Tuesday, October 7, 2003

Badly Informed Public While I've been surprised at the number of Americans who wrongly believe that weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq (there have been no weapons of mass destruction found) or that there is an established link between Al Queda and Sadaam Hussein or his regime (there isn't - and the White House tried hard to establish one) or that many countries backed the US invastion (most didn't) - it's interesting to see what the primary means of getting information is for those that wrongly believe any of those statements. [Somebody Dial 911] A great info-graphic goes with this one, that makes it pretty clear that people who watch Fox News are being led astray in their beliefs. Huh? Conservative mouthpieces journalists misrepresenting the truth to push their conservative agenda? Nah, couldn't be. 10:19:59 AM

Schwarzenegger's Enron connection Greg Palast reports that Schwarzenegger is working with Ken Lay to ensure that Enron's ill-gotten gains are not returned to California's treasury. Here's the story Arnold doesn't want you to hear. The biggest single threat to Ken Lay and the electricity lords is a private lawsuit filed last year under California's unique Civil Code provision 17200, the "Unfair Business Practices Act." This litigation, heading to trial now in Los Angeles, would make the power companies return the $9 billion they filched from California electricity and gas customers. It takes real cojones to bring such a suit. Who's the plaintiff taking on the bad guys? Cruz Bustamante, Lieutenant Governor and reluctant leading candidate against Schwarzenegger... The pay-off? Once Arnold is Governor, he blesses the sweetheart settlements with the power companies. When that happens, Bustamante's court cases are probably lost. There aren't many judges who will let a case go to trial to protect a state if that a governor has already allowed the matter to be "settled" by a regulatory agency. Link (Thanks, Lisa!) [Boing Boing Blog] 3:58:05 AM

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