ERIN NIEMELA – About a week ago I had the unfortunate experience of being followed off a bus on a dark corner. The man who followed me made it clear that he intended harm – even growling at me as I hastened into a nearby open market. The experience was benign compared to many others I’ve had, but it compelled me to revisit my understanding of and beliefs in feminism.
Looks Like the 1% is Going to Get Away with It
PETER J. HENNINGS – The criminal investigation was prompted by a referral from the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, based on its 635-page report on the financial crisis that included details on Goldman’s transactions in mortgage-backed securities. The report highlighted potential conflicts of interest in how Goldman dealt with its clients and questioned whether Mr. Blankfein testified truthfully at an April 2010 subcommittee hearing when he said that the firm did not have a “massive short†position to bet on a decline the housing market.
Organize to Address Threats Ignored by Dysfunctional Government
PETER BERGEL – In my email this morning was a message from one of my favorite organizations, the League of Conservation Voters, that began: “We just won a major victory…”but I have to admit that my reaction was “really?â€
Will Nuclear Power Continue to Hobble Along Despite Its Radioactive Achilles’ Heel?
ALLISON FISHER – Radioactive waste has often been referred to as the Achilles heel of nuclear power. It should be. It poses a threat to human health and our environment for hundreds of thousands of years. To date, a safe and viable way to permanently isolate it has not been identified. However, this dilemma has not kept nuclear out of the U.S. energy portfolio or dampened the zeal for a new generation of nuclear reactors by the industry and its congressional allies. A recent court decision, the termination of the Yucca Mountain geological repository and lessons from the Japan nuclear crisis present new arguments for why radioactive waste should be a chief reason we abandon nuclear power once and for all, but it is still might not be enough.
Rand Paul: Government Spied on Americans ‘Gazillions’ of Times
SEN. RAND PAUL – Does the government really peer into the personal business of everyone in America? According to Judge Andrew Napolitano, Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has put the number of instances that the feds have spied on Americans in the “gazillions.â€
Keep Genetically Engineered Canola Out of Oregon
BRENDA GAINES – Late last Friday, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) sent out a news release announcing its plan to file a temporary administrative rule that would dramatically expand the area in the Willamette Valley where canola can be grown: from a few hundred acres to 300,000 acres. This short-sighted ruling, which would invite canola, including GE canola, into the protected zone of the Willamette Valley, could mean the ruination of the specialty seed industry.