From NOEBIE.net
Coming soon, to a country near you: another way for the masters to strip troublemakers of our citizenship. Thanks, Joe.
H.R. 3166: Enemy Expatriation Act. [GovTrack.us] – To add engaging in or supporting hostilities against the United States to the list of acts for which United States nationals would lose their nationality.
This is the chilling account of Lakhdar Boumediene’s rendition and his imprisonment for seven years at Gitmo. He was held without trial, another innocent victim of our War on Terror.
My Guantánamo Nightmare. [NYTimes.com] – The fact that the United States had made a mistake was clear from the beginning. Bosnia’s highest court investigated the American claim, found that there was no evidence against me and ordered my release. But instead, the moment I was released American agents seized me and the five others. We were tied up like animals and flown to Guantánamo, the American naval base in Cuba.
Did renewables overtake nuclear power in 2011? Sort of. [The Washington Post] – In 2011, for the first time in decades, the United States got more of its energy from renewable sources than it did from nuclear power. Not only that, but renewables are growing much faster than any other energy source.
Secrets of Empire and Self-Deceptions of Partisans [Dissident Voice] – As a general rule, when the rationalizations of both Bush and Obama supporters are countered with facts regarding their dismal governance, the invectives fly.
12 simple ways to go green in 2012 [CSMonitor.com] – If many people resolve to make their lives just a little greener in 2012 it could make a huge difference.
What’s Happening in the Persian Gulf Explained. [Mother Jones] – Why Iran is talking tough, the US is maneuvering warships, and gasoline is getting more expensive by the hour.
Good morning. We have a bit more on the subject of hydraulic fracturing today.
Hydrofracked: One man’s quest for answers. [High Country News] – Louis Meeks is an alfalfa farmer in Pavillion, Wyoming. For decades after returning from his service in Vietnam, his well provided the cleanest water for miles around. Then, something happened.
For 35 years, he drew it clear and sweet from a well near the front door of the plain, eight-room ranch house that he and his wife, Donna, own. The water was so good that neighbors used to pull off the road to fill plastic jugs for themselves. But in the spring of 2005, Meeks’ water turned fetid. His tap ran cloudy, and the filmy water shimmered with rainbow swirls. The scent was sharp, like gasoline.
Read the full story from Abrahm Lustgarten here.
Also, I ran across this essay by John Kemp of Reuters, who basically argues that we shouldn’t worry about the risks posed by fracking, because the natural gas companies have been despoiling our environment and poisoning us for years anyway. Nothing new here. Move along.
Here are a few more articles of interest.
An Inside Look At A Fracking Well. [The Denver Post]
How Fracking Might Have Led To An Ohio Earthquake. [CSMonitor.com]
Chinese and French firms pour $4.5 billion into U.S. shale. [Reuters]
Happy Fracking!
Ohio officials close wells after quake. [UPI.com] – Ohio officials say they have shut down four fluid-injection wells after a series of small earthquakes in and around Youngstown.
The biggest driver of income inequality: capital gains. [The Washington Post] – Changes in income from capital gains and dividends were the single largest contributor to rising income inequality between 1996 and 2006, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan public policy branch of Congress.
Bastardised Libertarianism Makes “Freedom” an Instrument of Oppression. [George Monbiot, The Guardian] – Modern libertarianism is the disguise adopted by those who wish to exploit without restraint. It pretends that only the state intrudes on our liberties. It ignores the role of banks, corporations and the rich in making us less free.
Read the full article here.