Archive for January, 2011

Microsoft warning over browser security flaw

Microsoft has issued a “critical” warning over a newly-discovered flaw in Windows.

In a security advisory, the company warned of a loophole that could be used by malicious hackers to steal private information or hijack computers.

The bug potentially affects every user of the Internet Explorer web browser – around 900 million people worldwide.

Microsoft has issued a software patch to defend against attacks, and said it was working to develop a long-term fix.

The security advisory, which was published on Friday, details how the vulnerability can be used to manipulate users and take over their machines.

Full Story Here: BBC News – Microsoft warning over browser security flaw.

Cuts to Social Security are ‘off the table,’ Reid declares

With the new Republican majority hinting at cuts to Social Security, the Senate’s top Democrat, Harry Reid of Nevada, said he would do everything he could to preserve the program.

“As long as I’m the majority leader, I’m going to do everything within my legislative powers to prevent privatizing or eliminating Social Security. Simply say it’s off the table,” Reid said at an event with progressive activists. “We’re not going to balance the budget on the backs of senior citizens.”

“The most successful social program in the history of the world is Social Security,” he said.

Full Story Here: Cuts to Social Security are ‘off the table,’ Reid declares | Raw Story.

OPS: We’ll see. BO may have already made his deal with the devil

Georgia Republican’s bill would do away with driver’s licenses

A Republican in Georgia’s House of Representatives has introduced a bill to eliminate driver’s licenses, arguing that the documents are an unnecessary infringement on personal freedom.

Rep. Bobby Franklin, who represents the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, defended the bill to skeptical reporters on Monday, who questioned whether it would be a good idea to eliminate oversight of Georgia’s drivers.

“One of your inalienable rights is the right to travel, the right to move about without needing your papers,” Franklin told WSB in Atlanta. “You shouldn’t have to have permission from the state to exercise a right that has been inalienably given to you from your creator.”

Full Story Here: Georgia Republican’s bill would do away with driver’s licenses | Raw Story.

OPS: more proof that rightwing ideology trumps everything for these people – even sane thought.

Income Inequality In The U.S. Is Worse Than In Egypt

Protests in Egypt continued for a seventh day today, and pro-democracy demonstrators are organizing a “march of millions” to take place tomorrow. As financial markets dip across the Middle East, financial prognosticators are trying to divine what continued unrest will mean for the economies of the Middle East and the price of oil.

One of the driving factors behind the protests is the decades-long stagnation of the Egyptian economy and a growing sense of inequality. “They’re all protesting about growing inequalities, they’re all protesting against growing nepotism. The top of the pyramid was getting richer and richer,” said Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the Middle East.

As Yasser El-Shimy, former diplomatic attaché at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote in Foreign Policy, “income inequality has reached levels not before seen in Egypt’s modern history.” But Egypt still bests quite a few countries when it comes to income inequality, including the United States:

According to the CIA World Fact Book, the U.S. is ranked as the 42nd most unequal country in the world, with a Gini Coefficient of 45.

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Income Inequality In The U.S. Is Worse Than In Egypt.

Tea Party Judge Roger Vinson ‘Borrows Heavily’ From Family Research Council To Invalidate Health Law

The most surprising part of Judge Roger Vinson’s ruling was his argument that the individual mandate was not severable from the health care law as a whole and must therefor bring down the entire Affordable Care Act. “In sum, notwithstanding the fact that many of the provisions in the Act can stand independently without the individual mandate (as a technical and practical matter), it is reasonably ‘evident,’ as I have discussed above, that the individual mandate was an essential and indispensable part of the health reform efforts, and that Congress did not believe other parts of the Act could (or it would want them to) survive independently,” Vinson writes.

But a closer read of his analysis reveals something peculiar. In fact, as Vinson himself admits in Footnote 27 (on pg. 65), he arrived at this conclusion by “borrow[ing] heavily from one of the amicus briefs filed in the case for it quite cogently and effectively sets forth the applicable standard and governing analysis of severability (doc. 123).” That brief was filed by the Family Research Council, which has been branded as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

“The Family Research Council (FRC) bills itself as ‘the leading voice for the family in our nation’s halls of power,’ but its real specialty is defaming gays and lesbians,” SPLC says. Indeed, so-called FRC “experts” (who most recently lobbied to preserve Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) have argued that “gaining access to children” “has been a long-term goal of the homosexual movement” and claimed that “[o]ne of the primary goals of the homosexual rights movement is to abolish all age of consent laws and to eventually recognize pedophiles as the ‘prophets of a new sexual order.” FRC President Tony Perkins has even described pedophilia as a “homosexual problem.”

Here is how Vinson lifts FRC’s argument:

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Tea Party Judge Roger Vinson ‘Borrows Heavily’ From Family Research Council To Invalidate Health Law.

OPS; Ideology trumps everything with these people, logical thought,  history, reality, human compassion, the teachings of Jesus… everything.

Children and Deficits: Cause and Effect

The childhood shows the man,
As morning shows the day.
- John Milton, Paradise Lost

Republicans have begun describing how the United States of America at the state and national level can become a better place by spending a lot less money and not raising taxes. Congress took the first step at the end of 2010 when it dealt with the tax law. It decided to extend income tax rates in effect in 2010 for another 24 months, a benefit for rich and poor alike, although in absolute dollars the rich benefitted somewhat more than the poor. Those earning $10 million who file joint returns will pay approximately $368,794 less than if the existing law had not been extended and those earning $1 million will save approximately $29,962. Those earning $60,000 will pay $1118.40 less and those earning $20,000 save $51.60. An incidental benefit of the legislation went to the unemployed who were given an additional thirteen months of unemployment benefits. Lower taxes for the rich were extended beyond the time benefits were paid the unemployed because the rich became rich because of hard work and many members of Congress must think if the unemployed worked as hard at seeking employment as the rich did at becoming rich they’d be employed within 13 months. Other ways money is saved are becoming apparent at the state and national level.

Colorado, a state with a large budget shortfall, has given low-income students the opportunity to participate in helping the state ameliorate its financial crisis by foregoing free breakfasts. As a result these students will, (unless the entire legislature overrules the actions of its Joint Budget Committee), forego free breakfast and begin paying $.30 each day for it, thus participating in a meaningful way in helping the state out of its financial bind. The Joint Budget Committee acted even though there was $253,547 available from previous years when the program, known as the Smart Nutrition Program, came in under budget. One of the Republican lawmakers objected to the fact that Democrats were saying Republicans didn’t care about children. She said: “We care about the children. It’s not a moral issue, it’s an accounting issue.” That explanation will help relieve hunger pangs felt by the young who are no longer getting free breakfasts.

Full Story Here: Children and Deficits: Cause and Effect | CommonDreams.org.

Thousands Converge on Koch Brothers Billionaire’s Caucus; 25 Arrested

Twenty-five protesters were arrested in Rancho Mirage, California today, at a protest in front of the Rancho Las Palmas resort, site of the “Billionaire’s Caucus,” an annual meeting put on by the Koch Brothers and other corporate entities and conservative movement operators.

Riverside Sheriff’s deputy Melissa Nieburger said that the sheriff’s department did have contacts with protest organizers, which included the California Courage Campaign, CREDO, MoveOn.org, 350.org, the California Nurses Association, United Domestic Workers of America and the main sponsor, the good-government group Common Cause, prior to the event, and that they were aware that some protesters would seek to be arrested for trespassing. She would not guarantee that all 25 who were arrested were part of that coordinated operation. The police, who wore riot gear, batons and helmets, did put the arrested into plastic handcuffs. Nieburger described them as “passive restraints.” They were being processed at press time, and Nieburger would not say whether they would be released or would spend the night at the jail in Indio.

Nieburger estimated between 800 and 1,000 activists at the “Uncloak the Kochs” event. Event organizers chartered buses from several locations around Southern California and claimed 1,500 people signed up for those buses, on top of any local activists who attended. It appeared from the ground that well over 1,000 protesters were there.

Full Story Here: Thousands Converge on Koch Brothers Billionaire’s Caucus; 25 Arrested | FDL News Desk.

The Demands for Higher Interest Rates

A Cross of Rubber

Paul Krugman:

Last Saturday, reported The Financial Times, some of the world’s most powerful financial executives were going to hold a private meeting with finance ministers in Davos, the site of the World Economic Forum. The principal demand of the executives, the newspaper suggested, would be that governments “stop banker-bashing.” Apparently bailing bankers out after they precipitated the worst slump since the Great Depression isn’t enough — politicians have to stop hurting their feelings, too.

But the bankers also had a more substantive demand: they want higher interest rates, despite the persistence of very high unemployment in the United States and Europe, because they say that low rates are feeding inflation. And what worries me is the possibility that policy makers might actually take their advice.

To understand the issues, you need to know that we’re in the midst of what the International Monetary Fund calls a “two speed” recovery, in which some countries are speeding ahead, but others — including the United States — have yet to get out of first gear.

The U.S. economy fell into recession at the end of 2007; the rest of the world followed a few months later. And advanced nations — the United States, Europe, Japan — have barely begun to recover. It’s true that these economies have been growing since the summer of 2009, but the growth has been too slow to produce large numbers of jobs. To raise interest rates under these conditions would be to undermine any chance of doing better; it would mean, in effect, accepting mass unemployment as a permanent fact of life.

Full Story Here: The Demands for Higher Interest Rates – NYTimes.com.

How the Right Wing Stole the People’s Media for the Big Corporations

by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

Those who defend the GOP/right wing assault on media and free speech defend media consolidation with an irrelevant ‘factoid’. Before ‘deregulation’, they say, there were only three huge networks –CBS, NBC, ABC. This may be true on the surface but misses the point that throughout the nation there were several thousand locally owned television and radio stations; all of them were required by the FCC to ‘serve local interests’. As a result, many radio stations in small and large ‘market’s maintained viable ‘News’ and/or ‘Public Affairs Departments’. These stations had a finger on the pulse of the listening community like few if any have today.

The record refutes right wing spin. In 1983, 50 corporations controlled most or all news media operating in the U.S. Nevertheless, Ben Bagdikian was labeled “alarmist” when he pointed out that fact in his book — The Media Monopoly. He was no alarmist! His 4th edition [1992] stated: “in the U.S., fewer than two dozen of these extraordinary creatures’ own and operate 90% of the mass media”! He was right. These ‘extraordinary creatures’ dominate and/or control almost all of America’s media to include newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, books, records, movies, videos, wire services and photo agencies.

Before the GOP attacked the media, a ‘network’ was precisely that — a network of locally owned radio or TV stations. A CBS or ABC affiliate station, for example, was ‘affiliated’ with ABC –not owned by it! For such an outlet, ABC was just a source of news. Many of these stations maintained very large and impressive news organizations. Early in my career, as I worked in a small radio station in Odessa, TX., I was given a tour of KRLD AM-TV, the CBS affiliate in Dallas, TX. KRLD was made famous world wide for its local coverage of the assassination of JFK. As large and as impressive were KRLD’s facilities –both radio and TV –it was local!

Full Story Here: The Existentialist Cowboy: How the Right Wing Stole the People’s Media for the Big Corporations.

Bank Bailouts Explained – Video

The story of the bank bailouts, and what we’ve gotten so far in return.

US taxpayers should not pay for fixing US infrastructure, new White House chief declares

American taxpayers should not foot the bill for infrastructure improvements around the country, the new White House chief of staff said recently.

“I don’t think raising the taxes on the American people right now is the way to go at this point of our economy,” William M. Daley told Bob Schieffer of CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday.

Daley, a former Wall Street executive who opposed two of President Obama’s major initiatives, said that investment for US infrastructure could instead come from private sources both foreign and domestic.

“That’s a creative way to move forward,” he said.

Full Story Here: US taxpayers should not pay for fixing US infrastructure, new White House chief declares | Raw Story.

OPS: Expect to see Obama come FULLY to embrace reichwing ideology

Congressman Issa Wants to Track FOIA Requests – NYTimes.com

Representative Darrell Issa calls it a way to promote transparency: a request for the names of hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens, business executives, journalists and others who have requested copies of federal government documents in recent years.

Mr. Issa, a California Republican and the new chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, says he wants to make sure agencies respond in a timely fashion to Freedom of Information Act requests and do not delay them out of political considerations.

But his extraordinary request worries some civil libertarians. It “just seems sort of creepy that one person in the government could track who is looking into what and what kinds of questions they are asking,” said David Cuillier, a University of Arizona journalism professor and chairman of the Freedom of Information Committee at the Society of Professional Journalists. “It is an easy way to target people who he might think are up to no good.”

Full Story Here: Congressman Issa Wants to Track FOIA Requests – NYTimes.com.

An era of cheap food may be drawing to a close

U.S. grain prices should stay unrelentingly high this year, according to a Reuters poll, the latest sign that the era of cheap food has come to an end.

U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat prices — which surged by as much has 50 percent last year and hit their highest levels since mid-2008 — will dip by at most 5 percent by the end of 2011, according to the poll of 16 analysts.

The forecasts suggest no quick relief for nations bedeviled by record high food costs that have stoked civil unrest. It means any extreme weather event in a grains-producing part of the world could send prices soaring further.

The expectations may also strengthen importers’ resolve to build bigger inventories after a year in which stocks of corn and soybeans in the United States — the world’s top exporter — dwindled to their lowest level in decades.

Full Story Here: An era of cheap food may be drawing to a close – Business – Retail – Food Inc. – msnbc.com.

The 13 Countries That Control the World’s Gold

Even if 2011 has gotten off to a rough start for gold, everyone knows that the value of gold is at historic highs. What is interesting is that there is rarely a discussion about which countries actually have a lock on the world’s gold. 24/7 Wall St has compiled a list of the top 13 nations which hold the bulk of the world’s gold reserves and added in an outlook for 2011.

After having peaked above $1,420 per ounce at the end of 2010, gold has recently traded under $1,330 per ounce and has basically put in 3-month lows. As part of its analysis 24/7 Wall St. looked at the trends of the world’s top holders that may drive demand up or down ahead in 2011 after taking a look at the new data from the World Gold Council.

Many issues should be considered in gold investing including demand from the private sector for bars, coins and jewelry along with industrial use.

Full Story Here: The 13 Countries That Control the World’s Gold – 24/7 Wall St..

Chuck Schumer: GOP Risking, ‘God Forbid.. A Depression’ With Budget Antics

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned on Sunday that if House Republicans, in an effort to flex their fiscal conservative muscles, held up passage of a budget this coming March, it could send the United States into a deep recession and possibly a depression.

The New York Democrat, appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said that the GOP was “playing with fire” by threatening either to not fund the government or not raise the debt ceiling unless they were first placated with deep spending cuts.

“On March 4 the government-funding resolution expires and it seems that a lot of Republicans in the House want to risk a shutdown of the government if they don’t absolutely get their way,” said Schumer. “That was a mistake when [former House Speaker] Newt Gingrich tried it in 1995. It would be a bigger mistake now. It is really playing with fire…. you can risk the credit markets really losing some confidence in the United States Treasury and that could create a deeper recession than we had over the last several years or, god forbid, even a depression.”

“It is playing with fire to risk the shutting down of the government just as it is playing with fire to risk not paying the debt ceiling,” he added.

Full Story Here: Chuck Schumer: GOP Risking, ‘God Forbid.. A Depression’ With Budget Antics.

Why is America so afraid?

The Egyptian revolution threatens an American-imposed order of Arabophobia and false choices

I’m as thrilled as anyone by what I see in the Cairo streets, but when I turn on American television I see only grim faces. Robert Gibbs looked frightened during his delayed press briefing yesterday afternoon; he didn’t know what to say. Obama’s comments last night were equivocal and opaque: I’m with Mubarak, for now. This is his 9/11 — the day Arabs blindsided a president.

I thought this is what he wanted for the Arab world: democracy! But the market dropped, and the cable shows are filled with mistrust of the Arab street. Our talking heads can’t stop talking about the Islamists. Chris Matthews cried out against the Muslim Brotherhood and shouted, Who is our guy here? — as if the U.S. can play a hand on the streets. While his guest Marc Ginsberg, a former ambassador to Morocco whose work seems to be dedicated to finding the few good Arabs out there, said that forces outside Egypt are funding the revolt — a grotesque statement, given the homegrown flavor of everything we have seen in the streets; and when Matthews pressed him, Ginsberg said, Hamas… Iran.

Full Story Here: Why is America so afraid? – War Room – Salon.com.

The Tea Party Wags the Dog

Frank Rich:

ANY lingering doubts about Barack Obama’s determination to appropriate Ronald Reagan’s political spirit evaporated just before the State of the Union. No American brand is more associated with Reagan than General Electric, and it was that corporation’s chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt, who popped up as the president’s new wingman when the White House rolled out its latest jobs initiative on Jan. 21. Obama’s speech on Tuesday, with its celebration of the nation’s can-do capitalist ingenuity, moved him still closer to Reagan’s sweet spot as a national cheerleader. The president even offered a remix of the old Reagan-era G.E. jingle “We bring good things to life” — now traded up to the grander “We do big things.”

Obama’s rhetorical Morning in America is exquisitely timed to coincide with the Gipper’s centennial — and, of course, the unacknowledged start of his own 2012 re-election campaign. It’s remarkable how completely the G.O.P. has ceded the optimism of its patron saint to the president just as the country prepares for a deluge of Reaganiana. Obama’s post-New Year’s surge past a 50 percent approval rating — well ahead of both Reagan’s and Bill Clinton’s comeback trajectories after their respective midterm shellackings — may have only just begun.

There was no drama to Obama’s address — just a unifying theme, at long last, as he reasserted the role of government in rebooting and rebuilding the country for a new century and putting Americans back to work. The president wisely left any theatrics to his adversaries, and, as always, they were happy to oblige.

Full Story Here: The Tea Party Wags the Dog – NYTimes.com.

Beware This Amazon Security Flaw: Site Accepts Wrong Passwords

You may want to change your Amazon password.

A security flaw in the site allows users to log in with passwords that resemble, but do not match, their actual password.

The flaw, first discovered by a Reddit user, lets customers log-in with passwords that have extra characters attached after the eighth character. For example, if your password is 12345678, 12345678ack, or 12345678wow would all work.

The issue only affects older accounts, where the password has not changed over the past few years, according to Wired, suggesting that Amazon corrected the flaw for newer passwords, but not older ones.

Full Story Here: Beware This Amazon Security Flaw: Site Accepts Wrong Passwords.

Today, Eisenhower Would Be Bernie Sanders in the U.S. Senate

In America Today, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower Would Be Bernie Sanders in the U.S. Senate

Rachel Maddow:

The huge ever rapid shift rightward makes Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon look like lefty radicals today.

For the next hour, we begin with the president of the United States addressing the nation and calling for a massive investment in this country’s infrastructure, rebuffing the idea of giant tax breaks for the richest Americans, and warning anyone who would dare touch Social Security to keep their hands off.

You want to talk about red meat for the base? Listen to some of the language the president used. “Workers have a right to organize into unions and to bargain collectively with their employers. And a strong, free labor movement is an invigorating and necessary part of our industrial society.” Wow.

How about this one? “Only a fool would try to deprive working men and women of their right to join the union of their choice.”

Full Story Here: Rachel Maddow: In America Today, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower Would Be Bernie Sanders in the U.S. Senate | News & Politics | AlterNet.

Obama Team’s Lame Marketing Line: ‘Win the Future’ — Who’s Buying That?

Jim Hightower: :

He’s rebranding his presidency, all right. It’s becoming Obama Inc.

Exciting news, folks. Obama and team say they’re recalibrating, recasting, retooling and rebranding his presidency! And they’ve come up with a dandy new slogan to sum it all up and get America moving again. Ready? “Win the future.”

Takes your breath away, doesn’t it?

If you’re old enough to remember Gerald Ford’s hapless presidency, Obama’s fabulous new slogan might have a familiar ring to it. In 1974, with rampant inflation gobbling up the paychecks of workaday families, Ford blamed the American people, asserting that they were simply spending too much. So he ordered thousands of red-and-white buttons that said “WIN!” It was an acronym for “Whip Inflation Now,” which Ford thought would happen if only the public wore the buttons to remind each other to buy less.

This was, in a word, stupid — and it helped make Gerry a one-term president.

Full Story Here: Obama Team’s Lame Marketing Line: ‘Win the Future’ — Who’s Buying That? | News & Politics | AlterNet.

Why You Can Now Kiss Organic Beef, Dairy and Many Vegetables Goodbye | Food | AlterNet

The USDA ruled that farmers are now free to plant GE alfalfa, and USDA won’t even keep track of who plants it where. The implications are huge.

Monsanto has been trying for years to gain approval for its genetically modified Roundup-Ready alfalfa seed. On January 27, 2011, it finally got the green light in the form of “deregulation.” This means that farmers are free to plant GE alfalfa, and the USDA won’t even be keeping track of who plants it where. There will be no tracking, no notification system, and no responsibility on the part of Monsanto for any business that is lost as a result of the genetic contamination that is certain to result. If the ruling stands, we can kiss organic dairy and beef goodbye, and many organic vegetable growers will have to switch the cover crops they use on their fields.

The Center for Food Safety is planning on dragging the issue back to court, where the organization has a good track record in recent years against Monsanto, even in the notoriously business-friendly U.S. Supreme Court, which in June upheld a ban on the planting of Roundup-Ready alfalfa until the USDA drafts an environmental impact statement (EIS).

Full Story Here: Why You Can Now Kiss Organic Beef, Dairy and Many Vegetables Goodbye | Food | AlterNet.

Ayn Rand Railed Against Government Benefits, But Grabbed Social Security and Medicare When She Needed Them

At least she put up a fight before succumbing to the imperatives of the real world.

Ayn Rand was not only a schlock novelist, she was also the progenitor of a sweeping “moral philosophy” that justifies the privilege of the wealthy and demonizes not only the slothful, undeserving poor but the lackluster middle-classes as well.

Her books provided wide-ranging parables of “parasites,” “looters” and “moochers” using the levers of government to steal the fruits of her heroes’ labor. In the real world, however, Rand herself received Social Security payments and Medicare benefits under the name of Ann O’Connor (her husband was Frank O’Connor).

As Michael Ford of Xavier University’s Center for the Study of the American Dream wrote, “In the end, Miss Rand was a hypocrite but she could never be faulted for failing to act in her own self-interest.”

Full Story Here: Ayn Rand Railed Against Government Benefits, But Grabbed Social Security and Medicare When She Needed Them | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet.

Why Diets Make You Fatter — And What to Do About It

The $60-billion-per-year diet industry keeps offering new programs and plans, but it doesn’t work 95% of the time because the problem is more than calories.

It’s that time of the year again. Every January, the weight-loss frenzy begins anew as the overeating of the holiday season subsides and millions of us resolve that this will be the year that we will lose weight and keep it off. Dieting has become one of the great American pastimes, and no matter what our size, none of us is immune from the messages that we’re too fat — or that we’d better start worrying about becoming too fat.

We read about the latest diet craze, enter weight-loss contests, and talk about our dieting struggles. We celebrate the shedding of pounds, and commiserate about their eventual return. As we stand in line at the grocery store, surreptitiously scanning The National Enquirer, we’re filled in about the fat-thin-fat-thin roller-coaster ride of Oprah, Russell Crowe, Kirstie Alley, Jessica Simpson, John Travolta, and any other celebrity who puts on or takes off the pounds. As we unload our shopping cart, magazine covers promise that we can lose weight and keep it off, that we can have firm abs and thin thighs, and that we can accomplish all of this before the spring fashion season rolls in. It’s hard to miss the irony that the same magazines feature recipes for delectable five-cheese lasagna and melt-in-your- mouth double-chocolate fudge cake.

Full Story Here: Why Diets Make You Fatter — And What to Do About It | Personal Health | AlterNet.

Treasury Yields are Blinking Red

Is Bernanke Triggering Another Run on the Dollar?

By MIKE WHITNEY

Treasury yields are “blinking red”, but the Fed keeps acting like nothing’s wrong. What’s the deal?

Let’s explain: Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s bond purchasing program (QE2) has sent the yield on the 30-year Treasury skyrocketing. At the same time, the the 2-year Treasury is stuck at a lowly 0.61. That means, the “yield curve” between the two bonds has grown steeper, which normally happens at the beginning of a recovery because investors are moving out of “risk free” bonds to riskier assets like stocks. Typically, the yield on the long-term bond will start to go down on its own because investors expect the Fed to raise short-term rates to curb potential inflation. But that’s not happening this time. Why? And why should we care?

The reason we should care is because the yield curve is signaling one of two things; inflation or default. What it is not signaling is a robust recovery.

Remember, the Fed’s main job is “price stability” which means keeping a lid on inflation. When the yield on long-term bonds spikes, then it’s up to Bernanke to show the market he’ll do what’s necessary to fight inflation, that is, raise rates. It’s a question of credibility.

Full Story Here: Mike Whitney Treasury Yields are Blinking Red.

Newly Elected Sen. Portman Pushing Disastrous Trade Agreement

Citizens should be asking ourselves who leaders like Rob Portman trying to represent? It is clearly NOT the American people.

In a speech to a business group Thursday in Toledo, OH, new U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), called for support on the misguided South Korean Free Trade Bill (KORUS) that could be voted on in Congress as soon as March.

Clearly, the representatives that favor this bill are either extremely ignorant of its potential for disaster or are in the pockets of foreign lobbyists, and do not have America’s best interests at heart, as it poses several immense problems in its current form.

“The Korean deal is based on the same trade model as NAFTA, which has led to significant job losses and reductions in our manufacturing sector in Maine. These were the actual results of NAFTA, even though we were told at the time that it would generate thousands of new jobs,” Rep. Mike Michaud (D-ME) said in a statement. As NAFTA has done in Maine and the rest of the country, KORUS will do yet again.

Full Story Here: Newly Elected Sen. Portman Pushing Disastrous Trade Agreement | Economy In Crisis.

Globalization Increasingly Viewed As a Bad Thing

In the latest polling just 36 percent of Americans view globalization as a good thing. That is a dramatic turnaround from 2001, when six in 10 Americans viewed globalization positively.

The tide continues to turn on the public’s view of free trade and how it affects the American economy, according to a new Washington Post poll.

“A growing number of Americans consider the accelerating trend toward globalization a bad thing for the United States. At the same time, a majority now see being the world’s No. 1 economic power as an important national goal,” according to the paper.

In the latest polling just 36 percent of Americans view globalization as a good thing. That is a dramatic turnaround from 2001, when six in 10 Americans viewed globalization positively.

Full Story Here: Globalization Increasingly Viewed As a Bad Thing | Economy In Crisis.

OPS: Even the Sheep are waking up

Investor Rights Yet Another Reason to Scrap Korea FTA

Not only will the proposed South Korean Free Trade Agreement almost certainly decimate the automotive, textile, electronic and iron industry in America, it will also provide foreign investors the right to sue the U.S. government over laws and regulations in the public interest that happen to impede on their profits.

Foreign investor rights are a controversial but largely overlooked portion of America’s failing trade policy. The standard was set with the North American Free Trade Agreement, and nearly every trade pact the U.S. has entered since then contains some from of investors rights.

Under the provision, foreign investors can sue governments – including those on the state, local and federal level – if they believe that a labor, environmental or any other law is getting in the way of their profit margin or value of their investment.

Full Story Here: Investor Rights Yet Another Reason to Scrap Korea FTA | Economy In Crisis.

Message from WTO to U.S.: Ignore the Trade Deficit

Unable to quell fear and anger in some corners about America’s persistently high trade imbalances, the head of the World Trade Organization is now claiming that the way trade deficits are measured is a flawed process.

“The statistical bias created by attributing commercial value to the last country of origin perverts the true economic dimension of the bilateral trade imbalances,” World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy writes in a Financial Times Op-Ed. “This affects the political debate, and leads to misguided perceptions.”

Because global supply chains allow inputs to come from all over the world, very few if any products on store shelves can be easily classified as “Made in America” or “Made in China.” Instead, today’s consumer goods should probably read “Made Globally,” he claims.

Full Story Here: Message from WTO to U.S.: Ignore the Trade Deficit | Economy In Crisis.

The WTO Vetoes America’s Constitution

The WTO’s laws supersede those of our own constitution. Our laws, regulations and administrative procedures must now conform to the WTO treaty – making them the highest law and the highest court ruling over the United States, with no input from the American people

The World Trade Organization is run by powerful multinational corporations. It is a self-serving and undemocratic organization that operates outside of our control. The WTO’s laws supersede those of our own constitution. The U.S. Constitution states that all treaties made under the authority of the United States become supreme law of the land. When our government stymied under pressure from foreign-represented lobbyists and signed the WTO treaty the government effectively sold away our sovereignty.

Our laws, regulations and administrative procedures must now conform to the WTO treaty – making them the highest law and the highest court ruling over the United States, with no input from the American people.

One of the biggest disasters that has come about as a direct result of the WTO was China’s entrance in 2001. Since entering, trade with China has resulted in the loss of over 3.1 million jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Those fortunate enough to retain their jobs witnessed their annual earnings decrease by roughly $1,400. American workers are put in direct competition with one another as more and more employers look to offshore production to nations with lower wage rates.

Full Story Here: The WTO Vetoes America’s Constitution | Economy In Crisis.

The Bush Legacy Strikes Out American Justice

The Detroit Tigers are retiring the great baseball manager Sparky Anderson’s number 11 this season. “It’s a wonderful gesture,” Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg wrote. “I just wish Sparky could see it.”

Anderson won three World Series — one managing the Tigers, two with the Cincinnati Reds — and passed away this past November. Rosenberg said, “Retiring his number now is the baseball version of waiting until a relative dies to say thank you.”

That’s because it comes sixteen years after Anderson left the Tigers in a bitter feud with owner Mike Ilitch. Yet as Sparky once said, “I’ve got my faults, but living in the past is not one of them. There’s no future in it.”

Full Story Here: The Bush Legacy Strikes Out American Justice | CommonDreams.org.

Michigan sues Countrywide for $65M in pension losses | detnews.com | The Detroit News

The state of Michigan has filed a lawsuit against Bank of America Corp.’s Countrywide Financial unit, joining Oregon in seeking to recover pension-fund losses from the mortgage lender.

Countrywide made “false and misleading” statements about its underwriting standards, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said Friday in a statement. The state seeks to recover $65 million in losses from investments in Countrywide securities.

“Countrywide’s stock was artificially inflated during the class period because defendants made these false and misleading statements, which concealed their fundamental shift in core mortgage-related business strategy,” Schuette’s office said in the statement.

Michigan’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, joins similar lawsuits filed by Oregon and California’s Fresno County Employees’ Retirement Association. The three said they opted out of a class-action suit against Countrywide, which was acquired by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America in 2008.

Full Story Here: Michigan sues Countrywide for $65M in pension losses | detnews.com | The Detroit News.

OPS: It’s about damned time these lawsuits started. Hopefully this is only the beginning.

Egyptians form human shield to protect museum

One Cairo building that has been spared so far in the anti-government protests is the Egyptian Museum, despite a fire raging at the ruling National Democratic Party office nearby.

Locals were determined to protect national treasures.

“We are Egyptians and this is the Egyptian Museum,” said one man.

“We are standing here and calling for the army to come as soon as possible and we will not leave until the army arrives.”

Full Story Here: Egyptians form human shield to protect museum | euronews, world news.

Jon Stewart Hits Back At Bill O’Reilly For Defending Nazi Rhetoric On Fox News (VIDEO)

For the third time in about a week, Jon Stewart has dedicated a “Daily Show” segment to dealing with angry, Nazi-related rhetoric used in media and politics. But what seems to bother him more than nonsensical Hitler comparisons is Fox News pundits’ inability to see their own Nazi references as inappropriate.

After Stewart called out Steve Cohen’s use of a Goebbels reference to describe GOP behavior, Megyn Kelly of Fox News said there is no Nazi rhetoric used on Fox News. But Stewart proved with a slew of clips that Fox was being hypocritical.

In one of those clips, Bill O’Reilly made a mind-boggling comparison between HuffPost and Hitler. Seeing it on “The Daily Show” didn’t sit well with the Fox News host, who said on his next show that the clip was edited in a way took it out of context. Stewart responded:

Full Story Here: Jon Stewart Hits Back At Bill O’Reilly For Defending Nazi Rhetoric On Fox News (VIDEO).

Koch Brothers Palm Springs Gathering Draws Right-Wing Billionaires

Billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch are hosting their bi-annual secret gathering of right-wing billionaires at the Rancho Mirage Resort in Palm Springs this Sunday, January 30. The tycoons of Koch Industries, a private multi-industry company, are also well-known for their support of the Tea Party through their foundation Americans for Prosperity.

Even though the guest list for this weekend’s event is being kept under wraps, The Guardian reports that this “will be a meeting of ‘doers’, men and women willing to fight the Obama administration and its perceived attack on US free enterprise and unfettered wealth.”

The New York Times reported on this event last October, when invitations first went out. The event invite included exhortations to “develop strategies to counter the most severe threats facing our free society and outline a vision of how we can foster a renewal of American free enterprise and prosperity” and “review strategies for combating the multitude of public policies that threaten to destroy America as we know it.”

Full Story Here: Koch Brothers Palm Springs Gathering Draws Right-Wing Billionaires.

OPS: Don’t forget, the Koch brothers ARE the money, and the force,  behind the Tebaggers

Worshiping God, Not the Bible

“If you still say the bible is not true, I will say that no book is more honest.”

My latest literary diet has consisted of an obscure historical novel entitled Honor’s Kingdom. Written by Owen Parry, it is a nineteenth century tale surrounding espionage in London between Confederate and Union agents and their attempts to secure European support during the Civil War.

In one chapter the lead character is bemoaning the decline in respect for the bible brought on by the Age of Reason and the scientific explosion of that generation. Wrestling with the tenants of Darwinism, he brings to light the doubt that many have for biblical authority. In frustration the character shares his personal credo on the matter: “If you still say the bible is not true, I will say that no book is more honest.”

Indeed, there is no more honest writing to, as Parry declares, “Show us who we truly are.” But I wonder in this age of enlightenment, super computer technology and instant communication, if this honest book is really authoritative to most people’s lives?

Full Story Here: Matt Idom: Worshiping God, Not the Bible.

Graph Visualizes Egypt’s Internet Blackout

On Thursday night, around 5:20 p.m. ET, reports began surfacing of massive Internet disruptions in Egypt. It is now believed that the Egyptian government ordered Internet service providers (ISPs) to sever international connections, at least temporarily. This action by the government reportedly occurred shortly before some of the largest protests against President Hosni Mubarak were scheduled to take place.

Internet intelligence authority Renesys confirmed the blackout soon after the outages occurred. Writes Renesys,

Critical European-Asian fiber-optic routes through Egypt appear to be unaffected for now. But every Egyptian provider, every business, bank, Internet cafe, website, school, embassy, and government office that relied on the big four Egyptian ISPs for their Internet connectivity is now cut off from the rest of the world. Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat Misr, and all their customers and partners are, for the moment, off the air. [...] Virtually all of Egypt’s Internet addresses are now unreachable, worldwide.

The Telegraph calls this action “unprecedented in the history of the Internet.” The Telegraph went on to write that news and social media websites like Facebook and Twitter have typically been targeted by the likes of China, Iran, Thailand and Tunisia during times of civil strife. “The ongoing attempt by the Egyptian government to shut down all online communication is, however, a new phenomenon,” The Telegraph concludes. “It not only prevents ordinary Egyptian internet users from accessing any websites, it cripples Tor, an anti-censorship tool that technical experts and activists were using to circumvent the Facebook and Twitter blocks.”

Full Story Here: Graph Visualizes Egypt’s Internet Blackout (PICTURE).

Egyptians take to the streets for fifth day defying president, police

Tens of thousands of Egyptians Saturday snubbed Hosni Mubarak’s promised reforms and took their deadly revolt to the streets for a fifth day on Saturday, with dissident Mohamed ElBaradei vowing to press the embattled president until he goes.

Riots erupted anew in several cities, including Cairo, and an enraged mob killed three police in the Sinai town of Rafah, bringing the overall death toll from the nationwide protests to at least 48 since Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of angry citizens streamed into central Cairo’s Tahrir Square, one of the focal points for street battles that have raged around Egypt, chanting: “Mubarak out!” as troops looked on.

Full Story Here: Egyptians take to the streets for fifth day defying president, police | Raw Story.

No Longer Caring About Democracy, Bolton Disparages Egypt Protests And Defends Mubarak

During the Bush years, one of the justifications the administration most relied on for many of its policies in the world was that it was engaging in “democracy promotion.” One of the most vocal members about this supposed cause was Bush administration U.N. ambassador John Bolton.

Throughout his tenure as a high-level administration official, Bolton repeatedly insisted that one of his top priorities was helping spread freedom, respect for human rights, and democracy throughout he world. He was instrumental in the Bush administration’s refusal to join the U.N. Human Rights Council, supposedly out of his objection to the poor human rights records of several of the council’s members.

Yet during an interview with right-wing radio host Mark Levine today, Bolton used his time on the show to attack and undermine the pro-democracy protest movement currently underway in Egypt. The former U.N. ambassador claimed that the “real alternative” to the Mubarak government is not “Jeffersonian democracy” but rather the opposition Muslim Brotherhood. After Levine postulated that “every Jihadi nutjob is probably pouring into Egypt right now,” Bolton followed up by saying this is the “big opportunity” for jihadists and mocked the calls of the international community to restore internet services, saying that the “Muslim Brotherhood knows how to use Twitter just like naive college students do”:

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » No Longer Caring About Democracy, Bolton Disparages Egypt Protests And Defends Mubarak.

OPS: Republicans have never been pro-democracy. This isn’t much of a stretch

Egypt Protest Internet Shut Off: How did the Egyptian government turn off the Internet?

As protesters take to the streets in Egypt, the government has reportedly shut down the Internet. How does that work? Does Egypt’s Internet have an on/off switch?

No. While we don’t know exactly how the Egyptian government choked off Internet access, there’s no centralized red button that the government—or anyone—can push to turn it off. Evidence suggests a government official called Egypt’s four biggest Internet service providers—Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt, and Etisalat Misr—and told them to halt connections. (Vodafone has said it cooperated because the regime has the legal authority to order such a halt.) An engineer at each ISP would then access the ISP’s routers, which contain lists of all the IP addresses accessible through that provider, and delete most or all of those IP addresses, thus cutting off anyone who wants to access them from within or outside the country. That doesn’t mean each ISP had to physically power down their computers; they simply had to change some lines of code.

Egypt didn’t shut down the entire Internet. About 93 percent of Egyptian networks have been disabled, according to Renesys, a company that monitors global Internet activity. One major ISP, Noor Group, is still up and running. Perhaps not coincidentally, Noor happens to host Egypt’s stock exchange. Web connections used by the government and military are also likely still operating on their own private ISPs. Some Egyptian users might also be able to use old-fashioned dial-up connections.

Full Story Here: Egypt Protest Internet Shut Off: How did the Egyptian government turn off the Internet? – By Christopher Beam – Slate Magazine.

Egypt protests: America’s secret backing for rebel leaders behind uprising

The American government secretly backed leading figures behind the Egyptian uprising who have been planning “regime change” for the past three years, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

The American Embassy in Cairo helped a young dissident attend a US-sponsored summit for activists in New York, while working to keep his identity secret from Egyptian state police.

Full Story Here: Egypt protests: America’s secret backing for rebel leaders behind uprising – Telegraph.

The House GOP’s Plan to Redefine Rape

Drugged, raped, and pregnant? Too bad. Republicans are pushing to limit rape and incest cases eligible for government abortion funding.

Rape is only really rape if it involves force. So says the new House Republican majority as it now moves to change abortion law.

For years, federal laws restricting the use of government funds to pay for abortions have included exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. (Another exemption covers pregnancies that could endanger the life of the woman.) But the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” a bill with 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has dubbed a top priority in the new Congress, contains a provision that would rewrite the rules to limit drastically the definition of rape and incest in these cases.

With this legislation, which was introduced last week by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Republicans propose that the rape exemption be limited to “forcible rape.” This would rule out federal assistance for abortions in many rape cases, including instances of statutory rape, many of which are non-forcible. For example: If a 13-year-old girl is impregnated by a 24-year-old adult, she would no longer qualify to have Medicaid pay for an abortion. (Smith’s spokesman did not respond to a call and an email requesting comment.)

Full Story Here: The House GOP’s Plan to Redefine Rape | Mother Jones.

Questions Raised About U.S. Firm’s Role in Egypt Internet Crackdown

A U.S. company appears to have sold Egypt technology to monitor Internet and mobile phone traffic that is possibly being used by the ruling regime to crack down on communications as protests erupt throughout the country. Boeing-owned, California-based company Narus sold Telecom Egypt, the state-run Internet service provider, “real-time traffic intelligence” equipment, more commonly known as Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology. DPI is content-filtering technology that allows network managers to inspect, track and target content from Internet users and mobile phones as it passes through routers on the Web.

The company is also known for creating “NarusInsight,” a supercomputer system allegedly used by the National Security Agency and other entities to perform mass surveillance and monitoring of public and corporate Internet communications in real time.

Narus Vice President of Marketing Steve Bannerman said to Wired in 2006: “Anything that comes through (an Internet protocol network), we can record. We can reconstruct all of their e-mails along with attachments, see what web pages they clicked on, we can reconstruct their [Voice Over Internet Protocol] calls.”

Full Story Here: Questions Raised About U.S. Firm’s Role in Egypt Internet Crackdown | Free Press.

OPS: As history teaches us, this is just a “dry run” for when they will use it here.

House GOP considers privatizing Medicare

House Republicans weigh plan to privatize Medicare for those 54 and younger, leaders to decide

Months after they hammered Democrats for cutting Medicare, House Republicans are debating whether to relaunch their quest to privatize the health program for seniors.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is testing support for his idea to replace Medicare with a fixed payment to buy a private medical plan from a menu of coverage options.

Party leaders will determine if the so-called voucher plan will be part of the budget Republicans put forward in the spring.

“No decisions have been made on the details of our House GOP budget.” Michael Steel, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday. “There are a lot of ideas out there, and we’re going to listen to our members and the American people.”

Full Story Here: House GOP considers privatizing Medicare – Yahoo! Finance.

OPS: The only Republican solution to the phony Medicare problem is to give all of the money to private corporations and THEIR ACTIVE DEATH PANELS

Are We Witnessing the Start of a Global Revolution?

North Africa and the Global Political Awakening, Part 1

For the first time in human history almost all of humanity is politically activated, politically conscious and politically interactive… The resulting global political activism is generating a surge in the quest for personal dignity, cultural respect and economic opportunity in a world painfully scarred by memories of centuries-long alien colonial or imperial domination… The worldwide yearning for human dignity is the central challenge inherent in the phenomenon of global political awakening… That awakening is socially massive and politically radicalizing… The nearly universal access to radio, television and increasingly the Internet is creating a community of shared perceptions and envy that can be galvanized and channeled by demagogic political or religious passions. These energies transcend sovereign borders and pose a challenge both to existing states as well as to the existing global hierarchy, on top of which America still perches…

The youth of the Third World are particularly restless and resentful. The demographic revolution they embody is thus a political time-bomb, as well… Their potential revolutionary spearhead is likely to emerge from among the scores of millions of students concentrated in the often intellectually dubious “tertiary level” educational institutions of developing countries. Depending on the definition of the tertiary educational level, there are currently worldwide between 80 and 130 million “college” students. Typically originating from the socially insecure lower middle class and inflamed by a sense of social outrage, these millions of students are revolutionaries-in-waiting, already semi-mobilized in large congregations, connected by the Internet and pre-positioned for a replay on a larger scale of what transpired years earlier in Mexico City or in Tiananmen

Full Story Here: Are We Witnessing the Start of a Global Revolution?.

Egypt example should kill ”internet kill switch” bill in US

The kill switch is more likely to be used to kill domestic dissent, which is exactly how it’s being used in Egypt.

Sen. Joe Lieberman and Sen. Susan Collins have reintroduced a bill to set up an internet kill switch that can be activated by the president in the case of a cyber emergency, supposedly by terrorists or China or something.

Egypt has pulled just such a switch in the face of growing demonstrations to overthrow the Mubarak regime.

We should learn two things from Egypt’s example:

1. The kill switch is more likely to be used to kill domestic dissent, which is exactly how it’s being used in Egypt. If they were really worried about certain government or industry users, they could simply call them up and tell them to pull the ethernet cable or wifi card out of their computers–it ain’t rocket science.

More importantly though:

Full Story Here: Professor Smartass: Egypt example should kill ”internet kill switch” bill in US.

Internet ‘kill switch’ bill will return

A controversial bill handing President Obama power over privately owned computer systems during a “national cyberemergency,” and prohibiting any review by the court system, will return this year.

Internet companies should not be alarmed by the legislation, first introduced last summer by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), a Senate aide said last week. Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

ALT TEXT

“We’re not trying to mandate any requirements for the entire Internet, the entire Internet backbone,” said Brandon Milhorn, Republican staff director and counsel for the committee.

Instead, Milhorn said at a conference in Washington, D.C., the point of the proposal is to assert governmental control only over those “crucial components that form our nation’s critical infrastructure.”

Full Story Here: Internet ‘kill switch’ bill will return | Privacy Inc. – CNET News.

Ronald Reagan’s 30-Year Time Bombs

Robert Parry: :

The time element of “30 years” keeps slipping into American official reports and news stories about the origins of crises – the latest in “The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report” – but rarely is the relevance of the three-decade span explained, and there is a reason.

The failure to close the circle in saying who started the nation off on the path toward these disasters is because nearly everyone shies away from blaming Ronald Reagan for almost anything.

The overpowering consensus in Washington is that it’s political suicide to criticize the 40th president of the United States, whose centennial birthday on Feb. 6 will be celebrated elaborately.

It’s much safer to behave like MSNBC’s “Hardball” host Chris Matthews and simply accept that Reagan was “one of the all-time greats.

Full Story Here: Ronald Reagan’s 30-Year Time Bombs.

Bachmann eyes cuts to veterans health benefits

Tea party hero Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) this week proposed a blueprint to eliminate $400 billion from the federal budget, which included billions in cuts to veterans’ health care and disability benefits.

Her plan would freeze health care funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and slash $4.5 billion in disability benefits to military veterans.

Bachmann posted the document on her official Web site, calling the spending cuts “real and necessary” to avoid increasing the debt ceiling above $14.3 trillion. She supports the United States wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Full Story Here: Bachmann eyes cuts to veterans health benefits | Raw Story.

Oklahoma Lawmaker Sally Kern Proposes Bill That Forces Teachers To Question Evolution

State Rep. Sally Kern (R) has proposed the second anti-evolution bill this year in Oklahoma. Entitled the “Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act,” the bill, which will be first considered next month, would require the state and local authorities to “assist teachers to find more effective ways to present the science curriculum where it addresses scientific controversies” and permit teachers to “help students understand, analyze, critique, and review” the scientific strengths and weaknesses of “existing theories.” But the only topics mentioned in the bill as contestable are “biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.”

In an attempt to legitimize the bill, Kern said, “It’s a simple fact that the presentation of some issues in science classes can lead to controversy, which can discourage teachers from engaging students in an open discussion of the issues.” However,

Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education previously released a critique against a similar bill, SB 320 — which died in committee in February 2009 and only differs slightly from Kern’s bill — that said, “promoting the notion that there is some scientific controversy is just plain dishonest”:

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Oklahoma Lawmaker Sally Kern Proposes Bill That Forces Teachers To Question Evolution.

USDA to Fully Deregulate Monsanto’s Genetically Engineer Alfalfa — Gene Contamination of Feed, Milk, Meat and Other Products to Follow…

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced this afternoon that the agency will fully deregulate Monsanto’s controversial genetically engineered alfalfa. The choice was favored by the biotech industry and one of three options identified in the USDA’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) released last month.

USDA could have maintained regulatory status over the perennial crop that is so important as forage for the livestock industry. Or they could have chosen a limited regulation strategy with bans on the planting of GE alfalfa seeds in seed growing regions to attempt to limit the contamination of alfalfa seed stock by foreign DNA from Monsanto’s crop (alfalfa is pollinated by bees and other insects and has a pollination radius of five miles). Instead, the agency, under heavy pressure from the biotech sector, chose total deregulation. Over 250,000 public comments were received during the FEIS process, with the vast majority opposing deregulation.

Vilsack did announce that the USDA would establish a second germ plasm/seed center for alfalfa in the state of Idaho to try and maintain GE-free strains of alfalfa. They currently operate such a facility in Prosser, WA. He said the FEIS process brought home two key points to USDA: choice and trust.

Full Story Here: BREAKING NEWS: USDA to Fully Deregulate Monsanto’s Genetically Engineer Alfalfa — Gene Contamination of Feed, Milk, Meat and Other Products to Follow… | Cornucopia Institute.

The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto: What Now?

“The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well. True coexistence is a must.” – Whole Foods Market, Jan. 21, 2011

In the wake of a 12-year battle to keep Monsanto’s Genetically Engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation’s 25,000 organic farms and ranches, America’s organic consumers and producers are facing betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided it’s time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto’s controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for “coexistence” with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack.

In a cleverly worded, but profoundly misleading email sent to its customers last week, Whole Foods Market, while proclaiming their support for organics and “seed purity,” gave the green light to USDA bureaucrats to approve the “conditional deregulation” of Monsanto’s genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant alfalfa. Beyond the regulatory euphemism of “conditional deregulation,” this means that WFM and their colleagues are willing to go along with the massive planting of a chemical and energy-intensive GE perennial crop, alfalfa; guaranteed to spread its mutant genes and seeds across the nation; guaranteed to contaminate the alfalfa fed to organic animals; guaranteed to lead to massive poisoning of farm workers and destruction of the essential soil food web by the toxic herbicide, Roundup; and guaranteed to produce Roundup-resistant superweeds that will require even more deadly herbicides such as 2,4 D to be sprayed on millions of acres of alfalfa across the U.S.

Full Story Here: The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto: What Now?.

Senate Leaders’ Agreement Called ‘Significant Step’ Toward Filibuster Reform

The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate late Thursday announced a new agreement to reduce obstruction in the chamber, after a more-forceful effort toward filibuster reform was killed.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) took to the floor to outline the shape of their deal, in lieu of a rules reform package which had been advanced by Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

The push for reform is aimed at the intense use of the filibuster by Republicans in recent years so as to try to derail priorities of the Democratic majority.

Full Story Here: On The Hill: Senate Leaders’ Agreement Called ‘Significant Step’ Toward Filibuster Reform.

Egypt’s communications ‘kill switch’

Just what Joe Lieberman wants for America?

The Egyptian government’s move to shut down Internet access, among other communications, amid the escalating protests is nearly unprecedented—and it foretells a future, unless we work hard to prevent it, of centralized information control. And before we Americans get smug about our freedoms in the information sphere, we should recognize that what Egypt is doing is exactly what authoritarians in our own government want the ability to do here.

This isn’t the first time government has shut down access to the Internet during a national crisis, or ordered mobile phone companies to stop letting customers make calls and send text messages. Burma largely succeeded in closing off its media borders several years ago, and regimes around the planet have created harsh censorship systems that prevent the majority of their people from seeing information deemed unacceptable by the people in charge.

Now, the shutdown isn’t absolute. Some data is still getting in and out of Egypt, and circulating within the country. The reports are so sketchy, even from experts in the field, that it’s hard to know precisely what is happening. But Egypt’s shutdown of most communications to the outside world, and communications inside the country, is the most blatant abuse yet of this kind by a large power. And it’s Exhibit A in how the modern Internet, despite its heritage as a system where information would find its way around outages, has become increasingly vulnerable to choke points that governments and their corporate partners/subjects have become adept at using to restrict the flow of information.

Full Story Here: Egypt’s communications ‘kill switch’ – Dan Gillmor – Salon.com.

Why Men Don’t Listen to Women

In a recent posting I identified a list of the wrong things to say to someone who is upset. Interestingly, this led to a lot of comments on The Huffington Post, which got me thinking. The first thought I had was, “Why do men find it so hard to validate women?”

Before I get into this, I’d like you to think about the research by psychologist John Gottman. Gottman has been able to predict with 91 percent accuracy which couples will end up getting divorced. He calls these “The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse” — along with other problematic styles of communication. The Four Horsemen are Criticism (“You are always whining”), Contempt (“You’re a basket case”), Defensiveness (“I’m not the problem, you are!”) and Stonewalling (withdrawing or becoming silent). Other problematic styles include starting the conversation in a hostile or intense style, giving off body-language that is defensive or cold, flooding your partner with negativity, and bringing up past memories, complaints and injuries. When you can predict divorce with 91 percent accuracy you know you are on to something.

Full Story Here: Robert Leahy, Ph.D.: Why Men Don’t Listen to Women.

Resistant Starch Foods: Will They Make You Thin?

It’s like the anti-Atkins diet.

Resistant starch foods will make you thin, says Health magazine. These foods help people “eat less, burn more calories, feel more energized and less stressed, and lower cholesterol,” according to the International Business Times.

So what are resistant starch foods?

Bread, cereal, potatoes, bananas, black beans, oats, barley, bulgur, brown rice, corn flakes, and granola are just a few foods that are a part of what’s become known as “The Skinny Carb Diet,” according to the IB Times.

These foods, according to About.com, actually spur digestion as they provide fuel for bacteria in the colon that aid the process.

Full Story Here: Resistant Starch Foods: Will They Make You Thin?.

Wall Street Appears To Have Violated Federal Securities Law, Crisis Panel Finds

Wall Street firms that sold mortgage-backed securities appear to have violated federal securities laws by misleading investors on the quality of the underlying mortgages, a bipartisan panel created by Congress to investigate the root causes of the financial crisis concluded.

Banks that sold home loan bonds often didn’t disclose key details that would have helped investors accurately judge the quality of the investments. For example, investors were rarely told whether the mortgages failed to meet the banks’ own standards.

That failure raises “the question of whether the disclosures were materially misleading, in violation of the securities laws,” the panel said.

Full Story Here: Wall Street Appears To Have Violated Federal Securities Law, Crisis Panel Finds.

Egypt’s Internet Shut Down, According To Reports

Reports are emerging that Internet has gone down in Cairo and throughout Egypt, only hours before the largest planned protests yet.

According to a report from The Arabist, “Egypt has shut off the internet.”

Multiple Internet Service Providers are affected according to the report, which states:

I just received a call from a friend in Cairo (I won’t say who it is now because he’s a prominent activist) telling me neither his DSL nor his USB internet service is working. I’ve just checked with two other friends in different parts of Cairo and their internet is not working either.

The news of the Internet outage came minutes after the Associated Press published a video of an Egyptian protestor being shot.

Full Story Here: Egypt’s Internet Shut Down, According To Reports.

Documents reveal FBI transgressions, abuses of power

Leaked internal FBI documents reveal dozens of employee transgressions ranging from sex-related misconduct to felonies involving the abuse of power and classified information.

One employee gave sensitive information to his girlfriend, who was a journalist, and later threatened to release a sex tape of the two after they had broken up. The employee lied under oath during the inquiry.

Another employee became obsessed with a co-worker and continued to press for a closer relationship despite “clear indications” that the colleague wasn’t interested and persisted even after receiving orders to cease contact.

A third FBI employee shoplifted two ties from a local store

Full Story Here: Documents reveal FBI transgressions, abuses of power | Raw Story.

GOP Puts Guy Who Thinks Federal Child Labor Laws Are Unconstitutional On Senate Judiciary Committee

There’s three things Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) likes in a sentence: a noun, a verb, and “unconstitutional.” Indeed, Lee has recently claimed that federal child labor laws, FEMA, food stamps, the FDA, Medicaid, income assistance for the poor, and even Medicare and Social Security violate the Constitution. Yet Senate Republicans have inexplicably chosen to put Lee on the very Senate committee that has jurisdiction over constitutional questions and the judiciary:

[A]ides said two Republicans, Sens. John Thune, R-S.D. and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and one Democrat, Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., will take seats on the Finance Committee. Freshman Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, will join the Senate Judiciary Committee and freshman Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D. and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., are expected to win two of several open Appropriations Committee seats.

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » GOP Puts Guy Who Thinks Federal Child Labor Laws Are Unconstitutional On Senate Judiciary Committee.

Why military spending remains untouchable

Despite extraordinary expenditures, it’s clear that Americans just aren’t getting much for their money

In defense circles, “cutting” the Pentagon budget has once again become a topic of conversation. Americans should not confuse that talk with reality. Any cuts exacted will at most reduce the rate of growth. The essential facts remain: U.S. military outlays today equal that of every other nation on the planet combined, a situation without precedent in modern history.

The Pentagon presently spends more in constant dollars than it did at any time during the Cold War — this despite the absence of anything remotely approximating what national security experts like to call a “peer competitor.” Evil Empire? It exists only in the fevered imaginations of those who quiver at the prospect of China adding a rust-bucket Russian aircraft carrier to its fleet or who take seriously the ravings of radical Islamists promising from deep inside their caves to unite the Umma in a new caliphate.

What are Americans getting for their money? Sadly, not much. Despite extraordinary expenditures (not to mention exertions and sacrifices by U.S. forces), the return on investment is, to be generous, unimpressive. The chief lesson to emerge from the battlefields of the post-9/11 era is this: the Pentagon possesses next to no ability to translate “military supremacy” into meaningful victory.

Full Story Here: Why military spending remains untouchable – War Room – Salon.com.

A Frightening Satellite Tour Of America’s Foreclosure Wastelands

RealtyTrac is out with the total foreclosure numbers for 2010. On the whole things are getting worse.

72 percent of major metro areas saw an increase in foreclosure volume. Although some of the worst hit areas in Nevada, California and Florida improved from 2009, the foreclosure rate in these areas remains shockingly high. If not for some foreclosure suspensions due to the robosigning scandal, these numbers would have been higher.

For a frightening way to visualize the foreclosure crisis, we’re borrowing a Google maps technique described by Barry Ritholtz.

Full Story Here: A Frightening Satellite Tour Of America’s Foreclosure Wastelands.

Cuomo Solution to $9 Billion NY State Deficit? Rich Get $5 Billion Tax Break, State Workers Get 10,000 Layoffs! | Corrente

This email came today from Howie Hawkins and the Green Party of New York:

Hawkins Opposes Cuomo’s Proposals for Tax Cuts to the Rich, Job Cuts, Says Single Payer Health Care is the Solution to Medicaid

Howie Hawkins, the former Green Party candidate for Governor, said today that Cuomo’s proposals to resolve the state’s alleged $9 billion state budget deficit by giving a $5 billion tax cut for the wealthy and laying off more than 10,000 state workers was doomed to failure and would be rejected by state lawmakers.

Hawkins challenged Cuomo’s claim of transparency, saying Cuomo’s penchant for micromanaging was freezing out the public and was at least partially to blame for Cuomo’s inability to attract qualified Commissioners and senior staff. Most of his Cabinet remains unfilled a month into his administration.

Full Story Here: Green’s Hawkins: Cuomo Solution to $9 Billion NY State Deficit? Rich Get $5 Billion Tax Break, State Workers Get 10,000 Layoffs! | Corrente.

Mortgage Lenders Committed Massive Fraud and Now Wall St. Wants to Escape the Law

Here they come looking for an out-clause and a way to keep their coffers full. We need to repeat a simple mantra: No more bailouts for Wall Street.

They committed widespread fraud – largely whitewashed by the corporate media – and, in the process, threw the economy into a tailspin. They’ve broken into and stolen people’s homes, and, in the name of “efficiency,” bilked state governments out of billions of dollars in real estate transfer fees. They’ve even admitted to ripping off – and foreclosing on – soldiers deployed overseas, in violation of the law.

And they shredded a bedrock principle of capitalism, throwing hundreds of years of settled property law into doubt and in turn creating a massive drag on Main Street’s economic “recovery.”

They got rich in the process. The mortgage industry did all of that for a fat stream of profits while the going was good, but now that they face the prospect of being held accountable by the justice system — as would you or I had we routinely broken the laws — analysts expect the “banksters” to lobby hard for another bailout.

Full Story Here: Mortgage Lenders Committed Massive Fraud and Now Wall St. Wants to Escape the Law | Economy | AlterNet.

The “New Centrism” and Its Discontents

George Lakoff: :

There is no ideology of the “center.” What is called a “centrist” or a “moderate” is actually very different – a bi-conceptual, someone who is conservative on some issues and progressive on others, in many, many possible combinations. Why does this matter? From the perspective of how the brain works, the distinction is crucial.

Because we think with our brains, all thought is physical. Our moral and political worldviews are realized as brain circuits with strong synapses. If you have two conflicting worldviews, you have two brain circuits that are mutually inhibitory, so that when one is activated, it is strengthened and the other is shut off and weakened. When a worldview applies to a given issue, there is a neural binding circuit linking the worldview circuit to that issue circuit in such a way that the issue is understood in terms of that worldview. The right language will activate that that issue as understood via that worldview. Using that language strengthens that worldview.

When a Democrat “moves to the center,” he is adopting a conservative position – or the language of a conservative position. Even if only the language is adopted and not the policy, there is an important effect. Using conservative language activates the conservative view, not only of the given issue, but the conservative worldview in general, which in turn strengthens the conservative worldview in the brains of those listening. That leads to more people thinking conservative thoughts, and hence supporting conservative positions on issues and conservative candidates. Material policy matters. Language use, over and over, affects how citizens understand policy choices, which puts pressure on legislators and ultimately affects what policies are chosen. Language wars are policy wars.

Full Story Here: The “New Centrism” and Its Discontents | CommonDreams.org.

President Pushed South Korea FTA in SOTU Address

Despite evidence to the contrary, the president said the bilateral trade pact will create hundreds of thousands of American jobs.

President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address to urge lawmakers to pass a free trade pact between the U.S. and South Korea, a line that drew applause from Republicans but did not sit as well with Democrats.

Despite evidence to the contrary, the president said the bilateral trade pact will create hundreds of thousands of American jobs.

“Last month, we finalized a trade agreement with South Korea that will support at least 70,000 American jobs,” he said. “This agreement has unprecedented support from business and labor; Democrats and Republicans, and I ask this Congress to pass it as soon as possible.”

Full Story Here: President Pushed South Korea FTA in SOTU Address | Economy In Crisis.

“There is no plan”

That’s how an inspector general describes the $11 billion effort to build facilities for the Afghan army

The United States is at risk of blowing over $11 billion on building facilities for the Afghan military because of waste and poor planning, according to the special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction.

The revelation came in testimony this week before a congressional commission that is looking at U.S. spending in Afghanistan.

According to Arnold Fields, the outgoing special inspector general who has audited various projects in Afghanistan, the money spent on construction of facilities for the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) is at risk for three reasons: first, “lack of a comprehensive plan”; second, the projects audited to date are “seriously behind schedule”; and third, “it is not clear how Afghanistan is going to be able to provide the operations and maintenance required to sustain any of these investments without continuing financial support from the United States after the current operations and maintenance contract expires in 2015.”

Full Story Here: “There is no plan” – War Room – Salon.com.

Obama makes H-1B, Green Card reform a priority

In his State of the Union, President Barack Obama may have given a green light to increasing H-1B visas and employment-based Green Cards.

Obama’s point was direct. “Others come here from abroad to study in our colleges and universities. But as soon as they obtain advanced degrees, we send them back home to compete against us. It makes no sense.”

Hiking the H-1B cap has been a longtime bipartisan issue. One of the most recent efforts was by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arz.) who in 2008 proposed a market-based formula for increasing the cap that would have set an initial ceiling at 130,000, as well as remove any cap for foreign graduate students at U.S. universities. The bill made little progress.

Full Story Here: Obama makes H-1B, Green Card reform a priority – Computerworld Blogs.

OPS: Obama bends over for the Reich once again and kills more American jobs

Some 57,000 Minnesota jobs at risk under proposed Korean trade pact

Approximately 57,000 Minnesotans work in industries at risk of being off-shored should a proposed trade pact with South Korea be enacted, the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition said.

According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, the proposed trade agreement will increase the U.S. global trade deficit, negatively affecting employment in industries prevalent in Minnesota, the federation said. The findings are at odds with President Obama’s remarks during Tuesday’s State of the Union speech that passage of the agreement would create jobs in the United States.

“With 7 percent unemployment in Minnesota, more than 9 percent unemployment across our country and an electorate that is strongly opposed to more NAFTA-style trade agreements, it is baffling why any member of Congress would support a deal that even the International Trade Commission says will increase our trade deficit,” said Steve Hunter, secretary-treasurer of the Minnesota AFL-CIO.

Full Story Here: Welcome to Workday Minnesota, your leading source for labor news!.

Chris Matthews Rips Tea Party Express Co-Founder Sal Russo!

Matthews tries to get a comment from Russo on “balloon head” Michele Bachmann’s lack of knowledge on American history and slavery.

Court’s Strict Interpretation Of Illinois Residency Law In Rahm’s Case A Shift From The Norm

If history unfolded differently, and Abraham Lincoln had served out his second term in the White House, could he have returned to Illinois to run for mayor of his hometown?

The response might have boiled down to this: Honest, Abe, you can’t, unless you’ve lived in Springfield for a full year.

That’s the issue hanging over Rahm Emanuel’s run for Chicago mayor. And it’s raising tough questions about how old residency rules should be interpreted in an era when Americans are so mobile.

Full Story Here: Court’s Strict Interpretation Of Illinois Residency Law In Rahm’s Case A Shift From The Norm.

Soros Warns Euro Crisis Could Divide Europe

Billionaire financier George Soros warned Wednesday that Europe could potentially fall apart because of the “two-speed Europe” of haves and have-nots that is being perpetuated by the reform of the embattled euro.

He told a news briefing on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum that the currency used by 17 EU nations is in the process of reform following concerns over the debt crisis that enveloped Greece and Ireland and is threatening others.

Its flaw, he said, of having a common central bank but no common treasury was being addressed with the creation of a permanent European Financial Stability Facility, which was created to bail out debt-ridden countries.

Full Story Here: Soros Warns Euro Crisis Could Divide Europe.

Goldman Sachs Got Billions From AIG For Its Own Account, Crisis Panel Finds

Goldman Sachs collected $2.9 billion from the American International Group as payout on a speculative trade it placed for the benefit of its own account, receiving the bulk of those funds after AIG received an enormous taxpayer rescue, according to the final report of an investigative panel appointed by Congress.

The fact that a significant slice of the proceeds secured by Goldman through the AIG bailout landed in its own account–as opposed to those of its clients or business partners– has not been previously disclosed. These details about the workings of the controversial AIG bailout, which eventually swelled to $182 billion, are among the more eye-catching revelations in the report to be released Thursday by the bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

The details underscore the degree to which Goldman–the most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history–benefited directly from the massive emergency bailout of the nation’s financial system, a deal crafted on the watch of then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who had previously headed the bank.

Full Story Here: Goldman Sachs Got Billions From AIG For Its Own Account, Crisis Panel Finds.

Blackwater Lawsuit Dismisd 7 Years After Grisly Killingsse

A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit that blamed the security company formerly known as Blackwater for the deaths of four contractors killed in a grisly 2004 ambush on the restive streets of Iraq.

U.S. District Judge James C. Fox said court-ordered arbitration fell apart because neither side was paying the costs of that process, so he decided to shut the case nearly seven years after the killings. Katy Helvenston, the mother of contractor Scott Helvenston, said Tuesday the families couldn’t afford the costs, and she fears the case is over. The lawsuit was filed about a year after the men’s deaths.

“It’s pretty much destroyed my life,” Helvenston said. “I haven’t known one moment of joy since Scotty was slaughtered. I think the worst part is the betrayal from my country. I feel so betrayed.”

Insurgents killed the four contractors, then mutilated the bodies, dragged the charred remains through the streets and hung two of the corpses from a bridge. Images from the scene were relayed around the world, and the event triggered a massive U.S. military siege known as the Battle of Fallujah.

Full Story Here: Blackwater Lawsuit Dismissed 7 Years After Grisly Killings.

Obama: Let’s fund clean energy by stripping giveaways to oil companies

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Barack Obama called for investments into clean energy, declaring they should be paid for in part by cutting federal subsidies and tax breaks for the oil industry.

Obama said the United States should get 80 percent of its electricity from clean energy sources by 2035, though he included nuclear power, “clean coal,” and natural gas as part of that standard, in addition to wind and solar.

“With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015,” Obama said, calling also for investments in high speed rail to cut fossil fuel consumption.

Full Story Here: Obama: Let’s fund clean energy by stripping giveaways to oil companies | Raw Story.

Supreme Court may sanction corporations lying to investors

The Supreme Court’s decision in the upcoming case Erica P. John Fund Inc v. Halliburton could prevent companies that deceive their investors from being held accountable, according to Jeff McCord of The Investor Advocate.

In early January, the Supreme Court agreed to review a US appeals court ruling that denied a group of investors could sue energy giant Halliburton in a broad class action. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in 2007 by Halliburton shareholders who bought stock between June 1999 and December 2001.

The investors claimed that Halliburton and Chief Executive Officer David Lesar falsely inflated the company’s stock prices by overstating revenues in its construction business, along with inflating the benefits of its merger with Dresser Industries. Eventually the company disclosed that it had overstated its revenues and its stock prices consequentially fell, causing a loss to the stockholders.

Full Story Here: In Halliburton case, Supreme Court may sanction corporations lying to investors | Raw Story.

400 rabbis protest Glenn Beck’s use of Holocaust imagery

Four hundred rabbis will publish a letter on Thursday calling on Fox News to sanction host Glenn Beck for repeated use of Nazi and Holocaust imagery and for airing attacks on World War Two survivor George Soros.

In an open letter to Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corp which owns Fox, the rabbis also demand an apology from Fox News chief Roger Ailes for characterizing Beck’s Jewish critics as nothing more than “left-wing rabbis.”

The letter will appear as an advertisement in the News Corp-owned Wall Street Journal on Thursday for which the rabbis spent more than $100,000, a spokesman said.

Full Story Here: 400 rabbis protest Glenn Beck’s use of Holocaust imagery | Raw Story.

Boehner To Give Keynote Address At Insurance Industry Conference’s ‘Lobbying Day’

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will give the keynote address at the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) conference in Washington, “hours before” association members “fan out across Capital Hill to lobby their congress members.” The April 14th conference is expected to attract at least 1,000 attendees, who converge on the Capitol every year for “lobbying day.”

IIABA Senior Vice President Charles Symington called Boehner “a longtime friend,” and said, “The Speaker’s focused commitment to removing government barriers in order to create more jobs and economic growth go hand-in-hand with many of the [IIABA's] goals.” The group’s president, Robert Rusbuldt, said his members look forward to hearing Boehner’s “insight” before they they lobby lawmakers:

“The Big ‘I’ is honored that during such a pivotal year, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) will be kicking off our annual agent pilgrimage to Capitol Hill,” says Robert A. Rusbuldt, Big “I” president and CEO. “We’re looking forward to hearing his insights on the implementation of the new health care law, tax and spending issues, financial services regulation and other important topics facing our members, their businesses and the American economy.”

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Boehner To Give Keynote Address At Insurance Industry Conference’s ‘Lobbying Day’.

Insurance Company Drops Cancer Patient And Veteran Because He Accidentally Underpaid By Two Cents

One of the worst abuses of the private health insurance industry is the practice of denying claims to pay for necessary care or revoking the coverage of policyholders for frivolous reasons. A Vietnam veteran from Thornton, Colorado, is the latest victim of this practice.

Vietnam vet Ronald Flanagan has been battling cancer for more than two years. Two weeks ago, Flanagan was getting prepped for a bone biopsy at the local Exempla Rock Creek Medical Center. But at the last minute, his wife called the hospital and told them to stop the procedure because she had just received notice that they no longer have insurance. The reason why? The couple had accidentally underpaid their insurer by two pennies and it decided to drop them from their plan:

Two pennies. That’s the difference between a potentially life-saving surgery, and a dropped insurance plan. Those two cents could cost Vietnam veteran Ronald Flanagan everything. “Everybody we talk to is very surprised that two cents is enough to do this,” said Flanagan.

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Insurance Company Drops Cancer Patient And Veteran Because He Accidentally Underpaid By Two Cents.

New Mexico Governor Appoints Man Who Believes Environmentalists Are Communists To Head State Agency

Newly elected New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) has made a series of troubling moves since taking office last month, from proposing the elimination of a crucial state women’s services commission to making her first priority the revocation of illegal immigrants’ driver’s licenses. But the Tea Party-backed governor’s selection of Harrison Schmitt to head the state’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, which oversees all environmental matters in New Mexico, is the most disturbing action to date.

Schmitt, a retired astronaut and former U.S. Senator, has said he believes the leaders of the environmental movement are communists, and that when these communist environmentalists are appointed to government positions, citizens need to “wake up” and “take control of their government again.” The New Mexico Independent has flagged this interview Schmitt gave to crank radio host Alex Jones in 2009:

SCHMITT: Number one we’ve been concerned with the misuse of science, but I think more fundamentally, this misuse of science has lead to politicians and ideologues to try to gain control of the American economy, and indeed the global economy, by scaring people….I think that there are individuals, [Obama science czar John] Holdren apparently among them, a very large number who have taken — shall we say captured the environmental movement and turned it into what was previously considered the communist movement. And that’s just something that people of common sense are going to continue to have to counter and wake up enough so that they can take control of their government again. [...]

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » New Mexico Governor Appoints Man Who Believes Environmentalists Are Communists To Head State Agency.

9/11: ‘Awkward gaps and contradictions in official explanations’ – You betcha!

9/11: ‘Awkward gaps and contradictions in official explanations’ – You betcha! By Lori Price, www.legitgov.org 26 Jan 2011

We read: US fury over UN expert’s 9/11 ‘cover-up’ claims 25 Jan 2011 The United States on Tuesday demanded the sacking of a UN human rights expert for “noxious” [?] comments claiming there had been a US cover-up over the September 11 attacks… The US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, called Falk’s views “despicable and deeply offensive” and said she had registered a protest and called for his dismissal. Falk wrote in his personal blog on January 11 that there are “awkward gaps and contradictions in the official explanations” given for the attacks when hijacked [sic] jets crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. He said there was “an apparent cover-up” by the US government over its knowledge of the attacks masterminded by Osama bin Laden. Falk said mainstream US media had been “unwilling to acknowledge the well-evidenced doubts about the official version of the events: an Al-Qaeda operation with no foreknowledge by government officials.”

Except that the events of September 11th were not a ‘bin Laden’ operation.

They were a Cheney/Neo-con operation, six ways to Sunday.

Full Story Here: 9/11: ‘Awkward gaps and contradictions in official explanations’ – You betcha! | Citizens for Legitimate Government.

U.S. students not proficient in science

Education Secretary Arne Duncan says the results are not good enough to ensure future American competitiveness

Very few students have the advanced skills that could lead to careers in science and technology, according to results of a national exam released Tuesday that education leaders called alarming.

Only 1 percent of fourth-grade and 12th-grade students, and 2 percent of eighth-graders scored in the highest group on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federal test known as the Nation’s Report Card. Less than half were considered proficient, with many more showing minimal science knowledge.

“It’s very disappointing for all educators to see students performing below the level we’d like them to be,” said Bonnie Embry, an elementary school science lab teacher in Lexington, Ky. “These low scores should send a message to educators across our nation that we’re not spending enough time teaching science.”

Full Story Here: U.S. students not proficient in science – Education – Salon.com.

Michele Bachmann Proposes “Don’t Add, Don’t Spell”

Reflects Core Tea Party Values, Says Minn. Lawmaker

In her official Tea Party response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) offered a bold new policy initiative she called “Don’t Add, Don’t Spell.”

Rep. Bachmann called the proposal “a reflection of core Tea Party values” and said it would  “deliver the American people from the tyranny of arithmetic, spelling, and punctuation.”

In addition to “Don’t Add, Don’t Spell,” Rep. Bachmann suggested slashing the Federal budget by eliminating nine of the first ten Amendments to the Constitution.

“I think you know which one I’d keep,” she chuckled, miming a Western gunslinger with her index fingers.

Full Story Here: Borowitz Report.

Climate Benefits of Natural Gas May Be Overstated

The United States is poised to bet its energy future on natural gas as a clean, plentiful fuel that can supplant coal and oil. But new research by the Environmental Protection Agency—and a growing understanding of the pollution associated with the full “life cycle” of gas production—is casting doubt on the assumption that gas offers a quick and easy solution to climate change.

Advocates for natural gas routinely assert that it produces 50 percent less greenhouse gases than coal and is a significant step toward a greener energy future. But those assumptions are based on emissions from the tailpipe or smokestack and don’t account for the methane and other pollution emitted when gas is extracted and piped to power plants and other customers.

The EPA’s new analysis doubles its previous estimates for the amount of methane gas that leaks from loose pipe fittings and is vented from gas wells, drastically changing the picture of the nation’s emissions that the agency painted as recently as April. Calculations for some gas-field emissions jumped by several hundred percent. Methane levels from the hydraulic fracturing of shale gas were 9,000 times higher than previously reported.

Full Story Here: On The Hill: Climate Benefits of Natural Gas May Be Overstated.

What’s the real reason Republicans want to do away with Social Security?

At first glance, Social Security seems innocuous enough. What’s not to like? It’s as American as, well, the Great American Century. Also, until recent years, it’s managed to straddle the political divide from Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt, under whose administration it was instituted, to Republican President Dwight Eisenhower.

But today many Americans view it, ironically, as un-American and would like to see Social Security (along with most federal functions) reduced with an eye to abolishing it. Besides opposing large government in principle, they believe that the money withheld from their paychecks for Social Security is just another form of taxation, to which, in itself, they’re constitutionally incapable of reconciling themselves. Furthermore, it’s money that they feel they could invest more profitably in stocks and bonds, mutual funds, IRAs, 401(k)s, or . . . lifetime savings accounts.

Lost in all the recent talk about cutting back Social Security is an explanation of what would replace it. As opposed to Social Security, with lifetime savings accounts, workers could exert more control over how they’d like to invest their money. On the other hand, participation is voluntary and the accounts would have fewer restrictions on both contributions and withdrawals. As for concerns “that the lifetime savings account ‘could be raided at will, leaving [workers] without a cushion later,’” reports the National Review in 2002. “It’s true. A family would have to decide whether to ‘raid’ a savings account to pay for the children’s college tuition, or to leave it in there for retirement and health-care needs. This is called freedom.”

Full Story Here: What’s the real reason Republicans want to do away with Social Security?.

Hogwash, Mr. President

Robert Scheer:

What is the state of the union? You certainly couldn’t tell from that platitudinous hogwash that the president dished out Tuesday evening. I had expected Barack Obama to be his eloquent self, appealing to our better nature, but instead he was mealy-mouthed in avoiding the tough choices that a leader should delineate in a time of trouble. He embraced clean air and a faster Internet while ignoring the depth of our economic pain and the Wall Street scoundrels who were responsible — understandably so, since they so prominently populate the highest reaches of his administration. He had the effrontery to condemn “a parade of lobbyists” for rigging government after he appointed the top Washington representative of JPMorgan Chase to be his new chief of staff.

The speech was a distraction from what seriously ails us: an unabated mortgage crisis, stubbornly high unemployment and a debt that spiraled out of control while the government wasted trillions making the bankers whole. Instead the president conveyed the insular optimism of his fat-cat associates: “We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again.” How convenient to ignore the fact that this bubble of prosperity, which has failed the tens of millions losing their homes and jobs, was floated by enormous government indebtedness now forcing deep cuts in social services including state financial aid for those better-educated students the president claims to be so concerned about.

His references to education provided a convenient scapegoat for the failure of the economy, rather than to blame the actions of the Wall Street hustlers to whom Obama is now sucking up. Yes, it is an obvious good to have better-educated students to compete with other economies, but that is hardly the issue of the moment when all of the world’s economies are suffering grievous harm resulting from the irresponsible behavior of the best and the brightest here at home. It wasn’t the students struggling at community colleges who came up with the financial gimmicks that produced the Great Recession, but rather the super-whiz-kid graduates of the top business and law schools.

Full Story Here: Robert Scheer: Hogwash, Mr. President.

Getting our facts straight

Paul Ryan has his Indiana/California tax/budget facts EXACTLY backwards

“Should taxpayers in Indiana who have paid their bills on time, who have done their job fiscally be bailing out Californians who haven’t?” House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., asks. “No. That’s a moral hazard that we are not interested in creating.” – Fox News Blog

This nonsense has prompted a pretty good comment over at The Agonist, worth reading. That’s not the point, though. The point is that Paul Ryan obviously knows nothing. This is not a surprise, since he’s now the great white hope of Republican financial acumen. If this is an example of what Ryan brings to the table, the chance of anything reasonable happening the next two years is even dimmer than we thought. The man is as dumb as a sack of hammers.

Because, as we’ve discussed before, there’s this folk mythology out there that somehow the great American heartland—you know, where real Americans live—think Indiana or Wisconsin here—are carrying the load for those deadbeats in California—or wherever those liberals on welfare live. But we know that isn’t true. How do we know this? Because I’ve mentioned this a couple of times before.

Full Story Here: Getting our facts straight.

No proof WikiLeaks breaking law, inquiry finds

A company working for Visa found the group had not broken any laws in its home country of Iceland

A company asked by Visa to investigate WikiLeaks’ finances found no proof the group’s fundraising arm is breaking the law in its home base of Iceland, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.

But Visa Europe Ltd. said Wednesday it would continue blocking donations to the secret-spilling site until it completes its own investigation. Company spokeswoman Amanda Kamin said she couldn’t say when Visa’s inquiry, now stretching into its eighth week, would be finished.

Visa was one of several American companies that cut its ties with WikiLeaks after it began publishing a massive trove of secret U.S. diplomatic memos late last year. U.S. officials have accused the site of putting its national security at risk — a claim WikiLeaks says is an attempt to distract from the memos’ embarrassing content.

Full Story Here: No proof WikiLeaks breaking law, inquiry finds – War Room – Salon.com.

100 Percent Renewable Energy Achievable By 2030: Study

Could the world reach a 100 percent renewable energy goal in less than 20 years? New research says we can.

A report published in the journal Energy Policy claims that by 2030, the world can achieve 100 percent renewable energy if the proper measures are taken.

What exactly are these measures? According to PhysOrg, over 80 percent of our world’s energy supply currently comes from fossil fuels. We would need to build approximately four million wind turbines, nearly 2 billion solar photovoltaic systems, and about 90,000 solar power plants. The 5 MW wind turbines needed are up to three times the capacity of most of our current wind turbines. Doable? Perhaps. Formidable? Most certainly.

Full Story Here: 100 Percent Renewable Energy Achievable By 2030: Study.

Why Women Want Out More Than Men

I had been following the on-again, off-again, on-again divorce of Sean Penn and Robin Wright for a while, not because I’m celeb crazed but because before Penn took off for Haiti and Wright to L.A., they lived just a few miles from me. I sometimes would see Wright around town, looking like any other San Francisco Bay Area yummy mommy shopping at Whole Foods or checking out the guitars at the local music shop, just much more famous and a heck of a lot richer.

So when I read Penn’s complaint to the Hollywood Reporter a few weeks ago that he’d been “taken for one half of everything I had in the divorce,” I had to laugh — “Well, what did you expect, if you carry on like that?” — and I had a flashback to my own divorce a few years prior.

Like Wright, there were affairs and other shenanigans. Like Wright, we tried to salvage the marriage. Like Wright, I was the one who finally said, “I want a divorce” — the hardest word

Full Story Here: Vicki Larson: Why Women Want Out More Than Men.

Jon Stewart Calls Out Fox News’ Nazi Hypocrisy

On Monday night’s “Daily Show,” Jon Stewart chose to forgo a big segment on Keith Olbermann’s MSNBC departure (unlike like his counterpart Stephen Colbert) and instead picked up where he left off last week, with an expose on Nazi name-calling in Congress and the media.

Last week, Stewart had some strong words for Rep. Steve Cohen, who likened the Republican party’s views on government-owned health care to Nazi lies. To his surprise, Stewart’s comments were echoed all over Fox News, with everyone — including Karl Rove — saying Cohen should be ashamed of himself.

“If that guy is telling you you should feel shame, that’s like Charlie Sheen showing up at your intervention to tell you to take it down a notch.”

Full Story Here: Jon Stewart Calls Out Fox News’ Nazi Hypocrisy (VIDEO).

AZ lawmaker: Shootings fueled by tv, video games and abortion – not guns

Arizona State Senator Linda Gray said shootings are spurred on by violence in television and video games, as well society’s acceptance of abortion – but not by the ubiquitous availability of guns.

“The problem is not the gun, but about respect for all human life, from the unborn, a 9 year old child, a senior citizen or a political leader,” Gray told Raw Story, in response to an e-mail. “The shooter had no respect for the value of any these innocent citizens who were injured or killed.”

Gray said the Tucson shooting rampage this month that left six dead and a dozen injured, including a Democratic congresswoman, should not lead to stricter gun laws, as numerous national lawmakers have since proposed.

Full Story Here: AZ lawmaker: Shootings fueled by tv, video games and abortion – not guns | Raw Story.

Bachmann: Founding fathers ‘worked tirelessly’ to end slavery

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) said the United States was founded on racial and ethnic diversity and that the founding fathers were responsible for abolishing slavery.

Speaking at an event sponsored by Iowans For Tax Relief, Bachmann hailed the “different cultures, different backgrounds, different traditions” of the early European settlers in America, adding that the “color of their skin” or “language” or “economic status” didn’t preclude them from seeking happiness.

“Once you got here, we were all the same,” she said. “Isn’t that remarkable? It is absolutely remarkable.”

The Minnesota Republican called slavery an “evil” and “scourge” and “stain on our history.”

Full Story Here: Bachmann: Founding fathers ‘worked tirelessly’ to end slavery | Raw Story.

GOP bill would expand power of corporations in presidential elections

Legislation that is expected to reach the House floor this week would give corporations and other large donors a greater role in presidential elections by dismantling the public campaign finance system.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) introduced a bill that would end public financing of presidential elections on the anniversary of the infamous Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision. The bill, HR 359, would eliminate the Presidential Election Campaign Fund and the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account. It currently has 18 cosponsors, all of whom are Republican.

“A vote for HR 359 is a great way to tell the American people that you want to give corporations more power over our government rather than make democracy work for ordinary Americans,” David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, warned in a prepared statement.

Full Story Here: GOP bill would expand power of corporations in presidential elections | Raw Story.

Cairo erupts as Egyptian protesters demand Mubarak resign

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Egypt Tuesday, facing down a massive police presence to demand the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in protests inspired by Tunisia’s popular uprising.

Gamal Mubarak, son of President Hosni Mubarak, had fled the country along with his family, according to the Adnkronos International news service.

Demonstrators calling for economic and political reforms broke through police barriers and began marching in Cairo’s streets.

Protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court in downtown Cairo and held large signs that read “Tunisia is the solution” amid massive police deployment, an AFP correspondent said.

Full Story Here: Cairo erupts as Egyptian protesters demand Mubarak resign | Raw Story.

McConnell: Sure I’ll Work With Obama, As Long As He ‘Is Willing To Do What I And My Members Would Do Anyway’

Despite spending the past two years reflexively obstructing President Obama’s agenda, in the wake last November’s elections, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said he wants to look for common ground and “areas of potential cooperation” with the president and Senate Democrats. During the previous Congress, McConnell expressed little interest in cooperating with the White House, so Democrats cautiously welcomed McConnell’s newfound willingness to compromise.

But at a breakfast event hosted by Politico’s Mike Allen this morning in D.C., which ThinkProgress attended, McConnell expressed a vision of cooperation that looks more like capitulation. McConnell said he is willing to work with Obama, as long as the president “is willing to do what I and my members would do anyway”:

MCCONNELL: If the president is willing to do what I and my members would do anyway, we’re not going to say no and –

ALLEN: But that’s not much of a concession. That’s not bargaining, to just give you what you want.

MCCONNELL: Um, I like to think I’m a pretty good negotiator.

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » McConnell: Sure I’ll Work With Obama, As Long As He ‘Is Willing To Do What I And My Members Would Do Anyway’.

OPS: Well, so far, so good. Hey Mitch?

Newt Gingrich: Abolish the EPA

Appearing in the key presidential campaign state of Iowa, potential Republican candidate Newt Gingrich called for the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency. Gingrich, the former House of Representatives speaker who now heads the right-wing front group American Solutions for Winning the Future, was the keynote speaker on biofuel policy at the 5th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday. Claiming to be the friend of American biofuels, Gingrich failed to mention that his organization is funded by top oil and coal interests. Calling for the EPA to be replaced by an “Environmental Solutions Agency” designed to support polluters, Gingrich argued that standards to keep the air healthy are motivated by disdain for people outside of Washington DC:

They are really in many ways hostile to all new technology, hostile to local communities, hostile to the marketplace.

Listen here:

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Newt Gingrich: Abolish the EPA.

Land Of (No) Liberty: Southern Baptist Official Drops Out Of Religious Freedom Group

Religious liberty is a fairly easy concept to grasp: All faiths have the right to exist, meet for worship, spread their ideas and build facilities. All must abide by certain laws, and the government must treat them equally.

There is nothing in our Constitution that says that certain groups will be denied these rights simply because some people don’t like them. Yes, some groups have unpopular views and doctrines – but the First Amendment protects them too. It sometimes takes courage to stand up for the rights of groups deemed unpopular, but our Constitutions demands nothing less. (And, of course, you also have the right to join no religious group at all by being an agnostic, atheist or skeptic.)

You would think that a religious group once in the minority, a group whose members once faced persecution and unpopularity, would understand that. Sadly, that does not appear to be the case.

Full Story Here: | Land Of (No) Liberty: Southern Baptist Official Drops Out Of Religious Freedom Group.

Bush and Rove Broke Law; Office of Special Counsel Concludes– But OSC and DOJ Not Acting On Findings

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC)l has released a report which concludes that President Bush illegally used taxpayers money on political campaigns, violating the Hatch Act. (actual PDF of report)

The OSC report based on an investigation that took three years to complete, says Bush’s Office of Political Affairs (OPA), overseen by Karl Rove, was basically an extension of the RNC. It created a “target list” of Congressional race, organized briefings, and sent cabinet officials out to campaign, particularly around the time of the 2006 mid-term election.

Full Story Here: OpEdNews – Article: Bush and Rove Broke Law; Office of Special Counsel Concludes– But OSC and DOJ Not Acting On Findings.

Breaking: President’s son and family ‘have fled to the UK’

An Italian news publication has just announced that Gamal Mubarak, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s son who is widely tipped as his successor, has fled to London with his family, Arabic website Akhbar al-Arab said on Tuesday, January 24, 2011.

Gamal Mubarak is seen as Hosni Mubarak’s successor. The report is unconfirmed, but goes on to say that the family and 97 pieces of luggage on board left for London on Tuesday from an airport in western Cairo.

The day has seen a revolutionary uprising of Egyptians against the regime of Hosni Mubarak asking for his resignation. Police and protesters clashed, and an anti-riot police officer was killed in Central Cairo.

Full Story Here: Breaking: President’s son and family ‘have fled to the UK’ – National Foreign Policy | Examiner.com.

Home sales: U.S. home prices slide into ‘double dip’

After rebounding last year with help from tax incentives, home sale prices fell in November — the fourth month-to-month decline in a row — according to the Case-Shiller Index.

A “double dip” in home prices appears to be underway in the nation’s biggest cities, jeopardizing the tepid U.S. economic recovery.

The widely followed Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Index, which tracks the real estate market in 20 major U.S. cities, showed that prices dropped 1.6% in November from the same month a year earlier, the second consecutive year-over-year decline. What’s more, the index fell 1% in November from October, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline.

Last year, a recovery in housing prices seemed to be on track. But analysts now say that that improvement was juiced by home-buying tax credits that have now expired. In addition, unemployment has remained stubbornly high and millions of Americans are still at risk of foreclosure.

Full Story Here: Home sales: U.S. home prices slide into ‘double dip’ – latimes.com.