The American Trial Lawyers Association

The Center for Constitutional Rights, along with Earth Rights International, has filed suit against the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell for their complicity with the murder of a human rights activist in Nigeria almost 14 years ago. Shell began oil production in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria in 1958. After more than 30 years of environmental devastation and exploitation by Shell, a nonviolent movement of the Ogoni people developed in the early 1990s, in opposition to Shell's presence in the region. At the request of Shell, and with Shell's assistance and financing, Nigerian soldiers used deadly force and massive, brutal raids against the Ogoni people throughout the early 1990s to repress the growing movement against the oil company. Shell accounts for more than 40% of Nigeria's total petroleum production, and oil revenues account for 90% of Nigerian export earnings and 80% of the government's total revenue, meaning that Shell is responsible for almost half of the government's total income. The case will be heard in New York.


In other news - In case you've been wondering why the ratio of lobbyists to elected officials in Washington, D.C. is several hundred to one, here's a newsflash – Hiring lobbyists pays off. According to a new report, corporations that hire lobbyists to get them major tax breaks can see as much as a 22,000% return on their investment. The report details efforts by hundreds of companies in 2003 and 2004 to push through a one-time tax "holiday" that lowered for a year the tax rate they paid on profits earned abroad. All told, U.S. companies saved about $100 billion in taxes, with pharmaceutical behemoths Pfizer and Merck & Co., technology giants IBM and Hewlett Packard, and health products maker Johnson & Johnson among the top beneficiaries. 93 firms spent as much as $282.7 million lobbying on the issue during that period, and ultimately saved a total of $62.5 billion through the tax change. A separate group of business professors reported last year that companies that lobbied had better market valuations and investment returns than those that did not. Lobbyists say they're not surprised by the findings, which prove what they tell their clients all the time: You can't afford not to have a seasoned Washington player on your team. I guess this is proof of who really controls our legislative practice.


And finally today, just when you thought that the network couldn't sink any lower than their failed program Joe Millionaire, Fox has come up with an exciting new reality series. In the new series, they will find a company that needs or wants to layoff employees, and turn it into a reality show competition. Each episode will feature a company with about 15 or 20 employees that needs to cut costs because of the economy. Instead of the boss deciding who is fired, the company will open its books to show everyone's salaries and let the employees make the call. Fox says the laid-off worker will get a small severance, but isn't saying whether the network or producers are paying the participants in anything beyond the chance for prime-time fame. The new show, titled “Someone's Gotta Go,” comes at a time when millions of people are losing their jobs across the country, and the issue really isn't a laughing or even entertaining matter.

Labels: Abuses, Farron Cousins, Fox, Human Rights, Joe Millionaire, Lawsuit, Lobbyist, Nigeria, Reality Show, Shell, Someone's Gotta Go, Tax Break