In a giant auction, the federal government has agreed to sell for pennies on the dollar most of the 120,000 formaldehyde-tainted trailers it bought nearly five years ago for Hurricane Katrina victims. But the sale of the units, perhaps the most visible symbol of the government's bungled response to the hurricane, has triggered a new round of charges that it is endangering future buyers for years to come.
Consumer advocates and environmentalists are outraged that the government resold products it deemed unsafe to live in, saying warning stickers attached to the units will not keep people from misusing them.
FEMA sells off Hurricane Katrina trailers tainted with formaldehyde
Federal Vaccine Court Rules Against Autism Families
Government's Refusal to Fund Sound Science Stacks Deck Against Vaccine-Injured Children and Casts Doubt on the Integrity of the National Immunization Program says SafeMinds.
WASHINGTON, March 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Autism and mercury advocacy organization SafeMinds regrets today's ruling by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against three families who argued that vaccines which contained the mercury-based preservative thimerosal contributed to their child's autism. The denial of reasonable compensation to families was based on inadequate vaccine safety science and poorly designed and highly controversial epidemiology studies supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pope Benedict's former diocese rehoused abuser priest
Pope Benedict once unwittingly approved housing for a priest accused of child sex abuse, his former diocese has said. The episode dates back to 1980 when he was archbishop of Germany's Munich and Freising diocese and known as Joseph Ratzinger.
However, a former deputy said he - not the future pope - made the decision to rehouse the priest, who later abused other children and was convicted. Roman Catholic clergy have recently been linked to paedophilia scandals.
TVNL Comment: 'Unwitiingly' is an unacceptable defense. Try it in court, some time.
Former NYT Editor: Why don't honest journalists take on Roger Ailes and Fox News?
Why haven't America's old-school news organizations blown the whistle on Roger Ailes, chief of Fox News, for using the network to conduct a propaganda campaign against the Obama administration -- a campaign without precedent in our modern political history?
Through clever use of the Fox News Channel and its cadre of raucous commentators, Ailes has overturned standards of fairness and objectivity that have guided American print and broadcast journalists since World War II. Yet, many members of my profession seem to stand by in silence as Ailes tears up the rulebook that served this country well as we covered the major stories of the past three generations, from the civil rights revolution to Watergate to the Wall Street scandals.
This is not a liberal-versus-conservative issue. It is a matter of Fox turning reality on its head with, among other tactics, its endless repetition of its uber-lie: "The American people do not want health-care reform."
Ventura: ‘You’re not allowed to ask’ about 9/11
Former Minnesota governor and one-time professional wrestler Jesse Ventura has run afoul of the Huffington Post's no-conspiracy-theory policy, and he's not happy about it.
"I can't believe the Huffington Post today will practice censorship," Ventura says in astonishment. "I've got news for them. ... I won't ever write for 'em again."
Ventura had posted an item on Tuesday which took note of a recent conference at which "more than one thousand architects and engineers signed a petition demanding that Congress begin a new investigation into the destruction of the World Trade Center skyscrapers on 9/11." He also quoted a few paragraphs from his new book, American Conspiracies, to explain why some of those experts see signs of controlled demolition.
Texas Approves Curriculum Revised by Conservatives

The vote was 11 to 4, with 10 Republicans and one Democrat voting for the curriculum, and four Democrats voting against. The board, whose members are elected, has influence beyond Texas because the state is one of the largest purchasers of textbooks. In the digital age, however, that influence has been diminished as technological advances have made it possible for publishers to tailor books to individual states.
More....
TIBI: Israeli extremism exposed
With little surprise, I learned of the recent refusal of Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon to meet with members of the U.S. Congress, whose institution provides Israel with the economic wherewithal to occupy the West Bank. Through astonishing ineptness, rather than principled policy, Israel is risking the anger of its bankroller.."
Rather than meet with them, Mr. Ayalon lashed out at J Street, the new lobby group that had scheduled the meeting. Mr. Ayalon would never reject a meeting arranged by the American Israel Education Foundation, an offshoot of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, because the organization has not been critical of Israel's subjugation of Palestinians in the West Bank.
Pope defends celibacy rule amid sex abuse scandals
Europe's Catholic paedophile scandal now affects institutions in Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany.
Cardinal Schoenborn later clarified his comments saying it would be wrong to say that celibacy was a prime cause of sexual abuse.
"If celibacy is the problem, then without celibacy there should be no sexual abuse but unfortunately this is not the case. We know about cases inside the family," he said.
Karl Rove defends waterboarding
A senior advisor to the former American president, George Bush, has defended harsh interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, saying he was proud of the intelligence the US gained by using them.
Karl Rove said the use of waterboarding had helped prevent further attacks against America and its allies after the September the 11th attacks in 2001. He said the technique - a form of simulated drowning - had been used only to break the will of three high-value terrorist suspects.
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- Nobel Prize-Winning Scientists and Economists Call on Senate to Address Climate Change Now
- Sean Penn: Journalists who call Hugo Chávez a dictator should be jailed
- Archbishop links priestly celibacy and Catholic sex abuse scandals
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