Asra Nomani - Profile Me and My Family

Birds, Bees and Trees May Get Legal Standing

Eco-wackos want to give plants the right to sue in court.

Can the right to vote be far behind?

by Noaki Schwartz

What if a trimmed tree could sue as an amputee or a shucked clam could claim wrongful eviction?

In an effort to ban everything from drilling oil to incinerating garbage, about a dozen communities across the country have adopted ordinances that give nature legal standing and water down the rights of businesses.

The long-debated philosophy could face court challenges. But it has gained traction among those who believe the environment needs greater protection, even while critics ridicule the thought of arming bugs with legal rights against foes such as lawn mowers.

"What if nature had rights?" said Shannon Biggs, with Global Exchange. "What if the Amazon could sue an oil company for environmental damage?"

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46 Out of 50 States Nearing Bankruptcy

John Mulkey

While the precarious financial situation of California gets the majority of the press coverage, it is only one of many potential defaults making investors nervous. An article in the Financial Times reports growing signs that many regional deficits are beginning to resemble those of the eurozone countries.

Forty-six states have just begun fiscal year 2011 and for most the news isn’t just bad, it’s catastrophic. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, those states are “facing a Greek-like crisis.” And for all excluding Vermont, local statutes require a balanced budget. It’s not that the leaders haven’t made an effort to trim expenses; more than 230,000 state and local government jobs have been eliminated in the past two years, with thousands more occurring each month. Mark Zandi at Moody’s has estimated that states could come up short by almost $200 billion next year, resulting in the loss of almost a million more jobs. Others say the losses could be double that number.

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How to tell if you’re a racist

Democrats in Death Spiral?

Time magazine faces up to reality: The Democrat Party

is in the middle of a nervous breakdown

by Mark Halperin

Is it hyperbolic to say the Democratic Party is in the midst of a nervous breakdown? I have been covering national politics since 1988, and I don't remember a situation quite like this. The signs of a crack-up are everywhere. Democrats still think they can somehow win a news cycle by demonizing John Boehner. Chuck Schumer goes on the Senate floor and suggests Democrats are getting the same political mileage out of "millionaires tax" that Republicans have gotten over the years from using "death tax." Politico has a story with blind quotes from Hill Democrats who are furious that the White House isn't using some sort of mythical leverage over Republicans to extract concessions in exchange for extending all the Bush tax cuts -- including continuing to try to trade for DADT and the Dream Act (rather than things dealing with jobs). Two members in good standing of the Professional Left -- moveon and the PCCC -- are spending its members' money on TV ads demanding that the president exercise this same mythical leverage to stand up to the GOP.

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