accuracy.org

News Items

  • Election Reforms: Falling short

    WASHINGTON — Proponents of progressive election reform gave cautious approval to the recent report issued by a commission assigned to investigate the improvement of federal elections. Many critics, however, point to several obstacles that remain in the way of free and fair elections throughout the United States. The report, issued by the National Commission on Federal Election Reform headed by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, was presented to President Bush. Among its recommendations are provisions regarding increases in equipment standards and stepped-up federal funding for the administration of elections.

    Read more »

  • Son of Star Wars: Another arms race?

    WASHINGTON — Reports emerging from the Pentagon about plans to test a “Space Bomber” are drawing accusations that the U.S. government is attempting to engage in another arms race. The bomber, a spacecraft reportedly capable of destroying targets on the other side of the globe within 30 minutes, is a key component of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s plan to modernize U.S. weaponry. The satellite is currently under production by NASA and Lockheed Martin, a leading military contractor. Pentagon claims that the bomber can cause greater and deeper ground damage from a virtually unassailable height have many critics questioning it as…

    Read more »

  • ExxonMobil: Facing a boycott

    ExxonMobil, one of the biggest corporations on the planet, is now facing a boycott spearheaded by activist groups protesting the company’s policies at home and abroad. The boycott was launched by PressurePoint, a grassroots organization looking to “take real action on climate change and corporate influence,” according to Chris Doran, campaigns director for the group. “The U.S. government’s climate change policy is the ExxonMobil policy,” Doran says. “What sort of democracy do we have when one company can buy off our political process for its own gains?” ExxonMobil is a charter member of the Global Climate Coalition, an influential industry…

    Read more »

  • Beyond the Ford-Firestone Uproar: Critics blast lack of regulation, accountability in SUV safety

    WASHINGTON – Recent congressional hearings probed the accountability of Ford and Firestone in many incidents where car or tire malfunctioned, causing injury or death. The hearings also questioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal government’s chief regulator of automobile safety, and its role in providing the public with adequate information. While the blame-placing among corporate executives and congressional subcommittees occurred on Capitol Hill, several analysts decried the lack of accountability being demanded of the corporations involved. Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, pointed to a lack of regulation of sport utility vehicles and rollover standards.

    Read more »

  • NEWS BRIEFING WITH LAWRENCE SUMMERS, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY RAYMOND OFFENHEISER, PRESIDENT, OXFAM

    Questions from IPA appear below in bold HEADLINE: NEWS BRIEFING WITH LAWRENCE SUMMERS, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY RAYMOND OFFENHEISER, PRESIDENT, OXFAM DEBT RELIEF TO POOR COUNTRIES AND OXFAM EDUCATION NOW AWARD INTRODUCTION: MARTA ARIAS LOCATION: NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, WASHINGTON D.C. BODY:

    Read more »

  • Ten Real Reasons To Impeach Clinton

    We all seem to have lost our sense of proportion. Why are the political leaders of the United States and the major media talking of impeaching Bill Clinton for lies about sex, surely not the most important sins of his administration? If Clinton is to be impeached, why do it for frivolous reasons? I can think of at least ten reasons to impeach him, for acts far more serious than his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky or his lies to Kenneth Starr. I am speaking of matters of life and death for large numbers of people. 1. Clinton approved, very early…

    Read more »

  • Autopsy Of A Disaster: The U.S. Sanctions Policy On Iraq

    For a shorter version of this timeline, click here. Myth: The Sanctions Will be Lifted When Iraq Complies with the U.N. Inspections April 3, 1991: U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 687 which states that upon “the completion by Iraq of all actions contemplated in” specific paragraphs of the resolution, “the prohibitions against financial transactions … shall have no further force or effect.” The paragraphs cited have to do with weapons inspections. Other paragraphs in the resolution have to do with “return of all Kuwaiti property seized by Iraq” and Iraqi liability for losses and damage resulting from Iraq’s occupation of…

    Read more »

  • Upholding the Myths of Colorblindness and the “Model Minority” 

    Regarding the Supreme Court’s recent decision against affirmative action in university/college admission policies, Kevin Kumashiro says, “Today’s SCOTUS decision is not surprising, but nonetheless a travesty… this decision perpetuates the myth of colorblindness that race no longer matters and that democracy is somehow advanced when we refuse to attend to long-standing and pervasive issues of…

  • Extreme Marine Heatwave

    June sea surface temperatures near Ireland and the U.K. are the highest seen in nearly two centuries.

  • New Findings on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

    A new meta-analysis of the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy found that CBT did not outperform other psychotherapies in the treatment of depression. 

  • What is “Wellness Capitalism”?

    In a new primer, researchers describe ‘wellness capitalism”––a model of public health involving the state, employers, and a wellness industry in which worker behaviors are monitored to improve society’s health.

  • Private Equity Firms Pocketing Money for Autism Services

    Between 2017 and 2022, PE completed 85 percent of all buyouts of autism service providers––the highest rate of buyouts in any industry. 

  • Research on Coping with Long Covid

    A new paper by the Patient-Led Research Collaborative looks in depth at a variety of factors associated with psychiatric outcomes in patients with Long Covid. 

  • Huge Hospital Firm Reaping Profits From Dubious Transfers to Hospice

    The largest hospital corporation in the country, HCA Healthcare, may be inappropriately transferring patients to hospice care to boost profits and executive compensation. 

  • Whitewashing the Azov Battalion: “Our Neo-Nazis”

    Lev Golinkin, author of “A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka, a Memoir of Soviet Ukraine”, recently wrote, “Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has already resulted in millions of losers… but there are also winners: the neofascists whom Putin’s war has turned into heroes.”

  • Model for Local Governments to Cancel Medical Debt

    The mayor of Washington, D.C. announced a $900,000 grant to buy and cancel medical debt for thousands of residents. Because one penny can be spent for every $1 of debt, the city could use that money to cancel $90 million in medical debt.

  • “Asians Want to Do Business; the U.S. Government is ‘War, War, War’”

    James Bradley, expert on U.S. policy in the Pacific and Asia and author of multiple bestsellers regarding the subject, says,”Today, Asians want to do business…using a number of means, the U.S. government can coerce different governments to build more bases — the Philippines, Japan and so on. But there’s no public desire for this…they will…

Mastodon