Secrecy

"Welcome Home, War!": Pennsylvania and the Marcellus Shale

by Steve Horn — September 22, 2010 - 11:50am
  • Topics: Activism, Corporations, Democracy, Secrecy

    • Activists, concerned citizens, and democrats (written purposely with a lower "d"), watch out. As George Orwell stated in his ominous book 1984, "Big Brother is watching you." One need to look no further than the creepy and covert Orwellian events that were recently unearthed in Pennsylvania as Exhibit A for a reflection of the current horrifying environment that exists for those who choose to speak out against governmental and corporate injustices and in this instance, against fracking in the Marcellus Shale.

    U.S. Chamber Accused of Tax Fraud, Money Laundering

    by Anne Landman — September 17, 2010 - 2:16pm

    Two national watchdog groups, U.S. Chamber Watch and StopTheChamber.com, have filed complaints with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service asking the agency to investigate the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for criminal fraud and money laundering.

    Main Source: 
    American Chronicle, September 15, 2010

    Does Security Glitch Mean Less Heat for Wikileaks?

    by Anne Landman — August 4, 2010 - 1:31pm

    The Web site Wikileaks has been drawing criticism for publishing 90,000 classified documents about the war in Afghanistan, some of which reveal the names of Afghan citizens who have provided information to the U.S. The Obama Administration has said this could endanger the lives of those informants.

    Main Source: 
    Voice of America (VOA.com), August 3, 2010

    What Have They Been Smoking?

    by Anne Landman — June 22, 2010 - 3:20pm
  • Topics: Science, Secrecy, Tobacco

    • Jeffrey Wigand became one of the most famous whistleblowers of all time after he revealed the tobacco industry's darkest secrets starting in 1994. He is the former Brown & Williamson Vice President and scientist portrayed by Russell Crowe in the 1999 movie "The Insider".
    Speaking this week in New Zealand, among other topics Dr. Wigand discussed nicotine manipulation and the little-known discovery that cigarette companies add an ingredient common in floor and toilet bowl cleaners, ammonia, to cigarettes to get more nicotine to the smoker's brain faster after lighting up.

    Industry documents reveal that cigarette companies add ammonia to cigarettes to freebase nicotine, which gives the smoker a faster and more intense nicotine "kick." In the mid-1970s, R.J. Reynolds (RJR) the makers of Camel and Winston brands, noticed that sales of their competitor's brands, and especially Philip Morris's flagship brand Marlboro, were suddenly skyrocketing compared to their brands. Determined to find out why RJR's brands were doing so poorly compared to the others, RJR chemically "deconstructed" Marlboro cigarettes to find out just how they were different.

    Perfumes' Un-Sexy Side

    by Anne Landman — May 18, 2010 - 3:21pm

    The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics commissioned laboratory analyses (pdf) of 17 men's and women's name-brand perfumes to determine their chemical content, and found 38 secret chemicals present in all 17 products.

    Main Source: 
    The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Environmental Working Group, May, 2010

    U.S. Military Using Private Spy Ring, Despite Questions About Its Legality

    by Anne Landman — May 17, 2010 - 4:31pm

    The U.S. military is continuing to operate a secret network of private spies deep inside Afghanistan and Pakistan, even though the military is largely prohibited from operating inside Pakistan, and is not permitted to hire contractors for spying.

    Main Source: 
    Denver Post/New York Times, May 16, 2010

    Leaked CIA Memo Suggests Spinning War Messaging

    by Anne Landman — April 6, 2010 - 1:44pm

    A classified CIA memo (pdf) obtained by Wikileaks.org outlines public relations strategies that could be used to shore up French and German support for continuing the war in Afghanistan

    Main Source: 
    Wikileaks.org , March 26, 2010

    Corporations Hide Flight Records From Public View

    by Anne Landman — March 1, 2010 - 2:30pm

    A federal district court ruled that the public interest journalism group ProPublica can obtain a list of corporate-owned airplanes whose flight information was blocked from public view.

    Main Source: 
    ProPublica, February 26, 2010
    Syndicate content