You Won't Believe These Suez Canal Conspiracies
3 years ago
Friday, August 30, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
service disability flap in congress
An IRS contractor named Braulio Castillo hurt his foot playing football in military prep school. He never served in the actual military. Then one day, decades later, he used it to get preferred treatment in government contracts. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who lost both her legs and still could lose her arm from combat injuries, felt that this might just be a touch inappropriate. It gets amazing around 4:30.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
6 of the nuttiest right-wing statements from this week alone
6 of the nuttiest right-wing statements from this week alone
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4. Rep. Steve King: Global Warming is more of a religion than a science.
You have to hand it to Tea Partier Steve King. Once he commits to a totally wrong-headed offensive or just vile point of view, he does not back down. When he said a lot of the children of undocumented immigrants were drug mules, with “cantaloupe calves” a couple of weeks ago, the fact that even conservatives in his party rebuked him just made him dig in even further. So it was this week, when, back at home in Iowa, the Congressman decided to spout off ignorantly about climate change. Global warming, he said, is more of a religion than a science, he told the audience at an event for the right-wing, climate-change-denying group Americans for Prosperity.
This is a perfect example of that opposite world, doublespeak, black is white, up is down, lies are truth type of rhetoric that the right wing has perfected. Because, of course, scientific is exactly what climate change is, at least all the scientists seem to think so, and denying climate change is, well, the opposite of science.
The next day, still in home state Iowa, he elaborated on his theme, which evolved into more of a “let’s look at the bright side” of our warming climate, however unscientific that theory might be. For Iowans, he pointed out, there could be more corn. Rising sea levels would mean more rain, more rain means more corn. Simple. Never mind that NASA studies show that, both droughts and rainfall would increase to dangerous proportions with a warming planet. People need to focus on the “positive aspects of global warming,” Pollyanna King said. “I spent a lot of my life cold, it felt pretty good to get warmed up.”
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4. Rep. Steve King: Global Warming is more of a religion than a science.
You have to hand it to Tea Partier Steve King. Once he commits to a totally wrong-headed offensive or just vile point of view, he does not back down. When he said a lot of the children of undocumented immigrants were drug mules, with “cantaloupe calves” a couple of weeks ago, the fact that even conservatives in his party rebuked him just made him dig in even further. So it was this week, when, back at home in Iowa, the Congressman decided to spout off ignorantly about climate change. Global warming, he said, is more of a religion than a science, he told the audience at an event for the right-wing, climate-change-denying group Americans for Prosperity.
This is a perfect example of that opposite world, doublespeak, black is white, up is down, lies are truth type of rhetoric that the right wing has perfected. Because, of course, scientific is exactly what climate change is, at least all the scientists seem to think so, and denying climate change is, well, the opposite of science.
The next day, still in home state Iowa, he elaborated on his theme, which evolved into more of a “let’s look at the bright side” of our warming climate, however unscientific that theory might be. For Iowans, he pointed out, there could be more corn. Rising sea levels would mean more rain, more rain means more corn. Simple. Never mind that NASA studies show that, both droughts and rainfall would increase to dangerous proportions with a warming planet. People need to focus on the “positive aspects of global warming,” Pollyanna King said. “I spent a lot of my life cold, it felt pretty good to get warmed up.”
Gmail promises “no reasonable expectation” of privacy
Gmail promises “no reasonable expectation” of privacy
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Now, any close follower of Google’s transparency reports and general modus operandi when it comes to compliance with government demands for user data will not be surprised by this revelation. Furthermore, it is no secret that Google traces user search activity in order to provide targeted advertising. However, millions of Internet users — unattuned to the vagaries of Google’s approach to transparency and privacy — would have assumed their emails were treated as private. Hopefully the current lawsuit will help inform more Internet denizens that if they’re seeking confidentiality and protection from government and corporate surveillance, Google is no place to turn.
UPDATE: Salon received a comment from Google clarifying the issue of privacy that arose in the class action lawsuit. Google points out that it is not Gmail users who can expect no privacy protections, but rather Google’s attorneys argument about email interception by a third party applies to non-Gmail users, who have not signed Google’s terms of service. Google stated:
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Now, any close follower of Google’s transparency reports and general modus operandi when it comes to compliance with government demands for user data will not be surprised by this revelation. Furthermore, it is no secret that Google traces user search activity in order to provide targeted advertising. However, millions of Internet users — unattuned to the vagaries of Google’s approach to transparency and privacy — would have assumed their emails were treated as private. Hopefully the current lawsuit will help inform more Internet denizens that if they’re seeking confidentiality and protection from government and corporate surveillance, Google is no place to turn.
UPDATE: Salon received a comment from Google clarifying the issue of privacy that arose in the class action lawsuit. Google points out that it is not Gmail users who can expect no privacy protections, but rather Google’s attorneys argument about email interception by a third party applies to non-Gmail users, who have not signed Google’s terms of service. Google stated:
“We take our users’ privacy and security very seriously; recent reports claiming otherwise are simply untrue. We have built industry-leading security and privacy features into Gmail — and no matter who sends an email to a Gmail user, those protections apply.”
The Verge specified the particular issue at hand in terms of Google and the application of privacy protections:
[The Google attorney was quoting] from the 1979 Supreme Court case Smith v. Maryland, in which the court upheld what’s called the “third-party doctrine,” saying that once you involve a third party in communication, you lose legally enforceable privacy rights. (This is an extremely controversial notion, but for right now, it’s the law.) Google’s argument is that people who email Gmail users are necessarily involving Gmail’s servers in the mix, kicking the third-party doctrine into effect. This is pretty basic stuff.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Another Obamacare setback
Another Obamacare setback
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A federal loophole will enable insurers to set higher limits on healthcare costs until 2015, the New York Times reported Tuesday, noting yet another setback for the implementation of Obamacare. Via the NYT:
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fine print bullpucky
The limit on out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles and co-payments, was not supposed to exceed $6,350 for an individual and $12,700 for a family. But under a little-noticed ruling, federal officials have granted a one-year grace period to some insurers, allowing them to set higher limits, or no limit at all on some costs, in 2014.
… [But owing to the delay] a consumer may be required to pay $6,350 for doctors’ services and hospital care, and an additional $6,350 for prescription drugs under a plan administered by a pharmacy benefit manager.
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fine print bullpucky
Monday, August 12, 2013
Your mortgage documents are fake!
Your mortgage documents are fake!
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This reality, which banks did not contest but instead settled out of court, means that tens of millions of mortgages in America still lack a legitimate chain of ownership, with implications far into the future. And if Congress, supported by the Obama Administration, goes back to the same housing finance system, with the same corrupt private entities who broke the nation’s private property system back in business packaging mortgages, then shame on all of us.
The 2011 lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in both North and South Carolina, by a white-collar fraud specialist named Lynn Szymoniak, on behalf of the federal government, seventeen states and three cities. Twenty-eight banks, mortgage servicers and document processing companies are named in the lawsuit, including mega-banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi and Bank of America.
Szymoniak, who fell into foreclosure herself in 2009, researched her own mortgage documents and found massive fraud (for example, one document claimed that Deutsche Bank, listed as the owner of her mortgage, acquired ownership in October 2008, four months after they first filed for foreclosure). She eventually examined tens of thousands of documents, enough to piece together the entire scheme.
A mortgage has two parts: the promissory note (the IOU from the borrower to the lender) and the mortgage, which creates the lien on the home in case of default. During the housing bubble, banks bought loans from originators, and then (in a process known as securitization) enacted a series of transactions that would eventually pool thousands of mortgages into bonds, sold all over the world to public pension funds, state and municipal governments and other investors. A trustee would pool the loans and sell the securities to investors, and the investors would get an annual percentage yield on their money.
click link
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This reality, which banks did not contest but instead settled out of court, means that tens of millions of mortgages in America still lack a legitimate chain of ownership, with implications far into the future. And if Congress, supported by the Obama Administration, goes back to the same housing finance system, with the same corrupt private entities who broke the nation’s private property system back in business packaging mortgages, then shame on all of us.
The 2011 lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in both North and South Carolina, by a white-collar fraud specialist named Lynn Szymoniak, on behalf of the federal government, seventeen states and three cities. Twenty-eight banks, mortgage servicers and document processing companies are named in the lawsuit, including mega-banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi and Bank of America.
Szymoniak, who fell into foreclosure herself in 2009, researched her own mortgage documents and found massive fraud (for example, one document claimed that Deutsche Bank, listed as the owner of her mortgage, acquired ownership in October 2008, four months after they first filed for foreclosure). She eventually examined tens of thousands of documents, enough to piece together the entire scheme.
A mortgage has two parts: the promissory note (the IOU from the borrower to the lender) and the mortgage, which creates the lien on the home in case of default. During the housing bubble, banks bought loans from originators, and then (in a process known as securitization) enacted a series of transactions that would eventually pool thousands of mortgages into bonds, sold all over the world to public pension funds, state and municipal governments and other investors. A trustee would pool the loans and sell the securities to investors, and the investors would get an annual percentage yield on their money.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
How the insurance industry handcuffs Obamacare
How the insurance industry handcuffs Obamacare
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When President Obama finally signed the law in March 2010, the Affordable Care Act did include a navigator program — but that hasn’t stopped insurance agents and brokers from fighting against it. Over the past three years, the groups have waged an intense but little-noticed lobbying effort to regulate navigators in the states, leading to the passage of 16 state laws over the past year and a half. Most of the laws contain language that closely resembles recommendations that agents and brokers have been pushing in statehouses nationwide — a push that’s received crucial aid from a legislators’ group focused on insurance policy that is supported with industry funds.
Backers of the laws say they provide needed oversight of navigators by establishing state authority and common-sense regulations. But consumer advocates and some health policy experts warn that the laws could shackle the navigator program, meaning fewer people would have access to help.
Roots of a controversy
When states and the federal government launch the new insurance marketplaces, or “exchanges”, on October 1, one of their greatest challenges will be reaching the very people the marketplaces are meant to help. A June poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 55 percent of uninsured Americans had never heard of the exchanges. Even those who have might not understand how to use them to buy insurance.
click link
snip
When President Obama finally signed the law in March 2010, the Affordable Care Act did include a navigator program — but that hasn’t stopped insurance agents and brokers from fighting against it. Over the past three years, the groups have waged an intense but little-noticed lobbying effort to regulate navigators in the states, leading to the passage of 16 state laws over the past year and a half. Most of the laws contain language that closely resembles recommendations that agents and brokers have been pushing in statehouses nationwide — a push that’s received crucial aid from a legislators’ group focused on insurance policy that is supported with industry funds.
Backers of the laws say they provide needed oversight of navigators by establishing state authority and common-sense regulations. But consumer advocates and some health policy experts warn that the laws could shackle the navigator program, meaning fewer people would have access to help.
Roots of a controversy
When states and the federal government launch the new insurance marketplaces, or “exchanges”, on October 1, one of their greatest challenges will be reaching the very people the marketplaces are meant to help. A June poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 55 percent of uninsured Americans had never heard of the exchanges. Even those who have might not understand how to use them to buy insurance.
Too much TV and poor motor skills go hand in hand – study - News - Society - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video
Too much TV and poor motor skills go hand in hand – study - News - Society - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video
click link
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Currently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warns that children over two years of age should not watch more than two hours of TV programming a day. Increasing TV time by just 30 minutes can also have a negative impact on a child’s life.
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Currently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warns that children over two years of age should not watch more than two hours of TV programming a day. Increasing TV time by just 30 minutes can also have a negative impact on a child’s life.
Additional television time is being linked to bullying by schoolmates and physical prowess in kindergarten, as stated by Professor Linda Pagani of the University of Montreal and the CHU Sainte-Justine children's hospital.
Research results suggest that at a young age, a kid’s mind is hard-wired for play. "These kids are watching too much television at a time when they should be out there in the environment exploring and interacting, especially with other humans," she said.
China industrial output jumps to five-month high - News - Economy - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video
China industrial output jumps to five-month high - News - Economy - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video
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Gross domestic product (GDP) in China - seen as a key driver of global growth - expanded 7.8 percent in 2012, its slowest annual pace in 13 years.
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Gross domestic product (GDP) in China - seen as a key driver of global growth - expanded 7.8 percent in 2012, its slowest annual pace in 13 years.
Growth slipped to 7.7 percent in the January-March period and slowed further to 7.5 percent in the second quarter, raising alarm bells among economists over possible further weakness.
But after Friday's figures Lu told AFP: "The momentum, if maintained, would in fact make everyone's estimation about the second half rather pessimistic, so we will likely see a round of GDP forecast upgrades soon."
The output figures came on the heels of robust trade figures Thursday.
Exports and imports, which had contracted in June, rebounded in July, growing 5.1 percent and 10.9 percent year-on-year respectively, according to Customs.
Two-way trade rose 7.8 percent year-on-year, slightly lower than the government's eight percent target for this year but "showing a stabilising and recovering trend", Customs said.
July's output growth figure was higher than June's 8.9 percent and marked the best performance since the 9.9 percent recorded for January and February, which were released together due to distortions related to Chinese New Year.
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_08_09/China-industrial-output-jumps-to-five-month-high-8515/
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_08_09/China-industrial-output-jumps-to-five-month-high-8515/
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
401(k)s are a sham
401(k)s are a sham
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The United States is on the verge of a retirement crisis. For the first time in living memory, it seems likely that living standards for those over the age of 65 will begin to decline as compared to those who came before them—and that’s without taking into account the possibility that Social Security benefits will be cut at some point in the future.
The culprit? That same thing Mathisen celebrated: the 401(k), along with the other instruments of do-it-yourself retirement. Not only did they not make us millionaires as self-appointed pundits like Mathisen promised, they left very many of us with very little at all.
You might be tempted to ask “what went wrong,” but a better question might be “why did we ever expect this to work at all?” It’s not, after all, like we weren’t warned. As early as 1986, only a few years after the widespread debut of the 401(k) and the idea that American workers should self-fund their own retirement accounts based on savings and stock market gains, Karen Ferguson who was then, as she is now, the head of the Pension Rights Institute, warned in an op-ed published in the New York Times, “Rank-and-file workers have nothing to spare from their paychecks to put into a voluntary plan.”
But her voice, and that of other critics like economist Teresa Ghilarducci, who is now at the New School and described our upcoming retirement crisis as “an abyss” in 1994 congressional hearings, were drowned out by the money and power of the financial services industry, combined with their enablers in the personal finance media who proclaim even today that if we don’t have enough money set aside for retirement, it is all our own fault.
click link
snip
The United States is on the verge of a retirement crisis. For the first time in living memory, it seems likely that living standards for those over the age of 65 will begin to decline as compared to those who came before them—and that’s without taking into account the possibility that Social Security benefits will be cut at some point in the future.
The culprit? That same thing Mathisen celebrated: the 401(k), along with the other instruments of do-it-yourself retirement. Not only did they not make us millionaires as self-appointed pundits like Mathisen promised, they left very many of us with very little at all.
You might be tempted to ask “what went wrong,” but a better question might be “why did we ever expect this to work at all?” It’s not, after all, like we weren’t warned. As early as 1986, only a few years after the widespread debut of the 401(k) and the idea that American workers should self-fund their own retirement accounts based on savings and stock market gains, Karen Ferguson who was then, as she is now, the head of the Pension Rights Institute, warned in an op-ed published in the New York Times, “Rank-and-file workers have nothing to spare from their paychecks to put into a voluntary plan.”
But her voice, and that of other critics like economist Teresa Ghilarducci, who is now at the New School and described our upcoming retirement crisis as “an abyss” in 1994 congressional hearings, were drowned out by the money and power of the financial services industry, combined with their enablers in the personal finance media who proclaim even today that if we don’t have enough money set aside for retirement, it is all our own fault.
Monday, August 5, 2013
GOP governors warn against shutdown over Obamacare
GOP governors warn against shutdown over Obamacare
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A group of Republican governors warned their fellow party members in Congress against shutting down the government over Obamacare funding, saying that it could seriously hurt the economies in their states.
“I have made the case that Obamacare is not good for the economy, but I have some real concerns about potentially doing something that would have a negative impact on the economy just for the short term — I think there are other ways to pursue this,” Gov. Scott Walker, of Wisconsin, said at a meeting of the National Governors Association.
“I’ve never felt that shutting down government function is a wise thing to do politically because I think, whoever is involved in it, it’s the Congress, regardless of what party they’re affiliated with, that will be blamed by the public,” said Gov. Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota, according to The New York Times. “And so, to me, I don’t see what it accomplishes.”
“How much blood are we going to leave on the floor over this?” asked Gov. Phil Bryant of Mississippi.
A group of Tea Party Republicans is threatening to block a measure that would extend funding to the federal government beyond September 30, if that measure includes funding for the Affordable Care Act. But many Republicans, in Congress and otherwise, have criticized the move — especially since a report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service found that a shutdown would not even stop Obamacare from being funded. And, as The New York Times reports:
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A group of Republican governors warned their fellow party members in Congress against shutting down the government over Obamacare funding, saying that it could seriously hurt the economies in their states.
“I have made the case that Obamacare is not good for the economy, but I have some real concerns about potentially doing something that would have a negative impact on the economy just for the short term — I think there are other ways to pursue this,” Gov. Scott Walker, of Wisconsin, said at a meeting of the National Governors Association.
“I’ve never felt that shutting down government function is a wise thing to do politically because I think, whoever is involved in it, it’s the Congress, regardless of what party they’re affiliated with, that will be blamed by the public,” said Gov. Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota, according to The New York Times. “And so, to me, I don’t see what it accomplishes.”
“How much blood are we going to leave on the floor over this?” asked Gov. Phil Bryant of Mississippi.
A group of Tea Party Republicans is threatening to block a measure that would extend funding to the federal government beyond September 30, if that measure includes funding for the Affordable Care Act. But many Republicans, in Congress and otherwise, have criticized the move — especially since a report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service found that a shutdown would not even stop Obamacare from being funded. And, as The New York Times reports:
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Saturday, August 3, 2013
All the pundits are wrong
All the pundits are wrong
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There’s a new, two-part conventional wisdom going around: Democrats have a White House lock, while Republicans are sure to keep their majority in the House of Representatives until at least the next census and redistricting. Ignore it.
It’s certainly possible that the status quo will prevail in both the House and the Oval Office … and in 2014, in particular, it’s highly unlikely that Nancy Pelosi will win the speakership back.
But the idea that Democrats are locked out of the House until 2022 at the earliest is silly. And the idea that demographics and a poor image prevent Republicans from winning the presidency under current conditions is even sillier.
Indeed, it reminds me very much of the political climate in 1989-1990, when “everyone” was convinced that Republicans had an Electoral College lock on the presidency and that Democrats would never lose the House. That lasted all the way until the next recession, which elected Bill Clinton, and in turn produced the Republican landslide of 1994. So much for sure things – and odds are, the same is true this time.
I’ll start with the House. It is true that Republicans right now have a built-in advantage in House elections. It’s built on two things: The way people cluster into districts seems to produce more (somewhat) Republican districts and fewer (more solidly) Democratic districts. There’s some dispute about it, but generally analysts find that this advantage derives from natural distribution, not from deliberate gerrymandering. It’s also built on an old reliable in House elections, the incumbent advantage – an edge that helped Democrats keep their forever majority from the 1950s until that 1994 election. So the advantage is real.
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some of this negative attitude comes from dems themselves. excuse not to do some hard work winning back congress and state houses====my opinion based on talking with some dems
click link
snip
There’s a new, two-part conventional wisdom going around: Democrats have a White House lock, while Republicans are sure to keep their majority in the House of Representatives until at least the next census and redistricting. Ignore it.
It’s certainly possible that the status quo will prevail in both the House and the Oval Office … and in 2014, in particular, it’s highly unlikely that Nancy Pelosi will win the speakership back.
But the idea that Democrats are locked out of the House until 2022 at the earliest is silly. And the idea that demographics and a poor image prevent Republicans from winning the presidency under current conditions is even sillier.
Indeed, it reminds me very much of the political climate in 1989-1990, when “everyone” was convinced that Republicans had an Electoral College lock on the presidency and that Democrats would never lose the House. That lasted all the way until the next recession, which elected Bill Clinton, and in turn produced the Republican landslide of 1994. So much for sure things – and odds are, the same is true this time.
I’ll start with the House. It is true that Republicans right now have a built-in advantage in House elections. It’s built on two things: The way people cluster into districts seems to produce more (somewhat) Republican districts and fewer (more solidly) Democratic districts. There’s some dispute about it, but generally analysts find that this advantage derives from natural distribution, not from deliberate gerrymandering. It’s also built on an old reliable in House elections, the incumbent advantage – an edge that helped Democrats keep their forever majority from the 1950s until that 1994 election. So the advantage is real.
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some of this negative attitude comes from dems themselves. excuse not to do some hard work winning back congress and state houses====my opinion based on talking with some dems
New labor movement emerges in Scott Walker’s Wisconsin
New labor movement emerges in Scott Walker’s Wisconsin
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snip
New rules, old tricks
On Jan. 5, 2012, a supervisor at the Lincoln Hills School in Merrill, Wis., ordered Ron McAllister, a youth counselor, to take off his AFSCME T-shirt — which didn’t violate standard dress code. After stripping to his bare chest, McAllister told the supervisor that he could go down to his union underwear if ordered to do so. Though administrators relented, 75 workers marched outside the school over the incident.
Before Act 10, says Marty Beil, the director of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 24, issues with work rules like these were handled through grievance procedures. Now, “we talk a lot with our local unions and our leadership to do direct action, because that’s really the only effective tool that we have left,” he says. “We have locals who don’t do that that clearly suffer from that.”
Under Act 10, he says, “Work sites have become hell holes. Every day there’s a new set of rules that people have to understand.” Act 10 prohibits union members from bargaining or filing grievances over day-to-day working conditions: shop-floor rules, scheduling, performance evaluations or even discrimination. Workers have responded with petitions of no confidence against their supervisors, confrontational appearances at administrative offices, and more creative tactics like McAllister’s. In kind, the eight staff that remain at Council 24 have seen their role drastically change. “Advocacy was pre–Act 10,” Beil says, referring to grievance procedures. “Organizing is our pathway to continue to be viable.”
click link
snip
New rules, old tricks
On Jan. 5, 2012, a supervisor at the Lincoln Hills School in Merrill, Wis., ordered Ron McAllister, a youth counselor, to take off his AFSCME T-shirt — which didn’t violate standard dress code. After stripping to his bare chest, McAllister told the supervisor that he could go down to his union underwear if ordered to do so. Though administrators relented, 75 workers marched outside the school over the incident.
Before Act 10, says Marty Beil, the director of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 24, issues with work rules like these were handled through grievance procedures. Now, “we talk a lot with our local unions and our leadership to do direct action, because that’s really the only effective tool that we have left,” he says. “We have locals who don’t do that that clearly suffer from that.”
Under Act 10, he says, “Work sites have become hell holes. Every day there’s a new set of rules that people have to understand.” Act 10 prohibits union members from bargaining or filing grievances over day-to-day working conditions: shop-floor rules, scheduling, performance evaluations or even discrimination. Workers have responded with petitions of no confidence against their supervisors, confrontational appearances at administrative offices, and more creative tactics like McAllister’s. In kind, the eight staff that remain at Council 24 have seen their role drastically change. “Advocacy was pre–Act 10,” Beil says, referring to grievance procedures. “Organizing is our pathway to continue to be viable.”
Friday, August 2, 2013
Google scientists tell Google to stop fundraising for Inhofe
Google scientists tell Google to stop fundraising for Inhofe
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snip
A group of climate scientists who were part of Google’s Science Communication Fellows effort have sent a letter to the company decrying its recent fundraiser for climate change denier Sen. James Inhofe, a “troubling alliance” that “forces us to seriously question the company’s commitment to climate change leadership.”
The group of 21 scientists had been invited to the company’s offices in Silicon Valley in 2011 as a part of a push “to help foster a more open, transparent and accessible scientific dialogue.”
But on Thursday the fellows sent a highly critical letter to Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and CEO Larry Page, following the search engine’s July 11 announcement that it would host a fundraiser for Inhofe’s re-election campaign.
“The political gridlock that has derailed efforts to address climate change in the US owes much to Senator Inhofe,” the letter says. “His denial of the problem and fact-free assaults on the scientific community are designed to promote political dysfunction, to destroy the reputation of scientists, and to undermine our ability to find common ground.”
click link
snip
A group of climate scientists who were part of Google’s Science Communication Fellows effort have sent a letter to the company decrying its recent fundraiser for climate change denier Sen. James Inhofe, a “troubling alliance” that “forces us to seriously question the company’s commitment to climate change leadership.”
The group of 21 scientists had been invited to the company’s offices in Silicon Valley in 2011 as a part of a push “to help foster a more open, transparent and accessible scientific dialogue.”
But on Thursday the fellows sent a highly critical letter to Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and CEO Larry Page, following the search engine’s July 11 announcement that it would host a fundraiser for Inhofe’s re-election campaign.
“The political gridlock that has derailed efforts to address climate change in the US owes much to Senator Inhofe,” the letter says. “His denial of the problem and fact-free assaults on the scientific community are designed to promote political dysfunction, to destroy the reputation of scientists, and to undermine our ability to find common ground.”
Thursday, August 1, 2013
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