Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion Exposes Dangers of OSHA Budget Cuts and Lack of Unions

The explosion that killed 14 at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas in April 2013 raises new concerns over OSHA funding and the state of non-union workers in Texas. According to data on the Department of Labor’s website, the West Fertilizer Company had not been inspected since 1985, a lapse of 28 years.  Labor reporter [...]

Screen Propaganda, Hollywood and the CIA

Black Hawk Down, Zero Dark Thirty and Argo, those are only a few major recent productions showing how today’s movie industry promotes US foreign policy. But the motion picture has been used for propaganda since the beginning of the 20th century and Hollywood’s cooperation with the Department of Defense, the CIA and other government agencies [...]

Australian Government Bans Political Comment on Twitter

  In January 2012, Twitter announced that it would censor tweets if a country’s government requested them to do so.   In early 2013, Twitter began actively censoring Australian tweets at the direct request of the government, making Australia “the first modern democracy to identify, filter and ban free speech whilst not in a state of [...]

Ecosystems in Upheaval: The “Cascading Effects” of Climate Change

A July 2012 report documents how climate change is already causing rapid, massive changes with “cascading effects” on ecosystems and biodiversity.  The report, led by the US Geological Survey, the National Wildlife Federation and Arizona State University, foresees a global loss of biodiversity and major shifts in ecosystems. “These geographic range and timing changes are [...]

Laboratory Study of Rats Supports Dangers of GM Corn

A study published in September in The Food & Chemical Toxicology Journal found that rats fed Monsanto’s genetically modified corn over several months showed significant health problems including premature death and tumors. The study found that over half of the male rats and 70 percent of the females who were fed a lifetime of Monsanto’s [...]