On June 20, 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision (6 to 3) that it is within the power of states to deny welfare funds for elective abortions. Immediately, in Connecticut, Governor Ella Grasso declared that unless an abortion is medically necessary the state will not pay for it. In Michigan, Nebraska and...
Archive - December 2021
The following is an abridged and revised version of a talk given by Barry Commoner at the Toward Tomorrow Fair (a fair on alternative futures) at Amherst, Mass., on June 27,1977.
Although the hazards of carbon disulfide exposure were recognized as early as 1851 in France, little has been written about the chemical in the United States. Both liquid and vapor are highly irritating to the skin, eyes, nose and air passages. This local irritation, however, is overshadowed by the serious long-term...
Science for the People held its annual conference this past spring in Voluntown, Conn., on the weekend of April 15-17. Previous gatherings have been called "Northeast Regional Conferences." This one was billed as an "Eastern Regional Conference," but, with almost every active chapter in the country officially or...
In the past ten years, a succession of highly publicized scientific works have purported to demonstrate that women's subordinate position in our society is due, in good part, to innate (genetic) differences between males and females, and not to external factors as claimed by the women's movement. These theories are...
When we were asked to write about the Seabrook occupation we decided almost immediately to discuss our personal experiences and how they altered our political goals and attitudes. This is an important but neglected topic. It concerns the reasons that people join and leave our groups and actions and hence the very...
A few years back, a number of public interest groups in Washington got together to launch a "Food Action Campaign" aimed at alerting citizens to the concentrated power of the food industry and its evils. The Campaign called on a few wellknown people with particular credibility to travel around the country spreading...
Last year's coup was just the continuation of a process started during the 1974-76 government of Isabel Peron, widow of Juan Perón. Under Isabel Perón the military did not operate in the open, but after the coup they took full control of the State apparatus and increased the level of repression to outright fascism. By...
An economy based on consumption needs consumers. When the market is saturated at home, the solution—look abroad for new and untapped markets. This is exactly what has happened in the infant formula industry. With too few mouths to feed at home, the major manufacturers of baby foods have stepped up their promotion...
The idea of a second SftP trip to China first received serious consideration in December 1974. After a couple of false starts, a resolution was finally agreed upon at a Northeastern Regional Coordinating Committee meeting in September 1976 to make a serious attempt to generate the activity and support needed to...