For a few hours on the afternoon of Nov. 1, the people of southern California were scared by initial reports of an alert at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. An “alert” is the second of four warning levels. Workers first detected an ammonia leak in a water purification system about 3 p.m. Ammonia, when mixed into air, is toxic. The 30 gallons of ammonia were caught in a holding tank and posed no health risk, according to the...
Monthly Archives: November 2011
Protests Planned As Anger Against Supercommittee Rises
A prominent Washington progressive organization plans national protests next week against further cuts to federal safety net programs like Social Security and Medicare. Among those speaking out against any such cuts by the so-called supercommittee is former senator Russ Feingold. MoveOn.org is organizing what it calls national demonstrations on Nov. 17, ahead of the release of recommendations to cut the federal budget deficit by the bipartisan supercommittee. “The past months have been filled with powerful, creative, and passionate displays...
Republicans Once Supported Veteran Incentives — Will They Back New Senate Bill?
Sen. Lisa Murkowski earlier this year declared that she was “proud” to add her name to a bill that gives veterans skills they need to compete for civilian jobs. The question now is whether the Alaska Republican and her GOP colleagues are singing the same tune now that Senate Democrats have carved out another piece of President Obama’s jobs bill — this time, a provision that would help veterans find civilian work. Democratic Sens. Patty Murray of Washington State;...
We Hates Them Meeses To Pieces
The "liberty cap" in the center of the Nicaraguan coat of arms comes from the American Revolution, which inspired countries all over the world to adopt the now-forgotten symbol of American Independence.
America As Food Fight
The true terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. -- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Sluggish Job Growth Turns Fresh Attention To Expiring Unemployment Benefits
The U.S. economy added a modest number of new jobs last month, and the nation’s unemployment fell slightly, to its lowest level since April. Unemployment remains a pernicious problem for the country, despite October’s modicum of good news, and attention is turning once more to the impending cut-off of unemployment benefits for millions of out-of-work Americans. The nation added a net 80,000 new jobs in October, according to statistics reported by the federal government on Friday. The U.S. unemployment...
Capitol Idea: The Political Issue Uniquely Suited to the Occupy Movement
The Occupy movement so far has steered clear of articulating any clear policy goals, or engaging at all in the political process. That’s been smart, because the movement’s been able to grow as quickly, and effectively, as it has precisely for this reason. If Occupy had become about this bill, or that legislation, or whatever, the movement easily could have become too narrowly defined and been diminished as a result. But now a political issue has come along that...
Y Kunsurvuhtivs R Aginst Branes
It is a profoundly anti-intellectual strain, the first naked statement of the "dumb it down" strain of "Conservatism" (which is, if you think about it, exceedingly radical, in wanting lots of social change as soon as possible) in demonizing "Liberalism" (which is, conversely, extremely "conservative" in continually protecting the status quo ante of the current social order).
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