BAE is the largest military contractor in the world (Getty)
UNIVERSITY SOCIAL SCIENTIST, SAY YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT WAS DE-FUNDED? NOT TO WORRY BAE MILITARY CONTRACTOR WILL PUT YOU TO WORK AT A MUCH BETTER SALARY.
(Al Jazeera)
Mark LeVine comments on solications for employment of sociologists and anthropologist by the U.S. military, helping to bring to occupied countries the “cultural script” which will allow the military to bend the hearts and minds of natives in their direction. This seems but another incarnation in supposedly abandoned Bush era neo-con agenda for enlistment of social scientists in a project of Human Terrain Systems management of people in occupied regions.
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AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL REFORM AND THE “CYCLE OF STRATIFICATION.”
(AlterNet)
Sarah Seltzer believes that the current attack on public schools and their teachers throughout the country results from a failure to address the root cause of educational disadvantage of many children. Rather than blame incompetent and/or lazy teachers and indifferent parents, reformers should be directing their efforts to ameliorating a system of structured inequality that gives the children of privilege advantages in school that can never be overcome by any school system, no matter how “reformed” in the mode of the U.S. Department of Education and Governors across the country like Scott Walker and Rick Scott.
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NEW YORK TIMES: WE SUPPORT THE EXPANSION OF NUCLEAR POWER IN THE U.S. BUT…
(New York Times)
Editorial comments on latest news of nuclear meltdown in Japan and the implication that it could happen “here,” given that Japan was actually better prepared to deal with such emergencies than is the U.S.A. Nevertheless the Times supports the development of new nuclear plants in America, but insists on far more attention being giving to insure that these are “safe” facilities. (Some more “clean coal” reasoning?)
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WHISTLE-BLOWING: WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON, MR. PRESIDENT?
(Salon)
After P.J. Crowley came under fire for his comments critical of the government’s treatment of an Army soldier in custody on charges of conveying secret information to WikiLeaks, he was fired by the President. Glenn Greenwald notes that this and other presidential actions have made it totally clear that he is not on the “side” of whistle-blowers as he claimed to be in the campaign but on the side of those intent on protecting government agents from exposure from whistle-blowers like P.J. Crowley of the U.S. State Department.
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FLORIDA: ALL IS NOT QUIET ON THE ANTI-ABORTION FRONT.
(Miami New Times)
Regressive forces in state government begin to flex their muscles as legislation is being prepared to refer to the voters a constitutional amendment forbidding any kind of public funding for abortions. Another law would exclude abortion coverage under any state-sponsored “health exchange”: a resurrection on the state level of a measure rejected by Congress in the form of the Stupak amendment
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Quote of the day…
Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.
2008 statement in website of President-elect Barack Obama, cited by Glenn Greenwald in article noting how Obama fired P.J. Crowley of the State Department after his “act of courage” in denouncing U.S. treatment of Pfc Bradley Manning.
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Rather than piling $20 billion into each nuclear plant and paying GE a large sum and a few operators, I would rather the US employ 1 million Americans operating small solar and wind plants and put those into the power grid
Same old crap. The United States will never get out of the nuclear energy industry. Too many people with too much at stake…..money is all that matters.