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Punitive Blackouts

January 15, 1973
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Last October 21 six children, brothers and sisters, died in a house fire in Sacramento, California. The fire was started by two candles which were burning unattended in the living room and the resultant flames, smoke and fumes from the combustible household furnishings overcame the children in their upstairs bedrooms. The candles were being used…

The Dark Side of Brighteners

January 8, 1973
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The continuing cost of corporate secrecy to consumers will soon be given greater focus in yet another group of widely used chemicals called “optical brighteners.” Millions of pounds of these chemical compounds are used in detergents, cosmetics, textiles, paper, soap, bandages and plastics. Their purpose: to make products “whiter than white.” Brighteners make things whiter…

A New Chance for Auto Safety

January 1, 1973
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The new team of Presidential appointees, soon to take over at the Department of Transportation, has a great opportunity to push through a number of technological breakthroughs in auto safety and auto economy. Here is part of the agenda which they must vigorously publicize if they are to derive the necessary public support in forthcoming…

Let’s Go After the Crime in the Suites

December 25, 1972
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The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Whitney North Seymour, is distributing a 64-page booklet entitled “Fighting White-Collar Crime” to corporations and other busi­ness groups. This effort is a followup to a Seymour speech last July in which he stated: “Let there be no mistake about it, there is exten­sive crime in…

White Collar Crime

December 25, 1972
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The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Whitney N. Seymour, is distributing a 64 page booklet entitled “Fighting White Collar Crime” to corporations and other business groups. This effort is a follow‑up to a speech last July by Mr. Seymour in which he stated: “Let there be no mistake about it,…

CCAG

December 18, 1972
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Early last year, my associate, Donald Ross, a young lawyer with a Peace Corps background, spent several weeks in Connecticut with students and community residents to urge the creation of a statewide citizens’ action organization. In a society composed of large corporate and governmental institutions, such citizenship would have to be composed of full-time, skilled…

Standardized Tests Under Fire

December 11, 1972
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For the past generation, millions of high school and college students have taken college or graduate school admissions tests prepared and scored by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) of Princeton, New Jersey. They were to be tested for their “scholastic aptitude” and, by and large, they passively accepted the results even to the point, parents…

Autocratic AAA

December 4, 1972
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On December 19, several members of the Auto Club of New York will show up for their annual meeting to ask questions which the club’s entrenched management would prefer not to hear. At last year’s meeting, a member’s questions about how the club was run were brushed off. Other members are trying to find out…

The the Sunshine In

November 27, 1972
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Here’s some good news for citizens who are struggling for open government and less secrecy in the dealings of bureaucrats and business lobbyists. It comes from Missouri and Massachusetts and in it there’s a model other states might emulate. The Missouri Public Service Commission has issued a ruling requiring trucking companies and utilities that it…

Is Meat Fit to Eat?

November 20, 1972
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Along with rising meat prices is mounting chaos in the regulation of meat and poultry for wholesomeness, safety and purity. Under the Wholesome Meat and Poultry Acts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is supposed to advance these objectives. Instead, proindustry USDA officials, industry lobbyists and state officials struggling to block federal inspection have devastated many…