Economy

(By Lauren McCauley) The 150 million Americans routinely exposed to toxic air as a result of oil and gas drilling need better protection from their government, demanded a coalition of 64 environmental and community groups, who on Tuesday filed a petition (pdf) asking the Environmental Protection Agency to set limits on the air pollutants emitted […]

Economy

5 Reasons India’s new BJP (“Tea Party”) Government may not be so Great for Business

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India’s elections is being hailed in some Western media as a hopeful sign for US-Indian trade and for Indian business. But like the US Tea Party movement, it is rent by internal contradictions that could derail such aspirations. The BJP has many resemblances […]

Dissent

FCC Votes To “Fast Track” Death Of Net Neutrality

Juan Cole

There’s good news: the nationwide outcry against the Federal Communications Commission’s troublesome proposal for new Open Internet rules is clearly having an impact. At a public meeting this morning, commissioners were factoring in questions that…

Domestic Surveillance

Greenwald: NSA sneaking backdoors into hardware exports

Juan Cole

Glenn Greenwald has accused the US National Security Agency (NSA) of inserting backdoors for surveillance purposes into servers being exported to other countries. The irony here is that this is just the sort of thing that the US government has in the…

Barack Obama

Reich on Obama Walmart Photo-Op: “What numbskull arranged this?”

Juan Cole

(By John Queally) A low-wage Walmart employee in California has a simple message for President Obama on behalf of the millions of workers who find themselves in situations just like hers: "Help us." President Obama's … speaking engagement at a Walmart superstore in California on Friday has attracted widespread criticism for those who think the […]

Climate Change

New Study Ties California Drought to Fossil Fuel-Driven Climate Change

Juan Cole

New Study Links California Drought to Climate Change and Burning of Fossil Fuels (via Desmogblog) Sat, 2014-05-10 09:07Chris Rose California, widely considered the U.S. state that most promoted the American Dream, may turn into a nightmare this summer as a result of the worst drought in at least 15 years. And a new academic study suggests […]

Climate Change

Kochs slammed by GOPer for plan to cripple wind power in Kansas

Juan Cole

Kansas Republican slams Kochs for trying to cripple state’s growing wind power industry (via Raw Story ) Friday night’s edition of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC took aim at billionaires Charles and David Koch and their efforts to block clean energy projects in Kansas and other states. Maddow began the segment by running down […]

Climate Change

Nat’l Climate Assessment Says We’re in Trouble. This Chart Shows Why.

Juan Cole

This animated chart from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences shows the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Note the spike? Measuring CO2 in parts per million (ppm), the chart shows, first, how the amount of the gas…

Economy

Dark Triad: Right wing Conservatives far more likely to be Sociopaths

Juan Cole

PROOF! Conservatives and CEOs Really ARE Evil Psychopaths (via Americans Against The Tea Party) Have you ever wondered why today’s conservatives never seem make any sense? Turns out that what we’ve always suspected is true. Recent scientific studies reveal that extreme conservatives — and the rich CEOs they serve — really are evil psychopaths… ——– Ring […]