Quaint social contract. Who are the winners and how do they collect their prize

Notes 37

THIS IS THE QUESTION

Maya Schenwar | Winning the Future for Whom?
Maya Schenwar, Truthout: "In the context of the State of the Union, and of Washingtonspeak on the whole, what does 'democracy' mean? This brand of 'democracy' certainly does not include the voices of the poor - the people who are disenfranchised due to their lack of access to basic necessities, the people who, more than anyone, need their government to care. This spectacle of contention and frustration and mess is ultimately a battle between a narrow sliver of very similar perspectives.... Does 'working together,' then, connote simply uniting the voices and interests of 'moderate' Republicans and 'centrist' Democrats, in Congress and in corporate America? A real democracy represents Gary, Indiana as boldly as it represents Washington, DC."

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FINALLY

Financial Crisis Panel Urges Prosecutions of Industry Figures
Greg Gordon, McClatchy Newspapers: "The congressional panel examining the root causes of the nation's financial crisis voted to refer to state and federal prosecutors a wide range of potential criminal wrongdoing by financial industry figures and corporations, people involved in the deliberations said Tuesday

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Well, duh….

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai inaugurated parliament on Wednesday, ending weeks of political infighting, but took a dig at the West saying "foreign interference" had been a serious problem.
The latest showdown has renewed concern about the president's credibility as an ally.

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Typical of tea baggers. They want to takes us back to things that never were

GOP invokes 1700s doctrine in health care fight
John Miller, Associated Press –
BOISE, Idaho – Republican lawmakers in nearly a dozen states are reaching into the dusty annals of American history to fight President Obama's health care overhaul.
They are introducing measures that hinge on "nullification," Thomas Jefferson's late 18th-century concept that purported to give states the ultimate say in constitutional matters.
The efforts are completely unconstitutional in the eyes of most legal scholars because the U.S. Constitution deems federal laws "the supreme law of the land." The Idaho attorney general has weighed in as well, branding nullification unconstitutional
"There's nothing in the Constitution to suggest that the states are superior to the federal government," said David Gray Adler, a constitutional scholar who directs the University of Idaho's McClure Center for Public Policy Research. "We have a long string of Supreme Court decisions that reject their theory."

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What money can or tries to buy wherever it is spread around…. The option to call the shots in contact sports, including politics, especially politics

Top UConn donor wants his money (and his name) back over Huskies' new coach
By Matt Hinton
Robert G. Burton, CEO of Greenwich, Conn.-based Burton Capital Management,
reportedly didn't support the Pasqualoni hire, despite – or perhaps as a result of – having another son who played for Pasqualoni during the height of his success at Syracuse from 1997-2001 (aka "the Donovan McNabb Years"). Subsequently, he's threatened not only to revoke his donation, but also to give up his $50,000-per-year luxury suite ("You already have many other empty boxes at Rentschler. My box will just join the list."), cut off an annual $20,000 donation for summer coaching clinics, transfer all remaining scholarship dollars from football to the business school, and begin training "front line managers" for his company at Syracuse's business school instead.
At least Burton didn't threaten to drop a bomb on Hathaway's office, although the end result if he follows through may not be all that different.

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Finding a public servant who would attest to their name without reservation would be a miracle

Pope calls Joan of Arc model for public officials
AP – Wed Jan 26, VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI says public officials today would do well to model themselves on Joan of Arc, the French saint who was tried for heresy and burned at the stake for her convictions.

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Our coalition of corrupt dictators and allies is falling apart

Egypt: Mubarak Faces Historic Challenge
Emad Mekay, Inter Press Service – Wed, Jan 26
CAIRO, Jan 26 (IPS) - Egyptians have demonstrated in protests rare in size and ferocity against the three-decade rule of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
"Down, Down with Mubarak," thousands chanted in downtown Cairo Tuesday. "Mubarak, it is your turn after Ben Ali," they said referring to Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who was topped Jan. 14 in protests in neighbouring Tunisia.



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Bank still borrowing money from Uncle Sugar for nothing to make profit on loans to others.

By Glenn Somerville and Maria Aspan – Wed Jan 26
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters)
Citigroup has spent the past year recovering from the massive losses that forced it into the government's arms during the financial crisis. The Treasury's successful auction of the warrants comes about a month after it sold off the last of its common shares in Citigroup, and a week after the bank reported its first full-year profit since 2007.
"With a full year of profitability behind us, we have built a strong foundation for sustainable and responsible growth," Citigroup spokesman Jon Diat said in a press release.

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This Modern World: Knowing and Not Knowing
Wednesday 26 January 2011
by: Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World | Political Cartoon

http://www.truth-out.org/this-modern-world-knowing-and-not-knowing67172