Articles
Stop Gas Drilling -- Sue Your Neighbor
by Andrew Reinbach
Basic real estate law could stop gas drilling in the Northeast.
Here's the idea. When you bought your house you didn't buy just dirt and bricks; you bought what your lawyer calls a bundle of rights. That includes what he or she calls the right of quiet enjoyment.
Quiet enjoyment means more than the right to sit on your porch and watch the sunset; it includes the right to enjoy the value of your property. If your neighbor does something to hurt this right, he has to pay you the before-and-after difference -- to make you whole, as they say.
It's called nuisance law, and means everybody has the right to do what they want with their property -- as long and they don't hurt anybody else. If they do, they have to pay.Read more: Stop Gas Drilling -- Sue Your Neighbor
Enron Democrats
by William Greider
If left-labor-liberal progressives had the cohesion and muscle of their right-wing opposites, they would be articulating a simple-to-understand litmus test for the Democratic Party--no "Enron Democrats" on the presidential ticket in 2004. That precondition would eliminate a number of presidential wannabes now mentioned by the Washington media's Great Mentioner. Scratch Senator Joe Lieberman. Forget the happy talk about Senate majority leader Tom Daschle's running for the White House. And Senator Joe Biden can stop daydreaming. These men--and perhaps some other would-be candidates--do not pass the Enron smell test.
It is not that Enron Democrats got a lot of money themselves from the now-ruined energy company, but they are implicated in more significant ways. On various matters, they helped set the stage for the scandalous behavior of Enron and other highfliers now in disgrace. They defended the degraded accounting standards that hoodwinked investors. Or they promoted financial gimmicks and deregulatory measures that opened the way for grand malpractice. Or they formed thick alliances with the very banks, auditing firms and corporations that are now running for cover--sued, investigated or defrocked as New Economy marvels.Republican Party Spends Over $2 Million Fighting Tea Party Challenges To GOP Establishment
Despite a promise by RNC Chairman Michael Steele earlier this year that the “Republican Party will not to meddle in local races — especially GOP primaries featuring candidates backed by Tea Party activists,” the GOP appears to be focused on centrally planning their candidates. According to a report by ThinkProgress using Federal Elections Committee data, Republican political action committees controlled by current GOP members of Congress have spent at least $2,162,790 on establishment-picked candidates in primaries against tea party candidates:
– Establishment Republican PACs contributed $215,000 to establishment-backed Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) in his Senate primary against tea party candidates Tim Bridgewater and Mike Lee. Bennett ultimately lost his seat to his tea party challengers, and Lee triumphed over Bridgewater in the run-off in June.
– Establishment Republican PACs contributed $72,500 to establishment-backed former Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) in his Senate primary over tea party candidate state Sen. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN). Coats defeated Stutzman.
– Establishment Republican PACs contributed $124,000 to establishment-backed former Bush Interior Department Secretary Jane Norton (R-CO) in her Senate primary against tea party candidate Ken Buck. Buck is currently leading Norton in the polls.
Are You on the Bus?
By Tim Carpenter, Executive Director, Progressive Democrats of America
Progressive Democrats of America has joined the One Nation Working Together call for the 10.2.10 March on Washington for Peace, Jobs and Justice. This historic event will ensure that the voices and concerns of working people will be heard on the streets of our nation's capital.
The fight for healthcare for all is intimately linked to the fight for a fair and just economy. On October 2, we will join with those who march to preserve and expand Social Security, Medicare, and benefits for the unemployed because we know that we cannot achieve healthcare justice when the social safety net is under attack.
On October 2, we will tell the world that One Nation Needs One Healthcare Plan: Medicare for All!
Here are some things you can do to make 10.2.10 a success:
- Find a bus near you and get on it with your coworkers, neighbors and family.
- If you can't make it to Washington, participate in a local event or plan one of your own.
- On October 1, walk the halls of Congress for jobs, justice, peace, and healthcare for all. Learn more here.
- Attend a reception on the Hill with PDA Advisory Board members Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Raul Grijalva, and Bill Fletcher Jr on Friday, October 1, 4:00 – 5:00 PM, at the Capitol Visitor Center. Get details and RSVP here.
- March with our single-payer allies, including National Nurses United/California Nurses Association, Healthcare-NOW!, and Physicians for a National Health Program. Meet at 10:30 AM at West Potomac Park between Ohio Dr. and Independence Ave.
- March with US Labor Against the War and our other allies in the peace contingent. Meet at 10:30 AM at 14th & Constitution Ave. NW.
If you can’t meet us at 10:30 AM at either of our two starting points, look for the PDA table—and stay tuned for details!
Let's do everything we can to make 10.2.10 a success!
The Twenty First Century’s Direst Crisis
Facebook makes the world a very intimate place. This morning I had the rare opportunity to meet a poet and headmaster from India who provided his own worldview of the 21st century. I would like to introduce our readers to Subrata Ray.
My friends, all high and low ,
I society’s countless scales,
From your well, you ring your bell,
You are justified as you are taught,
Your culture, education, heritage,
Your existence’s fight, as you have fought,
Give you the voice,-yours habit’s horn
Your suffering’s bitterest scorns!
I am dismayed, frustrated, as I am undone,
The tinged magnet of feeling, I think is gone,
Oceans of pains flood with pathos, visit me,
For the tie is broken by the kings and the priests,
The tyrant masks with godly-sermons –deeds.
Civilization’s history whispers in to my ear,
I hear the return of the cruelest barbarity.
The green farming of our ancient fathers,
With honest toil in Nature’s bounty,
Carefree, sound sleep on a faithful pillow,
Each day’s feast by guided conscience,
With what the Creator’s pleasure provide,
Now is chaos, stirred by perverted science,
Thunders like atomic arms, arrowed missiles.
Two worst wars, outdid Miltonic –hell,
Thousands intellects, cheating democracy,
Corporate the Fate of, constitutional –net,
In madding rat-race Greed’s innovation set.
Faithless –sleepless,
Cunning –burning,
Profit –morbid,
Cheat-heat,
The utter psychic disorder,
Nearing to lunatic –boarder.
Poem by Subrata Ray