2014
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But several sources suggested that Freedom Partners’ growth and
expansion into a more central strategic role within the network means
that the roles — and possibly funding — of the Center to Protect Patient
Rights and other groups in the network will diminish. In other words,
Freedom Partners will bring in-house many Koch network functions that
had been outsourced. That could reduce the chances of a repeat of
situations like that which the Center to Protect Patient Rights and one
of its beneficiary nonprofits found themselves in California, where they
paid $1 million
last year to settle an investigation into alleged campaign finance
violations. The settlement stipulated that the violation “was
inadvertent, or at worst negligent,” but the investigation brought
unwanted attention to the Kochs, who repeatedly stressed that they had no involvement in the matter and distanced themselves from the operative who ran the Center to Protect Patient Rights, Sean Noble, explaining that he was just a consultant.
Freedom Partners, by contrast, is run by Marc Short, a former Koch
employee, and staffed by other Koch loyalists, although Koch Industries issued a statement
saying the group “operates independently of Koch Industries.” The
group, established in November 2011, is technically a business league,
and its members pay at least $100,000 in annual dues. “Our membership
has grown out of concern that the administration’s policies are hurting
Americans by crippling businesses and our economy,” Davis said. The
growth has continued since the 2012 election, he said, adding that the
group is in the process of expanding its 50-employee staff.
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snip
But several sources suggested that Freedom Partners’ growth and
expansion into a more central strategic role within the network means
that the roles — and possibly funding — of the Center to Protect Patient
Rights and other groups in the network will diminish. In other words,
Freedom Partners will bring in-house many Koch network functions that
had been outsourced. That could reduce the chances of a repeat of
situations like that which the Center to Protect Patient Rights and one
of its beneficiary nonprofits found themselves in California, where they
paid $1 million
last year to settle an investigation into alleged campaign finance
violations. The settlement stipulated that the violation “was
inadvertent, or at worst negligent,” but the investigation brought
unwanted attention to the Kochs, who repeatedly stressed that they had no involvement in the matter and distanced themselves from the operative who ran the Center to Protect Patient Rights, Sean Noble, explaining that he was just a consultant.
Freedom Partners, by contrast, is run by Marc Short, a former Koch
employee, and staffed by other Koch loyalists, although Koch Industries issued a statement
saying the group “operates independently of Koch Industries.” The
group, established in November 2011, is technically a business league,
and its members pay at least $100,000 in annual dues. “Our membership
has grown out of concern that the administration’s policies are hurting
Americans by crippling businesses and our economy,” Davis said. The
growth has continued since the 2012 election, he said, adding that the
group is in the process of expanding its 50-employee staff.
WikiLeaks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Environment Chapter: "Toothless Public Relations Exercise"
WikiLeaks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Environment Chapter: "Toothless Public Relations Exercise"
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snip
The main points of her analysis of the chapter proper are that
despite aspirational language, the draft chapter has few definitions of
key terms and has no mechanism for providing penalties. The one stab at
defining terms is “environmental laws” and that is narrow, including
only environmental protection and human health and safety. It excludes
prudent resource management practices and also appears to impinge on the
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which all parties
to the pact save the US have signed. Among other things, it protects the
rights of indigenous people over traditional knowledge, specifically:
indigenous people? Similarly, Big Pharma has been scouring exotic
locations to try to find new molecules and treatments to exploit. It
would be a shame if pesky natives stood between them and their profits.
You can see why the Administration keeping these notions out of the
text.
click link
snip
The main points of her analysis of the chapter proper are that
despite aspirational language, the draft chapter has few definitions of
key terms and has no mechanism for providing penalties. The one stab at
defining terms is “environmental laws” and that is narrow, including
only environmental protection and human health and safety. It excludes
prudent resource management practices and also appears to impinge on the
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which all parties
to the pact save the US have signed. Among other things, it protects the
rights of indigenous people over traditional knowledge, specifically:
…genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties ofSeeds? Monsanto is going to cede control over seeds to savages
fauna and flora…and … the right to maintain, control, protect and
develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage,
traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.
indigenous people? Similarly, Big Pharma has been scouring exotic
locations to try to find new molecules and treatments to exploit. It
would be a shame if pesky natives stood between them and their profits.
You can see why the Administration keeping these notions out of the
text.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Monday, January 20, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
http://cwa-union.org/news/entry/nafta_at_20
http://cwa-union.org/news/entry/nafta_at_20
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snip
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In 1993, the United States, Mexico and Canada signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. Two decades later, working Americans have only seen a string of broken promises.
Arguing for NAFTA, President Clinton ensured the American people that NAFTA would "create 200,000 jobs in this country by 1995 alone." But, the U.S. actually saw some 700,000 jobs move to Mexico.
Clinton also said NAFTA would be the first agreement that had "any teeth in what another country had to do with its own workers and its own labor standards." But U.S. employer threats made during organizing campaigns to close plants if workers voted for a union rose from 29 percent in the mid-1980s to 50 percent in the two years following the adoption of NAFTA to 57 percent during the mid-2000s. Today, employers are more likely to use coercive tactics in their anti-union campaigns than they were before the adoption of NAFTA in 1993.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the State Department have all documented worsening conditions and eroded standards for workers both in the U.S. and Mexico. In our own country, we still have hundreds of thousands of children working on American farms. Migrant workers have few protections and families struggle with weak or non-existent laws on paid leave.
Read more at: http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/cwa_e-newsletter_jan_9_2014/
Arguing for NAFTA, President Clinton ensured the American people that NAFTA would "create 200,000 jobs in this country by 1995 alone." But, the U.S. actually saw some 700,000 jobs move to Mexico.
Clinton also said NAFTA would be the first agreement that had "any teeth in what another country had to do with its own workers and its own labor standards." But U.S. employer threats made during organizing campaigns to close plants if workers voted for a union rose from 29 percent in the mid-1980s to 50 percent in the two years following the adoption of NAFTA to 57 percent during the mid-2000s. Today, employers are more likely to use coercive tactics in their anti-union campaigns than they were before the adoption of NAFTA in 1993.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the State Department have all documented worsening conditions and eroded standards for workers both in the U.S. and Mexico. In our own country, we still have hundreds of thousands of children working on American farms. Migrant workers have few protections and families struggle with weak or non-existent laws on paid leave.
Read more at: http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/cwa_e-newsletter_jan_9_2014/
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Monday, January 13, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Friday, January 10, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Forget 2016, Chris Christie may not even be governor much longer
Forget 2016, Chris Christie may not even be <em>governor</em> much longer
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie strode to the microphones in Trenton Wednesday night and took an hour of reporters’ tough questions about a plot by staffers to punish Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor by snarling his city’s traffic for four days. Penitent, occasionally defiant, Christie insisted he didn’t know about the scheme. But he said he took full responsibility for the scandal, apologized to the citizens of Fort Lee and promised to get to the bottom of what happened.
Oh wait. That’s not what Christie did at all. The famously fearless governor cancelled his one public appearance of the day, ignored the story until late afternoon, and then issued an email statement saying he’d been “misled” by “a member of my staff.” There’s word he’ll be talking today at 11 a.m. But yesterday, when all the details broke and questions emerged, there was no press conference. No public statement. No apology to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich or his city or the people of New Jersey for staffers using the crucial George Washington Bridge as a weapon of political destruction, reportedly in retaliation for Sokolich’s refusal to endorse Christie’s re-election bid against Barbara Buono last year.
click link
snip
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie strode to the microphones in Trenton Wednesday night and took an hour of reporters’ tough questions about a plot by staffers to punish Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor by snarling his city’s traffic for four days. Penitent, occasionally defiant, Christie insisted he didn’t know about the scheme. But he said he took full responsibility for the scandal, apologized to the citizens of Fort Lee and promised to get to the bottom of what happened.
Oh wait. That’s not what Christie did at all. The famously fearless governor cancelled his one public appearance of the day, ignored the story until late afternoon, and then issued an email statement saying he’d been “misled” by “a member of my staff.” There’s word he’ll be talking today at 11 a.m. But yesterday, when all the details broke and questions emerged, there was no press conference. No public statement. No apology to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich or his city or the people of New Jersey for staffers using the crucial George Washington Bridge as a weapon of political destruction, reportedly in retaliation for Sokolich’s refusal to endorse Christie’s re-election bid against Barbara Buono last year.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
GOP’s moral conundrum on unemployment: Time to call their bluff!
GOP’s moral conundrum on unemployment: Time to call their bluff!
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By way of background: as late as Tuesday morning it wasn’t at all clear whether Senate Republicans would even allow a debate on a bill that would briefly extend emergency unemployment benefits. GOP leaders wanted to kill it on the first test vote, and actually thought they had the votes to do so.
Here’s Republican whip, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on the Senate floor Monday night, when over a dozen members were waylaid in their home states due to inclement weather:
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By way of background: as late as Tuesday morning it wasn’t at all clear whether Senate Republicans would even allow a debate on a bill that would briefly extend emergency unemployment benefits. GOP leaders wanted to kill it on the first test vote, and actually thought they had the votes to do so.
Here’s Republican whip, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on the Senate floor Monday night, when over a dozen members were waylaid in their home states due to inclement weather:
“If this was anything other than a political exercise, the majority leader would have rescheduled this vote when we did not have 17 members of the United States Senate unable to be here and vote on this. So I have no doubt as to what the outcome is going to be on this cloture vote, but it’s purely a scheduling matter, I believe, and this ought to be postponed to a later time.”Well, Harry Reid called his bluff, and on Tuesday morning, Democrats broke the first filibuster, which means in a few days, Republicans will have to decide whether they want to allow the bill to pass.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Friday, January 3, 2014
Fired for legally smoking pot: The coming Colorado crackdown
Fired for legally smoking pot: The coming Colorado crackdown
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On New Year’s Day, Colorado became the first state in which it’s legal to recreationally smoke pot. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a fireable offense. Under U.S. law, private companies can fire employees for almost anything they do at home or at work. And while Colorado has bucked the trend by banning firings for “lawful” outside-work activities, that protection doesn’t extend to pot.
“I’m not going to get better any time soon,” paraplegic plaintiff Brandon Coats told reporters after his 2010 firing by Dish Network was upheld in a precedent-setting Colorado Court of Appeals case last April. “I need the marijuana, and I don’t want to go the rest of my life without holding a job.” As the Denver Post reported, Coats alleged he was illegally fired by the cable company Dish Network for using medical marijuana to mitigate muscle spasms. (Coats was fired three years before Colorado voters legalized recreational marijuana use; his case rested on the state’s Medical Marijuana Amendment, which went into effect in 2009.) Dish did not respond to Salon’s Thursday morning inquiry. ------- bosses have fired folks for varied reasons including smoking cigarettes
click
snip
On New Year’s Day, Colorado became the first state in which it’s legal to recreationally smoke pot. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a fireable offense. Under U.S. law, private companies can fire employees for almost anything they do at home or at work. And while Colorado has bucked the trend by banning firings for “lawful” outside-work activities, that protection doesn’t extend to pot.
“I’m not going to get better any time soon,” paraplegic plaintiff Brandon Coats told reporters after his 2010 firing by Dish Network was upheld in a precedent-setting Colorado Court of Appeals case last April. “I need the marijuana, and I don’t want to go the rest of my life without holding a job.” As the Denver Post reported, Coats alleged he was illegally fired by the cable company Dish Network for using medical marijuana to mitigate muscle spasms. (Coats was fired three years before Colorado voters legalized recreational marijuana use; his case rested on the state’s Medical Marijuana Amendment, which went into effect in 2009.) Dish did not respond to Salon’s Thursday morning inquiry. ------- bosses have fired folks for varied reasons including smoking cigarettes
Thursday, January 2, 2014
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