Archive for April, 2010

The Catholic Church’s Dirty Little Secret

Now What?

More than 40 years ago I, was automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church for “attempting marriage.” Our “attempted marriage” was conducted at my parents’ home with four priests presiding together with my bride, the former Sister Maura Killene of Maryknoll who had served in Southern Chile. We have now celebrated four decades together and now have two children and five grandchildren. There is nothing “attempted” about it. It is a wonderful marriage followed by a life of full-time work for justice and peace.

The excommunication has never upset me, mostly because of the guidance of my mother who had admonished me to “take it with a grain of salt.” This was her comment on many ecclesiastical directives, including celibacy. She was very disturbed that I went off to the seminary to become a priest in the first place.

”Why don’t they marry? It’s not normal,” she insisted. Both of her parents were born in Italy and they had a wonderful understanding of the irrationality of Canon Law. That’s right. They loved their church and were very comfortable criticizing it and even making fun of it. But as is becoming increasingly clear amid almost daily revelations of sexual abuse among the clergy, much of church behavior is really not funny.

Full Story: The Catholic Church’s Dirty Little Secret – NAM.

Chemicals in the Water Still Bending Genders

Chemicals in the Water Are Bending Genders in Wildlife — Is It Happening to Us, Too?

As the world takes pause to recognize the importance, and often perilous state, of its water supply–from massive islands of plastic drifting in the ocean, to industrial runoff and poorly managed waste polluting lakes and rivers–it’s all too easy to feel overwhelmed. But, as disturbing the image of animal tangled in our discarded waste is, one less visible contaminant continues to wreak havoc on aquatic ecosystems worldwide, and its implications are almost more troubling. For decades, substances found in many common products have found their into our planet’s water and are altering the hormones of wildlife until, in some cases, it changes their sex entirely–and the same thing may be happening to us.

Endocrin Disruptors Alter Hormone Levels

According to a recently published article in the journal Unesp Science, changes in the sexual organs and reproductive problems are being increasingly observed in various species around the world, and the culprits are endocrine disrupters. Such contaminants are found in some of the most common products, though their effects on wildlife is profound.

Full Story: Chemicals in the Water Still Bending Genders : TreeHugger.

Surveillance Is Part Of A Police State

Naomi Wolf –

Toyota Adds to Lobbying Team Over Recalls

Toyota has moved to shore up its lobbying team, hiring a former assistant secretary of transportation from the Clinton administration, as well as the Democrat-dominated Glover Park Group, according to new lobbying registrations.

The registrations – filed over the past week – show Glover Park Group and Michael Frazier, the former assistant transportation secretary for governmental affairs who is now at Pendulum Strategies, have been working for Toyota since February. That same month, Quinn Gillespie & Associates terminated its relationship with the company because of a client conflict. Read an earlier BLT post about that here.

Glover Park Group was already working for Toyota on the public relations front. According to the lobbying registration, Joel Johnson, a Glover Park managing director who heads the firm’s lobbying, is lobbying for Toyota, as is Gregg Rothschild, a former aide to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). Johnson could not immediately be reached for comment.

Full Story: Toyota Adds to Lobbying Team Over Recalls – The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.

The F Word: California Banks: Who are they working For?

Laura Flanders-

Does it seem right to you that a state’s ability to stay afloat should be the stuff of secretive betting pools? No? Well that’s just what’s going on.

As states like California struggle to pay their bills, traders are gambling, buying credit default swaps, on the fate of our biggest state. And it’s worse. The same banks that sell and profit off the swaps, at the same time underwrite and price the state’s assets — their municipal bonds.

That means that even as JP Morgan Chase, Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup deal out the bonds the state issues to raise cash, they’re making money separately on the risk involved. And they get fees coming and going.

Full Story: The F Word: California Banks: Who are they working For? | The Smirking Chimp.

Financial Reform 101

Paul Krugman -

Let’s face it: Financial reform is a hard issue to follow. It’s not like health reform, which was fairly straightforward once you cut through the nonsense. Reasonable people can and do disagree about exactly what we should do to avert another banking crisis.

So here’s a brief guide to the debate — and an explanation of my own position.

Leave on one side those who don’t really want any reform at all, a group that includes most Republican members of Congress. Whatever such people may say, they will always find reasons to say no to any actual proposal to rein in runaway bankers.

Even among those who really do want reform, however, there’s a major debate about what’s really essential. One side — exemplified by Paul Volcker, the redoubtable former Federal Reserve chairman — sees limiting the size and scope of the biggest banks as the core issue in reform. The other side — a group that includes yours truly — disagrees, and argues that the important thing is to regulate what banks do, not how big they get.

Full Story: Op-Ed Columnist – Financial Reform 101 – NYTimes.com.

OPS: We disagree with Krugman. Any corporation, especially in the banking industry, that is too big to fail is too big to exist. Break them up.

New Book/Resource: Proving Election Fraud

Phantom Voters, Uncounted Votes, and the National Exit Poll

Click and buy now

So “spreadsheet-wielding Internet bloggers” analyzed the statistical anomalies and the online debates began. They covered the state and national pre-election and exit polls, approval ratings, margins of error, non-response, past vote recall, correlation between vote swing from 2000 and the exit poll shift, the “Urban Legend”: the counter-intuitive large Bush gains in urban locations compared to declines in rural areas. And the “Smoking Gun” is the standard policy of forcing the National Exit Poll to match the recorded vote count. This required millions more returning Bush 2000 voters than were alive. These so-called “phantom voters” are still unmentioned by media pundits and political scientists – even though similar anomalies occurred in 2006 and 2008. The pundits assume that the recorded vote is correct although millions of uncounted votes occur in every election.

This book is a comprehensive resource for analyzing presidential elections from 1968 to 2008, including the 2006 midterms. It is written for readers of virtually all backgrounds. The only requirement is an inquisitive, open mind. The True Vote is estimated using basic statistical modeling that is for some reason avoided in the media and academia. Internet links to several election analysis spreadsheet models are provided in the book and are free to download.

Full Story: Proving Election Fraud: Phantom Voters, Uncounted Votes, and the National Exit Poll – AuthorHouse.

The Fed in Hot Water

Robert Reich -

The Fed has finally came clean. It now admits it bailed out Bear Stearns – taking on tens of billions of dollars of the bank’s bad loans – in order to smooth Bear Stearns’ takeover by JPMorgan Chase. The secret Fed bailout came months before Congress authorized the government to spend up to $700 billion of taxpayer dollars bailing out the banks, even months before Lehman Brothers collapsed. The Fed also took on billions of dollars worth of AIG securities, also before the official government-sanctioned bailout.

The losses from those deals still total tens of billions, and taxpayers are ultimately on the hook. But the public never knew. There was no congressional oversight. It was all done behind closed doors. And the New York Fed – then run by Tim Geithner – was very much in the center of the action.

This raises three issues.

Full Story: Robert Reich (The Fed in Hot Water).

OPS: People like this don’t ‘come clean’ unless they have a gun to their heads.  We need a full blown and public Audit.

Keynes for Today

Click and buy now

Johann Hari,

A version of this book review will run in the April issue of The Progressive.

Keynes: The Return of the Master

by Robert Skidelsky

From the smoking rubble of Wall Street and its market fundamentalism in the 1930s, a genteel English economist clambered, brushed the dust from his suit, and totally remade the way we understand economics. John Maynard Keynes discarded the old myth that the market is pure and rational and operates best when government does least. In its place, he built the intellectual foundations for a very different world—one where democratic governments intervene every day to regulate big business, prevent extreme inequality, ensure full employment, and stimulate the economy when it sags.

In the postwar world, some of Keynes’s economic ideas were finally put into place—even Richard Nixon is said to have pronounced, “We are all Keynesians now.” The result was plain: For three decades there were no global crashes. But then Keynes’s ideas were dismantled by people who said markets didn’t need such fancy management. In slow motion, the Western world fell back to a 1920s economy—deregulated and grossly unequal. Everything Keynes warned would happen came to pass. The growth rate sank. The rich mainly benefited from the growth that remained. Unemployment rose. And it ended like the old Twenties: with a Wall Street Crash and the whispers of a Great Depression.

Once more, the same man has strutted in ghostly from the wreckage, with Time magazine calling him “the Comeback Keynes.” But today’s politicians want to pick only the most immediately convenient Keynesian tools, while discarding his much more comprehensive vision. Sure, they’ll take a fiscal stimulus here and a dab of regulation there, but who needs the General Theory?

Full Story: Keynes for Today | The Progressive.

Fox News Caught In Massive Nielsen Ratings Fraud

This week saw the release of the quarterly ratings performance data for television programming. Much of the reporting on this story focused on the dominant position Fox News retains in the cable news sector. As has been the case for several years, Fox News smothered the competition and experienced rapid growth while other news programmers stagnated or declined.

While most industry insiders accept the routine pronouncements from the sole ratings provider, Nielsen Media Research, without question, some observers could not help but notice a certain incongruity in the results. How is it, they wonder, that Fox News can be so consistently in the lead despite their obvious niche programming focus on a narrow segment of the viewing audience. The decidedly right-of-center bias of Fox News corresponds to a rather small portion of the national electorate. Republican favorability has been hovering in the mid-twenties for years. So how does this negligible slice of the market translate into such a disproportionate ratings advantage?

The answer may be evident in new disclosures of business relationships that call into question the integrity of Nielsen’s data. With the rollout of its People Meter methodology in the early 2000’s, Nielsen entered the high-tech era of TV market research. It was heralded as a major advancement of data collection that would vastly improve the ability of producers, programmers and advertisers to evaluate the marketplace. But as with any upheaval in the status quo, there were skeptics and dissenters. Chief amongst them was Fox Broadcasting, who argued that the new system significantly under-counted African-Americans, a key component of their audience at the time. There was also a question as to the security of the new set-top boxes that would be recording viewer choices. With the introduction of technology comes the risk of miscalculations and tampering. But eventually the complaints receded or were resolved and the new service took its place as the signature survey product for television marketing.

Full Story: News Corpse » Fox News Caught In Massive Nielsen Ratings Fraud.

April Fools joke?  I guess we’ll see

Jewish Teen Considers Passing Over His Faith

It’s a mother’s worst nightmare. You raise your son to embrace family traditions, and then, at seventeen years of age, he sits you down and tells you he wants to leave it all behind. On this Passover, Youth Radio’s Joshua Raifman of Piedmont, California, is thinking about abandoning Judaism. And no one in his family, including him, is quite sure what to think about it …

My Bar Mitzvah happened around this time of year, right in the middle of Passover. It was the culmination of eight years of preparation at Hebrew school. And it’s probably the most Jewish I’ve ever felt…

But I’m 17 now, and as lazy as it sounds, I’m indifferent to being Jewish. My mom doesn’t like the idea very much.
Full Story: Youth Radio — Youth Media International: Jewish Teen Considers Passing Over His Faith.

Microsoft Blasts Google Chrome For ‘Stealing’ Your Privacy (VIDEO)

Google Chrome steals your privacy.’

That was the title (and intended message) of a video posted by Microsoft comparing its browser, Internet Explorer 8, to Google’s Chrome.

The video, which was posted to TechNet Edge, but seems to have since been removed, describes itself as a ‘demo on how Google Chrome collects every keystroke you make and how Internet Explorer 8 keeps your information private through two address bars and In Private browsing.’

Microsoft’s Pete LePage contrasts typing a search query into Chrome and IE8, arguing that IE8′s separate boxes for the address bar and search box help ensure that ‘the addresses of the sites you’re visiting aren’t automatically shared with Microsoft, or anyone else:’

Full Story: Microsoft Blasts Google Chrome For ‘Stealing’ Your Privacy (VIDEO).

OPS: And Microsoft doesn’t?

Barney Frank Permanently Bans Staff From Communicating With Aide-Turned-Lobbyist

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has instituted a permanent ban on committee staff communication with Peter Roberson, an aide who left the panel for K Street after playing a lead role in crafting derivatives legislation.

By law, Roberson is banned from communicating with staff for one year, but Frank said in a statement that period of time is insufficient. “I am therefore instructing the staff of the Financial Services Committee to have no contact whatsoever with Mr. Roberson on any matters involving financial regulation for as long as I am in charge of that Committee staff,” said Frank.

Frank said he sympathizes with those who claim Roberson’s cash-out is an example of the revolving door at its worst. “”Several people have expressed criticism of the move by Peter Roberson from the staff of the Financial Services Committee to ICE, after he worked on the legislation relevant to derivatives. I completely agree with that criticism,” he said. “When Mr. Roberson was hired, it never occurred to me that he would jump so quickly from the Committee staff to an industry that was being affected by the Committee’s legislation. When he called me to tell me that he was in conversations with them, I told him that I was disappointed and that I insisted that he take no further action as a member of the Committee staff. I then called the Staff Director and instructed her to remove him from the payroll and provide him only such compensation as is already owed.”

Full Story: Barney Frank Permanently Bans Staff From Communicating With Aide-Turned-Lobbyist.

Conservative ‘C Street House’ Residents Face Ethics Complaints For Below-Market Rent

The bevy of conservative members of Congress who’ve resided at the notorious “C Street House” may have violated Congressional gift rules by accepting steeply-discounted lodging, new ethics complaints allege.

The watchdog organization CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) filed complaints Thursday charging Republican Sens. Sam Brownback (Kan.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), Jim DeMint (S.C.) and John Ensign (Nev.), as well as Reps. Mike Doyle (D-Penn.), Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), with accepting “improper gifts” from C Street in the form of way-below-market rent.

Other residents past and present did not make the list — most notably trail-hiking Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), who lived in the C Street House while in Congress and helped make the place famous by seeking counseling there in the wake of his affair.

Full Story: Conservative ‘C Street House’ Residents Face Ethics Complaints For Below-Market Rent.

Top Amazon Activist, Shot Dead In Brazil

A top activist for land reform in Brazil’s Amazon has been murdered, police said Thursday.

The killing came hours after a delay in the trial of a man accused of masterminding the slaying of another rain forest activist, American nun Dorothy Stang, who was shot and killed in 2005 in notoriously violent Para state.

Watchdog groups say conflicts between powerful ranchers and poor farmers over land rights have led to 1,200 murders across Brazil in the last 20 years.

In only one of those killings – Stang’s – is the alleged mastermind now behind bars. About 80 of the gunmen are in jail.

Full Story: Pedro Alcantara De Souza, Top Amazon Activist, Shot Dead In Brazil.

Recession Over? Economic Activity Fell In Half Of The U.S. In Last 3 Months (CHART)

Despite widespread hints that the recession has ended and a generally rosy outlook for tomorrow’s job numbers, economic activity fell in half of U.S. states over the past three months, according to this great map that Calculated Risk pulled from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

In its monthly report, the Philadelphia Fed reported that while the coincident index rose nationally and in 18 states over the quarter, it also dropped off in 25 states. (A coincident index is a single value, derived from a series of economic indicators, that the Fed uses to monitor the health of the economy. If the index rises, it suggests an increase in economic activity, while a decrease indicates a contraction.)

As Vincent Fernando at The Business Insider points out, these uneven outcomes may help explain why so many Americans are dubious that the country is emerging from the downturn.

Check out the CHART below:

Full Story: Recession Over? Economic Activity Fell In Half Of The U.S. In Last 3 Months (CHART).

Middle class no more: MBA Mows Grass To Make Ends Meet

When Frank Harris completed his MBA degree in May of 2005, he never expected to end up mowing grass for a living. But after losing his $103,000-a-year upper management job at Lowe’s, just as the job market was crashing in December 2008, he didn’t see many other options.

“I thought the MBA would differentiate me from anyone else,” said Harris, who lives with his wife and two children in Lafayette, Louisiana. “I thought if times got tough, I’d be able to find a job or have an advantage to get out the retail industry. Every weekend, every holiday, it was a rougher life than I wanted to have. I wanted to be able to spend more time with my young family. But here we are, December would be two years down the road, and the only thing I’ve been able to do is continue to grow my little one-man grass cutting business.”

Full Story: MBA Mows Grass To Make Ends Meet.

Federal Judge Finds N.S.A. Wiretaps Were Illegal

Bush’s entire wiretapping program may have been illegal

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the National Security Agency’s program of surveillance without warrants was illegal, rejecting the Obama administration’s effort to keep shrouded in secrecy one of the most disputed counterterrorism policies of former President George W. Bush.

In a 45-page opinion, Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that the government had violated a 1978 federal statute requiring court approval for domestic surveillance when it intercepted phone calls of Al Haramain, a now-defunct Islamic charity in Oregon, and of two lawyers representing it in 2004. Declaring that the plaintiffs had been “subjected to unlawful surveillance,” the judge said the government was liable to pay them damages.

The ruling delivered a blow to the Bush administration’s claims that its surveillance program, which Mr. Bush secretly authorized shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was lawful. Under the program, the National Security Agency monitored Americans’ international e-mail messages and phone calls without court approval, even though the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, required warrants.

Full Story: Federal Judge Finds N.S.A. Wiretaps Were Illegal – NYTimes.com.

Exclusive: FEC inaction on enforcing election laws rises more than 600 percent

Little-noticed Republican appointee has encouraged deadlock

After GOP lawyer Caroline Hunter helped lead the national Election Assistance Commission, a propitious series of events allowed her swift confirmation to the Federal Election Commission.

The result, along with FEC appointments of her two Republican colleagues, has been a staggering decrease in the commission’s ability to enforce campaign finance law.

Full Story: Exclusive: FEC inaction on enforcing election laws rises more than 600 percent | Raw Story.

OPS: goddamnit!- COME-ON Democrats. Do we REALLY have to re-do 2000 and 2004 election fraud and Coup? Are you really out to take another dive? Between this and the eVoting machines still in use what the hell do you expect to happen in November?

Did Sean Hannity call his audience Tim McVeigh-wannabes?

A video posted on YouTube two days before April Fool's Day asks, “Did Sean Hannity call his audience Tim McVeigh-wannabes?”

Well, the answer is… sort of.

At the very end of this video clip taken from a FOX News Channel broadcast on March 30, and uploaded by the website Mox News, conservative radio host and Fox anchor Hannity can be clearly heard telling his audience, “Can I add one thing. I think we won the debate.”

“When you think of the vast majorities they have in Congress, and they had the bribe back room deals, corruption,” Hannity continued, “that's because of the Tea Party movement, all these Tim McVeigh wannabes.”

Full Story: Did Sean Hannity call his audience Tim McVeigh-wannabes? | Raw Story.

RNC mailer diverts donors to one-on-one ‘nasty talk’ sex line

Just as Republicans are hoping to extricate themselves from the BondageClubGate scandal, another mishap related to the sex industry is threatening to retie them up.

A low-level staffer was fired Tuesday when it was discovered she was behind a nearly $2,000 charge for a night at a Los Angeles “bondage-themed” bar. Problems got worse Thursday after reports came out that an RNC fundraising mailer listed the number for a phone-sex line.

Callers to the number were offered “live, one-on-one talk with a nasty girl who will do anything you want for just $2.99 per minute,” Politico reports:

Full Story: RNC mailer diverts donors to one-on-one ‘nasty talk’ sex line | Raw Story.

A ‘Grateful’ Smithsonian Denies Greenwashing ‘Philanthropist’ David H. Koch’s Dirty Money

According to the Smithsonian Institution, it doesn’t matter how toxic your politics are or how dirty your money is, as long as you give the cash to them. Paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program and curator of anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History, defended pollution scion David H. Koch as a “philanthropist who is deeply interested in science.” David Koch’s oil and manufacturing conglomerate Koch Industries is one of the greatest contributors to global warming in the country. Koch also funds the largest network of climate-change-denying organizations and political operatives in the world. At an event promoting his new book, “What Does It Mean to Be Human?” Potts told ThinkProgress why the Smithsonian accepted $15 million from this climate-denial kingpin:

David Koch is a philanthropist, who is deeply interested in science. He’s funded the dinosaur halls, for example, in the American Museum of Natural History. He gave a lot of money to the Lincoln Center and its refurbishing. He has a lot of interest in human evolution that goes back to about thirty or forty years. And so, uh, as is true with all Smithsonian policy, our donors have no control over the content of our science or scholarship of our exhibits. And the same is true in this case. We feel very grateful for David Koch’s contributions to helping, I hope, the American public and us being able to bring science to them.

Watch it:

Full Story: Think Progress » A ‘Grateful’ Smithsonian Denies Greenwashing ‘Philanthropist’ David H. Koch’s Dirty Money.

Walk Back Watch: GOP Lawmaker Assures Constituents There Are No Death Panels, Highlights Benefits Of Law

Just days ago, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) was condemning the “government takeover” of health care, cheering on Tea Party protesters, and denouncing the law’s “special deals” on the floor of the House and on news shows across the country. Kingston joined the Republican effort to repeal the law in Congress and co-sponsored two separate bills to “repeal and replace” the bill.

But yesterday, during a town hall at College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswik, Kingston did what’s quickly becoming a popular trend for Republicans. He walked back from his repeal rhetoric and highlighted some of the benefits of the new law:

Instead Kingston, who had joined all other Republicans in the House in voting against the overhaul, focused on changes he thinks should be made to make it better. He said lawmakers have “unfinished business” and both parties should work together to improve the nation’s health care system….At one point, he assured the crowd there are no “death panels,” a charge made by some conservatives over the course of the year-long debate and echoed by at least one citizen in attendance Wednesday. He also said it is too early to tell if the new law violates the U.S. Constitution.

Full Story: Think Progress » Walk Back Watch: GOP Lawmaker Assures Constituents There Are No Death Panels, Highlights Benefits Of Law.

National Review ‘symposium’ on black unemployment has no black participants.

Yesterday, National Review Online (NRO) posted an article by the American Enterprise Institute’s Kevin Hassett arguing that the fact that the recession has been worse for minorities “suggests that discrimination may well still be a factor in the American labor market.” In response, NRO hosted an online “symposium” for “some economics and civil-rights analysts to share their thoughts on the topic.” Their conclusion was that “Discrimination is an insufficient explanation for black unemployment.” Oliver Willis notes that NRO did not include any black participants in the discussion:

The thing is, there’s no law or rule that only black people can talk about issues affecting black people, or the same for white, Latino, Asian people, etc.

But considering the way the conservative movement insists that it is diverse, they couldn’t find one black person for their symposium? Not one?

Full Story: Think Progress » National Review ‘symposium’ on black unemployment has no black participants..

CMD Releases Bailout Tally, $4.6 Trillion in Federal Funds Disbursed

Today, the Real Economy Project of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released an assessment of the total cost to taxpayers of the Wall Street bailout. CMD concludes that multiple federal agencies have disbursed $4.6 trillion dollars in supporting the financial sector since the meltdown in 2007-2008. Of that, $2 trillion is still outstanding. Our tally shows that the Federal Reserve is the real source of the bailout funds.

CMD’s assessment demonstrates that while the press has focused its attention on the $700 billion TARP bill passed by Congress, the Federal Reserve has provided by far the bulk of the funding for the bailout in the form of loans amounting to $3.8 trillion. Little information has been disclosed about what collateral taxpayers have received in return for these loans, sparking the Bloomberg News lawsuit covered earlier. CMD also concludes that the bailout is far from over as the government has active programs authorized to cost up to $2.9 trillion and still has $2 trillion in outstanding investments and loans.

Learn more about the 35 programs included in the CMD tally by visiting our Total Wall Street Bailout Cost Table, which contains links to pages on each bailout program with details including the current balance sheet for each program.

Full Story: CMD Releases Bailout Tally, $4.6 Trillion in Federal Funds Disbursed | Center for Media and Democracy.

Now you get mad!?

A reply to every anti-Obama email I get. It’s civil and just a little frightening to see in print. 

• You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.
• You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.
• You didn’t get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.
• You didn’t get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.
• You didn’t get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.
• You didn’t get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and counting) on said illegal war.
• You didn’t get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.
• You didn’t get mad when you found out we were torturing people.
  
  
• You didn’t get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.
• You didn’t get mad when we didn’t catch Bin Laden.
• You didn’t get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.
• You didn’t get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans, drown.
• You didn’t get mad when we gave a 900 billion tax break to the rich.
• You didn’t get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.

You finally got mad when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you, but helping other Americans…oh hell no.

Full Story: Daily Kos: State of the Nation.

Study: A small dose of chocolate could cut heart attack or stroke risk by almost 40 percent

The Easter Bunny might lower your chances of having a heart problem. According to a new study, small doses of chocolate every day could decrease your risk of having a heart attack or stroke by nearly 40 percent.

German researchers followed nearly 20,000 people over eight years, sending them several questionnaires about their diet and exercise habits.

They found people who had an average of six grams of chocolate per day — or about one square of a chocolate bar — had a 39 percent lower risk of either a heart attack or stroke. The study is scheduled to be published Wednesday in the European Heart Journal.

Full Story: Study: A small dose of chocolate could cut heart attack or stroke risk by almost 40 percent.

WellPoint Reclassifies Costs As ‘Medical Care’ To Meet Reform’s Medical Loss Ratio Requirement

The health care law tries to control premium costs and insurer profits in the period between now and 2014 in two big ways: 1) it requires insurers to spent a certain percentage of their dollars on medical care and 2) it allows the Department of Health and Human Services to work with the states to disqualify insurers with outrageous rate hikes from participating in the exchanges.

But many health care policy wonks have warned lawmakers that that law does not go far enough in actually enforcing these rules and they argue that insurers will likely game the system. Already, Aetna and Cigna have announced that they plan to jack up rates in the short term and now, Consumer Reports is calling for an investigation into WellPoint in light of an electronic message the company sent “to investors describing how it would simply re-label administrative costs as ‘medical care’ in response to the new health reform law.”

In the March 17th message, WellPoint — the nation’s largest insurance company — announced that it has reclassified some of its administrative costs as medical spending in order to increase its medical loss ratio (MLR, a techinical terms which measures how much insurers spend on administrative spending v claims). The ratio is closely monitored by Wall Street investors and the new health reform law “requires that insurers spend at least 80% of customers’ premiums on medical care in the individual insurance market, and 85% in the employer/group market.” Here is how WellPoint put it:

Full Story: Wonk Room » WellPoint Reclassifies Costs As ‘Medical Care’ To Meet Reform’s Medical Loss Ratio Requirement.

Georgia’s Attorney General Disputes Cuccinelli’s Claim That Frivolous Health Care Suit Won’t Cost Taxpayers

One of the loudest voices advocating the position that the new health care law is unconstitutional is Virginia’s Republican Attorney General — and Tea Party loyalist — Ken Cuccinelli. Even conservative legal scholars are saying that their claims have no basis in the law and are nothing but political theater.

Facing increasing scrutiny and criticism, Cuccinelli released a statement claiming that this frivolous lawsuit is costing the taxpayers of Virginia only $350, which is the fee for filing in federal court:

There has been no additional cost above this amount, as the litigation is being handled entirely by the attorney general’s staff. The office also does not expect much outside cost, as outside counsel has not been retained. Additionally, since the case is centered around a purely legal constitutional argument, the office anticipates no material costs for things such as discovery, witnesses, etc.

Last night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow asked Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker (D) about Cuccinelli’s claims. Baker said that he has no doubt there would be additional significant costs associated with staff time and resources, which is a major part of the reason why he refused Gov. Sonny Perdue’s (R) request to also sue the federal government:

Full Story: Think Progress » Georgia’s Attorney General Disputes Cuccinelli’s Claim That Frivolous Health Care Suit Won’t Cost Taxpayers.

A Method to Republican ‘Madness’

Robert Parry -

Washington’s conventional wisdom for explaining the intensity of Republican obstructionism toward President Barack Obama breaks down one of two ways: either it’s a philosophical disagreement over the role of government or a desperate need to stay in line with a radicalized right-wing base.

But there is another way to view the GOP political strategy, as neither principled nor reactive to the rantings of Tea Partiers, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. It is that the Republicans are following a playbook that has evolved over more than four decades, to regain power by sabotaging Democratic presidents.

In this analysis, the Republicans believe they can reclaim the lucrative levers of national authority by making the country as ungovernable as possible while a Democrat is in the White House, essentially holding governance hostage until they are restored to power. Then, the Democrats are expected to behave as a docile opposition “for the good of the country” (and usually do).

The “destroy Obama” game plan tracks most closely with Newt Gingrich’s strategy for undermining Bill Clinton 16 years ago. But today’s strategy also traces back to Richard Nixon’s sabotage of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Vietnam peace talks in 1968 and Ronald Reagan’s October Surprise gambit against President Jimmy Carter’s Iran hostage negotiations in 1980.

Full Story: Consortiumnews.com.

Democracy and Domestic Violence

By Joe Conason -

When the Department of Homeland Security released a cautiously worded report on the potential dangers of right-wing extremism last April, the talk-radio wingnuts and certain Republican lawmakers went into spasms of indignation. Clearly, that report had been conjured up by White House Democrats to smear conservatives. (Actually, the nine-page document was commissioned by the Republican administration of George W. Bush.)

“There is not one instance they can cite as evidence where any of these right-wing groups have done anything,” Rush Limbaugh told his listeners.

A year later, we know that Limbaugh was wrong (again). Up in northern Michigan, the Hutaree militants were collecting weapons and ammunition—and allegedly plotting the assassination of law enforcement officers with the same kind of roadside bombs and projectiles used by terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. The difference is that those groups claim to be Muslim; the violent extremists over here prefer to be known as Christian.

Full Story: Joe Conason: Democracy and Domestic Violence – Truthdig.

More suicide bombings rock Russia

Double suicide bombings on Wednesday morning struck the strife-ridden Russian republic of Dagestan, killing 12 people and injuring dozens.

The attacks came as a violent echo of this week’s bombings aboard Moscow’s subway system, which left 39 dead and stirred fears that volatility in Russia’s mostly Muslim Caucasus region is again seeping deep into the rest of the country.

A Chechen militant leader claimed responsibility for the subway bombings in a statement released Wednesday to a website affiliated with the militants. Doku Umarov, who calls himself the “Emir of the Caucasus” and advocates creation of an Islamic state in the mountain region, pledged to continue attacks on Russian cities.

Full Story: More suicide bombings rock Russia.

No Reprimand for General Who Pushed Gay Ban

A high-ranking Army general won’t be formally reprimanded after urging troops to lobby to keep the ban on openly gay military service.

President Barack Obama supports lifting the ban, and an active attempt to keep it in place could be considered insubordination.

But Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon’s civilian boss says the three-star Army general won’t receive a letter of reprimand or be forced to step down. Army Secretary John McHugh told reporters Wednesday that Mixon has been told by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey that what he did was inappropriate.

Full Story: No Reprimand for General Who Pushed Gay Ban.

New federal auto mileage rule on tap

The Transportation Department and EPA will roll out final rules Thursday that boost car and light truck fuel efficiency and create first-time auto emissions standards for carbon dioxide.

Thursday’s completion of the rules has long been expected. But it will provide the White House and environmentalists a chance to sing off the same song sheet, a day after President Obama announced a major offshore oil-and-gas drilling expansion that green groups strongly criticized.

President Obama touted the auto efficiency rules Wednesday during a speech announcing the drilling plan, casting the drilling as just one part of a broader energy policy that’s heavy on conservation and renewable sources.

Full Story: New federal auto mileage rule on tap – The Hill’s E2-Wire.

Wikileaks in the crosshairs

Wikileaks has provided all manner of scoops in its short life – but why would the US government spend tax dollars spying on it?

As far as “national security threats” go, real or imagined, it’s likely that few Americans lose much sleep over Wilkileaks, the website that publishes anonymously sourced documents which governments, corporations, and other private or powerful organisations would rather you not see. It would appear the US security apparatus does not feel the same way.

On Friday of last week, editor and co-founder Julian Assange posted a letter to the site detailing a laundry list of rather Keystone Kop-like instances of surveillance of himself and other members of the Wikileaks team, likely carried out at least in part by members of the US intelligence or law enforcement community:

Full Story: Wikileaks in the crosshairs | Joseph Huff-Hannon | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.

Big Energy Firms Blocking Solar Power in South

As citizens, businesses and non-profit organisations seek to transition to cleaner power sources like solar and wind, some big energy firms whose business models rely on polluting sources are standing in the way.

In Georgia, the energy company Georgia Power has lobbied for favourable public policies at the Public Service Commission (PSC) and State legislature that are making it difficult for the state's residents to transition to solar power.

IPS learned that the Dekalb County school system wanted to put solar panels on their schools, but could not do it because of state policies like the Territorial Electric Service Act of 1973 which gives Georgia Power a monopoly over the purchase of energy.

Full Story: U.S.: Big Energy Firms Blocking Solar Power in South.

Drill, Barack, drill: Obama to open up US East Coast for oil exploration

Environmentalists outraged, but White House hopes decision will help get climate change bill through Senate

Barack Obama earned the instant anger of environmentalists and many of his core liberal supporters yesterday by declaring his intention to open vast areas of off-shore waters for future drilling for oil and gas, reversing decades-old policies of leaving the waves to fish, gulls and holidaymakers.

The highly controversial plan, unveiled at Andrews Air Force Base, could, over time, give multinational energy companies access to the seabed along much of the eastern seaboard from Delaware all the way south to Florida, in eastern areas of the Gulf of Mexico and off the North Slope of Alaska.

While the President often derided Republicans during the 2008 campaign, including Sarah Palin, for holding out offshore drilling as an answer to escalating petrol prices with their rallying cry “Drill, baby, drill”, he has been dropping hints for months of his intention to shift position.

Full Story: Drill, Barack, drill: Obama to open up US East Coast for oil exploration – Americas, World – The Independent.

Kombucha and Kefirs: Hype or Healthy?

With so many “functional” beverages out there today, one should wonder if they provide actual health benefits or are just good tasting and look cool. When it comes to fermented beverages like kombucha and kefirs, the good news is that many of them actually live up to their popularity and hype.

These popular beverages today may have New Age-sounding names but in reality both kombucha and kefirs, and similarly fermentation — the process used to make them all — have long, strong histories of consumption around the world. What’s new: these bottled beverages come in numerous flavors, are made from different bases, and have different health benefits (kombucha is even “on tap” at some Whole Foods stores).

Full Story: Ashley Koff: Kombucha and Kefirs: Hype or Healthy?.

Pay of Hedge Fund Managers Roared Back Last Year

The Lazarus-like recovery of the nation’s big banks did not benefit just the bankers — it also created huge paydays for hedge fund managers, including a record $4 billion gain in 2009 for one bold investor who bet big on the financial sector.

The manager, David Tepper, wagered that the government would not let the big banks fail, even as other investors fled financial shares amid fears that banks would collapse or be nationalized.

“We bet on the country’s revival,” Mr. Tepper, who describes his trading technique as a mix of deep analysis and common sense, said Wednesday in an interview. “Those who keep their heads while others are panicking usually do well.”

Full Story: Pay of Hedge Fund Managers Roared Back Last Year – NYTimes.com.

iPad Reviews: Raves For Apple’s Latest Product

iPad reviews from technology writers began surfacing Wednesday evening, with most offering glowing appraisals of Apple’s latest product. However, one caveat was consistent: iPad’s inability to play flash video.

Check out what critics from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Chicago Sun-Times, PC Mag, Telegraph, and TIME have to say in their iPad reviews in the slideshow below.

Full Story: iPad Reviews: Raves For Apple’s Latest Product.

Clinton Rethinking Trade Policy

Clinton, who was key in pushing the North American Free Trade Agreement over the finish line in Congress during his presidency, acknowledged earlier this month that pushing free trade policies on developing nations was a mistake.

Former President Bill Clinton, now a United Nations Special Envoy to earthquake ravished Haiti, acknowledged earlier this month that pushing free trade policies on developing nations was a mistake.

“I think it was a mistake,” he said, according to Voice of America. “I think it was part of a global trend that was wrong-headed.”

Clinton, who was key in pushing the North American Free Trade Agreement over the finish line in Congress during his presidency, negotiated tariff reductions in 1994 that opened Haiti’s agricultural sector up to highly subsidized U.S. imports.

Full Story: Clinton Rethinking Trade Policy | Economy In Crisis.

Drug Lobbies – video

The pharmaceutical lobby – also known as “Big Pharma” –has used its size, power, and money to make the government less effective and efficient

Political lobbying is an important part of the Washington political machine. Representatives cannot possibly carry on expertise in every field of interest. The government could never hire enough bureaucrats to keep track of all of the interest groups in this country who need representation.

Political lobbies are necessary for our government to run efficiently; but they can, and often do, become too powerful on Capitol Hill. The pharmaceutical lobby – also known as “Big Pharma” – is one such lobby where size, power, and money have made the government less effective and efficient. As the paid representatives of multibillion dollar corporations, pharmaceutical lobbyists push against regulations that make drugs cheaper for consumers, and against regulations that ensure adequate testing and product safety.

According to The Washington Post, the drug industry has once again fought off attempted price curbs in Washington.

Full Story: Important Daily News You Need to Know, Today’s Issue: Drug Lobbies | Economy In Crisis.

The Proudest Collapsing Country

Americans have become so oblivious or apathetic to our country’s peril, that they are unaware of how far gone the U.S. already is.

The United States must stop fooling itself. We are riding on the wealthy coattails of the elite who came before us, squandering away their wealth and faking the good life.

We no longer have the industrial productive capacity to sustain ourselves. In September alone industrial production plummeted to astounding lows that haven’t been witnessed in almost 34 years, according to Bloomberg.

In America, imported products dominate the purchases of U.S. households and businesses. Over 92 percent of the money Americans spend on footwear goes overseas. Americans purchase 90 percent of their audio and video equipment from foreign produced entities and 90 percent of the money Americans spend on leather travels back overseas.

Full Story: The Proudest Collapsing Country | Economy In Crisis.

Senator Chuck Hagel and John G. Stumpf Nominated to Chevron Board of Directors

Chevron Corporation today announced that Senator Charles (Chuck) T. Hagel and John G. Stumpf have been nominated for election to Chevron’s board of directors. Hagel and Stumpf will be part of the slate of board nominees to be considered for election to Chevron’s board at the company’s annual meeting of stockholders on May 26. If they are elected, the board will expand from 14 to 16 members.

Hagel is a distinguished professor at Georgetown University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha and is Chairman of the Atlantic Council. He is Co-Chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and a member of the Secretary of Defense’s Policy Board and the Secretary of Energy’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.

Hagel served two terms in the United States Senate (1997-2009) representing the state of Nebraska. Hagel was a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Intelligence Committee. Prior to his election, Hagel was president of McCarthy & Company, an investment banking firm in Omaha, Nebraska.

Full Story: Senator Chuck Hagel and John G. Stumpf Nominated to Chevron Board of Directors – MarketWatch.

Schumer: U.S. Devastated by Unfair China Currency Manipulation

Touring Crucible Industries, a Syracuse, New York-based steel manufacturer that has struggled to compete with cheap Chinese imports, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that tackling the illegal Chinese policy is a surefire way to spur job growth.

U.S. lawmakers and domestic manufacturers continue to ratchet up the pressure on the Obama administration to vigorously address China’s policy of systematically undervaluing its currency, which they say devastates the nation’s manufacturing sector.

Touring Crucible Industries, a Syracuse, New York-based steel manufacturer that has struggled to compete with cheap Chinese imports, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that tackling the illegal Chinese policy is a surefire way to spur job growth.

“China’s currency manipulation would be unacceptable even in good economic times. At a time of 10 percent unemployment, we simply will not stand for it. There is no bigger step we can take to promote U.S. job creation, particularly in the manufacturing sector, than to confront China’s currency manipulation,” he said in a statement.

Full Story: Schumer: U.S. Devastated by Unfair China Currency Manipulation | Economy In Crisis.

Donors pledge 5.3 billion dollars for Haiti

Donor countries attending a major fundraiser for Haiti Wednesday pledged 5.3 billions dollars for the next two years to put the quake-ravaged nation back on its feet, UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced.

The tally far exceeds the target of 3.8 billion dollars over the next 18 months that had been set by organizers of the conference.

“The (UN) member states and international partners have pledged 5.3 billion dollars for the next two years and 9.9 billion dollars in total for the next three years and beyond,” Ban said at a press conference wrapping up the meeting.

“Friends of Haiti have acted far beyond expectations.”

Full Story: Donors pledge 5.3 billion dollars for Haiti – Yahoo! News UK.

Pope-appointed bishop accused of ritually beating orphaned children

The child abuse scandal rocking the Vatican grew yet again Wednesday when former children in a German orphanage submitted written statements that a German bishop habitually beat them.

The Bishop of Augsburg, Walter Mixa, was a controversial conservative churchman appointed by Pope Benedict in 2005 and has been called his friend.

According to the statement, Mixa used to hit and degrade the children repeatedly during sessions of punishment at the Catholic orphanage. Among other details, Mixa is accused of using a carpet beater on the bare behinds of victims as he screamed: ‘Satan is in you and I must drive him out.’

Full Story: Pope-appointed bishop accused of ritually beating orphaned children | Raw Story.

18 gunmen die in attack on two army bases in Mexico – latimes.com

Seven assaults in two northern states take place almost simultaneously, apparently marking a major escalation in Mexico’s drug war.

Dozens of gunmen mounted rare and apparently coordinated attacks targeting two army garrisons in northern Mexico, touching off firefights that killed 18 attackers.

The attempts to blockade soldiers inside their bases — part of seven near-simultaneous attacks across two northern states — appeared to mark a serious escalation in Mexico’s drug war, in which cartel gunmen attacked in unit-size forces armed with bulletproof vehicles, dozens of hand grenades and assault rifles.

While drug gunmen frequently shoot at soldiers on patrol, they seldom target army bases, and even more rarely attack in the force displayed during the confrontations Tuesday in the border states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon — areas that have seen a surge of bloodshed in recent months.

Full Story: 18 gunmen die in attack on two army bases in Mexico – latimes.com.

Letter shows Pope Paul VI knew of child abuse decades ago

Further revelations of the Vatican’s inaction to address pedophilia may tarnish not only Pope Benedict’s reputation, but that of Pope Paul VI.

According to a newly released letter, Pope Paul VI and the Vatican knew about clergy abuse of children almost 50 years ago.

The 1963 letter is from the head of a Roman Catholic order dedicated to the treatment of priests who had committed pedophilia. In it, he tells Pope Paul that he recommends removing the priests from active ministry.

Full Story: Letter shows Pope Paul VI knew of child abuse decades ago | Raw Story.

Boeing Complains About Losing Health Care Tax Break Despite Being One Of Least Taxed Big Corporations

Since the Affordable Care Act passed last week, some of the country’s largest companies have complained about a provision that preserves a federal subsidy they receive for providing retirees with prescription drug coverage, but prevents them from deducting the subsidy from their taxes. Republicans and right-wing media have latched on, claiming health care reform is going to hurt American businesses.

Today, Boeing Co. is the latest corporation to complain, announcing that it expects to take a $150 million tax hit because of the new law:

“Boeing will no longer be able to claim an income tax deduction related to prescription drug benefits provided to retirees and reimbursed under the Medicare Part D retiree drug subsidy,” the company stated in a release. “Although this tax increase does not take effect until 2013, accounting standards require that a deferred income tax asset be written down in the period legislation changing the tax law was enacted.”

Full Story: Think Progress » Boeing Complains About Losing Health Care Tax Break Despite Being One Of Least Taxed Big Corporations.

Toby Keith joins LL Cool J in shock at being used for Palin’s Fox News show.

Fox News has been promoting Sarah Palin’s first episode of “Real American Stories,” set to air on Thursday, with “In Their Own Words” segments featuring celebrities talking about their lives. Last night on Twitter, rapper LL Cool J objected to being included in the show, saying that Fox was “misrepresenting” one of his interviews from 2008 (which was not conducted by Palin). LL Cool J’s spokesperson said that the interview “was being repurposed without LL’s permission.” Fox ended up cutting LL Cool J’s interview out of Palin’s show. Now, country singer Toby Keith, another person featured in the “In Their Own Words” segments, is also upset at being caught off guard:

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Elaine Schock, a publicist for Mr. Keith said: “I have no idea what interview they are using. Toby’s talked to Fox a number of times, and I had no idea that this was going to be on Sarah Palin’s special. Fox has never contacted me — not now, not when they were putting this together, not at all. I have no idea what they’re using.” [...]

In a subsequent email message, Ms. Schock said that the interview with Mr. Keith likely happened in early 2009. Asked if Mr. Keith was ever interviewed by Ms. Palin, Ms. Schock said, “Absolutely not.”

Full Story: Think Progress » Toby Keith joins LL Cool J in shock at being used for Palin’s Fox News show..

California governor candidate Chelene Nightingale: “Why can’t we question what happened with 9/11?”

Chelene Nightingale, running as an American Independent Party candidate for governor of California, recently had a candid conversation covering a wide array of topics including freedom of speech, the events of 9/11, and the nature of fighting tyranny.

The two part video interview, which lasts a little over 20 minutes, was produced by Paul Wittenberger and conducted by Mike Murphy. [Watch part 1 and part 2].

The refreshingly anti-establishment candidate Nightingale also touched on topics ranging from ending the fed, opposing Schwarzenegger’s global warming bill, securing the borders, as well as the “North American Union”, “new world order” and an elitist population control agenda. She discussed her support of Ron Paul, as well as those with opposing agendas such as George Soros; secretive groups such as the Bilderberg and CFR, and chemtrails.

In response to the interviewer’s initial questions regarding 9/11, Nightingale replied

Full Story: California governor candidate Chelene Nightingale: “Why can’t we question what happened with 9/11?”.

Health Care Battle Ends; War on Social Security Begins

Drunk with success over their Health Care bill passing, the Democrats are now lusting after even greater conquests. With the celebratory hangover still aching, the Democrats lurch forward towards a hasty drive to “reform” Social Security.

The Social Security reform will no doubt resemble the health care reform, the details of which remain a mystery to most Americans. The essence of both policies will be based on one principle: reduce the debt of the United States by any means necessary.

Two articles in The New York Times confirmed that this was indeed the reasoning behind Obama’s health care bill. The first states:

“[the health care bill] signed Tuesday by Mr. Obama… squeeze[s] nearly a half-trillion dollars out of Medicare [500 billion dollars] in the next 10 years and establish[s] many demonstration projects to test innovative ways of delivering health care.”

The second half of the quote — “innovative ways of delivering health care” — is doublespeak for “health care rationing” (providing less), the basis of Obama’s health care plan.

This truth was revealed in the same article, when Obama’s new appointee to head Medicare and Medicaid, Dr. Donald Berwick, was discussed. The main qualification of Dr. Berwick is that he plans to, in his own words, “Over the next three years, reduce the total resource consumption of your health care system, no matter where you start, by 10 percent.”

Full Story: Health Care Battle Ends; War on Social Security Begins.

More Financial Bubbles Ahead in the US Housing Market

Bubbles have a hard time coming to an end, especially in residential real estate. Underlying forces such as government intervention to prolong the agony and the abject stupidity of builders extends the bubbles.

We are in a vast home inventory expansion and builders are going to build 535,000 new homes. The projected foreclosure rate could give us as much as a 3-year home inventory, up from present levels of about a year, if one includes the lenders shadow inventory. This past week the home building index rose 7.1% and it is up 25.1% year-to-date. The retail index rose 17% y-t-d, yet unemployment stubbornly clings to 22-1/8%. In fact, the retail index is up 87.4% y-o-y. We would say that index is grossly overpriced. As you can see bubbles have a way of not wanting to die quickly. This is caused by man’s disparately wanting to cling to the past attempting to take the easy way out rather than adapting to change. Government tries to keep sections of the economy alive rather than letting the cleansing process take its course.

The subsidization of the housing market is doomed to failure, because there simply isn’t enough money and credit available to keep it going indefinitely. All government is doing is re-flating a dying bubble. These Socialistic/Marxist policies just won’t work. Whether government likes it or not interest rates are headed higher, probably by 1% or more by the end of the year as government in its quest for more money to cover its debts crowds most others out of the market. This can be accommodated by the Fed, but not without higher inflation or perhaps hyperinflation, which in turn will drive interest rates even higher. We are seeing the reigniting of speculative mania in other markets as well – in the stock market and particularly in the low quality sector of the bond market worldwide. The mis-pricing of investments and finance is resulting in terrible distortions, mostly the result of Fed and government policy.

Full Story: More Financial Bubbles Ahead in the US Housing Market.

Hoekstra: Austin Plane Crash, Pittsburgh Cop Murders Were Acts Of Domestic Terrorism | TPM LiveWire

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) said in a radio interview today that some incidents, including the intentional plane crash into an Austin IRS building and the murder of three police officers in Pittsburgh, would qualify as acts of domestic terrorism.

Hoekstra, the ranking member on the intelligence committee and a candidate for Michigan governor, has attacked the administration for its handling of terrorism suspects, notably the man who tried to blow up a plane on Christmas Day. (He also took some heat for using the attempted attack in a fund-raising letter.)

From the transcript of the interview with WDET’s Craig Fahle:

Full Story: Hoekstra: Austin Plane Crash, Pittsburgh Cop Murders Were Acts Of Domestic Terrorism | TPM LiveWire.

US Recants Claims on “High-Value” Detainee Abu Zubaydah

The Justice Department has quietly recanted nearly every major claim the Bush administration had made about “high-value” detainee Abu Zubaydah, a Guantanamo prisoner who at one time was said to have planned the 9/11 attacks and was the No. 2 and 3 person in al-Qaeda.

Additionally, Justice has backed away from some of the claims intelligence officials working in the Clinton administration had also leveled against Zubaydah, specifically, that he was directly involved in the planning of the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa.

Zubaydah’s name is redacted in some instances in the 109-page court document the government filed in US District Court in Washington, DC in response to 213 discovery requests Zubaydah’s attorneys made in connection with his habeas corpus case, which sought evidence to support, among other Bush administration claims, that Zubaydah was a top al-Qaeda official and close confidant of Osama Bin Laden.

Full Story: t r u t h o u t | US Recants Claims on “High-Value” Detainee Abu Zubaydah.