Author: KJ McElrath

Some Are Proposing Dangerous Censorship of “Fake News”

Some Are Proposing Dangerous Censorship of “Fake News”

Posted by | Jan 23, 2017 | |

“Fake news” is nothing new – gossip, rumor mongering and the spreading of outright lies have been around almost as long as humans have been able to communicate. However, the rise of the World Wide Web and easy access to electronic digital communication that can reach millions of people around the planet within minutes has taken it to a new, dangerous level. Most of us agree that something needs to be done – but what? Should someone be monitoring, filtering and controlling the spread of information? More importantly, can such people and institutions be trusted? Recently, social media juggernaut...

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Trump All Set to Greenlight Bayer-Monsanto Merger in the Name of Job Creation…But at What Cost?

Trump All Set to Greenlight Bayer-Monsanto Merger in the Name of Job Creation…But at What Cost?

Posted by | Jan 20, 2017 | , |

Despite serious concerns among antitrust experts and the likely consequences of the largest agribusiness corporate merger in recorded history, President Donald Trump is ready to give his blessing to Bayer as it prepares to take over Monsanto. This, despite the fact that such a merger will mean that the company will control nearly 30% of the global seed market – as well as 60% of the US cottonseed market – and a quarter of the world’s pesticide market. Obviously, there is reason to worry when a global corporation wields that kind of power – but that’s OK, because Trump...

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Scott Pruitt is an Environmental Disaster in the Making

Scott Pruitt is an Environmental Disaster in the Making

Posted by | Jan 19, 2017 | , |

Once thing we can say about Donald Trump: he’s (more or less) consistent in his diabolical nature. If there is an agency, a regulation, anything that protects the interests of the 99% of people who aren’t part of the billionaire class, he’s going to do everything within his power to make sure that such agencies and regulations are gutted at the earliest opportunity. Case in point: his nomination for head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma State Attorney General Scott Pruitt. Trump announced Pruitt as his pick to be EPA Administrator early last month. A self-professed “leading advocate against...

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Trump Has a Problem With the New F-35 Fighter Jet –  With Good Reason

Trump Has a Problem With the New F-35 Fighter Jet –  With Good Reason

Posted by | Jan 18, 2017 | , |

There are very few issues upon which we agree with Trump here at The Ring of Fire – but as Thom Hartmann periodically points out, “even a stopped clock is right twice a day.” In this case, it is Lockheed-Martin’s “latest and greatest” product – the fifth-generation fighter jet aircraft known as the F-35, also known as the “Lightning II” and “Joint Strike Fighter” (JSF). But by most reports, the F-35 is more of a sputtering short circuit than a full-blown bolt of lighting. In the September 2013 issue of Vanity Fair, Adam Ciralsky reported that the “Joint Strike...

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Fiat-Chrysler Joins VW: Lying to Customers About the Efficiency of Their Vehicles

Fiat-Chrysler Joins VW: Lying to Customers About the Efficiency of Their Vehicles

Posted by | Jan 14, 2017 | , , |

Last week, hard on the heels of Volkswagen’s guilty plea in what is becoming known as “Dieselgate,” yet another major automaker is being called out for emissions cheating. This time, it’s Fiat-Chrysler. On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) served notice to Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) with allegations that the company installed cheating software in the powertrain control modules (PCMs, the vehicle’s main computer) of Jeep Grand Cherokees and diesel-powered Dodge Ram 1500 trucks manufactured for the 2014-2016 model years. Nearly 104,000 vehicles are affected. The company now faces charges of violating the Clean Air Act as well as failure...

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