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All Fizzle, No Sizzle at Big Oil Hearing

November 13, 2005
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It was Wednesday, November 10th and the Senators had the five bosses of the largest oil conglomerates in the world facing them and the media in a large hearing room. Millions of Americans are indignant over gouging gasoline and natural gas prices and want action. So what did the two Senate Committees do? They blew…

In Defense of Terrell Owens: Letter to Jeffrey Lurie and Paul Tagliabue

November 10, 2005
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November 10, 2005 Jeffrey LurieChairman and Chief Executive OfficerPhiladelphia Eagles1 NovaCare WayPhiladelphia, PA 19145 Paul TagliabueCommissionerNational Football League280 Park AvenueNew York, NY 10017 Dear Messrs. Lurie and Tagliabue, I am writing to urge you to rescind the misguided suspension and planned inactive designation of Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens. If the Eagles management declines…

Letter to NHTSA on Auto Glass Replacement and Roof Crush Standard

November 9, 2005
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November 9, 2005 Jacqueline GlassmanActing AdministratorNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration400 Seventh Street, SWWashington, DC 20590 Dear Ms. Glassman: On October 16, 2005, the first ever conference of the Automotive Glass Replacement Safety Standards (AGRSS) Council convened in Las Vegas, Nevada to bring together committee members and industry representatives to learn more about the safe replacement…

New Approaches To End Malaria

November 5, 2005
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Suppose every day for the past umpteen years, four fully loaded Boeing 747 Jumbo Jets crashed full of African children. Suppose further that no one doubted that similar children-filled jumbo jets would crash at this level every day into the indefinite future. Don’t you think that at some point something big would be done about…

Letter to President Bush on Earthquake Relief

November 1, 2005
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November 1, 2005 President George W. Bush1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, D.C., 20500 Dear Mr. President: A humanitarian catastrophe of almost unimaginable proportions is unfolding in the Himalayas, yet your administration seems remarkably unorganized in applying more resources. Has anyone shown you the wire service photos of frightened children standing in the rubble with nothing between…

Student Activism: PIRGs Have Led the Way

October 28, 2005
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Ask a Washington, DC taxi driver about student activism in the United States and you will likely hear about student involvement in the Civil Rights movement and student opposition to the war in Vietnam. If you push a bit, the driver may mention Earth Day. Don’t blame the driver for providing you with a snapshot…

Letter to President Bush on Avian Flu

October 24, 2005
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Ralph NaderRobert WeissmanP.O. Box 19312Washington, D.C. 20036 October 24, 2005 President George W. BushThe White HouseWashington, D.C. 20500 Dear President Bush. As you know, the world faces the possibility in the near future of an avian flu outbreak that many experts say could take millions of lives worldwide. The United States may not be spared…

A Conversation with Rev. William Sloane Coffin

October 21, 2005
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I recently spoke to Rev. William Sloane Coffin about the war in Iraq and what concerned citizens can do to stop this illegal and unjust war. Rev. William Sloane Coffin was a leader against the war in Vietnam and is a leading advocate for civil rights and opponent of nuclear weapons. Coffin was an Army…

Cooperatives

October 13, 2005
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New Orleans, the largest city devastated by two Hurricanes, lies in ruins.  The reconstruction plans are forming and the usual commercial interests are in the forefront to receive large subsidies, federal overpayments and special immunities from having to meet labor, environmental and other normal legal safeguards for the people.   The corporate looting of New…

Hurricane Horrors

October 7, 2005
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Amidst the wailing and grieving by those many victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita comes the growls of greed from those corporations getting huge contracts from the US government to supply emergency relief, reconstruction services and materials. From everywhere — the press, citizen groups, lawmakers, federal inspectors general — come the howls and charges of…