Alerts

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT 
by Meg White

On Thursday, former Attorney General John Ashcroft finished off the House Judiciary Committee's five-hearing investigation into the Bush Administration's alleged advocacy for the use of torture against detainees.

Though he initially expressed a willingness to work with the committee, Ashcroft relied heavily on attorney-client privilege to refuse to answer questions from Congressmen.

"My communications with the president are privileged communications," Ashcroft said repeatedly.

Technorati Tags: Alerts torture ashcroft judiciary congress

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Meg White

Start with long lines and rising prices.  Now add the possibility of walking into an airport and having a bracelet attached to your wrist with the power to completely incapacitate you.

No wonder air travel is increasingly unpopular.

As reported by The Washington Times earlier this week, Paul Ruwaldt, an official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, wrote a letter to the Canadian security company Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc. requesting a proposal for a stun-gun-type device to be used for international border management, prisoner transfer and other security situations.  Ruwaldt also wrote, "it is conceivable to envision a use to improve airline security, on passenger planes."

The company has suggested in the past that the device could not only contain airline passengers' personal information and track their whereabouts, but could have the ability to render each passenger "completely immobile for several minutes."

Technorati Tags: Alerts airline security homeland security taser safety bracelet

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
By Amy Weiss

President Bush asserted executive privilege Tuesday to prevent Attorney General Michael Mukasey from providing transcripts of FBI interviews with Vice President Cheney and other documents pertaining to the leak of CIA Agent Valerie Plame's identity.
Technorati Tags: Alerts Bush executive privilege Cheney Waxman Mukasey

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Meg White

We're all familiar with the popular chant among conservatives that "life begins at conception."  But does that mean our government can say that life ends at contraception?

Apparently, yes, if a proposal from the Department of Health and Human Services that carefully redefines contraception as abortion is adopted. 

Technorati Tags: Alerts reproductive rights religious right abortion contraception

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Meg White

Sometimes, winning isn't everything. When Florida tomato pickers, who earn an average of 45 cents for every 32 pounds of tomatoes harvested, won an extra cent per pound from national restaurant chains, their victory was short-lived.

In 2005, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) secured a promise from McDonald's, Yum! Brands (a parent company for fast food giants Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and A&W), and later Burger King, to pay an extra cent per pound of tomatoes purchased from members of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE).

The battle for the extra cent was an effort to increase wages for tomato pickers, which have decreased 65 percent in the past 30 years (when inflation is taken into account). In March 2005, workers began receiving an extra check from these giants in the food industry.

Last fall, FTGE, which is a co-op and lobbying group for tomato growers in Florida, threatened a $100,000 fine to be levied against member growers who continued to pay the one cent increase to their workers. That's when the checks stopped making it to the pickers.

Technorati Tags: Alerts tomatoes civil rights labor

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Amy Weiss

Apparently, a nice six-figure sum may get you not only the knowledge that you've helped build a cherished tribute to the 43rd president, but also a meeting with his closest advisers while he's still in office.

Technorati Tags: Alerts Waxman Bush presidential library Stephen Payne

Salmonella and Mad Cow Disease may be the least of our worries.  It seems food safety takes second place behind our government's taste for bureaucracy.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Meg White

For once, Elex Scheels was glad her 20-month-old boy, Michael, is a picky eater. It's only too bad the other two of her triplets didn't follow his cue in March 2007 when he refused gourmet yet Salmonella-laden snacks.

Sydney, the smallest of the triplets, had it worst. For 10 days, her fever refused to drop below 105 degrees, and she lost more than 10 percent of her tiny, 24-pound frame. While her brother Cole was also feverish and had blood in his stool, Sydney's diapers consistently contained nothing but blood.

Sydney and Cole Scheels of Voorheesville, NY, were two of 61 people in 19 states sickened by tainted batches of Veggie Booty, a popular health food snack made by Robert's American Gourmet Foods.

Technorati Tags: Alerts food safety FDA USDA

BuzzFlash invites you to join us in our newest social networking endeavor, the big two: Facebook and MySpace. We want to build and connect our community and that's exactly what these sites do. Check out the pages for updates, heat up discussion boards with other users, and watch our awesome new videos on Barack Obama's neighborhood if you haven't already.

Click here to check out our Facebook page and add yourself as a fan, or click here for our MySpace page and become a friend.

If you aren't yet a member of Facebook or MySpace, there's no time like the present. Check out these links to read about the sites and how to join one or both:

About Facebook

Facebook Help

About MySpace

MySpace Virtual Tour

MySpace Sign Up

Also, please share BuzzFlash with all of your progressive political news junkie friends. We're over one million Facebook friends behind Obama, so we have some serious catching up to do.

 

Technorati Tags: Alerts Facebook MySpace