Archive for June, 2009

“Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order:”

“Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order:”

Review of F. William Engdahl’s book

For over 30 years, F. William Engdahl has been a leading researcher, economist, and analyst of the New World Order with extensive writing to his credit on energy, politics, and economics. He contributes regularly to business and other publications, is a frequent speaker on geopolitical, economic and energy issues, and is a distinguished Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization.

Engdahl’s two previous books include “A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order” explaining that America’s post-WW II dominance rests on two pillars and one commodity – unchallengeable military power and the dollar as the world’s reserve currency along with the quest to control global oil and other energy resources.

Engdahl’s other book is titled “Seeds of Destruction: The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation” on how four Anglo-American agribusiness giants plan world domination by patenting all life forms to force-feed GMO foods on everyone – even though eating them poses serious human health risks.

Engdahl’s newest book is reviewed below. Titled “Full Strectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order,” it discusses America’s grand strategy, first revealed in the 1998 US Space Command document – Vision for 2020. Later released in 2000 as DOD Joint Vision 2020, it called for “full spectrum dominance” over all land, surface and sub-surface sea, air, space, electromagnetic spectrum and information systems with enough overwhelming power to fight and win global wars against any adversary, including with nuclear weapons preemptively.

Other means as well, including propaganda, NGOs and Color Revolutions for regime change, expanding NATO eastward, and “a vast array of psychological and economic warfare techniques” as part of a “Revolution in Military Affairs” discussed below.

via “Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order:”.

Iran Had a Democracy Before We Took It Away

Iran Had a Democracy Before We Took It Away  | CommonDreams.org

by Chris Hedges

Iranians do not need or want us to teach them about liberty and representative government. They have long embodied this struggle. It is we who need to be taught. It was Washington that orchestrated the 1953 coup to topple Iran’s democratically elected government, the first in the Middle East, and install the compliant shah in power. It was Washington that forced Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, a man who cared as much for his country as he did for the rule of law and democracy, to spend the rest of his life under house arrest. We gave to the Iranian people the corrupt regime of the shah and his savage secret police and the primitive clerics that rose out of the swamp of the dictator’s Iran. Iranians know they once had a democracy until we took it away.

The fundamental problem in the Middle East is not a degenerate and corrupt Islam. The fundamental problem is a degenerate and corrupt Christendom. We have not brought freedom and democracy and enlightenment to the Muslim world. We have brought the opposite. We have used the iron fist of the American military to implant our oil companies in Iraq, occupy Afghanistan and ensure that the region is submissive and cowed. We have supported a government in Israel that has carried out egregious war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza and is daily stealing ever greater portions of Palestinian land. We have established a network of military bases, some the size of small cities, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Kuwait, and we have secured basing rights in the Gulf states of Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. We have expanded our military operations to Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Egypt, Algeria and Yemen. And no one naively believes, except perhaps us, that we have any intention of leaving.

via Iran Had a Democracy Before We Took It Away | CommonDreams.org.

Thousands Flee Ahead of Pakistan Offensive

Thousands Flee Ahead of Pakistan Offensive

Pakistan Sees ‘Unprecedented’ Numbers of Displaced

About 40,000 Pakistanis are on the move even before a military offensive begins in the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan, UN officials said today, and are headed for communities already stretched to the limit.

Nearly two million people have fled fighting in northwest Pakistan, most since early May when the military began an offensive against Taliban insurgents, prompting the United Nations to launch an appeal for $543 million in aid to avert a long-term humanitarian crisis.

About 35 per cent of that figure has been reached, UN special humanitarian envoy Abdul Aziz Arrukban told Reuters, but the target has taken on a new urgency now that many thousands more displaced can be expected from South Waziristan.

via Thousands Flee Ahead of Pakistan Offensive | CommonDreams.org.

Brands left to ponder price of loyalty

Brands left to ponder price of loyalty –   FT.com

Big brands’ best customers have been defecting in droves since the beginning of the US recession, according to a study. By this year, more than half of a typical US brand’s most loyal shoppers in 2007 had switched to rival products.

A two-year analysis of 685 grocery and pharmacy-stocked brands, using data from 32m consumers’ supermarket loyalty cards, found that in 2008 the average brand lost a third of its formerly highly loyal customers.

The study will alarm packaged goods groups, as the most loyal customers – those choosing one brand for more than 70 per cent of their purchases in a category – should also be their most lucrative.

“Defection is top of mind for brand managers now because they’re the most profitable customers,” said Eric Anderson, associate professor of marketing at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

via FT.com / Companies / Personal Goods – Brands left to ponder price of loyalty.

Banks – Fed plans repo markets revamp

Fed plans repo markets revamp - FT.com

Concern over repurchase system stability

The US Federal Reserve is considering dramatic changes to the giant repurchase – or repo – markets where banks around the world raise overnight dollar loans.

The plans include creating a utility to replace the Wall Street banks that handle transactions, people familiar with the matter say.

The Fed’s deliberations are partly motivated by concerns that the structure of the US overnight repurchase market may have exacerbated the financial turmoil that accompanied the failure of Lehman Brothers in September last year.

Fed officials plan to meet next month with market participants to discuss reforms.

People familiar with the Fed’s thinking say it is looking into the creation of a mechanism to replace the clearing banks – the biggest of which are JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon – that serve as intermediaries between borrowers and lenders.

via FT.com / Companies / Banks – Fed plans repo markets revamp.

US stocks fall on recession worries

US stocks fall on recession worries - FT.com

Dollar strengthens and commodities slip

US stocks fell sharply in early trade on Monday as the dollar strengthened and commodity prices slipped on worries over the pace of global economic recovery.

The World Bank warned that the global recession would be deeper than it had predicted in March, with the world economy suffering a 2.9 per cent decline in 2009 compared with a previous estimate of 1.7 per cent.

Fears over global demand helped knock oil prices, which continued to fall from their recent highs. The price of US crude was down $1.84 at $67.71 per barrel early on Monday. Shares in energy companies followed oil lower, with ConocoPhillips falling 3.2 per cent to $41.60 and Schlumberger giving up 3.9 per cent to $53.19.

via FT.com / Markets – US stocks fall on recession worries.

Sunlight Foundation

Insanely Useful Web Sites

The following sites and resources are “insanely useful Web sites” for government transparency. They provide a broad range of information available to track government and legislative information, campaign contributions and the role of money in politics.

Many of these resources apply the Web 2.0 ethos to sift, share and combine this information in innovative ways – often times by mashing data together from disparate sources to maximize the usability of that information.

via Sunlight Foundation.

Robert Reich Says That Lack of Public Option Led to CBO’s Projections

YouTube – Robert Reich Says That Lack of Public Option Led to CBO’s Projections.

Grim Reaper for GOP Health Scare

YouTube – Grim Reaper for GOP Health Scare.

Democrats may go it alone on gov’t insurance plan

OPS: SO?

Democrats may go it alone on gov’t insurance plan

WASHINGTON – Democrats generally are standing behind their position that a health care system overhaul must include a government-sponsored plan that would be available to middle-class workers and their families.

A key Democrat, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, said this option now seems even more of a necessity in view of unsuccessful behind-the-scenes attempts to get a deal with Republicans on nonprofit co-ops as an alternative to a public plan.

Schumer told The Associated Press Sunday night that those efforts have proved frustrating, saying that he and his Democratic colleagues now may have to go it alone.

The co-ops were seen as perhaps the last hope for compromise on the notion of a public health care option, a contentious issue that threatens any remaining prospects of bipartisan support for President Barack Obama‘s sweeping plan to remake the health care system.

via Democrats may go it alone on gov’t insurance plan – Yahoo! News.

Numbers On Welfare See Sharp Increase

Numbers On Welfare See Sharp Increase   – WSJ.com

Welfare rolls, which were slow to rise and actually fell in many states early in the recession, now are climbing across the country for the first time since President Bill Clinton signed legislation pledging “to end welfare as we know it” more than a decade ago.

Twenty-three of the 30 largest states, which account for more than 88% of the nation’s total population, see welfare caseloads above year-ago levels, according to a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal and the National Conference of State Legislatures. As more people run out of unemployment compensation, many are turning to welfare as a stopgap.

The biggest increases are in states with some of the worst jobless rates. Oregon’s count was up 27% in May from a year earlier; South Carolina’s climbed 23% and California’s 10% between March 2009 and March 2008. A few big states that had seen declining welfare caseloads just a few months ago now are seeing increases: New York is up 1.2%, Illinois 3% and Wisconsin 3.9%. Welfare rolls in a few big states, Michigan and New Jersey among them, still are declining.

via Numbers On Welfare See Sharp Increase – WSJ.com.

White House Changes the Terms of a Campaign Pledge About Posting Bills Online

OPS: Yet another campaign promise down the drain. Starting notice a pattern here? - NYTimes.com

White House Changes the Terms of a Campaign Pledge About Posting Bills Online

During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised that once a bill was passed by Congress, the White House would post it online for five days before he signed it.

“When there’s a bill that ends up on my desk as president, you the public will have five days to look online and find out what’s in it before I sign it, so that you know what your government’s doing,” Mr. Obama said as a candidate, telling voters he would make government more transparent and accountable.

When he took office in January, his team added that in posting nonemergency bills, it would “allow the public to review and comment” before Mr. Obama signed them.

via White House Changes the Terms of a Campaign Pledge About Posting Bills Online – NYTimes.com.

Lingering Unemployment Likely to Challenge Obama and the Nation

OPS:  “Jobless Recovery” is a term of propaganda and is evidence of fraud

Recovery’s Missing Ingredient: New Jobs

Experts Warn of A Long Dry Spell

Despite signs that the recession gripping the nation’s economy may be easing, the unemployment rate is projected to continue rising for another year before topping out in double digits, a prospect that threatens to slow growth, increase poverty and further complicate the Obama administration’s message of optimism about the economic outlook.

The likelihood of severe unemployment extending into the 2010 midterm elections and beyond poses a significant political hurdle to President Obama and congressional Democrats, who are already under fire for what critics label profligate spending. Continuing high unemployment rates would undercut the fundamental argument behind much of that spending: the promise that it will create new jobs and improve the prospects of working Americans, which Obama has called the ultimate measure of a healthy economy.

“Our hope would be to actually create some jobs this year,” Obama said in an interview with The Washington Post in the days before taking office.

Obama has defended his economic approach — which includes the $787 billion economic stimulus plan and record investments in health care, alternative energy, education and job training — as necessary to stabilize the shaky economy and point the way to job growth.

via Lingering Unemployment Likely to Challenge Obama and the Nation.

Iran admits possibly discrepancy in 3 million votes

Iran admits possibly discrepancy in 3 million votes – The Raw Story

CAIRO – Iran’s most powerful security force threatened Monday to crush any further opposition protests over the disputed presidential election, warning demonstrators to prepare for a “revolutionary confrontation” if they take to the streets again. It was the sternest warning yet from the elite Revolutionary Guard.

An Iranian woman who lives in Tehran said there was a heavy police and security presence in the location where an opposition march was slated to take place Monday. She asked not to be identified because she was worried about government reprisals.

“There is a massive, massive, massive police presence,” she told the Associated Press in Cairo by telephone. “Their presence was really intimidating.”

The country’s highest electoral authority, the Guardian Council, acknowledged voting irregularities in 50 electoral districts in the June 12 vote, the most serious official admission so far of problems in the election that the opposition has labeled a fraud. But the council insisted the problems do not affect the outcome of the vote. The electoral council said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won by a landslide.

The Revolutionary Guard, in a statement posted on its Web site, warned protesters to “be prepared for a resolution and revolutionary confrontation with the Guards, Basij and other security forces and disciplinary forces” if they continue their near-daily rallies.

via The Raw Story » Iran admits possibly discrepancy in 3 million votes.

Goldman Sachs plans nearly $1 billion in bonuses after bailout

OPS:  GS flips the middle finger to everyone of us.

Goldman Sachs plans nearly $1 billion in bonuses after bailout

Goldman Sachs is set to make the largest bonus payouts in the firm’s 140-year history, according to a report Monday.

In the fallout from the global financial crisis — which left Wall Street with just two major free-standing stock brokerages, Goldman had a record first quarter as revenues in the trading arena surged amidst lack of competition. Morgan Stanley is the only remaining large free-standing brokerage in New York.

The firm’s bonus plans leaked to The Guardian, a British newspaper. The paper said £600 million of its first quarter profits would be used to reward staff — or $984 million. Last year, Goldman “is believed to have paid 973 bankers $1m or more last year, while this year’s payouts are on track to be the highest for most of the bank’s 28,000 staff, including about 5,400 in London.”

New York’s premier brokerage received $5 billion in a government bailout last year. The firm repaid the sum last week.

Goldman has powerful allies in Washington — and perhaps the most powerful ally was Henry Paulson, President Bush’s Treasury Secretary and a former chief executive of the firm . Other Goldman CEOs have gone on to prominent positions in politics, including former Goldman CEO and current New York Governor Jon Corzine. (Paulson and Corzine are pictured above right in a 1999 photograph.)

via Raw Story » Goldman Sachs plans nearly $1 billion in bonuses after bailout.

Scientology leader physically beat staff, paper says

Scientology leader physically beat staff, paper says – Raw Story » 

The leader of the Church of Scientology beat staffers, forced a group of key executives to play musical chairs for their careers and allegedly encouraged purchase of “must have items” to prop up church coffers, according to an article Sunday that’s received little followup treatment by other news outlets.  - 

In addition, the article says that one of the leader’s key lieutenants deliberately helped cover up the circumstances of a follower’s death in 1995.

David Miscavige, the Church’s “tanned,” “chiseled” leader, is portrayed in the report as an intense, pugilistic chief executive of a Church that’s run with the efficiency of a large multinational corporation. Four major former Scientology figures give a detailed account of the inside workings of the Church — which the French government has labeled as a “sect.”

Two former leading figures in the Church described an incident in which Miscavige forced top-ranking Church officials to play musical chairs for their careers. “Prove your devotion, Miscavige told them, by winning at musical chairs. Everyone else — losers, all of you — will be banished to Scientology outposts around the world,” the St. Petersburg Times Joe Childs and Thomas Tobin wrote. “If families are split up, too bad.”

via Raw Story » Scientology leader physically beat staff, paper says.

FTC to monitor blogs for ‘false claims,’ payola

via The Raw Story » FTC to monitor blogs for ‘false claims,’ payola.

POLITICS LIKE CANCER

POLITICS LIKE CANCER

Sen. Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings,
with video by Craig Harrington

After subprime mortgages, derivatives, and credit default swaps, we should have learned by now to never let the big banks or financial crowd take charge of the U. S. economy.

Politics is like cancer – if you don’t catch it in time, you don’t have a chance. If the budget deficits and deficits in jobs from offshoring are not caught now, by 2012 we’ll give it back to the Republicans.

After subprime mortgages, derivatives, and credit default swaps, we should have learned by now to never let the big banks or financial crowd take charge of the U. S. economy. Banks love debt – the more debt, the more fees, the more interest costs. Debt is the lifeblood of bankers … not the economy. If there is such a thing as greed, the big bankers have it. Overcome with greed, the big bankers knew their subprime mortgages were a ponzi scheme, but “outgreeded” each other to collapse. The big bankers could care less about the U. S. economy. They are concerned about financing and profits from global trade, trade deficits, household debt, business debt and government debt.

Last September when the collapse of the economy was imminent, the Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson, started bailing out the big banks and insurance companies and his old firm, Goldman-Sachs, changed to a bank to qualify for stimulus money. But stimulus was the problem. Stimulus for infrastructure, business development, education, health care is always good. But stimulus for consumption was the problem. The economy had been stimulated for eight years by an astounding $5 trillion increase in the national debt, and the economy was exhausted from stimulation. Moreover, household debt had increased $7 trillion in the same period and consumers had begun to save. They weren’t looking for loans. Paulson’s concern about confidence in the failed financial system was just a cover for bailouts. Moreover, our economy’s investment, research, development, production and jobs were being forced offshore by a fraudulent free trade policy, and there was little left to stimulate.

via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.

The Greatest Non-Apology of All Time

The Greatest Non-Apology of All Time  – - True/Slant

Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein says he’s sorry, then proceeds to brag about screwing us all.

Matt Taibbi

“While we regret that we participated in the market euphoria and failed to raise a responsible voice, we are proud of the way our firm managed the risk it assumed on behalf of our client before and during the financial crisis,” he said.

via Goldman Regrets ‘Market Euphoria’ That Led to Crisis – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com.

Anyone else out there find himself doubled over laughing after reading Goldman, Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein’s “apology” for his bank’s behavior leading up to the financial crisis? Has an act of contrition ever in history been more worthless and insincere? Even Gary Ridgway did a better job of sounding genuinely sorry at his sentencing hearing — and he was a guy who had sex with dead prostitutes because it was cheaper than paying live ones.

Looking at Blankfein’s one-sentence apology, I’m struck in particular by a couple of phrases:

While we regret that we participated in the market euphoria…

Really, Lloyd? You “participated” in the market euphoria? You didn’t, I don’t know, cause the market euphoria? By almost any measurement, Goldman was a central, leading player in the subprime housing bubble story. Just yesterday I was talking to Guy Cecala at Inside Mortgage Finance, the trade publication that tracks statistics in the mortgage lending industry. He said that at the height of the boom, in 2006, Goldman Sachs underwrote $76.5 billion in mortgage-backed securities, or 7% of the entire market. Of that $76.5 billion, $29.3 billion was subprime, which is bad enough — but another $29.8 billion was what’s called “Alt-A” paper. Alt-A mortgages are characterized, mainly, by crappy documentation and lack of equity: no income verification, no asset verification, little-to-no cash down. So while “only” 38% of the mortgage-backed securities Goldman underwrote were subprime, more than three-fourths of their securities were what is called “non-prime,” ie either subprime or Alt-A. “There’s a lot of crap in there too,” says Cecala.

via Matt Taibbi – Taibblog – The Greatest Non-Apology of All Time – True/Slant.

Today’s Best Cartoons

Today’s Best Cartoons.

How Unions Gave My Redneck Family a Chance at the American Dream

How Unions Gave My Redneck Family a Chance at the American Dream

Restoring dignity to laboring America won’t be easy. It won’t be pretty, and it won’t be “within the system.” Because the system is the problem.

In looking back on growing up, I always remember 1957 and 1958 as “the two good years.” They were the only years my working-class redneck family ever caught a real break in their working lives, and that break came because of organized labor.

After working as a farmhand, driving a hicktown taxi part time and a dozen catch-as-catch-can jobs, my father found himself owning a used semi-truck and hauling produce for a Teamster-unionized trucking company called Blue Goose.

Daddy was making more money than he’d ever made in his life, about $4,000 a year. The median national household income at the time was $5,000, mostly thanks to America’s unions. After years of moving from one rented dump to another, we bought a modest home ($8,000) and felt like we might at last be getting some traction in achieving the so-called American Dream.

via How Unions Gave My Redneck Family a Chance at the American Dream | Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace | AlterNet.

A Top Ten list for Letterman’s conservative critics

A Top Ten list for Letterman’s conservative critics

He doesn’t host his own syndicated talk radio show. That isn’t his chair behind the desk of a cable-news program. You won’t find his byline on the op-ed pages, discussing the ins and outs of President Obama’s latest policy proposal.

He’s a gap-toothed, late night comedian, and he’s in justifiably hot water with conservatives for making some pretty vile jokes.

Earlier this month on CBS’ Late Show, host David Letterman took aim at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s recent trip to New York City, offering up some off-color and patently sexist quips. During his opening monologue, Letterman said, “One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game. During the 7th inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.” Then, later in the same broadcast, while presenting No. 2 on his famed Top Ten list, this time of “Highlights of Sarah Palin’s Trip to New York,” Letterman said the former Republican vice presidential nominee had “bought makeup at Bloomingdale’s to update her ‘slutty flight attendant’ look.”

Letterman did the right thing in apologizing twice for his tasteless attempts at humor, finally noting that the intention of his jokes was meaningless when considering the way any rational-thinking person would perceive his jokes. Ultimately, though, it is Letterman’s future conduct that will determine the sincerity of his contrition.

Still, the right’s fury rages on.

via A Top Ten list for Letterman’s conservative critics | Media Matters for America.

‘Green Shoots’ of Recovery? Don’t Fall for the Media’s Economic Triumphalism

‘Green Shoots’ of Recovery? Don’t Fall for the Media’s Economic Triumphalism

A narrative is emerging that we’re seeing the first signs that a recovery is around the corner, but the reality is less encouraging.

Amid the most painful period of economic turbulence in generations, a narrative has emerged that a handful of less-than-catastrophic economic reports represent the first “green shoots” of a healthy return to growth.

When a slew of absolutely depressing economic data were released in late May, economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, wrote:  “these reports might have led to gloomy news stories, but… the media have obviously abandoned economic reporting and instead have adopted the role of cheerleader, touting whatever good news it can find and inventing good news when none can be found.”

In other words, the green shoots narrative should be met with healthy skepticism. New York University economist Nouriel Roubini — who earned the moniker “Doctor Doom” for correctly anticipating the crash — says that rather than “green shoots,” we’re seeing some “yellow weeds” emerging from the cracks of our shattered system, and argues that there’s every likelihood that a “recovery” will mean several years of sluggish, below-average growth for the industrialized economies.

via ‘Green Shoots’ of Recovery? Don’t Fall for the Media’s Economic Triumphalism | Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace | AlterNet.

How ‘Adulatory News Coverage’ Impedes Democracy

How ‘Adulatory News Coverage’ Impedes Democracy – FAIR

Norman Solomon uses his most recent Creators Syndicate column (6/19/09) to call for journalism that “is open scrutiny of the dynamics of power. Reporters should shine a bright light on behind-the-scenes maneuvers that block congressional oversight of administration policies”:

Last Tuesday, when the House of Representatives approved a supplemental spending bill for more war in Iraq and Afghanistan, there must have been celebration at the White House. Days of intense arm-twisting paid off.

The Obama administration had brandished the weapon of retribution against the newest Democratic arrivals in the House. Most news coverage seemed oblivious, but not all. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported just hours before the war-funding measure came to the floor, “the White House has threatened to pull support from Democratic freshmen who vote no.”

Even though “journalists expect strong-arm tactics to come from the White House and may actually view them as evidence of the effective use of presidential power,” Solomon maintains that “huge concentrations of power are hazardous to democracy”: “We may shrug and say words to the effect of ‘that’s the way things are’–but the fact remains that we need journalism to scrutinize ‘the way things are.’”

However, Solomon has several examples–from media failure “to scrutinize the Gulf of Tonkin incident” on up to “adulatory news coverage” of “drastically loosened” financial regulation in the ’90s–that demonstrate how, “unfortunately, too many journalists behave as though levers pulled by the powerful are not notable enough to be questioned.”

via FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » How ‘Adulatory News Coverage’ Impedes Democracy.

Costs are keeping patients from care

Costs are keeping patients from care – The Boston Globe

Copayments rise as families struggle

People with robust health insurance are putting off doctors’ appointments and skimping on prescriptions because they can’t afford the increasing costs of copayments and deductibles, according to managers of patient-assistance hot lines in Massachusetts.

Not that long ago, such dilemmas were typically faced by lower-income families, often on publicly subsidized insurance. But with many consumers struggling to pay rising healthcare costs amid today’s shrinking family budgets, these tough choices are becoming commonplace – even among families with employer-provided health insurance, consumer advocates say.

via Costs are keeping patients from care – The Boston Globe.

Health Care Showdown

Health Care Showdown  – - NYTimes.com

“Centrist” Dem Senators Pose Real Danger To Successful Health Care Reform

Paul Krugman

America’s political scene has changed immensely since the last time a Democratic president tried to reform health care. So has the health care picture: with costs soaring and insurance dwindling, nobody can now say with a straight face that the U.S. health care system is O.K. And if surveys like the New York Times/CBS News poll released last weekend are any indication, voters are ready for major change.

The question now is whether we will nonetheless fail to get that change, because a handful of Democratic senators are still determined to party like it’s 1993.

And yes, I mean Democratic senators. The Republicans, with a few possible exceptions, have decided to do all they can to make the Obama administration a failure. Their role in the health care debate is purely that of spoilers who keep shouting the old slogans — Government-run health care! Socialism! Europe! — hoping that someone still cares.

via Op-Ed Columnist – Health Care Showdown – NYTimes.com.

5 keys to getting health care deal

5 keys to getting health care deal

t was always going to be hard for President Barack Obama to pass health care reform by the fall. Lately, there are signs it’ll take a political miracle.

Democrats consider public insurance a must-have. To Republicans, it’s a deal-killer. And nobody’s figured out yet how to pay for the plan. An $80 billion deal with drug makers announced Saturday helps — but the price tag starts at a trillion-with-a-T.

“The shocker to me is that anyone is shocked,” said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation. “With the details on the table, it has finally gotten real.”

If Obama has any hope of pulling it off, the next month is critical. Here are the five things supporters say he needs to do — and fast — to make it happen.

via 5 keys to getting health care deal – Carrie Budoff Brown – POLITICO.com.

Soup kitchen queues grow as US teeters on brink of new downturn

Soup kitchen queues grow as US teeters on brink of new downturn

One of America’s largest food companies, Kellogg’s, is asking for donations from the public to help fight hunger – not in the developing world, but in the heart of the US, where handouts from “food banks” are catering for a growing number of families struggling to make ends meet.

The charity, Feeding America, says demand at its 63,000 soup kitchens and food pantries is 30% higher than at the end of 2008, as spiralling unemployment and repossessions increase the demand for extra help for Americans who would otherwise go hungry. Kellogg’s is offering breakfast cereal coupons to consumers who donate money to Feeding America.

The spectre of growing queues at soup kitchens evokes the hardship of the Great Depression, and underlines fears that the credit crunch is exacting a painful toll on American society. While there have been tentative signs in recent weeks that the economy is starting to strengthen, there are also growing concerns that the US could be on the brink of a “double dip,” into a new downturn.

via Soup kitchen queues grow as US teeters on brink of new downturn | Business | The Observer.

Is the Seat of Power in the U.S. on Wall Street and K Street, Not in the White House?

Is the Seat of Power in the U.S. on Wall Street and K Street, Not in the White House?

By Mark Karlin

Is our heartfelt support of Green Revolution in part an outlet for our own frustration in the U.S. to rein in corporate control of our governnment?

That’s a good question as BuzzFlash participates in the electric support for Iran’s version of a courageous pro-democracy movement. The intensity and passion are particularly felt in the real-time exchanges and activity on twitter.

But as I posted a comment about Iran on Twitter the other day, the thought came to me that my personal and BuzzFlash admiration and support of the protestors was not only that they have the courage of their convictions as they face a regime as repressive as the Shah’s. It also had to do with my frustration that the power of U.S. corporations and entrenched wealth may have grown so strong that even the President of the United States has less power than a collapsed Wall Street.

With all the promise of change that President Obama offered as a candidate, what we have seen is capitulation, compromise, and support of the status quo economic system that got us into this mess. Yes, there have been some regulatory and to-be-applauded legislative victories. But they have been few and relatively minor in the scheme of things.

Yes, President Obama (who we still will adamantly defend as an honorable, decent and brilliant candidate and man) is a breath of fresh air.

via Is the Seat of Power in the U.S. on Wall Street and K Street, Not in the White House? | BuzzFlash.org.

Struggle among Iran’s clerics bursts into the open

Struggle among Iran’s clerics bursts into the open

TEHRAN, Iran — A backstage struggle among Iran’s ruling clerics burst into the open Sunday when the government said it had arrested the daughter and other relatives of an ayatollah who is one of the country’s most powerful men.

State media said the daughter and four other relatives of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani were later released but their arrests appeared to be a clear warning from the hardline establishment to a cleric who may be aligning himself with the opposition.

Tehran’s streets fell mostly quiet for the first time since a bitterly disputed June 12 presidential election, but cries of “God is great!” echoed again from rooftops after dark, a sign of seething anger at a government crackdown that peaked with at least 10 protesters’ deaths Saturday.

via Struggle among Iran’s clerics bursts into the open | Comcast.net.

SEIU Healthcare 1199NW members heading to DC for healthcare reform

4 members of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW are heading to Washington DC as part of a national Lobby Day to lobby Senators and Members of Congress for healthcare reform.

As nurses , professional, service, technical, and mental health workers, our elected leaders need to hear from us well be bringing stories from our hospitals about why we need healthcare reform NOW.

via YouTube – SEIU Healthcare 1199NW members heading to DC for healthcare reform.

Coleman Staffers Getting New Jobs

Coleman Staffers Getting New Jobs

Have things reached the point in the ongoing (and going, and going…) Minnesota Senate race, where even Norm Coleman’s staffers may have seen the writing on the wall? In recent weeks, two of his top staffers have gotten new jobs. LeRoy Coleman (no relation), who served as Coleman’s Senate communications director, has now joined the Republican National Committee as director of media affairs. And two weeks ago another top Coleman

via Coleman Staffers Getting New Jobs | TPMDC.

Single dose of cancer drug nearly cures two men

First human trials of prostate cancer drug shock doctors

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota announced on Saturday details surrounding the first human trials of a prostate cancer drug called Ipilimumab.

In their initial results, the doctors said, two men who were expected to die made dramatic recoveries after just a single dose.

One of the doctors said, according to a report in Saturday’s Independent, that the results are akin to the first time a human broke the sound barrier, calling it “one of the holy grails of prostate cancer research.”

The UK paper reported:

Rodger Nelson and Fructuoso Solano-Revuelta were diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and sought treatment at the Mayo Clinic.

They were told the disease had spread beyond the prostate. Mr Nelson’s cancer was encroaching on the abdomen and Mr Solano-Revuelta’s tumour was the size of a golf ball. Patients in such condition are told they may have only months to live, and are normally only offered palliative care. But after one infusion of the drug ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody that stimulates the immune system, given with conventional hormone therapy, their tumours shrank enough to be surgically removed. Both men have since made a full recovery and returned to their businesses.

via The Raw Story » First human trials of prostate cancer drug shock doctors.

Missouri lawmaker on child hunger: ‘Hunger can be a positive motivator.’

OPS: The depth of depravity, that is the rabbit hole of the Conservative mind set, is impossible to fathom. This was an interesting comparison for me. I had just finished watching a rerun of one of the Band Of Brothers episodes today. The one where they discover their first concentration camp. For those of you that don’t like the Republican/Nazi comparison …..Bark at the moon. I see parallels here.

Missouri lawmaker on child hunger: ‘Hunger can be a positive motivator.’

In her June newsletter, State Rep. Cynthia Davis (R-MO) provided several “commentaries” to a press release from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on a summer food program. The program provides “food during the summer for thousands of low-income Missouri children who rely on the school cafeteria for free or reduced-price meals during the regular school year.” Davis, who serves as the chairwoman of the Missouri House Special Standing Committee on Children and Families, questioned whether the program is “warranted,” and extolled the hidden benefits of child hunger:

Who’s buying dinner? Who is getting paid to serve the meal? Churches and other non-profits can do this at no cost to the taxpayer if it is warranted. [...] Bigger governmental programs take away our connectedness to the human family, our brotherhood and our need for one another. [...] Anyone under 18 can be eligible? Can’t they get a job during the summer by the time they are 16? Hunger can be a positive motivator. What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals? Tip: If you work for McDonald’s, they will feed you for free during your break. [...] It really is all about increasing government spending, which means an increase in taxes for us to buy more free lunches and breakfasts.

via Think Progress » Missouri lawmaker on child hunger: ‘Hunger can be a positive motivator.’.

EU to Examine National Opt-Outs for GM Crop Growing

EU to Examine National Opt-Outs for GM Crop Growing – | CommonDreams.org

BRUSSELS – Eleven European Union countries will call next week for the right to opt-outs for growing genetically modified (GM) crops, to cut through complex EU decision-making and end years of stalemate on biotech policy.

The suggestion, to be floated at a meeting of EU environment ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday, would be for governments to restrict cultivation of specific GM crop types if they saw fit.

Even though there will be no decisions taken, the paper authored by the 11 countries is certain to spark a debate on Europe’s GM policy. The European Commission, the EU’s executive, has already started a review of the two main biotech approvals laws: on cultivation, and imports of GM food and feed products.

The paper was co-written by Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia and the Netherlands.

“Given the unsatisfactory situation and the negative attitude toward GMOs of large parts of the population in many member states, time has come to find a new approach to deal with the authorisation and use of GMOs in agriculture,” it said. “The legally soundest solution we envisage is a set of minor amendments of relevant EU legislation, which should introduce the right of an individual member state to restrict or prohibit indefinitely the cultivation of authorised GMOs on its territory,” said the paper, obtained by Reuters.

via EU to Examine National Opt-Outs for GM Crop Growing | CommonDreams.org.

Dream big, Obama

Dream big, Obama

The president should be a revolutionary, not just a reformer

By David Sirota

Most of the great advances we remember involve reimagination and dreams, not merely tweaks and tinkers. The Wright Brothers’ plane wasn’t a newfangled horse and buggy, Einstein’s theories weren’t a simple update of old physics, and Edison’s creations didn’t aspire to make a brighter-burning wax candle. It’s been the same thing in politics. The Founding Fathers’ Constitution didn’t replicate monarchy, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal wasn’t just tinkering with Hooverism, and Ronald Reagan’s revolution didn’t merely dismantle the welfare state.

All of these inventors envisaged machines, theories and societies that never before existed. And that’s why for all the positive, even admirable steps Obama’s America seems poised to take, the aspirations still seem too small, too unimaginative, too confined by old parameters and old conceptions of how things have always worked.

Consider the Wall Street bailouts. By simply giving banks trillions of dollars with no strings attached, our government theorizes that the problem is not the financial system, but a momentary cash drought that can be solved by temporary recapitalization. These bailouts do not aspire to change the whole industry into one dominated by many small institutions rather than a few big ones. They also don’t reach for “a tightly regulated banking system, which made finance a staid, even boring business,” as Paul Krugman said we once had — they envision the same get-rich-quick casino that generated huge profits and huge losses.

via Dream big, Obama | Salon.

The War Against the ‘War on Drugs’

The War Against the ‘War on Drugs’

As California goes, so goes the nation.

If that old adage still holds true, then the nation may soon see a gradual backpedaling from the criminal justice policies that have led to wholesale incarceration in recent decades. For the most populous state in the union is on the verge of insolvency–partly because it didn’t set aside a rainy-day fund during the boom years; partly because its voters recently rejected a series of initiatives that would have allowed a combination of tax increases, spending cuts and borrowing to help stabilize the state’s finances during the downturn; partly because it has spent the past quarter-century funneling tens of billions of dollars into an out-of-control correctional system. Now, as California’s politicians contemplate emergency cuts to deal with a $24 billion hole in the state budget, old certainties are crumbling.

The state with the toughest three-strikes law in the land and a prison population of more than 150,000 is facing the real possibility of having to release tens of thousands of inmates early in order to pare its $10 billion annual correctional budget. At the same time, an increasing number of the state’s political figures are challenging the basic tenets of the “war on drugs,” the culprit most responsible for the spike in prison populations over the past thirty years; they argue that the country’s harsh drug policies are not financially viable and no longer command majority support among the voting public.

via The War Against the ‘War on Drugs’.

Gays, Minorities and Liberals Didn’t Bring Down Wall Street: GOP White Males Did.

Gays, Minorities and Liberals Didn’t Bring Down Wall Street: GOP White Males Did.

BUZZFLASH EDITOR’S BLOG  By Mark Karlin

The threat to the white male oligarchy of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor had gotten so out of hand that if it weren’t for the inspiring drama of the Green Revolution, I might have been aphyxiated by now with the hypocrisy of it all.

Here we have the white male Republicans of Wall Street cratering our economy, only to be bailed out by middle and working class taxpayers. The Wall Street river boat gamblers lost their bets and then we gave them hundreds of billions of dollars in welfare.

But to BuzzFlash’s knowledge, it wasn’t the “threat” of gays, minorities, liberals, and empowered women who committed economic treason; it was due to the reckless and greedy actions of full-fledged members of the white boys club.

Ann Coulter should have directed her book “treason” at the Wall Street white male Republicans, but that wouldn’t have sold many books. You got to blame the woes of America on “liberals” and a “secular society” to get those desperately seeking a scapegoat to pony up for pages upon pages of demagoguery without any basis in fact.

And let’s not forget our American version of the “Supreme Commander” (the new Shah) in Iran, the self-righteous fundamentalist right. They blame the “destruction” of American society on “promiscuous sex,” homosexuality, and liberals. But the last time we checked, it was the God-fearing corporatist side of the GOP that drove the U.S. economy and foreign policy into the ground.

via Gays, Minorities and Liberals Didn’t Bring Down Wall Street: GOP White Males Did. | BuzzFlash.org.

8 Fun Green Ways to Manage Stress (Kissing is One of Them)

8 Fun Green Ways to Manage Stress (Kissing is One of Them)

Want to stop stressing? Then start swearing, kissing, getting dirty, cluttered and eating garlic instead!

COVENTRY, Vt. — Vermont dairy farmers Tim Maikshilo and Kristen Dellert, mindful of shrinking their carbon footprint, have changed their cows’ diet to reduce the amount of gas the animals burp _ dairy cows‘ contribution to global warming.

Coventry Valley Farm is one of 15 Vermont farms working with Stonyfield Farm Inc., whose yogurt is made with their organic milk, to reduce the cows’ intestinal methane by feeding them flaxseed, alfalfa, and grasses high in Omega 3 fatty acids. The gas cows belch is the dairy industry’s biggest greenhouse gas contributor, research shows, most of it emitted from the front and not the back end of the cow.

“I just figured a cow was a cow and they were going to do whatever they were going to do in terms of cow things for gas,” said Dellert. “It was pretty shocking to me that just being organic wasn’t enough, actually. I really thought that here we’re organic, we’re doing what we need to do for the planet, we’re doing the stuff for the soil and I really thought that was enough.”

via 8 Fun Green Ways to Manage Stress (Kissing is One of Them) : Planet Green.

Farmers Cut Cow Emissions By Altering Diets

Farmers Cut Cow Emissions By Altering Diets

COVENTRY, Vt. — Vermont dairy farmers Tim Maikshilo and Kristen Dellert, mindful of shrinking their carbon footprint, have changed their cows’ diet to reduce the amount of gas the animals burp _ dairy cows‘ contribution to global warming.

Coventry Valley Farm is one of 15 Vermont farms working with Stonyfield Farm Inc., whose yogurt is made with their organic milk, to reduce the cows’ intestinal methane by feeding them flaxseed, alfalfa, and grasses high in Omega 3 fatty acids. The gas cows belch is the dairy industry’s biggest greenhouse gas contributor, research shows, most of it emitted from the front and not the back end of the cow.

“I just figured a cow was a cow and they were going to do whatever they were going to do in terms of cow things for gas,” said Dellert. “It was pretty shocking to me that just being organic wasn’t enough, actually. I really thought that here we’re organic, we’re doing what we need to do for the planet, we’re doing the stuff for the soil and I really thought that was enough.”

via Farmers Cut Cow Emissions By Altering Diets.

Reich: Obama “Over-Learned” From Clinton (VIDEO)

Reich: Obama “Over-Learned” From Clinton (VIDEO)

n crafting health care legislation, the Obama White House may have “over-learned the lesson of the Clinton years,” giving too much deference to Congress when presidential leadership is needed, Robert Reich said on Sunday.

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” the former Clinton administration labor secretary and his co-panelists acknowledged that the past week of news on the health care reform front was not a good one for progressive activists. CBO reports showed plans in the Senate costing scads of taxpayer funds with moderate returns in coverage, while Republican opposition to a public plan crystallized. In light of it all, Reich said it was time to revisit the chief component of Obama’s legislative strategy: allowing a health care bill to originate in Congress so as to keep the process open and accessible to its 535 members.

“The worry here is that the President may have, and the White House staff may have, over-learned the lesson of the Clinton health care plan, ‘fiasco,’ which was don’t deliver a package to the Hill, let the Hill take ownership,” said Reich. “That was true up to a point… Right now the president has got to get involved, twist arms and say if I don’t have A, B, and C I’m not going to sign this bill.”

“We have reached a tipping point,” Reich went on. “And I think the problem is there are so many different bills and so many different conceptions of where the money is going to come from, whether there is going to be a mandate, whether there is going to be a public option, what the public option will look like, that there is no coherence. The president has got to go in there and give it coherence.”

Watch:

via Reich: Obama “Over-Learned” From Clinton (VIDEO).

A Public Health Plan

Editorial -  – NYTimes.com

A Public Health Plan

As the debate on health care reform unfolds, no issue has caused such partisan rancor — and spawned such misleading rhetoric — as whether to create a new public insurance plan to compete with private plans.

The nation already has several huge public plans, including Medicare for the elderly (once reviled by conservatives, it is now only short of the flag in its popularity) and Medicaid for the poor.

Now the issue is whether to establish a new public plan to encourage more competition among health insurers and provide Americans with an alternative.

Most Democrats and some Republicans have already accepted the need to create one or more health insurance exchanges where individuals without group coverage and possibly small businesses could buy insurance policies. Some proponents hope that big businesses could enroll their workers as well.

via Editorial – A Public Health Plan – NYTimes.com.

US Government Spends Half A Million Dollars For Study On Why Men Hate Condoms

Why Are Condoms Disliked by So Many Men?

National Insitutes of Health Commissions Study of Condom Use

The federal government has spent nearly half a million dollars to fund a study to find out why some men would prefer not to wear condoms during sex.

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a $423,500 grant to researchers at The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.

The Bloomington, Ind., based research team will use the funding to study “barriers to correct condom use,” according to a release from the institute.

via Why Are Condoms Disliked by So Many Men? – ABC News.

Airlines Adding Even More Extra Fees

Airlines Adding Even More Extra Fees

MINNEAPOLIS — As if charging $15 to check a bag weren’t enough, two airlines are asking for $5 more beginning this summer if you pay at the check-in counter _ a fee on top of a fee.

Of course, you could always pay your baggage fee from home. The airlines call it the “online discount.”

If airlines can get away with that, what’s next? Rather than raise fares in the middle of a recession, they’re piling on fees to make money _ fees for bags, fees to get through the line faster, even fees for certain seats.

United Airlines alone expects to rake in more than $1 billion this year in fees ranging from baggage to accelerated frequent-flier awards. That’s more than 5 percent of its revenue.

The most likely new fees are those that some airline, somewhere, has tried. Fees usually originate with one or two airlines, and competitors watch to see whether passengers accept them or revolt. For instance:

_ US Airways and United are hitting passengers up for $5 to pay their baggage fees at the airport instead of online. United implemented the fee June 10, while US Airways will put it into effect July 9.

_ If you want to select an exit row seat on AirTran and enjoy the extra legroom, expect to cough up $20.

via Airlines Adding Even More Extra Fees.

Graham Open To Dem’s Health Care Compromise, But Not Public Plan (VIDEO)

Graham Open To Dem’s Health Care Compromise, But Not Public Plan (VIDEO)

Senator Lindsey Graham became the latest Republican and most conservative Senator yet to express a willingness to consider a compromise approach to health care reform based around co-ops providing insurance coverage.

The South Carolina Republican, appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” set a firm line in the sand when discussing the creation of a public option for insurance, insisting that such a proposal would not pass the United States Senate.

“The reason you are not going to have a government-run health care pass the Senate is because it will be devastating for this country,” he said. “The last thing in the world I think that Democrats and Republicans will do at the end of the day is create a government-run health care system.”

Later in the program, however, Graham offered what his co-panelist Sen. Chris Dodd and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich (who appeared later in the show) both viewed as openness to compromise. A system of state-based co-ops — which would be run as non-profit entities, subject to private insurance rules, and operating out of the premiums paid by its members — could be an adequate substitute for a public plan, he said.

“I think this idea needs to go away,” Graham said of a public plan, “and replace it with something maybe like [Senator] Kent Conrad’s proposal.”

Watch:

via Graham Open To Dem’s Health Care Compromise, But Not Public Plan (VIDEO).

The Froomkin firing

The Froomkin firing

Paul Krugman

I’m a bit late on this, but the Washington Post has fired Dan Froomkin, of the White House Watch blog.

On the face of it, it’s a puzzling decision. Aside from the excellence of Froomkin’s work, he’s popular with readers. On sheer business grounds, why drop him?

OK, I have no idea about the actual decision process. But I have a theory about the general mindset of the people who made this decision.

Here’s how I see things: many people in the news media, especially at the managerial level, decided a long time ago that movement conservatism was The Future — and that the sensible thing, whether or not you yourself were a conservative, was to go with the wave. That meant treating right-wing politicians and media figures with great respect, while ridiculing the opposition as the Incredible Shrinking Democrats or the Incredibly Shrinking Democrats, or whatever.

via The Froomkin firing – Paul Krugman Blog – NYTimes.com.

Why do so many people say they voted for Obama when they didn’t?

Lies, Damn Lies, and Votes for Obama

Why do so many people say they voted for the president when they didn’t?

By Christopher Beam

Even as Americans grow skeptical of various Democratic policies, President Obama’s approval rating hovers at a robust 63 percent. People like him so much, in fact, that many say they voted for him—even when they didn’t.

In the 2008 election, Obama won 53 percent of the votes; John McCain got 46 percent. But two new polls, conducted by the Wall Street Journal/NBC and the New York Times/CBS, show Obama winning by a much wider margin.

When respondents were asked by the WSJ whom they voted for in the 2008 presidential elections, 41 percent said they voted for Obama, compared with 32 percent for McCain. Factor out the 18 percent who said they didn’t vote, and you’ve got Obama beating McCain by 11 points, 50 percent to 39 percent.

The gap in the New York Times poll is even wider. In it, 48 percent of respondents said they voted for Obama, compared with 25 percent for McCain. Again, subtract the 19 percent who say they didn’t vote, and you’ve got Obama winning by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, with 60 percent to McCain’s 32 percent.

What gives? Are people really lying about having voted for Obama?

via Why do so many people say they voted for Obama when they didn’t? – By Christopher Beam – Slate Magazine.

Obama won by MILLIONS MORE than we’ve been told

Obama won by MILLIONS MORE than we’ve been told

by Mark Crispin Miller

For all of them, the copious and specific evidence of vote suppression and election fraud last year does not exist. Period. Their blinders keep them happily unmindful of–and, therefore, indifferent to–the millions who’d been  “legally” purged from the voter rolls by BushCo’s DoJ, or purged illegally by partisan administrators and/or party operatives, or kept from voting by too few machines (there having been–again–long, long, long lines in Democratic precincts only), or had their votes flipped electronically (with or without their seeing it happen), or disinformed, or misdirected, or intimidated; and so on.

Although such moves have long since been well-documented by election monitors, both individual and institutional, our press remains convinced that all of that is only so much “theory” (“conspiracy theory”). Thus they can’t report what’s right in front of them– any more than they can see, or say, what also really happened in this decade’s prior elections:

Chances are, Obama’s landslide won’t last forever. Retroactive vote reporting tends to be a proxy for popularity. Just ask George W. Bush. In a 2006 NYT poll, more people said they voted for John Kerry in 2004 than voted for Bush.

via OpEdNews » OpEdNews.

Why do so many people say they voted for Obama when they didn’t?

Lies, Damn Lies, and Votes for ObamaWhy do so many people say they voted for the president when they didn’t?

By Christopher Beam

Even as Americans grow skeptical of various Democratic policies, President Obama’s approval rating hovers at a robust 63 percent. People like him so much, in fact, that many say they voted for him—even when they didn’t.

In the 2008 election, Obama won 53 percent of the votes; John McCain got 46 percent. But two new polls, conducted by the Wall Street Journal/NBC and the New York Times/CBS, show Obama winning by a much wider margin.

When respondents were asked by the WSJ whom they voted for in the 2008 presidential elections, 41 percent said they voted for Obama, compared with 32 percent for McCain. Factor out the 18 percent who said they didn’t vote, and you’ve got Obama beating McCain by 11 points, 50 percent to 39 percent.

The gap in the New York Times poll is even wider. In it, 48 percent of respondents said they voted for Obama, compared with 25 percent for McCain. Again, subtract the 19 percent who say they didn’t vote, and you’ve got Obama winning by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, with 60 percent to McCain’s 32 percent.

What gives? Are people really lying about having voted for Obama?

via Why do so many people say they voted for Obama when they didn’t? – By Christopher Beam – Slate Magazine.

Government & Media using phoney numbers again?

OPS:  You know that “46 Million Uninsured Americans”  figure they like to toss around?  That was from 2005 – before the bubble burst!   Even if you believe that was an honest number then – what is the real number today? : kudos to ThirdWorldJohn at DU for alerting us all to this.

The Number Of Uninsured Americans Is At An All-Time High

This analysis was updated on August 26, 2008 to reflect 2007 Census Data. View the new analysis

Data released today by the Census Bureau show that the number of uninsured Americans stood at a record 46.6 million in 2005, with 15.9 percent of Americans lacking health coverage. “The number of uninsured Americans reached an all-time high in 2005,” said Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “It is sobering that 5.4 million more people lacked health insurance in 2005 than in the recession year of 2001, primarily because of the erosion of employer-based insurance.”

via The Number Of Uninsured Americans Is At An All-Time High — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Obama’s Treasury Pick Has All the Wrong Ideas

OPS: FLASHBACK – this was originally published 11.25.08

Obama’s Treasury Pick Has All the Wrong Ideas

By William Greider, TheNation.com.

Timothy Geithner is an architect, and now an enabler, of the unfolding crisis.

A year ago, when Barack Obama said it was time to turn the page, his campaign declaration seemed to promise a fresh start for Washington. I, for one, failed to foresee Obama would turn the page backward. The president-elect’s lineup for key governing positions has opted for continuity, not change. Virtually all of his leading appointments are restoring the Clinton presidency, only without Mr. Bill. In some important ways, Obama’s selections seem designed to sustain the failing policies of George W. Bush.

This is not the last word and things are changing rapidly. But Obama’s choices have begun to define him. His victory, it appears, was a triumph for the cautious center-right politics that has described the Democratic party for several decades. Those of us who expected more were duped, not so much by Obama but by our own wishful thinking.

via Obama’s Treasury Pick Has All the Wrong Ideas | Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace | AlterNet.

Thirst for Profit: Corporate Control of Water in Latin America

Thirst for Profit: Corporate Control of Water in Latin America   | CommonDreams.org

Water for Sale: What is called for is an international code for the public’s access to a guaranteed supply of water as a basic human right.

The Corporate Crusade to Commodify Water

Water has been characterized as the oil of the 21st century. Blue gold. It is essential to life, and yet humanity faces a growing water crisis as a result of severe mismanagement in water and sanitation, which will be exponentially exacerbated in the coming decades by population growth combined with declining resources. Latin America has the greatest income disparity in the world and the population’s access to water reflects this inequality. Over 130 million people living in the region do not have access to potable water in their homes, and sanitation is in even poorer condition, as it is estimated that only one in six persons has adequate sanitation services. According to the 2007 Annual Report from the nonprofit organization Water For People, “Every day, nearly 6,000 people who share our world die from water-related illnesses – more than 2 million each year – and the vast majority of these are children…There are more lives lost each year to water-related illnesses than to natural disasters and wars combined.” It is clear that lack of access to clean water is a serious issue, one that has only started to gain international attention from a variety of organizations in recent years.

via Thirst for Profit: Corporate Control of Water in Latin America | CommonDreams.org.

North Korea: “Sanity” at the Brink

North Korea: “Sanity” at the Brink   | CommonDreams.org

by Michael Parenti

Nations that chart a self-defining course, seeking to use their land, labor, natural resources, and markets as they see fit, free from the smothering embrace of the US corporate global order, frequently become a target of defamation. Their leaders often have their moral sanity called into question by US officials and US media, as has been the case at one time or another with Castro, Noriega, Ortega, Qaddafi, Aristide, Milosevic, Saddam Hussein, Hugo Chavez, and others.

So it comes as no surprise that the rulers of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) have been routinely described as mentally unbalanced by our policymakers and pundits. Senior Defense Department officials refer to the DPRK as a country “not of this planet,” led by “dysfunctional” autocrats. One government official, quoted in the New York Times, wondered aloud “if they are really totally crazy.” The New Yorker magazine called them “balmy,” and late-night TV host David Letterman got into the act by labeling Kim Jong-il a “madman maniac.”

To be sure, there are things about the DPRK that one might wonder about, including its dynastic leadership system, its highly dictatorial one-party rule, and the chaos that seems implanted in the heart of its “planned” economy.

via North Korea: “Sanity” at the Brink | CommonDreams.org.

Obama’s Health Reform Waterloo

Obama’s Health Reform Waterloo  | CommonDreams.org

by Dave Lindorff

The Obama administration and the Congressional Democrats are finally hitting the inevitable wall that was bound to confront them because of the president’s congenital inability to be a bold leader, and because of the party’s toxic decades-old decision to betray its working class New Deal base in favor of wholesale corporate whoredom.

The wall is health care reform, which both Barack Obama and the Democratic Party had hoped would be the ticket for them to ride to victory in the 2010 Congressional elections and the 2012 presidential election.

But you cannot achieve the twin goals of reducing health care costs and providing access to health care to 50 million uninsured people, while leaving the profit centers of the current system–doctors, hospitals and the health insurance industry–in charge and in a position to continue to reap profits.

via Obama’s Health Reform Waterloo | CommonDreams.org.

Most in US Support Govt-Backed Health Care: Poll

OPS: 72%  Want it – 20% don’t. That ol 20% club again.  The 20% are winning.

Most in US Support Govt-Backed Health Care: Poll   | CommonDreams.org

WASHINGTON – The overwhelming majority of Americans support substantial changes to the country’s health care system, including a government-run health insurance option, a new opinion poll found.

The survey by The New York Times and CBS News also indicated most Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes so everyone could have health insurance.

Eighty-five percent of respondents said the health care system needed to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt, according to the poll.

In addition, the survey found that 72 percent of those questioned supported a government-administered insurance plan — something like Medicare for those under 65 — that would compete for customers with private insurers.

Twenty percent said they were opposed.

via Most in US Support Govt-Backed Health Care: Poll | CommonDreams.org.

In Stark Legal Turnaround, Obama Now Resembles Bush

In Stark Legal Turnaround, Obama Now Resembles Bush   | CommonDreams.org

by Michael Doyle

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is morphing into George W. Bush, as administration attorneys repeatedly adopt the executive-authority and national-security rationales that their Republican predecessors preferred.

In courtroom battles and freedom-of-information fights from Washington, D.C., to California, Obama’s legal arguments repeatedly mirror Bush’s: White House turf is to be protected, secrets must be retained and dire warnings are wielded as weapons.

“It’s putting up a veritable wall around the White House, and it’s so at odds with Obama’s campaign commitment to more open government,” said Anne Weismann, chief counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a legal watchdog group.

Certainly, some differences exist.

via In Stark Legal Turnaround, Obama Now Resembles Bush | CommonDreams.org.

Further Evidence America Needs a VAT

Further Evidence America Needs a VAT

International trade is inherently unfair if everyone plays the game by a different set of rules.

Just before signing the North American Free Trade Agreement and mutually lowering its official import tariffs against the United States, the Canadian government instituted a so-called Goods and Services Tax. The GST is a multi-level valued-added tax no different than the VAT used in other countries around the world.

Canada is the United States’ largest trading partner – just ahead of China – yet it is allowed to maintain a value-added tax. Not all goods coming out of Canada are rebated, and not all U.S. goods are taxed at the border – for instance, automobiles are exempted.

However, some American-produced goods are taxed, and some imports into the United States are rebated by the Canadian government. This is an overt example of unfair “free trade” policies, and it is right on our border. Mexico also maintains a similar tax scheme against imported goods, including U.S. items.

via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.

China Advocating “Buy Chinese” Clauses

China Advocating “Buy Chinese” Clauses

China has been one of the loudest voices against the perceived evils of protectionism, yet this episode once again illustrates that China is indeed one of the most fiercely protected economies in the world.

According to The New York Times, the government in Beijing is asking that local municipalities try to “Buy Chinese” whenever possible in order to prop up domestic commerce. This comes just days after China’s President, Hu Jintao, met leaders from Russia, Brazil, and India to denounce protectionism. It also comes on the heels of several months of animosity from the Chinese about proposed “Buy American” clauses in the United States.

China has been one of the loudest voices against the perceived evils of protectionism, yet this episode once again illustrates that China is indeed one of the most fiercely protected economies in the world. China clamors for “free trade” when it serves its interests, but the Chinese government easily switches over toward economic nationalism when it suits the country.

Thus far China has introduced a domestic stimulus plan valued at $586 billion – far smaller than the cumulative stimuli and bailouts in the United States. Obviously it would make sense, and have the most stimulating effect, to make sure that money stays in the domestic market. With major building projects to organize and equip “Buy Chinese” will force out foreign competition and favor newly created domestic heavy industries.

via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.

CNBC’s Larry Kudlow defends corporate greed in debate with TP’s Faiz Shakir.

CNBC’s Larry Kudlow defends corporate greed in debate with TP’s Faiz Shakir.

Last night on CNBC, ThinkProgress editor-in-chief Faiz Shakir debated CNBC host Larry Kudlow about a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal which revealed that the CEOs of banks receiving government bailout money are expensing travel on private jets for personal vacations. “I think it’s great because I want to stimulate the economy,” Kudlow said of taxpayer-funded private jet trips by bank CEOs. “I want to help the resorts. … I’m glad the CEOs are going around. I just wish they’d take me with them.” Faiz responded:

I do have a problem when they’re taking taxpayer money. Larry, you hate paying taxes. I understand that. But if there’s one thing you hate more than paying taxes, it’s seeing those taxpayer dollars go to waste. And that’s what’s going on here.

Watch it:

via Think Progress » CNBC’s Larry Kudlow defends corporate greed in debate with TP’s Faiz Shakir..

Spy Training Program Could Come to Universities

Obama Administration Looks to Colleges for Future Spies  – washingtonpost.com

To the list of collegiate types — nerds, jocks, Greeks — add one more: spies in training. The government is hoping they’ll be hard to spot.

The Obama administration has proposed the creation of an intelligence officer training program in colleges and universities that would function much like the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps run by the military services. The idea is to create a stream “of first- and second-generation Americans, who already have critical language and cultural knowledge, and prepare them for careers in the intelligence agencies,” according to a description sent to Congress by Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair.

In recent years, the CIA and other intelligence agencies have struggled to find qualified recruits who can work the streets of the Middle East and South Asia to penetrate terrorist groups and criminal enterprises. The proposed program is an effort to cultivate and educate a new generation of career intelligence officers from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds.

via Spy Training Program Could Come to Universities – washingtonpost.com.

House panel subpoenas Fed over BofA/Merrill merger

House panel subpoenas Fed over BofA/Merrill merger

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A congressional committee said on Friday it has served the Federal Reserve with a second subpoena for documents related to Bank of America Corp’s purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co.

The demand from the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was announced six days before Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to testify about the central’s bank’s role in the weeks surrounding the January 1 purchase.

Edolphus Towns, the New York Democrat who chairs the panel, is seeking documents that discuss “closed-door discussions” that took place between September and January among the Fed, the Treasury Department and Bank of America.

Federal Reserve spokeswoman Michelle Smith said the Fed had received the subpoena and would respond.

Lawmakers have accused Bernanke and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson of pressuring Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America to complete the merger and not reveal Merrill’s financial problems, so as to not destabilize the world’s markets.

via House panel subpoenas Fed over BofA/Merrill merger | Politics | Reuters.

Obama’s Make-or-Break Summer

Obama’s Make-or-Break Summer   - NYTimes.com

Frank Rich

THAT First 100 Days hoopla seems like a century ago. The countless report cards it engendered are already obsolete. The real story begins now. With Iran, universal health care, energy reform and the economic recovery all on the line, the still-new, still-popular president’s true tests are about to come.

Here’s one thing Barack Obama does not have to worry about: the opposition. Approval ratings for Republicans hit an all-time low last week in both the New York Times/CBS News and Wall Street Journal/NBC News polls. That’s what happens when a party’s most creative innovations are novel twists on old-fashioned sex scandals. Just when you thought the G.O.P. could never match the high bar set by Larry Craig’s men’s room toe-tapping, along came Senator John Ensign of Nevada, an ostentatiously pious born-again Christian whose ecumenical outreach drove him to engineer political jobs for his mistress, her cuckolded husband and the couple’s son. At least it can no longer be said that the Republicans have no plan for putting Americans back to work.

But as ever, the lack of an adversary with gravitas is a double-edged sword for Obama. It tempts him to be cocky and to coast. That’s a rare flaw in a president whose temperament, smarts and judgment remain impressive. Yet it is not insignificant. Though we don’t know how Obama will fare on all the challenges he faces this summer, last week’s big rollout of his financial reform package was a big punt, an accommodation to the status quo. Given that the economy remains the country’s paramount concern — and that all new polling finds that most Americans still think it’s dire — this timid response was a lost opportunity. It violated the Rahm Emanuel dictum that “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste” and could yet prompt a serious political backlash.

via Op-Ed Columnist – Obama’s Make-or-Break Summer – NYTimes.com.

In Poll, Wide Support for Government-Run Health

In Poll, Wide Support for Government-Run Health   - NYTimes.com

Americans overwhelmingly support substantial changes to the health care system and are strongly behind one of the most contentious proposals Congress is considering, a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The poll found that most Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes so everyone could have health insurance and that they said the government could do a better job of holding down health-care costs than the private sector.

Yet the survey also revealed considerable unease about the impact of heightened government involvement, on both the economy and the quality of the respondents’ own medical care. While 85 percent of respondents said the health care system needed to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt, 77 percent said they were very or somewhat satisfied with the quality of their own care.

That paradox was skillfully exploited by opponents of the last failed attempt at overhauling the health system, during former President Bill Clinton’s first term. Sixteen years later, it underscores the tricky task facing lawmakers and President Obama as they try to address the health system’s substantial problems without igniting fears that people could lose what they like.

via In Poll, Wide Support for Government-Run Health – NYTimes.com.

Death penalty decisions loom for Barack Obama

Death penalty decisions loom for Barack Obama  – - POLITICO.com

For the first time in his career, President Barack Obama may soon confront one of the most weighty and unsavory decisions that a chief executive must make, whether to put a murder convict to death.

The decision could land on Obama’s desk within a matter of months, due to cases winding their way through the federal courts. And while Obama is on record supporting the death penalty for particularly heinous crimes, that’s a far cry from deciding whether a specific man’s life should be taken or spared.

“The death penalty in the abstract is one thing. The reality of the death penalty and all of its nasty details is a very different thing,” said Dianne Rust-Tierney of the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty. “This is something that this president is not the only one to face…..Having seen this thing in practice, you see it as a very different animal.”

Already, with little press attention or protest from the anti-death penalty camp, Attorney General Eric Holder has authorized federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for at least four defendants since Obama took office. In all, 55 men and two women are on federal death row, death-penalty opponents say.

via Death penalty decisions loom for Barack Obama – Josh Gerstein – POLITICO.com.

Enviros cringe as Senate committee approves energy bill

Enviros cringe as Senate committee approves energy bill | Grist

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved an energy bill on Wednesday that has the environmental community up in arms. The plan, enviros say, relies too heavily on fossil fuels and doesn’t do enough to advance renewable energy.

The American Clean Energy Leadership Act was approved by a vote of 15-8. The bill passed with bipartisan support, but also had bipartisan opposition.

A major concern for enviros and for some senators is that the bill would allow oil and gas drilling up to 10 miles off parts of the Florida coast, lifting a ban on drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico that Congress instated two and a half years ago.

Friends of the Earth blasted the whole bill as a “flashback to Bush energy policy.”

The Sierra Club was also quick to announce its opposition. “Numerous changes to this bill during consideration by the committee have significantly undermined its integrity and ability to build the clean energy economy,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope. “While it makes positive strides in setting new energy-efficiency standards for our buildings and appliances, it falls far short of what President Obama has called for in order to repower America with renewable energy, create millions of new clean energy jobs, and fight global warming.”

via Enviros cringe as Senate committee approves energy bill | Grist.

Wide support for government health plan: poll

NYT Poll: “Americans strongly support fundamental changes to the healthcare system and a move to create a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers.” But the K Street Lobbyists are Prevailing

Wide support for government health plan: poll  - Boston.com

The poll came amid mounting opposition to plans by the Obama administration and its allies in the Democratic-controlled Congress to push through the most sweeping restructuring of the U.S. healthcare system since the end of World War Two.

via Wide support for government health plan: poll – Boston.com.

Obama: Not Keeping Promise of Transparency

Obama Closes Doors on Openness

By Michael Isikoff | NEWSWEEK

The New York Times recently ran an article about the movement within primary-care medicine to develop systems that allow doctors to spend more time with their patients.

New technologies enabling doctors to electronically record, store and manage records, handle appointments, bill insurance companies, refill prescriptions and communicate directly with patients are allowing physicians to spend more time seeing fewer patients while maintaining their incomes.

One physician moved from a large clinic where she was required to see 25 patients per day to a smaller, more efficiently run practice where she saw only 12. Instead of only treating presenting symptoms, she was able to better understand her patients’ entire history. Another doctor made house calls, managing most of his practice through special software on his laptop. Both providers maintained regular contact with their patients via e-mai

via Obama: Not Keeping Promise of Transparency | Newsweek Politics | Newsweek.com.

When We Talk About Health Care, We’re Forgetting One Important Group: The Already Insured

When We Talk About Health Care, We’re Forgetting One Important Group: The Already Insured

The suffering fostered by our system isn’t limited to those who can’t afford access to it. And their voices should be part of the debate, too.

The New York Times recently ran an article about the movement within primary-care medicine to develop systems that allow doctors to spend more time with their patients.

New technologies enabling doctors to electronically record, store and manage records, handle appointments, bill insurance companies, refill prescriptions and communicate directly with patients are allowing physicians to spend more time seeing fewer patients while maintaining their incomes.

One physician moved from a large clinic where she was required to see 25 patients per day to a smaller, more efficiently run practice where she saw only 12. Instead of only treating presenting symptoms, she was able to better understand her patients’ entire history. Another doctor made house calls, managing most of his practice through special software on his laptop. Both providers maintained regular contact with their patients via e-mai

via When We Talk About Health Care, We’re Forgetting One Important Group: The Already Insured | Health and Wellness | AlterNet.

40 banks failures in 2009

40 banks failures in 2009 – So far

Banks in Georgia, North Carolina and Kansas are closed by regulators as the financial crisis takes a toll on local banks across the nation.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Regional banks in North Carolina, Kansas and Georgia were closed by state regulators Friday, bringing the total number of failed banks this year to 40, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said.

The 24 branches of Wilmington, N.C.-based Cooperative Bank will reopen Monday as branches of First Bank, which is based in Troy, N.C.

Cooperative bank had assets of $970 million and total deposits of approximately $774 million. First Bank will assume all of the failed bank’s deposits and agreed to purchase $942 million of its assets.

via 40 banks failures in 2009 – Jun. 19, 2009.

Jobless rate rises in nearly all states

OPS: They appear to be using the U3 figures – which makes the actual jobless rate MUCH higher than they are reporting. More on that here

Jobless rate rises in nearly all states

Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia post unemployment rates rise in May, while only one state – Nebraska – registers a decrease.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate increases in May, the government reported Friday. One state registered a rate decrease, and one state had no rate change.

Several states and regions posted their highest unemployment rate since the report debuted in 1976.

Over the year, jobless rates were higher in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Michigan once again led the nation with a 14.1% jobless rate, up from 12.9% a month earlier, followed again by Oregon at 12.4%, up from 12% in April. Thirteen states have rates above 10%.

Michigan’s 1.2 percentage point increase from April was also the largest jump in the country, followed by Rhode Island’s 1 percentage point hike. Both states are suffering from the devastation in the manufacturing sector. Michigan, in particular, was hit by Chrysler’s plant shutdown early in the month and a series of GM plant closings.

via Jobless rate rises in nearly all states – Jun. 19, 2009.

Single-Payer Advocate Speaks to Blue Dogs on Health Reform

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Single-Payer Advocate Speaks to Blue Dogs on Health Reform

WASHINGTON – June 19 – Dr. Robert Stone, a leader of Physicians for a National Health Program, an organization of 16,000 physicians who advocate for single-payer national health insurance, spoke to the Health Care Task Force of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition on Capitol Hill Thursday.

In his remarks, Stone emphasized how single-payer health reform, as embodied in the U.S. National Health Care Act, H.R. 676, is the most fiscally responsible way of addressing the nation’s health care woes.

Stone said that by replacing the for-profit, private health insurance companies with a single-payer program – an improved Medicare for All – the United States would save more than $400 billion in administrative costs annually. He also said that single payer is only reform proposal that includes effective cost-containment provisions.

“In fact, the strongest argument for Medicare for All is that it is the most efficient reform proposal with the greatest ability to control costs” Stone said. “That is exactly why so many members of the “medical-industrial complex” oppose such a plan, because, as the Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has said, “Remember that what the rest of us call health care costs, they call income.”

“In short, single payer is the only plan that pays for itself and covers everyone. It’s fiscally conservative and socially responsible,” Stone said.

via Single-Payer Advocate Speaks to Blue Dogs on Health Reform | CommonDreams.org.

U.N. to investigate Bhutto’s assassination

OPS:  It’s about time….

U.N. to investigate Bhutto’s assassination

CNN) — An independent commission will start investigating the 2007 assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir

Bhutto in July, the United Nations has announced.

Bhutto, 54, was heading the opposition to then-President Pervez Musharraf when she was killed at a December campaign rally in Rawalpindi ahead of parliamentary elections.

“The duty of determining criminal responsibility of the perpetrators of the assassination remains with the Pakistani authorities,” according to a U.N. news release.

The commission will have six months to fact-find and report to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who announced the commission in February, the release said. Moon is expected to share the findings with the U.N. Security Council and the Pakistani government, which requested the commission.

Ambassador Heraldo Munoz of Chile will lead the three-person effort, which is to include Marzuki Darusman, a former attorney general for Indonesia, and Peter Fitzgerald, a veteran of the Irish National Police.

via U.N. to investigate Bhutto’s assassination – CNN.com.

On the Edge with Max Keiser – 19 June 2009

YouTube – On the Edge with Max Keiser – 19 June 2009 (pt 1 of 4).

Part 2 – Part 3 -  Part 4

Fox Caught With Its Pants Down on ABC Attacks

YouTube – Fox Caught With Its Pants Down on ABC Attacks.

Aliens Lose in Switch to Digital TV

Aliens Lose in Switch to Digital TV  - SPACE.com -

The United States is finally ditching analog television broadcasting, and the rest of the world is doing the same. Unless you’ve got a converter, the government has just morphed your trusty analog boob tube into an inert piece of furniture.

Mind you, this is a good thing. Digital TV (DTV) offers better picture quality. For example, the ghost images caused by signal reflections off that high-rise office building down the block will be a thing of the past. In addition, you should sleep better knowing that DTV makes improved use of the broadcast spectrum – primarily because modern digital processing can more compactly encode the picture and sound. This will offer you  increased access to other essentials of your neoteric lifestyle, such as high-def, interactive television, as well as wireless internet.  DTV sounds like a winner.

But there may be losers, zillions of viewers who might not have a converter box or a digital-ready TV – namely, the aliens.

via SPACE.com — Aliens Lose in Switch to Digital TV.

Iran opposition defies ayatollah, schedules protests on Saturday

Iran opposition defies ayatollah, schedules protests on Saturday  -  MiamiHerald.com

Iran’s opposition Friday called for a major new protest over the disputed presidential election, defying a demand by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and setting the stage for a potentially violent showdown in the streets with security forces and militias.

Defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi circumvented regime efforts to block Internet access by announcing the rallies on his Facebook page in Farsi and in English Friday. “CRUCIAL Demonstration on Saturday 16:00 in Tehran and all around the world, please spread this message around,” it said.

Messages urging the public to converge Saturday for the march through the capital also flooded Twitter, and after dark on Friday, Tehranis took to the rooftops to cry “God is great” and “Death to the dictator” in what Iranian bloggers said were numbers exceeding previous nights.

The sermon by the unelected Khamenei, who wields nearly absolutely power under Iran’s constitution, ended any doubt about his alignment with hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And it made clear he wasn’t open to finding a compromise on Mousavi’s demand to annul the election based on claims that it was marred by massive rigging.

“I have one vote. I have given it to Mousavi. I have one life. I will give it for freedom,” one Twitter post said.

via Iran opposition defies ayatollah, schedules protests on Saturday – World AP – MiamiHerald.com.

Texas supreme court affirms special rights for religion

Texas supreme court affirms special rights for religion

The Texas state supreme court ruled unanimously on Friday that a town which had altered its zoning to ban two church-sponsored halfway houses in a residential neighborhood was in violation of the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

That act, which was passed in 1999 and endorsed by then-Governor George W. Bush, affords greater legal protection to religious operations than to equivalent secular operations.

Under its provisions, cities have to prove that zoning regulations — like the one passed by the town of Sinton to ban jails and rehabs within 1000 feet of a home, school, or church — further a “compelling” interest, such as protecting public safety, and do not place a “substantial burden” on the free exercise of religion.

via Raw Story » Texas supreme court affirms special rights for religion.

‘Insane’ file-sharing verdict could challenge law’s constitutionality

‘Insane’ file-sharing verdict could challenge law’s constitutionality

In the first file-sharing case to go to trial in the United States, a Minnesota jury has ruled that a 32 year old woman must pay the music industry $1.92 million dollars for illegally making 24 songs available for sharing from her hard drive.

The woman, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, had originally been accused of uploading 1700 songs to Kazaa. An earlier verdict of $220,000 was overturned because of a faulty jury instruction, with the judge describing even that lower amount as “unprecedented and oppressive.”

After today’s ruling, Thomas-Rasset called the damages “ridiculous” and said she had no means of paying them. A representative of the Recording Industry Association of America said the music companies were willing to settle for a much smaller amount, which based on past cases might still be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

A blog entry at technology news site ZDNet, however, describes the verdict as “insane” and suggests that it “could prove [the] RIAA’s downfall.”

Lawyer and tech writer Richard Koman points out several serious problems with the amount of the verdict. For example, the law used in the case normally prescribes damages of $750 to $30,000 per infringement. The judgement against Thomas-Rasset comes out to $80,000 per song — an amount which is considered appropriate only when there has been “willful” infringement, which would seem to mean a crime committed for profit or out of a desire to do deliberate harm.

via Raw Story » ‘Insane’ file-sharing verdict could challenge law’s constitutionality.

Watch Bill Maher: ‘Democrats are the new Republicans.’

Watch Bill Maher: ‘Democrats are the new Republicans.’

In his weekly monologue, New Rules, Bill Maher weighs in on everything from Iran to Twitter, but his primary target Friday night was the Democratic party, which he says has become the new GOP.

Each time President Obama tries to take on a progressive cause, Maher charged that there was “a major political party standing in his way: the Democrats.

But the solution is not a third political party, according to the self-described libertarian pundit: “We don’t need a third party. We have a center right party, and a crazy party. Democrats have moved to the right, and the right has moved into a mental hospital.”

Maher scoffs at the notion that Obama is a socialist: “He’s not even a liberal.”

via The Raw Story » Watch Bill Maher: ‘Democrats are the new Republicans.’.

Calling for fair NAFTA

OPS:  “fair NAFTA” is an oxymoron. With emphasis on moron. Walking away from NATA would be better

Calling for fair NAFTA

If every nation simply came to the realization that there is nothing wrong with protecting its domestic economy, many of the problems with international commerce would be swept away.

Proposals to institute federal procurement mandates – known commonly as “Buy American” clauses – have been highly controversial in U.S. politics. But one Canadian official is asking a new question: Why is Canada not pursuing the same course?

Peter Julian, a trade critic from the New Democratic Party, believes that so-called “Buy American” provisions are totally legal by NAFTA standards, and that they would be very beneficial for the environment and for local economies.

Julian believes that such policies will be beneficial for both sides and should be pursued. Many Canadian officials were at odds with the Obama presidential campaign when then Senator Obama called for renegotiating the trade agreement. However, the NDP is one of the few federal parties calling for open renegotiations.

via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.

Oil Prices on the Rise

Oil Prices on the Rise

With no reasonable alternatives yet in place, we may well see a massive energy shock in the immediate future.

In mid-July, 2008 crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange topped out at $146.90 per barrel. In London the peak was slightly higher, topping at $147.25 – the highest nominal price in recorded history. As oil prices launched into the stratosphere gasoline prices went with them. Just days later the United States saw the highest nominal gas price per gallon of the crisis; the national average reached $4.11 on July 17, 2008.

The amazing increases seen last year were largely stamped out during the rest of the summer and autumn as high prices softened demand and global economies slowed in the wake of the financial crisis. Unfortunately for the American people, oil is now on the move again, and every expert projects only one direction: up.

Economies in Asia are already seeing signs of recovery, particularly in China and India which have actually grown during the downturn. Their demand for oil is increasing, and as the rest of the world climbs back out of the financial mess their demands will increase as well. Meanwhile, the United States looks to be mired in what could be several years of prolonged collapse.

via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.

Steele Calls Obama A ‘Liar,’ Then Apologizes, Then Denies He Apologized

OP:S  Are Republicans unstable? Dangerous?

Steele Calls Obama A ‘Liar,’ Then Apologizes, Then Denies He Apologized

Yesterday morning, RNC Chairman Michael Steele hosted Bill Bennett’s radio show, where he fearmongered about a non-existent “health police” and advised that President Obama simply “do the deal” to fix health care. He also called the president a “liar” for pledging to fix health care without deepening the national debt:

OBAMA [audiotape]: I’ve made a firm commitment that health care reform will not add to the federal budget deficit over the next decade.

STEELE: [shouting] LIAR! Sorry, I had to get that off my chest. We need to stand up and say this. Come on!

During the commercial break, Steele seemed to realize calling the president a “liar” was bad form. About five minutes later, he backed off his statements, seemingly apologizing for going “a little strong” against Obama:

via Think Progress » Steele Calls Obama A ‘Liar,’ Then Apologizes, Then Denies He Apologized.

Ray McGovern on Illness and Health

Ray McGovern on Illness and Health

By Ray McGovern

Editor’s Note: Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern – one of our favorite writers – underwent a successful medical procedure to open a clogged artery near his heart. Though Ray had health insurance, the scary moment gave him an insight into the life-and-death dilemma that Americans who lack insurance face:

Dear family and friends,

At first I thought the BEFORE picture of the arteries around my heart may have been doctored. There it was big as life…or imminent death — the circumflex artery was 90 to 99 percent blocked.

(Hadn’t heard “circumflex” since studying classical Greek. It’s what we called the mark placed over long vowels; and, sure enough, that artery had the same form as that mark.)

Turns out the picture was not doctored. But, happily, I was — by an excellent cardiologist who performed a cardio catheterization and emplaced a stent to unclog the artery. The AFTER picture showed a far happier circumflex with blood flowing freely through it.

I have not tried it yet, but I’m looking forward now to walking up that big hill from the Metro station without the minor distress. That was the only symptom I had had….and only twice, and both times the distress went away quickly.

No pressure on chest, no trouble breathing, no sweating, no dizziness; no numbness in arm or elsewhere. Just some quickly passing discomfort.

via Consortiumnews.com.

Taking Down the Corporate Food System Is Simple

Taking Down the Corporate Food System Is Simple

By Joel Salatin, Public Affairs Books.

The new book Food Inc. explains the most realistic and effective approach to transforming a system that is slowly but surely killing us.

Excerpted by permission from “Declare Your Independence” by Joel Salatin, part of the book Food, Inc., available now from PublicAffairs. Copyright 2009.

Perhaps the most empowering concept in any paradigm-challenging movement is simply opting out. The opt-out strategy can humble the mightiest forces because it declares to one and all, “You do not control me.”

The time has come for people who are ready to challenge the paradigm of factory-produced food and to return to a more natural, wholesome and sustainable way of eating (and living) to make that declaration to the powers that be, in business and government, that established the existing system and continue to prop it up. It’s time to opt out and simply start eating better — right here, right now.

Impractical? Idealistic? Utopian? Not really. As I’ll explain, it’s actually the most realistic and effective approach to transforming a system that is slowly but surely killing us.

What happened to food?

via Taking Down the Corporate Food System Is Simple | Environment | AlterNet.

Firing Back on Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism

Firing Back on Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism  | OurFuture.org

9 Conservative Myths About Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism.

This is terrorism we’re dealing with. We can’t afford to let ourselves be distracted by spin. It’s time to set the record straight with the facts.

t’s been a wild couple of weeks for those of us in the wingnutology business. Our services have been in tremendous demand as the mainstream media tries to sort out the meaning of what Scott Roeder and James von Brunn did. I’ve done an average of one radio show every day for the past two weeks trying to help various lefty talkers around the country make some sense of it all; and I’m generally gratified at how seriously people are starting to take this.

At the same time, I’m also appalled (though, sadly, hardly surprised) by the conservative myth-making that’s going on around the very serious issue of right-wing domestic terrorism. So it’s obviously time to pull together another “Firing Back” piece to give progressives what they need to separate fact from fiction when these talking points start flying.

I’ve actually had every one of the following myths pitched to me by on-air interviewers, phone-in callers, and/or online commenters over the last two weeks. Most of them have come up over and over, which suggests to me that you’re likely to encounter them, too. So let’s walk ‘em through:

1. These are just “lone wolf” psychos who are acting alone. You can’t hold anybody else responsible for what crazy people decide to do.

True and false. But mostly false.

via Firing Back on Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism | OurFuture.org.

Military Chaplains Using Armed Forces to Spread Christianity

Newsweek: Military Chaplains Using Armed Forces to Spread Christianity

A breaking Newsweek story by journalist Kathryn Joyce, “Christian Soldiers: The growing controversy over military chaplains using the armed forces to spread the Word”, explores the role of a highly connected, retired US Colonel and military chaplain endorser at the center of a recently exposed scheme to distribute Arabic language Bibles in Afghanistan: chaplain endorsement agency head Jim Ammerman, who claims friends in the US Congress and Senate and states that his agency works with three and four star generals in the Pentagon.

Joyce’s story expertly covers the foreign policy dimensions of the story as well as the religious freedom issues defended by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which defends freedom of worship, and fights improper evangelizing, in the United States Military.

But another aspect is only hinted at in the Newsweek story:

Through the late 1990′s and up into the 2008 presidential election, Retired Colonel Jim Ammerman has been engaged in a pattern of seditious incitement against the United States government and has promoted overtly anti-Semitic conspiracy theories of the type that experts who study the relationship between conspiracy theory and right wing violence, such as Political Research Associates Senior Analyst Chip Berlet, suggest feed a cultural climate that can provoke acts of violence that target demonized groups in society.

via Bruce Wilson: Newsweek: Military Chaplains Using Armed Forces to Spread Christianity.

GM Bankruptcy Produce Liability:

GM Bankruptcy Produce Liability: CT Atty Gen objects efforts for GM to Escape Product liability

ByGeorge Gombossy

ATTORNEY GENERAL OBJECTS IN BANKRUPTCY COURT TO EFFORTS TO ESCAPE PRODUCT LIABILITY FOR DEFECTIVE GM VEHICLES

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, in an objection filed as part of the General Motors Corp. (GM) bankruptcy proceeding today, urged the court to reject a provision of a proposed purchase agreement that would free GM’s new owner of any liability for defective vehicles bought prior to the closing of the sale.

If the court allows Vehicle Acquisition Holdings LLC (Newco) to buy GM’s assets free and clear of product liability, countless GM consumers will be deprived of fair compensation, including anyone who has suffered life-altering injuries or death resulting from defective vehicles.

States joining Blumenthal’s motion include Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska.

“Newco wants to peel off into the sunset with GM’s name and products — but leave existing GM vehicle owners in the dust, unprotected and unable to seek compensation for defective vehicles that may cause serious injury or even death,” Blumenthal said.

“The bankruptcy court has a moral duty to require that Newco accept the accountability, as well as the assets.

via GM Bankruptcy Produce Liability: CT Atty Gen objects efforts for GM to Escape Product liability – George Gombossy | CT Watchdog.

Obama’s False Financial Reform

Obama’s False Financial Reform

By William Greider – The Nation

The most disturbing thing about Barack Obama’s call for financial reform was the way in which the president falsified our predicament. He tried to make it sound as though everyone was implicated in the financial breakdown and therefore no one was really to blame. “A culture of irresponsibility took root from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street,” Obama explained. “And a regulatory system basically crafted in the wake of a 20th century economic crisis–the Great Depression–was overwhelmed by the speed, scope and sophistication of a 21st century global economy.”

That is not what happened, to put it charitably. Unlike some other presidents, Obama is much too intelligent not to know this. The regulatory system was not overwhelmed by historic forces. It was systematically gutted and dismantled by the government in Washington at the behest of the banking interests. If Obama wants details, he can consult his economic advisors–Summers-Geithner–who participated directly as accomplices in unwinding the prudential rules and regulations. Cheers were led by the Federal Reserve with heavy lifting by both political parties.

The president’s benign version of events reminds me of what compliant politicians and opinion leaders said after the war in Iraq they had endorsed turned disastrous. “Hey, we were all fooled.” If Obama were to tell the truth now about what went wrong in the financial system, he would face a far larger political problem trying to clean up the mess. Instead, he has opted for smooth talk and some fuzzy reforms that effectively evade the nasty complexities of our situation. He might get away with this in the short run. Congress doesn’t much want to face the music either. But Obama’s so-called reform is literally “kicking the can down the road,” as he likes to say about other problems. In the long run, it will haunt the country because it fails to confront the true nature of the disorders.

via Obama’s False Financial Reform.

Obama’s Doctor Knocks ObamaCare

Obama’s Doctor Knocks ObamaCare -  – Forbes.com

Dr. David Scheiner took care of Obama for 22 years. But they don’t see eye-to-eye on how to fix the health care system.

David Scheiner, an internist based in the Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park, has a diverse practice of lower-income adults from the nearby housing projects mixed with famous patients like U.S. Sen. Carol Mosely Braun, the late writer Studs Terkel and, most notably, President Barack Obama.

Scheiner, 71, was Obama’s doctor from 1987 until he entered the White House; he vouched for the then-candidate’s “excellent health” in a letter last year. He’s still an enthusiastic Obama supporter, but he worries about whether the health care legislation currently making its way through Congress will actually do any good, particularly for doctors like himself who practice general medicine. “I’m not sure he really understands what we face in primary care,” Scheiner says.

via Obama’s Doctor Knocks ObamaCare – Forbes.com.

McClatchy

McClatchy.

McClatchy

McClatchy.

Suitcase With $134 Billion Puts Dollar on Edge:

Suitcase With $134 Billion Puts Dollar on Edge: William Pesek – Bloomberg.com

June 17 (Bloomberg) — It’s a plot better suited for a John Le Carre novel.

Two Japanese men are detained in Italy after allegedly attempting to take $134 billion worth of U.S. bonds over the border into Switzerland. Details are maddeningly sketchy, so naturally the global rumor mill is kicking into high gear.

Are these would-be smugglers agents of Kim Jong Il stashing North Korea’s cash in a Swiss vault? Bagmen for Nigerian Internet scammers? Was the money meant for terrorists looking to buy nuclear warheads? Is Japan dumping its dollars secretly? Are the bonds real or counterfeit?

The implications of the securities being legitimate would be bigger than investors may realize. At a minimum, it would suggest that the U.S. risks losing control over its monetary supply on a massive scale.

The trillions of dollars of debt the U.S. will issue in the next couple of years needs buyers. Attracting them will require making sure that existing ones aren’t losing faith in the U.S.’s ability to control the dollar.

via Suitcase With $134 Billion Puts Dollar on Edge: William Pesek – Bloomberg.com.

The Japanese Bond Smugglers Are Missing

The Japanese Bond Smugglers Are Missing

At least the Japanese press is sitll interested in story of the two Japanese men caugh withs ome $134.5 billion in (presumably fake) US bearer bonds.

We can’t read Japanese, and Google Translate isn’t particularly helpful, but a reader informs us that the gist of this story is that a newspaper sent a reporter to Como, Italy and found that the men had been released, with their whereabouts unknown.

Now, the easiest, most-benign explanation for this whole thing is that it’s just a counterfeiting scheme. Fine, but then why do you let them go without tracking their whereabouts.

via The Japanese Bond Smugglers Are Missing.

The Political Mind and the Obama Code with Dr. George Lakoff

YouTube – The Political Mind and the Obama Code with Dr. George Lakoff.

Thom Hartmann proves to Dan Gainor – it’s not good for the economy to have disparities in income and wealth

YouTube – Thom proves to Dan Gainor – it’s not good for the economy to have disparities in income and wealth.

Thom Hartmann asks John Dean – What was closely kept secret of what the Watergate burglers were looking for?

YouTube – Thom asks John Dean – What was closely kept secret of what the Watergate burglers were looking for?.

Did Fox News out a source to protect a Republican Senator?

Did Fox News out a source to protect a Republican Senator?

It is looking like someone at Fox News may have exposed a source who came forward with serious allegations about a Republican senator.

The source in question is Doug Hampton, who along with his wife previously worked for Senator John Ensign. Hampton allegedly sent a letter to Fox’s Megyn Kelly about an affair that Sen. Ensign had with Hampton’s wife. The letter was allegedly sent some five days before Sen. Ensign publicly confessed his infidelity, leading to speculation that someone at Fox notified Ensign. This morning Fox denied receiving the letter or any communications from Hampton until about a day before Ensign’s confession.

Ultimately, when they did follow up with Hampton, Fox News producer Tom Lowell told Huffington Post, they found his claims were not “credible.”

“We always evaluate people when they call into the newsroom in terms of: does this sound like its solid? Does it sound like its actionable?” Lowell said. “There were some questions here, so we decided that we would make some inquiries but that it wasn’t something we needed to move on immediately. And before we could nail everything down and confirm this story the Senator had already announced his press conference.”

Lowell denies that anyone at Fox News would have contacted the senator to give him a head’s up on Hampton’s allegations.

But it may not be so simple.

via The Raw Story » Did Fox News out a source to protect a Republican Senator?.

Republican party drops to Cheney-levels of unpopularity.

Republican party drops to Cheney-levels of unpopularity.

ap090510015986 A NBC/WSJ poll released this week showed that Vice President Cheney now has a 26 percent approval rating, “up eight points from April.” However, Greg Sargent today points out that the “overall popularity of the Republican Party has now dropped” below Cheney’s “abysmal level.” In fact, the party is now at only 25 percent, down four points from April. “Okay, the difference is within the margin of error, making this a statistical tie,” said Sargent. “But still, this is pretty awful for the GOP, given that for a long time Cheney’s historic unpopularity seemed to define a kind of low-water mark among Republicans.”

via Think Progress » Republican party drops to Cheney-levels of unpopularity..

AG Holder: DNA Evidence Can Exonerate the Wrongfully Charged

AG Holder: DNA Evidence Can Exonerate the Wrongfully Charged

A day after the Supreme Court ruled defendants have no constitutional right to a review of DNA evidence in post-conviction proceedings, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. underscored the Justice Department position that seeks to expand access to DNA evidence in the courts.

Addressing the 34th Annual D.C. Courts’ Judicial Conference today in Washington, Holder, the keynote speaker, spoke about the impact of technological advances on the administration of justice, and he vowed the Justice Department will embrace science and technology.

Law enforcement, Holder told the audience, which was brimming with local and federal judges, is placing “more emphasis on DNA evidence than ever before” in the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases.

via The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times : AG Holder: DNA Evidence Can Exonerate the Wrongfully Charged.

Does the Obama Plan for Reforming Wall Street Measure Up?

Does the Obama Plan for Reforming Wall Street Measure Up?

Robert Reich

In a word: No.

The plan doesn’t stop stop bankers from making huge, risky bets with other peoples’ money. It does increase capital requirements and oversight, but it doesn’t require bankers to take their pay in long-term stock options or warrants, and it doesn’t even hint that banks should go back to being partnerships instead of publicly-held corporations.

All this means traders still have very incentive to place big and often wildly risky bets as long as the potential winnings are big enough, and top executives have very little incentive to monitor what traders are up to as long as the traders are collecting large commissions on the bets.

Nor does the plan do anything to prevent banks from becoming too big to fail. It doesn’t hint at a return to the days before the late 1990s when commercial banks were separate entities from investment banks — before mammoth bank supermarkets like Citigroup came to be so tied up with so many other commercial and investment vehicles that they couldn’t be allowed to go under. And there’s not the slightest mention of antitrust, to break up the largest banks.

via Robert Reich’s Blog: Does the Obama Plan for Reforming Wall Street Measure Up?.