Read All About It in the Sunday Papers-March 15 Edition
LEAD STORY: EPA TO SHUT DOWN SHAM BUSH PROGRAM ON VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE -Philadelphia Inquirer
Proof that investigative journalism can still work. The Inky uncovered just what a sham (and environmental threat) the so-called ‘Performance Track’ program was:
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration intends to close an EPA program heavily promoted by the Bush administration that rewards voluntary pollution controls by hundreds of corporations with reduced environmental inspections and less stringent regulation, according to EPA sources and internal e-mails.
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson is expected to sign, as early as this week, a memo terminating the Performance Track program, senior EPA officials said yesterday.
Performance Track offers regulatory perks to corporations that pledge to save energy and reduce pollution. Entry into Performance Track, EPA’s premier voluntary “green club,” is supposed to be reserved for companies with sterling environmental records, but has been denounced by environmentalists as a public-relations charade.
EPA’s decision comes three months after an Inquirer investigation found that Performance Track lauded companies with suspect environmental records, spent millions on recruiting and publicity, and failed to confirm members’ environmental pledges independently. The program became so desperate for new members, The Inquirer found, that it turned to gift shops and post offices to pad its numbers.
A senior EPA official said in an interview yesterday that The Inquirer’s findings had played a role in Jackson’s decision.
The Inquirer’s investigation of Performance Track was made public in December in a four-part series on the Bush administration’s subversion of the EPA, the federal agency charged with safeguarding human health and the environment.
The Inquirer found that the Bush administration’s antiregulatory bent had driven down funding, regulation, and employee morale as senior political appointees censored the agency’s scientific findings in ways that consistently benefited corporations.
A tip of the Somnambulo Sombrero to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Read the entire article, and then go back and read the entire investigative series. It will, at first, make you sick. But then you’ll remember that elections really matter, and so does an effective free press.
AIG to Pay Out More Millions in Bonuses -Washington Post
Anywhere from $165 mill to $450 mill. Nationalize the bastards, tell ’em that if they can’t live without the bonuses, they’ll have to live w/o their jobs, and be done with it.
Drill, Baby, Drill No More -NYTimes
No, not the Obama policy, the free market at work to ensure higher prices at the pump.
Col. Sanders and KFC to End Cubs’ Futility? -Chi. Sun-Times
Can statue of the bearded one (no, the OTHER bearded one) end the curse of the billy-goat?
Conservative Radio Talk Drying Up in California -LATimes
As goes California, so goes Delaware?
Legislation Will Help Schools Teach Financial Literacy -McClatchy
Could this be the beginning of the end of the credit card industry as we know it?
Tags: Media
Anywhere from $165 mill to $450 mill. Nationalize the bastards, tell ‘em that if they can’t live without the bonuses, they’ll have to live w/o their jobs, and be done with it.
Amen.
But don’t hold your breath while Carper still works for them.
I’m so angry about the AIG bonuses! Those bonuses went to the Financial Products Division, the one that is bringing down the whole company.
Now, my company gives bonuses, and it is understood that a bonus is not a promise, and that one shouldn’t count on it. In fact, our bonuses consist of a company portion, a business portion and a personal portion. Set any one of those to 0% and there is no payout.
I don’t know how AIG structured these “bonuses,” but they can’t be a bonus if you’re required to give them. That seems more like salary.
‘Bulo is right. Let’s just nationalize them and break any contracts with failed leadership. If they think they can get paid more on the open market, let them leave. In fact, I would like it if any bailed out company gives executive bonuses then they should be nationalized as well. I’m sure they’d find an out clause then.
Thanks for the excellent summaries, Bulo, but you missed this one:
*US Warships Head for China Sea*
“A POTENTIAL conflict was looming in the South China Sea last night after President Barack Obama sent heavily armed destroyers to the scene of the naval standoff between the US and China at the weekend.”
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25182526-2703,00.html
Wait!
Sorry, it probably was ignored by most major news agencies (at least, in this country).
‘Bulo indeed miss that story. He had gone to the front page of the Australian (can anyone prove he didn’t?) and saw not a hint of that story. He WAS intrigued about the leaking of those nude photos of a Queensland MP to the ‘net, however…:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/
Still, Miscreant’s story appears to be newsworthy, and ‘Bulo would encourage people with links to other noteworthy stories to send them in. However, it MUST be from the Sunday papers.
The China dealio reminds me of a Bond flick. Jonathan Pryce as the media mogul starting a war.
Jason: re: AIG bailouts! This on top of the 2.2 trillion they gave to EZER Mortgage Co in Israel to loan to the extremist settlers building homes on stolen Palestinan land. When will this country wake up. Bernanke is an orthodox Jew, and refused to answer Bernie Sanders questions on “where the money went”. They are freaking robbing the US, and we still stand behind them 100%! Wake up and smell the robbery without a gun people.
Miscreant,
The U.S. media really blew that story, didn’t they? The only hint I could find was an article in this East Coast paper. I think you may have heard of it – it’s called the Washington Post? Nah, probably not.
Oh, and check the date.
Destroyer to Protect Ship Near China
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 13, 2009; Page A12
The U.S. Navy has dispatched a guided-missile destroyer to the South China Sea after Chinese ships allegedly harassed an American ship operating there last weekend, a Pentagon official said yesterday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/12/AR2009031203264.html?hpid=moreheadlines
The U.S. media really blew that story, didn’t they? The only hint I could find was an article in this East Coast paper. I think you may have heard of it – it’s called the Washington Post? Nah, probably not.”
It would appear that your reading comprehension may suffer a bit, as I wrote that “most major news agencies” (for instance… the New York Times, and the L.A. Times) ignored the story. And yes, I’m aware of the Washington Post, and that they reported the story. So did Fox News (which picked it up from The London Times). I occasionally read the WP when I need a far left point of view. For objectivity and accuracy, I go to papers like The Independent (UK), The Times of London, Pravda, The Scotsman, Australian News, etc. You should try it. I promise it won’t be too much of a shock to your system. You may even enjoy getting your talking points from other more credible, and objective, sources.
“Oh, and check the date.”
Your point is… ? In case it flew over your head, mine was that it was newsworthy, and under-reported in the U.S. Does the fact that it was a little late invalidate it? Perhaps in your small world.
HaHa, WaPo is “far left.”
My point was that it was not in the Sunday papers. Try Friday.
The NYT and the LAT aren’t news agencies, dipshit. They distribute their stories to other publications – as does the WP – but they’re not “agencies.”
FWIW, the only “agency” report I found on that incident was Xinhua.
Hey, does anyone know why the federal government has basically taken over AIG but then didn’t put them under the new program to help with refinancing home ownership. AIG owns a number of subsidiaries that own mortgages that are problematic but we won’t make them work things out even though we own them?
Poor anon has to resort to semantics and ad hominems in an attempt to secure an imaginary victory and back him/herself out of a corner. Now go read, and try to comprehend, the story.
There will be a test.
Anon resorts to facts. I comprehended the story two days ago when I first read it. Big whoop.
I pity the people who pontificate about the news media while knowing absolutely nothing about it.