Shrinks endorse Greenwashing
1| American Psychological Association’s 148,000 members told to push “eco-sensitivity.”
The Details: “We know how to change behavior and attitudes. That is what we do, we know what messages will work and what will not,” said APA president Alan Kasdin, a Yale psychologist. The group wants Congress to fund APA-designed propaganda, oops, advertising to increase public support for more federal environmental regulation.
Wait! Did you get EPA approval?
2| Officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have big plans.
The Details: In an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule-Making, EPA said it is developing new regulations to control everything that emits greenhouse gases associated with global warming, right down to common weed whackers. Call it the “if it moves, regulate it” policy.
Accept a tyrant’s gold
3| Officials with a pro-illegal immigration group accept Chavez aid.
The Details: Immigration advocacy group CASA de Maryland accepted a $1.5 million donation from Citgo, the oil company controlled by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. Taking money from a guy like Chavez is never a good idea, but it’s especially bad when it involves a group that critics say helps undermine U.S. immigration laws.
Obama starts jawboning for union
4| Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee intervenes in an Oregon labor battle.
The Details: Barack Obama urges Beef Northwest executives to cave in to union demands that employees be allowed to organize. Company officials say employees who signed pro-union cards were coerced. This is a preview of things to come if Congress passes Employee Free Choice Act, aka “card-check.”
Playing with nuclear fire
5| Russian general warns Poland it could be incinerated.
The Details: In response to Poland and U.S. agreement to put anti-missile defense unit in the Eastern European country as a shield against Iran, Anatoly Nogovitsin, Russia’s Deputy Chief of Staff, rattled a nuke saber, warning Poland that it “may become an object of Russia’s reaction. Such targets are destroyed in the first instance.” Same old Bear.
Calling for class warfare
6| Washington Post columnist Peter Beinhart thinks it’s time to drop race-based Affirmative Action and replace it with class-based Affirmative Action.
The Details: “It’s multigenerational poor — whether urban and black or Appalachian and white — that truly need a boost today.” Uh, didn’t Huey Long propose this a long time ago?
Buying the equipment first
7| District scraps plans to build its own high-definition television studio.
The Details: After purchasing $3.6 million in high-definition equipment and spending $600,000 in design and consulting fees, the city decided not to move forward on the project. But installing the high-end gear at McKinley Tech will cost another $705,000.
Passing over Maryland
8| Less-qualified Mississippi gets federal biolab.
The Details: Maryland was one of several states with higher rankings than Flora, Miss., which was chosen as the site of a new $451 million biolab despite the fact that the location ranked 14th out of 17 sites considered on the Department of Homeland Security’s own evaluation system.
Paying kids for doing nothing
9| Summer jobs program teaches teens wrong lessons.
The Details: Mayor Adrian Fenty ordered his staff to pay more than 19,000 teenagers the maximum salary allowed under his 10-week-long summer jobs program whether they worked or not. Lesson? How to get paid for doing nothing while helping blow $14.5 million.
Campaign idea that doesn’t Raitt
Shaheen hosts radical singer for fundraiser.
10| Former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen welcomed Grammy Award-winning singer Bonnie Raitt earlier this week in her campaign for a U.S. Senate seat.
The Details: The last politician Raitt sang for was Fidel Castro, including her original composition of “Cuba Is Way Too Cool.”
