Pinky and Brownie: Bush’s Forgotten Henchmen
Reading Time: 4 minutes More on Bush’s “Enforcer,” Joe Allbaugh, the man responsible for putting Michael Brown at the helm of FEMA prior to Hurricane Katrina
Court’s Bloody Joke Benefits Corporations While Others Suffer
Reading Time: 2 minutes When Mitt Romney declared that “corporations are people” at the Iowa State Fair four years ago, there were quite a few chuckles in the crowd. However, as a new court decision has shown, it is no laughing matter that federal courts are increasingly holding the same view.The latest win for Big Business came in a Read More
Confederacy of Scoundrels: Katrina Exposed, Part 2 of 5
Reading Time: 9 minutes This article was originally assigned, accepted, and paid for in full by Vanity Fair — which never got around to publishing it. It tells the story of the cronyism, corruption, ineptness, contempt for the public and utter shamelessness of the Bush family apparatus and its extensive network. With yet another Bush now contesting the White House, and with the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina upon us, we would do well to study this closely. It documents unequivocally how greed and unenlightened self-interest in high places can tear apart the very fabric of American society. Originally written within months of Hurricane Katrina, it will still make your blood boil.
This week we publish it in five parts. Here is Part 2.
Corruption and Contempt: The Hidden Story of Hurricane Katrina
Reading Time: 8 minutes This article was originally assigned, accepted, and paid for in full by Vanity Fair — which never got around to publishing it. It tells the story of the cronyism, corruption, ineptness, contempt for the public and utter shamelessness of the Bush family apparatus and its extensive network. With yet another Bush now contesting the White House, and with the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina upon us, we would do well to study this closely. It documents unequivocally how greed and self-interest in high places can tear apart the very fabric of American society. Originally written within months of Hurricane Katrina, it will still make your blood boil.
This week we publish it in five parts.
FIFA Soccer Corruption Probe Could Spell Trouble for Putin, Qatar
Reading Time: 5 minutes With both the US and Switzerland launching investigations of alleged corruption in the most powerful body in global sports, FIFA’s seemingly untouchable president may be toast. But both Russia and Qatar, sites of upcoming World Cups, are on the hot seat too.
Rolling Bombs: Crude-Oil Rail Tankers Threaten U.S. Populations, Environment
Reading Time: 4 minutes A spate of derailments of trains carrying crude oil has hit the U.S. and Canada, and a new report warns that the technology involved is outdated and dangerous – and little is being done to address it. Mary Papenfuss investigates.
The Real Reason Walmart U-Turned on Wages
Reading Time: 4 minutes Walmart’s recent decision to raise its workers’ wages got plenty of applause. But it looks like the deep-discount retailer gave itself a huge public-relations bargain, instead of making real changes that could help some of its employees get off welfare. Curt Hopkins investigates.
Will Mexico’s Oil Give the U.S. Another Excuse for Covert Intervention?
Reading Time: 5 minutes The drug war brought U.S. commandos into Mexico, but the opening of the country’s once publicly-owned energy resources to foreign investors may provide justification for the secretive American presence there to escalate—especially if the cartels are successfully painted as “narcoterrorists.”
Colluders in Crude: The Oily Politics of How the Obama Administration Sided with BP Over the American People
Reading Time: 12 minutes “I am a first-hand witness to the Obama administration’s complicity in putting the interests of a foreign company above and beyond the health and safety of American workers.” Environmental plaintiff attorney Stuart H. Smith, who represented thousands of clients against BP, reveals just how much the administration knew—and tried to cover up—after the largest marine oil spill in history.
Net Neutrality: Victory for the People or One Set of Companies Over Another?
Reading Time: 2 minutes The FCC defied cynics by preserving Net Neutrality, resisting pressure from big telecom providers to give them greater control over the Internet. But is all the cheering about people power masking a risky marriage of public interest advocates with other giant corporations—albeit newer and hipper ones?
Meet The Big Wallets Pushing Obama Towards A New Cold War
Reading Time: 6 minutes As President Obama mulls sending weaponry to the post-coup government in Ukraine, what’s driving America’s hard line against Russia? The bottom line. Christian Stork investigates.
In American Politics, the Fat Cats are Getting Fatter – and Fewer
Reading Time: 2 minutes The latest campaign cash tally demonstrates a disturbing trend—the 2014 vote drew the biggest haul in history. Yet the number of donors fell, meaning a smaller, richer group of people is giving the most. Curt Hopkins looks at the numbers.
How Turkey’s Dirty Energy Boom Left 432 Children Fatherless
Reading Time: 6 minutes Turkey’s rush to privatize state assets and mine its natural resources is turning a nation blessed with tremendous clean energy potential into a dirtier one. And it’s not just the environment that’s polluted. James Ryan investigates from Istanbul.
How New York Corruption Damages Democracy in America and the World
Reading Time: 3 minutes The arrest of New York Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver on bribery charges would be easy to dismiss as just another local corruption case. Bob Hennelly explains why it’s a much bigger risk to democracy than it appears.
MediaFail: The Sony Hack, North Korea and Tales Swallowed Whole
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s “Morning Again in America,” and the new year is dawning with some hopeful signs of skepticism from people with a platform. Russ Baker looks at the rising tide of voices that aren’t swallowing the official story about the Sony hack.
OPINION: Are Student Loans Bringing Back Indentured Labor?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Everyone knows that American college loan debts are becoming unmanageable for many students. But since a college degree is all but required for getting a well-paying job, the loans may be bringing back a work arrangement not seen since the early 1900s: indentured labor.
Government’s Final Onslaught Delays Barrett Brown’s Sentencing
Reading Time: 3 minutes When is a plea deal not really a deal? When you’re jailed journalist Barrett Brown, and prosecutors show up at what’s supposed to be a one-day sentencing with hundreds of pages of evidence against you, looking for the longest prison term possible.
CIA Funding: Never Constrained by its Congressional Budget
Reading Time: 10 minutes If you want to know how to run a slush fund, look no further than the CIA. Author Peter Dale Scott unearths the ways the agency has always been able to spend past its means.
Secretive Pro-Corporate Trade Deal Could Endanger Health, Labor, Environment
Reading Time: 5 minutes If it passes, the U.S-EU trade deal will be the biggest pact of its kind in the world. But the precise terms are a closely guarded secret. What are the corporate lobbyists who drafted it hiding from the billions of people it will affect?
In Iran Nuke Deal, France Wants to Have Its Yellowcake and Eat It Too
Reading Time: 4 minutes The headlines surrounding the Iranian nuclear talks are all about building the bomb. Yet the lucrative commercial interests of the countries pushing Iran for a deal are never discussed.