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The Case of John Peter Zenger and the Fight for a Free Press
The Case of John Peter Zenger and the Fight for a Free Press
This week marks the 280th anniversary of a landmark event in the history of a free press: the trial of John Peter Zenger in New York. Zenger, publisher of the New-York Weekly Journal, was found not guilty of seditious libel by a 12-member jury at a two-day trial that began on August 4, 1735.
The charge was brought by a tyrannical colonial governor of New York, William Cosby, who accused Zenger of printing “false, scandalous, malicious and seditious” articles. The New York-Weekly Journal had been going after the governor, exposing his shady machinations.
Zenger, who had been jailed for nine months, was represented by Andrew Hamilton, considered the foremost lawyer in the colonies. Hamilton took the case pro bono, riding to the rescue from Pennsylvania where he had been former attorney-general.
Hamilton confounded the prosecution by admitting that Zenger had published the offending material, but he took the position that what was involved was the truth. Chief Justice James Delancey, a Cosby henchman, didn’t agree with the defense of truth.
But Hamilton’s response was that: “Leaving it to judgement of the court whether the words are libelous or not in effect renders juries useless.”
On August 5, Hamilton addressed the jury in an eloquent, brilliant summation—parts of which as a journalism professor I read to my students every semester.
Hamilton spoke about how it was “my duty, if required, to go to the utmost part of the land where my services could be of any use in assisting to quench the flames of prosecutions upon informations set on foot by the government, to deprive a people of the right of remonstrating and complaining, too, of the arbitrary attempts of men in power.”
He said: “Men who injure and oppress the people under their administration provoke them to cry out and complain, and then make that very complaint the foundation for new oppressions and prosecutions.”
Hamilton declared: “The question before the court and you, gentlemen of the jury, is not
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We Are Seneca Lake: Josh Fox & Fracking Opponents Fight Natural Gas Storage Site in Upstate NY
We Are Seneca Lake: Josh Fox & Fracking Opponents Fight Natural Gas Storage Site in Upstate NY
On Wednesday, Josh Fox, director of “Gasland,” the documentary which exposed the harms of the fracking industry, was arrested along with 20 other people after forming a human barricade at a natural gas storage facility in upstate New York. The action was part of a long-standing campaign against plans by Crestwood Midstream to expand gas storage in abandoned salt caverns at Seneca Lake, a drinking water source for 100,000 people. We speak to Fox and air his new documentary short, “We Are Seneca Lake.”
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to a new short film by Josh Fox, director of Gasland, the Academy Award-nominated documentary that exposed the harms of the fracking industry. Fox himself will join us next in our studio, but first, in this video, he explains why he arrested Wednesday along with 20 others who formed a human barricade at a natural gas storage facility in upstate New York, the action part of a long-standing campaign against plans by Crestwood Midstream to expand gas storage in abandoned salt caverns at Seneca Lake, a drinking water source for 100,000 people.
JOSH FOX: When Governor Andrew Cuomo banned fracking in New York state on December 17th, 2014, a lot of fracktivists in New York thought their problems were over. It was a tremendous victory, a precedent for other states, a landmark decision for public health and for the science on fracking.
But not every decision about fracking in New York was being made at the state level. FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, decides about pipelines, storage facilities and other interstate oil and gas infrastructure. Because FERC is in charge of so many projects, they’ve been heavily criticized for having a lack of public input and for simply being a rubber-stamp commission for the oil and gas industry. One of the decisions that FERC has under its control is the fate of Seneca Lake, New York.
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NY Governor Probes Nuclear Plant ‘Incident’ As Oil Spills Into Hudson River
NY Governor Probes Nuclear Plant ‘Incident’ As Oil Spills Into Hudson River
Having explained to the general public that there was nothing to be concerned about, when an exploding transformer shut down at least one unit of the Indian River nuclear power plant, noting “no danger to public safety,” it appears the situation is not as ‘contained’ as officials hoped. As Sputnik News reports, thousands of gallons of oil that leaked into the Hudson River after the explosion has formed a gigantic oil sheen on the waterway. NY Governor Andrew Cuomo has demanded a probe into the incident, adding that Entergy and contractors will clean up the spill.
- *CUOMO: PROBE ON WEEKEND INCIDENT AT INDIAN POINT PLANT ONGOING
- *CUOMO SAYS OIL DISCHARGE RESULT OF FIRE IN A TRANSFORMER
- *CUOMO: N.Y. WORKING WITH U.S. COAST GUARD TO MONITOR SITUATION
- *CUOMO: NY, U.S. EVALUATING ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE TO HUDSON RIVER
The oil made its way into the river following an explosion, fire, and leak that occurred Saturday at the Indian Point nuclear facility in Buchanan, about 40 miles north of Midtown Manhattan.According to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), oil leaked into the facility’s discharge drains during the fire, then into the river.
However, “there is no doubt that oil was discharged into the Hudson River,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at Indian Point on Sunday. “We have booms in the water now around the discharged pipe to collect any oil that may be in the river.”
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Transformer Explosion At The Indian Point Nuclear Facility Near New York Is ‘Contained’
Transformer Explosion At The Indian Point Nuclear Facility Near New York Is ‘Contained’
The words “explosion”, “New York”, “black smoke”, and “nuclear” strike fear into the heart of most people but according to Entergy – who runs Indian Point, “the nuclear facility has been safely shutdown following a transformer failure.”Reports of a loud blast at the nuclear facility just 38 miles north of New York, with dense black smoke rising from Unit 3 are no concern and represent “no danger to public health and safety.” The plant, which dates back to 1962 (although the currently used reactors were installed later in the 70s) had just been brought back online on Friday, after being shut down for a steam leak repair.
Indian is just 38 miles north of New York City, and as RT reports, produces some 25 percent of New York City’s and Westchester’s electricity. The combined power generated by the two units amounts to over 2000 megawatts. The facility employs some 1,600 people.
The plant has been a subject of controversy due to its proximity to NYC. Several environmental groups have been calling for Indian Point’s permanent shutdown for years. It also has a history of transformer accidents and various leaks, including a 2012 explosion in the main transformer that spilled oil into the river and caused Entergy to pay a fine of a $1.2 million.
Witnesses posted alarming images of smoke billowing from the plant on social media, saying it followed a large blast and fire. “It was a huge black ball of smoke and alarms went off immediately,” tweeted Gustavus Gricius, a witness near the scene.
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Rothschilds – Fact or Disinformation to Protect the Guilty
Rothschilds – Fact or Disinformation to Protect the Guilty
The conspiracy promoters are just not satisfied with the fact that we are screwed and perhaps nobody is in charge to stop or push anything. The days of the Rothschilds owning banks and financing wars is old history, Yet to this day, they paint this family as behind everything. This to me is PROPAGANDA for they are not even on center stage. Hey, as long as the get people to blame them, the NY Bankers are free to bribes all they want and politicians are for sale to the highest bidder. Sorry – but the Rothschilds have been long out-classed by New York. That was 19th century.
No family is worth $500 trillion and the Rothschild do not own every central bank. This is just total propaganda that is the perfect cover for those who are really screwing society. This is the oldest trick in the book – kids play this game: I didn’t do it, he did. Or how about – “The dog age it.”
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An Unexpected Success Story Links Our Health to Wild Lands
An Unexpected Success Story Links Our Health to Wild Lands
Environmental disasters caused by human folly are all too familiar. But what about the environmental serendipity? The unexpected stories where nature and humans co-exist harmoniously. They do happen, and some may be found close at hand by looking at your faucet and following the water back to its source.
Before New York and Boston were fierce baseball competitors, they shared a certain wisdom about their drinking water supplies. Boston draws its water from theQuabbin and Wachusetts reservoirs west of the city. North of New York City stretches the metropolis’ water sources — the Croton and Catskill-Delaware watersheds. Gravity is a good friend to these port cities. Both receive their water, largely unfiltered and un-pumped, from protected watersheds in the hills.
Both of these success stories go back to the days when foul water and a spate of dysentery could lose you an election. This pushed politicians to direct engineers and urban planners to find safe water sources. With populations booming in the 1800s, Boston and New York looked to their hinterlands to quench their growing
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As New York Bans Fracking, Calls for Moratorium in Pennsylvania Grow Stronger | DeSmogBlog
As New York Bans Fracking, Calls for Moratorium in Pennsylvania Grow Stronger | DeSmogBlog.
This week, New York Governor Cuomo announced that his state would ban fracking, due in large part to concerns about impacts on public health. But right across the border in Pennsylvania, one of the fastest-moving shale booms in the country still proceeds at breakneck speed.
While Governor-elect Tom Wolfcampaigned on promises to tax shale gas extraction, evidence continued to grow that Pennsylvania has struggled to police the drilling industry or even keep tabs on its activities. A scathing report issued in July by State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale found that record-keeping was “egregiously poor,” and environmental regulators do “not have the infrastructure in place to meet the continuing demands placed upon the agency by expanded shale gas development.”
For the past several years, Pennsylvania has had a history of lax regulation of the shale rush and its impacts on drinking water. For example, in 2011, the state madenational headlines for allowing shale wastewater laced with toxic and radioactive materials to be discharged after incomplete treatment into rivers and streams that were not capable of fully diluting the waste, according to internal EPA documents. Even now, toxic waste from the fracking industry is only tracked via industry self-reporting, which a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found has led to major gaps in tracking and reporting.
New York Governor Cuomo Does Saudi Bidding, Bans Fracking In NY State | Zero Hedge
New York Governor Cuomo Does Saudi Bidding, Bans Fracking In NY State | Zero Hedge.
Having missed the entire shale boom, and with heavily-indebted shale companies now scrambling to boost liquidity or else face bankruptcy if crude prices remain at current levels, moments ago New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday his administration would prohibit hydraulic fracturing statewide, citing health concerns and calling the economic benefits to drilling there limited. “I cannot support high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the great state of New York,” acting health commissioner Howard Zucker said, adding that he wouldn’t allow his own children to live near a fracking site. He said the “cumulative concerns” about fracking “give me reason to pause.”
It only took him 6 years to get to the bottom of said “concerns.” That, and perhaps a phone call and an envelope from one or more Saudi princes.
While fracking wasn’t explicitly illegal before, it is now: the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will issue a legally-binding recommendation prohibiting fracking as a result of Mr. Zucker’s recommendation.
As reported by the WSJ, New York’s environment commissioner, Joe Martens, said that his agency’s concerns about the impact of fracking would so limit the area that could be drilled in the 12 million acre Marcellus Shale that the economic benefits of drilling there would be limited.
“The economic benefits [of fracking] are clearly far lower than originally forecast,” Mr. Martens said.
Mr. Cuomo himself said the decision was made by his commissioners, not him. “I don’t think I even have a role here,” he said at a news conference.
Deadly snowstorm hits parts of New York state – Weather – Al Jazeera English
Deadly snowstorm hits parts of New York state – Weather – Al Jazeera English.
Heavy snow has choked parts of New York state, stranding motorists in their cars, forcing people to remain indoors and leaving at least seven people dead.
The snow has been very localised: Buffalo Airport reported just 9cm of snow, whereas the suburb of Lancaster, just five kilometres away, reported a staggering 1.52 metres.
The snow that fell was what is known as “lake effect” snow. This is snow that is generated when a very cold blast of air moves over a relatively warm body of water.
The air can pick up vast amounts of moisture from the water, which is converted to snow and dumped downwind. It is therefore very dependent on the wind direction.
Lake effect snow is very common around the Great Lakes, because at this time of year, the lakes are relatively warm and provide a good source of moisture.
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The Politics of Fracking: Polarization in New York State » EcoWatch
The Politics of Fracking: Polarization in New York State » EcoWatch.
In September, The Earth Institute hosted Tanya Heikkila and Chris Weible of the University of Colorado Denver for a seminar on The Political Landscape of Shale Gas Development and Hydraulic Fracturing in New York. The seminar was attended by students, faculty and staff from across Columbia, and members of the local community. Professors Heikkila and Weible presented the results of their study, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, looking at fracking perceptions in three study sites: New York, Texas and Colorado. The following is an overview of the results.
Hydraulic fracturing, better known as “fracking,” is the process of injecting high-pressure water, sand and other chemicals into shale rock formations in order to extract oil and gas. Fracking has been around for some time, but only in the past several years has the issue come into the public eye. It’s a highly contentious political issue because of the high volume of water it uses, the types of chemicals used and the unknown health and environmental impacts. In fact in New York, there was a pause on gas drilling permits that utilize fracking. This has become known as the “de facto moratorium,” and has put the state in somewhat of an area of uncertainty. There have been a number of debates at the local level around fracking, the moratorium, and what should be done next.
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White House Presses States to Reconsider Mandatory Ebola Quarantine Orders – NYTimes.com
White House Presses States to Reconsider Mandatory Ebola Quarantine Orders – NYTimes.com.
The Obama administration has expressed deep concerns to the governors of New York and New Jersey and is consulting with them to modify their orders to quarantine medical volunteers returning from West Africa as President Obama seeks to quickly develop a new, nationwide policy for the workers, according to two senior administration officials.
One administration official said the federal government has been pressing the governors to back off their decisions, which quarantine all medical workers who had contact with Ebola patients. But another official said the administration has not specifically asked the governors to reverse their policies.
Mr. Obama held a meeting with his top advisers at the White House on Sunday as officials work to craft a policy that reassures Americans that they are protected from the virus while following the guidance of the government’s scientific advisers. Officials said that policy will be ready in days and that the government would urge all states to follow it.
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