Ecojustice research offers troubling glimpse of harm oilsands pollution causes

What’s really going on in the oilsands region?

That’s the question Ecojustice hoped to help answer when we undertook our latest research. What we uncovered was unsettling, to say the least. Our research showed that toxic emissions from oilsands facilities in Northern Alberta are polluting the nearby Athabasca River, contaminating a waterway that’s home to more than half of the province’s fish species.

The Athabasca River is Alberta’s longest and only major free-flowing river, and it holds ecological, cultural and commercial significance for the people that live along its shores. It is also a vital life source for many wildlife species.

Embodying the transformation of Idle No More: In conversation with Leanne Simpson

In December 2012, the Indigenous protests known as Idle No More exploded onto the Canadian political scene, with huge round dances taking place in shopping malls, busy intersections, and public spaces across North America, as well as solidarity actions as far away as New Zealand and Gaza. Though sparked by a series of legislative attacks on indigenous sovereignty and environmental protections by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, the movement quickly became about much more: Canada's ongoing colonial policies, a transformative vision of decolonization, and the possibilities for a genuine alliance between natives and non-natives, one capable of re-imagining nationhood.

Where is Tom Flanagan's good friend Stephen?

Well, I haven't heard a thing from the PMO since last Thursday. It has left me wondering, where is Stephen?  I see his name a lot, linked to his old buddy Tom, but he has all but vanished from public view. Could it be that he is avoiding the inevitable question?

The last I heard was a statement form his press secretary.  Usually, I get a daily briefing email or two, mostly to let photojournalists know where they can take Stephen's picture, and sometimes, but not often, because he has something to say.

What Saved the Dow? Sensible Economic Policies

As of the closing bell on Tuesday, the Dow was trading at 14,254—well above the previous all-time peak of 14,198, which the market reached on October 11, 2007. With investors increasingly optimistic about the economy, nearly four hundred issues on the New York Stock Exchange hit new highs. Sticklers will point out that, after accounting for inflation, stock prices are still more than ten per cent below their previous peak, but that’s quibbling. Any way you look at it, during the past four years the market has made a remarkable recovery from the post-Lehman crash.

One way to gauge this turnaround is to take a quick historical quiz. How long do you think it took the market to regain its high after the stock-market crash of 1929? Five years? Ten years? Fifteen years? Twenty years? Keep going. On September 3, 1929, the Dow closed at 381.17, a level it didn’t see again until November 23, 1954. That’s twenty-five years, two months, and twenty days—more than a quarter of a century. The stock market’s recuperation from the Great Depression took almost five times as long as its recovery from the Great Recession.

Obama’s Transparency Test

In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama vowed that when it came to counterterrorism in his second term, he would be “even more transparent to the American people and to the world.” That commitment is about to be tested. With Obama’s pick for C.I.A. Director, John Brennan, now all but assured of confirmation, his Administration needs to decide whether to push for the public release of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s still-classified blockbuster report on C.I.A. wrongdoing during the Bush years. It’s hard to see how the Obama Administration can square its talk of transparency with any further cover-up of this ostensibly mammoth, comprehensive, and devastating report on the brutal interrogation and detention practices during those years.

Upgrade or Die

Every day, in every way, things are getting better and better. The iPhone 6 will dispense with the annoying home button and feature a 4.8-inch screen and quad-core processor. Google is developing Google Glass, which will allow users to text, take pictures and videos, perform Google searches, and execute other essential functions of contemporary life simply by issuing conversation-level spoken commands to a smart lens attached to a lightweight frame worn above the eyes.

Yelp has a hundred million unique monthly visitors, up from seventy million at this time last year. The Dow Jones average just reached an all-time high, having passed 14,000 last week, while, according to the Times, corporate profits are enjoying “a golden age”; as a share of national income, they are at their highest point since 1950.

Southern Poverty Law Center Report Finds 'Patriot' Groups Surge As Anti-Obama Fervor Grows

The number of anti-government “patriot” groups, including paramilitary hate organizations, reached an all-time high in 2012, fanned by President Barack Obama's reelection and talk of gun control following the Newtown, Conn., elementary school massacre, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

NYC Homeless Population Rises To 50,000 People Sleeping In Shelters Each Night In January

A new report reveals the number of people living in homeless shelters has surpassed 50,000 people a night-- a record high for the city and a 19 percent jump from last year.

And although the rise is a reflection of a broader national trend, the Coalition for the Homeless believes the problems facing New York City are much more alarming.

In fact, the startling numbers show a sharp increase in child homelessness with more than 21,000 children forced to seek shelter each night in January.

It’s Time to Tax Financial Transactions

On Friday at midnight, the sequester kicked in, triggering $85 billion in deep, dumb budget cuts that sent “nonessential personnel”— such as air traffic controllers — packing.

Not to worry, though: Wall Street’s day was pretty much like any other. Billions of dollars in profits were made off of trillions of dollars in financial transactions. And the vast majority of those transactions were conducted tax-free.

Moral of the story: What else is new?

Obama Administration Says President Can Use Lethal Force Against Americans on US Soil

Yes, the president does have the authority to use military force against American citizens on US soil—but only in "an extraordinary circumstance," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday.

"The US Attorney General's refusal to rule out the possibility of drone strikes on American citizens and on American soil is more than frightening," Paul said Tuesday. "It is an affront the constitutional due process rights of all Americans."