Notes 64
Interesting. Government departments find another way to protect oil companies than just wars or backroom diplomacy
Scientist finds Gulf bottom still oily, dead
By Writer Seth Borenstein, Ap Science Writer – Sat Feb 19
WASHINGTON – At a science conference in Washington Saturday, marine scientist Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia reported, "There's some sort of a bottleneck we have yet to identify for why this stuff doesn't seem to be degrading," Joye told the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in Washington. Her research and those of her colleagues contrasts with other studies that show a more optimistic outlook about the health of the gulf, saying microbes did great work munching the oil.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco told reporters Saturday that "it's not a contradiction to say that although most of the oil is gone, there still remains oil out there."
_______________________________________________________
The Public and the Congress they elected by varying margins in 62 districts, upending the former order, seems to be determined to eliminate the public safety net and turn the country over to private interests. When the public can’t get into parks, ride safe roads, and benefit from all the myriad programs from which they benefit, they will wonder, too late, what they were thinking.
House GOP spares no pet projects in trimming budget
House passes cuts to domestic programs
Jolted to action by deficit-conscious newcomers, the Republican-controlled House passed sweeping legislation early Saturday to cut $61 billion from hundreds of federal programs. (Feb 19)
By Philip RuckerWashington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The GOP plan to fund the government through September is an assault on bedrock Democratic priorities. It imposes substantial spending cuts that would alter the role of government in nearly every area of society - from education and human services to transportation projects, foreign humanitarian aid and medical research. Gone, too, are an array of federal environmental regulations and consumer product safety measures that private industries have long opposed.
__________________________________________________
All the discussion is about cut, cut, cut. Whatever happened to the idea of pay, pay, pay?
Obama and Boehner: bi-partisan cowardice on the budget
February 14, 2011, by ctucker
Anybody who has looked seriously at the federal budget knows that three areas consume 60 percent of federal spending — the Pentagon, Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security. You can entirely eliminate the rest of the budget and you’d still be looking at a deficit calamity by, say, 2030. You could kill the Environmental Protection Agency, shut down the FBI, eliminate the Drug Enforcement Agency, never fund another interstate, turn off the spigot of foreign aid to Pakistan, Israel and Egypt, dismantle the Education Department — and still not come close to conquering the deficit.
(See chart below.)
Boehner knows that. So does Paul Ryan, the GOP young turk who heads the House Budget Committee. But they won’t make serious moves on the Pentagon because the Republican base insists on protecting the military-industrial complex. And they won’t curb Medicare spending because seniors are conscientious voters who demand that their entitlements be protected. (Social Security wouldn’t be that difficult a fix, but it would require raising taxes — something else the GOP refuses to do.)
______________________________________________________
Tell us something we didn’t know
Former aide slams Palin in leaked tell-all book manuscript
Laura Donovan - The Daily Caller
Although Palin “had God’s blessing and people’s love and faith,” Bailey added that the campaign was vindictive, malicious, and catty, and had a tendency to dwell on petty disputes.
The trading and the damage that takes place off the radar screen
Al-Qaida figure believed killed in US drone strike
By Ishtiaq Mahsud, Associated Press –
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan
The strike was the first since the arrest of a U.S. citizen who shot two Pakistanis in late January.
The frequency of the missile strikes — often more than one a week — dropped to zero after American Raymond Davis was detained for shooting two Pakistanis in the eastern city of Lahore on Jan. 27. The U.S. has demanded his release, arguing Davis was acting in self-defense against robbers and has diplomatic immunity from prosecution because he works for the U.S. Embassy
Pakistan's government publicly denounces the missile strikes as violations of its sovereignty, but is believed to secretly support the program. Wary of public opinion, however, Islamabad has strained its ties with the U.S. by refusing to verify whether Davis is a diplomat.
Al-Iraqi was believed to be one of several foreigners among the dead.
_______________________________________________
The world we ruled since 1989 is collapsing. Maybe it will be like Reagan said, “Mr President tear down that wall,” and it will pass without a whimper.
Libya air force jets in Malta, pilots seek asylum
AP – One of two Libyan Air Force Mirage jet fighters to land in Malta, is surrounded by Maltese police after …
By GEORGE CINI, Associated Press George Cini, Associated Press – 53 mins ago
VALLETTA, Malta – Two Libyan air force jets landed in Malta on Monday and their pilots asked for political asylum amid a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters in Libya, a military source said.
The two Mirage jets landed at Malta International Airport shortly after two civilian helicopters landed carrying seven people who said they were French. A military source familiar with the situation said the passengers had left in such a hurry that only one had a passport.
_______________________________________________
The era of the 1,000 billionaire sheiks is finally passing and maybe Lawrence’s aborted dream for Arabia will finally be realized after passing through the British and then the American Empires.
Gulf worries weigh on effort for Bahrain talks
By Barbara Surk And Brian Murphy, Associated Press –
MANAMA, Bahrain – As tanks moved into Bahrain's capital, top envoys from across the Gulf gathered inside a seaside palace and emerged with a message: They were united behind the nation's monarch and his ruling system.
But the show of solidarity last week among the Gulf Arab fraternity — including heavyweight Saudi Arabia — was more than just outreach in a time of crisis. It also sent an implicit warning to Bahrain's leaders not to allow more spillover from pro-democracy unrest within the club of sheiks and kings who hold sway from Kuwait to Oman.
"...an uprooting of the old order, the introduction of a new kind of society - cooperative, peaceful, egalitarian." -Howard Zinn,
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Republicans and Israel
Notes 62
Stories of sexual abuse are so common anymore, they are not news. I’m not sure why people do not keep some things in their lives private. The public does not need to know EVERYTHING
Scott Brown's Shocking Confession
Samuel P. Jacobs – Thu Feb 17
NEW YORK – The superstar GOP senator reveals he suffered sexual abuse in his new memoir. Samuel P. Jacobs on his new book and the beginning of Brown's re-election campaign.
With word that the memoir contains revelations about the future senator suffering sexual abuse as a child, the bookseller knows that interest in the politician’s memoir is likely to exceed its current supply.
____________________________________________________
The House steps on enough toes, they will the Egyptian Solution
House Republicans seek to block FCC Internet rules
By Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – Fri Feb 18
WASHINGTON – House Republicans on Thursday moved to block the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing new rules that prohibit broadband providers from interfering with Internet traffic on their networks.
With a 244-181 vote, Republican leaders succeeded in attaching an amendment to a sweeping spending bill that would bar the FCC from using government money to implement its new "network neutrality" regulations.
_______________________________________________
What I can’t understand is why the House has NEVER, NEVER cut off funding for ANY war. They don’t mind supporting killing people but they object to supporting sustaining people.
House votes to deny Obama healthcare law funds
By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro Richard Cowan And Thomas Ferraro – Fri Feb 18, 4:39 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on Friday to choke off cash to fund President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, stepping up a fight with Democrats over budget cuts and deficits.
___________________________________________________
Well, if the government won’t put the bad guys in jail, at least SOMEBOYD may get repaid.
Allstate sues Citi, Deutsche Bank over mortgages
By Aspan Jonathan Stempel And Maria Aspan – Fri Feb 18
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Allstate Corp (ALL.N) sued Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE), accusing the banks of causing losses by hiding the risks on more than $385 million of mortgage securities it bought.
Allstate, the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, has filed similar lawsuits against two other lenders, Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N).
It is so far seeking to recover losses on more than $1.8 billion of securities, including more than $757 million from JPMorgan and more than $700 million from Bank of America and its Countrywide unit.
_____________________________________________________
In case it wasn’t clear before, in diplo speech, the message is screw you to the vast Middle East--including the Palestinians. We set up the Security Council so we could control the world with one vote. And we are doing our best to do it. The Israelis have us in their pocket.
US vetoes UN resolution on Israeli settlements
By Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press – 2 hrs 44 mins ago
UNITED NATIONS – The United States vetoed a U.N. resolution Friday that would have condemned "illegal" Israeli settlements and demanded an immediate halt to all settlement building, a move certain to anger Arab countries and Palestinian supporters around the world.
The 14 other Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution, reflecting the wide support for the Palestinian-backed draft which had over 100 co-sponsors.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the United States agrees with the rest of the council and the wider world "about the folly and illegitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity." But she said the U.S. believes "it is unwise" for the U.N.'s most powerful body to attempt to resolve key issues between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Stories of sexual abuse are so common anymore, they are not news. I’m not sure why people do not keep some things in their lives private. The public does not need to know EVERYTHING
Scott Brown's Shocking Confession
Samuel P. Jacobs – Thu Feb 17
NEW YORK – The superstar GOP senator reveals he suffered sexual abuse in his new memoir. Samuel P. Jacobs on his new book and the beginning of Brown's re-election campaign.
With word that the memoir contains revelations about the future senator suffering sexual abuse as a child, the bookseller knows that interest in the politician’s memoir is likely to exceed its current supply.
____________________________________________________
The House steps on enough toes, they will the Egyptian Solution
House Republicans seek to block FCC Internet rules
By Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – Fri Feb 18
WASHINGTON – House Republicans on Thursday moved to block the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing new rules that prohibit broadband providers from interfering with Internet traffic on their networks.
With a 244-181 vote, Republican leaders succeeded in attaching an amendment to a sweeping spending bill that would bar the FCC from using government money to implement its new "network neutrality" regulations.
_______________________________________________
What I can’t understand is why the House has NEVER, NEVER cut off funding for ANY war. They don’t mind supporting killing people but they object to supporting sustaining people.
House votes to deny Obama healthcare law funds
By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro Richard Cowan And Thomas Ferraro – Fri Feb 18, 4:39 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on Friday to choke off cash to fund President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, stepping up a fight with Democrats over budget cuts and deficits.
___________________________________________________
Well, if the government won’t put the bad guys in jail, at least SOMEBOYD may get repaid.
Allstate sues Citi, Deutsche Bank over mortgages
By Aspan Jonathan Stempel And Maria Aspan – Fri Feb 18
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Allstate Corp (ALL.N) sued Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE), accusing the banks of causing losses by hiding the risks on more than $385 million of mortgage securities it bought.
Allstate, the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, has filed similar lawsuits against two other lenders, Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N).
It is so far seeking to recover losses on more than $1.8 billion of securities, including more than $757 million from JPMorgan and more than $700 million from Bank of America and its Countrywide unit.
_____________________________________________________
In case it wasn’t clear before, in diplo speech, the message is screw you to the vast Middle East--including the Palestinians. We set up the Security Council so we could control the world with one vote. And we are doing our best to do it. The Israelis have us in their pocket.
US vetoes UN resolution on Israeli settlements
By Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press – 2 hrs 44 mins ago
UNITED NATIONS – The United States vetoed a U.N. resolution Friday that would have condemned "illegal" Israeli settlements and demanded an immediate halt to all settlement building, a move certain to anger Arab countries and Palestinian supporters around the world.
The 14 other Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution, reflecting the wide support for the Palestinian-backed draft which had over 100 co-sponsors.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the United States agrees with the rest of the council and the wider world "about the folly and illegitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity." But she said the U.S. believes "it is unwise" for the U.N.'s most powerful body to attempt to resolve key issues between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Sleeping bear finally awakens
Notes 61
The tranquilized bear has finally awakened after taking a pass on Sen Feingold and a liberal governor
Wis. union vote on hold after Democrats leave state
Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan summed up the unexpected fervor on MSNBC today: "Cairo has moved to Madison."
Gov. Scott Walker's legislation would end collective bargaining rights--the process by which employees band together to negotiate with employers--for almost all of Wisconsin's state, county and local workers (police, firefighters and the state patrol would be excepted). This would mean, among other things, that unions wouldn't be able to seek pay increases above inflation, unless voters approve those hikes in a special referendum. Unions also would not be able to require members to pay dues, and would have to hold yearly votes to stay organized.
The bill also would make public workers pay half the cost of their pensions, and at least 12.6 percent of their health care coverage. On average, state employees' share of their pension and health care costs would go up by 8 percent.
In exchange for all this, Walker has promised not to lay off or furlough public employees. But he has said that if the bill doesn't pass, he'll order layoffs of up to 6,000 state workers.
_______________________________________________________
More battles over House GOP spending bill
By Press Andrew Taylor, Associated Press –
The arts and heating subsidy votes were the first in an anticipated long day as House leaders pressed to wrap up a $1.2 trillion spending bill to fund the Pentagon and the operating budgets of every Cabinet agency and to provide $158 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Boehner said that after passage of the pending measure, containing $61 billion in cuts, the Republican majority would next turn its attention to "wasteful mandatory spending."
The term "mandatory programs" generally refers to benefits such as food stamps, farm subsidies, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
__________________________________________________
How sweet it is. A Mob prosecutor running New Jersey like the poor are gangsters--and people polled love it. It’s a sad reflection on Americans scared about their pocketbook and not about their Christian values. No need to worry about a sectarian nation.
Chris Christie Shows Why He's a GOP Star
Eleanor Clift Eleanor Clift – Wed Feb 16
Soon after taking office in January 2010, Gov Chris Christie, NJ, was told the state could not meet its payroll if he didn't act immediately to close a deficit. He impounded money without the permission of the legislature.
He likes to tell stories about himself taking on the teachers' unions and the firefighters and the police officers.
The way to understand Christie, says Ben Dworkin, director of the Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, "is he has the leadership skills of a powerful prosecutor who happens to be governor. He argues his case in the press, and he stays on the attack constantly." As a federal prosecutor in New Jersey, Christie never lost a corruption case, and there were plenty in a state best known for The Sopranos. His favorite phrase: "Heads I win, tails you lose."
The attributes that have excited Republicans were on full display at AEI. Christie neatly skewered Obama's notion of big things, calling high-speed rail, high-speed Internet access, and a million electric cars "the candy of American politics," not the place where real politicians get their chops in an era of scarce resources.
____________________________________________________
Multi billion dollar decisions given to pipe jockeys on Deepwater Horizon
BP workers could have prevented rig accident: commission
By Ayesha Rascoe Ayesha Rascoe
REUTERS
"The sad fact is that this was an entirely preventable disaster," the White House oil spill commission’s chief counsel, Fred Bartlit said on Thursday. "Poor decisions by management were the real cause.”
Had BP's well site leaders brought their faulty explanation of the test results to either of the visiting engineers, "events likely would have turned out differently," the commission report said.
The two engineers who were visiting the rig that day said they would have insisted on further testing, had they been consulted.
________________________________________________
Sounds like Karzai took lessons from Wall Street
Kabul Bank crisis
by Katherine Haddon –
KABUL (AFP)
Reuters
The Afghan finance ministry issued a statement saying Afghan and US officials had agreed that the "unethical and fraudulent behaviour" of bank executives plus failings at the country's central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank, were at the heart of the problem.
The war-torn country's biggest commercial bank, whose owners include a brother of President Hamid Karzai, came close to collapse last year amid claims that former executives had granted themselves huge loans off the books.
________________________________________________
What the IMF does well, gives a nation’s resources over to private interests. Private interests proved much better at looting U.S. resources during the financial meltdown than the government ever did with its tax and spend policies.
Greek minister heightens row with EU, IMF
AFP – Wed Feb 16
ATHENS (AFP) - Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou accused the EU and IMF Wednesday of exceeding their role in calling for massive privatisation to boost the country's coffers, while not ruling out such a move.
___________________________________________________
Chevron finally reads the writing on the wall--too late. What a joke. The Niger Delta is an ecological disaster with oil festering like a gigantic cesspool in the waters and farmlands of the locals
Chevron foundation, USAID give Nigeria $50M
By YINKA IBUKUN, Associated Press– Thu Feb 17
LAGOS, Nigeria –
Chevron Corp.'s foundation and USAID are to pour $50 million into Nigeria's impoverished delta where militants have kidnapped foreign oil workers and demanded that more oil profits come back to the region, the U.S. oil giant said Thursday.
Chevron's Niger Delta Partnership Initiative and the U.S.-government funded USAID will each invest $25 million toward the development of the region over the next four years.
Chevron's move in Nigeria comes after a judge in Ecuador ordered the oil company on Monday to pay $9.5 billion in damages and cleanup costs after ruling that Chevron was responsible for oil drilling contamination in a wide swath of Ecuador's northern jungle. Chevron plans to appeal that decision.
The tranquilized bear has finally awakened after taking a pass on Sen Feingold and a liberal governor
Wis. union vote on hold after Democrats leave state
Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan summed up the unexpected fervor on MSNBC today: "Cairo has moved to Madison."
Gov. Scott Walker's legislation would end collective bargaining rights--the process by which employees band together to negotiate with employers--for almost all of Wisconsin's state, county and local workers (police, firefighters and the state patrol would be excepted). This would mean, among other things, that unions wouldn't be able to seek pay increases above inflation, unless voters approve those hikes in a special referendum. Unions also would not be able to require members to pay dues, and would have to hold yearly votes to stay organized.
The bill also would make public workers pay half the cost of their pensions, and at least 12.6 percent of their health care coverage. On average, state employees' share of their pension and health care costs would go up by 8 percent.
In exchange for all this, Walker has promised not to lay off or furlough public employees. But he has said that if the bill doesn't pass, he'll order layoffs of up to 6,000 state workers.
_______________________________________________________
More battles over House GOP spending bill
By Press Andrew Taylor, Associated Press –
The arts and heating subsidy votes were the first in an anticipated long day as House leaders pressed to wrap up a $1.2 trillion spending bill to fund the Pentagon and the operating budgets of every Cabinet agency and to provide $158 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Boehner said that after passage of the pending measure, containing $61 billion in cuts, the Republican majority would next turn its attention to "wasteful mandatory spending."
The term "mandatory programs" generally refers to benefits such as food stamps, farm subsidies, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
__________________________________________________
How sweet it is. A Mob prosecutor running New Jersey like the poor are gangsters--and people polled love it. It’s a sad reflection on Americans scared about their pocketbook and not about their Christian values. No need to worry about a sectarian nation.
Chris Christie Shows Why He's a GOP Star
Eleanor Clift Eleanor Clift – Wed Feb 16
Soon after taking office in January 2010, Gov Chris Christie, NJ, was told the state could not meet its payroll if he didn't act immediately to close a deficit. He impounded money without the permission of the legislature.
He likes to tell stories about himself taking on the teachers' unions and the firefighters and the police officers.
The way to understand Christie, says Ben Dworkin, director of the Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, "is he has the leadership skills of a powerful prosecutor who happens to be governor. He argues his case in the press, and he stays on the attack constantly." As a federal prosecutor in New Jersey, Christie never lost a corruption case, and there were plenty in a state best known for The Sopranos. His favorite phrase: "Heads I win, tails you lose."
The attributes that have excited Republicans were on full display at AEI. Christie neatly skewered Obama's notion of big things, calling high-speed rail, high-speed Internet access, and a million electric cars "the candy of American politics," not the place where real politicians get their chops in an era of scarce resources.
____________________________________________________
Multi billion dollar decisions given to pipe jockeys on Deepwater Horizon
BP workers could have prevented rig accident: commission
By Ayesha Rascoe Ayesha Rascoe
REUTERS
"The sad fact is that this was an entirely preventable disaster," the White House oil spill commission’s chief counsel, Fred Bartlit said on Thursday. "Poor decisions by management were the real cause.”
Had BP's well site leaders brought their faulty explanation of the test results to either of the visiting engineers, "events likely would have turned out differently," the commission report said.
The two engineers who were visiting the rig that day said they would have insisted on further testing, had they been consulted.
________________________________________________
Sounds like Karzai took lessons from Wall Street
Kabul Bank crisis
by Katherine Haddon –
KABUL (AFP)
Reuters
The Afghan finance ministry issued a statement saying Afghan and US officials had agreed that the "unethical and fraudulent behaviour" of bank executives plus failings at the country's central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank, were at the heart of the problem.
The war-torn country's biggest commercial bank, whose owners include a brother of President Hamid Karzai, came close to collapse last year amid claims that former executives had granted themselves huge loans off the books.
________________________________________________
What the IMF does well, gives a nation’s resources over to private interests. Private interests proved much better at looting U.S. resources during the financial meltdown than the government ever did with its tax and spend policies.
Greek minister heightens row with EU, IMF
AFP – Wed Feb 16
ATHENS (AFP) - Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou accused the EU and IMF Wednesday of exceeding their role in calling for massive privatisation to boost the country's coffers, while not ruling out such a move.
___________________________________________________
Chevron finally reads the writing on the wall--too late. What a joke. The Niger Delta is an ecological disaster with oil festering like a gigantic cesspool in the waters and farmlands of the locals
Chevron foundation, USAID give Nigeria $50M
By YINKA IBUKUN, Associated Press– Thu Feb 17
LAGOS, Nigeria –
Chevron Corp.'s foundation and USAID are to pour $50 million into Nigeria's impoverished delta where militants have kidnapped foreign oil workers and demanded that more oil profits come back to the region, the U.S. oil giant said Thursday.
Chevron's Niger Delta Partnership Initiative and the U.S.-government funded USAID will each invest $25 million toward the development of the region over the next four years.
Chevron's move in Nigeria comes after a judge in Ecuador ordered the oil company on Monday to pay $9.5 billion in damages and cleanup costs after ruling that Chevron was responsible for oil drilling contamination in a wide swath of Ecuador's northern jungle. Chevron plans to appeal that decision.
Potpourri
Notes 60
Congress plays chicken over paying for 1099 mandate repeal
Cheaters screwed themselves and are now reaping the pain. Too Bad.
Neil deMause, contributing writer, On Wednesday February 16, 2011
The expanded 1099 reporting mandate was placed in the health reform bill in late 2009 by the Senate Finance Committee, which was looking for ways to raise revenue to help make health reform "revenue neutral" -- a key demand of Obama's. The bipartisan Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimated requiring all purchases of goods and services to be reported on 1099 forms would reduce the "tax gap" on income that businesses collect but don't report could by about $2 billion a year.
____________________________________________________
Israel knows all about provocations. Check out Sharron touring the Dome of the Rock and starting the Second Intafada with his in-your-face bravado
Israel claims Iran warships to transit Suez Canal
By Mark Lavie, Associated Press –
JERUSALEM – Israel's foreign minister claimed Wednesday that Iran is about to send two warships through the Suez Canal for the first time in years, calling it a "provocation," but he offered no evidence. The Egyptian authority that runs the canal denied it.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman "This is a provocation that proves that Iranian audacity and insolence are increasing."
______________________________________________________
What a concept--but first the public has to believe America is an empire. Its tactics were certainly aired during the revolution in Egypt. Enough to strip the blinders off the public if they just paid attention. America is not without fault, not a benign good fellow.
Nadler, Polis Push Today to Cut Deficit by Trimming Empire
Robert Naiman, Truthout: "President Obama and House Republicans are out with their budget plans for the next fiscal year. Economist Jeffrey Sachs described it thus: President Obama wants to bleed the patient. House Republicans want to cut the patient's arm off. As Sachs pointed out, it's only possible in our 'Mubarak Egypt' political terrain - both party leaderships catering to the super rich, largely ignoring the interests of the vast majority of Americans who must work or scrounge to earn their daily bread - that we can have a debate premised on the absurd notion that the budget deficit is an urgent crisis while we have ten percent measured unemployment and many Americans - disproportionately veterans - don't have a decent place to sleep. But if that weren't outrageous enough, amid all the blather about 'shared sacrifice,' there is another group of powerful people that are largely escaping budget pain, in the plans of leaders of both parties, besides the super rich: the partisans of the Empire."
________________________________________________
Maybe the spirit of Egypt won’t just spread to the Middle East. Maybe they have taught us something about feet on the street and it won‘t be uneasy just for the dictators. Having to learn about democracy from the Egyptians. Isn’t that a sad comment on how far we have sunk.
Thousands protest anti-union bill in Wisconsin
By Scott Bauer, Associated Press –
MADISON, Wis. –
Thousands of teachers, students and prison guards descended on the Wisconsin Capitol on Wednesday to fight a move to strip government workers of union rights in the first state to grant them more than a half-century ago.
The Statehouse filled with as many as 10,000 demonstrators who chanted, sang the national anthem and beat drums for hours. The noise in the rotunda rose to the level of a chainsaw, and many Madison teachers joined the protest by calling in sick in such numbers that the district — the state's second-largest — had to cancel classes.
______________________________________________________
Beware Pentagon. . . Half billion down. 500 more to go. Maybe it won’t be business as usual. Maybe there’s a rebellion brewing against the powers that have been able to lock in stupid defense spending for decades.
Obama, GOP freshmen win in jet engine budget fight
AP – Defense Secretary Robert Gates testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011, before …
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent David Espo, Ap Special Correspondent – 2 hrs 2 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Determined to reduce deficits, impatient House Republican freshmen made common cause with President Barack Obama on Wednesday, scoring their biggest victory to date in a vote to cancel $450 million for an alternative engine for the Pentagon's next-generation warplane.
"Right here, right now was a surefire way to reduce spending," declared Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida, a second-term lawmaker whose summons to cut money from the F-35 fighter jet was answered by 47 Republican newcomers. Speaker John Boehner and other House GOP leaders back the funding.
Congress plays chicken over paying for 1099 mandate repeal
Cheaters screwed themselves and are now reaping the pain. Too Bad.
Neil deMause, contributing writer, On Wednesday February 16, 2011
The expanded 1099 reporting mandate was placed in the health reform bill in late 2009 by the Senate Finance Committee, which was looking for ways to raise revenue to help make health reform "revenue neutral" -- a key demand of Obama's. The bipartisan Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimated requiring all purchases of goods and services to be reported on 1099 forms would reduce the "tax gap" on income that businesses collect but don't report could by about $2 billion a year.
____________________________________________________
Israel knows all about provocations. Check out Sharron touring the Dome of the Rock and starting the Second Intafada with his in-your-face bravado
Israel claims Iran warships to transit Suez Canal
By Mark Lavie, Associated Press –
JERUSALEM – Israel's foreign minister claimed Wednesday that Iran is about to send two warships through the Suez Canal for the first time in years, calling it a "provocation," but he offered no evidence. The Egyptian authority that runs the canal denied it.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman "This is a provocation that proves that Iranian audacity and insolence are increasing."
______________________________________________________
What a concept--but first the public has to believe America is an empire. Its tactics were certainly aired during the revolution in Egypt. Enough to strip the blinders off the public if they just paid attention. America is not without fault, not a benign good fellow.
Nadler, Polis Push Today to Cut Deficit by Trimming Empire
Robert Naiman, Truthout: "President Obama and House Republicans are out with their budget plans for the next fiscal year. Economist Jeffrey Sachs described it thus: President Obama wants to bleed the patient. House Republicans want to cut the patient's arm off. As Sachs pointed out, it's only possible in our 'Mubarak Egypt' political terrain - both party leaderships catering to the super rich, largely ignoring the interests of the vast majority of Americans who must work or scrounge to earn their daily bread - that we can have a debate premised on the absurd notion that the budget deficit is an urgent crisis while we have ten percent measured unemployment and many Americans - disproportionately veterans - don't have a decent place to sleep. But if that weren't outrageous enough, amid all the blather about 'shared sacrifice,' there is another group of powerful people that are largely escaping budget pain, in the plans of leaders of both parties, besides the super rich: the partisans of the Empire."
________________________________________________
Maybe the spirit of Egypt won’t just spread to the Middle East. Maybe they have taught us something about feet on the street and it won‘t be uneasy just for the dictators. Having to learn about democracy from the Egyptians. Isn’t that a sad comment on how far we have sunk.
Thousands protest anti-union bill in Wisconsin
By Scott Bauer, Associated Press –
MADISON, Wis. –
Thousands of teachers, students and prison guards descended on the Wisconsin Capitol on Wednesday to fight a move to strip government workers of union rights in the first state to grant them more than a half-century ago.
The Statehouse filled with as many as 10,000 demonstrators who chanted, sang the national anthem and beat drums for hours. The noise in the rotunda rose to the level of a chainsaw, and many Madison teachers joined the protest by calling in sick in such numbers that the district — the state's second-largest — had to cancel classes.
______________________________________________________
Beware Pentagon. . . Half billion down. 500 more to go. Maybe it won’t be business as usual. Maybe there’s a rebellion brewing against the powers that have been able to lock in stupid defense spending for decades.
Obama, GOP freshmen win in jet engine budget fight
AP – Defense Secretary Robert Gates testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011, before …
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent David Espo, Ap Special Correspondent – 2 hrs 2 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Determined to reduce deficits, impatient House Republican freshmen made common cause with President Barack Obama on Wednesday, scoring their biggest victory to date in a vote to cancel $450 million for an alternative engine for the Pentagon's next-generation warplane.
"Right here, right now was a surefire way to reduce spending," declared Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida, a second-term lawmaker whose summons to cut money from the F-35 fighter jet was answered by 47 Republican newcomers. Speaker John Boehner and other House GOP leaders back the funding.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The budget, the facts, the killers, and Tom Clancy
Notes 59
The opposition plan we have been waiting for. I hope we get it and rue the day.
Obama, GOP steering onto budget collision course
By David Espo And Andrew Taylor, Associated Press –
WASHINGTON –
Republicans used their first major spending bill to reflect conservative priorities on a range of issues, from abortion to the environment.
The bill would prohibit federal funding for any private organization that uses its own funds to facilitate abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in jeopardy.
It also would block the administration from terminating plans for a nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada — a direct challenge to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Additionally, the EPA would be barred from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from factories and other stationary sites.
Conservatives said they would attempt to add other policy requirements to the legislation during floor debate, including one to prevent the implementation of the year-old health care law.
______________________________________________________
The problem with our democracy is the people are NOT well informed and don't much care to be or are too ll educated to be able to be. So ther goes Jefferson's axiom.
Bill Moyers: "Facts Still Matter ..."
Monday 14 February 2011
by: Bill Moyers, t r u t h o u t | Speech
Hadn't Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that, "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government"? And wasn't a free press essential to that end?
I had left the White House by then to be publisher of Newsday and would soon join public television as anchor of a weekly broadcast. Fred's first teaching assistant, Martin Clancy, was my star producer. It was usually one of Fred's people who taught me the most about our craft - how it was possible through the coupling of word and image to come close to the verifiable truth and an honest accounting of reality. Fred played a critical role in my life when, after stints at both CBS and PBS, I had to choose between the two. I had found it increasingly difficult at the network to do the work I most wanted to do, but was reluctant to take off the golden handcuffs and leap into the world of independent production. I went over to see Fred at the foundation and there was nothing subtle in his advice. He said, "You're never going to do the work you most want to do until you do it for yourself." So, I followed him overboard.
Fred was right, as he so often was: independence meant the best hope for me to pursue journalism as a mission. Perhaps, we were naïve, but in those days many of us still assumed that an informed public is preferable to an uninformed one. Hadn't Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that, "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government"? And wasn't a free press essential to that end?
__________________________________________________
Obama Prince of the Poor or Darth Vader
Left slams Obama over safety net
Charles Riley, staff reporter, On Tuesday February 15, 2011
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal organization that boasts 700,000 members, took Obama to task before the budget was even officially released.
"Proposing even more tax breaks for Wall Street banks while slashing and burning necessary government programs is right-wing radicalism, and no Democratic president should be part of it," the group said in a statement.
Obama -- who worked for years as a community organizer -- acknowledged that some of the programs facing cuts are personally important to him.
"This budget freeze will require some tough choices," the president said Monday. "It will mean cutting things that I care deeply about."
"The budget proposal from President Obama is right from the Republican plan," Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., a Democrat from Obama's home state of Illinois said in a statement. "As the president, he should be the last line of defense for the most vulnerable Americans, instead of the first one to cut."
_________________________________________________
Maybe Arizona will get what it deserves, its own Clockwork Orange
Anti-immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio leads AZ Senate Race
By Rachel Rose Hartman – Tue Feb 15
A new poll shows Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is the favorite candidate for Arizona Senate among state Republicans, Roll Call's David M. Drucker reports.
Anti-illegal immigration activists across the country have hailed the Republican sheriff as a model of harsher enforcement. He led the GOP field with 21 percent in a poll from Summit Consulting Group. Arpaio has not indicated he will run in 2012 in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, who is retiring. But the poll suggests if Arpaio could be a formidable candidate should he elect to run.
_______________________________________________________
Joe Arpaio would know what to do. Former Special Forces troop thought he had a license to kill--like Blackwater thugs. Finally somebody standing up to people U.S turns loose as professional killers.
Kerry tries to soothe Pakistan diplomatic dispute
By BABAR DOGAR and HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Babar Dogar And Heidi Vogt, Associated Press – 21 mins ago
LAHORE, Pakistan –
U.S. officials have said Davis shot in self-defense when two armed men on a motorcycle tried to rob him. Pakistani police officials have said they plan to try him for murder, arguing that while the Pakistanis did have a loaded gun, there was no round in the chamber, and saying Davis shot one man as he was trying to flee.
Regardless of guilt, the U.S. says the detention of Davis, a former Special Forces soldier and an embassy worker, is illegal under international agreements covering diplomats. U.S. officials have threatened to withhold billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan unless Davis is freed.
___________________________________________________________
The world of the Bourne Identity only more ruthless and deadly. Our murderous thugs against their murderous thugs in a battle for underworld supremacy while the rest of the innocent world bumbles on
New York TIMES
Arts Beat
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
New Clancy Thriller Contains the Sum of All Characters
By DAVE ITZKOFF
The new novel, called “Dead Or Alive” will feature the characters Jack Ryan, the C.I.A. analyst-turned-American president; his son and fellow analyst, Jack Ryan Jr.; the C.I.A. operative John Clark; his apprentice, Ding Chavez; and the agency executive Mary Pat Foley. In a statement, Penguin said the novel will pit them against “The Emir, a sadistic killer who has masterminded the most vicious terrorist attacks on the West” and who “has eluded capture by the world’s armed forces and law enforcement agencies.”
____________________________________________
The beat goes on
Bahrain protesters take control of main square

By Brian Murphy, Associated Press –
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Thousands of protesters poured into a main square in Bahrain's capital Tuesday in an Egypt-style rebellion that sharply escalated pressure on authorities as the Arab push for change gripped the Gulf for the first time.
Security forces have battled demonstrators calling for political reforms and greater freedoms over two days, leading to the deaths of two protesters and the main opposition group vowing to freeze its work in parliament in protest.
In a clear sign of concern over the widening crisis, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa made a rare national TV address, offering condolences for the deaths, pledging an investigation into the killings and promising to push ahead with reforms, which include loosening state controls on the media and Internet.
_______________________________________________________
The opposition plan we have been waiting for. I hope we get it and rue the day.
Obama, GOP steering onto budget collision course
By David Espo And Andrew Taylor, Associated Press –
WASHINGTON –
Republicans used their first major spending bill to reflect conservative priorities on a range of issues, from abortion to the environment.
The bill would prohibit federal funding for any private organization that uses its own funds to facilitate abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in jeopardy.
It also would block the administration from terminating plans for a nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada — a direct challenge to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Additionally, the EPA would be barred from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from factories and other stationary sites.
Conservatives said they would attempt to add other policy requirements to the legislation during floor debate, including one to prevent the implementation of the year-old health care law.
______________________________________________________
The problem with our democracy is the people are NOT well informed and don't much care to be or are too ll educated to be able to be. So ther goes Jefferson's axiom.
Bill Moyers: "Facts Still Matter ..."
Monday 14 February 2011
by: Bill Moyers, t r u t h o u t | Speech
Hadn't Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that, "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government"? And wasn't a free press essential to that end?
I had left the White House by then to be publisher of Newsday and would soon join public television as anchor of a weekly broadcast. Fred's first teaching assistant, Martin Clancy, was my star producer. It was usually one of Fred's people who taught me the most about our craft - how it was possible through the coupling of word and image to come close to the verifiable truth and an honest accounting of reality. Fred played a critical role in my life when, after stints at both CBS and PBS, I had to choose between the two. I had found it increasingly difficult at the network to do the work I most wanted to do, but was reluctant to take off the golden handcuffs and leap into the world of independent production. I went over to see Fred at the foundation and there was nothing subtle in his advice. He said, "You're never going to do the work you most want to do until you do it for yourself." So, I followed him overboard.
Fred was right, as he so often was: independence meant the best hope for me to pursue journalism as a mission. Perhaps, we were naïve, but in those days many of us still assumed that an informed public is preferable to an uninformed one. Hadn't Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that, "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government"? And wasn't a free press essential to that end?
__________________________________________________
Obama Prince of the Poor or Darth Vader
Left slams Obama over safety net
Charles Riley, staff reporter, On Tuesday February 15, 2011
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal organization that boasts 700,000 members, took Obama to task before the budget was even officially released.
"Proposing even more tax breaks for Wall Street banks while slashing and burning necessary government programs is right-wing radicalism, and no Democratic president should be part of it," the group said in a statement.
Obama -- who worked for years as a community organizer -- acknowledged that some of the programs facing cuts are personally important to him.
"This budget freeze will require some tough choices," the president said Monday. "It will mean cutting things that I care deeply about."
"The budget proposal from President Obama is right from the Republican plan," Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., a Democrat from Obama's home state of Illinois said in a statement. "As the president, he should be the last line of defense for the most vulnerable Americans, instead of the first one to cut."
_________________________________________________
Maybe Arizona will get what it deserves, its own Clockwork Orange
Anti-immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio leads AZ Senate Race
By Rachel Rose Hartman – Tue Feb 15
A new poll shows Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is the favorite candidate for Arizona Senate among state Republicans, Roll Call's David M. Drucker reports.
Anti-illegal immigration activists across the country have hailed the Republican sheriff as a model of harsher enforcement. He led the GOP field with 21 percent in a poll from Summit Consulting Group. Arpaio has not indicated he will run in 2012 in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, who is retiring. But the poll suggests if Arpaio could be a formidable candidate should he elect to run.
_______________________________________________________
Joe Arpaio would know what to do. Former Special Forces troop thought he had a license to kill--like Blackwater thugs. Finally somebody standing up to people U.S turns loose as professional killers.
Kerry tries to soothe Pakistan diplomatic dispute
By BABAR DOGAR and HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Babar Dogar And Heidi Vogt, Associated Press – 21 mins ago
LAHORE, Pakistan –
U.S. officials have said Davis shot in self-defense when two armed men on a motorcycle tried to rob him. Pakistani police officials have said they plan to try him for murder, arguing that while the Pakistanis did have a loaded gun, there was no round in the chamber, and saying Davis shot one man as he was trying to flee.
Regardless of guilt, the U.S. says the detention of Davis, a former Special Forces soldier and an embassy worker, is illegal under international agreements covering diplomats. U.S. officials have threatened to withhold billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan unless Davis is freed.
___________________________________________________________
The world of the Bourne Identity only more ruthless and deadly. Our murderous thugs against their murderous thugs in a battle for underworld supremacy while the rest of the innocent world bumbles on
New York TIMES
Arts Beat
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
New Clancy Thriller Contains the Sum of All Characters
By DAVE ITZKOFF
The new novel, called “Dead Or Alive” will feature the characters Jack Ryan, the C.I.A. analyst-turned-American president; his son and fellow analyst, Jack Ryan Jr.; the C.I.A. operative John Clark; his apprentice, Ding Chavez; and the agency executive Mary Pat Foley. In a statement, Penguin said the novel will pit them against “The Emir, a sadistic killer who has masterminded the most vicious terrorist attacks on the West” and who “has eluded capture by the world’s armed forces and law enforcement agencies.”
____________________________________________
The beat goes on
Bahrain protesters take control of main square

By Brian Murphy, Associated Press –
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Thousands of protesters poured into a main square in Bahrain's capital Tuesday in an Egypt-style rebellion that sharply escalated pressure on authorities as the Arab push for change gripped the Gulf for the first time.
Security forces have battled demonstrators calling for political reforms and greater freedoms over two days, leading to the deaths of two protesters and the main opposition group vowing to freeze its work in parliament in protest.
In a clear sign of concern over the widening crisis, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa made a rare national TV address, offering condolences for the deaths, pledging an investigation into the killings and promising to push ahead with reforms, which include loosening state controls on the media and Internet.
_______________________________________________________
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
IMF/Austerity budgets; shades of Westmoreland; and other mourning news
Notes 58
Understanding why the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are not well liked outside the industrialized west and why nations like Britain and the U.S have become one of the Third World debtor nations. Explained in less time that it takes to get a taxi in New York
"Austerity" Comes to America
Monday 14 February 2011
by: Richard D. Wolff, t r u t h o u t | Video
His documentary film on that crisis, Capitalism Hits the Fan, can be previewed at www.capitalismhitsthefan.com.
________________________________________________
Back to General Westmoreland and the Tet Offensive that proved his lies unbelievable
Deferring to Petraeus, NIE Failed to Register Taliban Growth
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: "Despite evidence that the Taliban insurgency had grown significantly in 2010, the U.S. intelligence community failed to revise its estimate for Taliban forces as part of a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Afghanistan in December. That unusual decision was in deference to Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S.-NATO forces in Afghanistan, who did not want any official estimate of the insurgency's strength that would contradict his claims of success by Special Operations Forces in reducing the capabilities of the Taliban in 2010."
__________________________________________________
Our own sectarian state right here in River City
Christian Flag Folding Ceremony Reveals Official Sanction of Church-State Violations in the Military
Valerie Tarico, Away Point: "When American soldiers come forward with tales of divisive evangelism run amuck in the military - for example, proselytizing by commanding officers, coerced attendance at revival meetings, distribution of Bibles to Afghanis or Jesus coins to Iraqis - one problem they face is that people find the stories too outrageous to be credible. A combat soldier being forced to pick hairs out of a latrine because he wouldn't pray? Another being told he's responsible if any of his buddies die? An Iraqi child post-IED given a tract that shows dead Iraqis going to hell and Americans (aka Christians) going to heaven? Some folks have accused the Military Religious Freedom Foundation of making this stuff up. Military officials insist that each event was the isolated actions of individual soldiers and lacked official sanction. One recent scandal left little room for such framing."
_____________________________________________________
Obama’s con job--masking as a liberal while acting like an antidote for liberal values and programs
Liberal Fallacies: Protecting Social Security From Its "Friends"
L. Randall Wray, new deal 2.0: "Liberal attacks on Social Security are the unkindest cut of all. The Center for American Progress's Matt Miller has argued that liberals can learn a valuable lesson from NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposed budget. With his state facing a fiscal crisis, the Governor has proposed to cap growth of state spending on the Medicaid program. Miller has argued that we should follow his example and apply a similar cap to Social Security spending."
_______________________________________________________
The Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf just of the tip of the damage done to environment by oil companies In Ecuador, Nigeria, Siberia and places off our usual maps
Chevron fined $8.6 billion in Ecuador
By Gonzalo Solano And Frank Bajak, Associated Press –
QUITO, Ecuador – An Ecuadorean judge ruled Monday in an epic environmental case that Chevron Corp. was responsible for oil drilling contamination in a wide swath of Ecuador's northern jungle and ordered the oil giant to pay $8.6 billion in damages and cleanup costs.
The amount was far below the $27.3 billion recommended by a court-appointed expert but appeared to be the highest damage award ever issued in an environmental lawsuit.
_________________________________________________________
Busted--why the Arabs and the rest do not like U.S military on the ground in their countries
Argentina, US tangle over military material
By Michael Warren, Associated Press – Mon Feb 14
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina is accusing the U.S. military of trying to sneak guns and spy equipment into the country under the guise of providing a routine police training course — a charge disputed Monday by U.S. officials.
Argentine authorities say they seized nearly 1,000 cubic feet of undeclared equipment, describing it as machine guns and ammunition, drugs and spy equipment. It was on a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane that landed Thursday with material for a training course that a U.S. Special Forces team had been invited to provide to Argentina's federal police.
"Argentine law must be complied with by all, without exception," Foreign Minister Hector Timerman told Arturo Valenzuela, the assistant U.S. secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, when Valenzuela called him to complain about how authorities handled the cargo, the ministry said.
___________________________________________________________
FYI--the New York Stock Exchange will soon be a memory
The Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext are expected to announce their merger Tuesday.
The merger would create the world's largest exchange operator.
Once Deutsche Boerse completes its takeover agreement with NYSE Euronext, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, the 17-member board of the combined firm will mostly be drawn from the Germany company, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Understanding why the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are not well liked outside the industrialized west and why nations like Britain and the U.S have become one of the Third World debtor nations. Explained in less time that it takes to get a taxi in New York
"Austerity" Comes to America
Monday 14 February 2011
by: Richard D. Wolff, t r u t h o u t | Video
His documentary film on that crisis, Capitalism Hits the Fan, can be previewed at www.capitalismhitsthefan.com.
________________________________________________
Back to General Westmoreland and the Tet Offensive that proved his lies unbelievable
Deferring to Petraeus, NIE Failed to Register Taliban Growth
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: "Despite evidence that the Taliban insurgency had grown significantly in 2010, the U.S. intelligence community failed to revise its estimate for Taliban forces as part of a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Afghanistan in December. That unusual decision was in deference to Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S.-NATO forces in Afghanistan, who did not want any official estimate of the insurgency's strength that would contradict his claims of success by Special Operations Forces in reducing the capabilities of the Taliban in 2010."
__________________________________________________
Our own sectarian state right here in River City
Christian Flag Folding Ceremony Reveals Official Sanction of Church-State Violations in the Military
Valerie Tarico, Away Point: "When American soldiers come forward with tales of divisive evangelism run amuck in the military - for example, proselytizing by commanding officers, coerced attendance at revival meetings, distribution of Bibles to Afghanis or Jesus coins to Iraqis - one problem they face is that people find the stories too outrageous to be credible. A combat soldier being forced to pick hairs out of a latrine because he wouldn't pray? Another being told he's responsible if any of his buddies die? An Iraqi child post-IED given a tract that shows dead Iraqis going to hell and Americans (aka Christians) going to heaven? Some folks have accused the Military Religious Freedom Foundation of making this stuff up. Military officials insist that each event was the isolated actions of individual soldiers and lacked official sanction. One recent scandal left little room for such framing."
_____________________________________________________
Obama’s con job--masking as a liberal while acting like an antidote for liberal values and programs
Liberal Fallacies: Protecting Social Security From Its "Friends"
L. Randall Wray, new deal 2.0: "Liberal attacks on Social Security are the unkindest cut of all. The Center for American Progress's Matt Miller has argued that liberals can learn a valuable lesson from NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposed budget. With his state facing a fiscal crisis, the Governor has proposed to cap growth of state spending on the Medicaid program. Miller has argued that we should follow his example and apply a similar cap to Social Security spending."
_______________________________________________________
The Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf just of the tip of the damage done to environment by oil companies In Ecuador, Nigeria, Siberia and places off our usual maps
Chevron fined $8.6 billion in Ecuador
By Gonzalo Solano And Frank Bajak, Associated Press –
QUITO, Ecuador – An Ecuadorean judge ruled Monday in an epic environmental case that Chevron Corp. was responsible for oil drilling contamination in a wide swath of Ecuador's northern jungle and ordered the oil giant to pay $8.6 billion in damages and cleanup costs.
The amount was far below the $27.3 billion recommended by a court-appointed expert but appeared to be the highest damage award ever issued in an environmental lawsuit.
_________________________________________________________
Busted--why the Arabs and the rest do not like U.S military on the ground in their countries
Argentina, US tangle over military material
By Michael Warren, Associated Press – Mon Feb 14
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina is accusing the U.S. military of trying to sneak guns and spy equipment into the country under the guise of providing a routine police training course — a charge disputed Monday by U.S. officials.
Argentine authorities say they seized nearly 1,000 cubic feet of undeclared equipment, describing it as machine guns and ammunition, drugs and spy equipment. It was on a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane that landed Thursday with material for a training course that a U.S. Special Forces team had been invited to provide to Argentina's federal police.
"Argentine law must be complied with by all, without exception," Foreign Minister Hector Timerman told Arturo Valenzuela, the assistant U.S. secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, when Valenzuela called him to complain about how authorities handled the cargo, the ministry said.
___________________________________________________________
FYI--the New York Stock Exchange will soon be a memory
The Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext are expected to announce their merger Tuesday.
The merger would create the world's largest exchange operator.
Once Deutsche Boerse completes its takeover agreement with NYSE Euronext, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, the 17-member board of the combined firm will mostly be drawn from the Germany company, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Monday, February 14, 2011
unrest and budgets
Notes 57
REAL POLITIK
America's Proud Egypt Moment
The DAILY BEAST
Peter Beinart – Mon Feb 14
NEW YORK – Forced to choose between national interests and national ideals, the Obama administration, and many of its fiercest domestic critics, chose ideals. That’s a remarkable achievement, writes Peter Beinart.
In 2009, Barack Obama told an audience in Cairo that “America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire.” Now, in 2011, he—and we—have proved it. It’s a proud moment for Egypt, and for America too.
When nations rise up nonviolently against their pro-American tyrants, Americans across the political spectrum grow ashamed, and that shame can be the difference between a peaceful revolution and Tiananmen Square.
Since World War II, international-relations theory has been dominated by “realism,” a doctrine that sees ideology as a thin veneer covering national interest, which is to say: a nation’s effort to maximize its power.
Hosni Mubarak’s regime was the foundation stone—along with Israel and Saudi Arabia—of American power in the Middle East. It tortured suspected Al Qaeda terrorists for us, pressured the Palestinians for us, and did its best to contain Iran.
When it came to Egypt, the relevant divide was between neoconservatives and Islamophobes, the kind of folks who think the real problem with the Middle East is the Koran itself. The other divide was between the neoconservatives and Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government yearned for Mubarak to stay.
Peter Beinart is associate professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation.
What is the difference between success and failure? Mass
Iranian opposition defies warning, calls for rally
By Nasser Karimi, Associated Press –
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's opposition on Sunday renewed its call for a rally in support of protesters in Tunisia and Egypt despite a government warning of repercussions if demonstrations take place, a reformist website reported.
It was not clear whether the rally would actually take place. Many opposition calls for demonstrations in the past months have gone unheeded.
The protests that swept Iran in the months after the 2009 vote grew into a larger movement opposed to Iran's ruling system. It was the biggest challenge faced by Iran's clerical leadership since it came to power in the 1979 revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah.
Hundreds of thousands peacefully took to the streets in support of Mousavi, and some powerful clerics sided with the opposition.
________________________________________________
Doug Holtz-Eakin has nerve to say on MSNBC that Obama budget is on wrong track, will increase deficits. He was chief economist and Director of Congressional Budget Office under the two Bush presidencies when the budgets went from surplus to doubling and tripling the national debt. His explanation for the financial collapse, “common shock.”
And he is the expert on budgets? What a joke.
Monday, January 31, 2011
What caused the financial crisis?
Managers of many large and midsize financial institutions amassed enormous concentrations of highly correlated housing risk;
and they amplified this risk by holding too little capital relative to the risks and funded these exposures with short-term debt.
These risks within highly leveraged, short-funded financial firms with concentrated exposure to a collapsing asset class led to a cascade of firm failures. The losses spread in two ways. Some firms had large counterparty credit risk exposures, and the sudden and disorderly failure of one firm risked triggering losses elsewhere. We call this the risk of contagion.
In other cases, the problem was a common shock.
A rapid succession of 10 firm failures, mergers and restructurings in September 2008 caused a financial shock and panic
Confidence and trust in the financial system evaporated, as the health of almost every large and midsize financial institution in the U.S. and Europe was questioned. The financial shock and panic caused a severe contraction in the real economy.
__________________________________________________
The wonders of voodoo accounting. Everybody wins--except the losers
By Darlene Superville, Associated Press – 55 mins ago
WASHINGTON – An administration official says President Barack Obama is proposing to cut $100 billion over a decade from the Pell Grant program through belt-tightening, but use the savings to keep the maximum college financial aid award at $5,550.
Most of the projected savings, more than $90 billion, would be achieved through two changes would require congressional approval.
The administration official spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama's 2012 budget hasn't been released. That happens on Monday, when the White House sends the plan to Capitol Hill.
__________________________________________________
Somebody in the Administration finally getting idea. It’s time for corps to pony up.
Quote of the Day: Aw, You Don't Really Want Lower Taxes
By Uri Friedman | February 09, 2011
"There are folks who say they'd like their taxes lower, but we'll persuade 'em."
- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, speaking to Judy Woodruff at The Atlantic's "Building the Economy & Jobs of the Future" event on Wednesday morning. Geithner was discussing the administration's efforts to convince corporate CEOs to support reform of the corporate tax code, even if means eliminating loopholes that have proven lucrative for certain companies.
_______________________________________________________
INFURIATING. Republican plan to cut the budget--screw the poor, pay off the oil lobby that drives not only the budget but the wars of the past 50 years
Obama wields scalpel to budget, avoiding much pain
By Andrew Taylor, Associated Press – Sun Feb 13, 12:51 am ET
WASHINGTON
House Republicans are trying to pull back $2.5 billion that's already been promised. He's seeking increases for his "Race to the Top" initiative that provides grants to better-performing schools; Republicans on Friday unveiled a five percent cut to schools serving the disadvantaged
Obama promises to seek eliminating tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil companies — even though such ideas went nowhere under Democratic control of Congress and have even less of a chance now
____________________________________________________
McConnell on Obama. He got part of it right
McConnell says Obama agenda is `over'
By Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press – Sat Feb 12
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declared Saturday that President Barack Obama's legislative agenda is "over," but said GOP lawmakers are willing to work with the White House to do what they "think is right for America."
In a speech Saturday night to a GOP crowd in his hometown, the Kentucky Republican derided Obama for performing "Clintonian back flips" to portray himself as a moderate, but said it's yet to be seen whether the new tone is "rhetoric or reality."
_______________________________________________________
Whahoooooooo. A leader of the opposition party willing take the risk with his base and say it the way it is. Obama is an American and a Christian. But Boehner unwilling to ,address any ignorance among his base, says educating the public is not his job
Boehner says facts show Obama a Christian, citizen Sun Feb 13
WASHINGTON
When the host of NBC's "Meet the Press" asked Boehner whether he, as speaker of the House, had a responsibility to "stand up to that kind of ignorance," Boehner told David Gregory: "It's not my job to tell the American people what to think. Our job in Washington is to listen to the American people."
Boehner continued: "Having said that, the state of Hawaii has said that he was born there. That's good enough for me. The president says he's a Christian. I accept him at his word." He later called those "the facts" of Obama's background.
Gregory asked, "But that kind of ignorance, about whether he's a Muslim, doesn't concern you?"
"The American people have the right to think what they want to think," Boehner replied. "I can't — it's not my job to tell them."
__________________________________________________
REAL POLITIK
America's Proud Egypt Moment
The DAILY BEAST
Peter Beinart – Mon Feb 14
NEW YORK – Forced to choose between national interests and national ideals, the Obama administration, and many of its fiercest domestic critics, chose ideals. That’s a remarkable achievement, writes Peter Beinart.
In 2009, Barack Obama told an audience in Cairo that “America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire.” Now, in 2011, he—and we—have proved it. It’s a proud moment for Egypt, and for America too.
When nations rise up nonviolently against their pro-American tyrants, Americans across the political spectrum grow ashamed, and that shame can be the difference between a peaceful revolution and Tiananmen Square.
Since World War II, international-relations theory has been dominated by “realism,” a doctrine that sees ideology as a thin veneer covering national interest, which is to say: a nation’s effort to maximize its power.
Hosni Mubarak’s regime was the foundation stone—along with Israel and Saudi Arabia—of American power in the Middle East. It tortured suspected Al Qaeda terrorists for us, pressured the Palestinians for us, and did its best to contain Iran.
When it came to Egypt, the relevant divide was between neoconservatives and Islamophobes, the kind of folks who think the real problem with the Middle East is the Koran itself. The other divide was between the neoconservatives and Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government yearned for Mubarak to stay.
Peter Beinart is associate professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation.
What is the difference between success and failure? Mass
Iranian opposition defies warning, calls for rally
By Nasser Karimi, Associated Press –
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's opposition on Sunday renewed its call for a rally in support of protesters in Tunisia and Egypt despite a government warning of repercussions if demonstrations take place, a reformist website reported.
It was not clear whether the rally would actually take place. Many opposition calls for demonstrations in the past months have gone unheeded.
The protests that swept Iran in the months after the 2009 vote grew into a larger movement opposed to Iran's ruling system. It was the biggest challenge faced by Iran's clerical leadership since it came to power in the 1979 revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah.
Hundreds of thousands peacefully took to the streets in support of Mousavi, and some powerful clerics sided with the opposition.
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Doug Holtz-Eakin has nerve to say on MSNBC that Obama budget is on wrong track, will increase deficits. He was chief economist and Director of Congressional Budget Office under the two Bush presidencies when the budgets went from surplus to doubling and tripling the national debt. His explanation for the financial collapse, “common shock.”
And he is the expert on budgets? What a joke.
Monday, January 31, 2011
What caused the financial crisis?
Managers of many large and midsize financial institutions amassed enormous concentrations of highly correlated housing risk;
and they amplified this risk by holding too little capital relative to the risks and funded these exposures with short-term debt.
These risks within highly leveraged, short-funded financial firms with concentrated exposure to a collapsing asset class led to a cascade of firm failures. The losses spread in two ways. Some firms had large counterparty credit risk exposures, and the sudden and disorderly failure of one firm risked triggering losses elsewhere. We call this the risk of contagion.
In other cases, the problem was a common shock.
A rapid succession of 10 firm failures, mergers and restructurings in September 2008 caused a financial shock and panic
Confidence and trust in the financial system evaporated, as the health of almost every large and midsize financial institution in the U.S. and Europe was questioned. The financial shock and panic caused a severe contraction in the real economy.
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The wonders of voodoo accounting. Everybody wins--except the losers
By Darlene Superville, Associated Press – 55 mins ago
WASHINGTON – An administration official says President Barack Obama is proposing to cut $100 billion over a decade from the Pell Grant program through belt-tightening, but use the savings to keep the maximum college financial aid award at $5,550.
Most of the projected savings, more than $90 billion, would be achieved through two changes would require congressional approval.
The administration official spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama's 2012 budget hasn't been released. That happens on Monday, when the White House sends the plan to Capitol Hill.
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Somebody in the Administration finally getting idea. It’s time for corps to pony up.
Quote of the Day: Aw, You Don't Really Want Lower Taxes
By Uri Friedman | February 09, 2011
"There are folks who say they'd like their taxes lower, but we'll persuade 'em."
- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, speaking to Judy Woodruff at The Atlantic's "Building the Economy & Jobs of the Future" event on Wednesday morning. Geithner was discussing the administration's efforts to convince corporate CEOs to support reform of the corporate tax code, even if means eliminating loopholes that have proven lucrative for certain companies.
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INFURIATING. Republican plan to cut the budget--screw the poor, pay off the oil lobby that drives not only the budget but the wars of the past 50 years
Obama wields scalpel to budget, avoiding much pain
By Andrew Taylor, Associated Press – Sun Feb 13, 12:51 am ET
WASHINGTON
House Republicans are trying to pull back $2.5 billion that's already been promised. He's seeking increases for his "Race to the Top" initiative that provides grants to better-performing schools; Republicans on Friday unveiled a five percent cut to schools serving the disadvantaged
Obama promises to seek eliminating tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil companies — even though such ideas went nowhere under Democratic control of Congress and have even less of a chance now
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McConnell on Obama. He got part of it right
McConnell says Obama agenda is `over'
By Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press – Sat Feb 12
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declared Saturday that President Barack Obama's legislative agenda is "over," but said GOP lawmakers are willing to work with the White House to do what they "think is right for America."
In a speech Saturday night to a GOP crowd in his hometown, the Kentucky Republican derided Obama for performing "Clintonian back flips" to portray himself as a moderate, but said it's yet to be seen whether the new tone is "rhetoric or reality."
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Whahoooooooo. A leader of the opposition party willing take the risk with his base and say it the way it is. Obama is an American and a Christian. But Boehner unwilling to ,address any ignorance among his base, says educating the public is not his job
Boehner says facts show Obama a Christian, citizen Sun Feb 13
WASHINGTON
When the host of NBC's "Meet the Press" asked Boehner whether he, as speaker of the House, had a responsibility to "stand up to that kind of ignorance," Boehner told David Gregory: "It's not my job to tell the American people what to think. Our job in Washington is to listen to the American people."
Boehner continued: "Having said that, the state of Hawaii has said that he was born there. That's good enough for me. The president says he's a Christian. I accept him at his word." He later called those "the facts" of Obama's background.
Gregory asked, "But that kind of ignorance, about whether he's a Muslim, doesn't concern you?"
"The American people have the right to think what they want to think," Boehner replied. "I can't — it's not my job to tell them."
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