Environment, International, Nuclear Power March 15, 2012

Media, Academia Join Forces to Downplay Dangers of Nuclear Power

by Titus North Dissident Voice March 10th, 2012 Last April 20 the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published an on-line article entitled “Short-term and Long-term Health Risks of Nuclear-Power-Plant Accidents” by Dr. Eli Glatstein and five other authors. The article was riddled with distortions and misinformation, and overall was very poor research. As the NEJM is a peer reviewed journal and has a significant letters section, I wrote a letter pointing out some of the errors committed by the authors, and a longer piece containing a comprehensive critique. The NEJM demands that letters to the journal contain material that…

Green Party, National Politics, State Politics, Third Party January 27, 2012

AB1413 “Gut and Amend” Abuse Would Gut Voter Voice

by Michael Feinstein Fox and Hounds Monday, January 23rd, 2012 A bill about to be passed by the Legislature – AB 1413 – would rob us of our right to vote for write-in candidates, a right we’ve enjoyed and exercised since California statehood in 1850. With such a major change, one would assume it’s imminent passage is the culmination of a long public process, where the proposed change has been publicly vetted, with broad participation by civic and good government groups in debates, public forums, op/eds and talk shows. But AB1413 hasn’t gone through such a process. Instead it’s come…

Economy, National Politics, occupy January 21, 2012

Extreme Inequality or Democracy?

by Ron Forthofer Dissident Voice January 18, 2012 Last autumn, likely due to the Occupy movement, there was a shift of media attention from debt reduction and the cutting of vital public programs (for example, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) to the issue of extreme wealth and income inequality in America. Extreme inequality is of concern for many reasons, but Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis provided perhaps the most crucial reason when he said: “We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” Many…

National Politics, occupy, Third Party December 20, 2011

Why the movement to Occupy Wall Street?

by Ron Forthofer The Boulder Daily Camera December 15, 2011 The corporate-controlled media’s treatment of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) has not provided much useful information about the movement. Instead of reporting on OWS, media pundits whined about a lack of leaders and criticized the appearance of some participants. After a while, the coverage focused on the violence around the removal of OWS from their sites and the costs of dealing with OWS. Unsurprisingly, the corporate-controlled media coverage has led some to have negative impressions about OWS. This type of coverage is certainly not unexpected; after all, OWS is challenging the…

Green Party, National Politics, occupy, Third Party December 20, 2011

The Occupy Movement Must Also Become a Voters’ Rebellion

By Scott McLarty FireDogLake, December 19, 2011 To vote or not to vote — that is the question for Occupy Wall Street protesters and for Americans sympathetic to the Occupy movement taking place in cities throughout the US. For many of those who intend to vote, it means casting a ballot for Democratic candidates, including President Obama. For those who don’t plan to vote at all, the outcome of elections is irrelevant, because nothing will change under the current political system. Are these the only two choices? The US is in a crisis, a political holding pattern in which Democratic…