The Cost of Conservatism, in Trillions from Firedoglake

excerpt from http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/20/the-cost-of-conservatism-in-trillions/

So what does this exercise mean? It's really very simple: we can afford a decent retirement and decent living standards, and decent medicine for ourselves and our children and grand children, or we can afford the casino games that we have played, and the massive parade ground military that we have built over the last generation. But not both. The costs of the war and bad economic policy flow all through the economy.

The reality is that liberalism isn't broken. The reality, contra the film IOU-USA, is that the national debt is a symptom not a cause. The real cause is that Americans have voted for certain things - a huge military, a casino economy, and an anti-science bias - cost be damned. Well the cost is damning, it is damning us to this recession, and it is going to damn us to a very poor recovery on the other side of it.

Yes, these are back of the envelope numbers, but we've been living on pulled from flatulant air numbers on things like WMD in Iraq, the cost of the Bush tax package, the future of global warming, and the value of Mortgage Backed Securities.

from Chicago Film Critics Association WALL-E Cleans Up Chicago Film Critics Awards

Having spent hundreds of years cleaning up the planet Earth, "WALL*E" has now gone on to clean up at the 2008 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards by taking home four prizes, the most presented to any one movie this year. In a year filled with tight races, the latest blockbuster from Pixar Animation and Walt Disney Studios won the awards for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Animated Film.

rest at http://www.chicagofilmcritics.org/

Brookfield Zoo gorilla dies - from Chicago Breaking News

An ailing, 47-year-old female lowland gorilla died Thursday night at Brookfield Zoo, zoo officials said this afternoon.

The gorilla, named Beta, had lived for years in her own special enclosure at the zoo. Zoo officials said they are awaiting necropsy results that would show cause of death, but said the animal had suffered from a number of chronic ailments.

rest at http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/brookfield-zoo-gorilla-dies.html

Fake Snow Shovelers Are Really Burglary Ring - from cbs2chicago.com

There is a potential crime spree in the Morgan Park-Beverly neighborhood -- thieves posing as snow shovelers, robbing houses of Christmas gifts and personal belongings.

rest at http://cbs2chicago.com/local/snow.shovelers.burglary.2.890888.html

Mayor Richard Daley's car got stuck briefly as he left an event at a senior center on the South Side Friday morning.

Karma, thy name is Daley. The Mayor's car gut stuck this morning on a snowy side street as the mayor was leaving an event at a South Side senior center. We'll see how much salt that road gets from now on.

rest at http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Mayors-Car-Gets-Stuck-on-Side-Street.html

Guess which Cook County Commissioner Hired a Friend this Week from Chicagoist

Looks like Cook County Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno took advantage of the county's "family-and-friends hiring plan" again. The Sun-Times reported this week that Moreno, a close ally to the Stroger family, used his political clout to get a lucrative hospital contract for a campaign supporter and friend, Ronald Garcia. The Feds and the county's inspector general are now looking into the matter.

Garcia, who has donated more than $10,000 to Moreno's campaign fund, runs Chicago Medical Equipment and Supply. The firm was hired by Med Assets Inc. as a minority-owned subcontractor to help with Cook County's hospital billing collection. But it's unclear whether Garcia's firm was hired purely on its qualifications. Moreno allegedly told interim hospitals chief David Small that minority contractors were favored for the deal, which apparently led to a meeting between Garcia and the president of Med Assets. Garcia's firm, however, was recently kicked to the curb by Med Assets when it found out it was being overcharged by 135 percent. Dr. Luis Munoz, another buddy of Moreno and chairman of the hospital audit committee, successfully pushed for an audit of Med Assets after it fired Chicago Medical. Moreno denies he had any influence over the whole situation.

rest at http://chicagoist.com/2008/12/19/guess_which_cook_county_commissione.php

ouch Brunswick finds $135M accounting snafu from ChicagoBusiness.com Breaking News

(Crain's) — Recreational boat builder Brunswick Corp. said Friday an accounting error will result a charge against earnings of up to $135 million this year.

The Lake Forest-based company said that financial filings for the first nine months of 2008 should "no longer be relied on" because the company incorrectly valued an allowance against deferred taxes. The company said it discovered the error while compiling four-quarter results.

Brunswick said correcting the error and reissuing financial reports will result in a non-cash charge of $110 million to $135 million.

rest at http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=32353

Wiener's Circle runs afoul of health inspectors from ChicagoBusiness.com Breaking News

(Crain's) — Lincoln Park's Wiener's Circle was shut down Friday by the city for failing to meet Chicago's health code.

The restaurant at 2622 N. Clark St. — popular among late-night revelers who trade rated-R banter with employees — was found in an inspection not to have running hot water. That means employees could not properly wash their hands or cooking utensils, the Chicago Department of Public Health said in a statement.

Wiener's Circle was also cited for having food at unsafe temperatures. An inspector found two pounds of cooked onions at temperatures lower than the required 140 degrees.

rest at http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=32352&seenIt=1

RIM's new BlackBerry Storm seeing heavy customer returns? from BloggingStocks

entire article at http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/12/19/rims-new-blackberry-storm-seeing-heavy-customer-returns/

Research in Motion Ltd.'s (NASDAQ: RIMM) new BlackBerry Storm caused quite a stir when Verizon Wireless released it for sale just last month. It was heralded as one of the first "real" serious competitors to the Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 3G. Along with a complete, tactile touchscreen, the new Bold also -- of course -- featured RIM's well-known email integration. After all, portable, wireless email is what completely built RIM and the BlackBerry product.

But is the Storm not all that? There are reports that Verizon Wireless is seeing a return rate that should cause RIM executives to take serious pause. The touchscreen on the Bold, which features a physical button-like interface without buttons, is a possible culprit. Any new advance in user interface has the potential to backfire, which is possibly part of what's happening here. Silicon Alley Insider references a slew of Twitter comments that are pretty much disparaging the Bold as a piece of junk. While that's far from scientific, it's still the true.

Congress Gives Itself a Raise

A crumbling economy, more than 2 million constituents who have lost their jobs this year, and congressional demands of CEOs to work for free did not convince lawmakers to freeze their own pay.

Instead, they will get a $4,700 pay increase, amounting to an additional $2.5 million that taxpayers will spend on congressional salaries, and watchdog groups are not happy about it.

rest at http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/with-economy-in-shambles-congress-gets-a-raise-2008-12-17.html

Perino Confused About Environmentalists’ Objections To Drilling On Federal Lands from Think Progress

Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is auctioning off resource rights to over 110,000 acres of public lands in Utah to oil and gas producers. The lands include parcels near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Dinosaur National Monument, and Nine Mile Canyon, which is home to "the highest concentration of Native American rock art in the United States."

Yesterday, Robert Redford spoke out against the sale. He noted the lands' significant historical value and criticized the Bush administration for its "deception" and "slight of hand" in rushing to hold today's auction:

The lands are not Cheney's and Bush's. The lands are ours. They're ours because they are part of our legacy. They are part of the human, American legacy. … We should not allow this to happen. It's criminal.

Last night on the O'Reilly Factor, guest host Juan Williams asked White House Press Secretary to respond to Redford's comments. After saying she would not "attack him personally," Perino accused Redford of "blind hatred" of the president and said, "If somebody actually got him the facts, he would know that it's illegal to drill in national parks." Watch it:

rest at http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/19/redford-perino-oil/

Alaskan Officials In Hot Water Over Racist Obama Emails from Chicagoist

Trouble's a-brewing way up north as the Associated Press has obtained several emails by state government officials in Alaska that make racists jokes about President-Elect Barack Obama. One of the emails "asks about the outcome of the Democrat's victory after all the time and money invested and concludes: 'Another black family living in government housing!'" Another of the alleged emails which was forwarded often was titled "Night Befo Crizzmus" Damn. Just...damn. Administration Commissioner Annette Kreitzer confirmed three of the emails were found via a search of the government's email system, adding, "It's embarrassing to the state." Palin's spokesman, Bill McAllister, said, "My understanding is that the Department of Administration is following up on this with the individuals who took action to forward the offensive e-mails. This is, of course, a confidential personnel and disciplinary matter that has nothing to do with the governor's office."

rest at http://chicagoist.com/2008/12/18/alaskan_officials_in_hot_water_over.php

Republican Bad Faith Negotiation, Again from Emptywheel

If you need any more proof that the Republican attempt to break the UAW a week ago Thursday was really just a political stunt, read this article. In it, Republican after Republican attacks Bush for providing relief to the auto industry. That includes four of the Republican Senators who--Bob Corker has assured us--would have supported his "compromise" deal from last Thursday:

John McCain:

John McCain is leading the way, saying it is "unacceptable that we would leave the American taxpayer with a tab of tens of billions of dollars while failing to receive any serious concessions from the industry." 

John Kyl:

"I'm very disappointed," said Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). "The president justified his action with a false choice: it's either this plan or abrupt liquidation of the companies. The White House seems to think that the industry didn't have time to deal with the problem or prepare for an orderly bankruptcy, which is false."

Judd Gregg:

"These funds were not authorized by Congress for non-financial companies in distress," Gregg said, "but were to be used to restore liquidity and stability in the overall financial system of the country and to help prevent fundamental systemic risks in the global marketplace."

Mitch McConnell:

"I have strong objections to the use of Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds for industry specific bailouts. And I do not support this action," McConnell said. "But since the administration has chosen to use these funds to aid the automakers, it is important that the date-specific requirements on all the stakeholders be enforced." 

Yet this is virtually the same bill, with one caveat: that the manufacturers, "can deviate from the quantitative targets above, providing that the firm reports the reasons for these deviations and makes the business case to achieve long-term viability in spite of the deviations."

In other words, the Republicans are pissed because the President's plan allows the auto manufacturers to "deviate" from Bob Corker's demand that the UAW lower wages below that of Japanese manufacturers' workers by the end of the year if the manufacturers can make a business case to do so.  

These Republicans are pissed that GM and Chrysler don't have to cut costs even if there's a good business reason not to do so!!!

rest at http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/12/19/republican-bad-faith-negotiation-again/

haves and have nots: Red Sox Can Kiss Tex Goodbye from Deadspin

from http://deadspin.com/5114559/red-sox-can-kiss-tex-goodbye

Boston out of the Mark Teixeira market after he calls its $180 million, eight-year offer chicken feed. [Boston Herald]

President Bush: Employees of American Companies Must Get Paid Less than Employees of Foreign Companies! from Firedoglake

from http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/12/19/president-bush-employees-of-american-companies-must-get-paid-less-than-employees-of-foreign-companies/

The President of the United States just dictated that American corporations pay their employees significantly less than the employees of foreign owned manufacturers. And/or, he dictated that American corporations pick the pocket of their senior retirees.

That's the take-away of the bailout plan, which is basically the Bob Corker plan dressed up, through sleight of hand, as a majority-supported legislation. As Bush notes, some of this bailout was supported by a majority of the House, at least.

RIP: Majel Roddenberry Passes Away :(

Majel Roddenberry, widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and voice of Starfleet computers in every version of Star Trek including the upcoming J.J. Abrams movie, passed away yesterday from complications from pneumonia. She was 76.

rest at http://www.geekologie.com/2008/12/rip_majel_roddenberry_passes_a.php

from WireTap Magazine - Immigration: Victory for Florida Farmworkers

Last Tuesday, Subway reached a landmark agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), the Florida farmworker group covered on WireTap last month.

Subway -- the largest fast-food buyer of tomatoes in Florida -- has at last taken concrete steps to improve wages and working conditions for Florida farmworkers. The agreement comes in the wake of student protests to call on the sandwich chain to address the prevalence of sub-poverty wages, violence and slavery in the state´s agriculture industry.

Subway now joins McDonald´s, Yum Brands (Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silvers & Pizza Hut), Burger King and Whole Foods Market in signing accords with the CIW to change the human rights crisis plaguing Florida´s fields, where 7 slavery cases have been successfully prosecuted since 1997.

rest at http://www.wiretapmag.org/blogs/immigration/43918/

Bernie Madoff, Confidence Destroyer from Finance Blog - Felix Salmon - Market Movers - Portfolio.com

If Madoff is causing a crisis of confidence in the markets, it might be for this reason: that he's driven home the fact that you can never know for sure that your money is safe and that it will be there tomorrow. That's always a good reason not to invest in hedge funds, even when fraud isn't a problem at all. And it's a problem which even the most perspicacious fund-of-fund manager can't get around.

rest at http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2008/12/17/bernie-madoff-confidence-destroyer

The Reckoning - On Wall Street, Bonuses, Not Profits, Were Real from NYTimes.com

"As a result of the extraordinary growth at Merrill during my tenure as C.E.O., the board saw fit to increase my compensation each year."

— E. Stanley O'Neal, the former chief executive of Merrill Lynch, March 2008

For Dow Kim, 2006 was a very good year. While his salary at Merrill Lynch was $350,000, his total compensation was 100 times that — $35 million.

The difference between the two amounts was his bonus, a rich reward for the robust earnings made by the traders he oversaw in Merrill's mortgage business.

Mr. Kim's colleagues, not only at his level, but far down the ranks, also pocketed large paychecks. In all, Merrill handed out $5 billion to $6 billion in bonuses that year. A 20-something analyst with a base salary of $130,000 collected a bonus of $250,000. And a 30-something trader with a $180,000 salary got $5 million.

But Merrill's record earnings in 2006 — $7.5 billion — turned out to be a mirage. The company has since lost three times that amount, largely because the mortgage investments that supposedly had powered some of those profits plunged in value.

Unlike the earnings, however, the bonuses have not been reversed.

As regulators and shareholders sift through the rubble of the financial crisis, questions are being asked about what role lavish bonuses played in the debacle. Scrutiny over pay is intensifying as banks like Merrill prepare to dole out bonuses even after they have had to be propped up with billions of dollars of taxpayers' money. While bonuses are expected to be half of what they were a year ago, some bankers could still collect millions of dollars.

rest at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/business/18pay.html

Will Tim Robbins Play Papa Stark in 'Iron Man 2'? from Cinematical

Who could breed such a perfect specimen of man like Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark? He has to be a bit dashing, and just a smidge brilliant. He must be a good businessman, and a bit of an alcoholic. Plus, it would probably help to have some similar features to Downey Jr. No one would believe that Iron Man came from some nobody. So, who would you pick?

According to Latino Review, Howard Stark will be played by Tim Robbins in the sequel, because "Jon [Favreau] wanted to get a good actor because he didn't think the guy who played Howard in the last film could carry such an important scene." Heck, if Terrence Howard wasn't good enough to stay on, it's no surprise that Favs would look for a bigger player to pull off important Stark family scenes. I'm not drooling over the decision, but it definitely sounds like a solid choice.

rest at http://www.cinematical.com/2008/12/18/will-tim-robbins-play-papa-stark-in-iron-man-2/

Eddie Murphy To Play The Riddler??? from PerezHilton.com

via http://perezhilton.com/2008-12-18-eddie-murphy-to-play-the-riddler

Ready for yet another Batman movie?

Ready for Eddie Murphy as the Riddler ???????

Directed by Christopher Nolan and set for a 2010 release, working titled Gotham has reportedly tapped Murphy to reprise the role played by Jim Carey in 1995.

Shia LaBeouf will allegedly play sidekick Robin, while Christian Bale is set to return as the Dark Knight with Michael Cain. Rumor has it that Britain's Rachel Weisz will be playing Catwoman.

This all sounds like a bunch of bullshit to use - we hope!

New Rules Kill Credit Card Industry's Most Abusive Practices from Consumerist

Fed regulators adopted new rules for the credit card industry that will curtail some of their most anti-consumer practices. Unfortunately, they don't take effect until July, 2010. Here's what they are:

• No more raising rates on existing balances
• No more double-cycle billing.
• Any payment above the minimum must automatically apply to the part of the balance with the highest interest.
• Minimum time before notice of change of terms takes effect goes from 15 to 45 days.
• Borrowers need reasonable time before a payment is due, at least 21 days
• No excessive fees for exceeding credit limit because of a hold placed on the account
• Subprime credit cards that have a $500 credit limit but a big upfront fee will have that fee capped at no more than 50% of the credit limit, and it can be paid off over a year, rather than immediately.

rest at http://consumerist.com/5113129/new-rules-kill-credit-card-industrys-most-abusive-practices

Stupid Idiots Name Son Adolph Hitler, Bakery Refuses To Make Birthday Cake For The Young Terrorist. Sadly, It Gets Even Worse from Geekologie

A husband and wife team of stupid idiots named their son Adolph Hitler Campbell because, damnit, sometimes beating your kid just isn't enough. "Heath Campbell said he named his son after Adolf Hitler because he liked the name and because "no one else in the world would have that name"." Unfortunately, ShopRite supermarket refused to decorate a birthday cake with the little tyke's name on it. Wait, it gets worse. The shop has also refused to make a cake for Mr Campbell's second child, who turns two next February. Her name is JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell

rest at http://www.geekologie.com/2008/12/stupid_idiots_name_son_adolph.php

Ariz. police say they are prepared as War College warns military must prep for unrest; IMF warns of economic riots from Phoenix Business Journal:

A new report by the U.S. Army War College talks about the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used should the economic crisis lead to civil unrest, such as protests against businesses and government or runs on beleaguered banks.

"Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security," said the War College report.

The study says economic collapse, terrorism and loss of legal order are among possible domestic shocks that might require military action within the U.S.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned Wednesday of economy-related riots and unrest in various global markets if the financial crisis is not addressed and lower-income households are hurt by credit constraints and rising unemployment.

U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., both said U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson brought up a worst-case scenario as he pushed for the Wall Street bailout in September. Paulson, former Goldman Sachs CEO, said that might even require a declaration of martial law, the two noted.

State and local police in Arizona say they have broad plans to deal with social unrest, including trouble resulting from economic distress. The security and police agencies declined to give specifics, but said they would employ existing and generalized emergency responses to civil unrest that arises for any reason.

"The Phoenix Police Department is not expecting any civil unrest at this time, but we always train to prepare for any civil unrest issue. We have a Tactical Response Unit that trains continually and has deployed on many occasions for any potential civil unrest issue," said Phoenix Police spokesman Andy Hill.

rest at http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/12/15/daily34.html

Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber Sells At Auction from Geekologie

The lightsaber (which was made from part of a photography flashgun) that Mark Hamill swung around like the Star Wars Kid in A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back recently sold at auction for a cool £133,000 (~$206,000). Some other stuff from the movies sold as well, but for less dough.

rest at http://www.geekologie.com/2008/12/luke_skywalkers_lightsaber_sel.php

Parents Take Halo 3 Away From Teenage Son, He Shoots Them Both, Killing Mother from Geekologie

17-year old Daniel Petric shot both his parents, killing his mother, for taking his copy of Halo 3 away from him

rest at http://www.geekologie.com/2008/12/parents_take_halo_3_away_from.php

Rice: No ‘American Money’ In Iraq Was Lost To Corruption from Think Progress

In an AP interview yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke highly of U.S. reconstruction efforts in Iraq, stating, "We've done a lot of work to get these [reconstruction] structures right, and I think they finally are" — a day after a scathing government report detailed massive waste and poor planning in U.S. reconstruction efforts. When asked about the abuse, Rice claimed that U.S. dollars have emerged unscathed:

Q: But the cost in terms of lives and in terms of the money and the abuse of money – (inaudible) was money wasted, there was money that was siphoned off, corruption and that kind of thing, you're —

RICE: Not of American money. Not American money. I don't think that you will find that anybody is arguing that there was corruption in the American programs.

Throughout the U.S. occupation of Iraq, billions in tax dollars have been lost due to corruption and incompetence. Some of the most egregious losses have been via "American programs":

rest at http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/16/rice-corruption-iraq/

Elitism in Senate appointments from Daily Kos

Chris Bowers lays out the case for a Constitutional Amendment that would eliminate the power of governors to fill Senate vacancies -- a process that has become rife with corruption and elitism.

The top political story over the past week has been a corruption case surrounding the appointment of a Senator to Barack Obama's vacant seat in Illinois. At the same time, a woman whose family lineage is her primary qualification to be a Senator has begun a "public" campaign to reach out to local political elites using Joe Lieberman's "fixer" in order to secure the seat. Earlier, a long-time aide to Vice-President-elect Joe Biden was picked to serve his Senate seat. In 2010, Biden's seat is expected to be filled by his son, Beau Biden. In the coming days, Representative John Salazar will be considered one of the leading candidates to be appointed to his brother's now vacant seat in Colorado.

There is an endemic problem of dynasties and elitism in our political process. The power of Governor's to appoint vacant Senate seats is one of the more egregious examples of this. The four examples we are looking at right now are not isolated incidents, either. Six years ago, former Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski appointed his daughter to fill his vacant Senate seat. Two years before that, when Mel Carnahan died in a plane crash, his wife, Jean Carnahan, served two years in the Senate to replace him. The previous year, Lincoln Chafee was appointed to serve when his father died unexpectedly.

rest at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/12/16/172311/33/470/673803

Goldman Sachs To Pay 1% Tax Rate from Firedoglake

two bits four bits

And no, it's not primarily because of low profits, it's partly because of a big tax credit, and partly because of shifting revenue to offshore domiciles.  So on the one hand, they're taking 10 billion from the taxpayer, on the other hand they're stiffing the government.  Last year they paid 6 billion in taxes worldwide, this year they'll pay 14 million.  You, the taxpayer, will make up the shortfall, one way or the other.

This sort of tax shifting has to end.  The simplest way to do it is to say that no matter where you pay taxes, you make up the difference in the States.  So if the rate is 10% somewhere else, and 30% in the US, you pay the 20% difference to the States.   Make it so that folks can't set up separate companies to avoid taxes, and make some treaties with other countries.  Race to the bottom economic competition needs to end—it isn't healthy when southern states give huge tax breaks to lure companies and it isn't healthy when it's countries competing with each other to see how low they can go, and to heck with providing services for their citizens.

rest at http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/16/goldman-sachs-to-pay-1-tax-rate/

Mystery Cancer Cluster Hits Illinois Community from Truthout

Mchenry, Illinois - Forty-six year old Sandy Wierschke, a once energetic, healthy woman with a career, husband and a child, is dying from brain cancer.

    "I don't know what the future holds for me anymore," she said. "I am just living three months to three months and hoping that I can make it another three months."

    That's how her neighbor Bryan Freund is living, too. He also has brain cancer. Neighbors on either side of his home have also developed brain cancer, CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts reports.

    "And at that point between us and the Branhams and the Weisenbergers, we just knew that something was far out of the ordinary," Freund said. "You live MRI to MRI."

    And there are more cases. More than a dozen cases.

    "I am John Smith," said another patient. "I am on my second brain tumor."

    An amatuer video shows residents in McCullom Lake Village. It is a community of a thousand people - but every person in the video either has a brain tumor, lives with a relative with one or lost someone to brain cancer.

    There, in a community of about 1,000 people, 14 residents have developed brain cancer. Nationally the rate is roughly seven out of 100,000.

    Coincidence?

    Attorney Aaron Freiwald says "absolutely not." He represents the McCollum Lake Village residents in their lawsuits against multi-billion dollar chemical company Rohm and Haas. Rohm and Hass has had a plant there since 1963. It makes specialty chemicals that are used in a variety of industries - from plastics to pesticides. And it has 140 different facilities in 27 countries.

rest at http://www.truthout.org/121708HA

Obama's Betrayal of Public Education? Arne Duncan and the Corporate Model of Schooling from Truthout

President-elect Barack Obama with his nominee for secretary of education, Arne Duncan. (Photo: Reuters)

Since the 1980s, but particularly under the Bush administration, certain elements of the religious right, corporate culture and Republican right wing have argued that free public education represents either a massive fraud or a contemptuous failure. Far from a genuine call for reform, these attacks largely stem from an attempt to transform schools from a public investment to a private good, answerable not to the demands and values of a democratic society but to the imperatives of the marketplace. As the educational historian David Labaree rightly argues, public schools have been under attack in the last decade "not just because they are deemed ineffective but because they are public."[1] Right-wing efforts to disinvest in public schools as critical sites of teaching and learning and govern them according to corporate interests is obvious in the emphasis on standardized testing, the use of top-down curricular mandates, the influx of advertising in schools, the use of profit motives to "encourage" student performance, the attack on teacher unions and modes of pedagogy that stress rote learning and memorization. For the Bush administration, testing has become the ultimate accountability measure, belying the complex mechanisms of teaching and learning. The hidden curriculum is that testing be used as a ploy to de-skill teachers by reducing them to mere technicians, that students be similarly reduced to customers in the marketplace rather than as engaged, critical learners and that always underfunded public schools fail so that they can eventually be privatized. But there is an even darker side to the reforms initiated under the Bush administration and now used in a number of school systems throughout the country. As the logic of the market and "the crime complex"[2] frame the field of social relations in schools, students are subjected to three particularly offensive policies, defended by school authorities and politicians under the rubric of school safety. First, students are increasingly subjected to zero-tolerance policies that are used primarily to punish, repress and exclude them. Second, they are increasingly absorbed into a "crime complex" in which security staff, using harsh disciplinary practices, now displace the normative functions teachers once provided both in and outside of the classroom.[3] Third, more and more schools are breaking down the space between education and juvenile delinquency, substituting penal pedagogies for critical learning and replacing a school culture that fosters a discourse of possibility with a culture of fear and social control. Consequently, many youth of color in urban school systems, because of harsh zero-tolerance polices, are not just being suspended or expelled from school. They are being ushered into the dark precincts of juvenile detention centers, adult courts and prison. Surely, the dismantling of this corporatized and militarized model of schooling should be a top priority under the Obama administration. Unfortunately, Obama has appointed as his secretary of education someone who actually embodies this utterly punitive, anti-intellectual, corporatized and test-driven model of schooling.

    Barack Obama's selection of Arne Duncan for secretary of education does not bode well either for the political direction of his administration nor for the future of public education. Obama's call for change falls flat with this appointment, not only because Duncan largely defines schools within a market-based and penal model of pedagogy, but also because he does not have the slightest understanding of schools as something other than adjuncts of the corporation at best or the prison at worse. The first casualty in this scenario is a language of social and political responsibility capable of defending those vital institutions that expand the rights, public goods and services central to a meaningful democracy. This is especially true with respect to the issue of public schooling and the ensuing debate over the purpose of education, the role of teachers as critical intellectuals, the politics of the curriculum and the centrality of pedagogy as a moral and political practice.

read the rest of this very informative piece at http://www.truthout.org/121708R

Fuck off: White Hipsters Mock Song for Starving Africans from Gawker

Annoying musician Moby, pathetic nihilist Gavin McInnes and various indie rockers made a video spoof of "We Are The World," about helping trust-fund kids. Because white privilege has never been funnier!

Granted, Saturday Night Live castmember Fred Armisen was there, and he's black, but it wasn't about him: This was a project of art-band leader Tim Harrington for (naturally) Pitchfork TV. There were many annoying people smoking cigarettes! Or at least that was our impression from the Observer's recap:

Eventually, everyone was corralled from the makeshift smoking lounge into the recording space to film the video... (sample lyric: "We're giving cash to all the trust fund kids this year").

rest at http://gawker.com/5112008/white-hipsters-mock-song-for-starving-africans

Kellogg applicants accepted, then rejected from Chicago Breaking News

Northwestern University's prestigious Kellogg School of Management this week erroneously sent notices of acceptance to 50 applicants it had decided to reject. The applicants are not happy.

One of them, a 28-year-old Chicagoan, excitedly phoned his parents and enjoyed a celebratory dinner Monday after being notified by e-mail that he had been accepted. But the next morning, when the Lincoln Park research analyst logged onto the college's Web site to learn more about enrolling, he found out he actually had been rejected.

rest at http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/kellogg-applicants-accepted-then-rejected.html

Man Sues United Airlines For Getting Him Drunk -- Causing Him To Beat His Wife from Consumerist

The Chicago Tribune says that a couple are suing United Airlines, claiming that the airline "negligently over served" the man — causing him to become drunk and to beat his wife.

According to the lawsuit, United supplied the man with wine every 20 minutes on the couple's flight from Osaka, Japan to San Francisco. This apparently caused the flier in question to become "so inebriated "that he could not manage himself," according to a lawsuit filed Dec. 5 in U.S. District Court.

rest at http://consumerist.com/5112607/man-sues-united-airlines-for-getting-him-drunk-++-causing-him-to-beat-his-wife

SHUTDOWN!! Chrysler Edition from Emptywheel

I guess the Cerberus figures they need to do something more to get Bush's attention, given that he continues to dawdle on a bridge loan.

Chrysler announced today it will close all 30 of its manufacturing plants for a month starting Friday.

rest at http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/12/17/shutdown-chrysler-edition/

Anti-choice, anti-gay, pro-assassination pastor to give inaugural invocation. from Think Progress

Pastor Rick Warren will deliver the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20. While he is a recognizable celebrity and best-selling author, Warren also advocates a number of deeply anti-progressive views. He supported California's anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 and has likened gay marriage to polygamy and incest. He is strongly anti-choice, and has equated abortion to the Holocaust. Warren also supports the assassination of foreign leaders. Appearing on Fox's Hannity and Colmes on December 3, Warren agreed with Sean Hannity's assertion that "we need to take him [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] out," saying that stopping evil "is the legitimate role of government." He added, "The Bible says that God puts government on earth to punish evildoers." Watch it:

rest at http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/17/warren-invocation/

Briggs Is Bears' Lone Pro Bowler from Chicagoist

In spite of their being right in the thick of the playoff picture in the waning weeks of the regular season, the Bears are not considered a star studded team according to the fans. The NFL announced the Pro Bowl selections today, and only linebacker Lance Briggs was chosen to represent the Bears.

Briggs leads the Bears defense with 122 tackles, and also has three interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble this year. This is Briggs' fourth consecutive selection to the postseason all star event. Used to playing second fiddle to Brian Urlacher, Briggs will represent the team in Hawaii while his more well-known teammate is listed as a third alternate.

rest at http://chicagoist.com/2008/12/16/briggs_is_bears_lone_pro_bowler.php

Waxman Report: EPA ‘Decimated’ Clean Water Act from The Washington Independent

California Rep. Henry Waxman (D) might be headed for the chairmanship of the House energy committee, but not before he gets a final shot at the Bush administration from atop the oversight panel.

A report released today from Waxman's office — a joint effort with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, headed by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) — found that the Environmental Protection Agency has shown a lax interest in enforcing the Clean Water Act in recent years, leading to hundreds of instances when investigations have been neglected and waterways have been threatened. From Waxman's statement:

Our investigation reveals that the clean water program has been decimated as hundreds of enforcement cases have been dropped, downgraded, delayed, or never brought in the first place. We need to work with the new Administration to restore the effectiveness and integrity to this vital program.

The controversy surrounds a 2006 Supreme Court ruling on the Clean Water Act (Rapanos v. United States), which restricted traditional interpretations of the law by requiring the EPA and other federal agencies to show that a waterway is a "significant nexus" to "traditional navigable waters" before officials can apply the environmental protections under the act. Following the Bush administration's interpretation of that vague ruling, Waxman found, the EPA has whitewashed hundreds of potential violations.

rest at http://washingtonindependent.com/22339/waxman-report-epa-decimated-clean-water-act

Mannings first QB brothers voted into Pro Bowl from ESPN.com by Associated Press

Peyton and Eli Manning have been voted to the Pro Bowl, the first time two quarterback-playing brothers have played in the same game.

rest http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3773906&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Pirates Sign Iraqi Shoe Thrower from Bugs & Cranks

The Pirates, who have emphasized a need to find talent via every available outlet, have again gone where no team has gone before.

Late Monday night, the Pirates came to terms with Iraqi pitcher Muntadhar al-Zaidi. The 28-year-old al-Zaidi will participate in the team's Minor League Spring Training next year.

"We are intrigued by Muntadhar's arm strength. The Pirates are committed to creatively adding talent to our organization," general manager Neal Huntington said in a statement. "We are pleased to not only add another prospect to our system but also hope to open a pathway to an untapped market."

The Iraqi pitcher came to the Pirates attention by throwing two size ten shoes at lame duck US President George W. Bush. The first shoe was a 95 mph heater, the second was comparable to Jonathan Papelbon's slutter.

rest at http://www.bugsandcranks.com/the-clubhouse/david-chalk/pirates-sign-iraqi-shoe-thrower/

Austin Critics Name 'Dark Knight' Best of 2008 from Cinematical

Looks like the Austin Film Critics Association have become the first critics group to name The Dark Knight as their favorite of the year (the flick tied Slumdog Millionaire in votes in Chicago). Variety tells us those crazy cats from Texas (drunk off the intoxicating vibes at the Alamo Drafthouse, perhaps) handed out a total of five awards to the Batman sequel, including Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Heath Ledger), Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Score. Other notable Austin Critics awards went to Let the Right One In (Best Foreign Language), Sean Penn, Milk (Best Actor) and Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married (Best Actress).


rest at http://www.cinematical.com/2008/12/16/austin-critics-name-dark-knight-best-of-2008/

New 'G.I. Joe' Character Posters from Cinematical

It's only the middle of December, and already I feel like Summer 2009 is just around the corner. It feels like I was bombarded with Terminator: Salvation and X-Men Origin: Wolverine all weekend, and now G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra is coming back into the mix of things with a few new character posters. They're not entirely new, as they first appeared over the summer at a licensing fair, but have been scanned online for the first time thanks to Film.ru. There's four in all -- Duke, Snake Eyes, Baroness, and Ripcord, and all four have been added to the GI Joe gallery below. Unfortunately, they haven't appeared in a big, hi-res version yet.

rest at http://www.cinematical.com/2008/12/16/new-g-i-joe-character-posters/

Jackson Has Been Talking To Feds About Blagojevich Since The Summer from TPMmuckraker

Looks like Jesse Jackson has been cooperating with Pat Fitzgerald's probe of Rod Blagojevich for longer than we knew.

The Associated Press reports:

A spokesman for Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. tells The Associated Press the congressman has been talking to federal investigators about his dealings with Gov. Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY'-uh-vich) since summertime.

Spokesman Rick Bryant wouldn't give details of those discussions Tuesday morning.

rest at http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/report_jackson_has_been_talkin.php

Madoff's Firm: All In The Family from TPMmuckraker

We told you earlier that the niece of Bernard Madoff -- who's accused of running a "$50 billion ponzi scheme" through his investment firm -- is married to a former top SEC compliance official who had been involved in two reviews of Madoff's firm. And that Madoff bragged about the family connection last year.

But it's worth piecing together the extent of what we know about the cozy web of family ties that may have allowed Madoff to escape scrutiny for so long.

CNBC reports that the compliance department of Bernard Madoff's firm is run by Bernard Madoff's brother Peter, and by Bernard Madoff's niece, Shana Madoff Swanson, who's married to the former SEC official, Eric Swanson. That team appears to also include Bernard Madoff's son, Mark Madoff, who the Wall Street Journal last week identified as the firm's senior managing director and chief compliance officer.

The Journal added that Bernard Madoff's other son, Andrew Madoff is the firm's director of trading.

And it looks like Mark Madoff and the former SEC official, Eric Swanson, were at least acquainted with each other before Swanson married Mark Madoff's cousin Shana, and, just as important, before Swanson had left the SEC. Here's a picture of Mark Madoff and Eric Swanson appearing together on a 2006 panel organized by the Securities Traders Association. Swanson is identified as being with the SEC at the time.

rest at http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/madoffs_firm_all_in_the_family.php

We can rebuild you! Injectable artificial bone paste developed from Futurismic

I'm lucky enough to have never needed one (touch wood), but I'm told that bone grafts are extremely painful procedures that invite the risk of further damage to surrounding areas. So I can see the logic behind RegenTec's injectable artificial bone compound, which will be pretty handy stuff if it works as it's supposed to:

rest at http://futurismic.com/2008/12/16/we-can-rebuild-you-injectable-artificial-bone-paste-developed/

Nobody Better Than Arne Duncan from Freakonomics Blog by By Steven D. Levitt

Arne Duncan is expected to be announced as the next secretary of education later today. Freakonomics readers will remember Arne as the hero of our chapter on teacher cheating. He was head of the Chicago Public Schools when Brian Jacob and I were investigating how teachers and administrators were doctoring standardized test sheets.

With seemingly nothing to gain and much to lose, Arne embraced our results, even allowing us to do audit testing to confirm our hypotheses. Eventually, a handful of teachers were fired.

rest at http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/nobody-better-than-arne-duncan/

Berlin to Poor: Catch Rats for Income from Businesspundit

Spiegel describes an unusual attempt at government job creatio:

A Berlin politician has come under fire for suggesting that poor people should be encouraged to catch rats by offering them €1 per dead rodent.

There's something Dickensian about the notion, but it has been proposed by a Berlin politician who is now being criticized for suggesting that the city's poor should be enlisted to tackle the growing rat infestation in the center of the German capital.

rest at http://www.businesspundit.com/berlin-to-poor-catch-rats-for-income/

Bush: ‘I’ve Abandoned Free Market Principles To Save The Free Market System’ from Think Progress

via http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/16/bush-free-market/

President Bush has repeatedly touted his adherence to free markets throughout his term. "Free markets remain the best way to promote growth, create good jobs, and ensure rising living standards. That is why the President has actively sought to open markets," Gregory Mankiw of the Council of Economic Advisers explained in 2004.

But amidst a deep recession characterized by $8.5 trillion in various bailouts, Bush's laissez-faire ideals are a distant memory. Today on CNN, Bush claimed he has "abandoned" the free market in order to "save" it:

BUSH; Well, I have obviously made a decision to make sure the economy doesn't collapse. I've abandoned free market principles to save the free market system. I think when people review what's taken place in the last six months, uh, and put it all in one, in one, (sigh), you know, in one package, they're realize how significantly we have moved.

Bush's logic of abandoning the free market to "save" the free market is deeply flawed. Much of the crisis was caused by the "belief that markets are self-adjusting and that the role of government should be minimal," Nobel Prize-winning economist Joe Stiglitz explained. Stiglitz recalled this telling exchange from Alan Greenspan:

Looking back at that belief during hearings this fall on Capitol Hill, Alan Greenspan said out loud, "I have found a flaw." Congressman Henry Waxman pushed him, responding, "In other words, you found that your view of the world, your ideology, was not right; it was not working." "Absolutely, precisely," Greenspan said.

Indeed, one of the chief problems was the administration's failure to regulate mortgage markets. As the Wonk Room explained, the administration ignored several "prescient warnings" about the crisis. In 2005, regulators proposed stringent checks on bankers and mortgages. Bowing to pressure from big banks, however, the administration ignored these warnings and also gutted several important regulations.

Bush's market fundamentalism has not been "abandoned." Rather, it has failed.

Bush library foundation president already spinning Katrina response. from Think Progress

via http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/16/bush-library-president-katrina/

In an article today on the George W. Bush presidential library, McClatchy notes that "[t]he present hasn't worked out so well" for Bush. "So now he's banking on a kinder and gentler future." Bush library foundation president Mark Langdale says he is "confident that people will come to change their mind about the president and some of the decisions he made." How will the Bush library accomplish this task? Spin. And Langdale has already begun, calling the debacle surrounding Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina "the limitations of government assistance":

Langdale says the Bush museum will not avoid the most divisive episodes of the president's eight years in office, such as the administration's much-criticised humanitarian response to Hurricane Katrina. […]

"There's an interesting lesson about Katrina and the limitations of government assistance to respond to big natural disasters," Langdale said. "They are acts of God, and they are tough. It's definitely a story line I would not shy away from addressing somehow in the museum."

Indeed, this doesn't seem to be Langdale's first act of Bush celebration. Pictured behind him in a photo accompanying a separate article on the library last week was a photo of Bush superimposed over Martin Luther King Jr.

iPhone 3G software unlock to be released shortly from CNET News.com

The iPhone Dev Team is promising a software unlock for the iPhone 3G by the end of 2008.

Back in October the iPhone Dev Team signaled they were getting close to their goal, and Tuesday they announced that a software download would be available on New Year's Eve. The iPhone 3G has presented problems for those looking for a simple way to use their phone on the mobile network of their choice after Apple fixed a loophole that left the original iPhone wide open to unlockers.

rest at http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10124377-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Rove Tries To Link Obama To Blagojevich Scandal Despite Previously Arguing There Is No Link from Think Progress

Last night on Fox News, former Bush political operative Karl Rove tried desperately to link President-elect Obama to the scandal surrounding Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-IL). When co-host Alan Colmes noted that conservatives are "looking for anything they can to try to drag him into this," Rove obliged, saying that Obama is "parsing words" and "making it look like there was no contact" between Obama's team and the Illinois governor.

Rove also said that Obama should ignore U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's request to not discuss the case, saying "the president-elect ought to decide what is in his best interest." Further suggesting that Obama has something to hide, Rove — who knows a little bit about hiding information — claimed that he doesn't "buy" that Obama's team "is resisting giving out this information only because they're being held back by the prosecutor's office," later adding that the whole affair is "troubling."

rest at http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/16/rove-obama-blagojevich/

Feds sue Ovation Pharma over skyrocketing price of heart drug from ChicagoBusiness.com Breaking News

(Crain's) — The federal government on Tuesday sued Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc., accusing the Deerfield company of illegally raising the price for a drug that treats heart defects in babies.

The Federal Trade Commission claims that in 2006, Ovation raised the price of its drug, Indocin, to nearly $500 a vial from $36, after acquiring the rights to the only competitor drug on the market.

"By acquiring its only competitor in the treatment of a serious heart condition affecting premature babies, Ovation has been able to charge dramatically higher prices for its drugs," acting FTC Bureau of Competition Director David P. Wales said in a statement. "While Ovation is profiting from its illegal acquisition, hospitals and ultimately consumers and American taxpayers are forced to pay millions of dollars a year more for these life-saving medications."

rest at http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=32264&seenIt=1

The Top Ten Ethics Scandals of 2008 from All Content | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

16 Dec 2008 // Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has released its year-end list of the "top" 10 ethics scandals of 2008. Why isn't the recent criminal complaint against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on the list? Well, for one, it's not a Washington-centered problem. But Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, adds that while the Blagojevich case may be the flavor of the week right now, she thinks the scandals on her administration's list will have more of an impact in the long run. Here they are:

1. "Unchecked Congressional Ethics": CREW wants Congress to have a high-powered ethics office with subpoena power. MoJo Blog covered the vote on this earlier this year; we looked at this issue last year, too.

2. "No Guarantee that Bush Administration Records will be Properly Archived": We've been keeping you up to date on the ongoing missing White House emails problem.

3. "Speech or Debate Clause": Lots of politicians who are charged with crimes seek to have their indictments dismissed under the "Speech and Debate" clause of the Constitution, which they claim protects anything in their congressional office from being used against them in court on the grounds that its "legislative material." Sloan says that this may be the biggest of the ten scandals her organization highlighted. If Blagocevich had been a member of congress, Sloan says, he would have been protected from much of US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation. Law enforcement would not have been able to tap his office phone or include anything he did in the course of his legislative work as part of an indictment, Sloan says. And both Democrats and Republicans are protecting this hard-line interpretation of the speech and debate clause. "This is a bipartisan issue of protecting members accused of corruption from investigation and prosecution," Sloan says. Mother Jones covered this problem as early as 2006, with the raid on the offices of now ex-Louisiana Democratic Rep. William Jefferson.

4. "The Pay-to-Play Congress": You've heard about this from John McCain and Barack Obama, who both talked about the power of earmarks to corrupt the legislative process. Every year, CREW notes the most egregious instances of earmark abuse, when campaign donors get earmarks from the politicians who they support. We wrote about corruption expert Lawrence Lessig's Change Congress effort and will have more with Lessig next week.

5. "Enriching Family with Campaign Cash": CREW has released two reports on this problem, "Family Affair - House" and "Family Affair - Senate." We noted the most recent offender, Charlie Rangel.

rest at http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/36105

Whistleblower exposed wiretapping because 'this is crazy' from Raw Story Breaking News

The whistleblower who exposed the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program three years ago told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Monday that he was motivated by a sense that "this is crazy."

Former Justice Department lawyer Thomas Tamm had remained anonymous until he spoke to Newsweek's Michael Isikoff for an article last week. His appearance with Maddow was his first television interview.

Appearing clearly unaccustomed to public speaking, Tamm emotionally explained, "My entire life, really, was based on trying to enforce the law ... and I believed that the law was being broken in the place where I was working."

Tamm noted that he was not the only one in his office at the Justice Department who was aware of the wiretapping program, but he was the only one who stopped and said, "Wait a second. We assume that what they are doing is illegal? I don't understand that. Why are we part of that?"

rest at http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Whistleblower_explains_why_he_exposed_NSA_1216.html

Shocking look at Chinese fur farms

When undercover investigators made their way onto Chinese fur farms recently, they found that many animals are still alive and struggling desperately when workers flip them onto their backs or hang them up by their legs or tails to skin them. When workers on these farms begin to cut the skin and fur from an animal's leg, the free limbs kick and writhe. Workers stomp on the necks and heads of animals who struggle too hard to allow a clean cut. When the fur is finally peeled off over the animals' heads, their naked, bloody bodies are thrown onto a pile of those who have gone before them. Some are still alive, breathing in ragged gasps and blinking slowly. Some of the animals' hearts are still beating five to 10 minutes after they are skinned. One investigator recorded a skinned raccoon dog on the heap of carcasses who had enough strength to lift his bloodied head and stare into the camera.

rest at http://www.peta.org/feat/ChineseFurFarms/index.asp

FTC alleges illegal monopoly for baby meds from Chicago Breaking News

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators alleged today that an Illinois-based company bought the only two medicines approved to treat premature babies born with a potentially life-threatening congenital heart defect, and then increased prices nearly 1,300 percent.

The Federal Trade Commission said in a civil lawsuit that Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc. illegally maintained a monopoly in drug treatments for the heart defect. The commission seeks to prevent Ovation from maintaining simultaneous interest in the two drugs -- NeoProfen and Indocin. Also, it seeks forfeiture of all unlawfully obtained profits.

The commission said Deerfield-based Ovation Pharmaceuticals purchased the rights to Indocin in August 2005 and then acquired the rights to NeoProfen five months later. It quickly raised the price of the two medicines from about $36 per vial to about $500.

An estimated 30,000 babies are treated with the drugs each year.

rest at http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/ftc-alleges-illegal-monopoly-for-baby-meds.html

Bush Officially Blamed for Abu Grahib; Cheney Admits Approving Torture — ‘Liberal’ Media Yawns from Pensito Review

The myth of the "liberal media" has become such an article of faith among the right-wing base that even attempting to disprove it has become futile. And yet, if evidence against the media's liberal bias was being collected, the scant coverage being given two stories about the approval of torture and prisoner abuse by the Republicans currently holding the titles of president and vice president of the United State would surely go on the pile.
"I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared."
— Dick Cheney
Earlier this month, a bipartisan U.S. Senate committee put the blame for the abuse of prisoners at Abu Grahib prison squarely at the top of the chain of command. Here's Andrew Sullivan:

rest at http://www.pensitoreview.com/2008/12/16/bush-blamed-for-abu-grahib-cheney-admits-approving-torture/

Open for Questions: Response from Change.gov

via http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/open_for_questions_response/

We've launched several features recently that are opening up the two-way dialogue between the Transition team and the Change.gov community.

The feedback has been encouraging and constructive. Each new feature gives us the chance to refine the ways we facilitate these discussions, and it allows readers to chime in on the process as we grow.

Last week, our Open for Questions feature was particularly well-received: more than 20,000 people cast nearly 1,000,000 votes on questions posed by the community. Overall, just over 10,000 questions were voted up or down and ranked by visitors to the site.

The result is a snapshot of the issues you're concerned about as the pieces for the next administration move into place.

Below are some of the top questions, and the answers that our transition team members have put together as part of the Open for Questions feature:

Q: "Will you lift the ban on Stem Cell research in your first 100 days in office?" James_M, Nashville, TN

A: President-elect Obama is a strong supporter of Federal funding for responsible stem cell research and he has pledged to reverse President Bush's restrictions.

Q: "What will you do to establish transparency and safeguards against waste with the rest of the Wall Street bailout money?" Diane, New Jersey

A: President-elect Barack Obama does not believe an economic crisis is an excuse for wasteful and unnecessary spending. As our economic teams works with congressional leadership to put together a plan, we will put in place reforms to ensure that your money in invested well. We will also bring Americans back into government by amending executive orders to ensure that communications about regulatory policymaking between persons outside government and all White House staff are disclosed to the public. In addition all appointees who lead the executive branch departments and rulemaking agencies will be required to conduct the significant business of the agency in public so that every citizen can see in person or watch on the Internet these debates.

Q: "What will you do to promote science and mathematics education to Elementary and Middle School students?" JasonWyatt, Raleigh, NC

A: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will put children first by investing in early childhood education, making sure our schools are adequately funded and led by high-quality teachers, and reforming No Child Left Behind. They will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and will support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the field. They will also work to ensure that all children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade levels.

Q: "Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?" S. Man, Denton

A: President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.

Q: "What will you do as President to restore the Constitutional protections that have been subverted by the Bush Administration and how will you ensure that our system of checks and balances is renewed?" Kari, Seattle

A: President-elect Obama is deeply committed to restoring the rule of law and respecting constitutional checks and balances.That is why he has pledged to review Bush Administration executive orders. President-elect Obama will also end the abuse of signing statements, and put an end to the politicization that has taken place within the Department of Justice and return that agency to its historic and apolitical mission of fair and impartial administration of justice.

The next Open for Questions feature will go live in the coming days.

Until the next round of questions, check out some of the other features on the site: from community discussions and video responses, to behind-the-scenes video and a "Seat at the Table" with outside groups.

Electoral College weighs in for Obama from Politico

Electors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia met Monday and officially cast their votes in one of the final steps in the 2008 presidential election.

By constitutional requirement, each state's electors meet on the first Monday following the second Wednesday in December. Electors must cast ballots for both president and vice president and sign six "Certificates of Vote" and "Certificates of Ascertainment" that report the results to the nearest federal judge, each Secretary of State, the National Archives and Vice President Dick Cheney. On January 6, Cheney will read the results and certify the election in front of a joint session of Congress before Obama is sworn in on January 20.

The vote is largely a formality as electors in many states are legally required to vote for the same candidate chosen by the majority of the state's voters.


rest at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16610.html

Bailout Bill Loophole Could Render Exec Pay Limits Meaningless from TPMmuckraker

When Congress was writing the bailout bill back in September, one of the major sticking points was its insistence on including limits on executive compensation for the banks that were going to be taking taxpayer money. The issue nearly derailed the bill, as Treasury argued that such limits would dissuade banks from participating. But Congress eventually won out.

Or at least it appeared to have. The Washington Post reports today that Treasury succeeded in getting a rather important loophole added in to the bill at the eleventh hour. It said that the pay limits would apply only to banks that participated in the bailout under the original plan in which Treasury would purchase the banks' troubled assets. Since the department quickly switched to a different approach, in which it simply injects equity into banks, the pay limits no longer apply.

rest at http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/bailout_bill_loophole_could_re.php

SEC Didn't Probe Madoff's Investment Biz -- Despite Complaints from TPMmuckraker

Four days after Bernard Madoff was arrested for allegedly running a "$50 billion ponzi scheme" disguised as an investment advisory business, attention is beginning to focus on what looks like a glaring failure of oversight by government regulators.

Let's step back for a second. Part of what may have helped Madoff escape scrutiny is that his company consisted of two separate arms -- a securities brokerage, which acted as a middleman between buyers and sellers of shares, and a straight investment business. According to the SEC complaint filed last week, Madoff ran the investment arm as a secretive business separate from the brokerage, and it was this arm that was used to perpetrate the alleged fraud.

Bloomberg reported yesterday that since Madoff registered the investment arm with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2006, that agency hadn't got around to looking at the business's books. The SEC usually tries to go through the books of newly registered firms in their first year.

"If the SEC didn't come in and inspect (the Madoff hedge fund), then they have a hell of a lot to answer for," one expert told the Associated Press.

But the problem doesn't appear to have started in 2006.

rest at http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/sec_didnt_probe_madoffs_invest.php

Bill Kristol defends UAW. ' I don't think it's very smart for a bunch of Southern Republicans to decide the future' of GOP from Crooks and Liars

via http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/bill-kristol-defends-uaw-i-dont-think-i

Download | Play    Download | Play

Bill Kristol surprisingly backed up the UAW and the Democratic Party's plan of trying to offer a bridge loan to the Big 3 and not try to be "union busters." It's not out of any love for unions, but all about politics. As we saw with the AutoGate Memo, the Republican leadership decided to kill the rescue plan/bridge loan to the Big 3 purely for political reasons. Those reasons are to destroy the UAW and try to make them the scapegoats. Kristol -- who as you know is not on my team -- believes that the Southern Strategy of attacking workers is a huge political mistake.

Bush Rewrites History: ‘I Never Said The Taliban Was Eliminated’ from Think Progress

Early this morning, during a press conference in Kabul with Afghan President Karzai, President Bush attempted to paper over his previous declarations of victory over the now-resurgent Taliban. Bush claimed emphatically, "I never said the Taliban was eliminated." Watch it:

[video and rest of article here http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/15/bush-taliban-eliminated/]

In fact, Bush used the word "eliminated" to describe the state of the Taliban on several occasions:

September 2002: "The Taliban's ability to brutalize the Afghan people and to harbor and support terrorists has been virtually eliminated."

April 2002: "With the Taliban eliminated and al-Qaida badly damaged, we have moved into the second stage of our war on terror."

At other times, Bush prematurely declared victory using similar language:

September 2004: "And as a result of the United States military, Taliban no longer is in existence. And the people of Afghanistan are now free."

December 2004: "In Afghanistan, America and our allies, with a historically small force and a brilliant strategy, defeated the Taliban in just a few short weeks."

October 2005: "Over the years these extremists have used a litany of excuses for violence — the Israeli presence on the West Bank, or the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia, or the defeat of the Taliban, or the Crusades of a thousand years ago."

Petition to make clean water a human right from Boing Boing

via http://www.boingboing.net/2008/12/15/petition-to-make-cle.html

The Article 31 petition is trying to get the UN to add a new article to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one that recognizes a fundamental right to water. It comes from the people who made the amazing documentary on water rights, Flow.

In 1948, the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were ratified by all the nations of the world. These 30 articles guaranteed a broad sweep of human rights across many human endeavors, from Life to Liberty to Freedom of Thought.

Now, sixty years later, recognizing that over a billion people across the planet lack access to clean and potable water and that millions die each year as a result, it is imperative to add one more article to this historic declaration, the Right to Water.

We, the undersigned, respectfully call upon the United Nations to add a 31st article to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing access to clean and potable water as a fundamental human right.

We believe the world will be a better place when the Right To Water is acknowledged by all nations as a fundamental human right, and that this addition to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights represents a major step toward the goal of water for all.

Please join us. Water is a right, not a privilege.

Article 31

"I blame Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, who were supposed to protect the taxpayers from Bush's well-known efforts to pilfer our country."

Idiots

from Daily Kos

Seriously, I don't blame Bush for this. It was to be expected. I blame Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, who were supposed to protect the taxpayers from Bush's well-known efforts to pilfer our country.

Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules.

But at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the provision, congressional aides said. The change stipulated that the penalty would apply only to firms that received bailout funds by selling troubled assets to the government in an auction, which was the way the Treasury Department had said it planned to use the money.

Now, however, the small change looks more like a giant loophole, according to lawmakers and legal experts. In a reversal, the Bush administration has not used auctions for any of the $335 billion committed so far from the rescue package, nor does it plan to use them in the future. Lawmakers and legal experts say the change has effectively repealed the only enforcement mechanism in the law dealing with lavish pay for top executives.

If yo recall, the bailout oversight panel was apparently so toothless and useless, that Reid and Pelosi didn't bother appointing its members until November 14

rest at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/12/15/121452/89/980/673293

Obama's Weak National Security Team from TPR: The Public Record

Sixteen years ago, President-elect Bill Clinton headed for Washington with a national security team that was unprepared for a new age of foreign policy marked by the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union. Clinton proclaimed upon arrival that "foreign policy is not what I came here to do," and the weakness of his national security team confirmed his attitude.

Unlike his economic team, which was marked by such stars as Lloyd Bentsen, Robert Rubin, Gene Sperling, and Laura D'Andrea Tyson, Clinton's foreign policy team was mediocre at best. Members of it were soon replaced. Secretary of Defense Les Aspin lasted less than a year; CIA director Jim Woolsey lasted less than two years; Secretary of State Warren Christopher and national security adviser Tony Lake lasted through Clinton's first term, but neither distinguished himself.

President-elect Barack Obama's appointments similarly demonstrate that his focus is on economic policy and that he is willing to put foreign policy on the backburner.  His economic team is star-studded and clearly prepared to take on the economic challenges we face. His national security team is comprised of disparate individuals with world views at odds with each other and with Obama. There appears to be no commitment to reverse the militarization of American foreign policy and no willingness to confront a Pentagon that the Bush administration has placed at the top of the decision-making ladder on foreign policy. The Bush legacy includes the weakening of the State Department and the militarization of the intelligence community, which finds nearly all of the intelligence departments and agencies led by active-duty and retired general officers.

Obama also has inherited a Clinton legacy marked by an unacceptable level of military influence over U.S. national security and foreign policy. Clinton capitulated to military opposition to agreements dealing with the International Criminal Court, a ban on landmines, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and the Chemical Warfare Convention. These decisions by Clinton need to be reversed. During the campaign, Obama took strong positions on stopping ethnic violence in Africa and elsewhere, but he should understand that the Pentagon opposes humanitarian missions for military force.  It dragged its heels on intervention in Bosnia to stop ethnic cleansing and advocated that the United States block U.N. efforts to stop the genocide in Rwanda. 

rest at http://www.pubrecord.org/commentary/566-obamas-weak-national-security-team.html

Bush Lies About Al Qaeda in Iraq, Is Called On It, Says "So What?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhHamDHk-B0

via http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/38247

Petition to "Get a Secretary of Real Food appointed" in Obama Administration from Boing Boing

Bonnie Powell, who covers the ethics and politics of foodover at the marvelous blog Ethicurean, says:

Obama still hasn't named a Secretary of Agriculture, which is one of the most important appointments in the Cabinet, overseeing a $94 billion budget that directly affects not just farmers, but public health, the environment, animal welfare, and so much more. For years this post has been held by shills for "Big Farma" and pandered to those corporations like Cargill, Smithfield, Monsanto, and Archer Daniels Midland with massive lobbying clout. As Nicholas Kristof wrote in his NY Times column "Obama's Secretary of Food?", appointing a reformer to head the USDA would send a "powerful signal" that U.S. food policy was finally about to become more palatable.

Kristof linked to a petition at fooddemocracynow.org that asks Obama's transition team to consider six candidates — all experienced, viable names of people who are ready and willing to serve — for Secretary of Agriculture who could potentially mend our broken food system. Already, after only six days, 36,000 people have signed the petition, including Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, and Bill Niman, and the Obama transition team appears to be paying attention. But for some reason, the current names still being floated in the media are not those of reformers at all.

rest at http://www.boingboing.net/2008/12/15/petition-to-get-a-se.html

WTF?! 37% of Americans Unable to Locate America

Washington, D.C. -- According to a Gallup/Harris poll released Monday, a full 37 percent of American citizens are incapable of identifying their home country on a map of the United States.

Of the 1,400 residents surveyed, the most common incorrect responses placed the more than 230-year-old territory in the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans (19 percent), the space where Mexico would appear were it in fact included on the map (10 percent), and inside the word "America" written just above the northernmost states (6 percent).

rest at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-shehori/poll-37-of-americans-unab_b_150933.html

irony: Anti-kidnapping expert kidnapped in Mexico from Chicago Sun-Times

MEXICO CITY — A well-known U.S. anti-kidnapping expert has himself fallen victim to the wave of abductions in Mexico as unidentified assailants snatched him from a street in the northern state of Coahuila.

rest at http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/1332033,kidnapping-mexico121508.article

Bush sneaks through host of laws to undermine Obama from The Observer

The lame-duck Republican team is rushing through radical measures, from coal waste dumping to power stations in national parks, that will take months to overturn, reports Paul Harris in New York

After spending eight years at the helm of one of the most ideologically driven administrations in American history, George W. Bush is ending his presidency in characteristically aggressive fashion, with a swath of controversial measures designed to reward supporters and enrage opponents.

By the time he vacates the White House, he will have issued a record number of so-called 'midnight regulations' - so called because of the stealthy way they appear on the rule books - to undermine the administration of Barack Obama, many of which could take years to undo.

Dozens of new rules have already been introduced which critics say will diminish worker safety, pollute the environment, promote gun use and curtail abortion rights. Many rules promote the interests of large industries, such as coal mining or energy, which have energetically supported Bush during his two terms as president. More are expected this week.

America's attention is focused on the fate of the beleaguered car industry, still seeking backing in Washington for a multi-billion-dollar bail-out. But behind the scenes, the 'midnight' rules are being rushed through with little fanfare and minimal media attention. None of them would be likely to appeal to the incoming Obama team.

The regulations cover a vast policy area, ranging from healthcare to car safety to civil liberties. Many are focused on the environment and seek to ease regulations that limit pollution or restrict harmful industrial practices, such as dumping strip-mining waste.

rest at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/14/george-bush-midnight-regulations

Stupid rich thieving glutinous rich people suck....

I have no problem with the wealthy doing what they want with their dough....but when your douchbag husband was responsible for the collapse of Lehman Bros and caused many many people to lose their jobs and benefited financially by over $500 million, perhaps you should be more graceful and show some respect to the majority of "have nots" in this country.

Kathy Fuld's Recessiony $10,000 'Secret Shopping' Sprees [Sad Things]

from Gawker

"People are feeling guilty and they're feeling confused and they're feeling like they didn't earn their money, especially within the financial community," said somebody from a marketing research house called the Luxury Institute. Aww, sad and confused and guilty, but not sad, confused, or guilty enough to stop spending money. It's like taking the hood ornament off your Mercedes and being proud of yourself.

It's too bad there isn't some way for Kathy Fuld, whose hubby did a really good job of putting many, many people out of work, to like, you know, give back or something. Someone should set up organizations through which people with money, especially folks who don't deserve it, like the Fulds, can give some of that money to people who need it more. Since nothing like that exists though, she'll just have to bury her sad guilty feelings under a mountain of three thousand dollar scarves and white paper bags.

rest at http://gawker.com/5110265/kathy-fulds-recessiony-10000-secret-shopping-sprees

The Princes and the Paupers from Crooks and Liars

Compare and contrast - I'm sure the Senate's southern caucus is as upset about this as they are about auto workers making $28 an hour:

Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules.

But at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the provision, congressional aides said. The change stipulated that the penalty would apply only to firms that received bailout funds by selling troubled assets to the government in an auction, which was the way the Treasury Department had said it planned to use the money.

rest at http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/princes-and-paupers

Assholes: Bush Administration - "it has eviscerated the regulations in the original bailout bill limiting executive compensation"

Wall St. Bailout: Exec Pay Limits 'Effectively Repealed' By WH from Daily Kos

At the same time that the Bush Administration won't say whether or not it will use TARP funds to save the auto industry, we learn that it has eviscerated the regulations in the original bailout bill limiting executive compensation:

Executive Pay Limits May Prove Toothless
Loophole in Bailout Provision Leaves Enforcement in Doubt

Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules.

But at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the provision, congressional aides said. The change stipulated that the penalty would apply only to firms that received bailout funds by selling troubled assets to the government in an auction, which was the way the Treasury Department had said it planned to use the money.

rest at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/12/15/44444/030/49/673199

CUNT: Ann Coulter: Minnesota Senate race 'being openly stolen' from Raw Story

Also comments on Iraqi shoe-thrower, 'liberalism and terrorism ... same disease'

Right-wing pundit Ann Coulter told the hosts of Fox & Friends on Monday that the Minnesota Senatorial race, in which an ongoing recount has Democrat Al Franken gaining ground against Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, "is being openly stolen in front of our eyes."

Coulter was reported in late November to have broken her jaw and had it wired shut, leading her to reschedule a December 3 speaking engagement. However, she appeared to be back in fighting form on Monday.

"Coleman won and the election is going to be stolen out from under him unless the media focuses on this," Coulter insisted. "Democrats can't get these things through when people are paying attention, but nobody's really paying attention. You've got the Republican governor up in Minnesota saying, 'No, it's fine, Coleman won.'"

rest at http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Ann_Coulter_compares_liberalism_to_terrorism_1215.html

Adorable VP Adopts Adorable Puppy from Gawker

FROM http://gawker.com/5110161/adorable-vp-adopts-adorable-puppy

President-elect Barack Obama famously promised his daughters—and the nation!—a puppy, once the election was over. Well, Mr. President-elect, the election is over. Where is the puppy?

The Desperate Final Hours of the World’s Biggest Ever Financial Fraud from cryptogon.com

FROM http://cryptogon.com/?p=5677

UPDATE: Madoff Claims to Have Acted Alone

Impossible.

It's like I said when the news first broke. He's trying to stay alive. This one goes all the way up the ladder. One wrong word and he's dead, his family is dead, etc. He knows it. He's sticking to a script.

For the first time, I'm preemptively adding a story, this story, to the Assassination category. People involved with this, at the levels we don't even know about yet, mainly, the management of day-to-day operations, are probably already dead. I could be wrong, but far less serious situations than this have produced corpses.

Via: New York Times:

But a question still dominates the investigation: how one person could have pulled off such a far-reaching, long-running fraud, carrying out all the simple practical chores the scheme required, like producing monthly statements, annual tax statements, trade confirmations and bank transfers.

Firms managing money on Mr. Madoff's scale would typically have hundreds of people involved in these administrative tasks. Prosecutors say he claims to have acted entirely alone.

"Our task is to find the records and follow the money," said Alexander Vasilescu, a lawyer in the New York office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. As of Sunday night, he said, investigators could not shed much light on the fraud or its scale. "We do not dispute his number — we just have not calculated how he made it," he said.

—End Update—

There are multiple connections to narcotics money and other covert operations here somewhere. I don't know where just yet, but let's keep our eyes open for them as people associated with this begin to commit "suicide" etc.

This was WAY, WAY to big to have been managed by one guy, or a small group of people.

Via: Guardian:

Bernard Madoff, one of Wall Street's most respected financiers, apparently planned to carve up his last $300m (£200m) between friends, family and employees before making the shocking confession that his investment prowess was really the result of one of the world's biggest ever frauds.

But, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the 70-year-old could not implement his plan before his huge pyramid scheme - whose 10-12% annual returns had attracted top-flight investors around the globe - collapsed with losses of at least $50bn.

REST AT FROM http://cryptogon.com/?p=5677

Bob Corker [The first-term Republican] just led the charge to kill the American auto industry, and with it some 10% of the American economy, because he wasn't allowed to bust the UAW

FROM http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/12/15/11452/422/255/673017

Let's make this very plain.  Bob Corker just led the charge to kill the American auto industry, and with it some 10% of the American economy, because he wasn't allowed to bust the UAW.  As such, Bob Corker is definitionally one of the most traitorous and despicable human beings ever to track slime across the floors of the Senate. He is attempting to take advantage of the financial crisis to literally dismantle the American middle class. He is beneath the contempt with which partisans regard even their most radical and craven domestic political opponents.  And to see three of the most prominent leaders of the party that portrays itself as the party of working Americans line up to commend this sanctimonious puppet of big money, this enemy of working Americans . . . well, it's disgusting.  There's really no other word for it.

There is a sickness in the Senate if the people who are supposed to fight for working Americans have anything but utter revulsion for Bob Corker.

Bush Dismisses Iraqi Journalist’s Shoe Insult: I Don’t Think This ‘Represents A Broad Movement In Iraq’ from Think Progress

Yesterday, Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi threw his shoes at President Bush and shouted, "This is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq." Bush said that he was unfazed by the incident.

Afterward, Bush continued to dismiss the incident to reporters aboard Air Force One. He said that Zaidi's actions were "bizarre" and had no larger significance:

Q Well, not to belabor the point too much, on this man, but I have a serious question about it. Obviously he's expressing a vein of anger that exists in Iraq, and —

BUSH: How do you know? I mean, how do we know what he's expressing? Who — […] I've heard all kinds of stories. I heard he was representing a Baathist TV station. I don't know the facts, but let's find out the facts. All I'm telling you, it was a bizarre moment. […]

I don't think you can take one guy throwing shoes and say this represents a broad movement in Iraq. You can try to do that if you want to. I don't think it would be accurate. …

REST AND VIDEO AT http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/15/bush-dismiss-shoe/