"Tom Engelhardt"- The Militarized Surrealism of Barack Obama Signs of the Great American Unraveling

By Tom Engelhardt
Posted on June 30, 2011, Printed on June 30, 2011
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175412/

It’s already gone, having barely outlasted its moment -- just long enough for the media to suggest that no one thought it added up to much.

Okay, it was a little more than the military wanted, something less than Joe Biden would have liked, not enough for the growing crew of anti-war congressional types, but way too much for John McCain, Lindsey Graham, & Co.

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"Henry Giroux"- War Colleges – Politics of Militarization and Corporatization in Higher Education

http://counterpunch.org/giroux06292011.html

While there is an ongoing discussion about the increasing corporatization of higher education—extending from the attempted buying of faculty positions by  right-wing billionaires such as the Koch brothers to the increasing casualization of faculty labor and the commodification of knowledge, what is often left out of this analysis is the intrusion of the military into higher education. (1) 

The culture of organized violence is one of the most powerful forces shaping American society, extending deeply into every aspect of American life. There can be little doubt that America has become a permanent warfare state. (2)

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"Karl Grossman"- Atomic Energy -- Unsafe in the Real World

Nuclear power requires “perfection” and “no acts of God,” we were warned years ago. This has been brought home by the ongoing disaster caused by the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Fukushimi Daiichi nuclear plant complex, the flooding along the Missouri River in Nebraska now threatening two nuclear plants, and the wildfire laying siege to Los Alamos National Laboratory, the birthplace of atomic energy.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, fire -- these and other disasters will inevitably occur. Add nuclear power with its potential to release massive amounts of deadly radioactive poisons when impacted by such a disaster, and it is clear that atomic energy is incompatible with the real world.

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New Poll Shows Americans Are "Steve Benen"-Frustrated with Economic Mess... But Not Really Blaming Obama For It

By Steve Benen, Washington Monthly
Posted on June 29, 2011, Printed on June 30, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/626657/new_poll_shows_americans_are_frustrated_with_economic_mess..._but_not_really_blaming_obama_for_it

  At first blush, it appears the new McClatchy-Marist poll will not warm any hearts in the West Wing. While most Americans have a favorable opinion of President Obama, the public is deeply unsatisfied with the nation’s most important issue — a 58% majority disapproves of the president’s handling of the economy, and only 37% approve. It’s the worst rating of Obama’s presidency to date.

And yet, the same McClatchy-Marist poll shows the president leading all of his Republican challengers in hypothetical match-ups. Why? It may have something to do with the fact that as frustrated as Americans are, they’re not blaming Obama for the mess.

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"Kerry Trueman"- Do We Eat Better Than We Did 100 Years Ago?

By Kerry Trueman, AlterNet
Posted on June 24, 2011, Printed on June 30, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/151411/do_we_eat_better_than_we_did_100_years_ago

Poor Uncle Sam's got a lot on his plate these days: a curdled economy, an overcooked climate, a soured populace. It's enough to give a national icon a capital case of indigestion. Anti-government sentiment is running so high that half the country seems ready to swap his stars and stripes for tar and feathers.

Sure, Uncle Sam's always been kind of a drag, with his stern face and wagging finger. But to "nanny-state" haters, he's a Beltway busybody in drag, democracy's Mrs. Doubtfire, a Maryland Mary Poppins. If you believe that government is always the problem, never the solution, then you have no use for, say, more stringent food safety regulations, or Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" campaign to combat obesity.

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"Bill Berkowitz" - Falwell's Liberty University Raking in Big-Time Money From America's Taxpayers

By Bill Berkowitz, Talk To Action
Posted on June 29, 2011, Printed on June 30, 2011
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/6/9/143057/2379/Dominionism_in_the_military/Falwell_s_Liberty_University_Raking_in_Big_Time_Money_From_America_s_Taxpayers

One might think that a private, decidedly conservative, and totally evangelical Christian University, that was founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, who was openly critical of government programs, would spurn federal dollars.

Au contraire mon ami.

"I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!" - The Rev. Jerry Falwell, America Can Be Saved

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"AlterNet"-Nukes at Risk as Floods and Fires From Extreme Weather Make Us Vulnerable

By Tina Gerhardt, AlterNet
Posted on June 30, 2011, Printed on June 30, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/151470/nukes_at_risk_as_floods_and_fires_from_extreme_weather_make_us_vulnerable

Numerous nuclear power plants face precarious scenarios as a result of climate change-induced extreme weather. Flooding of the Missouri river is being monitored around the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant in Nebraska. And wildfires have reached the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which houses nuclear-contaminated waste, in New Mexico.

March's disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan has raised broader concerns about the safety of nuclear power plants in the U.S. Most nuclear power plants are located near water, which they draw on for cooling. But with the extreme weather this spring, the Mississippi, Missouri and Platte rivers in the Midwest have flooded, in some cases to their highest levels in over 100 years.

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Dog For Sale!

Whether you own a dog or not, you must appreciate the efforts of this owner to sell her dog.    Read the sales pitch below!   

Dog  For Sale   
Free to good home. Excellent guard dog. Owner cannot afford to feed him anymore, as there are no more drug pushers, thieves, murderers, or molesters left in the  neighborhood for him to eat. Most of them knew Jethro only by his Asian street name, Ho Lee Schitt. 

Poll: Obama leads all potential GOP 2012 nominees

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/06/28/116671/poll-obama-leads-all-potential.html

June 29, 2011 07:57:11 AM

WASHINGTON — Only 36 percent of registered voters say they'd definitely vote for President Barack Obama next year — but he still tops all Republican challengers in one-on-one matchups, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.

The survey also found that Republicans and Republican-leaning independents remain highly uncertain about who they want to face Obama. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads the field, but with only 19 percent.

The findings "speak to the vulnerability on the part of the president," but also doubts about the Republican field, said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which conducted the poll.

The survey was taken June 15-23, after seven Republicans held a nationally televised debate in New Hampshire on June 13. It also covered a period of low consumer confidence in the economy and gasoline prices near $4 a gallon.

The survey included 801 registered voters, with 308 Republicans or GOP-leaning independents. The error margin was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for registered voters and plus or minus 5.5 percentage points for questions asked only of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.

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"Brian Moench" - Obesity/Diabetes Epidemic: Rise of the Obesogens

Published on Wednesday, June 29, 2011 by CommonDreams.org

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/29-4

by Brian Moench

The global obesity/diabetes epidemic is receiving wide spread attention like the June 26, article in the Washington Post by David Brown.  One fourth of our national health care bill of $2.3 trillion is linked to the treatment of diabetes and its complications.  Average American life expectancy is now dropping because of this disease complex.  Even children are being recommended for gastric bypass.  

Fingers everywhere are pointing at the usual suspects: too much junk food and lack of exercise.  But there is much more to the story than a recent, contagious lack of discipline among the masses.  Standing next to us in the room, some very large corporate elephants are being ignored.

A growing body of evidence in animals and humans suggests that many man-made chemicals contaminating our environment mimic some of the body’s own hormones like testosterone and estrogen. Researchers have called these chemicals endocrine disruptors because they wreak havoc with endocrine organs like the thyroid, pancreas, testes and ovaries that depend on hormones to develop and function properly.  But a new, more relevant term for these chemicals has emerged.  They are now also called obesogens.

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