Month: September 2021

Congressman claims Jan 6 rioters were “peaceful patriots”

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How is it even possible that a member of Congress could make such a flagrantly false statement, with nothing to back it up, despite so much evidence to the contrary, and have that statement accepted as factual by a solid chunk of the electorate?

There is no simple answer. Without a doubt, the power of talk radio — along with its digital and visual counterparts — is a huge contributor to the persistent dissemination of lies and half-truths. For the life of me, I don’t understand why congressional Democrats don’t prioritize two reforms that would address this problem:

— Restore the Fairness Doctrine (thank President Reagan for eliminating that) to require balance on any station allowed to access the public airwaves.

— Break up media monopolies, which were enabled in part by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (thank President Clinton for signing that into law). Continue Reading →

Summit is lying about its CO2 pipeline

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Summit’s refusal to provide assurance verbally or in writing that the CO2 will not be used for fracking is a clear indicator of its plans. Statements such as: “As we stand here today,” “We can’t make the promise long term,” and “Commercial options might be available that are different than storing it underground,” are all rock-solid indicators that CO2 from Iowa ethanol plants will be used for fracking — or what the industry calls “enhanced oil recovery.” Continue Reading →

CO2 pipeline rupture hospitalized 49 people

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Zegart’s article in HuffPost describes how, “two dozen individuals were overcome within a few minutes, collapsing in their homes; at a fishing camp on the nearby Yazoo River; in their vehicles. Cars just shut off, since they need oxygen to burn fuel. Drivers scrambled out of their paralyzed vehicles, but were so disoriented that they just wandered around in the dark.”

Describing one of many rescue efforts, Zegart writes, “Inside the small red Cadillac sedan were three men: DeEmmeris and Andrew Burns, and Victor Lewis. DeEmmeris Burns lay across the backseat in the fetal position. The other two were slumped against the windows, white foam coming out of their noses and mouths, their clothes stained with urine and excrement. The firemen thought they were too late. Continue Reading →

The biggest climate criminal is not who you might think

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More than any force in the world, the US mainstream media could provide the spark that gets us to turn the corner on climate. If the media covered climate like they’ve covered COVID, the public would be on board for deep personal and political action in short order. …

In 2016, partly in response to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump ignoring climate change during the presidential campaign, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes devoted a solid week to the climate emergency. Great start. Then Hays and MSNBC dropped their focus as quick as you’d drop a smoldering family portrait charred in a western wildfire. Why? According to Hayes, the problem was that “every single time we’ve covered [climate change] it’s been a palpable ratings killer.” Continue Reading →

Andrea Phillips

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There are lots of compelling reasons to support Andrea Phillips. Here’s one: She actually responds to phone calls and email messages! Yeah, I know, that shouldn’t be a rare quality in an elected official. But such are the times in which we live.

Andrea has a proven track record as a Democratic leader in Iowa. When you contact her, you don’t get a perfunctory “thank you for the benefit of your views” response (that line’s straight from multiple Senator Grassley letters, by the way). Andrea responds personally and follows through when action is needed. Continue Reading →