Archive for April, 2009
Petition: Call on the Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor.
Demand Accountability for Torture
In response to an ACLU lawsuit, the Justice Department just released four key memos about the Bush administration’s illegal torture program.
Read the memos here.
To restore America’s commitment to human rights, we must demand a thorough criminal investigation.
Tell Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate the detainee abuse.
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An Open Letter to Attorney General Eric Holder
It is time to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate who knew about and authorized the Bush administration’s torture policies. If the evidence warrants, prosecutions should occur.
Nobody is above the law — that includes high-ranking government officials. And we must look back to make sure this never happens again in order to move our country forward.
Please appoint an independent prosecutor to restore credibility at home and abroad and to give us an America we can be proud of again.
Signed,
via American Civil Liberties Union: Call on the Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor..
American Businesses Waging War Against America
American Businesses Waging War Against America – by Dustin Ensinger
Big business is gearing up for what may be an epic battle with the Obama administration.
Big business is gearing up for what may be an epic battle with the Obama administration over its efforts to reform the practice of offshore tax deferrals which allow companies to avoid paying U.S. taxes on profits made overseas as long as they remain there.
Huge multinational corporations such as General Electric, McDonald’s and Microsoft have joined forces with lobbying groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Foreign Trade Council and the National Association of Manufacturers to create the Joint Committee on Taxation. The group, made up of 200 multinational corporations and trade associations, was created for the sole purpose of opposing the Obama administration’s proposal.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been aiding and abetting this race to the bottom that inevitably comes with “free trade” for years now. As the world’s largest non-profit business organization, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been a force to be reckoned with in the political world for some time. The deep-pocketed organization has the ability to sway votes in Congress and in the general public. In 2004, the organization spent $53 billion on lobbying and sent 3.7 million pieces of mail, placed 5.6 million phone calls and sent 30 million email messages on candidates behalf.
They have used this inordinate amount of influence to skew the debate on trade, painting it as a net positive for Americans even though all the evidence suggests otherwise. They are now claiming that ending the tax loophole would make American businesses less competitive abroad and hamper America’s economic recovery.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
“Free trade … it never existed. It never will.”
Conventional Wisdom video - by Sen. Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings, with video by Craig Harrington
“Free trade … it never existed. It never will.”
Editor’s Note: The following article was contributed by Senator Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings, author of Making Government Work.
Our trouble is that the agents of change – Obama, Axelrod and Gibbs – have changed to Washington’s conventional wisdom:
On Afghanistan:
The conventional wisdom is to train Afghans to defend Afghanistan from the Taliban so that we can withdraw. We spent ten years trying to train the Vietnamese to defend Vietnam only to learn that more were willing to die for communism than democracy. After losing fifty-eight thousand GIs, one would think we would have learned the lesson that some people work well under governments not committed to freedom and democracy.
I was a bitter-ender on Vietnam and I maintained that we couldn’t withdraw and dishonor those who had already suffered the supreme sacrifice. But now I have been to Hanoi and the people are happy. And I’m afraid that’s the case in Afghanistan. Sixty-seven years ago, I helped liberate Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and they have yet to opt for democracy.
In the Muslim world, more important than freedom and democracy is tribe and religion. That’s our problem in Iraq. We’ve bribed the Sunnis, calling them the Awakening, and now turning them over to the Shiite government, the violence is resuming. I don’t think we’ll ever teach Afghan warlords to like democracy and to grow cotton instead of poppies. In fact, we have become the problem rather than the solution. The Brits tried to teach them monarchy. The Russians tried to teach them communism, and our free elections have never caused a national government. They’re still tribal and growing more poppies than ever. And it appears that after eight years we have become the enemy. The Russians are taking over Manas, our airfield that we use to supply Afghanistan and Pakistan has established Islamic law in its border area, giving the Taliban sanctuary. We get to them only with a drone that kills ten or twenty but creates two hundred terrorists in Pakistan. I don’t think creating terrorists is worth the life of another GI. Out.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
China Hoarding Copper Instead of U.S. Treasury Bonds
China Hoarding Copper Instead of U.S. Treasury Bonds
The Chinese government is apparently purchasing and hoarding mass quantities of copper and other industrial metals
The Chinese government has been one of the world’s largest collectors of U.S. Treasury Bonds for over a decade. Their yearning to accumulate Treasuries has allowed the United States to operate in deficit, but the Chinese may be changing their fiscal policy.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has publicly expressed his concerns for the safety of China’s investments in the U.S. system, stating “we have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets.” He said that he, as the official spokesman for the government, was “definitely a bit worried” about America’s financial future.
One sign that China may be losing its taste for American debt is their recent choice to stockpile copper and other metals rather than U.S. Treasury Bonds with their surplus cash flow. The Daily Telegraph stated that this may be the first sign that China is fed up with U.S. irresponsibility.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
America No Longer Addressing the Fundamental Problem
America No Longer Addressing the Fundamental Problem
Of the trillions of dollars in spending appropriations pushed through by the recently empowered Democrats, only a tiny fraction have been earmarked to go toward our industrial infrastructure.
According to data recently released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, manufacturing activity in Texas declined again in March. The Dallas Fed surveyed professionals and insiders from across the state and concluded that 53 percent of executives felt the market was weaker from month to month. An additional 43 percent saw no major declines or improvements. This means that nearly all of the manufacturers in Texas saw no growth, or worse – a decline in growth, from February to March 2009.
Manufacturing conditions were said to be slightly better in March than in February but only 40 percent of respondents foresaw true growth within the next six months.
The Dallas Fed also reported on labor conditions in the state which are still poor, with demand for jobs still lagging behind. Of the firms contacted during their survey more than half had cut jobs and workers who remained employed had their work weeks cut shorter to save money.
Despite Fed chairman Bernanke’s greatest efforts to push inflation, the industry still witnessed a marked decline in prices. Downward price pressure was noted at half of the surveyed industries. Manufacturers also noted distinct declines in their inventory holdings of finished goods.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Court blocks Bush-era Alaska drilling plan
Court blocks Bush-era Alaska offshore drilling
Interior Department is ordered to conduct environmental review
WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Bush administration did not properly study the environmental impact of expanding oil and gas drilling off the Alaska coast and shelved a program to find new reserves.
A three-judge panel in Washington found that the Bush-era Interior Department failed to consider the effect on the environment and marine life before it began the process in August 2005 to expand an oil and gas leasing program in the Beaufort, Bering, and Chukchi seas.
The appeals court ordered the department, now run by President Barack Obama’s appointee Ken Salazar, to analyze the areas to determine environmental risks and potential damage before moving ahead with the program.
via Court blocks Bush-era Alaska drilling plan – Environment- msnbc.com.
US nuclear experts pull out of North Korea
US nuclear experts pull out of North Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.S. monitors of North Korea’s nuclear program left the communist nation after the regime ordered them out and vowed to restart its reactor in anger over U.N. criticism of its recent rocket launch.
The four Americans arrived Friday in Beijing on a flight from Pyongyang but declined to speak to reporters. Their departure came a day after U.N. nuclear inspectors left the North. One U.S. official remains in Pyongyang and will leave Saturday, the State Department said.
The pullout of all international inspectors will leave the global community with no onsite means to monitor North Korea’s nuclear facilities, which can yield weapons-grade plutonium if restarted.
North Korea vowed earlier this week to restart its nuclear program and quit six-nation disarmament talks because the U.N. Security Council criticized its April 5 rocket launch as a violation of resolutions barring it from ballistic missile-related activity.
Pyongyang says the liftoff was a peaceful satellite launch, but other nations believe it was a test of its long-range missile technology.
The North’s angry reaction threw prospects for the already-stalled disarmament talks into further doubt. The U.S., China, Japan and South Korea and Russia have urged the North to return to the negotiating table, but it has not responded.
via The Associated Press: US nuclear experts pull out of North Korea.
Garofalo: Tea parties are ‘racism straight up’
Garofalo: Tea parties are ‘racism straight up’
MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann couldn’t resist challenging The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart one more time on Thursday for the title of king of scrotum-based humor. “Tea-bagging has now petered out — t’aint what it used to be,” he suggested cheerfully, before introducing actress and activist Janeane Garofalo to comment in a more serious vein on the tea party protests.
“Let’s be very honest about what this is about,” Garofalo began. “It’s not about bashing Democrats. It’s not about taxes. … This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. It is nothing but a bunch of tea-bagging rednecks and there is no way around that.”
“You can tell these type of right-wingers anything, and they’ll believe it — except the truth,” Garofalo went on. “You tell them the truth and it’s like showing Frankenstein’s monster fire. They become confused and angry and highly volatile.”
“What do you do about it, though?” Olbermann asked. “How do you break through that?”
“I don’t think you do, for most of them,” Garofalo replied. “It’s almost pathological.”
via Raw Story » Garofalo: Tea parties are ‘racism straight up’.
AIG systematically denies claims of injured US contractors
AIG systematically denies claims of injured US contractors
Insurance giant AIG is already in trouble with the taxpayers from whom it has received billions in bailout money. Now an investigation by ABC News, the Los Angeles Times, and the non-profit Pro Publica has found that AIG has been ripping off its own insurance customers as well.
According to ABC’s Brian Ross, “AIG covers about 90% of the people who get hurt working overseas for American defense contractors.” Pro Publica analyzed 30,000 of those cases and found that, although minor injuries were covered without question, AIG had challenged an astonishing 43% of the more serious claims.
ABC reported on several of the most outrageous cases, including that of a blind amputee for whom AIG has refused to buy a new artificial leg. John Woodson, who was formerly a truck driver with Halliburton spin-off KBR, complained bitterly, “You have to ask a second time, a third time, a fourth time, and you’re still not getting it.”
via Raw Story » AIG systematically denies claims of injured US contractors.
Fox refuses to defend its ‘tea party’ advocacy on NPR.
Fox refuses to defend its ‘tea party’ advocacy on NPR.
As ThinkProgress pointed out, Fox News aggressively promoted this week’s conservative, anti-Obama tea parties, airing 107 ads for its coverage of the protests over 10 days. Earlier today, NPR’s Tell Me More hosted the Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz, who criticized the network’s coverage, and The Atlantic’s Reihan Salam to discuss how the media covered the protests. During the conversation, host Michel Martin noted that Fox refused to participate in the dicussion:
MARTIN: And I should mention at this point that we asked Fox News for a representative to come on the program to characterize how they view their coverage of these tea parties. We worked at it all day and after repeated requests, they declined to provide a guest or issue a statement or assist in our conversation in any way. So, I think it’s fair to point that out.
Listen here:
via Think Progress » Fox refuses to defend its ‘tea party’ advocacy on NPR..
Robertson: DHS Official Behind Extremism Report Must Be Someone Whose ‘Sexual Orientation…Is In Question’
Robertson: DHS Official Behind Extremism Report Must Be Someone Whose ‘Sexual Orientation…Is In Question’
For the past few days, the right wing has been going after a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report warning that “rightwing extremists…may be gaining new recruits” because of Barack Obama’s election and the “economic downtown.” Many conservatives have been claiming that it’s an attack on veterans, while others have declared that it was a politically motivated attempt to “smear” conservatives and their tea parties.
Televangelist Pat Robertson went even further on the 700 Club yesterday. Not only did he echo the belief that the report was produced by liberal DHS officials, but he claimed that their “sexual orientation is somewhat in question.” He offered no proof for his remark:
ROBERTSON: It shows somebody down in the bowels of that organization is either a convinced left winger or somebody whose sexual orientation is somewhat in question. But it’s that kind of thing, somebody who doesn’t think that we should have abortion on demand, is labeled a terrorist! It’s outrageous!
Crooks and Liars also points out that Robertson urged his viewers to “jam up” the homeland security phone lines by calling in to complain. Watch it:
Teabagging & Fake Grassroots: Fury Over Conservative Con-Job Allegations
Teabagging & Fake Grassroots: Fury Over Conservative Con-Job Allegations
A recent article showing the ties of right-wing funders to tea parties brought out the right-wing trolls.
Last Wednesday, angry conservatives took to the streets to protest taxes by draping themselves in tea bags and wielding a variety of terrifying (some borderline racist) signs.
The so-called tea parties were packaged as an outpouring of populist rage. But, as many liberal writers delighted in pointing out (almost as much as they enjoyed making teabagging jokes), the ostensibly grassroots, spontanous demonstrations were in fact launched by the conservative advocacy group FreedomWorks, nurtured by Republican operatives, then blasted out through the Fox News propaganda machine.
In an article recently published on AlterNet, Mark Ames, Yasha Levine and Alexander Zaitchik note that the tea parties are mere Astroturf — fake grassroots. They go on to highlight the real movement growing against corporate greed and government malfeasance.
Not so, argued a bunch of conservative trolls who came onto AlterNet’s comment boards to argue about the article.
via Teabagging & Fake Grassroots: Fury Over Conservative Con-Job Allegations | | AlterNet.
We’re in America’s “Second Gilded Age.”
Tax responsibilities have shifted off of large wealth holders and onto wage earners, off corporations and onto individuals, off the progressive federal tax system and onto state and local tax systems, which tend to be more regressive. Tax cuts for the rich have shrunk federal services — and shifted responsibilities to states for health, anti-poverty, transportation and more. That’s the shaft part.
We’re in America’s “Second Gilded Age.”
– Chuck Collins, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good.
‘A Ton More People Were Wiretapped Than We’ve Been Led to Believe’: FBI Whistleblower Thomas Tamm
‘A Ton More People Were Wiretapped Than We’ve Been Led to Believe’: FBI Whistleblower Thomas Tamm
The man who blew the lid off Bush’s spying program believes more details on government spying must, and will, come to light.
This week the New York Times revealed that the National Security Agency has continued spying on Americans well into the Obama era, with government officials listening in on phone conversations and monitoring e-mails on a massive scale.
Times reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau — who broke the story of the Bush administration’s domestic spying program in December 2004 — reported that “in recent months,” the NSA has engaged in an “overcollection” of domestic communication, far exceeding the already broad legal limits Congress established when it passed legislation to legalize the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program and granting immunity for the telecoms that enabled it.
The same article reveals that in 2005 or 2006, the NSA attempted to wiretap an unidentified member of Congress, lending further credence to speculation earlier this year by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V., that he might have been spied on.
For many who have followed the long political saga that saw warrantless wiretapping revealed, debated and ultimately legalized at the hands of Congress, this report comes as no surprise.
Paranoid Right-Wingers See Obama’s Volunteer Service Project as Sinister Plot to ‘Re-Educate’ Americans
OPS: Concepts like “Community” and “The Commons” and a strong middle-class are a danger to the Reich, so in the dark recesses of their deranged brains they are obligated to try destroy these things.
Paranoid Right-Wingers See Obama’s Volunteer Service Project as Sinister Plot to ‘Re-Educate’ Americans
Who could be against helping veterans, the elderly, youth and the planet? 168 Congressional Republicans and scores of the lunatic fringe.
The far right has seen the fresh face of fascism, and it looks like the civic-minded legislative love child of Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
Most Americans applauded last month when the Senate voted across party lines to expand national-service opportunities. How could you not? The Serve America Act, which passed easily 78-20, invests $5 billion in volunteer corps focused on education, clean energy, health care and veteran issues. In a symbolic but meaningful gesture, the bill also designates Sept. 11 as a National Day of Service, thus expanding a post-9/11 concept of patriotism previously limited to dying in Iraq and shopping at JC Penny.
The Service Act will help millions of people learn to read, go to college, stay warm and connect with their fellow citizens. Upon passage, it was immediately hailed by 9/11 survivor organizations, literacy advocates, veterans groups and the AARP.
Fed Shrouding $2 Trillion in Bank Loans in ‘Secrecy,’ Suit Says
OPS: The FED must be taken back and controlled by the Government.
Fed Shrouding $2 Trillion in Bank Loans in ‘Secrecy,’ Suit Says
April 16 (Bloomberg) — U.S. taxpayers need to know the risks behind the Federal Reserve’s $2 trillion in lending to financial institutions because the public is now an “involuntary investor” in the nation’s banks, according to a court filing by Bloomberg LP.
The Fed refuses to name the borrowers, the amounts of loans or assets banks put up as collateral under 11 programs, arguing that doing so might set off a run by depositors and unsettle shareholders. Bloomberg, the New York-based company majority- owned by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, sued Nov. 7 under the Freedom of Information Act on behalf of its Bloomberg News unit. It made the new filing yesterday.
“The Board’s arguments are based on wispy speculation, lack evidentiary support and are contradicted by economic theory,” said Thomas Golden and Jared Cohen, lawyers with New York-based Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, in a motion asking the judge to require disclosure.
“These government actions, which have been shrouded in secrecy, are at the heart of Bloomberg’s FOIA requests,” the attorneys said.
Members of Congress also have demanded more information than President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush have disclosed on the bailout of the U.S. financial industry. Congress approved $700 billion to bolster banks, whose losses on mortgage securities and home loans contributed to the recession.
‘Within Their Discretion’
via Fed Shrouding $2 Trillion in Bank Loans in ‘Secrecy,’ Suit Says – Bloomberg.com.
Labor-Management Partnerships Poised to Revive
Labor-Management Partnerships Poised to Revive
From the Federal Diary’s personals section:
ISO — Older, yet vibrant, colorfully dressed male, with top hat, in search of partners for meaningful relationships. Marriage not necessary, but a civil union would be nice.
Uncle Sam, after eight years of emotional separation, is ready to rekindle affairs with his employees. This isn’t the kind of workplace dalliance that could get him sued; it is the kind that could make the federal workplace work better.
Sam, under President Obama’s guidance, and federal employee unions are working to get back together in the form of labor-management partnerships.
The partnerships were created in 1993 by President Bill Clinton’s Executive Order 12871 but withered during the Bush years. Clinton’s goal was to build a more cooperative relationship at the workplace between management and employees, which could reduce tensions and formal complaints, including grievances and charges of unfair labor practices. Unions also saw partnerships as an opportunity to gain a greater voice in workplace decisions traditionally left to management.
via Joe Davidson – Labor-Management Partnerships Poised to Revive – washingtonpost.com.
Home of the Barricaded, Land of the ‘Fraid
Home of the Barricaded, Land of the ‘Fraid -by David Michael Green
There are few statistics as stunning as the following simple, single number: The United States spends two times more on its military than all the other countries of the world, combined.
Yes, that’s right. All 200 or so of them. Combined.
According to GlobalSecurity.org, last year, the US dropped about $625 billion in taxpayer dollars on its military, while all the rest of the world together spent $500 billion. (The aggregate global figures come from 2004, but have been steady over the prior decade.) However, if you also add in nuclear weapons costs handled separately by the Energy Department, Veterans Affairs, interest on money borrowed to fund previous wars, and the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the total rises to a jaw-dropping one trillion dollars per year.
Think of how astonishing that is.
Imagine if you lived down the street from a guy who insisted that his house had to be two times bigger than all the other houses in the neighborhood, combined. You and your neighbors live in 2,000 square foot houses, but he has to have an 800,000 square foot house. That’s one that would be the length of three football fields long, and three football fields wide.
Imagine you and all your fishing buddies tied up next to a guy who had to have a boat that was twice as big as all of yours combined. You guys have 15 footers. His would be 6,000 feet long, or six Queen Marys, length-to-length.
Imagine that you knew someone who had to spend double on dinner what everyone else dining in a decent restaurant was spending. The average meal for the rest of you costs 25 dollars. This guy insists on spending $10,000 on one meal, of the same food, prepared by the same chef.
This is an astonishing ratio in so many ways.
via Home of the Barricaded, Land of the ‘Fraid | CommonDreams.org.
Guess who’s not paying their taxes?
Guess who’s not paying their taxes?
Estimated value of assets the IRS believes to be held in offshore tax havens, countries with nominal taxes and minimal reporting requirements: $5 trillion
Number of countries that aggressively market themselves as tax havens: at least 40
Percent of the biggest U.S. corporations that utilize tax havens: 80
Number of U.S. companies that maintain post office boxes in one 5-story building in the Cayman Islands, a notorious tax haven: over 18,000
Number of tax havens used by Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America: 115
Number of Bank of America tax havens in the Cayman Islands: 59
Estimated annual cost of offshore tax havens to U.S. taxpayers: $100 billion
Estimated annual cost of offshore tax havens to U.S. taxpayers in the 13 Southern states*: $28,712,758,673
Estimated annual cost of offshore tax havens to U.S. taxpayers in Texas alone: $8,653,820,259
Number of people working in Iraq for Houston-based KBR who were listed as employees of two shell companies that exist only as computer files in a Cayman Islands office: 21,000
via ISS – Guess who’s not paying their taxes?.
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Columbine questions we still don’t ponder
Columbine questions we still don’t ponder
by David Sirota
As Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s posthumous infamy turns 10 on Monday, I wish I were surprised that Columbine-like shootings are still happening, or even that our national discussion about violence hasn’t yet matured past gun control and video games.
I wish I were surprised, but sadly, I’d be surprised if it were any different because we still refuse to ask the most uncomfortable questions.
Columbine was the “Pulp Fiction” of violence: not the first of its genre, but the model to which all contemporaries are compared. And lately, Columbine derivatives have been coming at a faster clip.
After each tragedy, it’s the same thing. Liberals want us to wonder why gun laws let anyone have access to deadly weapons. Conservatives insist that we question why video games supposedly turn down-to-earth kids into murderers.
These queries satiate two desires. In a country that ascribes hubristic “exceptionalism” to itself and berates self-analysis as “hating America,” we seek absolution via scapegoat, and so we upbraid bogeymen like firearms and Xboxes. Similarly, in a democracy increasingly conducting its politics through red-blue filters and 140-character Twitter updates, we crave Occam’s razors – and none are sharper than oversimplified arguments about gun control and video games
But what about the questions and answers that aren’t so simple? For example, isn’t violence a predictable byproduct of our economy? When torture victims are waterboarded, they freak out. When a winner-take-all economy tortures society, should we be shocked that a few lunatics go over the edge?
via OpEdNews » Columbine questions we still don’t ponder.
Twelve Brands That Will Disappear By End Of 2010
Twelve Brands That Will Disappear By End Of 2010
The website 24/7 Wall Street has complied a list of 12 brands that will not survive until the end of 2010.
It looked at 100 companies that are racing difficulty, looking at their sales, analysis from industry experts, brand histories and their competition.
Among those that the site doesn’t expect to survive is the rental car company Avis, the Gap brand and Borders Books.
via Twelve Brands That Will Disappear By End Of 2010.
O’Reilly: My Threat To Boycott Spain Deserves ‘Full Credit’ For Spanish Torture Investigation Being Dropped
OPS: Whoa. This guy really is insane
O’Reilly: My Threat To Boycott Spain Deserves ‘Full Credit’ For Spanish Torture Investigation Being Dropped
Last month, torture advocate Bill O’Reilly launched a “boycott” of Spain after Spanish prosecutors were considering a probe of Bush administration officials who gave legal cover for torture. “There will be a boycott and there will be ill will towards Spain. This is going to become a huge story and it’s not going to be good for Spain,” he claimed.
Spanish prosecutors have now recommended throwing out the criminal complaint. The news elicited a declaration of mission accomplished from O’Reilly last night. Discussing the investigations with Megyn Kelly, O’Reilly explained the economics behind how his boycott brought down the probe:
Local, State Agencies Lack Resources to Ensure Food Safety
Local, State Agencies Lack Resources to Ensure Food Safety
Congress Must Fix System, Report Says
Local and state health officials trying to prevent food illness outbreaks are stymied by scarce resources, weak leadership from the federal government and bureaucratic barriers, according to a new study public health experts released yesterday.
While much of the current debate about improving food safety has focused on federal agencies — the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the bulk of food safety work is performed by about 3,000 local and state agencies, which handle everything from inspections of restaurants, food processing plants and grocery stores to detecting outbreaks and removing unsafe products from stores.
But those agencies are struggling, and Congress must reengineer the national system, according to an analysis by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, based on consultations with health experts, consumer groups and food executives nationwide.
via Local, State Agencies Lack Resources to Ensure Food Safety – washingtonpost.com.
Grand jury indicts former Fla. Speaker Sansom
Grand jury indicts former Fla. Speaker Sansom
TALLAHASSEE – Former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom and Northwest Florida State College President Bob Richburg have been indicted on a third-degree felony charge of official misconduct.
The state grand jury accused Sansom on Friday of misusing his position to benefit the Panhandle college that then hired him for a six-figure job. State Attorney Willie Meggs said Richburg is also charged with perjury.
Sansom spent an hour and 20 minutes answering questions from the grand jury Thursday. He stepped down as speaker because of the investigation and an ongoing ethics commission inquiry into helping direct millions of dollars to the college. He remains a member of the House.
via Ray Sansom: Grand jury indicts former Fla. Speaker Sansom — OrlandoSentinel.com.
Poll shows only 18% of Texans back secession; Governor backpedals
OPS: There’s that 20% club again. No matter where you look there are roughly 20% who do not believe in American processes, institutions or democracy.
Poll shows only 18% of Texans back secession; Governor backpedals
In spite of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s apparent empathy for secessionist politics, a Rasmussen poll published Thursday finds just 18 percent of his constituents would vote to secede from the United States were such a ballot ever put forward. Just 31 percent of the poll’s respondents believe that Texas even has the right to leave the union.
Perry’s controversial comment seemingly lending credence to secessionist politics came during a Wednesday protest at Austin City Hall and his spokespeople have been insisting it was misinterpreted ever since.
“We’ve got a great union,” said Perry. “There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that? But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot.”
The comment drew cheers of “secede” from the crowd.
“However, the latest Rasmussen Reports poll in the state finds that if the matter was put to a vote, it wouldn’t even be close,” found Rasmussen. “Three-fourths (75%) of Lone Star State voters would opt to remain in the United States. Only 18% would vote to secede, and seven percent (7%) are not sure what they’d choose.”
“‘[With] federal financial bailouts and an explosion in federal spending, I understand how someone could feel that way’ about Texas leaving the U.S.,” he said Thursday, according to the Dallas Morning News.
via Raw Story » Poll shows only 18% of Texans back secession; Governor backpedals.
Fox News Defends Bush Administration’s Use Of Torture
Fox News Defends Bush Administration’s Use Of Torture
Yesterday, the Obama administration released four Bush-era memos that provide legal justifications for the use of torture on al-Qaeda suspects. “We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history,” President Obama said in a statement on the memos. “The United States is a nation of laws…that is why we have taken steps to ensure that the actions described within [the memos] never take place again.”
As if on cue, Fox News hosts and personalities attacked Obama for releasing the memos while at the same time, defended the use of torture. “It’s not a dark chapter in our history. It’s a successful one,” Charles Krauthammer proclaimed. Conceding that waterboarding is torture, Krauthammer said that it should be used anyway in the so-called “ticking time-bomb” scenario and against “high-level al-Qaeda.” Many of his Fox colleagues have since piled on:
via Think Progress » Fox News Defends Bush Administration’s Use Of Torture.
The international monetary system’s breakdown is underway
he international monetary system’s breakdown is underway
- Public announcement GEAB N°34 (April 15, 200) -
The next stage of the crisis will result from a Chinese dream. Indeed, what on earth can China be dreaming of, caught – if we listen to Washington – in the “dollar trap” of its 1,400-billion worth of USD-denominated debt (1)? If we believe US leaders and their scores of media experts, China is only dreaming of remaining a prisoner, and even of intensifying the severity of its prison conditions by buying always more US T-Bonds and Dollars (2).
In fact, everyone knows what prisoners dream of? They dream of escaping of course, of getting out of prison. LEAP/E2020 has therefore no doubt that Beijing is now (3) constantly striving to find the means of disposing of, as early as possible, the mountain of « toxic » assets which US Treasuries and Dollars have become, keeping the wealth of 1,300 billion Chinese citizens (4) prisoner. In this issue of the GEAB (N°34), our team describes the “tunnels and galleries” Beijing has secretively begun to dig in the global financial and economic system in order to escape the « dollar trap » by the end of summer 2009. Once the US has defaulted on its debt, it will be time for the « everyman for himself » rule to prevail in the international system, in line with the final statement of the London G20 Summit which reads as a « chronicle of a geopolitical dislocation », as explained by LEAP/E2020 in this issue of the Global Europe Anticipation Bulletin.
Behind London’s « fools’ game », where everyone pretended to believe that an event of « historical » international co-operation (5) took place, the G20 summit in fact revealed major divisions. The Americans and British (followed by a compliant Japan) desperately tried to preserve their capacity to maintain control over the global financial system, freezing or diluting any significant reform granting more power to the other players, but in fact no longer powerful enough to enforce their aims. The Chinese, Russians, Indians, Brazilians,… strove to change the balance of the international monetary and financial system in their favour, but were unable (or maybe, deep down, unwilling (6)) to impose their reforms. The Europeans (the EU without the United Kingdom) proved incapable of making up their minds between the only two options available: duplicating US and UK policies and sinking along with them, or questioning the very roots of the current monetary and financial system in partnership with the Chinese, the Russians, the Indians and the Brazilians. Today the Europeans have avoided following Washington and London in their endless reproduction of failed past policies (7), but they do not yet dare to prepare for the future.
via GEAB N°34 is available! Summer 2009: The international monetary system’s breakdown is underway.
Solar Power with Entrepreneurship Helps Gainesville, FL Use the Sun to its Advantage
Solar Power with Entrepreneurship Helps Gainesville, FL Use the Sun to its Advantage
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT by Chad Rubel
The discussion over solar power has heated up, especially in the last year, and in Gainesville, Florida, it’s more than just talk.
Known mostly for its music roots — home to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Stephen Stills, and two original members of the Eagles — Gainesville is now known for solar power.
And not just solar power: Gainesville Regional Utilities is encouraging solar energy production by agreeing to buy the electricity above market value for 20 years.
The results so far have been quite good. As the Gainesville Sun recently reported, “Gainesville’s solar feed-in tariff reached its first 4 megawatt cap for 2009 in just three weeks and its 2010 cap within days of that with contracts to buy electricity from 56 businesses and residences, with another 12 in line.”
One prominent trait in — ironically enough — traditional Republican areas such as the South and West is more sunshine. Utilizing the sun to produce energy creates jobs in a region more beset by unemployment on average than other regions.
But this is much more than just using the sun. The example in Gainesville is producing viable incentives to increase participation.
via Solar Power with Entrepreneurship Helps Gainesville, FL Use the Sun to its Advantage | BuzzFlash.org.
Documents Show Red Cross Told Powell Iraqi Prisoners Were Tortured
Documents Show Red Cross Told Powell Iraqi Prisoners Were Tortured - By Jason Leopold
In March 2003, after Iraqi troops captured several U.S. soldiers and let them be interviewed on Iraqi TV, senior Bush administration officials expressed outrage over this violation of the Geneva Convention.
“If there is somebody captured,” President George W. Bush told reporters on March 23, 2003, “I expect those people to be treated humanely. If not, the people who mistreat the prisoners will be treated as war criminals.”
No one in the Bush administration, however, acknowledged the extent of their own violations of rules governing humane treatment of enemy combatants. Nor did the U.S. news media offer any context, ignoring the U.S. handling of Afghan War captives at Guantanamo Bay in 2002 and the fact that the U.S. military also had paraded captured Iraqi soldiers before cameras.
During those heady days of “embedded” war correspondents reporting excitedly about Bush’s “shock and awe” invasion, what Americans got to see and hear was how the Iraqi violation of the Geneva Convention – the videotaped interviews – demonstrated the barbarity of the enemy and justified their punishment as war criminals.
Bush’s fury over the POW interviews echoed across Washington. “It is a blatant violation of the Geneva Convention to humiliate and abuse prisoners of war or to harm them in any way,” declared Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke on March 24.
That same day, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told the BBC, “The Geneva Convention is very clear on the rules for treating prisoners. They’re not supposed to be tortured or abused, they’re not supposed to be intimidated, they’re not supposed to be made public displays of humiliation or insult, and we’re going to be in a position to hold those Iraqi officials who are mistreating our prisoners accountable, and they’ve got to stop.”
On March 25, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld added, “In recent days, the world has witnessed further evidence of their [Iraqi] brutality and their disregard for the laws of war. Their treatment of coalition POWs is a violation of the Geneva Conventions.” [For a contemporaneous story, see Consortiumnews.com’s “International Law a la Carte.”]
Hypocrisy Exposed
via Documents Show Red Cross Told Powell Iraqi Prisoners Were Tortured.
Hubble Telescope Photos
Hubble Telescope Photos
Because it’s Friday, we thought you might enjoy something on the lighter side. A couple years ago, astronauts voted to name to the top ten photographs taken by the Hubble telescope. Below is the winner and a couple other contenders. You can check out more Hubble photos here.
The prophets of doom
The prophets of doom - By Andrew Leonard
Meet the Cassandras, 14 economists, bloggers, politicians and businesspeople of all political stripes who have become the most strident critics of President Obama’s stewardship of the economy.
April 16, 2009 | At a moment of economic stress greater than most living Americans have ever experienced, it is no wonder that every move made by the administration of President Barack Obama to address the multiple simultaneous crises afflicting the economy has been greeted with howls of criticism from the left, right and middle. Now is a fertile time for a harvest of Cassandras, all preaching apocalypse. But it can be confusing — is the stimulus too big, or too small? Should banks be allowed to fail, or should they be nationalized?
Hard answers are in short supply. But here’s a guide to the prophets of doom. We’ve identified them, attempted to ascertain the moment when they first turned against the White House, and summarized the basic points of their critique. We’ve included economists, members of the business community, bloggers and, just for fun, two of the most anti-Obama Republicans we could dig up.
via The prophets of doom | Salon News.
High-Speed Rail Routes That Could Get Upgrades (MAP)
High-Speed Rail Routes That Could Get Upgrades (MAP)
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday outlined plans for a high-speed rail network he said would change the way Americans travel, drawing comparisons to the 1950s creation of the interstate highway system.
Initially, regional transportation offices will compete for the $8 billion included in the $787 billion economic stimulus spending package for high-speed rail, bolstered by $1 billion a year for five years requested in the federal budget.
Ten corridors the Obama administration had identified for possible high-speed rail projects:
via High-Speed Rail Routes That Could Get Upgrades (MAP).
Steve Schmidt, McCain Campaign Manager: Religion Could Kill The GOP
Steve Schmidt, McCain Campaign Manager: Religion Could Kill The GOP
Speaking publicly for one of the first times since the end of the presidential campaign, John McCain’s campaign manager Steve Schmidt painted a dire portrait of the state of the Republican Party, arguing that the GOP has largely been co-opted by its religious elements.
“If you put public policy issues to a religious test, you risk becoming a religious party,” Schmidt declared. “And in a free country, a political party cannot be viable in the long term if it is seen as a sectarian party.”
The remarks came in a passionate, roughly 20-minute speech before the Log Cabin Republican’s national convention, in which Schmidt laid out the case for a far more open party — one which did not consider gay marriage to be a “litmus test” issue. And while he made it a purpose not to offend social conservatives — they “remain an indispensable part of the Republican coalition,” he said — Schmidt did not hide his concerns that religion had become the predominant thread of the GOP.
via Steve Schmidt, McCain Campaign Manager: Religion Could Kill The GOP.
Tea Party Fallout: Independents Turned Off, Some GOPers Worried
Tea Party Fallout: Independents Turned Off, Some GOPers Worried
t’s been two days now since angry conservatives hosted a series of tea parties across the country, and the fallout has some Republicans nervous.
While the anti-tax sentiment of the protests may have been sincere, the images pulled from the events have often been offensive, embarrassing, or politically problematic.
It is a development that has tripped up the GOP before. The rallies outside McCain-Palin events included some of the same bile that was seen at the tea parties: charges of fascism, terrorism and other malicious criticisms leveled at Barack Obama. And it did the Republican ticket little good in its efforts to bring moderate voters to the cause.
Tea Party:
via Tea Party Fallout: Independents Turned Off, Some GOPers Worried.
CBO: Income inequality gap hit record high in 2006.
CBO: Income inequality gap hit record high in 2006.
Sherman of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities writes today that “new data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show that in 2006, the top 1 percent of households had a larger share of the nation’s after-tax income, and the middle and bottom fifths of households had smaller shares, than in any year since 1979, the first year the CBO data cover.” According to Sherman, this means that “the gaps in after-tax incomes between households in the top 1 percent and those in the middle and bottom fifths were the widest on record“:
Top incomes continued climbing in the 1990s, to 20.6 times higher than the middle fifth of households in 2000 and 21.3 times higher in 2005. By 2006, top incomes were 23.0 times higher than those of the middle fifth — nearly tripling the income gap between the top 1 percent and those in the middle since 1979.
The gap between the top 1 percent and the poorest fifth of Americans widened even more dramatically over this same period. In 1979, the incomes of the top 1 percent were 22.6 times higher than those of the bottom fifth. Top incomes continued climbing to 63.1 times higher in 2000 and 72.7 times higher by 2006 — more than tripling the rich-poor gap in 27 years.
via Think Progress » CBO: Income inequality gap hit record high in 2006..
Obama’s Immunity For CIA Agents Still Leaves Prosecutions Of Senior Bushies On The Table
Obama’s Immunity For CIA Agents Still Leaves Prosecutions Of Senior Bushies On The Table
fYesterday, as he released four Bush-era legal memos authorizing the torture of terrorist suspects, President Obama made it clear he would not support any prosecutions of low-level interrogators who actually carried out Bush’s policies. “[I]t is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution.”
Obama also added, “This is a time for reflection, not retribution,” and said “nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.” Some progressive commentators were outraged; Keith Olbermann pleaded, “Prosecute, Mr. President.” CBS’s Andrew Cohen interpreted this to mean Obama would not support any prosecutions for torture:
The Significance of Obama’s Decision to Release the Torture Memos
The Significance of Obama’s Decision to Release the Torture Memos
by Glenn Greenwald
Numerous commentators are objecting to the idea that Barack Obama deserves credit for his release of the OLC torture memos yesterday in light of his accompanying pledge that CIA officials relying in good faith on those memos won’t be prosecuted. Chris Floyd is one who articulates that objection quite well and, as is always true for Chris, his criticisms are well worth reading. Many others — including Keith Olbermann, Jonathan Turley, John Dean and Bruce Fein — yesterday lambasted Obama for his anti-prosecution stance. Since I gave substantial credit to Obama yesterday for the release of the memos and believe even more so today that he deserves it (despite finding the anti-prosecution case as corrupted and morally bankrupt as ever), I want to return to the issue of Obama’s actions.
Purely as an analytical matter, releasing the OLC memos and advocating against prosecutions are two separate acts. It’s perfectly coherent to praise one and condemn the other. There is an unhealthy tendency to want to make categorical, absolute judgments about the persona of politicians generally and Obama especially (“I like him”/”I don’t like him”; “I trust him/I don’t trust him”) rather than case-by-case judgments about his specific acts. “Like” and “trust” are sentiments appropriate for one’s friends and loved ones, not political leaders. A politician who does something horrible yesterday can do something praiseworthy tomorrow. Generally bad people can do good things (even if for ignoble reasons) and generally good people can do bad things. That’s why I care little about motives, which I think, in any event, are impossible to know. Regardless of motives, good acts (releasing the torture memos) should be praised, and bad acts (arguing against prosecutions) should be condemned.
Beyond those generalities, I think the significance of Obama’s decision to release those memos — and the political courage it took — shouldn’t be minimized. There is no question that many key factions in the “intelligence community” were vehemently opposed to release of those memos. I have no doubt that reports that they waged a “war” to prevent release of these memos were absolutely true. The disgusting comments of former CIA Director Mike Hayden on MSNBC yesterday — where he made clear that he simply does not believe in the right of citizens to know what their government does and that government crimes should be kept hidden– is clearly what Obama was hearing from many powerful circles. That twisted anti-democratic mentality is the one that predominates in our political class.
via The Significance of Obama’s Decision to Release the Torture Memos | CommonDreams.org.
Proposed Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act
Proposed Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act
Background
On April 2, 2007, in Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007), the Supreme Court found that greenhouse gases are air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act. The Court held that the Administrator must determine whether or not emissions of greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare, or whether the science is too uncertain to make a reasoned decision. In making these decisions, the Administrator is required to follow the language of section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act. The Supreme Court decision resulted from a petition for rulemaking under section 202(a) filed by more than a dozen environmental, renewable energy, and other organizations.
Action
The Administrator signed a proposal with two distinct findings regarding greenhouse gases under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act:
- The Administrator is proposing to find that the current and projected concentrations of the mix of six key greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)—in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. This is referred to as the endangerment finding.
- The Administrator is further proposing to find that the combined emissions of CO2, CH4, N2O, and HFCs from new motor vehicles and motor vehicle engines contribute to the atmospheric concentrations of these key greenhouse gases and hence to the threat of climate change. This is referred to as the cause or contribute finding.
Today’s proposed action, as well as any final action in the future, would not itself impose any requirements on industry or other entities. An endangerment finding under one provision of the Clean Air Act would not by itself automatically trigger regulation under the entire Act.
Proposed Finding
The Proposed Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act was signed on April 17, 2009, and will be published in the Federal Register and available in the Docket (www.regulations.gov) shortly under Docket ID No. [EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0171]. A pre-publication copy is provided below. While EPA has taken steps to ensure the accuracy of this Internet version of the document, it is not the official version.
- Pre-publication copy of the Administrator’s Proposed Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act (full version) (PDF) (133 pp, 327KB, About PDF)
Technical analyses developed in support of the Proposed Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act may be found here:
- Technical Support Document for the Proposed Findings (PDF) (171 pp, 3.3MB, About PDF)
Submitting Comments on Proposed Finding
The public comment period is open for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. (Please note that official comments on the proposed finding cannot be submitted until the Federal Register publication).
more…..
Bush memos parallel claim 9/11 mastermind’s children were tortured with insects
Bush memos parallel claim 9/11 mastermind’s children were tortured with insects
Bush Administration memos released by the White House on Thursday provide new insight into claims that American agents used insects to torture the young children of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
In the memos, released Thursday, the Bush Administration White House Office of Legal Counsel offered its endorsement of CIA torture methods that involved placing an insect in a cramped, confined box with detainees. Jay S. Bybee, then-director of the OLC, wrote that insects could be used to capitalize on detainees’ fears.
The memo was dated Aug. 1, 2002. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s children were captured and held in Pakistan the following month, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
While an additional memo released Thursday claims that the torture with insects technique was never utilized by the CIA, the allegations regarding the children would have transpired when the method was authorized by the Bush Administration.
via Raw Story » Bush memos parallel claim 9/11 mastermind’s children were tortured with insects.
CCR Applauds Spanish Judge’s Decision to Pursue Case Holding U.S. Torture Conspirators Accountable
CCR Applauds Spanish Judge’s Decision to Pursue Case Holding U.S. Torture Conspirators Accountable
CCR Says Prosecutions When Crimes Committed Necessary to Deter Torture in Future
CONTACT: press@ccrjustice.org
April 17, 2009, New York –The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which represents many of the men detained by the U.S. government at Guantánamo, praised Spanish judge Baltazar Garzon’s decision to pursue a criminal investigation into the actions of six Bush administration lawyers for providing legal cover for torture at the base. His move comes the day after the Spanish attorney General overrode his prosecutors to recommend that the case not go forward. CCR attorneys hailed the decision as an important step in holding these officials and others accountable for their crimes. The case may well lead to investigations of top officials, including Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.
Spain, like many other countries in Europe, has a special interest in these cases since five of its citizens and residents were tortured or abused at Guantanamo. CCR expressed hope that other countries in Europe whose citizens and residents were subjected to torture and cruel treatment at Guantanamo and elsewhere will likewise initiate such investigations.
CCR President Michael Ratner, Vice President Peter Weiss and Executive Director Vincent Warren are available for comment.
Cheney: Obama Will “Appreciate” Our Expansion Of Power
Cheney: Obama Will “Appreciate” Our Expansion Of Power
In an interview with Rush Limbaugh (via Politico), Vice President Dick Cheney predicted that the next president will appreciate the way he and George Bush expanded executive power.
“Once they get here and they’re faced with the same problems we deal with every day, then they will appreciate some of the things we’ve put in place,” Cheney said.
“We did not exceed our constitutional authority, as some have suggested,” Cheney added. “The President believes, I believe very deeply, in a strong executive, and I think that’s essential in this day and age. And I think the Obama administration is not likely to cede that authority back to the Congress. I think they’ll find that given a challenge they face, they’ll need all the authority they can muster.”
Cheney went on to express doubt that President Obama would, as he has promised, close Guantanamo Bay.
via Cheney: Obama Will “Appreciate” Our Expansion Of Power.
A long train ride – Make Me Do It
A long train ride – Amy Goodman
It started with a train ride. Barack Obama rode to Washington for his presidential inauguration on a whistle-stop tour. “To the children who hear the whistle of the train and dream of a better life – that’s who we’re fighting for,” Obama said along the tour, which was compared to the train ride taken by Abraham Lincoln from Springfield, Ill., to Washington in February 1861, en route to his first inauguration. The comparisons between Obama and Lincoln abound, describing the arc between the abolition of slavery in the United States and the election of the first African American president.
The train holds a deeper symbolism, though, that undergirds Obama’s historic ascension to the White House, harking back to the civil rights struggle, reflecting the unprecedented grassroots activism that formed the core of the Obama campaign and laying out where the nation under the Obama administration might go.
A. Philip Randolph was a legendary labor organizer and civil rights leader. He organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the men who tended to the overnight guests on the sleeper cars that Pullman built. While the porter positions were better-paying than many jobs available to African Americans at the time, there were still injustices and indignities. The common practice, for example, was to call the porters “George,” regardless of their real name, after the owner of the company, George Pullman. Thousands of porters sought improvements through collective bargaining. (Ironically, after Pullman’s death in 1897, the Pullman Co. was run by Abe Lincoln’s only surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, until the mid-1920s.) Randolph’s organizing struggle took 12 years, starting in 1925 and going through the economic collapse of 1929 and into the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration.
via A long train ride.
EPA To Propose Greenhouse Gas Regulation Under Clean Air Act
EPA To Propose Greenhouse Gas Regulation Under Clean Air Act
WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases are a danger to public health and welfare. It is the first step to regulating pollution linked to climate change.
Congressional sources told The Associated Press that EPA will announce its proposed finding Friday and begin a comment period before issuing a final ruling. The EPA also will say tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles contribute to climate change. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the finding hasn’t been announced.
HuffPost Green blogger Bruce Nilles writes that the consequences of the public welfare determination are far-reaching:
Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is now obligated to issue rules regulating global warming pollution from all major sources, including cars and coal-fired power plants. The law specifically states that EPA “shall” (i.e. must, not may) regulate dangerous pollutants once they are found to endanger public health or welfare.
via EPA To Propose Greenhouse Gas Regulation Under Clean Air Act.
GM CEO says bankruptcy is still “probable”
OPS: OF course – how else can they bust the Unions and grab the pensions?
GM CEO: Bankruptcy is still ‘probable’
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – General Motors Corp. CEO Fritz Henderson on Friday said that while it’s not the preferred option, bankruptcy remains a likely outcome of the automaker’s drawn-out saga considering the demands of the Obama administration.
“I felt several weeks ago that it would be more probable that we would need to go through a bankruptcy process. I certainly feel that way. That continues today,” Henderson said.
via GM CEO says bankruptcy is still “probable” – MarketWatch.
FDL Action: Appoint a Special Prosecutor
Petition to Attorney General Eric Holder: Appoint a Special Prosecutor
President Obama released four memoranda from the Bush Justice Department that sets forth in graphic detail the torture techniques that were authorized and ordered by the highest officials in our government. These techniques are indisputably crimes, and the U.S., in the past, has prosecuted leaders of other countries for using them. The rule of law demands that our leaders not be above the law.
Petition language:
Given the seriousness of these crimes, we the undersigned call for Attorney General Eric Holder to immediately appoint a special prosecutor to determine if criminal proceedings are warranted for Justice Department lawyers who legalized these crimes, and the high level executive branch officials who ordered them.
via FDL Action | Special Prosecutor.
Raw Story » Oversight over wiretapping program ‘doesn’t really exist,’ reporter reveals
Oversight over wiretapping program ‘doesn’t really exist,’ reporter reveals
Independent oversight over the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program “doesn’t really exist,” the New York Times reporter who exposed the program revealed in an interview Thursday night.
Speaking with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, Times reporter James Risen discussed revelations published Thursday that the agency had overstepped the legal boundaries set out by Congress last year. His statements appeared to go beyond the scope of his article, which documented that the NSA’s program to eavesdrop on overseas calls and emails without warrants had “inadvertently” included millions of Americans’ communications.
“I think what this shows is that the controls are much more lax than they ever wanted to admit, and that the spying on Americans may have gone far beyond anything we realized before,” Risen said of his article.
Risen’s comments are particularly significant in lieu of the fact the Times acknowledged when they exposed the program in 2005 that they’d kept particular details out of print and held the story for a year at the behest of the Bush Administration, which argued that its exposure would compromise US intelligence collection. It’s certainly possible that not all of the details known by the Times were published.
via Raw Story » Oversight over wiretapping program ‘doesn’t really exist,’ reporter reveals.
Newly released OLC memo inadvertently reveals the name of a ‘ghost detainee.’
Newly released OLC memo inadvertently reveals the name of a ‘ghost detainee.’
In January, 2004, then-President Bush announced to the press that the U.S. had just captured a man named Hassan Ghul in Iraq, who Bush said “reported directly to Khalid Sheik Mohammad.” The Bush administration told the 9/11 Commission that Ghul was in “U.S. custody,” but his whereabouts were never revealed and the CIA “never acknowledged holding him.” ProPublica reports, however, that one of the recently released OLC memos reveals that Ghul was held and abused by the CIA:
Since then, he has been considered a missing, or ghost detainee. But in the heavily redacted OLC memo dated May 30, 2005, government censors appeared to have missed a single reference to his name and confinement during a lengthy description of the interrogation techniques used against him. The reference can be found at the bottom of Page 7 in the memo, where Ghul’s surname is spelled “Gul.”
via Think Progress » Newly released OLC memo inadvertently reveals the name of a ‘ghost detainee.’.
Fanning the Flames?: Romania to Offer Moldovans Citizenship
Romania to Offer Moldovans Citizenship
Results of a recount of Moldova’s disputed election are due Friday, but Romania has already inflamed tensions by offering citizenship to hundreds of thousands of Moldovan citizens.
Romania’s president has promised to fast-track citizenship applications from Moldovans with Romanian blood in the wake of unrest last week over Moldova’s disputed election. His announcement this week anticipated more controversy over an election recount, results of which were due Friday.
via Fanning the Flames?: Romania to Offer Moldovans Citizenship – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International.
Eric Holder v. America’s legal obligations
Eric Holder v. America’s legal obligations – - Glenn Greenwald
Can anyone reconcile these?:
Barack Obama, yesterday:
In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution.
Eric Holder, yesterday:
It would be unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America for conduct that was sanctioned in advance by the Justice Department.
Convention Against Torture — signed by Reagan in 1988, ratified in 1994 by Senate:
Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law (Article 4) . . . . The State Party in territory under whose jurisdiction a person alleged to have committed any offence referred to in article 4 is found, shall in the cases contemplated in article 5, if it does not extradite him, submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution.
No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. . . . An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.
via Eric Holder v. America’s legal obligations – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com.
Wake Up, Freak Out – then Get a Grip
OPS: EXCELLENT! A MUST SEE
A short animated film about the feedback loops likely to lead to catastrophic climate change, by Leo Murray.
“..those that came before us, didn’t know about these problems.
Those that come after us will be powerless to do anything about it.”
Wake Up, Freak Out – then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.
Restaurateurs find local food advantageous to bottom line
Restaurateurs find local food advantageous to bottom line
Local sourcing and organic foods are among the top 20 hottest trends for 2009 for restaurants and it’s no wonder.
People want tasty, clean, farm-fresh fruit and vegetables from farmers they know and they want to support their local communities and businesses, according to the National Restaurant Association (NRA).
Accommodating these “philosophy-driven” desires would actually help establish a “community-based food system” where small, independent farmers grow and sell their produce at farmer’s markets, farm stands, supermarkets, specialty food shops and restaurants and work with a network of food processors and distributors.
Such a food system was in place 50 years ago but it has been systematically broken down in favor of an “industrialized food system” designed to increase production and provide the nation with cheap, plentiful and easily accessible food. The United States became a top food producer in the world as a result but problems with food quality as well as food safety and security have developed. The number of general farmers and the destruction of their close-knit rural communities have also resulted. However, change is coming and restaurateurs may help lead the way.
Nationwide, the food industry generated $566 billion in sales in 2008 as one of the country’s largest employers with 13 million employees in 945,000 locations, reports the NRA. In Michigan, restaurant jobs in 16,565 eating-and-drinking places represent 9.9 percent of the state’s total workforce of 4.4 million.
And out of a total GDP of $381 billion, agriculture is the state’s second largest industry pulling in $63.7 billion annually compared to $68.4 billion from manufacturing, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
However, a community-based food system has a long way to go before it becomes part of the mainstream and this affects restaurants in many ways.
In deciding whether or not to purchase locally grown foods, an Iowa State Extension (ISUE) study found that restaurant operators must consider:
• seasonality and availability of products
• adequate supply to meet needs of the restaurant
• product packaging and labeling to meet safety regulations
• ease and efficiency of ordering and payment
via Restaurateurs find local food advantageous to bottom line | Energy Bulletin.
Human tide of misery flees the anarchy of Somalia
Human tide of misery flees the anarchy of Somalia
As the world follows the escapades of the country’s pirates, civilians are fleeing the anarchy on land, creating the world’s biggest refugee camp
The lucky ones come with their families, others appear out of the thorn bushes, walking alone. Five hundred Somalis are now arriving at this bleak Kenyan outpost every day. They join a population of 267,000 and counting, in a facility built to shelter just 45,000. While the world has been captivated by the high seas drama of Somalia’s pirates, this human tide has swollen the ranks of Dadaab, turning it into the world’s largest refugee camp.
The new arrivals sit in their hundreds under a makeshift tarpaulin, trying to keep perfectly still in temperatures that reach 40C in the shade. It speaks volumes for the horrors unfolding in Somalia that people will abandon their homes, risk arbitrary arrest, death or starvation to reach the desolate welcome on offer in this corner of northern Kenya.
via Human tide of misery flees the anarchy of Somalia – Africa, World – The Independent.
NOW: Can Coal Be Earth-Friendly?
Can Coal Be Earth-Friendly?
by: NOW on PBS, Programming Note
Coal, which powers half of all US electricity, is currently taking center stage in the energy debate. (Photo: Reuters)
This week’s “NOW” on PBS:
“This B.S. about global warming is just another non-crisis to be worried about just like the ozone warnings we had in the 90′s, nuclear holocaust in the 80′s, acid rain in the 70′s, and littering in the 60′s.” This is one of the many comments sent in to the “NOW” web site about this week’s show “Can Coal Be Earth-Friendly?” The big question: Is there such a thing as clean coal?
via t r u t h o u t | Can Coal Be Earth-Friendly?.
Why We’re Not at the Beginning of the End, and Probably Not Even At the End of the Beginning
Why We’re Not at the Beginning of the End, and Probably Not Even At the End of the Beginning
Robert Reich
Are we at the beginning of the end? Mortgage interests are now so low (the average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages was 4.87 percent Thursday, slightly higher than the 4.78 percent last week, but still the lowest level since 1971) that President Obama has begun urging Americans to refinance their homes so they can save money and start spending again. Presidential aide Larry Summers says the country is likely to see positive economic signs in the next few months. Wells Fargo Bank rallied stocks and surprised analysts Thursday when it predicted a strong $3 billion first-quarter profit, citing surging mortgage originations. And executives at the nation’s biggest three banks — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup — say their operations were (at least by some measures) profitable in the first two months of this year, mainly because a resurgent debt market and equity trading lifted earnings in the investment banking divisions.
But we’re not at the beginning of the end. I’m not even sure we’re at the end of the beginning. All of these pieces of upbeat news are connected by one fact: the flood of money the Fed has been releasing into the economy. Of course mortage rates are declining, mortgage orginations are surging, and people and companies are borrowing more. So much money is sloshing around the economy that its price is bound to drop. And cheap money is bound to induce some borrowing. The real question is whether this means an economic turnaround. The answer is it doesn’t.
Consumption dwarfs population as main environmental threat
Consumption dwarfs population as main environmental threat
A small portion of the world’s people use up most of the earth’s resources and produce most of its greenhouse gas emissions, writes Fred Pearce. From Yale Environment 360, part of Guardian Environment Network
It’s the great taboo, I hear many environmentalists say. Population growth is the driving force behind our wrecking of the planet, but we are afraid to discuss it.
It sounds like a no-brainer. More people must inevitably be bad for the environment, taking more resources and causing more pollution, driving the planet ever farther beyond its carrying capacity. But hold on. This is a terribly convenient argument — “over-consumers” in rich countries can blame “over-breeders” in distant lands for the state of the planet. But what are the facts?
The world’s population quadrupled to six billion people during the 20th century. It is still rising and may reach 9 billion by 2050. Yet for at least the past century, rising per-capita incomes have outstripped the rising head count several times over. And while incomes don’t translate precisely into increased resource use and pollution, the correlation is distressingly strong.
Moreover, most of the extra consumption has been in rich countries that have long since given up adding substantial numbers to their population.
By almost any measure, a small proportion of the world’s people take the majority of the world’s resources and produce the majority of its pollution. Take carbon dioxide emissions — a measure of our impact on climate but also a surrogate for fossil fuel consumption. Stephen Pacala, director of the Princeton Environment Institute, calculates that the world’s richest half-billion people — that’s about 7 percent of the global population — are responsible for 50 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. Meanwhile the poorest 50 percent are responsible for just 7 percent of emissions.
Cap-and-Trade for Water: A Bad Idea for People and the Planet
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 16, 2009 2:00 PM |
CONTACT: Food & Water Watch Kate Fried (202) 683-2500 |
Cap-and-Trade for Water: A Bad Idea for People and the Planet
Statement from Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch Executive Director, and Maude Barlow, Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly
WASHINGTON – April 16 – “Yesterday, the CEO of Climate Exchange PLC trotted out the incredibly bad idea to, essentially, apply the flawed model of carbon cap-and-trade markets to water. The head of the UK-based company that made millions of dollars last year from its business facilitating carbon trading wants to take this scheme that has failed to reduce emissions of climate changing carbon gas and apply it to water extraction rights from the Great Lakes, according to an interview titled, ‘Water cap and trade,’ posted yesterday on Global Dashboard: Notes from the Future.
“Trading the right to emit carbon in one location so that emissions will be reduced in another location has been tried in Europe and failed. Governments and industries there have found ways around the system in order to hand out emissions permits, according to the April 13, 2009 edition of U.S. News and World Report. It’s left consumers paying more for energy – 25 percent more for electricity in Germany – while carbon emissions have increased. In short, it’s meant money for the energy corporations and carbon traders, but nothing more than a lump of coal for consumers and the environment.
“Despite that, the head of Climate Exchange PLC supports the possibility of capping rights to extract water from the Great Lakes and then selling those rights to the highest bidder, be they in Asia, the Middle East or elsewhere in the United States.
“This amounts to taking water, which belongs to everyone and to no one, and trading it away. In short, it commodifies water.
“This notion of a sort of cap-and-trade system for water rights to decrease water use is even more far-fetched than buying and selling carbon emission permits to reduce pollution and slow down climate change. It’s a form of bluewashing that industry has cooked up to look like environmental stewards. Nationally and internationally, all the businesses that use water, particularly giant food and beverage corporations, can never be water neutral because they can’t use zero water. In other words, their voluminous water extraction in one place can’t be offset somewhere else because other companies are using water in those other places.
“Research shows that withdrawing too much water from a single watershed can have myriad effects. According to a recent report by the U.S.-based Groundwater Protection Council, withdrawing too much ground water can dry up wells, springs and wetlands, and reduce stream flows and lake levels.
“Water is a human right, not a corporate commodity. The idea that it can or should be bought, sold or traded away to the highest bidder must be stopped.”
via Cap-and-Trade for Water: A Bad Idea for People and the Planet | CommonDreams.org.
Breaking News: Algerian daily confirms Mossad training camps for al-Qaida???
OPS: Huh?! Duuuuude....
Breaking News: Algerian daily confirms Mossad training camps for al-Qaida???
My RSS reader delivers an average of 600 headlines daily from a select number of news sources, some in languages other than English. This evening, one particular headline caught my attention, as it came from mediarabe.info, a website that translates articles written from the Arabic into French and focuses on the Arab world. At first, I thought I had misread the headline which I quote below verbatim:
‘Selon un quotidien algérien, le Mossad recrute des Maghrébins et les entraîne en Israël’ – which translates into:
‘According to an Algerian daily, the Mossad is recruiting people from the Maghreb and training them in Israel’.
And then in red print it has a caveat: ‘The Algerian Press, which is usually anti-Israeli, steers between informing and flaming.‘
I immediately googled the key words of the article in English and found an article by Ennaharonline, the newspaper in question, that had translated its own article into English. The date of the release was today’s date, April 16, 2009. No other newspaper carried the story, though they were plenty of previous ‘conspiracy’ theories and stories tying Mossad and al-Qaida in other scenarios.
Randa Al-Fayçal translated and analyzed the original Arabic article, thus, it might be beneficial to study the analysis, since the article itself is self-explanatory.
Al-Fayçal summed up the report in a very short and succinct manner: ‘Ennahar, the Algerian daily, asserted that the Jewish State is recruiting al-Qaeda Islamists in Europe who originated in the Maghreb (the Maghreb, or the Western part of Africa, is considered to encompass the countries of Morocco, Tunisia, Lybia and Algeria) and providing them with training in Israeli camps, in order to use them in terrorist attacks next summer.’
Stiglitz Says White House Ties to Wall Street Doom Bank Rescue
Stiglitz Says White House Ties to Wall Street Doom Bank Rescue
April 17 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration’s bank- rescue efforts will probably fail because the programs have been designed to help Wall Street rather than create a viable financial system, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said.
“All the ingredients they have so far are weak, and there are several missing ingredients,” Stiglitz said in an interview yesterday. The people who designed the plans are “either in the pocket of the banks or they’re incompetent.”
The Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, isn’t large enough to recapitalize the banking system, and the administration hasn’t been direct in addressing that shortfall, he said. Stiglitz said there are conflicts of interest at the White House because some of Obama’s advisers have close ties to Wall Street.
“We don’t have enough money, they don’t want to go back to Congress, and they don’t want to do it in an open way and they don’t want to get control” of the banks, a set of constraints that will guarantee failure, Stiglitz said.
The return to taxpayers from the TARP is as low as 25 cents on the dollar, he said. “The bank restructuring has been an absolute mess.”
Rather than continually buying small stakes in banks, weaker banks should be put through a receivership where the shareholders of the banks are wiped out and the bondholders become the shareholders, using taxpayer money to keep the institutions functioning, he said.
via Stiglitz Says White House Ties to Wall Street Doom Bank Rescue – Bloomberg.com.
Newsroom Employment Drops to Lowest Level Since 1978
OPS: Democracy sinking
Newsroom Employment Drops to Lowest Level Since 1978 — But Online Jobs Up
NEW YORK Newsroom employment has plunged 11.3% in 2008, with the industry losing some 5,900 jobs, according to the American Society of News Editors (ASNE). It’s the biggest drop the organization has recorded since it first started conducing its newsroom employment survey in 1978.
The number of jobs losses more than doubled in 2008 compared with 2007 when the industry shed 2,400 jobs.
The number of newsroom jobs is now at a level last seen during the early 1980s.
However, other findings from the survey include a 21% rise year-over-year in online-only journalists to 2,300, of which 19.6% were minorities.
“The loss of journalists is a loss for democracy,” Charlotte Hall, president of ANSE and editor of the Orlando Sentinel, said in a statement.
via Newsroom Employment Drops to Lowest Level Since 1978 — But Online Jobs Up.
A.I.G. Chief Owns Goldman Stake Worth More Than $3 Million
A.I.G. Chief Owns Significant Stake in Goldman
Edward M. Liddy, the dollar-a-year chief executive leading the American International Group since its bailout last fall, still owns a significant stake in Goldman Sachs, one of the insurer’s trading partners that was made whole by the government bailout of A.I.G.
Mr. Liddy earned most of his holdings in Goldman, worth more than $3 million total, as compensation for serving on the bank’s board and its audit committee until he stepped down in September to take the job at A.I.G. He moved to A.I.G. at the request of Henry M. Paulson Jr., then the Treasury secretary and a former Goldman director.
Details about his holdings were disclosed in Goldman’s proxy statement and confirmed by an A.I.G. spokeswoman, who said they constituted “a small percentage of his total net worth.” Mr. Liddy had already owned some stock in Goldman Sachs before joining its board in 2003.
via A.I.G. Chief Owns Goldman Stake Worth More Than $3 Million – NYTimes.com.
Rattner Involved in Inquiry on Fees
Rattner Involved in Inquiry on Fees
Auto Task Force Head Steven Rattner Implicated In Pay-To-Play Case Involving New York State Pension Fund
Steven Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration’s auto task force, was one of the executives involved with payments under scrutiny in a probe of an alleged kickback scheme at New York state’s pension fund, according to a person familiar with the matter.
A Securities and Exchange Commission complaint says a “senior executive” of Mr. Rattner’s investment firm met in 2004 with a politically connected consultant about a finder’s fee. Later, the complaint says, the firm received an investment from the state pension fund and paid $1.1 million in fees.
The “senior executive,” not named in the complaint, is Mr. Rattner, according to the person familiar with the matter. He is co-founder of the investment firm, Quadrangle Group, which he left to join the Treasury Department to oversee the auto task force earlier this year. Neither Mr. Rattner nor Quadrangle has been accused of any wrongdoing. Mr. Rattner did not return calls for comment.
via Rattner Involved in Inquiry on Fees – WSJ.com.
Savage sues Napolitano for targeting vets
OPS: The Savage Weiner’s ratings must be sinking. Apparently he needed some press.
Radio talk show icon Michael Savage has teamed up with the Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor, Mich., to file a lawsuit against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
“It is a civil rights action brought under the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution, challenging the policy, practice, and custom of the United States Government that targets for disfavored treatment those individuals and groups that are considered to be ‘rightwing extremists,’” the complaint announced today said.
The federal agency recently targeted those individuals in its report called “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.”
(Story continues below)
According to the federal government, members of the suspect group of people include those who:
* Oppose restrictions on firearms
* Oppose lax immigration
* Oppose the policies of President Obama regarding immigration, citizenship and the expansion of social programs
* Oppose continuation of free trade agreements
* Oppose same-sex marriage
* Have paranoia of foreign regimes
* Fear Communist regimes
* Oppose one world government
* Bemoan the decline of U.S. stature in the world
* Are upset with the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to China and India
via Savage sues Napolitano for targeting vets.
NOW: On Thin Ice | Preview | PBS
This video previews the one-hour NOW special, “On Thin Ice” airing April 17 (check local listings)
In it, two men go on a remarkable journey high in the Himalayas to investigate threats to global water and food supply. David Brancaccio and environmentalist Conrad Anker — one of the world’s leading high altitude climbers – adventure to the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayan Mountains, the source of the Ganges River, to witness the great melt and its dire consequences first-hand. The two also visit Montana’s Glacier National Park to see the striking effects of global warming closer to home and learn how melting glaciers across the world can have a direct impact on food prices in the U.S.
YouTube – NOW on PBS | On Thin Ice | Preview | PBS.
Green Shoots and Glimmers
Green Shoots and Glimmers - Paul Krugman
Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, sees “green shoots.” President Obama sees “glimmers of hope.” And the stock market has been on a tear.
So is it time to sound the all clear? Here are four reasons to be cautious about the economic outlook.
1. Things are still getting worse. Industrial production just hit a 10-year low. Housing starts remain incredibly weak. Foreclosures, which dipped as mortgage companies waited for details of the Obama administration’s housing plans, are surging again.
The most you can say is that there are scattered signs that things are getting worse more slowly — that the economy isn’t plunging quite as fast as it was. And I do mean scattered: the latest edition of the Beige Book, the Fed’s periodic survey of business conditions, reports that “five of the twelve Districts noted a moderation in the pace of decline.” Whoopee.
via Op-Ed Columnist – Green Shoots and Glimmers – NYTimes.com.
Credit Card Issuers Face New Scrutiny; White House Meeting on Agenda
Card Issuers Face New Scrutiny
Credit Executives Are Summoned To White House
Under pressure for questionable industry practices, top executives of 14 of the nation’s largest credit card companies are heading to the White House on Thursday for a meeting with senior administration officials.
The executives plan to talk about their efforts to increase transparency and help the economy, according to an industry official and a Capitol Hill aide, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting has not been announced.
The credit card industry has been under intense scrutiny in the past year for practices such as arbitrarily raising interest rates, charging excessive fees and giving customers little time between billing them and requiring payment.
via Credit Card Issuers Face New Scrutiny; White House Meeting on Agenda – washingtonpost.com.
FRONTLINE “Poisoned Waters” – Sneak Peek
FRONTLINE Presents – POISONED WATERS
Tuesday, April 21, 2009, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS
Follow divers in the Puget Sound for a close-up view of the untreated stormwater pumped into the Puget Sound. In “Poisoned Waters,” correspondent Hedrick Smith reveals startling new evidence that today’s growing environmental threat comes not from the giant industrial polluters of old, but from chemicals in consumers’ face creams, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners that find their way into sewers, storm drains, and eventually into America’s waterways and drinking-water. Watch “Poisoned Waters” on air and online beginning Apr 21 on PBS (check local listings).
YouTube – FRONTLINE “Poisoned Waters” | Sneak Peek 2 | PBS.
More than three decades after the Clean Water Act, two iconic waterways—the great coastal estuaries Puget Sound and the Chesapeake Bay—are in perilous condition. With polluted runoff still flowing in from industry, agriculture, and massive suburban development, scientists fear contamination to the food chain and drinking water for millions of people. A growing list of endangered species is also threatened in both estuaries. As a new president, Congress, and states set new agendas and spending priorities, FRONTLINE correspondent Hedrick Smith examines the rising hazards to human health and the ecosystem, and why it’s so hard to keep our waters clean. Watch “Poisoned Waters” on air and online coming April 21, 2009 to PBS (check local listings).
Food Rebellions: 7 Steps to Solving the Food Crisis
Food Rebellions: 7 Steps to Solving the Food Crisis
Resistance to the trade and “aid” policies that displace farmers and increase hunger.
The World Food Program describes the current global food crisis as a silent tsunami, with billions of people going hungry. Hunger is, indeed, coming in waves, but not everyone will drown in famine. The recurrent food crises are making a handful of corporations very rich-even as they put the rest of the planet at risk.
Built over half a century, largely with public grain subsidies and foreign aid, the global food-industrial complex is made up of large corporations that sell grain, seed, chemicals, and fertilizer, along with global supermarket chains and food processors.
When these players first came on the scene, world agriculture was different. Forty years ago, the global South had yearly agricultural trade surpluses of $1 billion. After three “Development Decades,” they were importing $11 billion a year in food. Immediately following de-colonization in the 1960s, Africa exported $1.3 billion in food a year. Today it imports 25 percent of its food.
International trade agreements and pressure from the global North opened up entire continents to cheap, subsidized grain from the North. This put local farmers out of business, devastated local crop diversity, and consolidated control of the world’s food system in the hands of multinational corporations. Today three companies, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Cargill, and Bunge control 90 percent of the world’s grain trade.
via Food Rebellions: 7 Steps to Solving the Food Crisis | CommonDreams.org.
Quote of the Day
If you can keep stimulating the irrational self,
then leadership can basically go on doing what it wants to do
- Edward Bernays Sigmund Freud’s nephew
…one of the fathers of the field of public relations. Bernays was one of the first to attempt to manipulate public opinion using the subconscious. He felt this manipulation was necessary in society, which he regarded as irrational and dangerous
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The Need to Tax the Wealthy
The Need to Tax the Wealthy
by Dean Baker
The quest to increase taxes on the wealthy is not a gratuitous attack on upper income households; it is driven by the need to raise more revenue to run the government. While many deficit hawks been irresponsible in raising fears of an impending collapse of the American government, the projected deficits for years following the recovery are in fact larger than is desirable.
There are areas of American spending at the federal government level that could be reasonably cut, but even after we have zeroed out the “waste, fraud, and abuse” category of federal spending we will still likely need additional revenue of between 1-2%t of GDP to keep budget deficits in an acceptable range. That leaves a choice between increasing taxes on the wealthy or imposing more taxes on the middle class.
The vast majority of the income gains in the United States over the last three decades have gone to the richest 5% of the population, largely as a result of policies that were explicitly designed to redistribute income upwards. Therefore it is far more appropriate to tax the richest 5%t of families who have prospered than the broad middle class who have suffered.
Of course taxes can be designed in a better or worse manner. The best way to increase taxes on the wealthy, in addition to allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, would be to apply a modest financial transactions tax (FTT).
There is a long history in both the United States and the rest of the world with FTT. Until 1964, the United States imposed a tax of 0.12% on new stock issues and 0.04% on stock trades. Britain still has a tax of 0.25% on each stock sale or purchase, raising five billion pounds a year. This would be equivalent to roughly $30 billion a year in the American economy.
Robert Pollin and I calculated that a scaled set of FTT on stock, futures, options and other financial instruments could raise approximately $150 billion a year. This would go far towards bringing the long-term budget deficit down to a manageable level.
via The Need to Tax the Wealthy | CommonDreams.org.
Across the United States, Waters in Crisis
Across the United States, Waters in Crisis
WASHINGTON – Over the last years, up to 60 percent of lakes, rivers, streams, and drinking water sources across the United States have lost crucial environmental protections at the hands of polluters, developers, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Without immediate action in Congress, a generation of progress in cleaning up our nation’s waters may be lost,” says a new report by seven U.S.-based environmental advocacy groups.
“When Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, our [U.S.] waters were in dire shape,” states the report, “Courting Disaster: How the Supreme Court Has Broken the Clean Water Act and Why Congress Must Fix It” [pdf]. “The Cuyahoga River had caught fire several times, Lake Erie was all but devoid of life, oil spills commonly occurred on our coasts, and industrial polluters treated rivers and lakes as open sewers.” For almost 30 years, however, broad application of the Clean Water Act led to a significant clean up of U.S. waters and a notable slowing of wetland loss. But beginning in 2001, a series of Supreme Court and government agency rulings derided critical regulations, inciting environmental groups to now demand immediate action from lawmakers.
via Across the United States, Waters in Crisis | CommonDreams.org.
The Crisis That Could Bring Down Obama
The Crisis That Could Bring Down Obama – by Ruth Conniff
Goldman Sachs reports better-than-expected profits this quarter. Wells Fargo cleared record profits last week. The President, understandably, points to signs of hope and encourages Americans to be optimistic about the economy. But when do we move from healthy confidence to a confidence game? The banks are reporting profits thanks to massive infusions of taxpayer bailout funds. It’s simply silly to be lulled by cheery-sounding reports when the institutions are actually insolvent. At some point we have to take a clear-eyed look at the massive failure of our financial system. Ignoring it won’t make it go away.
That’s more or less what Elizabeth Warren, the distinguished chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, says in her panel’s six-month report on the bank bailout. Warren, the government’s watchdog, concedes that there are differences of opinion on her panel, which probably accounts for her very carefully couched discussion of the crisis. Although she told The Observer that it is “preposterous” that the government hasn’t fired the bank managers who are responsible for the derivatives disaster, her panel’s report is cautious, with a scholarly explanation of the crisis in her video introduction. Nonetheless, the underlying criticism is obvious.
In a financial crisis like the current one, Warren explains, the government has three choices: 1. Liquidate failed banks. (That’s what happened in the S&L crisis. The government took over institutions, fired the managers, wiped out investors, but protected depositors. A lot of savings and loans simply went out of business.) 2. Put them in receivership. (That’s what Sweden did in the 1990s: failed managers were fired and replaced, depositors were protected, and the banks were returned to private hands under new management with healthier balance sheets.) or 3. Subsidize the banks. This last option is what led Japan to its “lost decade”–the real value of bank assets are obscured, as the government funnels tax money into insolvent banks, propping them up indefinitely. This last is the approach the United States is now taking.
via The Crisis That Could Bring Down Obama | CommonDreams.org.
A Lexicon of Disappointment
A Lexicon of Disappointment
by Naomi Klein
All is not well in Obamafanland. It’s not clear exactly what accounts for the change of mood. Maybe it was the rancid smell emanating from Treasury’s latest bank bailout. Or the news that the president’s chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, earned millions from the very Wall Street banks and hedge funds he is protecting from reregulation now. Or perhaps it began earlier, with Obama’s silence during Israel’s Gaza attack.
Whatever the last straw, a growing number of Obama enthusiasts are starting to entertain the possibility that their man is not, in fact, going to save the world if we all just hope really hard.
This is a good thing. If the superfan culture that brought Obama to power is going to transform itself into an independent political movement, one fierce enough to produce programs capable of meeting the current crises, we are all going to have to stop hoping and start demanding.
The first stage, however, is to understand fully the awkward in-between space in which many US progressive movements find themselves. To do that, we need a new language, one specific to the Obama moment. Here is a start.
Hopeover. Like a hangover, a hopeover comes from having overindulged in something that felt good at the time but wasn’t really all that healthy, leading to feelings of remorse, even shame. It’s the political equivalent of the crash after a sugar high. Sample sentence: “When I listened to Obama’s economic speech my heart soared. But then, when I tried to tell a friend about his plans for the millions of layoffs and foreclosures, I found myself saying nothing at all. I’ve got a serious hopeover.”
via A Lexicon of Disappointment | CommonDreams.org.
It’s Official: Obama Will Not Prosecute CIA Torturers
It’s Official: Obama Will Not Prosecute CIA Torturers
Obama strikes a deal with CIA torturers not to prosecute them. This is a victory for Bush’s lawyers who justified torture.
The White House has announced that CIA operatives, including contractors, who followed Bush guidelines for torturing prisoners will not be prosecuted for these actions, regardless of the Obama administration’s position on the legality of the techniques they used. “[I]t is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution,” President Obama said in a statement released today. This seems to be part of a deal struck with the CIA over the release of several torture memos today and it is a victory for Bush administration lawyers who sought to provide legal cover for US government torture.
The Washington Post also reported:
For the first time, officials said that they would provide legal representation at no cost to CIA employees in international tribunals or U.S. congressional inquiries into alleged torture. They also said they would indemnify agency workers against any possible financial judgments.
“It would be unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America for conduct that was sanctioned in advance by the Justice Department,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
The ACLU was quick to shoot back at Obama’s announcement. “President Obama’s assertion that there should not be prosecutions of government officials who may have committed crimes before a thorough investigation has been carried out is simply untenable. Enforcing the nation’s laws should not be a political decision,” said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU.
via It’s Official: Obama Will Not Prosecute CIA Torturers | CommonDreams.org.
Real Estate Giant’s Collapse May Cause Domino Effect
Real Estate Giant’s Collapse May Cause Domino Effect
General Growth properties filed for bankruptcy Thursday, marking one of the largest commercial real estate collapses in U.S. History
Early Thursday morning, the nation’s second largest mall operator filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy after it was unable to renegotiate debt terms with its lenders, according to The New York Times.
Chicago-based General Growth Properties is just the latest casualty of the worst recession since the Great Depression. As the economic downturn has worsened consumers have reined in spending, causing mall traffic to drop considerably and with less traffic sales have plummeted. That has led to a rash of store closings – even among some of the biggest names in the retail business. At the end of 2008, vacancy rates in malls were at 7.1 percent, up from 5.8 percent at 2008 year’s end.
Retailers closing shop was the biggest burden on the mall operator. The company currently has more than $25 billion in outstanding debt, most of that in the form of short-term mortgages.
“We made extensive efforts to modify existing maturing debt outside of bankruptcy,” Thomas H. Nolan Jr., the company’s president and chief operating officer, said in a conference call Thursday.
The company operates 200 malls in 44 states. According to the Times, those malls will still remain operational, however, General Growth will likely sell off most of those properties as part of its reorganization effort.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Wall Street Still Skirting Laws
Wall Street Still Skirting Laws
Some of Wall Street’s biggest names and recipients of the federal government’s generosity are still hiring foreign workers.
Some of Wall Street’s biggest names and recipients of the federal government’s generosity are still finding ways to circumvent federal laws barring them from hiring foreign workers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Apparently, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have all avoided being burdened by the law that makes it illegal for them to hire foreign workers by recruiting recent graduates of U.S. colleges and hiring them at global financial centers such as London and Hong Kong.
“There are no U.S. immigration restrictions on people working outside the U.S., so anyone who wants to can have folks work in London versus New York,” Allen Erenbaum, a lawyer specializing in immigration issues at Mayer Brown LLP in Los Angeles told The Journal.
As part of the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the government imposed greater restriction on those companies receiving funds, making it more difficult for them to hire foreign workers. Those companies receiving funds must prove that they have exhaustedly searched for American workers before hiring foreign workers. In addition, they cannot hire a foreign worker to replace an American worker.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Obama retreats on Campaign Promises re: Currency Manipulation
Obama retreats on Campaign Promises re: Currency Manipulation
The U.S. cannot climb out of its recession without addressing the persistent trade deficits caused by currency manipulation.
The following article originally appeared on TradeReform.org.
The Obama administration refused to cite China as a currency manipulator in a report on international currency practices. This failure highlights the need for Congress to act through legislation. The diplomatic sensitivities of successive administrations have undermined the economy as they shy from antagonizing foreign diplomats.
During the campaign, Obama signed on to the best currency misalignment bill in the Senate, S. 796. The bill would have defined currency misalignment as an unlawful trade practice under U.S. trade laws, enabling us to take action to neutralize the economic effect through countervailing and antidumping duties.
Timothy Geithner told the Senate, in confirmation hearings, that China was a currency manipulator.
Hillary Clinton, however, essentially begged China to continue buying Treasury bonds in her trip to the country. This strongly suggested that the Administration would do nothing. And it has.
The administration cannot pursue a trade agenda, the old failed one or a new improved one, without dealing with currency. Trade cannot work when currencies are fixed, manipulated or persistently misaligned.
Currency misalignment enables one country to maintain a persistent trade surplus with other countries. Any country can manipulate currency, but Asian nations are the most common violators in the past couple decades.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Major Threat Still Lurking
Major Threat Still Lurking
Less than 1 percent of the goods which come into this country are screened by the FDA and other safety agencies
Just because contaminated imports are no longer in the news does not mean they are no longer important to this nation. Well over half of our consumption comes from products made abroad, and many of the countries with whom we have trade relations lack environmental, health, and safety protections that we employ at home.
The single biggest offender in the toxic import business is China. The United States will face recurring problems with Chinese imported goods unless our government does something to stem the tide.
Less than 1 percent of the goods which come into this country are screened by the FDA and other safety agencies. Goods are only subject to “voluntary” screening at the port of origin. These FDA “spot checks” have proven they are not enough of a barrier between consumers and contaminated goods.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Taxing grandma to pay Goldman Sachs
Taxing grandma to pay Goldman Sachs
While the Fed cuts the banks slack, the bankers are busy turning the screws on their debtors by raising credit card rates and fees, and harassing distressed borrowers with all the zeal of the Roman army sacking Palestine.
The following article originally appeared on finfacts.
Monday afternoon, Goldman Sachs reported much larger than expected first quarter profits, and this comes on the heels of Wells Fargo’s strong earnings reported last week.
No one should be surprised.
The Federal Reserve has provided the banks with lots of cheap funds through its various emergency lending facilities and quantitative easing.
The Federal Reserve has permitted the banks and financial houses to park vast sums of unmarketable paper on its books—securities made nearly worthless by the misjudgment and avarice of bankers. In return, the Fed has provided these scions of finance with fresh funds, cheaply, that they may lend at healthy rates on credit cards, auto loans and even mortgages.
While the Fed cuts the banks slack, the bankers are busy turning the screws on their debtors by raising credit card rates and fees, and harassing distressed borrowers with all the zeal of the Roman army sacking Palestine.
It takes good banking skills to borrow at three percent and lend at five and make a profit.
It takes much less business acumen to borrow at two and lend at five and make a profit, and that is exactly what has happened. The extra fees are just gravy.
Increasing the spread for banks is like subsidizing parts purchases for car companies. The folks at GM would look like wizards if the Fed had been similarly generous with them.
This all comes at a cost to someone—America’s elderly.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
THE ECONOMICS OF GREED
THE ECONOMICS OF GREED
It is no surprise that this global goober of a mess we are in started in the capital of greed where in many circles it is considered a virtue instead of one of the seven deadly sins, the United States
The following article originally appeared on OpEdNews.org and may not reflect the views or opinions of EconomyInCrisis.org. Feedback is welcome.
Bernie Madoff, whose name will live in infamy in the annals of Wall Street scam lore, has been sentenced to jail for a very long time. His offense was running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme stealing wealthy investors’ money instead of performing the investment services his customers thought they were buying. While his scheme is not directly related to the economic tragedy of our lifetime that is the mortgage meltdown/Wall Street washout/derivative disaster in which we have become enveloped, he has become the poster child of greed that has become the center of blame of this worldwide financial nightmare.
It is no surprise that this global goober of a mess we are in started in the capital of greed where in many circles it is considered a virtue instead of one of the seven deadly sins, the United States. It is with this backdrop that the story of Marvene Halterman serves as a symbol of the smoking gun for the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression.
Marvene Halterman’s story has been told in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the Dallas Morning News. Who is she? Ms. Halterman is a poor, unemployed, disability recipient in Arizona. How does this make her newsworthy? She was the recipient of a $103,000 mortgage which she had not a prayer of being able to pay off. The value of the house that the mortgage financed was about $18,000. Was this part of some special government program? No it wasn’t. This was just another example of the tens of thousands of such mortgages that were extended to individuals who really had no business going into such legally binding financial contracts. Ms. Halterman’s mortgage, like so many others, ended up being sold and bundled into a pool of mortgages which then earned the highest triple A rating and, therefore, the interest of many investors.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
House Members Report Funding Drop
OPS: will this put them further into the hands of the corporate elite? Strict and exclusive Public funding of all elections is the only way back, and it ain’t going to happen
House Members Report Funding Drop
WASHINGTON — House lawmakers reported a decline in political fund raising in the first three months of the midterm-election cycle, driven largely by a drop in donations to Republicans, according to new finance reports.
The reports, filed with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday, are the latest evidence that individuals and corporate political-action committees are dialing back on political contributions during the recession.
Separate figures reported last week showed that donations to the Democratic and Republican parties for the 2009-10 election cycle slid 23% in January and February compared with the same period in the prior election cycle. Contributions by corporate fund-raising arms to both parties declined 6% over the same period.
In the first three months, House members raised a total of $51.3 million, down 5% from $53.8 million two years ago, according to campaign-finance reports. In contrast, House lawmakers raised 25% more in the first quarter of 2007 than during the same period in 2005. Donations in the first quarter of 2005 were 50% more than the total for the same period in 2003, according to the FEC.
via House Members Report Funding Drop – WSJ.com.
Department of Justice officials: NSA broke the law
OPS: In the words of Darth Cheney: “So?”
Obama isn’t going to to anything about it confirming the Bush assertion that the “Rule Of Law” is history.
Department of Justice officials: NSA broke the law
A key US spy agency overstepped legal limits in intercepting private e-mail messages and phone calls, Justice Department officials said Thursday, as top lawmakers in Congress said they would launch an investigation.
The National Security Agency (NSA), an important intelligence-gathering arm of America’s vast espionage network, undertook the eavesdropping of US citizens’ electronic communications in a bid to thwart global terrorism.
But the agency exceeded the authority laid out by Congress, US officials said, adding the problems, which have since been corrected, were detected during “routine oversight” of the domestic eavesdropping program.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, who heads up the US Senate Intelligence Committee, said the charges were “serious” and warranted congressional investigation.
“These are serious allegations and we will make sure we get the facts,” the Democratic lawmaker said, vowing to hold hearings “within one month.”
via The Raw Story | Department of Justice officials: NSA broke the law.
Scottish police survey finds population of Jedi on the force
The Force is strong with these cops
Eight police officers with Scottland’s largest force have declared their religion to be Jedi
Kidding, we are not.
According to a BBC report:
Strathclyde Police said the officers and two of its civilian staff claimed to follow the faith, which features in the Star Wars movies.
The details were obtained in a Freedom of Information request by Jane’s Police Review.
Strathclyde was the only force in the UK to admit it had Jedi officers.
This story has basically turned into a fun headline writing contest across the media.
Here’s more, from MyState:
The UK Church of the Jedi was founded last year by brothers Barney and Daniel Jones.
The two offered sermons on the Force, meditation techniques and, of course, training with light sabres.
Nearly 400-thousand people in England and Wales listed their religion as Jedi in the 2001 Census for those countries.
The figure in Scotland is at 14-thousand.
via The Raw Story » The Force is strong with these cops.
A Teabagger Timeline: Koch, Coors, Newt, Dick Armey There From The Start
A Teabagger Timeline: Koch, Coors, Newt, Dick Armey There From The Start
Posted by Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake at 6:16 AM on April 16, 2009.
The real sponsors behind yesterday’s mad tea parties.
Michelle Malkin has a teabagger timeline. She seems to have left a few things out:
December 16, 2007 — Ron Paul supporters have the first anti-tax Tea Party, reenact dumping of tea into Boston Harbor by tossing banners into a box.
August 2008 — ChicagoTeaParty.com registered by Zack Christenson, “a producer for a conservative radio talk show host” (Milt Rosengerg) according to the New York Times. On August 28th, he also emails Michelle Malkin after the NRO’s Stanley Kurtz goes on his program to talk about his investigation into the Obama/Bill Ayers relationship.
January 25 2009 — Seattle school teacher, former actress and Young Republican Keli Carender starts her blog, Redistributing Knowledge. Calling herself Liberty Belle, her first post says conservatives need something “BOLD and DIFFERENT and REAL.”
January 26 — In her second post, Liberty Belle says “There are tens of millions of us, if not more. I think if we chose a day to show the world, scary coworkers be damned, that we exist and we are just as passionate about the direction of our country, that we could maybe finally find each other.”
more……
What If Fox News Covered Other Protests the Way They Covered the Tea Parties?
What If Fox News Covered Other Protests the Way They Covered the Tea Parties?
Just think what we wouldn’t have had to endure if we had this kind of coverage of the 2000 election, Iraq, spying and the list goes on.
For weeks Fox “News” has promoted the recent Tea Party protests with wall-to-wall coverage, not acting as a news source, but as an all-out activism network. Literally every hour of every day they reminded us and urged us to join the “Tea Party Revolution.” Whether it was on their TV network, radio programs, or their new website, it was an all-pervasive media blitz.
With persuasive graphics and dramatic music pumping in the background, the commentators declared: “Tea party protests are erupting across the country!”
When they couldn’t get in enough promotion on their TV outlet, they drove people to their website, “If you want to know more about the tea-party movement, if there is one happening near you, head to our website FoxNews.com/americasnewsroom. We have an entire section devoted to the growing tea-party movement. That’s our America’s Newsroom website online. All the information you need to know. Check it out right now.”
The extent of the propaganda was intense, with unquestioned statements boasting: “In the case of the current crisis the blame appears to have been assigned almost totally to Obama, at least by the thousands of U.S. taxpayers attending near-spontaneous ‘tea parties’ in protest of the Democrats agenda of more taxes, increased spending, higher deficits and a surge of borrowing to pay for it all.”
New Bush Torture Bombshell Memos: 10 Horrifying Discoveries
New Bush Torture Bombshell Memos: 10 Horrifying Discoveries
Slamming prisoners into walls, locking them in boxes with insects; these memos are the smoking gun for the sadistic crimes of the Bush administration.
The Obama administration has finally released four long-awaited legal memos used by the Bush administration to design its torture program — and although their existence, like U.S. torture itself, has been an open secret for years, the memos are nonetheless shocking.
Written in a dispassionate legal tone, the documents contain the professional opinion of Office of Legal Council attorneys Jay Bybee and Steven Bradbury as they assessed the CIA’s “harsh interrogation techniques” between 2002 and 2005. Each method is described in sadistic detail, and each would surely be heinous if experienced on its own. But, as pointed out in the famous “Bybee” memo, dated August 1, 2002 — the “interrogation team planned to use these techniques “in some sort of escalating fashion, culminating with the waterboard, though not necessarily ending with this technique.”
The torture memos are available on the ACLU website. But if you can’t bring yourself to read them, below are ten disturbing excerpts that provide a hideous glimpse of what was done in the name of Americans in the so-called “war on terror.” As you read them, keep in mind that the Obama administration has already announced that it will not seek charges against the people who carried out the actions they describe. “In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution,” Obama said in a statement.
via New Bush Torture Bombshell Memos: 10 Horrifying Discoveries | Rights and Liberties | AlterNet.
Sea Levels Are Rising: It’s Time to Decide Which Coastal Cities Are Worth Saving
Sea Levels Are Rising: It’s Time to Decide Which Coastal Cities Are
Worth Saving
Ice cubes the size of American states are melting into the ocean; we face frightening scenarios and tough choices for coastal habitation.
Since April Fool’s Day expired, there has been nothing but bad news about Earth’s various ice shelves circulating through the news. Antarctica’s Wordie and Larsen ice shelves? The first is simply gone, and the second is disappearing fast. How about the Connecticut-sized Wilkins shelf? It has fragmented into polar pieces after the ice tether holding it to the Antarctic peninsula snapped this week, signaling that the Earth is undergoing some profound changes.
So what do melting ice shelves a world away have to do with the rest of us? That is where the fools come in.
“This continued and often-significant glacier retreat is a wakeup call that change is happening,” USGS glaciologist Jane Ferrigno explained in a joint United States Geological Survey and British Antarctic Survey on the melt. “Antarctica is of special interest, because it holds an estimated 91 percent of the Earth’s glacier volume, and change anywhere in the ice sheet poses significant hazards to society.”
In other words, giant ice cubes the size of American states melting into the ocean should worry everyone on Earth living in a territory with a coast, and even those without. That includes California, which went under the climatalogical microscope in a recent Pacific Institute analysis on sea-rise bankrolled by the California Energy Commission, California Department of Transportation and the Ocean Protection Council.
via Sea Levels Are Rising: It’s Time to Decide Which Coastal Cities Are Worth Saving | Water | AlterNet.
Singapore scientists say can turn CO2 into biofuel
Singapore scientists say can turn CO2 into biofuel
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Scientists in Singapore say they have found a way to turn planet-warming carbon dioxide into clean-burning methanol using a process that uses less energy than previous attempts.
The scientists at the state-backed Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology said on Thursday they used non-toxic organocatalysts to make ethanol, a biofuel that is also used as an industrial feedstock.
In a statement, the institute said the team, led by Yugen Zhang, used N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), an organocatalyst in the chemical reaction with carbon dioxide.
NHCs are stable and the reaction between NHCs and carbon dioxide can take place under mild conditions in dry air, the statement said, adding only a small amount of the catalyst was needed.
The process also used hydrosilane, a combination of silica and hydrogen.
“Hydrosilane provides hydrogen, which bonds with carbon dioxide in a reduction reaction. This carbon dioxide reduction is efficiently catalyzed by NHCs even at room temperature,” Zhang said in the statement.
“Methanol can be easily obtained from the product of the carbon dioxide reaction,” Zhang added.
via Singapore scientists say can turn CO2 into biofuel | Environment | Reuters.
Bush Torture Memos: See The Complete Documents
Bush Torture Memos Released By Obama: See The Complete Documents
As part of an ongoing court case, the Department of Justice released on Thursday memos issued by the Office of Legal Counsel between 2002 and 2005, detailing techniques used for interrogation of terrorism suspects. In doing so, President Obama declared:
“While I believe strongly in transparency and accountability, I also believe that in a dangerous world, the United States must sometimes carry out intelligence operations and protect information that is classified for purposes of national security. I have already fought for that principle in court and will do so again in the future. However, after consulting with the Attorney General, the Director of National Intelligence, and others, I believe that exceptional circumstances surround these memos and require their release.”
Certain aspects of the documents are redacted — including the names of CIA officials — but the evidence is of enough weight that Senate Judiciary chairman Patrick Leahy already felt compelled to offer the following statement:
via Bush Torture Memos Released By Obama: See The Complete Documents.
Olbermann: Future of U.S. depends on torture accountability
Special Comment: 
U.S. future depends on torture accountability
Olbermann: We cannot let mistakes of the past haunt our future
By Keith Olbermann
As promised, a Special Comment now on the president’s revelation of the remainder of this nightmare of Bush Administration torture memos. This President has gone where few before him, dared. The dirty laundry — illegal, un-American, self-defeating, self-destroying — is out for all to see.
Mr. Obama deserves our praise and our thanks for that. And yet he has gone but half-way. And, in this case, in far too many respects, half the distance is worse than standing still. Today, Mr. President, in acknowledging these science-fiction-like documents, you said that:
“This is a time for reflection, not retribution. I respect the strong views and emotions that these issues evoke.”
“We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history.
“But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.
Mr. President, you are wrong. What you describe would be not “spent energy” but catharsis.
Not “blame laid,” but responsibility ascribed. You continued:
Video & Full transcript at link
via Future of U.S. depends on torture accountability – Countdown with Keith Olbermann- msnbc.com.
Fmr. President George H.W. Bush To Host ‘Economic Leadership Forum’ With ‘Recognized Expert’ Rick Santelli
Fmr. President George H.W. Bush To Host ‘Economic Leadership Forum’ With ‘Recognized Expert’ Rick Santelli
santelli0416web.jpgThe George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation at Texas A&M has announced that the former president will host an “Economic Leadership Forum” next week that includes a panel of “distinguished leaders and recognized experts” — one of which is CNBC blowhard and former derivatives trader Rick Santelli:
President George Bush will host an Economic Leadership Forum featuring Maria Bartiromo, Richard Kovacevich, Lawrence Lindsey, and Rick Santelli. […] The Twanna M. Powell Lecture Series is an endowed program designed to bring distinguished leaders and recognized experts on current issues of international and domestic interest to the campus of Texas A&M University.
Lindsey, who served as President George W. Bush’s National Economic Council director, once predicted that “the negative effect” of the war in Iraq “will be quite small relative to the economic benefits.”
The Top 10 Enemies of Single-Payer
The Profiteers of Suffering
The Top 10 Enemies of Single-Payer
Most people, when they arrive in Washington, D.C., see it for what it is – a cesspool of corruption.
Two reasonable reactions to the cesspool.
One, run away screaming in fear.
Two, stay and fight back and bring to justice those who have corrupted our democracy.
Unfortunately, many choose a third way – stay and be transformed.
Instead of seeing a cesspool, they begin seeing a hot tub.
The result – profits and wealth for the corporate elite – death, disease and destruction for the American people.
Nowhere does this corrupt, calculating transformation do more damage than in the area of health care.
Outside the beltway cesspool/hot tub, the majority of doctors, nurses, small businesses, health economists, and the majority of the American people – according to recent polls – want a Canadian-style, single payer, everybody in, nobody out, free choice of doctor and hospital, national health insurance system.
Inside the beltway cesspool/hot tub, the corrupt elite will have none of it.
They won’t even put single payer on the table for discussion.
Why not?
[snip]
1) American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
2) American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).
3) American Medical Association.
4) Barack Obama.
5) Business Roundtable.
6) Families USA.
7) Health Care for American Now.
Kaiser Family Foundation.
9) The Lewin Group.
10) Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association of America (PHRMA).
via Russell Mokhiber: The Top 10 Enemies of Single-Payer.
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Republicans Don't Care about Voter Fraud....owa Republicans are trying to dismiss claims that the vote count in Tuesday's Iowa Caucus was wrong. An Iowa voter told a local TV station yesterday that he noticed a 20-vote discrepancy in the count - and that Rick Santorum was the real winner of the Caucuses. Republican Party officials, though, are sticking to their first count - showing Mitt Romney as the winner by 8-votes - and there will be no recount.The Republican Party has launched a war on voters around the nation this year with strict new laws that will disenfranchise over 5 million Americans. They claim these laws are necessary to combat so-called voter fraud. Yet in Iowa - where there are no such laws - and where a very, very close and questionable election was just held - Republicans don't seem to care at all about getting it right.Clearly - the war on voters isn't about making sure the people's voices are represented accurately - it's about making sure poor people, young people, and minorities who tend to vote for Democrats - can't vote at all.-Thom(Who do you think won? Tell us here.) -
LEGALIZE Democracy
" We the corporations" On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. __________
MOVE to AMEND
a project of the CAMPAIGN TO LEGALIZE Democracy
Help end Corporate personhood
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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. 
