Rational Review » PND Events

Pentagon questions drug study on troops

Steve Trinward — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:29:14 +0000

“The Department of Defense is investigating whether 80 wounded American service members in Iraq were improperly used as subjects in a test of a possible treatment for brain injuries …. The study, sponsored by the United States Naval Medical Center in San Diego, was designed to test whether a drug made to treat Tylenol overdoses, among other uses, could also reduce the harmful effects of traumatic brain injury, such as balance loss and brain function problems, in service members who had been hit by explosions.” [editor’s note: Isn’t this the same Pentagon that callously used soldiers as guinea pigs during Nam, for everything from Agent Orange to psychedelics? - SAT] (08/03/10)

The WikiLeaks war logs change everything

Thomas L. Knapp — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:06:23 +0000

“Whatever our keepers of intelligence secrets do know, and whatever abuses they’ve done to our civil liberties to learn them, they must feel less sure today about keeping it all contained. When that many people have access to information, however compartmentalized their bosses may think they’ve made the system, some of it will get out, which leads to something else we should worry about. … The WikiLeaks war diary will absolutely spur our powerful institutions to look for increasingly draconian ways to clamp down on how we share information. What WikiLeaks represents is what governments and corporations fear: a threat to their cultures of secrecy and dominance in their domains.” (07/26/10)

MA: Leaders approve ethics revamp

Steve Trinward — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:08:08 +0000

“Legislative leaders unveiled the most sweeping ethics overhaul in decades yesterday, as they attempted to move past a series of high-profile scandals on Beacon Hill and reach an accord with Governor Deval Patrick on a sales tax increase. The ethics bill — which strengthens enforcement, levies higher penalties for violations and bans nearly all gifts to public officials — is the final piece of legislation requested by the governor before he said he would consider asking Massachusetts residents to pay more at the register.” (06/25/09)

Biden reveals location of secret VP bunker

Steve Trinward — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:29:58 +0000

“Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president. According to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president. The bunker is believed to be the secure, undisclosed location former Vice President Dick Cheney remained under protection in secret after the 9/11 attacks.” (05/17/09)

China: Deadly earthquake may have been man-made

Steve Trinward — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:24:46 +0000

“Pressure from a dam, its reservoir’s heavy waters weighing on geologic fault lines, may have helped trigger China’s devastating earthquake last May, some scientists say, in a finding that suggests human activity played a role in the disaster. The magnitude-7.9 quake in Sichuan province was China’s worst in a generation, causing 70,000 deaths and leaving 5 million homeless. Just 550 yards from the fault line and 3.5 miles from the epicenter stands the 511-foot-high Zipingpu dam, the area’s largest. The quake cracked Zipingpu, forcing the reservoir to be drained. Fan Xiao, a chief engineer at the Sichuan Geology and Mineral Bureau, said Wednesday that the immense weight of Zipingpu’s waters — 315 million tons — likely affected the timing and magnitude of the quake.” (02/04/09)

NM: We seek snitches, says Albuquerque Police want ad

Steve Trinward — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 03:27:51 +0000

“The Albuquerque Police Department has turned to the want ads for snitches. An ad this week in the alternative newspaper The Alibi asks ‘people who hang out with crooks’ to do part-time work for the police. It reads in part: ‘Make some extra cash! Drug use and criminal record OK.’ Capt. Joe Hudson says police received more than 30 responses in two days. He says one tip was a ‘big one’ but wouldn’t elaborate. An informant whose tip helps officers arrest a drug dealer could earn $50. A tip about a murder suspect could bring up to $700.” (11/23/08)

The waste-pickers of Delhi

Thomas L. Knapp — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:26:15 +0000

“Bharati Chaturvedi, the director and cofounder of Chintan, a small Indian NGO that provides education to waste-pickers, claims that more than 1 percent of Delhi’s population sifts through garbage, recycling as much as 59 percent of the city’s waste. ‘These waste-pickers are providing a public service — for free,’ she says. That may soon change. A new waste incinerator that turns trash into electricity is slated to be built in Timarpur, a suburb of Delhi. Because it will reduce the amount of methane off-gassed by landfills, it will generate carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol. But the incinerator will also emit cancer-causing dioxins, mercury, heavy metals, and fly ash. Are the carbon credits available under Kyoto’s Clean Development Mechanism worth putting thousands of impoverished waste-pickers out of business?” (07/08)

CA: Conservation group sues US Coast Guard

Thomas L. Knapp — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:31:29 +0000

“A conservation group has sued the U.S. Coast Guard in an effort to protect whales from being struck by passing ships off the coast of California. The Center for Biological Diversity’s lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court here, seeks to force the Coast Guard to consult more closely with the National Marine Fisheries Service . The group wants the Coast Guard to adhere to Endangered Species Act rules and consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service on how best to protect endangered whales.” (06/18/08)

CA: Vallejo bankruptcy could be model for others

Steve Trinward — Mon, 12 May 2008 03:55:43 +0000

“By declaring bankruptcy, Vallejo has thrust itself into the national spotlight as a test case for thousands of floundering cities desperate to unload their extravagant public employee contracts. ‘There’s a wave of this coming across the U.S.,’ said Sajan George, an adviser to struggling public entities who worked on restructuring Orange County after it declared bankruptcy in 1994. ‘What happens in Vallejo could definitely set a precedent.’ Battered by the plummeting housing market and skyrocketing public employee contracts, Vallejo made dubious history Tuesday night by becoming the largest California city to declare bankruptcy. The North Bay city of 117,000 was on track to start the fiscal year July 1 with a $16 million deficit and no money in reserve.” (05/11/08)

Obama takes Wisconsin primary, Hawaii caucus

Thomas L. Knapp — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:39:29 +0000

“Sen. Barack Obama won the Wisconsin Democratic primary and the Hawaii caucuses decisively last night, extending his winning streak to ten consecutive contests and dealing another significant blow to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose imperiled presidential candidacy now hangs on the outcome of showdowns in Ohio and Texas in two weeks. After a week of sparring that included the first negative ads of the campaign, Obama emerged victorious in the critical general-election battleground state of Wisconsin, and was treated to favorite son status with a lopsided win in Hawaii, where he was born. … In Wisconsin’s Republican primary, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) won an easy victory over former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, moving him ever closer to clinching the party’s nomination.” (02/20/08)

Larken Rose on Lighting the Fires of Liberty, 08/30/07

Steve Trinward — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:31:04 +0000

Income tax activist Larken Rose on Michael Badnarik’s “Lighting the Fires of Liberty.” 7-9am CST on We The People Radio Network. [live stream] (08/30/07)

Daniel Ellsberg on Antiwar Radio

Thomas L. Knapp — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:15:00 +0000

“Daniel Ellsberg, heroic antiwar activist and the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers, compares and contrasts the Iraq and Vietnam wars and discusses the abdication by the cowardly Congress of their authority over the American government’s war powers, torture, his wish that more whistleblowers would come forward and David Petraeus’ dishonor.” [Flash audio or MP3] (07/20/07)

Petition: Filibuster for peace

Mary Lou Seymour — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 02:02:12 +0000

Petition calling on the U.S. Senate to filibuster and end the war in Iraq. (03/07)

Wikileaks

Thomas L. Knapp — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 15:00:28 +0000

“Wikileaks is developing an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis. Our primary interests are oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we also expect to be of assistance to those in the west who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their own governments and corporations. We aim for maximum political impact; this means our interface is identical to Wikipedia and usable by non-technical people. We have received over 1.2 million documents so far from dissident communities and anonymous sources.” [A website for government whistleblowers] (01/07)

Libertarian Solutions Network

Mary Lou Seymour — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 01:59:59 +0000

“The Libertarian Solutions (LS) Network is proud to announce its first round of prizes. We are offering a one-ounce coin of pure silver for the ten best ideas submitted. We are searching for actions that would serve as stepping-stones to a libertarian society in the United States of America! Time limit: 1/30/07.” (01/07/07)

Petition: Withdrawal of US troops from Iraq

Mary Lou Seymour — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 02:12:25 +0000

Signable online petition. (01/07)

VOTE NOW Postering Campaign

Thomas L. Knapp — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 22:59:05 +0000

“1. Download the PDF Poster 2. Print it, and post it around town and in your cubicle. 3. Tell your friends. Send it to your mom. Email them the link: votenow.pbwiki.com/f/votenow.pdf 4. On Tuesday, November 7, 2006: grab a group of friends. Get your ID. Go VOTE. BE HEARD.”

Action item: Cut those stupid TV ads!

Steve Trinward — Tue, 23 May 2006 02:12:16 +0000

“Tell Congress to stop wasting your tax money on those stupid anti-marijuana commercials. You know the ones that compare marijuana smokers to terrorists and claim marijuana will make you crazy, get you raped, cause you to shoot your neighbor and give you bird flu. Ok, we made that last one up. But, doesn’t it sound like something the government would say? Take action today.” (05/22/06)

Strike the Root’s boycott list

Mary Lou Seymour — Sat, 13 May 2006 03:34:01 +0000

Strike the Root is putting together a list of corporations that freedom-minded people should boycott. If you’d like to suggest a company, e-mail the name and a link that explains why. (05/12/06)

TV Turnoff Week April 24-30

Mary Lou Seymour — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 02:15:35 +0000

“Empowering people to take control of technology and not letting technology take control of them so they can live healthier lives.”