By Tami Luhby, senior writer15 April 2011 NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The Detroit Public Schools district is sending layoff notices to all its 5,714 teachers, saying it must determine its staffing needs amid a drop in enrollment. The district is also mailing non-renewal notices to 248 administrators. Detroit has lost one-quarter of its population over […]
By Tami Luhby, senior writer13 April 2011 NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — One in six Americans is receiving help from the government, just as fiscal austerity threatens to reduce some of that aid. Soaring unemployment during The Great Recession has driven tens of millions of people to the dole. Enrollment in Medicaid and food stamp programs […]
By Lewis Smith12 April 2011 Data released under freedom of information legislation has uncovered what anglers say are “alarming” and “morally indefensible” levels of sea lice infestations at Scottish salmon farms. Official inspections of Scotland’s salmon farms over a two year period recorded 68 cases where levels of sea lice – which can be fatal […]
By Laura Sanders6 April 2011 SAN FRANCISCO — When faced with a thorny moral dilemma, what people say they would do and what people actually do are two very different things, a new study finds. In a hypothetical scenario, most people said they would never subject another person to a painful electric shock, just to […]
By Jason Clenfield18 March 2011 The unfolding disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant follows decades of falsified safety reports, fatal accidents and underestimated earthquake risk in Japan’s atomic power industry. The destruction caused by last week’s 9.0 earthquake and tsunami comes less than four years after a 6.8 quake shut the world’s biggest atomic plant, […]
Poll: What’s the worst thing the Koch Brothers have done? Oil spills: Koch Industries, Inc. was fined $30 million in 2000 to resolve claims related to 300 oil spills across America. Anti-worker: The Kochs have spent more than $34 million to fund groups and individuals that work against workers rights, including WI Gov. Walker. Anti-healthcare: […]
By PETE YOST29 March 2011 Manslaughter and perjury are among possible charges that Justice Department investigators are exploring in the early stages of their probe into the Gulf oil spill, people familiar with the inquiry said Tuesday. These people said the Justice Department is not ruling out the possibility of bringing manslaughter charges against companies […]
[Background: The fossil fuel industries, notably the Koch brothers, are assaulting the U.S. political system with unprecedented quantities of money. The Republican party has been targeted for infiltration by the industry’s front organization, the Tea Party. Although the Tea Party comprises a small percentage of the G.O.P., the party’s leadership has been forced to pander […]
24 March 2011 (Survival International) – Tribespeople in Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of Borneo, say the 30-year rule of Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has ‘raped’ their land, destroyed their rainforests and brought ‘hardship and suffering’. This Saturday, March 26, will mark Taib Mahmud’s 30th anniversary as head of the rainforest state. Malaysia’s longest-serving Chief […]
By Jason Clenfield, Bloomberg22 Mar 2011 One of the reactors in the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant may have been relying on flawed steel to hold the radiation in its core, according to an engineer who helped build its containment vessel four decades ago. Mitsuhiko Tanaka says he helped conceal a manufacturing defect in the $250 […]
