by Sash Suicide

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by Fred Topel

We all know product placement happens in movies. You see the results when a can of Coke is seen in a shot instead of a generic soda, or a corporate logo comes into focus in a scene played out in Times Square.

The existence of product placement is not a mystery or scandal, but Morgan Spurlock wanted to put it to a real test. Big budget movies like Iron Man can command huge numbers for fast food endorsement deals. But could Spurlock finance an indie documentary on product placement alone?

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by Blogbot

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by Greg Palast

I need to speak to you, not as a reporter, but in my former capacity as lead investigator in several government nuclear plant fraud and racketeering investigations.

I don’t know the law in Japan, so I can’t tell you if Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) can plead insanity to the homicides about to happen.

But what will Obama plead? The Administration, just months ago, asked Congress to provide a $4 billion loan guarantee for two new nuclear reactors to be built and operated on the Gulf Coast of Texas — by Tokyo Electric Power and local partners. As if the Gulf hasn’t suffered enough.

Here are the facts about Tokyo Electric and the industry you haven’t heard on CNN:

The failure of emergency systems at Japan’s nuclear plants comes as no surprise to those of us who have worked in the field.

Nuclear plants the world over must be certified for what is called “SQ” or “Seismic Qualification.” That is, the owners swear that all components are designed for the maximum conceivable shaking event, be it from an earthquake or an exploding Christmas card from Al Qaeda.

The most inexpensive way to meet your SQ is to lie. The industry does it all the time. The government team I worked with caught them once, in 1988, at the Shoreham plant in New York. Correcting the SQ problem at Shoreham would have cost a cool billion, so engineers were told to change the tests from ‘failed’ to ‘passed.’

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by Damon Martin

When the phrase “American hero” is mentioned, names like Washington, Jefferson and Franklin come to mind. In 20 years, will Americans look back and remember names like Carpenter, Coggs and Cullen?

Those are just three of the 14 Wisconsin State Senators who left their families, homes and communities to stand up for the rights of the working men and women they represent – a course of action that has cost them personally and financially, and may even penalize them legally when all is said and done.

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by Sash Suicide

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by Aaron Colter

When I was asked to write a weekly column for Suicide Girls, my immediate questions was, “About what?” Because, truly, I didn’t know what the fuck anyone reading this would want to hear from me.

“Anything,” they said.

Well, alright. But I’m pretty sure they didn’t mean How to Make and/or Buy Weapons Grade Narcotics: A Guide In Multiple Parts, which is what I wanted to write about. But court sucks, and you know it. So instead, I’m calling this “Things I Like That You Might Like Too.” It’s exactly what it says it is.

Let’s get started:

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