From TomDispatch this morning: An incisive exploration of just why the American “debate” about whether to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities (or whether to let the Israelis do so) is so fraudulent and the three crucial questions the media debaters avoid asking as they potentially set us on the road to war — Tony Karon, “Two Minutes to Midnight? Cutting Through the Media’s Bogus Bomb-Iran Debate”

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is holding the treaty to reduce US and Russian arsenals hostage for $10 billion in pork for the nuclear weapons complex.

The late Howard Zinn’s new book “The Bomb” is a brilliant little dissection of some of the central myths of our militarized society.

A new RAND report recommends a US-Pakistan nuclear deal, modeled after a similar agreement with India, as part of the US counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan. And that’s just crazy.

The new Economist/YouGov poll is out (previous polls here), and it includes several questions on the disaster in the Gulf and offshore drilling.

Of particular interest, 48% of those who are familiar with the spill think BP knowingly violated oil drilling regulations in advance of the disaster. Just 20% disagreed and 32% were not sure. As the DOJ’s investigation unfolds, we can expect a good portion of those who were not sure to move over to the ‘knowingly violated regulations’ camp. Coupled with the company’s dismal favorability ratings among Americans, this does not bode well for the future of BP in the United States.

The crosstabs (click for full size) for this question show that liberals, Democrats and those 65+ were most likely to conclude that BP knowingly violated drilling regulations:

Massachusetts is Embarrassed, Humiliated by Sen. Kerry’s Disgraceful Climate Fraud Bill — by NormanB (“Deviations from the Norm”)

It’s past time for strong government action to prevent environmental disasters – including climate change. Corporations must be held accountable for the financial, ecological, and human costs of their negligence.

Along with the press release, our Communications Director sent this note to the Sierra Club:

In the debate last night we saw again that the only thing clear about Cal is his inconsistency. Now on both offshore drilling and nuclear he has made contradictory statements, trying to have it both ways. It is apparent that he is attempting to get the support of progressive groups now, but also position himself for a shift in the general election. He’s faking left, but very clearly headed right. I believe that this endorsement is a mistake and will look bad for the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club, and the broader environmental community, only loses out when it endorses candidates that do not show real leadership on the environment.
– Sam

I sit down with Dr. Peter Wilk, the Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility to discuss the upcoming Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

Last week, Pew released a survey with the headline ‘Support for Alternative Energy and Offshore Drilling.’ The piece begins, “The public continues to favor a wide range of government policies to address the nation’s energy supply…”

That is accurate, but it doesn’t get at the most striking data. The most important finding in the survey is the fact that clean energy and mass transit investments are vastly more popular than nuclear investments and offshore drilling.