Outrage over #PersepolisTrial verdict | The Stream

stream.aljazeera.com – [View the story "Outrage over #PersepolisTrial verdict" on Storify]Storified by The Stream · Thu, May 03 2012 18:05:55On Thursday, a Tunisian court found Nabil Karoui, head of a private TV station,…

tatn

#Mauritania’s Bonfire of the Vanities

lissnup.wordpress.com – It took considerable self-control to suppress my gag reflex at the sight of Abdel Aziz rushing from the palace to greet the protest march against Biram Ould Abeid’s sacrilegious act, dressed in ful…

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Hot Docs: How the Mohawk tobacco industry caught…

toronto.com – RICK EGLINTON/TORONTO STAR Rainbow Tobacco CEO Robbie Dickson lights up, with Smoke Traders director Jeff Dorn, who recently quit smoking, in the background. May 03, 2012 Where there’s smoke there’…

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Chen case is another human rights issue for Obama

cnn.com – WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 27: President Barack Obama speaks at the National Issues Conference hosted by the Women’s Leadership Forum and Women for Obama April 27, 2012 in Washington, DC. With former M…

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Tell Leader Pelosi: Don’t slash benefits

progressivesunited.org – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s recent comments signaling support for a plan that could slash benefits from Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security send a disturbing message — one that millions o…

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What China’s Dissidents Are Saying About Chen

online.wsj.com – ASSOCIATED PRESS BEIJING—On Thursday, legal activist Chen Guangcheng told the United States that he wants to leave China, deepening a diplomatic dispute. His case has drawn comments from other prom…

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Anti-Tank Grenades Found At Arizona Massacre Site

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Hundreds Protest In Front Of Ramla Prison, 20 Kidnapped

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Missed exit? Spend 35 years in Mexican jail

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Shell Gets Permits For Arctic Ocean Drilling

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Give Gulf Residents a Voice in Oil Drilling!

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Ann Romney: She and Mitt were so poor in college they had to liquidate some stock

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The Night Junior Seau Picked Up A Marine Captain’s Tab And Serenaded Bar Patrons With A Ukulele

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Conservatives to discuss plan to censor the internet after campaign in right-wing press

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Live from Global Conference: Fixing K-12 education

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#humanrights Read this paper See all

Chen case is another human rights issue for Obama

cnn.com – WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 27: President Barack Obama speaks at the National Issues Conference hosted by the Women’s Leadership Forum and Women for Obama April 27, 2012 in Washington, DC. With former M…

tatn

Journalists and Netizens in Govt Crosshairs

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Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani | American Center for Law and Justice ACLJ

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Three Years After Bush, the GOP is Still Wrong About Everything

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RealClearPolitics – Politics – May 02, 2012

realclearpolitics.com – May 02, 2012The Associated PressFlorida Gov. Rick Scott has rejected a request from the Tampa mayor to prohibit the carrying of guns in downtown during the Republican National Convention this summe…

jilevin

heywho

Hello, everybody.

In the State of the Union, I laid out three areas we need to focus on if we’re going to build an economy that lasts: new American manufacturing, new skills and education for American workers, and new sources of American-made energy.

These days, we’re getting another painful reminder why developing new energy is so important to our future. Just like they did last year, gas prices are starting to climb. Only this time, it’s happening earlier. And that hurts everyone – everyone who owns a car; everyone who owns a business. It means you have to stretch your paycheck even further. Some folks have no choice but to drive a long way to work, and high gas prices are like a tax straight out of their paychecks.

Now, some politicians always see this as a political opportunity. And since it’s an election year, they’re already dusting off their three-point plans for $2 gas. I’ll save you the suspense: Step one is drill, step two is drill, and step three is keep drilling. We hear the same thing every year.

Well the American people aren’t stupid. You know that’s not a plan – especially since we’re already drilling. It’s a bumper sticker. It’s not a strategy to solve our energy challenge. It’s a strategy to get politicians through an election.

You know there are no quick fixes to this problem, and you know we can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices. If we’re going to take control of our energy future and avoid these gas price spikes down the line, then we need a sustained, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy – oil, gas, wind, solar, nuclear, biofuels, and more. We need to keep developing the technology that allows us to use less oil in our cars and trucks; in our buildings and plants. That’s the strategy we’re pursuing, and that’s the only real solution to this challenge.

Now, we absolutely need safe, responsible oil production here in America. That’s why under my Administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years. In 2010, our dependence on foreign oil was under 50% for the first time in more than a decade. And while there are no short-term silver bullets when it comes to gas prices, I’ve directed my administration to look for every single area where we can make an impact and help consumers in the months ahead, from permitting to delivery bottlenecks to what’s going on in the oil markets.

But over the long term, an all-of-the-above energy strategy means we have to do more. It means we have to make some choices.

Here’s one example. Right now, four billion of your tax dollars subsidize the oil industry every year. Four billion dollars.

Imagine that. Maybe some of you are listening to this in your car right now, pulling into a gas station to fill up. As you watch those numbers rise, know that oil company profits have never been higher. Yet somehow, Congress is still giving those same companies another four billion dollars of your money. That’s outrageous. It’s inexcusable. And it has to stop.

A century of subsidies to the oil companies is long enough. It’s time to end taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s never been more profitable, and use that money to reduce our deficit and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising. Because of the investments we’ve already made, the use of wind and solar energy in this country has nearly doubled – and thousands of Americans have jobs because of it. And because we put in place the toughest fuel economy standards in history, our cars will average nearly 55 miles per gallon by the middle of the next decade – something that, over time, will save the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump. Now Congress needs to keep that momentum going by renewing the clean energy tax credits that will lead to more jobs and less dependence on foreign oil.

Look, we know there’s no silver bullet that will bring down gas prices or reduce our dependence on foreign oil overnight. But what we can do is get our priorities straight, and make a sustained, serious effort to tackle this problem. That’s the commitment we need right now. And with your help, it’s a commitment we can make. Thank you.

Tar Sands Action

Corruption scandal escalating at the Clinton State Department

Emails uncovered by Friends of the Earth reveal State Department employees in a cozy relationship with Paul Elliot, a leader on Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign turned head lobbyist for Keystone XL – offering personal favors, praise, advice, and generally cheerleading the project while it was under review. Some of the messages are just damning. Here are some quotes:“It’s precisely because you have connections that you’re sought after and hired,” offered as praise for Elliot’s work

This is showing like a brewing scandal that could harm the Obama team. The president needs to reject the pipeline to show that their approval was not ‘bought’

The emails released today are a smoking gun that show how oil industry lobbying money has corrupted the State Department’s review of Keystone XL. They come out just after it was revealed that the State Department relied on a major TransCanada contractor to conduct its environmental review and public hearings on Keystone XL, and Wikileaks cables showed that other officials at the department gave the company tips on how to get the pipeline approved.

Go here for the full story: Corruption scandal brewing at Clinton State Dept. over Tar Sands Review

Here is more on the same subject!

Keystone XL pipeline is not just risky, but unnecessary. Fossil fuel advocates argue the usual need for oil from a friendly country to answer rising oil prices. However, the Energy Department says the “pipeline would have a minimal effect on prices, and there is already sufficient pipeline capacity to double United States imports from Canada.”

What are the real motives?

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) says the “oil is not for domestic consumption,” but likely destined for foreign export. The existing pipeline now ends in Cushing Oklahoma: The XL will extend the pipeline to Gulf Coast refineries, providing the “tar sands’ first major pipeline to a port.” In short, Canada needs to reach ports where it can ship its oil overseas.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore) called for a Federal Trade Commission investigation whether Canadian oil companies have colluded to control the price of oil. Sen. Wyden wrote:

While the full nature of the arrangements agreed upon by the Canadian shippers is unclear, there is clear indication that there is a coordinated ‘strategy’ among Canadian suppliers to gain higher prices. According to TransCanada, the proposed Keystone XL pipeline can be used by Canadian oil shippers to add up to $4 billion to U.S. fuel costs.
After Wyden’s request for FTC probe, TransCanada flipped, stating XL will not increase gasoline prices.

…We need more public pressure to stop this pipeline that sounds more like a rip-off where we pay with our health, economy, environmental resources and wildlife while TransCanada satisfies its greed.

This above quote is from here: President Obama: Just Say No To Tar Sands Pipeline Rip-Off

eSci: Unsafe Radiation Found Near Tokyo, Vast Area of Japan[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="501" caption="Radiation Map"][/caption]A map of citizen measured radiation levels shows radioactivity is distributed in a complex pattern reflecting the mountainous terrain and the shifting winds across a broad area of Japan north of Tokyo which is in the center of the of bottom of the map.