pbmus
pbmus's Journal
I am not a scientist, BUT
Deeper Ties to Corporate Cash for Doubtful Climate Researcher
For years, politicians wanting to block legislation on climate change have bolstered their arguments by pointing to the work of a handful of scientists who claim that greenhouse gases pose little risk to humanity.
One of the names they invoke most often is Wei-Hock Soon, known as Willie, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who claims that variations in the sun’s energy can largely explain recent global warming. He has often appeared on conservative news programs, testified before Congress and in state capitals, and starred at conferences of people who deny the risks of global warming.
But newly released documents show the extent to which Dr. Soon’s work has been tied to funding he received from corporate interests.
He has accepted more than $1.2 million in money from the fossil-fuel industry over the last decade while failing to disclose that conflict of interest in most of his scientific papers. At least 11 papers he has published since 2008 omitted such a disclosure, and in at least eight of those cases, he appears to have violated ethical guidelines of the journals that published his work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/us/ties-to-corporate-cash-for-climate-change-researcher-Wei-Hock-Soon.html?_r=0
At the End of the Day ...
If We Put an End to Corporate Welfare, College Tuition Could Be FreeSince 2008, 48 states have cut funding from public colleges--some by as much as 40%. State lawmakers couch their decisions as the unavoidable consequence of the Great Recession and budget deficits. What they fail to mention is that while they’re gutting higher education, they’re giving corporations tens of billions in tax breaks and incentives.
State, local, and county governments provide corporations with $80 billion in tax breaks annually, or $9 million/hour, according to an investigation by the New York Times. To put that number into perspective, total tuition at public colleges in 2012 was just under $60 billion, according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.
Tuition at four-year public colleges--which educate about 76 percent of American undergrads--has been rising for the past 25 years. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), tuition has increased 28 percent since 2007. There are several factors why college tuition is soaring, but the main culprit is declining support from states, which translates into higher out-of-pocket costs for students.
http://www.attn.com/stories/952/corporate-tax-breaks-vs-higher-education-funding?
Holder starts 90-day clock on potential prosecution of bankers
Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department will determine within the next 90 days whether to charge individual Wall Street executives with crimes related to the 2008 financial crisis.
Holder said he’s asked the prosecutors who have been investigating the major banks and their executives to make recommendations whether to bring charges or close the probes.
“I’ve asked the U.S. attorneys … over the next 90 days to look at their cases and to try to develop cases against individuals and to report back in at 90 days with regard to whether or not they think they’re going to be able to successfully bring criminal and or civil cases against those individuals,” Holder said in a speech at the National Press Club Tuesday.
The announcement comes as the attorney general prepares to leave his post after more than six years on the job. President Barack Obama has appointed Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney for Brooklyn, to succeed him.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/02/17/16786/holder-starts-90-day-clock-potential-prosecution-bankers
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