Archive for May, 2010
Oil & Gas: Money to Congress
The numbers on this page are based on contributions from PACs and individuals giving $200 or more. All donations took place during the 1989-2010 election cycle and were released by the Federal Election Commission.
Repubs Dems Repubs Dems
$s in millions total percentages
2010 6.4 3.2 9.6 67% 33%
2008 17.2 5.7 22.9 75% 25%
2006 11 2.5 13.5 81% 19%
2004 13.5 3.3 16.8 80% 20%
2002 8.8 3 11.8 75% 25%
2000 10.7 2.8 13.5 79% 21%
Total 67.6 20.5 88.1 77% 23%
Full Story: Oil & Gas: Money to Congress | OpenSecrets.
U.S. declares fishery disaster in 3 Gulf states
“We are taking this action today because of the potentially significant economic hardship this spill may cause fishermen and the businesses and communities that depend on those fisheries,” Locke said in a statement.
“The disaster determination will help ensure that the Federal government is in a position to mobilize the full range of assistance that fishermen and fishing communities may need,” he said.
Louisiana’s $2.4 billion seafood industry supplies up to 40 percent of U.S. seafood supply and employs over 27,000 people. The state is the second-biggest U.S. seafood harvester and the top provider of shrimp, oysters, crab and crawfish.
The Commerce Department said the disaster declaration was made in response to requests from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.
The statement did not give any figures or say when funds would be dispersed.
Gulf of Mexico states have lost access to many commercial fisheries as a blown-out oil well spews hundreds of thousands of gallons (liters) of oil into the Gulf every day, a disaster that threatens to become the worst U.S. oil spill in history.
Full Story: U.S. declares fishery disaster in 3 Gulf states | Reuters.
Senators Call on AG DOJ to Investigate Transocean Ltd. Money Transfers
Senator Ron Wyden
After reports that Transocean Ltd., the owner of the destroyed oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, intends to distribute $1 billion to private shareholders, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote a letter with 17 of his Senate colleagues to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking that the Department of Justice look into the corporation’s financial transactions. The announcement came only hours after a closed-door meeting of company executives and weeks after the Transocean-owned Deepwater Horizon oil rig was destroyed, pumping massive amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
Senators Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Michael Bennet (D. Colo.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Robert Casey (D-Penn.) joined Wyden as co-signers.
In the letter, the Senators argued that the move by Transocean could further enhance the company’s protection from lawsuits and may make it harder for those negatively affected by the spill to seek claims against the company.
“We are concerned that such action to quickly move money out of corporate coffers to individual investors may make it more difficult to pursue liability claims against the company,” Wyden and his colleagues wrote. “Families of those who died in the disaster, the fishing industry that has been devastated by the oil spill and the governments that have worked full-time to clean up this spill deserve better.”
Transocean, in addition to limiting their liability for the oil spill, stands to make a $270 million profit from the insurance on Deepwater Horizon having insured it for more than it was worth.
“Transocean’s stockholders shouldn’t take huge profits from polluting our country’s Gulf Coast,” the letter says.
A copy of the letter follows:
Mike Papantonio on Hardball-”Bring In Tankers To Siphon Up The Oil”
On Hardball with Chris Matthews, Mike Papantonio talks about the Gulf oil spill. 5/24/10
Resurrect the Estate Tax
How can a civilized nation afford to hand the heirs of the super-rich billions of dollars tax-free and not afford to keep teachers in classrooms?
Dan Duncan died at the end of March. The Houston gas pipeline mogul left behind a spouse, four children, four grandkids, and a fortune worth $9 billion.
Duncan, a prominent philanthropist who supported cancer research and the Boy Scouts, left behind another distinction. He was the first American billionaire to ever leave his heirs a tax-free fortune.
America’s first-ever billionaire, John D. Rockefeller, died in 1937. His heirs faced a 70 percent estate tax on the bulk of his estate. Duncan’s heirs are enjoying a zero percent estate tax. When he died, his son and three daughters became instant billionaires.
If Duncan had died last year, his heirs would have had to share their new billions with the rest of America. But for the first time since 1916, no estate tax graces the tax code. That’s because it’s been suspended for the duration of this year, thanks to a 2001 Bush administration maneuver and an impasse in Congress.
Full Story: OtherWords: Resurrect the Estate Tax.
Glenn Greenwald – The absence of debate over war
“You would hardly know, from following this year’s election campaign or the extensive coverage of last week’s primaries, that America is at war. . . .
The Washington Post’s Fred Hiatt ponders how little attention our various wars received during the primary campaigns that were just conducted: “You would hardly know, from following this year’s election campaign or the extensive coverage of last week’s primaries, that America is at war. . . . those wars, and the wisdom of committing to or withdrawing from them, have hardly been mentioned in the hard-fought campaigns of the spring.” Hiatt is right in that observation, and it’s worth examining the reasons for this.
One significant cause of America’s indifference to the wars we are waging is that those wars have virtually no effect on the overwhelming majority of Americans (at least no recognized effect), while they impose a huge cost on a tiny sliver of the population: those who fight the wars and their families. Hiatt acknowledges that fact: “it’s yet another reminder of American society’s separation from its professional military.” If anyone would know about that, it’s the endless-war-loving, nowhere-near-a-battlefield Fred Hiatt.
Full Story: The absence of debate over war – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com.
How far should we let Big Oil go?
A video grab showing oil gushing from the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico following the explosion of a BP-owned oil rig. Photograph: http://globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam
An alternative annual report for the oil company Chevron looks at the deep costs paid for the world’s oil addiction
In the month since BP’s oil rig exploded in the US Gulf Coast, what has struck me the most is not, unfortunately, the magnitude of the spill, the damage caused that is likely to continue for decades, the inability of BP or federal agencies to clean up – much less stop – the spill, or the revelations of BP’s pre-explosion lobbying, which likely contributed greatly to the disaster taking place.
I have instead been most moved by the rapid, overwhelming and broad-based demand from people all across the US and the world for a fundamental rethinking of just how far they are willing to let Big Oil go in pursuit of the world’s remaining oil.
As I prepare for the annual general meeting of the fourth largest global oil company – Chevron (BP is the third largest) – I am confronted daily by people who are looking around their own communities and out across the world with new-found attention to the deep costs paid every day for our oil addiction.
Full Story: How far should we let Big Oil go? | Antonia Juhasz | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.
Study: Many Sunscreens May Be Accelerating Cancer
Almost half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products may actually increase the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread skin cancer because they contain vitamin A or its derivatives, according to an evaluation of those products released today.
AOL News also has learned through documents and interviews that the Food and Drug Administration has known of the potential danger for as long as a decade without alerting the public, which the FDA denies.
The study was released with Memorial Day weekend approaching. Store shelves throughout the country are already crammed with tubes, jars, bottles and spray cans of sunscreen.
The white goop, creams and ointments might prevent sunburn. But don’t count on them to keep the ultraviolet light from destroying your skin cells and causing tumors and lesions, according to researchers at Environmental Working Group.
Full Story: Study: Many Sunscreens May Be Accelerating Cancer – AOL News.
Meatless Monday: The Protein Principle (RECIPES, PHOTOS)
Wow, the numbers are startling. Americans consume an astonishing amount of protein. USDA statistics reveal that U.S. men eat as much as 190% of their recommended daily protein allowance, while women eat as much as 160%, the great majority of which comes from saturated-fat heavy meat and meat products.
Protein is essential to life; it builds and maintains muscles, bones and skin, and regulates metabolism and digestion. But the question remains, whether you look at it from the perspective of personal health, or environmental degradation, or cost savings, or animal rights, or veggie activism, or whatever else floats your boat: do we really need to eat all that meat?
I went to the top, to the nation's most influential nutritionist, Dr. Marion Nestle, professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, to get her take. “All proteins are made up of the same amino acids. ALL. No exceptions,” she reasons. “The difference between animal and vegetable proteins is in the content of certain amino acids. If vegetable proteins are mixed, the differences get made up. Even if they aren't mixed, all you need to do to get the right amount of low amino acids is to eat more of that food. There is no 'need' for animal proteins at all.”
So, when it comes to protein…if we don't need animal protein all the time, what other options do we have? It turns out that beans, legumes, whole grains, greens, nuts and seeds are excellent sources of protein — plus they offer the added benefit of fiber (not found in meat), vitamins and minerals. Here's some examples of protein found in readily available foods:
Full Story: Chris Elam: Meatless Monday: The Protein Principle (RECIPES, PHOTOS).
Gulf Oil Disaster: Pelicans Coated In Crude, Marshes Heavily Damaged (Picture)
- As officials approached to survey the damage the Gulf oil spill caused in coastal marshes, some brown pelicans couldn’t fly away Sunday. All they could do was hobble.
Several pelicans were coated in oil on Barataria Bay off Louisiana, their usually brown and white feathers now jet black. Pelican eggs were glazed with rust-colored gunk, and new hatchlings and nests were also coated with crude.
It is unclear if the area can even be cleaned, or if the birds can be saved. It is also unknown how much of the Gulf Coast will end up looking the same way because of a well that has spewed untold millions of gallons of oil since an offshore rig exploded more than a month ago.
Full Story: Gulf Oil Disaster: Pelicans Coated In Crude, Marshes Heavily Damaged (Picture).
Have We Really Come To ‘The End Of The Free Market’?
When you write a book called The End of the Free Market, you can be pretty sure what the first question is going to be: “Do you really believe we’re seeing the end of the free market? Really?”
Yes, I do. But there are two important caveats. Not everywhere and (hopefully!) not forever.
We’re used to living in a world where we see corporations as the future of political and economic power. Remember the movie “Network”? Ned Beatty as Arthur Jensen standing in a darkened corporate boardroom and thundering at Peter Finch’s disturbed and cowering network news anchor Howard Beale:
“There are no nations; there are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There is no third world. There is no West… There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and ITT and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today.”
Full Story: Ian Bremmer: Have We Really Come To ‘The End Of The Free Market’?.
After keeping us waiting for a century, Mark Twain will finally reveal all
The great American writer left instructions not to publish his autobiography until 100 years after his death, which is now
Full Story: After keeping us waiting for a century, Mark Twain will finally reveal all – News, Books – The Independent.
Obama’s War Supplemental: Recent Reports Strengthen The Case Against It
Members of Congress with any inclination to balk at President Obama’s massive emergency war-funding request have found their case strengthened by two recent reports that question many of the administration’s key premises and assumptions.
The reports from the Congressional Research Service and Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction raise concerns ranging from the existential to the procedural.
Just for starters, there’s the lack of an exit strategy, signs of a slipping timeframe for troop drawdowns and the mixed results thus far of the troop “surge.” There’s also the matter of seemingly unrealistic goals for training Afghan security forces, poor planning of infrastructure projects, pervasive corruption within the Afghan government and the lack of contracting oversight. Finally there’s the concern that some of the individual funding requests seem inflated, in certain areas the Pentagon isn’t spending the money it already has and billions of dollars in requests don’t appear to genuinely qualify as emergency spending — the only thing Obama vowed he would ever use an emergency spending bill for again.
The Senate is expected to vote on the budget request this week, and possibly even as early as Monday. The House is expected to vote after the Memorial Day break.
Full Story: Obama’s War Supplemental: Recent Reports Strengthen The Case Against It.
Washington Drug Agents Seize Pot Legalization Petitions
Washington drug agents have illegally seized signed petitions for marijuana legalization, according to organizers of ballot initiative I-1068.
Marijuana advocacy group Sensible Washington says it has learned that a dozen signed copies of the marijuana legalization initiative for Washington State of which it is the sponsor, were seized last week by the federally-funded WestNET drug task force.
Advocates say that the drug agents who seized the petitions are interfering with a constitutionally-protected legislative procedure.
“Our estimate is that 2009 signatures are sitting in WestNET’s offices in Port Orchard, apparently seized as ‘evidence’ during a series of raids against the North End Club 420 in Tacoma,” said Sensible Washington campaign director and initiative co-author Philip Dawdy.
Full Story: Toke of the Town – Washington Drug Agents Seize Pot Legalization Petitions.
5 turbines in the works for wind power project in Lake Erie
A local nonprofit development group racing to erect the first offshore wind turbine in the Great Lakes has reached an agreement with General Electric Co. to supply five turbines for a $100 million demonstration project in Lake Erie.
The Lake Erie Energy Development Corp., known as LEEDCo, and Gov. Ted Strickland are to announce the deal in Dallas today during the annual conference of the American Wind Energy Association.
The cutting-edge turbines would stand 300 feet above the lake and be clustered six miles or so off Cleveland’s shore, northwest of the city’s drinking water crib.
Full Story: 5 turbines in the works for wind power project in Lake Erie | cleveland.com.
57 Ancient Tombs With Mummies Unearthed in Egypt
Archeologists unearth 57 ancient tombs in Egypt, most boasting a painted sarcophagus and mummy
Archeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said Sunday.
The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 B.C. during the period of Egypt’s first and second dynasties, the council said in a statement. Twelve of the tombs belong the 18th dynasty which ruled Egypt during the second millennium B.C.
The discovery throws new light on Egypt’s ancient religions, the council said.
Egypt’s archaeology chief, Zahi Hawass, said the mummies dating to the 18th dynasty are covered in linen decorated with religious texts from the Book of the Dead and scenes featuring ancient Egyptian deities.
Abdel Rahman El-Aydi, head of the archaeological mission that made the discovery, said some of the tombs are decorated with religious texts that ancient Egyptians believed would help the deceased to cross through the underworld.
Full Story: 57 Ancient Tombs With Mummies Unearthed in Egypt – ABC News.
Ex-lawyer jailed 14 months, but not charged with a crime
Once a dapper Beverly Hills attorney known for his bow tie, Richard Fine has been held in solitary confinement at Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail for 14 months, even though he’s never been charged with a crime.
Fine, a 70-year- old taxpayer’s advocate who once worked for the Department of Justice, is being held for contempt of court.
Superior Court Judge David Yaffe found Fine in contempt after he refused to turn over financial documents and answer questions when ordered to pay an opposing party’s attorney’s fees, according to court documents.
Fine says his contempt order masks the real reason why he’s in jail. He claims he’s a political prisoner.
“I ended up here because I did the one thing no other lawyer in California is willing to do. I took on the corruption of the courts,” Fine said in a jailhouse interview with CNN.
Full Story: Ex-lawyer jailed 14 months, but not charged with a crime – CNN.com.
S.Korea says North ‘will pay price’ for ship attack
South Korea Monday halted trade with North Korea as part of a package of reprisals for the sinking of one of its warships, drawing strong US support but threats of attack from the communist state.
President Lee Myung-Bak also banned the North’s merchant ships from South Korean waters and said Seoul would refer the March 26 attack — which killed 46 sailors — to the United Nations Security Council for punishment.
In a nationally televised address, a sombre-looking Lee vowed an immediate military response to any future aggression, saying South Korea had in the past repeatedly tolerated the North’s “brutality.”
Full Story: S.Korea says North ‘will pay price’ for ship attack – Yahoo! News.
US has approved 19 environmental drilling waivers since oil spill
On May 14, President Barack Obama announced that oil companies would no longer be given license to bypass environmental reviews of their drilling projects.
“We’re also closing the loophole that has allowed some oil companies to bypass some critical environmental reviews,” Obama said.
But in the month since the BP-run Deepwater Horizon (above right) exploded and collapsed into the sea, its drill site spewing an unending current of oil into the open ocean, the US government has granted at least 19 environmental waivers for gulf drilling projects and 17 drilling permits. Most are for deepwater drilling operations, similar to that conducted by the ill-fated rig.
Full Story: US has approved 19 environmental drilling waivers since oil spill | Raw Story.
BP ignores government order to stop using toxic oil dispersant in Gulf | Raw Story
Professor says chemicals ‘worse than oil’; Corexit substance also known as ‘deodorized kerosene’, poses risk to man and animal alike
After initially approving a chemical oil dispersant called Corexit, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency retracted it’s allowance and ordered British Petroleum to stop dumping the mysterious chemical substance by Sunday.
However, the oil giant has ignored the government’s deadline and was continuing to dump large volumes of Corexit into the Gulf on Monday, according to The New York Times, apparently to keep the massive sea floor oil plumes from surfacing and possibly washing ashore.
“The company told the agency that no better alternative was available,” the paper noted.
Full Story: BP ignores government order to stop using toxic oil dispersant in Gulf | Raw Story.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) Advocates A Government Takeover Of The Oil Spill Clean-Up
The oil spill that resulted from a British Petroleum rig exploding in the Gulf of Mexico is still continuing unabated, and many scientists are now saying that BP and the Obama administration are downplaying the amount of oil that is gushing into the water. The joint BP-federal command has been relying on an estimate from NOAA scientists that the oil rate was increasing by 210,000 gallons (5000 barrels) a day, but independent scientists estimate that the flow rate is at least 850,000 gallons a day.
This week, a flurry of environmental organizations, members of Congress, and local officials in the states affected by the spill called for the federal government to take over the response effort from BP. “This is an all-hands-on-deck crisis, and we need to use every asset the U.S. has, including the Defense Department and all of its most sophisticated technology,” said Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA).
Today, on CBS’ Face the Nation, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) — who spends a lot of his time fearmongering about various government takeovers — seemed to advocate that the government simply let BP off the hook and take over the clean-up effort:
Full Story: Think Progress » Sen. Lamar Alexander Advocates A Government Takeover Of The Oil Spill Clean-Up.
WSJ answers Palin: GOP received ‘far more’ campaign cash from oil and gas companies than Democrats did.
Weeks after BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Politico reported that during the last 20 years, the company and its employees gave more money to President Obama than any other federal political candidate. Yesterday on Fox News Sunday yesterday, Sarah Palin tried to make it into a wider narrative. “I don’t know why the question isn’t asked by the mainstream media and by others if there’s any connection with the contributions made to President Obama and his administration and the support by the oil companies to the administration,” she said. Palin wondered if there is “any connection there to President Obama taking so doggone long to…grasp the complexity and the potential tragedy that we are seeing here in the Gulf of Mexico.” Mainstream media outlet the Wall Street Journal did ask and it appears the answer doesn’t give cover to Palin’s charges:
According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Republicans receive far more campaign money from the oil and gas industry than do Democrats.
So far in 2010, the oil and gas industries have contributed $12.8 million to all candidates, with 71% of that money going to Republicans. During the 2008 election cycle, 77% of the industry’s $35.6 million in contributions went to Republicans, and in the 2008 presidential contest, Republican candidate Sen. John McCain received more than twice as much money from the oil and gas industries as Obama: McCain collected $2.4 million; Obama, $898,000.
35,000 People Protest Christie’s Budget Cuts At Trenton Statehouse, Outnumbering Earlier Tea Party Rally 87-to-1
As the poor economy continues to take a toll on the nation’s tax coffers, states across the country are facing serious budget crises. One such state is New Jersey, which has a projected $10.7 billion budget deficit. To deal with the budget deficit, progressive state legislators passed legislation creating a new tax bracket on residents making more than $1 million. The state’s nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services estimates that the new tax would lead a household making $1.2 million annually to pay only $11,598 more a year.
Yet New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) vetoed the progressive legislators’ tax bill, despite the fact that the state has the “second-highest personal income in the country.” Instead, the governor has proposed massive cuts to public services, like an $820 million reduction in the state’s education budget and ending millions of dollars of aid to cash-strapped municipalities.
Saturday, New Jerseyans, outraged at Christie’s choice to protect the wealthiest citizens of his state rather than its schools and infrastructure, demonstrated outside the statehouse in Trenton, chanting, “We are not the problem.” Police estimated that 35,000 people took part in what quickly turned into “one of the largest protests ever in the state.”
FoxNews.com edits out applause during Obama’s West Point speech.
In his commencement address to graduating West Point cadets on Saturday, the President outlined his upcoming national security strategy that is focused on international cooperation to meet the nation’s security challenges. He also praised American troops for their performance in Iraq. “A lesser Army might have seen its spirit broken,” he said, adding that “through their competence and creativity and courage, we are poised to end our combat mission in Iraq this summer.” At that point, cadets and the audience applauded for at least 12 seconds (starting at roughly the 10:24 mark here). However, as Michael Moore observed, video from the speech on FoxNews.com edits out that applause entirely, making it appear as if Obama is bizarrely staring silently for a long period of time. The audio is cut (starting at the 0:44 mark) for the 12 seconds of applause, and then skips to another part of the speech. Watch it (the first clip is from FoxNews.com, the second clip is from WhiteHouse.gov):
Full Story: Think Progress » FoxNews.com edits out applause during Obama’s West Point speech..
Global Leaders Express Concern Over Arizona’s New Immigration Law
Last week, following Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s speech before Congress, many conservatives blasted Calderon for slamming Arizona’s new immigration law and “meddling” in U.S. politics. “It’s about us. It’s about our citizenry,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). “I just think that’s a line I would prefer that he did not cross. He went farther than I’m comfortable with,” stated Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). A statement released by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) read, “It’s unfortunate and disappointing the president of Mexico chose to criticize the state of Arizona by weighing in on a U.S. domestic policy issue during a trip that was meant to reaffirm the unique relationship between our two countries.” However, Calderon isn’t the first international figure to voice his concerns over the law. In fact, he joins a loud chorus of global leaders who have criticized the drastic measures that Arizona is taking to lock out undocumented immigrants:
Full Story: Think Progress » Global Leaders Express Concern Over Arizona’s New Immigration Law.
A New Deal for Local Economies
The Power of Local
Locally grown food has soared in popularity. There are now 5,274 active farmers markets in the United States. Remarkably, almost one of every two of these markets was started within the last decade. Food co-ops and neighborhood greengrocers are likewise on the rise.
Some 400 new independent bookstores have opened in the last four years. Neighborhood hardware stores are making a comeback in some cities. Most students graduating from pharmacy school report that they would rather open their own drugstore than work for chain. Last April, even as Virgin Megastores prepared to shutter its last U.S. record emporium, more than a thousand independent music stores were mobbed for the second annual Record Store Day, a celebration of independent record stores that drew hundreds of thousands of people into local stores, became one of the top search terms on Google, and triggered a 16-point upswing in album sales.
Full Story: A New Deal for Local Economies by Stacy Mitchell — YES! Magazine.
Stossel calls for repeal of public accommodations section of Civil Rights Act
KELLY: Rand Paul is a libertarian. You are a libertarian. He is getting excoriated for suggesting that the Civil Rights act — what he said was, “Look it’s got 10 parts, essentially; I favor nine. It’s the last part that mandated no discrimination in places of public accommodation that I have a problem with, because you should let businesses decide for themselves whether they are going to be racist or not racist. Because once the government gets involved, it’s a slippery slope.” Do you agree with that?
STOSSEL: Totally. I’m in total agreement with Rand Paul. You can call it public accommodation, and it is, but it’s a private business. And if a private business wants to say, “We don’t want any blond anchorwomen or mustached guys,” it ought to be their right. Are we going to say to the black students’ association they have to take white people, or the gay softball association they have to take straight people? We should have freedom of association in America.
KELLY: OK. When you put it like that it sounds fine, right? So who cares if a blond anchorwoman and mustached anchorman can’t go into the lunchroom. But as you know, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 came around because it was needed. Blacks weren’t allowed to sit at the lunch counter with whites. They couldn’t, as they traveled from state to state in this country, they couldn’t go in and use a restroom. They couldn’t get severed meals and so on, and therefore, unfortunately in this country a law was necessary to get them equal rights.
Full Story: Stossel calls for repeal of public accommodations section of Civil Rights Act | Media Matters for America.
Is Porn Bad for You?
Out of the Shadow: What’s the Prevalence of Porn Doing to Our Psyches?
“Porn is an easy outlet, a one-way outlet. What a rush! What a release! The Internet puts an endless stream of images at my fingertips. I’ve conveniently conned myself thinking it’s okay, but deep down I know it’s wrong. It makes me feel dirty and has hurt my relationship with my wife. I beat myself up afterward, hate myself, and swear that was the last time. But before I know it, I’m back at it again. I’m scared where it’s leading. Can you help me?”—Scott, 44 years old.
Scott, a successful lawyer with a wife and two children, showed up at my office for his first session confused and angry about his relationship with pornography. He could see the damage his Internet porn habit was having on his marriage, health, and career, but he couldn’t stay away from it. His story is typical of men and women—of all ages, backgrounds, incomes, and lifestyles—who are seeking counseling for serious problems related to pornography.
When I began counseling in the mid-1970s, cases like Scott’s were rare and almost inconceivable. Hardcore pornography was difficult to obtain. But in recent decades, new electronic technologies, such as cable television, computers, and iPhones, have transformed it into a product that’s available to anyone—anytime, anywhere, and often cheap or free. It’s become a substantial part of our economy, boasting annual revenues in excess of $13 billion in the United States and $100 billion worldwide.
Full Story: Out of the Shadow.
Republicans and the Tea Party of No
As much as they may grumble, there is a legitimate reason why the Republicans have been labeled the “Party of No.” For decades, the party’s kneejerk stance has been to oppose any legislation or policy involving social, economic or political progress.
You name it, the right has opposed it: civil rights, school desegregation, women’s rights, labor organizing, the minimum wage, social security, LGBT rights, welfare, immigrant rights, public education, reproductive rights, Medicare, Medicaid. And through the years the right invoked hysterical rhetoric in opposition, predicting that implementing any such policies would result in the end-of-family-free-enterprise-God-America on the one hand, and the imposition of atheism-socialism-Nazism on the other.
Republicans are obstructionist for one simple reason: it’s a winning strategy. Opposing progressive policies allows the right to actualize the ideals that both motivate and define their base. Rightist ideologies are not without sophistication, but right-wing politicians and media figures boil them down to a crude Manichean dualism to mobilize supporters based on group difference: good versus evil, us versus them. By demonizing and scapegoating politically marginal groups, the right is able to define “real Americans,” who are good, versus those defined as parasites, illegitimate and internal threats, who are evil.
Full Story: t r u t h o u t | Republicans and the Tea Party of No.
Stand up to BP and say: ‘You know, I’m not taking your s*** any more’
It is 19 years since Erin Brockovich first went into battle against corporate America. She was a small-town single mum who stood up to an industrial Goliath and won. Now, as she champions a new case with a depressingly similar plot, it is clear that she has lost none of her fighting spirit or trademark candour.
“Stand up to BP and say, ‘You know what, I’m not taking your shit any more’ ,” she tells an audience of more than 300 anxious individuals in Pensacola, Florida, who have gathered to hear how they can seek legal redress for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
“If you stand down and you say nothing and you get complacent and let them run over you, they will do that. They are already doing that. I’m telling you: Don’t let them,” she continues, and is greeted with applause.
But backstage, the 49-year-old former beauty queen whose grit helped to win hundreds of millions of dollars for wronged communities and made her a symbol of environmental activism seems momentarily beaten.
Full Story: Stand up to BP and say: ‘You know, I’m not taking your s*** any more’ – Times Online.
GOP Wants Open Conference, But Pelosi Spokesman Says What’s Clear Is United Republican Opposition To Financial Reform
Given the Republicans’s; nearly-united opposition thus far to enacting strong financial reform legislation, their 11th-hour protest smacks of a political stunt, according to a top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Senate approved its version of financial reform last Thursday, but lawmakers on Capitol Hill now have to reconcile it with a somewhat different version of financial reform passed in the House late last year to create a final bill that could be sent to President Obama to sign into law.
If ultimately approved, these new financial regulations would be the most sweeping overhaul of the rules that govern banking and Wall Street since the Great Depression, and Obama is eager to sign such legislation into law. Obama and other supporters of the bill hope to curtail risky behavior by banks and offer consumers greater protections under the law.
Tea Party Hypocrisy Exposed
Doug Drenkow:
So let me get this straight. Tea Party darling and Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul says that even though the government should not discriminate on the basis of race in public accommodations, it’s “unconstitutional” for the government to stop business from discriminating on the basis of race (etc.) in its private business dealings.
I have just one question: Did President Lincoln step out of constitutional bounds with the Emancipation Proclamation? Here I’d just heard the argument from the “states rights” crowd, that the Northern states were infringing on the power of the Southern states to make their own laws.
But according to Paul and the Tea Partyers, it’s even more basic than that: Apparently the government has no right to make any law that “infringes” upon the “rights” of any business or individual to do as it, he, or she pleases, the consequences to any other individuals be damned. The “marketplace” will presumably sort it all out.
Full Story: The Existentialist Cowboy: Doug Drenkow: Tea Party Hypocrisy Exposed.
James Carville Takes On Obama On Oil Spill: He’s ‘Risking Everything’ With ‘Go Along With BP Strategy’
Democratic strategist James Carville and MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews, two reliable supporters of President Barack Obama, have issued withering critiques of the administration’s handling of the Gulf oil spill.
Carville, the famously outspoken Louisianian who was a chief political aide to Bill and Hillary Clinton, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday that the administration’s response to the spill has been “lackadaisical” and that Obama was “naive” to trust BP to manage the massive clean-up effort.
“I think they actually believe that BP has some kind of a good motivation here,” he said. “They’re naive! BP is trying to save money, save everything they can… They won’t tell us anything, and oddly enough, the government seems to be going along with it! Somebody has got to, like shake them and say, ‘These people don’t wish you well! They’re going to take you down!’”
Full Story: James Carville Takes On Obama On Oil Spill: He’s ‘Risking Everything’ With ‘Go Along With BP Strategy’.
The Challenge of Closing Tax Loopholes For Billionaires
Robert Reich:
Who could be opposed to closing a tax loophole that allows hedge-fund and private equity managers to treat their earnings as capital gains – and pay a rate of only 15 percent rather than the 35 percent applied to ordinary income?
Answer: Some of the nation’s most prominent and wealthiest private asset managers, such as Paul Allen and Henry Kravis, who, along with hordes of lobbyists, are determined to keep the loophole wide open.
The House has already tried three times to close it only to have the Senate cave in because of campaign donations from these and other financiers who benefit from it.
Full Story: Robert Reich (The Challenge of Closing Tax Loopholes For Billionaires).
Stealth IRS campaign mandates millions of new 1099 tax forms
The massive expansion of requirements for businesses to file 1099 tax forms that was hidden in the 2,409-page health reform bill took many by surprise when it came to light last month. But it’s just one piece of a years-long legislative stealth campaign to create ways for the federal government to track down unreported income.
The result: A blizzard of new tax forms that the Internal Revenue Service will begin rolling out next year.
“It was actually something that we were following back under the Bush administration under the 2008 budget — we started to see these kinds of rumblings about the ‘tax gap’ and whether or not businesses were paying their fair share,” says Tom Henschke, president of the Pennsylvania-based SMC Business Councils, which was one of the first organizations to call attention to the health care amendment when it was introduced last fall. “So two administrations can claim credit for this.”
The first tax-reporting expansion was buried in a different bill, the Housing Assistance Tax Act introduced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and signed into law by President George W. Bush in July 2008. Best known for its first-time homebuyers’ credit, the bill also created a new addition to the family of 1099 tax forms: the 1099-K.
Full Story: Stealth IRS campaign mandates millions of new 1099 tax forms – May. 21, 2010.
U.S. Congress approves Obama funding for Iron Dome defense system in Israel — Signs of the Times News
Lawmakers voted to give Israel $205 million for its production of the short-range rocket defense system by a 410-4 margin.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted in favor of President Barack Obama’s plans to help Israel fund the deployment of the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system.
Lawmakers, by a 410-4 margin, backed Obama’s plan to give Israel 205 million dollars for its production of a short-range rocket defense system.
The Iron Dome missile defense system aced a test run in January, and event that convinced senior defense officials that the defense system was on its way to becoming operational and that it will be able to effectively protect against short-range missiles, such as Katyushas and Qassams, which often hit Israeli towns.
The project’s first phase, which included development, test runs and the manufacture of two batteries, required a budget of NIS 800 million. The Israel Air Force has also trained a special new unit to operate the defense system.
However, the plan was not allotted an adequate budget. The Israel Defense Forces ducked away from funding the project with its budget, explaining that offensive readiness was a higher priority, and the Defense Ministry has been looking for other budgetary avenues.
Full Story: U.S. Congress approves Obama funding for Iron Dome defense system in Israel — Signs of the Times News.
British defence minister on Afghan visit calls for troop withdrawal
Senior British officials, including new Foreign Secretary William Hague arrived in Afghanistan Saturday with a warning that Britain wants to withdraw its troops as soon as possible.
Hague, Defence Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell are set to meet President Hamid Karzai in their first visit to the country since a new coalition government took power in London this month.
Hague described Afghanistan — where around 10,000 British troops are helping fight a Taliban-led insurgency well into its ninth year — as “our most urgent priority” in comments released from London as the party touched down.
In an interview with The Times newspaper before arriving in Kabul, Fox made clear the visit would focus on speeding up the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan, and that no new troops would be deployed.
Full Story: Channel NewsAsia – British defence minister on Afghan visit calls for troop withdrawal – channelnewsasia.com.
Egypt: Mummies Unearthed From 57 Ancient Tombs
Archeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said Sunday.
The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 B.C. during the period of Egypt’s first and second dynasties, the council said in a statement. Twelve of the tombs belong the 18th dynasty which ruled Egypt during the second millennium B.C.
The discovery throws new light on Egypt’s ancient religions, the council said.
Egypt’s archaeology chief, Zahi Hawass, said the mummies dating to the 18th dynasty are covered in linen decorated with religious texts from the Book of the Dead and scenes featuring ancient Egyptian deities.
Full Story: Egypt: Mummies Unearthed From 57 Ancient Tombs.
Nutrients to Unplug and Recharge Your Body and Mind
Stress seems inevitable, and takes its toll on our health and well-being. Do you recognize any of these signs?
Stress Check
• Do you have difficulty relaxing?
• Do you feel irritable?
• Do you have a dry mouth and sweaty palms?
• Do you worry about little events of the day and are unable to shut your mind off?
• Do you take on too much?
• Do you eat quickly?
• Do you have problems sleeping?
A “yes” to any of these is a sign that you are under stress, and at risk for stress-related health problems.
Fight or Flight — The Stress Response
We need a certain amount of stress to keep us motivated, but too much can seriously affect our health. It mobilizes the body's “fight-or-flight response”, which prepares us to cope with emergencies. Triggering the release of stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol from our adrenal glands, it increases our respiration and heart rate, elevates blood pressure, and raises blood sugar levels.
Full Story: Hyla Cass, M.D.: Nutrients to Unplug and Recharge Your Body and Mind.
Closing Tax Loopholes for Billionaires
Robert Reich:
Who could be opposed to closing a tax loophole that allows hedge-fund and private equity managers to treat their earnings as capital gains — and pay a rate of only 15 percent rather than the 35 percent applied to ordinary income?
Answer: Some of the nation’s most prominent and wealthiest private asset managers, such as Paul Allen and Henry Kravis, who, along with hordes of lobbyists, are determined to keep the loophole wide open.
The House has already tried three times to close it only to have the Senate cave in because of campaign donations from these and other financiers who benefit from it.
But the measure will be brought up again in the next few weeks, and this time the result could be different. Few senators want to be overtly seen as favoring Wall Street. And tax revenues are needed to help pay for extensions of popular tax cuts, such as the college tax credit that reduces college costs for tens of thousands of poor and middle class families. Closing this particular loophole would net some $20 billion.
Full Story: Robert Reich: Closing Tax Loopholes for Billionaires.
The Road To Economic Serfdom
According to Friedrich von Hayek, the development of welfare socialism after World War II undermined freedom and would lead western democracies inexorably to some form of state-run serfdom.
Hayek had the sign and the destination right but was entirely wrong about the mechanism. Unregulated finance, the ideology of unfettered free markets, and state capture by corporate interests are what ended up undermining democracy both in North America and in Europe. All industrialized countries are at risk, but it’s the eurozone – with its vulnerable structures – that points most clearly to our potentially unpleasant collective futures.
As a result of the continuing euro crisis, European Central Bank (ECB) now finds itself buying up the debt of all the weaker eurozone governments, making it the – perhaps unwittingly – feudal boss of Europe. In the coming years, it will be the ECB and the European Union who dictate policy. The policy elite who run these structures – along with their allies in the private sector – are the new overlords.
We can argue about who exactly are the peasants, the vassals, and the lords under this model – and what services exactly will end up being exchanged. But there is no question we are seeing a sea change in the post-war system of property, power, and prosperity across Western Europe, just as Hayek feared. An overwhelming debt burden will bring down even the proudest people.
Full Story: The Road To Economic Serfdom « The Baseline Scenario.
Nature Conservancy faces potential backlash from ties with BP
In the days after the immensity of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico became clear, some Nature Conservancy supporters took to the organization’s web site to vent their anger.
“The first thing I did was sell my shares in BP, not wanting anything to do with a company that is so careless,” wrote one. Another added: “I would like to force all the BP executives, the secretaries and the shareholders out to the shore to mop up oil and wash the birds.” Reagan De Leon of Hawaii called for a boycott of “everything BP has their hands in.”
What De Leon didn’t know was that the Nature Conservancy lists BP as one of its business partners. The organization also has given BP a seat on its International Leadership Council and has accepted nearly $10 million in cash and land contributions from BP and affiliated corporations over the years.
Full Story: Nature Conservancy faces potential backlash from ties with BP.
Italy ordains first woman priest
A married teacher has become the first woman priest to be ordained in Italy.
Maria Vittoria Longhitano, 35, who belongs to a breakaway faction of the Catholic Church, received the holy orders at an Anglican church in Rome.
She belongs to the Italian Old Catholic Church, a congregation that broke away from Roman Catholicism in the 19th Century.
While the Vatican is opposed to women priests, other Christian groups have long accepted female clergy.
Mrs Longhitano, who will now be known as Mother Longhitano, said she hoped to break down what she described as prejudice in the Roman Catholic church.
Full Story: BBC News – Italy ordains first woman priest.
AMERICA’S SECRET POLICE NETWORK
J. Edgar Hoover knew that power lies between the manila covers of a personal dossier and he used that knowledge to build and maintain his empire for almost half a century.
The FBI, the CIA and virtually every other agency given the authority to spy to defend us from foreign or domestic enemies, have sooner or later used their power to threaten our liberties.
In contrast to the CIA and FBI, the is a little known organization; in fact, almost no one has ever heard of it. But its power is considerable and its potential threat to our freedom is enormous.
The LEIU links the intelligence squads of almost every major police force in the United States and Canada. Although its members are sworn police officers who work for state and city governments, it is a private club, not answerable to voters, taxpayers, or elected officials. It cuts across the vertical lines of authority of local government, for its members hold certain allegiances to the LEIU that cannot be countermanded by a mayor, county manager, or even a state governor.
Full Story: Dailycensored.com AMERICA’S SECRET POLICE NETWORK.
Texas schools to teach kids that ’separation of church and state’ not in Constitution
Students will also study dollar’s decline, US removal of gold standard
Texas schoolchildren will be required to learn that the words “separation of church and state” aren’t in the Constitution and evaluate whether the United Nations undermines U.S. sovereignty under new social studies curriculum.
In final votes late Friday, conservatives on the State Board of Education strengthened requirements on teaching the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation’s Founding Fathers and required that the U.S. government be referred to as a “constitutional republic” rather than “democratic.”
The board approved the new standards with two 9-5 votes along party lines after months of ideological haggling and debate that drew attention beyond Texas.
Full Story: Texas schools to teach kids that ’separation of church and state’ not in Constitution | Raw Story.
Cleaning oil-soaked wetlands may be impossible
Officials are considering some drastic and risky solutions: They could set the wetlands on fire or flood areas in hopes of floating out the oil.
But they warn an aggressive cleanup could ruin the marshes and do more harm than good. The only viable option for many impacted areas is to do nothing and let nature break down the spill.
Full Story: Cleaning oil-soaked wetlands may be impossible :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Nation.
Pirates take over small-town radio signal
Residents of San Mateo County, California are hearing an unusual sound on the 89.3 frequency of their FM radios these days. Commercial-free radio programmed by real, local people.
San Francisco-based Pirate Cat Radio has put KPDO on the air full-time. The station’s new home, nestled among coastal farmlands, is about an hour south from the studio cafe in San Francisco’s Mission District.
Pirate Cat Radio founder Daniel Roberts and his crew took over the radio frequency May 8, after years of defying the Federal Communications Commission by broadcasting without a license. Roberts was recently fined by the FCC for just that, as Jennifer Waits writes in Spinning Indie.
Full Story: Pirates take over small-town radio signal | Raw Story.
Rove Ludicrously Claims Bush White House Never Questioned Opponents’ ‘Motives’ Or Called Them Names
Former White House advisor Karl Rove made a name for himself as President Bush’s “architect” by employing underhanded tactics to win elections and smear opponents. So it was startling that during a book signing in Oklahoma this week Rove declared that Bush “never allowed” staffers to call their opposition “disparaging labels,” or “question their motives“:
“President Bush, for example, never allowed a White House staffer or administration spokesman to go out and do what this administration and our predecessor routinely did — that is to engage in calling the leaders of the opposition party disparaging labels and question their motives,” he said.
As The Oklahoman’s Ryan Dean noted, “In fact, Rove and other members of the Bush administration were routinely critical of opponents to the Iraq war and questioned their patriotism.” In a 2007 speech, Rove directly challenged the “motives” of his political opponents when he implied that Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) intentionally used rhetoric that would endanger American soldiers:
”Let me just put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts the words of Senator Durbin to the Mideast, certainly putting our troops in greater danger. No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals.”
Full Story: Think Progress » Rove Ludicrously Claims Bush White House Never Questioned Opponents’ ‘Motives’ Or Called Them Names.
Buyer Beware: Over the Counter DNA Tests Can Cause More Harm Than Good | | AlterNet
There’s a huge push to market over-the-counter genetic tests. But the faulty tests can cause more harm than good.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 7-2 ruling this week in U.S. v. Comstock, which declared that the federal government has the right to hold convicted sex offenders in “civil commitment” even after they have completed their prison sentences, has alarmed civil libertarians, many of whom are asking: If the government can keep sex offenders in preventive custody as long as they remain “dangerous,” what will stop it from doing the same with terror suspects? The rights of terrorists — like those of sex offenders — might matter little to the average American, but the implications for a free society are unmistakeably dangerous.
The possibility that Comstock could help justify the legal black holes at Bagram or Guantanamo is certainly a concern worth raising, particularly given the Obama administration’s embrace of indefinite detention. But it seems equally important to consider the immediate implications for the prisoner population that may be affected by this law. It could be bigger than we think.
Full Story: Buyer Beware: Over the Counter DNA Tests Can Cause More Harm Than Good | | AlterNet.
Supreme Court Says Feds Can Detain Sex Offenders Indefinitely: Why That’s Dangerous
The U.S. government can now keep prisoners in custody who have not necessarily been convicted of a crime, based on suspicions of “future dangerousness.”
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 7-2 ruling this week in U.S. v. Comstock, which declared that the federal government has the right to hold convicted sex offenders in “civil commitment” even after they have completed their prison sentences, has alarmed civil libertarians, many of whom are asking: If the government can keep sex offenders in preventive custody as long as they remain “dangerous,” what will stop it from doing the same with terror suspects? The rights of terrorists — like those of sex offenders — might matter little to the average American, but the implications for a free society are unmistakeably dangerous.
The possibility that Comstock could help justify the legal black holes at Bagram or Guantanamo is certainly a concern worth raising, particularly given the Obama administration’s embrace of indefinite detention. But it seems equally important to consider the immediate implications for the prisoner population that may be affected by this law. It could be bigger than we think.
Full Story: Supreme Court Says Feds Can Detain Sex Offenders Indefinitely: Why That’s Dangerous | Civil Liberties | AlterNet.
Modern Day Slavery in America — Over 300,000 U.S. Children Fall Prey to Sex Trafficking | Reproductive Justice | AlterNet
People may have trouble believing that child prostitution has become a national problem — but it’s on the verge of becoming out of control.
Child prostitution has become a national problem in this country. Yes, I know that you have trouble believing that. You don’t want to believe it, so you tend not to.
“Widespread sex trafficking in children?” you may be saying to yourself. “Sure, it happens overseas in places like Thailand and Moldova, and while there may be some of it here there’s not that much of it in our country.”
Based on a months-long investigation and some reportorial digging, I’m here to tell you that you are wrong. We all are. We’re in denial.
In covering news for more than 60 years, I’d like to think that few stories shock me anymore. But this is one of them. We ran across it late last year and the more we dug, the more disturbing it became.
Eighty-year-old men paying a premium to violate teenage girls, sometimes supplied by former drug gangs now into child sex trafficking big time? You’ve got to be kidding. Nope. That’s happening and a lot more along the same lines.
How LSD Destroyed God’s (and Dad’s) Rigid Authority and Ended the Dull 1950s
The following is adapted from the Foreword to Birth of a Psychedelic Culture: Conversations about Leary, the Harvard Experiments, Millbrook and the Sixties, by Ram Dass and Ralph Metzner with Gary Bravo, from Synergetic Press.
LSD is a drug that produces fear in people who don’t take it. –Timothy Leary
It’s now almost half a century since that day in September 1961 when a mysterious fellow named Michael Hollingshead made an appointment to meet Professor Timothy Leary over lunch at the Harvard Faculty Club. When they met in the foyer, Hollingshead was carrying with him a quart jar of sugar paste into which he had infused a gram of Sandoz LSD. He had smeared this goo all over his own increasingly abstract consciousness and it still contained, by his own reckoning, 4,975 strong (200 mcg) doses of LSD. The mouth of that jar became perhaps the most significant of the fumaroles from which the ‘60s blew forth.
Full Story: How LSD Destroyed God’s (and Dad’s) Rigid Authority and Ended the Dull 1950s | Drugs | AlterNet.
Big Soda Wants to Keep America Fat: Here’s How to Fight Back
Sodas have fueled our obesity epidemic. An elegant solution — soda taxes — would cut our addiction, but the sugary drink industry is gearing up to make sure that can’t happen.
Scouring lobbyist filings is akin to looking into a public-policy crystal ball. What Big Business is spending on lobbying today will give you a good idea of what the next big policy fight will hinge upon.
Here’s an example. In the first quarter of this year, a trade group representing the interests of non-alcoholic drink-makers called the American Beverage Association upped its lobbying expenditures by a whopping 3,785 percent over the last quarter of 2009. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the ABA went from spending a paltry $140,000 to shelling out $5.4 million.
What are non-alcoholic beverage producers so afraid of? Two words: soda taxes.
Last year, Congress seriously discussed including a tax on sodas and other calorie-laden beverages like energy and sports drinks (diet sodas were to be exempted) in the forthcoming health care overhaul in order to help cover costs for what was then supposed to be a universal health care plan. At the time, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the proposed nationwide 3-cent tax on sodas would generate $24 billion over four years.
Full Story: Big Soda Wants to Keep America Fat: Here’s How to Fight Back | Personal Health | AlterNet.
Free Enterprise Gone Wild: How We’re Getting Screwed in 4 Easy Steps
Halliburton’s failed cementing job likely led to oil blowout in the Gulf — but there’s no mess big enough to take the shine off these tumor-like companies.
Good morning suckers. How are we doing today? Okay, enough pleasantries. Take the position. Go ahead, you should be getting good at it by now; lean over, grab your ankles and get ready for another dose of Free Enterprisers Gone Wild!
The pattern is now set, clear and undeniable. Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Get your own people into useful positions in government.
Step 2: Get your people in government to allow you to create a giant-ass problem or mess.
Step 3: Get your people in government to hire you to fix, clean up and manage the mess they let you create.
Step 4: Collect zillions of “bonus” (taxpayer) dollars cleaning up your own messes.
- Halliburton’s Dick Cheney started two wars and then hires Halliburton, with our money, as a kind of privatized Headquarters & Supply Company to feed, house and supply our soldiers while they fight, get wounded and die in the wars started by our $32 Million Man, Halliburton Dick.
Full Story: Free Enterprise Gone Wild: How We’re Getting Screwed in 4 Easy Steps | | AlterNet.
How Alcohol Companies Launched a Digital Campaign Against America’s Kids | Media and Culture | AlterNet
According to a new study, companies like Captain Morgan and Budweiser have become extremely savvy at targeting young audiences.
Visit captainmorgan.com, and next to the brand’s iconic smiling pirate, you’ll see the question, “Are you old enough to come aboard?” Go to Budweiser.com, and you’ll get the request, “ID please.” Absolut.com’s home page tells visitors, “You have to be over 21 to enter this site.” All three brands, like the rest of the alcohol industry, require visitors to type in a birth date to show they are of legal drinking age before entering their websites.
That, so parents and the rest of public are supposed to believe, is how alcohol companies keep their online marketing away from kids. Riiight. If only bars and restaurants allowed every customer ordering a drink to simply pop the cap off a Sharpie, write his or her birth date on a napkin and pass it to the bartender. Wrote down the wrong date? No problem — just cross it out and write down a new one. Or, in the online world, quit your browser and relaunch. It’s that easy.
If alcohol companies were only touting their products on company websites, the fact that the industry is flimsily self-regulated might not be much cause for alarm. The trouble is, according to a new report released last week from the Center for Digital Democracy and Berkeley Media Studies Group, they’re also saturating kid-popular websites like YouTube and Facebook with branded games, contests and viral videos, and tapping into people’s cell phones with apps and text messages. And research shows the marketing works.
Full Story: How Alcohol Companies Launched a Digital Campaign Against America’s Kids | Media and Culture | AlterNet.
Obama Administration on the Verge of Giant Sell-Out to Conservatives — How to Stop Them
George Lakoff:
The Obama Administration’s move to the right is about to give conservatives a victory they could not have anticipated, even under Bush: the privatization of public housing.
The Obama Administration’s move to the right is about to give conservatives a victory they could not have anticipated, even under Bush. HUD, under Obama, submitted legislation called PETRA to Congress that would result in the privatization of all public housing in America.
The new owners would charge ten percent above market rates to impoverished tenants, money that would be mostly paid by the US government (you and me, the taxpayers). To maintain the property, the new owners would take out a mortgage for building repair and maintenance (like a home equity loan), with no cap on interest rates.
With rents set above market rates, the mortgage risk would be attractive to banks. Either they make a huge profit on the mortgages paid for by the government. Or if the government lowers what it will pay for rents, the property goes into foreclosure. The banks get it and can sell it off to developers.
Sooner or later, the housing budget will be cut back and such foreclosures will happen. The structure of the proposal and the realities of Washington make it a virtual certainty.
Full Story: Obama Administration on the Verge of Giant Sell-Out to Conservatives — How to Stop Them | News & Politics | AlterNet.
The ‘Randslide’ and Its Discontents
Frank Rich:
IF there is one certain outcome to recent American elections, it’s this: The results will invariably prove most of the Beltway’s settled political narratives wrong.
Tuesday’s pre-midterms were no exception. We were told that all incumbents and Washington insiders were doomed, but Exhibit A, the defeat of Arlen Specter, was hardly a test case. The sui generis opportunist Specter lost to another incumbent, a congressman who has been a Democrat far longer than he has. We were also told — as we were, incessantly, in 2008 — that blue-collar white men in western Pennsylvania would flee the Democrats. But in the special House election there — Tuesday’s only Republican-vs.-Democrat battle — a million G.O.P. dollars and countless anti-Obama-Pelosi ads proved worthless. Not only did a Democrat win big, but that winner was a Washington insider’s insider, a longtime aide to the seat’s previous occupant, the quintessential pork baron John Murtha.
That said, it would be a mistake to overinterpret these results to spawn new, and equally bogus, narratives about rekindled Democratic prospects for November. The 2010 election was and is up for grabs. The only race with genuine long-term implications last week was Rand Paul’s victory by a margin of some 24 percentage points in Kentucky’s Republican senatorial primary.
The “Randslide,” in the triumphalist lingo favored by Sean Hannity at Fox News, was the Tea Party’s first major election victory. As Charles Hurt, another conservative commentator, wrote in another Rupert Murdoch organ, The New York Post, this was no “qualified” win by a moderate with Tea Party support, like Scott Brown in Massachusetts. “What we saw Tuesday night in Kentucky,” Hurt enthused, “was a pure, unalloyed victory for the Tea Party” in which “the son of the quirky congressman from Texas trounced the establishment candidate who had been groomed and supported by leaders at the highest levels of the Republican Party.”
Full Story: Op-Ed Columnist – The ‘Randslide’ and Its Discontents – NYTimes.com.
When being excommunicated is a badge of honor
The Catholic Church may have a new scandal to withstand or at the very least a PR nightmare along with the legitimate questioning of their moral authority while still reeling from an institutionalized child sexual molestation scandal playing out in public.
This involves the excommunication of Sister Margaret McBride a top administrator at St.Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix and someone who sits on the hospital’s ethics board.
The incident involved a 27 year old woman who was 11 weeks pregnant with her fifth child and who was admitted to the hospital because the pregnancy was causing her severe health problems.
The woman suffered from pulmonary hypertension and she was told by her doctors at the hospital that if she continued the pregnancy her prospects for dying were close to 100% . She was told that the baby would die also.
Full Story: When being excommunicated is a badge of honor.
Near-Record Numbers Protest New Jersey Budget Cuts Targeting Unions, Nonprofits
A crowd estimated at 30,000 to 35,000 people gathered Saturday near New Jersey’s Statehouse to protest Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed budget cuts.
State police, who gave the crowd estimate, said no problems were reported.
The crowd is believed to be one of the largest ever to protest in state history. It was mostly comprised of public employee union members and several community and nonprofit groups that would lose some or all their funding if Christie’s plans are adopted.
Christie has called for workers to accept wage freezes, and he’s pushed for them to contribute toward their health benefits. The governor was not in the Statehouse on Saturday and was not at the rally.
He has said that protesters have a right to speak their minds.
Full Story: Near-Record Numbers Protest New Jersey Budget Cuts Targeting Unions, Nonprofits.
Obama’s Failures:An oil spill or man made volcanic vent of crude oil?
The first and foremost lie by BP coddled, encouraged and used by the Obama administration is the phrase, OIL SPILL.
The Gulf Coast catastrophe is NOT AN OIL SPILL. Stop using the phrase. The phrase might roll off the tongue better but it is not a spill. Let’s say Old Faithful is hot water spill.
In an LA Times investigation, a dozen experts with knowledge of offshore drilling, including one who has seen BP investigation documents, agreed that, deep in the well, cement, or pipes encased by cement, had to have failed first.
Several have specifically fingered BP’s design for that cement job, which used relatively little cement and relied on an unusual configuration that made it harder to test for imperfections, they said.
Cementing is supposed to form an impenetrable seal to keep the hot, gassy oil from surging up the well. But a single flaw in that seal, perhaps a crack the size of a human hair, can be enough to unleash a volcano of petroleum.
The Gulf Coast disaster is an unmitigated man made deep water volcanic vent of crude oil and gas.
Full Story: City Brights: Yobie Benjamin : Obama’s 10 failures: An oil spill or man made volcanic vent of crude oil?.
32 States Now Officially Bankrupt
32 States Have Borrowed from the Federal Government to Make Unemployment Payments; California Has Borrowed $7 Billion
EconomicPolicyJournal.com has learned that 32 states have run out funds to make unemployment benefit payments and that the federal government has been supplying these states with funds so that they can make their payments to the unemployed. In some cases, states have borrowed billions. As of May 20, the total balance outstanding by 32 states (and the Virgin Islands) is $37.8 billion.
The state of California has borrowed $6.9 billion. Michigan has borrowed $3.9 billion, Illinois $2.2 billion.
Below is the full list of the 32 states (and the Virgin Islands) that have borrowed from the federal government to make unemployment payments, and the amounts that remain borrowed as of May 20 . (Numbers in red are billions)
AIG Executives Won’t Face Criminal Charges
Federal prosecutors will not bring criminal charges against current and former American International Group Inc. executives for their role surrounding financial contracts that nearly brought down the insurer about two years ago, according to people familiar with the matter.
The decision brings to a close a criminal investigation that, while mostly under wraps, was widely followed. The September 2008 bailout of AIG was one of the biggest and most shocking of the financial crisis, as trading by a noninsurance unit brought down one of the most iconic financial companies world-wide.
The probe focused on Joseph Cassano, who headed a London-based unit of AIG called Financial Products, people familiar with the matter have said. Other executives at the unit, Andrew Forster and Tom Athan, also were targets of the investigation, these people said.
“The system worked,” said lawyers F. Joseph Warin and Jim Walden of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, who represent Mr. Cassano, in a statement on Friday. “The large group of federal agents and prosecutors was diligent and professional throughout the investigation, and our client is grateful that they did their jobs by following the facts to the end.”
Full Story: AIG Executives Won’t Face Criminal Charges – WSJ.com.
HUD is Trying to Privatize and Mortgage Off All of America’s Public Housing
The Obama Administration’s move to the right is about to give conservatives a victory they could not have anticipated, even under Bush. HUD, under Obama, submitted legislation called PETRA to Congress that would result in the privatization of all public housing in America.
The new owners would charge ten percent above market rates to impoverished tenants, money that would be mostly paid by the US government (you and me, the taxpayers). To maintain the property, the new owners would take out a mortgage for building repair and maintenance (like a home equity loan), with no cap on interest rates.
With rents set above market rates, the mortgage risk would be attractive to banks. Either they make a huge profit on the mortgages paid for by the government. Or if the government lowers what it will pay for rents, the property goes into foreclosure. The banks get it and can sell it off to developers.
Full Story: HUD is Trying to Privatize and Mortgage Off All of America’s Public Housing | CommonDreams.org.
Economic report into biodiversity crisis reveals price of consuming the planet
Species losses around the world could really cost us the Earth with food shortages, floods and expensive clean up costs
In every corner of the globe the evidence of the global biodiversity crisis is now impossible to ignore.
In the UK, a third of high priority species and two thirds of habitats are declining, according to government figures that emerged today on the UK’s Biodiversity Action Plan. Since 1994 despite the extra attention provided by the plan, 5% of the species it covered are thought to have gone extinct.
Around the world the picture is as bad or worse: the International Union for the Conservation of Nature believes one in five mammals, one in three amphibians and one in seven birds are extinct or globally threatened, and other species groups still being assessed are showing similar patterns.
Full Story: Economic report into biodiversity crisis reveals price of consuming the planet | Environment | The Guardian.
Obama Fail: Month After Oil Gusher, Why is BP Still In Charge?
Days after the Gulf Coast oil spill, the Obama administration pledged to keep its “boot on the throat” of BP to make sure the company did all it could to cap the gushing leak and clean up the spill.
But a month after the April 20 explosion, anger is growing about why BP PLC is still in charge of the response.
“I’m tired of being nice. I’m tired of working as a team,” said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana.
“The government should have stepped in and not just taken BP’s word,” declared Wayne Stone of Marathon, Fla., an avid diver who worries about the spill’s effect on the ecosystem.
Full Story: Obama Fail: Month After Oil Gusher, Why is BP Still In Charge? | CommonDreams.org.
Kentucky GOP urges Rand Paul to avoid national spotlight
In public, Senate candidate Rand Paul’s Republican colleagues have tried to contextualize his controversial comments about anti-discrimination laws and the Obama administration’s handling of the Gulf Coast oil spill, but privately they bemoan the political newcomer’s gaffes and wish he’d focus less on the national media spotlight and more on Kentucky and the economy.
“In any campaign there’s going to be a few bumps,” said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Paul didn’t return calls requesting comment.
In an indication that he was heeding advice to limit his national exposure, Betsy Fischer, the executive producer of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Tweeted late Friday afternoon that Paul said he was having “a tough week” and was trying to cancel his scheduled appearance on the show this Sunday. According to Fischer, such cancellations are rare, and only Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia have ever nixed planned appearances.
Full Story: Kentucky GOP urges Rand Paul to avoid national spotlight | McClatchy.
In U.S., Increasing Number Have No Religious Identity
Americans have become increasingly less tied to formal religion in recent decades, with the percentage saying they do not have a specific religious identity growing from near zero in the 1950s to 16% this year and last.
This upward trend in the percentage having no religious identity has been evident for a number of years in Gallup and other surveys.
Gallup began systematically tracking religion using this measure in 1948, asking Americans to name the major religion with which they personally identified. At that point, 2% of Americans volunteered “no religion” and another 3% had an otherwise undesignated religious identity. In 1949 and in the 1950s and 1960s, these percentages stayed low. The number of Americans with no formal religious identity began to increase in the 1970s, reaching 11% by 1990. After some fluctuations over the last two decades, 16% of Americans now say they have no religious identity or have an otherwise undesignated response.
Gallup’s 53-year trend on this measure represents nearly a quarter of the history of the United States as an independent country. There is no systematic way of comparing this trend with what may have been the case stretching back to the earliest post-Revolutionary War days. The best conclusion therefore is that Americans are more likely now than at previous times since World War II to say “no religion” when queried in traditional fashion about their religious identity.
Full Story: In U.S., Increasing Number Have No Religious Identity.
Qatar’s offer to help rebuild Gaza is snubbed by Netanyahu
Israel has turned down an offer from Qatar for a reopening of diplomatic contacts between the two countries in return for the Gulf state being allowed to import supplies to Gaza to carry out a series of badly needed reconstruction projects.
Qatar had proposed a major thawing of relations between the two countries in which Israel would have been allowed to reopen its official interests office, shut down on the orders of the emirate during the military onslaught on Gaza in January 2009.
But in return it wanted an easing of the three-year blockade of Gaza to allow a major increase in imports of cement and construction materials to start rebuilding war-ravaged sectors of the besieged territory.
Full Story: Qatar’s offer to help rebuild Gaza is snubbed by Netanyahu – Middle East, World – The Independent.
Dylan Ratigan: Four Things Worth Supporting In Financial Reform Bill (VIDEO)
While the financial reform bill passed by the Senate does not address the root causes of the financial collapse, it’s not entirely worthless, according to Dylan Ratigan.
During “The Dylan Ratigan Show” on Friday, Ratigan selected four of the most worthy features of the legislation and urged viewers to call on lawmakers to support them when the House and Senate meet to hash out the final language.
Ratigan endorsed the following:
Sen. Al Franken’s amendment regulating ratings agencies
Called the “Restore Integrity To Credit Ratings,” Franken’s amendment would establish a regulatory board to select the credit rating firm that issues a security’s first credit rating.
Sen. Susan Collins’ capital requirements
Passed unanimously, Sen. Collins’ amendment would require regulators to take into account a financial institution’s risk when assessing capital requirements. Collins’ amendment would also set capital requirements for bank holding companies that would be as strict as those for insured banks, reports Reuters.
Full Story: Dylan Ratigan: Four Things Worth Supporting In Financial Reform Bill (VIDEO).
Mark Souder and the Duplicity Inherent in ‘Family Values’
It's hard to watch the YouTube video of Rep. Mark Souder and part-time staffer Tracy Jackson talking about Souder's unwavering commitment to abstinence education. Souder is the latest family-values guy to get poisoned with his own venom, as we find out that he and Jackson had an affair. This grown man, with a wife and children, could not do what he was asking hormonal prom-goers to do — abstain. In the video, Jackson seems to be intelligent and poised, playing the role of newscaster as well as she plays the role of a no-sex champ. It makes me cringe to see this made-for-Christian-TV video in which Rep. Souder pat himself on the back for standing up for abstinence, while talking to his mistress. But it doesn't surprise me. I grew up in that Christian Right world, and I know it's full of opportunities to be bitten.
Souder was part of the House Republican class of 1994, when we began to hear the “family values” message reverberating through our political and religious landscapes.I certainly heard it, at least. In the early 90s, I was young and a student at a Bible college. I remember one afternoon in particular when I sneaked out of the dorms to go to the beach with my friends, six other Christian college students, most of whom were from out of town. The women were from prominent families. Their fathers were pastors of large conservative churches and Evangelical institutions. All of our parents were in the thick of planning for the Republican Revolution, armed with a pro-life, pro-abstinence, and anti-gay agenda. Most of these women were at a Bible college not because they were aspiring to have great careers in the church, but because they were hoping to find men with similar values so that they could become wives, mothers, and supporters their husbands' careers. I, on the other hand, was a budding feminist, wrestling in the conservative Evangelical milieu. I liked these women. Even as I look back, I have a great fondness for them. Their hopes were different from mine, and I often became frustrated by their willingness to place all their own career ambitions aside for a man. But they were clever, witty, and beautiful. Their families were powerful for a reason, and as we approached the Oak Street Beach, I even felt a bit intimidated by them.
Full Story: Carol Howard Merritt: Mark Souder and the Duplicity Inherent in ‘Family Values’.
Vitamin D: Why You Are Probably NOT Getting Enough and How That Makes You Sick
What vitamin may we need in amounts up to 25 times higher than the government recommends for us to be healthy?
What vitamin deficiency affects 70-80 percent of the population, is almost never diagnosed and has been linked to many cancers, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, depression,(i) fibromyalgia, chronic muscle pain, bone loss and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis?(ii)
What vitamin is almost totally absent from our food supply?
What vitamin is the hidden cause of much suffering that is easy to treat?
The answer to all of these questions is vitamin D.
Over the last 15 years of my practice, my focus has been to discover what the body needs to function optimally. Vitamin D, a nutrient (more of a hormone and gene modulator) is a critical, essential ingredient for health and optimal function. The problem is that most of us don’t have enough of it because we work and live indoors, use sun block and can’t get enough from our diet–even in fortified foods.
Full Story: Mark Hyman, MD: Vitamin D: Why You Are Probably NOT Getting Enough and How That Makes You Sick.
Mark Kurland, Former Top Executive, Sentenced To Two Years In Prison Over Insider Trading
A former top executive at a $1 billion hedge fund investment firm was sentenced to more than two years in prison Friday in the first sentencing to result from what prosecutors have called the largest hedge fund insider trading case in history.
Mark Kurland, 61, of Mount Kisco, N.Y., was sentenced Friday to two years and three months in prison and ordered to forfeit the $900,000 he made through illegal trades by a judge who blamed the attitudes of people like Kurland on the country’s financial collapse two years ago.
U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said Kurland, a co-founder of New Castle Partners hedge fund in Manhattan, “frankly should have known better” than to join an inside trading scheme that led to the arrests of top executives including one-time billionaire Raj Rajaratnam.
Full Story: Mark Kurland, Former Top Executive, Sentenced To Two Years In Prison Over Insider Trading.
Corporate PACs betting on Republicans to regain control of Congress
Corporate America is gambling on the minority in its political giving this year, assuming that Republicans will win big in the November midterm elections, an analysis of campaign finance reports shows.
The pattern represents a distinct change from a year ago, when President Obama was sworn into office. Back then, corporate political action committees made a shift to the Democrats, giving 58 percent of their donations to the party. So far this year, 48 percent of the contributions from big business are going to the Democrats.
The shift in political giving represents a calculated gamble by lobbyists and executives overseeing corporate largesse that the Republican Party may regain control of Congress, say GOP fundraisers and political consultants.
Full Story: Corporate PACs betting on Republicans to regain control of Congress.
Strontium-90 found in soil at Vermont nuke plant
Vermont Yankee officials say that while cleaning up after a leak of radioactive tritium at the nuclear power plant, they found another, more potent radioactive isotope in soil near where the leak occurred.
Strontium-90 is a byproduct of nuclear fission that has been linked to cancer and leukemia.
Vermont Yankee spokesman Larry Smith said Friday that the substance hasn’t been found in any groundwater and plant officials believe they’ve removed all the soil containing it. He said they believe it poses no threat to public safety or health. Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Wendy Davis didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment late Friday.
New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. owns the plant.
Full Story: Nation & World | Strontium-90 found in soil at Vermont nuke plant | Seattle Times Newspaper.
OPS: is it all going to come down at once? And don’t forget kids, unlike the Oil industry, the American Taxpayer insures these little time bombs
Whatever Germany does, the euro as we know it is dead
Angela Merkel’s ban on short-selling is just a distraction from the horror to come
For Angela Merkel, leader of the eurozone’s richest country, a queue is forming of high-quality adversaries. As she tips German Geld und Gut into the furnace of a rescue package for the euro, while going it alone in a misguided ban on market “manipulators”, the brass-neck Chancellor has infuriated domestic voters, angered her EU partners (in particular the French) and invited the so-called wolf pack of global traders to do its worst.
In one respect, Mrs Merkel is right: “The euro is in danger… if the euro fails, then Europe fails.” What she has not yet admitted publicly is that the main cause of the single currency’s peril appears beyond her control and therefore her impetuous response to its crisis of confidence is doomed to fail.
The euro has many flaws, but its weakest link is Greece, whose fundamental problem is that for years it spent too much, earned too little and plugged the gap by borrowing in order to enjoy a rich man’s lifestyle. It flouted EU rules on the limits to budget deficits; its national accounts were a moussaka of minced statistics, topped with a cheesy sauce of jiggery-pokery.
Full Story: Whatever Germany does, the euro as we know it is dead – Telegraph.
Courts quash cuts, add to state’s budget woes
Courts in recent years have crushed attempts by California to cut spending by billions of dollars and have forced the state to spend hundreds of millions more than planned.
Designated cuts to health and human services that were rejected by federal courts alone have resulted in $4.5 billion in lost savings over the past three years, according to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration.
Prison health care costs have doubled to more than $1.9 billion since 2006, when a federal judge ordered a federal receiver to take control of prison health services.
“The judicial branch is now a full player in the budget because the decisions they are making have an impact on what the governor and Legislature can or cannot do,” said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the Department of Finance. “The judiciary does not have to deal with the fiscal consequence of the rulings – they say you can’t do a spending reduction, but we have to come up with another $100 million in cuts somewhere else.”
Full Story: Courts quash cuts, add to state’s budget woes.
Finance/Insurance/Real Estate: Top Recipients | OpenSecrets
Top 20 Recipients
Rank Candidate Office Amount
1 Obama, Barack (D) Senate $39,714,294
2 McCain, John (R) Senate $29,040,671
3 Clinton, Hillary (D-NY) Senate $20,297,474
4 Romney, Mitt (R) $13,737,107
5 Giuliani, Rudolph W (R) $13,425,659
6 Dodd, Chris (D-CT) Senate $5,965,036
7 Richardson, Bill (D) $2,924,102
8 Coleman, Norm (R-MN) Senate $2,817,640
9 McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) Senate $2,428,158
10 Warner, Mark (D-VA) $2,359,629
11 Edwards, John (D) $2,126,362
12 Cornyn, John (R-TX) Senate $2,097,448
13 Thompson, Fred (R) $1,951,604
14 Sununu, John E (R-NH) Senate $1,804,380
15 Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) Senate $1,723,028
16 Baucus, Max (D-MT) Senate $1,624,625
17 Biden, Joseph R Jr (D-DE) Senate $1,617,986
18 Dole, Elizabeth (R-NC) Senate $1,545,541
19 Rangel, Charles B (D-NY) House $1,360,119
20 Durbin, Dick (D-IL) Senate $1,356,933
Full Story: Finance/Insurance/Real Estate: Top Recipients | OpenSecrets.
With financial reform Obama proves he’s not too big to fail
Alan Grayson appeared on the Dylan Ratigan show and was asked a simple question: why is it that there is nothing in the financial reform legislation that eliminates, or bans derivatives, the financial instruments that caused the economic crisis in the first place and created the need for tax payer bail outs or any other strong reforms that would dramaticlly reform the banking system ?
Grayson honestly answered that, in the words of one senator, ” the banks run the place”, ( meaning Washington) and that this is more a government “of Wall Street, by Wall Street and for Wall Street”. When Ratigan asked if that included the White House, Grayson conceded that it did and said he was “disappointed” in Obama that he did not push for legislation that would prevent a “too big to fail” scenario and a banning of the derevitive market.
This all came on the heels of Obama making a speech in the Rose Garden touting the financial reform legislation that he backed and which was passed by the senate. And during his speech he virtually re-enforced both Ratigan’s and Grayson’s point that Obama had backed legislation that was more for the banks than people. Obama said that this legislation was good because “we needed legislation that wasn’t one sided and all to the the benefit of Main Street and not Wall Street”. He then defended banks and the financial markets by saying that when they succeed we all succeed.
Full Story: With financial reform Obama proves he’s not too big to fail.
Civil unrest in Jamaica imminent
‘He is seen as a saviour – they are prepared to die for him’
The long-awaited extradition of drug kingpin Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke to the US is now threatening to spill over into violence on the streets of Kingston. David Usborne reports
He is only one man and, according to the authorities in the United States, a thoroughly crooked one. Yet he inspires to-the-death loyalty among his supporters and has brought the government of his country to the brink of collapse. Though for that, at least, Christopher “Dudus” Coke perhaps can’t be blamed.
The trouble in Jamaica, after all, has been brewing since last August, when the government of Prime Minister Bruce Golding got the call from the US Justice Department. Mr Coke, 41, was on America’s wanted list of global drug kingpins and they were formally requesting his extradition to the US to stand trial, and quickly.
The stalling lasted almost nine months. Then last week, the government, after being caught in an embarrassing lie about the hiring of an American law firm to lobby Washington to withdraw the extradition request, finally acquiesced. An arrest warrant for Coke was issued
Full Story: ‘He is seen as a saviour – they are prepared to die for him’ – Americas, World – The Independent.
Iran to ship uranium to Turkey in nuclear deal
Iran agreed Monday to ship most of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in a surprise nuclear fuel swap deal that could ease the international standoff over the country’s disputed atomic program and deflate a U.S.-led push for tougher sanctions.
The deal, which was reached in talks with Brazil and Turkey, was similar to a U.N.-drafted plan that Washington and its allies have been pressing Tehran for the past six months to accept in order to deprive Iran — at least temporarily — of enough stocks of enriched uranium to produce a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which claims its nuclear program is peaceful, dropped several key demands that had previously blocked agreement. In return for agreeing to ship most of its uranium stockpile abroad, it would receive fuel rods of medium-enriched uranium to use in a Tehran medical research reactor that produces isotopes for cancer treatment. It was not immediately clear what would happen to the stockpile once the fuel rods were received.
Full Story: Iran to ship uranium to Turkey in nuclear deal – Yahoo! News.
Exclusive: FBI probed Harvey Milk, George Moscone prior to their murders
Federal agents were investigating the late San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and the late mayor of San Francisco George Moscone for alleged political corruption when both men were murdered in November 1978, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation files.
The man convicted of killing both men, then-Supervisor Dan White, was also the subject of a separate FBI political corruption probe before he gunned down Moscone and Milk at San Francisco’s City Hall.
Agents in the FBI’s San Francisco bureau were looking into whether Moscone and Milk had collaborated to “defraud the federally sponsored San Francisco Community Development Fund,” according to documents obtained by San Francisco blogger and gay rights activist Michael Petrelis. (The relevant pages from those documents can be seen here.)
FBI officials were also investigating whether Moscone had received $10,000 “for favorable treatment in the building of a controversial McDonald’s restaurant,” according to the files.
Full Story: Exclusive: FBI probed Harvey Milk, George Moscone prior to their murders | Raw Story.
How Stagnant Pools of Government Money Could Help Save the Economy
Ellen Brown:
a massive conspiracy and cover-up, involving trillions of dollars squirreled away in funds maintained at every level of government.
For over a decade, accountant Walter Burien has been trying to rouse the public over what he contends is a massive conspiracy and cover-up, involving trillions of dollars squirreled away in funds maintained at every level of government. His numbers may be disputed, but these funds definitely exist, as evidenced by the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs) required of every government agency. If they don’t represent a concerted government conspiracy, what are they for? And how can they be harnessed more efficiently to help allay the financial crises of state and local governments?
The Elusive CAFR Money
Burien is a former commodity trading adviser who has spent many years peering into government books. He notes that the government is composed of 54,000 different state, county and local government entities, including school districts, public authorities, and the like, and that these entities all keep their financial assets in liquid investment funds, bond financing accounts and corporate stock portfolios. The only income that must be reported in government budgets is that from taxes, fines and fees; but the investments of government entities can be found in official annual reports (CAFRs), which must be filed with the federal government by local, county and state governments. These annual reports show that virtually every US city, county and state has vast amounts of money stashed away in surplus funds. Burien maintains that these slush funds have been kept concealed from taxpayers, even as taxes are being raised and citizens are being told to expect fewer government services.
Burien was originally alerted to this information by Lt. Col. Gerald Klatt, who evidently died in 2004 under mysterious circumstances, adding fuel to claims of conspiracy and cover-up. Klatt was a an Air Force auditor and federal accountant, and it’s not impossible that he may have gotten too close to some military stash being used for nefarious ends. But it is hard to envision how all the municipal governments hording their excess money in separate funds could be complicit in a massive government conspiracy. Still, if that is not what is going on, why such an inefficient use of public monies?
Full Story: t r u t h o u t | How Stagnant Pools of Government Money Could Help Save the Economy.
More Than Just an Oil Spill
Bob Herbert:
The warm, soft winds coming in off the gulf have lost their power to soothe. Anxiety is king now — all along the coast.
“You can’t sleep no more; that’s how bad it is,” said John Blanchard, an oyster fisherman whose life has been upended by the monstrous oil spill fouling an enormous swath of the Gulf of Mexico. He shook his head. “My wife and I have got two kids, 2 and 7. We could lose everything we’ve been working all of our lives for.”
I was standing on a gently rocking oyster boat with Mr. Blanchard and several other veteran fishermen who still seemed stunned by the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Instead of harvesting oysters, they were out on the water distributing oil retention booms and doing whatever else they could to bolster the coastline’s meager defenses against the oil making its way ominously and relentlessly, like an invading army, toward the area’s delicate and heartbreakingly vulnerable wetlands.
Full Story: Op-Ed Columnist – More Than Just an Oil Spill – NYTimes.com.
Scientists: Timor Sea metorite altered Earth’s climate
Australian scientists have discovered a crater deep beneath the Timor Sea made during a heavy meteor storm which may have altered the Earth’s climate, the lead researcher said Thursday.
Australian National University archaeologist Andrew Glikson said seismic activity led experts to the Mount Ashmore 1B site, and a study of fragments showed a large meteorite hit just before the Earth’s temperatures plunged.
“The identification of microstructural and chemical features in drill fragments taken from the Mount Ashmore drill hole revealed evidence of a significant impact,” Glikson said, adding it was at least 50 kilometres (31 miles) wide and about 35 million years old.
Full Story: Scientists: Timor Sea metorite altered Earth’s climate | Raw Story.
Obama establishes commission to investigate Gulf oil gusher
President Barack Obama announced on Saturday the establishment of an independent presidential commission to probe a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has already shut down a popular tourist beach in Louisiana.
As Grand Isle, Louisiana, closed its seven-mile beach to clean up an orange-liquidy slick washing ashore, the president moved to prevent similar disasters in the future.
The main task of the bipartisan body, formed by an executive order, is to provide recommendations on how the oil industry can prevent — and mitigate the impact of — any future spills that result from offshore drilling.
“Now, this catastrophe is unprecedented in its nature, and it presents a host of new challenges we are working to address,” Obama said in his weekly radio address as he announced the formation of the commission.
Full Story: Obama establishes commission to investigate Gulf oil gusher | Raw Story.
Ex-wrestling exec, pol who falsely claimed Vietnam service will vie to replace Sen. Dodd | Raw Story
Actual war hero defeated by Republican McMahon supporters still got enough votes to force another poll
Criticism aimed at Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal wasn’t enough to keep him from securing the Democratic nomination for Christopher Dodd’s U.S. Senate seat but was sufficient to help political unknown and ex-wrestling executive Linda McMahon get the GOP nod.
Blumenthal and McMahon won their party nominations at conventions Friday for the post that the Democratic senator has held since 1981. Dodd is retiring.
Blumenthal easily captured the nomination despite recent criticism for misstating his military record during Vietnam.
Full Story: Ex-wrestling exec, pol who falsely claimed Vietnam service will vie to replace Sen. Dodd | Raw Story.
Crist: I stand by my opposition to Sotomayor, even though I can’t remember what it was.
In July 2009 — when he was still running in the Republican U.S. Senate primary against Marco Rubio — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) said that he opposed President Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court because he had “strong concerns that Judge Sotomayor would not strictly and objectively construe the Constitution and lacks respect for the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.” The Miami Herald recently asked Crist whether he still stands by his opposition to Sotomayor. Crist said he did, but when pressed on why, he said he couldn’t remember:
Full Story: Think Progress » Crist: I stand by my opposition to Sotomayor, even though I can’t remember what it was..
Grayson introduces ‘War Is Making You Poor Act’ to highlight cost of ongoing wars.
Video:
Today, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) introduced bipartisan legislation called the “War Is Making You Poor Act,” which aims to call attention to a) how much money is being spent to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and b) how budget gimmicks are used to pay for them. Grayson’s legislation would slash the $159 billion request for supplemental war funding and use that money to deliver a tax break for all Americans. Grayson demands the Pentagon use its currently existing $549 billion defense budget to fight the wars. Speaking on the House floor today, Grayson underscored that the point of his legislation is to highlight the costs of the wars:
GRAYSON: So I believe that the thing we need to do is to take that $159 billion that the President has set aside – we’re not saying he has to stop the war, we’re not giving a cut-off date for the war – we’re simply saying you need to fund that out of the base budget of $549 billion. And we take 90 percent of that and give it back to the American people.
And I think most people would be surprised to learn that that is so much money that we’ve been spending on the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq that every single taxpayer in America will be get his first or her first $35,000 of income completely tax free.
Watch
Full Story: Think Progress » Grayson introduces ‘War Is Making You Poor Act’ to highlight cost of ongoing wars..
Rand Paul Cancels His Meet The Press Interview
Kentucky Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul has been lampooned in recent days for his radical anti-government views. First, he expressed opposition to parts of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act. Today, he attacked President Obama’s criticism of BP as “un-American,” and refused to say whether or not the minimum wage is legal. MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell joked that Paul is the “gift that keeps on giving.”
But he is giving no more. He “simply does not want to answer direct questions about the proper role of the Federal government in regulating the private sector,” the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent noted. “He visibly bristles when asked to clarify his views on these matters,” Sargent added.
After his upset victory Tuesday night, Paul agreed to appear on NBC’s Meet The Press Sunday for what would surely be wide ranging interview that would delve into these issues:
Full Story: Think Progress » Rand Paul Cancels His Meet The Press Interview.
BP’s name being dragged ‘literally through the muck.’
Yesterday, BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles expressed his optimism that both his company and the Gulf will “will fully recover.” While BP’s handsome profits will almost assuredly allow the company to survive the disaster, the impact on the Gulf caused by the release of 60 million gallons of oil is another matter. The ecological catastrophe will drag “BP’s reputation literally through the muck,” observes The Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson. Some images from the Gulf region:
Full Story: Think Progress » BP’s name being dragged ‘literally through the muck.’.
OPS: like Blackwater – watch for BP to change it’s name and keep on going….
EPA Orders BP to Halt Use of Dispersants on Oil Spill
Environmental regulators today ordered BP to halt its use of a chemical dispersant on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar warned that damage caused by the gushing well could be “catastrophic” for the region.
The Environmental Protection Agency said BP must find a less toxic chemical than it has been pumping into the gulf to disperse the oil. The chemical in use until now is approved by the EPA, but the agency said today the company must find an alternative because it's being used in such vast quantities, some of it at the seabed.
“Because of its use in unprecedented volumes and because much is unknown about the underwater use of dispersants, EPA wants to ensure BP is using the least toxic product authorized for use,” the agency said in a statement.
Full Story: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Says BP ‘On the Hook’ for Gulf of Mexico Oil Catastrophe – AOL News.
Oil Spill: White House on Defense as Management Criticism Mounts
One month after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, as hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil continue to flood into the Gulf of Mexico, the situation just keeps getting messier. This week, the Obama administration came under fire for its handling of what some have posited may be one of the worst environmental disasters in the modern era. In congressional testimony on Wednesday, leading scientists criticized the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for “failing to conduct adequate scientific analysis of the spill and allowing BP to obscure the spill’s true scope.” At present, there is still no confirmed estimate of how much oil is flowing into the Gulf, with estimates ranging from 5,000 barrels to 70,000 barrels a day.
Pressed for a response as to why the administration has not been more forceful in demanding an accurate analysis of the oil flow, on Thursday White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, “There are people that are looking at that. I assume, quite frankly, there may be different estimates at different times . . . Our response is not predicated off of the flow. It is predicated off of the notion that you have a catastrophic event.” He further alluded to the difficulty of assessing the flow, saying, “You’re talking about an incident that is 5,000 feet below the surface of the sea, and a well that is an additional four miles below that one-mile surface.”
A spokesman for BP explained the difficulty in assessment by saying, “Introducing more equipment into the immediate vicinity [of the leak] would represent an unacceptable risk.”
Full Story: Oil Spill: White House on Defense as Management Criticism Mounts.
Lost Decade Looming?
Paul Krugman:
Despite a chorus of voices claiming otherwise, we aren’t Greece. We are, however, looking more and more like Japan.
For the past few months, much commentary on the economy — some of it posing as reporting — has had one central theme: policy makers are doing too much. Governments need to stop spending, we’re told. Greece is held up as a cautionary tale, and every uptick in the interest rate on U.S. government bonds is treated as an indication that markets are turning on America over its deficits. Meanwhile, there are continual warnings that inflation is just around the corner, and that the Fed needs to pull back from its efforts to support the economy and get started on its “exit strategy,” tightening credit by selling off assets and raising interest rates.
And what about near-record unemployment, with long-term unemployment worse than at any time since the 1930s? What about the fact that the employment gains of the past few months, although welcome, have, so far, brought back fewer than 500,000 of the more than 8 million jobs lost in the wake of the financial crisis? Hey, worrying about the unemployed is just so 2009.
But the truth is that policy makers aren’t doing too much; they’re doing too little. Recent data don’t suggest that America is heading for a Greece-style collapse of investor confidence. Instead, they suggest that we may be heading for a Japan-style lost decade, trapped in a prolonged era of high unemployment and slow growth.
Full Story: Op-Ed Columnist – Lost Decade Looming? – NYTimes.com.
Rand Paul: WH criticism of BP sounds ‘un-American’
Kentucky’s Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul is criticizing President Barack Obama’s handling of the gulf oil debacle as putting “his boot heel on the throat of BP.”
Paul says Obama’s criticism of the oil company sounds like an attack on business and “really un-American.”
In an interview Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Paul says the president’s response is part of the “blame game” that’s played in the U.S. Paul said that leads to the thinking that tragic incidents are “always someone’s fault” and added, sometimes accidents just happen.
Paul began the interview on the defensive when GMA host George Stephanopoulos tried to clarify Paul’s position on whether civil rights laws should apply to private businesses. Paul, who won the Kentucky GOP primary Tuesday, asked when his honeymoon with the media started.
Full Story: The Associated Press: Rand Paul: WH criticism of BP sounds ‘un-American’.
OPS: so, what happened to responsibility and accountability there Rand?
Financial Reform Supporters Vow Senate Vote Is ‘Not The End’ To Wall Street Regulation
The Senate has approved a bill that would impose sweeping new regulations on the financial industry. But some reform advocates argue that the legislation doesn’t go far enough — and promise to come back to enact further new reforms.
Senators Thursday passed a legislative package of financial reforms that they’ve had under consideration for three weeks by a vote of 59-39, with four Republicans joining Democrats in giving their bill their approval.
The vote brings President Obama to the brink of his second major legislative victory in a year, after enacting a new healthcare law in March. Obama has long sought new financial regulations to prevent another meltdown such that which occurred in 2008 and resulted in massive taxpayer-funded bailouts of industry. Lawmakers must now reconcile the Senate version with a somewhat-different bill that the House approved last year in a conference committee and then approve a single, final bill that can be sent to Obama’s desk for the president to sign into law.
Full Story: On The Hill: Financial Reform Supporters Vow Senate Vote Is ‘Not The End’ To Wall Street Regulation.
EPA Officials Weigh Sanctions Against BP’s U.S. Operations
Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency are considering whether to bar BP from receiving government contracts, a move that would ultimately cost the company billions in revenue and could end its drilling in federally controlled oil fields.
Over the past 10 years, BP has paid tens of millions of dollars in fines and been implicated in four separate instances of criminal misconduct that could have prompted this far more serious action. Until now, the company’s executives and their lawyers have fended off such a penalty by promising that BP would change its ways.
That strategy may no longer work.
Full Story: On The Hill: EPA Officials Weigh Sanctions Against BP’s U.S. Operations.
OPS: Time for the Corporate Death Penalty
Executive Order Expected to Raise Fuel Standards
President Obama has decided to use his executive power to order tougher fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, accelerating the fight against climate change without waiting for Congress, administration officials said Thursday.
Mr. Obama plans to announce on Friday that he is ordering the creation of a new national policy that will result in less greenhouse-gas pollution from medium- and heavy-duty trucks for the first time and will further reduce exhaust from cars and light-duty trucks beyond the requirements he has already put in place.
Under rules that were eventually formalized last month, new cars have to meet a combined city and highway fuel economy average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. The administration said the new rules would cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases by about 30 percent from 2012 to 2016.
The plan Mr. Obama will announce on Friday will order further improvements in fuel efficiency for cars and light trucks made in 2017 and beyond, and in medium and heavy trucks made in 2014 through 2018.
Full Story: Executive Order Expected to Raise Fuel Standards – NYTimes.com.
…it’s going to take 20 years to develop more efficient truck engines saving 3.7 miles per gallon?? AND, this is his response to the spill????? Really??????????
A Closing of the Conservative Mind?
In an election year when Republicans are mounting a comeback, the last thing they need is in-fighting among conservatives. But that’s precisely what is happening thanks to a series of exchanges kicked off by a blog post from Cato research fellow Julian Sanchez, who is warning of a closing of the conservative mind. The firestorm that has ensued has become something of a spectator sport, with, among others, Andrew Sullivan writing regular posts called “Epistemic Closure Watch” at the Daily Dish.
Although Sanchez admits he didn’t intend to coin a phrase with “epistemic closure,” he meant to point out the ways in which conservative media had “stopped engaging in a useful, corrective way with the larger public conversation and congealed into this interconnected and self-contained alternate universe, itself insulated from factual correction by a narrative that says, essentially all non-movement information sources are not just slanted a bit to the left, but barely distinguishable from the old Soviet Pravda.”
Epistemic closure has another meaning in philosophy that Sanchez says he’s forgotten about and was “probably jangling around in the back of my head.” Possibly also the philosopher Colin McGinn’s phrase “cognitive closure,” which has a meaning much closer to what I was talking about – although McGinn’s talking about domains of knowledge where our brains are just wired in a way that makes it impossible for us to acquire certain kinds of knowledge.
Full Story: t r u t h o u t | A Closing of the Conservative Mind?.
Texas education board approves social studies curriculum
The State Board of Education Board, ending nearly two years of politically divisive deliberations, approved new social studies curriculum standards for the state’s 4.7 million students despite vigorous objections from the board’s five minority members.
The revisions have drawn national attention amid complaints that conservative Republicans on the board are attempting to alter history and trying to inject their political beliefs into the curriculum. Minorities reiterated assertions that the standards obscured ignored the role of Hispanics and African-Americans in Texas history and gloss over generations of abuses.
Several minority members, previewing their intentions to vote against the curriculum standards, denounced the document and made an unsuccessful push to delay the final vote on the high school curriculum until the next board meeting in July.
Full Story: Texas education board approves social studies curriculum | McClatchy.
Hague Orders Probe Into Whether U.K. Agents Colluded in Torture
Foreign Secretary William Hague ordered a judicial inquiry into claims U.K. intelligence agencies were complicit in the torture of terrorist suspects overseas.
Hague, a member of the Conservative-led coalition that took power after May 6 elections, had supported calls for an inquiry while in opposition last year. Binyam Mohamed, a former Guantanamo detainee and U.K. resident, alleges he was tortured with the collusion of British officials while held in the Guantanamo Bay prison.
The previous Labour government rejected the claims and argued in a series of cases that releasing information about Mohamed’s treatment could damage relations with the U.S.
Full Story: Hague Orders Probe Into Whether U.K. Agents Colluded in Torture – BusinessWeek.
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Republicans Don't Care about Voter Fraud....owa Republicans are trying to dismiss claims that the vote count in Tuesday's Iowa Caucus was wrong. An Iowa voter told a local TV station yesterday that he noticed a 20-vote discrepancy in the count - and that Rick Santorum was the real winner of the Caucuses. Republican Party officials, though, are sticking to their first count - showing Mitt Romney as the winner by 8-votes - and there will be no recount.The Republican Party has launched a war on voters around the nation this year with strict new laws that will disenfranchise over 5 million Americans. They claim these laws are necessary to combat so-called voter fraud. Yet in Iowa - where there are no such laws - and where a very, very close and questionable election was just held - Republicans don't seem to care at all about getting it right.Clearly - the war on voters isn't about making sure the people's voices are represented accurately - it's about making sure poor people, young people, and minorities who tend to vote for Democrats - can't vote at all.-Thom(Who do you think won? Tell us here.) -
LEGALIZE Democracy
" We the corporations" On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. __________
MOVE to AMEND
a project of the CAMPAIGN TO LEGALIZE Democracy
Help end Corporate personhood
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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. 
should have started a national bank with the 13 trillion we gave to the gangster-banksters in $ and loans and guarrantees – -