MicroHawk's NewsScan

Supreme Court upholds state ban on direct corporate campaign spending

HELENA - The Montana Supreme Court on Friday overturned a lower court ruling and reinstated the state's century-old ban on direct spending by corporations for or against political candidates.

The justices ruled 5-2 in favor of the state's attorney general's office and commissioner of political practices to uphold the initiative passed by Montana voters in 1912.

via missoulian.com

The year of the befuddled leader - The Washington Post

This was a year in which events rarely turned out as predicted and when much of the world seemed shrouded in turmoil and uncertainty. It was difficult for government analysts back in Washington to know just where they were on the map, let alone where they were heading.

In place of Clausewitz’s famous “fog of war,” we had a “fog of revolution” and consequent “fog of policy.”

Read the full opinion at www.washingtonpost.com

First Nations vow to fight nuclear waste storage plans - Sudbury - CBC News

When it comes to nuclear waste, there is often a lot of "not in my backyard" sentiment.

First Nations communities in the Elliott Lake area say the gates to the backyard are firmly shut even though business leaders there are on board with being considered a long-term storage site for nuclear waste.

The North Shore Tribal Council said there's going to be opposition to the area becoming a nuclear waste storage site. The council represents seven First Nations across the North Shore of Lake Huron.

Read the full story at www.cbc.ca

93-Year-Old Tennessee Woman Who Cleaned State Capitol for 30 Years Denied Voter ID | Truthout

A 93-year-old Tennessee woman who cleaned the state Capitol for 30 years, including the governor’s office, says she won’t be able to vote for the first time in decades after being told this week that her old state ID failed to meet new voter ID regulations.

via www.truth-out.org

Frank Schaeffer: Newt and the Loony Religious Fringe That Now Runs the Republican Party

George's, North's, and Gingrich's idea of the "rule of law" is that it must be subject to a biblical mandate, in other words to what Gingrich's bishops tell him will "sell" to their faithful and their evangelical fellow-traveler religious extremists. This is the constituency that Gingrich is now appealing to, with the direct help from his Roman Catholic advisers and his Reconstructionist and Dominionist friends. And then there is the cherry on the cake: in return for espousing their theocratic anti-democracy views Gingrich will be forgiven his multitude of divorces and a lifetime of adultery.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

JAPAN: Mothers Rise Against Nuclear Power - IPS ipsnews.net

Japan’s nuclear power industry, which once ignored opposition, now finds its existence threatened by women angered by official opaqueness on radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after it was struck by an earthquake- driven tsunami on Mar. 11.

via ipsnews.net

Green Tech Drives Search for Rare Earths in Argentina - IPS

Argentina could meet part of the rising world demand for "rare earth" metals, required for a variety of green technologies, advanced electronic devices and medical diagnostic equipment. The challenge lies in mining them in a sustainable fashion.

via ipsnews.net

The Champion of Painkillers - ProPublica

Very important ProPublica articles on corporate ties to health care practices. See excerpt and another link below:

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared the overdoses from opioid drugs like OxyContin an "epidemic." [3] And a growing group of experts doubts that they work for long-term pain.

But the pills continue to have an influential champion in the American Pain Foundation, which describes itself as the nation's largest advocacy group for pain patients. Its message: The risk of addiction is overblown, and the drugs are underused.

What the nonprofit doesn't highlight is the money behind that message.

via www.propublica.org

 

Both of these links are from an indepth investigative series at ProPublica, Dollars for Doctors.

See also: Two Leaders in Pain Treatment Have Long Ties to Drug Industry

 

 

34 Congress members call for NYPD-CIA probe - WSJ.com

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., says: "We cannot allow the explicit profiling and targeting of Muslim Americans by the very people who are tasked with protecting and serving their community."

Earlier this year, the AP revealed that the CIA helped the NYPD build intelligence programs to monitor Muslims after Sept. 11, and a top CIA operative was working at the police department.

via online.wsj.com

Forest health versus global warming: Fuel reduction likely to increase carbon emissions

There may be valid reasons to thin forests -- such as restoration of forest structure or health, wildlife enhancement or public safety -- but increased carbon sequestration is not one of them, scientists say.

via www.sciencedaily.com