TODAY KIVALINA, TOMORROW THE WORLD? COULD BE IF THE PDI GETS ITS WAY.
Counterpunch prints introduction to new book in which Christine Shearer describes the plight of a small Alaskan village which has sued fossil fuel companies for the cost of re-locating themselves from a coastal location made extremely vulnerable to sea surge because of the carbon emissions of their operations. In her book, she takes a close look at the political forces resisting any effective regulation of climate change and the climate-altering effects of industrial operations. In what she calls the Product Defense Industry or PDI, every effort is made to avoid any kind of industry regulation in the interest of the public welfare of people in coastal areas throughout the world.
(Counterpunch)
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AMERICAN IMPERIALISM: LASHING OUT IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
Abayomi Azikiwe so characterizes U.S. foreign policy as it will continue to be under a second Obama administration. In the agenda of “getting out” of Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. is ignoring the destruction already done to the people and economies of these countries, and “lashes out” especially throughout both east and west Africa but also in Haiti. U.S. “proxy” regimes like that in Somalia are engaged in counter-insurgency operations that bring the horrors of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistani to a location near African people, almost wherever they may be.
(Black Agenda Report)
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CAN YOKO ONO SAVE NEW YORK STATE FROM THE RAVAGES OF NATURAL GAS FRACKING?
Ralph Nader hopes so. He notes the strenuous effort of John Lennon’s widow and her son Sean Lennon to persuade New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to help join Pennsylvania in recognizing the environmental devastation associated with fracking. If a few well-placed full-page New York Times advertisements will do the trick, then the deed could be done.
(Eurasia Review)
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WAL-MART EMPLOYEES LOVE THEIR JOBS AND THEIR EMPLOYER.
So says the President of the company, citing an 86% rate of “job satisfaction” according to the company’s internal polls. Yeah right, says a skeptic, there was no doubt employee intimidation to produce these results, in that Wal-Mart is notable for its low wages and its disrespectful treatment of its employees and, recently, its aggressive efforts to prevent unionization of employees.
(In These Times)
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SAY YOU WANT US TO RE-EMPLOY YOU AS A TEACHER IN THIS FLORIDA SCHOOL DISTRICT? WE’LL HAVE TO CHECK OUT YOUR VAM SCORES.
Michael Mayo describes the incredibly complicated computational formula by means of which a Florida teacher is evaluated, as value-added-model scores constitute 50% of his/her overall rating. With U.S. school children now coming up with poor evaluations of their math skills compared to those in other countries, where is the “Einstein” who will be able to understand this formula?
(South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
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Quote of the day…
“Illinois would want to make a serious consideration in who gets these permits and why,” Ms. Whittenburg says. “You have all these people walking around with not a whole lot of training, certainly not the type of training that compares to our police force. Most states don’t take that seriously.” An Illinois judge approves new concealed gun carry law in the state.
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