NUCLEAR INDUSTRY - Nuclear Ore Extraction

"Residents in the Southwest struggle with the health effects of nuclear ore extraction" PBS NewsHour 8/8/2022

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Residents of the Southwest including many Indigenous people have for years been exposed to high levels of radiation from uranium extraction and refining, a toxic legacy from the Cold War's weapons program and nuclear power generation.  Stephanie Sy reports in partnership with investigative news outlet ProPublica on a community’s fight for survival and to hold a company and government accountable.

THE MET - Donor Accountability

"How the Met is handling dilemma of donor accountability" PBS NewsHour 5/16/2019

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SUMMARY:  Pressure is increasingly being applied to institutions benefiting from philanthropy to be accountable for their funding sources.  Lately, the opioid epidemic has highlighted that dilemma: New York's famed Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met] is the latest museum to turn down money from a family linked with the manufacturing of OxyContin.  Jeffrey Brown talks to the Met's president and CEO, Daniel Weiss.

AMERICA ADDICTED - Holding Companies Accountable

"This grieving family wants pharmaceutical companies held accountable for opioid deaths" PBS NewsHour 2/8/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  An estimated 400,000 Americans have died as a result of opioid use.  But grieving families say the national response to the health crisis is inadequate.  In her coverage of the epidemic Associated Press reporter Claire Galofaro profiled Cheryl Juaire, who lost her son to a heroin overdose in 2011.  Galofaro and Juaire talk to William Brangham about how they are trying to increase opioid awareness.

AMERICA ADDICTED - Drug Companies' Accountability

"Will drug companies be held accountable for America’s opioid epidemic?" PBS NewsHour 1/1/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The nation’s opioid crisis was declared a public health emergency in 2017 and received new funding this past October.  But rampant addiction led to some 40,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. last year, and 2019 could see the culmination of a flood of ensuing lawsuits seeking accountability.  William Brangham speaks to Barry Meier, who explores the origins of the epidemic in a new book, “Pain Killer.”

THE RESISTANCE - The Ex-Independent Office of Congressional Ethics - RIP (Update)

REF:  Independent Office of Congressional Ethics

As reported in "'With No Warning, House Republicans Vote to Gut Independent Ethics Office' by Eric Lipton, New York Times 1/2/2017" behind closed doors (aka in hiding) Republicans proved prof of just how UNETHICAL the Republican Party has become.

"In place of the office, Republicans would create a new Office of Congressional Complaint Review (aka road block) that would report to the House Ethics Committee, which has been accused of ignoring credible allegations of wrongdoing by lawmakers."  AND I (sadly) expect the American voter will be kept in the dark about the accusations, and if they are found 'guilty' what the punishment is (if any).

They think 'We the People' do not have a right to know, and judge for ourselves.  They fear that allowing constituents to know of unethical conduct by a member of Congress may lead to loosing a Republican seat and threaten their power.

These assholes do not want to be held accountable!



UPDATE:  Well it looks like they were forced to back off by Trump and others.

POLICING - Rebuilding Accountability and Trust

"How do communities increase accountability and rebuild trust after police shootings?" PBS NewsHour 2/10/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Around the nation, from Ferguson to Staten Island to Albuquerque, communities are grappling with the aftermath of deaths caused by police officers who used lethal force.  Gwen Ifill talks to Cornell William Brooks of the NAACP and Richard Berry of the International Association of Chiefs of Police about how to repair strained relations and curb the use of excessive force by law enforcement.

GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  A rookie New York City police officer was indicted today in the shooting death of an unarmed man in a Brooklyn housing project stairwell.  The victim, Akai Gurley, was described as a total innocent in the case.

New York is obviously not the only community grappling with the fallout from cases such as this.  Last night, we brought you a story about efforts to curb the use of similar lethal force in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

So what are communities doing about it?

For more on that, we turn to Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP, and Richard Beary, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Thank you both for joining me tonight.

Months later, after all the discussions of Ferguson and Staten Island, what progress are we making, Mr. — Reverend Brooks, in this and trying to get to policing reform?

CORNELL WILLIAM BROOKS, President, NAACP:  I’m hopeful that there is an emerging consensus as to both our ability to bring about policing reform and a concrete set of policy proposals.

So whether it be at the federal level in terms of passing the End Racial Profiling Act, which would tie federal funding to the training of police officers, so that they don’t engage in racial profiling, to the NAACP-supported and passage of the Death in Custody Act — up until a little while ago, you would ask the commonsense kind of question, how many police-involved homicides are there in the country, there’s no way to answer that question.

I believe we’re on our way to answering that question.  To more flexibility in terms of promoting — or appointing special prosecutors.  So there are a number of concrete proposals, reforms that we can pursue.  And all across the country, you’re seeing a young — a generation of practitioners of democracy, of protesting, are engaging in sit-ins and die-ins and who believe something could be done.