Undernews for Feb 13, 2011

Since 1964, the news while there's still time to do something about it

We read all reader comments but because of the large number of letters we get, we ask our email readers to also post them directly to our site. Just click on the headline and then go to 'Comment' at the bottom of the article

We all live in a Mafia neighborhood now

Sam Smith

Opponents of the Supreme Court case that unleashed corporate funding of campaigns have largely concentrated on its effects upon elections. But it is becoming ever more clear that the Citizens United decision is corrupting the daily work of legislators every day at every level in American politics and can fairly be described as one of the worst criminal acts in our history. We all live in a Mafia neighborhood now.

To declare that a corporation has the rights of a human person is to create a form of segregation and discrimination based not on ethnicity but on wealth. More than a little of the mounting madness of American politics can be traced to politicians no longer caring what their voters think, but only about the views of a tiny, rich minority that controls their chances of holding office.

Take Maine, the state in which I live and one that has had a reputation for decency and forthrightness, especially in environmental matters. But backed by out-of-state corporate funding, the new rightwing governor, Paul LePage (who won with only 39% of the vote thanks to a Democratic-independent split of the rest) is proposing a series of fake reforms that are totally out of keeping with the traditions of the state.

What is both fascinating and scary about these measures is that not even your average Maine conservative was demanding them. So why push them?

Colin Woodard in the Portland Phoenix gives the answer:

|||| The governor has continued to insist that "most of the proposals" he developed came "directly from business owners and managers who have attended the Red Tape Workshops," but the wish list itself tells a different story: it literally has the marks of corporate lobbyists all over it.

The official copy of the wish list LePage submitted to the legislature has lobbying powerhouse Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios's distinctive eight-digit document tracking numbers stamped on each page, suggesting it originated not in Augusta, but at the law firm's offices at Portland's One City Center.

"For God's sake, if you're going to stab Mother Nature in the back, at least wipe your prints off before you drop the knife," said Representative Bob Duchesne of Hudson, the ranking Democrat on both the environment committee and the new regulatory-reform committee. . . "I think this shows the lobbyists created the list and gave it back to the governor."||||

Woodard notes:

|||| Lobbying disclosures on file with the state Ethics Commission show both PHRMA and Merck paid [lobbyist] Robinson to defeat the Kid-Safe Products Act, a 2008 law that phased out toxic chemicals in toys, car seats, baby clothes, and other children's products. The American Petroleum Institute and drug maker Astrazeneca paid [lobbyist] Aho to do the same. The governor's wish list calls for "revisions to prohibitions of chemicals and materials in products" saying that "if the state is going to regulate consumer products at all, it should only do so when clearly justified on risk-benefit or cost benefit basis.". . .

Another of [lobbyist] Robinson's clients, the Toy Industry Association of America, was among the out-of-state interests that tried to stop the Bureau of Environmental Protection from banning the use of Bisphenol-A in baby bottles, sippy cups, and other food containers last year. BPA has also been banned in the European Union, Canada, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Chicago; Wal-Mart and other major retailers have stopped selling baby products containing the substance. LePage's wish list seeks to "Repeal BPA rule and rely on federal EPA and FDA standards," which permit the substance.||||

Was this the result of a grassroots rebellion against safe sippy cups?

Said Amanda Sears, associate director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center: "Not a single Maine business testified in opposition to the regulations on BPA. The opposition to these proposals from these corporate lobbying firms is entirely about national precedent setting."

Adds Matt Prindiville of the Natural Resources Council of Maine: "I think you can safely say that there is unprecedented access for big out-of-state companies to influence legislative proposals in the state of Maine. . . Repealing these laws will not create a single job in Maine. There isn't a single Maine businessperson who says, 'you know, the reason I can't grow my business is that law that gets brominated fire retardants out of mattresses or BPA out of babies' bottles.' It's ludicrous."

Yes, ludicrous, but tragically real. And if this is the sort of thing that can happen in one of the nation's cleaner states, think of what goes on now in Illinois, California or Texas.

It couldn't be happening at a worse time. With budget crises as the foil, politicians at every level are using the economy as an excuse to do exactly what the big bucks have been demanding all along: cut social welfare, community services, attack labor unions, do away with health and environmental reforms and so forth.

Leading the con is our own president, Barack Obama. Billions for banks but a drastically failing foreclosure rescue program. High speed rail for the upper classes but a massive cut in heating fuel assistance for the poor. And so on into the ever darkening and ever colder night.

And at the heart of it all: the Supreme Court's decision to let corporations pretend that they are human persons, one of the most destructive lies ever concocted in American politics. If corporations were really persons, the ones now daily bribing our politicians would be in jail instead of in power.

There are things we can do about it, such as a grassroots rebellion including amending the Constitution to end corporate personhood. But in the meanwhile, don't let the politicians and the media fool you. It's not really about politics anymore. Your vote is now worth a fraction of what it once was. It's about bribery, the most successful form of bipartisanship in America today

The real GOP platform

How the GOP thinks like the Muslim Brotherhood

Ann Coulter: "I think there should be more jailed journalists". . And CPAC cheered her.

The GOP wants to end all government funding for NPR and PBS

House Republicans want to do away with Americorps

Texas governor Perry has called for lawmakers to suspend "non-critical" entities like the State Historical Commission or the Commission on the Arts until the economy improves

GOP Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says he will propose ending nearly all state employee collective bargaining rights as a budget cutting move.

Obama maintains foreign phone calls not protected by Constitution

McClatchy Newspapers - The Obama administration's Justice Department has asserted that the FBI can obtain telephone records of international calls made from the U.S. without any formal legal process or court oversight, according to a document obtained by McClatchy. Critics say the legal position is flawed and creates a potential loophole that could lead to a repeat of FBI abuses that were supposed to have been stopped in 2006.

The controversy over the telephone records is a legacy of the Bush administration's war on terror. Critics say the Obama administration appears to be continuing many of the most controversial tactics of that strategy, including the assertion of sweeping executive powers.

The two sides of NY Times objectivity

Philip Weiss, Monbdo Weiss - The other day the New York Times ran a favorable piece about the surging non-Zionist Jewish group, Jewish Voice for Peace. Today the following clarification appears after the article:

"After this article was published, editors learned that one of the two writers, Daniel Ming, had been active in pro-Palestinian rallies. Such involvement in a public cause related to The Times's news coverage is at odds with the paper's journalistic standards; if editors had known of Mr. Ming's activities, he would not have been allowed to write the article.". . .

The NYT's Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Ethan Bronner, who is married to an Israeli, has a son in the Israeli army. When it broke the news last year, Electronic Intifada said that it was a conflict of interest; and the newspaper's public editor concurred; he said that Bronner should be reassigned to some other beat. The Times' executive editor, Bill Keller, has kept Bronner in Jerusalem, presumably hoping that the issue dies down and no one says anything about it.

GOP congressmember: "I made a terrible mistake and voted to extend those provisions of the Patriot Act"

The Hill - A California Republican said Friday that he made a "terrible mistake" in previously voting to extend provisions of the Patriot Act that allow the government to hack into e-mail and bank accounts without a search warrant. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.): "A year ago, I made a terrible mistake and voted to extend those provisions of the Patriot Act," he said. "But the more that I learned, the more that I researched, it became crystal clear to me this that this is not only an affront to our bill of rights, but it's a fundamental challenge to our freedom. . . .We have faced far more malignant and powerful governments and far better organized networks of spies and saboteurs in this country before without having to shred our constitution. This is no time to start."

Borders bookstores headed for bankruptcy

Christian Science Monitor - Borders Group Inc. is expected to file for bankruptcy early this coming week – the result of declining annual revenues and mounting rent obligations as well as its struggle to catch up to the e-book business that is credited with keeping the publishing industry afloat.

Borders, which is based in Ann Arbor, Mich., is the third largest bookseller in the United States. According to the Wall Street Journal, Borders is turning to Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after failing to get publishers to agree to a plan that would have restructured a debt that currently totals over $500 million.

Headlines real journalists should avoid

Obama seeks to cut deficit by $1.1 trillion - Reuters

Actually Obama is only proposing to cut the deficit by roughly one tenth of that of that sum, but journalists have allowed politicians to turn one year budget figures into decade long projections even when, as in Obama's case, he only will be in office at most for another six years.

The only reason for these projection is to either make the projectors look good or their opponents look bad. There is no reason for real journalists to play this game.

Study finds lead and arsenic in new types of light bulbs

University of California Irvine - Those light-emitting diodes marketed as safe, environmentally preferable alternatives to traditional light bulbs actually contain lead, arsenic and a dozen other potentially hazardous substances, according to newly published research.

“LEDs are touted as the next generation of lighting. But as we try to find better products that do not deplete energy resources or contribute to global warming, we have to be vigilant about the toxicity hazards of those marketed as replacements,” said Oladele Ogunseitan, chair of UC Irvine’s Department of Population Health & Disease Prevention.

He and fellow scientists at UCI and UC Davis crunched, leached and measured the tiny, multicolored light bulbs sold in Christmas strands; red, yellow and green traffic lights; and automobile headlights and brake lights. Their findings? Low-intensity red lights contained up to eight times the amount of lead allowed under California law, but in general, high-intensity, brighter bulbs had more contaminants than lower ones. White bulbs contained the least lead, but had high levels of nickel.

Lead, arsenic and many additional metals discovered in the bulbs or their related parts have been linked in hundreds of studies to different cancers, neurological damage, kidney disease, hypertension, skin rashes and other illnesses. The copper used in some LEDs also poses an ecological threat to fish, rivers and lakes.

Ogunseitan said that breaking a single light and breathing fumes would not automatically cause cancer, but could be a tipping point on top of chronic exposure to another carcinogen. And – noting that lead tastes sweet – he warned that small children could be harmed if they mistake the bright lights for candy.

He cites LEDs as a perfect example of the need to mandate product replacement testing. The diodes are widely hailed as safer than compact fluorescent bulbs, which contain dangerous mercury. But, he said, they weren’t properly tested for potential environmental health impacts before being marketed as the preferred alternative to inefficient incandescent bulbs, now being phased out under California law. A long-planned state regulation originally set to take effect Jan. 1 would have required advance testing of such replacement products. But it was opposed by industry groups, a less stringent version was substituted, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger placed the law on hold days before he left office.

GOP governor threatens to call out National Guard on state workers if they protest cuts in their rights

Biz Times - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made the dramatic announcement this morning that he is prepared to call in the Wisconsin National Guard to respond if there is any unrest among state employees in the wake of his announcement that he wants to revoke nearly all of their collective bargaining rights.

Walker said he has not called the National Guard into action, but he has briefed them and other state agencies in preparation of any labor problems.

Critics said Walker's "attacks" on the union workers violated a long-held state tradition of honest collective bargaining, and his threat to call the National Guard was an unnecessary insult to the state employees.

GOP out to kill PBS, NPR

US News - Liberal groups, pubic radio, and TV stations and fans of Big Bird and All Things Considered are girding for a huge fight with House Republicans over a GOP plan to cut $100 billion in spending including zeroing out $430 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Republicans have long sought to cut public radio and TV funding, claiming that the stations that receive the money are hostile to conservative politics. They also claim that commercial stations deliver equally fair and balanced news. Liberals see a conspiracy to shut them down. "Extremists in Congress have introduced six¬yes, six¬bills that would slash all funding for NPR, PBS, and other public media," says the liberal site Politicususa. "In an era of media consolidation, fewer national and foreign bureaus and mass newsroom layoffs, NPR is one of the only media outlets actually bringing listeners more reporting from around the country and around the world. Despite its fulfilling that important need, the United States spends a mere pittance on public media, compared to other industrialized countries,"

Morning Line: Don Imus

Sam Smith

One of the ways I annoy the puritan liberal crowd is by being an unabashed fan of Don Imus. He's one of the best interviewers on the air and his own personal faults - including being a one time drug and alcohol addict and saying whatever pops into his head - help him do the job.

In our iconographic society, it is assumed that journalists and interviewers are supposed to be of fine character. But that's not their job. Their job is to help the reader, listener or viewer understand the nature and character of those they are interviewing. . . to get these people out from behind the public relations curtain, to let you know who they really are.

Imus does a magnificent job on both scores. I download his podcasts and listen to them in the car and am repeatedly impressed by what a useful foil this foible-ridden man is.

Yes, he has a lot of right wingers on his show but you'll also hear Paul Begala, Dick Gregory, David Patterson, Matt Taibii, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Douglas Brinkley, and Anthony Weiner. If they can stand him, maybe you can, too.

And don't worry if Don Imus annoys you from time to time. That's part of the schtick. His very imperfections bring out his guests as few other interviewers managed to do. Besides, a few minutes after he annoys you, he'll make you laugh.

Atlanta cops agree to stop harassing citizens who film them

Atlanta Journal Constitution - Faced with complaints from a citizen watchdog group, Atlanta police will stop interfering with people who videotape officers performing their duties in public, an agreement reached with the city says. "Commanders have made it clear that Atlanta police officers in the field should not interfere with a citizen’s right to film them while they work in public areas," said APD spokesman Carlos Campos.

As part of Thursday's settlement, reached before a civil rights lawsuit was filed, the city will pay Kautz and Copwatch of East Atlanta $40,000 in damages. APD will also adopt an operating procedure that prohibits officers from interfering with citizens who are taping police activity, provided individuals recording the activity do not physically interfere with what the officers are doing. The policy is to be adopted within 30 days after the Atlanta city council approves the settlement, and training is to be carried out during police roll calls.

Department of Good Stuff

Passengers did a double take on Southwest Flight 896 from Sacramento to Burbank on Thursday when they saw California Gov. Jerry Brown sitting among them - sans entourage - on his first trip to Los Angeles since being sworn in last month. The Democratic governor was in budget-cutting mode, sitting in an economy seat after he opted not to pay the $16 extra for Southwest's "business select" seating. That's not all: Sources say Brown also relishes taking the airline's senior discount. Brown traveled without the accoutrements that Californians have come to expect from the executive who runs the world's eighth-largest economy: He had no press aides, no security and even lacked the company of his chief adviser, wife Anne Gust Brown. - SF Gate

Protesters face year in jail - in Los Angeles, not Egypt

LA Times = Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich is throwing the book at dozens of people arrested during recent political demonstrations ¬ a major shift in city policy that has him pressing for jail time in types of cases that previous prosecutors had treated as infractions. Some of the activists arrested, including eight college students and one military veteran who took part in a Westwood rally last year in support of the DREAM Act, face up to one year in county jail.

In 2009, under Trutanich's predecessor, Rocky Delgadillo, all but one of 12 students arrested at a protest over fee hikes at UCLA were offered plea deals that reduced their charges to an infraction with a $100 fine. "Our policy was that this is an exercise of 1st Amendment rights, and if this was your first time, you would get a hearing," said Delgadillo, who said his policy was based on the belief that a protester demonstrating for a political cause is different from a typical criminal.

The real Ronald Reagan

"Ronald Reagan must be the nicest president who ever destroyed a union, tried to cut school lunch milk rations from six to four ounces, and compelled families in need of public help to first dispose of household goods in excess of $1,000...1f there is an authoritarian regime in the American future, Ronald Reagan is tailored to the image of a friendly fascist." - Robert Lekachman

Financial Crisis Commission hiding interviews with Bernanke

ENDS

© Scoop Media