Archive for August, 2009
Psychologist Believes Stereotypes Lead to Premature Aging
Botox for the Brain - | Miller-McCune Online Magazine
A Harvard psychologist argues that our mindless acceptance of stereotypes leads to premature aging.
Here’s an innovative way to lower health care costs: Set everyone’s biological clock back 20 years. Senior citizens of 75 will enjoy the strength and stamina they had at 55, meaning they will need far less medical attention. The energetic elderly will remain productive members of their community later into life, which could also ease the strain on Social Security.
Granted, this sounds like an unusually wonky episode of The Twilight Zone. But three decades ago, Harvard University psychologist Ellen Langer conducted a landmark experiment that suggested reverse aging needn’t be relegated to the realm of science fiction. Her revealing study, the many follow-ups it spawned and the implications of their findings are the subject of her fascinating new book Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility.
t’s a brightly written work — Langer has a knack for metaphors — that deftly challenges an array of assumptions we hold about health. She reminds readers that many definitive-sounding diagnoses are in fact best guesses, and that no study, however elegant and persuasive, can truly tell us the best course of treatment for any particular patient. Physicians, she counsels, should be thought of as “consultants.” Ultimately, we know our own bodies best.
Town Hall Lunacy Includes Outraged Calls to ‘Keep Government Out of Medicare,’ When Medicare Is Government
Town Hall Lunacy Includes Outraged Calls to ‘Keep Government Out of Medicare,’ When Medicare Is Government - By Joshua Holland, AlterNet.
Some can’t reconcile what they believe about the propaganda that is fed to them with their own positive experiences with public programs like Medicare.
As the health care discussion has descended from contentious to surreal, there is perhaps one message that encapsulates better than any other the incoherence of those expressions of rage seen at town hall meetings across the country: “Keep government out of my Medicare!”
The rallying cry has been heard again and again as lawmakers have returned home to discuss health reform during the summer recess.
In South Carolina, an enraged constituent told Republican Rep. Bob Inglis to “keep your government hands off my Medicare!”; a woman reportedly sent a letter to the White House stating in no uncertain terms, “I don’t want government-run health care, I don’t want socialized medicine and don’t touch my Medicare.” Slate‘s Timothy Noah put out an open invitation for readers to submit more examples of this kind of confusion.
The Fast Food Industry’s 7 Most Heinous Concoctions
The Fast Food Industry’s 7 Most Heinous Concoctions – By Brad Reed, AlterNet.
Although the organic movement has certainly started to influence how Americans think about their food, it is still no match for the American fast food industry, which continuously finds creative new ways of piling sugar, salt and fat on a plate and charging customers $4.99 for the privilege of eating it.
In recent years, in fact, some of America’s favorite chains have gone above and beyond the call of duty and concocted thoroughly repellent dishes that make the Double Quarter Pounder look like a celery stick. These companies have offered Americans these revolting meals despite the fact that roughly one-third of the country is now obese, a deplorable state of affairs that accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers estimates costs the U.S. health-care system $200 billion a year in wasted spending.
In this article, we’ll name and shame the very worst offenders, whether they’re 1,400-calorie hamburgers or 550-calorie cups of coffee. So let’s get things rolling with …
Gullible America And The Corporate Exploitation Of Entrenched Ignorance
Gullible America And The Corporate Exploitation Of Entrenched Ignorance – | The Smirking Chimp
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad, that corporations were entitled to every Constitutional Right that individual Americans enjoy, perhaps the greatest blow ever in American history, was struck against democracy. The next shock to democracy came with Reagan’s appeal of the Fairness Doctrine, which gave spawn to such American traitors as Rush Limbaugh and Rupert Murdock, with his Fox News, Right Wing propaganda outlet. The next time democracy was crippled was in 2000, when another U.S. Supreme Court decision, pulled off a coup de’ tat that installed an eminently unsuitable and immoral jackass to high office. This after losing the popular vote, and then, in plain daylight, stealing the election from the obvious winner. In restoring democracy to the American people these three event must be remedied. The third by demanding the resignations of the current sitting Supreme Court Justices who conspired in the coup that put Bush into the White House.
Americans, and particularly Progressive Americans, have once again had the rug pulled from under their feet. Obama has abandoned, one by one, his campaign promises to change the way Corporate Washington does business. His supporters are realizing there will be no sudden revelations of change as Obama explains away his losing battles with republicans as bipartisan cooperation. During the Bush Administration’s early years Right Wing Media pronounced the death of the Democratic Party. With Bush’s fading popularity, and the democrat’s return to congressional dominance, it was plain the party’s obituary was premature. But was it? The Democratic Party, paralyzed by its own indebtedness to corporate lobbyists of ever stripe and color, has been dying a slow, lingering death as those lobbyists call in their markers and Obama responds.
via Gullible America And The Corporate Exploitation Of Entrenched Ignorance | The Smirking Chimp.
Peak Oil: The Next Dark Age?
The Next Dark Age?
Commentary By Ron Beasley
In the post Peak Oil and a Brick Wall I discussed briefly how peak oil is upon us. So what does this mean. Peak oil itself is not important, we will feel it when demand exceeds supply. That won’t happen gradually – it will be like running full speed into a brick wall. That may, and some say likely, will result in a breakdown of society – a new Dark Ages. Before we continue lets take a look at the original Dark Ages for a little background.
The “Dark Ages”, the period after the fall of the Roman Empire, has gotten bad reputation. In part it’s because the term, Dark Ages has a bad ring to it. A better term might be the “Post Roman Paradigm Shift”. The Roman Empire was marked by social system where most labor was done by slaves and in fact most of the population were slaves. Labor was cheap so there was virtually no technological innovation. Life was very hard for the slave majority. The fall of the Roman Empire represents a paradigm shift which was a positive shift for the majority.
The slave society of the Roman hegemony was replaced by the manorial society. The slaves became serfs who although they were still bound to the lord of the manor had rights in addition to duties. Unlike the slaves the serfs were full members of their communities who elected their own officials, made and enforced their own laws and made everyday work decisions. In fact the majority were living better lives than many of the citizens of Rome a few decades before. Labor was no longer scorned or cheap so there was technological innovation to improve productivity. Examples of that innovation include wind and water mills, the heavy wheeled plow and a harness that increased the tractive power of draft animals. Increased productivity meant increasing products and a growing economy. This set Europe up for the Industrial Revolution.
via . http://www.newshoggers.com/blog/2009/08/the-next-dark-age.html
Who’s Paying to Kill Health Reform
We’re blogging about the world of lobbying and its effect on, well, just about everything our government does. Email thoughts and tips to huffpostlobbywatch@gmail.com. Because some people look at laws and ask, why not? We’re looking at laws and asking, who paid for them? Click image to enlarge
In a nod to the House Republicans who devised a chart supposedly showing the bureaucratic nightmare that would result from Democratic health care reforms, the Campaign for America’s Future has devised a chart of its own, titled “Who’s Paying to Kill Health Reform?”
It’s a tangled web, with big lobbying firms, industry groups, and Astroturf organizers all linked to townhall meetings. Reflecting a widely-held view among progressives, the big kahuna behind it all is the health insurance industry, via trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans.
Bailed-Out Banks’ PACs, Lobbyists Have Sponsored 70 Fundraisers for Congress, Donated $6 Million Since Election
Bailed-Out Banks’ PACs, Lobbyists Have Sponsored 70 Fundraisers for Congress, Donated $6 Million Since Election - Public Citizen |
Public Citizen Report Shows Those Fighting Federal Oversight of Banking Industry Among Biggest Fundraisers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lobbyists, political action committees (PACs) and trade associations tied to the banks receiving the most federal bailout money have scheduled 70 fundraisers for members of Congress since Election Day and have made $6 million in federal campaign contributions, according to a Public Citizen report released today.
The report, “Bank-Rolling Congress,” contains Public Citizen’s analysis of fundraiser invitations collected by the Sunlight Foundation and campaign contribution disclosures that lobbyists and lobbyist-affiliated PACs are required to make to the Senate. The study was based on an examination of the 10 banks receiving the most Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money and five trade associations opposing a government agency to oversee consumer financial products. (The Sunlight data shows no fundraisers hosted by three of the 10 banks and one of the trade associations. One firm, SunTrust Bank, did not report any lobbying.)
“One Wall Street investment strategy hasn’t changed despite the economic downturn, and that’s spending money on lobbying and campaign contributions,” said David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. “In the current system, members of Congress have little choice but to raise mountains of campaign cash, which gives Wall Street and others the opportunity to buy access and influence. We urge the members mentioned in this report to support legislation that offers them an alternative to the corporate money chase.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce PAC and Chamber lobbyists who have worked on financial services issues were behind 35 of the scheduled fundraisers since November, more than any other group. In June, the Chamber announced a projected $100 million campaign to beat back federal regulation.
Remembering Ted Kennedy
Doug Drenkow: Remembering Ted Kennedy - Doug Drenkow 
Love him or loathe him, Sen. Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy was an undeniably great public figure. But his greatness did not spring from who he was — the surviving one of four, larger-than-life brothers of a powerful American family — but from what he did — champion the rights of all Americans, including those not born to such wealth and privilege.
Ted Kennedy was not African American, Hispanic American, Native American, or Asian American. But he championed the Voting Rights and Fair Housing laws, immigration laws, and other legislation advancing civil rights, what he called “the still unfinished business of America.”
Ted Kennedy was never a person of color in South Africa. But he championed the fight against Apartheid.
Ted Kennedy was not gay or lesbian. But he championed legislation protecting the rights of homosexual Americans and funding AIDS research.
via The Existentialist Cowboy: Doug Drenkow: Remembering Ted Kennedy.
Files prove Pentagon is profiling reporters
Files prove Pentagon is profiling reporters – Stars and Stripes – Mideast edition,
WASHINGTON — Contrary to the insistence of Pentagon officials this week that they are not rating the work of reporters covering U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Stars and Stripes has obtained documents that prove that reporters’ coverage is being graded as “positive,” “neutral” or “negative.”
Moreover, the documents — recent confidential profiles of the work of individual reporters prepared by a Pentagon contractor — indicate that the ratings are intended to help Pentagon image-makers manipulate the types of stories that reporters produce while they are embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
One reporter on the staff of one of America’s pre-eminent newspapers is rated in a Pentagon report as “neutral to positive” in his coverage of the U.S. military. Any negative stories he writes “could possibly be neutralized” by feeding him mitigating quotes from military officials.
via Files prove Pentagon is profiling reporters | Stars and Stripes.
Frank Luntz Manipulates Words to GOP Advantage on Health Care, Wins BuzzFlash’s Media Putz Award
Frank Luntz Manipulates Words to GOP Advantage on Health Care, Wins BuzzFlash’s Media Putz Award
Frank Luntz
For reporting that is an embarrassment to the profession of journalism, and for being beholden to corporate paymasters rather than the citizens of America.
“If you call it a public option, the American people are split. If you call it the government option, the public is overwhelmingly against it.”
– Frank Luntz to Sean Hannity
The MSM is littered with vacuous right-wing talking heads that spout gibberish when they aren’t going off on regimented talking points. But one of those behind-the-scenes people who works with them on the particular of words is Frank Luntz.
Though Luntz spends some time onscreen as a conservative pundit, his primary job is Republican pollster. Or more specifically, “testing language and finding words that will help his clients sell their product or turn public opinion on an issue or a candidate.”
We are told that politics is a game with winners and losers. After all, this is the way that the MSM covers the action, as if it were a pre-season NFL game.
Frank Luntz is paid and paid well to trip up the opposition, word ballet to get people to oppose something they desperately need, such as higher wages or better access to health care.
Politics used to be about ideas, an exchange to see which idea would be best. But since the GOP lacks ideas, they send in people such as Frank Luntz with no ideas, but armed with deception strategy.
Prominent Fundraiser for Obama and Clinton Charged With Fraud
Prominent Fundraiser for Obama and Clinton Charged With Fraud- Tom Hays – Law.com –
A wealthy investment banker and prominent fundraiser for President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats was arrested Tuesday on charges he lied to get a $74 million business loan that — once confronted by authorities — he hastily repaid.
Prosecutors accused Hassan Nemazee of giving Citibank documents showing he owned millions of dollars in collateral. They said the documents were “fraudulent and forged.”
At a brief appearance in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday, a judge ordered a haggard-looking Nemazee locked up for the night. His attorney won assurances from prosecutors that he would be fitted with an electronic monitoring device and put under house arrest on Wednesday as part of a $25 million bail package secured by property including a $20 million Park Avenue apartment.
The attorney, Marc Mukasey, had argued that Nemazee should be released immediately after agreeing to “the most onerous bail package I’ve ever heard of.” Instead, his client, wearing a wrinkled pink dress shirt, was led out of the courtroom to jail.
via Law.com – Prominent Fundraiser for Obama and Clinton Charged With Fraud.
Four big financials are dominating daily trading volume.
Stocks led by four wounded horsemen
Struggling financial firms Citi, BofA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are dominating late summer Wall Street trading. Uh-oh. Who says speculation is dead?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — They say you can’t trust the government. Don’t tell that to Wall Street traders.
A bizarre trend has emerged during these hazy, lazy days of late summer. Overall market volume is unsurprisingly wafer-thin, but a big chunk of trading has been in just four financial companies that have received a healthy dose of support from Washington in order to make it through the credit crisis.
For the past few days, Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) (which taxpayers now own a third of), mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) (which were placed under government conservatorship last September) and Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) (which has needed $45 billion in bailout funds) have been far and away the most actively traded stocks on the New York Stock Exchange
via Four big financials are dominating daily trading volume. – Aug. 26, 2009.
‘Inflation and the Fall of the Roman Empire’: Why David M. Walker compared the collapse of the United States to the Fall of Rome
‘Inflation and the Fall of the Roman Empire’: Why David M. Walker compared the collapse of the United States to the Fall of Rome
As many are aware, in March 2008, David M. Walker, the Comptroller General of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office, resigned his commission 5 years before the end of his 15-year term expired. His reasons for resigning were that he was limited to what he could do and that the United States was in danger of collapsing in much the same manner as the Roman Empire.
“Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were ‘striking similarities’ between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome…”
For months before his resignation he traveled the country educating Americans about the financial crisis and the pending bankruptcy of the United States.
What transpired with Walker jumping ship and in the first three months of 2008 was nothing short of the beginning of the largest consolidation of wealth in the history of the United States. Walker’s resignation removed the last obstacle for those controlling US fiscal policy to readily make available cheap money.
Unfortunately, it appears that the true magnitude of Walker’s departing sentiment has not been fully appreciated by citizens of the United States, or citizens of other countries for that matter.
I believe the reason for this lack of appreciation from the general populace regarding Walker’s warning is due to the fact that the Fall of Rome seems to be, at best, a distant historical event, and at worst, an exaggerated fable told by alarmists – if only this was true. As Walker states in the above interview;
via Chycho.com – Analysis and discussion about the world we live in..
UPDATED: Progressives Are Raising the Temperature on Healthcare Reform, and it Seems to Be Working
UPDATED: Progressives Are Raising the Temperature on Healthcare Reform, and it Seems to Be Working
BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS – by Meg White
While conservative operatives blew their anger wad on a few screaming matches at a week or two’s worth of town halls, the simmering frustration of progressives over the hijacking of the healthcare debate may matter more in the end.
As I wrote at the beginning of this month, one path of resistance to Big Pharma, the insurance industry and GOP obstructionists on healthcare is the reconciliation process. By making the fiscal elements of a healthcare package — generally the most controversial parts of such legislation anyway — part of a budget reconciliation process, Democrats would only need to rally 51 votes to pass it.
The elements of reform that most reasonable people can agree on, but that do not contain specifically fiscal measures (such as eliminating pre-existing conditions as a reason for insurance companies to deny coverage or the controversial process of rescissions) could be passed in a bipartisan manner in the Senate.
‘Clunkers’ moved almost 700,000 new cars
‘Clunkers’ moved almost 700,000 new cars – - msnbc.com
Popular monthlong program came under $3 billion budget
The popular Cash for Clunkers program generated nearly 700,000 new car sales during the past month, giving the U.S. auto industry a badly needed jolt of activity during the deepest decline in auto sales in two decades.
The government, releasing final data on the car incentives, said Wednesday that dealers submitted 690,114 sales totaling $2.88 billion, bringing the program to a close under its $3 billion budget. Japanese auto manufacturers led American companies in new car sales through the program, which ended late Monday.
Many dealers are still waiting to be repaid for the Cash for Clunkers incentives they gave car buyers and were allowed to submit paperwork seeking reimbursement until late Tuesday.
via ‘Clunkers’ moved almost 700,000 new cars – Cash for Clunkers- msnbc.com.
The American Way Of Torture
The American Way Of Torture – The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan
Greg Sargent notes another document secured by the ACLU. (Yes, Greenwald is right that it’s bizarre the media in this country are second to the ACLU in demanding information from the government.) This document gives a detailed account of the torture techniques used by the Bush-Cheney administration in the elite CIA program. This is the most professional version of the widespread torture authorized by Bush and conducted in every theater of combat, by every branch of the armed forces, directed that all prisoners could be potential terrorists and therefore outside civilizational norms of humane treatment.
The document reads, like so much else from the Cheney years, like a document from a South American dictatorship in the 1970s or 1980s. If someone had told me a few years ago that it had popped up in the Soviet archives, I would have believed him. Read the whole thing if you can. It is a distressing document. Here’s what the “CIA pros” did to prisoners (the non-CIA pros improvised the president’s directive to torture and abuse prisoners in very similar ways): stress positions, nudity, hooding, sensory deprivation, sleep deprivation, long time standing, beatings, hypothermia, and walling. They key thing, according to the CIA, is to enhance “the potential dread a high-value detainee might have of US custody”. Notice the shift from the standards of the past. In the past, the US was known for being a country whose soldiers would never mistreat prisoners; now, the US wants the world to know that US custody is something to be dreaded. That’s what Cheney did to America. He’s proud of it. If you are ever captured by a US soldier, and suspected of terrorism, you know that torture will be coming soon. The values of Washington and Eisenhower and Reagan are inverted. The reputation of the US as a defender of human rights is reversed. The point is that America must be feared for its willingness to abandon all human rights.
via The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan.
“The Senator Edward M. Kennedy Health Care Reform Act of 2009″
“The Senator Edward M. Kennedy Health Care Reform Act of 2009″
by John Nichols - The Nation
Ted Kennedy led an epic life that defined American politics and policy-making across much of the latter half of the 20th century. Indeed, Kennedy was so much a part of our public life that his death, shortly before midnight Tuesday, made one last and remarkable historic connection — a connection that reminds us of the importance of extending his legacy into the 21st century.
Kennedy’s passing came on the one year anniversary of his surprise speech to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, where the liberal icon of the Democratic Party completed his mission of securing the presidential nomination for a young man named Barack Obama.
Fearful of the centrism of the Clintons, Kennedy had resisted the rush to embrace the front-runner candidacy of New York Senator Hillary Clinton and instead backed the insurgent candidacy of the freshman senator from Illinois.
via “The Senator Edward M. Kennedy Health Care Reform Act of 2009″.
FACTS, AND UNDERSTANDING, ARE OFTEN IN CONFLICT
FACTS, AND UNDERSTANDING, ARE OFTEN IN CONFLICT
By Danny Schechter – OpEdNews
Living In A Culture of Delusion Leads To Denial, Ignorance and Worse
What do we have a right to know? In this web-based age, where we can Google almost everything, you’d think we would be better informed than we are.
We have Freedom of Information laws and a President who has promised transparency, offering some details on what he’s doing on an easy to access website.
Yet, there is much more that we still don’t know, and maybe never will
At long last, a report on CIA abuse of detainees came out, but years after the fact, and in a heavily “redacted” form—i.e censored. Already the prosecutor chosen to prosecute says there’s not enough information there to do so. Duh?
The Presidents “Pay Czar” is afraid to release what he’s found out about corporate compensation for fear it might lead, heaven forbid, to naming “targets of populist anger.”
via OpEdNews – Article: FACTS, AND UNDERSTANDING, ARE OFTEN IN CONFLICT.
THE FEDERAL RESERVE MUST DIE
THE FEDERAL RESERVE MUST DIE 
– By Jim Quinn – OpEdNews
By any reasonable measure, the Federal Reserve has failed miserably in all their responsibilities. When organizations fail in a capitalist system, they are supposed to be replaced, not given more responsibility. They are now an immense entity with its insidious tentacles throughout the worldwide financial system.
The Federal Reserve in collaboration with the giant banks has created the greatest financial crisis the world has ever seen. The foolish notion that unlimited amounts of money and credit created out of thin air can provide sustainable economic growth has delivered this crisis to us. Instead of economic growth and stable prices, (The Fed) has given us a system of government and finance that now threatens the world financial and political institutions. Pursuing the same policy of excessive spending, debt expansion and monetary inflation can only compound the problems that prevent the required corrections. Doubling the money supply didn’t work, quadrupling it won’t work either. Buying up the bad debt of privileged institutions and dumping worthless assets on the American people is morally wrong and economically futile.” Representative from Texas Ron Paul questioning Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke I’ve read and witnessed various pundits during the Presidential campaign describe Ron Paul as crazy. The corrupt tax and spenders in Congress know their days would be numbered if they followed his vision of government. After reading his tremendously sane rebuke of Ben Bernanke and the policies of his Federal Reserve, I’m reminded of a classic scene from Seinfeld
“Ah, you’re crazy.”
Kramer: “Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?!”
Jerry: “It’s impossible!”
Kramer: “Is it? Or is it so possible that your head is spinning like a top?!”
Jerry: “It can’t be.”
Kramer: “Can it? Or is your entire world just crashing down all around you?”
Jerry: “Alright, that’s enough.”
Kramer: “Yaaaaaaahhh!!!”
Ron Paul’s scathing assessment of the Federal Reserve’s primary role in creating the financial crisis and his raking of Chairman Bernanke over the coals is so accurate, truthful and sane that it should blow your mind. Mr. Bernanke must have felt like his head was spinning like a top while Ron Paul gave him a tutorial in basic economics. Mr. Paul’s noble efforts to Audit the Fed (HR 1207) and eventually to rid the country of its insidious control over our lives will bring the pillars of the Federal Reserve building crashing down upon Mr. Bernanke in his mahogany paneled, gold plated boardroom with ornate chandeliers.
via OpEdNews – Article: THE FEDERAL RESERVE MUST DIE.
Subprime Culprits Are Modifying Loans With Taxpayer Money: Center For Public Integrity
Subprime Culprits Are Modifying Loans With Taxpayer Money: Center For Public Integrity
Many of the lenders who helped fuel the subprime mortgage boom are now receiving billions in taxpayer money to modify those same loans, according to a new report by the Center for Public Integrity.
Countrywide Financial, formerly considered the nation’s largest subprime lender, thus far is eligible to receive about $5.2 billion, according to Treasury Department data. The firm originated at least $97.2 billion in high-interest loans from 2005 to 2007, CPI reports.
Other companies eligible include subsidiaries of AIG, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. At least $70 billion in taxpayer money has been committed to helping AIG, according to figures compiled by ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative news organization. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy last September, and Merrill Lynch was bought Bank of America last year.
via Subprime Culprits Are Modifying Loans With Taxpayer Money: Center For Public Integrity.
As FDIC’s Funds Dwindle, Regulator May Need To Ask For More Money
As FDIC’s Funds Dwindle, Regulator May Need To Ask For More Money
The government agency that guarantees you won’t lose your money in a bank failure may need a lifeline of its own.
The coffers of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. have been so depleted by the epidemic of collapsing financial institutions that analysts warn it could sink into the red by the end of this year.
That has happened only once before – during the savings-and-loan crisis of the early 1990s, when the FDIC was forced to borrow $15 billion from the Treasury and repay it later with interest.
On Thursday, the agency reveals how much is left in its reserves. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair may also use the quarterly briefing to say how the agency plans to shore up its accounts.
via As FDIC’s Funds Dwindle, Regulator May Need To Ask For More Money.
The Rising Tide of Unemployment in America
The Rising Tide of Unemployment in America
How Bad Will It Get, And What Can We Do?
Unemployment is disastrous on both the individual and societal level.
Individuals who look for work but can’t find it are miserable.
On the national level, high unemployment is both cause and effect concerning other problems with the economy. As we’ll see below, high unemployment results from a weak economy and – in turn – weakens the economy.
Until the causes of, and solutions to, high levels of unemployment are understood, we will not be able to solve the problem.
How High is Unemployment?
Before we can even start looking at causes or solutions, we have to understand what the current level of unemployment really is, and what the trends portend for the future.
Let’s use America as an example. With the largest economy in the world, it has often been said that “when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold”. And much of the rest of the world has adopted the “Washington Consensus” – America’s neoliberal view of economics.[Footnote]
Moreover, the rest of the world has been infected by many types of “toxic assets” invented in America, such as credit default swap derivatives[Footnote], as well as Wall Street style banking strategies. So I will use the United States has a case example, but will also touch on global trends.
via The Rising Tide of Unemployment in America.
Post Office Plans Cuts Via Buyouts
Post Office Plans Cuts Via Buyouts – - WSJ.com
The U.S. Postal Service is offering buyouts to tens of thousands of employees as it faces financial losses caused by the recession, as well as changes in the way Americans communicate.
As many as 30,000 employees will be eligible for the buyouts, which postal officials estimate could save the agency $500 million a year. The Postal Service expects to lose $7 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
The buyouts, under which eligible workers will receive $15,000 payouts, come as the Postal Service is enacting other cost-cutting measures.
The agency has closed six district offices, instituted a nationwide hiring freeze, cut more than 100,000 work hours and frozen salaries. A proposal pending in Congress would eliminate Saturday service.
via Post Office Plans Cuts Via Buyouts – WSJ.com.
Geithner: “Fed Audit Would Be Problematic For The Country”
Geithner: “Fed Audit Would Be Problematic For The Country”
It is the esteemed Treasury Secretary’s opinion, that anything that has to do with demystifying why the Fed is hell bent on destroying the US dollar, killing the middle class, and allowing Lloyd Blankfein to purchase Larry Ellison’s yacht collection, is squarely in the “problematic for the country” camp. Never mind that more than half the country (in fact almost two-thirds) have indirectly voiced their support for HR 1207. But at least it is good to know where Geithner’s allegiances lie, and even better to see how good at totally perverting facts (not just taxes) the SecTres is.
And the punchline: “The true test of the Fed is the market.” Is there a way to give Mr. Geithner an economics test because it seems he might have graduated with a biz-econ degree from Devry.
via Geithner: “Fed Audit Would Be Problematic For The Country” | zero hedge.
Turley: Will special prosecutor have ‘courage’ to go after those who ordered war crimes?
Turley: Will special prosecutor have ‘courage’ to go after those who ordered war crimes? – Raw Story » 
When Attorney General Eric Holder appointed veteran Justice Department prosecutor John Durham on Monday to look into CIA interrogation abuses, sources indicated that his mandate would be “relatively narrow.”
The Washington Post described Durham’s authority as being limited “to look[ing] at whether there is enough evidence to launch a full-scale criminal investigation of current and former CIA personnel who may have broken the law in their dealings with detainees.”
“It’s a very curious mandate,” law professor Jonathan Turley told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann on Tuesday. “I don’t see how he can possibly do what Holder’s asking him to do. … The question here is whether Durham will have the leeway — and, frankly, the courage — to recognize the obvious.”
via Raw Story » Turley: Will special prosecutor have ‘courage’ to go after those who ordered war crimes?.
Townsend Admits CIA Documents Don’t Back Up Cheney’s Claims About Torture
Townsend Admits CIA Documents Don’t Back Up Cheney’s Claims About Torture - Think Progress »
On Monday, the CIA released two memos from 2004 and 2005, which Vice President Cheney said would “show specifically what we gained” from the Bush administration’s enhanced interrogation program. As people like Spencer Ackerman noted, those documents didn’t end up showing that at all, however:
Strikingly, they provide little evidence for Cheney’s claims that the “enhanced interrogation” program run by the CIA provided valuable information. In fact, throughout both documents, many passages — though several are incomplete and circumstantial, actually suggest the opposite of Cheney’s contention: that non-abusive techniques actually helped elicit some of the most important information the documents cite in defending the value of the CIA’s interrogations.
Despite the fact that they devoted heavy coverage to Cheney’s initial claims, major media outlets have largely buried these new facts. But as Greg Sargent notes, last night on CNN, even former Bush homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend had to admit that Cheney still hasn’t been vindicated:
via Think Progress » Townsend Admits CIA Documents Don’t Back Up Cheney’s Claims About Torture.
In KY, McConnell Brags About Stimulus Projects, Requests More Money; In DC, McConnell Says Stimulus Should End
In KY, McConnell Brags About Stimulus Projects, Requests More Money; In DC, McConnell Says Stimulus Should End
Yesterday, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) demanded a halt to stimulus spending, saying money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act should be diverted to paying down the deficit. McConnell, who lead the opposition to the stimulus in the Senate, has been an ongoing critic. “You do have to wonder, though, whether the stimulus has had any impact at all,” mused McConnell earlier this month on Fox News. A McConnell spokesman recently summed up the senator’s sentiment, noting, “By any measurable index, the stimulus package has been a failure.”
But despite McConnell’s steady stream of criticisms and demands that money stop flowing to projects, he has been a vocal champion of the stimulus in his home state.
Yesterday — the same day he asked for Recovery Act money to be diverted — McConnell and Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY) toured a construction site at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County, Kentucky. The facility, which is used to contain and destroy chemical weapons compiled during the Cold War, is in desperate need of repair and has leaked Sarin gas as recently as last year. McConnell quickly took credit for the new construction, noting that he and Chandler had inserted an additional $5 million into the 2010 budget. McConnell bragged:
‘The Dream Lives On’: A Video Tribute To Sen. Ted Kennedy
‘The Dream Lives On’: A Video Tribute To Sen. Ted Kennedy - Think Progress »
Today, “the progressive movement lost a hero.” President Obama hailed Sen. Ted Kennedy as the “greatest United States Senator of our time.” Kennedy’s closest friends and colleagues are remembering him as “the best advocate you could ever hope for” and “a hero for those Americans in the shadow of life who so desperately needed one.”
To honor his lifelong fight for progressive causes, ThinkProgress’ Victor Zapanta has produced this video tribute to Sen. Kennedy. Watch it:
via Think Progress » ‘The Dream Lives On’: A Video Tribute To Sen. Ted Kennedy.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce files for EPA climate disruption trial (updated)
The Weekly Carboholic: U.S. Chamber of Commerce files for EPA climate disruption trial (updated) - Scholars and Rogues »
Earlier this week, the LATimes reported that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (hereafter “the Chamber”) has petitioned the EPA to hold a trial-like hearing on the science of climate disruption. According to the article, officials for the Chamber want to make it “‘the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century.’”
EPA officials interviewed for the LATimes article are dismissive of the Chamber’s petition, referring to it in the article as “frivolous” and a “waste of time.” However, given that the Chamber has threatened to take the EPA to federal court to force them to hold this trial-like hearing, it’s unlikely that the Chamber considers their petition “frivolous.”
A ClimateWire article in the NYTimes clarifies the Chamber’s point and points out that the EPA’s public process has already been extensive:
Byrd wants health bill renamed for Kennedy
Byrd wants health bill renamed for Kennedy - The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room »
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the only senator to have served longer than the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), mourned his friend Wednesday, saying his “heart and soul weeps.”
Byrd said he hoped healthcare reform legislation in the Senate would be renamed in memoriam of Kennedy.
“I had hoped and prayed that this day would never come,” Byrd said in a statement. “My heart and soul weeps at the lost of my best friend in the Senate, my beloved friend, Ted Kennedy.”
Byrd’s wistful statement focused on the work accomplished with Kennedy during decades together in the Senate, and called on the healthcare bill before Congress to be renamed in honor of Kennedy.
via The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room » Byrd wants health bill renamed for Kennedy.
Poll: 86% Want Universal Coverage; 79% Want Government Option
Poll: 86% Want Universal Coverage; 79% Want Government Option – Jon Ponder – Pensito Review »
Despite the carefully contrived optics — the cell-phone videos of deranged Tea-Baggers, Birthers and Deathers disrupting town hall meetings; the armed “right wing terrorists” posing menacingly outside the meeting halls; and signs depicting Pres. Obama as Hitler — and in spite of Republican propaganda about death panels and the rest, a new poll finds that huge majorities of American voters of all ages* remain solidly behind the Democrats’ two primary goals for health-insurance reform: insuring everyone and offering the public access to the same coverage available to elected officials, federal employees, the military and veterans:
Nearly 8 in 10 Americans support a federal health insurance plan for those who can’t afford or can’t get private insurance, but only 37 percent define “public option” correctly, a new national poll found.
The majority of people polled — 86 percent — say insurance should be available to everyone regardless of health history.
And:
…79 percent say they believe a federal government health insurance option should be available for people to buy.
* Update: To be clear, the survey was paid for by AARP but the survey group of 1,000 Democratic, Republican and independent voters was not limited to AARP members. According to this pdf, the age range of those polled was 61 percent 49 years old and younger, and 39 percent 50 years old and older.
On the downside, the poll, which was sponsored by the AARP and endorsed by Charlie Cook, whose reputation for non-partisanship is unchallenged, found that about a quarter of people confuse the “public option” with national health plans like those offered by every leading democracy in the world, except for the United States.
via Pensito Review » Poll: 86% Want Universal Coverage; 79% Want Government Option.
Bauer asks embattled Sanford to resign The Post and Courier
Bauer asks embattled Sanford to resign -
South Carolina’s lieutenant governor called on Gov. Mark Sanford to resign Wednesday, promising to put aside his own political ambitions if that convinces fellow Republicans wary of elevating him to urge Sanford to step down.
Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is now the most prominent state Republican pressing for Sanford’s resignation two months after the governor came under fire for sneaking away to a secret rendezvous with his Argentine mistress.
“It is my opinion the best interest of the people of South Carolina can no longer be served by the current administration,” Bauer said. “The serious misconduct that has been revealed along with lingering questions and continuing distractions make it virtually impossible for our state to solve the critical problems we’re facing without a change in leadership.”
Sanford has said before he has no plans to resign, but his spokesman did not return several calls and e-mails Wednesday.
via Bauer asks embattled Sanford to resign The Post and Courier – Charleston SC newspaper.
Mike Enzi, Gang Of Six Republican, Admits He’s Simply Blocking Health Care Reform
Mike Enzi, Gang Of Six Republican, Admits He’s Simply Blocking Health Care Reform
Mike Enzi, one of three Republicans ostensibly negotiating health care reform as part of the Senate’s “Gang of Six,” told a Wyoming town hall crowd that he had no plans to compromise with Democrats and was merely trying to extract concessions.
“It’s not where I get them to compromise, it’s what I get them to leave out,” Enzi said Monday, according to the Billings Gazette.
Enzi found himself under attack at the town hall simply for sitting in the same room as the three Finance Committee Democrats. Republicans in the crowd called for him to exit the talks. He assured conservatives that his presence was delaying health care reform.
“If I hadn’t been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care,” he said.
“Someone has to be at the table asking questions,” Enzi said. “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”
via Mike Enzi, Gang Of Six Republican, Admits He’s Simply Blocking Health Care Reform.
Toyota poised to slash global production
Toyota poised to slash global production - FT.com
Carmaker considers 6% capacity cut
Toyota is poised to slash production by as much as 580,000 vehicles – or almost 6 per cent of global capacity – in an effort to stem losses amid the sharp downturn in car sales.
Japan’s largest carmaker, which is forecasting its second consecutive net loss this year, said it would shut a production line in western Japan from next spring through to the second half of 2011, reducing output by 220,000 vehicles.
via FT.com / Companies / Automobiles – Toyota poised to slash global production.
Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Robert Reich
America has had a few precious individuals who are both passionate about social justice and also understand deep in their bones its practical meaning. And we have had a few who possess great political shrewdness and can make the clunky machinery of democratic governance actually work. But I have known but one person who combined all these traits and abilities. His passing is an inestimable loss.
Most Americans will never know how many things Ted Kennedy did to make their lives better, how many things he prevented that would have hurt them, and how tenaciously he fought on their behalf. In 1969, for example, he introduced a bill in the Senate calling for universal health insurance, and then, for the next forty years, pushed and prodded colleagues and presidents to get on with it. If and when we ever achieve that goal it will be in no small measure due to the dedication and perseverance of this one remarkable man. We owe it to him and his memory to do it soon and do it well.
via Robert Reich’s Blog: Ted Kennedy.
’08 race worker held in damage to Colorado Democratic HQ
’08 race worker held in damage to Colorado Democratic HQ – - The Denver Post
One of two people suspected of shattering 11 windows Tuesday morning at the state Democratic Party headquarters has an arrest record and a history of helping a Democratic political candidate, public records show.
Police said that about 2:20 a.m., 24-year-old Maurice Schwenkler, now in custody, and an at-large accomplice took a hammer to the picture windows displaying posters touting President Barack Obama and his health care reform efforts.
Early Tuesday, Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak said the damage to her building in Denver’s art district was a consequence of “an effort on the other side to stir up hate.” She tempered her statement after Schwenkler’s political history was revealed.
“What I’ve been saying is there is a lot of rhetoric out there from both sides of the spectrum,” Waak said. “That’s what’s been disturbing to me. People are saying a lot of things not appropriate for civil discourse.”
via ’08 race worker held in damage to Colorado Democratic HQ – The Denver Post.
Company Cleared To Test Swine Flu Vaccine Fighting Off Liquidation
Company Cleared To Test Swine Flu Vaccine Fighting Off Liquidation – - - WSJ
As a new White House report raises the possibility that up to 50% of the U.S. population could contract swine flu this season, one drug maker has come a step closer to distributing a vaccine. That is, if the involuntary bankruptcy filing against it doesn’t get in the way.
Protein Sciences Corp., of Meriden, Conn., is a privately held vaccine maker that last week won federal approval to kick off clinical trials of its vaccine for the H1N1, or swine flu, virus, the Hartford Courant reported. That means Protein Sciences’ PanBlok vaccine will be tested on humans as soon as the next few weeks. Such trials have already started in Australia, where winter – and flu season – are underway.
The Food and Drug Administration’s stamp of approval doesn’t mean it will be smooth sailing for Protein Sciences, however. The company was hit with an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing last month by three creditors owed $11.7 million. The creditors – Emergent Manufacturing Operations Meriden LLC, PSI-BV and Impact Clinical Trials – said they sought Protein Sciences’ liquidation because they’ve “lost faith” in its managers. Protein Sciences is trying to fight off the creditors, accusing them of attempting to grab the company’s valuable vaccine technology on the cheap, but the bankruptcy court will have the final say after a trial that’s slated to begin Friday.
via Company Cleared To Test Swine Flu Vaccine Fighting Off Liquidation – Bankruptcy Beat – WSJ.
U.S. deaths in Afghanistan headed for another record
U.S. deaths in Afghanistan headed for another record – | McClatchy 
With the deaths of four U.S. soldiers Tuesday, the U.S.-led NATO coalition in Afghanistan now has lost more troops this year than in all of 2008, and August is on track to be the deadliest month for American troops there since U.S. operations began nearly eight years ago.
The numbers reflect the rising pace of combat in Afghanistan and come at a difficult time, just as Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is considering asking for more U.S. troops even as opinion polls show that a majority of Americans think the war in Afghanistan isn’t worth the cost.
Underscoring the deteriorating situation, a massive explosion late Tuesday shook the southern city of Kandahar, leveling dozens of businesses as people were breaking the daylong fast of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Local officials said at least 37 civilians were killed and another 100 were injured.
via U.S. deaths in Afghanistan headed for another record | McClatchy.
Why We Believe Lies, Even When We Learn the Truth
Lies of Mass Destruction – - Sharon Begley | Newsweek.com
The same skewed thinking that supports a Saddam-9/11 link explains the power of health-care myths.
Not being a complete idiot (contrary to the assertion of many readers I’ve been hearing from), I was not exactly surprised at the e-mails I got in response to my story analyzing why the myths about health-care reform—even the totally loony ones, like death panels—have gained such traction. One retired military officer called me “nothing more than an ‘Obama Zombie’ that has lost touch with reality,” while a housewife sweetly suggested that I sign up for “socialistic medicine” and die, the sooner the better. (My kids get upset when people wish me dead, but hey, they’ll survive.) But now I think I understand people who believe the health-care lies—and the Obama-was-born-in-Kenya lie—even better than when I wrote that piece.
Some people form and cling to false beliefs about health-care reform (or Obama’s citizenship) despite overwhelming evidence thanks to a mental phenomenon called motivated reasoning, says sociologist Steven Hoffman, visiting assistant professor at the University at Buffalo. “Rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief,” he says, “people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe.” And God knows, in the Internet age there is no dearth of sources to confirm even the most ludicrous claims (my favorite being that the moon landings were faked). “For the most part,” says Hoffman, “people completely ignore contrary information” and are able to “develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information.”
via Why We Believe Lies, Even When We Learn the Truth | Newsweek Voices – Sharon Begley | Newsweek.com.
Obese People Have ‘Severe Brain Degeneration’
Obese People Have ‘Severe Brain Degeneration – | LiveScience 
A new study finds obese people have 8 percent less brain tissue than normal-weight individuals. Their brains look 16 years older than the brains of lean individuals, researchers said today.
Those classified as overweight have 4 percent less brain tissue and their brains appear to have aged prematurely by 8 years.
The results, based on brain scans of 94 people in their 70s, represent “severe brain degeneration,” said Paul Thompson, senior author of the study and a UCLA professor of neurology.
“That’s a big loss of tissue and it depletes your cognitive reserves, putting you at much greater risk of Alzheimer’s and other diseases that attack the brain,” said Thompson. “But you can greatly reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s, if you can eat healthily and keep your weight under control.”
via Obese People Have ‘Severe Brain Degeneration’ | LiveScience.
Progressive Caucus Finds Itself In A Strange Place: Power
Progressive Caucus Finds Itself In A Strange Place: Power
House Progressives’ Threat Keeps Public Option Alive
The White House expressed surprise last week that the “left of the left” had clung so forcefully to the public insurance option as a must-have element of health care reform. Some old hands in the administration were more likely surprised by the simple fact that, at this late stage, they still have to deal with progressives in Congress.
And who can blame them?
“We’re the group that speaks to the righteousness of an issue, [but] inevitably the decisions about how that issue’s going to be addressed are conducted somewhere else,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), describing the traditional fecklessness of progressives in Congress. “The fact that we have stuck to our guns about the public option has surprised people.”
A majority of the 81 Congressional Progressive Caucus members of the House have vowed to oppose any health care bill that does not include a “robust public option.” That threat has kept it alive. With 256 seats in the House and 218 needed to pass a bill, Democrats simply can’t move health care reform on their own without progressive caucus support.
via Progressive Caucus Finds Itself In A Strange Place: Power.
Barack Obama on brink of deal for Middle East peace talks
Barack Obama on brink of deal for Middle East peace talks – | The Guardian 
- US to adopt much tougher line over Iran’s nuclear ambitions
- Israel to freeze construction of settlements on West Bank
- France and Russia offer to host Middle East peace conference
Palestinians walk through a door in a section of the barrier between Jerusalem and the West Bank. Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP
Barack Obama is close to brokering an Israeli-Palestinian deal that will allow him to announce a resumption of the long-stalled Middle East peace talks before the end of next month, according to US, Israeli, Palestinian and European officials.
Key to bringing Israel on board is a promise by the US to adopt a much tougher line with Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons programme. The US, along with Britain and France, is planning to push the United Nations security council to expand sanctions to include Iran’s oil and gas industry, a move that could cripple its economy.
via Barack Obama on brink of deal for Middle East peace talks | World news | The Guardian.
Durable goods orders surge 4.9% in July
Durable goods orders surge 4.9%
Biggest gain in two years beats expectations and is latest indication of nascent recovery.
New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods recorded their biggest gain in two years in July, buoyed by a surge in aircraft orders, a government report showed Wednesday.
Durable goods orders jumped 4.9%, the largest advance since July 2007, after falling by a revised 1.3% in June, previously reported as a 2.2% drop, the Commerce Department said.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast orders rising 3% in July. However, compared to the same period last year, new orders were still down 25.8%.
U.S. stock index futures briefly rose on the report and then dropped, while government bond prices were unchanged.
via Durable goods orders surge 4.9% in July – Aug. 26, 2009.
Argentina rules on marijuana use
Argentina rules on marijuana use - BBC NEWS
The supreme court in Argentina has ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish people for using marijuana for personal consumption.
The decision follows a case of five young men who were arrested with a few marijuana cigarettes in their pockets.
But the court said use must not harm others and made it clear it did not advocate a complete decriminalisation.
Correspondents say there is a growing momentum in Latin America towards decriminalising drugs for personal use.
The Argentine court ruled that: “Each adult is free to make lifestyle decisions without the intervention of the state.”
via BBC NEWS | Americas | Argentina rules on marijuana use.
Kennedy successor can’t be chosen for 145 days
Kennedy successor can’t be chosen for 145 days – The Raw Story »
Kennedy successor to be chosen by special election
Unlike most states, a successor to fill Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s seat in the Senate will be chosen through a special election, not by the governor.
Massachusetts law requires a special election for the seat no sooner than 145 days and no later than 160 days after a vacancy occurs. The law bans an interim appointee.
The law was changed in 2004, when Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., became his party’s presidential nominee and Republican Mitt Romney was the state’s governor. Before the change, the governor would have appointed a replacement to serve until the next general election.
That would have created the opportunity for Romney to install a fellow Republican in office, a move that Democrats who control the state legislature sought to prevent.
via The Raw Story » Kennedy successor can’t be chosen for 145 days.
Expert FiredWho Warned Levees Would BurstHurricane George, Four Years Later
Expert Fired Who Warned Levees Would Burst
Hurricane George, Four Years Later – by Greg Palast, For Crooks and Liars
Tonight on Air America: Greg Palast joins Crooks and Liars’ John Amato, guest host of “Clout!” on your local progressive station or streaming live on AirAmericaRadio.com at 9pm Eastern.
There’s another floater. Four years on, there’s another victim face down in the waters of Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Ivor van Heerden.
I don’t get to use the word “heroic” very often. Van Heerden is heroic. The Deputy Director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, it was van Heerden who told me, on camera, something so horrible, so frightening, that, if it weren’t for his international stature, it would have been hard to believe:
“By midnight on Monday the White House knew. Monday night I was at the state Emergency Operations Center and nobody was aware that the levees had breeched. Nobody.”
On the night of August 29, 2005, van Heerden was shut in at the state emergency center in Baton Rouge, providing technical advice to the rescue effort. As Hurricane Katrina came ashore, van Heerden and the State Police there were high-fiving it: Katrina missed the city of New Orleans, turning east.
via Greg Palast » Expert FiredWho Warned Levees Would BurstHurricane George, Four Years Later.
Beware the X-shaped recovery
Beware the X-shaped recovery - – Peter Morici, Business Speculator
By any conventional wisdom, the housing bubble, credit crisis and collapse in consumer spending is what caused the recession.
Now, with home sales rising, new cars flying off lots, and Wall Street profits soaring, analysts see an imminent recovery, but the economy is running on steroids.
About 90 per cent of existing home sales are distress sales – foreclosures and homeowners in financial difficulties. New home purchases are juiced by the $US8000 first-time buyer subsidy that expires December 1.
Car sales during the northern summer were pumped by cash for clunkers while regional banks are failing under bad commercial loans, and mortgage-backed securities purchased from Wall Street financial houses. In part, Wall Street posts big profits by shifting its debauchery onto smaller brethren, and the FDIC may run out of cash to guarantee regional banks’ deposits.
via Business Spectator – News – Beware the X-shaped recovery – Peter Morici.
10-Year Deficit: $9 Trillion and Rising
OPS: We cannot afford our Empire any longer. It’s time to pull back and drastically cut the Military Budget
10-Year Deficit: $9 Trillion and Rising - Dustin Ensinger economyincisis.org
The Obama administration raised its 10-year debt projections by roughly $2 trillion today, estimating that the federal government will need to borrow $9 trillion over the next decade, putting the nation even deeper in debt and ensuring that America‘s reliance on foreign financing continues for the foreseeable future.
Citing a much worse recession than originally predicted, the White House Office of Management and Budget adjusted its previous 10-year budget projection of $7 trillion upwards by $2 trillion based on new economic forecasts.
The White House OMB said that the jobless rate will average 9.3 percent in 2009. In 2010, the unemployment rate will top 10 percent for much of the year and average 9.8 percent. The OMB also predicted that the U.S. economy would grow 2 percent in 2010 after shrinking by nearly 3 percent in 2009.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Gross National Debt to Top $12 Trillion
OPS: Let’s not forget that the Debt was a little over $10 T by last November. Here’s a graph that explains.
Gross National Debt to Top $12 Trillion - Craig Harrington – economyincisis.org
With the gross national debt expected to top $12 trillion in the next two weeks, America can ill-afford to accumulate the additional $9 trillion the White House predicts over the next 10 years.
Wall Street was booming Monday morning, with markets up throughout the day and a major surge seemingly on the horizon. Then, in mid-afternoon, shares tanked and what could have been a promising day turned out almost no change on the major indexes.
Expert analysts were expecting the same sort of mediocrity in trading today following poor showings on the Japanese Nikkei and on each of China’s three major exchanges. The experts were proved wrong, at least in the morning’s open, when the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P500 each surged 0.5 percent in the first hour of trading.
A lot of the early optimism stems from President Obama’s choice to nominate Ben Bernanke for another 4 years at the head of the United States Federal Reserve.
Bernanke is well respected in financial circles, and the continuity at the Fed should give rise to markets. Furthermore, as a very Wall Street-friendly chairman, Bernanke is considered an asset for investors.
The uptick on the markets will likely give an increased boost to consumer confidence, which was above its forecast in August. This confidence may be short-lived, particularly if oil prices continue to rise.
But for now, the financial markets and rising home prices seem to have satisfied much of the public. In fact, with home prices on the rise for a second straight month, the ongoing foreclosure crisis is being overshadowed by those lucky Americans who were able to weather the storm and survive as homeowners.
In other news, both the White House and the Congressional Budget Office released budget outlooks for the next several years today. The White House assessment sees unemployment peaking at 10 percent and foresees an end to the recession by the end of 2009.
Unfortunately the White House assessment, which is the more optimistic of the two, also sees an additional $9 trillion to the national debt in the next 10 years. For some perspective, the Bush administration added roughly $7-8 trillion during its term.
According to Peter Orzag, current director of the Office of Management and Budget, the fiscal deficit in 2009 will be roughly $200 billion lower than the original projection, but the end-of-decade total would be $2 trillion higher than originally predicted.
With the gross national debt expected to top $12 trillion in the next two weeks, America can ill-afford to accumulate $9 trillion more. Unfortunately, with zero solutions on either side of the aisle, this county is left with little choice.
Click here to contact your Representative in Congress.
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via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
One Wrong Move and Your Credit Score Gets It
One Wrong Move and Your Credit Score Gets It – by Stephen Pizzo
If you’re American and over 18 you’ve got a shock-belt strapped around you: your Credit Score.
Ever see one of those shock-belts they use to make sure prisoners behave while in court? Just one wrong move and a deputy with a remote can bring the biggest, meanest hunk of crook whimpering to his knees.
Well, you can’t see it, and you can’t feel it – exactly – but if you’re American and over 18 you’ve got one of these things strapped around you too. You are, kinda aware of it, just not aware of being aware of it. You’ll know immediately what I mean when I type the next two words: Credit Score.
Over the past 25-years or so nearly every adult American has been equipped with one of these things. And it works pretty much the same way as a shock-belt – one wrong personal finance move and some financial service bureaucrat off in Delaware or New York can and will bring you right to your fiscal knees.
But let me back up a bit here, because I got out ahead of myself.
via OpEdNews – Article: One Wrong Move and Your Credit Score Gets It.
Selling America’s I.O.U.’s
Selling America’s I.O.U.’s – Dustin Ensinger -economyincisis.org
If future debt projections are accurate, the total U.S. debt could reach 100 percent of gross domestic product by 2011.
He is in charge of a $187 million budget and roughly 2,000 employees, however, those responsibilities pale in comparison to his main objective: borrowing huge sums of money to keep the U.S. government churning.
His name is Van Zeck and, according to a New York Times profile, he has worked at the Bureau of Public Debt for the past 38 years. These days, he runs the organization and is charged with keeping the public coffers filled by borrowing money at the lowest possible cost to the U.S. government.
“We are the back office, the plumbing,” Zeck told The New York Times. “We are borrowing a ton of money. It has to be done right.”
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Krugman: Economy in Purgatory
Krugman: Economy in Purgatory – Dustin Ensinger – economyincisis.org
“Anybody who says that we are out of the woods or even moving out of the woods has got to be lost at sea,“ Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, said on ABC’s This Week.
Last week, speaking at the Federal Reserve’s annual conference, chairman Ben Bernanke offered up perhaps his most optimistic assessment of the U.S. economy to date.
Bernanke told the assembled audience that the world economy is beginning to emerge from the worst recession to hit the U.S. since The Great Depression and expects the U.S. to resume economic growth very soon.
“The crisis in turn sparked a deep global recession, from which we are only now beginning to emerge,” Bernanke said.
That, according to Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, is an overly optimistic view of the beleaguered economy. On ABC’s This Week, Krugman told host George Stephanopoulos that the U.S. economy is currently in a very odd place. While there are signs of improvement, it will largely be a jobless recovery, he said.
“We’re actually in a situation, almost for sure, GDP is growing. Almost for sure, the Business Cycle Dating Committee will eventually decide that the recession ended this summer. But almost surely also, we’re still losing jobs,’ Krugman said. “The unemployment rate is going to continue to rise. So we’re in that infamous jobless recovery state.”
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
McCain attacks White House solicitation of PhRMA chief Billy Tauzin’s support — which he solicited in ‘07.
McCain attacks White House solicitation of PhRMA chief Billy Tauzin’s support — which he solicited in ‘07. – Think Progress »
At a town hall today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) attacked the controversial deal supposedly struck between the White House and the pharmaceutical industry on health care reform. According to McCain, the deal was an example of the “special interests” getting “a seat at the table.” “The lobbyist for the drug companies, a guy named Tauzin who makes over a million dollars a year went to the White House and he was quoted, he was quoted across this country when he says, and I quote: ‘We assured, we need somebody to come in first, if you come in first, you will have a rock solid deal.’” Watch it:
Fox News’ Shep Smith debunks McCain’s charge that reconciliation would be a ‘drastic change.’
Fox News’ Shep Smith debunks McCain’s charge that reconciliation would be a ‘drastic change.’ - Think Progress »
This afternoon in his town hall, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he is “unalterably opposed” to using the budget reconciliation process to pass health care reform. “It would be a drastic change in the way that the United States Senate does business.” Fox News’ Shep Smith fact-checked McCain’s claim immediately upon the conclusion of the town hall. “The truth is Republicans used this in 2001, 2003, and 2005 to pass then-President George Bush’s tax cuts,” Smith said. Armed with some research, he then reported this quote from Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH):
“Reconciliation is a rule of the Senate (that) has been used before for purposes exactly like this on numerous occasions.” … “Is there something wrong with majority rules? I don’t think so. … The point, of course, is this: If you have 51 votes for your position, you win.”
Smith concluded that if Democrats “were to take health care and put it in under reconciliation, they could do that.” Watch it:
Inflammatory New Book Attacking Local Food Movement Has One Grain of Truth Buried Under Heaps of Manure
Inflammatory New Book Attacking Local Food Movement Has One Grain of Truth Buried Under Heaps of Manure - By Kerry Trueman, AlterNet.
“Just Food” is framed as the lament of a lapsed locavore who has been driven into the arms of Agribiz by food-mile militants who, according to him, number in the millions.
The book Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong And How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly is the literary equivalent of a turd blossom, the Texan term for a flower that pops up out of a cow patty.
James McWilliams, an associate professor at Texas State University, has written a cogent critique of America’s unsustainable addiction to meat and then buried it in a mound of manure about 100-mile diet diehards who want to take us all out to the foodshed and paddle us senseless with fresh, local, organically grown produce.
Just Food is framed as the lament of a lapsed locavore, a simple, sustainably minded guy who has been driven into the arms of Agribiz by food-mile militants who, according to McWilliams, number in the millions.
One Degree Of Larry Summers: Meet Larry’s Ex-Boss, A Billionaire With A Blood Feud
One Degree Of Larry Summers: Meet Larry’s Ex-Boss, A Billionaire With A Blood Feud
If you judge a person by the company they keep, then Obama’s top economic adviser has some serious splainin’ to do.
By Mark Ames – - The eXiled
The best way to understand Larry Summers, the man who’s shaping America’s economy from his director’s chair at the National Economic Council, is to meet the people he hangs out with. Once you get to know Larry Summers’ crowd, nothing he does–no matter how twisted (like Larry’s suggestion to move all First World toxic waste to Africa) or deranged (Larry’s theory that women can’t do math)– will surprise you. Whereas the famous “Six Degrees Of Separation” gives the false impression that it’s a small world and we all pretty much know each other, this “One Degree of Separation” will prove how totally alien Larry Summers and his crowd really are from the rest of us.
I’d like to kick this series off with India’s top oligarch, Mukesh Ambani, the only foreign boss who paid Summers to work for him in 2008–and by “work,” I mean “you agree to be listed on my board of international advisors, which requires nothing from you, and in return I’ll give you $187,000.” Two years ago, Larry’s ex-boss Mukesh was the World’s Richest Man, worth $63.2 billion–but since the meltdown, the Reliance Industry chief’s wealth has fallen to a mere $19.5 billion, dropping him to #7 of Forbes’ list.
The 8 Weirdest Ways to Go Green
The 8 Weirdest Ways to Go Green - By Mike Sowden, EcoSalon.
From the solar-powered bikini that can charge your iPod to the benefits of eating free range snails, here’s few things you may not have thought of yet.
Think you’ve heard every creative and inventive way to go green? Here are some sensible suggestions – but if your tastes tend towards the wackier end of the green spectrum, you‘ll have a blast with the following ideas.
The Slime’s Where All the Flavor Is
They’re nutritious, free range, a touch rubbery, and have graced the plates of Europeans for thousands of years. Instead of picking the snails off your lettuce, why not add them to your salad? High in protein and low in fat, these sustainably foraged appetizers will just slip down.
A Golden Future for Our Environment
When you’re caught short, head for the garden. That’s what the Pee Outside movement believes, citing the 3 gallons of water used every time the toilet flushes. Since exposing yourself in daylight is generally frowned upon, please grit your teeth until nightfall – remember, it’s for the planet.
via The 8 Weirdest Ways to Go Green | Environment | AlterNet.
You. At a Town Hall Meeting. 5 Questions You Should Ask
You. At a Town Hall Meeting. 5 Questions You Should Ask – By Adele M. Stan and Joshua Holland, AlterNet.
Those raucous health-care town halls aren’t over yet. That’s where you come in.
If you lived nowhere but in front of your television set, you’d never know that a majority of the American people favor substantial health-care reforms — and you’d certainly never know that most want to see a public health-care plan offered as part of a mix of options in any overhaul of the system.
In fact, were you a truly dedicated couch potato, you just might think that most of the “regular people” in this country just hate, hate the idea of health-care reform. And then you just might start thinking that maybe you should, too.
Thankfully, you, oh well-informed reader, are not that kind of tuber. No, you are ready for action, ready to show another face of regular America to the media — and to your fellow citizens. And what better place to do that than at a town-hall meeting dedicated to the topic of health-care reform?
via You. At a Town Hall Meeting. 5 Questions You Should Ask | Politics | AlterNet.
Media: Angry right-wingers are important; angry libs are annoying
Media: Angry right-wingers are important; angry libs are annoying. | Media Matters for America
Why Do Angry, Right-Wing Mobs Get Media Attention? Meanwhile, the media has always lashed out at liberal protesters.
I guess Howard Dean was just ahead of his time.
When the liberal anti-war candidate ran for the White House in 2003 and 2004, the Beltway press was uniformly clear that Dean had an “anger” issue. When Dean launched his campaign and gave voice to the hundreds of thousands of activists who had marched and protested against the Iraq war, the media elites did not approve.
As early as June 2003, The New York Times was fretting over whether Dean’s “angry message” would be his downfall. “All the Rage,” read a Newsweek headline on a Dean profile.
And in two features in the summer of 2003, The Washington Post described Dean as “abrasive,” “flinty,” “cranky,” “arrogant,” “disrespectful,” “fiery,” “red-faced,” a “hothead,” “testy,” “short-fused,” “angry,” “worked up,” and “fired up.” And trust me, none of those adjectives was used in a complimentary way. In fact, the Post took pains to distinguish Dean’s anger from that of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, whom the paper termed “brilliantly cranky.”
via Media: Angry right-wingers are important; angry libs are annoying | Media Matters for America.
Howard Zinn – come to G20 protests Pittsburgh
Howard Zinn makes a call to attend the Peoples Summit in Pittsburgh and protest the G20 Sept 20-25 2009
Filmed by Paul Hubbard
via YouTube – Howard Zinn – come to G20 protests Pittsburgh.
Pass HCR in Kennedy’s Name
Pass HCR in Kennedy’s Name – | Future Majority
For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, & the dream shall never die.” Sen Ted Kennedy
Sen Ted Kennedy advocated tirelessly for health care reform and as his death rings through the halls of Congress surly we can hope that those efforts too will see their final conclusion.
In a press release from the DNC following the call about HCR with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (a good friend to young people and the youth movement), they emphasized the insurance guarantee that so many young people desperately need.
via Pass HCR in Kennedy’s Name | Future Majority.
Our laws condone torture
Our laws condone torture
Investigations into torture can only do so much. The U.S. needs laws that more clearly forbid brutality
By Juan Cole - | Salon News
Not long ago, I blamed cable television and talk radio for reducing our complex healthcare debate to theater — forgoing substance in favor of an endless Wrestlemania-style smackdown over whether President Obama or his opponents had administered the most punishing body slam.
Two weeks and a noisy summer recess later, not much has changed, only I would expand the list of obfuscators beyond broadcast yakkers to the president, who has not framed a clear enough story for change, and to an opposition shamelessly spinning out anti-reform fantasies.
The quick-and-dirty world of television demands — for better and often for worse — a simple story line that audiences can follow. In recent weeks, Obama and the Democrats have struggled to present a consistent plot line, allowing Republicans to fill the void with an old and winning theme: Big government and change will be the death of the American Dream.
via Our laws condone torture | Salon News.
Anti-Obama rants take on new ferocity
Anti-Obama rants take on new ferocity
In the healthcare debate, there’s no shortage of opportunists waiting to take advantage of the energy imbalance between the president and his opponents.
Not long ago, I blamed cable television and talk radio for reducing our complex healthcare debate to theater — forgoing substance in favor of an endless Wrestlemania-style smackdown over whether President Obama or his opponents had administered the most punishing body slam.
Two weeks and a noisy summer recess later, not much has changed, only I would expand the list of obfuscators beyond broadcast yakkers to the president, who has not framed a clear enough story for change, and to an opposition shamelessly spinning out anti-reform fantasies.
The quick-and-dirty world of television demands — for better and often for worse — a simple story line that audiences can follow. In recent weeks, Obama and the Democrats have struggled to present a consistent plot line, allowing Republicans to fill the void with an old and winning theme: Big government and change will be the death of the American Dream.
via Anti-Obama rants take on new ferocity — latimes.com.
Edward Kennedy, Senate Stalwart, Dies
Edward Kennedy, Senate Stalwart, Dies
– Obituary – NYTimes.com
Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a son of one of the most storied families in American politics, a man who knew triumph and tragedy in near-equal measure and who will be remembered as one of the most effective lawmakers in the history of the Senate, died late Tuesday night. He was 77.
The death of Mr. Kennedy, who had been battling brain cancer, was announced Wednesday morning in a statement by the Kennedy family, which was already mourning the death of the senator’s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver two weeks earlier.
“Edward M. Kennedy – the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply – died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port,” the statement said. “We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever.”
via Edward Kennedy, Senate Stalwart, Dies – Obituary (Obit) – NYTimes.com.
May Edward Kennedy’s legacy inspire the young
May Edward Kennedy’s legacy inspire the young
THE FIFTH COLUMNIST by P.M. Carpenter
It was about three years ago and I was driving somewhere in the Midwest, passing the time by listening to some despicable talk-radio host musing despicably about Ted Kennedy. Why was he even permitted to serve in the Senate? the host wanted to know. How could his colleagues tolerate shaking his hand or even being in this drunken killer’s presence?
I exaggerate not. That, nearly 40 years after Chappaquiddick, was the kind of prattle that obsessively convulsed the far right. The talk-radio host’s listeners soon chimed in; all had a merry and quite satisfying time.
I briefly wondered if their merriment wasn’t some sort of psychological compensation for having one of their own in the White House at the time, a former drunk who by then had heedlessly managed the senseless slaughter of about 4,000 Americans in some vast overseas desert, but I doubted their capacity for ever connecting so much as two dots.
Their man in the Oval Office never looked back, never apologized, never reflected, never examined and never evoked his own humanity, never reached down with all he possessed to lift others up: hallmarks, it seems, of the right-wing mind. A life, essentially, flat.
via May Edward Kennedy’s legacy inspire the young | BuzzFlash.org.
We Need to Know What Was Done in Our Name
We Need to Know What Was Done in Our Name 
By Eugene Robinson, Truthdig
History’s demands can seem inconvenient, unfair or unreasonable. But they can’t be ignored. The Obama administration has a legal and moral duty to determine whether crimes were committed in the Bush-era detention and interrogation of “war on terror” prisoners—and, if so, to prosecute those responsible.
President Obama has made clear that “he thinks that we should be looking forward, not backward,” as spokesman Bill Burton said Monday. Obama has taken admirable steps toward assuring the nation and the world that the worst abuses—waterboarding, indefinite detention, Abu Ghraib—will not happen again.
Obama’s latest move, lodging responsibility for interrogating “high-value” suspects in a new unit that will report to the White House, seeks to offer further guarantees against torture and abuse. I’m not quite sure what it accomplishes—it takes control of these interrogations away from the CIA and assures they will be conducted under the strict rules of the Army Field Manual, but it seems to me that the president should be able to simply order the CIA to follow whatever rules he specifies. Maybe the new High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group will ensure additional safeguards and greater accountability, but at first glance its likely impact seems more bureaucratic than operational.
via Truthdig – Reports – We Need to Know What Was Done in Our Name.
Scientists Confirm the Effectiveness of The Big Lie
Scientists Confirm the Effectiveness of The Big Lie – People Will Go To Extraordinary Lengths to Create False Justifications for Government Misdeeds - Washington’s Blog
Adolph Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf:
All this was inspired by the principle–which is quite true in itself–that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.
Similarly, Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, wrote:
That is of course rather painful for those involved. One should not as a rule reveal one’s secrets, since one does not know if and when one may need them again. The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.
Science has now helped to explain why the big lie is effective.
Fears over diet drug after 32 suffer liver damage
Diet drug investigated after 32 users suffer liver damage - | Mail Online
A popular diet drug is being investigated by American health officials after reports that it could cause serious liver damage.
Alli, which went on sale in Britain in April, is the only weight loss drug available without a prescription.
The US Food and Drug Administration is looking into 32 reports of liver damage in patients taking Alli and Xenical, the drug’s prescription version.
The reports, submitted between 1999 and October last year, are mostly from outside America. Twenty-seven patients were admitted to hospital and six suffered liver failure
via Fears over diet drug after 32 suffer liver damage | Mail Online.
Ignoring Outrage, Obama Set to Expand Pentagon Presence in Colombia
Ignoring Outrage, Obama Set to Expand Pentagon Presence in Colombia – -- In These Times
Opposition in the U.S. is mounting: More than 100 U.S. organizations sent a joint letter to Secretary of State Clinton urging her to halt negotiations with Colombia.
Imagine that you live in a nice house in a tense neighborhood. Your neighbors haven’t been too pleased with you lately, and you have a terrible roach infestation running havoc in your house. But perhaps there’s hope.
A big, strong guy lives down the street, and is offering to help out. He has big guns and says he has just the spray to get rid of those pesky roaches if you just let him crash at your place.
I’m not the first to have used the tough-neighbor analogy when discussing a current proposal for seven U.S. military bases in Colombia, but others have failed to mention all the problematic side effects of inviting the neighbor to stay.
This neighbor has a very sketchy reputation and just may try to take advantage of your sister, not to mention raid your fridge and clog up your toilet. His presence will really upset your neighbors, even the ones with whom you have been friendly.
via Ignoring Outrage, Obama Set to Expand Pentagon Presence in Colombia — In These Times.
Lobbyists Attack Reform Without Disclosing Work For Health Insurance Companies
Lobbyists Attack Reform Without Disclosing Work For Health Insurance Companies - Think Progress »
In an op-ed today in the Washington Times, Frank Donatelli smeared efforts to pass portions of health reform through reconciliation as an “arcane backroom procedure,” while referring to the legislation with the pejorative label “Obamacare.” Donatelli, who is a regular opinion writer for the Times, is also a frequent political pundit on CNN. In giving a Donatelli a free platform to attack health reform, neither media outlet has disclosed that Donatelli is the director of public affairs for McGuireWoods Consulting (an affiliate of the law firm McGuireWoods LLP), a major lobbying firm that is currently representing Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Donatelli, whose firm has already received three separate payments of $54,000 from Blue Cross Blue Shield to lobby Congress and the administration, is also associated with various right-wing groups organizing to defeat reform:
– Donatelli is a member of Citizens for the Republic, a group organizing tea party protests against health reform.
– Donatelli’s McGuireWoods is a client of Shirley & Banister Public Affairs, an infamous GOP public relations firm with a history of working for health insurers like CIGNA and Aetna. Shirley & Banister is currently managing Let Freedom Right, a right-wing group preparing to run anti-health reform videos.
via Think Progress » Lobbyists Attack Reform Without Disclosing Work For Health Insurance Companies.
NewsWatch: Energy: Buckshot in nuclear transport truck: terrorist or bubba?
Buckshot in nuclear transport truck: terrorist or bubba?
Target practice in rural Louisiana? Big deal.
Sometime in the early morning hours of Sept. 20, 2008 someone took a shot at a truck transporting radioactive fuel to the South Texas Project near Bay City. According to a copy of an incident report filed by STP security, the damage wasn’t noticed until the driver of the truck, operated by the Utah firm EnergySolutions, tried to enter the plant site. The report states:
“While performing receipt inspection and survey of new fuel truck, damage to the vehicle was noted on the drivers side of the cab which appeared to be a shotgun blast. The truck drivers stated that they had heard a loud noise which sounded like a tire blow out a few miles before entering Texas. They had pulled over and checked the tires but found no problems at the time.”
via NewsWatch: Energy: Buckshot in nuclear transport truck: terrorist or bubba?.
NY Businessman Charged With $74 Million Bank Fraud Against Citigroup
NY Businessman Charged With $74 Million Bank Fraud Against Citigroup
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
A New York man was charged with allegedly defrauding Citigroup Inc. (C) out of $74 million in loans.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan and the Federal Bureau of Investigations say Hassan Nemazee, with residences in Manhattan and Katonah, N.Y., fraudulently applied for the loans for Nemazee Capital Corp., of which he is chairman and chief executive.
Federal prosecutors contend Nemazee obtained the money by giving the banking giant “numerous documents that purported to establish the existence of accounts in Nemazee’s name at various financial institutions containing many hundreds of millions of dollars,” the Justice Department said in a statement. “In fact, those were fraudulent and forged documents.”
According to an FBI report, Nemazee first contacted Citigroup’s Citibank in December 2006 to borrow $25 million, and later raised the sum to $80 million.
via NY Businessman Charged With $74 Million Bank Fraud Against Citigroup.
Rangel’s Wealth Jumps After Disclosure
Rangel’s Wealth Jumps After Disclosure – By Richard Rubin and Alex Knott, CQ Staff 
House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel , already beset by a series of ethics investigations, has disclosed more than $500,000 in previously unreported assets.
Among the new items on Rangel’s amended 2007 financial disclosure report were an account at the Congressional Federal Credit Union worth at least $250,000, an investment account with at least $250,000, land in southern New Jersey and stock in PepsiCo and fast food conglomerate Yum! Brands. None of those investments appeared on the original report, which was filled out by hand and filed in May 2008.
According to the original report, Rangel’s net worth was between $516,015 and $1,316,000, while the amended report showed his net worth, as of Dec. 31, 2007, roughly double that amount — at least $1,028,024 and as much as $2,495,000.
Rangel also revised his disclosed investment income from 2007. The original report showed he had received between $6,511 and $17,900, but the new report shows between $45,423 and $134,700. The report also includes eight previously undisclosed financial transactions.
House rules allow lawmakers to exclude their personal residences and report asset values within broad ranges.
via CQ Politics | Rangel’s Wealth Jumps After Disclosure.
Unemployment, Deficits To Be Far Worse Than Stated: White House
Unemployment, Deficits To Be Far Worse Than Stated: White House
WASHINGTON — The federal government faces exploding deficits and mounting debt over the next decade, White House and congressional budget officials projected Tuesday in competing but similar economic forecasts.
Both the White House Office of Management and Budget and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted the budget deficit this year would swell to nearly $1.6 trillion, a record, and far above the then-record 2008 budget deficit of $455 billion.
But while figures released by the White House foresee a cumulative $9 trillion deficit from 2010-2019, $2 trillion more than the administration estimated in May, congressional budget analysts put the 10-year figure at a lower $7.14 trillion.
via Unemployment, Deficits To Be Far Worse Than Stated: White House.
Why the Senate Should Confirm Bernanke But Make the Fed More Accountable, Too
Why the Senate Should Confirm Bernanke But Make the Fed More Accountable, Too
Robert Reich:
The President did the right thing in renominating Ben Bernanke to be Fed Chair, but the Senate should couple its vote to confirm him with new legislation requiring the Fed to be far more open about its doings.
If you’d have asked me three months ago whether Bernanke would be confirmed, I’d have said no. Congress (and much of the public) is still furious about the bank bailouts, as well they should be. TARP saved the Wall Street but Wall Street still hasn’t saved Main Street, which was the publicly-stated purpose of the bailouts. The only clear outcome of the taxpayers’ $600 billion rescue package is a return to giant salaries and bonuses on the Street.
via Robert Reich: Why the Senate Should Confirm Bernanke But Make the Fed More Accountable, Too.
First “Gang Of Six” Member Backs Reconciliation For Health Care
First “Gang Of Six” Member Backs Reconciliation For Health Care
A Democratic member of the “Gang of Six” senators charged with finding a bipartisan solution to health care reform said at a town hall Monday that he would support using the budget reconciliation process to push a bill through the Senate if necessary.
Reconciliation is a parliamentary procedure that would allow Democrats to pass health care reform with 51 votes, meaning the party could do it without any Republican support.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico has been one of three Democrats participating in the widely-watched Finance Committee negotiations. His willingness to consider reconciliation is another sign that a a genuine bipartisan deal may be impossible.
via First “Gang Of Six” Member Backs Reconciliation For Health Care.
Right-wingers cry socialism over 9/11 anniversary plan backed by many in GOP
Right-wingers cry socialism over 9/11 anniversary plan backed by many in GOP
Right-wing commentators are claiming that the White House is planning to “erase the meaning” of the 9/11 attacks and turn the anniversary into “a day of leftist celebration and statist idolatry” — despite the fact that the plan for a National Day of Service on 9/11 had broad bipartisan support.
An article by Matthew Vadum, published Monday in the American Spectator, states that the president’s plan for a National Day of Service, to be celebrated on September 11, would eliminate 9/11 as a political tool for Republicans.
“The plan is to turn a ‘day of fear’ that helps Republicans into a day of activism called the National Day of Service that helps the left,” writes Vadum. “In other words, nihilistic liberals are planning to drain 9/11 of all meaning.”
via Raw Story » Right-wingers cry socialism over 9/11 anniversary plan backed by many in GOP.
On The Hill: EPA: Chemicals Found in Wyo. Drinking Water Might Be From Fracking
OPS: Drill baby Drill. with any luck at all Cheney and his family are being poisoned by this too.
EPA: Chemicals Found in Wyo. Drinking Water Might Be From Fracking - by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica
Federal environment officials investigating drinking water contamination near the ranching town of Pavillion, Wyo., have found that at least three water wells contain a chemical used in the natural gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing. Scientists also found traces of other contaminants, including oil, gas or metals, in 11 of 39 wells tested there since March.
The study, which is being conducted under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program, is the first time the EPA has undertaken its own water analysis in response to complaints of contamination in drilling areas, and it could be pivotal in the national debate over the role of natural gas in America’s energy policy.
via On The Hill: EPA: Chemicals Found in Wyo. Drinking Water Might Be From Fracking.
The Health Care Fix That Dare Not Speak Its Name
The Health Care Fix That Dare Not Speak Its Name - Llewellyn King - » White House Chronicle
One had the feeling in the East Room last week that the president wanted to lay down the burden of political gamesmanship and say, “National systems work from Taiwan to Norway, Canada to Australia; why, oh why can’t we face this reality?”
Workaround is a made-up word that came to us from the computer industry – at least, that is how it came into general usage. In that industry, a workaround can be a crafty piece of engineering to get the results you want without infringing on someone else’s patent
Watching President Barack Obama at last week’s prime-time news conference, one had the feeling that he was engaged in a workaround. He was selling a vague health care reform proposal. His spiel was very long because he was selling something that is still a work in progress. Worse: Whatever Obama gets is not going to be the real thing. It is going to be a workaround.
One has the feeling that congressional pusillanimity has the Democrats and their leader working around what at heart they know is the only solution to the challenge of health care – a strong federal role. Call it the solution that dare not speak its name, like Oscar Wilde’s love
One had the feeling in the East Room last week that the president wanted to lay down the burden of political gamesmanship and say, “National systems work from Taiwan to Norway, Canada to Australia; why, oh why can’t we face this reality?”
via The Health Care Fix That Dare Not Speak Its Name » White House Chronicle.
Comparing Obama to ‘Hitler,’ Grassley constituent says he’d ‘take a gun to Washington’ if crowd supported him.
Comparing Obama to ‘Hitler,’ Grassley constituent says he’d ‘take a gun to Washington’ if crowd supported him. – Think Progress »
Mr. President, psychopaths don’t compromise.
Earlier this month, police detained a man at a health care town hall meeting held by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) because he was carrying a sign declaring “Death to Obama” and “Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids.” Additionally, at least two members of Congress have reported receiving threatening faxes with pictures of Obama and the phrase “Death to All Marxists! Foreign and Domestic!” At a town hall event held by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) yesterday, a man compared Obama to Hiter and said he would “take a gun to Washington if enough of you would go with me”:
President Barack Obama is a fascist.
This and other assertions flew through an emotionally-charged town hall meeting conducted by Sen. Chuck Grassley Monday in Pocahontas.
“The president of the United States, that’s who you should be concerned about. Because he’s acting like a little Hitler,” said Tom Eisenhower, a World War II veteran. “I’d take a gun to Washington if enough of you would go with me.”
World Bankers Agree The Recession is Over – Maybe
World Bankers Agree: The Recession is Over – Maybe
By Shamus Cooke - ZNet
Few would consider the opinions of the world’s central bankers to be unbiased or even accurate. These self-proclaimed wise men of international finance didn’t see the recession coming until it blew up in their faces – a blast that destroyed their credibility.
Nevertheless, it is interesting to hear them talk, not because they’re fun to listen to, but because of “the messaging” that rich investors use religiously in placing their stock market bets, while the rest of us are given a calming sermon, so that the bankers’ lackeys – the politicians – may continue ruining the country uncontested.
Recently the wise bankers jointly announced that the world economy was “on the verge” of a recovery. The language was purposely vague: they can’t afford to be utterly wrong again and destroy their last shreds of authority. So they’re hedging their bets. The President of the European Central Bank was extra cautious, saying that the economy was in for a “very bumpy road ahead.”
The truth is they have absolutely no idea what will happen or when. Other mainstream economists are presenting a gloomier picture of the situation. For example, the flagship publication of corporate America, the Wall Street Journal, recently announced that the accelerating number of bank failures in the U.S. amounted to a “new phase” in the crisis, where built-up junk-debt was beginning to tear down banks at a faster tempo (August, 21, 2009).
via ZNet – World Bankers Agree.
What’s Actually IN The Health Care Reform Bills, Without the BS
What’s Actually IN The Health Care Reform Bills, Without the BS — Part One
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting sick of the right wingers (and frankly, everyone else) talking about what’s NOT in the health care reform bills before Congress. Don’t you think it’s time someone actually looked at what’s actually IN the bill? You know, without the paranoid spin?
(And for those of you who are looking for my Deconstruction of the Right’s Lies in the Health Care Bill go HERE, or click on the link at the top of the right column…)
President Obama has been trying to tell us what’s in the bill, but honestly, his Administration seems to be too interested in getting input from everyone else, and it has dropped the ball on getting information about the proposed system out there. They have been on the defensive since day one, constantly responding to the right wing fart machine, and allowing complete crap to enter the media mainstream.
I’m going to start by going through HR 3200, which was the original bill and tell you what it does, and why that will reform our health insurance system in a positive way. There are so many positives, above and beyond creating a public insurance option, I just thought it was time to explain what they are. So read and learn, folks. It’s time we took back and led the debate, and stopped simply reacting.
via Please Cut the Crap!.
More Military Intrusion Into Law Enforcement
More Military Intrusion Into Law Enforcement - | The Progressive
Here’s another story about the ever-eroding line between the military and civilian law enforcement.
On Aug. 9, nine peace activists walked onto the base at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin to protest the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan, to demand the return of the National Guard, and to call for nuclear disarmament.
They were cited for federal trespassing, and five were released. But the Army police at Fort McCoy detained the other four, who had previously been apprehended there. The Army police held them for more than three hours, and then drove them 70 miles to the Dane County jail in Madison and put a hold on them until the next day.
Problem is, the Army is prohibited by the Posse Comitatus Act from engaging in domestic law enforcement. And Army regulations say that civilians should be issued citations and then turned over “to the appropriate civilian authorities.” In this case, it would have been the U.S. Marshals. But the Marshals didn’t come and get them.
via More Military Intrusion Into Law Enforcement | The Progressive.
Defending Glenn Beck, Fox News Asserts Color Of Change Co-Founder Van Jones Has ‘Ties To A Terrorist’
Defending Glenn Beck, Fox News Asserts Color Of Change Co-Founder Van Jones Has ‘Ties To A Terrorist’ - Think Progress »
After incendiary Fox News host Glenn Beck called President Obama “a racist” who “has a deep-seated hatred for white people,” the African-American advocacy group Color of Change launched an advertising boycott of his show. Since the campaign began, 36 companies — including AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, UPS, and Verizon Wireless — “have now committed not to support Beck’s show.”
Last night on his Fox program, Beck attacked Color of Change co-founder Van Jones, who is currently a White House adviser on the environment. Beck aired an entire segment wondering, “Who is Obama’s green jobs czar, Van Jones?” In the piece, Beck called Jones a “self-proclaimed communist” and a “full-fledged radical,” citing Jones’ involvement in a group called Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM), which Beck says “held study groups in the Marxist and Lenin teachings.”
Fox & Friends continued the attack on Jones this morning. Teasing an upcoming segment with Beck, host Gretchen Carlson said Jones has “ties to a terrorist” (a claim that was never revisited). Later, a seemingly ultra-paranoid Beck claimed Jones is part of a secret communist cabal inside the Obama White House to transform the American government:
Taxi of the future: Space-age pods drive transport into the 21st century
Taxi of tomorrow: The space-age pods with no driver, no fumes… just a ‘start’ button – | Mail Online
A driverless taxi has been unveiled which could make traffic jams, petrol fumes and crowded buses a thing of the past.
The futuristic pod has no driver, and no opinionated chatter to accompany your journey, but instead a button set in the wall with the word ‘start’ written beside it.
The four-seater cab was unveiled at the Science Museum in London yesterday and will be in use from next year taking passengers between car parks and Terminal 5.
The man behind the mission, Professor Martin Lowson, who has a background in space travel and worked on the Saturn V Rocket, said: ‘They could have the same effect on transport this century as the rocket had on the 19th.’
He added: ‘We believe that our PRT system can transform cities in the 21st century to provide the optimum form of environmentally friendly urban transport, relieving congestion and reducing emissions.’
The bubble-shaped taxis are battery-powered and passengers select their destination from a touch screen.
via Taxi of the future: Space-age pods drive transport into the 21st century | Mail Online.
Moonquake mystery deepens
Moonquake mystery deepens - EARTH Magazine:
For 40 years, scientists have scoured the Apollo seismic data for an explanation of these moonquakes. Because the moon lacks active plate tectonics, moonquakes must be driven by different forces than most quakes on Earth. Extreme temperature changes may account for the less common shallow moonquakes, but a good explanation for deep moonquakes remains elusive. Now, a new study crosses one long-standing theory about what triggers deep moonquakes off the list. Instead, the study suggests, moonquakes might have more in common with earthquakes than previously thought.
“Very early on, scientists recognized a link between moonquakes and the tidal forces exerted on the moon by the gravitational pull of the Earth,” says Bruce Bills, a geophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and co-author of the new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. “Moonquakes reoccur again and again in the same locations at the same time of the month, which seems to link them to the monthly tidal cycles” he says, “but so far, nobody has been able to construct a physical model or clear pattern to explain the relationship.”
The relationship between tides and moonquakes had been explored before, Bills says, but “most of the moonquake studies were done back in the 1970s soon after the data were collected, and we’ve learned a lot about geophysics and modeling since then.” By comparing data about where and when the moonquakes occurred with the well-understood cycles of tidal forcing, Bills and colleagues thought they could flesh out a moonquake pattern. But, Bills says, “it didn’t work out that way at all. Clearly there’s something else involved here besides the tides.”
via EARTH Magazine: Moonquake mystery deepens.
Why a broken heart really does hurt: Scientists find social rejection is physically painful
Why a broken heart really does hurt: Scientists find social rejection is physically painful – | Mail Online
Scientists may have discovered the real reason why Sandy was so hurt when Danny snubbed her after their summer of loving – her broken heart may have been genuinely painful.
Researchers have found a genetic link between physical pain and social rejection, which means the good-girl character in Grease may have found breaking up with her holiday romance truly excruciating.
Psychologists at the University of California studied the gene responsible for regulating the body’s most potent painkillers, known as mu-opioids.
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Republicans Don't Care about Voter Fraud....owa Republicans are trying to dismiss claims that the vote count in Tuesday's Iowa Caucus was wrong. An Iowa voter told a local TV station yesterday that he noticed a 20-vote discrepancy in the count - and that Rick Santorum was the real winner of the Caucuses. Republican Party officials, though, are sticking to their first count - showing Mitt Romney as the winner by 8-votes - and there will be no recount.The Republican Party has launched a war on voters around the nation this year with strict new laws that will disenfranchise over 5 million Americans. They claim these laws are necessary to combat so-called voter fraud. Yet in Iowa - where there are no such laws - and where a very, very close and questionable election was just held - Republicans don't seem to care at all about getting it right.Clearly - the war on voters isn't about making sure the people's voices are represented accurately - it's about making sure poor people, young people, and minorities who tend to vote for Democrats - can't vote at all.-Thom(Who do you think won? Tell us here.) -
LEGALIZE Democracy
" We the corporations" On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. __________
MOVE to AMEND
a project of the CAMPAIGN TO LEGALIZE Democracy
Help end Corporate personhood
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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. 
