Archive for October, 2009

Charge Dismissed In Lovers’ Revenge Plot

A judge has dismissed the felony charge against the wife accused of participating in a plot to lure her cheating husband to a motel where he ended up tied to a bed with his penis glued to his stomach.

The 30-year-old Fond du Lac woman was one of four Eastern Wisconsin women charged with being party to false imprisonment in the July 30 incident. Calumet County Circuit Judge Donald Poppy dismissed the charge against the wife of the 37-year-old victim during a motions hearing Monday.

Court records say the man was romantically involved with three of the women and the fourth went to the Stockbridge motel to support her sister in the plot.

Full Story: Charge Dismissed In Lovers’ Revenge Plot – wcco.com.

Frontline: The Warning

Airs Tuesday, October 20 at 10 p.m. EST on PBS

In the devastating aftermath of the economic meltdown, “FRONTLINE” sifts the ashes for clues about why it happened and examines critical moments when it might have gone much differently. Looking back into the 1990s, producer/director Michael Kirk (“Inside the Meltdown,” “Breaking the Bank”) discovers early warnings of the crash, reveals an intense battle among high-ranking members of the Clinton administration and uncovers a concerted effort not to regulate the emerging, highly complex and lucrative derivatives markets, which would become the ticking time bomb within the American economy. Watch a preview.

Full Story: Frontline: The Warning

Nevada is prosecuting ACORN itself, not just individuals in it

For more than 40 years ACORN has helped the nation’s poor solve their own problems.

In Las Vegas, where the nonprofit group has been operating for only five years, members lobbied local government to build a sidewalk on Ogden Avenue so families taking their children to and from Hollingsworth Elementary School wouldn’t have to walk in the street. They worked to bring a grocery store to West Las Vegas after the area’s only supermarket closed. And ACORN staff members have helped locals apply for tax credits and avoid foreclosure.

Lately, however, amid a videotape scandal and voter registration investigations across the country, the liberal community organization with chapters in dozens of U.S. cities has been struggling with its own problems.

Full Story: Nevada is prosecuting ACORN itself, not just individuals in it – Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 | 2 a.m. – Las Vegas Sun.

GOP Launches Strategy to Trip Up Health Bill

Senate Republicans, acknowledging they lack the votes to block a health care reform bill outright, have implemented a comprehensive political strategy to delay, define and derail.

With Democratic leaders and White House officials holed up in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) office negotiating a final bill, Republicans are demanding a deceleration of the process and moving to define whatever plan that emerges as a combination of Medicare cuts, tax increases, higher insurance premiums and rising overall costs.

“Where they’re headed is inconsistent with the American people, so I’m not sure it’s as much about us as it is about making sure that the American people express their deep concerns over this,” Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said last week. “Certainly they’ve got the votes, but they’re going to have to hold every one of them in the United States Senate to make it through this.”

Senate Democrats are rejecting Republicans’ demands to slow things down, charging that the GOP isn’t interested in working with the majority to craft a bipartisan health care bill. Rather, Reid said repeatedly last week, the Republicans’ primary goal is to sink reform in order to undercut President Barack Obama.

Full Story: GOP Launches Strategy to Trip Up Health Bill – Roll Call.

45 Homemade Foods You Can Make Yourself (But Never Thought You Could)

Channel your inner pioneer and never run out of these common items again!

There are many food items that people regularly buy that they could make at home; healthier, cheaper, and tastier.

In days past people did not run to the store every time they needed catsup or baking powder, they made what they needed themselves from basic materials. You can do the same. How many of the following items have you made from scratch?

Full Story: 45 Homemade Foods You Can Make Yourself (But Never Thought You Could) : Planet Green.

Barnacles’ sticky secret revealed

Barnacles are able to attach themselves to almost anything.

They are found clinging to the hulls of ships, the sides of rock pools and even to the skin of whales.

Just how they stick so steadfastly whilst underwater has remained a biochemical puzzle for scientists for many years.

Now researchers have solved this mystery, showing that barnacle glue binds together exactly the same way as human blood does when it clots.

Barnacles are crustaceans that live in shallow ocean environments.

As larvae they affix to hard substrates, then remain stationary for the rest of their lives.

To attach themselves to a surface, the barnacles secrete an adhesive substance.

Full Story: BBC – Earth News – Barnacles’ sticky secret revealed.

Icon A5: “Plane Of The Future” Folds Up To Fit Into Garage

Video – The Icon A5, an amphibious personal aircraft dubbed the “plane of the future”, is a two seat, single-engine plane that can fly over 300 miles. Kirk Hawkens, CEO and founder of Icon A5, designed the aircraft so that anyone with an interest in flying can operate it.

Not only that, he made it small enough to fit into any plane lover’s garage.

According to The Christian Science Monitor, the Icon A5′s creator won a chance to pitch the product to Virgin Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson. The pitch session is scheduled for Oct. 26.

The $250,000 plane was featured by Nieman Marcus in the department store’s 2009 Christmas Catalog.

Full Story: Icon A5: “Plane Of The Future” Folds Up To Fit Into Garage.

The Most Powerful Man You’ve Probably Never Heard Of In The Health Care Debate

In health debate, those numbers are just numbers

The CBO’s price tags are educated guesses, but guesses nonetheless

Phil Ellis may be the most powerful guy you’ve never heard of in the health-care debate. A senior analyst with the Congressional Budget Office, Ellis is the man who has to decide what it would cost to rebuild the health insurance system. He has essentially condemned two legislative proposals by slapping them with trillion-dollar price tags. A third plan rocketed to prominence after he said it would cost much less.

In the coming weeks, Ellis’s judgments will shape the fate of President Obama’s reform effort. But Ellis, an amiable father of three who hasn’t had a day off in about six months, is the first to admit that his painstaking numbers are almost certainly wrong.

“We’re always putting out these estimates: This is going to cost $1.042 trillion exactly,” he said. “But you sort of want to add, you know, ‘Your mileage may vary.’ ”

Full Story: In health debate, those numbers are just numbers – washingtonpost.com.

Best Places to Launch a Small Business 2009

*Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2007 County Business Patterns.

In these metro areas, the number of small businesses — companies with fewer than 50 employees — grew fast from 2004-2007.

Best Places to Launch a Small Business 2009 – Oklahoma City, OK – FORTUNE Small Business.

Radioactive Rabbit Poop Part Of Hanford Nuclear Reservation Cleanup (VIDEO)

The Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state produced most of the plutonium our nation used from the the beginning of the atomic bomb through the 1980s. As one can imagine, this production also led to massive amounts of toxic waste. However, one of its sources is not part of the usual suspects.

The area is the focus of the largest environmental cleanup operation in the country right now, and that includes scrubbing all the rabbit feces because it is radioactive. The jackrabbits have taken quite a liking to the nuclear sludge, which contains a radioactive salt that they can’t get enough of. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer,

Jackrabbits routinely burrowed into those sites. They found the salt, liked it, and licked it. Later, they pooped it, leaving slightly radioactive scat all over the ground.

Check out Rachel Maddow’s segment below for more in

Full Story: Radioactive Rabbit Poop Part Of Hanford Nuclear Reservation Cleanup (VIDEO).

Dozens Of “Earth-Like” Planets Discovered Outside Solar System

Astronomers have found 32 new planets outside our solar system, adding evidence to the theory that the universe has many places where life could develop.

Scientists using European Southern Observatory telescopes didn’t find any planets quite the size of Earth or any that seemed habitable or even unusual. But their announcement increased the number of planets discovered outside the solar system to more than 400.

Six of the newly found planets are several times bigger than Earth, increasing the population of so-called SuperEarths by more than 30 percent. Most planets discovered so far are far bigger, Jupiter-sized or even larger.

Two of the newly discovered planets were as small as five times the size of Earth and one was up to five times larger than Jupiter.

Astronomer Stephane Udry of the University of Geneva said the results support the theory that planet-formation is common, especially with certain type of common stars.

Full Story: Dozens Of “Earth-Like” Planets Discovered Outside Solar System.

No Impact Week: Trash

In a lifetime, the average American will throw away 90,000 pounds of trash.

As part of Trash Day for No Impact Week, (learn more here and sign up) we’re taking a deeper look into trash, recycling and where it all goes after we throw it away. Check out this inspired slideshow from photojournalist Mathieu Young who takes us into a California sorting plant in Pico Rivera, where an average of 225 tons of waste are processed each day.

In honor of trash day, we’re launching two citizen journalism projects.

1) Get to the bottom of what happens to trash in your area. Where does it all go? Today or tomorrow, visit the closest landfill or waste processing center and help HuffPost readers experience the place. With photos or in a video under two minutes in length, show us what the place looks like and how much trash they see on a daily basis. If it’s too far away, consider simply interviewing your trash collector to get the scoop. For inspiration, check out The Story of Stuff.

Here’s how submitting your photo or video works:

Full Story: No Impact Week: Trash.

Keith Bardwell Explains Refusal To Perform Interracial Marriage (VIDEO)

The Louisiana Justice of the Peace who refused to perform an interracial marriage was interviewed on CBS News Monday morning and tried to explain his actions.

Bartlett explained that he had seen “countless” interracial couples where the children were rejected by family members, and he didn’t want to see that happen again. He defended himself by pointing out that he did not prevent the couple from getting married; he merely would not do it himself. Asked if he would refuse to perform a marriage for any other reason, he said no, but then corrected himself.

“One of them is intoxicated or seems to be or on drugs or whatever, yeah, I can recuse myself and make them come back when they’re in a sober state,” he added.

At the end of the segment, Bartlett asked to say one more thing.

“I’m sorry that I offended the couple, but I did help them and tell them who to go to,” he said. “And they went and got married, and they should be happily married and I don’t see what the problem is now.”

Full Story: Keith Bardwell Explains Refusal To Perform Interracial Marriage (VIDEO).

Motorola Droid Review: New ‘Droid Does’ Phone Is ‘Android To Beat’ (PHOTOS)

Verizon’s challenger to the iPhone, the Motorola “Droid”, is rumored to be launching in late October 2009, and has already been talking a big game with its “iDon’t” ads slamming the iPhone (watch it below).

From BoyGeniusReport’s early review of the “Droid Does” phone, it sounds like they’ve got good reason to boast.

Apparently, it’s thin, has a great screen, and is super fast. BoyGeniusReport writes, “it’s the most impressive phone we’ve used since the iPhone. It’s positively amazing.”

And what does it do? According to Motorola’s “Droid Does” ad campaign (see below), which squarely rips into the iPhone, the Verizon/Moto Android offers high-speed, speech recognition, multitasking, directions, video, and a 5 mega-pixel camera.

Sounds a lot like the iPhone — guess we’ll just have to wait to get our hands on one to find out more. BoyGeniusReports tells us,

Full Story: Motorola Droid Review: New ‘Droid Does’ Phone Is ‘Android To Beat’ (PHOTOS).

David Keene To Palin defender: “I’m Not Gonna Hit You, But I’d Like To” (VIDEO)

John Ziegler, voracious defender of Sarah Palin against all media criticism, has turned his sights from the liberal news to conservative politicos.

In his movie “Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted,” Ziegler went after the mainstream media for perceived liberal bias and slights against the Alaska governor. This weekend at the Western Conservative Political Action Conference (WCPAC), Ziegler went after a target closer to home: David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union. In the end, the documentarian gets cursed at and kicked out of the conference. In response he’s put video of the entire encounter on Mediaite.

Ziegler was after Keene for criticizing Palin, but he also attacked the conservative leader for supporting Sen. Arlen Specter (pre-party switch) and reportedly trying to sell his group’s support to FedEx.

Full Story: David Keene To John Ziegler: “I’m Not Gonna Hit You, But I’d Like To” (VIDEO).

White House Turns Its Guns On The Chamber Of Commerce

Several weeks into office, as it pushed its wide-reaching stimulus package through Congress, the Obama administration found itself the beneficiary of an unlikely ally. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce declared that the $800 billion proposal was a necessary “defibrillator” for a struggling economy and in doing so, gave the president a needed bit of political capital on his signature piece of legislation.

The endorsement also produced a strange-bedfellows partnership between a White House whose remaining domestic priorities ruffled big business and the world’s largest lobbying entity for those same businesses. The detente seemed both unusual and limited. It was.

Nine months after the Chamber helped the White House pass the stimulus and then the bank bailout, the relationship between the two has grown — as one business insider put it — “frosty.” The Chamber has come out forcefully against several key planks of the Obama agenda and promised to throw hefty resources behind their opposition.

Full Story: White House Turns Its Guns On The Chamber Of Commerce.

Victims of Foreclosure Check In to Shelters

The first night after she surrendered her house to foreclosure, Sheri West endured the darkness in her Hyundai sedan. She parked in her old driveway, with her flower-print dresses and hats piled in boxes on the back seat, and three cherished houseplants on the floor. She used her backyard as a restroom.

The second night, she stayed with a friend, and so it continued for more than a year: Ms. West — mother of three grown children, grandmother to six and great-grandmother to one — passed months on the couches of friends and relatives, and in the front seat of her car.

But this fall, she exhausted all options. She had once owned and overseen a group home for homeless people. Now, she succumbed to that status herself, checking in to a shelter.

Full Story: Victims of Foreclosure Check In to Shelters – NYTimes.com.

Citigroup might lose Mexican subsidiary

US bank’s state aid places Banamex in breach of national law

Mexico’s Supreme Court is this week set to probe a case that could potentially force Citigroup, the troubled US bank, to sell its profitable and highly prized Mexican subsidiary.

A group of opposition senators has pointed out that the US government bail-out of Citi last year placed its Mexican subsidiary, Banamex, in breach of national law, which bans foreign governments from owning a stake in domestic banks.

Full Story: FT.com / Companies / Banks – Citigroup might lose Mexican subsidiary.

Fed confirms reverse repo tests

The Federal Reserve on Monday confirmed it had been testing reverse repurchase agreements – known as “reverse repos” – with primary dealers and said it had broadened the use of these monetary policy tools to include triparty repos.

In a statement released to clarify market concerns about the monetary policy implications of the Fed’s recent testing of reverse repos, the central bank’s New York arm sought to downplay the immediate effects.

“This work is a matter of prudent advance planning by the Federal Reserve, and no inference should be drawn about the timing of monetary policy tightening,” the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a statement on Monday.

George Goncalves, head of interest rate strategy at Cantor Fitzgerald said: “This clarification should at least be viewed that the gradual removal and exit of liquidity is still the main focus for the Fed….The Reverse Repo train has not left the station but the tracks have just been laid.”

Full Story: FT.com / Markets – Fed confirms reverse repo tests.

H1N1′s Links to Pneumonia Appear Clearer

As swine flu continues to spread around the globe, a clearer and in some ways more unnerving picture of the most serious cases has started to emerge, indicating that the virus could pose a greater threat to some young, otherwise vibrant people.

The virus can cause life-threatening viral pneumonia much more commonly than the typical flu, prompting the World Health Organization on Friday to warn hospitals to prepare for a possible wave of very sick patients and to urge doctors to treat suspected cases quickly with antiviral drugs.

Experts stress that most people who get the H1N1 virus either never get sick or recover easily. But some young adults, possibly especially women, are falling seriously ill at an unexpectedly rapid pace and are showing up in intensive care units and dying in unusually high numbers, they say.

Full Story: H1N1′s Links to Pneumonia Appear Clearer – CBS News.

Brown warns of ‘catastrophe’ without Copenhagen climate deal

Gordon Brown warned today of a catastrophe for the planet if action to tackle climate change is not agreed at forthcoming UN talks and said that global warming could be more costly than two world wars and the Great Depression.

The Prime Minister delivered the analysis in a speech to representatives from 17 countries at the Major Economies Forum (MEF), convened as part of efforts to secure a deal at the UN summit in Copenhagen in December.

Mr Brown examined the economic, human and ecological impact of a failure to cut the emissions blamed for driving up temperatures.

Full Story: Brown warns of ‘catastrophe’ without Copenhagen climate deal – Times Online.

Attack sheds light on perils of the homeless

Random beating illustrates vulnerability of a silent population, experts say

It was early, 4:30 a.m on Wabash Avenue between Grand Avenue and Ohio Street. Darrick, 37, who was homeless, was on his way to the “L” so he could nap on a train.

Someone poured a beer on him, then broke the bottle over Darrick’s head. Two others joined in, kicking and punching him.

Darrick suffered a concussion, and his ribs were fractured. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

His mother, alerted to the attack by a reporter, walked into his hospital room the next day. He hadn’t seen her in months.

“How’d you find me?” he asked.

She told him, “I’ll always find you.”

Darrick has been living on Chicago’s streets for about eight years. Because of the violent nature of the attack, he is not comfortable sharing his last name. His mother also fears giving out her name.

Full Story: Attack sheds light on perils of the homeless — chicagotribune.com.

High school kid shot 5 times by SC police had autism: report

A 16-year-old high school student who was shot five times and killed by a South Carolina school officer had a form of autism, news reports say.

Trevor Varinecz, who died within hours of being shot by school resource officer Marcus Rhodes, had pulled a knife and stabbed the officer, according to NewsChannel 5 in South Carolina. His mother told the TV station that Varinecz had suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome, a high-functioning version of autism.

Horry County prosecutors say Officer Rhodes was justified in the shooting.

The incident took place on Friday morning at Carolina Forest High School in Conway, South Carolina, when Varinecz is said to have pulled a knife on Officer Rhodes and stabbed him several times. The officer responded by shooting Varinecz five times. Rhodes was hospitalized for his wounds, and released from hospital several hours after the incident. Varinecz died shortly after altercation.

Full Story: High school kid shot 5 times by SC police had autism: report | Raw Story.

Adviser: Obama won’t demand public option

The White House will not commit to health care legislation that would cap insurance premiums or tax benefits, taking a wait-and-see approach as congressional negotiators seek a deal, advisers said Sunday.

President Barack Obama will not demand that a final bill include a government-run plan as a way of driving down costs through competition, though that’s his preference, they said.

”There will be compromise. There will be legislation, and it will achieve our goals: helping people who have insurance get more security, more accountability for the insurance industry, helping people who don’t have insurance get insurance they can afford, and lowering the overall cost of the system,” aide David Axelrod said.

Asked on ABC’s ”This Week” if Obama would sign a bill that ended the antitrust exemption for the insurance industry and allow caps on premiums, Axelrod said, ”We’ll see what Congress does.”

A 1945 law lets states regulate insurers without federal interference.

Full Story: Adviser: Obama won’t demand public option | Raw Story.

Obama issues new medical marijuana rules: No arrests

The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, under new policy guidelines to be sent to federal prosecutors Monday.

Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state laws.

The new policy is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted it would continue to enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state codes.

Full Story: Obama issues new medical marijuana rules: No arrests | Raw Story.

Liberal group attacks Harry Reid on public insurance option

An alliance of MoveOn staffers and labor organizers will launch an advertising spot targeting Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in an effort to push the senator to embrace a public healthcare option to compete with private insurance companies.

The ad, drawn up by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, features a Nevada health care employee speaking poorly of health insurance companies and say she was to see if Reid is “strong and effective enough as a leader” to pass the public health option, a measure strongly backed by House liberals and labor groups.

“I’m your typical swing voter,” Lee Slaughter, a Las Vegas health care professional who says her insurer denied her care to cover a broken hip

Full Story: Liberal group attacks Harry Reid on public insurance option | Raw Story.

Rep. Kingston (R-GA) Doesn’t Mention The Stimulus When Handing Out Stimulus Funds

Earlier this year, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) — commonly referred to as the stimulus — without a single Republican vote in the House of Representatives. Since then, a whole host of legislators who opposed the stimulus have jumped at the opportunity to personally deliver stimulus funds to their cash-strapped districts.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that not a single Georgian GOP legislator who voted against ARRA has turned down stimulus funds for their district. The paper notes one congressman, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), has managed to get away with this hypocrisy by hiding the source of the funds he is doling out:

On July 28, Kingston’s office issued news releases announcing $245,187 combined in funding through the federal Office of Community Oriented Policing Services for the Alma and Jesup police departments. The money will pay the salary and benefits for one entry-level police officer for each department for three years, according to Kingston’s news releases, which did not mention the funding was made possible by the federal stimulus program.

Full Story: Think Progress » Rep. Kingston Doesn’t Mention The Stimulus When Handing Out Stimulus Funds.

Pursuing a New Trade Agenda

The United States now pursues “free trade at all costs” despite obvious instances where unfettered and unregulated trade is harmful to both the U.S. and its trading partners.

The United States now pursues “free trade at all costs” despite obvious instances where unfettered and unregulated trade is harmful to both the U.S. and its trading partners. Much of the debate among “free trade” and “fair trade” advocates surrounds the developing versus the developed world. “Free traders” are seen to favor developed countries, while “fair traders” are seen to favor undeveloped countries.

The fact remains that fair trade can be mutually beneficial to everyone regardless of where they live. The goal of fair trade is to erase and resolve systemic imbalances in international commerce. This would not only help the impoverished workers who produce goods for global consumption, it would also help individuals in the developed world who see an increasing amount of their money going overseas and out of their home economy.

Nowhere is this particular trade imbalance more evident than in the United States. The push for free trade began in earnest during the 1970s; since then the U.S. has entered into massive international trade coalitions (the WTO) and dozens of bilateral or regional agreements (i.e CAFTA, NAFTA, etc).

Full Story: Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.

Mum’s the Word on “Free Trade”: Money Controls

The President has the country headed in the wrong direction by continuing to get rid of our economy with “free trade.”

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

“Free trade” means different things to different people. To economists in the United States, “free trade” means an open market where goods are unfettered or unprotected by tariffs, quotas or subsidies. To one of John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage, Henry Clay, “free trade” was pure fantasy. Clay thought “free trade” was an oxymoron. In 1832, he cried: “Free trade, free trade … It never existed … It never will.” Teddy Roosevelt thought “free trade” was dumb economics. He exclaimed in a letter: “Thank God I’m not a free trader.”

After World War II, Japan took our Marshall Plan money and started globalization or a trade war for market share by closing its domestic market, subsidizing its manufacturing, selling its exports at near cost, and making up the profit in its closed market. It took over market share in textiles and then globalized by seeking a country cheaper to produce, moving its textile manufacturing to Malaysia and changing its trade war from textiles to watches, to cameras, to electronics, to radios, to TVs, to computers, to communications, to automobiles.

Full Story: Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.

If You Aren’t Outraged, You haven’t been paying Attention

There are numerous urgent changes that need to be implemented before the U.S. can even think that we are emerging from today’s recession/depression.

In recent years the U.S. has been steadily traversing down a path of destruction. While many Americans have begun to open their eyes to America’s plight, most are still oblivious to the factors that lead to our downfall. Recently, the media has been touting recovery, but there are numerous urgent changes that need to be implemented before the U.S. can even think that we are emerging from today’s recession/depression.

The New Depression

What began as a recession in 2007 is quickly becoming a depression. The economic decline in the United States began long before the official beginning of the recession in December 2007. The U.S. is not merely experiencing a “down cycle.” Very simply put we are no longer producing wealth. Our balance of trade deficits is constantly on the rise, Americans individually are living beyond their means and the government has followed suit living well beyond its means. We are forced to live on imports and debt at every level as we no longer produce enough in our own factories to support ourselves. To make matters worse, we are losing over 20,000 jobs a day as our factories are closed, sold or bankrupted.

“Free Trade” is Destroying Us

The American media favors “free trade” almost unflinchingly, despite the fact that even a cursory overview of global economies shows that no nation is being more adversely affected by this practice than the U.S.

Full Story: Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.

The Politics of the Public Option

Robert Parry – >

From the start, the health-reform debate has been about money – who will get the best break and who may have to pay more. That is why the issue of the public option, a less expensive government-run insurance plan, has been so central to both the policy and political debates.

Indeed, if the Democrats abandon the public option for the sake of passing a bill like the one that came out of the Senate Finance Committee, they may be courting electoral disaster once voters grasp that they will have to wait years for the law to be implemented and then that it could lead to higher costs for much the same unpopular private insurance plans.

The public option offers the only means for a reform to be quickly implemented and to demonstrate a beneficial effect for the people by 2010 and 2012. It has the potential for reducing costs, especially for small businesses and individuals who are now being soaked by private insurers or denied coverage.

Full Story: Consortiumnews.com.

The Robber Barons Are Back — Hide Your Money!

The Dow’s at 10,000, and the bankers are reaping huge bonuses, but the economy in which the rest of us live is a disaster.

On Oct. 14, the Dow Jones Industrial Average barely passed the 10,000 mark for the first time in over a year.

That gave the “green shoots” crowd spasms of joy at the possibility of a recovery from the worst recession to hit America in seven decades. Of course, the last one eventually morphed into the Great Depression lasted at least a full decade, rewired our currency, led to world war, ruined countless lives and set a universal standard for societal implosions.

The fire this time? It’s almost out, say a series of decorated financial experts within and without the mainstream.

But most of them blew the call on the implosion, and are still blowing it today. We are not in Paul Krugman’s Great Recession, or the “deep and long recession” coined by the optimistic National Association for Business Economics. We’re not even mired in Wikipedia’s comparatively boring Financial Crisis of 2007-2009.

Full Story: The Robber Barons Are Back — Hide Your Money! | Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace | AlterNet.

Why Obama Has to do What Letterman Did: Refuse to Pay Hush Money

Robert Reich

Last January, as I understand it, the White House promised Big Pharma, big insurance, and the American Medical Association the moral equivalent of what Joel Halderman allegedly demanded of David Letterman: hush money. The groups agreed to stay silent or even be supportive of healthcare reform, as long as they were paid off.

But now that it’s time to collect, the bill is larger than the White House expected, and it’s going to fall like an avalanche on middle class Americans in coming years. That could mean an ugly 2012 election (read Sarah Palin).

So the President has to do what Letterman did: Refuse to pay.

Big Pharma is on the road to getting its deal: not only 25 to 30 million more paying customers, but also a continued ban on Medicare using its bargaining clout to reduce drug prices, a bar on genetic drug manufacturers introducing similar biologic drugs until the originals have been on the market at least twelve years, and no public insurance option to negotiate low drug prices. (Big Pharma did agree to $80 billion of cost cuts over the next ten years, to be sure, but its hush money payoffs far exceeded that sum.)

Full Story: Robert Reich’s Blog: Why Obama Has to do What Letterman Did: Refuse to Pay Hush Money.

The Buzz on Synergy and the New Media Conglomerate

Over the years we have seen that a massive concentration of corporations and media synergy has been on the rise as a marketing tool:

Synergy in the media

In media economics, synergy is the promotion and sale of a product (and all its versions) throughout the various subsidiaries of a media conglomerate, e.g.: films, soundtracks or video games. Walt Disney pioneered synergistic marketing techniques in the 1930s by granting dozens of firms the right to use his Mickey Mouse character in products and ads, and continued to market Disney media through licensing arrangements. These products can help advertise the film itself and thus help to increase the film’s sales. For example, the Spider-Man films had toys of webshooters and figures of the characters made, as well as posters and games.

Even the lefts’ more trusted corporate owned news sources are almost always, to a degree, caught up in some conflicts of interests because of Media conglomerates that can be damaging to the public good:

Critics have accused the larger conglomerates of dominating media, especially news, and refusing to publicize or deem “newsworthy” information that would be harmful to their other interests, and of contributing to the merging of entertainment and news (sensationalism) at the expense of tough coverage of serious issues. They are also accused of being a leading force for the standardization of culture (see globalization, Americanization), and they are a frequent target of criticism by partisan political groups which often perceive the news productions biased toward their foes.

Full Story: The Buzz on Synergy and the New Media Conglomerate | ePluribus Media.

2008 RFK Jr Speech on CDC Cover-up of Vaccine-Autism Link

video and transcript

June 2008 speech at the Green Our Vaccines rally

In front of the Sylvan Theatre on Washington Monument grounds, Washington, D.C.

Transcribed by Rady Ananda

On June 4, 2008, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr spoke before 8,500 activists from every state and from Mexico, Canada and the Philippines on the dangers of vaccines, and the government cover-up of the vaccine-autism link.

18-min video (in three parts) and transcription follow.

Full Story: 2008 RFK Jr Speech on CDC Cover-up of Vaccine-Autism Link (video and transcript) « COTO Report.

Florida plan advises hospitals to bar some patients in event of severe flu pandemic

Florida health officials are drawing up guidelines that recommend barring patients with incurable cancer, end-stage multiple sclerosis and other conditions from being admitted to hospitals if the state is overwhelmed by flu cases.

The plan, which would guide Florida hospitals on how to ration scarce medical care during a severe flu outbreak, also calls for doctors to remove patients with poor prognoses from ventilators to treat those who have better chances of surviving. That decision would be made by the hospital.

The flu causes severe respiratory illnesses in a small percentage of cases, and patients who need ventilators and are deprived of them could die without the breathing assistance the machines provide.

In June, Florida Surgeon General Ana M. Viamonte Ros sent the draft guidelines — which had already undergone a series of internal revisions — to 16 state medical organizations for their feedback.

Full Story: Florida plan advises hospitals to bar some patients in event of severe flu pandemic — South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com.

Community Currencies on the Rise – VIdeo

Local currencies are gaining popularity almost as quickly as our dollar is being debased. The following news report is from December of last year, the video highlights BerkShares which is a community currency circulated in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts.

The currency was launched in 2006, since that time over two million BerkShares have been created. The notes are used by more than 350 businesses and thousands of individuals in the area. Another popular currency is called the Ithaca hour which circulates in Ithaca, New York.

Full Story: Community Currencies on the Rise » Nationalist Coalition Blog.

The Banks Are Not Alright

Paul Krugman

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. O.K., maybe not literally the worst, but definitely bad. And the contrast between the immense good fortune of a few and the continuing suffering of all too many boded ill for the future.

I’m talking, of course, about the state of the banks.

The lucky few garnered most of the headlines, as many reacted with fury to the spectacle of Goldman Sachs making record profits and paying huge bonuses even as the rest of America, the victim of a slump made on Wall Street, continues to bleed jobs.

But it’s not a simple case of flourishing banks versus ailing workers: banks that are actually in the business of lending, as opposed to trading, are still in trouble. Most notably, Citigroup and Bank of America, which silenced talk of nationalization earlier this year by claiming that they had returned to profitability, are now — you guessed it — back to reporting losses.

Full Story: Op-Ed Columnist – The Banks Are Not Alright – NYTimes.com.

A Reality Check from the Brink of Extinction

Chris Hedges -

We can join Bill McKibben on Oct. 24 in nationwide protests over rising carbon emissions. We can cut our consumption of fossil fuels. We can use less water. We can banish plastic bags. We can install compact fluorescent light bulbs. We can compost in our backyard. But unless we dismantle the corporate state, all those actions will be just as ineffective as the Ghost Dance shirts donned by native American warriors to protect themselves from the bullets of white soldiers at Wounded Knee.

“If we all wait for the great, glorious revolution there won’t be anything left,” author and environmental activist Derrick Jensen told me when I interviewed him in a phone call to his home in California. “If all we do is reform work, this culture will grind away. This work is necessary, but not sufficient. We need to use whatever means are necessary to stop this culture from killing the planet. We need to target and take down the industrial infrastructure that is systematically dismembering the planet. Industrial civilization is functionally incompatible with life on the planet, and is murdering the planet. We need to do whatever is necessary to stop this.”

The oil and natural gas industry, the coal industry, arms and weapons manufacturers, industrial farms, deforestation industries, the automotive industry and chemical plants will not willingly accept their own extinction. They are indifferent to the looming human catastrophe. We will not significantly reduce carbon emissions by drying our laundry in the backyard and naively trusting the power elite. The corporations will continue to cannibalize the planet for the sake of money. They must be halted by organized and militant forms of resistance. The crisis of global heating is a social problem. It requires a social response.

Full Story: Truthdig – Reports – A Reality Check from the Brink of Extinction.

Families face nuclear tax on power bills (UK)

Industry promised subsidy if market price fails to encourage new plants

Government officials have drawn up secret plans to tax electricity consumers to subsidise the construction of the UK’s first new nuclear reactors for more than 20 years, the Guardian has learned.

The planned levy on household bills would add £44 to an annual electricity bill of £500 and contradicts repeated promises by ministers that the nuclear industry would no longer benefit from public subsidies. There is mounting pressure on the power industry to show it can keep the lights on, with fears growing of an energy gap as ageing nuclear stations are retired and plans for new coal plants attract hostile protests

Full Story: Families face nuclear tax on power bills | Environment | The Guardian.

Leading Democratic Hawk Jane Harman Opposes Troop Increase In Afghanistan

Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), who has earned a reputation as a hawkish Democrat, has indicated that she is aligning with House liberals against sending more troops to Afghanistan. In the past, Harman had indicated support for increasing troops, stipulating that the surge should be tied to progress against corruption in Afghanistan. According to The Swamp, Harman is now less inclined to pour more U.S. troops into the conflict:

Harman, a longtime Intelligence Committee member, told a Brookings Institution gathering today that any further increases “wouldn’t be well received” on Capitol Hill.

Harman’s view is that the Obama administration should deal with government corruption, and build up Afghan forces, before Congress is asked to pay for more U.S. troops. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U,S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has asked for 40,000 additional troops.

Earlier this year, Harman spoke at the inaugural conference of the neoconservative Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), Bill Kristol’s reincarnation of the Project for a New American Century. FPI has been advocating fiercely in favor of a surge in Afghanistan. Reporting from the FPI conference at the time, The Wonk Room’s Matt Duss wrote

Full Story: Think Progress » Leading Democratic Hawk Jane Harman Opposes Troop Increase In Afghanistan.

Explicit Genesis upsets Christians – R. Crumb

A SEXUALLY explicit illustrated Book of Genesis by the controversial artist, Robert Crumb, which features biblical characters having intercourse and ”gratuitous” depictions of violence, has been condemned by religious groups.

The book, released this month, carries the warning ”adult supervision recommended for minors”, and is described as ”scandalous satire” by its publishers.

Crumb, the author, is most famous for his creation Fritz the Cat, a sexually graphic ”underground” comic strip. It was turned into a film that received the first X rating for an animation.

Crumb has said he does not believe the Bible is the word of God. ”I take it all for myth from start to finish, with probably some faint relation to historical reality,” he said.

Full Story: Explicit Genesis upsets Christians – Books – Entertainment – smh.com.au.

Bill Maher on a year of ridiculous republicans

YouTube – Bill Maher on a year of ridiculous republicans.

Pictures from our Billionaires for Wealthcare Rally today – and our invasion of the teabaggers – Democratic Underground

Pictures from our Billionaires for Wealthcare Rally today – and our invasion of the teabaggers

Full Story: Pictures from our Billionaires for Wealthcare Rally today – and our invasion of the teabaggers – Democratic Underground.

Challenging the Banks: Stand Up or Roll Over?

by Danny Schechter

On February 1, 1960, four students sat down at a lunch counter at 
the former Woolworth’s store in Greensboro North Carolina.

4 students! Just four!

They were protesting racial segregation. They were denied,
 service, harassed and arrested.

Greensboro was and still is a backwater, yet their courage and
 commitment sparked and helped drive a national movement that
 would, within a few years, transform this country.

Martin Luther King may have had the dream but they had a scheme – a 
way of getting attention, a way of showing that if you want to
 make change, you have to be willing to act.

Few us remember their names. I knew one, Joseph McNeil, because he
 went to my high school in the Bronx before heading to AT&T, a 
traditionally black college, later famous as the school at which
 Jesse Jackson played football.

Full Story: Challenging the Banks: Stand Up or Roll Over? | CommonDreams.org.

Small Group Now Leads Closed-Door Reform Negotiations

Three months before he was elected president, Barack Obama vowed not only to reform health care but also to pass the legislation in an unprecedented way.

“I’m going to have all the negotiations around a big table,” he said at an appearance in Chester, Va., repeating an assertion he made many times. He said the discussions would be “televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies.”

But now, as a Senate vote on health-care legislation nears, those negotiations are occurring in a setting that is anything but revolutionary in Washington: Three senators are working on the bill behind closed doors.

Full Story: Small Group Now Leads Closed-Door Reform Negotiations – washingtonpost.com.

New camera promises to capture your whole life

A camera you can wear as a pendant to record every moment of your life will soon be launched by a UK-based firm.

Originally invented to help jog the memories of people with Alzheimer’s disease, it might one day be used by consumers to create “lifelogs” that archive their entire lives.

Worn on a cord around the neck, the camera takes pictures automatically as often as once every 30 seconds. It also uses an accelerometer and light sensors to snap an image when a person enters a new environment, and an infrared sensor to take one when it detects the body heat of a person in front of the wearer. It can fit 30,000 images onto its 1-gigabyte memory.

The ViconRevue was originally developed as the SenseCam by Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK, for researchers studying Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Studies showed that reviewing the events of the day using SenseCam photos could help some people improve long-term recall.

Full Story: New camera promises to capture your whole life – tech – 16 October 2009 – New Scientist.

How Moody’s sold its ratings — and sold out investors

As the housing market collapsed in late 2007, Moody’s Investors Service, whose investment ratings were widely trusted, responded by purging analysts and executives who warned of trouble and promoting those who helped Wall Street plunge the country into its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

A McClatchy investigation has found that Moody’s punished executives who questioned why the company was risking its reputation by putting its profits ahead of providing trustworthy ratings for investment offerings.

Instead, Moody’s promoted executives who headed its “structured finance” division, which assisted Wall Street in packaging loans into securities for sale to investors. It also stacked its compliance department with the people who awarded the highest ratings to pools of mortgages that soon were downgraded to junk. Such products have another name now: “toxic assets.”

Full Story: How Moody’s sold its ratings — and sold out investors | McClatchy.

World’s Biggest Economies Hold Talks To Reach Climate Deal

Representatives of the world’s 17 biggest and most polluting nations were holding talks Sunday to search for a breakthrough on financing efforts to contain climate change and reduce gas emissions causing global warming.

Pressure has been mounting for the United States to finalize its position before a decisive December conference in Denmark meant to cap two years of negotiations on a global climate change treaty.

“With only 50 more days to go before the final talks at Copenhagen, we have to up our game. Britain is determined to throw everything at this because the stakes are so high,” British Environment Minister Ed Miliband said in a statement released Sunday.

Full Story: World’s Biggest Economies Hold Talks To Reach Climate Deal.

Jessica Watson Sets Off To Sail Around The World, Break Record

A 16-year-old Australian steered her bright pink yacht out of Sydney Harbor on Sunday to start her bid to become the youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the world.

Jessica Watson’s plan to make a 23,600-mile (38,000-kilometer) journey through some of the world’s most treacherous waters sparked a debate in Australia about whether someone so young should be allowed to try such a potentially dangerous feat.

Watson and her family insist she is an experienced and capable sailor who has studied navigation, electronics and maritime safety procedures. Although she will sail solo and unassisted, she will be in constant contact with her support team via radio, e-mail and a blog.

Full Story: Jessica Watson Sets Off To Sail Around The World, Break Record.

Paul Krugman: Obama Actually Starting To Get Stufff Done

George Stephanopoulos asked Sunday’s ABC News Roundtable if President Obama was being “tough enough.”

Former speechwriter Peggy Noonan argued that Obama’s policy judgments, not his political skills, are behind decisions that upset some of his progressive supporters. Economist Paul Krugman responded that it was a strange time to call Obama weak, when he’s about to pass health care reform: “He’s actually getting stuff done now.” Jake Tapper, the network’s White House correspondent, said that what people want is for Obama to be clearer about what he wants from health care reform — not tougher.

Watch:

Full Story: ABC Roundtable: “Is Obama Tough Enough?” (VIDEO).

Homeopathy for Allergies: Nothing to Sneeze At

The word “allergy” did not even exist a century ago, and yet, respiratory allergies today are the 5th leading chronic disease in the U.S. and are the 3rd most common chronic disease among children under 18 years old. [1] It has been estimated that one in seven Americans had a respiratory allergy in 1950, but one in four have one now.

To those of us who do not believe in coincidences, it is not surprising that my father was a physician who specialized in allergy. Allergy is the medical specialty that commonly uses small doses of an allergen in order to desensitize a person to that allergen. This concept of using small doses of what might cause a problem in order to help prevent or heal the person is an ancient observation of healers/physicians all over the world, and it is the basis for a type of natural medicine called homeopathy.

Full Story: Dana Ullman: Homeopathy for Allergies: Nothing to Sneeze At.

Iran Suicide Bomb: Senior Revolutionary Guard Commanders Killed In Iran Bomb

A suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the powerful Revolutionary Guard and at least 37 others Sunday near the Pakistani border in the heartland of a potentially escalating Sunni insurgency.

The attack – which also left dozens wounded – was the most high-profile strike against security forces in an outlaw region of armed tribal groups, drug smugglers and Sunni rebels known as Jundallah, or Soldiers of God.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised sharp retaliation. But a sweeping offensive by authorities is unlikely.

Full Story: Iran Suicide Bomb: Senior Revolutionary Guard Commanders Killed In Iran Bomb.

Rahm Emanuel: No Troop Escalation Until “Careful Assessment” Of Afghan Government (VIDEO)

President Barack Obama does not intend to decide about sending additional troops to Afghanistan until he is satisfied that the Kabul government can work effectively with the U.S., a top White House aide said Sunday.

“It would be reckless to make a decision on U.S. troop levels if in fact you haven’t done a thorough analysis of whether in fact there’s an Afghan partner ready to fill that space that U.S. troops would create and become a true partner in governing,” said the president’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

Emanuel gave no timetable for a presidential decision in Afghanistan. He said the White House plans to have additional strategy sessions this week and next, extending a review process that began after the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, reported that more U.S. troops are required.

Full Story: Rahm Emanuel: No Troop Escalation Until “Careful Assessment” Of Afghan Government (VIDEO).

British scientists develop ‘brain to brain communication’

A system that creates “brain to brain communication” has been developed by British scientists, it has been claimed.

The system, developed by a team at the University of Southampton, is said to be the first technology that would allow people to send thoughts, words and images directly to the minds of others, particularly people with a disability.

It has also been hailed as the future of the internet, which would provide a new way to communicate without the need for keyboards and telephones.

“This could be useful for those people who are locked into their bodies, who can’t speak, can’t even blink,” said the lead scientist Dr Christopher James.

Full Story: British scientists develop ‘brain to brain communication’ – Telegraph.

The Very Separate World of Conservative Republicans

The self-identifying conservative Republicans who make up the base of the Republican Party stand a world apart from the rest of America, according to focus groups conducted by Democracy Corps. These base Republican voters dislike Barack Obama to be sure – which is not very surprising as base Democrats had few positive things to say about George Bush – but these voters identify themselves as part of a ‘mocked’ minority with a set of shared beliefs and knowledge, and commitment to oppose Obama that sets them apart from the majority in the country. They believe Obama is ruthlessly advancing a ‘secret agenda’ to bankrupt the United States and dramatically expand government control to an extent nothing short of socialism. While these voters are disdainful of a Republican Party they view to have failed in its mission, they overwhelmingly view a successful Obama presidency as the destruction of this country’s founding principles and are committed to seeing the president fail.

Instead of focusing on these intense ideological divisions, the press and elites continue to look for a racial element that drives these voters’ beliefs – but they need to get over it. Conducted on the heels of Joe Wilson’s incendiary comments at the president’s joint session address, we gave these groups of older, white Republican base voters in Georgia full opportunity to bring race into their discussion – but it did not ever become a central element, and indeed, was almost beside the point.

The Republican base voters are not part of the continuum leading to the center of the electorate: they truly stand apart.  For additional perspective, Democracy Corps conducted a parallel set of groups in suburban Cleveland.  These groups, comprised of older, white, non-college independents and weak partisans, represent some of the most conservative swing voters in the electorate,[1] and they demonstrated a wholly different worldview from Republican base voters by dismissing the fear of “socialism” and evaluating Obama in very different terms.  Most importantly, regardless of their personal feelings toward Obama or how they voted in 2008, they very much want to see him succeed because they believe the country desperately needs the change he promised in his campaign.  Though we kept discussion points constant between the two sets of groups,  on virtually every point of discussion around President Obama and the major issues facing our country, these two audiences simply saw the world in fundamentally different ways – underscoring the extreme disconnect of the conservative Republican base voters.

Despite this growing disconnect, the base voters remain relevant – particularly for Republican elected officials who must face them at home.   The conservative Republican base represents almost one-in-five voters in the electorate, and nearly two out of every three self-identified Republicans.  The universe of our focus groups[2] is representative of this conservative Republican base.[3] Ideologically, these voters possess a deeply engrained conservatism.  In our favorability exercise, they give the National Rifle Association a 74.3 mean rating on a 100-point scale, and pro-life, anti abortion groups a mean score of 61.8.  They have extremely low feelings toward gay marriage, rating it even lower than they rate the state of the economy, and almost all – 90 percent – oppose health care reform out of hand.

Full Story: Democracy Corps » The Very Separate World of Conservative Republicans.

Los Angeles Prepares for Clash Over Marijuana

There are more marijuana stores here than public schools. Signs emblazoned with cannabis plants or green crosses sit next to dry cleaners, gas stations and restaurants.

The dispensaries range from Hollywood-day-spa fabulous to shoddy-looking storefronts with hand-painted billboards. Absolute Herbal Pain Solutions, Grateful Meds, Farmacopeia Organica.

Cannabis advocates claim that more than 800 dispensaries have sprouted here since 2002; some law enforcement officials say it is closer to 1,000. Whatever the real number, everyone agrees it is too high.

And so this, too, is taken for granted: Crackdowns on cannabis clubs will soon come in this city, which has more dispensaries than any other.

Full Story: Los Angeles Prepares for Clash Over Marijuana – NYTimes.com.

FAA probe of American Airlines may widen: report

AMR Corp’s American Airlines operated jets later found to have substandard repairs, and federal regulators are probing allegations that at least one plane was considered unsafe to fly at normal cruise altitude, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

The newspaper, citing people familiar with the matter, said the latest moves by the Federal Aviation Administration indicate the agency is expanding its probe into suspected structural problems with rear bulkheads on some of American’s fleet of MD-80 jets, the newspaper said.

FAA inspectors are pursuing allegations by pilots that one of those MD-80s was believed to be in such poor condition that it was ferried without passengers from Dallas to the carrier’s Tulsa, Oklahoma maintenance base at unusually low altitudes to avoid the stress of pressurizing the fuselage during the trip, the newspaper said.

Full Story: FAA probe of American Airlines may widen: report | U.S. | Reuters.

Canada quietly asks EPA to weaken anti-pollution measures

Embassy in Washington asks agency to alter plan that would force lake freighters to stop burning dirty bunker fuel

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed tough new measures to reduce the health toll from air pollution around the Great Lakes by forcing lake freighters to stop burning dirty bunker fuel.

But the plan has an unusual opponent: The Canadian embassy in Washington has quietly asked the EPA to weaken the measures, arguing that they could harm trade. It wants ships to be allowed to continue using the high-polluting fuel and to instead install smokestack scrubbers that would clean up their emissions. The Canadian recommendation, if accepted, could delay the clean-air measure for years, because the technology for the scrubbers does not yet exist.

Full Story: Canada quietly asks EPA to weaken anti-pollution measures – The Globe and Mail.

The tiniest headset you’ll never own

Brickhouse Security’s Secret Service Invisible 2-way Micro Headset

We’re all about super-tiny, inconspicuous headsets over here and Brickhouse Security’s newest headset really gets us going. The “Secret Service Invisible 2-way Micro Headset” from Brickhouse Security fits inside your ear canal and works in tandem with a hidden wireless transmitter that plugs into your mobile phone’s 2.5mm audio-output jack, making for a wireless headset that is virtually invisible (hence the “Invisible” part of the model-name).

Brickhouse Security is offering this secret-agent worthy headset for secret-agent budgets that can take the $649.95 hit with ease. The Secret Service Invisible 2-way Micro Headset is the smallest headset that you’ll never be able to use/own.

The question remains, how comfortable is this headset? We’d love to see other Bluetooth headsets on this size scale – as long as it’s comfortable. Give it a year, we’ll be likely be seeing products touting their “invisibility” left and right.

The tiniest headset you’ll never own – Brickhouse Security’s Secret Service Invisible 2-way Micro Headset.

Eighty Years After the Great Crash — ‘Is It the ’30s Again?’

Editor’s Note: It was the worst thing to happen to the U.S. since Fort Sumter. October, 1929. Wall Street crashed and helped drive the country into the Great Depression—a deep economic and spiritual wound that has afflicted three generations of Americans. Eighty years later, as the country struggles through the harsh aftermath of another crash, two Sunday Journal contributors mark a grim anniversary and weigh the question that haunts everyone: “Is this the 1930s all over again?”

Markets and the economy look less cataclysmic than they did earlier this year. And so they should, following a torrent of monetary easing.

But that doesn’t mean happy days are here again.

If you want a second opinion, don’t look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Look at three other markets: bonds, gold and the dollar. All of them are flashing amber, or red.

Take the bond market: Yields on U.S. Treasurys have collapsed to historic lows. The 30-year bond is yielding just over 4.2%, well below long-term averages. This is usually a strong signal of tougher times ahead. It’s almost impossible to reconcile this with the stock market’s sunny vision of a swift economic rebound.

Meanwhile, the dollar has been slumping on world markets. It has been the cornerstone of the global economy for nearly a century, but is quickly losing its credibility. No wonder gold, in its stead, has been surging to new highs.

Full Story: Eighty Years After the Great Crash — ‘Is It the ’30s Again?’ – WSJ.com.

Secret Service under strain as leaders face more threats

The unprecedented number of death threats against President Obama, a rise in racist hate groups, and a new wave of antigovernment fervor threaten to overwhelm the US Secret Service, according to government officials and reports, raising new questions about the 144-year-old agency’s overall mission.

The Secret Service is tracking a far broader range of possible threats to the nation’s leaders, the officials said, even as it also investigates financial crimes such as counterfeiting as part of its original mandate.

The new demands are leading some officials, both inside and outside the agency, to raise the possibility of the service curtailing or dropping its role in fighting financial crime to focus more on protecting leaders and their families from assassination attempts and thwarting terrorist plots aimed at high-profile events.

Full Story: Secret Service under strain as leaders face more threats – The Boston Globe.

Rev. Al Sharpton prepares to sue Rush Limbaugh for defamation

The Reverend Al Sharpton wants an apology from right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh, or he’s filing a defamation lawsuit.

“In the op-ed published in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal Limbaugh writes Sharpton ‘played a leading role in the 1991 Crown Heights riot (he called neighborhood Jews ‘diamond merchants’) and 1995 Freddie’s Fashion Mart riot,’” CNN reported.

“Not only did Rush Limbaugh try to criminalize the NFL,” Sharpton told a columnist with the Palm Beach Post.”But now he is saying I’m a criminal. He can call me a race-baiter and all that stuff like he does. But don’t call me a criminal.”

Full Story: Rev. Al Sharpton prepares to sue Rush Limbaugh for defamation | Raw Story.

Bill Gates: GM crops good for Africa

Bill Gates, speaking at a World Food Prize forum in Iowa on Thursday, told global food leaders that an “ideological wedge” threatens his global effort to help farmers.

Gates and his wife have focused in recent years on helping alleviate hunger and poverty by giving small farmers the tools to produce more. The Gates Foundation has given more than $1.4 billion to agricultural development, and on Thursday announced nine new grants worth $120 million aimed at raising yields and farming expertise in the developing world.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the most under-nourished region in the world, with almost 42% surviving on less than $1 per day. A combination of decades-long drought, regional conflict, and a burgeoning population contribute to the world’s worst hunger situation.

Full Story: Gates: GM foods conflict threatens Foundation’s efforts | Raw Story.

OPS:  This asshole believes in outsourcing as many high paying jobs as he can and removing all limits on H-1B on jobs he can’t send out of the US.  IF this isn’t the definition of anti-American  what is?

Sen. Kerry: It would be ‘irresponsible’ for Obama to commit more troops to Afghanistan right now.

During an interview with CNN’s John King, Sen. John Kerry argued that it would “irresponsible” to commit more troops to Afghanistan at a time when the legitimacy of the Afghanistan government is in doubt. Kerry’s comments came in the context of arguing that Obama shouldn’t be “cornered” into making a hasty decision:

It would be entirely irresponsible for the president of the United States to commit more troops to this country, when we don’t even have an election finished and know who the president is and what kind of government we’re working in with.

When our own commanding general tells us that a critical component of achieving our mission here is, in fact, good governance, and we’re living with a government that we know has to change and provide it, how could the president responsibly say, “Oh, they asked for more, sure — here they are”?

Watch it:

Full Story: Think Progress » Sen. Kerry: It would ‘irresponsible’ for Obama to commit more troops to Afghanistan right now..

Specter rips GOP: ‘A Party of obstructionism.’

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA), who until late April of this year was a lifelong Republican, castigated his former party this morning on Fox News. Specter ripped the GOP for refusing to be a good-faith negotiator in the health care debate:

On the Republican side, it’s no, no, no. A party of obstructionism. … You have responsible Republicans who had been in the Senate — like Howard Baker, Bob Dole, or Bill Frist — who say Republicans ought to cooperate. Well, they’re not cooperating.

Watch it:

Full Story: Think Progress » Specter rips GOP: ‘A Party of obstructionism.’.

OPS: Wonder what Obama and Rahm promised him to get him to do this?

Kristol: ‘Thank God Most Of The Workforce Isn’t Unionized’

Earlier this week, hate radio host Rush Limbaugh was dropped from an investor group that was trying to purchase NFL’s St. Louis Rams franchise. Limbaugh’s involvement with the group sparked a week of controversy due to his history of racially divisive commentary. African-American NFL players said they “wouldn’t play” for Limbaugh’s team while the head of the NFL’s players union said he opposed Limbaugh’s bid because sports are meant to reject “discrimination and hatred.”

On Fox News Sunday today, the “All-Stars” jumped to Limbaugh’s defense. NPR’s Juan Williams set up a false comparison, claiming that people don’t complain about MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann announcing football games even though he makes “divisive” statements about conservatives. The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol used the NFL player’s union’s opposition to Limbaugh to attack unions in general, saying “thank God most of the workforce isn’t unionized”:

KRISTOL: Thank God most of business isn’t a monopoly. Thank God most of the workforce isn’t unionized. Why could this happen? This could happen because all the NFL players are in one union. Because all the NFL owners are in one club and pressure can be put on them. Thank God there’s more diversity in this country in terms of different industries and different businesses. And people can be controversial and can still find places that are willing to have them.

Watch it:

Full Story: Think Progress » Kristol: ‘Thank God Most Of The Workforce Isn’t Unionized’.

Health care bills sidestep medical errors issue

As Congess debates health care reform, Hearst analysis finds lack of effort to improve patient safety and reduce medical error.

Health care legislation now before Congress takes only modest steps to address a problem that is far more deadly than inadequate medical insurance — medical error.

Studies show that preventable medical errors — ranging from poor sanitation to mistakes during surgery — kill four times as many people as the lack of medical insurance.

In August, a national Hearst investigation, “Dead by Mistake,’’ concluded that up to 200,000 people per year die from medical errors and infections in the United States. It also pointed out that 10 years after a landmark federal study, “To Err Is Human,” first highlighted the problem, many of the solutions the study proposed have not been adopted. The entire Hearst report can be found at www.DeadbyMistake.com.

Now, a Hearst analysis shows that the three health care reform bills under consideration by Congress also do not include key solutions long ago envisioned in “To Err Is Human” and lobbied against by the health care industry ever since.

Experts agree that the proposed legislation does not address key aspects of the problem.

Full Story: Health care bills sidestep medical errors issue | Dead by mistake.

White House “Ordered” Lawmakers to Amend FOIA in Order to Conceal Torture Photos

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-New York) said in a floor statement that the provision to amend the Freedom of Information Act was stripped from an earlier version of the bill, but the language was quietly reinserted in recent weeks, “apparently under direct orders from the administration.”

The Obama administration will likely drop its Supreme Court petition challenging the release of photographs showing US soldiers abusing prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan now that lawmakers are set to pass legislation authorizing the government to continue to keep the images under wraps.

On Thursday, the House approved a Department of Homeland Security spending bill that included a provision to amend the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and grant Defense Secretary Robert Gates the authority to withhold “protected documents” that, if released, would endanger the lives of US soldiers or government employees deployed outside of the country.

Full Story: t r u t h o u t | White House “Ordered” Lawmakers to Amend FOIA in Order to Conceal Torture Photos.

Iran to drop dollar from forex reserves

The Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI) announced this week that it plans to exclude the U.S. dollar from Iran’s foreign exchange reserves.

In line with this plan, Iran has informed Japan that it should use the yen instead of dollars to pay for the oil it buys from the Islamic Republic.

In addition, Iran has decided to open a bourse for oil and gas transactions in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, especially the euro.

Although the opening of the new bourse has been postponed several times, the plan shows the country’s determination to replace the dollar in its oil and gas transactions.

The TPOI has also announced that since October 2007 Iran has sold 85 percent of its oil exports in currencies other than the U.S. dollar and is determined to sell the remaining 15 percent in other currencies such as the UAE dirham.

During his first term, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered that the dollar should be replaced by the euro in the transactions of Iran’s currency reserve fund.

Full Story: tehran times : Iran to drop dollar from forex reserves.

Why Fox News Is Un-American

Newsweek - Fox News isn’t just bad. It’s un-American.

Last week, when White House Communications Director Anita Dunn charged the Fox News Channel with right-wing bias, Fox responded the way it always does. It denied the accusation with a straight face while proceeding to confirm it with its coverage.

Consider Fox’s Web story on the episode. It quotes five people. Two of them work for Fox. All of them assert that administration officials are either wrong in substance or politically foolish to criticize the network. No one is cited supporting Dunn’s criticisms or saying that it could make sense for Obama to challenge the network’s power. It’s a textbook example of a biased journalism. (Click here to follow Jacob Weisberg.)

If you were watching Fox News Channel, you saw the familiar roster of platinum pundettes and anchor androids reciting the same soundbites: this was Obama’s version of Nixon’s enemies list, the rest of the news media is in Obama’s corner, Obama should get back to governing, and so on. On The O’Reilly Factor, Alan Colmes, the network’s weak, battered house liberal, mumbled semi-agreement while “Doctor” Monica Crowley and Bill O’Reilly lit up the scoreboard with these talking points.

Full Story: Why Fox News Is Un-American | Newsweek Newsweek Voices – Jacob Weisberg | Newsweek.com.

Unclean Energy

Every year, France’s nuclear industry – which loudly proclaims its green credentials – ships 108 tons of depleted uranium waste over 8,000 kilometers by boat and train to Siberia.

“Waste, the Nuclear Nightmare,” a documentary by Eric Guéret and Laure Noualhat, produced by Arte France and Bonne pioche. Demain, 20h45, Arte.

The fruit of eight months investigation in France, the United States and Russia, the documentary by filmmaker Eric Guéret and our Libération colleague Laure Noualhat (1) retraces the unrecognized and often opaque circuit of radioactive waste generated by the nuclear industry with meticulous care. Apart from the revelations concerning EDF’s uranium for reprocessing stockpiled in Russia (see below), the investigation also plunges into the roots of the military, then civilian, nuclear energy sector and shows its still-appreciable consequences on certain American and Russian sites, drawing on the expertise of CRIIRAD (Commission de recherche et d’information indépendantes sur la radioactivité [Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity]).

Full Story: t r u t h o u t | Unclean Energy.

The Rich Have Stolen the Economy

By Paul Craig Roberts

Bloomberg reports that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s closest aides earned millions of dollars a year working for Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and other Wall Street firms. Bloomberg reports that none of these aides faced Senate confirmation. Yet, they are overseeing the handout of hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer funds to their former employers.

The gifts of billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money provided the banks with an abundance of low-cost capital that has boosted the banks’ profits, while the taxpayers who provided the capital are increasingly unemployed and homeless.

JPMorgan Chase announced that it has earned $3.6 billion in the third quarter of this year.

Goldman Sachs has made so much money during this year of economic crisis that enormous bonuses are in the works. The London Evening Standard reports that Goldman Sachs’ “5,500 London staff can look forward to record average payouts of around 500,000 pounds ($800,000) each. Senior executives will get bonuses of several million pounds each, with the highest paid as much as 10 million pounds ($16 million).”

In the event the banksters can’t figure out how to enjoy the riches, the Financial Times is offering a new magazine — “How To Spend It.” New York City’s retailers are praying for some of it, suffering a 15.3 percent vacancy rate on Fifth Avenue. Statistician John Williams (shadowstats.com) reports that retail sales adjusted for inflation have declined to the level of 10 years ago: “Virtually 10 years worth of real retail sales growth has been destroyed in the still unfolding depression.”

Meanwhile, New York City’s homeless shelters have reached the all-time high of 39,000, 16,000 of whom are children.

Full Story: Oh Bummer: The Rich Have Stolen the Economy.

Why the Dow Broke 10,000, and Why You Should Still Watch Your Wallet

Robert Reich

How did the Dow break 10,000 when the rest of the economy is in the toilet?

1. Corporate earnings are up — mainly because companies have been cutting costs. Payrolls comprise 70 percent of most companies’ costs, which means companies have been slashing jobs. In the end, this is a self-defeating strategy. If workers don’t have jobs or are afraid of losing them, they won’t buy, and company profits will disappear.

2. Federal borrowing has filled the gap that consumers and businesses created when the latter began to reduce their debt. Federal debt, in other words, has kept the economy from tanking. Can’t keep up forever, though.

Full Story: Robert Reich’s Blog: Why the Dow Broke 10,000, and Why You Should Still Watch Your Wallet.

Republicans in Congress

Watch this video then read the article linked below

I’m sure all politicians careen between saying what they believe and spouting whatever crap will get them elected. But it seems like Republicans have adopted a universal strategy of popular deceit, and if they speak truth it’s only by coincidence. Here’s the pattern I’ve seen:

• Toss out a slew of outrageous lies.
• Watch for one to capture the public’s imagination.
• Turn it into jargon (”death panel”) that sticks in voters’ heads.
• Step back from the lie when it’s debunked, and craft a milder (still dishonest) version. But keep the original jargon.
• Repeat as necessary. Debunkers eventually move on to tackle some new lie, leaving the last version in place and the jargon established.

Republicans sound like they’re conducting a giant experiment in saying whatever they can get away with, and I suspect they’re surprised as any of us by some of the results. That’s probably too harsh, though. What’s worse is that a good chunk of them might believe the stuff they say. That’s the difference between, for instance, Glenn Beck and Michele Bachmann. Either way, the country loses.

Take a closer look at the comments described in the video.

Full Story: more….. here

News Reports from Inside the Financial Coup

The past few days have been very revealing when it comes to the financial coup that has occurred here in the US. When we say financial coup, we’re not giving you hyperbole. We’re telling you the technical term for what has occurred.

Don’t take our word for it, investigate it for yourself. Here’s a special report we have compiled which features the most recent information available concerning the takeover:

Introduction

#1) Memo to Financial Investigators: Dig Deep

When the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission opened for business on September 17, it was a nonevent for the media. Leading newspapers brushed aside chairman Phil Angelides, the former California state treasurer, and his declaration of purpose–”uncovering the facts and providing an unbiased historical accounting of what brought our financial system and our economy to its knees.”

As Angelides put it, “The fuses for that cataclysm were undoubtedly lit years before. It is our job to diligently and doggedly follow those fuses to their origins.”

Full Story: News Reports from Inside the Financial Coup | Amped Status.

Goldman Can Spare You a Dime

Frank Rich

Capitalism’s most ruthless monster

AT the dawn of the progressive era early in the last century, muckrakers attacked the first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller, for creating capitalism’s most ruthless monster. “The Octopus” was their nickname for Standard Oil, the trust that controlled nearly 90 percent of American oil. But even in that primordial phase of the industrial era, Rockefeller was mindful of his public image and eager to counter it. “His great brainstorm,” writes his biographer, Ron Chernow, “was undoubtedly his decision to dispense shiny souvenir dimes to adults and nickels to children as he moved about.” Who could hate an octopus tossing glittering coins?

It was hard not to think of Rockefeller’s old P.R. playbook while watching Goldman Sachs’s behavior when the Dow hit 10,000 last week. As leader of the Wall Street pack, Goldman declared surging profits, keeping it on track to dispense a record $23 billion in bonuses for 2009. But most Americans know all too well that only the intervention of billions of dollars in taxpayer bailout money saved Goldman from the dire fate of its less well-connected competitors. The growing ranks of under-and-unemployed Americans, meanwhile, are waiting with increasing desperation for a recovery of their own.

Goldman is this century’s octopus — almost literally so. The most-quoted sentence in financial journalism this year, by Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone, describes the company as a “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.” That’s why Goldman’s chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, recycled Rockefeller’s stunt last week: The announcement of Goldman’s spectacular third-quarter earnings ($3.19 billion) was paired with the news that the company was donating $200 million to its own foundation, which promotes education. In Goldman dollars, that largess is roughly comparable to the nickels John D. handed out to children a century ago. At least those kids could spend the spare change on candy.

Full Story: Op-Ed Columnist – Goldman Can Spare You a Dime – NYTimes.com.

Fox News isn’t even pretending anymore

Want proof that journalism has devolved into entertainment? Watch “the communications arm of the Republican Party”

In theory, the national news media function in a free market of ideas: a self-regulating, relentless quest for what the old Superman comics called “Truth, Justice, and the American way.” (Actually, Clark Kent’s newspaper-reporter disguise strikes contemporary audiences as a sentimental anachronism. Today, he’d be a rogue cop or a CIA operative.)

In practice, Washington political journalism has become a subdivision of the entertainment industry: its best-known practitioners are second- and third-tier TV stars, and news itself a form of politicized “infotainment.” Even lowly print reporters and pundits can greatly improve their incomes by appearing on programs like “Hardball” and copping an attitude.

Chasing audiences and advertising dollars, corporate media seek to tell target demographics the kinds of stories those audiences want to hear. Nobody who watched CNN cover Michael Jackson’s death 24/7, for example, could imagine otherwise. For weeks at a time, only BBC America provided a halfway reliable window on the outside world — a hell of a note.

Full Story: Fox News isn’t even pretending anymore | Salon.

Disgraced Bank Executive Forgoes Salary, But Does it Matter?

In a development some are calling “unprecedented,” Treasury Department compensation czar Kenneth Feinberg has “suggested” Bank of America chief Ken Lewis return his $1.5M salary for 2009 as well as his bonus. Lewis has agreed. Wall Street is furious, according to the Wall Street Journal. Populists aren’t quite rejoicing, either: As bloggers are quick to point out, this reduction makes only the slightest dent in the outgoing Lewis’s massive retirement package, estimated to be worth $69.3M. So is this “unprecedented” event actually a non-event? With derision of Lewis’s leadership nearly universal, few are sad to see him lose the money, but larger questions loom.

* At Least It’s Something “I suppose,” muses Tim Fernholz at American Prospect, “it’s something of a good sign that B of A at least realized that a public spat with the administration would not endear them to the public.” Frankly, he sees more significance in the reaction: “[T]he fact that Wall Street observers were apparently ‘shocked’ by the move tells me that the financial world has yet to absorb the magnitude of their businesses’ effect on the rest of the economy.”

* ‘Largely Symbolic,’ Reuters blogger Felix Salmon decides. “Lewis’s $1.5 million in salary was just going to be the cherry on top of the other $125 million he’s managing to walk home with upon departing BofA.” But Feinberg did all he could: “Since [he] had no real jurisdiction over the big lump sum due Lewis, he just decided to bring the sum he could control down to zero.”

Full Story: Disgraced Bank Executive Forgoes Salary, But Does it Matter? | The Atlantic Wire.

Racist undertones of the ‘socialist’ epithet

By most assessments, this summer’s moment of racial anxiety and outcry – namely, the arrest of Henry Louis Gates by Cambridge police in July – came and went faster than it takes to empty a glass of beer.

This was perhaps to be expected. Americans are famously reluctant to talk about race and racism, and the self-congratulatory remarks by Professor Gates, Sergeant James Crowley, and President Obama after the touted “beer summit” only appeared to reinforce this aversion.

Yet, as seen at various town hall meetings and the Tea Party rally in Washington Sept. 12, a deeper sign of racial tension has emerged with the reappearance of a different inflammatory expression: socialism.

In the context of American politics, socialism has seldom been about the economy or state power alone, despite its political-economic roots. Instead, it has been a slur, synonymous with the charge of communism, but with meaning extending beyond this term as well.

Full Story: Racist undertones of the ‘socialist’ epithet – Yahoo! News.

Rhode Island’s Nuclear Fatality–Part I

It’s been almost thirty years since the Three Mile Island disaster put a halt to the expansion of nuclear power in the US. Public opinion was already turning against the industry. Once promising cheap, clean electricity, the power plants in fact required massive taxpayer subsidies to build and a special exemption from liability in case the worst happened.

The worst almost happened at Three Mile Island …

Although the TMI-2 plant suffered a severe core meltdown, the most dangerous kind of nuclear power accident, it did not produce the worst-case consequences that reactor experts had long feared. In a worst-case accident, the melting of nuclear fuel would lead to a breach of the walls of the containment building and release massive quantities of radiation to the environment. But this did not occur as a result of the Three Mile Island accident.

The worst-case accident occurred in 1986 at Chernobyl.

Today, a generation after the gas lines and bitter winters of the 1970’s, we’re again caught unprepared. We still depend on foreign oil and large, centralized power plants. Investment in alternative energy has been cut to a trickle since Ronald Reagan. The nuclear industry is portraying itself as a clean, green savior. Safety concerns are dismissed as a superstitious fear of radioactivity…

Full Story: Rhode Island’s Nuclear Fatality–Part I « Kmareka.com.

Flushing Out the Ongoing Bank Fraud and Financial Terrorism

The number of foreclosure filings hit a record high in the 3rd quarter: “Despite signs of broader economic recovery, number of foreclosure filings hit a record high in the third quarter – a sign the plague is still spreading.”

And banks are keeping losses off the books as they ignore the people that are not paying their mortgages:

JUAN GONZALEZ: And William Black, where is the outrage? It seems to me, at this stage, with the—as the foreclosures continue to escalate in numbers, and yet we’re seeing these enormous profits less than a year after the financial crisis. There doesn’t seem to be the kind of outrage, even in Congress, that there was six months or eight months ago.

WILLIAM BLACK: There’s no palpable outrage, certainly not in Congress. The reform efforts on derivatives, for example, are a scandal. They exempt virtually all of the problem derivatives, and they’re designed to exempt it. And that’s the bill that’s introduced, and of course it’s likely to get worse with additional lobbying from the special interests.

Link the things that you’ve just been talking about. You talked about foreclosures reaching record highs. But in fact, foreclosures, relative to delinquencies, are quite low compared to historical ratios. In other words, banks have tons of folks who are not paying their mortgages on time, and they’re not foreclosing. And the reason they’re not foreclosing is, once you foreclose, you have to recognize losses under the accounting rules. And the banks gimmicked the accounting rules. They put pressure on Congress, and Congress put pressure on the accounting profession to gimmick the accounting rules now about a year ago. Now, these bonuses, of course, are paid compared to alleged profits. What happens if you understate your losses dramatically? You report much higher profits and much higher bonuses. So this is a web of fraud, in which they are getting as much as they can before the place goes to hell in a handbasket again.

Here we are neck deep in debt to pay off the gambling debts of the bankers and now they are completely ignoring their very real losses that are piling up at a record rate simply so they can keep the bonus money flowing into their own pockets:

Full Story: Flushing Out the Ongoing Bank Fraud and Financial Terrorism | ePluribus Media.

Bailout Helps Fuel a New Era of Wall Street Wealth

Even as the economy continues to struggle, much of Wall Street is minting money – and looking forward again to hefty bonuses.

Many Americans wonder how this can possibly be. How can some banks be prospering so soon after a financial collapse, even as legions of people worry about losing their jobs and their homes?

It may come as a surprise that one of the most powerful forces driving the resurgence on Wall Street is not the banks but Washington. Many of the steps that policy makers took last year to stabilize the financial system – reducing interest rates to near zero, bolstering big banks with taxpayer money, guaranteeing billions of dollars of financial institutions’ debts – helped set the stage for this new era of Wall Street wealth.

Titans like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are making fortunes in hot areas like trading stocks and bonds, rather than in the ho-hum business of lending people money. They also are profiting by taking risks that weaker rivals are unable or unwilling to shoulder – a benefit of less competition after the failure of some investment firms last year.

Full Story: Bailout Helps Fuel a New Era of Wall Street Wealth | CommonDreams.org.

Delay Undercuts H1N1 Vaccine Campaign

Some deliveries of swine flu vaccine will be delayed this month, in the latest complication for health officials in mounting a massive immunization campaign as the disease continues to spread.

About 40 million doses of vaccine had been expected by the end of October, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials say now they expect between 28 million and 30 million doses instead, because the shots are taking longer to produce than they had hoped. The delay in vaccine production complicates efforts by state and local officials and health-care providers to schedule immunization clinics, because they don’t know when shipments of doses will arrive.

Officials know they are in a race against time: The delay comes as the new H1N1 flu has become widespread in 41 states. While most people get only mildly ill, the virus has claimed the lives of young people who were perfectly healthy until they were struck, and made others so sick they had to be rescued with special equipment in intensive care.

Full Story: Delay Undercuts H1N1 Vaccine Campaign – WSJ.com.

Pakistan fights ‘mother of all battles’ with the Taliban

The tanks, armoured columns and helicopter gunships of Pakistan’s army stormed into South Waziristan, the global headquarters of al-Qaeda and its Taliban allies.

Within hours of leaving their camps early on Saturday morning to fight what is being hailed as the decisive battle in the war against terror, 12 soldiers had been killed in the first ferocious gunfights.

Pakistan’s generals have called the offensive the “mother of all battles” for the survival of a country under siege.

There were reports of Taliban compounds coming under aerial bombardment from Pakistan gunships as troops moved out in three columns from Razmak to the north, Jandola to the east and Shakai in the west, and advanced on notorious Taliban target towns like Makeen and Ladha.

Full Story: Pakistan fights ‘mother of all battles’ with the Taliban – Telegraph.

Rachel Maddow: George H.W. Bush Calls Me & Keith Olbermann “Sick Puppies”

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow: Former President George H.W. Bush Calls Me & Keith Olbermann “Sick Puppies” – 10/16/09

Full Story: YouTube – Rachel Maddow: George H.W. Bush Calls Me & Keith Olbermann “Sick Puppies”.

Nice Work If You Can Get It

William Greider, The Nation

The revolving door spins both ways in Washington. Some politicians collect their reward after they leave office, like former Representative Dick Gephardt, who is now raking in the big bucks as a corporate lobbyist. Others reverse the transaction and get their money upfront–before they become “public servants.” Gene Sperling got his cash in advance.

This year Sperling is among the small circle of intimate staffers advising Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on financial bailouts and other matters. Last year in private life, Sperling was paid $887,727 by Goldman Sachs as a consultant. That is peanuts compared to the big hitters at Goldman Sachs. But it’s pretty pricey for a Washington policy wonk. Put it with the $158,000 Sperling earned making speeches to financial companies and some other lucrative chores and Gene looks like a million-dollar thinker.

Sperling was a White House acolyte of Robert Rubin during the Clinton years and among the many Clintonistas-in-waiting who have found a place in the Obama administration. Let us stipulate that he is earnest and intelligent, sincerely devoted to good government. But his money connections reflect the velvet sleaze that lubricates the Washington system. His résumé more or less assures that Citizen Sperling will not look at the outrageous fortunes of Wall Street players quite the same way lowercase citizens might. His experience and training allow him to appreciate the complexities of policy-making, while ordinary Americans may focus on the cruder questions of right and wrong.

Full Story: Nice Work If You Can Get It.

$1.4 Trillion Deficit Complicates Stimulus Plans

The Obama administration said Friday that the federal budget deficit for the fiscal year that just ended was $1.4 trillion, nearly a trillion dollars greater than the year before and the largest shortfall relative to the size of the economy since 1945.

The number, while lower than forecast a few months ago, underscored the challenges ahead in shrinking the deficit even as the White House and Congress are considering more steps to stimulate an economy that is making a slow recovery. The political hurdles to finding a solution were evident on Friday as each political party immediately blamed the other for the growth of the deficit.

The shortfall for the fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30, translates to 10 percent of the economy, according to a joint statement from the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, and the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter R. Orszag. For the 2008 fiscal year, the deficit of $459 billion was 3.2 percent of the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product.

Full Story: $1.4 Trillion Deficit Complicates Stimulus Plans – NYTimes.com.

1968-2008: Recorded margin vs. Returning Voter Mix Anomalies

1968-2008 Final National Exit Poll

Compare the returning voter mix required to match the recorded vote margin.

Note the elections in which the GOP was in power (Nixon 1972, Bush 1988 and 1992, Bush Jr. 2004 and 2008). In each of these elections, there was a wide divergence between the returning voter mix and the previous election recorded vote margin. The deviations ranged from 6.5% to a whopping 17.3% in 1992. That is a strong indication of election fraud.

On the other hand, when the Democrats were in power (Carter in 1980, Clinton in 1996 and 2000), the margin-mix deviation ranged from 0.5% to 1.4%. On the other hand, when the Democrats were in power (Carter in 1980, Clinton in 1996 and 2000), the margin-mix deviation ranged from 0.5% to 1.4%.

Gore would have won in 2000, but SCOTUS stopped the Florida recount and 185,000 spoiled ballots (70% for Gore) were uncounted in Florida and 5.4 million were uncounted nationwide.

Full Story: Progressive Independent – Viewing message.

AU Opposes Proposed Congressional Land Grant To Religious School In Michigan

Giving Seven Acres Of Land To Religious School Would Be Unconstitutional, Asserts Church-State Watchdog Group

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has urged U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak (D–Mich.) to withdraw legislation that would grant seven acres of Coast Guard land to Cornerstone Christian School in Cheboygan, Mich.

The school has rented the property from the Coast Guard since 1986. Stupak’s measure, H.R. 1291, would allow the government to convey the land to the school for free.

In a letter to Stupak, Americans United explained that the land transfer would run afoul of the U.S. Constitution’s church-state separation provisions and circumvent federal law governing the disposal of public property.

Full Story: AU Opposes Proposed Congressional Land Grant To Religious School In Michigan | Americans United.

US Healthcare History: Our Very Own Killing Fields

Jenny Fritts was 24 years old. Jenny lived with her husband Sean for the past five years, and together they had a little girl named Kylee, 2. Jenny was seven-and-a-half months pregnant with her second child – a beautiful, baby girl.

Jenny is dead. Jenny’s unborn baby is dead. They died because they were turned away for appropriate care at a for-profit hospital because they did not have health insurance. Sean rushed Jenny back to another hospital when her symptoms became even more severe, and he lied about having insurance to get her in the door. She was placed on a respirator in intensive care, but she didn’t make it. She died. And so did her baby.

Full Story: US Healthcare History: Our Very Own Killing Fields | CommonDreams.org.

Carbon Emissions Must Peak by 2015: UN Climate Scientist

The UN’s top climate scientist on Thursday urged a key conference on global warming to set tough mid-term goals and warned carbon emissions had to peak by 2015 to meet a widely-shared vision.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said the talks in Copenhagen in December must focus on 2020, a far more important target than mid-century.

“Strong, urgent and effective action” is needed, Pachauri told a meeting of ministers of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris

Full Story: Carbon Emissions Must Peak by 2015: UN Climate Scientist | CommonDreams.org.

National Strike Oct 29th

THURSDAY, OCT 29th

NATIONAL STRIKE FOR THE AMERICAN MIDDLE AND WORKING CLASSES!!!

TELL OUR GOVERNMENT, THE MEDIA, THE CORPORATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO TAKE OVER OUR COUNTRY THAT THE MIDDLE CLASS AND WORKING PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES HAVE HAD IT!

Bank CEOS and other executives have bankrupted their companies—and then come running to us for help.

Insurance and pharmaceutical corporations play games with our health and the well-being of our loved ones and focus only on their bottom line.

OUR treasury is run by former Goldman Sachs executives with an open door to Wall St which is allowed to write their own regulation and STEAL billions of our money—-after depleting our pensions. They are not required to account for the money—and are continuing to pay HUGE bonuses to the THIEVES who broke our economy. And no one is prosecuted.

This is economic treason.

Lobbyists and corporations buy our congress and senators to vote for THEIR interests, not OURS.

Our new administration is, sadly, allowing lobbyists and corporations to dictate our legislation and our future.

Full Story: National Strike Oct 29th.

‘Toxic waste’ report gag lifted

Lawyers for the oil trading company Trafigura have ended attempts to keep secret a scientific report about toxic waste dumping in the Ivory Coast.

The legal firm Carter-Ruck has written to the Guardian saying the paper should regard itself as “released forthwith” from any reporting restrictions.

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger welcomed the move.

Trafigura said neither they nor Carter-Ruck had “improperly sought to stifle or restrict” debate and reporting.

An MP revealed the report’s existence to parliament earlier this week after the Guardian was served with a “super-injunction” banning all mention of it.

Full Story: BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | ‘Toxic waste’ report gag lifted.

Dawn’s Story

After receiving more than 9 denials from Cigna, Dawn Smith plans to visit Cigna health care CEO H. Edward Hanway

Full Story: YouTube – Dawn’s Story.

Time To Stand Against Insurance Companies Lies And Ploys

Over the better part of the past year, a great debate has taken place in Washington and across America, about how to reform our health care system to provide security for people with insurance, coverage for those without insurance, and lower costs for everyone. From the halls of Congress to the homes of ordinary Americans, this debate has helped us to forge consensus and find common ground. Thats a good thing. Thats what America is all about.

Now, as the debate draws to a close, we can point to a broad and growing coalition of doctors and nurses, workers and businesses, hospitals and even drug companies folks who represent different parties and perspectives, including leading Democrats and many leading Republicans who recognize the urgency of action. Just this week, the Senate Finance Committee approved a reform proposal that has both Democratic and Republican support. For the first time ever, all five committees in Congress responsible for health reform have passed a version of legislation. As I speak to you today, we are closer to reforming the health care system than we have ever been in history.

But this is not the time to pat ourselves on the back. This is not the time to grow complacent. There are still significant details and disagreements to be worked out in the coming weeks. And there are still those who would try to kill reform at any cost. The history is clear: for decades rising health care costs have unleashed havoc on families, businesses, and the economy. And for decades, whenever we have tried to reform the system, the insurance companies have done everything in their considerable power to stop us.

We know that this inaction has carried a terrible toll. In the past decade, premiums have doubled. Over the past few years, total out of pocket costs for people with insurance rose by a third. And we know that if we do not reform the system, this will only be a preview of coming attractions. A new report for the Business Roundtable a non-partisan group that represents the CEOs of major …

Full Story: YouTube – Time To Stand Against Insurance Companies Lies And Ploys.

The Last “Moment With Bob”

Audio:  Mike reads the last piece written by Bob Alexander for the Mike Malloy Show. Maybe one of the most incredible pieces

YouTube – The Last “Moment With Bob”.

EPA Denies Permit for Infamous WV Mountaintop Removal Mine

Go tell it on the mountain!

Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finally put an end to the saga of the infamous Spruce Mine, jamming a stake in the heart of what would have been the largest mountaintop removal project in the history of West Virginia.

EPA rejected the permit for this mine due to massive water quality impacts that would have resulted from a series of mega-valley fills. As the agency said in its just-released statement:

EPA is taking this action because it is concerned about the magnitude, scale, and severity of the direct, indirect, and cumulative adverse environmental and water quality impacts associated with this project . The Spruce Mine as currently configured would bury more than seven miles of streams.

Full Story: Daily Kos: BREAKING: EPA Denies Permit for Infamous WV Mountaintop Removal Mine.

Obama Administration To Unveil New Sudan Policy

The Obama administration plans to roll out a new policy toward Sudan with an eye toward engaging the government in Khartoum but also warning that continued violence in Darfur will result in penalties, U.S. officials said Friday.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, and the administration’s special Sudan envoy, Scott Gration, are to unveil the policy Monday at a news conference at the State Department, the officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Congress has not yet been briefed on the matter.

Full Story: Obama Administration To Unveil New Sudan Policy.

Bill Maher On The Year In Ridiculous Republicans (VIDEO)

On “”Real Time” Friday night, Bill Maher decided to end his show by mocking all the Republicans who have become prime targets for jokes now that George Bush is no longer front and center. “It turns out there were plenty of ridiculous Republicans behind him that we just couldn’t see,” Maher said. “His stupid star doth shone too brightly.”

WATCH:

Full Story: Bill Maher On The Year In Ridiculous Republicans (VIDEO).