Archive for September, 2011

5 Signs That America Is Moving Away from Religion

If you look closely there are promising signs that American attitudes are changing in a way that may blunt the impact of religion on politics and culture.

In between bragging about the number of people they’ve killed and vilifying gay soldiers, the GOP presidential candidates have spent the primaries demonstrating how little they respect the separation of church and state. Michele Bachmann seems to think God is personally invested in her political career. Both she and Rick Perry have ties to Christian Dominionism, a theocratic philosophy that publicly calls for Christian takeover of America’s political and civil institutions. (Even Ron Paul, glorified by civil libertarians for his only two good policy stances — opposition to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and drug prohibition — sputtered about churches when asked during a debate where he’d send a gravely ill man without health insurance.)

GOP pandering to the Religious Right is just one of those facts of American public life, like climate change denial and Creationism in schools, that leave secular Americans lamenting the decline of the country, and of reason and logic. Organized religion’s grasp on the politics and culture of much of Europe has been waning for decades – why can’t we do that here?

Full Story Here: 5 Signs That America Is Moving Away from Religion | Belief | AlterNet.

‘Occupy Wall Street’ Fighting Bankster Greed and the Surveillance State

Over a week in, and despite mass arrests, the protesters are still camped out around the corner from Wall Street, and the Internet is watching.

The crackdown on the Wall Street protesters this weekend seems to have backfired. The campsite-cum-experiment in radical democracy is still there, holding general assemblies just shouting distance from Goldman Sachs and the Wall St

reet bull. It even appears to be growing.

The complaints that the media has ignored the sustained protest seem to be resonating—the park has cameras aplenty today, and food trucks line one side of the plaza. (Local eateries have been taking out-of-town orders for protesters.) Tourists seem to be catching on that this is something, as they snap pictures of protest signs.

While even theoretically like-minded folks had been a bit dismissive of the Wall Street occupation before Saturday, the heavy-handed moves by police to control a small march have brought worldwide attention to Zuccotti Park, formerly Liberty Plaza. The Guardian has broken stories ahead of the New York media, outing the police officer caught on tape pepper-spraying penned-up protesters as the same officer named in a wrongful arrest lawsuit from 2004′s Republican National Convention protests.

Full Story Here: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Fighting Bankster Greed and the Surveillance State | | AlterNet.

The Dangerous Cult of the Guardian

A Thought Police for the Internet Age

There could be no better proof of the revolution – care of the internet – occurring in the accessibility of information and informed commentary than the reaction of our mainstream, corporate media.

For the first time, Western publics – or at least those who can afford a computer – have a way to bypass the gatekeepers of our democracies. Data our leaders once kept tightly under wraps can now be easily searched for, as can the analyses of those not paid to turn a blind eye to the constant and compelling evidence of Western hypocrisy. Wikileaks, in particular, has rapidly eroded the traditional hierarchical systems of information dissemination.

The media – at least the supposedly leftwing component of it – should be cheering on this revolution, if not directly enabling it. And yet, mostly they are trying to co-opt, tame or subvert it. Indeed, progressive broadcasters and writers increasingly use their platforms in the mainstream to discredit and ridicule the harbingers of the new age.

Full Story Here: The Dangerous Cult of the Guardian » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names.

“Job Creators”: Luntz Strikes Again

by Alan Grayson

If you have been hearing the term “job creators” a lot lately, it’s because Frank Luntz wanted you to.

As PBS put it, Luntz’s expertise is “testing language and finding words that will help his clients sell their products, or turn public opinion on an issue or a candidate.”  In other words, propaganda.

Here are some actual examples of Luntz’s fine work:

Don’t say “oil drilling.”  Say “energy exploration.”

Don’t say “inheritance tax.”  Say “death tax.”

Don’t say “global warming.”  Say “climate change.”

Don’t say “healthcare reform.”  Say “government takeover.”

And don’t say “greedy, soulless multinational corporations who don’t give a damn about you.”  Say “job creators.”

Luntz is like a serial killer of the English language.

Full Story Here: “Job Creators”: Luntz Strikes Again | Common Dreams.

Diebold voting machines can be hacked by remote control

Exclusive: A laboratory shows how an e-voting machine used by a third of all voters can be easily manipulated

It could be one of the most disturbing e-voting machine hacks to date.

Voting machines used by as many as a quarter of American voters heading to the polls in 2012 can be hacked with just $10.50 in parts and an 8th grade science education, according to computer science and security experts at the Vulnerability Assessment Team at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. The experts say the newly developed hack could change voting results while leaving absolutely no trace of the manipulation behind.

“We believe these man-in-the-middle attacks are potentially possible on a wide variety of electronic voting machines,” said Roger Johnston, leader of the assessment team “We think we can do similar things on pretty much every electronic voting machine.”

Full Story Here: Diebold voting machines can be hacked by remote control – 2012 Elections – Salon.com.

Vast Majority Of Americans Favor Buffett Rule’s Millionaire Tax: Poll

Nearly three-quarters of Americans say they support President Barack Obama’s proposal to tax households making $1 million or more at the same or higher rate as middle-class households, according to a recent poll from website Daily Kos.

The poll found two-thirds of Republicans also support the so-called “Buffett Rule” –- named after famed investor Warren Buffett, who proposed increasing taxes on wealthy in a recent op-ed in The New York Times. But the measure faces stiff opposition. After Obama unveiled the Buffett rule earlier this month as part of a proposal to cut the national deficit through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts, Republican leaders derided the plan as “class warfare.”

The report’s findings parallel the results of a Gallup poll released earlier this month, which found that two-thirds of Americans favor boosting taxes on households earning more than $200,000 per year.

One demographic is even more supportive of the Buffett rule than the national average. The under-30 set is overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal, according to millennial advocacy group, Our Time. A Facebook survey of its members found that 80 percent support the measure.

Full Story Here: Vast Majority Of Americans Favor Buffett Rule’s Millionaire Tax: Poll.

Bill Daley’s Big Pharma History: Drugs, Profits And Trade Deals

This piece is a continuation of The Huffington Post’s collaboration on trade issues with The Dylan Ratigan Show, called Trading Our Future.

WASHINGTON — As commerce secretary under Bill Clinton, William Daley worked with U.S. pharmaceutical giants to curb the use of cheaper generic drugs abroad. As a board member for Abbott Laboratories, he had a front-row seat on a brutal clash between a major drug company and a developing nation over access to life-saving medication. And as White House chief of staff today, Daley has President Barack Obama’s ear.

Add up Daley’s power and experience, and experts who follow public health policy suspect his influence in the U.S. stance in negotiations over a major international trade deal — a stance with hugely profitable implications for giant American drugmakers.

Full Story Here: Bill Daley’s Big Pharma History: Drugs, Profits And Trade Deals.

‘Occupy Chicago’ protest enters fifth day

A small group of protesters in Chicago started their own “Occupy Wall Street” demonstration over the weekend. Around 20 “Occupy Chicago” protesters gathered at Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, on September 23 and then marched to the Federal Reserve Bank. Some of the protesters have remained camped out in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the organizers said the “occupation” had more than doubled over the last several days.

On Thursday, the “Occupy Chicago” protesters marched down Michigan Avenue and through Millennium Park.

Although the “Occupy Wall Street” protest has been criticized by some for having no clear agenda or demands, one protester had three clear goals: repealing the Bush tax cuts, overturning the Citizens United decision and reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act.

Watch video of day 5 of the protest, uploaded to YouTube, below:

Full Story Here: ‘Occupy Chicago’ protest enters fifth day | Raw Replay.

Virgin Mobile and Verizon retain content of text messages

The cell phone service providers Virgin Mobile and Verizon retain the content of text messages, according to a Justice Department memo obtained by the America Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina.

Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, Nextel, and Virgin Mobile all retain information relating to text messages, such as who the text messages were sent to and when, but only Verizon and Virgin Mobile retain the actual content of the text messages. Virgin Mobile keeps text message content for 90 days and Verizon keeps it for 3 to 5 days.

The Justice Department document, “Retention Periods of Major Cellular Providers,” was published in 2010 as a guide for law enforcement agents seeking to obtain cell phone records.

Full Story Here: Virgin Mobile and Verizon retain content of text messages | The Raw Story.

Another Manufactured ‘Crisis’: Congress Can Let The Post Office Save Itself Without Mass Layoffs Or Service Reductions

Both the news media and a number of politicians have claimed recently that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is in “crisis,” and that it is necessary to lay off thousands of workers or reduce service in order to make the post office fiscally stable. And the Post Office itself has proposed laying off as many as 120,000 employees and withdrawing from federal health care plans in order to navigate upcoming fiscal crunches.

It is true that USPS is facing fiscal challenges — it lost nearly $20 billion over the last four years and is at risk of not being able to meet a $5.5 billion mandated payment to the Treasury at the end of this month (which has been put off six weeks thanks to the last continuing resolution in Congress).

But what has been lost in the political debate over the Post Office is why it is losing this money. Major media coverage points to the rise of email or Internet services and the inefficiency of the post model as the major culprits. While these factors may cause some fiscal pain, almost all of the postal service’s losses over the last four years can be traced back to a single, artificial restriction forced onto the Post Office by the Republican-led Congress in 2006.

Full Story Here: A Manufactured ‘Crisis’: Congress Can Let The Post Office Save Itself Without Mass Layoffs Or Service Reductions | ThinkProgress.

BBC Speechless As Trader Tells Truth: “The Collapse Is Coming…And Goldman Rules The World”

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BBC speechless trader collapse is coming goldman sachs rules the world euro eurozone collapse

Full Story Here: BBC Speechless As Trader Tells Truth: “The Collapse Is Coming…And Goldman Rules The World” – YouTube.

The Not So Stealth Campaign to Silence Critics of Religious Extremism

While it’s not as big a kerfuffle as Rupert Murdoch’s hacking scandal, and doesn’t measure up to the hubbub over whether the nude photos of Scarlett Johansson that recently appeared on the Internet are actually Scarlett Johansson, nevertheless there’s a political sideshow in development involving Republican Party presidential candidates and their right-wing religious allies.

The essence of the matter is this: A number of conservative writers and political pundits have taken to attacking left-wing investigative reporters, researchers and journalists over their reporting about Dominionism, Christian Reconstructionism and the New Apostolic Reformation – three little-known theological and ideological movements gaining ground on the Christian Right.

The subtext of a recent contribution to this newly minted genre appears to be a not-so-subtle message to Jewish writers, researchers and critics of the Religious Right: “Don’t rock the boat.”

‘The Truth About Evangelicals’ is bereft of one thing; truth

Full Story Here: | The Not So Stealth Campaign to Silence Critics of Religious Extremism.

Facing possible inquiry, OnStar drops ‘Big Brother’ plans

Facing intense criticism from Capitol Hill and calls for a government investigation, General Motors’ OnStar division has dropped plans that would have allowed it to track detailed personal driving information about both current and former subscribers.

The telematics subsidiary had advised users that it was changing its terms and conditions to permit it to track a vehicle’s speed, location and other data including whether or not a motorist was wearing a seatbelt.  A driver who dropped OnStar would still be linked to the service unless specifically opting out.  And the company said it reserved the right to sell that information to third-party marketers or even government and law enforcement agencies.

New York’s powerful Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer termed the move a “brazen” invasion of privacy and called for an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. Facing mounting criticism from other government and private quarters, OnStar said it has canceled its policy change and will not maintain a link to customers who quit the service.

Full Story Here: Bottom Line – Facing possible inquiry, OnStar drops ‘Big Brother’ plans.

Veterans attempt citizens arrest of Rumsfeld in Boston

Several members of the group Veterans for Peace were escorted out of the Old South Meeting House in Boston Monday night after they attempted a citizen’s arrest of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

“I went down in front and looked Donald Rumsfeld in the eye and said, ‘I’m making a citizen’s arrest,’” protester Nate Goldschlag told WCVB-TV.

“He lied us into Iraq. He lied about weapons of mass destruction. He lied about Saddam Hussein being involved in 9/11.”

Three of the protesters removed from the event were with Veterans for Peace and a fourth was a member of Code Pink. One protester was arrested outside the event for allegedly using a bullhorn to assault a police officer.

Full Story Here: Veterans attempt citizens arrest of Rumsfeld in Boston | Raw Replay.

Obama must face meaningful Democratic primaries

| Ralph Nader

Only a slate of serious candidates can oblige the president to listen to his loyal Democratic base as he runs for re-election

America’s two-party dictatorship – a model unknown in any other western country – keeps reinventing the ways it closes doors not just on third party candidates but on any challenges to their incumbent presidents within the party’s primaries.

Now, it is the turn of the Democrats to make a mockery out of the first amendment rights of others to speak, assemble and petition their government by running inside the upcoming presidential primary season that runs from January to June 2012. After President Obama took his liberal/progressive base for so many one-sided corporatist rides in his administration, he and his allies are very determined to give him a free ride by having him campaign around the country on Air Force One as an unchallenged, one-man primary.

This tedious scenario would have his supporters watch President Obama repeatedly respond, on his omnipresent teleprompter, to the crazed Republicans and their issues – instead of offering a ringing affirmation for his second term of the neglected majoritarian liberal/progressive agendas.

Full Story Here: Obama must face meaningful Democratic primaries | Ralph Nader | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.

Dominionists and the ‘Kingdom of God’

A threat to American liberties:

Dominionists and the ‘Kingdom of God’

They want to take over government and create a theocracy. No wonder they see nothing wrong in playing politics from the pulpit.

Dominionists refuse to accept the separation of church and state. They want to take over government and other areas of society and create a theocracy. No wonder they see nothing wrong in playing politics from the pulpit.

Reverend Ed Kalnins, once Sarah Palin’s pastor at the Wasilla Assembly of God Church, has consigned critics of George W. Bush to hell. He even denounced those who criticized Bush’s handling of Katrina. He doubted that people who voted for John Kerry in 2004 would be welcomed to heaven.

He said: “I’m not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I’m sorry.” Kalnins added: “If every Christian will vote righteously, it would be a landslide every time.

Full Story Here: The Rag Blog: Don Swift : Dominionists and the ‘Kingdom of God’.

In a First, SEC Warns Rating Agency It May Bring Financial Crisis Lawsuit

Though they’ve been faulted for their central role in the financial crisis, the major credit-ratings agencies have thus far weathered the fallout of the crisis with no sanctions from federal regulators and little more than a bruised reputation.

But that could change soon.

In a formal warning known as a Wells notice, the Securities and Exchange Commission informed credit-ratings firm Standard & Poor’s that it’s considering civil charges tied to the firm’s ratings of a 2007 mortgage-backed securities deal. It’s the first such warning to be given to a credit-ratings agency over matters directly related to the financial crisis.

The deal, known as Delphinus, was one of more than two-dozen collateralized debt obligations linked to the hedge fund Magnetar, whose role in creating and betting against risky CDOs was detailed in a ProPublica investigation last year. Completed in the summer of 2007, Delphinus was one of the last deals done by Magnetar and was underwritten by the Japanese bank Mizuho.Details on S&P’s potential violations are still unclear. But last year’s Senate investigation of the financial crisis may contain some hints.

Full Story Here: The Washington Current: In a First, SEC Warns Rating Agency It May Bring Financial Crisis Lawsuit.

GOP Leaders’ Spokesmen Reveal They Don’t Know Anything About Tax Policy

During a town hall meeting today, Doug Edwards, the former Director of Consumer Marketing for Google, asked President Obama to please raise his taxes. “I would like very much to have the country to continue to invest in things like Pell Grants, infrastructure, and job training programs that made it possible for me to get to where I am,” Edwards said, noting that he is unemployed by choice because he was “fortunate enough to work for a start-up down the street here that did quite well.” “It kills me to see Congress not supporting the expiration of the tax cuts that have been benefiting so many of us for so long,” he said.

The spokesmen for both House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) — Brendan Buck and Brad Dayspring, respectively — proceeded to mock the exchange on Twitter by densely insinuating that the man only wants taxes to go up because he is unemployed and wouldn’t have to pay them:

Full Story Here: GOP Leaders’ Spokesmen Reveal They Don’t Know Anything About Tax Policy | ThinkProgress.

Johns Hopkins scientists figure out how to ‘disarm’ AIDS virus

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University said recently that they have learned how to “disarm” the AIDS virus by eliminating the cells’ membranes, effectively stopping it from hijacking its victim’s immune system.

Research results published last week in the medical journal Blood indicated the treatment method could lead to a vaccine against the virus, which affected about 33.3 million people worldwide at the end of 2009.

Scientists said their new method works by eliminating a membrane of cholesterol used by HIV to disguise itself and disarm the immune system. It steals the cholesterol from the first immune response to its intrusion, then uses it to communicate with the rest of the immune system.

Full Story Here: Johns Hopkins scientists figure out how to ‘disarm’ AIDS virus | The Raw Story.

Stock trader: Europe will collapse because ‘Goldman Sachs rules the world’ 

Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) this morning, independent stock trader Alessio Rastani predicted that a European market crash is imminent and many investors know it.

“This problem cannot be solved,” he said. “I’m fairly confident that the Euro is going to crash, and it’s going to fall pretty hard.”

Rastani added: “Personally, I’ve been dreaming of this moment for three years. I have a confession, which is, I go to bed every night and I dream of another recession. I dream of another moment like this. Why? Because people don’t seem to really remember. The depression in the 30′s wasn’t just about a market crash. There were some people who were prepared to make money from that crash. I think anybody can do that.”

“What I would say to everybody is, get prepared. It’s not the time right now to, wishfully thinking the government’s going to sort things out. The governments don’t rule the world. Goldman Sachs rules the world. Goldman Sachs does not care about this rescue package, neither does the big funds.”

Full Story Here: Stock trader: Europe will collapse because ‘Goldman Sachs rules the world’ | Raw Replay.

Corporations Couldn’t Wait to ‘Check the Box’ on Huge Tax Break

A simple rule meant to cut paperwork for U.S. companies has grown into one of the biggest multinational tax breaks around, costing the United States and other governments billions of dollars in lost taxes each year.

It thrives thanks to determined business support, including a campaign two years ago that forced the Obama administration to retreat from altering it, and tax professionals worldwide who exploit its benefits.

The rule is dubbed “check-the-box.” It allows U.S. companies to strip profits from operations in high-tax countries simply by marking an Internal Revenue Service form that transforms subsidiaries into what the agency calls a “disregarded entity.” Others have labeled them “tax nothings.”

Full Story Here: Corporations Couldn’t Wait to ‘Check the Box’ on Huge Tax Break | Common Dreams.

Corporations Couldn’t Wait to ‘Check the Box’ on Huge Tax Break | Common Dreams

A simple rule meant to cut paperwork for U.S. companies has grown into one of the biggest multinational tax breaks around, costing the United States and other governments billions of dollars in lost taxes each year.

It thrives thanks to determined business support, including a campaign two years ago that forced the Obama administration to retreat from altering it, and tax professionals worldwide who exploit its benefits.

The rule is dubbed “check-the-box.” It allows U.S. companies to strip profits from operations in high-tax countries simply by marking an Internal Revenue Service form that transforms subsidiaries into what the agency calls a “disregarded entity.” Others have labeled them “tax nothings.”

Full Story Here: Corporations Couldn’t Wait to ‘Check the Box’ on Huge Tax Break | Common Dreams.

Texas Oil Refineries May Be Refunded $135 Million Out Of Public School, Community Funds

Three commissioners appointed by Gov. Rick Perry may grant some of the nation’s largest refineries a tax refund of more than $135 million – money Texas’ cash-strapped schools and other local governments have been counting on to help pay teachers and provide other public services.

The property tax refund would mean more pain for some communities after a year in which state lawmakers grappled with a $27 billion shortfall and slashed spending on public schools by more than $4 billion. Nearly half the refund would be taken from public schools, and those in cities where the refineries are based would be hurt most.

“We were already cut at the knees as it is, but more cuts? It’s appalling,” said Patricia Gonzales, a single mother of 13-year-old twins at Park View Intermediate School in Pasadena, a refinery town just south of Houston. Gonzales is president of the school’s new parent-teacher organization, formed this summer after the state budget cuts left the school lacking everything from pencils to paper towels.

Full Story Here: Texas Oil Refineries May Be Refunded $135 Million Out Of Public School, Community Funds.

Senate agrees to deal that would avert government shutdown

Senate leaders reached an agreement Monday evening that is almost certain to avert a federal government shutdown, a prospect that had flared up as congressional leaders fought over disaster relief funds.

The new pact, which the Senate approved 79 to 12 and the House is expected to ratify next week, will keep federal agencies open until Nov. 18 at a level of spending that represents a 1.5 percent cut from this year’s levels. After days of brinkmanship with both sides blaming the other for any potential shutdown, Senate leaders agreed to a compromise that provides less money for disaster relief than Democrats sought, but also strips away spending cuts that Republicans had advanced.

“It will be a win for everyone,” Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said.

Full Story Here: Senate agrees to deal that would avert government shutdown – The Washington Post.

6 Ways the Rich Are Waging a Class War Against the American People

Denying the very existence of an entire class of citizens? That’s waging some very real warfare against them.

There hasn’t been any organized, explicitly class-based violence in this country for generations, so what, exactly, does “class warfare” really mean? Is it just an empty political catch-phrase?

The American Right has decided that returning the tax rate paid by the wealthiest Americans from what it was during the Bush years (which, incidentally, featured the slowest job growth under any president in our history, at 0.45 percent per year) to what they forked over during the Clinton years (when job growth happened to average 1.6 percent per year) is the epitome of class warfare. Sure, it would leave top earners with a tax rate 10 percentage points below what they were paying after Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts, but that’s the conservative definition of “eating the rich” these days.

I recently offered a less Orwellian definition, arguing that real class warfare is when those who have already achieved a good deal of prosperity pull the ladder up behind them by attacking the very things that once allowed working people to move up and join the ranks of the middle class.

Full Story Here: 6 Ways the Rich Are Waging a Class War Against the American People | Economy | AlterNet.

Why This is Exactly the Time to Rebuild America’s Infrastructure

Robert Reich :-:

Seems like only yesterday conservative nabobs of negativity predicted America’s ballooning budget deficit would generate soaring inflation and crippling costs of additional federal borrowing.

Remember Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the United States? Recall the intense worry about investors’ confidence in government bonds — America’s IOUs?

Hmmm.

Last week ten-year yields on U.S. Treasuries closed at 1.83 percent.

In other words, they were wrong.

In fact, it’s cheaper than ever for the United States to borrow. That’s because global investors desperately want the safety of dollars. Almost everywhere else on the globe is riskier. Europe is in a debt crisis, many developing nations are gripped by fears the contagion will spread to them, Japan remains in critical condition, China’s growth is slowing.

Full Story Here: Robert Reich (Why This is Exactly the Time to Rebuild America’s Infrastructure).

Euro Zone Death Trip

Paul Krugmann :-:

Is it possible to be both terrified and bored? That’s how I feel about the negotiations now under way over how to respond to Europe’s economic crisis, and I suspect other observers share the sentiment.

On one side, Europe’s situation is really, really scary: with countries that account for a third of the euro area’s economy now under speculative attack, the single currency’s very existence is being threatened — and a euro collapse could inflict vast damage on the world.

On the other side, European policy makers seem set to deliver more of the same. They’ll probably find a way to provide more credit to countries in trouble, which may or may not stave off imminent disaster. But they don’t seem at all ready to acknowledge a crucial fact — namely, that without more expansionary fiscal and monetary policies in Europe’s stronger economies, all of their rescue attempts will fail.

Full Story Here: Euro Zone Death Trip – NYTimes.com.

The world’s oldest running car up for sale

A very special car will cross the autcioneers block next month – it’s the world’s oldest running motor car, a historic 1884 de Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout. The second prototype built by Count de Dion, the car participated in the world’s first automobile race.

The world’s first race is generally regarded as being the Paris-Rouen trial of 1895, but there was indeed an earlier race in 1887 – billed as “Europe’s first motoring competition”, run by the editor of France’s top selling bicycle magazine, Le Velocipede – only one car turned up to race – this car. It completed the course, and although it’s arguably not possible to have a race without two competitors, this is the car that “won” that race, achieving a claimed top speed of 37 mph on the straights.

Commissioned by French entrepreneur, Count de Dion, and built by Georges Bouton and Charles-Armand Trepardoux, the 1884 De Dion steamer was nicknamed “La Marquise” after the Count de Dion’s mother. Measuring just nine feet in length, La Marquise features twin compound steam engines, “spade handle” steering and seats four people “dos-a-dos” (back-to-back). The seats are located on top of the steel tank, which holds 40 gallons of water, good for about 20 miles; its sophisticated boiler, fed by coal or coke, can be steamed in 45 minutes.

Full Story Here: The world’s oldest running car up for sale.

The collapse of American justice

Not long ago, we had a low incarceration rate and a system that worked. Then everything started to unravel

Among the great untold stories of our time is this one: the last half of the twentieth century saw America’s criminal justice system unravel. Signs of the unraveling are everywhere. The nation’s record- shattering prison population has grown out of control. Still more so the African American portion of that prison population: for black males, a term in the nearest penitentiary has become an ordinary life experience, a horrifying truth that wasn’t true a mere generation ago. Ordinary life experiences are poor deterrents, one reason why massive levels of criminal punishment coexist with historically high levels of urban violence.

Outside the South, most cities’ murder rates are a multiple of the rates in those same cities sixty years ago — notwithstanding a large drop in violent crime in the 1990s. Within cities, crime is low in safe neighborhoods but remains a huge problem in dangerous ones, and those dangerous neighborhoods are disproportionately poor and black. Last but not least, we have built a justice system that strikes many of its targets as wildly unjust. The feeling has some evidentiary support: criminal litigation regularly makes awful mistakes, as the frequent DNA-based exonerations of convicted defendants illustrate. Evidently, the criminal justice system is doing none of its jobs well: producing justice, avoiding discrimination, protecting those who most need the law’s protection, keeping crime in check while maintaining reasonable limits on criminal punishment.

It was not always so. For much of American history — again, outside the South — criminal justice institutions punished sparingly, mostly avoided the worst forms of discrimination, controlled crime effectively, and, for the most part, treated those whom the system targets fairly. The justice system was always flawed, and injustices always happened. Nevertheless, one might fairly say that criminal justice worked. It doesn’t anymore.

Full Story Here: The collapse of American justice – Hoarding – Salon.com.

Yes, 47% of Households Owe No Taxes. Look Closer.

Forty-seven percent.

That’s the portion of American households that owe no income tax for 2009. The number is up from 38 percent in 2007, and it has become a popular talking point on cable television and talk radio. With Tax Day coming on Thursday, 47 percent has become shorthand for the notion that the wealthy face a much higher tax burden than they once did while growing numbers of Americans are effectively on the dole.

Neither one of those ideas is true. They rely on a cleverly selective reading of the facts. So does the 47 percent number.

Given that taxes are likely to be one of the big political issues of the next few years — and maybe the biggest one — it’s worth understanding who really pays what in taxes. Once you do, you can get a sense for our country’s fiscal options. How, in other words, will we be able to close the huge looming gap between the taxes we are scheduled to pay and the services we are scheduled to receive?

Full Story Here: Yes, 47% of Households Owe No Taxes. Look Closer. – NYTimes.com.

Cancer drug trial halted in UK for being too successful

THE trail of a new drug for prostate cancer was halted in the UK because the results were too good.

Doctors at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London concluded that it would have been unethical not to offer it to all 922 cancer patients on the trial after the drug was shown to ease pain and cause only minor side-effects, The (London) Sunday Telegraph said.

The drug – Radium-223 Chloride, known as Alpharadin TM – targets tumours with alpha radiation, reducing the damage to surrounding tissue.

Dr Chris Parker, lead researcher on the project, said, “It’s more damaging. It takes one, two, three hits to kill a cancer cell compared with thousands of hits for beta particles. They have such a tiny range, a few millionths of a meter. So we can be sure that the damage is being done where it should be.”

Full Story Here: Cancer drug trial halted in UK for being too successful | News.com.au.

Rick Perry, the Man from Huawei

Ian Fletcher :-:

I have written previously about how Mitt Romney has offered a glimmer of hope as a presidential candidate who may—if he’s serious, which is a big “if”—implement a real solution to America’s trade crisis if elected.

Translation: stand up to China, on currency manipulation, intellectual property theft, and a long list of other unfair trade practices. I’m currently talking to various people, including his campaign, in an effort to determine whether he’s sincere or not, and I’ll let you know what I find out if I discover anything.

What I have discovered so far is that, of all the Republican candidates who have a shot at winning, Rick Perry is probably the worst on trade. His enthusiasm for NAFTA is well-known already, so I’d like to talk instead about his dangerous and less well-known naiveté about China.

As documented by serious China observers like the Tokyo-based journalist Eamonn Fingleton (whose book I reviewed here), Beijing has a deliberate strategy of penetrating the U.S. political system by leveraging Chinese economic power. Resisting this is, in fact, one of America’s key foreign-policy challenges for the years ahead.

Beijing uses corporations under its control (every major company in China, given its state-capitalist economy) to indirectly grant or withhold favors to American politicians.  This can mean everything from jobs for their home states to lucrative personal investment opportunities to outright bribes.

This problem first emerged in American politics in the Clinton years (remember Al Gore’s Buddhist monks with shopping bags of cash?) and it has continued to worsen as China has become richer and more internationally aggressive.

Some politicians who play this game are outright crooks who know what’s up. (I must assume Clinton knew.) Others are merely seduced by the easy money, which often comes in forms which are at first not actually illegal.  But it’s a progressive game, and by the time they realize the game being played, it’s too late. They have become too dependent, if not too outright legally compromised, to turn back.

It is in this vein that we should look with concern at Gov. Perry’s relationship with the giant Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei (pronounced “Hwah-way”) Communications. To be fair, I have no way to know which of the above categories Gov. Perry falls into. But even if he is merely naïve and careless about expediency, this does not bode well for a Perry presidency.

Some of the payoffs from Huawei to Perry are no secret. For example, the firm decided in 2010 to put its U.S. headquarters in Plano, Texas.  Good for him: a few more jobs came to Texas, albeit partly at the expense of American telecom firms. Here’s a video of him praising the company at the opening of its new HQ; he apparently spent considerable effort cultivating a personal relationship with the firm’s management.

Here the soup starts to thicken.

First, some fairly trivial stuff: Gov. Perry has taken overseas junkets funded, by way of a non-profit called TexasOne, by Texas companies doing business in China. This is not illegal, but it risks undue influence by corporations at the mercy of, and thus doing the bidding of, Beijing. In the words of Craig McDonald, of the liberal watchdog group Texans for Public Justice,

I think it’s fraught with conflicts. Those members of TexasOne consistently want favors from Texas government and the governor’s office. … When those corporations send Perry and his family on a sweet vacation to China, it raises conflict-of-interest questions.

The more serious problem, however, is that Huawei is not just any company. According to analyses by both the Obama and Bush administrations, it is both deeply enmeshed in China’s military industrial complex and aggressive about pursuing political corruption abroad.

In 2005, a report from the respected Rand Corporation noted that  Huawei has “deep ties with the Chinese military, which serves a multi-faceted role as an important customer, as well as Huawei’s political patron and research and development partner.”

The U.S. Army’s Strategic Studies Institute documented, in a September 2007 report, how Huawei has engaged in deliberately corrupting practices in Argentina, specifically that it was  “known to bribe and trap clients.”  One favored tactic: the deliberate provision of illegal favors and gifts in order to obtain leverage for future blackmail.

The fact that Huawei is in the telecommunications business opens up a vast array of opportunities for undetectable eavesdropping on other nations’ phone calls and data. In 2009, the National Security Agency warned AT&T not to purchase Huawei equipment for a planned phone network. The NSA feared that Chinese intelligence could insert “digital trapdoors” into Huawei’s systems to secretly eavesdrop on Americans.  (AT&T ultimately chose other providers, though to this day it refuses to say why.)

Make no mistake.  This is not like partnering with a Russian caviar producer during the Cold War.  It is like letting Mikoyan Aircraft, builder of the famous Soviet MIG fighter jets, build avionics for Boeing and McDonnell Douglas.

In some ways, it is worse than during the Cold War, because China, as a state-capitalist rather than communist country, is far better equipped to wage successful economic warfare against the U.S.

Some American politicians are wising up to the threat of Huawei and companies like it.  In 2010, eight Republican senators asked the Obama administration to investigate its attempt to sell equipment for upgrading Sprint Nextel’s mobile phone and data network. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)—which rarely blocks foreign participation—ended up  nixing Huawei’s involvement. (CFIUS has now blocked the company in three cases.)

Huawei is not just another gang of crony-capitalist crooks. It is, because telecommunications are the nerve system of modern societies, a big part of China’s strategy to build its influence around the world.

Huawei’s global connections—including to anti-American regimes other than China—are impressive.  For example, it is reportedly aiming to take over the telecommunications system of Iran, a country with very limited digital technology of its own.  And American ally India recently accused several Huawei employees in their country of espionage and selling spy technology to the Taliban. One doesn’t have to be Tom Clancy to dream up scenarios of what kind of mischief this could lead to if the company has a tap installed on America’s phone lines.

Obviously, Rick Perry cannot be held responsible for everything Huawei does, or might do, all over the world.  But equally, his intimate involvement with them doesn’t exactly show good judgment for someone who aspires to be commander in chief of America’s national security.

We need a president who understands the dangerous new world of state capitalism, not one who offers to carry its bags.

Ian Fletcher is Senior Economist of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a nationwide grass-roots organization dedicated to fixing America’s trade policies and comprising representatives from business, agriculture, and labor. He was previously Research Fellow at the U.S. Business and Industry Council, a Washington think tank, and before that, an economist in private practice serving mainly hedge funds and private equity firms. Educated at Columbia University and the University of Chicago, he lives in San Francisco. He is the author of Free Trade Doesn’t Work: What Should Replace It and Why.

Oil pipeline opponents pin hopes on Nebraska

Environmentalists hoping to block a proposed underground oil pipeline that would snake 1,700 miles from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico have pinned their hopes on an unlikely ally — the conservative state of Nebraska.

Few states are as red as Nebraska, which hasn’t supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. But opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline has risen steadily since the project was proposed three years ago.

The reason: Fears of contaminating the Ogallala Aquifer, a vast subterranean reservoir that spans a large swath of the Great Plains and provides water to much of Nebraska, as well as seven other states. Opponents have grown to include Nebraska’s conservative governor and two U.S. senators, a Republican and a conservative Democrat.

Full Story Here: Oil pipeline opponents pin hopes on Nebraska – AP News Wire, Associated Press News – Salon.com.

Interview with Nouriel Roubini

Fears have grown this week that we are on the verge of a new global financial crisis. What’s your view?

In my view there is a high likelihood that there is going to be another global financial crisis. My data suggests that most advanced economies are already entering a recession. We’re not any more in an anaemic recovery, we’re not any more at stall speed. We’re at the beginning of a contraction. I think there’s a contraction already in most of the eurozone, there is a contraction in the US, also in the UK. That’s the first point.

The second point is we’re running out of policy bullets – monetary, fiscal – backstopping the financial system.

And third, the eurozone is a source of systemic risk. If there is a disorderly situation in the eurozone it’s going to be worse than Lehman.

At this point it’s not any more Greece or Ireland or Portugal. The contagion has spread to Italy and Spain. In the case of Italy and Spain the critical thing is that even if you believe that Italy and Spain are illiquid but solvent, even adjusting from the reforms, they’ve lost credibility in the markets. It’s going to take them at least a year to regain it.

Full Story Here: Interview with Nouriel Roubini | Emerging Markets.

DoJ Finds Perry’s TX Redistricting Plan Purposely Discriminates Against Minorities, Questions Similar Effect of New Polling Place Photo ID Law

There are two important late Friday announcements from the newly revived, post-Bush Voting Unit at U.S. Dept. of Justice’s Civil Rights Department this afternoon. In both cases, they’ve raised serious concerns about discrimination by Republican Presidential front-runner Rick Perry’s Texas against Hispanic and African-American voters.

Given the Lone Star State’s history of discrimination against racial minorities, new laws and regulations which relate to elections and voting must be pre-cleared by the Dept. of Justice before they can be put into effect, as per Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act.

In one finding, the DoJ sees purposeful discrimination against minorities in the state’s redistricting plans [PDF] for apportioning both new statehouse districts, as well as four new U.S. House seats being added in the wake of the 2010 census. The new seats are being added due to an increase in the TX population, thanks in no small part, ironically enough, to huge growth in the state’s Hispanic population. The DoJ finds the proposed statehouse plan violate Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, stating that it “was adopted, at least in part, for the purpose of diminishing the ability of citizens of the United States, on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, to elect their preferred candidates of choice to the Texas House of Representatives.”

Full Story Here: The BRAD BLOG : DoJ Finds Perry’s TX Redistricting Plan Purposely Discriminates Against Minorities, Questions Similar Effect of New Polling Place Photo ID Law.

Manufacturing Seen as Key to Saving Economy

A Dayton Daily News analysis found that by 2010, Ohio’s annual private payroll declined by $22 billion from total payroll in 2000, largely because of manufacturing declines from offshoring and globalization.

Americans are not as stupid as politicians think:

“Americans believe restoring manufacturing — a vital but declining component of Ohio’s economy — is key to prosperity, a new national poll commissioned by an industry group found.”

A Dayton Daily News analysis found that by 2010, Ohio’s annual private payroll declined by $22 billion from total payroll in 2000, largely because of manufacturing declines from offshoring and globalization.

The national poll conducted by the Mellman Group and Ayres, McHenry & Associates, says voters want Washington policymakers to focus on fostering good-paying jobs in manufacturing, which they believe will restore America’s lost status as the world’s number one economy. Some observers say China overtook the U.S. in manufacturing in 2010.

Full Story Here: Manufacturing Seen as Key to Saving Economy | Economy In Crisis.

WTO Serves Its Own Interests, Not U.S. Interests

Despite the need to protect our own interests, the head of the World Trade Organization is urging countries like the U.S. to forgo protectionist measures in order to preserve the very system that is failing us.

The American economy is struggling, as are many economies around the world. The effects are rippling through our job market and our stock markets, but our economy is vulnerable to outside forces. Despite the need to protect our own interests, the head of the World Trade Organization is urging countries like the U.S. to forgo protectionist measures in order to preserve the very system that is failing us.

“This is not the time for go-it-alone measures,” WTO Chief Pascal Lamy said. “This is the time to strengthen and preserve the global trading system so that it keeps performing this vital function in the future.”

The problem is that Mr. Lamy is speaking for the interest of the WTO, not for the interest of individual countries, and certainly he is not speaking in the best interest of the United States.

Full Story Here: WTO Serves Its Own Interests, Not U.S. Interests | Economy In Crisis.

Food Safety Still Lacking In U.S.

Food safety in the United States is not up to par. We are importing more and more of our food, but we do not have the resources to ensure that it is safe.

Americans now get 15 to 20 percent of all the food they consume from overseas. This includes two-thirds of our fruits and vegetables, and 80 percent of our shrimp and other seafood. Despite the nearly unavoidable nature of imported food, our government agencies lack the ability to properly inspect imported food for contaminants. We currently inspect only about 1 percent of all imported food, and Americans are getting sick as a result.

Our government has taken half-hearted measures to remedy this problem. Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act early this year, which was intended to help improve food safety standards in this country. The act included provisions for improving the safety of both domestic and imported food, including adding the ability of regulators to refuse food shipments from foreign facilities that do not allow U.S. inspections. The act also requires that importers verify the safety of the food they bring into the country.

Full Story Here: Food Safety Still Lacking In U.S. | Economy In Crisis.

American Manufacturing Can No Longer Compete

Today there are fewer manufacturing employees than in 1955, and over the past 20 years 6.4 million manufacturing jobs have been lost. These figures are a grim reminder that America can no longer manufacture competitively.

How did this happen? Two causes stand out: low international wage rates in countries like China and Mexico that America will not and cannot compete with, and America’s abandonment of capital and knowledge intensive industries.

American workers can not and should not have to compete with third world wage rates. Some Chinese manufacturers are paid 33 cents an hour according to a 2005 AFLCIO report. This cents-an-hour pay in many countries around the world has caused American companies and entire industries to move abroad (see the lost industry list here). It also led Princeton economist Alan Blinder to estimate 42-56 million jobs could potentially be sent overseas.

Full Story Here: American Manufacturing Can No Longer Compete | Economy In Crisis.

IMF: Global Economy Entering Dangerous Phase

Top global finance officials are pledging to work decisively and in a coordinated way to deal with a European debt crisis and other dangers confronting the global economy.

The International Monetary Fund’s policy-setting committee says the economy has entered a dangerous new phase. The panel says close watching of the situation and a willingness to take bold actions quickly are crucial.

Officials say they’re encouraged by the willingness of the 17 nations that share the euro currency to do what’s needed to resolve Europe’s debt crisis.

They say the IMF stands ready to strongly support further efforts. The IMF is already providing bailout support to three heavily indebted European countries – Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

The IMF’s statement doesn’t give specifics on how much extra support might be possible.

Full Story Here: IMF: Global Economy Entering Dangerous Phase.

Police pen up and mace female ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protesters 

In a disturbing scene from today’s “Occupy Wall Street” protests, a group of peaceful female protesters were rounded up in an orange-colored mesh pen by police and subsequently sprayed with mace without any provocation.

In spite of multiple reported incidents of possible police violence, major media outlets seem to be content to let the protests go by completely unreported, following the same “who-cares” attitude they have taken toward recent revelations that the NYPD has violated the Constitutional rights of American citizens by spying on them as possible terrorists and enemies of the state despite a complete absence of evidence of any crimes.

Watch this video of the macing incident, embedded via YouTube, below:

Full Story Here: Police pen up and mace female ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protesters | Raw Replay.

Rand Paul Suggests Polluters Like The Koch Brothers Should Go To Jail

Typically a reliable voice in support of corporate greed, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) suggested this week that petrochemical polluters like David and Charles Koch should go to jail.

Mallory Factor of The Street interviewed Paul a few days ago. During the conversation, Paul blasted efforts by environmentalists to rein in unregulated hydrofracking. But at one point, the junior senator from Kentucky pivoted and made a caveat. Paul said people who pollute with benzene, a carcinogenic chemical, should “go to jail”:

PAUL: I don’t want to pollute the water. I don’t want to pollute streams. If you dump benzene in the stream, I want you to go to jail.

Watch it:

Full Story Here: Rand Paul Suggests Polluters Like The Koch Brothers Should Go To Jail | ThinkProgress.

OPS: Another example of the Libertarian ‘Broken Clock’ Syndrome.

…Even a broken clock is correct twice a day.

Gov. Rick Scott Brags About Laying Off 15,000 Government Workers After Decrying Florida’s High Unemployment

The GOP presidential candidates and other prominent conservatives spoke today at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida. This afternoon, Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) took to the stage to talk about “successes” in his state, including decreasing the state’s unemployment rate to 10.7 percent — which he noted is still well above the national average.

In the next sentence, though, Scott touted another “success” — laying off 15,000 public sector workers, which of course increased the unemployment rolls in his state. Scott then declared, “government can’t create jobs”:

SCOTT: We’ve had plenty of success so far. Not enough…In Florida, unemployment rate’s gone from 12 percent down to 10.7. We’re still above the national average, but we’ve generated 87,200 private sector jobs — private sector! And we have 15,000 less government jobs in the state of Florida. [Applause] Government doesn’t create jobs.

Watch it:

Full Story Here: Gov. Rick Scott Brags About Laying Off 15,000 Government Workers After Decrying Florida’s High Unemployment | ThinkProgress.

Romney And Perry Speak In Michigan, Epicenter Of The Auto Industry They Wanted To Let Fail

Both Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) will speak before the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in Michigan today. Michigan, of course, is the epicenter of the United States automobile industry, which was rescued by the Obama administration.

At the time, both Perry and Romney opposed rescuing the American auto industry, preferring to watch iconic American companies topple into an uncontrolled bankruptcy, not only destroying themselves, but all of the supplier and contractors that depend on them. In a November 2008 op-ed titled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” Romney wrote:

If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

Full Story Here: Romney And Perry Speak In Michigan, Epicenter Of The Auto Industry They Wanted To Let Fail | ThinkProgress.

Do Regulations Really Kill Jobs Overall? Not So Much

It’s become a mantra on Capitol Hill and a rallying cry for industry groups: Get rid of the job-killing regulations. In recent days, with nearly every one of the GOP presidential candidates repeating that refrain, the political echo chamber has grown even louder. Earlier this month, President Obama also asked the Environmental Protection Agency to back off more stringent ozone regulations, citing the “importance of reducing regulatory burdens” during trying economic times.

But is the claim that regulation kills jobs true?

We asked experts, and most told us that while there is relatively little scholarship on the issue, the evidence so far is that the overall effect on jobs is minimal. Regulations do destroy some jobs, but they also create others. Mostly, they just shift jobs within the economy.

Full Story Here: Do Regulations Really Kill Jobs Overall? Not So Much – ProPublica.

Exposed: New Documentary About Gas Drilling Hailed as Indie and Balanced, But Here’s Why It’s Neither | Environment | AlterNet

“Haynesville” is making the indie film circuit, but its director is actually an oil and gas man in disguise.

This weekend, the Texas Tribune will play host to the Texas Tribune Festival. According to the festival’s website, the convening is designed “to bring together the state’s most prominent thinkers, politicians and public servants for a weekend of debate, discussion and dialogue on the subjects that matter most to all Texans.”

Near the top of the agenda will be a slate of policy discussions pertaining to energy and the environment, include the screening of a documentary about natural gas drilling (no, not Gasland). Texas is home to both the Eagle Ford and Barnett Shale basins, as well as a sliver of the Haynesville Shale, under all of which sits vast amounts of natural gas. The Haynesville Shale, mostly located in the northwest corner of Louisiana, as well as bit of southwest Arkansas and east Texas, underlies an area of about 9,000 square miles and possesses some 250 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. It is the largest natural gas field in the United States.

The festival’s sponsors include some of the most powerful players in the natural gas arena: Apache Corporation, BP, El Paso Corp, Energy Future Holdings Corp, and America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) — the largest natural gas industry lobbying consortium in the United States. ANGA spent over $3 million lobbying the U.S. Congress in 2010 and has already spent over $1 million lobbying Congress in 2011, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Full Story Here: Exposed: New Documentary About Gas Drilling Hailed as Indie and Balanced, But Here’s Why It’s Neither | Environment | AlterNet.

Fox in the Schoolhouse: Rupert Murdoch Wants to Teach Your Kids!

News Corp.’s major move into the education business.

Rupert Murdoch’s reputation precedes him—but one thing he’s not well known for is his education reform advocacy. But that could soon change. Next month, Murdoch will make an unusual public appearance in San Francisco, delivering the keynote address at an education summit hosted by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has lately been crisscrossing the country promoting his own version of education reform.

The high-profile speech to a collection of conservative ed reformers, state legislators, and educators is just the latest step in Murdoch’s quiet march into the business of education, which has been somewhat eclipsed by the phone-hacking scandal besieging his media empire. (On Tuesday, word of Murdoch’s appearance at Bush’s conference came just hours after reports that News Corp. had agreed to pay more than $4 million to the family of a 13-year-old British murder victim, Milly Dowler, whose voicemail was hacked by reporters for Murdoch’s News of the World. ) But Murdoch has made it very clear that he views America’s public schools as a potential gold mine.

“In every other part of life, someone who woke up after a 50-year nap would not recognize the world around him…But not in education,” he remarked in May during a speech at the “e-G8 forum” that preceded the G8 summit in France. “Our schools remain the last holdout from the digital revolution.”

Full Story Here: Fox in the Schoolhouse: Rupert Murdoch Wants to Teach Your Kids! | Mother Jones.

There Is No Biological Reason to Eat Three Meals a Day — So Why Do We Do It?

For most of history, meals were very variable.

We grew up believing in three meals a day.

When we skip meals, eat extra meals or subvert paradigms — spaghetti breakfasts, pancake suppers — we feel naughty, edgy and criminal. “Three meals a day” resonates like a Bible phrase.

But it’s a cultural construct.

People around the world, even in the West, have not always eaten three squares. The three-meals model is a fairly recent convention, which is now being eclipsed as, like everything else, eating becomes a highly personalized matter of choice. What and when and how frequently we eat is driven less and less by the choices of our families, coworkers and others, and more and more by impulse, personal taste and favorite nutrition memes, and marketing schemes such as Taco Bell’s promotion of late-night eating known as “Fourthmeal: the Meal Between Dinner & Breakfast.” Selecting how and when we eat is like loading our iPods.

Full Story Here: There Is No Biological Reason to Eat Three Meals a Day — So Why Do We Do It? | Food | AlterNet.

GM is back, thanks to Uncle Sam

By E.J. Dionne Jr. :-:

Have you noticed that one of the Obama administration’s most successful programs is also its most “socialist” initiative?

Okay, the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler was not socialist in the classic sense: The government was not looking to hold on to the companies over the long run. Their turnaround was accomplished in significant part by tough, capitalist management steps.

But, yes, this was socialism — or, perhaps, “state capitalism” — because the government temporarily took substantial ownership in the companies when no one in the private sector was willing to put up enough capital to prevent them from going under. Today, the companies are thriving.

Full Story Here: GM is back, thanks to Uncle Sam – The Washington Post.

The Hidden Hands in Redistricting: Corporations and Other Powerful Interests

Their names suggest selfless dedication to democracy. Fair Districts Mass. Protect Your Vote. The Center for a Better New Jersey. And their stated goals are unarguable: In the partisan fight to redraw congressional districts, states should stick to the principle of one person, one vote.

But a ProPublica investigation has found that these groups and others are being quietly bankrolled by corporations, unions and other special interests. Their main interest in the once-a-decade political fight over redistricting is not to help voters in the communities they claim to represent but mainly to improve the prospects of their political allies or to harm their enemies.

The number of these purportedly independent redistricting groups is rising, but their ties remain murky. Contributions to such groups are not limited by campaign finance laws, and most states allow them to take unlimited amounts of money without disclosing the source.

Full Story Here: The Washington Current: The Hidden Hands in Redistricting: Corporations and Other Powerful Interests.

America Prospered in the 1950s With a 91-percent High-End Tax Rate

I must admit, listening to the current debate over President Obama’s tax hike proposal is a surreal experience. It just goes to show you that in the modern era, Americans have memories that stretch back no more than 15 minutes.

During the 1950s, America had a 91 percent high-end tax rate. If the 50s had been a dismal economic decade, then it could stand as “Exhibit A” for the GOP to use in attacking high tax rates today.

But in reality, it was an extremely prosperous decade for America. In fact, it was a prosperous decade for the great majority of Americans (in contrast to the past three decades, which have seen only the Top One Percent prosper). In fact, in many ways, the 1950s was a truly golden decade. While it wasn’t, of course, perfect, the 1950s seems like a million miles away from today’s Third World-like America.

In the 1950s, American workers made the highest wages in the world. We also enjoyed the best workers’ benefits and the longest vacations. Most high-tech products were made in America. I’m not sure what the world’s top 10 corporations and top 10 bank were in the 50s. But I’d bet they were all American.

Full Story Here: BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com: America Prospered in the 1950s With a 91-percent High-End Tax Rate.

Occupy Wall Street Day 8: 100+ Arrested for Peaceful, Legal Protest; Nets & Pepper Spray Used.

7:57 PM – Occupy Wall Street marchers have started off for One Police Plaza. NYPD are following with arrest net.

7:30 PM – Dark now.  Above Lady Liberty (name unknown) wrapped in an American Flag and Betsy Ross wig makes impassioned appeal to NYPD officers, “We’re fighting for you pension, we’er fighting for your social security, we’re fighting for you children and your children’s children.  We’re fighting for liberty.  We’re peaceful.”

7:00 PM – General Assembly decides half of Liberty Plaza protesters to remain and keep the occupation. The of 1/2 of the protesters will be marching to One Police Plaza to demand information and medical care for those arrested.

6:00 PM – 2000 occupiers remain in Liberty Plaza.  They are being surrounded with NYPD fencing.  Many more protesters have evacuated.  

4:25 PM – 60 plus protesters arrested at Union Square many pepper sprayed.  Details as they become available.  Orange nets used.

Live Feed at link:

Full Story Here: OpEdNews – Article: Occupy Wall Street Day 8: 100+ Arrested for Peaceful, Legal Protest; Nets & Pepper Spray Used..

How Do You Say ‘Economic Security’?

IN the face of nothing but bad economic news, Americans often take heart in remembering that we have been here before — during the Great Depression, when conditions were far worse than they are today — and we survived.

But there is a crucial difference between then and now: the words that our political leaders use to talk about our problems have changed. Where politicians once drew on a morally resonant language of people, family and shared social concern, they now deploy the cold technical idiom of budgetary accounting.

This is more than a superficial difference in rhetoric. It threatens to deprive us of the intellectual resources needed to address today’s problems.

Turn back the clock to June 1934. Millions of Americans are out of work, losing their homes and facing more of the same. President Franklin D. Roosevelt responds by creating the Committee on Economic Security. To Congress, he stresses that he places “the security of the men, women and children of the nation first.” All Americans, he emphasizes, “want decent homes to live in; they want to locate them where they can engage in productive work; and they want some safeguard against misfortunes which cannot be wholly eliminated in this man-made world of ours.”

Full Story Here: How Do You Say ‘Economic Security’? – NYTimes.com.

Church’s Intervention In Politics Should Spark IRS Action

The city of Memphis, Tenn., is in the middle of a municipal election, and a large Baptist church has decided to let everyone know who the true “pro-family” candidates are. Isn’t that special?

Actually, it’s illegal.

The leadership of Bellevue Baptist in Cordova. Tenn., may think they’re being clever. The church doesn’t come right out and post its favored candidates on its website. Instead, the church links to another website that lists three candidates deemed worthy of support.

If the church thinks this one-step-removed partisan political stunt is going to save them, they’re wrong. They are still in violation of the law.

Church officials are angry because a political action committee run by the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) hopes to replace some anti-gay council members with candidates who are friendlier to the cause of gay rights. This is not surprising. It’s what PACs do.

Another PAC could come along and promote the anti-gay slate – but a church cannot. Nevertheless, that’s just what Bellevue Baptist is doing.

Full Story Here: | Memphis Blues: Church’s Intervention In Politics Should Spark IRS Action.

Corporations Undermine UN Effort to Reduce Chronic Diseases

While much of the world’s attention focused on the UN debate about Palestinian statehood this week, the General Assembly took up another issue that garnered less media scrutiny, even though its outcome could prevent millions of premature deaths in coming decades. On September 19th and 20th, 30 heads of State and 100 other senior ministers and experts met at the UN General Assembly’s first high level summit on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to discuss how to reduce the burdens of such conditions as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases.

These conditions cause about 35 million deaths a year, of which 80 percent occur in low and middle-income countries and one quarter among people younger than 60 years. By 2030, NCDs will cause more than three quarters of all deaths in the world. While the UN has previously recognized HIV, tuberculosis and malaria as threats to economic development and global security, this was the first time the UN acknowledged that non-communicable disease also jeopardized economic well-being.

The NCD summit was an important step in shaping a coordinated global response to these conditions but unlike infectious diseases, where few organizations profit directly from their spread, powerful industries depend on encouraging consumption of products like tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy food and automobiles that have fueled epidemics of non-communicable diseases. Thus, the summit previewed the great public health battle of this period. On one side are the public health professionals, advocacy organizations and local officials who have to cope with the rising tide of NCDs fueled by the growing consumption of tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food. On the other are industries built on the model of profiting by promoting unhealthy lifestyles and products.

Full Story Here: Corporations Undermine UN Effort to Reduce Chronic Diseases | Common Dreams.

5 Progressive Candidates To Watch As the 2012 Campaign Heats Up

Will Democrats take back Congress? Here are five candidates worth keeping an eye on as we get closer to Election 2012.

Watching the news lately, you’d think that Election 2012 was only between Republican candidates for president, each trying to outflank the next to his or her right.

The Republican primaries may be getting lots of attention, but several progressive candidates around the country are gearing up for races that could swing the Congress and put some control back in the hands of progressives.

It can be easy to despair when audiences at GOP debates cheer executions and boo gay soldiers, but the fight is far from over. With Barack Obama striking a new, more populist tone as election season nears, we should all remember that a lot can happen between now and next November. And attention early on for the good candidates can help ensure their success in primaries and general election campaigns alike.

Full Story Here: 5 Progressive Candidates To Watch As the 2012 Campaign Heats Up | | AlterNet.

Class Warfare My Ass

I have to live for others and not for myself: that’s middle-class morality.

- George Bernard Shaw

I have been saying this for years upon years, but it bears repeating: the most awesome, fearsome, and effective weapon in the arsenal of the modern Republican Party is their total, utter and complete lack of shame.

That weapon – the ability to say or do anything, literally anything, even as it flies in the face of on-the-record comments made just the day before, or contradicts thousands of votes cast in congresses past – is the equivalent of a battlefield-deployed tactical nuclear weapon. It clears the field, but good, and if everything is ashes in the aftermath, so be it. So long as effective spin makes the news cycle, it’s a victory for them, and screw the people who get hurt.

The GOP wins when that is the contest, and that is all they care about…and the awful irony comes when the very people getting screwed are up on their feet cheering after the deal goes down, because “their team” won the day.

Full Story Here: Class Warfare My Ass | Truthout.

Flammable gas detected in Fukushima pipe

Flammable gas has been detected inside a pipe linked to a nuclear reactor at Japan’s crippled Fukushima atomic power plant, its operator said Saturday.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) was unable to identify the gas but nonetheless said it was unlikely there would be an explosion in the reactor.

The company has been injecting nitrogen into the reactor so that the level of oxygen inside becomes low enough to prevent blasts.

But a TEPCO spokesman said workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant measured a 100-percent flammable gas in a pipe connected to the power station’s reactor number one.

Full Story Here: AFP: Flammable gas detected in Fukushima pipe.

Shutdown Closer as Senate Blocks Spending Bill

Washington – An impasse between the House and Senate over a bill to keep the government open after Sept. 30 and provide aid to natural disaster victims deepened Friday as the Senate easily shot down a House measure passed just hours before.

House members, considering their work done, headed home to their districts for a week’s recess, trailing uncertainty behind them since no resolution to the standoff appeared imminent. The Senate set a procedural vote for Monday evening in an effort to advance an alternative, but it was unclear whether it could draw sufficient support or whether Republican leaders would call members of the House back to consider it even if did pass the Senate.

The dispute meant that less than six months after the fiscal throwdown that left the government at the precipice of a shutdown last spring, Congress has brought the nation there again. While the government has until next Friday before it runs out of money, the $175 million in an emergency aid fund for disaster victims is set to run dry as early as Tuesday.

Full Story Here: Shutdown Closer as Senate Blocks Spending Bill | Truthout.

Magnetic Invisibility Cloak Proposed By Scientists

The power of invisibility may soon be more than just a sci-fi fantasy. Researchers in Spain have developed an ‘antimagnet’ cloak that could hide objects from magnetic fields, reports ScienceNOW.

The new device would make it possible “to ‘switch off’ the magnetic interaction of a magnetic material with existing magnetic fields without modifying them,” the researchers wrote in a paper published in the New Journal of Physics.

The cloak is only conceptual, but if developed, it could open up a host of new medical possibilities. For one, patients with pacemakers or other magnetic implants would be able to undergo MRIs without harm.

The concept could also be applied by the military: Ships using the technology could avoid mines designed to detonate when a magnetic field is detected, according to physorg.com.

Full Story Here: Magnetic Invisibility Cloak Proposed By Scientists.

Hospital Drug Shortages Present Costly Crisis

A drug for dangerously high blood pressure, normally priced at $25.90 per dose, offered to hospitals for $1,200. Fifteen deaths in 15 months blamed on shortages of life-saving medications.

A growing crisis in the availability of drugs for chemotherapy, infections and other serious ailments is endangering patients and forcing hospitals to buy from secondary suppliers at huge markups because they can’t get the medications any other way.

An Associated Press review of industry reports and interviews with nearly two dozen experts found the shortages – mainly of injected generic drugs that ordinarily are cheap – have delayed surgeries and cancer treatments, left patients in unnecessary pain and caused hospitals to give less effective treatments. That’s resulted in complications and longer hospital stays.

Full Story Here: Hospital Drug Shortages Present Costly Crisis.

An Open Letter from Occupy Wall Street to All Americans and Progressive Media

Please join us:

This is an open letter to all Americans, and particularly to progressive magazines, Web Sites, TV programs, etc. Please spend most of your time focusing on the Occupy Wall Street protests. This is real, this is serious, and this will become a mass movement. I have been here every day for the past week. Everyone is dedicated and determined. People have come from all over the country, and they plan to stay for months. Many have been sleeping outside, on the floors of Zuccotti Park, and others have been arrested, sacrificing their comfort for the most important of all causes. It’s safe to assume the mainstream media either will not cover the demonstrations at all or will do so only to ridicule us. But liberal media outlets must get on board. If you do not, you are essentially useless.

As a journalist myself, I know the only reason any serious progressive does reporting is because he or she wants to motivate people to get off the couch and hit the streets. We journalists write articles, participate in TV segments, appear in documentaries… For what? To inform people of how they’ve been enslaved by the corporate state. And to make them understand that they have the power to restore their democracy if they choose to.

If we in the media don’t do our part we might as well not exist. If we don’t cover these protests day and night to try to mobilize a revolution, then we are just complainers.

Full Story Here: An Open Letter from Occupy Wall Street to All Americans and Progressive Media – The Bloody Crossroads – The Bloody Crossroads.

China’s Chance to Be Our Economic Savior

Dean Baker :-:

The US is no longer capable of pulling the world out of economic crisis. Only China has the resources – if it chooses to use them

Can China save the world economy? That is a question that people should be asking as the other potential candidates withdraw from the race. At the moment, the economies of the United States, Europe and Japan are all suffering from weak growth or worse. The debt crisis of eurozone countries threatens another financial crisis that could lead to another plunge in output, not just in Europe but throughout the world.

Meanwhile, the actors who could, in principle, take steps to reverse this dismal course of events are largely paralyzed. The eurozone countries are struggling with efforts to form the necessary fiscal union to support their currency. This requires creating a new legal structure, while also confronting intense political opposition in Germany and other better-off countries that will be asked support the debt of the Greece and other struggling economies.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank (ECB) is finding it difficult to break with its cult of 2.0% inflation targeting – even after the economic disaster caused by this single-minded policy focus. It actually raised its overnight rate by 0.5 percentage points in the spring, slowing growth and increasing the cost of borrowing for debt-burdened governments.

Full Story Here: China’s Chance to Be Our Economic Savior | Common Dreams.

Reality? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Reality

Imagine you were handed a map, and on that map, right where the Western Hemisphere was supposed to be, you saw a sharp jagged line and a caption that read, “Here, there be dragons.”

Probably, you wouldn’t want to use that particular document to circumnavigate the globe.

Yet that’s precisely the kind of flat-Earth nonsense we are using to steer our ship of state, and you hear nary a whimper from the media, or either political party.

Exhibit A has to be almost anything Rick Perry says.

The Recovery Act created zero jobs? A lie. It created and preserved jobs.

The science on global warming is not settled? Wrong. Nearly every scientific organization says that climate change is a fact and that humans are causing it. Yet the press and people like Perry still raise long discredited denier talking points to refute this consensus. Like vampires, these non-facts refuse to die, and when they show signs of dying, the press administers CPR.

Full Story Here: Reality? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Reality | Common Dreams.

Radioactive Rice “Far Exceeding” Safe Levels Found in Japan

Japan found the first case of rice with radioactive materials far exceeding a government-set level for a preliminary test of pre-harvested crop, requiring thorough inspection of the rice to be harvested from the region, the farm ministry said late on Friday.

The ministry said radioactive caesium of 500 becquerels per kg was found in a sample of the pre-harvested rice in Nihonmatsu city, in Fukushima Prefecture, 56 km (35 miles) west of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant which was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, triggering the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 25 years.

The ministry said the Fukushima Prefecture will expand the inspection spots nearly ten-fold to around 300 areas.

It is the first case in Japan of rice containing radioactive caesium exceeding 200 becquerels per kg, a level which requires further thorough testing of the area for the harvested rice.

Full Story Here: Radioactive Rice “Far Exceeding” Safe Levels Found in Japan | Common Dreams.

Elizabeth Warren rebuts ‘class warfare’ charges

This video of Elizabeth Warren at a campaign stop in Massachusetts has been making the rounds. In it, the Senate candidate discusses the meaning of so-called “class warfare” and speaks lucidly and eloquently to the sort of Rand-ian, “I am an island” Libertarian rhetoric that is so prevalent among tea party members and others on the right.

“There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own,” Warren says in the clip, “Nobody.” She shoots down the notion that the wealthy owe nothing back to society by pointing out that entrepreneurs and business owners rely on a vast array of public services and that part of the “social contract” is giving back to the society that has given them so much.

Watch the video, embedded via YouTube, below:

Full Story Here: WATCH: Elizabeth Warren rebuts ‘class warfare’ charges  | Raw Replay.

Feinstein campaign sues bank, ex-treasurer over missing funds

Senator Dianne Feinstein’s campaign sued its former treasurer and the First California Bank on Friday, seeking the return of millions of dollars in missing funds the campaign believes were embezzled.

Campaign officials said the action came after the bank failed to provide the campaign access to its own account records when a tangle of unauthorized money transfers and co-mingling of funds was unearthed.

The irregularities were spread across 400 bank accounts and dozens of organizations over a period of years, they said.

Full Story Here: Feinstein campaign sues bank, ex-treasurer over missing funds | The Raw Story.

NRA claims ‘massive Obama conspiracy’ NOT to ban guns 

You just can’t please some people.

In the eyes of National Rifle Association (NRA) executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, President Barack Obama’s decision not to pursue gun control legislation is a “massive conspiracy,” and just another reason not to give him a second term.

“[The Obama campaign] will say gun owners — they’ll say they left them alone,” LaPierre told an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Friday. “In public, he’ll remind us that he’s put off calls from his party to renew the Clinton [assault weapons] ban, he hasn’t pushed for new gun control laws… The president will offer the Second Amendment lip service and hit the campaign trail saying he’s actually been good for the Second Amendment.”

“But it’s a big fat stinking lie!” the NRA leader exclaimed. “It’s all part of a massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters and destroy the Second Amendment in our country.”

Full Story Here: NRA claims ‘massive Obama conspiracy’ not to ban guns | Raw Replay.

Scientists discover virus that kills all types of breast cancer ‘within seven days’

Scientists at the Penn State College of Medicine said this week they have discovered a virus that is capable of killing all types of breast cancer “within seven days” of first introduction in a laboratory setting.

The virus, known as adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV2), is naturally occurring and carried by up to 80 percent of humans, but it does not cause any disease.

Researchers learned of its cancer-killing properties in 2005, after Penn State scientists observed it killing cervical cancer cells. They also found that women who carried the AAV2 virus and human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer, had a lower propensity to develop cervical cancer.

When combined in a lab recently, AAV2 eradicated all the breast cancer cells “within seven days,” according to researchers. Better still, it proved capable of wiping out cancer cells at multiple stages, negating the need for differing treatments used today.

Full Story Here: Scientists discover virus that kills all types of breast cancer ‘within seven days’ | The Raw Story.

House passes bill to block broad Environmental Protection Agency rules

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Friday that would block a number of broad regulations to reduce unhealthy air emissions.

Passage of the bill was expected in the Republican-controlled House, where lawmakers have targeted Environmental Protection Agency air rules, saying they would kill jobs and laden businesses with billions of dollars in additional costs at the worst possible time.

“The Obama administration is moving too fast and showing little regard for the economic consequences of their energy and environmental policies,” said Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.), who sponsored the bill.

The vote on the so-called Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation, or TRAIN, was 249 to 169. It was supported by fewer than 20 Democrats.

The bill, which must be passed in the Democratic-controlled Senate and signed by President Obama to become law, would delay certain EPA moves by setting up an interagency panel led by the Commerce Department. The panel would be tasked with assessing the impact of EPA rules on the economy, thus delaying their implementation.

Full Story Here: House passes bill to block broad Environmental Protection Agency rules – The Washington Post.

OPS:  Even a couple of suicidal Dems voted for this. A couple of Repubs voted against it. But 99% the the Rightwing voted FOR.

OPERA neutrino experiment on breaking speed of light

This is the live Webcast from CERN on Friday September 23, 2011. Given the potential far-reaching consequences of the OPERA experiment — which observes a neutrino beam from CERN 730 km away at Italy’s INFN Gran Sasso Laboratory, indicating that the neutrinos travel at a velocity 20 parts per million above the speed of light — independent measurements are needed before the effect can either be refuted or firmly established, according to a CERN statement just issued. The OPERA collaboration has therefore decided to open the result to broader scrutiny.

Full Story Here: OPERA neutrino experiment on breaking speed of light — webcast – YouTube.

Original Video at the CERN website here: http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1384486

Is the Saudi Royal Family Connected to 9/11 Hijackers?

New evidence links the Saudi royal family to Saudis in South Florida, who reportedly had contact with the 9/11 hijackers before fleeing the US prior to the attacks.

WhoWhatWhy has found evidence linking the Saudi royal family to Saudis in South Florida who reportedly had direct contact with the 9/11 hijackers before fleeing the United States just prior to the attacks. Our report connects some of the dots first laid out by investigative author Anthony Summers and Florida-based journalist Dan Christensen in articles jointly published in the Miami Herald and on the nonprofit news site BrowardBulldog.org.

In early September of this year, Summers and Christensen reported that a secret FBI probe, never shared with Congressional investigators or the presidential 9/11 commission, had uncovered information indicating the possibility of support for the hijackers from previously unknown confederates in the United States during 2001.

Now WhoWhatWhy reveals that those alleged confederates were closely tied to influential members of the Saudi ruling elite.

Full Story Here: Is the Saudi Royal Family Connected to 9/11 Hijackers? | | AlterNet.

Hartmann: Have the psychopaths taken over America?

So In the aftermath of Troy Davis’s execution – it’s time for the United States to do some soul searching. Every nation is in constant change – as Grace Slick said, “Life is change” – and our culture changed for the more compassionate and better with the New Deal, and changed again for the more brutal and selfish with the Reagan Revolution. So what’s next? Will we become a nation of people who genuinely care for each other, and builds institutions to respect and help each other – or a brutal, libertarian nation where it’s “every man for himself,” the country is run by psychopaths, and as Ron Paul implied, we’re all free to die like dogs in the gutter? The choice is ours – and the coming election will have a lot to do with determining that future.

Full Story Here: Hartmann: Have the psychopaths taken over America? – YouTube.

Wis. gov.’s spokesman, 2 others granted immunity in secret investigation of aides

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s spokesman and two others have been granted immunity in an investigation of the Republican governor’s current and former aides.

Retired Waukesha County Judge Neal Nettesheim said Friday that he granted immunity to Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie, Wisconsin and Southern Railroad spokesman Ken Lucht and Milwaukee County Republican Party official Roseann Dieck.

Nettesheim said in an interview from his home that they were granted immunity at different times, more than 60 days ago, during the course of a secret John Doe investigation. That investigation is a proceeding in which witnesses can be compelled to testify under oath about potential criminal matters.

Full Story Here: Wis. gov.’s spokesman, 2 others granted immunity in secret investigation of aides – The Washington Post.

FACT CHECK: Slippery assertions in GOP debate

Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared in the latest Republican presidential debate that he had never advocated turning Social Security over to the states. His denial was hard to fathom given his past rhetoric about the program.

“Let the states do it,” he said last year, for example.

Also in Thursday night’s debate, Michele Bachmann misread presidential approval polls and denied making a statement that she actually did make just the week before, concerning a vaccine for girls. Mitt Romney denied supporting an Obama administration education program that he had praised.

But the most consequential exchange may have been over Social Security, and Perry’s changing thoughts about it.

Full Story Here: FACT CHECK: Slippery assertions in GOP debate – Yahoo! News.

Israeli/U.S. Right-Wing Conspire to Undermine Israeli/U.S. Security in the Middle East

In 2008, while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in Cleveland, Ohio, Barack Obama announced to a primarily Jewish audience: “There is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt an unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel that you’re anti-Israel.” It was a brave thing to say at the time, since not only was it a strain, it was probably the largest strain, at least among professional Jews whom many in the media like to pretend speak for the entire community.

As with so many issues under the Obama presidency, this extreme-right wing definition of reality is the one that is becoming increasingly (and quite casually) tossed around by the media. Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor insists “There are a lot of questions unanswered as to where this president stands on Israel,” and the radical representative from Florida, Allen West, has gone so far as to claim that U.S. policy toward Israel is “running amok.”

Politicians used to like to claim that “politics ends at the water’s edge,” but clearly this does not apply to the politics of Israel. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was working hard this week in what she termed “extremely intensive ongoing diplomacy” to try to keep the peace process on track in light of the Palestinians’ decision to seek statehood at the United Nations, while a number of conservative politicians have encouraged the Israeli government to be as recalcitrant as possible. This has particularly been the case with Republican politicians and neocon pundits.

Full Story Here: Think Again: Israeli/U.S. Right-Wing Conspire to Undermine Israeli/U.S. Security in the Middle East.

Debt deal: anger and deceit has led the US into a billionaires’ coup

The debt deal will hurt the poorest Americans, convinced by Fox and the Tea Party to act against their own welfare

There are two ways of cutting a deficit: raising taxes or reducing spending. Raising taxes means taking money from the rich. Cutting spending means taking money from the poor. Not in all cases of course: some taxation is regressive; some state spending takes money from ordinary citizens and gives it to banks, arms companies, oil barons and farmers. But in most cases the state transfers wealth from rich to poor, while tax cuts shift it from poor to rich.

So the rich, in a nominal democracy, have a struggle on their hands. Somehow they must persuade the other 99% to vote against their own interests: to shrink the state, supporting spending cuts rather than tax rises. In the US they appear to be succeeding.

Partly as a result of the Bush tax cuts of 2001, 2003 and 2005 (shamefully extended by Barack Obama), taxation of the wealthy, in Obama’s words, “is at its lowest level in half a century”. The consequence of such regressive policies is a level of inequality unknown in other developed nations. As the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz points out, in the past 10 years the income of the top 1% has risen by 18%, while that of blue-collar male workers has fallen by 12%.

Full Story Here: Debt deal: anger and deceit has led the US into a billionaires’ coup | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian.

Obama to offer states freedom from No Child Left Behind law

President Obama this morning unveiled major changes in the way public schools are evaluated, scrapping an essential element of President George W. Bush’s signature education program in favor of letting states come up with their own plans.

Bush had good intentions with his No Child Left Behind plan of 2002, Obama told a crowd of educators and students, but it ended up inspiring states to lower their standards and schools to “teach to the test.”

“Accountability is the right goal,” Obama said, “but experience has taught us that in its implementation No Child Left Behind is … hurting instead of helping.”

Full Story Here: Obama to offer states freedom from No Child Left Behind law – latimes.com.

Mahmoud Abbas speech at the UN – The full official text

Mr. President of the General Assembly of the United Nations,

Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset, I wish to extend my congratulations to H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his assumption of the Presidency of the Assembly for this session, and wish him all success.

I reaffirm today my sincere congratulations, on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian people, to the government and people of South Sudan for its deserved admission as a full member of the United Nations, wishing them progress and prosperity.

I also congratulate the Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, on his election for a new term at the helm of the United Nations. This renewal of confidence reflects the world’s appreciation for his efforts, which have strengthened the role of the United Nations.

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Full Story Here: Mahmoud Abbas speech at the UN – The full official text :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente :: information from middle east :: [vs-1].

Reid: Obama Will Call House Back From Recess If Necessary Over Shutdown Fight

Harry Reid has an offer for John Boehner and Senate Republicans to keep FEMA’s disaster relief efforts funded and avoid a government shutdown. It goes like this: Democrats will accept the House GOP’s lower funding total disaster aid, if Republicans drop the extraordinary demand that funding recovery from natural disasters be offset with partisan budget cuts.

Republicans now say the only way to keep the entire government funded after September 30 is if Democrats agree to slash a successful manufacturing program to pay for disaster aid included in the House’s federal funding bill.

Speaking for his caucus at a Friday press conference, Reid categorically rejected the idea disaster aid should be offset. After the Senate rejected that proposal on a bipartisan basis, Reid urged Boehner to sit down with himself, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to review his offer, in the hope of avoiding a government shutdown. And he said if House Republicans continue intransigently to demand that the Senate swallow their bill, President Obama will call the House back into session from its week-long recess.

Full Story Here: Reid: Obama Will Call House Back From Recess If Necessary Over Shutdown Fight | TPMDC.

Michele Bachmann Calls For End Of Food Safety Regulations To Create More Jobs

Remember those recent recalls of tainted peanuts, eggs, ground turkey, and other food products over the past two years? Well, Michele Bachmann wants us all to eat more tainted food.

During a visit to a meatpacking plant in Des Moines, Iowa, Bachmann called for an end to food safety regulations that keep food safe for human consumption. Bachmann told reporters that food regulations hurt job growth and that they’re “overkill.”⁠

“That’s part of the problem, the overkill, and when they make it complicated, they make it expensive and so then you can no longer stay in business.”

Full Story Here: Michele Bachmann Calls For End Of Food Safety Regulations To Create More Jobs | Addicting Info.

ACLU: Ala. town cannot impose church sentences

A civil liberties group said Friday that an Alabama town should not start an alternative sentencing program that would give non-violent offenders a new choice: Go to jail, or go to church.

Starting next week, the program will allow a city judge to sentence misdemeanor offenders to work off their sentences in jail and pay a fine, or go to church every Sunday for a year. Offenders who select church can pick the place of worship but must check in weekly with the pastor and the police department. If the one-year church attendance program is completed successfully, the offender’s case will be dismissed.

“It’s an easy choice for me,” Bay Minette Police Chief Michael Rowland told WKRG-TV (http://bit.ly/pxO8VN). “If I was given the choice of going to jail and paying a heavy fine or just going to church, I’d certainly select church.”

Full Story Here: ACLU: Ala. town cannot impose church sentences – seattlepi.com.

Footprints of Systemic Election Fraud: 1988-2008 State Exit Poll Discrepancies

This is an analysis of unadjusted state exit poll discrepancies in the 1988-2008 presidential elections. The pattern is clear: Democrats always do better in the polls than in the recorded count. There is no evidence that this is due to anything other than vote miscounts. The exit poll data is from the Edison/Mitofsky 2004 Election Evaluation Report. E-M provided unadjusted exit poll data for 288 of 306 state presidential elections from 1988 to 2008. The 1988 data includes 24 unadjusted 1988 exit polls from Roper/CBS.

In 2008, the exit poll discrepancies (10.6 WPD) were substantially greater than in other elections. The True Vote Model (TVM) exactly matched Obama’s 58.1% aggregate share of the unadjusted state exit polls – a 23 million vote margin. In 45 states there was a red-shift from the exit poll to the vote in favor of McCain. The 3.0% exit poll margin of error was exceeded in 37 states, all but one for McCain. Obama’s landslide margin was much greater than the 9.5 million recorded.

Within Precinct Error (WPE) is the difference between the unadjusted exit poll and recorded vote margins. “Error” implies that the exit polls were wrong and the election was fraud-free . But millions of votes are uncounted in every election (nearly 11 million in 1988 and 4 million in 2004). Therefore, it is more accurate to refer to Within Precinct Discrepancy (WPD). A positive WPD indicates that the vote shift favored the GOP; a negative WPD favored the Democrat. In 2004, Kerry won the state exit polls by 52-47% but lost the recorded vote by 50.7-48.3%, a WPD of 7.4%. The Final National Exit Poll is always forced to match the recorded vote.

Full Story Here: Footprints of Systemic Election Fraud: 1988-2008 State Exit Poll Discrepancies « Richard Charnin’s Blog.

President Obama Secretly Approved Transfer of Bunker-Buster Bombs to Israel

While Obama publicly pressured Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians over settlements, he secretly sold Jerusalem deep-penetrating bombs it had long sought. Eli Lake previews an exclusive story appearing in Monday’s Newsweek.

While publicly pressuring Israel to make deeper concessions to the Palestinians, President Obama has secretly authorized significant new aid to the Israeli military that includes the sale of 55 deep-penetrating bombs known as bunker busters, Newsweek has learned.

In an exclusive story to be published Monday on growing military cooperation between the two allies, U.S. and Israeli officials tell Newsweek that the GBU-28 Hard Target Penetrators—potentially useful in any future military strike against Iranian nuclear sites—were delivered to Israel in 2009, just several months after Obama took office.

Full Story Here: President Obama Secretly Approved Transfer of Bunker-Buster Bombs to Israel – The Daily Beast.

It’s Not ‘Class Warfare’ When the Rich Do It

$250 billion reduction in Medicare spending on the provider side, and $330 billion in immediate spending cuts over the next decade, the president wants an end to the Bush tax cuts on the rich, and a millionaire’s tax called “the Buffett Rule,” after bilionaire investor Warren Buffett. The White House hasn’t released details on the exact mechanism of the Buffet Rule, but it would exist to ensure that high-income individuals pay a higher marginal rate than the middle class. Together, the tax increases would raise $1.5 trillion over the next ten years.

Not only is this good policy – it begins to correct tax imbalances that hugely benefit the wealthy – but it’s good politics. It provides a stark contrast to the Republican message of tax cuts for the rich, tax increases for the poor and spending cuts for everyone else, particularly those that rely on government programs: students, children, seniors and the unemployed.

In response, Republicans have brushed off their old rhetorical standby: “class warfare.” “Class warfare will simply divide this country more. It will attack job creators, divide people and it doesn’t grow the economy,” Rep. Paul Ryan said last night on FOX News Sunday. “Class warfare may make for really good politics, but it makes for rotten economics.”

Full Story Here: It’s Not ‘Class Warfare’ When the Rich Do It | The Nation.

The Dark Legacy of Reaganomics

For half a century – from the depths of the Great Depression until the rise of Ronald Reagan – the U.S. government invested in building the nation and funding key research. And the country flourished. But Reagan then reversed those priorities. The results are in, writes Robert Parry.

Robert Parry

It may be political heresy to say so, but a strong case could be made that the greatest American “job creator” over the past 80 years has been the federal government – or put differently, the government built the framework that private companies then used to create profits and jobs.

This heretical view also would hold that it was Ronald Reagan’s deviation from this formula for success some 30 years ago that put the United States on its current path of economic decline – by starving the government of resources and providing incentives for the rich, through sharply lower taxes, to get super-greedy.

Full Story Here: The Dark Legacy of Reaganomics | Consortiumnews.

Yahoo Appears To Be Censoring Email Messages About Wall Street Protests (Updated)

Thinking about e-mailing your friends and neighbors about the protests against Wall Street happening right now? If you have a Yahoo e-mail account, think again. ThinkProgress has reviewed claims that Yahoo is censoring e-mails relating to the protest and found that after several attempts on multiple accounts, we too were prevented from sending messages about the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations.

Over the weekend, thousands gathered for a “Tahrir Square”-style protest of Wall Street’s domination of American politics. The protesters, organized online and by organizations like Adbusters, have called their effort “Occupy Wall Street” and have set up the website: www.OccupyWallSt.org. However, several YouTube users posted videos of themselves trying to email a message inviting their friends to visit the Occupy Wall St campaign website, only to be blocked repeatedly by Yahoo. View a video of ThinkProgress making the attempt with the same blocked message experienced by others (click full screen for a better view of the text):

Full Story Here: Yahoo Appears To Be Censoring Email Messages About Wall Street Protests (Updated) | ThinkProgress.

Obama Medicare Cuts Target Providers, Then Beneficiaries For Savings

President Obama wants to extract $320 billion in savings from the health care system in his push to trim the deficit, starting with cutting payments to Medicare and Medicaid providers and ending with making beneficiaries pay more.

The biggest savings — $135 billion over 10 years — would come from letting Medicare pay for drugs at the same rates as Medicaid, which enjoys much greater rebates on generic and brand-name drugs.

The next largest source of savings — $42 billion — would come from nursing homes, rehab centers and long-term care facilities, which the administration thinks can be encouraged to be much more efficient in providing care right after people get out of hospitals.

Full Story Here: Obama Medicare Cuts Target Providers, Then Beneficiaries For Savings.

US to announce new China trade enforcement action

U.S. trade officials will announce a major trade enforcement action against China on Tuesday, according to a U.S. Trade Representative’s office advisory obtained from a business group.

The advisory, which was distributed to media on a not-for-publication basis, said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk “will hold a press conference to announce a major trade enforcement action against China.”

The release did not provide any additional details.

Full Story Here: US to announce new China trade enforcement action | Reuters.

Whistleblowers: Drug cartels throw fundraisers for U.S. officials

Two former law enforcement officials who worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as confidential informants on probes into police corruption have come forward with allegations of drug cartel ties to top cops, judges and elected officials.

Greg Gonzales, a retired sheriff’s deputy, and Wesley Dutton, a former New Mexico livestock investigator, told The El Paso Times that the FBI uncovered some “big names” in the course of one investigation, but it was dropped without result.

Both men helped with several investigations during their 18 months as confidential informants, the report says, including one that ended with the arrest of FBI special agent John Shipley, who was allegedly selling guns to cartel members.

Full Story Here: Whistleblowers: Drug cartels throw fundraisers for U.S. officials | The Raw Story.

Paul Ryan Endorses ‘Unemployment Reform’ That Asks The Jobless To Work More For Less

In an interview yesterday with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) had almost nothing but criticism for President Obama’s jobs plan. “This looks like to me not a very good sign, because it looks like the president wants to move down the class warfare path,” he commented. Ryan did, however, express his support for a program that asks the unemployed to work for no wages while receiving unemployment benefits.

Under the Georgia Works program, Georgians receiving unemployment benefits are matched with employers who provide them with up to eight weeks of training during which they work for free. Instead of being paid by the employer, workers continue to receive their unemployment checks and a $240 stipend to help cover transportation, child care, and other expenses.

According to Ryan, this state program is “something we’re looking at” to replicate on the national level:

Full Story Here: Paul Ryan Endorses ‘Unemployment Reform’ That Asks The Jobless To Work More For Less | ThinkProgress.

Multi-Millionaire Congressman: ‘I Don’t Want To Raise My Taxes…Don’t Ask Me’ To Pay More

Responding to an ad produced by the group Patriot Millionaires calling for raising taxes on the wealthy, Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) — who was worth up to $37 million in 2009, the most recent year available — said he doesn’t want to pay anymore in taxes. “I don’t want to raise my taxes,” Campbell said, “I don’t want to raise anybody’s taxes.” Campbell added that billionaire Warren Buffet, who has called for raising taxes, can pay more to government if he wants to, “but don’t ask me and a whole lot of other Americans” to pay too. Watch it:

Full Story Here: Multi-Millionaire Congressman: ‘I Don’t Want To Raise My Taxes…Don’t Ask Me’ To Pay More | ThinkProgress.

Nebraska GOP Backs Mini-Electorial College Rigging Plan

Nebraska is one of just two states which allocates its Electoral College votes by congressional district — a fact that enabled President Obama to win one electoral vote in the state despite losing the state as a whole in 2008. The Nebraska Republican Party, however, just voted to twist its own lawmaker’s arms to prevent this from happening again in 2012:

[T]he [Republican state central] committee approved a resolution that would deny party support to any Republican state senator who fails to support legislation returning Nebraska to a winner-take-all presidential electoral vote system.

An ancillary effect of that action, primarily designed to wipe out any Democratic opportunity to pick up the 2nd Congressional District electoral vote for the second presidential election in a row, could be depression of Democratic activity in the Omaha district to [Sen. Ben] Nelson’s disadvantage.

Full Story Here: Nebraska GOP Backs Mini-Electorial College Rigging Plan | ThinkProgress.

Zombie Lies: Republicans Revive False Claim That Obama Tax Hikes Would Hurt Small Businesses

During the 2010 debate over the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, Republicans continually claimed that allowing tax rates for the richest two percent of Americans to go back to where they were under the Clinton administration would disproportionately affect small businesses. The claim wasn’t true then — as just 3 percent of people with any business income at all, from a business large or small, would be affected if the top two tax rates increase — but that didn’t stop the GOP from parroting it over and over.

Today, President Obama plans to unveil a deficit reduction plan that will, once again, call for the expiration of the Bush tax cuts for those in the top two income tax brackets, as well as a new “Buffett rule” — a minimum tax for millionaires, inspired by billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s continued outrage that tax rates for investors are lower than those for working class Americans. So, inevitably, Republicans have revived their talking point regarding small businesses:

“It is disappointing the president has nothing but a fresh slogan for the same job-killing small business tax hikes opposed by bipartisan majorities in Congress,” [House Speaker John] Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said.

Full Story Here: Zombie Lies: Republicans Revive False Claim That Obama Tax Hikes Would Hurt Small Businesses | ThinkProgress.

Middle Class Death Watch — 33 Frightening Economic Developments

Downward mobility, homelessness spreading to the middle class, 200,000 public employees laid off? Here are some frightening trends to keep an eye on.

Middle-Class Americans Often Fall Down Economic Ladder: Study – nearly a third of Americans who were part of the middle class have fallen out of it

“The promise of the American dream has given many hope that they themselves could one day rise up the economic ladder. But according to a study released those already in financially-stable circumstances should fear falling down a few rungs too. The study… found that nearly a third of Americans who were part of the middle class as teenagers in the 1970s have fallen out of it as adults… its findings suggest the relative ease with which people in the U.S. can end up in low-income, low-opportunity lifestyles — even if they started out with a number of advantages. Though the American middle class has been repeatedly invoked as a key factor in any economic turnaround, numerous reports have suggested that the middle class enjoys less existential security than it did a generation ago, thanks to stagnating incomes and the decline of the industrial sector.”

Downward Mobility from the Middle Class: Waking Up from the American Dream

Full Story Here: Middle Class Death Watch — 33 Frightening Economic Developments | Economy | AlterNet.

Inside the Trillion-Dollar Underground Economy Keeping Many Americans (Barely) Afloat in Desperate Times | | AlterNet

The underground economy isn’t just drugs and sex work.

The United States continues to suffer from mass unemployment. People have had to adjust their lifestyles to the new reality—fewer jobs, lower wages, mortgages to pay that are now more than their homes are worth. Millions have dropped out of the job hunt and are trying to find other ways to sustain their families.

That’s where the underground economy comes in. Also called the shadow or informal economy, it’s not just illegal activity like selling drugs or doing sex work. It’s all sorts of work that doesn’t get regulated by the government or reported to the IRS, and it’s a far bigger part of the economy than most of us are aware—in 2009, economics professor Friedrich Schneider estimated that it was nearly 8 percent of the US GDP, somewhere around $1 trillion. (That makes the shadow GDP bigger than the entire GDP of Turkey or Austria.) Schneider doesn’t include illegal activities in his count– he studies legal production of goods and services that are outside of tax and labor laws. And that shadow economy is growing as regular jobs continue to be hard to come by—Schneider estimated 5 percent in ’09 alone.

Full Story Here: Inside the Trillion-Dollar Underground Economy Keeping Many Americans (Barely) Afloat in Desperate Times | | AlterNet.

It’s Not ‘Class Warfare’ When the Rich Do It

Last night, the White House released details of President Obama’s plan for deficit reduction: in addition to a $250 billion reduction in Medicare spending on the provider side, and $330 billion in immediate spending cuts over the next decade, the president wants an end to the Bush tax cuts on the rich, and a millionaire’s tax called “the Buffett Rule,” after bilionaire investor Warren Buffett. The White House hasn’t released details on the exact mechanism of the Buffet Rule, but it would exist to ensure that high-income individuals pay a higher marginal rate than the middle class. Together, the tax increases would raise $1.5 trillion over the next ten years.

Not only is this good policy – it begins to correct tax imbalances that hugely benefit the wealthy – but it’s good politics. It provides a stark contrast to the Republican message of tax cuts for the rich, tax increases for the poor and spending cuts for everyone else, particularly those that rely on government programs: students, children, seniors and the unemployed.

In response, Republicans have brushed off their old rhetorical standby: “class warfare.” “Class warfare will simply divide this country more. It will attack job creators, divide people and it doesn’t grow the economy,” Rep. Paul Ryan said last night on FOX News Sunday. “Class warfare may make for really good politics, but it makes for rotten economics.

Full Story Here: It’s Not ‘Class Warfare’ When the Rich Do It | The Nation.

The Keystone Pipeline: Too Dirty for George W. Bush?

The Keystone XL pipeline, recently approved by the US State Department and awaiting President Obama’s declaration that it is in the “national interest,” will carry oil that is too dirty for the US government to buy — under legislation signed by George W. Bush!

In 2007, President Bush signed into law Section 526 of the Energy Independence and National Security Act of 2007. It prohibits the US government, which is the largest single fuel purchaser in the U.S., from using taxpayer dollars to purchase fuels that have a higher carbon footprint than conventional oil.

This little-known law is significant because Congress crafted it, in part, with the explicit intent to block the US from buying Canadian tar sands oil — considered the dirtiest oil on the planet. With President Obama currently debating whether to authorize the construction of the Keystone Pipeline — which will funnel tar sands oil from Alberta into the the US — and more than 1000 activists arrested in front of the White House last month in protest the pipeline, the issue has moved to the front and center of the climate debate in recent weeks.

Full Story Here: The Keystone Pipeline: Too Dirty for George W. Bush? | Common Dreams.

US Day of Rage – Joint Solidarity Statement by US Day of Rage and the October2011 Movement

The October2011 Movement is planning an occupation and nonviolent resistance actions in Washington, DC starting on October 6, 2011. This date marks the 10-year anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and the first week of the new federal budget which provides unlimited funding for war, tax breaks for the wealthy and austerity for human services.

Thousands of people have pledged to gather in Freedom Plaza beginning on that day to nonviolently disrupt the disloyal, incompetent, and corrupt special interests which have usurped our nation’s civil and military power, spawning a host of threats to our liberty, lives and national security.

The October2011 Movement protests corporatism and militarism because they prevent solutions to our current crises which would create a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world from being implemented. Instead concentrated corporate interests rule our elections and political process so that wealth continues to be funneled to the top 1%.

Full Story Here: US Day of Rage – Joint Solidarity Statement by US Day of Rage and the October2011 Movement #oct6 #occupyDC.

Trickle Down Fail: Number of Millionaires in the United States Rises As Poverty Rate Hits Highest Level Since the Reagan Era

Earlier this summer, an annual report on wealth accumulation worldwide found that, despite the financial collapse of 2008, the ensuing Great Recession and the grindingly slow recovery we’re experiencing now, the number of millionaires in the United States has actually grown:

According to the annual World Wealth Report from Merill Lynch and Capgemini, the U.S. had 3.1 million millionaires in 2010, up from 2.86 million in 2009. The latest figure tops the pre-crisis peak of three million.

Merrill and Capgemini define millionaires as individuals with $1 million or more in investible assets, not including primary home, collectibles, consumables and consumer durables.

Full Story Here: Trickle Down Fail: Number of Millionaires in the United States Rises As Poverty Rate Hits Highest Level Since the Reagan Era.