Flyper

Drum Major Institute Blog: End the Culture of Accepting Traffic Deaths

Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein

In December, a horrific elevator accident killed a young executive named Suzanne Hart in Midtown Manhattan. The city’s response was swift and firm: the Department of Buildings quickly inspected all 650 elevators owned or maintained by the company involved, and the…

OUR TIME: "F" is For-Profit

OurTime’s opinion:

Student debt sucks. If colleges are going to put students in debt, then they should be responsible for the success of their graduates. Obama is right: schools shouldn’t be allowed to makes tons of money for themselves if students aren’t leaving school well prepared. Stop giving…

(Source: moneyshow.com)

CONVENTION(AL) WISDOM: Two Perspectives on the Social Implications of REDD+: “If we take care of the people, people will take care of the...

In order to gain a better understanding of how forest-dependent people and governments view the social implications of REDD+, we sought out representatives from both perspectives. Our first interview was with Ghan Shyam Pandey, a Coordinator at the Global Alliance of Community Forestry in…

Foreign Affairs: Crisis Guide - Iran

foreignaffairsmagazine:

Announcing the Latest Installment in The Emmy-Award Winning Series From the Council on Foreign Relations: Crisis Guide - Iran

This interactive presentation traces Iran’s history, its evolution as an Islamic republic, and the controversial nuclear program. It also offers an…

(Source: fam.ag)

Breakthrough Journal: Mini-Dialogue:

breakthroughjournal:

The acrimonious debate over raising the debt ceiling, the subsequent downgrade of American credit, and plummeting stocks worldwide, has finally brought home the harsh reality of just how broken Washington DC is. To quote from Standard & Poor’s justification for the downgrade, “More than two…

rigov:

RI Government on Flickr. Now online: RI Emergency Management. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhodeislandema/

RI Government on Flickr. Now online: RI Emergency Management. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhodeislandema/

longreads:

The long road to reform the government’s Minerals Management Service, three years after its “sex, drugs and oil” scandal:

One thing that the agency hasn’t done is put to rest the skepticism of its whistleblowers. They claim that schemes similar to the royalty-avoidance techniques at issue in the False Claim Act lawsuits are still being used by major oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in tens of millions in lost revenues.
“I don’t think a lot has changed,” says Little. “Shell isn’t the only company doing this. We turned in several other companies to the inspector general. We gave them our files. We had to force them to take them. And they still have not done one thing. They have not pursued any of those companies.”

“Drilled, Baby, Drilled.” — Alan Prendergast, Westword
See also: “The Fracturing of Pennsylvania.” Eliza Griswold, The New York Times, Nov. 17, 2011

The long road to reform the government’s Minerals Management Service, three years after its “sex, drugs and oil” scandal:

One thing that the agency hasn’t done is put to rest the skepticism of its whistleblowers. They claim that schemes similar to the royalty-avoidance techniques at issue in the False Claim Act lawsuits are still being used by major oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in tens of millions in lost revenues.

“I don’t think a lot has changed,” says Little. “Shell isn’t the only company doing this. We turned in several other companies to the inspector general. We gave them our files. We had to force them to take them. And they still have not done one thing. They have not pursued any of those companies.”

“Drilled, Baby, Drilled.” — Alan Prendergast, Westword

See also: “The Fracturing of Pennsylvania.” Eliza Griswold, The New York Times, Nov. 17, 2011

(via longreads)

CNNMoney Tech Tumblr: The all-time biggest Internet IPO ever ...

Was a stock scam.

In the run-up to Facebook’s IPO filling, we checked with a few data trackers for historical context. With numbers like $5 billion to $10 billion being tossed around for the likely deal size, Facebook is poised to be a pretty whopping offering. But will it be The Biggest Ever?

govtoversight:

The U.S. is pouring billions of dollars into a proposed Department of Energy (DOE) facility in New Mexico that would increase nuclear weapons production. Here are eight reasons to eliminate funding for this multi-billion dollar boondoggle.

The U.S. is pouring billions of dollars into a proposed Department of Energy (DOE) facility in New Mexico that would increase nuclear weapons production. Here are eight reasons to eliminate funding for this multi-billion dollar boondoggle.

Brazil’s government has been accused of negligence in its preparations for the 2014 World Cup. Marco Werman gets a taste of the controversy from TIm Vickery, the BBC’s South America soccer correspondent. We’ll have more later in the broadcast.