Notes 52
Where D.C. theory of democracy and practice clash
Gulf leaders hear rumblings of dissent
By Brian Murphy, Associated Press –
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – There were only a few dozen Saudi women at a protest to demand the release of prisoners they claim are unfairly linked to militants. Yet the small act of defiance in Riyadh is part of a wider question for autocratic rulers in the Gulf who wonder if the ripples from Egypt could head their way.
Still, even the smallest cracks in the Gulf status quo would be closely watched in the West, which has deep economic and military ties across the region. Washington also depends on its Arab allies in the Gulf as a front-line buffer against Iranian influence and as host for key Pentagon outposts, including major air bases and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain
"There will be pressures coming to the Gulf for reforms on things like corruption, abuses of power and a greater voice for civil society," said Mustafa Alani, a regional analyst at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. "What happened in Tunis may make these ruling families somewhat more flexible to bend with the wind."
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THE HEART of DEMOCRACY, people risking their lives to be free for nothing more than their freedom,not to have it enforced by paid armies supposedly protecting them whether in Egypt OR the U.S.
Freed young leader energizes Egyptian protests
By Michael And Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press –
CAIRO
"I'm not a hero but those who were martyred are the heroes," he said and then broke into a chant of "Mubarak, leave, leave." When he finished, the crowd erupted in cheering, whistling and deafening applause.
Straight from his release from 12 days of detention, Ghonim gave an emotionally charged television interview Monday night where he sobbed over those who have been killed in two weeks of clashes and insisted, "We love Egypt ... and we have rights."
In his first television interview Monday night on Egypt's private Dream satellite station, Ghonim said the protests turned from "the revolution of the Internet youth ... to the revolution of all Egypt."
Ghonim has emerged as a rallying point for protesters, who reject a group of traditional Egyptian opposition groups that have met with the government amid the most sweeping concessions the regime has made in its three decades in power.
The mostly youthful protesters insist that no concessions will do unless Mubarak steps down. But the protests, which began when Ghonim and other activists used the Internet to mobilize people to the streets, have lacked a representative voice. That has raised worries the regime could try to fragment the movement or traditional parties try to hijack it.
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Another view of democracy
Henry A. Giroux | Torturing Democracy
Henry A. Giroux, Paradigm Press: "Since the turn of the twenty-first century, we have lived through a historical period in which the United States relinquished its tenuous claim to democracy. The frames through which democracy apprehends others as human beings worthy of respect, dignity, and human rights were sacrificed to a mode of politics and culture that simply became an extension of war, both at home and abroad. At home, the punishing state increasingly replaced the welfare state, however ill conceived, as more and more individuals and groups were now treated as disposable populations, undeserving of those safety nets and basic protections that provide the conditions for living with a sense of security and dignity. Under such conditions, basic social supports were replaced by an accelerated production of prisons, the expansion of the criminal justice system into everyday life, and the further erosion of crucial civil liberties."
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Just when you think there is no hope
House rejects extensions of Patriot Act provisions
By Writer Jim Abrams, Associated Press Writer –
WASHINGTON – The House on Tuesday failed to extend the life of three surveillance tools that are key to the nation's post-Sept. 11 anti-terror law.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said Republican supporters of the tea party movement should show their opposition to big government by joining Democrats in opposing the measure.
"How about the Patriot Act, which has the broadest reach and the deepest reach of government to our daily lives?" he asked.
The defeat means that Republicans may have to bring the bill back to the floor under regular procedures that only require a majority for passage but allow for amendments. Time is of the essence: The three provisions will expire on Feb. 28 if the House and Senate can't agree on how to proceed
Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union, said she was "glad to see there is bipartisan opposition to the Patriot Act 10 years later." The ACLU is a strong opponent of the three provisions, saying they lack proper and fundamental privacy safeguards.
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These budget overruns began when Reagan decided it was no longer necessary for a progressive tax structure. This is just another example of sticking it to the victim of government policies promoting an economic collapse led by reckless Wall Street execs.
Tue Feb 8, 8:58 am ET
States turn down federal money for jobless benefits
By Zachary Roth zachary Roth – Tue Feb 8
Despite record levels of long-term unemployment, some states are choosing to walk away from a total of almost $1 billion in federal jobless benefits, according to a new report (pdf).
The 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, better known as the stimulus law, extends unemployment benefits to the fast-growing number of Americans who have been without work for six months or more. In addition to helping the jobless, the federal funds offer a much-needed economic stimulus for states.
Teacher layoffs, state parks closed, health care access and reproductive rights denied: This is the vision of Gov. Scott and the ultraconservative leadership in the Florida Legislature and in New Jersey, Arizona and 20 other states around the nation.
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Like eliminating tips for service. Tips are part of the bill and so are contracted pensions and benefits.
State Budget Cuts: Starting at the Top
Dean Baker, Truthout: "The elite media are on yet another jihad. They are determined to cut the pay and benefits of public-sector workers who can still enjoy a middle-class lifestyle. The idea that a schoolteacher or highway worker can retire with a pension of $2,000-$3,000 a month is directly at odds with their view of government. They believe that government exists to redistribute income from everyone else to those who already are rich and powerful. To these people, the money that is going to pay the wages and pensions of ordinary workers is money that could be in the pockets of the rich."
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2,000,000 penny ante prisoners and pimps breaking the banks of many states while thieves big enough to break the national bank are still at liberty. Fuld worth $900,000,000.
Calpers sues ex-Lehman execs over mortgage risks
– Tue Feb 8
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Calpers sued a group of ex-Lehman executives and underwriters, alleging it bought over $700 million in bonds and Lehman stock without knowing the true condition of the now-bankrupt financial company.
Calpers, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, claims former Lehman Chief Executive Richard Fuld, Jr. and his colleagues hid Lehman's exposure to mortgage-related transactions and failed to mitigate the risks of that business, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday in a San Francisco federal court.
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Cut the cost of healthcare? Cut the redundant, ineffective, useless, inhumane treatments and procedures that keep the doctors and hospitals and equipment booked. Think of Giffords treatment,
More candor urged in care of dying cancer patients
By Lauran Neergaard, Ap Medical Writer – Tue Feb 8
WASHINGTON
The guidance and booklet — available at http://www.cancer.net — mark an unusually strong push for planning end-of-life care, in a profession that earns more from attacking tumors than from lengthy, emotional discussions about when it's time to stop.
"This is a clarion call for oncologists . to take the lead in curtailing the use of ineffective therapy and ensuring a focus on palliative care and relief of symptoms throughout the course of illness," the guidance stresses.
Fewer than 40 percent of advanced cancer patients have what it calls a "realistic conversation" with their doctors about what to expect and their choices of care.
The consequences: Patients increasingly are receiving aggressive chemotherapy in the last two weeks of life. They're spending more of their last months hospitalized. They're not told that a lot of expensive, side effect-prone therapies buy at best a few more months.
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