Produced by:
KBOO
Air date:
Tue, 11/27/2007 - 4:00pm
11/28/07 Get This
Chris Andreae
- FERCed Again: Some bright light armed with a shovel and a gas mask discovered methane in the wooded hills south of Coos Bay (But not far enough south….Would that the hills were in California…) and now yet another environmental catastrophe looms. Meanwhile back in Salem, the State’s politicos – Democrats as well as Republicans - wring their hands over the plight of the salmon because that’s an easy one, popular with the brain-dead public and will all come to an end when the whole state is laced with pipelines.
- Two small Oregon community newspapers are now part of the Murdoch Empire. But not for long – The Medford Mail Tribune and the Ashland Daily Tidings immediately go on the block. Probably because they don’t sell enough advertising.
- And speaking of the selling of America, lobbyists have got their knickers in a bunch over laws restricting political giving. The fact that elected officials are so corrupt that we need to pass ethics laws in order to protect the public from them, is rather disturbing. Or at least it ought to be. Anybody out there disturbed by the wholesale whole sale of political influence by the private sector?
- Oregon was once the shining City on the Hill – or perhaps the shining Hospital on the Hill when it came to universal healthcare. What a difference two terms make in the life of a nation whose president who would rather that the poor just die off…And here we are: Taxpayers money is going to be spent on yet another ‘task force’ paid well to worry about the problem. (And I’d put money on the notion that the task force members all have generous health benefits…)
- The FCC has given Oregon more than $20 million dollars to set up a statewide network electronically linking more than 300 healthcare facilities. Now that’s scary – unless you happen to have zero records because you are either a. Dead. Or b. Too poor for medical care. But I digress: What is deeply troubling is that a. The money comes from the FCC but doubtless originated with some national security entity, which is where your medical information will end up. And, b. Any incorrect information – whether fabrications or genuine mistakes – is going to be there forever and liberally sprinkled throughout all records of your identity. (Not to mention the fact that the money would do far more good if it were routed straight into a fund for providing healthcare to the poor).
- Businessmen in Lake Oswego want to build a casino at the old dog track in Gresham. (Yes…You can take the trailer park out of the Good Ol Boy but you can’t take the ….). Me? I think it’s a great idea: When eager beavers lose their money they can walk out the door and find themselves right at home…
- The University of Oregon has settled a lawsuit filed by a professor who claims she was forced out of her job for calling attention to financial “irregularities” in a graduate program. (As the flow of private money into public education increases to a torrent, you can expect to see the future of whistle blowing drowning in the floodwaters…
- Oral Pleasure: Some Christian “educational” supply magnate is going bail out Oral Roberts University to the tune of $70 million dollars. (It’s a financial scandal this time; Makes a nice change from the usual sordid tail of Christians and little boys…)
- Bush’s top economic advisor Allan Hubbard is deserting the sinking Ship of State. That’s three this week – and it’s only Wednesday…
- ‘Roiding High With Blackwater: A lawsuit against Blackwater Worldwide (Formerly USA) accuses its bodyguards of ignoring a direct order and abandoning their post shortly before gunning down 17 Iraqi civilians. Oh, and did we mention that the Blackwater mercs were using steroids?
- Activists – pro and con – gathered in Annapolis Maryland to participate in Bush’s historic non-event.
- A paid government informant – CW-1 to his friends in High Places - infiltrated the Fort Dix Six and encouraged them to go “extremist” on soldiers stationed at the Fort.
- Iraqi refugees in Syria got on the bus back to Baghdad. (You know your life is fucked when Syria turns out to be a less hospitable place than Iraq…)
- US forces in Iraq killed nine Iraqi civilians. (Good thing, we are going to establish a permanent presence in that nation in order to help maintain security…)
- From Potholes to Pot Shots: In Afghanistan US troops killed 14 road construction workers in air strikes. (This explains why the roads in Afghanistan are notoriously awful.)
- Japan’s upper house of Parliament has voted to halt the air force’s support mission in Iraq.
- A former Iranian nuclear negotiator has been cleared of spying for the West. Ahmadinjad-0, The ‘West’-10. But who’s counting…. Notice how the global media juggernaut has conflated any leader of any nation that dares oppose American might with Satanic aspirations? It’s all there…on the net, in the paper…it’s on the wall…
- Russia’s gas export monopoly, Gazprom (Like Senior prom only not as expensive.) is going to pay Turkmenistan up to 50 percent more for its gas. And the world is inching toward that ‘Dear John’ to the dollar…
- The Dalai Lama is challenging China’s law against reincarnation. He’s going to appoint his own tulku (That’s his successor to those not fluent in Tibetan) instead of sending out the usual search party.
- All hell is breaking loose in Mogadishu.
- Chad is accusing Sudan of arming rebels. And probably with good reason.
- Indonesia is going to plant 79 million trees in atonement for despoiling its formerly rich abundant biodiverse forests. And for an encore, Indonesia can begin at the microorganism level and rebuild the soil, the invertebrate life, the reptiles, birds and animals that perished for lack of habitat.
- Rioting in France continues – but that’s what French voters knew they were getting when they elected Sarkozy.
- An Israeli intelligence organization is sending agents to Germany in an effort to persuade tens of thousands of Jews from the former Soviet Union to settle in Israel. (But really, why waste the effort when Israel ought to concentrate on invading Germany. It’s the nation that persecuted the Jewish people. The wretched bloody Palestinians had nothing to do with the holocaust. Why not occupy Germany?
- Pervez Musharraf “stepped down” - but not very far down. Just until his boot touched the mailclad hand of America.