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Category: Accountability (Page 3 of 6)

As Earth sizzles, climate denialists rearrange deck chairs

2023-07-23 /

Eve Ottenberg, Counter Punch »

The problem is known. It has been known for generations, to scientists and to the oil, gas and coal companies who researched and then concealed the lethal effects of their product. Simply put, our social and political economy, structured around burning fossil fuels, heats the earth. The chief culprits in this profligate burning are wealthy countries and their massive organizations like the American military. Small, poor countries have small carbon footprints. This deadly pollution cannot be blamed on them or their so-called excessive birth-rate.

Only 1 in 10 Americans give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the U.S.

2023-07-14 /

AP »

Majorities of adults say U.S. laws and policies do a poor job of representing what most Americans want on issues ranging from the economy and government spending to gun policy, immigration and abortion. The poll shows 53% say Congress is doing a bad job of upholding democratic values, compared with just 16% who say it’s doing a good job.

The findings illustrate widespread political alienation as a polarized country limps out of the pandemic and into a recovery haunted by inflation and fears of a recession. In interviews, respondents worried less about the machinery of democracy — voting laws and the tabulation of ballots — and more about the outputs.

Alberta oil refinery operating for 22 years without environmental approval

2023-07-14 /

An oil refinery in northern Alberta that started processing oil 22 years ago is facing an enforcement order for operating without regulatory approval.

CBC »

The Enerchem plant was never granted approval under Alberta’s Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA), according to the order issued June 20.

The order states that no approval “has been issued to any person for the construction, operation and reclamation of the plant,” in contravention of the act.

Under the conditions set out in the order, the oil fractionation plant, 250 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, can continue operating while the owner, Calgary-based AltaGas, seeks approval from the province.

Experts in environmental law say the infraction is troubling evidence of cracks in Alberta’s complex regulatory system and undermines its approvals process.

Myanmar military regime accused of murdering political prisoners

2023-07-13 /

Al Jazeera »

The military removed political prisoners from Kyaiksakaw Prison, in Bago Region’s Daik-U township, on June 27 under the pretence of transferring them, but a total of 37 have since gone missing, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) – a prominent monitoring group that documents civilian deaths, arrests and extrajudicial killings – said in a statement this week.

Anita Hill

2023-07-12 /
Anita Hill – Law professor; witness in Clarence Thomas controversy (Source » Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia)

Anita Hill – Law professor; witness in Clarence Thomas controversy (Source » Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia)

She told us who he was.

Wikipedia »

Anita Faye Hill (born July 30, 1956) is an American lawyer, educator and author. She is a professor of social policy, law, and women’s studies at Brandeis University and a faculty member of the university’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She became a national figure in 1991 when she accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, her supervisor at the United States Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, of sexual harassment.

Sweden’s privacy protection agency orders four local companies to stop using Google Analytics as doing so unlawfully transfers personal data to the US

2023-07-10 /

Sweden issues the first major fine for illegally transferring personal data out of the EU via Google Analytics, a significant first in Europe.

VoA »

The GDPR allows the transfer of data to third countries only if the European Commission has determined they offer at least the same level of privacy protection as the EU. A 2020 EU Court of Justice ruling struck down an EU-U.S. data transfer deal as being insufficient.

The IMY said it considers the data sent to Google Analytics in the United States by the four companies to be personal data and that “the technical security measures that the companies have taken are not sufficient to ensure a level of protection that essentially corresponds to that guaranteed within the EU.”

Related » Silicon Angle | The Next Web

Syria withdraws BBC’s media accreditation

2023-07-10 /

AP »

Syria’s Information Ministry revoked the BBC’s media accreditation, days after the British public broadcaster aired a report linking members of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s family and senior army officials to the production and smuggling of illicit drugs.

The documentary, broadcast in late June, describes a multibillion dollar business involving the highly addictive amphetamine known as Captagon

Twitter Blue accounts fuel Ukraine War misinformation

2023-07-09 /

BBC »

False and misleading posts about the Ukraine conflict continue to go viral on major social media platforms, as Russia’s invasion of the country extends beyond 500 days.

Some of the most widely shared examples can be found on Twitter, posted by subscribers with a blue tick, who pay for their content to be promoted to other users.

Canada and California absolutely must call Google’s and Facebook’s bluff on news

2023-07-06 /

Brian Merchant, LA Times »

California and Canada must absolutely not give in to the tech giants’ tantrum. This is a bluff, and not a particularly convincing one. For the sake of the beleaguered news industries in both places (yes, including this media outlet), the Canadian and Californian governments must absolutely call it.

For assurance, we should look to Australia, where a like-minded bill went into law in 2021, even after Google and Facebook made the same exact threats. Facebook did initially restrict access to news, but the ploy lasted barely a week before it backfired wildly, and Facebook agreed to comply, albeit after extracting some concessions.

That bill has already restored tens of millions of dollars in revenue to Australia’s troubled newsrooms, and, while far from perfect, has transformed the media environment dramatically.

IOC needs to do what’s right

2023-07-05 /

The unlawful Russian invasion into Ukraine is forcing the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to choose between peace and human rights on the one hand, and neutrality, doping scandals, corruption, and war crimes on the other. So why is the IOC having a hard time deciding?

SwissInfo »

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