The Wake-Up Call:
Loopholes & A Lost Watch

The Iraq War
Despite steep reductions in casualties of Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers, the 72 new death claims for civilian contractors in the country this quarter were about 22% above the quarterly average. Since reconstruction began, 1,073 death claims have been filed with the Department of Labor.

Health Care
Due to loopholes in federal laws, oil and gas companies have polluted the air and water and released harmful toxic substances into the environment, says the Natural Resources Defense Council. The number of gas wells across the country increased from 270,000 to 450,000 between 1990 and 2005.

Corporate Capers
PetroChina, the state-owned oil producer, just became the first company to be valued at more than $1 trillion, partly thanks to JP Morgan Chase, Fidelity, HSBC, Barclays, UBS, Credit Suisse, among others, which all have major holdings in the firm (Sudan’s largest trading partner).

Scandal Sheet
One of Larry Craig’s aides found a watch in the men’s room on the 5th floor of the Hart Building: “If someone from your office lost it, please let me know.” (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

Photo Finish
An amazing photo essay of the city of Sumgayit in Azerbaijan, the former capital of the Soviet Union’s chemical industry.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 5th, 2007 at 10:40 am and is filed under Business, Environment, Health Care, International, Iraq War, Photos, Politics, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.