Report Blasts Bush On Ground Zero Clean Up
The Progress Report
In a strongly-worded and minutely-detailed report, the Sierra Club
charges the Bush administration with "reckless disregard" for public
health in the days and months following the collapse of the World Trade
Center. "Many hundreds of people" are sick today, the report states,
some debilitatingly so, because of the government's failure to alert
the public to obvious health risks, including toxic smoke, asbestos and
mercury at Ground Zero. The report concludes: "Much of the exposure
that caused these illnesses, sadly, could have been avoided if our
federal government had responded to the crisis…with proper concern for
the people exposed." The report is the most comprehensive in a litany
of evidence suggesting Bush administration officials ignored warnings,
misinterpreted data and issued a series of overly optimistic and
unsupported statements about environmental conditions which endangered
and in some cases ruined the health of heroic rescue workers and
residents in and around Ground Zero.
THE EPA WHITEWASH: The day after the World Trade Center collapsed, "a
top federal scientist warned in a strongly-worded memo against the
quick reoccupation of buildings in lower Manhattan because of possible
dangers from asbestos and other toxic materials." But, unaccountably,
the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) first press release, on
Sept. 13, said the results of sampling were "very reassuring." On Sept.
17, federal and city officials allowed thousands of people to return to
lower Manhattan, declaring a day later that "their air is safe to
breathe and their water is safe." But EPA Inspector General Nikki
Tinsley later admitted, "the EPA had not gathered nearly enough data to
make such a sweeping declaration." It was in these days, according to
the Sierra Club's report, that New Yorkers near the site were exposed
to dangerous levels of asbestos, lead, concrete, glass and other
debris, including toxic vapors easily assimilated into people's lungs
and nasal passenges. But on Oct. 3, the EPA said Ground Zero data
through Sept. 30 revealed "no significant health risks."
PLEADING IGNORANCE
LANGUAGE GAMES
COUNCIL RUN BY INDUSTRY INSIDER
STEPS NOT TAKEN
WHAT YOU CAN DO
(Much, much more)
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Saturday, August 21
Report Blasts Bush On Ground Zero Clean Up
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 21 Aug 2004 05:18 PM CDT
Call to Action: Insist on Hand Counted Paper Ballots for Federal Offices
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 21 Aug 2004 11:06 AM CDT
Call to Action: Insist on Hand Counted Paper Ballots for Federal Offices
A Message from VotersUnite! in partnership with the National Ballot Integrity Project Write to Senators Harkin and Grassley and to your representative in Congress and ask them to support the Federal Paper Ballot Act of 2004. Federal Paper Ballot Act of 2004 (1) All votes for federal offices shall be cast on paper ballots. (2) All votes for federal offices shall be hand counted at the polling places where the votes were cast, and the manual count shall constitute the official count of the votes. (3) Manually-tallied precinct totals for all federal offices shall be prominently posted at the polling places before the ballots are transported to the central facility. (4) In any jurisdiction where votes for federal office are also counted by machine, the machine totals for federal offices shall be posted at the location where the votes are machine-counted. (5) All absentee votes for federal offices shall be counted by hand, and the totals shall be posted at the central election office. (6) This act is effective on the date of enactment. Insist that your legislators understand ... ... a questionable, unauditable election in November could lead to massive court challenges and tear the country apart. ... an electronic federal election will result in a national crisis in November, regardless of the election outcome. ... it is the responsibility of Congress to avert a national crisis. This legislation will avert that crisis. ... you will not cast your vote for them in November unless they support this legislation. Insist that they introduce and support the Federal Paper Ballot Act of 2004. Click here for Senator Tom Harkin's email form. Click here for Senator Chuck "I vote with the junta" Grassley's email form. Click here for the form to write your representative in Congress. Just enter your zip code to get the webform of the right dude.
Sinclair Broadcasting Foreshadows the Death of Local News
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 21 Aug 2004 04:46 AM CDT
Sinclair Broadcasting Foreshadows the Death of Local News
The Business Journal For two weeks now, Blog for Iowa has been running a weekly column by Iowa's Ted Remington called "The Counterpoint." Remington started writing "The Counterpoint" in response to the faux journalism and slanted commentary being forced on Iowans by Sinclair Broadcasting. In this article from The Business Journal, the true depth of the destructive nature of what Sinclair Broadcasting is perpetrating on the American public is revealed. MINNEAPOLIS - Tune into the evening news on the Fox TV affiliate in Madison, Wis.,and behold the future of local news. In the program's concluding segment, "The Point," Mark Hyman rants against peace activists ("wack-jobs"), the French ("cheese-eating surrender monkeys"), progressives ("loony left") and the so-called liberal media, usually referred to as the "hate-America crowd" or the "Axis of Drivel." Colorful, if creatively anemic, this is TV's version of talk radio, with the precisely tanned Hyman playing a second-string Limbaugh. Fox 47's right-wing rants may be the future of hometown news, but - believe it or not - it's not the program's blatant ideological bias that is most worrisome. Here's the real problem: Hyman isn't the station manager, a local crank, or even a journalist. He is the Vice President of Corporate Communications for the station's owner, the Sinclair Broadcast Group. And this segment of the local news isn't exactly local. Hyman's commentary is piped in from the home office in Baltimore, and mixed in with locally-produced news. Sinclair aptly calls its innovative strategy "NewsCentral" - it is very likely to spell the demise of local news as we know it. To read the full report, click here. |
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